Design Report Process, Methodology, and Coclusions p5Bibliography pNotes Statement of Originality p Illustrations pAppendix Tutorial Slides pProject M.Arch (Conversion) uses the Stage 5 Thesis project – The Sanctuary in the City, placed in Madrid as a device for further research and investigation on the architectural philosophies used in project manifestation. The Sanctuary in the city proposes a Gallery, Library and Meditation spaces located within the heart of Madrid, at a point where two distinct areas – the Lavapies and Embajadores districts meet each other. The Thesis aimed to explore the multi-cultural district and use narrative through the built environments as a tool for ‘meditation’ and a multi-cultural meeting place. The basic move to achieve this at both urban and experimental level was to create a place where residents could not only gather but also to create a space for those present people who strive for their internal place. In the scale of the city I intended to create an appropriate structure which fits in with the surroundings with all the cities voids, blocks and the pedestrian paths when you see it from the bird’s eye perspective – while the internal experience has created a journey through the landscape of the building.
The Thesis of the Dip.Arch became a response to the poetic, urban and social aspects. Expanding the project during the course of M.Arch created an opportunity to focus and reflect on the designed Sanctuary. The challenge appeared to be going beyond the outcome of a visual design process. Through objective consideration of experiences in the proposed project and by entering the user’s world, to explain the architectural experience of the Sanctuary and to understand the wider philosophy of the material used in the final project. Therefore, another challenge of the project was to develop a method that will enable this critical analysis which came to be a personal reflective study.
“Buildings are appropriated in a two fold matter: by use and by perception or rather by touch and sight…
On the tactile side, there is no counterpart to contemplation on the optical side. Tactile appropriation is accomplished not so much by attention as by habit. As regards architecture, habit determines to a large extent even optical reception. The latter, too, occurs much less through rapt attention than by noticing the object in an incidental fashion.
This mode of appropriation, developed with reference to architecture, in certain circumstances acquires canonical value.”Walter Benjamin suggested that we can not contemplate art and architecture only visually. This contemplation, which leads to the creation of habits of tactile empirical cognition, allows us to appreciate and gain greater experience of architecture. This tactile knowledge is, however, difficult to obtain by viewing photographs, because it is mainly a visual object. During this project, my objective was to analyze the photographic image beyond the passive representation of space and examining user experience and a perceptual point of view by bringing new understanding into the conceptual response of the project in the earliest stages of it and in detail.
Through creating material sample and material -texture, tactile analysis, a transfer tool was created that allowed me to view the space objectively, and their accuracy will be assessed in my own and other projects. This would allow a deeper understanding of how I acted as a designer, and also enabled me to approach future design projects with a clearer response. Project of the Sanctuary had stated certain spatial design principles to create a successful atmosphere in the spiritual building. Play of natural light and simple materials together with the creation of retreat makes the building and spaces in it organized comfortably for users. The initial research aimed to gain information on development of churches, sanctuaries and other spiritual, intimate spaces, as an example of a design of this type of buidling. The conclusion was that these buildings have not changed drastically, their main atmospheric manner over the time. However, their form and material are usually changed from religious, philosophical and functional purposes. To make my research more objective I decided to narrow my reseach to one of the case studies and concentrate on the materials and textures used on the Brion Cemetery designed by Carlo Scarpa in order to extract essential ideas and architectural philosophies useful for further research and improvement of my own designing process.
In order to familiarize more closely with the Thesis project especially tactility of the Sanctuary. Photogrphy allows the original to get to the beholder halfway. For the experience of architecture when inseparable from its context and materiality, can be problematic.
“Architectural histories often discuss the building as an object of artistic contemplation and imply that this is the familiar experience of the building. The photograph acts as the mediator between the writer and the reader, who is encouraged to assume that the experience of the photograph is the same as the experience of the building. The object of architectural discussion is often the photograph, not the building, because the former, not the latter, most closely fulfils the desires and expectations of the architect and the architectural historian for an object of artistic contemplation.” Presented as the case study Brion Cemetry and the Thesis Project are of different programmes but both share crucial strictly designed internal environment. In both projects visitors path is essential in which user can experience the building and find their internal peace and space. To focus on particular elements and look beyond the image of the Brion Cemetry.
I pointed ‘the journey’ leading through the landscape and carefully chosen some characteristic indicators – ‘change of environment’, ‘light to dark’ or ‘change of direction’ implied by materials and textures. This allows to test the users experience and make a judgement on how Scarpa has resolved the architecture of the Brion Cemetry in case of conceptual themes and issues with the application as well as the success, aesthically and in informative manner. Examined building and method to be tested with the composition of the solutions of The Sanctuary Project. To use of Carlo Scarpa’s Brion Cemetry as the case study after early research became cerainly the most accurate thanks to all his detail process, the complexity of the work and similarity of used materials. Thanks to the set of photographs it was possible to understand how the various components were combined together to create organized interior.
Inversitgation into the Brion Cemetry started with carefull reading of the plans to learn how visitor can explore the building. The sections made it possible to uderstand organization and form of various surfaces of the whole stucture. In the next step analyses of the photographs were made where it became clear that the building to be examined in a way perceived by user’s perception. To achieve this I focused on visual analysis to look into similarities between the projects; Presence of light on the surfaces and how it reflects on textures, how the shadows increase plasticity of the space. Therefore, a visually oriented approach is limited by access to photography, leading to the study of how the building environment can be visually examined from a visitors perspective.
As a result of visual analysis the
