experience of discovery | MutationMatter

Mountains of Mystery, Mountains of Form
By Rem / in Voyages beyond Time / June 3, 2014

(August 3, 2010) Somewhere on Alderson Mountain, Waterton Lakes Park, Canada. We started on the Carthew-Alderson Trial and went up the mountain but we ended up getting lost due to extremely poor visibility and headed back down again.
Mountains. Reclusive, exclusive and elusive. Their rawness and powerful scale have invoked stories and ritual of deities, legendary figures and spirits. For the modern man, mountains are often unconquered territory: the pinnacle achievement of having explored everything else without any (or very little) external aid. Forest, rivers, hills, fields, deserts; these are landscapes that are relatively easier to explore compared to the untamed wilderness of the mountain. Those of us who have traveled extensively, of course, know that this is not entirely true. But the grand vista or the obscured mystery of mountains has been romanticized for hundreds of years in the West, and thousands of years in China. Read More »
Precedent Criticism
By Rem / in thesis / September 27, 2009
How may I critique a work that I have never visited? It is difficult to imagine Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord as a whole as it envelops a former steel and coal mill of 500 acres. Peter Latz, principal of Latz + Partner, the firm that designed the park from 1990-2002, has reflected this in the past:
The park is not a park in the common sense, not easy to survey, not clearly arranged, not recognizable as a whole. According to its situation amidst chaotic agglomerations and infrastructure lines, it appears as a torn figure with numerous different aspects.” (Places 17.3, 7)
The designer intent for the park was to act as a stage for historical reflection -- that a grandfather could bring his grandchildren to the park and explain what all the machinery once accomplished. (Wikipedia) This purpose of memory is a core theme to the design. It suggests that the park, while preserving the past with these slowly decaying structures can act as a creche for new experiences. This is evident through the varied amount of recreational activities possible on the site -- scuba diving, rock climbing, event gathering/performing -- all of which takes into account the existing architecture and are not (physically) new constructions themselves.
The park takes into account this existing materiality -- concrete and steel and water -- and adds a layer of memory and plants. Latz's idea of greening between the existing structures was the basis for his proposal getting accepted. It was fiscally and culturally responsible. (Lubow NY Times, 3) The layer of memory that was added was a nightly light installation referencing the mill's 24 hour a day active past, and a layer that also intended to create individual environments throughout the park -- one that was "misty, one normal, one dry." (Lubow, 5)
I think this attempt of greening decaying structure is very successful as a whole -- but I lament the lack of small, intimate, light-filled/light-voided spaces. I understand that this park was created from the German idea of a "volkspark", that is, a park created for active recreation versus one created for quiet contemplation, but I find many of these exposed spaces incongruous with the idea of the memory. I think that spaces scaled to the individual makes that individual more acutely aware of either sudden (or subtle) shifts in material, acoustics and experience.
There are glimpses of these spaces, two of which I have supplied for this essay, but I somehow wish there could be more. I do not know how I would change these spaces; I just think that Latz's purposeful lack of vantage points (to encourage visitors to create new experiences on their own rather than a designer imposing these experiences on them) detracts from the design. Perhaps if these two spaces were merged together to form a network throughout the site would this idea of memory and new experience [of discovery] hold more true and be more applicable to my yet-to-be-determined thesis.
Acceptance and Framing
By Rem / in thesis / September 22, 2009
I think the terms I used in the pre-thesis booklet were conditions or conditional responses to an environment. I do not wish to abandon them but they need to be developed because I think they are parts of a larger inquiry of thought. I do not know this larger element is, but I think my interests in a site rest most strongly with the phenomenological -- the experience of a former, present and future self engulfed in the ephemeral qualities of light in a mysterious, yet familiar to memory, landscape. Materials, repetitive disposition (an object(s)' arrangement in space, by itself or shared by others) and qualities of presence (the quality of an object resting in space) act as catalysts for this phenomenological awareness. What interests me in this context is how to create a landscape familiar to someone who has never been there, and once he is acquainted with the site, that he would know where he is and know that he cannot be elsewhere.
There is no social agenda save for the encouragement of transcendent thought - to think beyond the needs and wants of daily living. The scale for this inquiry necessitates smaller spaces because it is reflective of the self. Smaller spaces create intimacy which create spaces for introspection of the self. That is not to say that these spaces cannot lie in a larger landscape, or are embedded or constructed over and connected to each other. Perhaps these are even spaces that are not permanent and only reach their ideal at a very specific time, as would a solar calendar construct have its use only at certain points during the year.
