Dwelling that Breaths

Megumi konishi

Instructor: Jerry W. Lum

Icebreaker

plan

secti

on

elevation

Piet Mondrian was an important

contributor to the De Stijl art

movement. He evolved a

non-representational form. De

Stijl sought to express a new

utopian ideal of spiritual harmony

and order. They simplified visual

compositions to a grid of the

vertical and horizontal directions,

combined with a strong

asymmetrically; the use of pure

primary colors with black and

white; and the relationship

between positive and negative

elements in an arrangement of

non-objective forms and lines.

For this assignment, I was interested in

finding the meaning of the straight lines

and their variations in design. The field

of design is very new to me that I would

like to understand it from basics.

Process:

1. I traced Mondrian painting and made

floor plan, elevation and section.

2. The cage like iteration that I created

had no interaction in each other in the

3-D space, so I created another but

slightly smaller in scale of plan,

elevation, and section object and put

into the first iteration.

3. The iteration was not exciting than I

expected that I decided to cut and to

bend diagonally and made connected

those rectilinear. The networking of

each element starts reacting in each

other and it produced visually

interesting spaces. More interesting

finding through this practice was paper

as material. I was using paper for

creating iteration and found interests in

its elastic behaviors; sagging, bending,

and curving with tension.

Icebreaker

I love to look at other students work.

I learned an interesting composition

of beautiful curvlinear and different

approach to the Mondrian paintings

with high craftmanship. Spaces that

they created were very complex and

interesting.

Path and Node: Inspirations

The path and node remind me

these words:

Infrastracture

Networking

Communication

Nest

Playful design

Interaction

Kinetic

Intergration

Light

Path and Node: 001/002Subtleness in space

I wondered how we feel the subtle

difference of many entrance. Chairs

and shelves

Path and Node: details Through this exercise I learned that

design making is a process of

realization of integration of culture,

society, and environment through

problem solving. It started little by

little but while dealing with material

deeply the inspirations would be

coming up. The engagement

and development of each stage

made us rationalized and we

became observant. Creating

iteration is conversation with self:

the clearer finding of our identity,

the better solving problems.

The critique is a collaboration work

that leads us consensus, unity, and

community in design.

Onward and UpwardIn this assignment, we got a set

of questions:

What makes it home rather than

mere shelter?

What spatial qualities promote

or undermine your notion of

home?

Where are the most enjoyable

places within your home and

what specifically contributes to

this feeling?

How does light qualities,

materials, surface finishes,

spatial relations and order

impact your notion of home?

Definition of Home, House, and Shelter

I started with finding the definition of Home, House, and Shelter. From our discussion, we

found out the “House” is somehow between “Home” and “Shelter”. The important difference

between Home and Shelter is that “Home” has connotation of memory, history and emotion but

“Shelter” has meaning of temporary, protection, and survival. There are physical approach to

the house and physiological approach to the house.

Onward and UpwardInspiration: Tezuka architects, box houses by Kazuhiko Namba

1. Three-dimensional minimum house

2. House open internally and externally

3. One-room house

4. Nature in the city

5. Standardization of the construction method (SE construction system)

6. Sustainable materials

7. Maximization of cost performance

8. Prototype of urban house

Physical approach to the house

building

-a case of box houses

by kazuhiko Namba

Onward and Upward

FOUR LAYERS OF ARCHITECTURE BY KAIKOSAKU SHA

LAYERS MODE PROGRAM TECHNOLOGY THEME OF

SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN

1ST layer Physical thing Material parts

Structural

construction

Production

Assembly

Reuse and recycling

Long-Lasting/Light weight

2nd layer

Energy-

controlling

devices

Environment

Energy

Electric machinery

Climate control

Energy conservation

High performance

3rd layer Social function Purpose

Building type

Planning

Organization

Family/ Community

Lifestyle/Urbanity

4th layer Symbol

Meaning

Form

Space

Representation

Criticism

Virtual reality

Ephermeralization

1. Functionalism/program-ism is a design concept that gives top priority to the 3rd

layer. 2. Technology-ism/structuralism is a design concept that gives top priority to the 1

st layer.

