Visual Catalog: Greg Lynn’s Studio: At the University of Applied Arts Vienna

170 Pages·2010·20.549 MB·English

by  Greg Lynn (auth.), Kristy Balliet, Brennan Buck (eds.)

~ SpringerWienNewYork
VISUAL CATALOG:
GREG Y N'S STUDIO
AT TH E UN IVE RSITY OF
APPLI ED ARTS VI EN NA
Edi ted by Kristy Balliet and Brennan Buck
with an Introduction by Greg Lynn
SpringerWienNewYork
VISUAL CATALOG: GREG LYNN'S STUDIO
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED ARTS VIENNA
Head of the Institute of Architecture: Wolf D. Prix
Editors: Kristy Balliet, Brennan Buck
Design: Paulus M. Dreibho!z, Emma Williams
Atelier for Typography and Graphic Design
Prepress: Nicolas Berthelot
Printing: Holzhausen Druck GmbH
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"2010 Springer-Verlag/Wien
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Printed on acid-free and chlorine-free bleached paper
SPIN: 12594849
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009929414
ISSN 1866 -248X
ISBN 978-3-211-99192-3 SpringerWienNewYork
SpringerWienNewYork
lOA
INSTITUTE OF
~. ARCHITECTURE
CONTENTS
6 INTRODUCTION
8 INNOVATION CYCLE
10 THE CONTEMPORARY
APPRENTICE
SURFACE: FORM
14 TOPO-PANELIZATION
28 PLEATED SURFACES
40 INFLECTION POINTS
52 CREASES
SURFACE: EFFECT
64 ALBEDO
76 DIE CUTTING
86 INJECTION MOLDING
VOLUME: POCHE
96 PETTICOAT LAYERING
106 SURFACE POCHE
122 FIGURAL STRUCTURE
VOLUME: VOID
136 SUPERFLAT LAYERING
148 PROGRAMMED POCHE
162 WOVEN VOLUMES
176 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION 6
GREG LYNN
The Angewandte is a unique university of as vertical planes where the volumes
for three key reasons; its legacy as an of the interior of the building were
incubator for creativity and criticality projected at a ninety degree angle
in design culture; the combination of onto the city; now that we are using
international teachers and students in complex curved surfaces for design how
a variety of design disciplines; and do you proj ect interior volumes onto
finally its commitment to depth as shown a sculptural surface?". By defining the
by the structure of the school where architectural problem first, the
students study with the same design extra-architectural functional, urban,
professor for their entire academic cultural and civic problems get
career. The Visual Catalog reflects the redefined based on emerging creative
general character of the University more solutions. In the studio we understand
than it does any of the preoccupations that culture and urban life is con
and topics that I have assigned over the stantly evolving and mutating and by
years. One thing all students from the redefining the architectural design
Angewandte have in common is that they problems in concert with these new types
understand the strength of design and of urban and culturalli fe a more
creativity and they diligently and robust design culture is fostered among
critically employ design technique not our students. Combined with the many
just for its own sake but as a historical disciplines of design represented at the
mode of critical thinking. The most Angewandte it provides a fertile
poignant characteristic of all of the culture for our students' growth and
Angewandte students, whether in archi critical acumen.
