Performing Arts Centre Visit

Today the class had the pleasure of visiting the Toronto Circus School located in the revitalised Downsview Park complex in Northern Toronto.  The event allowed students to not only take in the appropriate equipment and design considerations for an aerial acrobatic facility, but to also experience some of the activities that they are currently designing for in the final studio project.

Activities carried out at the centre included:
The Initial Warm-Up

The Mini Double Trampoline:

The Aerial Hoop:

The Flying Trapeze:

And everything comes together...

Despite physically feeling less than 100%, I'm feeling a heck of a lot better about where I'm headed with my 'facade treatment', if I may.

I have located the training area of my facility on the highway side of our site as the large facade would best suit the scale of the freeway. (Smaller programmatic elements face the smaller street on the east.) Initially I wanted the acrobatics to be seen through the facade from the highway. However, considering the height of a person and the speed at which the cars are driving by... not such a great idea. Plus - I don't consider the highway a 'nice view' and therefore transparent glass is unnecessary. In addition to all this, a feature of my first iteration was to be panels that rotated and reflected sunlight into the training centre - kind of creating a 'passive light show'.

Keeping all this in mind, and speaking with Vince, I have moved on to a facade which diffuses light through channel glass. This type of glass allows daylight to pass through without the solar heat gain. This article has sold me on its performance in the desert: "...was required by building code to meet a very high level of energy efficiency to deal with the extreme high and low temperatures of the desert. The channel glass definitely helps with that." Furthermore, that passive light show I mentioned? With the channel glass, silhouettes of the acrobats will be projected (and thus enlarged) on the facade, as seen from the exterior. It reminds me of the Feist show I saw at Massey Hall (recently analyzed for Digital Tools, whoooaaa the connections!) where the only 'effects' used were beads, paint, cardboard etc. projected onto a backdrop by your typical school projector. (See images below)

Extensive use of channel glass at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art by Steven Holl Architects

Feist concert 'effects'

Oh, and remember how my whole building design concept was 'spatial awareness'/'movement of the body'? I'm happy that my facade (maybe used on interior elements too?) now reinforces that. Feeling a bit too relieved?... Probably.

FREAK OUT!

I have two problems as of now. (1) Modeling this building is a (insert desired word here). (2) Trying to adapt a biomimetic feature in the design of the building, especially for the detail model that is due in ONE WEEK is quite frustrating! Regardless, since my building is made of a lot of glass, I was going to design it to have operable windows so that air may by-pass when needed. I was also thinking of using smart glass to prevent from direct sunlight when needed, yet this has nothing to do with Biomimicry. HELP!

Here are pictures of the Museum of Tolerance by Frank Gehry, which I think are pretty cool. And one of a nice inner garden for the hell of it!

The Envelope System

As part of project 4A, I envisioned a type of envelope that would be able to react according to the amount of sunlight that would pour into the space. Given the form of the roof and the changing angle of the sun during the day, I needed a unique shading system that could provide light into the space, yet be able to defuse it when direct light hit. Rather the make the system react to the intensity of light, I designed it to be reactive to temperature. Taking into account physical princples of hot air rising, and seeing that the roof would liekly be the hottest area of the building, the system created is built to vent and shade the roof to control the overall temperature of the space.

Borrowing of one of the ideas for a biomimetic system I envisioned back in Project 1, where by an air bladder with air in it would react to high temperature by expanding and becoming more bouyant (thereby opening the louver fins). There where several problems here, first of which the overall weight of the fins and that the air would not expand enough to lift the steel fins, and second, the amount of air required.

With these problems in mind, the system was redesigned into a form of a much lighter unit that comprised of several smaller fins that would open when it rises up much like a blooming flower. This option allowed for a greater difference in the amount ofshade provided depending on how much sunlight was at any given location on the roof.

