further design

The next step in my design will be changing the outer form from a cube to a transport container, to allow site changes of the building. So it enables the host to take it with him.

In order of this change the measures change from a 6 metres edge length cube to a IAAA ISO-Container

12,192m x 2,438m x 2,896m

design

My design is parasitical building hooking onto the Shakespeare Tower of the Barbican Towers.

Inside the rooms are created by multiple solid platforms on different layers

 

The outer mantle is formed by stretching cloth that creates closed spaces

The special ability of the building is to fold itself into a new more compact form

The final compact form is a cube. The folding technique guarantees that all platforms are fitting in without interfering each other

The building is meant to be a place to work for the client, so it contains several rooms for experimenting or gaining knowledge.

pre design

program

List of functions
- the house has to be the home of my client
- maybe it supports my client in a way of a tool
- its purpose is to store knowledge and experience
- offering shelter for my client
- hiding my witch while she is not collecting any experience
- storing all things to walk in disguise among people
- maybe the home itself draws power from its setting

Content
The Heart of the house will be its main function as library, being the biggest room. There the gains his power by collecting. Connected to that is the wardrobe containing all things necessary to disguise.
In the outer region of the house are entrance, bathroom and living room situated.

Architectural effects
- since the house should function as a advanced backpack for the client the design has to be compact and seem light
- it should to some extend reveal or mirror its inhabitant by its design that is kind of a supernatural look
- as an parasitical organism with a sinister appearance it abuses the setting by drawing power from its surroundings, in form of disintregration, but simultaneously integrates itself to the place in a way
- its mantle is a new form of skin-like material froming new shaped and adapting and reacting to the conditions from outside

device / line drawing

device manifested

My device is made of welded metal sticks forming a cube and a stretching cloth. Connected through stretching lines it enables a change in structure so that it isnt determined.

- my device is a more or less closed abstract kind of morphing structure
- vessel that’s unaccessible for normal people, no apparent entrance ( maybe in great height)
- has no defined size or proportions… more like adapting to the place where it actually stands 

- has no defined directions (like top, bottom or upside), can lay on the side to adapt

- integrates or adapts itself to its surroundings (living secretly)
- parasite hooking onto existing objects as well as hiding in wasteland standing alone
- has no defined place, moveable
- combines old look with modern appearing
- spirit of traveling, changes sites where its placed
- leaves conventional understandings of dimensions behind, seems irrational at first sight
- strong geometrics, abusing other structures for another purpose, maybe looking fragile or weird
- maybe changes colors to fit in

Inspirations

site / emotional mapping

site chosen

Barbican Towers



Barbican Towers
London, UK

HEIGHT: 123m x 3
FLOORS: 43/42/42 floors
COMPLETION: 1973/1974/1976
ARCHITECT: Chamberlin, Powell & Bon


- In a single night of incendiary bombing on 29th December 1940, every street from Moorgate to Aldersgate Street, covering 35-acres, was destroyed, and by the end of the war more land was cleared to create a huge site that would remain vacant for two decades.

- Numerous proposals for redevelopment were made throughout the 1940s and 1950s, until in 1954 the London County Council proposed a plan combining commercial and residential uses, connected by a system of raised footpaths.

- Chamberlin, Powell & Bon were commissioned to design the Barbican in 1954, and submitted their first proposals in 1955. Outline planning permission was granted in June 1958, and the final scheme was approved by the Court of Common Council on 11th November 1959.

- In total, the Barbican includes 2,014 dwellings, situated in two 43-storey towers, one 42-storey tower, seven 10-storey blocks and one 7-storey block. The complex also includes gardens, a church, two schools and the Barbican Centre, home of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

- The estate was given Grade II listing in 2001 and, residential use aside, is Europe's largest arts and conference venue.

- The buildings of the Barbican complex are treated with a bush-hammered finish.

- The complex was named after a fortified watchtower (or Barbican) which stood in the vacinity and was demolished in 1267.

client update

My client is a female witch that is not bound to a place, so she is traveling continuously.
While she wanders from place to place she adapts herself to the setting to a certain extent, that she doesn’t attract attention of the normal population. Seeking places with high population density, she doesn’t exactly fit in the role of a normal person and keeps emotional distance from other people so her appearance is perceived as weird.
She lives in different dimensions, where she can disappear or carry objects with her, like her housing, and has more possibilities to enter and exit things than through the door. Normal dimensional proportions don’t matter for her since she has no desire for space and forms everything how it is needed, no matter where.