tecture, design, media or fashion,
is the respect for a tradition of radical Sometimes the design tasks that we pose
change. The reverence for tradition at to the students have a specific focus on
the Angewandte is for creative pursuit structure, building systems, building
and innovation rather than the imitation envelope design, site planning, vertical
of history. The Visual Catalog is not circulation or some other discrete
a pattern book of forms nor is it a prag architectural problem and sometimes the
matic manual. It is an attempt to ask questions are broadly defined. The
the next important design questions for Visual Catalog is a collection of the
future architects. design questions we have given the
students during the last five years and
We begin each semester wi th an archi tec their work defining and elaborating
tural question rather than a set of these questions through creative design
solutions, but this does not preclude thinking. This is why it is a "visual"
instrumental solutions to cultural catalog and not a style manual or pattern
problems. For example, instead of book. This pedagogical approach
beginning a design studio with the is only possible at a university where
problem: "how do I solve the problem the students have continuity of
of designing a lobby for a music hall on instruction, because we can for example
the Ringstrasse when the site has two afford to tell a student to focus on
important faces?" we define the problem the design of the ground plane, stairs,
as: "in the past, facades were thought ramps and handrails for an entire
7
semester, as we know that the next university despite the fact that we vertical circulation or fa<;ade. All over
semester this same student can then give our students a technical education. the world, for some inexplicable
focus on the design of a building's -We aspire to be educating leaders in reason, most likely the use of the com-
structure. The students are able to go design who will have a profound impact puter by amateurs, universities began to
into more depth and focus on specific on culture and society through design. teach design through the analysis of
topics because we are not under the Because of this ambition to educate data. For the last two decades students
pressure to schematically design a innovators and leaders in design, the have been taught to analyze transpor-
building in 12 weeks over and over and students graduate when they are prepared tation, financial markets, library
over again for 5 years with different to make a statement of their ambitions. catalog systems, or other extra-archi-
studio inst ructors. The ability to We call this statement of ambitions tectural statistics and turn that
focus on specific and sometimes myopic the diploma proj ect. It is at the diploma into a form and then interpret that form
issues is unique in the world to the that the students are tasked with as architecture. By architects of
Angewandte and this is what makes this coherently forming and presenting their older generations, this is often skill
university so special. own question, a question they are fully interpreted through the trans
expected to work on for the rest of their formed language of Corbusier, Mies or
In contrast to most other universities careers. The diploma is also a test of others, but for students who have never
our students are surrounded by world vocational capabilities and technical been taught design skills through the
class professors and their students from knowledge, but at the Angewandte there analysis of great works of architecture,
a much broader range of fields than only is a higher level expectation: that the results are less meritorious and
architecture, landscape architecture the student has developed Significantly certainly less interesting. The Visual
or urban planning. They are housed in enough as an individual designer Catalog is highly dependent on digital
a building with media, fashion, indus to be able to state a design question tools and media, but it is not a collec
trial, and every other kind of design worth investigating. The diploma is a tion of data analysis by CAD jockeys.
student that can be defined. This puts a statement of a paradigm. In order to The student work is guided by analysis
pressure on and opens up the opportunity prepare the students to develop their of architectural design methods and
for the students to get into dialogue own critical and creative capacities often it launches from the analysis of
with contemporary design in the broadest to be able to define their future one or more building precedents by great
sense. The Visual Catalog is grounded professional proj ect, we spend four and architects. Again, this is a reflec
in the traditions of architectural one half years in studio looking at tion of the Angewandte' s commitment to
education while remaining in dialogue specific design problems where we define rethinking tradition from within a
wi th contemporary design culture. We are the question and ask the students for tradition of architecture as much as it
often inspired to ask certain questions their responses. Through this process, is of our own peculiar studio's inter
from the perspective of our neighboring the students gain enough experience to ests and obj ectives.
colleagues: how does a fashion design define their own problems for their
student think about folding and draping, diploma proj ects.
for example, and what would a media
design student do for lighting in the Finally a word on analysis. Twenty five
building? years ago when I was a student we were
taught design through the analysis of
At the Angewandte the penultimate moment architectural masterpieces. We would
in every student's career is their analyze a work by Corbusier, Wright,
diploma. As arrogant as a statement like Mies, Hoffman, Loos, Lutyens, Ledoux,
this is, we educate our students with the Palladio, Bernini, Borromini or others
expectation that they will all become for volume, mass, structure, fenestra
great architects. We are not a technical tion (windows and openings) , landscape,
INNOVATION CYCLE 8
KR I STY BALLI ET
An architectural education, analogous anomaly and introverts the focus by
to an architectural career, is a col highlighting the collection of refer
lection of parts that comprise a whole. ences emerging from the cumulative
These parts include historical and study trips, lectures, and research
contemporary precedents, academic undertaken by our studio. These experi
environments, mentor influences, indi ences result in a dilated view that
vidual motivation, peer interaction, provides a platform for discussion and
and exhaustive levels of research and critique.
