Diller scofidio + Renfro

Introduction
● Ar.Eliazbeth Diller is a visionary. She imagines things the rest of us
have to see to believe. She can turn a metaphor into brick and mortar.
● New york based architect Elizabeth Diller is the only architect named
on Time magazine’s 2018 list of the world’s 100 most influential people.
The magazine praised her vision and success in a male – dominated
field.
● Diller, co- founder of Diller scofidio and Renfro, just the second woman
architect to make the Time 100 list as an individual after the late Zaha
Hadid, who was named among the 100 in 2010.
● DS+R was the first architecture firm to receive a MacArthur “genius”
grant –and it also won an Obie for jet Lag,a widely creative piece of
multimedia off-Broadway theatre.
Philosophy :
DS+R's projects don't follow a particular architectural language, while adding flexibility, some sort of
complexity, new materiality, new media interface and the dominance of public space throughout the form.
The studio's utter form is derived from the variable inputs of the context and the DNA of the program,
which makes all DS+R's buildings fluxional and charming.

Quote :
The role of the architect is to protect as much space as possible for the public. If I had it my way, I would just turn every
ground floor of every building over to the public. That would be fantastic in the democratization of space," says Elizabeth
Diller, co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R).

● Elizabeth Diller founded New York-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) with her partner Ricardo
Scofidio in 1981.
● She is the only woman architect leading the firm DS+R's projects, along with Ricardo Scofidio, Charles
Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin.
Blur Building:

● The Blur Building was built for the Swiss Expo 2002 on Lake Neuchatel.
● It is an architecture of atmosphere.
● The lightweight tensegrity structure measures 300 feet wide by 200 feet
deep by 75 feet high and stands on a Tension framework with four
columns.
● Water is pumped from the lake, filtered, and shot as a fine mist through
31,500 high-pressure mist nozzles. A smart weather system reads the
shifting climatic conditions of temperature, humidity, wind speed and
direction, and processes the data in a central computer that regulates
water pressure.
● Upon entering the fog mass, visual and acoustic references are erased,
leaving only an optical "white-out" and the "white-noise" of pulsing
nozzles.
 .Each of the Each mast
held by 6 tendons 6
tension members is
affixed with bolts. From
under the sea.

● It claimed to use water as the the primary building material; pumping it from the
lake before filtering and shooting it as a fine mist through 31,500 high pressure
mist nozzles.Controlled by a smart weather system that regulated the water
pressure, the water vapour created an ‘artificial cloud’ that dominated its form.
● The columns sit on piles sunk deep beneath the water. A system of rectilinear
struts and diagonal struts and diagonal rods cantilevered the structure out over
the lake, with the walkways weaving through it and providing a counterweight.
● The architects based this ‘tensigirity’ structural form on the work of Buckminister
fuller.
 ● View from within: Entering Blur is like stepping
into a formless,featureless,depthless,
scaleless,massless,surfaceless and
dimensionless medium.
● The Blur Building also has a water bar inside it
that serves different types of water from Water
bar in Blur around the world to the building
visitors.this is appropriate for the Blur Building
because its main material is a form of water.
● At night the fog will function as a dynamic and
thick video screen.

● In the glass box, a space surrounded by glass on six sides,visitors experience a

“sense of physical suspension only heightened by an occasional opening in the fog”.
Visitors can climb another level to the Angel Bar at the summit.The final ascent
resembles the sensation of flight as one pierces through the cloud layer to the
sky.Here,visitors relax,take in the view,and choose from a large selection of
commercial waters,municipal waters from world capitals,and glacial waters.
Brain Coat

● The “braincoat” is a smart raincoat that, in combination with a proxy–communications network,

creates a new form of “social radar.
● All visitors arrive at the LogIn station at the base of the Blur entrance ramp and fill in a
questionnaire.
● The transceiver embedded in each braincoat has an imprint of the visitor’s response profile that
enables the coats to communicate in the fog.

● The color range is coded so that a shift toward cool blue–green

represents antipathy and a shift toward warm red, affinity. A small
vibrating pad is located in the rear pockets. When two perfectly
matched visitors encounter one another in the fog, a the coat
vibrates.
● As visitors pass one another, their coats compare character profiles
and create an involuntary reaction. The chest panel of the braincoat
displays a diffused colored light, the color indicating the degree of
affinity or antipathy, much like blushing from embarrassment or
blanching from shock.
Inference :
● Design is not concerned with objects, but with the meaningful experiences that those objects may promote. This means
that rather than focusing on products, designers have to focus on the social context in which products will be used and the
actions, attitudes, practices, feelings, identity features and social interactions they will promote.
● Sensory Design could be one of the main design strategies for emotional engagement between people and the constructed
environment, as it amplifies the perception and interaction that takes place between the two of them.

