Light Transformation
This project involved the design of a satellite architecture school: a front door to the existing EVDS architecture program to be located in Calgary’s downtown. The site is a focal point bringing various layers and ordering systems together in a highly complex environment. The ideas for an architectural intervention came out of an investigation of simultaneity: how to reveal and veil these complexities concurrently.
The intervention evolved into two elements: the inhabited screen and the room which resulted from its enclosure.
Materiality and Light: the architectural intention was simply to enclose, adjust and refine what pre-existed, materials and architectural language were borrowed from the existing site. With slight variations in the utilization of existing materials and their textures, a subtle unmasking of the site is achieved. By juxtaposing the raw, unfinished concrete of the existing parkade structure with sandblasted or polished concrete, a perceptual shift occurs. The play of constantly changing light on these basic materials contributes to this shift. Infinite transformations in light reveals previously undiscovered variation, both subtle and dramatic, in a material’s colour, texture, depth or transparency. The dynamic potential of the engineered is unveiled.
The inhabited screen is wrapped in perforated aluminum, admitting sunlight while appearing opaque from the exterior. Human occupancy and artifacts act as a filter, mediating one’s connection to the city. This vital layer to the object’s screening quality transforms according to the changing needs of individual occupants. As day becomes night, this element inverts itself perceptually; the building begins to glow from within. Instead of providing solid separation from the street, enclosure appears to dissolve. Fluidity between building and urban context is achieved.
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Jocelyne Belisle is an MArch student at the University of Calgary.