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The cultivation of chance: Seismological Research Centre, Porto

Part 1 Project 2005
John Craske
Makki Farah
 Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) | UK
Investigations into man's ability to harness chance culminate with the proposal of a seismological support facility situated just outside Porto, Portugal. Providing support to the national network of seismological stations, the building's constitution typifies a volatile relationship between building and landscape. The facility attempts to further embody the disparity between conceiver/intent and fabricator/realisation. Within a process akin to both the disjuncture between architectural instruction and subsequent interpretation, and a building's unprecedented response to climatic conditions, the scheme suffers from subtle deformations. The ways in which man might cultivate or suppress the intervention of chance are pertinent both to the projects proposition and its inexorable preoccupations with time.


Translating the shipping forecast for the North Sea into a series of design instructions for interventions on the rooftop of a terrace house, John's early work introduced his exceptional talent as a designer and thinker.
The Seismological Research Centre in Porto concludes John's study of the relationship between aspiration and outcome in design. An ambitious proposition for a remote site, his proposal is not limited to the present tense. It embodies the layered history of the site, the slow remodeling of the landscape, the prospect of sudden change and future measured decay.

Ms Sabine Storp acted as a third tutor, replacing Dr Penelope Haralambidou for part of the year. We would be grateful if you could provide this note to the judges where necessary.

Tutor(s)
2005
A machine to transpose the shipping forecast, as one listens to the broadcast from Radio 4 at 12:49.
The chronological arrival of parts sent by post on the proceeding days.
The habitation of the 'conceiver'. Illustrative of their domestic routine and temporary use of the existing house in which the 'fabricator' currently resides.
Imbued with both the pitfalls of misinterpretation and delays in the postal service, the sender and receiver continue to communicate.
The built manifestation of the dichotomy's relentless attempts to 'successfully' recode the shipping forecast.
A stark contrast between natural geology and the manmade deployable can be seen in an investigation into seismic hazard.
Long section tracing the excavation route from highland to coast. In its material constitution and tectonic properties the building becomes a landscape and in this instance boasts an impressive immunity from seismic activity.
Left: Timber splice with a sliding 'tolerance' deployed throughout the timber structure in an effort to harness seismic activity. Right: Monolithic precast concrete parts forming the primary skeleton.
In an attempt to govern and express the effects of seismic vibration the sacrificial timber joints are strategically placed beneath a concrete deck. Right: Monolithic precast concrete parts forming the primary skeleton.
A cut revealing the timber decking of the lower laboratories within a precast concrete skeleton. Excavation belt runs to the north underneath the upper laboratories.
Geological/Architectural sections of land modelled, as the invisible bedrock becomes a crucial factor in determining events upon the surface.
The 'Alembic' confessional well ready to receive the arrival of excavated top-soil after having responded to the disjuncture between its foundations.
Long section describing the entire process, taking place diagrammatically along a two dimensional line, but expressive in three dimensions and ultimately time.
'The inexorable multiplication of molehills'. plan revealing the relationship between test stations in quieter regions and the growing number of erect alembics along the coast.
View out into the lower laboratories from underneath the susceptible circulation platform through layers of sacrificial structure.
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