Diversity in Density - How users become part of the Architecture in the OPPO Flagship space

The last 2 entries I talked about the functions in the flagship space and the brand OPPO. In this entry I am going to address the issue of the users.
The users are the main protagonists of the whole design, it is for them we design a space in the first place. So how to make the user feel part of the architecture?

In my design, I put my flagship to be integrated in the Khlong Toei slums of Bangkok. Certainly not a place where a company would put their flagship in. Put what if the users are the inhabitants of the slums?
Diversity in density, every metropolitan city faces this; Bangkok, Tokyo or Hong Kong, to give some examples. Different cultural aspects come together to form a city in which architecture places the role of being the integrator, the merger for all these different cultures. In a slum, cultural aspects backgrounds aren't divers at all, but the density and the condition people live in is what makes a slum.

People living in density has one cause, lot of people, small areal space and thus resulting in high prices for 1sqm of land. In order to tackle he need for space real estates started to build in height. But in the end it didn't result in cheaper or more affordable apartments, so that many people still live in slums.

MVRDV, an architectural office based in the Netherlands tackled this issue, as in the Netherlands, land is expensive. So they proposed, in not a serious way, a high rised building for pigs, so that it is cheaper to hold them and feed them. The proposal was called 'Pig City'.

Pig City by MVRDV Architects

But back to my project. In my case the inhabitants of the slums are my users. And the architecture becomes the link between the users and the OPPO company, as OPPO produces a lot of affordable smartphones for people with small wages. So their main customers are the people with low income, living mostly in the slums. 

So the users can use the space to their free will, the space provides sitting areas, a big screen to watch television on as well as 24/7 WIFI access for the people. 

But this is what has been provided for the user, so how do the users become part of it as well? It is a simple space, a space that looks modern, yet uses familiar materials for the users. What the space provides is what the users should become part of. It should be a place of exchanging, people can meet, be together, talk, drink and eat together while watching TV. People come together and the bond, the community becomes stronger. The inhabitants have a strong bond with each other, but it should be more promoted. The OPPO flagship space can be seen as an Italian Piazza, a place for gathering, a place to meet and do things together. And in Italy, this principle of a piazza works very well and becomes part of an cities identity. 

Not the slums are huge, closing a big area. In a way I can say it is like a small city within a bigger city. And as such the slum should be treated, there are other movements going on, some different kind of laws the motion of the slum is different than Bangkok. And as such, why shouldn't it have its own piazza? Bangkok many places for social gatherings, example Siam Square, but the slums don't have this. And this is where the flagship should be seen and how the users become part of it. The Architecture won't work if people don't come and start to make social gatherings and use the space as part of their slum, their own city with a piazza.

About Robert Venturi's "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture" and OPPO

In my last blog I talked about my brand of choice, which in this case was the OPPO company. I was talking about how architecture can be used to symbolize certain features of this company.

Robert Venturi talked in his 'gentle manifesto' about the commercial stripe in Las Vegas, USA. Here architecture becomes symbolic, a box could become a church or a palace. But what it truly is about are the signs, that support the space. So a street sign becomes part of an architecture, symbols become one with the space, to give the feeling of what is desired. How can this be applied to my brand?

Well Venturi talked about this "Duck house", the so called Long Island Duckling. The shape of the house correspond to what is sold inside, so in a way the house becomes a street sign as well. So should my future space be a huge smartphone like commercial building and act as a connection between outside and inside?
Or another example would be the so called "decorated shed", a box with an independent street sign that shows what inside the box happens.

I think implementing both examples to create the language of my brand surely would be too much, rather than being to symbolic and maybe become to ironic, I will have to look deeper and further into the matter of the OPPO brand.

I agree with Robert Venturi that the architectural language from the modernists may be plain and that all that matters is the plan. As Venturi said in his manifesto 'Words and symbols may be used in space for commercial persuasion.' For me this means that symbols are here to guide and help people to understand the space. 'If the plan is clear, you can see where to go.' is true as well, but people see spaces different than the architect may see it in plan. After all it is theoretically. The human mind works different on everyone, anyone has a different point of view of something. So why making general assumptions?

