2000.04.06 14:12
ironically, I never mentioned skin
Now skipping millions of years on the evolutionary scale, I see this soft/hard duality as the beginning of two sexes as well. Contrary to common perceptions, it is the female that is hard and the male that is soft. In simple undeniable terms it is woman that enables embryonic development within her own body -- woman's bodies themselves are a hard protective shells (only women corporeally possess and facilitates the human egg that in turn allows fetal development). Men, on the other hand, very much do not have that "built-in" protectiveness, hence men make great displays about forever being on the defensive, and indeed it is almost exclusively men that have continually created our planet's foremost industry, if only to create that protective shell that their sex was not born with -- the age old military apparatus (shields , armour, war ships, submarines, tanks, stealth bomber, etc. are all "man"-made protective shells).
So what then is architecture? Is it a hard, 'simple', 'natural' protective shell that engenders the continuation of life? Or is it a soft formlessness forever (re-)designing an applied shell it doesn't naturally have?
2000.04.09
model building as reenactment
...computer model building of unexecuted architectural designs have been virtual reenactments. ...thinking about the first image of Quondam (the NRWF interior with perspectives on the wall), and I can now reenact that particular reenactment drawing, with references to the Stirling reenactments of Schinkel, Corbu, etc. ...do my own "reenactments" using the various models data at my own (design) discretion.
2000.04.20
almost free (again)
I'm thinking that it might just be that I do whatever I want on whatever day I want to do it, and as to structure, I might just develop a file system naming pages that will always be there in name, however the content will change (this will eliminate broken and/or non-existent links). I should come up with a large set of directories, such as: chronosomatics, reenactionary, ichnographiam, ottopia, collection, otherwise-eyes, solarize, innuendo, vapor, acropolis, piranesian-daze, scale, theory, imagination, hyper, almost, lauf-vague-s, casa-vague-s, subcontinental, synopsis, not-there, pieces, seroux, metabolic, hybrid, plans, elevations, sections, details, paradigms, exedra, helena-augusta, enfilade, hypostyle, ramp, porticus, denkmal, sagacity, skin, intention, ludens, zeitgeist, ausland, locale, lacunae, palimpsest, visitation, remove, interpolation, augury, datum.
2000.04.23
lots of work to do
I'm also not sure whether the present list of directories is the final list yet. There are some items, such as elevation, section, durchschnitt, porticus, plan, which are interesting, but not very evocative of long term development, likewise I'm not certain about lauf-vague-s or casa-vague-s. I prefer almost, infrastructure, annexation, facade, trend?, physiology?, morphology?, iconoclasm?, infringement, nimiety.
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2000.05.06
ottopia, etc.
Begin composing ottopia with the houses for Otto distributed upon a collage of mesh surfaces; from there I will begin the design process, namely the modeling of the Otto houses. Given the strange terrain, I'm hoping that the house designs readily develop in schizophrenic ways, plus "otherwise" architectural ways. I'm already envisioning a use of mesh surfaces for other design features such as roofs and additional landscapes.
I suppose the greatest challange will be to actually design a schizophrenic environment. Perhaps if I try to soley rely on how I interpret Otto's "world" and his mind both via his writing. For starters, lots of repetition and places vast distances apart come to mind (and here I'm now wondering how to fill the gaps). In any case, the main thing is to start composing the house plans within a mesh collage. The work for this will require a wirefaming of the meshes and a grid by grid planer application (scaling and rotating) of the plans. At this point I'm not at all sure whether a Piranesian (a la Campo Marzio) Ichnographia narrative will become part of Ottopia's plan.
Along the same lines as above, I thought of introducing mesh surfaces among pieces (sections) of the Philadelphia model, and thereafter redesigning a new metropolis. Just now I thought that this Philadelphia manipulation could be part of Ottopia, I now see that Ottopia can be any number of built environment landscapes, and not just a "meshland," although I'm sure mesh will play a large role in the overall design.
