ARCHETYPES
spiral babushka cantilever
INDEX
ARCHETYPE
ITERATIONS
Plan
Section
Model
The Archetype
The Spiral
With a Character
On an Allotment
Plan
Section
Collage
The Babushka
As a Wall
In West London
As a Parasite
In Central London
As a Mass-Housing
Complex
Plan
Section
Drawing
Model
The Cantilever
As a Labyrinth
In East London
In a Courtyard
I. Spiral
V. Babushka
IX. Cantilever
II. Core
III. Frame
IV. Screen
VI. U-House
VII. Courtyard
VIII. Rooms
X. Steps
XI. Columns
XII. Merge
Archetypes
Twelve Archetypes - non-referential and a-typological, described only spatially. They form a
catalogue of generic forms, expressing fundamental qualities and set to go through a series of
mutations.
An exploration of the potential found in three of these archetypical forms will unfold through
their adaptation to various conditions, scales and tectonics, while retaining their central idea.
Through a series of iterations, the Spiral, Babushka and Cantilever will further investigate the
connection (or often conflict) between body and building, individual and society, the public
and private, the room and the city; set within the context of varying levels of intimacy
emerging from particular spatial experiences.
In more detail, they will evolve in the Exodus Strip, a story told by Rem Koolhaas and Elias
Zenghelis: The desire for an ideal life will manifest itself in the Spiral, turning into a
directors pavilion as part of the allotments and in the Babushka as a dwelling for nomads in
the three preserved areas of London. Meanwhile, the Cantilever, as a Mass-Housing Unit, will
set the stage for the theatre of life in the square of the Baths. These scenarios will be explained
in greater depth later on.
CORE
The Voluntary Prisoners - Desire
Plan
Ground Floor
First Floor
Section
Model
II. Characters
As the archetype mutates, it must go through a process of character selection. In other words,
it will be applied to two characters, obtained from previous studies, and the most promising
adaptation will be the one to undergo further development until it becomes the ideal dwelling
for its specified inhabitant.
The characters involve a retired couple and the director of the Architectural Association, Brett
Steele. In the case of the former, the archetype should be moulded in such a way so as to
provide space for displaying a collection of family memorabilia and to adapt to two different
routines, of the husband and the wife. When it comes to the latter situation, the institutional
role of a director, as one who is utterly immersed in social interaction and yet seeks some
moments of privacy, must be addressed.
The directors life, of varying levels of intimacy, already poses a far more interesting
condition for the Spiral to adapt to. His profile will be more deeply examined when studying
the possible adaptations of the archetype to both the characters in the following pages.
Retired Couple:
A Museum of Memorabilia
In the case of the a retired couple, the archetype must respond to the idea of a newly
constructed space able to accommodate and exhibit a life of experiences through collections
of objects and different memorabilia. The doors between spaces will be placed central to the
walls, flanked by the objects and furniture, which are always static.
Despite an overall circulation that spirals up to their bedroom, the couple will have their own
private entrance that takes them directly through the kitchen to the bedroom and bathroom
so as to highlight their routine-defined life and their disassociation with their memories which
may have become just depressing reminders of a once full house. The disuse of some parts of
the house emphasizes the absence of their children, now grown up and moved out.
The furniture in the living-area and kitchen will allow for a different relationship between
them, one in which the husband can also retreat to his own space (TV and couch) and the
wife to the kitchen and bedroom. The void in the middle could be either completely enclosed
or a light well.
Even though the archetype offers some possibilities of being developed with the couple, it is
not as promising as its application to the director will be. Hence with Brett Steele being the
most likely option, his character shall be more thoroughly investigated.
Plan
Ground Floor
First Floor
Stalking Brett
After observing the character during a typical working day one may identify three main
aspects of intimacy in Bretts situation: private, semi-private and public. In addition, an
analysis of how he allocates his time proves that public life is substantially greater than both
the other two aspects combined. Therefore, during a normal day, work accounts for the
majority of his time with very few strictly private moments.
The Architectural Association clearly operates around Brett; or Brett around it. This is in direct
relation to his constant obligation to move. In other words, the Director of the school never
sits in one place. Quite the contrary; he is caught in a continuous routine of utter public
immersion and his only moment to himself are around 35 minutes, during which he has been
observed to vanish from the school entirely.