So what I want to emphasize on is on the people that will use the space. I can make a huge sign that says that here is the OPPO flagship space. But will a person benefit from it? I say no! People benefit from what is inside and the function program within the space. That is what people truly benefit from. In my case I try to create a space which addresses the people with low income, people who live in the slums. Well surely there is no need to make a sign that this is a slum right? So why would I label my building? Rather than that it should show itself in the architectural language and at the same time shouldn't be to dominant. It should please the people who use the space.These people, in my opinion, won't mind if I use marble for the flooring or limestone. For them the function of the space and the possibilities of it comes first. And I think that is something that can't be displayed by just be symbolic, using a sign or creating a facade which correspond only commercially and not on a more human scale.

For my that is the nature of my building, to be a bit humble and human in scale, but be precise to address the right people in the right place.
Yes it is true what Venturi observed in Las Vegas and that it is a commercialized space after all. But for my Flagship space, I would rather go with symbols which are not straightforward. The language of my space should be connected to what the brand stands for, but it should also connect the people to it. After all, the architecture is the link between the people and the brand.

The OPPO Flagship space

In this blog entry I am going to talk about my idea for a flagship space for the OPPO company.
First of all, I would like to talk a bit about the brand OPPO. OPPO is a Chinese smartphone producer, having 3 additional production spaces in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The company produces especially smartphones for low income people, but still having high class smartphones in their product palette as well. The N1 for example is OPPO's current flagship smartphone and can compete with Apple's Iphone 5s and Samsung's Galaxy S4.

For more information about the brands and about the social groups around OPPO please have a look under this link. There a 2 booklets that I made as a part of the research analyze for the flagship space that I currently working on.

Link to OPPO Brand Identity documentation Pdf 

 

 

 

Link to OPPO Brand Image documentation Pdf

 

 

 

Before I am going to talk about my design intentions and how they are related to the OPPO company, I wrote a brief that would explain my ideas and thoughts of the space as well as what functions it should have:

 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

 

THE PROJECT FOR THE OPPO COMPANY SHOULD ADDRESS THE PEOPLE FROM THAILAND WITH LOW INCOME. PEOPLE WHO EARN 20,000 BAHT PER MONTH OR MINIMUM 300 BAHT PER DAY ARE CONSIDERED AS PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOME.

PEOPLE FROM THIS CLASS LIVE AND INTERACT MOSTLY AMONGST THEMSELVES. THEY LIVE UNDER MINIMUM CONDITIONS, MOSTLY IN SO CALLED SLUMS OR IN PROVISIONAL HUT BARRACKS. THEY OWN SOME TECHNOLOGIES, MOSTLY PHONES OR SMARTPHONES, TELEVISION, RADIO AND TABLETS.

THE SITE IS IN KHLONG TOEI DISTRICT, WHERE THE BIGGEST SLUM IS LOCATED. BUT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS GOING ON IN THE DISTRICT AS WELL.  THE EMPORIUM AND THE LUMPINEE BOXING STADIUM ARE LOCATED IN THIS DISTRICT AS WELL AS THE NANA PLAZA, WELL KNOWN FOR PROSTITUTION AND GO GO HOSTESS BARS. ALSO THE KHLONG TOEY MARKET, BANGKOK'S LARGEST WET MARKET AND THE EASTERN BUS TERMINAL (EKKAMAI) ARE IN THIS DISTRICT. THE BTS AS WELL AS THE MRT ARE RUNNING THROUGH KHLONG TOEI.

