Signs and meaning

On Tuesday 5th October I was lucky to be able to join Class 4S of Furzedown Primary School on a workshop day at the Ai Weiwei exhibition at the Royal Academy.

First impressions of Ai Weiwei:  In the courtyard of the Royal Academy, and an introduction in the studio before seeinf the exhibition

It is not an easy exhibition for children to understand.  The content of the works are heavy with political references.  These are read through the Ai Weiwei’s method of representation which leads the viewer to question and re-question what they are seeing.  It was surprising how well the open-minded children managed to decipher the messages they were presented with.

The children had a lot to take in.  It's not an easy exhibition because of its subject matter.  The class did incredibly well to understand the art and interpret the meaning.

After a tour of the exhibition, there was a workshop where the children were asked to consider artistic representation and meaning in Art.  They were given the question ‘If you could change anything in the world, what would it be?’.  Their written responses were pinned on a Wall of Descent and they were then asked to think how their responses could be graphically transferred to a print-tile so that everyone could interpret it. 

The exhibition certainly prompted the children to think about the question they were given.  Many of the responses represented issues very close to their hearts.

The print-tiles were created on polystyrene sheets.  The children were encouraged to consider lines, texture, symbol and colour to convey their messages, simply with imprint and paint.  With the experience of the exhibition fresh in their minds the children confidently produced their work and came up with some very direct ideas with clear interpretations in the graphic tiles.  This produced lots of areas to discuss and explore at the review at the end of the session.

As always, the children presented their work and ideas with confidence.  

Groups of children printed out their tiles in sequence on lining paper which were hung up for review.  The resulting product was a prototype wallpaper which could be repeated as a decorative finish with a strong personal message, similar to Ai Weiwei’s Surveillance wallpaper.

From an architectural perspective it raised a reminder that there is reference and meaning hidden behind everything we see in the built environment around us, be it social, political, technical, decorative, etc., to a greater or lesser extent.  It is very easy for us to become desensitised to this, but we have to keep looking, questioning, interpreting and challenging with an clear mind.

Culture and Creativity

Why are different cultures creative in different ways? The building industry in the UK has developed differently to the building industries of different countries.  Each appear innovative and creative in distinctly different directions; Prefabrication is more commonplace in the Netherlands, Germany is famous for its efficiency and Japan for the quality of its work etc.  The organisational structures of each respective building industry might have their complexities, but they also have similarities.  Is there a set of common variables within each which influence its innovation and creativity?  If there is, it would be useful to investigate these parallels to see what we can learn.  

A partially completed building in Greece.
Reinforced concrete commonly used as the base form of construction.
Picture courtesy of Deserted Places

For example, construction in Greece appears to focus on a slightly different palette of materials and processes than in the UK.  Reinforced concrete is used more frequently to create the base structure, walls and floor plates.  This is a procedure requiring one operation (or one repeated operation) with a limited set of skills.  It seems to make sense; ready-mixed concrete and cement based materials sourced from local depots are easier to handle and transport than prefabricated building products, where the the geography might consist of uneven roads, islands and other logistical challenges.  This is especially useful when other building materials might be difficult to source.  Working with a controlled palette of materials, involving a small number of processes managed with commonly known skill sets has its advantages.  

But if this system is simple and efficient in Greece, why is it not common practice elsewhere and in the UK?  With what might arguably be an a more sophisticated building industry, why are we involved with much more complicated construction processes and protracted procurement methods?  Are we missing a trick, blinded by the organisational complexities and market pressures which make up the British Building Industry?  Does modernisation and development of the building industry necessarily result in complexity?  I believe creativity in the building industry can be divided in to the following key variables divided in to physical issues:

Logistics:  Restrictions on the transportation of materials, supplies and labour, combined with the economic consequences of logistical complexities will have a bearing on the choice of materials and building systems.  

Climate:  Climate dictates the building solution.  It also has a bearing on the processes involved to realise the completed building.  Some climates might require materials with more thermal mass than thermal resistance for example. 