His spatial experience is therefore determined by intense moments of social interaction as
opposed to his search for a comfortable, much more personal, space to retreat and rest, even
for a little while.
Such aspects of the character are depicted with great clarity in the interpretative diagram and
sketch for a box constructed by his stalker, Alex Shatalova.
Brett Steele:
The Directors Pavilion
The archetype, with its spiralling movement around a void core, when applied to a director of
an institution, as in Bretts case, aims at amplifying the idea of absolute exposure to his
working environment and all the people associated with it, while maintaining a certain
mystification concerning his actions during a comparatively limited time spent alone. Hence
the program will be distributed in a sequence, moving from the most public up to the least
accessible and more personal spaces, so that the director may retreat to a more confined and
almost concealed room, analogous to moving deeper and deeper into a cave.
Four, half-a-metre-thick walls, of bare concrete, make up the void core. Any sides exposed
to the exterior will be glass. Bretts house will welcome guests to a series of impersonal living
and service spaces starting with the entrance. The living area follows in the form of a public
meeting place, with a kitchen, bar and the toilet facilities. Beyond it lies a conference room
and printing area, followed by the personal assistances office and then the office of the
director. Finally the door to the directors sanctuary is hidden behind his desk. The level of
publicity is also defined by the gradual decrease in the size of each space. The central void
acts as a light well.
Meanwhile, as one goes deeper into the spiral, the windows become increasingly covered
by shutters or bookshelves, hiding intimate moments. Meanwhile the openings from room to
room will all be placed along the walls, close to the windows so that the inhabitant is
constantly faced by exposure to the public while the division between rooms will be
enhanced by two steps (between service spaces) and three (between living spaces) that will
create a total of 17 steps, spiralling up to the bedroom on a second level. The level changes
would be subtle and almost unidentifiable in plan, thus deceiving the observer and adding to
the thresholds between levels of varying intimacies.
Plan
Ground Floor
First Floor
Section
Model
Outside the boundary walls lies a cursed city. People living in the ruin of the old world;
London: convulsing, chocking, breaking under its own weight. Anguished citizens bursting
with fear flee to the wall, desperate to enter, to voluntarily turn themselves in; to become
prisoners of the Exodus Strip. The wall itself becomes a sanctuary, a utopian island, an
idealised micro-city constantly growing in both directions, divided into a series of squares.
The archetype is pushed to its limits, its spatial qualities stretched to maximum deformation
while retaining the core idea. The first challenge calls for adaptation to a specified lot. The
Spiral is placed in the square of the Allotments, where the idealised dwellings of the voluntary
prisoners lie, desired by everyone outside the strip.
The houses on these Allotments are built from the most lush and expensive materials (marble,
chromium, steel); they are small palaces for the people. On a shamelessly subliminal level this
simple architecture succeeds in its secret ambition to instil gratitude and contentment. The
Allotments are well supervised so that both external and internal disturbances can be avoided,
or at least quickly suppressed. Media intake in this area is nil. Papers are banned, radios
mysteriously out-of-order, the whole concept of news ridiculed by the patient devotion with
which the plots are ploughed; the surfaces are scrubbed, polished, and embellished. Time has
been suppressed. Nothing ever happens here, yet the air is heavy with exhilaration.
The Spiral, laid on a plot designated to the director of the Architectural Association, ventures
into deeper re-iterations internally as well as externally, moulding its surroundings
accordingly. Its evolution to an idealised directors pavilion will finally result to a complete
inversion of its properties when constrained in a courtyard.
A house divided between a public and private zone, in which the director works, is positioned
on a rectangular site, 20x30m. The building becomes a monumental pavilion that stands out
from the rest of the campus inviting everyone in. Located at the very far end of the rectangular
plot it maximizes the space in front of it.
Being a castle on a hill, the directors pavilion shifts the morphology of the allotment. The
building rises above a grass covered field with no obstructions in front of it. In the middle of
the plot platforms lead to the main entrance in the form of steps. The entire garden gradually
slopes, rising from the street to the entrance; from there on the earth shifts upwards more
dramatically into levelled platforms following the increasing height of the rooms.
