2A Drawing & Speculation
Superstudio - A drawing of the city as an anonymous megastructure
By Marcus Grant
Superstudio is an architecture firm that was founded in 1966 Florence, Italy by Adolfo Natalini, Cristiano Toraldo di Francia. This architecture firm was founded during an era that consist of monumental 'political, economic, environmental and social' (Baan 2011) issues therefore Superstudio responded to these circumstances and developed “Anti-Design” projects. Throughout this period the designs that were produced surrounding the city became ultimately banal and pointless because the concepts and design were extremely poor. By abandoning the disaster of design and transferring to alternative ideas within nature, super studio changed how people perceived the city. Superstudio are the ‘future of wisely used technology’ (Natalini 2013), this is shown throughout there technique of using grids. This motif of grids symbolises and enables the initiation of theory. They focused on drawing the city as anonymous megastructure, the structures creates a sense of hierarchy but also clearly visualises the natural landscape which is beneath the megastructure. The grid questions the way humans live, the example of megastructures acting as a bridge in the sky initiates theory and considers if this is a potential way to live.
I have implemented key concepts from their designs which consist of considering the environment but also allowing megastructures to act as a path of transport from one building to another which evidently doesn’t impact the environment below. My understanding of the city is that it has been significantly impacted by pollution and concrete structures such as roads which are unnecessary. The pollution such as waste, air pollution, noise pollution and other forms have all impacted the environment on the ground which also negatively effects the animals whom live through this landscape. Therefore my theory is to live above ground to protect the flora and fauna below which acts as a ‘foreign alternative’ (Butler 2009).
I have framed the city using a long shot which views the entire setting. By using the grid design on the buildings and visualising a method of transport between each people it considers Superstudio’s techniques of creating a megastructure that enables theory. I have implemented the grids on the roads because I believe we should remove them to allow the environment to survive while humans and their products live above ground level. The person sitting on the green grass visualises the possibility of the existing roads becoming a natural form, this concept of giving back to the earth is extremely beneficial. The understanding of a city is for it to accomodate the people, building, roads and other factors however throughout this design people have forgotten the earth in its natural form therefore by implementing these concepts it creates a different perspective on how we could live in the city. By using the white and black grid as a single structure it creates a potential concept that would benefit both the environment and people. Evidently the grid critiques what Superstudio saw as the unnecessary design of contemporary urban planning and represents the potential of this new heteroglossic space. Furthermore Super studio have revolutionised how architects today understand and perceive the world similarly to my perception to change the chaotic world of design into a more future thinking sustainable way of thinking.
Visual Analysis
This is a well known design by superstudio focusing on a pathway from New York to New Jersey considering other ways to journey besides using roads which evidently pollute the environment. The mega structure wraps around the city shown with the red lines to enable theory that humans could potentially travel above land so the wildlife and environment could thrive. Visually this structure acts as a vector because the eye is drawn across this structure also because it appears out of place.
This image was designed following the 1960s movement focusing on social, political and environmental issues. Superstudio have vividly focused on natural features such as the blue water, mountain but also the people. The grids enables a chance to redesign the space left in a grid to improve the environment. The juxtaposition with nature and manmade needs to create a balance which super studio provoke.
This image by superstudio explores the notion of an unnecessary space. By using the salient lines as a grid they replaced what was believed to be a bad sense of design, this could have been buildings or other waste matter. The only are that remained was of a little girl and the harsh environment that she seemed to be playing in. This is an indication of why design should change to improve the future. The lines are all equal in size and are flowing in the same direction allowing the image and grid to be balanced. Visually it initiates theory and enables the viewer to consider other ways to design.
Thumbnail Drawings
This drawing represents the building using shapes, lines and tones such as sqaures, zig zags and other forms of visualisation.
This drawing focuses on the repetitive square windows which has been visulised through shapes, tones and lines.
This drawings focuses on a path in a park using shapes, tones, a micture of both but also the implementation of colour.
1 Point & 2 Point Perspective
These images are of two different perspectives of the building which is in my final digital drawing.
Draft and Refined Concepts
These digital drawings were intital drafts of implementing the technique of superstudio. My design developed and changed because at the beginning their was no meaning therefore I explored spaces which could enable theory. This lead me to my final digital drawing.
Final Digital Drawing
Reference List
Baan, I. 2011, Diller Scofidio + Renfro : Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), 54th edition, Ediciones Polígrafa, Barcelona.
Butler, J.E., Severino, C., Guetta, D. & Guerra, J.C. 2009, Writing in multicultural settings, 4th edn, Modern Language Association of America, New York.
Natalini, A. 2013, Perspecta, The MIT Press, New York.
