Lec 8 MIT 4.125 Architecture Studio Building in Landscape

PROFESSOR: The major component of a relationship of a faculty to a student is the best side critique, where you sit down with a student, the student explains where they are in the process, a drawing or a model. And you make comments. And it's a very fascinating process because you're very quickly understanding what the student is trying to do. And you have to select what criticism you can give that's going to be helpful for the next step. It happens very quickly. But it's an essential one-on-one process between myself and the students, guiding the work through the semester. Perhaps during the semester, there are hundreds of desk-side crits that take place. Often in this class, there's 13 people. I will try to see 13 people in one afternoon and sometimes once or twice a week. So by the end of the semester the student has received maybe 20 25 desk-side crits. So today you're seeing one of those. STUDENT: So last time I talked with you, I had this model in that spot. And I had the idea of creating a wall, but making penetrations within it. And what I started to do was go from a very square form or orthogonal form to creating more nicer shapes and just creating a stepping here for example. We also discussed the idea of an alleyway here. And the trees that are on the site right now are the ones that I put up to figure out whether I want to cut down a tree or not or how I can work with the trees. And you know me pretty well by now. And you know that I don't want to cut down trees. So I'm working to preserve them. And in this case, I cut into it a little bit. And instead of having an alleyway, I just I decided that I'd have a secret garden in the back here and then create a balcony in there. So there'd be a balcony here from the second floor. And out here would be a secret garden kind of thing. And this idea of having a arcade would be present here as well. PROFESSOR: Would be here also. STUDENT: Here too. [INAUDIBLE] And I was working with that idea and seeing how it can just give you the space maybe. And so when one of the ideas of this model here that Jake suggested to me was the idea of a footbridge just crossing that. And since I'm working with elderly, I think it would be very nice to have a footbridge here so that they won't have to go all the way down and then getting another elevator or take another ramp up. They can just cut across here. And since I'm thinking of having a screen here or a theater space out here for outdoors, I could have people lining up here and looking in there. Or having screenings of films and things like that, this would be another seating area. And we could have a speaker system or something fixed up there. So right now, I feel I feel set on how I'm doing. Something actually, a minor detail that was suggested to me, simply from the shapes that I had, was having a lower window here. And since this is going to be my more private space, private building versus the and quieter building, versus a louder more social space here, I like the idea of having those windows be right at the very bottom in that level. PROFESSOR: Which means that this is a two-story space? STUDENT: That would be one story. PROFESSOR: But with light's going down in below? STUDENT: Yeah. PROFESSOR: So inside this is a space? STUDENT: There will be, yeah. I imagine that being either where the infants would be in my daycare center or just a place where people can go and sleep. Children, elderly can sleep. And I don't know. It's just a minor touch, but just the shape that I had from that cardboard. Because they didn't match, I just put it in. And I realized that it suggested something to me. PROFESSOR: But the point is there would be a slot of light behind that. Or are you just getting light into this level? STUDENT: Yeah, the only light will be coming, natural light will be coming soon from the floor. That was a minor detail. But in terms of I don't know penetrating this space, I decided I would probably include this tree into the actual building. I think people from the street level, this being your street, part of it was the tourist going that way. I like the way that it's taking this out a little bit invited people in here and showed them the way I've had to enter this building, including the tree. And here, I have the same concept, that I could include this tree, the trees. Before Tuesday, I hadn't put the trees in. And I just plunked all my objects here. But once that I put the trees, I started thinking, well, maybe I could do something like that. And I realized that I would just lose the whole idea I had of relating to the street and having that right angle right there. So I see that the only solution for those shoes would be to just include them in the building. One of my ideas is to create a patio area. And that one, that would be a patio area for eating and things like that. And you mentioned to me creating a secret garden here on the left. And the entrance would be somehow having to do with entering through here going through the building. And looking at these two trees, this is a gateway to enter into this space. So I'm imagining that they will create a gateway to enter in here, where there'll