Sources :
● https://dsrny.com/project/blur-building
● https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/pabellon-the-blur-yverdon-les-bains-4
● https://publicdelivery.org/blur-building/

Videos :
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6ZbC53tVc&t=1s
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQZutvIiWrI&t=1s
The Shed, a Center for the Arts

● The Shed is a nonprofit cultural organization that

commissions, develops, and presents original
works of art, across all disciplines, for all
audiences.
● The Shed’s Bloomberg Building can physically
transform to support artists’ most ambitious ideas.
Its eight-level base building includes two levels of
gallery space; the versatile Griffin Theater; and
The Tisch Skylights, which comprise a rehearsal
space, a creative lab for local artists, and a skylit
event space.
● The McCourt, an iconic space for large-scale
performances, installations, and events, is formed
when The Shed’s telescoping outer shell is
deployed from over the base building and glides
along rails onto the adjoining plaza.
● The Shed’s open infrastructure can be permanently
flexible for an unknowable future and responsive to
variability in scale, media, technology, and the
evolving needs of artists.
● The Shed’s 120-foot tall (37 m) movable shell is
made of an exposed steel diagrid frame, clad in
translucent cushions of a strong and lightweight
Teflon- based polymer, called ethylene
tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). This material has the
thermal properties of insulating glass at a fraction of
the weight. The Shed’s ETFE panels are some of the
largest ever produced, measuring almost 70 feet (21
m) in length in some areas.

The Shed’s kinetic system is inspired by the industrial past of the High
Line and the West Side Rail Yard. Based on gantry cranes commonly
found in shipping ports and railway systems, the kinetic system
comprises a sled drive on top of the base
building and bogie wheels guided along
a pair of 273-foot-long (83 m) rails on
Level 2 (Plaza Level).
https://vimeo.com/295117052

Different ways the Centre is

used.
● The side walls of the McCourt rise and fall like a guillotine to open the
interior to the surrounding plaza. Shades drop, also guillotine style, to block
light and sound. Elements of the flexible light grid overhead can descend.
● The McCourt is effectively a soaring fly tower that allows the whole space to
perform as a stage. The point of the dance, however, is that the building
adapts to changing programs.
● The architects have created what Doctoroff correctly calls a “Swiss Army
knife” that can perform whatever task artists need and want. The building is
a servant structure without an architectural ego.
Inference :
● With the completion of this shape-shifting arts facility, the era of static theatrical venues will come to an end. Structures like
the Shed are built to appeal to cross-disciplinary artists who seek creative control over their environment, in keeping with
the changing character of the arts sector. Because of its spatial elasticity, the landmark project may inspire a new
generation of structures that will act as transformers in their own right.
● The Shed has been dubbed the "Swiss army knife of culture" because of its ability to do and be almost anything. It is a hub
for innovation, testing, and cooperation.

Sources :
● https://archello.com/project/the-shed-3
● https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/industry/architectural-details-the-shed-at-hudson-yards/
● https://dsrny.com/project/the-shed

Videos :
● https://vimeo.com/359123970?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=24339083
● https://vimeo.com/295117052?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=24339083
The Broad Museum / Diller Scofidio + Renfro
The Broad is a new contemporary art museum built by philanthropists Eli
and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The
museum, which was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The museum will be home to the nearly 2,000 works of art in The Broad Art
Foundation and the Broads’ personal collections, which are among the
most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide.

With its innovative “veil-and- vault” concept, the 120,000-square-foot,

$140-million building will feature two floors of gallery space to showcase
The Broad’s comprehensive collections and will be the headquarters of The
Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library.

The Broad is also building a 24,000-square-foot public plaza adjacent to

the museum to add another parcel of critical green space to Grand Avenue.
The museum’s design merges the two key programs of the building: public exhibition
space and the storage that will support The Broad Art Foundation’s extensive lending
activities.

Rather than relegate the storage to secondary status, “the vault” plays a key role in
shaping the museum experience from entry to exit. Its heavy opaque mass is always
in view, hovering midway in the building. Its carved underside shapes the lobby below
and public circulation routes. Its top surface is the floor of the third floor galleries.
GROUND FLOOR
FIRST FLOOR
TOP FLOOR
“The veil and the vault”

The vault is enveloped by the “veil,” a porous, honeycomb-like, exterior

structure that spans across the block-long building and provides filtered
natural daylight. The museum’s “veil” lifts at the corners, welcoming visitors
into an active lobby.
The public is then drawn upwards via escalator, tunneling through the vault, arriving
onto nearly an acre of column-free gallery space bathed in diffuse light.

