ARC 696 – Advanced Architectural Design – Fall 2016
Margaret Griffin, Eugene McDermott Centennial Visiting Professor
[email protected], skype; margaret_griffin, cell; 310-880-5340
From the Ground Up - a High Rise in Los Angeles
(Stacked Profile Geometries to Reconsider the Silhouette of the Tall Building)
Toronto Towers, Frank Gehry
Friedrichstrasse Tower, Mies Van der Rohe
“Only skyscrapers under construction reveal the bold constructive thoughts, and then the impression of the high reaching
steel skeleton is overpowering. With the raising of walls, the impression is completely destroyed: the constructive thought,
the necessary basis for artistic form-giving, is annihilated and frequently smothered by a meaningless and trivial jumble of
forms… and yet these buildings could have been more than just manifestations of our technical skills. This would mean,
however, that one would have to give up the attempt to solve a new task with traditional forms; rather one should attempt to
give form to the task out of the nature of this task.”
Mies van der Rohe, “Skyscrapers”, 1922
Course Description
Students will re-examine the role of the tall building in the city of Los Angeles, specifically we will
examine the role of stacked profiles to generate multiple silhouettes to transform the typology of the
tower. Using precedent and antecedent, students will consider the particular impact of the building
envelope and its material and geometrical determinations on site and within a tall building form and its
capacity to use transformation as a methodological tool to guide a rigorous approach to the design of a
new high rise. By studying the specificities of the tall building envelope students will be exposed to the
tight dependency existing between serial determinations – of both geometric and material order – of the
outermost surface, the volumes of enclosure (profile), its surroundings, and the tower’s iconic
performance in today’s metropolis. Throughout the semester we will situate processes of expression
alongside the magnitudes of control such as economies of structure, core and envelope in order to
contest the presumed identity of the contemporary high-rise. Students will be expected to put forward a
critical position, supported by a sophisticated repertoire of formally and materially resolved techniques,
calibrated against the problems and physical realities of the contemporary tall building. Moving from
the conceptual and the abstract to the physical realities of building, the work of the studio aims to
productively embrace novelties and differences in the production of new silhouettes with the capacity
for multiple readings within the context of the metropolis.
Project Overview
This studio will focus on the refinement of a detailed architectural resolution in the design of a highrise building with particular emphasis on surface articulation measured against essential form (mass)
and structure (frame and core). The research, design and development of the project will be divided
into 3 parts; 1.) Precedent Analysis 2.) Concept Design and 3.) Project Design.
We will begin with a weeklong analysis and research period on a limited group of speculative (built
and unbuilt) high-rise precedents. Studying with the abundant history of tower design that already
exists, considering both its successes and shortcomings, the aim of this phase is to establish a
genealogy of the high-rise as it relates to the general issues of massing, core, ground/entry, surface
articulation (envelope) and tectonics, etc. Employing precise graphic standards and presentation
formats we will generate a cohesive catalogue that serves as a high-rise repository to inform the
development of the student’s projects in the following phases of design and development.
In a second phase, we will take on the tower problem with a two-week concept design exercise
investigating techniques of formal composition as they relate only to issues of mass and surface
articulation. In this phase we will employ Maya, Rhino and Grasshopper in order to create a family of
tall objects in the form of multiple small study models. These meta-projects will comprise an arsenal of
techniques discussed through the lenses of monolithic, figural, and multiple part-to-whole discourses.
The third phase of design will introduce students to the specificity of a common site and the building
problem. A field trip to Los Angeles in mid October will allow students to both experience the
specificities of our context, as well as to survey the historic and present state of high-rise development
in Los Angels. Upon our return to Texas, we will incrementally develop and transform the work from
the initial warm-up exercise by questioning and testing it along issues of core and footprint
requirements relative to height, envelope systems, structures, etc. This phase will also emphasize
articulation and tectonics of the envelope to an advanced level of architectural resolution. Students will
investigate issues of surface subdivision and panelization, fenestration and material technology
culminating with the production of large models, sections and elevations.
Students will be expected to put forward a critical position that is supported by a sophisticated
repertoire of formally and materially resolved techniques. This position-taking and overall discourse
within the studio will be supported by discussions throughout the development of the project. The
objective of these critical conversations will be to both contextualize and expand the studio problem
and discourse within the larger theoretical and historical arena.
Tools & Techniques
Software: Students are expected to employ Maya, Rhino and Grasshopper for Rhino throughout the
semester.
Models: Students are expected to produce various forms of output models; from multiple quick, small,
monolithic 3d printed objects in the initial warm-up exercise, to a final large, assembled model
involving a myriad of digitally (3d printed, laser-cut, milled, etc.) and manually produced components.
Drawings: Axonometrics; Ground/Entry Plan(s), and a limited number of carefully selected Typical
Plans throughout the Tower; large scale sections and elevations with emphasis in envelope articulation
and assemblies.
