To Write Architecture

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Karin Andreasson

Handledare/

Elizabeth Hatz, Peter Lynch

Supervisor

Examinator/

Per Franson

Examiner

Examensarbete inom arkitektur, avancerad nivå 30 hp

Degree Project in Architecture, Second Level 30 credits

8 juni 2017

To Write Architecture

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TO WRITE ARCHITECTURE

Diploma project by Karin Andreasson Studio 7, KTH Supervised by Elizabeth Hatz and Peter Lynch

TO WRITE ARCHITECTURE

Diploma project by Karin Andreasson Studio 7, KTH

Supervised by Elizabeth Hatz and Peter Lynch

Why does literature make me feel more than architecture does? Can the tools of a writer be used in creating architecture? How come stories of magical realism sometimes tell more about

real life than realistic ones does?

Through analysing literature I have found that surprise, repetition, contradiction and tempo are cornerstones for a good reading experience. By embodying these I have attempted

to make spaces, sequences and details that are evoking. This proposal is a library of fiction, located in the magic meadows

between the pillars of three intersecting bridges.

METHOD

In books on literature theory as well as personal favourite fictions of magical realism, I searched for seemingly spatial literary structures. By analysing terms such as Narrative, Gaps, Tempo and Repetition, I learned about connections between literature and architecture. In model I embodied these terms to understand how spatial qualities could be designed in a similar manner to the methods of an author

writing a book.

In the proposed library the understanding of these terms have been the basis for generating architecture.

THE MAGIC

The first part of the analyse gave a good idea of how the structure of literature can be understood as an architecture: the grid, the means which were so important to create a fiction to rely on, the floor slab, the detail and the organisation. Still I had not reached the core of the magic. This is something more vague and harder to capture than the grammar or timeline in a story. To search for magic I analysed buildings I consider breathtaking. Reading Rossi and Venturi also gave many clues. It became clear that the magic in literature and architecture to me is the discrepancy that occurs when something breaks the rules or the norms of a situation. Like silent revolts which makes you question what you know, and at large, makes you

more open.

“/.../ I have forever come to appreciate a certain spiritual restlessness, something latently bizarre in the order of life.”

-Aldo Rossi, A Scientific Autobiography

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SITE

The site is a forgotten patch in the fabric of Stockholm. The vast spaces between the pillars, which has a scale difficult to understand, is currently only used as a drop off-site for street construction in town. Under the bridges a room which draws the mind to a forrest is created: the different directions and expressions of the

infrastructure enhances this as a variation is created.

It struck me during the process of this project that the site already holds the magic I have defined. Hence, designing the building it was important not to destroy but

to enrich this.

The concrete pillars in the facade of the building answers this, by adding a fourth layer of infrastructure following its own logic in the context. Being a steep site, the building follows the landscape to keep the directions of the site. Simultaneously, the building opens up for new ways to appreciate the site, with almost the entire roof of the building creating a court to stroll between the pillars. Two public paths takes you across the building from the lower west side to the higher east side of the site.

LIBRARY

To learn about library needs I met up with a librarian and an architect. They helped me with the program, views of the libraries role in the future and raising thoughts of what is and what isn’t functional within libraries. The program contains large spaces for traditional books, a room for listening to and browsing for audio books and e-books. It also contains a cafe, a small auditorium and some study circle rooms, as well as a book storage and staff areas. The most important rooms are the reading rooms, as this building is dedicated to the experience of reading. I have identified three different space types: One for reading aloud, one for reading silently in a large room with others, and one for reading silently in a

smaller, more enclosed space.

PROPOSAL

As mentioned previously most of the library facade consists of concrete pillars. By both of the entrances, and along the two paths, the facade is in a yellow brick. This helps the way-finding, and gives away some of the building’s “camouflage”. It also provides a preview of what is to find inside of the library: the inside of the

pillars are also yellow brick.

The library itself is filled with moments of surprise and contradiction. The consistent use of material works as a reminder of the whole, whereas the variation between directions and large and intimate spaces constantly makes the visitor

re-evaluate the building.

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Model: Gaps Model: Gaps Model: Tempo Model: Repetition

Model: Narrative Models combined

Models combined

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elevation test 3

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Diploma project by Karin Andreasson

Important sketches beginning - midcrit

plan sketches plan sketches

section sketch section sketch

tempo space entrance space

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National Theathre Colosseum Skene, Akropolis Colosseum

British Library

Pantheon Palantine Hill

Sketches general perception of Rome Tempietto di Bramante

British Library

Akropolis

Study trip: London - Rome - Athens. A journey backwards in time.

