complex context, fragility and the art of buildingbergen School of architecture / master course 2010

harald brynlund-lima

complex context, fragility, and the art of building. master course at bergen School of architecture, norway.

complex context, fragility and the art of building concerned the fol-lowing issues: fragility, historical layers and the art of building in a complex urban setting.

the project started at bergen School of architecture with a series of short tasks including writing a short essay. the significant and intensive part of the course was connected to a study trip to italy. a trip that stretched 3 weeks starting in Verona and gradually moved through the italian landscapes, villages and towns. the excursion ended in palermo on Sicily where we found sites for developing the main project in the course.

fragility, historical layers and the art of building in a complex ur-ban setting were the main themes for the travel. urban conditions for children and young people was also a major issue discussed and observed. the main working method was communicated through ac-curate registrations and analytic drawings. in palermo we stated a ne-gotiated item which contained and explained the crucial intentions for the final project. the negotiated item followed all stages of the project.

palermo is one of europe’s most dense cities. culturally and his-torically this city has a complex and multilayered fabric which we analyzed and performed in as architects. Studies of carlo Scarpas museums works, located in Verona and palermo, was a special issue of interest.

this book includes essays, study trip reports and the main architec-tural projects from palermo.

the work of the architects andrea palladio, carlo Scarpa, Viaplana and torres, inger and Johannes exner, Sigurd lewerentz, takaharu tezuka and rene mancilla has been studied. We have also been inspired by the work of the photographer iwan bahn, and the book “experiencing architecture” written by Steen eiler rasmussen.

the teachers attending to the course was: arild Wåge, professor app andre fontes, professor app camilla ryhl, professor app / uu. Kalle grude, professor daV

personal introduction

as mentioned in the foreword, this mastercourse was initiated by researching for and composing an essay text. being an avid reader and writer myselves, i was really intrigued by the somewhat untraditional start to a master-course.

it was a refreshing entry to thinking about architecture. also, literate students of architecture are not so very common - so that we get some treats, are certainly appreciated.

We were asked to focus on 2 architects, for me it was intriguing to aim at the very classical foundation of contemporary architecture. i will of course further elaborate on this in the essay text.

following the rather relaxed essay phase, was a 3 week grand tour of italy. the trip was great, it was truly an amazing experience.

concluding this was a travel report, which is also included in this book. What was especially nice with the tasks during the stay, was that they gradually increased in relevance to the project task back home.

as our class progressed further south, the tasks developed into more connected entries of our own project process.

one thing i will almost certain re-use, is the set of rules we were introduced for: “how to tackle a complex context”. these rules are stated in the book as well.

i have made chapters ordered after chronology, between early September 2010 and homing in on the last strenous days of January 2011. please be seated..

table of contents

foreword

personal introduction

table of contents

the limitations of architecture, essay

travel report, 3 weeks in italy

introduction, project site in palermo

process of architecture project

presentation, final architecture project

method for complex contexts, attached

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i´ve learnt that throughout history of architecture as we know it – there is always an order, a grammar – yes, a language!

Something that dictates the sketching architect, the thereby thinking architect.

but in this essay i want to pursue and understand the ori-gins of architectural limits and then somehow examine the valid limits in contemporary architecture. how to limit contemporary architecture?

to be frank, i often have dismissed the classical or historical language of architecture into the dichotomy of heavy and old pre-modern architecture and the simple, yet elegant modernist era of architecture.

the first one in my opinion was inhabited by seriously big, fat churches in continental europe and other stone pieces in important styles that ended with the letters ”ism” or ”ic”. of course i did realize and appreciate the artistic and historic value of the carvings in marble on the florentine churches and the scary impressions of the cathedral of cologne, but i really didn´t put it on to my personal epistemological radar.

perhaps i was a not-so-bright student?

the limitations of architectureare We free architects, Should We be free?

on the latter category – i pictured that ludwig mies Van der rohe, le corbusier, the steel and concrete structural innovation fostered the basis of architecture today.

but, i certainly and quickly realized when i started reading up in the books of eiler-rasmussen and John Summerson, that classical architecture has a legacy that is stated vividly in both the urban and suburban physical surroundings of today.

actually, the detailing on the cafe i`m sitting on right now, and the details of the ceiling or window frame at home – bring traces from the classic era of renaissance treatises, great cathedrals and palazzos.

