Incompiuto Siciliano
Image credit: lituzzu.dontexist.org
The studio will be organized
in two main exercises:
Firstly, a three week long Mapping
Exercise, ”Uncharted Cartographies”, to tahke place in the Jardins du
Luxembourg in Paris. The outcomes of this assignment will be a map as well as a
three-dimensional version of this map (see detailed brief below). During the
exercise, students will have a first attempt at working parametrically (with
grasshopper), working with mappings and drawing and produce one document with
the laser cutter. The exercise will be concluded in a small presentation.
The second exercise is the
main design project which is an investigation on the subject of the “Sicilian
Incomplete” developed as an architectural project located in the village of Giarre, more specifically on
the site of the Polo Stadium, incomplete and abandoned Athletic Sport
Facilities. The project will be initiated by a trip to Sicily. From then, the
work will occur during an additional 11 weeks. The project will be presented
twice, once as a midterm crit and as a jury at the end of the semester. The extended
brief for the project will be handed in before the studio trip.
For both exercises, Brice Maurin
will provide occasional support in grasshopper. However, today, the best way to
learn software is online. He will therefore be available for specific question,
but do not expect him to give you classes. The course requires you to be
proactive and to find many of the answer yourselves, starting from simple
online tutorials.
The studio will run on
Fridays and Saturdays and will sometimes occur in the form of meetings,
collective work sessions or tutorials. Students are required to keep these days
free for the course with the potential exception of overlapping classes.
All the dates and
requirements of the studio will be indicated in a Google Calendar which will be communicated to you. Please do have a
look often. Tutorial times, juries, trips… will be specified and listed there.
The briefs will be shared
with you as Google Docs.
The deliverables/documents
will often be clearly specified. They are to be followed very rigorously. This
applies to scales, drawing format, materials and technologies… You will
sometimes be asked to submit document via email. The evaluation of your work
will be partially based on these documents and the delivery on time.
The portfolio is an important
part of the studio. While the work evolves during the projects, documents will
be produced and it is important to keep them recorded. The format of the portfolio is A1 and will consist mainly
of drawings, vectorial and black and white. These drawings will be produced
constantly through the semester and not at the end. Since you might be working
several weeks on the same drawing, you are encouraged to keep the different
versions. Your drawings will be always be printed from a pdf file, the
advantage of this technique is that you can reprint anytime and send the
information by email or publish on the web… It is advisable to be rigorous and
clear with the naming of these files since you might end up with many drawings
at the end of the Semester.
Although the studio will be
run in French, most of the crits/juries will be done in English. The official
language for the drawings and all documents produced is English.
Soerabaja Djokjakarta, Java railroad line 1937
Brief - Exercise 1: “Uncharted
Cartography”
The main objective of this
three-week long cartography exercise is the production of graphical information
or maps which feature characteristic of the chosen site, the Jardins du
Luxembourg. The assignment is both an exercise in the registration of selected
information and construction of the form under which it might be represented.
Geographical maps normally
feature metric information, topographical values, political borders… Climate
charts communicate values related to the environment, for instance wind
represented by vectors with a direction and an intensity or temperatures as
zones depicting temperatures and gradient conditions in between.
Although cartography as a
discipline requires invention when it comes to the graphical codes used to
represent the registered information, they are precise and unquestionably
thorough in displaying the recorded data.
The exercise is to take place
in the Jardins du Luxembourg, inside the area defined in the drawing which will
be handed out to you. You are asked to choose, during your visit of the park,
one or more subject that characterize the place in your eyes or you feel might
be interesting to focus on. The subject should be alien to the information
normally featured on maps (height levels, borders, paths, trees…). It could be
related to movement of people, the concentration of pieces of rubbish on the
floor, pieces of unwanted vegetation, dog excrements, rays of light or shadows…
You might want to consider time in your mappings… The condition is that the
information is to be registered in a quantitative manner: the movement of a
person could therefore be recorded as it’s steps (amount, direction, size…) and
not, for instance, intuitively skecthed. You will have to invent your own way
on how to record the information. The technique that you use to register the
information is open, but should not be merely photographic. If your subject includes time, you might need
to spend several hours on the site or maybe even days!
The outcome of the exercise
is a three dimensional map.
We will first work on the
production of an A1 black and white vectorial planar drawing printed on white
paper from a pdf file, in which working with the thickness of the line and it’s
dashing will be your only drawing attributes.
