fab-ri-ca-tion

(noun)

1. the action or process of manufacturing or inventing something: 2. an invention; a lie:

The assembly or fabrication of electronic products.

The story was a complete fabrication.

source: the Oxford English Dictionary

[CH.1]

S PAC E V E R S U S P L AC E | EDWARD CASEY

theories of place, process, and representation

Place is socio-spatial.

And yet place, despite these auspicious directions in contemporary thought, is rarely named as such - and even more rarely discussed seriously. Place is still concealed, still veiled, as Heidegger says specifically of space. To ponder the fate of place at this moment assumes a new urgency and points to a new promise. The question is, can we bring place out of hiding and expose it to new scrutiny? (from The Fate of Place: A Philosophical History)

P RO C E S S + M U LT I P L I C I T Y | DOREEN MASSEY
The social construction of place begets a fluid process of generating multivalent narratives.
Instead, then, of thinking of places as areas with boundaries around, they can be imagined as articulated moments in networks of social relations and understandings, but where a large proportion of those relations, experiences and understandings are constructed on a far larger scale than what we happen to define at the moment as the place itself. (from Space, Place, and Gender)

R E P RO D U C T I O N + R E P R E S E N TAT I O N | DAVID HARVEY

Fluidity and multivalence of social reproduction become codified into the fixed spatial constructs of image and representation.
Consider, as a starting point, de Certeaus contemporary critique of the map as a totalizing device. The application of mathematical principles produces a formal ensemble of abstract places and collates on the same plane heterogenous places, some received from tradition and others produced by observation. The map is, in effect, a homogenization and reification of the rich diversity of spatial itineraries and spatial stories. (from The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change)

T H E FA B R I C AT I O N S O F A R C H I T E C T U R E

[CH.2]

the place :

AALA PARK [Honolulu, Hawaii]

1938 1998
from the Hawaiian Territorial Survey the Aala Triangle consisted mostly of slum dwellings, dance halls, and pool rooms generally occupied by urban derelicts. the entire four-acre area was razed and rebuilt into a new gateway to Honolulu. the area was mostly occupied by transients, drug dealers, and prostitutes.

swampy lowland on the northern border of Nuuanu Stream from the Hawaiian Government Survey / by W.A. Wall deed passed onto (U.S.) Hawaii Minister of the Interior under King Kamehameha V rst beautication project to convert the park from "a barren waste composed of harbor dredgings into a resort of beauty."

1887

baseball / site of public rallies

skate park / crime hotspot / homeless encampment from the U.S. Geological Survey $2.3 million renovation of the park, including basketball courts, recreation elds, water fountains, and playground equipment.

2011 1871 1900 1936 1950

public housing projects
sector

1969

1980

2002

about Aala Park: - located northwest of the famous tourist district of Waikiki and the business district of downtown Honolulu. - adjacent to historic Chinatown, which includes a thriving marketplace and growing art enclave that is an increasing draw for tourists - directly south of a low-income housing area (both private and public housing projects) - east of a redeveloped industrial zone with growing commercial interests - semi-permanent homeless population recently evicted by state authorities sector

eviction of the homeless with new plans to redevelop the park into a family-friendly attraction to support local businesses and tourism

sector

park sector

sector

redeveloped industrial zone

private aordable housing high-rise residences

mid- to high-income residential homes

Aala Park

Chinatown cultural district

sector

piers 19 - 21 honolulu harbor

historic Chinatown

the park is an urban nexus Honolulu [ Oahu, Hawaii ]

downtown business district

capitol and historic district

[CH.2]

[map 0.1] :

STREETS

[CH.2]

[map 0.2] :

BU I LDI NGS

[CH.2]

[map 0.3] :

U RBAN TEXTU RE

[CH.2]

LILIHA KALIHI
KAIULANI HONOLULU ELEMENTARY COMMUNITY COLLEGE MAYOR WRIGHTS KUAKINI HOSPITAL LILIHA PUBLIC LIBRARY

OAHU CEMETARY

NUUANU

KAULUWELA ELEMENTARY

LOWER KALIHI
DOLE CANNERY STADIUM AALA TRIAGLE

KUKUI GARDENS APTS

PAUOA

IZUMO TAISHA SHRINE QUEEN EMMA GARDENS MAUNAKEA TOWER KUKUI

SAM CHOYS

HONOLULU TOWER TOWER

CHINATOWN

PUNCHBOWL CRATER
CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL

[map 1.1] :