Topography:  This relates to logistics and climate, but also to the site and its ground conditions.  The typical organisation of site works, access to utilities and service infrastructures will influence a build solution.

Materials:  Material resources and availability will have a key influence on the choice of building systems, level of prefabrication, extent of wet trades on site and extent to which labour resources and specialist skills will be required on site.

and cultural, social or political issues:

Language:  Does language play a part in creativity?  Are some languages better at promoting creativity than others?  Do certain languages steer creativity in specific ways?  Buckminster Fuller had issues with the ability of language to assist creativity.  Adrian Forty describes how language plays a key part in influencing our understanding of the built environment.
Population spread and demographics:  The extent of skilled and unskilled labour and their locations relative to project sites.  Movement in the economic base of communities affects their population make-up and their requirements from the built environment.
Economic development of the Building Industry:  Some economies are more developed than others.  Does it follow that the more developed industrial sectors have more complicated organisational structures?  Is there anything that can be learnt from simpler industrial sectors?  The extent of Industrial development, economic affluence, financial objectives and cultural aspirations play a part in influencing the building industry.  Legislation such as planning and building controls, health and safety requirements and accessibility also influence.  

Cultural aspirations:  History has also shown that industrial capabilities have given way to cultural aspirations and preconceptions of what buildings should look like. 

Development from Paestum to the 21st Century.  Progress in structural performance and materials to ease logistical and construction management restrictions.  Still looking to simplify the construction process with structural materials, involving a set range of skills and labour, with as few materials and processes as possible. 

Can this be used to explain consistent patterns of development within the building industries of different cultures?  In the UK, the wall for example has become a progressively complicated item, requiring more and more stages and processes.   In Greece there are similarities between the reinforced concrete building and Paestum: The materials are simple, strong and few.  With the substitution of reinforced concrete in place of stone (a key innovative shift to ease structural and logistical challanges), it might be argued that much of the rest of the building process remains the same.  Is there something in the culture different nations which sustains their creativity along specific paths for thousands of years?  Going back to the original question of what separated the direction of creativity of different cultures, it seems there are distinct cultural anchors which shape our past, present and future.  

Primary School Makes Life-Size Pavilion

We are delighted that Honour Bayes and the Serpentine Gallery's Build Your Own Pavilion challenge have written a fantastic article on the work of the budding young architects at Furzedown Primary School.  The full article can be found on the Serpentine Gallery's website and reads as follows:

You’ve designed and built your model Pavilion, now imagine sitting and hanging out with friends in it. Nope this isn’t a version of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, it’s what a class from Furzedown Primary School did as part of their art programme, ArtBox. The Random Funky Festival Pavilion (above) began life as a model (below). It was then transposed by the students up to life-size with the help of architect Philip Wells. “I was a bit nervous it wouldn’t work!” Phil says candidly. “But actually, using the same materials but to a larger scale worked really well.” 

Phil runs a series of workshops with Furzedown called Architecture for Kids. They were inspired by a workshop day at the Royal Academy’s Sensing Spaces show that he attended with art teacher Michaela Truscott and her class. After seeing how well the kids responded to ideas of positive and negative space and exploring how different materials made them feel, they wanted to continue experimenting back in the classroom. 

They began playing with structures. Phil writes an excellent and comprehensive blog that gives details of each of their explorations here but one that we particularly loved are their experiments with triangular structures. Using interchangeable small cardboard rectangles with slots in the corners, these were stacked and shaped to make freestanding structures. The diagonal method of their construction meant there was no easy reference to our usual x, y and z axis. It was important to Phil that everyone was thinking in an unconventional way and this was a practical way to encourage that. 

For their Pavilion project last year Phil held one workshop each week of summer term. Each workshop was 90 minutes and chronologically explored concepts of structure, architectural drawing, design, prototyping and then making. You can see all their models in the ‘Your Pavilions’ page. They were all made from reclaimed materials that people would usually throw away like cardboard boxes and even estate agent signs. When it came to building their life-size version, the same materials were used, proving you really can make a Pavilion with anything!

