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Symbiotic Office Programming in Urban High-Rises Symbiotic office programming in Urban High-Rises: Linked spaces as a means of inter-office communication by Melanie Lee A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Architecture Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario © 2013 Melanie Lee Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94565-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94565-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada acknowledgments i would like to provide gratitude to the following people in contributing to this report: I would first like to acknowledge a special gratitude to Johan Voordouw, my thesis advisor, for his dedication, and guidance as a supervisor. I would like to express gratitude to friends and peers, especially to Stephanie Uy and Shaun Coombes for their encouragement, assistance, and editing. I would like to thank Inderbir Riar, my previous studio professor, for his support and advice. abstract This thesis speculates on the implications of a more flexible type of office layout to suit the needs of the increasing share in shared office programming. The goal is to create an architectural system for high-rise office towers, which drives variability and devise how these changes in environment could better reflect activities of different professions and social needs. The aim for this thesis is to direct porosity and connectivity where needed respective to high-rise office towers. I am proposing that re-looking at the spatial orientation of these shared spaces has the potential to create greater variation of spaces while promoting a symbiotic usage of spaces. In contrast to the open atrium typology which denotes a place of rest and the individual units denoting a place of work, I propose to stimulate work in a rest environment benefiting both the neighboring relationships of the workplace and creating defined nodal micro environments - more suited to the future of networking in the w ork environment. Topics that w ill be covered in the thesis are: social engineering, better dialog o f spaces, m ultiple programming, encouragement of connections, 3-D spatial qualities, and stimulus for work. My thesis will devise potential arrangements of spaces suited to different needs and work environments, which will lead to a symbiotic work place environment. index Acknowledgements................................................................. i Abstract .....................................................................................ii Introduction ..............................................................................1 Literature Review ................................................4 Konrad Wachsmann Kisho Kurokawa Rem Koolhaas Michael Hansel + Achim Menges Ali Rahim Patrik Schumacher Attact/Repel Project + Design Development......................... 25 Site Program Design Methodology Appendix: Case Studies..................................... 31 Bibliography .............................................................................39 Image S ource............................................................................41 introduction Since the publication of Delirious New York in 1978 and the expression of Rem Koolhaas' "Vertical Schisms", High Rise office typologies still have not successfully articulated vertical connections to develop a larger network of relationships. The significance of the study connects various theoretical researches. Using both Critical and Post-Critical sources the thesis explores changing notions o f social connects in office high-rise typologies. Connections are spatially articulated to enhance the relationship between users by relocating social space. W ith an expanding idea of flexibility within the unit office type, this thesis argues that varying symbiotic relationships between different clusters of office type will lead to enhanced relationships and more flexible uses of the tower as a whole. The project aims to design the boundaries between segregated types of offices to improvise a third type of work social space that differs in focus from the commercially driven atrium. This thesis deals with high-rise as both a controversial topic in architectural criticism, by the differing views of acceptance of marketing and architecture, a driver of design in post critical theory, which critical theory has the potential to deliberately avoid. To propose a change in the high rise, the differences between criticism and post criticism must first be acknowledged. In the discourse, critical theory will be analyzed for its specific applicability to the high-rise rather than as a critique on the theory as an over arching truth. While examples used in critical theory act as an antithesis, through the analysis of post-critical innovation is where the project will draw its conclusion. Variation is stressed upon in the study of biologically inspired systems and architecture. To determine the 1 implications of these elements to be reincorporated into the high-rise office environment. Critical Theory as defined by Michael Speaks in "Intelligence After Theory" was accepted into academia in architecture in the 1980's, accepted as “a new mode of contemporary thought, a fast philosophy"1. Ten years later, "theory vanguardism" was challenged by globalization, and the post critical mode of thought arose. A post critical standpoint in architecture differs from its predecessor, critical theory, by the acceptance of innovation in architecture .2 Theory, on one hand, was challenged by its nature of being removed. Theory was criticized by Stan Allen as a "handicap", seen as an innovation for "advancing Enlightenment ideals of ultimate truth and by splitting thinking from doing"3. It posed "a method for architecture to create an alternative to market driven design by following a different logic, one that can be considered "utopian". For "Eisenman, theory used by him in the abstract perfection of forms shields them from market driven demands of program, use, and market viability"4. Architectural theory, removed from the world and reinterpreted as an ideal, cannot meet challenges faced by diverse views and forms presented in the connected world. On the other hand, theory developed from critique inherently is a "negative practice", rewriting past practices, further supporting the notion of a singular truth. Critical Theory vs. Post Critical Critical Theory in architecture is driven on an assessment on the critique of society and culture by applying knowledge derived through the architectural philosophy and literature. As philosophy is shared through writing and speech, through literary means, reasoning becomes focused on its ability to convince through writing thus "splitting thinking from doing". Its premise is based on thinking about a commentary of the world rather than analyzing the direct impact of the object on the world. Characteristic of critical theory is its inability to distinguish between a metaphorical likeness and the actual implications when a model is placed in context. 1 Speaks. Michael. Intelligence After Theory. Perspecta 38. M IT Press (2 Jun 2(J06) p. 104-106 2 ibid, p. 104-106 3 ibid. p.104-106 4 ibid. p. 104-106 2 This thesis will first discuss visionary modernists versus post critical works. Following an analysis of the capsule building in Japan it will discuss Koolhaas' 'Vertical Schism' and the notion o f vertical isolation. This will lead to a discussion of a growing biological imperative in architecture and the connection of fluidity, topology and program hybridity in the development o f a new formalism. The underlying theory of the Metabolists draws the idea of flexibility as a keyword linked to biology. However, the flexibility employed in Metabolist
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