I have recently been told that my architectural projects seem to start, as a sculpture first is adapted to its function. And, although this is not an insult, I feel that I must learn how to work in reverse where the form is followed by the function. I am now working on a museum and am looking for buildings that contain interesting sections and cleverly thought out circulation. I know that Corbusier’s Unite d'habitation contains an interesting section and the FLW’s Guggenheim has interesting circulation but does anyone know of other building with interesting circulation or an interesting section that might inspire my design?
chipperfield has some interesting sections, i'm thinking specifically of his house for an art collector with a pool on top...
but i think who you really want to look at is OMA
specifically look at the diagrams that OMA did for the seattle public library. they're quite informative as to how the form was informed by the circulation and program requirements and anticipations. that'll be a good way to start.
I would second OMA's work, including in the list the Netherlands embassy recently completed. Otherwise I would steer clear of the FLW, simply because it is overplayed and overdone.
Check out Steven Holl's Kiasma (sp?) museum as well as his Bellevue Art Museum.
Also, some of Richard Meier's museums...
The new Olympic Scupture Park in Seattle (by Weis/Manfredi) is all about circulation & path. Can't wait for the new Seattle Art Museum (by AlliedWorks) to open in the spring - I'm interested to see if they were able to pull it off...
dml - thoughts on the new pavilion?
i've been to a few of weiss manfredi's projects on the east coast.
the pavilion doesn't seem very strong and there are some details that are really annoyingly awful...
however, i've seen a ton of photos from the SAM downtown, it's looking really slick.
as for holl... his buildings are hit or miss. i really wasn't impressed with kiasma, again... poor detailing.
sectionally, the nelson atkins and nanjing museum of art + arch are a lot more interesting. what did the right hand rule have to do with the BAM, or was it just a gimmick?
I haven't visited the sculpture park yet (waiting for the crowds to die down - I hate people and crowds, especially when I'm trying to 'enjoy' art), but I drive by it quite often. I kinda dig the pavilion - it is what it is. I like the stainless steel wrapper and it's got some rockin' cantilevers going on. You can definitely tell that all the cash went into the site work & landscaping...
I've found that Holl's work lives and dies by how well it's executed by the contractor. The BAM is very shoddily constructed and the architecture suffers for it, whereas the St. Ignatius Chapel at SU is built beutifully. My respect for Holl as dipped dramatically after I found out that his office basically stops at DD then pawns off CDs (aside from a few 'pet' details that they draw the snot out of) to a local "arch of record" firm.
OMA's Seattle Library is similar to the BAM - looks good from 10' away, but the details (or lack thereof) and construction execution are awful. Then again, Koolhaas's stuff isn't really about details anyway.
vado is right. "form is followed by the function" is the opposite of 'form follows function'
futureboy, circulation is only part of function.
and i don't know why oma is hailed for being so great as form follows function, as all of their spaces are exactly the same! they just put functions in boxes and arrange them. a bedroom requires a different type of space to a shop etc.
a little secret on most starchitects, they never take it past DD minus a few "catch" details - this can be an added bonus if you happen to work for the associate/arch of record:
all the projects @ vitra - DD except for ando.
seattle public library (OMA) - DD/CD by LMN
SAM downtown - DD again, LMN.
BAM (holl) - sclater partners (which i heard holl doesn't even claim anymore, as the owning entity has destroyed the interior)
St Ignatius (holl) - olson sundberg
all of oma's project suffer from poor detailing, but for rem, that's not a priority.
additionally with holl, he does these wacky watercolors and then has a few people at the office who might know something about construction and are somewhat able to elevate it beyond his rough sketches. the difference between the two can be quite far, no matter what stevie says.
holz. 'giving away' as you call it, DD/CD is fine by me. i personally dont want to spend my time with technical drawing - do you?
and it is worth mentioning 'protectionism' in the situation of OMA and others when building overseas. they dont 'give away' the DD/CD - they are forced to.
actually, i prefer going through CD and CA, otherwise, it's more likely to be a botch.
are you referring to the situation in china, where chinese architects are required to do CD and CA?
definitely another vote here for kuntshal from early OMA - this is an important classic on manipulating section, also the educatorium in utrecht. also, zaha's firestation at vitra.
i'm not so much defending oma here (b/c their boxes are not as well-made as they could be), as i am the idea that the box can be generic.
better a well-made box that people like and would want to keep, into which temporary stuff can be installed in such a way that the box can be recycled into something else later.
too much prescriptive attention to the function of a building ensures that it's a teardown when that function leaves.
function follows financing......
form follows desire.
the skin is more about function than any single aspect within.
i agree with SW.
but isn't this all a dumb tangent from the original statement of the discussion?
as for the OMA manipulation of section, it only works if the programming can be shoe-horned into its integration with the circulation.
zaha is just about perspectival manipulations with little dialogue with the programmatic functionality
tschumi does circulation as interstitial activity between zones of activity
morphosis does some interesting sectional manipulations within their project as does coop himmel(b)lau usually as an opposition of programs around a circulation zone.
each are different approaches to sculptural integration of sectional manipulation into the building's function.
Mar 7, 07 10:31 am ·
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Buildings with interesting sectional qualities or circulation????