However her power isn’t endless. To ensure a continuous flow of her power and abilities she has to recharge them by gaining more of it every day. Knowledge is power. She travels to extend and collect her experience and knowledge to a maximum to preserve her power and simultaneously retrieve new abilities in every section from sience to cultural studies etc. In this matter she disguises herself to wander undetected among normal people of every social class of today’s life.

flight to London

first thoughts about my client and device

Device: 
- some kind of small object
- unaccessible for normal people, no apparent entrance ( maybe in great height)
- integrates itself to its surroundings (living secretly)
- parasite hooking onto existing objects as well as hiding in wasteland standing alone
- has no defined place, moveable
- combines old look with modern appearing
- spirit of traveling, changes sites where its placed
- leaves conventional understandings of dimensions behind, seems irrational at first sight
- strong geometrics, abusing other structures for another purpose, maybe looking fragile or weird
- maybe changes colors to fit in
- has no defined directions (like top, bottom or upside), can lay on the side to adapt

Client:
- has no requirements for places to live, adapts himself to the surroundings
- isn't bound to a place, traveling
- has more possibilities to enter and exit things and objects
- isn't bound to normal dimensional proportions
- has no desire for space (compact structures)
- keeps some sdistance to other people
- doesn't exactly fit in, weird look
- has no places or rooms with fixed purposes
- forms everything how it is needed, no matter where

inspirations // W2

First of all one of many definitions of a witch, but this one matches the most my feelings about the term "witch":

"a person who practices magic or sorcery, esp. black magic, or is believed to have dealings with the devil and brings in most cases mischief"

movie: The Crucible (1996)

This movie was my first encouter with the topic of witches in my major course english back in school. Everytime I read something about witches I have some kind of flashbacks to this film.

The original play is by Arthur Miller and thematised a dramatization of the Salem witch trials. The movie tells the story about a small town where a few girls accuse people of witchery which starts a mad hunt for witches that do not exist.

Miller in his play brings out the absurdity of the incident with the theme of truth and righteousness.

This movie inspires me because it shows how people could have used such accusations to ged rid of someone they don't like or use it to gain an advantage. It also describes another side of the witchcraft theme concerning more manipulation than real magic.

Salem witchcraft trials

They took place in September of 1692. 26 men and woman, all havong been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to the Gallows Hill near Salem Village for hanging. Over 150 people were imprisoned and a lot more accused, with dozens languished in jail for months without trials.

Since it is one of the most popular cases of witch hunt, it arose my interest for me, how people can put blame that easily on another person and blame them for mischief that happened to theirselves.

Pentagram

Since the first time it was found on a drink cup 3000 BC it had a lot of different meanings in different cultures, including various forms of appearance. With one spike up in christian religion it was believed to protect against evil spirits and demons if painted over gates, on door sills or even under the bed.

In other cultures it was used to describe the relation between the different elements in nature.

Two spikes up, often inscribed in a double circle, with the head of a goat inside was the changed version for witchescraft and occultism. The goat head is the sigil of Baphomet, a figure of Satan. The 5 hebrew letters around the pentagram translate into 'Leviathan', one of the 7 princes of hell.

Today the pentagram is mostly used in connection with witchcraft and evil tidings.

Inspiring for me because this sign is still well-known in our todays society even the days of witch hunt have long gone by. It seems like it has still some kind of magic/mystic flair to people especially in the gothic scene, maybe because of its strong geometric design, with all lines having the same length and angles.

Witches Sabbat

Secret meetings of witches that are celebrated in isolated places at night, preferably forests or mountains like black forest or Blocksberg in Germany. It is said that Satan was present at that meetings as goat or possessed male or female person, comparable to religious services. Supposedly sex orgies with the devil or demons took place to cast spells or practicing black magic.

For me it appears to be some kind of counter-religion to Christianity and was maybe used by people to satisfy their desires for lust.

Necromancy / Shamanism

A form of magic in which the practitioner seeks to summon the spirit of a deceased person, either as an apparition or ghost, or to raise them bodily, for the purpose of divination. The word necromancy derives from "dead body"and includes voodoo, the origin of the word "Zombie". Since in history mostly witches were said to be practicing this black magic, during renaissance it was declared a forbidden art. 

A famous example is the witch of Endor as necromancer in the bible, she summoned the shadow of Samuel for the king of Israel.

Shamanism is mostly used for healing purposes but both include a flight of the soul, therefore supernatural wandering between the living and dead world.

The 'Necronomicon' a magic book first appeared 700 AD, consisted a hierarchy of demons and magical spells.

It's an art that doesn't that strongly concentrate on females, since most of necromancers and shamans are said to be male.

Modern Devil

At last I tried to convert old descriptions of the devil, connected to witchcraft, to our contemporary society. For this I used several tellings like living in secret among normal people, working secretly in the background, bringing mischief, appearing during secret meetings, haaving assistants that fulfill the plans of the devil.

I came up with one person that also appears to be somewhat matching to old painting.

portfolio

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definitions and concepts // W1

In general the terms witch and wizard have a negative connotation, due to images connected to them. Mostly witches and wizards are believed to be persons that are in league with the devil or demons. Therefore their goal is to bring misery and mischief to serve their own purpose, enabled by black magic that they possess, also using an extensive knowledge about medicinal herbs. Though wizards do not always have a diabolic attitude in modern culture (e.g. movies, literature), where they can also appear in a positive manner.

In common understanding they live in disguise amongst normal people and use their powers secretly. So their daily needs are estimated to be similar to anyone. Since appearances of witches and wizards often include typical elements like a flying broom stick or magic stick it is likely to assume that their power can also influence nearby objects. As a consequence it is imaginable that the entire house is affected by their magic. Thinking of their magic as an opportunity to ease their everyday life by flying instead of slow travelling, their house could fulfill the same function. It would react accordingly to the needs, maybe transform, reading the mind of the occupant.

However the house for witches and wizards has to be some kind of a mirror of their own characteristics and should refer to their power which differentiates them from normal people.