This drawing will then be
manipulated to use verticality to add layers of information. The technology
used for this will the laser cutter which will cut or engrave your map in order
to fold, perforate, overlay… the paper.
The translation of the
information from the context to the paper will be done digitally using Rhino
and Grasshopper following techniques of
drawing that are so-called parametric.
This topic will be discussed in details in the class and examples will be
shown.
Every student will need to
produce his map using grasshopper. Support will be provided. This means that
the drawing will have to contain certain logics which will have to identify and
define a very simple parametric definition to enable its representation.
Brice Maurin will give an
introductory class in grasshopper this week to give some examples, and another
couple of sessions to help you with your project.
AA Singapore Visiting School 2012.
To reflect on the work,
students are encouraged to consult the references listed below.
Recommended readings and
references:
1.
On cartography
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Edward Tufte, Graphic Press, 2004.
Envisioning information, Edward Tufte, Graphic Press, 2003
Cartographies of Time, A History of the Timeline, Rosenberg and Grafton, Princeton
Architectural Press, 1966.
2.
On drawing
Grid Index,
Carsten Nicolai, Gestalten Berlin, 2009.
Cyclo.id Vol1, Ryoji
Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai, Gestalten Berlin, 2011.
Calendar:
Week 1 – Studio Kick-Off – “Unchartered Cartography”
03/09 – 08/09
Friday: General Meeting and beginning of the three week long
Cartography Study.
Saturday: Tutorials in groups of 5 on the Cartography Study.
Every student should have a clear idea of the subject or parametres that they
wish to map and have figured out how to record the information.
Each student will
present
-
An A4 printed
photograph, which features the subject of their mapping.
-
One or several
sketches featuring the representation
of the information registered.
-
A graphic proof
(skectch, iphone app…) of the recording of the information in the Jardin du
Luxembourg.
-
Optionally bring an
existing map to be shown and discussed.
Week 2 – “Unchartered Cartography” – Week 2
10/09 – 15/09
Date to be announced: Grasshopper work session with Brice. Introduction on
Grashopper.
Date to be announced: Grasshopper individual tutorials on student’s project.
Every student should have an idea/proposal on how to represent the data
recorded on site, this proposal will be discussed with Brice. At the end of the
day, every student will send a screenshot of their “definition” and model to
Edouard with Constance and Brice in copy.
Friday: Tutorials with Edouard in groups of five. Every
student will bring their printed drawing/map printed in A1, the scale is
optional but should fit within the area given.
Saturday: Tutorials in groups of 5. This tutorial will be used
to discuss the next step which is the operation which will enable the maps to
become three dimensional and a strategy on the use of the laser cutter.
Week 3 – “Unchartered Cartography” – Week 3
17/09 – 22/09
Tuesday: Grasshopper work session with Brice. Continuation of
the development of the parametric definition, the drawing/map and the laser
cutting patterns.
Friday: Tutorials in groups of 3. Students will show the
latest version of their map both as a printed A1 and as a three-dimensional
laser cut assembly.
Saturday: Presentation/jury and introduction to next
phase.
Week 4 – Studio Trip
24/09 – 29/09
Studio trip to Giarre.
Exact dates will be set in a common agreement between students and teachers.
The trip will be the
occasion to get to know Giarre, the “capital” of the Sicilian Incomplete but
also to make a rigorous site analysis under the form of mappings as learned in the
first exercise. It is the responsibility of every student to prepare the tasks
he will fulfil during the trip, this can also be discussed with teachers
before.
Hand In of the brief
for the rest of the semester.
Week 5 – Design Project Week 1
01/10 – 06/10
Week 6 - Design Project Week 2
08/10 – 13/10
Week 7 - Design Project Week 3
15/10 – 20/10
Week 8 - Design Project Week 4
22/10 – 27/10
Saturday: Mid Term Crit
Week 9 - Design Project Week 5
29/10 – 03/11
Week 10 - Design Project Week 6
05/11 – 10/11
Week 11 - Design Project Week 7
12/11 – 17/11
Week 12 - Design Project Week 8
19/11 – 24/11
Week 13 - Design Project Week 9
26/11 – 01/12
Week 14 - Design Project Week 10
03/12 – 08/12
Week 15 - Design Project Week 11
10/12 – 15/12
Final Jury
Post Studio
17/12 – 22/12
Exposition
18/12 - Nuit Spéciale
Hivers
