ADS1: The Cave and the Tent
Titi Fang
Titi completed her bachelor’s degree of Architecture at the University of Nottingham's Ningbo Campus. Before her part 2 study at RCA, she had 4 years’ experience working in the Chongqing, China Office of aLL Design led by late Will Alsop. During this time, she had the chance to participate in projects of various scales, which enhanced her design thinking by different ways of exploring ideas like painting, sketching, reading and communicating with people.
Growing up in China, Titi is particularly interested in the change of the living environment, and how memories are traced in these movements. In the recent decades of China, large numbers of buildings in the cities are demolished, renovated, or regenerated while many villages in rural areas are left derelict. Titi pays much attention to these vanishing and emerging places, and their relation to the existing terrain, historical and social environment. She likes to explore ways of interpreting a comprehensive and sensible narrative in contemporary construction while enhancing people’s experiences, using architectural materials and technologies, and tries to achieve it in real conditions economically.
As the mass-production industry predominates the metropolitan society, there is a distinct division between human being and the terrain so that some people are still trying to avoid these conflicts and denying the existence the of the crisis. In this year’s research project, the primitive as a media interrogates and punctuates the super-sealed living environment, built under the mass production industry that fossilizing the relation between human and nature, paralysing our sensibility and consciousness.
Hence, the material and precedent research and the design project tries to find answers for the following questions: How can we inhabit the terrain lightly? How can we construct without a heavy impact on the landscape? How can we build without a super-sealed shell? How can we enhance our living environment and spatial experiences without a heavy burden from the construction cost?
It is a negotiation between human construction and the natural landscape, therefore, the Lea Valley cutting through the metropolitan city provides an edge condition between natural features and human traces, and this led to a more specific research question: How to enhance the experience of Lea Valley, a place with rich landscape and trace of history, with light structures and minimal materials that conserves the landscape and leaves a strong connection between constructed interior space and the external terrain?
Lea Navigation and the 8 Light Shells — Once home to a diverse range of industries, gravel pits, waterworks sites, distilleries, and factories, it had been neglected and derelict for years and is now turned into a linear park with a mixture of natural landscape and industrial traces. The 8 light shells spread like pinpoints on the different part of the Lea Valley, and respond subtly to the historical and physical landscape of each place.
Light Shells along the Lea Valley_false elevation — The false elevation put together the elevation clips of all the interventions and the landscape they are adjacent to along the Lea Valley. The human experiences of the continuous landscape are enhanced by the pinpoints of light structures.
Canal Dock Bar and Workshop — It is a shelter suspended above part of the existing canal boat dock, the Springfield Marina. With 200 berths, the marina offers a range of services for the inland waterways user. The half enclosed space provides an spacious place that functions as a local bar and boat maintaining workshop. Boats can sail directly into the bar/workshop. It also provides a gathering space of the local canal boat community.
Wild Swimming Shed — Next to the other 3 filterbeds that have been successfully changed into natural conservation areas, Essex No1 Filterbed was filled and is now used for storage.The design tries to bring back the water feature of the original filterbed for wild swimming to enhance the experience for local communities around the Lea Valley. A shed structure suspends above the centre of the filterbed, with the functional space separated from the roof sits on the ground. Similar to Cedric Price’s Aviary, the structure touches only minimal amount of ground with diving platforms floating above the water.
Camping Plate — The camping plate standing in the floodplain provides a platform for camping even in flood seasons with a simple structure. The central space provides kitchen, showering room and some furniture that could be set up in the exterior environment to enhance the experience of camping while remaining certain extent of roughness. The mesh allows sunshine and rains going through the plate that minimises the influence to the plants below.
Restaurant in the Marsh — The octagon restaurant was elevated 5m above the middle of the east part of Tottemham Marsh, a remediated natural land. The rotatable polycarbonate facade panels and interior movable wall panels create a flexible space with different depth between the interior and exterior space. The space beneath the restaurant was left free for the plants and local insect species.
Documentary Library and Lab — The Walthemstow Marshes is the last semi-natural wetland along Lea Valley that was home to many local plants and animals. The Documentary Library and Lab sitting on the boundary of the marsh intends to collect and share the biological and historical knowledge about the Lea Valley that arouse people’s awareness of the terrain. Its proximity to the natural site provides a more sensitive learning environment.