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To write a building

Thesis Booklet for Diploma Project Karin Andreasson Spring 2017 KTH School of Architecture Studio 7 Supervisors: Elizabeth Hatz and Peter Lynch

Exterior of Mole Antonelliana/Museo Nazional del Cinema

C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND THESIS QUESTIONS METHOD CONTEXT PROGRAMME SITE SCHEDULE REFERENCES

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

In this thesis project I intend to design

a library designated for fiction. I will

research literary structures to develop a

design method that can give the visitor

an emotional experience similar to that of

reading a good story.

Located under Skanstullsbron on the south

side of the water, the site is very central and

connects to Skanstull, Gullmarsplan and

Hammarby Sjöstad. Simultaneously, it has

a sense of inaccessibility which I believe will

intensify the experience of the library.

B A C K G R O U N D

Since childhood I have been a big reader. Often, I have been drawn into the constructed worlds for hours, losing grasp of the reality around me. A good book does that to you; closes your eyes and ears to the physical surroundings and allows your mind to illustrate the words from the paper.

It happened to me recently when I read (and re-read) the novel The Passion by Jeanette Winterson. The story is of the epic type. It freely flows between historical, generally accepted realities of the past (Napoleon’s wars and megalomanic view of France) and a more dreamy, metaphorical reality (such as when Villanelle’s heart is locked in her former lover’s closet) and can thus be described as a magical realism.

To me, big literature is when you as a reader accept worlds like this, because the story is larger than logic and you trust the author.

For an author to create this trust in their reader, a broad set of skills is inevitable: the language must be enhancing, the storyline must allow for the reader to sense motives, yet become surprised. The tempo must be one to hold the readers attention and the themes must strike a chord of humanity.

Villanelle’s heart

Jonathan Culler writes: “Whether you are telling an

anecdote to a friend or writing a novel for posterity, you are doing something different from, say, testifying in court: you are trying to produce a story that will seem ‘worth it’ to your listeners: that will have some sort of point of significance, will amuse or give pleasure.”

With a really good story, the story doesn’t really matter. What matters the most is the structure, the narrative and the ability to hit a connection to one of the general human emotions.

There are buildings that succeed in creating these curious emotions of significance, amusement or pleasure that Culler points out, buildings that makes you feel like you are given clues of the universe. A given typology that often handle this are religious monuments and buildings, such as cathedrals and mosques. Others are official or representative buildings. Their features consists of delicate ornaments and/or spaces which do not relate to the body.

What they have in common is that they are telling well known stories. I want to find a way to catch these feelings without telling a story with political or religious motives, but purely the curious.

Often today, these are intentions lacking when describing aims for a new building. Through using fictional structures as an artistic tool I want to create architecture that feels.

Movements through Europe Grundtvigs Kirke, Copenhagen

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Ornaments inside Al Hambra in Granada

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What happens if an architect constructs a building using the methods of an author?

I believe a story can be told without words, maybe even without a plot. As described above, it is not necessarily the plot itself that defines a fiction’s brilliance, but the technical use of tempo, narration, structure and language.

I want to form and test my own vocabulary. How do these terms translate to architecture: Symbols? Objects? Spatial arrangement? All or neither of these?

My thesis is that architecture created through the methods of an author can be captivating.

I want the project to be a critique of our time’s capitalistic obsession with the rational, without becoming exclusive and vulgar.

The aim of this project is to test whether a design method copying from the authors toolbox can be applicable for architects.

Vocabulary to be defined and tested spatially:

Structure Tempo Narration Motive

Q U E S T I O N S

Primary:

How can you translate structures from magic realism to architecture?

Can architecture provoke similar human experiences as fiction can?

Which are the connections between literature and architecture?

Secondary:

Are literature and architecture related art siblings? How come stories sometimes tell more about real life than real life does?

Why does literature make me feel more, often, than architecture?

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“/.../ our approach would have to be carefully balanced

between the practical and the fantastic. We would take for granted that fiction was fact, and treat the chosen texts as seriously as one treats the reports of an explorer or chronicler”

-Alberto Manguel, foreword of The dictionary of Imaginary Places

The methods I intend to use in search of the connection between literature and architecture are the following: a. reading (literature theory, architecture analysis, fiction), b. case studies and c. research through design. a. To study classic and modern fiction in relationship to a defined set of literature theory. The fiction will have traits of magical realism.

b. To examine a few existing rooms, which I instinctively appreciate to be awakening emotions and imagination. These rooms shall have some connection to literature/ books/reading/narratives.

c. To spatially embody the literary structures found in the readings, through sketch models and collages. Through these exercises I aim to approach a method where the making of architecture interferes with the writing of literature.

Simultaneously I will work on the design of the library in the given context (see further down this booklet). I intend to take on the task of designing the library according to current objectivities and regulations, and within the frames of these realities develop a fantastical fiction of architecture.

