2. • INTRODUCTION
- About the architect
- His ideology
• WORKS
• ANALYSIS
- Holocaust Museum
- Wexner Center for Arts
- Cardinals Stadium
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONTENTS
4. He studied at Cornell and Columbia Universities and then
at Cambridge
University in England.
He taught at Cambridge, Princeton and the Cooper Union in
New York, where
he was founder and director of the Institute for Architecture
and Urban Studies.
Eisenman first rose to prominence as a member of the New
York Five, a team of five architects
These architects' work at the time was often considered a
reworking of the ideas of Le Corbusier. Subsequently, the
five architects each developed unique styles and ideologies,
with Eisenman becoming more affiliated with the
Deconstructivist movement.
INTRODUCTION
5. PHILOSOPHY AND IDEAS
He is one of the foremost
practitioners of deconstructivism in
American architecture.
Eisenman's fragmented forms are
identified with an eclectic group of
architects that have been, at times
unwillingly, labelled
deconstructivists.
The work of philosopher Jacques
Derrida is a key influence in
Eisenman's architecture.
Eisenman's buildings are purely
arranged forms that, in their
arbitrary overlay of different grids,
gesture towards the uncertainty of
all well-ordered, prearranged
contexts.
Eisenman works with grids and
well ordered overlays
6. Cardboard Architecture
In 1967 Eisenman had begun the first of
a series of residential designs, labeled
cardboard architecture in reference to
their thin white walls and model-like
qualities, through which he explored the
implications of his theories in built form.
P. Eisenman, Diagrams of House VI.
P. Eisenman, Model of House IV, 1971.
That an observer needed to
read a text to fully
understand his architecture
was a point of considerable
debate.
These buildings embodied what Eisenman
referred to as deep structure, through which he
attempted to explore the notion of visual syntax.
7. Post Modern Architecture
By the late 1970s Eisenman had
emerged as a leader in the Post
Modern movement in architecture.
He moved beyond pure geometry to
examine scalar geometry, which is
used in mapping complex structures
such as weather formations
Eisenman derived what he referred
to as traces: lines or echoes from
other sources that could be
perceived within any aspect of a
design problem.
One of the first works that
demonstrates these ideas was the
Wexner Center for the Visual Arts at
Ohio State University
8. Deconstruction
The primary impetus of his efforts in
the late 1980s was the
philosophical/critical movement
known as Deconstruction, which was
developed in large part by French
philosopher Jacques Derrida (born
1930) as a response to Structuralism.
He proposed destabilizing concepts
to guide his architecture:
discontinuity, and self-similarity.
University Museum at Long Beach,
California (begun in 1986), embodies
these new ideas.
Eisenman's six point plan
9. IDEOLOGY
describe your style like a good friend of yours would describe it.
(during an interview with ‘Designboom’ in Milan on april 8, 2002)
One can never know at the same time what is the condition of society,
its so-called 'zeitgeist', and how architecture should respond to it.
one has always had to go outside of architecture.
I have had to do so in order to address the question of 'what should I do?'
and I would argue that philosophy is one of the most readily available.
let's put it this way, in any time architecture has 2 roles.
it either reflects society, or in a sense is a precursor
- not revolutionary, not radical, in between reflection and radicality -
that is something I would call a precursor.
thinking about something that might disturb something in the present.
I think that my work is more like disturbance, rather than change, a radical
change.
its certainly not reflection.
I would say disturbance, precursor, premonition.
10. • House VI (Frank residence), Cornwall, 1972.
• Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio, 1989
• Nunotani building, Edogawa Tokyo Japan, 1991
• Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio,
1993
• Aronoff Center for Design and Art, University of Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1996
• City of Culture of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela,
Galicia, Spain, 1999
• Castelvecchio Museum, Verona, 2004
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin, 2005
• University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona, 2006
WORKS
12. City of Culture of Galicia
City of Culture of Galicia (Cidade
da Cultura de Galicia) is a
complex architecural
environment under construction
in Santiago de Compostela,
Galicia, Spain.
Located on Monte Gaiás, a small
hill overlooking Santiago de
Compostela, the City of Culture
is a new cultural center for the
Province of Galicia in
northwestern Spain.
13. CONCEPT
The design for the City of Culture was inspired
by the five pilgrim routes inside the medieval
city that lead to the cathedral.
It was intended to make the structure look like
rolling hills with high degree contours.