the modern era of architecture has certainly a visually pleasing appeal. Just imagine being in and around the pavillion in barcelona designed by ludwig mies Van der rohe or under the magnificent canopy or roofing of the olympiapark in munich. i think that the pleasing gestures of modern architecture somehow could be described as opposite of the heavy baroque, gothic or renaissance pieces of architecture.

frameworks or theories of architecture here in the West often originate in the treatise called ”the ten books of architecture” by the architect now known as Vitruvius. in this piece, the roman architect described lots of knowledge in how to build, why to build and more of the contemporary and then roman context.

according to John Summersons book ”the classical language of architecture” this book was rediscovered and treated theoretically in the dawn of renaissance in northern italy. Summerson elaborates on how different capabilities revised the ”ten books..” and made their mark on the important buildings of their time.

the most original ones, namely michelangelo buanarotti and andrea palladio – went on and actually reinterpreted the legacy of Vitruvius. how is that chronology?

Well, first the book was originally called ”de architectura libri decem”.

this book was actually not known for a very, very long time. it is believed to be written around 25 bc and when it was rediscovered and published in 1414 by this guy called poggio bracciolini. it had been kept at diverse monasteries and cloisters in france and neighbouring countries. many books that we now call ”classical” owe their present existence to the skilled writers connected to monasteries in scriptoriums. the carolingian revolution is thought to have the honor of keeping and also transcribing important books and illustrations from the roman times to manuscripts that got rediscovered in the eve of the renaissance period.

Vitruvius legacy in form of the ”ten books..”/ ”de architectura..” can be categorized into several aspects of contemporary societies, also architecture.

for the interest of this essay – i want to convey some principles of what Vitruvius thought of as important of a structure.

first, what was the key goals as architect with a project? he listed 3 core principles.a structure had to have firmitas, being built solid and to convey solidness. furthermore a structure had to be useful, utilitas and a structure had to be beautiful, venustas. these concepts summoned up states of building processes, technology and appearance. and this laid the basis for all building in roman times.

Vitruvius also devised the intercolumnation or spacing between elements in buildings. his measurements called pycnostyle, Systyle, eustyle, diastyle, araerostyle (from smallest diameter to widest diameter).

Several architecture theorist in the ages after this connects this to music and the tempiis of classical music. John Summerson points at how stupid this is – and mentions that the romans initially wanted to convey a harmony and a mood with the buildings and their certain spacing between the columns.

in the early renaissance, architects and other artists looked for some genuine and universal principles of architecture.

they searched for knowledge about the golden age of the roman empire. it was found in ”ten books..”. architect donato bramante designed wonderfully in rome and architect leon battista alberti launched ”on the art of architecture” on the basis of ”ten books..” in 1452.

With this treatise and the church of St andrea in mantua he showed how to utilize the principles of roman architecture. a breakthrough in italy for Serlio - and together with bramante, filippo brunelleschi and michelozzi michelozzo we can reckon them as founding fathers of renaissance architecture.

then this important guy called Sebastiano Serlio published a catalogue of 5 different column systems and their use – the architects now had a common set of tools to express themselves. between alberti and Serlios treatises architects in general explored the orders and proportions of ancient roman architecture as described in ”ten books..” as well as on-site measurements at ruins of roman buildings.

but when Serlio gave a catalogue of the use of classical orders, the language of renaissance architecture was established. the classical orders were in ”ten books..” connected status of building and geographical locations, but as i understand Serlio actually did not further the geography aspect. instead, the system posed as a universal feature or framework for all architecture.

later giacomo barozzi da Vignola published a practical use of the 5 orders of architecture in 1562. he also made use of them in several churches in and around rome, furthermore spreading these classical principles from Vitruvius, alberti and Serlio.