Framing
Topics list:
experience of [discovery]
This term would include adventures around the corner, awareness of grade, awareness of presence and moments of pause. It can include a discovery of something as minute as the light's shadow scrapping across a material to something more profound as a new understanding of one's relationship to the world.
former, present and future self: memory
This term includes linkage to memory, linkage to present and shares moments of pause (that are given when a memory is triggered). It includes one's own experiences and relational experiences that are triggered by the experience of discovery -- creating both new memories and linking to past memories.
engulfed in the ephemeral qualities of light: transcendent radiance
I suggested in a theory paper that abandoned and unnoticed objects engulfed in this light become noticeable with a different history of memory that the object may have once had. An example of this is the weathered wood of a floating dock thrown across a beach -- it's present configuration and aging suggest a different history of purpose than the purpose for which it was built.

mysterious, yet familiar to memory, landscape
John Berger's writing "On the banks of Sava" epitomizes this quality of knowing where one is because of certain qualities but whose location is assured through these qualities as being nowhere else. Some of this mysteriousness may be coming from these abandoned and unnoticed constructs in a landscape that are only noticed from certain qualities of light.
overgrowth
I had a thought that overgrowth -- or over development of a process -- can act as a testing ground for this 'mysterious, yet familiar to memory, landscape. Overgrowth may be synonymous with the urban jungle of Duisborg Nord, but I think it is not limited to organic entities. If one were to approach an overgrown landscape a thought may be that this landscape is prototypical of such landscapes. But if that landscape had remnants of human use -- abandoned and unnoticed constructs in a landscape -- our perception would change to curiosity. So I think that the memory of human occupation is an integral component of overgrowth, that this quality is (perhaps) only noticed when organic and industrial are juxtaposed.
designed abandonment
To heighten the experience of discovery in a mysterious, yet familiar to memory, landscape, it may be necessary to design for abandonment. Instead of reclaiming an industrial site that has fallen into disrepair from neglect, designed abandonment would challenge how to create an artifice that accelerates decay while simultaneously accelerating spontaneous, and adaptive, development.
Analyze a Precedent through Drawing
step by step… Precedents
By Rem / in thesis / September 5, 2009
This last section of the booklet I have viewed with the most trepidation. Everything else was comparatively easier in this booklet and I had worried -- still worry -- that I cannot find a precedent related to these issues that I have described earlier. I think part of this concern is the question of experience and insight -- my understanding of someone else's work can be very different from their own. I may take something out of that work which I think exists, but, it in fact does not exist. However, I would be remiss to not at least make an attempt:
Fountain Place and Miller Residence -- Dan Kiley
A designer who has been chided for his ecological monocultures -- but whose brazen attitude about them I admire. I think that the idea of a repetitive disposition is most evident in Kiley's Fountain Place (1985) and his Miller Residence (1955). His overall designs leave much to be desired, but his finite material palette works very well in the context in which his projects are sited. His work also makes ample use of groves; The National Gallery of Art has an overpowering grove of magnolia. (Kiley, 83) Its effect is similar to the one I envisioned for the cherry tree parking grove in the Ecology, Site and Design studio.
Landscape Park Duisburg Nord, Germany -- Latz + Partner
Landscape Park Duisburg Nord (via Latz + Partner)
The Landscape Park Duisburg Nord is perhaps the most well-known project of Latz + Partner, having been featured in a 2005 MOMA exhibition and numerous publications. All of my terms: awareness of presence, experience of discovery, moments of pause, repetitive disposition, adventures around the corner and even, to some extent, awareness of grade, are present in this landscape park. Read More »
step by step… Synthesis and Projection Forward
By Rem / in thesis / September 1, 2009
I have six concerns and one method of making that I think will continue to appear in my work. Two concerns began developing as an undergraduate in sculpture: awareness of presence and moments of pause. They may be a part of who I am; I've been attempting to explore these concepts in a related piece of writing. Adventures around the corner, awareness of grade and the experience of discovery are concerns that developed during the program at RISD. An iterative process, or repetitive disposition, first started appearing in college as well, and has developed to a strong undercurrent. The use of mass plantings and a repeated material palette are indicative of this process.
In my sculpture work, one example of this repetitive disposition is what I term a sculptural investigation. It was an assemblage of plasticine panels that recorded a particular process of making as a landscape. The panels were photographed and bound in an album which I titled: "System: Elevation".
