Research: Scaffolding Architecture

Often scaffolding is a temporary structure, normally created by steel beams, wooden planks, and wooden/bamboo poles, used to support the development of a permanent structure. Therefore, the appearance of scaffolding is often connotated as incomplete, unfinished, a support for something greater.

What if the purpose of scaffolding was much greater? The star, instead of the side character?
Auckland is a developing city, permanently enveloped in scaffolding and “construction in progress” signs. They are normally a nuisance to city dwellers, often having to weave around steel beams to get to their destination. What if I used my design proposal to highlight these scaffoldings as an integral part of the folly, as a nod to Auckland’s development? How can it be a topic for civic engagement?

Italo Calvino: Thekla (1972)

Those who arrive at Thekla can see little of the city, beyond the plank fences, the sackcloth screens, the scaffoldings, the metal armatures, the wooden catwalks hanging from ropes or supported by sawhorses, the ladders, the trestles. If you ask “Why is Thekla’s construction taking such a long time?” the inhabitants continue hoisting sacks, lowering leaded strings, moving long brushes up and down, as they answer “So that it’s destruction cannot begin.” And if asked whether they fear that, once the scaffoldings are removed, the city may begin to crumble and fall to pieces, they add hastily, in a whisper, “Not only the city.”
If, dissatisfied with the answers, someone puts his eye to a crack in a fence, he sees cranes pulling up other cranes, scaffoldings that embrace other scaffoldings, beams that prop up other beams. “What meaning does your construction have?” he asks. “What is the aim of a city under construction unless it is a city? Where is the plan you are following, the blueprint?”
“We will show it to you as soon as the working day is over; we cannot interrupt our work now,” they answer.
Work stops at sunset. Darkness falls over the building site. The sky is filled with stars. “There is the blueprint,” they say.

In Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Thekla is a city which consists of never-ending construction, full of cranes, pulleys, and scaffolding. The scaffolding is more than just a structure; it is the city’s identity, with every component supporting one another to create these structures. Created by the stars as the blueprint to the city. There is no real substance to its progress, but rather the substance is the progress itself. Without the purpose, the city will fall apart.

https://architexturez.net/pst/az-cf-184811-1505977688

SELFWARE.surface, Michael Rieper (2003)

Designed by 40 architecture students from the Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Architecture and Design, in collaboration with Peter Fattinger and Michael Rieper. Was located in Graz, Austria.

The temporary structure used scaffolding as a method to explore the tension between the private and public. The scaffolding architecture offers a different perspective on viewing scaffolding as more than a construction material, and as a place of inhabitation. The facade will continiously develop, with future usage for performances for a period of time.

“Explore new social relationships and collaborative processes that renegotiate the urban environment.”

https://www.mvd.org/en/prj/surface/

Scaffolding, Shohei Shigematsu (2017-2018)

Curated by Greg Barton, the Scaffolding exhibition is located in the gallery for Center of Architecture. The exhibition invokes civic engagement while providing novel forms of inhabitation and access. The scaffolding structure for once, is not the side character, but instead the star of the show, proving that it is more than just a nuisance to those maneuvering around these structures, while also being a pragmatic tool for radical architecture. It is given a chance to give scaffolding structures appreciation.

The exhibition can be seen on the windows of the gallery, by using a series of periscopes to reflect the gallery space onto the street. Passerbys can view the exhibition without physically being in the space.

“Scaffolding functions as a noun and verb, object and process. It is commonly invoked as a powerful metaphor by many disciplines due to its supportive role and adaptive qualities.”
Curator Barton

https://www.centerforarchitecture.org/exhibitions/scaffolding/
https://archinect.com/news/bustler/6033/from-display-structures-to-housing-prototypes-the-exhibition-scaffolding-explores-the-possibilities-of-the-underappreciated-tool

Walking in Trees, Richard Orjis (2019)

Presented by Wilde Projects, the installation is used to illuminate Albert Park’s history, as the history is often ignored or unnoticed. The installation is made up of steel scaffoldings wrapping around a Himalayan cedar tree, which stands at the height of 50 metres. The scaffolding itself is at the height of 12 metres. The scaffolding supports platforms and stairs for visitors to walk up and give them a different perspective of the park, while also immersing themselves in the natural world around them.

Visitors can walk around the tree, and the scaffolding is wide enough to walk, sit, and relax under the trees at a new height. There were also free talks and workshops suitable for all ages.

“Walking in Trees allows urban dwellers to reconnect with the natural world around them. It also gives people the opportunity to explore the city from a new perspective and learn about the park’s unique history.”
Richard Orjis

https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2019/08/project-offers-unique-bird-s-eye-view-of-albert-park/
https://lightboxprojects.com/portfolio_page/wilde-projects/

La Concordia: Amphitheatre (2020)

A collaborative work by Colab-19, SCA, and Taller Architects, the Amphitheatre is located in Bogotá, Colombia, as a way to reactivate spaces for economic purposes, due to the loss of businesses during Covid-119. Bogotá has had one of the longest lockdowns, with 40% of their businesses closing. Proven to be successful by Colab’s previous work, La Perse (2020), vertical distancing through temporary structured spaces increased the economy during the pandemic.

The Amphitheatre was then created to focus on gastronomical, recreational and commercial purposes, showing the multifunctional use and cultural importance to the space. From the entrance, the scaffolding can be seen, as if to recreate a facade of the existing building as a theatre curtain.