For Phil these projects not only benefit the kids, he believes he has learnt a lot too. “The more we learn and practice our trade as architects the more we are in danger of establishing working conventions and losing touch with the naive clear-sightedness and enquiring minds which we had as children.  It is something which is very special and which we should work to hold on to.” We couldn’t agree with him more. Why not experiment to see what you and your budding young architects could do.

Designing Pavilions

This year with Furzedown Primary School we have been developing our Architecture workshops, experimenting with materials and structures to design and create model pavilions.  Continuing the Architecture for Kids work, these sessions looked at combining Art, Science and Architecture.  In addition to the requirements of the National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2, the School produced a document outlining their approach to Design Technology with a Scheme of Work.  In summary, this involves:

Design

• Research and investigation of uses and needs which require a design response
• Testing solutions against their environment
• Questioning material selections and structural solutions 
• Optimising the solution
• Can it be improved?  Where are the innovations?

Make

• Select materials for use
• Source materials which are readily available and appropriate to the design: Card, tubes, fabrics, string, tape, pipe cleaners, straws, elastic bands, sticks etc. 

Evaluate

• Evaluate the design
• Identify the strengths and areas for improvement

Knowledge and understanding

• Understand how to assemble and optimise 3D structures and understand the relevant vocabulary

Compared to the last set of workshops, these ones focused more on making than drawing.  The sequence of experiments included the following areas:

Investigations

Transforming structures

We investigated the workings of the Hoberman Sphere and other structures which can uniformly transform when movement is applied to one area. Duplo bricks connected at the corners can transform uniformly and can be connected in different configurations.   The challenge was to understand how this works and invent as many different configurations as possible.

Structural experiments
This was a very simple exercise working with polystyrene balls and cocktail sticks.  The kids experimented with different structural geometries to see which are the strongest.  Structural triangles always prove the best in 2D with the tetrahedron the strongest in 3D.

Interlocking planes
Using the pieces from last year's Sky Pavilion model, the kids worked to see how they can best make free-standing structures.  Unlike the original morel for this, the kid's creativity resulted in some very inventive, fluid and free-form structures.  With all the slotted connections being on the diagonal, the process of making a 3D structure was not straight forward.

Tensegrity structures
These were a bit fiddly and like knitting at times, but tensegrity structures help to illustrate how tension and compression works in structures.  It's not until the last piece is connected that the structure works as a whole.  They are very intriguing and it is not always easy to understand how each stick hangs in space.

Monocoque structures
Making 3D forms with panels which clip together at the edges.  There are no rectangles, just triangles, squares, pentagons and hexagons, so the starting forms are more like the platonic solids.  The challenge was to make a structure as large as possible, which can stand up on its own.  

Modular origami
There are many origami modules which can make structures.  We selected some of the simplest to see how they can be put together to make structures and enclosures.  This was not as simple as we anticipated.  The process of folding paper to make the units was a skill to be learnt in itself.  As with many of the other exercises, origami modules do not fall in to easily understandable x, y and z axes.  It's definitely an exercise to develop further.

Magnext
Magnext is great for understanding structures and one of my favourites.  Very quickly it shows that panels make strong structures and non-triangular frames do not.  The junctions can move and flex, making it very easy to understand the structures.

Garden structures
We used lots of cane with eyelets at the ends.  These were connected with cable ties to make freestanding structures.  Cable-tie junctions were not stiff, so the geometry of the structure had to make the assembly stand up.  As with the Magnext and cocktail stick structures, the kids discovered that triangles worked to achieve a structural integrity.  One group made a cube, which would not stand up, then rationalised it with diagonal members to make a freestanding structure.  The kids also took estate agents boards to add form and shelter to their structures.

