Skein
Project Brief- To design an exhibit space for Russel Wright's designs in Manitoga, NY.
Joud and I started by creating a movie that entailed mashing up Mon Oncle with footage of Russel Wright's home in Manitoga. From that I extracted the main character, Uncle Hulot’s movement through his home, moving upwards and also looking at his movement through the Russel Wright home. I found the Uncle Hulot enjoys multiple level of special organization and flexibility.
Studio: PennDesign First Year Studio with Eduardo Rega
Research with Joud Baothman
Project Duration: 4 Weeks
Completed: December 2015
Hence the use of the space is highly subjective based on the characters' interaction with Russel Wright's home. Is it possible to create a flexible space which one can manipulate based on their personality? Is it possible to push the spaces to a limit to create intentionally highly uncomfortable spaces versus highly open, flexible spaces? Are there spaces that can be served and service?
The design of Uncle Hulot's space in Manitoga uses the served and service manual as well as the part of the narrative in which Uncle Hulot enjoys the multiple levels and labryth of his home in Paris.
The protoplan demonstrates the relationship between the served and service spaces showing rigid served spaces being supported by the loose service spaces. In the protosection I tried to stagger the levels, where the circulation penetrates the served spaces.
I used Uncle Hulot’s home as the starting point for my design – the circulation follows the layout of his home using a combination of stairs and ramps. The served spaces are generic cuboids and the service spaces are the circulation, the skin and structural framework. The woven membrane acts as a roof to shade as well as block certain views to maintain privacy.
I tried to play with the volumes to generate different conditions and complex relationships between the served and service spaces. The minimum service space is 20 inches and the maximum area for the served space is 1500 sq ft. The service space gets denser around the served spaces.There are points in which the served and service spaces overlap – A minimum height of 8 feet of service space allows a person to occupy it, making it a served and service space. Additionally the bathroom is a generic fixed service space housed in a served space.
The exploded axonometric dissects the complexity of the structure. Additionally, Uncle Hulot or the user would like to customise the served space. The framework serves the served spaces by manipulating their skin. Hence each generic space becomes flexible with the help of this structural envelope. For example, the served space can be opened up to create windows, skylights and doors. The floors and walls can be manipulated to create furniture and shelving.