THE PEOPLE USE TOOLS FOR INTERACTION, TECHNOLOGY THAT THEY OWN LIKE FOR EXAMPLE THE SMARTPHONE AS COMMUNICATION TOOL FOR SENDING MESSAGES OR MAKE CALLS AS WELL AS USE AS A TOOL FOR USAGE OF INTERNET. THE PHONE BECOMES A TOOL TO CONNECT WITH THE UPPER CLASS SOCIETY AND IT NEEDS MINIMUM 2 PEOPLE FOR THIS INTERACTION TO HAPPEN.
THE TABLET BECOMES A TOOL FOR PLAYING GAMES (UP TO 4 PEOPLE) OR WATCHING MOVIES TOGETHER (UP TO 10 PEOPLE). IT IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE SEEN A LOT. PEOPLE GATHER TOGETHER TO WATCH MOVIES, NEWS OR THEIR FAVORITE LAKORN SERIES. THIS CREATES A FAMILY LIKE ATMOSPHERE. SINCE PEOPLE LIVE CLOSE TOGETHER, EYESIGHT OR VISUAL CONNECTION BECOMES A TOOL OF INTERACTION AS WELL.

THE PROJECT SHOULD INCORPORATE THIS ATMOSPHERE OF FAMILY,  IT SHOULD THUS BE A SPACE FOR SOCIAL GATHERING AND EXCHANGING, FOR PEOPLE WHO USE OPPO SMARTPHONES AS A CONNECTION DEVICE TO THE UPPER CLASS. THE SPACE SHOULD FEEL WARM AND THE MATERIAL CHOICES SHOULD BE AFFILIATED WITH THE MATERIAL OF THE BARRACKS FROM THE SLUMS. THE PROJECT HAS TO FULFILL FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS; CERTAIN FUNCTIONS SHOULD BE ACTIVATED BY USING THE PHONE. TECHNOLOGY SHOULD BE EMPHASIZED AS WELL, EXPRESSING IT TO THE PEOPLE LIKE THEY WOULD SEE IT IN THEIR OWN HOUSES LIKE EXPOSED INSTALLATIONS. IT SHOULD FEEL FUNCTIONAL AND THUS SHOULDN’T BE HIDDEN FROM THE EYES.

THE SPACE SHOULD BE FEELING CLEAN AND VISUAL CONNECTION SHOULD BE POSSIBLE, FOR THAT FEWER OBSTACLES SHOULD BE IN THE WAY. THE FEWER THE BETTER.LOTS OF NATURAL LIGHT SHOULD GO INTO THE SPACE AND TOGETHER WITH THE MATERIAL SHOULD CREATE THE WARM FEELING. THE MATERIALS SHOULD ALSO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL CALM, FAMILIAR MATERIALS LIKE WOOD SHOULD BE USED FOR THAT. THE IDEA OF THE SPACE IS TO MERGE SIMPLICITY WITH COMPLEXITY WITH HONESTY IN MATERIALS AS WELL AS IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE SPACE.

 

In order to achieve this, I thought about the structure as well as the choice of the materials and what/how they are referring to the OPPO brand as well as addresses the low income people.

For the space I said in the description that there shouldn't be obstacles that could block visual connection. For that I was inspired by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Crown Hall (Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture) and the structure idea of trusses, that are explicit addresses, and the ceiling, which is hanging from those trusses, creating a space below without any columns. 

Like Van der Rohe I will address the structure for my idea is to refer to the functionality of the OPPO smartphones as well as the barracks that most of the people live in. But the trusses would get some new shape, new design and additional function in order to create this idea of being innovative, what OPPO clearly try to sell to the costumer. 

The best example: the OPPO N1. Having all the functions like another smartphone, its only difference is the rotations camera, which makes it possible to make photos at different angles. Or the touch sensitive back, which is new on a smartphone, but is also already known on the back of Sony's PSP Vita. So in reality OPPO isn't as innovative as it tries to be. And this is why I want to change the form of the trusses to something never been seen before and add a additional function to it. 

 

Another element of my project is the soil. unlike other spaces, I will use the soil as an important part of the flagship space. By digging into the soil i will create a space within the earth, using the trusses to hang the roof and protect the space below from rain and sun. There will be no facade for that. In the slums usually the barracks have a sorry excuse version of walls or facades with openings cut into it. But ignoring that fact and add another fact that the people in the slums live in very dense spaces and thus privacy is kept minimum makes a glass facade or a solid concrete wall look like out of place. The barracks are also on soil level, so they are using the soil as an air conditioner in a way, since the soil is colder.

The materials for the roof are metal and steel/aluminum, materials which the people in the slum are familiar with, since most of the barracks are made out of corrugated metal sheets and RHS used to give the wall some stiffness and structure.

