tonyvanky.com // Thesis 2/2: Media Architecture

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Oyez, Oyez, Oyez

The following are excerpts from the submitted thesis document.

Form Making
Driven by a stream of consciousness and a consideration of Singapore, the building takes on aspects of the unique tabula-rasa of the island city. Where ground is no longer considered sacred, it is often replicated and duplicated as high as a commercial value demands. The prime example is across the bay in the Central Business District. Adopting that mentality, the ground plane is duplicated independent of program needs. Later, the program is inserted into the stacked layers and deforms the new ground plane based on program need creating connections between floors and program elements.

Media Surfaces
What is explored heavily in this thesis is the role of the surface as an interactive element. There are two manifestations of the media surface. The first is the passive “wall”. It is physically removed from the viewer as they have no physical contact with the surface other than sight (and other than reaching out to touch). This surface broadcasts information at large without real consideration for the needs of the occupant. On this surface could be feeds to speeches and meetings abroad or news broadcasts. The floor-wall is considerable more interactive and seen as a participant in the navigation and information gathering of the occupant. After the occupant checks in at the kiosk, a RFID badge allows the building to track the location of the occupant in real time and can show them meeting briefs, location information or email as the occupant moves to the next location. Much like the Seattle Public Library’s original proposal with a librarian locator, this building engages surface as screen and active in the engagement of space.

Plenary Evolution, Chamber
Iteration 1:
This proposed chamber takes its cues from the definitive element, the table. There is no hierarchy with the exception of the center and reflects the democratic ideals of Greece. The speaker is in the center and addresses everyone equally while the dome, also segmented into equal parts for the member nations are made as projection screens. The intent is to have a 180-degree swath dedicated to each member nation with half being real and half being digital. This combination of digital and real blur to create a space that is neither and exists somewhere in between. The opportunity for digital transparency is given through a blogger zone around the seating and before the dome as if they were the bridge between the two.

Iteration 2:
The revised chamber, like the previous iteration contains the segmented parts for each of the represented nations as well as the Union as a whole. However, unlike the previous where there was no hierarchy and as such, no one place to look, this proposal is more conservative and related to the more expected form. The front of the chamber has a large screen made from ag4’s media facade but turned inward. Allowing for almost 85% transparency, visibility inward as well as outward preserve physical transparency while creating a visual connection to the digital world. Each of the nations have an equal part of the main circle but an inverted section is dedicated to the secretariat to preserve the centrality of the organization. The screen could be used to bridge the chamber with another in a member nation or to the digital world linking the room with a digital counterpart and creating another 360-degree connection.

Spaces
Conference Room: The interactive ground can lead people to their appointments while providing information they want. Media surfaces bridge distance and into the digital world.

Security/Entry: At the point of entry, the occupant slips through the media surface and logs into the building. The grand stair is the first media surface that takes them inside.

Marketplace: A marketplace under the building offers a way for the public plaza to blur with the building as well as be a way to share the culture of people in the region.

Media Facades: The facade of the building engages the international community with its digital displaces. The canopy even changes colors based on security threats. The building preserves the waterfront walk along Marina Bay as well as illuminates the bank with large screens that can be seen from all sides of the Bay.

Public Plaza (Protest Zone):The plaza incorporates water and community gardens into the open space while also providing a visible location for demonstrations.