iouliabarmpouti: May 2013

Water Phenomenological Approach

At this point I started looking into the element of 'water' from different 'angles' and collected a number of interesting facts that involve its physical form as well as water as an essence. From one point of view, water could be could be considered as source of life, whereas looking at it from a different scope, water is where we live for the first nine months of our lives. Apart from that 70-90% of cells's weight of our body are made of water. Moreover, in religion water through baptism symbolized the return back to the nature, the contact with the ground and through this you have the rebirth and the clearance of the soul.

As a consequence of the above I found the idea of birth in water as a normal sequence of the water's importance as source of life

COLLAGE

In order to further explore and to demonstrate graphically and architecturally my thoughts, I made a collage showing how the hand and the body experience the ground and water coming out from it and how a pregnant woman through her body and senses feel and conceive it. by this way you feel the breathing of earth as Steven Holl and Pallasmaa said.

MODEL

I made this model in order to demonstrate the way I approach the element of water and its flow in relation to the problem of teenage pregnancy. What it actually represents is the way water is getting out of the earth, respectively as the baby is delivered into the world, and then it is split into channels articulating the spaces and the different stages of pregnancy. the dead ends of some channels on the model represent the dead end the teenagers face when they learn that they are pregnant and their only solution to keep the baby and go on. They don't think about their alternative solutions.

View from a digital model representing the idea with the channels and how these create dead-ends, pools, corridors and spaces in between.

more closed view of the digital model

How the model is working. It has two holes (representing the boreholes); the first one extracts water anf fill the channels, and when the water makes its circle goes back from the second hole. This is a continuous action.

Boreholes

As it has been previously stated, the exploration of the element of water and the way it could be employed in a design programme has been chosen to be the key aspect of my scheme.

At this point, I referred back to a site analysis I undertook as part of a group project I had on the previous year in order to identify possible links Nottingham has with 'water'. According to that site analysis, Nottingham has lots of unexploited boreholes. These boreholes could possibly be employed in my scheme supplying it with natural water.

The diagrams depict the boreholes in UK and then in Nottingham. The three different colours symbolize the different depths of the boreholes in Nottingham.

Introduction

Part of my dissertation had as an aspect of exploration the element of water; an element which I would like to link with my design thesis and have as a reference point. More specifically, what I explored on my dissertation was the architectural quality - the tangible and intangible materials (natural materials, lighting, acoustics).

Thermal Baths in Vals, by Peter Zumthor, was the main case study which designated my dissertation. In order to gain my own personal experience of the space and its atmosphere, I decided to undertake a visit there, sense the space and record my own observations. What impressed me the most, was the combination of the materials - the surfaces' natural stone, water, and light- the reaction they had with each other, and most importantly the way that Zumthor's material compatibility influenced my body and psychology. Another remarkable fact about the building, was the impression one gains from the internal voids into the bigger idea of a semi-natural , semi-man made "cave" of the body and the senses coming to an end respectively where the sense of materiality (tangible-intangible) stops. Water plays an essential and catalytic role in this building, and the atmosphere it composes is undoubtedly seductive.

That atmosphere, and that sense of space is what I would like to apply on my scheme. Having that experience I had from my visit to Zumthor's Thermal Baths at the back of my mind and the atmosphere that was applied there, what I am aiming to do afterwards is to study the element of water further and explore the ways it could be employed in a design program.

httpwww.dezeen.com20130206peter-zumthor-at-the-royal-gold-medal-lecture-2013
It is difficult to express with words how amazing was the atmosphere in Thermal Baths which wasmainly composed by 3 materials: stone, light and water.

httpwww.presidentsmedals.comEntry-11800
The body feels and experiences the materials with all its senses.

rsjorda2.wordpress.ncsu.edu author rsjorda2
It is amazing how the water is confused with the vapor and the light composing a significant and interesting brur that triggers you to explore.

Barmpouti, 2/11/12

The windows of the Thermal Vals are not directly connected with the wall creating a nice gap in between. Through the reflection on the window you can see the Swiss mountains and the amazing view bathers have from inside.