TASK 1: Cité Industrielle - Tony Garnier

Garnier’s ideal modern Socialist city provides separate zones for separate functions linked
by vehicular and pedestrian circulation patterns. He did not plan for Legal Buildings,
believing they would not be necessary under Socialism. (Britannica 2010).

His plan utilised a hilly terrain overlooking a river with a tributary to be dammed upstream
for power generation and downstream and downwind flats near the confluence, accessible
to natural power sources for a transportation nexus and Industrial Park.

The public zone, on a plateau in the manner of the Hellenistic acropolis, comprises
Governmental, Public and recreational structures. Above these areas are low-density
residential and educational sites distributed to facilitate pedestrian access and to take
advantage of sun and wind. Health facilities are on higher terrain. Noise and pollution-
generating activities are placed in isolation on the riverbank. In his radical separation of
residential areas from places of employment, he introduced the need for mass
transportation. His residential district is homogeneous, articulated by careful distribution of
schools. Houses have no outdoor privacy, standing in a park-like space crossed by north-
south and diagonal paths enabling pedestrians to move freely. He avoids positioning of
buildings continuously along the flanks of streets.

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 An
exponent
of

reinforced

concrete and as a hygienist more than designer, he specified interior intersections of

planes are to be rounded. Conceiving concrete as a material to be seen inside and out he
designed all roofs flat. smaller buildings presented no serious structural problems but
unlike Le Corbusier, he did not think of separating supporting structure from enclosure so
as to gain more freedom in space making. Outstanced by contemporaries in the search for
elegance in the use of reinforced concrete he never had a engineering collaborator who
could have did for him what Komendant did for Kahn or Arup for Utzon. (Anderson 1987)

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Reference List:

ANDERSON, LAWRENCE, B., 1987. Tony Garnier. Places Journal. [online]. 3(4). pp. 7-10.
Available from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5sh2n23b [Accessed 3 January 1009].

CURTIS, WILLIAM, J, R., 2006. Modern Architecture: Since 1900. 3rd ed. New York,
Phaidon.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, 2010. Cité Industrielle. [ONLINE]. Available from:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/118760/Cite-Industrielle

FRAMPTON, K., 2007. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. 4th ed. New York,
Thames & Hudson.

Task 2

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Explain your own view of the potential of technology or technological ideas for architectural expression
today; in other words, what sort of moves do you/might you make in your own designs in which ideas of
technology are implicated, (expression, suppression, literal, metaphoric, transformation, emphasis, etc.).
Explain your ideas in no more and no less than 300 words.

New technology has enabled architects to develop sophisticated patterning techniques.

This is epitomised by expressive possibilities now available to the building envelope:
smooth geometries, material texture and layers, such as solar shading (Zaera-polo 2009).

In contemporary architectural research the investigation of patterns has been more intense
is the subject of building envelope. Compared with other domains of contemporary
building technology, the building envelope is probably the most unitised, and therefore the
geometry of the tessellation is crucial to determine its various performances:
environmental, iconographic or expressive (Zaera-polo 2009). As a transition between
inside and outside the building envelope plays an especially important role. Especially the
facade as a responsive skin, as one component of a sustainable low-energy concept
(Herzog 2004) could be achieved by simple folding and sliding shutters or with popular
moveable louvres and culminates in multi layered glass facades equipped with a multitude
of devices for shading and glare protection, light deflection, heat and energy gain
(Schittich 2001). Since we face diminishing raw materials and growing CO2 emissions,
this approach is increasingly important.

Contemporary responsive facade design without running the risk of superficial

ornamentation is probably the suitable move for my current studio project. To achieve this
design objective, technical facilities need to be intelligently incorporate directly into facade
which is referred as “decentralised facade services” (Schittich 2001). High performance
solar shading and solar energy generation with all services modules concealed in front of
the intermediate floor within the single-skin facade construction to enable me to retain
internal and external consistencies. This basic modular and extandable system, allows
different facade typologies which leads to wide possibilities, with individual designs and
technical standards according to the needs. Single building components are meant to be
prefabricated to deliver complete elements on site. This results in a reduction of
construction time, less mistakes and a high potential of economic saving.

Reference List:

SCHITTICH, C., ed., 2001. Building skins. Basel: Birkhauser.

HERZOG, T., 2004. Facade Construction Manual. 1st ed. Basel: Birkhauser.

ZAERA-POLO, A., 2009. Patterns, Fabrics, Prototypes, Tessellations. Architectural Design,

79(6), pp. 18-27.

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