the camera obscura constructed
case study no.2
Diller + Scofidio Slow House
there is only a front door-no "front facade"
the movement is "from a physical entry [door] to an optical departure [window]".
as if two walls were constructed in order to lead from one place to another.
this is a passage that does not necessarily promise the return but focuses more on the entering and passing through. at the end is a monitor screen that shows the outside at any time desired since it is recorded and played back. [this is the only looking back of the house-a recorded and replayed image of anytime that can reflect back the outside] the "picture" window is large and enticing for the travel. Upon the arrival to the window, the camera/monitor screen meets you to show you where you are not. Perhaps it is the mirror between the door and the window.
in the bedrooms on the ground level the light that comes through is siphoned into the walls through opening and shutters.
there is only one direct view in the house. The “picture window”. The other windows are more of a directive of light in and a particular understanding of the place you are in.
this brings up the question of passage through as the program, the threshold is the house.
two walls hold the in between. to move into any room of the house is to progress.
case study no.1
Casa en Brejos de Azeitao,
a house that is built inside a former wine warehouse.
for me, the walls [existing] are the parameter to work within and how this house is a "living within the walls".
the balance between the positive and the negative as well as in the moving through, there is never the same perspective. the intention of the inhabitant guides and follows.
[what does it mean to be
between walls
inside walls
what is the difference?
is there?]
The walls of the existing structure and roof act as the enclosure of the building. The new walls that are then constructed act as the “other” side of the exterior walls. In between is where the inhabitant lives. The stairs are directly leading to specific locations. There are four ways to go. The new walls are the structure for the cantilevering rooms that are an extension of the wall itself that turns to form the room and allow inhabitation.
The circulation is determined by the user: which room you are going to determines which way you go.
The natural light that comes in through the existing windows is absorbed by the openings in the walls and the cantilevered boxes. The light is reflected to pass through the inner open space that is created by the action of the walls.
The open space is created by the constructing of the walls, a residual space that is needed but not directly a desing to work around, but a space to appear.
camera obscura
all projections are cones of light
focal length is determined by curvature of the lens
less curve=longer focal length
First by drawing, then cutting out and pushing back pulling forward these “walls” on paper will create a three dimensional understanding of the overlaps in the two-dimensional drawings. Then, a model can be made of these, perhaps a casting in plaster to get the mass of the inside.
for me, I see this as an exercise in understanding inside and outside. Perhaps, right now, they are not equal to each other. Perhaps the inside is larger than the outside. Or the reverse. Or both. As a look from the inside out, when the parameters set up from the box camera are exceeded, then the exterior or outside of the “frame” moves to shift with the interior movements.