2000.05.09
ideas
A new (infringement) design of Strasbourg: the columns are fattened and some are eliminated altogether; the box is raised as high as the roof bottom; level 4 becomes the open air roof; the roof "enclosure" becomes the giant auditorium raised by the forest of columns. This idea came out of a further speculation of Strasbourg via Koolhaas and VPRO.
2000.05.13
OTHERWISE EYES - continued work
facading -- I thought of a great subject for facading and that is to begin designing buildings where the main facades are a flattened version of oblique facades already within Quondam ‘s collection. There upon the profile of the facades will be extruded.
There are many, many variations and developments that this process will take, eg, mesh extruding one profile into another; bending/folding the facades (vertically); applying new openings to the flat facades; create buildings with a different oblique facade on each side; use the "skin" elevations as flat facades.
plan -- so far I'm thinking of just displaying plans that I make up via collage and perspective.
2000.05.14
just remebered
...regarding a z-scale revision of Stirling/Wilford's UNEP/Nairobi design with drawings added to the elevations of the boxes, plus whatever manipulations I think of, especially with regard to mesh surfaces.
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2000.05.16
ideas not to forget
Along with my Laguna and the Brotherly Love Go-Go Home Museum, I should also begin applying my drawings on elevation ideas, eg, the infringement complex ideas that I never took into development. Plus there are the multiple buildings ideas I've had, i.e., staggered Savoys, and the easy potential of adding patterns to any and all surfaces.
There is also the new idea of rotate-extruding building sections; I was particularly thinking of extruding the Firminy sections, but actually the sections can be from any building (like Hurva). A building composed of a number of various extruded sections would be extremely innovative.
2000.06.24
The Architecture of Being [FOG]
architecture projects:
Go Go Home museum - distorted but planer shapes collaged and the planes have mesh perspectives applied; I can then extrude-rotate any portions of the elevation mesh, thus creating further (novel?) architectural deformaties.
World Trade Center NY tower addition.
low income infill housing - Francisville site.
Independence Mall.
Altes Museum Hyper Mural.
pedimental sculpture designs for the PMA.
an Art School for Girard College.
house for a couple encrytomology experts -- very rich.
suburban sprawl master plan (?)
Casino Collagio, Las Vegas.
Wavelength Casino and Hotel, Altantic City.
Beverly Hill's mansion (?) -- faux-faux?
2000.07.17 15:01
Re: 3 things architecture (websites) should do
I'm interested in provideing a place for content, especially content that can't be gotten anywhere else. The look is incidental, and changes at my discretion.
2000.07.21
cad play -- Quondam Ludi
After my initial setup and play with the "Bilbao Affect" last night, which almost immediately demonstrated promicing and playful results, I then thought of packaging a set of DXF data so that others can "play" at the same design game. It didn't take long for me to realize that such a package also carries tremendous educational potential, plus the ability for me to produce many other such dxf data packages, such as hyper mural, kahn city hall, chandigarh?, media?, paki?, danteum?.
My thinking is to offer a number of small packages that will cost $15.00 ar Quondam or 9.99 at ebay. The other benefit is that the data can (and will) be distributed online via zipped dxf files online.
Another game/ludi will be "the promenade architecturale formula" where the various parts of the story are available in 3d; the piees will include parts of strasbourg, savoye, monzie, cologne, danteum, altes museum, triumphal way?, mesh surfaces (box). The example I'll use for online presentation is a redesigned Strasbourg box with meshed top and bottom (relationally rotated 90 degrees to each other). I also wonder what shapw would develop if I rotated the top surface 45 degrees relative to the bottom surface.
I'm pretty sure the "games" will go by the name "Quondam Ludi". I'd like to think up several more packages to offer, and it seems to be a matter of going through the collection and applying interesting themes. The collection is vast, so there should be plenty of games to package: infringement complex; kit of parts; maison millenium; hotel collagio; ideal city (billboard facading?) collision - models already distorted; hybrids like hurva-strasbourg-dusseldorf.
It appears that I may find the most opportunities within the hybrid building category where I will compose the hybrids and then simply sell the model data; there will be no interactive theme, however, the hybrids do become true manifestations of the infinite collection, which may be a separte theme from ludi. I'm hoping more ideas come to the surface as I develop the games further.
