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PhD researcher Ana Pereira Roders / Arch. Andre Walraven / trainee Josu Elizirio /Arch. Isabel Valverde 29-6-2007Danil Tulp 0510902 Page 0

ContentsIntroduction........................................................................................................................1 Analysis .............................................................................................................................2

Documentary inventory .....................................................................................................2

Rules and regulations .....................................................................................................2Analysis of pre-design ....................................................................................................2

What is the essence of the building?..............................................................................2Summary ................................................................................................................3

What is the essence of the relationship between the building and its surroundings?.............4Summary ................................................................................................................6

Other documents ...........................................................................................................6The building as a ruin ..................................................................................................6Ruins rehabilitated ......................................................................................................7Curved glass ..............................................................................................................7Harbour rehabilitation..................................................................................................8Parasite .....................................................................................................................8Witte dame ................................................................................................................9

Oral inventory ..................................................................................................................9Physical inventory........................................................................................................... 10

Another silo ................................................................................................................ 10Van Nelle factory ......................................................................................................... 10Exterior research ......................................................................................................... 11

Synthesis ......................................................................................................................... 12Environment survey........................................................................................................ 12Significance survey ......................................................................................................... 12Conditional survey .......................................................................................................... 13

Simulation........................................................................................................................ 14Conceptional design........................................................................................................ 14Preliminary design .......................................................................................................... 26Final design ...................................................................................................................32

Evaluation ........................................................................................................................ 36Environment assessment................................................................................................. 36Significance assessment ..................................................................................................37Condition assessment .....................................................................................................39Design assessment ......................................................................................................... 40

Conclusion and recommendations........................................................................................ 41List of sources................................................................................................................... 42

Literature ......................................................................................................................42Internet sources .............................................................................................................42

Appendix.......................................................................................................................... 43Planetarium Beijing......................................................................................................... 43De baljurk .....................................................................................................................43De baljurk .....................................................................................................................44Millcity museum .............................................................................................................44Las Palmas parasite ........................................................................................................ 49Rijnhaven silo ................................................................................................................ 52Van Nelle factory ............................................................................................................54Exterior research south of the silo..................................................................................... 57Free flight simulators ...................................................................................................... 59Red, yellow, blue and black drawings ................................................................................ 62Final drawings................................................................................................................ 63


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IntroductionThis report tries to show the most significant parts of my design process and design proposal butwill not list all design decisions as this would result in an excessive proportionate report.

It shows the design phase of my rehabilitation of the Maashaven silo Rotterdam which wasthoroughly analysed in the pre-design phase of the Re-architecture method by my colleagues andme during the first block of this semester.

The Re-architecture method is a scientific working mythology for the rehabilitation of buildings andis particularly useful when rehabilitating complex, monumental buildings such as the Maashavensilo. More information can be found at www.re-architecture.eu.

This design is part of my master studies at the Technical University of Eindhoven and serves as mysecond project at the department of Architectural Design and Engineering which I hope tograduate from with listing in the Dutch register of architects.


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Analysis

Documentary inventory

Rules and regulations

Only necessary regulations regarding my design proposal are discussed here.

The height of toilettes in existing buildings is regulated in section 4.7 of the building regulation ofThe Netherlands paragraph 2 article 4.43:

Een toiletruimte als bedoeld in artikel 4.41, eerste tot en met derde lid, heeft een vloeroppervlakte vanten minste 0,64 m . De breedte van die vloeroppervlakte is ten minste 0,6 m en de hoogte daarboven isten minste 2 m.

In a new build building it has to be 2,3 m but in an existing building it can be 2 m.

Analysis of pre-design

To better understand and handle all the information of the pre-design phase, I have come up witha number of questions which I kept in mind while reading all the reports from the pre-designphase. The result of this research was sometimes partial and sometimes full answers to thesequestions.

The main questions were:What is the essence* of the building?What is the essence* of the relationship between the building and its surroundings?

* In philosophy, essence is the attribute (or set of attributes) that make an object or substancewhat it fundamentally is. The notion of essence has acquired many slightly but importantlydifferent shades of meaning throughout the history of philosophy; most of them derive from its

use in Aristotle and its evolution within the scholastic tradition.

What is the essence of the building?

In the oral inventory some information can be found that relates to this question.

The inside was darker than you ever could imagine. (page 71)

The source was a photographer that had been taking pictures of the Maashaven silo right after itclosed down.

the silos represent the glorious history of the city as a leading port and centre of industryand trade, which it still is nowadays.[] The silos are a rough, industrial chunk of concrete

and steel, not a delicate piece of art. (page 77, 78)

This was said by Herman Moscoviter, an author of books about the architecture and society ofRotterdam.

The physical inventory also contains some information that is relevant for this question.

The faades are dominated by regularity of the elements and openings. (page 110)The charisma is in a certain degree determined by the industrial components in and on thebuilding. (page 118)

In the significance survey a lot of information is available to answer this question.


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For the workers, the Maassilo represented a way of life and most probably of a strictscheduled routine. Presently, the building serves as a venue for the Now & Wow. Whilehuman activity is still restricted to the same floors and spaces, the Maassilo now operatesas a creative factory that is unrestricted by set parameters and guidelines. (page 209)

the entire existence of the Silo is based on the economy and use of the building. (page211)

The building can be seen as a symbol for the flourishing economy for the city Rotterdam, asymbol for the history and the present. (page 211)

The Maassilo gives an excellent overview of the development of grain storage andprocessing technology over the first half of the 20th century. (page 215)

the exterior and form of the building conveys the activity inside the building. (page 216)

the building was designed in the functional style. This approach allowed the building to

achieve optimal functional performance in which it has gained its immortal status (page216)

The East-Northeast faade has a very characteristic and symbolic value that isrepresentable for this building. (page 222)

Mostly the technological advancements in use and construction of the building isappreciated. (page 228)

In the faades, the patina (the natural change of appearance) can be found in the chaoticshades the concrete has taken on during time. Pollutants, organics and weather influenceshave changed the appearance of the building dramatically. (page 231)

This information from the significance survey can be summarized as follows: The building haschanged a lot. In the past it was an economic centre, now it is almost anarchistic. The age of thebuilding can be seen because of the patina. The technological advancements and the historic valueare significant, it is a symbol for the economy of Rotterdam. The functionalistic style is profoundlypresent in the design and the East-Northeast faade is representable for this.

The condition survey talks a lot about symmetry. The main point it makes is that the symmetrydoes exist to a certain extend, but that this is mostly coincidental as it was a result offunctionalistic demands derived from either the construction or the grain transportation.

A couple of quotes from the survey are in itself interesting for the first question.

The strategy used tries to emphasize the horizontality of the building (page 265)

in the North elevation, there is a stranger(the electricity station) (page 267)

Summary

The essence of the building surely consists of the industrial character of it. The functionalistic style,its faades and other components make it a symbol for Rotterdams history as a port city and as acity of hard working and proud labourers. The comment of mister Moscoviter about this is in myeyes most striking: The silos are a rough, industrial chunk of concrete and steel, not a delicate

piece of art. (page 77, 78 of the oral inventory). Although the building does contain aestheticelements, in its essence it is not art.


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Due to the fact that the area was an industrial area before there is no historical greenstructure. []Nowadays there is almost no room for a green structure to develop. (page148)

In the front of the silo there are five streets coming together, a strategic point. []These

axes intersect nearby the Graansilo, creating a strategic place which mainly represents theaccessibility of the area.(page 163)

the harbour is strengthened with a line of characteristic industrial buildings whichrepresent the activities along the harbour and also emphasizing his existence.(page 164)

A clear edge in the area is the metro line. It really cuts the area around the Grain silo inhalf. The metro line has a dominant place, (page 165)

Since 2004 the area of the Maashaven is dominated by the Queen of theSouth (page184)

this element(the elevated metro line) seems to isolate and cover the urban crossing at thegraansilo (page 184)

On the other side and along the harbour there are also a couple of buildings whichcorrespond with the Maashaven silo itself (page 184)

At the moment the are (of the Maashaven) has become empty, passive, neglected andisolated. In spite of the renovation of the districts, new elements have supported the

isolation of the harbour in its function, charisma and originality. Towards the Maashavensilo thisactually means, the building has degraded in its function, dominance and looking.(page 185)

This information tells us that the silo is located on a very strategic point in the area and in a line ofindustrial buildings that strengthen the characteristics of the industrial harbour activity. The metroline is very dominant in the area. It is a clear edge and together with the strong axes, it dividesthe area into parts. The area has a lack of green structure and there is not a lot room for it to bedeveloped. And the Maashaven silo has been degraded from a dominant building in the area to notbeing that.

In the significance survey a lo of information about the building can be found but also about therelationship between the building and its surroundings.

The residences of the Tarwewijk neighbourhood have for its entire history been closelyassociated with the Maassilo and its harbour activities. (page 205)

those who have no previous relationship with it see it as a disposable asset and anopportunity for luxurious harbour front residences. (page 208)

This is more information (see the analyses of the oral inventory) that the population of theneighbourhood has changed from having a real connection with the silo, to not having thisconnection.

This is also described on page 235 to 236 of the significance survey. Here the harmony of thebuilding in its surrounding is discussed. Another point that is made in this part of the survey is:

The silo has very little to none similarity with its surrounding non-industrial buildings. Inheight, scale, materials, transparency and function, it differs a great deal from the dwellings

in the area.

And that the highest degree of harmony can be found between the building and the harbour, notwith other non-industrial buildings.


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Summary

From all this a conclusion can be drawn, an answer to the question What is the essence of therelationship between the building and its surroundings?

In the past, the building did have a significant relationship with its surroundings. Most people thatlived in the area worked either in or around the Maashaven silo. Nowadays most inhabitants of thearea have no connection or emotional bond with the building as they mostly consist of newgenerations, foreigners or newly moved autochthones.

The Maashaven silo is located at a very strategic location. It used to attract a lot of activity, now itis not so lively anymore. The building was dominant in this location, but isnt anymore.

In the area, not much green can be found and there is not much room to develop a goodecological structure.

The essence of the relationship of the building with its surroundings can for these reasons bedescribed as poor, isolated, degraded and uncharacteristic.

Other documents

To further study the questions as described on page 2, it is necessary to look a bit further then thepre-design reports.

The building as a ruin

The essence of the building could be described as it being a relic of history, a ruin so to say. Butwhat makes up a ruin? Why are we attracted by (ancient) historical buildings?

To answer this I read the catalogue, of the Getty Research Institute for the history of art and theHumanities, that accompanied the exhibition with the same title: Irresistible decay. The exhibitionwas held from December 16th until February 22nd 1998.

The catalogue contains a number of essays which use certain art exhibited at the exhibition toillustrate their statements.

In the first essay the title of the exhibition is explained. The phrase was first used Walter Benjaminin his work The origin of German tragic drama:

In the ruin, history has merged into the setting. And in this guise history does not assumethe form of the process of an eternal life so much as that of irresistible decay

This allows us to look at historic buildings as ruins, although they do not all need to be in totaldecay. Therefore, the Maashaven Silo qualifies as a ruin. The quote also illustrates the historicvalue and why we are drawn to it. The following quote explains more:

Ruins are emblematic of transience and of persistence over time

Historic buildings, or ruins, are physical traces of the past that can be of significant value tomaintain.

Ruins are often activated in a culture to perform certain social, political or aestheticalfunctions, but they can never belong fully to the present without losing their status asruins

This tells us that rehabilitation needs to be done consciously so the past values are not removed


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(to much) as this might cause the total loss of the historic value and it becoming a present daybuilding. This also goes for additions. In order to maintain the essence of the building, one shouldnot add, modify or subtract to much.

Ruins rehabilitated

A good reference in the light of this approach of the Maashaven Silo as a ruin is the Millcitymuseum in Minneapolis. This former flour milling andstorage facility was heavily damaged in a fire and therehabilitation could exploit this mortality of the building toappeal to the historic feelings of its visitors as can be seenon the image on the left.

What is also clearly visible about this image is the waythey make clear what is new and what isnt. The glass,transparent new addition contradicts with the remains ofthe old factory and thus a certain hierarchy and separationis created that increases the melancholic tension on site.

Curved glass

In the development of my design I came across the necessity oflearning more about curved glass. This lead me to readTwist&Build creating non-orthogonal architecture by Karel

Vollers published by 010 publishers in 2001.

The book is the result of a study conducted by Karel Vollersregarding twisted buildings as an expression of curved glassstructures.

They came up with a design for a curved faade out ofaluminium which looks like a double curved surface, but is in

fact only twisted, and cantherefore be described bystraight lines, as shown onthe left, allowing the

production process to be lesscomplex and to reduce theproduction costsdramatically.

A building that already has curved glass in use is the Planetarium ofBeijing (see image on the right). Here they used curved glass tohighlight the entrance of the otherwise box-shaped building. The effectis very dramatic but the solution of the flat door is not something I findattractive or a good solution.


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Another project where a bend surface is used is the Baljurk in Groningen(The Netherlands) as can be seen in the image on the left. Literallytranslated this means the ballroom gown, which is a reference to the shapeand materialisation.

The double faade is mate of perforated steel mounted on a structuralglazing like system (Spiderglass). This allows the structure to be perceivedas very light and allows the form to be whatever is wished for.

Harbour rehabilitation

In the process of my development I also searched for ways to use the harbourfor exhibitions, permanent or temporary. The Monolith by Jean Nouvel was an

inspiration in this process and should therefore be mentioned here.

The large and apparently solid cube of corroded steel stands in the lake ofMorat in Switzerland. The monolithic element is in deep contrast with itssurroundings but at the same time lays a connection between the city, whereother such elements were placed, and itself.

Parasite

In my development process I found myself dealing with parasitic buildingvolumes. To further understand the meaning of this I studied a parasite build not far from theMaashaven Silo.

On the roof of the Las Palmasbuilding, also a monumentalindustrial building, now housing aphotography museum, a volumewas build to accommodate theneeds for a development studio onsite for the rehabilitation of the LasPalmas building.

The wooden and green paintedvolume was very obvious from theoutside as an addition. It was build

on top an into the verticalcommunication of the buildingwhich it used for its entrance. Itwas designed by KorteknieStuhlmacher architecten. Drawingswill be available in the appendix.

So a volume was added that used functionality, structural support and space of another building,in the meantime adding value to the building itself.

After the Las Palmas building was rehabilitated, the volume was eventually removed and relocated.

Another source I used to learn more about parasitic buildings was a book by KorteknieStuhlmacher architecten titled The city off small things. Quote from the introduction: It is arecord of the initial, conceptual phase of the project Parasites concepts for small-scale


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interventions for the existing city fabric, an architectural research and exhibition project initiated

and organised by Rien Korteknie and Mechtild Stuhlmacher

It gives a definition of the word Parasite and explains that it is actually an acronym: Prototypes forAdvanced Ready-made Amphibious Small-scall Individual Temporary Ecological buildings.

It stands for buildings that make parasitic use of the existing infrastructure. On the otherhand the word Para-sites describes all kinds of locations within the urban fabric that are

usually regarded as being (temporarily) unsuitable for permanent inhabitation. We findPara-site locations not only on the physical edge of a city but also on figurative fringe areaswithin the exiting city fabric such as industrial wasteland, the flat roofs of existing building

This tells us they also consider non-places as being a para-site in the urban fabric, which includesrooftops.

Witte dame

The Witte dame, or White Lady, is a converted factory of Philipsand is a very well known building in Eindhoven (The Netherlands).What is most apparent about this rehabilitation is that is strives tomake a link between the area on the back of the building and theroad that runs in the front.

This is done by removing the interior floors and walls of a segmentof the building the same time creating an entrance to the differentfunctions inside the building and visually connecting them to thepedestrian paths in the area, thus inviting people to go in to thelibrary for instance.

The historic look and feel of the building is maintained by leaving the faade mostly intact (apartfrom the new entrance of the building).

Oral inventoryI did not find it necessary to do many additional oral inventories. I did however come acrosssomething Hannah Frederiks said about a former employer of hers.

She had work 2 years at an architectural office in the Bacinolbuilding in Rotterdam. This is an old pharmaceutical buildingwhich has been converted to a creative factory much like thevan Nelle, which I will comment on later, and the plans for theoffice part of the Maashaven silo.

The building facilitates interaction between its users, being allkinds of creative professionals, from artists to architects. Butshe said:people did tend to keep to themselves, although some degree

of interaction was present

it was nice to see what other people were creating

New companies were getting more business because of thenetwork that was inside the complex.


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Physical inventoryWe went back with a group to visit the Maashaven Silo for a second time. This time we had a moredirect approach to the building. We constantly tried to relate everything to the floor plan and alsohad a look in the ground floor of the last

extension and other places that stillraised questions.

Another silo

We also went to the Rijnhaven silo. Asimilar complex as the Maashaven but ofa later date and smaller. You can findmore photographs in the appendix.

What is most striking is the use of moreglass. The topfloor and the elevatortower top are mostly transparent, whichis different from the Maashaven silo.

The Rijnhaven silo is still in use as agrain silo. More photos can be found inthe appendix.

Van Nelle factory

The van Nelle factory has been converted into a creativefactory where many different creative professions areplaced in one complex so they may interact, learn andwork with each other.

The factory is in many ways different from theMaashaven silo as it had the concept Air, Space andLight when it was originally build. Such a concept isvery common nowadays therefore the conversion orrehabilitation to be used in the modern day was lessdifficult.

It also differs from the Maashaven silo with its interiororganisation. The horizontal direction dominates the building instead of the vertical direction whichis the case with the Maashaven silo.

There are also similarities like the columns with the metal rails in them. These rails were used tomount machinery on and in the rehabilitated van Nelle factory they are used to mound the interiorwalls. This allows for flexibility and reversibility, both good results.

The cafeteria is a place where the people who work in the building can meet and dine but also holdpresentations while other people maybe get interested. This way of facilitating interaction isinspiring.


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Exterior research

In the development of my rehabilitation proposal I found the need to further investigate the areasouth of the Maashaven silo.

This research has resulted in good knowledge of the several barriers that can be found in this area.A sketch of a section shows us the following (the Maashaven silo is located on the right side).

This can also be seen in the photograph

below taken from the elevated subwaystation. More photographs concerning thisare can be found in the appendix.


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Synthesis

Environment surveyIt is clear that the building has a very dominant position and location within the area, although itdoesnt connect enough with the environment. My research about the area on the south side of thebuilding suggests that an intervention here would dramatically improve the connection the buildinghas with its surroundings and will make it more accessible then it is at the moment.

This action will also allow me to place more vegetation in the area and reconnect the inhabitantswith the past glory of the building by giving it back to them.

Also the lack of integration from the harbour in the daily lives of the inhabitants or visitors calls forattention. Perhaps an intervention as Jean Nouvel did in Switzerland could reconnect the harbourto functions within the building. Perhaps an urban plan concerning this would increase this as well.

With regard to The city of small things the walkway in front of the south faade, the shore of theharbour and the roof can be considered para-sites. Non-places that serve only function but are nota part of daily routine and lack any coherence to the surroundings.

Connecting this area with the building, and thus the inhabitants with the building will eventuallyresult in connecting the area with the city again as the building has such a strategic location.

Significance surveyRegarding the cultural values it was shown in the pre-design phase that the social value has a lotof potential, but as it only speaks to a certain part of the inhabitants (the discotheque) it is lackingconnection with the inhabitants. This needs to be addressed.

The historic value is high, this means it is very significant for the building, but it doesnt preventyou from touching it. But as the book Irresistible decay states they can never belong fully tothe present without losing their status as ruins.So maintaining this value, even exploiting it, willbe a challenge and something that needs to be kept in mind constantly.

The economic value can be increased by choosing the right kind of functions for the building. Thisalso means that these functions must appeal to the inhabitants and get them to use the buildingagain. It could be an economic impulse for the economically dried out area.

Regarding the age value, it is very important to show the difference between the additions and theremainings as being build in different ages. This will mean that we must use contemporary

materials, shapes, science and techniques in order not to harm the presence or the essence of thebuilding.

This means aesthetically there needs to be a difference also. As the current underlying concept ofform follows function is not the central theme in nowadays architecture. A modern approach istherefore appropriate, but should be handled with care to make sure the aims stated about thehistorical value are met.

Nowadays ecology is becoming more and more ideological and I firmly stand by these ideas. But tonot further complicate the design Im making, and because of my personal interest of getting myarchitecture listing, I will not integrate real ecological means into my design proposal.

The urban changes needed for reconnecting the building to the inhabitants, and the inhabitants tothe city will require tremendous political influence and policy. This will for sure increase thepolitical value of the area, but will not affect the building on the same level.


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Conditional surveyThe aims towards the condition of the building in the future can be derived from a combination ofthe pre-design and my aims for this building. In order to establish the connection with thesurroundings it will need to provide modern convert and still remain part of the past. This will forsure be a difficult aim, as this means the outside of the faades cant be altered.

The changes made to the building will need to be reversible to a certain extend in order tomaintain the building as much as possible for future generations.

The building was a symbol for the economic power of Rotterdam, an icon of an era. It is one of mygoals to get this symbolic value, this iconic state for the city of Rotterdam back into the building.


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Simulation

Conceptional design

My first aim was to reconnect the building to its surrounding and I intended to include the harbourinto this. One of the ideas to accomplish this was by making visual contact and direct access to theharbour through the building from the area on the south of the building.

By cutting out he middle section, through the explosive gap in the faade, would allow directaccess to he harbour where a floating garden and monolithic object could be placed in the water ofthe harbour. The object would most likely be subtractions from the building and artwork fromartists working in the building.

A lot of subtractions would be needed for my second idea of placing the functions inside the silosby cutting away pieces of walls, in order to allow people in the silos and therefore truly experience

the building and its former function.


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The functions would include a movie theatrewhich would probably look like something inthe sketch on the right. Notice that the silosare still very much visible.

The sketch on the previous page shows thefunctions inside the silo, the routing throughthe building and the new tunnel through thebuilding with one problem, wind.

I didnt need to solve that problem though asI decided against this solution. The problemwas that I would be demolishing to much. Itwould be almost impossible to get the piecesout of the building and into the harbour as awhole, so the subtractions would certainly be irreversible.

Besides this, there could very well be better solution to show the silos to the public then cuttingaway most of it. This action would also pull the building to close to the present as the priorities ofthe buildings history would become dominated by the new functions. Another result from thisaction would be that the dance club would not be able to function as it does now. As I find the wayit is now, a relatively good solution, this was not preferable.

My second idea to connect the building to its surroundings again was to tackle the problem of thearea on the south side of the building displayed below in plan and section before and after theintervention.

The move of the road to the other sideof the of the tram rails will create asquare in front of the building withdirect access to the south faade where

commercial enterprises can be placedthat will serve the inhabitants of theTarwewijk.

It would also include the move of theexit and entrance point of the subwaystation. The dark gray areas indicatewhere they are.

These actions will also allow me toadd more green to the neighbourhoodin the form of trees and flowerbedswhich the area desperately needs.

On the next page an impression of thenew situation is given.


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As you can see this will also include the modification of the explosion gap by adding floors into itto create shopping space. In order to allow commercial enterprises on the ground floor of the lastextension of the building, the faade needs to be opened there. The faade consists of brickworkwith steel doors on some places.

By this time I had already decided to focus solelyon the south side of the building. The building is tobig and complex and the plans that are made for itare not that bad being an dance club, creativefactory and office space.

This solved the problem of the connection with thebuilding and the area but did not solve the problemwith the building and the inhabitants of the areaand the city of Rotterdam.

In order to do this I decided to place a communitycentre in the building. This would facilitate manyfunctions needed by the inhabitants like a place forthe youth to gather and spend their time,education, sports and more.

My initial thoughts about this were to place it ontop of the roof, as a temporary solution to thepara-site located there as can be seen on the right.


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It would be placed on an elevated square allowing the installations on the roof to operate and alsoallowing space for sports like skating, basketball and soccer.

The sketch also shows my intentions of moving the entrance to the discotheque from the north

faade to the east faade. There is a corrugated plate of steel there that covers a damaged sectionof the faade so by placing a new entrance there would not damage the faade but even increasethe value of it.

It also shows on the roof of the eleventh floor a field of small windmills. This was part of myecological intentions. But as said in my synthesis, this will not be included in the rest of my designprocess.

On the tenth floor of the 1953 extension, arestaurant would be placed which would, togetherwith the square on top of the seventh floor, createthe connection with the city of Rotterdam.

This design had a few disadvantages. Thecommunity centre was not connecting to the areawhere the community was located, it onlyconnected to the city. It also was located on a veryprominent location which could add more value toa restaurant or caf then to a community centre.

Therefore my next move was to switch thelocations and now place the caf/ restaurant on theroof of the seventh floor and besides that let it

extend over the roofline of the north faade in order to be visible from the harbour shore as isshown on the right.

Now I only had one more connection to make,the one between the big square in front of thebuilding and the one on top of it.

I had already placed commercial functionsinside the explosion gap with of course somekind of vertical communication.

This could allowme to connectthe two squareswith each other.

But this volumeneeded to besomething special if I wanted to reach my aim of restoring thebuildings iconic status. It also needed to be something completelydifferent then the building itself in order not to complete the faade.The explosion gap is very obvious in the faade and just closing itwould change the building to much and pulling it to close to thepresent day.

It would need to be a separate volume that contradicted with thebuilding in every way. This results in demands for the materials,

shapes, science and techniques as stated in the synthesis. A parasitewould be a good word to describe it.


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The materialisation was quite obvious. The building is solid, rough, heavy concrete. The materialshould be light, smooth and transparent, so glass was the choice to be; glass with a constructionas light as possible.

The shape however was something different. I tried several possibilities.

Currently Straight inset Straight outset Straight edge Straight point

Curved cylinder Straight to cylinder Freeform Freeform outer shell

Eventually I chose a combination between the freeform, the straight inset and the straight edge.The freeform creates the highest contrast in shape between the building and the added volume. Idid however not want the volume to extend outside the faade to further amplify the separation.The addition of the edge serves that same purpose. The result can be seen in the sketch on thenext page.


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This form flows like water from the rooftop and therefore also hints at he presence of the harbour.


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The development of the curved shape was something new for me, but I knew it was possible with3D studio VIZ so I tried a few possibilities displayed on the next page.

Eventually I chose to let the curves correspond with the floors inside, which can be seen here.

In this last image another changein the design can be seen whichis best illustrated with the plan ofthe ground floor.


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Here you see I used the electricity house to accommodate my vertical communication, whichcontinued inside the silos in the back of the added floors. This totally obscured the connectionbetween two squares which was foremost the vertical communication.

My solution to this was to place the lifts on the outside of the newly added volume, protrudingthrough the curved surface and thus also being the means of entrance to the volume.


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My last problem was to connect the square on top of the building to the volume. In order to find asolution I worked in 3D studio but eventually reverted back to sketching in order to create theconnection.

Curved with open side

Curved but open, only aroof, not a realconnection.

This isanorganictransitionint

othesquare

This resembles thethought of but to complex for its purpose falling water best

I eventually went with the first option but then with the side closed.


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The creation of this curved glass surface also required some research.

Double curved Curved with one straight edge All straight edges

The last option can be achieved by twisting the glass panes as results from the research conductedby Karel Vollers (see Documentary inventory, Other documents).

In the image on the right the benefit is explainedbetter. The shades of grey show which glass panes

are the same. The darkest are just normal flatwindowpanes, the others are twisted panes.

This square can be copied and placed next to itself,mirrored which results in the beginning of a curved

surface as isshown on the left.This can becopied again andplaced on top ofitself, mirrored.

Repeating thisprocess createsan entire facedwith curves.

The major benefitof this system isthe vast costreduction. Not

only can all panes be described by straight line, but they are also repeated throughout the faade.

To heighten the economic value and to attract more people to the centre, some more functions are

placed inside the 1953 extension. These are a free flight simulator and climbing centre. They willbe reachable through the tenth floor. The idea is depicted in the following sketches. More imagesof free flight simulators can be found in the appendix.


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The other part of the tenth floor will be reserved for the community centre with music studio spacein the silos below that.


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Preliminary designThe drawings with the red, blue, yellow and blacks are in the appendix.

Below the subtracted, remaining and added materials are listed as the result of the tool on the re-

architecture website.

Subtractionsphoto (0000)| Aa SBR lc SBR mc SBR rc BRE rating

(13.12)|(E0) 75 - -

(13.12)|(Yp1) 30 - -

(16.82)|(Gh2) 75 - -

(17.22)|(Hi2) 75 - -

(21.11)|(Ff1) 75 - -

(27.31)|(Gf2) 75 - - C

(31.31)|(Ro0) 75 - -


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Remainingsphoto (0000)| Aa SBR lc SBR mc SBR rc BRE rating

(13.12)|(E0) 75 - -

(13.12)|(Eq4) 30 - -

(13.12)|(Ln0) 25 - -

(13.12)|(Yp1) 30 - -

(16.80)|(Gf2) 75 - -

(16.82)|(Gf2) 75 - -

(16.82)|(Gh2) 75 - -

(17.22)|(Gf2) 75 - -

(21.11)|(Ff1) 75 - -


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(21.11)|(Gf2) 75 - -

(21.11)|(Gf4) 75 - -

(22.31)|(Xa1) 30 - -

(24.11)|(Xh2) 75 5/35 -

(24.12)|(Xi1) 10/40* 1/40 -

(27.31)|(Gf2) 75 - - C

(28.22)|(Gf2) 75 5/50 -

(31.31)|(Ro0) 75 - -

(31.31)|(Ro4) 60 - -


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Additionsphoto (0000)| Aa SBR lc SBR mc SBR rc BRE rating

(13.12)|(E0) 75 - -

(13.12)|(Eq4) 30 - -

(16.82)|(Gh2) 75 - -

(21.11)|(Ff1) 75 - -

(21.11)|(Gf4) 75 - -

(22.31)|(Xa1) 30 - -

(23.41)|(Hf2) 75 - -

(23.91)|(Yt43) 10 - -


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(24.11)|(Xh2) 75 5/35 -

(24.12)|(Xi1) 10/40* 1/40 -

(27.31)|(Gf2) 75 - - C

(28.22)|(Hh2) 75 5/35 -

(31.31)|(Ro5) 25 - -

(31.31)|(Ro8) 15 - -

(31.41)|(Xh46) 35 4/30 - B

(31.53)|(Xh44) 35 3 -

(37.31)|(Xn6) 20 - -


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(42.22)|(Pq4) 40/60* 5/50 -

(45.32)|(Pq4) 30/60* 5/40 - A

(47.11)|(Ln61) 25 - -

There were some developments in the course of the preliminary design. One was the move of thecommunity centre to the added floors in the explosion gap. This will allow the people on the largesquare in front of the south faade to have more interaction with and a better view of the centrewith a fitness facility, information centre, lectures and exhibitions.

The tenth floor which originally was reserved for the community centre is now the youth loungewith a small bar and kitchen, pool tables, computers with internet access and access to the silosunderneath that serve as storage facility, dressing rooms and toilet facilities, music studios andoffices. The silos are connected through doors that are reused, cut out subtractions from the wallsweighing around 700 kg.

The climbing centre and free flight simulators now have emergency exits and better access thoughan added floor 4 meters under the tenth floor.

In this stage I also fully developed the design of the top square and the lunch caf that can befound there. The square is situated 1950mm above the roof and thus connects perfectly with thetop floor in the explosion gap and can be reached through this connection.


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Final designThe final drawings can be found in the appendix.

These images represent the final design, but the 3D model never made it to full completion, so for

absolute knowledge of the design I should refer you to the drawings.


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EvaluationIn the diagrams, the blue dotted line is the diagram as it was created in the pre-design phase. Thered line is the diagram for this evaluation stage.

Environment assessment


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Significance assessment


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Condition assessment


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Design assessment

The environmental value appears to be off here. However value three means that it is improvedwhich is better then restored or maintained which are respectively rating 4 and 5.


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Conclusion and recommendationsIt can be concluded that my design proposal meets the aims I stated in the synthesis stage of thisphase. I have increased the social value, maintained the historic value, improved the

environmental value and succeeded in connecting the building with the area, the inhabitants withthe building, the building with the city and the inhabitants with the city.

The only thing that should be noted is that I did not thoroughly succeeded in creating a noticeableconnection between the large square and the square on the top of the building. The connection istheir, it is however not noticeable from the south side of the building.

Perhaps something like the sketch displayed here would have been better. I thought about thishowever after my final presentation.

More research can be done into the application of glass curved walls. Also the connection betweentwo urban spaces without a visual connection is worth investigating more. Last but not least,parasitic rehabilitation is also a field which could be beneficial to the build environment.


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List of sources

Literature

Jodidio, P.,Architecture now! 3, Taschen, Cologne, (unknown publishing date)

Korteknie, R. and Stuhlmacher, M., The city of small things, Stichting Parasite Foundation,Rotterdam, 2001

Roth, M. S. (Lyons, C. and Merewether, C.), Irresistible Decay: Ruins reclaimed, Getty ResearchInstitute for the History of Art and the Humanities, Los Angelas, 1997

Vollers, K., Twist&Build creating non-orthogonal architecture, 010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 2001

Internet sources

www.aerodium.cahttp://www.aerodium.ca/specs.html

www.architectenweb.nlhttp://www.architectenweb.nl/aweb/producten/product_detail.asp?productID=4687&categorie=79&&iPID=2755

www.bodyflight.net

www.brs.nlhttp://www.brs.nl/expertise.php?exp=3

www.buffalorising.comhttp://www.buffalorising.com/story/grain_elevator_reuse_a_baltimohttp://www.buffalorising.com/story/grain_elevator_reuse_minneapolhttp://buffalorising.com/entries/read/grain_elevator_reuse_a_sacrame

archrecord.construction.comhttp://archrecord.construction.com/features/digital/archives/0506dignews-2.asp

www.elevator19.nl

www.indoorskydive.com

www.havenmuseum.nl

www.millcitymuseum.org

www.pilkington.com

www.saint-gobain-glass.comhttp://www.saint-gobain-glass.com/nl/b01.asp?product_id=1200

architettura.supereva.com:http://architettura.supereva.com/produzione/testi/20000430/index.htm

wikipedia.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_wind_tunnel


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Appendix

Planetarium Beijing


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De baljurk


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Millcity museum


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Rijnhaven silo


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Van Nelle factory


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Exterior research south of the silo


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Free flight simulators


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Red, yellow, blue and black drawings


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Final drawings

M2-verslag

Documents

Transcript of M2-verslag