Spa and Bath in the Woods — The spa and Bath in the Woods is also at the Lea Bridge Waterworks areas. It is located at an extension of the Essex No. 1 filterbeds closer to the natural conversations. The interior space was more private and divided with large number of curtains compared to the wild swimming pool, which leaves a very open space under the large shell. People can enjoy the sauna in the compact core area, or the bath between the soft curtains under the translucent shell, or move outside in to the woods to enjoy the complete landscape
Warm Booth — Warm Booths are series of tiny cylindars standing along the Chingford Reservoirs, a 5km long landscape without much cover. With small scale and simple structure, the warm booth provides cosy stops along the monotonous landscape for people would like to walk through the Lea Valley.
Urban Curtains — The Edmonton incinerator chimney is the largest in Britain that burns large amount of waste from the City of London. The diesel fug and precipitation will even disguise the 100-foot tower. The 18m high, 1.5km long urban curtain aims at creating green boundary between the waste treatment plants and the canal community in the Lea Valley. The super slender stricture consist of only galvanised posts and aluminium mesh forms a skeleton for vine plants to climb up that could block the view to the factory while absorb certain amount of the pollution.
The project creates a series of ‘Light Shells' sitting on the landscape of the Lea Valley. They provide space for human activities with minimal constructed architectural form that lightly touches the terrain. The primitive tent-like architectural interventions tries to explore the relation between human and nature that enhances our sensibility and empathy towards a larger environment.
With a mixture of rich natural features and historical human traces, Lea Valley provide an edge condition to renegotiate the relation between human construction and natural landscape. It was once home to a diverse range of industries, gravel pits, waterworks sites and factories, but had been neglected and derelict for years and is now turned in to a linear park. There are thousands of people living on the edge of the lea valley. Some live in the adjacent residential council communities, some live a nomadic but vibrant life on the boats along the canals.
Therefore, the project aims at enhancing the experience of inhabiting the Lea Valley, using light structures and minimal materials, conserving the landscape, and maintaining a strong connection between constructed interior space and the external terrain. On the eight selected site, eight light shells spread like pinpoints on the different part of the Lea Valley. They vary in different scales and respond subtly to the historical and physical landscape of each place. Some interventions are tiny such as Warm Booths, a series of tiny cylinders standing along the Chingford Reservoirs, providing cosy stops for visitors walking through the Lea Valley. Some are of local infrastructure scale such as the wild swimming shed, a roof structure suspends above the center of the original plan of the Essex No1 Filterbed, that tries to bring back the historical feature of the waterworks while enhancing the experience for local communities. However, there is also intervention of much bigger scale. The urban curtain is a 1.5km-long, 18m-high aluminium mesh spreads between the largest waste incinerator in UK and the canal community, forming a skeleton for vine plants to climb up that could block the view to the factory while absorb certain amount of the pollution. All of them present a lighter possibility of anchoring human activities to the terrain instead heavy constructions and excessive material consumption.
With a mixture of rich natural features and historical human traces, Lea Valley provide an edge condition to renegotiate the relation between human construction and natural landscape. It was once home to a diverse range of industries, gravel pits, waterworks sites and factories, but had been neglected and derelict for years and is now turned in to a linear park. There are thousands of people living on the edge of the lea valley. Some live in the adjacent residential council communities, some live a nomadic but vibrant life on the boats along the canals.
Therefore, the project aims at enhancing the experience of inhabiting the Lea Valley, using light structures and minimal materials, conserving the landscape, and maintaining a strong connection between constructed interior space and the external terrain. On the eight selected site, eight light shells spread like pinpoints on the different part of the Lea Valley. They vary in different scales and respond subtly to the historical and physical landscape of each place. Some interventions are tiny such as Warm Booths, a series of tiny cylinders standing along the Chingford Reservoirs, providing cosy stops for visitors walking through the Lea Valley. Some are of local infrastructure scale such as the wild swimming shed, a roof structure suspends above the center of the original plan of the Essex No1 Filterbed, that tries to bring back the historical feature of the waterworks while enhancing the experience for local communities. However, there is also intervention of much bigger scale. The urban curtain is a 1.5km-long, 18m-high aluminium mesh spreads between the largest waste incinerator in UK and the canal community, forming a skeleton for vine plants to climb up that could block the view to the factory while absorb certain amount of the pollution. All of them present a lighter possibility of anchoring human activities to the terrain instead heavy constructions and excessive material consumption.