The project will
incorporate a museum,
library, archive facility,
arts centre and
performing arts centre.
14. DESIGN EVOLUTION
The design evolves from the superposition of three
sets of information.
First, the street plan of the medieval center of
Santiago is overlaid on a topographic map of the
hillside site (which overlooks the city).
Third, through computer modeling
software, the topography of the
hillside is allowed to distort the two
flat geometries, thus generating a
topological surface that repositions
old and new.
Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
Competition model, 1999
Second, a modern
Cartesian grid is laid
over these medieval
routes.
15. FORM
Red lines show the service tunnels
below the hill.
Orange is the floor area iside the
building
Five pedestrian streets link all the buildings to a main central plaza,
surrounded by 25 hectares of parkland with walkways for strolling
and leisure.
The built-up area includes parking space for around one thousand
cars, a main road with access from downtown Santiago and the
highway AP-9, enabling access from all over Galicia.
16. FORM AND FUNCTION
Its unique buildings, interconnected by streets and plazas
equipped with state-of-the-art technology, make up a space
of excellence for reflection, debate and actions orientated
towards Galicia’s future and internationalization
It features a double roof: an inner, waterproof membrane
and an outer, stone-clad layer that channels heavy rain off
the surface and hides roof mechanicals
17. SPACES
Galician Library
Destined to become the flagship of
Galicia’s library system, its mission is to
assemble, preserve and disseminate
Galicia’s bibliographical heritage
including all printed, sound, audiovisual
and IT production.
18. SPACES
Galician Archives
The Galician Archives is
situated in a building
adjacent to the Library of
Galicia.
Its mission is to receive, keep
and render available to
citizens all public or private
documents in any type of
format (paper, video,
photographs, audio, etc.) that
should be preserved due to
their value.
By virtue of its dual nature: administrative and
historical-cultural, it shall also keep the documents
issued by the activities of the Xunta de Galicia and
its dependencies, ensuring access for citizens both
at the facilities as well as via the Internet.
19. SPACES
Galician Museum
It was conceived as a
space for exhibitions to
provide an international
projection for the heritage
and history of Galicia, as
well as to simultaneously
host international projects.
Its spectacular façade,
close to 43 meters high,
and over 16,000 m2 of
surface area make the
Museum one of the most
remarkable and unique
buildings in the City of
Culture of Galicia.
20. SPACES
Centre for Performing
Arts
It is situated at the heart of
the City of Culture of
Galicia.
Its main auditorium, with a
multi-purpose stage and a
seating capacity for 1,300 is
to be complemented with
other lesser spaces, where
small-scale projects may be
hosted and adapted to
interdisciplinary
experimentation and
creation, as well as for
training and professional
exchange activities.
21. SPACES
International Art Centre
Situated on the northern side of
mount Gaiás and next to the
Museum of Galicia,
Central Services
Covering an area of 7,500 m2, the
building is structured on five floors
that will host offices, a staff
canteen, two smaller and one
larger multi-purpose rooms (the
latter sized 500 m2),, capable of
hosting a variety of events.
22. - By the Architect
Eisenman states, "We were given a
complex and fascinating program,
whose goals far exceeded any
summary of spaces and functions. The
first demand was for an open and
dynamic design, which would be
permeable to all sorts of possibilities
that as yet could not even be
envisioned. We believed we could take
this demand at face value, as a
statement of the project's first priority."
"Instead of the ground's being
conceived as a backdrop against which
the buildings stand out as figures, we
generate a condition in which the
ground can rear up to become figure,
the buildings can subside into ground. It
is a new kind of urban fabric," Eisenman
says, "in which the space you inhabit
can seem both smooth and furrowed --
much as a seashell, the age-old symbol
of Santiago, is smooth and furrowed.
The coding of Santiago's medieval past
into the CCG creates the sense of an
active present, as found in a tactile,
pulsing new form -- what you might call
a fluid shell."
24. Cardinals Stadium
Cardinals Stadium is a football stadium
currently under construction in
Glendale, Arizona.
Peter Eisenman worked in conjunction
with HOK Sport, Hunt Construction
Group, and Urban Earth Design to
design an innovative, earth-friendly
stadium for the University of Phoenix
The Stadium is a multi-purpose facility
with the ability to host football,
basketball, soccer, concerts, consumer
shows, motorsports, rodeos, and
corporate events
25. CONCEPT
The shape of the stadium is loosely
modeled after a barrel cactus, a
widespread plant in the Arizona
desert.
