20070423

form and function follows climate or*



philippe rahm
is an architect [and an artist] working at lausanne and paris. he has been partner with jean-gilles décosterd into the architects office “décosterd & rahm, associés” since 2004. he has participating in a number of exhibitions in the world. currenly he is exhibiting at the extension gallery at chicago.
although i have not seen the installation yet, i watched his lecture ["architecture as a constructed meteorology"] and i was very impressed.
here i present the archimedes houses and mollier houses which could make his process and interest quite clear.
both of them are very similar in a way.


archimedes houses / form follows air:
the design of the house is based on the idea that the human body needs different temperatures in different spaces, depending on either moving, standing or being naked. mot all the rooms should be at 21º C necessarily.
for example:

types of buildings and rooms T º C

living rooms 20
bedrooms 16 to 18
bedrooms that may also be used as living rooms 20
bathrooms 22
kitchens 18 to 20
hallways, toilet 15 to 18
staircases 12
laundry room 12
drying room 12

the fact that warm air is moving upwards and the cold air down transforms the above data to a vertical diagram that determines the final design.
so the bathroom is at the top of this house, followed by the kitchen and living room and bedrooms etc. in this way we are not losing energy.

unfortunately the renderings found at the website are only from the interior of the building. the image of the exterior shown at the lecture was a direct translation of the section diagram.



mollier houses/form follows water:

in this vacation house next to a lake in france, the form of the house is generated by the gradation of humidity from dry to wet.
based on studies like this:
"a sleeping person emits around 40 grams of water vapor per hour [bedroom] while he produces up to 150 grams per hour when active [living room]. the use of a bathroom gives off up to 800 grams in 20 minutes and use of a kitchen, 1500 grams per hour"
the plan diagram of the house becomes like this:

and the section like this:

so this time, from nature[lake], to living room [pool], to kitchen+bathroom, to room and to sauna.

based on the fact that the room related to a function is a relatively new invention, he makes the hypothesis for this new typology based not on the function, but on climatic benefits.

i have to say i was impressed by the holistic approach of the architect and artist on microgeography. very jealous._

*architecture as a constructed meteorology or
invisible parameters for design script

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20070422

and 2

"genius was 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration" by thomas a. edison [1847-1931].


dedicated to ar_lav

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1

"hell, there are no rules here-we're trying to accomplish something"
by thomas a. edison [1847-1931].

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about hands


click here to enjoy

*spotted by sophie

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smile or*



inspired by geoff manaugh's interview of mark wigley on agitation issue of volume by archis, i looked at mark wigley's towards turbulence text and i found the below interesting thought:

"Architects rarely smile in photographs. It might be the only profession, other than that of the undertaker in which smile is banned...
...The face of the architect, like that of the building, is that which begins, when agitation stops. The architects lips have to be sealed. The profession has to make sure that it never exposes even a hint of its teeth...
...The architect's smile, face and building must conspire against turbulence...
...It is time to admit turbulence into the very core of the building, to the story about the building, and to the image of person telling it...
...Its time of the architect and the building to unseal their lips. Time for an architecture with teeth. Time for a storm."

in the above photo some people can recognize rem koolhaas, second from the left, from the time he was young, making movies and perhaps did not smile so much.
i felt kind of relieved being myself serious all the time and i really wanted to send it to my mom, but then i found [unfortunately] these to prove me wrong:



by the way, check the nurse movie [1965], if you haven't watched yet.click here
* agitating through smiling

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20070420

floorescent




the feeling of rudolf stingel's orange carpet in mca reminded me the sky blue vitrotil flooring at lina bo bardi's glass house.
images of the house to be blogged soon.

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20070419

from mca




in his comment on my previous post ggia confused me... so i put the photos without text [like i always do].

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20070416

geography=war, 1991








by alfredo jaar, at mca

* FYI:
Geography = War, 1991

Duratrans, light boxes, fifty-five-gallon metal barrels, and water
Dimensions variable


Jaar’s photographic installation refers to an incident that took place in Koko, Nigeria in 1987 and 1988. During that period, five Italian tankers carrying toxic waste arrived in this port city. A farmer, not aware of the materials contained within and the risks they posed, agreed to store the barrels for $100 a month. Although marked with the international toxic hazard symbol of a skull and crossbones, some of the barrels were emptied by residents of the area; others exploded in the heat, their contents seeping into the water system. As a result, people suffered from chemical burns and contaminated food.

Jaar’s work consists of fifty-five-gallon barrels filled with water, over which are suspended light boxes with photographs of the citizens of Koko. The photographs are seen by viewing the reflections in the water-filled barrels. As the viewer peers into the barrels to see the photographs, he or she also sees his or her own reflection. Jaar seems to be asking each of us to confront our own role in societal injustices. The light boxes are like those used for advertisements in hotels, train stations, and airports. Usually, such displays advertise goods to be consumed; here, they present people living in the direst circumstances. Jaar deploys such reversals to make the viewer aware of his or her own position as a citizen of the world. Jaar has stated:

Africa and Latin America are rapidly becoming the dumping grounds for millions of tons of toxic industrial waste from the so-called “developed” countries. . . . Some of the world’s poorest nations have been targeted as potential dumpsites for US and European waste. . . Forced to choose between poison and poverty, some are choosing the poison, which will bring them “incomes” sometimes larger than their annual gross national product. . . . My dilemma as an artist is how to make art out of information that most of us would rather ignore.

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to be eaten at...






...boston

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20070415

end of...



...filming, artificial flash/ daylight towards my window and sleep.

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20070412

ica's media::








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ica's steps::



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ica's interior::





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ica's deets::






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ica's exterior::











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