Modular GenesisAimThe intention of this investigation is to define and construct a design space prior to its use. ‘Modular Genesis’ moves in this way beyond the cumulative design space of TOPOS to explore the potential of Schindler’s framed space; unit systems, reference frames in space, modular geometry and ‘The Schindler Frame’.
In the article ‘Reference Frames in Space’ from 1944 RM Schindler wrote: ‘Since I believe that ‘space-architecture’ and not the now fashionable ‘International’ and ‘Functional’ styles will be the lasting contribution of our time to the future, it is important for the builders to acquaint himself with the use of reference frames as soon as possible. … He must establish a unit system which he can easily carry in his mind and which will give him the size values of his forms directly without having to resort to mathematical computations.’(1) Schindler often described his unit system as forging his abstractions about space and his actual spatial production. He even suggested that the unit system was made visible at the building site through the use of a spatial grid of sticks and strings. On a set of reference cards regarding the preparation to concrete work he stated that: “The plans are based on a system of unit lines which define all necessary dimensions. … This contractor shall provide a substantial fence around the building on which each unit line shall be marked by means of a nail and a number. All measurements shall be taken from lines stretched between these nails.”(2) So to Schindler the building site was quite literately the space where the architects abstraction meet the architectural production in concrete, wood and glass.
In her recent book about the Kings Road House, Kathryn A. Smith describes this diagrammatic ‘bridge’ as a geometric abstraction that encompasses the entire building and guides the design in every detail, from the gardens to the concrete slabs to the sleeping baskets on the roof. She argues that the geometric abstraction of the Kings Road House was an early expression of the unit system that Schindler later defined and published in the mid-1940’s. Kathryn A. Smith writes: “Underlying the entire composition is a three-dimensional geometric grid: a four-foot cubic module … He (Schindler) created a building that was an expression of the new art of the century: geometric abstraction.”(3) This spatial geometry had a strong resonance in the gamut of materials that were used in the Kings Road House. Smith explains: “Schindler extended his spatial exploration into the surroundings by treating the gardens with a geometric precision equal to that applied in the building. The materials for both the structure and the landscape can be considered in hierarchical order, from mass to dematerialized screen: four large concrete blocks (the chimneys); seven blocks, equally massive, of giant bamboo; bamboo hedges and concrete walls; wallboard in redwood framing; pivot hedges; high grass; canvas panels; and large planes of glass.”(4) According to Schindler’s own details of the building the materials were: ‘Concrete: gray, smooth. Insulite: tan, rough like a textile. Wood: California redwood, natural redbrown, wirebrushed to accentuate the grain. Glass.”(5)
Seen from these two positions it is obvious that the Kings Road House present more than just a building; the entire site is inscribed in one cumulative space of corresponding formal ideas, intricate spatial modules and a gamut of materials, each with a particular character. Further we could argue that the materials were all distributed according to the same spatial modules, but that the individual materials only used a smaller part of these modules. This was mainly because of the limitations in the building techniques used at that time, especially the ‘tilt-slap’ technique of the cast concrete wall. In other words the technique used for casting the concrete could not produce details smaller than 3’’(6).
Drawing on the experience from ‘Cumulate Schindler’ the design space of ‘Modular Genesis’ does contain both the exact spatial section of the Kings Road House, a manifestation of Schindler’s unit system and the material categories that Smith and Schindler mentions(7) (concrete, bamboo, redwood, grass, insulite, canvas and glass).
It would be interesting to make a literal investigation of Schindler’s idea of ‘Reference Frames in Space’ in the light of current media. In other words to bring the unit system into MAYA as a rule for the generating of form and produce a design space of possibilities that could resemble the unit system that Schindler suggest architects carry in their minds. Would such a space have more potential than a simple ‘snap-to-grid’? Could it be the rules for a dynamic distribution of material? A force field? Instead of a static rectangular grid as seen so many times before? Does glass, wood and concrete follow the same rules of proportion? Could I use MAYA to produce unexpected results of the Schindler Rules? Can the unit system that structured Schindler’s space be the basis for rules in an environment in MAYA? Can the different elements of an architectural project be positioned and scaled in space according to the rules based on the 4’ grid?
PerspectivesAgain the perspectives are that I in the next phase could examine how the abstract and the simulated reality could interact, be manipulated and maybe integrated further. Later this entire workspace could be mediated as a full size interactive environment in CAVI’s panorama or holobench. In this way the investigation was related to the two media spaces ‘modules’ and ‘geometry’ since Schindler used these two spaces to give form and realize ‘space architecture’. This must be seen in the relation between Schindler’s unit system and the material resistance of space.
(1) Schindler, R. M. (1944), 'Reference frames in space', in ‘RM Schindler’, March, Lionel & Judith Sheine (ed.) (1995), ‘Architect and Engineer’ Vol. 165 No. 1 (April 1946), manuscript ADC/UCSB (1944), Hollywood: .
(2) Schindler, R. M. (?), 'Index Cards', , unpublished: Architectural Drawing Collection, UCSB. Concrete Work, Preparation (692.305-41)
(3) Smith, Kathryn (2001), 'Schindler House', , NY, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. p. 33
(4) Smith, Kathryn (2001), 'Schindler House', , NY, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. p. 36
(5) The ‘Insulite’ is a low density fiber material also used for insulation and message boards. Schindler, RM (1922), 'Residence: R. M. S.', , unpublished description of the 835 Kingsroad Residence: Architectural Drawing Collection, UCSB.
(6) According to my own redrawing of the section of the Kings Road House based on drawings by George Yu in March, Lionel and Judith Sheine (ed.) (1995), 'RM Schindler Composition and Construction', , London: Academy Group. p. 234 and Schindler’s own measured drawings in Smith, Kathryn (1995), 'The Schindler House', ‘RM Schindler, Composition and Construction’, Lionel March & Judith Sheine (ed.), London, UK: Academy Editions. p. 34 It should of course be added that these constraints changed from project to project.
(7) According to Schindler no canvas was used for the house, but early photographs show heavy curtains. Insulite panels can still be found in the building today.
© Thomas Leerberg, 2004
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