The levelled gardens on the three sides of the building bare a series of tall trees (possible
evergreen conifers or junipers referencing the greenery of where Brett Steele grew up; Eugene,
Oregon, USA), which engulf the most private areas and act as screens to keep them out of the
neighbours view. The trees density increases with the privacy of each level.
Three of the thick walls defining the archetype stretch all the way to the border of the allotment
and divide the private zones of the garden from the public slope. The fourth wall, the one from
which one enters the pavilion, remains as it is in order for the slope that lies ahead to remain
clear for public access.
The walls have been altered in order to house the services and increase in thickness
sequentially up until the final wall, behind the office, which is now thick enough to
successfully accommodate a hidden sanctuary for the director. From the comfort of his private
room he can glance through the light well over all rooms surrounding the central void. The
light well becomes a viewing prism from which he can control the space and the wall
conceals him from public view, thus solving the issue of his exposure in the previous iterations.
Plan
Section
Plan Detail
Section Detail
Model
The archetype, in the way that it has been moulded according to the director, is made to fit a
20 by 10 meter courtyard. There are no windows looking out of the courtyard therefore the
entire perimeter is composed of a thick high wall.
Located slightly to the right of the centre of the rectangle is a square room which in the
previous iterations of the archetype was an inaccessible void, the centre of the Spiral.
Previously the movement had been extroverted, now it is the focal point from which one
diffuses his moves in the Spirals directions once he enters the courtyard pavilion. This square
is created by four main walls that come together to form a spiral as in the original archetype.
Each wall becomes subsequently thicker starting from the thickest wall (Southern one) which
is entered only via Bretts office and conceals a tight space for the director to lay and rest. This
is followed by the western wall containing a cloakroom, kitchen and toilet, open to the most
public room. In the next room a bookshelf and printer are contained within the wall, part of
the personal assistances office. Finally the thinnest wall bears a big bookshelf and is part of
the directors office.
All the rooms follow the same lighting sequence: they have no other walls apart form the
thick wall and a side of glass panels opening up to small courtyards. Hence each room has a
courtyard of varied quality (bushes, grass, pots, flowerbeds etc.) which can be used in different
ways.
In its final iteration the Spiral has been stretched to its limits. The central idea of a spiralling
movement or a spiralling distribution of program is retained along with the four main walls,
while every other aspect of it implodes entirely, in a complete state of introversion.
Plan
Section
Model
The light well becomes a viewing prism through which the director can control the space,
looking into it from the comfort of his private sanctuary. It also epitomizes the fact that the
walls are fundamental dividers of space, yet with the creation of the Spiral, they meet to form
this void through which everything is viewed simultaneously. Hence private and public space
is divided as well as condensed within the Spiral. A collage on the opposite page depicts this
condition.
PLACEMENT
The City Masque - Theatre
Part I.
The Babushka: Archetype
The Babushka, is a type of a building that is constructed of a series of smaller buildings in the
interior, a Russian doll of sorts. With the same plan, all three rooms (the exterior and the two
smaller rooms inside one another) allow a simple isolation of spaces while allowing an even
flow between them. The rooms are all shaped as a square, while different services, such as a
small kitchen and bathroom, are contained within the thick walls. The entrance into the
building is located on the other side of the entrance into the next room, continuing the pattern
that appears on the interior of the structure giving the inhabitant different levels of isolation.
Beforehand, the archetype was developed to accommodate a nomadic inhabitant. The nomad,
being a person without a permanent home, can easily adapt to a constantly changing
environment. He only requires a few items, which he moves from place to place. Each of the
rooms inside the babushka is different, but contains the same items he needs in order to move
around. Following from that, the nomad can still move from room to room while remaining in
the same building. He has become the static nomad.
The idea of the static nomad being hosted by other inhabitants of the archetype was also
explored and may be further developed in some of the next iterations.
Plan
Section
1. Columns, 2. Courtyard, 3. Spiral, 4. Rooms, 5. Screen, 6. Frame, 7. Babushka, 8. U-House, 9. Merge, 10. Steps, 11. Core ,12. Cantilever.