Medium:
architectural drawing, digital painting, video
Canal Dock Bar and Workshop, Axo and Plan — Plan
Wild Swimming Shed, Axo and Plan
Camping Plate, Axo and Plan
Restaurant in the Marsh, Axo and Plan
Documentary Library and Lab, Axo and Plan
Spa and Bath in the Woods, Axo and Plan
Warm Booths, Axo and Plan
Urban Curtain, Axo and Section
All the interventions use steel structure as the skeleton, some in the form of frame structure, some utilise tension structure consisting of tubular steel columns and steel cables. The architecture enclosure was composed of layers of light materials such as PVC-PES fabric, polycarbonate panels and bioplastics with a translucent or white texture that integrates well in the natural terrain and have a subtle reflection of the surrounding landscape. Another layer is the interior curtains or moving wall panels that function as adjustable space divider or building façade
Medium:
Architectural Drawings
Oasis No.7 by Haus Ruker, Section — The No.7 Oasis designed by Haus Rucker for the Documenta 5 exhibition in Kassel in 1972, creates a bubble space extruded from the thick masonry facade of Fridericcianum and exposed to the public square outside as a temporary performance. The thin transparent and temporary bubble contrast to the heavy permanent gallery building providing an exit from the enclosed interior to breath and refresh in the air.
Oasis No.7 by Haus Ruker, Plan
Naked House by Shigeru Ban, Plan — Built in 2000, Naked House was a residential project for a family. The bedrooms are designed as movable boxes that can be pushed inside or outside flexibility while the overall interior space is kept open like a bright hall. The thick translucent wall made of light plastic becomes a functional mass with plastic insulation invented by Shigeru Ben, which keeps out the coldness while allowing natural light in.
Naked House by Shigeru Ban, Section
House N by Sou Fujimoto, Plan — In the case of Fujimoto’s House N, the threshold between interior and exterior even becomes a garden space that blur the definition of the two opposite spatial terminology.
House N by Sou Fujimoto, Section
Mulhouse by Lacaton & Vassal, Plan — Lacaton&Vassal’s council house uses multi-layered thin plastic panel façade that can adjust the relation between interior and exterior flexibly. It is a greenhouse like structure on top of a concrete structure on the ground floor that largely reduces the cost of the construction.
Mulhouse by Lacaton & Vassal, Section
Snowdon Aviary by Cedric Price, Plan — Constructed in 1964, Snowdon Aviary in London Zoo was designed by Cedric Price. The poet Jacques Prévert writes, 'To paint the portrait of a bird, paint first a cage with an open door'. The lightweight tensegrity structure lands on the ground with two steel V-shape structures. The whole aviary was covered with aluminium mesh.
Snowdon Aviary by Cedric Price, Elevation
Interpreted model- half of the Snowdon Aviary — The 1:50 physical model showing half of Snowdon Aviary was made to test the tensile structure, which has the potential to achieve the lightness in architecture and detach heavy forms from the ground, leaving a breathable ground environment. The whole aviary was a tensegrity structure which was attached to the ground only on the point of the V-shape structures. The two V-shape structures pulls each other symmetrically. The tetrahedron structures are basically hanging on the two V-shape structure and fixed with cables anchored on the ground, which in turn reinforces the V-shape structure by providing a downward force.
the 2nd interpreted model of Snowdon Aviary structure — The second Interpreted model is composed of 4 diagonal pillars holding the four pyramid structures in the air with the transparent cables. All the diagonal columns are landing on a single base which minimises span of the foundation.
As part of the Live Project, a series of architectures in certain forms of cave and tent are collected through redrawing of the precedents and an archive making. This collection contains five tent-like precedents that explores the possible thin thresholds between interior and exterior.