Of
the
thesis
entitled: One
hand
occupies
the
void
Abstract:
The interconnected
nature
of
void
and
matter
and
form
is
implied
in
architecture, but
rarely
explicitly
expressed.
Since
the
void
is
neither
form
nor
material, it
is
difficult
to
define,
but
it
occupies
a
critical
role
in
urban
development as
the
counterpart
to
the
urban
mass. The
narrative
of
the
modern
city
can
be told
through
the
presence
of
urban
voids:
the
transposition
of
material
and built
form
resulting
in
two
typologies
of
the
void,
the
found
and
the
formal. The
first
exploration
of
the
found
void
is
dedicated
to
the
analysis
of
the clay
pit, the
companion
of
bricks,
which
is
often
ignored
as
an
unwanted by-product
of
the
construction
process.
This
deliberate
exclusion
from
the urban
narrative
is
reversed
once
it
is
rehabilitated
as
a
formal
void,
which
is valued
as
an
element
of
urban
development.
The
second exploration
analyses
the condition
of
the
formal
void,
using
the
ceramic
vessel
to
construct
a domesticated
spatial
model
of
the
monumental
public
space.
The
identity
of
the city
is
therefore
analysed
by
making
visible
the
imperceptible
void
through
the documentation
of traces
and
boundaries.
The
found void
is
a
by-product
of
the
city’s
development
and
is
not
planned;
it
can
also be
described
as
a
procedural
void
whose
physical
impact
is
rarely,
if
ever, considered
as
a
positive
influence
on
the
growth
of
the
city.
From
the
economic point
of
view,
its
temporary use
produces
resources
that
transform
the
urban fabric,
but
the
found
void
itself
requires
reintegration
into
the
city
either through
erasure
or
reversal
to
solid.
The
analysis
of
the
former,
now filled-in,
19th-century
clay
quarry
in
east
Toronto
serves
as
the
first investigation of
the
urban
void,
where
the
industrial
process
of
clay extraction
acts
as
a
force
that
influences
the
form
of
the
quarry
and
also
the surrounding
neighbourhood.
The
formal void
is
a
tool
that
transforms
the
city
through
the
imposition
of
a hierarchical
structure
derived
from
a
deliberate
absence
within
the
existing fabric.
The
valorization
of
the
formal
void
as
a
solution
to
congestion
and chaos
in
the
built-up
urban
structure
is
based on
its
perception,
even
now,
as an
ideal
space
that
promotes
circulation,
light,
and
air.
The
analysis
of
an alternative
vision
of
Paris
conceived
by
Pierre
Patte
in
1765
expresses
the interjection
of
the
void
into
a
pre-existing
urban
fabric
and
how
its
form
is connected
to
the buildings
that
it
displaces.
The practice
of
throwing
clay
on
a
wheel
depicts
the
reciprocity
between
matter, form,
and
void:
clay
is
shaped
into
a
hollow
vessel
through
the
interaction
of the
body.
The
found
void,
as
a
fragment
evolving
over
time,
is
compared
to
the process
of
throwing
and
analysed according
to
the
redistribution
of
the material
around
the
perceptible
void.
For
the
formal
void,
the
final
pieces
are used
as
models
to
express
the
circulation
and
tension
that
becomes
evident
when conceptual
forms
are
given
material
bodies.
This
process
occupies
the intersection
between
the
theory
of
the
void
and
the
material
of
the
clay
medium and
thereby
offers
a
critical
solution
to
the
architectural
paradox
that engages
the
nature
of
the
profession
and
the
approach
to
space
itself.
The examining committee is as follows:
Co-Supervisors:
Anne Bordeleau, University of Waterloo
Dereck Revington, University of Waterloo
Committee Member:
Erica S. Allen-Kim
External Reader:
Craig Rodmore
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Thursday
June
8,
2017
10:00
AM
BRIDGE
Centre
for
Architecture
+
Design
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.