Space/
The generation of space may be considered a process activated either out of necessity, or for the sake of moving beyond
necessity towards an indeterminate quality. DeLanda’s argument in Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy would suggest that
the space is a product of populations, and that the space is generated out of a necessity to adequately support populations. In
contemporary architecture, this may be true, that the limit defining qualities are generated to properly address the current and
future needs of populations. This can be done in many ways, and is generally resulting in a clear and decisive boundary between
volumes. The boundary may be defined by doorways, changes in material, or permeability. Often times, when these boundaries are
blurred, the space becomes an extension of the architectural realm, less defined and yet allowing for greater affecting qualities.
Space, therefore, works between both the objective and the subjective. Its effect is immediately quantitative on our
senses, but qualitatively changes with time. We can understand that walls and ceilings define the limits of the space, that unseen
space beyond or outside is related only in that it is excluded from the interiority. As spaces move towards the exterior, the inclusive
space expands with the view, but only in that instance are distant physical objects related. Qualitatively, the space will bring about
fluctuations affecting logic over time, but with less permanence
than those quantitative affects. It is the quality of materiality
and light, both of which are dynamic in their presence within
space.
This analysis will further consider the quantitative and
qualitative aspects of space present in Steven Holl’s Kiasma
Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland. The three
intensive diagrams will consider the logic of light, the logic of
boundary, and the logic of mass, and how each of those may
govern the affecting qualities of the spatial experience. The
diagrams will further transform these logics in order to predict
a future condition in which the architectural space may become
more extreme in its quantitative and qualitative aspects.
Material Pallette/
Steven Holl’s Kiasma Museum
utilizes a range of materials,
from the mass of concrete
to the light curves of metal
panelling, to define the
boundaries of space.
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A common detail throughout the Kiasma Museum is for the admittance of daylight
through a high level skylight. The light bounces in off of the opaque white concrete walls, and
diffuses amongst the galleries. In analyzing this element, I began by creating a heightfield based
on brightness within the space. The images are placed in order of top, perspective, left, and
right. Images (1) through (4) illustrate the rises and drops in light levels which help to define
the qualities of space. As the light levels are transformed, I aimed to attain both a greater
consistency across the field in images (5) through (8), and extreme conditions in images (9)
through (12). The last set became the most polarizing affect, predicting a post apocalyptic
condition where the quality of the space becomes almost dungeon like, with a large penetrating
beam of light from above. This ultimately results in an equivalency throughout the space, it
being incredibly dark, but highlights and emphasizes focus on the penetration. The affect on the
inhabiting population would decrease density, and result in a space formally organized around
the singular rather than the multiple.
(1) (2)
(3)
(4)
(7)
(8)
(5) (6)
(9) (10)
(11) (12)
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Technique/
Informing architecture with technique allows it to attain a level of instrumental quality beyond that of the generic
space. Steven Holl’s Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, in Helsinki, Finland, will be subjected to such an analysis in
this document so as to identify qualities of the architecture through a repeatable process determined by a set of rules. This
analysis will be conducted through the use of sequential diagrams, where the individual steps work to illuminate facets
of the architecture which allow it to operate at an instrumental level. The three conditions which will be addressed are as
follows: The instrumental affects at the scale of the site, the operational aggregation of circulation through the spatial
volume, and the ability of major formal elements to create vectors, informing the permeation of the facade. These diagrams
incorporate three basic steps: Identifying the base drawing, highlighting and abstracting those elements which are integral
to the general concept of the architectural technique, and applying technique or populating those concepts with agents
which work to inform the desired result.
Floor Plans/
Referenced from Steven Holl’s book,
Urbanisms: Working with Doubt
(13) (14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
In addressing the Kiasma Museum’s main circulation, I identified
the use of focal points and the crossing of space from which the
building gets its name. In plan (13) it becomes evident there is a
desire to generate space with a twisting of boundaries, creating a pinch
point at the center. In diagramming this space, I first laid out a continuous
repeated pattern (15) similiar to that in plan, and then further
transformed it through a helical crossing of surface elements (16-17),
extending and repeating boundaries. The logic of the boundaries then
breaches into the bay (18), utilizing that volume Holl left otherwise
untouched. The space is extended to properly address the population of
water Holl initially recognized as being integral to the architecture, and a
defining quality of boundaries within the site.
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(19)
(20)
(21)
(22)
The exterior spaces of the Kiasma Museum are often
characterized by movement through the site. Image (19)
illustrates, in elevation the western facade of the building where
three major materials meet, and the pedestrian passes through
this intersection. By transforming the massing of this space, the
logic becomes one more of volume than linear paths of travel.
Massing generates space in a planar and cohesive organization
in (20), where walls, floors, ceilings and transparencies are all
clearly defined as spatial limitations. Images (21) and (22)
then separate these massing elements to communicate logic
of space in ways which offer the architecture clearly defined
means of use. In (21) the foreground is the permeable facade
while the background is the solid mass. In (22) the elements
were divided to illustrate the individual functions of the overhead
condition, the ground condition, and the wall condition.
Whether these illustrations may then communicate
future space is dependent on populations. Should a population
allow, or require such a transformation, the logic of mass is
flexible and permits a change in the quantitative and qualitative
aspects of space.