ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Example Works

The thesis considers the design of a systematic approach to pre-fabricated

component construction to be adopted as a commercial means of exhibiting. Key historic

exhibition events are often more fondly referenced by the work of a typeface foundry or

poster campaign rather than the fallen iconography of the architecture. The design process

allows the universal graphic setting out of typeface to inform both the macro and micro

scales of the built construct.

The prototype system treats the components as if they are characters, which can

be used in maximum permutations and given context within the process driven narrative

of industrial areas. Digbeth is an intensely industrial region of Birmingham and was chosen

as a model manufacturing focused urban situation. The area lies adjacent to the proposed

high-speed rail terminal.

With the expediting between regions and nations as if they were neighbouring

stops under high-speed rail, the notion of an international exhibition is opportune to be

achieved efficiently.

Appraising the nationalistic EXPO model by playing off the successes of left over industry.MArch Design Thesis

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‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

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51 F

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Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE

HEYSEL PLATEAU

‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

grap

hica

l Eve

nt M

ap fr

om th

e 19

51 F

estiv

al o

f Brit

ain

Gui

de

Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE

‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

grap

hica

l Eve

nt M

ap fr

om th

e 19

51 F

estiv

al o

f Brit

ain

Gui

de

Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE

‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

grap

hica

l Eve

nt M

ap fr

om th

e 19

51 F

estiv

al o

f Brit

ain

Gui

de

Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE

HEYSEL PLATEAU

‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

grap

hica

l Eve

nt M

ap fr

om th

e 19

51 F

estiv

al o

f Brit

ain

Gui

de

Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

grap

hica

l Eve

nt M

ap fr

om th

e 19

51 F

estiv

al o

f Brit

ain

Gui

de

Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE

# ?# ?# ?

[EXPO 2026?]

Perm

anen

ce

[+]

Grand Union Canal

[EXPO 2026?]

Perm

anen

ce

[+]

Grand Union Canal

Digbeth is characteristically defined by the industrial

architectural typologies, elevated rail infrastructure and

arterial canal system throughout the area. Despite this there

is anonymity about the processes and nature of the industry

that lies behind the East side of this trade city. These are

broader traits of very similar industrial urban fabrics, further

North along the second phase of high speed rail plans.

The Duddeston viaduct is a blue brick elevated structure

built in the mid 19th century. Never realised as an

infrastructure link, it stands today with its fragmented

terminus dotted across the meeting of the Grand Union

canal and the carved out junctions of industrial Digbeth.

This structure stands as a monument to the modesty of the

brick as a modular building component which shaped the

masonry industrial fabric across the area.

[EXPO 2026?]

Perm

anen

ce

[+]

Grand Union Canal

[EXPO 2026?]

Perm

anen

ce

[+]

Grand Union Canal

Fazely Street runs through Digbeth from the City Centre and links the site of the proposed

Curzon Street HS2 rail station and the fragmented end of the Duddeston viaduct. The street

has a prominent industrial aesthetic and will serve to link the new rail infrastructure with an

architectural node for the prototype EXPO system at the junction of monument and

thoroughfare.

The flexible nature of elements of the fabricated system will dissipate out from this node of

the EXPO. These will provide wayfinding into the heart of Digbeth as well as less permanent

exhibition spaces amongst this already industrially themed network of routes.

‘The exposition model has survived under the spectacle of national and corporate display.As a display of abundance and proliferation, the fair is an encyclopedia of material production.

It is a somewhat contradictory celebration of unity and shared purpose as the architecture speaks of no consensus, rather that of competition or rivalry.’1

1Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Blur : The Making of Nothing (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002). p.92. Taken from a

seminar taught by Diller at Princeton University.

‘These popular graphic souvenirs proved infinitely more durable than other exhibits that were lost or broken up after closure. For some who never got to visit an exhibition, reading a catalogue was an experience of the festival. Thick, high quality material and filled with exotic designs and optimism, which in a slum street in Halifax seemed magical’2

2 Atkinson, Harriet, The Festival of Britain : A Land and Its People (London, I. B. Tauris, 2012). p.139

Geo

grap

hica

l Eve

nt M

ap fr

om th

e 19

51 F

estiv

al o

f Brit

ain

Gui

de

Time Distorted Map to show the impact of High Speed Rail by 2026

Time Distorted Map to show the current impact of rail connections

+

TYPOGRAPHIC KIT OF PARTS A MATRIX OF PERMANENCE FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE

Permanence

Low High

Low

High

Transit Infrastructure

Architecture

Pavilion

Industrial Design

Operations System

HS2

People MoverPeople MoverPeople Mover

Football Stadia

Navigating ApplicationNavigating ApplicationNavigating Application

Infrastructure Identity Exposition Film

Exhibition Centre

Exposition Pavilion

Products or Systems Exhibited

Leve

l of I

nter

vent

ion

[ > ] ELEVAT ION

THE VALUES OF PRINT CULTURE

PLANS

Fazely Street Found(ry) [Metal Casting]

Exposition Space

Exposition Space

Elevated Fabrication Platforms

Sheet Metalworking and Composite Panel Construction

The Historic Duddeston Viaduct

The Grand Union Canal

Commercial Showcase Units

Printhouse Lobby and Visitor Centre

Letterpress Workshop

Printworks Production Floor

Activity Space

Fazely Street Found(ry) [Typographer and Graphic Design]