be a playground, some swing sets, tables for I don't know, two elderly gentlemen to play chess, just these images I have in my head right now. I just imagine bushes right now, separating that space so that people walking by know it's there, and then question, how do I get in there, and realize that they actually have the right to go in there because this is a public space. So that's what my basic idea is right now. PROFESSOR: If I'm coming down the street for the first time, do you see me coming into this space or into here, as the entrance? STUDENT: Well, I think this would be more prominent. And I think more people will enter in here at first and then find out what this is. This is going to be the central space for my design. And yes, I think that I had to stick the wall out a little bit here because there had to be a way to invite people into this building as well, even though it's my quieter building for study, for sleeping, and taking care of infants. Whereas here is the dining and the teaching kids more creative arts things like that. So I am hoping people enter here. But I do agree that that is permanent there, and that maybe I should suppress it a little. PROFESSOR: All right. I got it. First of all, the evolution from this to this is very successful because I think you're starting to develop an architecture language in this, which needs obviously more work. But nevertheless, it's taking the rough form into something that's more precise. And I think it's good. The notion of a ramp that moves through this and across and over, which is a new idea since before, is very powerful. Just so you know, the normal ramp is 1 to 12. And this is probably not that. But that's OK. That's a handicap. That's not necessarily- But the notion of the ramp being the thing that moves me through this, at least to a certain extent, I think is a very powerful notion. Some comments-- the idea that this is still covered and light is coming into this, I think it's powerful. But I'm not so sure it's necessary to continue it in the same way. For instance, here, it could be outside this walkway or slightly covered, but not necessarily heated, where this one might be a heated space. So I could come in into a heated building, and then uncovered and come out. And maybe I'd go back into it, as opposed to it completely be covered as you show it here. STUDENT: I showed it in section 2, that idea right. PROFESSOR: Well, it could be that you need-- first of all, you need this continuity, which I think is very powerful of the path through or the journey through the building to hold together the pieces. So that's very positive. Then the question is the magnitude of it. And it could be that this is overboard just a little bit. And you could draw back on it. At the same time, I think you very ingeniously, have figured out a way of leading this to this by making this little place for the tree, which I think is terrific, and producing the little secret garden. But where I don't think it works is where you think of this as being covered. I think the building, somewhere in here stops. And you go outside into this space. And this guy, this little space is to the street. This one is to the building. So maybe in there is a bench or two so I can sit on. Or in fact, all along this might be benches as a public place. This is given over to the street. The other is given over to the building. So you move in. Now that brings me to the, and that's why I asked you the question. You have a very subtle, but important problem of architecture. And that is that you do have two entrances really. There's this, which is very major, and there's this it's important for you, but is not as major probably, as this. That would say for me, that because there's a directionality here that you're working with, that you need to make some forms. Can I do something with this? STUDENT: Yeah, please. PROFESSOR: You need to do something with this, not that necessarily, but something like that, that directs me into this space a little bit more forceful. Even to the point where in the most extreme-- can I have a piece of some toys? This is extreme. But even to the point-- I don't mean it like this. Even to the point where it says, I come to this point, and I'm slipping into the space here. At the same time, I can go in here. But this is probably the one that I think I'm going to go into if I don't know the building. So I think you need to pronounce that more. And I'm leading up to something here because the directionality of this could be exploited more than what you've done. Because there is this to work with, just as you've been working with that. However, at the same time that I say that, it seems to me that coming into this space with this wonderful ramp, which is a two-story or three-story space, I can imagine light slipping down alongside of it, is also important, and even to the point where this ramp might have just slightly turned to pick me up. So I come in when I know the building, or come out, by the way. It's not only going in. It's coming up. So I come in or I go out through this ramp that is a clear kind of definition-- I talked to every day about paths and places. This is the clear journey of a path moving through