I have recently been told that my architectural projects seem to start, as a sculpture first is adapted to its function. And, although this is not an insult, I feel that I must learn how to work in reverse where the form is followed by the function. I am now working on a museum and am looking for buildings that contain interesting sections and cleverly thought out circulation. I know that Corbusier’s Unite d'habitation contains an interesting section and the FLW’s Guggenheim has interesting circulation but does anyone know of other building with interesting circulation or an interesting section that might inspire my design?
chipperfield has some interesting sections, i'm thinking specifically of his house for an art collector with a pool on top...
but i think who you really want to look at is OMA
specifically look at the diagrams that OMA did for the seattle public library. they're quite informative as to how the form was informed by the circulation and program requirements and anticipations. that'll be a good way to start.
I would second OMA's work, including in the list the Netherlands embassy recently completed. Otherwise I would steer clear of the FLW, simply because it is overplayed and overdone.
Check out Steven Holl's Kiasma (sp?) museum as well as his Bellevue Art Museum.
Also, some of Richard Meier's museums...
The new Olympic Scupture Park in Seattle (by Weis/Manfredi) is all about circulation & path. Can't wait for the new Seattle Art Museum (by AlliedWorks) to open in the spring - I'm interested to see if they were able to pull it off...
mobius house
some lebbeus woods
the biblioteque jussae by rem koolhaas, interesting circulation and section. another project i really like is toyo ito's mediatheque...
dml - thoughts on the new pavilion?
i've been to a few of weiss manfredi's projects on the east coast.
the pavilion doesn't seem very strong and there are some details that are really annoyingly awful...
however, i've seen a ton of photos from the SAM downtown, it's looking really slick.
as for holl... his buildings are hit or miss. i really wasn't impressed with kiasma, again... poor detailing.
sectionally, the nelson atkins and nanjing museum of art + arch are a lot more interesting. what did the right hand rule have to do with the BAM, or was it just a gimmick?
seems that koolhas has interesting circulation systems....so ill keep the trend....check out the kuntshal in rotterdam w/ its ramping circulation
every tschumi project is all about the circulation.
holz.box,
I haven't visited the sculpture park yet (waiting for the crowds to die down - I hate people and crowds, especially when I'm trying to 'enjoy' art), but I drive by it quite often. I kinda dig the pavilion - it is what it is. I like the stainless steel wrapper and it's got some rockin' cantilevers going on. You can definitely tell that all the cash went into the site work & landscaping...
I've found that Holl's work lives and dies by how well it's executed by the contractor. The BAM is very shoddily constructed and the architecture suffers for it, whereas the St. Ignatius Chapel at SU is built beutifully. My respect for Holl as dipped dramatically after I found out that his office basically stops at DD then pawns off CDs (aside from a few 'pet' details that they draw the snot out of) to a local "arch of record" firm.
OMA's Seattle Library is similar to the BAM - looks good from 10' away, but the details (or lack thereof) and construction execution are awful. Then again, Koolhaas's stuff isn't really about details anyway.
may i suggest that you learn what "form follows function" really means.
vado is right. "form is followed by the function" is the opposite of 'form follows function'
futureboy, circulation is only part of function.
and i don't know why oma is hailed for being so great as form follows function, as all of their spaces are exactly the same! they just put functions in boxes and arrange them. a bedroom requires a different type of space to a shop etc.
porto concert hall
a little secret on most starchitects, they never take it past DD minus a few "catch" details - this can be an added bonus if you happen to work for the associate/arch of record:
all the projects @ vitra - DD except for ando.
seattle public library (OMA) - DD/CD by LMN
SAM downtown - DD again, LMN.
BAM (holl) - sclater partners (which i heard holl doesn't even claim anymore, as the owning entity has destroyed the interior)
St Ignatius (holl) - olson sundberg
all of oma's project suffer from poor detailing, but for rem, that's not a priority.
additionally with holl, he does these wacky watercolors and then has a few people at the office who might know something about construction and are somewhat able to elevate it beyond his rough sketches. the difference between the two can be quite far, no matter what stevie says.
muller house - adolf loos
holz. 'giving away' as you call it, DD/CD is fine by me. i personally dont want to spend my time with technical drawing - do you?
and it is worth mentioning 'protectionism' in the situation of OMA and others when building overseas. they dont 'give away' the DD/CD - they are forced to.
actually, i prefer going through CD and CA, otherwise, it's more likely to be a botch.
are you referring to the situation in china, where chinese architects are required to do CD and CA?
You might look at Behnisch for both circulation and section ideas
Aalto would also be a good reference
hahaha, OMA doesn't care much for detailing guys. this is one of the things koolhaas stands for the most.
given rems' love of mies, why doesn't he care about the details?
sectional + circulation > kunsthal rotterdam (oma)
definitely another vote here for kuntshal from early OMA - this is an important classic on manipulating section, also the educatorium in utrecht. also, zaha's firestation at vitra.
mhollenstein- re:2/21 post:
form follows function is a fallacy.
i'm not so much defending oma here (b/c their boxes are not as well-made as they could be), as i am the idea that the box can be generic.
better a well-made box that people like and would want to keep, into which temporary stuff can be installed in such a way that the box can be recycled into something else later.
too much prescriptive attention to the function of a building ensures that it's a teardown when that function leaves.
function follows financing......
form follows desire.
the skin is more about function than any single aspect within.
i agree with SW.
but isn't this all a dumb tangent from the original statement of the discussion?
as for the OMA manipulation of section, it only works if the programming can be shoe-horned into its integration with the circulation.
zaha is just about perspectival manipulations with little dialogue with the programmatic functionality
tschumi does circulation as interstitial activity between zones of activity
morphosis does some interesting sectional manipulations within their project as does coop himmel(b)lau usually as an opposition of programs around a circulation zone.
each are different approaches to sculptural integration of sectional manipulation into the building's function.
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