What was the 5 classical orders? as a student of architecture – or probably any literate person, you´ve probably heard about tuscan, corinthian, doric, ionic and composite order. these principles are connected to and derived from similar orders in the ”ten books..” and was pioneered into architecture by donato bramante, alberti and followers.

i learnt through the structures of the early renaissance architects like brunelleschi and alberti that order was a key component in the architecture. as Summerson says: ”to them orders were architecture”.

after the principles of Vitruvius, built structure had to convey and to show a certain order. furthermore – i understand that this order was very strict, it was clearly a language in which to communicate and be taken seriously.

in order to refine or break the orders and be radically new - there were only 2 ways of doing this. and actually two epochs. before and after 1537.

the 5 classical orders also had specific use, specific buildings. this was one of the conventions that were to be challenged. but in order to challenge something – it should be established.

in several decades the use of proportions derived from the treatises of Serlio and Vignola stayed around as the general rule. but architects also enhanced and developed the framework of renaissance architecture or classical architecture into more detailed and elaborated visual effects.

i´ll go throught the most important turning points in the developing of the new architectural language.

filippo brunelleschi did an important piece of work when he developed a modular plan system with proportions for churches. actually, the transformation of church architecture from gothic to renaissance was to be fulfilled by his successor, alberti.

leon battista alberti did in a pretty important manner turn the idea of the old roman triumphal archs into the architectural logic of churches - other figures followed his example and made breakthrough structures in how to use this new architectural language.

alberti stood on the shoulders of brunelleschi, and palladio pursued this field and clearly defined the connections between plan solution and facade expressions. hence, a stronger connection between inside and outside.

this is what we nowadays nickname as palladian architecture, the clear expression of harmonious proportions and a obvious connection between the outside and the inside of a building.

establishing the renaissance architecture to other buildings than churches were basically done by andrea palladio.

although several architects from italy contributed to the continental influence of renaissance – the influence on europe was before palladio only connected to churches.

palladio further developed the systems and catalogues by Serlio and Vignola, the works of bramante and brunelleschi and actually surveyed like an archaelogist on sites and remnants in rome.

through this work and diverse built projects in and around the Veneto region in northern italy – the certain principles of proportions came to use also in residential and commercial settings.

With the book ”the four books of architecture” of 1570, renaissance insights of roman architecture and its principles – were developed to also be valid for houses.

the plans and sections for his Villa rotunda is famous for its balance, symmetry and harmony both on the inside and the outside. also the other buildings display the grace and balance that he preached in the ”four books..”.

palladio has a lasting influence on contemporary architecture, one feature is the “piano nobile”, the elevated first floor.

What is also interesting with palladio, is his radical new approach to materials. he often designated cheaper materials. he chose often to use stucco-covered brick walls instead of more lavish facades with lots of marble.

of course, this trick helped him mediate the principles he advocated into other social groups, that could not afford to build in marble. this meant that the wealthy families connected to commerce now could show off.

earlier, the church was more privileged to build in certain standards. now palladio altered this.

perhaps i could claim that the root of palladian architecture also is connected to the rise of the independent city states in northern italy? politic architecture?

to sum up - the radical thing palladio did, was to interpret and enhance the principles underlying the renaissance and also classical architecture.

by doing this and publishing his treatise “four books on architecture” he managed to spread the knowledge and styles connected to italian renaissance to the european continent. Several of the features of “four books..” and his buildings design - are so strong, that they are even evident today.

i mentioned the “piano nobile”. basically, every first floor or ground floor that is somewhat elevated from the buildings physical ground, it is derived from the “piano nobile” concept.

What we aknowledge as the heritage from the classical, renaissance and “palladian” architecture today - what is that?

it is foremost the rules of proportions, symmetry and harmony. the principles of proportions, palladio took from pythagoras and the ancient concept of “the golden section”.

“the golden section” is evident even in modern buildings. the british architecture theorist colin rowe have shown that le corbusiers villa at charges actually has a modular grid of piloti columns that serve as a structure for the villa.

the le corbusier villa although do no show anyinfluence under the “golden section” when we look at it from the outside..

the inventions of structural systems to carry domes for churches or the modular plans and coherent facade solutions was only one of the important legacies left us from the renaissance. there were also other breakthroughs. Specially when we move on to the late phases of this historic period, the art historians call it “high renaissance” and “mannerism”.

architects like michelozzo michelozzi and our friend alberti designed buildings that featured different shading and depth experiments. and actually, michelozzi did not respect the column orders of classical architecture and aimed at using basically rusticated stones, that was the fashion in florence at that time. the use of different textures on the materials, the use of depths in relation to other elements - this was developed by several architects after alberti and palladio.

donato bramante, raphael Sanzio da urbino, antonio da Sangallo the younger, baldassare peruzzi, giulio romano, giacoma della porta and of course the known genius of michelangelo buanarotti were the representives of the other side of renaissance architecture, the more poetic and sometimes gentle articulation of small proportions and materiality.