analysis. This complex array of input
requires tools to evaluate and acknowl The difference between generating some
edge dynamic shifts in design culture thing "new" and something "innovative"
that often occur fluidly. In this book is that the innovative evaluates the
we have emphasized the cycle of inno current spectrum of a problem by looking
vation, distinguishing between the within and beyond its own discipline
iterative process that advances ideas to calculate ways to develop the next
and abrupt newness. It highlights step or evolution. It is necessary to
various techniques that were essential evaluate and understand the past in order
for the development of design, assessing to contribute and develop something
the smooth transitions, which emerged innovati ve. The studio is constantly
within Studio Greg Lynn. looking to historical precedents for
inspiration and inserting past develop
Our studio is uniquely positioned ments into a new context. These acts of
to assess these innovation shifts as it reappropriation are common to the realm
resides within an environment that of art and culture. The extent to which
supports a sustained critical approach artists, deSigners and architects
to design. In most architecture schools, borrow from one another, previous genres
a student selects a different design and nature is boundless. In the seminal
studio each semester, allowing a differ book Learning from Las Vegas, Robert
ent group of students to work together Venturi and his co-authors associate the
under a different professor. In contrast, word "evolutionary" with the use of
the unique Meisterklasse system spe historical precedents in his comparison
cifies that students pursue the majority of the Guild House and Crawford Manor.
of their design education within a single They argue that the evolutionary is
studio. The Meisterklasse structure is contrary to the revolutionary (or anti
unique within the realm of contemporary traditional) attitude that does not
architectural education, posing a lead to a deeper architecture but one
rare opportunity to peer into the depth that is 'empty and boring' . In the same
of work and utilize the accumulated text, Venturi is critical of ' ... the
research to discover core issues that modern architect's tendency to glorify
are emerging. The inherent energy that originality through copying it.' While
is generated lacks the traditional he does not condone this action, he
release valve or remix button that is suggests that, ' ... the replication
standard in the alternating studio would have been done better if it had
structure. The categorization of work been accepted philosophically and used
in this catalog takes advantage of this wittingly .. .' These observations are
9
still relevant today as every design In architecture it is profoundly diffi Our studio is a collective exploration.
whim is proliferated instantly through cult and tremendously rewarding It encompasses the curiosities of
rampant blogging, saturating the field to oscillate between and negotiate the many students, each diligently working
with "new" ideas. We are again in a multiple facets of the architectural to develop their own design language in
moment when we need to acknowledge the discourse through practice, academia dialogue with each other, architecture
tools and techniques of our time and work and research. In order to make an impact, and other disciplines. The oscillation
to advance their position. While there architects must limit their area between these two considerations, the
are differences between Greg Lynn's of innovative focus, while remaining part and the whole, creates a system that
design tools and those of Robert Venturi, receptive to relevant agendas and is in constant evolution. In a recent
the pedagogic interests are akin to strategies. A goal within the studio is lecture at the CCA, Greg Lynn referenced
one another. In reviewing a recent studiO to develop a student's interest in his flatware design for Alessi, describ
proj ect, that was accompanied by the a technique that can pose questions and ing that, 'it really works like a family,
explanation, 'it is new', Greg Lynn res challenges that will propel them i love everyone equally, but no one
ponded, 'We are not interested in deep into their careers. It is critical is better than any of the others, they
producing something new but in advancing to understand that architects do are like my kids' . This analogy pOints
ideas .' not blindly design something new within to a process of fertile generation,
a bubble but rather seek innovation visualizing a relationship between the
I am drawing a fine line between what is within an elaborate history. individual and the collective.