Along the stadium facade, vertical
glass slots alternate with reflective
metal panels
The roof has two large retractable
panels that will uncover the entire
playing field while providing
maximum shading for fans. The roof
can be closed and the facility air
conditioned in the hot months
The translucent “Bird-Air” fabric roof
allow the stadium to have an open,
airy feel even when the roof is
closed
26.
27. FORM
The stadium has a fully retractable natural grass
playing field. The grass field rolls out of the stadium
on a 18.9 million pound tray. The tray has a
sophisticated irrigation system and holds a few
inches of water to keep the grass moist.
Having the rollout field saves
$50 million in costs since it is
more economical to move
the field than having the
entire roof retract to allow the
necessary sunshine to reach
the grass.
The field, with
94,000 square feet
(over 2 acres) of
natural grass,
stays outside in
the sun until game
day. This allows
the grass to get
maximum sun and
nourishment and
also frees up the
stadium floor for
other events.
28. The domed stadium boasts a steel-and-fabric
retractable roof that allows light to penetrate
when closed while maintaining an airy feel
inside
29. Steel trusses support the roof. They were constructed on the
ground and raised to their final position.
30. SKIN
Building skin is composed of metallic panels which
reflect light throughout the day.
33. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin
GERMANY
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
34. CONCEPT
Architecture is about monuments and tombs –Adolf Loos
By this he meant that a human individual may be remembered by a
stone, a plaque, a cross or a star. Since the Holocaust, since the
existence of mass killing is not this simple idea. The idea is so
AFFECT the people.
The earlier symbols of an individual death, must now be changed
and this has significant implications for the idea of memory and the
monument.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is in the context of
the enormity of the incident.
35. EVOLUTION
The project provides for a system with
seemingly rational structure and
inherent instability.
A supposedly rational and orderly
system loses the respect for human
reason, if it becomes too large and
grows beyond its originally intended
proportions.
All the seemingly superior systems own
disorder and chaos potentials appear to
be open on days and it is clear that all
closed systems have to fail with a
closed order.
36. LOCATION: The19,000-square-foot site of the monument is located on the edge of
the Tiergarten between Ebert and William Street to 1945 and belonged to the minister
gardens.
During the 19thcentury:
Governmental bodies and ministries of Prussia, later the German Empire
37. FORM AND FUNCTION
looking for instability in a
supposedly stable system is
the design in a strict grid of
concrete pillars, all of which
similar in length and width
but vary in height.
38. FORM AND FUNCTION
ABOVE
• The memorial consists of about
2,700 concrete slabs ("stelae")
arranged in a grid pattern
covering 19,000 square meters.
• The ground slopes unevenly.
• Visitors are encouraged to walk
between the steles
• The memorial can be entered
from all sides and offers no
prescribed path.
40. FORM AND FUNCTION
BELOW
• An attached underground "place of information" holds the names of all known
Jewish Holocaust victims.
•The place of design information is inserted so that the possible interference of the
stelae field are minimized. Its mass, weight and density seem to weigh significantly
on the individual.
41. STRUCTURE
The 19,000 m^2 of site is arranged in a GRID PATTERN on a sloping
field.
2,700 concrete pillars or stelae basis, all of which are
0.95 m wide and 2.38 m long and vary in height from 0
to 4 meters.
The pillars are spaced 0.95 m apart, which allows only
one individual crossing of the grid.
The height difference between the lower and upper
levels of the pillars appear random
The resulting compact space narrowing, and deepen
and open up from anywhere in the field structure of a
complex experience.
42. SPACE
The memorial can be
entered from all sides
and offers no
prescribed path.
The stelae are
designed to produce
an uneasy, confusing
atmosphere, and the
whole sculpture aims
to represent a
supposedly ordered
system that has lost
touch with human
reason
"I want it to be a part of ordinary, daily life. People who
have walked by say it's very unassuming... I like to think
that people will use it for shortcuts, as an everyday
experience, not as a holy place."
43. SPACE
Movement in the field shatters notions of an
absolute axiality
The illusion of order and security in both the internal
axis system and in the surrounding road network is
thus destroyed.
Zone of instability
A divergence between the topography of the terrain
and topography of the surfaces of the columns is
created.
44. SPACE
The solid rectangular stones
have been compared to
tombstones and coffins.