then i believe we can put the renaissance architects into 2 groups, the more theoretical and systematic ones in the early phase - and the more gentle, poetic and perhaps rythmical architects of the latter phase, nicknamed mannerism. the 2 pictures show the difference of raphael (upper) and michelangelo, when they solved the issue of a window frame.

the language of classical architecture is very strong. as mentioned, i have it all around me - and you do to!

not only the blatantly obvious, in details on ceilings, door and window frames - but also in proportions. many of the teachings on how to do architecture developed in the time between the 1400s to the late 1500s actually survived for a long time.

to put it in short - classical principles got revived some times after the renaissance. Specially in the 3 periods called “classisism”, “new classicism” and “historism”. furthermore, with the advent of the industrial revolution, its new material structures, concept of labor and redistributing of capital - the foundations for much of the society changed.

and then came modernism. or, then came steel.

this also had implications for the contemporary architecture of this time, the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. diverse movements like “arts and crafts”, “de Stijl”, “ciam”, “deutsche Werbund”, “bauhaus” and more - was injected as vitamins into the contemporary art and architecture scene.

these cultural currents translated into what we today call the modernism. of course there were deviating currents from the mainstream modernism (namely historically conservative architects, like lutyens and others), but for the sake of the argument - they can be quiet now.

modernism we all appreciate as something light and flexible, right?

i aknowledge that the built structures that adhere to the tag “modernism” often follows a radical new construction rules. these rules, how did they come about?

i believe that the new generation of materials, connected to the more efficient and basically streamlined production facilities made it possible to alter the construction of buildings into more modular phases of architecture.

not only did the new materials alter the construction logics, it made it easier to cover greater spans of space and internal rooms with fewer materials - but radical solutions as mies Van der rohe and le corbusier came with truly facilitated the shift to another architecture.

i am thinking specially on the idea le corbusier had with the “5 points.”

here he laid the ground for some radical new architecture, for instance the point he had on the free facade and the free plan. also i could include the pavillion and several of the buildings designed by ludwig mies Van der rohe and his colleagues following the international Style or the credo “less is more”.

le corbusier also came with a new system of proportions. he based it on the work of alberti and palladio, but included body proportions and the socalled fibonacci numbers. this system was called le modulor.

With these innovations and the new structural and conceptual program of architecture - a new language of architecture developed.

When i was compiling my notes before starting writing on this essay - i came to think about the alternating periods throughout architecture history as heavy and light.

namely, that renaissance could be tagged as heavy, mannerism or high renaissance as somewhat lighter, then the baroque as something more heavy - and then the regional styles as french empire/british regency/german biedermeyer as again more lightly appearing structures.

this was a thought without a lot of arguments, basically just a gut feeling.

it is in this train-of-thought that i classify modernism as something lighter than the previous period. how do you think? do you agree?

Surely, modernism could also appear heavy - because its structures are also often bigger than buildings from earlier periods of archtecture history.

Steen eiler-rasmussen elaborates on this in his brilliant book called “experiencing architecture”. in several contexts he describes how the different tools and methods of architectural detailing have certain visual properties, and hence they make a building appear lighter than it is.

the building that eiler-rasmussen devotes a certain amount of concentration regarding this theme is the “palazzo ducale” in Venice. here, the architect filippo calendario used certain detailings in the bricks used for the upper facade, and then it renders almost as a textile - and comes out like light material.

this is two certain ways of conceiving built structures as light. le corbusier and his mentioned 5 points for the new architecture and the architect of the “palazzo ducale” in the early 1300s in Venice.

take a look at the two pictures, first the interiors of the cathedral in cologne, germany - and here the palazzo ducale in Venice, italy. pretty different, right?