Amongst the squares in which the Exodus Strip is divided lie three preserved areas of the old city:
The Western tip - The front-line of Architectural warfare waged on the old city of London- It is
the point of heightened tension, where the inmates of old London face the Voluntary Prisoners,
while the Architecture of the Exodus destroys existing structures as the strip expands. In this area,
around Paddington, the twelve archetypes confront the condition by being placed along the
southern wall of the strip facing the old city. They essentially replace existing faades and
become part of the wall itself.
The Central area - The famous structures of Regent Street and the areas grid are preserved. - The
ancient buildings will provide the temporary accommodation for recent arrivals, during the period
they are trained as voluntary prisoners - This square presents an array of blocks determined by the
grid, all of which possess courtyards and central enclosures, hidden from street view. Following
this feature, the archetypes are set to become parasites, carefully evolving within these enclosures
and adapting to their surroundings as much as possible.
The Eastern area - Lying before the square of Aggression, the area around Old Street is a wasteland
of decaying council estates, overshadowing the rest of the ruins. The estates, mammoth remnants
of the collapsed welfare state, haunt the landscape. For this situation a confrontation of the
derelict structures is what the archetypes aim to achieve. Each one of them is applied to a separate
estate, in an attempt to challenge or re-use the architecture of the social housing system.
It is within these areas that the Babushka will develop into:
.
The Wall - where subtle tension lies along the divide
.
The Parasite - where a hidden community of changing social intimacies lives
.
The Labyrinth - where exciting migration patterns turn into frustration and loss
12.5m
25m
I. West - Paddington
The Wall
In one of the most radical iterations, the Babushka at Paddington is flipped from plan to
section. In the other words, the fundamental principles of the Russian doll configuration are
applied in section rather than in plan. The structural members are what make the belts of the
Babushka distinctive when viewed in section.
In addition, the structure is subject to an interesting border condition i.e. it is set along the
wall of the Exodus. Where the new ideal world meets the decaying old one there is bound to
be tension and the architecture of the Babushka attempts to explore such a scenario. This is
achieved by offering its inner room to the outside world, like a niche in the wall, where
people can climb in and gather. Meanwhile the two outer belts are only accessible from the
inside.
The tension is heighten by the fact that the niche leads nowhere; blocked by remnants of the
pre-existing structure. Visitors from the outside are evidently confronted by this
gargantuan white gate with the promise of a better life lying beyond it and yet it leads
nowhere. The nomads of the Exodus experience a unique level of intimacy with the outside
populace, since an only-look-but-do-not-touch situation arises for either side.
Two extremely contrasting scenarios meet within the niche of this archetype, which has
evolved to address its inhabitants as much as it addresses the greater urban divide.
2.5m
5m
2.5m
5m
12.5m
25m
The Babushka of Regent Street is faithful to its original principals in plan. Yet it is very carefully
laid out following a subdivided grid based on the existing columns of the car park it is
infesting. In this case the archetype is adapted, as much as possible, in a parasitical way.
Its presence is far from its imposing iteration in Paddington since the only hints at its existence
are its roofs forming a ziggurat-like structure. It is composed by a mixture of elements that
reflect the materiality of the existing surroundings, such as brick, in a typical Flemish bond.
The pre-existing materials and structural elements of the site are maintained as much as
possible since the archetype is forced to go through a tighter process of adaptation rather than
intervention.
Its communal lifestyle instigates to varying social intimacies amongst its inhabitants. From
the exterior belt to the very core, the relationships change, as it accommodates subsequently
smaller groups of nomads. A system of social hierarchy may arise since the core is exclusive to
one nomad alone. Migration occurs when new entries to the exodus pour into Regent Street,
where they live temporarily until they are allocated elsewhere along the strip. The longer a
nomad is in the building the more private his accommodation, up until he is ready to be
allocated. Therefore, in this case, the nomads are not in a permanent static state.
Overall, the concepts of public interaction and personal space merge into this iteration of the
archetype.