The gallery has 23- foot-high ceilings, and the roof is supported by 7-foot-deep steel
girders.

Departure from the third floor gallery space is a return trip through the vault via a
winding central stair that offers glimpses into the vast holdings of the collection.
Structure
Structure

The museum’s archival function and its distinctive design, a complex covering
of interconnecting concrete trapezoids, have given rise to the nickname the
veil and the vault.

The entire project structure was designed with 3-D modeling software.

Glass-fiber-reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels

The frames had to be fabricated to tight tolerances, so the locations of the

components and connection points were checked with a total station survey
before and after welding. The survey data was imported back into the 3-D
model of the frame to verify accuracy. Before spraying the skin, the frames
were positioned on the mold, surveyed, and verified against the model.
SOURCE:

https://www.archdaily.com/772778/the-broad-diller-scofidio-plus-renfro?ad_medium=office_landing&ad_name=article

http://www.pre-cast.org/broadmuseum.asp

https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/buildings/the-broad-unveils-the-veil-and-the-vault_o#:~:text=In%20concept%2
0sketches%20for%20the,%2C%20light%2Dcontrolled%20art%20archive.

VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/7W_INqNeh1M
REF: https://youtu.be/7W_INqNeh1M
LINCOLN CENTER PUBLIC SPACES ,NEW YORK

L
incoln Center for the Performing Arts is the
premiere performing arts complex in the US and
the first worldwide to bring all the arts to one
campus.The Lincoln Center Public Spaces Project
includes the transformation of Lincoln Center’s
three-block frontage at Columbus Avenue, the
redesign of Fountain Plaza and North Plaza, a
network of smart technologies integrated with
traditional building materials to deliver real-time
information throughout the campus, and the
conversion of 65th Street from a service corridor
into a New York City street, dubbed the "Avenue of
the Arts".

1960's Alice Tully Hall
Redesigned Alice Tully Hall
After 50 years of wear and tear since it was conceived by Gordon
Bunshaft, Philip Johnson, Eero Saarinen and others, Lincoln Center was in
need of both a physical and philosophical update. DS+R’s renovation and
redesign reinterprets the modernist genetic code of the existing 16 acre
campus into a language that speaks to a diverse audience after several
generations of social and political change. The redevelopment project
touched virtually all aspects of the campus — its public spaces, the
Juilliard School, the 1,100 seat Alice Tully Hall, and the School of
American Ballet.
1960's Alice Tully Hall 1960's Alice Tully Hall
JUILLIARD SCHOOL
Features of the renovation include an entrance lobby and box office; a black box
theater; an orchestra rehearsal space and recording studio; jazz studios; a large dance
rehearsal studio; a library expansion; an archive for rare music manuscripts; plus
smaller studios, rehearsal rooms, classrooms, administrative offices, and lounges.
Three teaching levels are expanded by 45,000 sf into the open triangular site toward
Broadway. The cantilevered volume of The Juilliard School's expansion is a framing
canopy for the Alice Tully Hall expansion below. The east façade organizes a system of
circulation and public spaces while revealing school activities to the street. New
features include a grand lobby entrance stair/hangout space in which risers morph into
couches; single surface open riser steel communicating stair; a suspended dance
studio opening to the street; and a travertine façade with punched three–dimensional
prismatic windows.

Black box theater DANCE REHEARSAL STUDIO Music manuscripts

 The Hypar pavilion , a twisted grass lawn
over a new destination restaurant and
screening rooms for the Film Society.

View of North Plaza

North Plaza by stacking the two functions in a single gesture between the
reflecting pool and the plaza’s north edge. A twisted plane acts as a contoured
ceiling over the restaurant with views to the plaza and street, while its top surface
is a publicly accessible green roof of robust grasses.
 65th STREET BRIDGE
● The Lincoln Center Pedestrian Bridge (The President’s Bridge) is the final element of the Lincoln Center
campus–wide transformation .
● The bridge provides an alternative to street–level crossing.
● Emerging from simplicity of a truss bridge, the bridge keeps its structural and circulation functions separate.
● The bridge minimal in nature: structure and cladding are one. The stressed–skin construction is composed of an
asymmetrical, closed–cell box girder made up of fully welded steel plates varying from a half inch to one inch in
thickness.
● The bridge’s stressed–skin steel structure is 83’ long and weighs 58 tons.

View of Lincoln Center Bridge before transformation