Peter Eisenman explained that
he wanted visitors to feel the
loss and disorientation that
Jews felt during the Holocaust.
45. -By the Architect
What I tried to do in Berlin was to do something that
couldn't necessarily be as easily re-assimilated. It has no
imagery. In other words, it was not about imagery, it was
not about marking, The fact that it could look like a
cemetery is possible. I was trying to do something that
had no center, had no edge, had no meaning, that was
dumb: D-U-M-B. And there's nothing in the city that's
dumb. And therefore it was silent, it didn't speak.
I believe that when you walk into this place, it's not going
to matter whether you are a Jew or a non-Jew, a German
or a victim: you're going to feel something. And what I'm
interested in is that experience of feeling something. Not
necessarily anything to do with the Holocaust, but to feel
something different than everyday experience. That was
what I was trying to do. It's not about guilt, it's not about
paying back, it's not about identification, it's not about any
of those things; it's about being. And I'm interested, in a
sense, in the question of being and how we open up being
to very different experiences.
48. WEXNER CENTER FOR ARTS
Architect Peter
Eisenman
Location:
Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio
Date: 1983 to 1989
Building Type:
University arts center
Construction System:
steel, concrete, glass
Climate: temperate
Context university:
campus
Style:
Deconstructivist Modern:
Purposeful collision of
shifted grids.
49. CONCEPT
The Wexner Center is an
experiment in
Deconstructivism
It extracts its concept
from the armory that
earlier stood on the site
50. FORM FUNCTION
The design includes a
large, white metal grid
meant to suggest
scaffolding, to give the
building a sense of
incompleteness.
The extension of the
Columbus street grid
generates a new
pedestrian path into the
campus, a ramped east-
west axis.
A major part of the project
is not a building itself, but a
‘non-building’.
Included in the Wexner
Center space are a film and
video theater, a performance
space, a film and video post
production studio, a
bookstore, café, and 12,000
square feet (1,100 m²) of
galleries.
51.
52. FORM AND FUNCTION
It’s a five-story, open-air structure
The white gridwork (that resembles
scaffolding in order to appear
intentionally incomplete) is a
prominent feature
These very design ideas have
caused significant controversy
because, in some cases, they
interfere with the function of the
building, such as fine art exhibition
spaces where direct sunlight could
potentially damage sensitive works of
art.
The center has no recognizable
entry, with most of the sculptural
ornamentation on the sides where no
doors exist. The interior spaces are
no less eccentric; some visitors even
report feeling nauseas because of
the ‘colliding planes’ of the design.
53.
54.
55. The architecture is
driven by the
overlapping grids of
the Columbus
street plan and
OSU campus: it is
positioned at the
boundary between
these two
conflicting grids.
This conflict generates the white scaffolding that intersects
the fragmentary brick structures that reference an armory
building that formerly stood on the site.
56. WEXNER CENTER FOR ARTS
A large part of Eisenman’s
design is set underground.
Other facets include raised
landscaped platforms divided by
sunken walkways that rise and
fall to grade and building. On
foot, these design elements
might appear random and
isolated, but when one takes a
birds eye view of the site, they
are visually and physically in
league with the architecture.
These raised earthworks
according to Eisenman, “can be
read as prehistoric artifacts
heaved up out of the earth, or
as references to the Indian
burial mounds in the nearby
town of Chillicothe.”
57. “The Wexner Center gives you a constantly fluctuating
space.”
“There is no static space, no repose.”
58. WEXNER CENTER FOR ARTS
Symbolic representation
-The grid and the axial relationships it implies
is the most apparent design concept of
Wexner
-The extension of the Columbus street grid
generates a new pedestrian path into the
campus
59. I believe that art and life are two different discourses, and how I want to
live is different from how I want to practice architecture.
QUOTES
“SPACE IS THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE”
60. Any advice for the young?
Its a terrible business and I
wouldn't recommend it for
anybody,
unless you need to do it for
some personal reason.
I would say go into business, go
into law, medicine, but don't be
an architect.
Ar. Peter Eisenman
61. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.com)
Arcspace (http://www.arcspace.com)
Eisenman Architects (http://www.eisenmanarchitects.com)
ArchINFORM (http://www.archinform.net)
Great Buildings (http://www.greatbuildings.com)
Designboom (http://www.designboom.com)
ArchPEDIA (http://www.archpedia.com)
Encyclopedia Britannica