2.5m
5m
2.5m
5m
12.5m
25m
The largest of the three iterations occurs in East London. Within the courtyard of a decaying
council estate, the archetype is comfortably accommodated. Instead of directly challenging
the building, reminiscent of the crumbling welfare state, the archetype manipulates the
perimeter of its courtyard as a mould to cast the shape of its belts. The intervention is,
therefore, not as aggressive but nevertheless noticeable.
The re-enforced concrete structure retains certain principals of the archetype, namely the
skylights, the materiality of the walls and the number of inhabitable belts however it is
dispersed over a larger scale and between each interior now lies an additional exterior belt of
greenery. It, thus, starts from an enclosed belt and alternates from inside to outside. The
luscious gardens, partially viewed over the concrete walls, become a tantalising sight to
onlookers since they come in sharp contrast to the grim surroundings.
There are two main entrances to it, positioned to allow a certain flow through the spaces.
The entry points to the different interiors and gardens are situated to either allow a circulation
around a single belt or to become concealed from each other as in the initial case of the
archetype.
What this iteration attempts to amplify is the spatial experience of the archetype as a maze or
labyrinth; the possibility of the nomad to migrate within a space which every time seems
different and hence allowing for numerous exciting possibilities, enough for him to become
static within the building.
Long, narrow corridors lead to small inhabitable spaces complete with the necessary
services. Nomads, alone or in groups, can migrate around the building almost without being
seen. Along with a constant exhilaration there may very well be feelings of tension and
frustration because of the unknown that lies beyond each corridor and around every corner.
The intimacy of the communal life is mainly experienced within the gardens yet the complex
network of paths makes the space a lot more intimidating.
5m
10m
5m
10m
Part II.
The Cantilever: Archetype
The archetype of the Cantilivers is defined by the very strong directionality of its suspended
top floor as well as its hidden underground foot. It can accommodate a condition of bi-polar
lives: on its top level a lifestyle of maximum public exposure and intense social interaction,
while beneath the ground a retreat for solitude and absolute privacy.
The first and lower ground levels are accessed via separate entrances with stairs running
through the Cantilivers spine. In the case of the former, the entrance is situated in a noticeable
position so as to allow easy access to the guests, whereas the door to the later is on the side,
hidden from direct view and slightly smaller as well. Hence their is a clear separation between
the varying experiences of spatial intimacy.
The aspects of intense public exposure versus seclusion are an intriguing subject when
developing the archetype on an urban scale.
Plan
Lower Ground
Ground Floor
First Floor
Section
Plan
25m
50m
25m
50m
Plan Detail
Level 2
Level 1
Level 0
12.5m
25m
Section Detail
12.5m
25m
Level -1
Level 1
Level 0
Level 2
The Twelve Archetypes, having been through a long process of evolution, are now ripe enough
to pose an urban impact on the Exodus strip and on its scenario of extremities that wages
architectural war on London and establishes an Architectural Oasis in the behavioural sink
of the city. By being placed in specific squares of the strip, the archetypes either completely
redefine the pre-existing conditions or adapt by taking into account certain attributes of the
area. The Cantilever has now been assigned to the Square of the Baths.
The Square of the Baths: An architecture of hedonistic proportions, an infinite sex machine of
heightened luxury, physical and mental indulgence. An area of public action and display, a
continuous parade of personalities and bodies, a stage where a cyclical dialectic between
exhibitionism and spectatorship takes place. The buildings are equipped to encourage
indulgence and to facilitate the realization of fantasies, and social inventions; they invite all
forms of human interaction and exchange. Arenas, public plazas, water features; Architecture
offers itself as a device for comfort and pleasure, in veneration of the spectacle.
The Exodus Strip redesigned - Each archetype takes the form of a mass-housing unit occupying a specified square.
In each square from West to East: Courtyard and Paddington Iterations, Frames, Merge, Regent Street Iterations,
Columns, Babushka, Cantilever & U-house, Core & Rooms, Steps and Old Street Iterations Screen & Spiral
Plan
25m
50m
Section
25m
50m
62.5m
125m
25m
50m
Plan Detail
Level 0
12.5m
25m
Section Detail
12.5m
25m
Level -1
Level 0
Level 1
Model
Courtyard
Frames
Merge
Columns
Babushka
Steps