Readings / Reference Material
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Mertins, Detlef. “Mies’s Skycraper “Project”: Towards the Redemption of Technical Structure”, in
The Presence of Mies. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994) pp 49-67.
Abalos, Inaki; Herreros, Juan. From Tower to Office: From Modernist Theory to Contemporary
Practice, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003).
Cobb, Henry. The Voice of Architecture, Sci-Arc Lecture on April 1, 2015; Introduction by: Eric
Owen Moss. http://sma.sciarc.edu/video/henry-n-cobb-the-voice-of-architecture-2/
Cobb, Henry. The Office Tower, lecture presented as part of the Arch League’s 1986 Current Work
series. http://archleague.org/2015/05/cobb-the-office-tower-1986/
Sullivan, Louis H. “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered.” First in Lippincott’s
Magazine 57 (March 1896) pp 403-09.
Huxtable, Ada Louise. “The Tall Building Artistically Reconsidered,” in On Architecture:
Collected Reflections on a Century of Change, (New York, Walker & Co. 2008), pp.132-39.
Zaera Polo, Alejandro. “The Politics of the Envelope”, first in Log #13/14 (Part I) and Log #17
(Part II). (New York: Anyone Corporation, 2008) pp 193-207 and pp 97-131.
Course Schedule
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Week 1
PRECEDENT STUDY
F 08.26
First Day: Studio Introduction, Precedent Selections
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Week 2
PRECEDENT STUDY
Th 09.01
Pin Up / Review - Precedent Study
F 09.02
WARM-UP EXERCISE - In class work
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Week 3
CONCEPT DESIGN
Th 09.08
Skype Review
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Week 4
CONCEPT DESIGN
Th 09.15
Pin Up / Review Concept Design
F 09.16
PROJECT DESIGN - In class work
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Week 5
PROJECT DESIGN
Th 09. 22
Skype Review
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Week 6
PROJECT DESIGN
Th 09. 29
Pin Up / Review Project Design
F 09.30
In class work - Project Design
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Week 7
PROJECT DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Th 10.06
Skype Review
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Week 8
FIELD TRIP
Th 10. 13
CLASS GOES TO LOS ANGELES
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F 10. 14
LA tours – Pre Mid Term Review
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Week 9
PROJECT DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Th 10.20
Skype Review
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Week 10
PROJECT DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Th 10.27
Mid term Pin Up / Review Project Design & Development
F 10.28
In class work - Project Design & Development
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Week 11
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Th 11.3
Skype Review
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Week 12
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
T 11.08
Pin Up / Review Project Design & Development
W 11.09
In class work - Project Design & Development
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Week 13
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Th 11.17
Skype Review
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Week 14
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Th 11.24
Thanks Giving – No Class!
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Week 15
STUDIO REVIEW WEEK
F 12.02
Final Review
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Grading Procedures
Grades will be determined based upon quality of work produced, overall production level,
improvement over the course of the semester, completion of project requirements, quality of
participation, attendance, attitude and ethical conduct. Any questions regarding grades or policies
should be directed to the instructor. A passing grade in the course requires committed completion of all
projects at a satisfactory level or above, including all requirements listed for all assignments.
Incomplete work will not be evaluated.
Studio Policies
The studio meets Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays when the instructor is in town. Attendance is
mandatory during these times and at critiques, pin-ups, and reviews. If you do not present your work
you will not receive credit for the studio. Students are required to work in studio and to have all
required work at their desk during studio time (not at another location). You are not to work on other
classes during studio hours. Students are not to use studio time to leave school to procure materials, run
errands, etc. All activities that require one to be away should be scheduled to occur outside of studio
hours. Leaving in the middle of or prior to the end of regularly scheduled studio times will result in an
absence. Grades will be determined upon the quality of work produced, improvement over the course
of the semester, completion of project requirements, quality of participation, and attendance.
Academic Integrity Policy
Student work that presents the ideas or words of others as the student’s own adversely impacts the
whole school and may lead to immediate dismissal. Academic dishonesty, including cheating,
plagiarism, commissioning academic work by others, or performing academic work on behalf of
another student, is strictly prohibited.
Incomplete Work
A student may receive a grade of incomplete (I) by requesting permission from the instructor prior to
the date of the final examination or presentation. Permission will be granted only under extraordinary
circumstances and usually for medical reasons or family emergencies. Incompletes must be fulfilled to
the satisfaction of the instructor no later than six weeks after the end of term.
Notices to Students
Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of
Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 512-471-6259,
http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/
Students shall follow UT Honor Code (or statement of ethics) for an explanation or example of what
constitutes plagiarism (Link to University Honor Code: http://catalog.utexas.edu/generalinformation/
the-university/#universitycodeofconduct)
Regarding accommodations for religious holidays. Please notify me of any pending absence at least
fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an
examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given
an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.