2000.07.23
ichnographia
I've decided to begin "redrawing" the rest of the ichnographiam by my own design. I first envisioned a slapdash design for the theater of Pompey, and then I quickly realized that all the plans that are left to be redrawn can be also redesigned (just as Piranesi redesigned; another reenactment), while I adhere only to the labels and locations Piranesi uses. Of course, the new plans will be my own crazy designs, yet I will have all the Campo Marzio research data to use as inspiration, thus there are a great many reenactments to be performed. (I just thought that I could prpbably think of several reenactment games vis-a-vis the ichnographia and/or cad models; in general, this new idea reflects that I will do best if I just look for inspiration within my own collection and notes.)
I'm realizing that there can be many reenactments of the redrawing, and ultimately all I really have to consider is that again the infinite collection thereby is manifested. For starters, I will orient the ichnographia to true north and I will orient the Philadelphia plan to true north as well. Then I will overlay the two plans with Hadrian's tomb and Logan circle as the registration point. From there I will begin considering the implications of both/either plans in 2D and 3D. Right now all I have to do is start.
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2000.07.23
a former museum of architecture
The more it sinks in, the more profound the idea of having a former museum of architecture becomes. Not only will I have created the first virtual museum of architecture, essentially an un-building about un-buildings, but I will now be the first architect to undo an un-building. Ironically, it is in the undoing of Quondam as a virtual museum of architecture that the realness of Quondam's infinite collection will truly manifest. Quondam's collection is indeed infintie because it is capable of continually "breeding" more collection material.
The whole concept of creating and working in a former virtual museum of arhitecture is an entirely new architectural paradigm; it is taking the notion of un-building to the next step (and doing it before anyone else is doing it). Finally, Quondam is truly liberated from all restraints and obligations. It simply is now at the point where I no longer have to contend with any requirements or protocol, and the addition of alter-egos further perpetuates the un-building experience.
2000.08.02
Quondam - a [virtual] place in a architectural history
I now want Quondam to be "a [virtual] place in architectural history." I thought of this today while working out, and my motivation at the time was to conceptualize a new "identity" for Quondam. Having left behind the virtual museum and not yet convinced that a "former museum of architecture" is where I want Quondam to go, I set to thinking what Quondam could be as a place where my own design work becomes the focus--I'm thinking of Quondam becoming the venue for display of my own design work and ideas. I thought that the virtual handle no longer applies because Quondam is a real place now, and thus I began to wonder what kind of place should Quondam be? I thought that I want Quondam to be(come) a part of architectural history (like my ultimate overall goal), and then it was a quick step to thinking of Quondam as a [virtual] place in architectural history.
I really like the notion of Quondam being a [virtual] place in architectural history because it is both real and virtual, precisely "quondam". I'm hoping that this is a completely original idea, one that no one else is thinking of right now. The centerpiece of this "place in architectural history" is the Ichnographia Quondam, literally Quondam's large plan. It is within the IQ that my designs will develop and reside. (I just thought to usurp the Encyclopedia Ichnographica format/content with the Encyclopedia IQ, a kind of everything you wanted to know about Quondam but didn't know to ask.)
I now feel the need to find some inspirational background for a "place in architectural history" and I wonder if there is anything in A Thousand Plateaus, or whether, when it comes down to it, the real inspiration will come from chronosomatics (and my own theories in general).
What I like most about this new focus/handle for Quondam is that a whole new program and agenda is now up for development. The virtual museum is no longer the dominant theme, nor is museum the program. What has to be designed now is a place in architectural history. Quondam has already made contributions to architectural history, e.g., the promenade architectural formula, my Campo Marzio analysis and discoveries, the architecture of St. Helena, chronosomatics, museumpeace, and now perhaps a new historicism (such as a chronosomatic historicism). I also like that Quondam can now embrace architectural history from a completely fresh perspective, i.e., from a place within architectural history itself, or, more precisely, from a place within the human body. (It just occurred to me that if I am within a slice that of a developing fetus, then that means that I am within the female body by default. This is something I haven't thought of before.)
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