un/adapted conjunctions

CONCEPTUAL INSPIRATION
‘Unadapted’ is also a wink to the phenomenal architectural project Unadapted City (1995-1999) by the Belgian architect Luc Deleu. This project, in which ‘recycling’ was also an important theme, emphasizes the ever-changing process and mechanism of a city that lives, continuously shifts, transforms, and grows. Unadapted City outlines a speculative quest for the urban space and the beings that live and can reside there in an ever-changing city. From this research and project, we take several principles into this master studio, including some dynamic and paradoxical spatial connections/processes and the continuously changing architectural elements in time and space.

DESIGN APPROACH(es)
‘Conjunctions’—words that connect clauses, sentences, or words—as both a metaphor and methodology for architectural design. Similar to how conjunctions such as “and,” “but,” “or,” “yet,” “so,” and “for” establish relationships and introduce complexity in language, we will examine how these principles can explore and inspire the creation of dynamic, multifaceted architectural constructions. Students will be tasked with developing spatial and architectural variations that embody these conjunction principles, resulting in explorative designs rich in imagination, materiality, un-adaptability, research, and experiment. This approach encourages a more nuanced and dynamic design methodology, similar to how conjunctions in language add depth and complexity to sentences. Using conjunctions and language as a conceptual framework, the master studio aims to create designs that are not necessarily functional but rather explorative and critical. It encourages students to think beyond conventional boundaries and to trigger dynamic relationships between different elements within a space.

We also ask the question: how do you deal with un/adapted conjunctions and a transdisciplinary craftmanship approach today? Through contemporary techniques such as media, print, and laser-cut methods, we parallelly investigate with the design process how you can personalize the assembly of materials into artifacts. This master studio environment continues LAB-O, with spatial exploration and experimentation at its core. The emphasis is on experiential, critical, and reflective design learning. Various media and methodologies are used depending on the research the student conducts and the concepts they want to underpin. These media can range from text, drawing, model, and object installation to sound, film, performance, and/or combinations thereof. The diversity of media explored challenges the student and helps them develop a critical/playful design and research process.

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Our approach to construction in this master studio critically engages with un/adapted conjunctions, not only as a challenge to adaptive re-use but also as a broader inquiry into construction materials, including prefab. Instead of forcing materials to fit standardized roles, we explore their inherent characteristics and potential. This approach treats materials—whether recycled, repurposed, or prefabricated—as flexible components that offer diverse design possibilities without the need for adaptation to predefined norms.

The process begins with an analysis of Asplund’s section, laying the groundwork for questioning traditional conjunctions. This is followed by its application in the real-world context of the Passage Chambon in Brussels, where we test how these un/adapted conjunctions can challenge conventional material use and integration. Prefabricated elements in particular, are examined for their capacity to transcend the limits (e.g. scale & supply options), of their typical application, becoming active, autonomous design elements rather than passive, standardized parts of a construction system.

By resisting the imposition of standardization on both adaptive re-use and prefabricated systems, we aim to provoke a deeper exploration of how architecture as a medium can evolve through deliberate, inventive conjunctions that experiment the integrity of each material (also to its context), transforming it into a critical and intense component of the spatial experience.

EXPECTED OUTPUT ACTIONS
A. During the semester, five chronological actions through making, guide us in the process of imagining-(de)constructing-patenting-exhibiting:

1// Encountering un/adapted conjunctions design methodologies:
A dismantling and design imagination of Gunnar Asplund’s section of the Chapel at The Woodland Cemetery, Stockholm.

Weeks 1–2: Introduction and group formation (2/3), start section 1/20, translation of Asplund section, present own references (arts)

2// Detecting un/adapted conjunctions design methodologies:
Variations in style of the design imagination guided by some proposed ‘compagnon de route’ from the art & architectural field.

Weeks 3–5: Add and interpret references in section 1/20, first fragment study 1/5 un/adapted conjunction (uc), review: section 1/20 and uc 1/5 // Weeks 6–7: Introduction to context (CIVA archive visit), continue individually or in group, analyze context and create context model, first design proposal in context + uc 1/5 vs. context

3// Patenting un/adapted conjunctions design methodologies:
The connection of a construct to/on/with/under… Alban Chambon’s Passage, Brussels based on your research and design process.

4// Fragmenting an un/adapted conjunction patent:
Process and crystallise an architectural experiential model (1:1) based on your research and design process.

Weeks 9–10: Design in context: ‘Passage Chambon’ (free scale), first fragment study 1/5 – uc // Weeks 11–12:
Focus on uc: Intersection of existing/new (1/5 scale, 1/1 studies), finalizing Atlas booklet

5// Exhibiting the un/adapted conjunctions designs, research & artefacts

Weeks 13–14: Finalize design in context + un/adapted conjunctions 1/1, complete ATLAS, final Jury: presentation of design, un/adapted conjunctions 1/1, and ATLAS

B. In parallel, we develop an ATLAS of the processes and reflections of the un/adapted conjunctions design journey.

* The terminology “adaptive (re)(f)usus” is constructed from Joshua McWhirter’s article Adaptive Refuse, https://failedarchitecture.com/adaptive-refuse/ (2021) and the book Usus/Usures: État des Lieux – How Things Stand by Rotor (2010)

REFERENTIAL LANDSCAPE
Bruno Murani, Seeking comfort in an Uncomfortable Chair, 1944
T.O.P. Office, Luc Deleu, The Unadapted City, 1995-1999
Geert Bekaert, Luc Deleu’s T.O.P. Office. Wegen van Vrijheid, De Witte Raaf
Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, A bus stop – Los Laureles Canyon, Tijuana Mexico, 2020
Alban Chambon, Passage Chambon, Brussels, 1908
Joshua McWhirter, Adaptive Refuse, Failed Architecture magazine, https://failedarchitecture.com/adaptive-refuse/
Frida Nordvik, Toya Causse, Composing Stories Through Tectonics of Reuse, 2024
Raymond Queneau, Exercises in Style, 1947
Giacomo Pala, Conjunctions or Space as Oxymoron, Architectural Design, pp. 64 – 71, Nov 2023
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IMAGE SOURCES
Thumbnail image: Thomas Ruff, L’empereur, 1982
Collage image (left side of this page): Exploded view Reflex Camera Nikon, student’s process work 3BA Experiment, Thomas Ruff L’Empereur, Jorn Utzon section drawing Bagsværd Church in Copenhagen, interior view Bagsværd Church,…

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