Atmospheric Machines

 

50 CC of Paris Air

Directed Research Studio
The Pennsylvania State University
Spring 2022


Memorial to the drowned of the Seine River. Model, interior view. IMAGE © C. FARABAUGH

Hejun Cai + Chenlu Zhu, Overflow – laser variations through sound vibration, Mixed media installation, Penn State, Fall 2019.
© IMAGE H. CAI + C. ZHU

Jiayao Tang + Yuhang Hu, Phantom Space, Mixed media installation,  Penn State, Fall 2019.
© IMAGE J. TANG + Y. HU

Fall 2019, Penn State. Kiarat Vidal Rodrigez + Rana Zarei, Mixed media installation, Breathe-in. IMAGE © K. RODRIGEZ + R. ZAREI

Fall 2019, Penn State. Breathe-in prototype. IMAGE © R. ZAREI

Fall 2019, Penn State. Kiarat Vidal Rodrigez, prototype (above) and concept image (right), Reflection. IMAGE © K. RODRIGEZ

We examine the performative potentials of architectural drawings and models that bring architecture closer to landscape architecture. Overall, we demonstrate ways to design and teach for spatial delight based on a range of sensory and atmospheric parameters. [...] Atmospheric devices or models explore given anticipated phenomena in a more immediate and tactile way than drawings do. They demonstrate, for example, the combined effect of light, materiality, and reflection as in Peter Zumthor’s large-scale model for the Therme Vals [...].
The model also constitutes a “machine” through which an architect can define and present his/her own worldview [Smith, 2004: pp. 61–68] “as a thinking mechanism used in making the invisible visible” [Smith 2004: p. xxviii]. In class, models were also considered as “atmospherical devices” akin to the kinetic machines designed by Lásló Moholy-Nagy at the Bauhaus [Blume and Hiller, 2014], which created spatial effects by using light in conjunction with perforated and transparent materials to cast changing shadows on surrounding surfaces.  

EXCERPTS from Abbas, Y. (2019) Architecture as landscape. Envisioning ambiances: Representing (past, present, and future) atmospheres for architecture and the built environment. 14th European Architectural Envisioning Conference, EAEA14, ENSA Nantes, France, September 3–6, 2019.

Fall 2019, Penn State. Kiarat Vidal Rodrigez, concept image (right), Reflection. IMAGE © K. RODRIGEZ

Abbas, Y. (2020) Architecture and its Double: The Expanded Medium of Architecture and Spatial Æffect. in Masson D. (Ed.), Ambiances, Alloæsthesia: Senses, Inventions, Worlds, 4th International Congress on Ambiances, pp. 226-231.

Abbas, Y. (2019) Fluid spaces, enchanted forests. In Doyle, M., Savić, S., Bühlmann, V. (Eds.). The ghosts of transparency: shadows cast and shadows cast out, pp. 299–303. Birkhaüser–de Gruyter.

Abbas, Y. (2018). Computing Atmospheres. In Streitz N., Konomi S. (Eds.), Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions: Technologies and Contexts. DAPI 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. (vol. 10922), pp. 267-277. Springer.

Spring 2019. Penn State. Architecting Atmospheres – Architecture Students Work, Exhibit: Plug-in Turn-on, Hub Robeson Gallery.
IMAGE © Sara KIPP

Pottstown Chidren Discovery Center

The Penn State University
Fall 2019

4th year integrative design studio Students explored the design of the Pottstown Children’s Discovery Center (PCDC), an opportunity made possible by the Hamer Center for Community Design in partnership with the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation (PAHWF). The motivation design research questions of the studio focused on key questions such as these: How can architecture contribute to children’s development? How can spatial design, geometry, building atmosphere, and ambiance contribute to “learning for fun” (Packer, 2006: p. 329).

Akira Hikson, Kris Soto and Linda Ma, Concept Drawing and Concept Model. IMAGES: A. HIKSON, K. SOTO and L. MA