What is indeed intriguing with these limits and methods, is that architecture can be as best as possible.

one of the aims behind le corbusiers urban plans was the crowded and disastrous situations for new habitants connected to the industrial revolution in major european cities. and of course, architecture should be served at top quality at all times. but what is top quality?

perhaps i can claim that the renaissance thinkers concieve their methods and their orders as universal and closest to nature and the advocates behind modernism or international Style seek to alter architecture away from its historical legacy.

historical legacy - well, the value of it could be argued. yes. and it should. but do you agree on arguing with the physical surroundings that we all are a part of?

inititally, i headed of with this text explaining the hows and whys of classical architecture. its all around us. also the modern pieces are around us nowadays, we buy a piece of modernism every week i think.

this essay concerns the limits of architecture. i understand that architecture needs limits! also in these high-tech times of ours. our time is high-tech, but its actually pretty low on moral. We all see, and we all understand how we are not treating our physical and mental conditions for living in a certainly good way. it is nicknamed “not sustainable”. right! thats wrong, we need to fix that! one of the means in my opinion - to connect the old buildings and complicated context is to induce a brand new and sustainable way of thinking.

and i sincerely believe that architects could and should find new nutrients, new challenges and interesting perspectives in the permacultural principles.

permacultural principles are really simple - and straightforward.

take what you have, and make the most of it.

if you have an old building, take it as a poetic, psychologic and economic challenge to develop it into new standards.

in a complex contexts, take challenge in the existing conditions - see the beauty in existing features and facades.

architecture should never be easy. its too important.

3 week studytrip through

italy

24th of September-15th of October

Palermo generally and the site in La Kalsa, southeast centre

Naples, Capri and the important Pompeii

Rome, personal detour

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the Veneto Region, with Verona, Vicenza and Venice

italy, study trip through the heritage of Palladio and his contemporaries, Italian urban spaces and general landmarks of the architectural history

Roman structures,

flexible and traditional urban structures,

arena typologies and structures, showing

and using historical legacy, Scarpa poetry,

practicing quick tasks

generally, a somewhat small northern italian city - still had its gems to show.

we experienced the castelvecchio and banco popolare pieces by carlo scarpa, the verona arena and the classical roman heritage in the city with the piazza erbe and its cardo and decumanus crossing here.

all the time we sketched and photographed like crazy, and these are the keywords of what we experienced and learnt:

verona

vicenzavicenza was the playground of legendary architect and author andrea palladio. it is evident that this small city has many testaments to the tradition that we call palladianism and the renaissance of roman principles on architecture used on private residences.

we experienced how palladio connected 3 different houses with a central courtyard and a throughgoing colonnade. but the architecture of palladio was also studied at the palazzo chiericati, the excellent basilica palladiana, the next-door loggia, some other villas in other contexts and the major teatro olimpico (fulfilled by scamozzi).

personally, i liked when palladio tackled the narrow properties, how he dealt with the constraints the urban lots could produce.

Roman principles in Palladio architecture,

the origin of indoor theatre, structural economy,

play-of-light, old-and-new in a Renaissance setting

out-of-scale dicussion on toyo ito and

“starchitects”, urban principles, flooding

and tourism, studio mumbai and artisan

aesthetics, venice history, venice

traditional wealth

venice in venice we did radically opposite things.

we studied the classic buildings connected to the piazza san marco and the seaside at grand canal. buildings we looked into and at were the palazzo ducale, the church of san marco and the exterior of the carlo scarpa mu-seum. we also visited the important biennale of archi-tecture, this year curated by kazuyo sejima.

naplesin naples, the pizza city - we dived into the traditional density of naples in the historic core. this core is characterized with long narrow streets with a high degree of multiuse and public use. but these are also enriched by small piazzas that break up the linear structure.

in naples we also further used the principles for designing introduced in the quick-tasks we did in verona.

private-public in the narrow streets in

historic quarters, fresh smell of clean sheets

in streets, vertical communication on facades,

practicing with quick tasks

capriat the island of capri, we all got sunburnt.

and we also walked quite a lot on the nice pathways on the eastern side of the island, connecting the very beautiful villa malaparte and the rests of an old roman villa. we did several sketches and quick tasks on the nature of the path construction and the villa malaparte.

capri-blue, pathways and the landscape,

lizards, car-free society, house as a

interpretation of landscape, italian

vernacular architecture

pompeiiin the legendary and very important destination pompeii we experienced how urbanism have a very long history in the mediterrean region.

the urban residences did not only have commercial features towards the street, but also contained zones for agriculture and indivdual relaxing.

advanced urbanism, frescoes, daylight, atriums,

commercial zones within urban villas, urban

agriculture

palermoafter 2 weeks and some days we arrived in palermo, our final destination. we had acquired lots of tools and knowledge throughout the other destinations and now we were about to get to know a new city and also decide on 2 sites for doing a project on.

