Tianchen Xu
MODULE 1
Diagramming Design Precedent
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
Walter Herfst, Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
'A garden within a garden'
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 by Peter Zumthor was the architect's first completed building in the UK and included a specially created garden.
Peter ZUMTHOR
Born in Basel in 1943, Peter Zumthor trained as a cabinetmaker at the shop of his father, as an architect known for his sensuous materiality and attention to the place. Shooting to fame on the back of The Therme Vals and Kunsthaus Bregenz, completed just a year apart in 1996 and 1997, his work privileges the experiential qualities of individual buildings over the technological, cultural, and theoretical focus often favoured by his contemporaries.
Peter Zumthor
At the heart of Peter Zumthor's Pavilion is a garden that the architect hopes will inspire visitors to become observes. Zumthor says his design 'aims to help its audience take the time to relax, to observe and then, perhaps, start to talk again - maybe not.' The design emphasises the role of the senses and emotions play in our experience of architecture. With a refined selection of materials Zumthor creates contemplative spaces that evoke the spiritual dimension of our physical environment. As always, Zumthor's aesthetic goal is to customise the building precisely to its purpose as a physical body and an object of emotional experience.
Re-creation of the Pavilion
Frame of the pavilion and details
Timber structure of the pavilion based on the section and the plan views
Timber-frame structure of the pavilion
Rendered model of the pavilion
Pavilion and its site context
Isometric
Isometric View of Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
This main isometric view was taken from the south-west viewpoint. The pavilion is a timber-framed structure covered in gauze and painted over with a black adhesive, which provides a contemplative room and forms a garden within a garden.
The isometric image is built up by three parts in different rendering style to demonstrate Peter Zumthor’s concept that applied within this pavilion. I not only modelled the form and overall shape of the pavilion but also constructed the timber frame structure. The key idea about this pavilion is to provide a stage for the interior garden and light, which means the interior garden and the areas around that garden is the most important space within the whole pavilion. As a result, my main isometric is trying to show this unique garden. What’s more, I pay more attention to the benches around the inner walls where is a place the audience can take the time to relax, to observe and to talk. So those three different parts are all shown the benches around the garden.
In the initial modelling process, it was a struggle to get the scale of the pavilion right as the section and elevation do not have any scale and they are on a different scale. Fortunately, the site plan has the scale and I could make the pavilion in 1:100 at A0 paper.
During the modelling of this pavilion, the narrow corridor is an interesting space which circulates the perimeter of the building between the façade and the garden. The inner space of the corridor is too dark to walk around the pavilion so Zumthor uses pendant lamps to provide lighting which becomes strong suggestions of the entrances and openings for the audience. The lighting within the inner space of the corridor is very dramatic where natural light and artificial light make a strong contrast with the shadows and the colour of walls. The movement within the corridor is very different between adult and children. Children prefer to explore the corridor areas and adult prefer to enjoy the garden.
The threshold of the pavilion is clearly delineated as there are obvious entrances and opening on the exterior walls and the inner corridor walls.
Diagrams
Circulation Diagram
The circulation diagrams are demonstrating the human interaction with the pavilion and the spaces it created. The bottom circulation diagram shows the audience’s pathways towards the pavilion since there are six obvious entrances on the exterior walls around the pavilion. What’s more, this diagram also pays attention to the relationship between time and density which represents by different graphic figures and different values of the same colour. The circle represents a group of people and the square represent the individual. And the most popular space within the pavilion is the benches around the interior garden. The middle diagram shows the circulation paths within the pavilion. And the dash lines indicate children’s movements within the corridor. The roof structure provides shades and shelter for the audience to prevent from the rain. The vertical arrow lines represent the circulation of the rain from the roof falls down to the garden.
Threshold Diagram
Since this pavilion has designated entrance and exit, the audience is welcome to enter into the pavilion by different directions. Before enjoying the interior central garden, the audience has to through openings on the walls of the dark narrow corridor. The corridor is a link between the exterior space and the interior garden which is a semi-public space. In the meanwhile, the audience would experience a strong contrast between light and shadows. What’s more, the middle diagram shows that the pendant lamp and its artificial lighting which brings bright into the shadow and give the audience a strong suggestion of entrances in the night.
Reflection
Peter Zumthor, Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011, watercolour and pencil on paper
In this module, I digitally model Peter Zumthor's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 from orthographic information provided and I explored diagrams as a means of communication as well. Zeara-Polo defines the diagram as ‘a tool that describes relationships and prescribes performances in space [which] always has a spatial correlation’. The function of the diagram goes beyond communicating simple ideas but at times can be used as a generative component of the design. Diagrams do not play a representational role for their dynamic objects and mediate between physical constructs and concepts or percepts on an organisational level. From this module, I learned the concept and function of the diagrams including circulation and threshold. And I also know how does the circulation inform the design and the importance and meaning of the threshold or in-between space. I will apply this knowledge into the following study.