SAND ISLAND (QUARANTINE ISLAND)

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

ALOHA TOWER

HAWAII BOARD OF STATE WASHINGTON EDUCATION PLACE ART MUSEUM QUEENS MEDICAL CENTER IOLANI PALACE

ST. ANDREWS PRIORY SCHOOL

PLACE NAMES / TOPONYMY

1,490 [CH.2]

1,491

140 1,630 1,400 818 1,461 229

916

5,325

4,052 1,435

963

6,250 314

[map 1.2] :

RISK

1,423

1,795

2,415 2,067

[CH.2]

[map 1.3] :

U RBAN IMPRESSIONS

[CH.3]
LOGIC OF THE FOLIES REPETITION DISTORTION SUPERIMPOSITION

parc de la villette :
INTERRUPTION FRAGMENTATION

TSCHUMI

POINTS

DECONSTRUCTION
LINES

SURFACES

the park is an experiment in form, space, and how these affect a persons ability to recognize and interact within such a space.

VOLUMES

matrix of geometries: interpreting Tschumis Points, Lines, and Surfaces

mapping and understanding the parks use of geometric manipulations

Follies and Galleries Isometrics, AD Architectural Drawing (1986), source: the MoMA Collection

Parc de la Villette masterplan drawing, source: Bernard Tschumi Architects

photographer: Andre Salvadore

[CH.3]

parc de la villette :
1
parallel bands running east to west

programmatic indeterminacy via superimposition and layers of a mathematical logic :

2 A-a X
PROMENADE B O U L EVA R D A = the available area a = area of the facility required X = # of points to be distributed DESIRED DISTRIBUTION KIOSK

KOOLHAAS
3

PROGRAM

By organizing programmatic needs, O.M.A.s proposal attempts to orchestrate on a metropolitan field the most dynamic coexistence of activities x, y, and z and to generate through their mutual interference a chain reaction of new, unprecedented events; or, how to design a social condenser, based on horizontal congestion, the size of the park. (from S M L XL)

to avoid clustering of program and to maximize the borders between the bands of program hence, maximizing each bands permeability and encouraging perpendicular programmatic interference or mutations

PICNIC

ORDER

LOGIC

SEQUENCE

IRREGULARITY

initial hypothesis

1. strips of program

2. point grids, or confetti

3. access + circulation

4. final layer

source: S M L XL by Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau

source: Hans Werlemann

[CH.3]

strategies :

LINEARITY (regularity)

REGULARITY/IRREGULARITY
SUPERIMPOSITION (irregularity)

TSCHUMI

grid base

embedding : follies reinscribe a grid

KOOLHA AS

strips of program

stitching : connecting layers

[CH.4]

examining narrative structures :

narratives can be viewed and traced separately links between events are clear (e.g. clear and logical sequence)
A B C D E

LINEAR STRUCTURE

NON - LINEAR STRUCTURE

LI N EARITY

narratives can be broken down into chains that are linked by a series of events narratives can be overlapping and read simultaneously the links between events are less clear (e.g. jumps between timelines)

[CH.4]

translating narratives :
USER TRANSIENT

FRAMI NG
IMAGE ASSOCIATION : POSTURE RECUMBENT

SPATIAL DEFINITION : PLACE

SHELTER (protected space)

ENFORCEMENT

ERECT

BEAT (surveilled space)

VISITOR

POSED

LANDMARK (prominent space)

RECREATOR

BRACED

PARK (autonomous space)

[CH.4]

fusing narrative chains :

specific chains can be foregrounded and/or obscured to conflate moments

CON FLATION

[CH.4]

reinforcing narratives :

SI NGU LARITY

the narratives and its structures are legible.

[CH.4]

superimposing narratives :

MU LTI PLICITY

the narratives and its structures are illegible and difficult to trace.

[1] static state

[2] dynamic state

a dominant narrative is foregrounded/reinforced; others recede or are obfuscated; the single reading is still clear

multiple narratives are at play; the reading is changing, but becomes muddled

by establishing a hierarchy of overlaps while tying knots into the articulation of multiple narratives in a single space, we can define specific moments as opportunities of intervention.

[CH.5]

synthesizing narratives

examining the overlaps and intersections of the narratives as spaces to conflate.

[CH.5]

codifying narratives

[CH.5]

visualizing narratives