In theory, this would work, but it is doubtful that enough heat could be generated in order to make the units float, so suggestions were made to use barometric pressure in order to achieve greater potency. Barometric pressure on the other hand requires significant changes in atmospheric moistur content, and in the desert...On a side note, the structural framing of the roof was also designed to accomidate the individual units seeing that not every part would need shading as upon opening, a single unit would be able to cover its surrounding cells... but a hexagonal grid would be established. (its also structurally sound)
Fin types was also thought of with different ones with varying degrees of shading. But the main problem had still to be sholved. So I built a model to test its effectivness in the real world. As can be seen below, the kinetics of the spikes work perfectly so long as there is a force to push them up and gravity pretty much takes care of the rest, but of course, the deployment was still in question...

Some research later, I came up with a system that might work. Using a combination of air and water (though possibly some other type of liquid more sensitive to temperature.. mercury? poison...) it may be possible to create a valve that increases the air pressure by immersing it in the liquid when it heats up thereby providing sufficient force to raise the fin arms, and when the pressure is released, allowing a vacume to such the piston back into place. As a secondary, the gaps where the spikes emerge from the units housing (that bell shaped structure) could also act as vents to release hot air in the roof providing natural ventilation in the process. Note the hexagonal bottom plate that will attached to the aforementioned roof structure.

While it can be said to work, the question comes to mind whether or not it is possible to actually build one for the project submission seeing that it requires equipment that we simple don;t have access to.... Vince?

Creating Space

So it's been a while since I posted a blog, and have FINALLY decided to put up some of the stuff I've been developing for P4... To start this project, I first toggled around with the program, and figured that the most important aspect of the Cirque training facility is ultimately the training facilities and the need to keep them as functional as possible (no gimmicks in the way).

I first laid out some design principles

1. Combine Programs
2. Transparency where possible
3. All under one roof
4. Stay above grade where possible

The idea of a central common space with movable seating areas usable in both directions allows for the viewing of either the large training facility or the pool made for more areas to view makeshift performances in either facility. This also follows the first principle of 'combining programs'. (As seen in that tiny section on the right of the picture below).

Also seen here is a perspective of a section of the pool area with 'tree' columns to reach up to the roof. Instead of placing the outdoor auditorium in a seperate area outside the building skin, I decided to place it ON the large training facility creating a roof performance space with possible an opening roof system (think skydome). I also wanted to place the cafeteria on the upper levels as a nice end point in order to create a place that would allow for interection between staff, crew and visitors that would also be a great viewing point to see the entire facility (again think of the wolfgang puck restaurant at the springs preserve).

After setting the general space allocations, I then proceded to create the skin based on site and program perimeters. The space is meant to be one space with connections to multiple program in order to create continuity and also build visual dialogue between the various functional spaces. Though not all you see below will actually be solid cladding, this is the form for the moment until the rest ofthe sub-programming like the entrance and loading docks and parking are properly intergrated.

Project 4 Design Concept

Richard Serra meets Daniel Liebskind

The concept behind my Cirque facility is the idea of spatial awareness. That is, a conscious recognition of the body's movement through space. Richard Serra is an artist who works with this concept and invites viewers to engage with his installations (walking in, through and around them). He speaks of one's relationship to a volume of space. More info on Richard Serra here.



Richard Serra's work mostly features curves. In my opinion, the program of the Cirque facility calls for straight lines and angles. Hence the inspiration drawn from Daniel Liebskind. From the couple Liebskind buildings I've visited (ROM in Toronto, CityCenter in Las Vegas) I feel that, however interesting the geometries may be, one feels removed from them once inside due to the large scale of the spaces. I suppose this is also because the angled planes do not continue down to the floor (as in the image below) and remain at play solely on the ceiling. Thus, fusing Serra's intimate approach with the Liebskind geometries is what I'm hoping to achieve with my design.

Why we met Mike Tyson but didn't get photos...

So apparently nobody believes that the class met Mike Tyson at one of the class dinners in Las Vegas (buffet at the Bellagio). Though we have a very fuzzy video that shows a certain former heavyweight boxing champion in the background, it is unfortunate that we do not have any photographs documenting such a surreal moment. In response to critics and those who claim all the students in the class made a pact to fabricate such a story, we present this video validating why we would not dare approach this man: