Multiplication vs. Unification is a final thesis project by Junfeng Wang, done at GSD Harvard. The starting point of this addition design was to identify a geometric system in the existing building – the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, Canada, which would be further used as a motivation for generating future geometry. This way, the addition inherits the deep gene of the existing one; therefore it is possible to generate a close geometric relationship between the old and the new one.
The addition area is located at the rear side of the building, and it takes two triangular tips as a main geometric motivation, further creating a radial pattern which forms the basic plan shape for the addition. Each floor of the addition part follows this basic geometric system while they are interacting with the existing gallery space.
The idea of the whole research under which this project was done was to create pedagogy which will address several theoretical conundrums of contemporary architecture. Here, particularly, the pedagogy tries to deal with the relationship between multiplication and unification in architecture, namely how to unify different elements in architecture while still preserving the diversity they have produced. Read the rest of this entry »