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

A

A

Fazely Street Found(ry) [Metal Casting]

Exposition Space

Exposition Space

Elevated Fabrication Platforms

Sheet Metalworking and Composite Panel Construction

The Historic Duddeston Viaduct

The Grand Union Canal

Commercial Showcase Units

Printhouse Lobby and Visitor Centre

Letterpress Workshop

Printworks Production Floor

Activity Space

Fazely Street Found(ry) [Typographer and Graphic Design]

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

A

A

THE EXPOSIT ION LEGACY - A NODE FOR INDUSTRIAL D IGBETH ONE MODULAR TYPOLOGY TO FABRICATE AND SHOWCASE ANOTHER

ONE MODULAR TYPOLOGY TO FABRICATE AND SHOWCASE ANOTHER

T + 4   4

Fig. E2 A demonstration of the axial scaling implications of designing under new spatial conditions

Abstract

The aspirations of transport are a reaction

to a set of archetypal human desires. These

have been followed by an intense

progression of research and development to

fulfil this freedom of movement. Architecture

and design have documented this evolution,

from a requirement to communicate at a

distance, to travelling faster on land, to

flight. The aim of this study does not

concern the scientific-led engineering of

such systems, for these basic impulses

precede the technological development and

possibility. The question posed however is

how architectural and design motives have,

and the extent to which they will continue

to, inform, sell and ultimately shape these

means of fulfilment. This question is

interpreted through an existing media

theory, ‘The Tetrad of Media Effects’ by

Marshall McLuhan.

MEDIUM RACECAR

Interpreting architectural motives under the ‘Tetrad of Media Effects’ for the aspirations of transport

A dissertation submitted by Jonathan Harker in partial fulfilment of MArch 2013

MED IUM RACECAR :

Interpreting architectural motives under the ‘Tetrad of Media Effects’

for the aspirations of transport

A dissertation submitted by Jonathan Harker in partial fulfilment of MArch 2013

The full edition can be made available on request or is available at jharker.com/Medium-Racecar

19

  18

4.4 ‘There is no right way to read a tetrad, as the parts are simultaneous’

In order to fully apply McLuhan’s wider Tetrad theory to the design motives of the

intersecting case study narratives, an important consideration outlined by Paul Levinson in his

preface to McLuhan’s ‘Laws of Media’ has been accounted for.

The process is not only cyclical but also progressive, and so it may be better termed

as a spiral. Figures 4 and 5 aim to show how this new relationship works both as a progressive

spiral of media effects, but also each as a self-contained process. Whereby the effect these

elements have on each other changes, and does not necessarily have a causal order. This

interpretation is shown in the frequent interplay of the retrieval, obsolescence and reversal of

traditional media under McLuhan’s examples. These could be termed more of a vertical skip

forward or recollection from another Tetrad process rather than a continued cyclical

progression.

Fig. 4 Reinterpreting the progressive nature of the Tetrad of Media Effects

In order to give a better fit to the mediums and motives of events architecture, transit

system design and commercial ventures, the constituent parts of the Tetrad have been

redefined.

Boosterism is a term often associated with the public perception of place or agenda.

There is a traditional association with the actions of lesser American towns in order to gain a

boosted self-image. It delivers the advertising, commercial and political undertones of

appropriation to this study, from the events architecture of World’s Fair expositions to the

identity created to sell commercial space tourism.

ENHANCES

RETRIEVES OBSOLESCES

REVERSES

BOOSTER

OVERTAKEKICKSTART

EXHAUST

20

  19

The intrigue of McLuhan’s role of reversal or ‘flipping’ lies in what happens when a

creative idea or method is exhausted of its potential in that existing form. What level of

adjustment is required to get it boosting again? This is the scale that shall be assessed here.

This can range from a logical progression aided by newer available technologies to the

scrapping of a complete agenda or approach (and whether or not it’s worth salvaging for

parts). The art of future proofing.

The following four parts of this study are to be read in any order to reference the

interchangeable causalities of the Tetrad.

Fig. 5 ‘There is no right way to read a tetrad, as the parts are simultaneous’11

- Marshall McLuhan

                                                                                                                         11  McLuhan and McLuhan, Laws of Media : The New Science. p.129  

  19

The intrigue of McLuhan’s role of reversal or ‘flipping’ lies in what happens when a

creative idea or method is exhausted of its potential in that existing form. What level of

adjustment is required to get it boosting again? This is the scale that shall be assessed here.

This can range from a logical progression aided by newer available technologies to the

scrapping of a complete agenda or approach (and whether or not it’s worth salvaging for

parts). The art of future proofing.

The following four parts of this study are to be read in any order to reference the

interchangeable causalities of the Tetrad.

Fig. 5 ‘There is no right way to read a tetrad, as the parts are simultaneous’11

- Marshall McLuhan

                                                                                                                         11  McLuhan and McLuhan, Laws of Media : The New Science. p.129  

Finding ForumCultural Exchange Facility, TriesteBSc Design Project

Figure Ground: The Furnace DanceworksBSc Design Project