Design Operations and Abstract Model Experience

One of the things I felt most inadequate about while studying architecture was that I did not know enough about famous or important architectural structures. Our teachers must have noticed this deficiency because they shared 22 different important structures with the class and asked us to gather information about them and make presentations. These structures were: Building in Brione, Casa Horitzó, Chichu Art Museum, House in Monsaraz, House in Ubatuba, Jingdezhen Taoxichuan Cloud Engine Energy Center, Landscape Formation One, Leça Swimming Pools, Minicity Theme Park Building, Olympic Sculpture Park, Oslo Opera House, Sancaklar Mosque, Sandridge Lookout, Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, The City of Culture of Galicia, The Pierre, TIRPITZ, Tokyo Institute of Technology Hisao & Hiroko Taki Plaza, TU Delft Library, Vestre Fjord Park, Yokohama International Passenger Terminal and Zonguldak Caves Visitor Center.

Learning about all these structures was very useful for me. The structure that came to my mind was the Chichu Art Museum in Japan. It was designed by Tadao Ando in 2004. The most interesting aspect is that, despite being built completely underground, natural light is used so skillfully that the works inside seem to dance with the light. In this special place where architecture meets art, works by artists such as Claude Monet, James Turrell and Walter De Maria are exhibited. The museum offers an experience intertwined with nature, art and architecture.

After gaining basic information about all these structures, we tried to understand which design operations were used to create these structures. While these operations were very clearly visible in some structures, it was more difficult to understand in others. After understanding these operations, we were given the task of making a model that showed these operations in an abstract way. At first, we misunderstood this request and tried to directly model the structure itself. However, we later realized our mistake and started making abstract models that represented the design operations that created the building, not the building itself.

Since the Chichu Art Museum, where I work, is a structure buried underground and designed with intertwined geometric shapes, I decided to create a model that would show this situation through layers.

At first, I thought that the right material was Styrofoam. However, when I started working, I realized that this material was very difficult to hold and could not give the exact form I wanted. Also, working with rope was more challenging than I expected; because estimating the level of the ropes and adjusting them correctly was much more uncertain and difficult than it seemed. Although my model did not completely satisfy me, I am glad that I did the best I could at that moment. Still, I think my digital model is more descriptive and successful.