dom-ino and other paradigm buildings
1997.07.30
I have completed the MKOlivetti conference room model and set it among the other paradigmatic buildings. Seeing the five "buildings" together tells an interesting story. We see Le Corbusier's own development, and then we see an inversion of the paradigm in Hejduk and Stirling--an inversion, yet also a further development. Hejduk's Bye House is like the Maison Dom-ino (and the second composition) without the floor slabs, which have been converted into a gigantic wall--the floor slab inverted from horizontal slab to vertical slab. With the floor removed, only the column grid and the free-form shapes of the "rooms" remain and the circulation elements have also been separated out, and also inverted to an extent.
The Stirling construction takes the Corbusian paradigm a step further. The floor slabs are also eliminated, and the major component is a space raised on columns (pilotis), yet the space is not a box, but a single room in a free-form organic shape (which seems slightly related to the study of the Bye House). I have to confirm the dates of these two projects. The other major elimination (more a replacement, actually) is the lack of stairs and the new inclusion of a ramp and an elevator instead.
Interestingly enough, the basic paradigm of structure, space, and (vertical) circulation are the same elemental components of each design, and seeing the designs together offer a concise representation of the evolution of a seminal modern (architectural) idea.
Presenting the group together will be the first time (outside of the inaugural exhibit) various buildings in the collection will be exhibited side by side. Along with comparative plans and elevations, I am also going to display a series of axons and perspectives (w/shadows and white backgrounds). I will say something about each of the projects and also offer specific views (like the Strasbourg stage set in context), but most of the views will be of one building in relation to the others.
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