Application

Pavilion designs
The kids were given a brief to design a pavilion based on the theme of Energy.  Initial investigations, thoughts and ideas were put down in drawings.  They used the findings of the workshops above, and we discussed examples and precedents of pavilions which we found on architectural websites.  The drawn investigations went off in very different directions.

Pavilion models
Each design was translated in to a model pavilion by the kids with its own clear and compelling narrative, logic and reasoning.  Each makes a very creative and dynamic response to the brief which the kids were all excited to share with the class.

Following the design drawings, initial models were made to fest out the structural and design proposals.

The pavilion models were developed further and optimised to make them work more efficiently and effectively, and to achieve the designers' requirements.

Crits
The kids discussed their creations as a conclusion of the process with enthusiasm and confidence.  Their deliveries were all well-articulated explanations of their design approach and proposals as well as choice of materials and structural solutions.  As a group we discussed and reviewed each model.  The confidence of each delivery was very compelling which led the class to engage in the ideas involved with each design.

Thanks again to Furzedown Primary School, Art Teacher Ms Michaela Truscott and Form Teacher & Science coordinator Mr Nick Dutton for hosting this series of workshops.

Using Colour the Wright Way

The use of colour in design is not a subjective exercise.  It is something which is quantifiable, measurable and can be controlled to your best advantage.  Angela Wright is a Colour Psychologist and colour consultant to designers.  Through her company Colour Affects, she describes the system for using colour which she has developed and how to manage it.  She explains that colour psychology has two parts:

• The set of basic colours which we all relate to as having characteristics, both positive and negative, and
• There are four colour families, each with a specific set of common personalities, which they relate to.  

The key is that each colour family has a specific personality type.  Grouping colours together from within the same colour family will always harmonise and direct the viewer in a specific common direction.  Emphasising specific characteristics of the colours can then influence more directly how the viewer feels, thereby objectively influencing its psychological affect.   

We subconsciously associate colours with specific characteristics.

These are the reasons why bishops wear purple and pilots wear black.

Positive references for each colour are given here.  For more, including potential negatives, check out Colour Affects and Angela Wright's book.

Through her research, Angela has confirmed that the component which defines whether a colour is stimulating or calming is not the wavelength (which defines the colour) but the chromatic intensity (the strength of the colour).   For example, a strong bright blue might stimulate mentally and focus the mind, while a soft sky-blue can calm the mind and aid concentration.

Colour Family Type 1: Morning Light
This colour family is fresh, vibrant and has the natural characteristics of Spring.
It is energetic and youthful and probably the most popular colour group designers like to work with.

Colour Family Type 2: Dream Light
This colour family is subtle, delicate and cool.  It has the natural characteristics of Summer.

Colour Family Type 3: Fire Light
This colour group is warm, intensive and evokes references of nature and the countryside.
It has the natural characteristics of Autumn and is probably the colour group which most of us relate to.

Colour Family Type 4: Star Light
This colour group is clear, striking and can be cold.  It contains no subtleties.
It has the natural characteristics of Winter.

Working with colour is a delicate art, and it helps to have a specialist on board like Angela, but with a system like this there is no reason why architects should stick to their favourite greys.

The Colour Affects book.
Currently Angela is working on a new book which she aims to release next year.

Space to Move

Transit van purchases have been on the increase.  This story is used as an indicator to demonstrate the recovery of the economy.  Transit vans are probably the most convenient logistical resource on the road and a key component of the mechanics of the building industry.

Basic site logistics

Building sites are often served by large loads on articulated lorries, closely followed by sub-contractor's transit vans containing people, tools, components and materials.  Everything which goes in to making a building, comes through this logistical bottle-neck.  When all the journeys and deliveries are added up, the total number of supplies and deliveries can be surprisingly huge.  The logistical processes in supplying a building site have a significant impact on programme, work-hours and energy consumption and waste.