Read More »
step by step… constructed landscapes studio
By Rem / in thesis / August 26, 2009
Constructed Landscapes - Fall 2008 - Emily Mueller De Celis and David T. De Celis
The studio objectives for this course were to integrate our emerging knowledge of...
- Perceptive site analysis
- Constructive mapping
- Innovative tectonics and systems
- Applicable theoretical issues
- Relevant cultural precedents
- Precise material investigation (both built and natural)
...into a cohesive design agenda.
The studio was split into two parts. In the first part we attempted to design a roofscape for the Central Square YMCA in Cambridge, MA. We understood that this roofscape would lead us into the second part, which was to design a multi-program urban park in the back of the building on a several acre parking lot. We first researched green roof precedents and then worked on the roofscape for 3-4 weeks. The rest of the semester was devoted to the urban park. The emphasis on framework and precedent allowed efficient familiarization with the site before we moved into a larger scale and program.
For both the YMCA roofscape and urban park I took the position that the site was a refuge of inter/personal discovery. I attempted to be consistent in this position throughout the studio. The terms that I started with from initial concepts carried through to the urban park and played an integral part in the program, despite the many revisions.
Beginning concepts
I started with the term "enlighten" to envision this idea of "refuge of inter/personal discovery." Eventually I came up with a thesis:
Enlightenment can be defined broadly as wisdom or understanding enabling clarity of perception. This enlightenment can range from a sudden, highly localized epiphany to a life-long journey. Therefore the experience of the roofscape necessitates multi-sensory experiences that are clarified through the use of moments of adventure around the corner.
It later evolved into: Comfort created by moments of pause, yet having enough energy for a sense of adventure around the corner. This is a diagrammed and defined below.
Conceptual Diagram of Thesis
I had first approached the program as "zonal entities." Each"zone" held a component of the program and there was little overlap. This is illustrated below:
Conceptual Zones - orange is adventure, green is comfort, yellow is moments of pause, and blue is enlightenment
I soon realized that thinking of the program in zones was very constrictive. We were required to design spaces for 1,2 and 10+ people on the roofscape. I could not design each space simply for "adventure" or "comfort" or "enlightenment." Furthermore, these were qualities of presence and not program. That is, a space created for adventure could be used for self-reflection; so I was doing no more than contradicting myself: Read More »
step by step… eco, site and design studio
By Rem / in thesis / August 19, 2009
Ecology, Site and Design - Spring 2008 - Scheri Fultineer and Khaki Martin
Studio objectives:
- To gain a broad understanding of the ecological factors active in the landscape
- To engage site analysis as a process that initiates a design response
- To develop design skills and methods
- To foster abilities in decision-making, team work, and presentation skills
More specifically, we sought to understand how ecological processes act as a 'generative base for design as well as the ways in which program can be used to reveal fundamental structures and processes of the site.'
Furthermore:
Studio exercises will entail an assessment of the dimensional measure, material qualities and phenomenological character of the spatial experiences of procession through and occupation of a site. We will begin with an analysis of a bio-mechanical process that we are all intimately familiar with - the experience of walking - in order to build our understanding, of the basic elements of the landscape such as a topography, exposure, view sheds, physical and visual boundaries, and thresholds.
This exercise will continue with the mapping and analysis of the ecological processes and cultural systems that have and continue to shape the site and its larger context. We will use the findings of these investigations to propose a constructed trajectory through the site that serves to shape and amplify the engagement of a visitor to specific aspects of the site's physical characteristics.
From this preliminary proposal we will proceed to develop a master plan for the site. This plan will include the introduction of a new architectural program for specific site-engaged activities, planting strategies that mediate the tension between the existing native plant communities on site, the remnant domestic plantings, and the proposed programmatic engagement with site vegetation, and finally, the creation of a site circulation system that provides opportunities for the desired experience of the site.
Looking back at my process, I approached the program through the use of a few bold interventions. I chose direct paths of trajectory that subtlety changed at specific view shed lookouts. I used a repetitive material palette consisting of both porous (the 98 cherry trees arranged in a grid surrounding a building above) and non-porous materials (the stone and zinc in the communal areas in center and retaining wall right bottom). However, I also used these materials for their spatial porosity. Though a cherry tree may hinder sight beyond only slightly, if that tree were multiplied, then certain viewsheds would only be visible at certain points. From one point, a visitor's viewing angle may be such that they see a dense thicket of cherry trees. And yet, a small distance further down may suddenly reveal a sweeping vista. Read More »