cONCEPTUAL cUT

EXPLORATION IN GRID DISTORTION

MOVING FROM THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PRECEDENTS, STUDIO 100B AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY TASKED STUDENTS WITH AN ASSIGNMENT CALLED THE CONCEPTUAL CUT. THE PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT WAS TO UNDERSTAND BUILDINGS SYSTEMS. IT WAS NOT ONLY AN EXERCISE IN DRAWING BUILDING DETAILS, BUT IT WAS ALSO A WAY FOR STUDENTS TO DESIGN EVERY ASPECT OF THE BUILDING. TAKING A 12' SECTION AND THE CORRESPONDING ELEVATIONS (ONE 12' AND THE OTHER 16' TO FILL THE GIVEN PAGE} STUDENTS WERE TASKED WITH USING THEIR PRECEDENT TO DESIGN THIS CHUNK OF A THEORETICAL BUILDING.

THIS PROJECT'S INTENT IS TO DISCUSS BUILDING SYSTEMS AS A WAY OF REINFORCING THE OVERALL DIAGRAM. TO BEGIN DISCUSSING THE DIAGRAM OF THIS PROJECT, ONE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE DIAGRAM OF LA CORUNA (WHILE BEAUTIFUL  AND PROVOCATIVE) IS ONE THAT DOES NOT CONSIDER CONTEXT.  TO DISCUSS THIS, A THIRD, INTERNAL GRID WAS INTRODUCED (ON TOP OF THE EXISTING 16' X 16' GRID THAT GENERATES OVERALL FORM, AND THE 16' X 5.3'GRID THAT GENERATES THE STRUCTURE) [DIAGRAM 1]. THIS NEW 1' X 1' GRID TAKES THE FORM OF A LATTICE, THAT WRAPS INTO THE BUILDING TO FORM CIRCULATION. WHERE IT WRAPS, THE GEOMETRY OF A HYPERBOLIC PARABOLAID IS USED(WHERE ONE OR TWO POINT ON A PLANE IS PULLED TO CREATE A SINGLEY CURVED SURFACE). 

THE IDEA IS THAT THESE THREE GRIDS SERVE TO FURTHER THE POSITION ON SEPARATION THAT LA CORUNA TAKES. THE FIRST GIRD (16' X 16') CREATES A FORMAL, SYSTEM OF CONCRETE SEPARATION ON THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING. THE SECOND GRID (16' X 5.3) NOT ONLY CREATES A STRUCTURAL ENVELOPE, BUT ALSO CREATES PROVIDES PLACEMENT FOR THE OPAQUE WINDOWS (CHANNEL GLASS) THAT ARE SO INTEGRAL TO THE INTERIOR EXTERIOR SEPERATION. THE THIRD, INTRODUCED GRID (1' X 1') SERVES TO WRAP INTO THE BUILDING CREATING A DEGREE OF SEPERATION WITHIN ITSELF.