your environment and coming down into something. So all I'm saying is watch out here that you don't overdo it. You need to get us in. But you need us to get us in there even more. And you're not there yet, in the sense that you have worked over there yet. So it probably will happen. Incidentally, I think it's incredibly sensitive of you to try to save the trees. And that's a real plus and not always very easy. Now, the form that you're working with in here, the forms is terrific, except the next go round you may find that this is not all glass. And for the kids, this is the daycare up here. This may be a playground for them. And therefore, I could move out into that space from there. So it doesn't mean you don't do this. It may mean that at this corner, the corner is a good place, I go out into a roof garden here for the kids. Otherwise, they don't have a place to play. Or they might play down there. But they could still have a place here as long as it's protected, obviously. But it's a kid little hangout or a little secret place, which is kind of neat up in the sky if I were a kid. And you can look out and watch people. STUDENT: You can have slumber parties inside of them. PROFESSOR: So there's a lot of privacy. And as we've said before, as you go up, things are more private. So this makes this daycare for the kids very private. And almost like, if you wish, they are viewers of the street. They watch people go back and forth. Now let's move over to here because I think that's important. STUDENT: My problem area. PROFESSOR: Yeah, it's your problem area. But it's the problem area because you haven't done it. But I think there's a major piece here. If I'm reading this right, this is still that wall, right? STUDENT: Yes. PROFESSOR: And the tree is here. And the other tree is in here. And there's another tree back here, right? STUDENT: Yeah, and a little [INAUDIBLE].. PROFESSOR: Another little tree? OK, good. And then there's a wall back in here. Two things that you might consider-- you have this the wall that we talked about and in the opening I'm going through, and we talked about all of this. And I'm going under. And I mentioned that we need to have some kind of a way of getting us-- there's a tree in here, by the way, somewhere, into this space. All that's fine. And above it then, is this passageway that is coming to a point. And then either by ramp in the same way, it comes down into this. And it would be interesting if there's a way you could make that ramp then part of seats, which then relates to your amphitheater, which is here if you can do that. So then I have a continuous experience coming down. If you can't make that happen, then maybe this ramp comes along across. And there's some major kind of spiral stairs like the one over the Memorial, Stahl Drive, that gets me down and out into this space. Because this is really the center of the life for you and outside. This is inside. But the point that I wanted to make is that the building is-- let me just move this-- it's here. And you have this space that we talked about before. It seems to me still, that sense, there's a tremendous notion here that there's a wall of different kinds that are coming along the street, that we still might see something here that is not obviously nearly as opaque as this, maybe much lower, but it's collected to this in some way so that the corner is not turned drastically. Maybe this is low. Maybe this is translucent, I can see through. And then this becomes, which is what I think you want, something of a secret garden to hang out in, which is not necessarily connected to this. Or it could be. Now here comes the piece that I think could be interesting. If these guys, these trees are here, then maybe this building does this. And this part is outside. So that when I'm in this space, I'm letting the trees to be outside. And I'm also providing a way of getting into this building or out. STUDENT: On the street, or this would still be connected? PROFESSOR: No, this would still be here. But all I'm saying is that in order to keep that tree, what you want to do, maybe it's part of this space. And it's also a way of making the transition as another entrance or exit from this building into the space, as opposed to, which is what you were suggesting, which was to corral it or build something around it basically, and then hope that-- it's not going to live inside by the way. It has to be outside somehow. You could make a courtyard out of it. But I think you got a bum pencil. I think the courtyard is too close to the other courtyard to make any sense. So instead of a courtyard here and a courtyard here, it might be combined. Now in the best world, maybe this tree is more accurate, the two trees so that this is more of a tiny triangular chunk out of this, as opposed to the one I just drew. But I don't know. We have to see what it is. And then you still have that. So now I have this kind of relationship from this. And by the way, you said there'd be a hedge here. So now I'm saying there's some kind of translucent wall in here, I can see through, I can see people. There playing chess, et cetera. But maybe there's something else in here. There's water, I don't know what, that acts is the focus of this. But because the trees are marching along-- I'm putting another one here. This space is marching into this one. And then I'm into that. And by the way, even better, if I could figure out a way that I can, at this point, see right through this building and out into the amphitheater. So then I get a continuous experience between the hardness, I'll say for the moment, of the amphitheater, to the inside, to transition into this very quiet garden, which might have water. I guess we talked about that before. So there's different experiences along the way. But they're all connected. There's two connections that you got. One is the screen, we'll call it, along the street. And the other one is your ingenious ramp that was moving through down and around into this. Now tell me again, I've forgotten. Is this guy two stories building. STUDENT: It'll be two or three. I'm not sure yet. I was envisioning three because I was seeing again, this kind of stepping I wanted to clear because of the echo of it, and also mimic as a stadium, as an amphitheater. But until I tackle that, I don't know. But I was envisioning three stories. I talked to you last time about hierarchy and the story I was missing out on the hierarchy of the two buildings at the same height. So I might lose that. But maybe if I can emphasize this as being a central space, then that would be my hierarchy. And I won't need to- PROFESSOR: Well, what we talked about before too is that the roofs, if it's a second-story building, which is going to interfere with this thing coming across, so in this thing, they'd sit behind it-- could be seats for the amphitheater. And then the seats down here also, fitting up the theater. So that the side of this building, although it's got transparency moving into the space, but the side of that building is actually moving up from the landscape, making a kind of a bowl shape. And I think that's very powerful, because you're putting an incredible amount of energy or activity on this. In other words, when, we're all done, this is probably the place where you come to have an event obviously, but also kind of a meeting place. And the kids might play in here and run around. This is probably the quiet place, as you said, play checkers or whatever. And it's wonderful. In fact, maybe this even becomes more green in relationship to this. STUDENT: I'm wanting somewhere that there's sunlight. And mostly, sunlight would be coming in through here. I'm also thinking of stepping it down towards this building so that maybe this light could go right in that corner and enter into this space. PROFESSOR: Well, I'd be careful. I'll tell you why. You're defining this space. And it does have two good definitions. This-- by having the wall up at that point, there's a slippage there, which is fine-- makes it more contained. If you start stepping it down, you may start to lose some of that containment. And this is different kind of a space in this. Here, this backyard space, little secret garden it's fine. That slips out. I'm not so sure that this one wants to slip out as much. But I would invite you to take the model and a Luxor lamp or any light and follow the sun. Yeah, that's perfect. That's the sun. And follow the sun and see what it does. Because the next step would be to consider if the sun, for instance, is coming over the building, then on this side of the- where am I? No, that's got-- the event building, there might be panels that can divert the light down into here. Or if the sun is coming this way, there might be panels on the side of the building that's vertical that can divert, bounce the light that we talked about. I doubt you're going to get much sun down into here period. But you are going to probably get sun up above. So these panels, maybe are up here, that are catching the sun and bringing it down. So there's a whole other kind of design notion here that we haven't talked about. All this, let's assume it's all done. Then there may be up around this building, which is going to be a screen on this room. But even above that, there might be panels that are bouncing light all the way around at a certain height, which is another form of architecture, sky form actually. And I'm catching the sun bouncing light, down into what I think is your major place, this one. Not here. This is cool, green, shady, quiet. This is alive, light, hot, sunny, just the opposite. But beyond that-- and of course, we should be using the sun as much as we can. Beyond that, this is another architectural continuity. So it's not only bouncing the sun, but it's something else. STUDENT: I like the way that the site, or the way that this is laid out right now is hugging itself. This is quiet. And then there's the busy activities in the sunroom. It feels like it's getting there, continues, it'll get better. PROFESSOR: I think the organization is just right, the way you filled it. I think the architectural language that you're starting to develop is the beginning. I would move on now quickly to here. And I happen to know from experience, that this ramp is not going to be as nice as you think. It's going to take a little working to make it work. But it's a powerful notion, that the ramp is as an organizer.