Future of Railway Station – research into design and materials

I did some more research into umbrella-type structures. Amazing what I found – mindblowing!

Metropol Parasol in Seville. A wooden structure glued. Walkway on the top

Architect Juergen Mayer

Ideas: neighbouring trees, Seville Cathedral.

Interview with Mayer: “I have this obsession with the data protection patterns you find on the inside of envelopes, for example. This is exactly the way we control access to personal information, or camouflage or blur personal information from a public; a neutral face. These forms of control and access, of enveloping space, enveloping a certain kind of environment, this is interesting for us. The interesting part of sustainability for us – besides trying to be “good” and do the right thing – is that it moves the attention of architecture again back to the future. Post-modernism and Deconstructivism were always so concerned with referencing the past, or anchoring a building in some sort of tradition. Sustainability flips this focus back to the future and creates a certain hope and idealism for a better future. Architecture is always about a better future, otherwise nobody would invest in it or care about it, right?

Zoo Design in Zürich, Switzerland. Architect Markus Schietsch

Adam Kushner, inhabitat.com

Kushner and D-Shape use 3D-printed blocks that are made of sand, dust and gravel that are bonded by a magnesium-based material. The end result is an eco-friendly “artificial marble” that has “a resistance and traction much superior to Portland Cement.

I like the shapes cut into the material, the irregularity of it. That would be fun on my umbrella shape!

The above picture was found on a blog, talking about materials for construction.

I found another fascinating material – Canopy Tensile Membrane Structures (could not download picture). Applications: Canopies. Characteristics: Specially designed cables and fittings, customized, range of highly engineered membrane materials, cold-formed carbon support structures, sustainable, low maintenance.

Adaptive Structures

And then I looked for ways to create a design of the surface to cast interesting shadows, or just interesting to look at:

Glass

Ribbons (Berlin, to point to where the wall used to be)

Banana Leaves could provide inspiration for me.

Banana and palm leaves were historically the primary writing surface in many nations. They are used as a parasol in hot countries.

The structure of each segment of my umbrella could be inspired by these leaves. As they have a connection to writing, this could be appropriate for an academic environment such as Oxford.

materials

I think the Kushner and D-Shape material made from sand, dust and magnesium would work very well with the irregular shapes cut into it like windows. That would be an eco friendly material.

The banana-shaped cupola version I see as a building made from steel (painted white), glass and concrete.

I have considered coloured glass to give a friendly feel, but not followed it up.

sculptures

And Sculptures that are somehow related to the shape of an umbrella, or structure of the umbrella?

Crusoe Umbrella was created from steel by Cleas Oldenburg and Coosje van Brugeen. The artwork was dedicated in 1979.

Cowles Common, Des Moines, Iowa

I love the simplicity of the design and the courseness of the metalwork.

Maria Penil Cobo

“This sculpture consists of three structures made by branches that are joined with thread ‘one-by-one’, creating different shapes. Subsequently, the sackcloth is stitched up to the branches and eventually the whole structure is covered with layers of hemp and raw beeswax.”

I like it. It reminds me of one of my wire sculptures.

Yschool, Machen, Wales

Made by primary school children. It is made of willow branches, but still reminds me of the structures of an umbrella – maybe because I have been working so much with such plastic in the last couple of days!

This is a model I made for a sculpture, a water fountain, using paper clay. I imagine a trickle of water dropping into this fountain. It’s shape is in response to a folding umbrella upturned and sitting with the handle up in the air (photographed before firing).