arab-european style mix, Roman structures,

urban planning, Ballaro and Vucciria markets,

theatre culture, WW2 destructions

romei decided to take a personal detour to rome.

it is nicknamed the eternal city and probably has the status of a pilgrim destination among architects.

i wanted to focus on the urbanism canons in rome (when in rome, do as the romans..), so i went to campidoglio, spanish steps and st peters square - but also piazza navona and the campo fiore.

urban traditions and conventions, icons of

architecture, relaxing, proportions and

elegance

a neW layer of KalSa

palermo has many layers

history of palermo is closely tied with the history of europe, southern europe. the area has traces of settlement already from 8000 bc.

the island of Sicily has long been at the center of the attention for the early tribes, the empires looking for colonies and this is obviously connected to its good port and excellent position in the middle of the mediterranean sea.

Sicily has a history of 2 strategic settlements, palermo on the hidden or shel-tered northcoast and Syracuse on the easily connected eastern coast.

palermo was founded in 736 bc by phoenicians from present-day tunisia and later developed into a very important harbour and trading port for both as a greek colony, carthagian port, normannian city, seat of the arab Sicilian emirate, roman empire, Sicilian kingdoms, italian kingdom and now serving as the 5th biggest city in present-day italy.

the population of roughly 1,2 millions started in the two clusters named ne-apolis and palepolis between two mountains were 2 rivers ended in the east in the mediterreanan seas.

the city of palermo has followed 2 trails in its development, the both an-cient and present roads roman cardo and decumanus. the decumanus was initially a trail developed parallell to the rivers, and probably got strengthened with the founding of the arab Sicilian emirate, with its seat at la Kalsa.

these historic paths and roads meet in the historic center of the city, the Quattro canti and divide the city in 4 parts - on of these is la Kalsa, in the southeastern part of city centre. our site is in the middle of la Kalsa. the part of palermo that houses our site and future project is actu-ally one the very seats of the arab reign in Southern europe. palermo takes its name partly from the greek word “panormus” meaning “all port” and the arab “balarm” which was its name when it was comparable with cordoba and cairo.

now, some important moments in history of la Kalsa.

the area close to the port of palermo, the area close to the railway connecting to the italian mainland since 1886 - that very area is la Kalsa. and in the WW2 the allied forces bombed this site extensively.

Sadly, the area did not get attention and did not get properly rebuilt, so as for large areas of palermo. in the aftermath of the war, the need for housing was desperate - so large green areas outside the city centre was developed to house large amount of people. la Kalsa did not gain any attention, and as far as i understand - not until mother teresa put up a mission here, this helped raise the awareness of la Kalsa and its population. now there is actually several european union-logos on building projects.

the rebuilding process of palermo and Sicily is sometimes nicknamed “Sack of palermo” and “scempio”, and it is apopular belief that this process helped the informal economy and organized crime to its power today.

in present-day la Kalsa, there are several apartment projects and refurbishment projects underway. this is pretty strong indicators on an ongoing gentrifying process of the area. hence, the market fixes everything? is it so easy?la Kalsa is now in a poor state. as visiting students we recognize this place with lots of potential. as architect students - we can organize the activities, we can contribute to other forms of services, enhance the public facilities - but we also learn that the area is under severe influence from several italian institutions.

first we see the churches. i counted 4 churches and we have registered some convents connected to them. many pedestrians and drivers passing the main church at piazza la Kalsa, cross themselves. We also understood the importance of informal economy, probably organized crime. in addition to this there is the municipalities and the investors behind apartment projects. i heard that people in rome are buying property in palermo city centre..

in my project i want to emphasize the arabic heritage of palermo and specifically la Kalsa. i understand that the arabic era and also the normannian era of palermo the historic core of the city flourished and later made vivid stains. these stains are what we architects and others truly appreciate.

in order to regain some proper conditions for the people of la Kalsa, i find it important to know the roots of its origin. its origin is arabic and this is not notably present for us today. of course, this is a evident of modern history - that left it without touch of its origins. the arabic heritage can give me inspiration - but also give the inhabitants a certain pride and connection to their past and then stand stronger in the inevita-ble turbulent process of gentrifying.

the Kalsa area was as i wrote earlier - initiated by the Sicilian emirate. la Kalsa has for centuries been in the center of attention in european history.