new and what is innovative, however it
is a warranted discussion within a design Productive themes of the studio lie at This book serves to frame a moment
studio. Advancing design concepts is the intersection of form and fabrica- in time of a constantly evolving studio,
paramount to the contemporary architec- tion, where we are conSistently seeking discipline and discourse. It was con
tural education which must constantly innovative forms through digital ceived as a means of internal evaluation,
evolve, incorporating new tools and investigation and perfect and refine but we hope that the result inspires
methods of instruction. As illustrated them through large scale , digitally others to evaluate, catalog and question
in this catalog, architectural knowl- fabricated physical models. The poten- the current directions of their own
edge can be gleaned from a multitude of tial for reinvention comes from the work. All work is derived from somewhere
adj acent and far reaching fields. unexpected discoveries made in these and/or something prior, innovation is
Critical evaluation of work within and two-dimensional to three-dimensional not only about creating something new but
around the discipline of architecture processes that push both the form also understanding and acknowledging
is an essential component of a design and material to profound new limits. what preceded the current iteration.
education. Our catalog indexes a selec- Theoretical and formal exuberance lead
tion of visual references and their con to architectural invention. In the
sequent transformation and manifested studio we intentionally move from far
language in the architectural projects reaching topics like space tourism
of the studio. These proj ects sit to typologically grounded proj ects like
at an important point of reflection and a performance hall on the ring located
observation, serving to evaluate the directly across from the Vienna Opera
collective efforts of many students and House. It is important for students to
instructors over five years. It is not both consider fresh ideas (like space
meant as a "best of" or as a comprehen tourism) alongside the age old problems
sive collection but instead isolates of section, sequential movement, and
innovation in a categorical and critical facade. The shifts are often abrupt and
way useful for appraising the work of the intentional in order to agitate and
studio and charting future traj ectories. avoid reflex.
THE CONTEMPORARY 10
APPRENTICE
BRENNAN BUCK
The Meisterklasse, the studio structure from the singularity of the master-
maintained at the Angewandte nearly apprentice relationship as students
since it was formalized in the 19th cen - look inward to develop a personal
tury, is a reinvention of the medieval approach in opposition to that of the
relationship between master and appren - professor.
tice. One professor designs and runs
the curriculum for every semester Our attempt to formulate a contemporary
of a student's five years in the school. Meisterklasse and to re-present it here
Greg Lynn accepted an Angewandte pro is centered on a set of design devices
fessorship in 2002, and with it began that synthesize modes of production and
formulating a 21 st century form of this expression. The thirteen devices we
very traditional structure. This book describe are essentially relationships
maps the hybrid form that developed, between contemporary production
consolidating the students' collective techniques-fabrication, manufacturing
research over the last five years into and construction-and contemporary
a taxonomy of design devices-configu sensibili ties-effects of light, color
rations of technique and sensibility and surface. Although they are largely
that evolved within the studio. culled from design cultures beyond
the boundaries of architecture, they
The studio Lynn inherited from Hans have re -emerged in architectural form
Hollein when he arrived in Vienna was in the studio work over time. They
largely defined by two characteristics: are assembled as a loosely structured
consistency (students remained collection, a visual catalog that
in the class for five years, and tutors makes the relationships within and
normally were there for much longer) between devices explicit. As a taxonomy,
and collectivity (vertical integration this book is also intended to give con
insured that first through fifth-year sistency and identity to an eclectic
students worked on the same design task collection of work, potentially making
every semester) . The evolving studio it useful and relevant beyond the bounds
ecology that has unfolded since balances of Studio Lynn.
individual and collective study, allow
ing students to engage in a consistent, As way to understand and find con
collective exploration of a wide range sistency in architectural practice, the
of aesthetic and technological cultures taxonomy has been reconstituted in a
from outside the discipline while asking number of ways since 2000, most notably
each one to define an individual disci by Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Farshid
plinary 'proj ect'. That ecology inhabits Moussavi in their monograph Phylogene
a middle ground between two potential sis. In the book's introductory essay
excesses of the Meisterklasse: stylistic they write that consistency is necessary
replication, where a single aesthetic for a body of work to become operative,
based on the professor's work becomes to produce resonance between individual
dominant, subsuming a wider range of proj ects and a broader set of effects.
competing techniques and sensibilities, The set of patterns or techniques that
and at the other pole, the autonomous, emerge is more likely to have an effect
intuitive exploration that can develop on the broader discourse and practice of