Dwelling
in
Diurnal Variation
Contemporary practice has primarily positioned environmental forces and climate as an object to be reckoned with. Diurnal temperature swings are to be thermally controlled. Rain is something to be shed, not welcomed. Wind may be invited inside only when warranted. Architecture functions as a tool of separating an interior environment from the exterior one. This act of boundary-making is implicated within the broader context of humanity’s removal from nature.
As Martin Heidegger discusses, modern technology objectifies nature to the level of human resources, therefore making a conceptual rift between humans and the environment appear to be a fundamental truth rather than an arbitrary choice. Although architecture, as a technology of shelter and environmental insulation, is instrumental in the maintenance of this problematic framework, an alternative architecture has the capacity to provide new understandings.
There needs to be a development of an architecture which is highly responsive to environmental forces, namely with weather phenomena, so as to facilitate confrontations with the uncanniness inherent in climate effects. More than ever, it is vital for people to be aware of the presence of environmental forces in light of climate change and the illusion of thermal comfort perpetuated by building technology. The sublime experience of dynamic environmental conditions can restore humans as part of nature.
By dwelling over a diurnal period, daily rhythms of changing conditions are perceived. The hostel typology affords a connotation of exposure between guests which is conducive to exposure to weather phenomena and the environment. In forming this project's hostel, architectural boundaries are reconceptualized to be susceptible, softened, and variable.
Located near the central Californian coast, the San Lorenzo River extends from the northern Santa Cruz mountains to the Monterey Bay. The iconic Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk sits adjacent to the river’s end. In downtown Santa Cruz, between the Water Street and Soquel Avenue bridges, the riverbank has hosted a range of human uses, including that of inhabitation by unhoused individuals.
The largest encampment in Santa Cruz County was located on these banks following the COVID-19 pandemic. City officials organized tents according to social distancing guidelines, but the encampment outgrew its formal structure. Increasing flooding as a result of worsening annual storms led to the removal of the informal "Benchlands" encampment along the river. The hostel spans over the river as a series of truss bridges elevated above, thereby allowing for dwelling to occur. Floods and other severe weather events become moments of communal experience, rather than of fearful displacement.
San Lorenzo River 2012-2022
“On the banks of a quietly flowing brook he notices a stretch of grass; its fresh greenness is pleasing to his eyes, its tender down invites him; he is drawn there and, stretched out at leisure on this sparkling carpet, he lacks nothing, he does not wish for anything. But soon the scorching heat of the sun forces him to look for shelter. A nearby forest draws him to its cooling shade; he runs to find a refuge in its depth, and there he is content. But suddenly mists are rising, swirling round and growing denser, until thick clouds cover the skies; soon, torrential rain pours down on this delightful forest. The savage, in his leafy shelter, does not know how to protect himself from the uncomfortable damp that penetrates everywhere; he creeps into a nearby cave and, finding it dry, he praises himself for his discovery. But soon the darkness and foul air surrounding him make his stay unbearable again. He leaves and is resolved to make good by his ingenuity the careless neglect of nature. He wants to make himself a dwelling that protects but does not bury him.”
Laugier, Marc-Antoine, An Essay on Architecture, trans. Wolfgang and Anni Herrmann, 11-12.
"Unlike the living space trapped with our forebears under a rock or roof, the space around a campfire has many unique qualities which architecture cannot hope to equal, above all, its freedom and variability.”
Banham, Reyner, “A Home is Not a House,” Art in America 2 (1965): 70-79; reprinted in Charles Jencks and George Baird, eds., Meaning in Architecture (1969), 112-113.
Laugier’s parable of the primitive hut paints a scene in which environmental forces progressively define the original architectural form: a shelter. The man, uncomfortable with nature’s dynamic and willful spirit, chooses to intervene by constructing defenses. Although Laugier uses this premise for an argument of the tectonics of architecture, he unintentionally posits an alternative implication: architecture reflects humanity’s conception of and relation to the environment. Reyner Banham recognized this framework and compares two methods in which humans relate to environmental forces, one of which is to avoid circumstances and the other to interfere. A simple campfire is described for the latter situation, depicting how fire’s effects of heat and light create spatial dimensions within the greater outdoors.
H2O+COAT:
Traditional raincoats aim to shed water only, but what if the raincoat instead harvested this water? As rain touches the hood, droplets slide down into the coat through the double-layer of the collar with its afforded gap. The H2O Coat offers new and potentially uncomfortable experiences. This collected water may inhibit movement, but it also also absorbs body heat and acts as an insulator for the body.
Wind Banners:
Wind is often an unseen and unknown presence when inhabiting an enclosed space. More than the distant rustling of leaves, the banners are directly framed against windows so as to significantly disturb the view outside. Variation in the banners gives further capabilities to how wind manipulates the fabric. The variable colors and cuts in each banner overlap with one another to produce new visual effects according to wind movements.
THERMO/dynamic Chair:
The chair utilizes moveable concrete pillows as a thermal mass for the absorption and gradual release of heat. Both the concrete pieces and the sling itself are removeable from the chair frame. In this manner, the chair is transportable. For the thermal mass to be effective, a relatively heavy mass is necessary. This paradoxical combination of heavy mass and easily transportable furniture led to the modularization of the concrete pieces and the use of a folding frame.