| X | |
| SUPERSPACE | X |
| 2004, by : Mueller Kneer Associates type : Words use : Research | |
| 2005-05-01 | X |
| Superspace Over the past eight years our work has been situated in inner city areas undergoing social, political, demographic or cultural change. The practice's built projects are located mainly in the UK and Germany but we have also been involved in urban studies throughout Europe in Bratislava, Bilbao, Paris, Monaco and the BeNeLux Region as well as in Sao Paulo in Brazil and Havana in Cuba. Through this work, we seek to establish an awareness towards the effectiveness of architectural interventions in these dynamic urban environments. The Situationist movement have claimed that '... cities have a phychogeographic relief, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes.... We understand urban space as a complex field, made up and influenced by a multitude of factors. We are interested in the material organisation of space as much as the immaterial processes and conditions that shape it. This demands a greater sensitivity to register ephemeral forms of space. Our work on urban designs and cities have informed the way we understand design proceses at other scales. Within our design work we define the smallest architectural component as the ´Situation´. For us, the term of the 'Situation' describes a simultaneity of material existences and immaterial processes in four dimensional space-time. Out of this understanding we have developed a way of designing that deals with space as a negotiated field and relates to moving through space, being a figure within it, locating our view in an engaged perspective. The fascination with what we call 'Superspace' evolved out of a search for a space of a higher degree of involvement or integration. Geometrically, integration can take place on two levels: visually (what I can see) and phyiscally (where I can move). We thought that the idea of geometric integration, this moment of connectedness could be taken one step further, and not only read visually or physically but in relation to experience or take on a social dimension. With 'Superspace' we make a claim for an integrative space with a social and emotive agenda. 'Superspace' cannot be consumed but demands interaction and participation. Working with such complex notions of space, we had to restructure our design process into a process of exploration or research. This opposes the concept of the 'ingenious idea' delivering the 'one solution'. Design thereby becomes a negotiated process with interim steps along a path of multiple possibilities. This process can no longer follow a linear logic but requires a multi- or non- linear thinking, allowing different strands of investigation to exist in parallel and to inform each other. Building delay into this process allows different strands to exist in isolation for longer, in order to arrive at solutions beyond simple causalities. This shift of attention from an immediately available result to an intensive concern with the processes of its production proposes that a precisely choreographed process can deliver much more complex products. Over the years, we have developed a series of tools to fuel this process into a proper '(super) space making machine' -- a tool kit we are still expanding. We have been using mapping and diagramming for a long time and have recently become very interested in the experimentation with alternative material organisations, such as looping, folding, weaving, bending etc. Working with woven or net structures, soft structures, or the use of soft materials for spatial envelopes excites us also in relation to our earlier ideas of field dynamics. These material formations move away from the Modernist canon towards a more animate form of building. The looping operation for instance was first implemented in the Cinnamon Club design as a means of re-inventing an existing spatial envelope. The looping happens along each axis, x,y and z but remains a mere spatial device. In the Cotton House Project in Manchester we looped 120m of fabric into a type of habitable labyrinth. The spatial folds form intimate pockets within the larger space which are visually connected but physically seperated -- a mini 'Superspace moment'. The Public Life Pavilion takes these material explorations one step further. Here a series of interwoven loops actually form the primary structure of the building. Weaving was also employed as an operation in 'The Viewing Tower' project, both to define the shape of the building with its winding stairs but also in the material itself, using a woven metal mesh as an external building skin. The Tower itself becomes a large scale weaving device, bringing together a dispersed rural community. And this is when the abstract 'Superspace Making Machine' really works. When through these elaborate processes, material organisation emerge that have the capacity to stimulate social processes and participation on the small (situational) and large (collective) scale. Research into alternative material organisations in relation to the idea of 'Superspace' is an ongoing concern both within our practice and also within Marianne Mueller's work at the Technical University of Berlin where she is currently visiting professor for Design and Construction. |