THE PLAN Journal (TPJ) intends to disseminate and promote innovative, thought-provoking and relevant research, studies and criticism in architecture and urbanism. The criteria for selecting contributions will be innovation, clarity of purpose and method, and potential transformational impact on disciplinary fields or the broader socio-cultural context. The ultimate purpose of the TPJ is to enrich the dialog between research and professional fields, in order to encourage both applicable new knowledge and intellectually driven modes of practice. (Maurizio Sabini)
Volume 6/2021 - Issue 1
Open Access
Editorial
In This Issue [1/2021]
VOLUME 6/2021 - Issue 1 , Pages: 5 - 6 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2021.06.01.16, published: 2021-06-21
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SUSTAINABILITY
Article
Cut|Fill: Technofossil Waste Narratives of Brick and Dredged Sediments
VOLUME 6/2021 - Issue 1 , Pages: 163 - 196 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2021.06.01.6, published: 2021-05-11Today’s waste landscapes derive from nineteenth-twentieth century materials extraction, processing, and disposal practices by which certain landscapes are sacrificed for the construction of others. Long term impacts of material byproducts from these industries may be understood as technofossils—new materials shaped into artifacts that will likely be preserved as geological deposits. This article explores shifts in cultural attitudes and approaches towards waste materials and landscapes by focusing on two types of extraction-based industries that create technofossils: brick, in which desired materials such as sands and clays are extracted and manipulated, and dredged sediment, in which undesirable materials, such as sands, clays, and soils, are extracted from shipping channels and stored in landfills of land. The tension between these industries reveals opportunities for rethinking linear models of materials extraction, processing, and disposal as cyclical and integrative. Historiographic, archival, and case study research are used to investigate these industries. Speculative mapping and a design research studio explore these material legacies, and their potential ecological, socio-economic, and cultural values.
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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Article
Architecture and Soft Kinetics: Scale and Performance
VOLUME 6/2021 - Issue 1 , Pages: 69 - 86 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2021.06.01.13, published: 2021-06-14Traditionally buildings are not designed to adapt to the dynamics of fluctuating environmental conditions or changing user needs. Even though today’s technical capabilities for kinetics have advanced significantly, the integration of stable and kinetic elements still presents challenges. The project described in this article integrates “soft” and “hard” elements to produce a dynamic material system that is self-supporting, pliable, and kinetic. It explores a kinetic and formal potential of integrating custom-made soft robotic muscles into a component-based surface. The developed prototype is a light modular construct, with components and patterns of aggregation that work in unison with the silicone muscles to produce a dynamic structure. The proposed material system can be used to construct a kinetic and “programmable” architectural skin that can be integrated with existing or new façade systems. The project is informed by
a history of pneumatic structures, the technology of soft robotics, and a kit-of-parts design strategy.
Featured Articles
Open Access
Position Paper
Gender Matters. The Grand Architectural Revolution
VOLUME 4/2019 - Issue 2 [GENDER MATTERS], Pages: 273 - 279 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2019.04.02.12, published: 2020-02-07 Subscribers only
Article
The Diversity of Women’s Engagement with Modern Architecture and Design: Three Case Studies
VOLUME 4/2019 - Issue 2 [GENDER MATTERS], Pages: 465 - 480 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2019.04.02.11, published: 2020-01-31A range of often overlooked ways of engaging with architecture and design have historically offered women from around the world with the means of making a living and of advancing the careers of other women, as well as of encouraging the acceptance of artistic experimentation. These include journalism, retailing, and philanthropy. For instance, Ethel Power edited the influential American shelter magazine House Beautiful from 1923-34. Estrid Ericson founded and ran the Stockholm design shop Svensk Tenn for over half a century; she also designed many of its characteristic products. Gira Sarabhai was instrumental in the establishment of the Calico Museum and then the National Academy of Design, both located in her native Ahmedabad, India, and contributed to the design of the building in which the latter is housed. Writing such achievements back into the history of architecture and design helps provide the foundation for a more inclusive approach to those professions today.
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REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Project
Office for A.T.E. Enterprises, Ahmedabad, India
VOLUME 4/2019 - Issue 1 , Pages: 17 - 30 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2019.04.01.6, published: 2019-06-06The new office building of the A.T.E. Group – a cutting-edge engineering group based in the outskirts of Ahmedabad (India) along the Delhi-Ahmedabad highway – works as an extension to its adjacent existing factory. Diversifying from the ordinary existing factory shed scenery, the building uses technological innovation and landscape as key elements to serve both as an aesthetic surface and a performative office space. Through multiple layers of natural cooling techniques embedded in and wrapping around occupied spaces, the corporate office works in partnership with the seasonal and climatic flows. Indoor and outdoor spaces flow into each other as well as both the existing factory and the new office complex are fluidly embedded within the surrounding landscape. With low carbon footprint and minimal use of active energy, the building creates comfortable environmental conditions while countering the local conditions of extreme heat, dryness, and variations in temperature through the day and year.
Open Access
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Book Review
"Modern and Site Specific: The Architecture of Gino Valle 1945-2003"
VOLUME 4/2019 - Issue 1 , Pages: 223 - 226 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2019.04.01.16, published: 2019-07-16
Modern and Site Specific:
The Architecture of Gino Valle 1945-2003
By Pierre-Alain Croset and Luka Skansi
London: Lund Humphries, 2018
250 × 190 mm
100 b/w and 150 color illustrations
352 pages
£50.00 GBP (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1848222779
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Article
Using Digital Data for Office Design. "The Case Study of the Agnelli Foundation"
VOLUME 3/2018 - Issue 2 [THE SHARED PROJECT], Pages: 315 - 325 doi: 10.15274/tpj.2018.03.02.5, published: 2018-11-28In the nineties, it was widely assumed that, because of the internet and widespread connectivity, the importance of physical space would be greatly reduced. Many prophecies at the time dealt with the “death” of distance, of cities and of offices, among others. While such predictions have not materialized so far, technology is nonetheless having an effect on how we use physical space. In particular, office spaces are undergoing a profound transformation. In this article, we review a recent project from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Senseable City Lab, which used the analysis of digital data to better understand the use of office space and scientific collaboration on the MIT campus. We then show how some of these preliminary findings can be used in the design of the co-working space at the Agnelli Foundation in Turin, Italy - and how digital data can then provide real-time monitoring of built spaces.