the emirate having its seat in palermo and in la Kalsa. the la Kalsa comes from arabic name “al khalisa”, meaning “the purest”. this is probably connected to the seaside location and the bay here is named “cala”.

it was established here with a castle in 652 ad. the chiefs of Sicily actually varied between arab, byzantine, normannian and other tribes in the next centuries - but the arab influence and rule was tolerant and fruitful for business, so the city of balarm/palermo thrived.

it was actually recognized just as important as cordoba and cairo in its time as the biggest city in europe, in 1050 it had 350 000 as popula-tion, then only second to cordoba but some decades later passed it.

roman empire and later history made its mark on palermo, the romans very strong with their decumanus and cardo streets. the east-west bound decumanus probably was already established by the predescessors and the strongest connection, but the last century with the bombings and invading under the WW2 strengthen the role of the cardo, the north-south connection.

the modern city now centres north from the historical core we are studying and focusing on.

now the city has no strong connection with the sea, perhaps the connection is more industrialized and mechanized with the port facilities in the northeast of the city centre.

Strong roads block of the central palermo from sea access, but when you reach it, it is nice.

but where are the ancient rivers? Where are the ancient east-west connection?

the site is framed by the east- and west-bound traffic on the roads connecting to the ring road and the decumanus. this in two levels.

1) in north the Via Vittorio emmanuele is fencing the connection to neighbouring Vucciria and the Via lincoln is dividing the Kalsa from the botanical gardens on the southside. furthermore, the ancient connection to cala bay and the mediterranean sea is blocked by the 4-lane foro umberto, but as mentioned a genereous seaside promenade awaits the pedestrians.

2) the Via Spasimo and the Via alloro are also framing our site with its frequency of scooters and small fiat cars.

generally the north-south roads seems to be more quiet and the area is getting more and more exposed to traffic, noise and public life in the southwestern corner. this is probably connected to the more intimate nature of the public space in the northern and upper part of the site, and the more predominant traffic and parking areas in the lower, southern areas of the site.

the site is clearly divided into 2 zones, one more extroverted and one more internal and closed off.the internal zone is filtered through a ruin of an apartment building which is currently on-hold in a demolition process.this ruin is interesting as a piece of public or common ground for the local community.

my program for the project in la Kalsa of palermo takes in consideration facts from the near and the far history of the city and Sicily in general. i recognize that all persons of a certain age need a “3rd place”.

as far as i understand, this often is covered by services like restaurants and churches. but in la Kalsa, the kids do not have enough “3rd places”. that is what i register as a need for the kids in la Kalsa. at the football fields that are available in the general surroundings, younger kids toss small rocks at the older kids using the football field. also, small girls are not seen as often as boys playing outside.

this last fact might be understood with cultural aspects, but that do not hide the fact that every kid needs to run around and play also in a wider area. this is connected both to development in physiological and psycological abilities for the young person.

the intention behind the project is to create more areas at groundlevel for kids to play at and to offer a possibility to focus, to study.

in order to house my intentions, the activities for my project will be located at the ruins east for the existing football field. i want to pursue a split approach:1) designated area for outdoor play2) a puppet doll workshop and an upstairs reading room. the puppet doll workshop will revive a tradition i la Kalsa and at Sicily in general.

puppet theatre was fiercely challenged by the advent of television and videorecorders. people got used to see massproduced and repeated actions, instead of the play and life of manually controlled and handmade puppet dolls in a satirical and sometimes political piece.

When introducing the puppet theatre in la Kalsa, it is as mentioned - reviving a Sicilian tradition. this tradition is connected to the “cantistori” and general culture of Sicily. the “cantistori” is singing stories and the rythm and presentation means might be connected to the nordic “stev” or “saga”. in present-day Sicily and palermo, it is alive in several areas. la Kalsa had its puppet theatre also, but it closed down in the 1970s.

a puppet theatre and cantistori program of the project will perhaps also contribute in bringing the young girls of the area more into the public, and detach them from their somewhat private and secluded appearance as far as we registered. this will not only bring positive aspects to the individual girls, but also to the local community in general. a large share of the family fathers are involved in informal economy - and hence, the male rolemodels are sometimes not there, but in imprisoned.