 

 

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Identity

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German architect, one of the directors at the Bauhaus and one of the great pioneers of modern architecture. A man of few words, well known for citations like " less is more" or "God is in the detail".

To understand Mies van der Rohe and his identity I will analyze some of his works. Starting with the Barcelona Pavilion to the Seagram building office tower in New York City.




Mies van der Rohe worked under Peter Behrens, a German architect as well who initiated Modernism with the AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin. But the first designed buildings of Mies where more old fashioned, all though he was strongly influenced by the Stijl. He wanted to create open, fluid spaces in buildings, in a way he wanted to break the box, diffusing the line between what lies outside and what is inside.

Mies was a visionary, he was a man who addressed structure, no hiding it, but actually address it on purpose. He made a design proposal of an Office Building in Berlin in 1921. It was revolutionary, this huge complex of glass and steel structure, which he draw so elegantly, yet his design almost fades or melts with the background. It was unfortunate that the proposal was not realized, but 8 years later in 1929 his name would become well known around the globe for his pavilion.

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The German Pavilion at the World's Fair in Barcelona

In 1929 the World's Fair was held in Barcelona and Mies van der Rohe was the one who won the competition to build a pavilion, which would represent Germany.

So Mies came up with this design, new, never seen before, revolutionary and provoking. A huge slap cantilevered on 8 chrome steel columns and with only 3 partition, which would create space. Mies played with those partition walls, used them more as art pieces than just partitions. One of the wall, made out of Onyx, more expensive than the whole pavilion stands just in this space, no direct contact to the ceiling, showing and making people understand, this wall is not load bearing at all. It just stands there, as a piece of art.There is only one sculpture in the whole space, not even centered in within the Pavilion, but rather just put in one corner. The Pavilion itself became a sculpture, it became an exhibition by its own. Nothing more and nothing less, but truly god was in the detail. Every single approach, every single joint has been perfectly designed. Only the best materials have been used. This Pavilion really made his name famous and his reputation as a man with a few words.

Sketch for the Nazi Germany Pavilion 

With the Nazis taking the power in Germany came a new Ideology of architecture. Hitler, not a fan of modernist architecture, as it didn't please him and didn't show enough the power of the Third Reich. Hitler wanted to create an empire, for that, modernist architecture had no place at all. Rather that it was back to the roots again, back to the Greek and especially Roman architecture. 

Mies van der Rohe was the director of the Bauhaus at that time and he was more or less tolerated under the Nazi regime. Though later the Bauhaus was forced to close and Mies emigrated to the USA, he still tried to attempt to work in Germany. He competed for the German Pavilion project, following still his own stile, rather than just apply the favored Roman architecture. He again went with the modernist ideas of creating a Pavilion that would represent the Third Reich in Brussels. Though in the end it was not realized. But what it showed was the energy, that Mies was putting into his ideals of architecture, even under the hard and strict regime of the Nazis. Never leaving his ideas of modern architecture.

 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture, Chicago, Illinois

After Mies van der Rohe left Nazi Germany for good and starting a new life in the USA, he designed the Crown Hall for the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture. It became one of the signature buildings of Mies as well and it also revealed the final ideal of Mies thought about architecture. To expose structure. In this Hall, there are no columns, made possible by using 4 huge steel trusses, from where the ceiling would hang down then. Mies didn't put any energy on trying to hide the structure at all, rather than that he wanted to show it. The structure is part of the architecture, it shows its function and becomes in a way an ornamentation. It is truth, and truth is beauty.

   The Seagram Building Office Tower in New York City

One of the last Masterpieces I want to talk about is the Seagram Building, done 2 years later after the Crown Hall. This buildings marks the pure expression of the so called International Style. It shows the structure and regularity. The structure material of the building is addressed outside as well, all though Mies clearly shows the different between load bearing structure and non. The vertical steel beams are cut, floating in the air and elegantly say, hey I am not load bearing.The space concept of the building is universal, meaning the plan is free inside and thus the space could become anything and any kind of function could happen.