It is important to consider the logistical restrictions (or opportunities) when setting out to design any building, to economise on the number of loads required.  This in turn assists to:

• Potentially save energy 
• Economise on build time and offer opportunities to resolve critical path items
• Economise on the labour force, or make it more efficient
• Potentially save project costs 
• Offer opportunities on waste management

Standard construction logistics

Logistics is a key part of innovation in the building industry and can be used as a means to promote creative thinking in project design.  When thinking about standard sized materials or prefabricated components, it is useful to consider the standard logistical solutions, and opportunities for going beyond the norm.

Payload options, from a one person lift to the Super Guppy

 STG are specialists in the movement of large, oversized items and experts in construction logistics.  Their involvement in a project usually begins with a transport study to investigate the logistical restrictions involved in transporting large objects to site, and what the options might be.  The key consideration with most projects is the available space to move in and weight restrictions.

STG - Specialists in the movement of special items or large loads

Perhaps our standard logistical patterns within the building industry play a key role in the commonality of building design;  why buildings look identifiable as buildings and distinct (by their choice of materials and construction processes) from cars or boats.

Logistics plays an important part in establishing why building design conforms to a specific set of rules

It is informative to see what the processes are in different industrial sectors, and to find out if there are any advantages for the building industry.  The heroic and often crazy responses to some of the logistical challenges presented in other industrial sectors sparks the imagination and are good references for innovation.  Logistical issues in relation to building projects can be an adventure in themselves, and so deserve full consideration in the design of projects.

Logistical challenges

Architecture is...

According to the Dictionary,  the definition of Architecture is,

Architecture (noun)

• The profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial construction environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect.  Architecture often includes design or selection of furnishings and decorations, supervision of construction work, and the examination, restoration, or re-modelling of existing buildings.
• The character or style of a building
• The action or process of building; construction
• The result or product of architectural work, as a building
• Buildings collectively
• A fundamental underlying design of computer hardware, software, or both
• The structure of anything, e.g. the architecture of a novel

which was obviously written by a non-architect.

There's a lot more to it than that.  Having to explain Architecture to a class of 10 year olds, I really need a single line definition which sparks the imagination.  Our sequence of workshops helps to create a feel for the profession:

• Imagining ideas to address design requirements
• Investigating design with structures, drawing, materials and models
• Creating exciting, meaningful and responsive environments
• Building at full scale

Architecture is involved with everything in our lives, our societies and our existence as humans.  Eva Jirikna points this out.  

As Architects, our working relationships with others is key.  Jan Knippers noted that historically Engineers were referred to as a 'clever person' and Architects as 'someone who knows how to put it together'.   Architects like to think of themselves as designers / creators.  In practice, coordination plays a big part of day to day work.  Architects usually work with Structural and Service Engineers and Cost Consultants, but there's a set of skills involved which can just as easily be used with other specialists to be innovative with different kinds of projects.  

Anthony Hudson refers to the importance of having an open mind in his book of his work.

Sophie Abrahams' web site Architecture Is sets out to convey the diverse nature of this subject with a patchwork of definitions which combining to illustrate the aubject.

Many people don't really know what an Architect does.  I've heard someone saying 'an Architect is a kind of Surveyor'.  And several architects are not completely sure what an Architect does either.

In college we came to the conclusion that Architectural education was a process of stripping away everything we thought we knew about the world, until we knew absolutely nothing about everything.  It sounds contradictory to a learning process but there is a balance and potentially sensitive understanding to an approach to the world as a result.

Architecture is an activity which involves just about everything, either in terms of design approach or coordination.  For me, the key areas of activity might be boiled down to:

• Ontological and metaphysical references  
• Spacial design 
• Technical coordination of structural, environmental and budget requirements
• Social responsibility
• Innovation, experimentation and influence of change
• Practicalities of prefabrication, construction and logistics 
• Joy 

So, when I'm working with a class of 10 year olds, and they ask what Architecture is, the answer I give is 'lets experiment and find out...'

Let me know if I've missed anything out.  Architecture is a very fluid subject.  Your comments welcome.