1) the outdoor play area i imagine could be equipped with cushioning surfaces or vegetation, that will for sure facilitate movement and play for the kids in the area. i also sincerely believe that this part of the project should not be to thoroughly planned, i believe it is not so nice to plan the process of play.

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2) the space requirements for a puppet theatre workshop is flexible, after a talk with puppetmaker in the capo district i understand that there is basically only a need for a proper workshop that can house some facilities connected to the materials they work with making puppets and scenography. the mostly work with wood (mahogny, heavy woods), metal (brass, copper and silver-alloys) and textile (cotton etc.).

also the shows can be hosted in an ad-hoc manner, and my project will not cater for a scene - but only a workshop. i think the upstairs volume of the existing ruin could serve as reading rooms, or focus rooms. i have thought of moving the reading room facility to above the restaurant in a neighbouring building, but came to that this will have a negative impact on the overall concept and form.

STRATEGY of layering

NEGOTIATED ITEM for the project, piece of Kalsa in Bergen, at students desk..

STRATEGY of cave-in

determined of KEEPING SOME OF THE RUIN for the project

the process of digital modelling was divided between the 2 strategies of

1 - hugging the football field adjacent to the project site

2 - puncturing the surface covering and hovering as a new layer of the site, respecting grid and not respecting grid

a neW layer of KalSa

_be someone

as mentioned earlier, the kids of kalsa need more space. we´ve been witnessing boys shooting rocks at each other and few girls wander away from apartment entrances.

to be someone means that the architecture around you is scaled for you, open for you, flexible for you and big enough for the two of us and for all of us

TWOSOME

LONESOME

PLAYSOME

READING SOME

SOME KID, SOME MOTHER

_be specific

every architecture has to relate to the place, the genus loci.the architecture of this project relates to the local climate, giving shelter for schorching midsummer sunlight, facilitating outdoor life as in all of italy, serving acoustic niches that perhaps could give people a breathing space

ACOUSTIC

HAPTIC

FANTASTIC

CLIMATIC

PLASTIC

_be formal

OPEN FORM

BORDERING FORM

_acting

GRID RESPECTING

GRID IDENTIFYING CONTRASTING, means of Inclusive Design

_building

Concrete shell construction- thickness at base from 400 mm to 100 mm at canopies.- flooring at property in concrete

Brick construction, existing and refurbished. Puppet workshop erected in reclaimed bricks.

Steel beams and columns.- columns support concrete canopy where needed- beams strengthen existing bld

_entering

_sheltering, using

_from west

_from east + rendered northeast

_from south

_from north

_rendered interior, from northeast

_rendered interiors, from south

_interior, from north

_from northeastern entrance

_from west

_from southwest

Method of developingprojects when in acomplex and unknownsetting

Complex Contextmaster course @ BAS

D.A.V. and otherexplorations in art

Cross Course "Re-Enacting Stillness"

"Negotiated item" - from site,1:1 scale, item of inspiration,guiding item, item ofremembrance

K.T.F. reading andunderstanding backgroundinformation

History of area

Geography of area

Obtaining basic informationabout site, maps, facts etc.

A.P.P. on siteA.P.P. and architecturalmethods of investigation andproject development

Excursions on Site

3 Sentences at Site

1 - Walk around

2 - Walk into

3 - Walk out of

14 Points of Focus

1 - Sketch plan and entranceareas

2 - Register movements,connections and viewpoints atarea

3 - What is important on insideof project (views/silhouettes).

4 - Sequences of space, how isit connected

5 - Sections, (quick versions)longitudinal + latitudinal

6 - Volumes, the negatives ofspace

7 - Register Elements &Functions of Area

8 - Register Textures &Materials of Area

9 - Sketch the Facadessurrounding and constitutingthe Area

10 - Decompose the Facadesand their grammar.Diagrammize their elementsand their rythm and frequence

11 - Register Types of Space,public/common/private

12 - Borders between Types ofSpace

13 - Functions of Space

14 - Qualities of Space

Modelling

Manual

Fullscale Sketching at Site

Digital

A.P.P. in process (at studio)information from SiteAnalysisIntentionProgramSpace DemandsConceptForm

_scheming for a complex context

by: harald brynlund-lima, architect student at the bergen School of architecture 2010-2011+47 986 42 556 / harald@bassbanan.no / www.bassbanan.no / cc free to use

_authoring