Amongst my architectural references I have included a few private houses. I believe these stand valid as the act of reading can be a private affair, and types or sequences

found in the private villas can be relevant for the project. Villa Müller interior 3

C O N T E X T

Stockholms Stad runs 49 libraries all around the central as well as the more peripheral parts of the city. Out of these there is one library which is solely dedicated to fiction, Sturebiblioteket. That is a small library in the subway station of Östermalmstorg which rather aims to make fiction available in a fast food type way, than to create an experience to dwell in.

Why a library? At first sight the reason is very direct - a library full of fiction, designed out of fiction. This connection is correct, but there are more reasons; A library is public and free, and invites everyone to escape into the worlds of books. A library needs different sections for different types of literature, something that as of now seems applicable to the method. A library also requires different sections for ways of reading: different tempos.

P R O G R A M M E

The programme currently looks like this: Entrance area

Library hall 1 Library hall 2 Library hall 3 Library hall 4

Reading section 1 (together) Reading section 2 (alone) Reading secion x

Staff areas Facilities

Potentially my research will open up for an additional programme for the library, for example space for writing workshops, lecture halls, a cafe or something else. During the first weeks of the project I intend to further define the programme and set the areas.

Q U E S T I O N S

Primary:

How can you translate structures from magic realism to architecture?

Can architecture provoke similar human experiences as fiction can?

Which are the connections between literature and architecture?

Secondary:

Are literature and architecture related art siblings? How come stories sometimes tell more about real life than real life does?

Why does literature make me feel more, often, than architecture?

National Theatre Interior 2

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Forest of pillars Possible location of library

Approaching from Gullmarsplan

Bridges intersecting above site

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The site I want to use is located just south of Södermalm in Stockholm, where Johanneshovsbron, Skanstullsbron and the bridge for Tvärbanan intersects, along Hammarbybacken (the road, not the hill). I have always been intrigued by this site, for the reason of its complex directions of movement. It is a profound illustration of the types of narratives I want to explore in this project: layers of stories, direction of narrative, various tempos.

At this time the site is being under used, even though it is being passed by thousands of people every day. Except for all the users of the highway, the subway and the Tvärbana, Hammarbybacken is being intensely used by cycle commuters and weekend strollers walking around Årstaviken. It’s location next to Hammarby Sjöstad and to-be-developed areas of south Södermalm gives an underlay for future users. Simultaneously, its reasonably inaccessible location contributes to the experience of the building.

Location within Stockholm. 1:10 000 4

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S C H E D U L E

Dates

16 -27 Jan 30 Jan-10 Feb 13 Feb-6 Mar 7-8 Mar 10-17 Mar 20-24 Mar 27 Mar- 28 Apr 1-5 May 9-10 May 15 May-26 May 29 May- 2 June

Activities

Reading, site survey Implementing vocabulary spatially, case studies Proposal Mid seminar Study trip Evaluation Proposal Preparation Final Seminar Diploma preparation Diploma Week

Results

Dictionary, programme, base site drawings Models, collages, text

Plans, sections, elevations

Text, sketch drawings, sketch models

Site model, plans, section, elevations, 1:20 model, isonometrics, visualisations

Presentation material, writing

Presentation material

R E F E R E N C E S

Literature

Non fiction

Bonnevier, Katarina: Behind straight curtains (2007) Colomina, Beatriz:

The private site of public memory (1999)

Culler, Jonathan: Literary Theory: A very short

introduction (2011)

Manguel, Alberto + Guadalupi, Gianni:

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (1980)

Rossi, Aldo: A Scientific Autobiography (1980) Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith:

Narrative fiction: Contemporary Poetics (1983)

Fiction

Abulhawa, Susan:

The Blue between Water and Sky (2015)

Bulgakov, Mikhail: The Master and Margarita (1966) Garcia Marquez, Gabriel:

One Hundred years of Solitude (1967)

Lagerlöf, Selma: Gösta Berlings Saga (1891) Winterson, Jeanette: The Passion (1987)

Architecture (possible case studies)

Antonelli, Alessandro / Confino, François: Mole

Antonelliana/Museo Nazionale del Cinema (1889/2006)

Asplund, Gunnar: Stockholms Stadsbibliotek (Stockholm 1927)

Gray, Eileen: E1027 (1929)

Kalach, Albert: Biblioteca Vasconcelos (Mexico City, 2007)

Lasdun, Denys: National Theatre (London, 1974) Loos, Adolf: Villa Müller (1930)

Photo credits (photos by me unless mentioned here) 1 _{Helena Normark} 2 _{Marcos Zoso} 3 _{Samuel Wilby} 4 _Eniro 5 _Eniro Thesis Booklet