Thesis: Duality

New York city, New York

VIRGINIA TECH: bachelor of architecture

DUALITY - THE STUDY OF LIGHT + DARK

The thesis aims to provide a better understanding about the phenomenon of the light and dark through the narrative of time. The trajectory of the sun and moon create dualities and tensions. Rhythms are created but pauses occur. A crease in the sky is created when the sun’s path no longer inclines but declines. The momentary pause allows an individual to be conscious of time. Time is measured not in a scientific method but through qualitative means.

Architecture has the ability to embody a world within the world. On the small scale, a vessel’s section reveals the world created by the potter. The opening guides light into the dark, creating a dialogue between dualities. From the beginning, the clay material is constantly changing as the potter works with or against time.

INITIAL STUDIES

Time is an interesting topic. There is a measurable aspect to it in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, and so on. Its quantitative qualities are evident. There is also the immeasurable. The perception that time is moving too quickly or too slow. A series of drawings and photographs demonstrate the study of overlapped time frames.

The question of scale comes into play not only in terms of physical detail, but also in terms of quantitative time. The sun and moon have their respective cycles that are measurable. Their qualitative effects on a space are also immeasurable. The quality and depth of light provides an individual with knowledge of the time of day. The numerical system of time is not used. Rather the quality of light is accessed and a conclusion is drawn.

THE PROJECT

The thesis contains a simultaneous exploration and project. A pottery studio and exhibition space is located in a pocket site near the meat- packing district. Nestled in the middle of a bustling city, the calm spaces further play on the dualities created. A potter’s rhythm is overlaid with a vessel’s time of process and completion. Circulation and exhibition spaces are viewed as pauses in between each respective step.

The process of making a pot includes multiple rhythms and pause. As time takes its course, the materiality of the clay changes and the potter must pause and adapt. A concrete shell contrasts the light steel structure and provides a path of circulation and pause in between each step in the pottery process. By transitioning back and forth between the two spaces, the senses are engaged through the embedded program in the thick concrete wall.

The building is laid out with consideration about the order of each step in pottery. As the potter descends each floor, a different step is introduced. The program is laid out from the living space, main studio, glazing area, store front with two kilns, and exhibition space below grade. The concrete shell acts as a vessel that houses only the circulation path between each floor. Each floor separates the steps in the process of making a vessel from preparation/throwing, glazing, firing, and exhibition. The individual is forced to pause in between each floor to gain an overall understanding of the whole process.

The dark void within the concrete shell is contrasted by the light steel frame that houses the studio. The concrete wall is utilized within the program to house certain functions. The functions that occur within the wall then affects the atmospheric qualities inside the shell. Senses are engaged as the potter works in the studio on the other side.

THE VESSEL/BUILDING

In his essay “The Thing,” Heidegger describes a jug’s ability to hold something in its void. Its presencing is the gathering of the fourfold into a onefold, which consists of the sky and earth and mortals and divinities. The building or the world that I create seeks to give the individual an awareness of the temporal procession. The cylinder, cup, or bowl that I attempt to throw also is its own world. Architecture has the ability to embody a world within the world while engaging the senses with the light and dark.

The building can be interpreted as its own vessel, capturing a world inside. The section of a vessel reveals many qualities about the light or lack of light admitted into the void. The slot building contains a light steel structure that contrasts the concrete shell. The steel structure houses program of the pottery process while the concrete shell serves as pauses in between each step. The individual must walk through it to proceed to the next step. The exhibition space admits little light that might catch the curvature or rim of the pot.