Research
Landscape in Flux
Natural phenomena are continually changing the coastline and sculpting the land in various ways. By surveying these changes a map can be produced of a landscape in flux. But if the landscape is ever changing, what does it tell us about the precision of flux. I've tried to give an answer to the question if there can be error in flux or if the essence of flux is made out of error.
I've looked at the representability of open source satellite imagery and the intelligence behind the processes they go through. In the process minor errors can appear that can affect our resolution of a place by looking from afar. These errors are tried to make apparent by mapping out natural phenomena in combination with man made architecture throughout the historic images of Google Earth’s satellite imagery. By geolocating the images on top of each other the faults are made visible.
Precision and Error
Looking at Robert Hooke’s point of a needle (1665), the needle being something which is engineered, through the microscope. We see there are a lot of bumps and isn’t at all as precise as we thought. Same is said about the mark of a full stop on paper. What does this tell about precision?
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To what extent is the mapped distortion changing our view on a place? Or can it even be a right representation, as we could look at the world as mass in flux? As the world is ‘flying’ through the universe and tectonic plates are ever changing the environment we live in.
“… when artists talk about their work we learn not so much about their work as about the delusions under which they work. When architects talk about their work they will almost always mention the word “precision.” But when as architects we talk about how “precise” a drawing, a detail, a material system is - something we frequently and automatically do both in practice and, even more so in education – we betray, …” - Francesca Hughes in The Architecture of Error
Towards Design
In architecture there is no precision in the digital file. Only when it becomes a physical product; a hand drawing, print, model or the actual construct. It will try to touch, to match the precision foreseen by the architect. In my eyes a hand drawn brick wall is much more precise than an AutoCAD drawing of the same wall. The precision is to be found within a profound awareness and acknowledgement of the different types of error that can occur. Even the end result is not fixed. Architecture in itself is not a static matter; it is only reflected in an ever-changing environment where it must be able to evolve in the occurring natural phenomena. ​
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Where data is embedded with error, architecture clarifies.
Interiors
House
How can you design local? It is not about the furniture in your house or the colour of your wall; but the immediate surroundings. How does it fit in or stand out? The physical and social fabric of the environment tell a lot about a place. I think it is very important to experience a place before designing.
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This picture on the left is taken in Antwerp and to me symbolizes the architecture of the whole of Flanders. It intrigues me in various ways. From floating bricks, a fence underneath, plants climbing on the wall to the planters that are places on shifted tiles it looks like. It is completely incomprehensible when just shown as a picture.
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Following project is based in Molenbeek, Brussels. After carefully looking at the neighborhood I designed a bike shop on the corner of an intersection.
Cutting the Corner
Belgium is one of the only places I have experienced the cutting of the corner on ground floor. Gas stations were settled in these spaces and it felt like active public ground. Above there would be people living or office space supported by a few columns. Nowadays, fewer gas stations are located in urban areas and these open corners are disappearing. To my disillusionment these corners are being left empty, turning into dark, soulless leftover spaces.
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The design is a corner building with an open workshop space to repair your bike. Like an open car garage this place functions as a meeting point for the neighborhood. Activating the crossing even more. Above the shop there are four apartments with large windows maximizing the amount of sunlight. The facade is constructed out of sandwich panels with a faux brick finish in different patterns.
Layering
Architectural Translations
Architecture has a lot of layers. It can be looked at in various ways, interpreted in various ways and understood in various ways. There is not really one solution, but you can come close to a good solution when layering. When the layers are superimposed a result becomes visible.
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A drawing on paper can tell a lot, but add a physical layer and it creates depth. Within this physicality more is exact. In a drawing something can be hidden and left to someone's imagination, in a layered object there is an actual void or material behind it. Light helps us experience and sometimes even feel the intentional environment.
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Organic Formality
I find a certain beauty in a straight corner, an allinged grid or a specific formal setup. Especially with a square. Structurally not the best, but in its pureness a strict form. Four even ribs, four even corners and four mirror lines.
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In this project I explored the possibility to make a cube organic. Every single sheet consists out of a square within a square, but the layered result is an organic form.
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2D to 3D
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We tend to work a lot in 2D on the screen or on paper, but I’m a 3D thinker. From the moment a saw the more abstract paintings of Paul Klee as a kid, I saw rooms, passages, a whole three dimensional world. So looking at a façade drawing there needs to be some depth. In any computer program it is necessary to prepare before drawing. Preparation is 95% of the work. I like to properly organize my work from the first moment and work through it step by step.
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