3. Modernism is a design concept that incorporates functionalism and technology-Ism. 4. Post-modernism/form-ism is a design concept that gives top priority to the 4

th layer.

5. The present sustainable design concept that gives top priority to the 2nd

layers. 6. However, properly speaking, sustainable design should involve all four layers.

One of approach of thinking about how to build an architecture by Kazuhiko Namba

Narrative writing

Structure + form + senses + emotion + energy flow = breathing

How I feel the world:

In the morning hazy view is front of me. I am reacting only

for the light. It seems like I am looking up the sky from

under the ocean. The sky is blue and transparent. It is

reflecting the light and twinkling. I am inflating and

compressing by breathing. I imagine that water is warm

and feels good. The motion is like jelly fish. It opens and

closes, opens and closes….

Before kids are waking up, I take a shower. The sun light

is falling down from the sky. I feel each drops of the warm

water. It vitalizes each cell of entire my body. I can taste

water. My internal world and external world starting get

merged for welcoming the morning.

Concept: The concept behind my installation work is the creation of

spaces that evoke the everyday gestures we ignore, like breathing;

memories we forgot, such as birthing; feeling we deny, like pain; and

thoughts we contradict, like love and hate. I am interesting in people’s

reactions and conversations when they encounter unexpected

environment loaded with perceptual stimuli.

For home, I expect spaces of integration of mind, body and

inspirations in everyday rituals as individuals and as family members.

Since we are such energy beings that we carry all kinds of flow at all

the time; we are constantly stimulated by visuals, smells, noises,

tastes, and touches and they create our emotions and lead us to do

actions. Sometimes the actions and emotions are overwhelming us

and we lose the balance. Then I do holding laundry, putting away

dishes and make a cup of green tea. The subtle fragrance of a cup of

tea makes me calm and gives me a chance to come back to myself. I

think these small everyday rituals develop our essence of being in the

dwelling. Dwelling is the place for energy flow and charging. Dwelling

itself breathing internally and externally by energy flow.

In among of everyday rituals, I would love to focus on dwelling that

breathes.

Bone structure

The importance of learning from the

born structure is that reveals the logic

behind the strucure.

Bone structure: Materialecology

Materialecology in design seeks to promote a synergetic approach

to form-finding using intergrated digital and physical processes.

Through simulation and analysis, material performance may be

evaluated and instrumentalized as a means for design generation.

The research shown here illustrates different facets of this approach

which views geometry, material and performance as equipotent

elements of the design process.

Materialecology undertakes research in advanced digital

applications for architectural practice and pursuits their contribution

to a design paradigm promoting generative design processes.

Curent research attempts to establish new forms of design

knowledge and new processes of practice at the interface of design,

computer science, structural engineering, biology, and ecology.

Through this exercise I finally found my true interest in architecture that is Materialecology by Neri Oxman.

Acording to her difinition:

Materialecology was founded in 2006 by Neri Oxman as an interdisciplinary research initiative that

undertakes design research in the intersection between architecture, engineering, computation, biology and

ecology.As such, this initiative is concerned with material organization and perfomance across all scales of

design thought and practice. Material is interpretd merely as any physical entity which corresponds

and reacts with its environment. As such, it seeks to promote and define a design research agenda

which is ecological in nature, in ideology and in material practice: it aims at embracing the evoling

elements of change in both (and indeed related) social constructs

and environmental descriptions of the ever changing built environment.

Dwelling that breathes: Inspiration I was always interested in these

generative compornent form and

idea. I would love to explore thses

inspirations to my project: Dwelling

that breathes.

Skin My objective for the membrane

development was to provide a

continuity of between skin and

structural frame.