METHOD finX1 : language step 1 : choose a text as starting point step 2 : withing this text find 1. a noun 2. an adjective 3. a verb of crcucial meaning step 3 : describe each word in 4 synonyms (4 nouns for noun, etc.) step 4 : repeat to arrive at a set of 16 words step 5 : set 4 project specific criteria step 6 : choose from the set of 16 a word to correspond to each one of hte criteria step 7 : with the 4 chosen words compose a phrase that is grammatically correct, not necessarily logically step 8 : capture the phrase (haiku) in one word finX2 : image like finX1 but with image analysis finX3 : volume like finX1 but with volume analysis finX4 : synthesis take the results of all exercises and bring them together in one three dimensional model. See also : http://cab54.christiaanweiler.net/?003/projects-[realised]/

1. cab42
ARCHITECTURE : STRATEGY, DESIGN
OPDRACHT - Concept and design strategy
OPDRACHTGEVER - Rotterdam Academy of
Architecture and Willem de Kooning Acad-
emy of Arts, Helsinki faculty of Architecture.
REALISATIE - permanently under construction
OPMERKINGEN - Design strategy for third
and forth year students of architecture and
interior, including concepting and elaboration
of given assignment. I N S T R U C T I O N S
INTRODUCTION This brochure explains the teach-
ing method that ended up with the name finX.
In 1997 there was an architecture workshop in
the finnish archipelago, within the frame of the
Coast Wise Europe network (Rotterdam Academy
of Architecture 1996). The method was later
improved over time, and evaluatued in practice.
The method is based on a principle I call ‘concre-
tion’. Concretion is the opposite of abstraction.
Abstraction results by the nature of its quest,
in the loss of specific meaning. At it’s extreme,
something abstract can mean anything. Concre-
tion seeks to (re)produce new meaning by specify-
ing everything that is included within a definition.
Concretion seeks the specific rather than the
generic, the concrete rather than the abstract.
WHAT IS REAL ? In the last century abstraction
was a highly worthy goal for modern artists who
wanted to capture the essence of the things
around them. Mondriaans sequence of the apple
tree is a beautiful example. Designers and archi-
tects soon followed. To free his work from the
style limitations of the preceding era, Mies van
der Rohe designed a pavillon with such minimal
material suggestion that almost nothing but pure
space was left. Le Corbusier took the emerging
Modernist ideology into technology, and the inher-
ent abstraction allowed him to start a mass
production of the minimalist aesthetics of Mod-
ernism. La Ville Radieuse was an extreme result.
Changing the context of a well-defined object
already gave Duchamps urinoir a completely new
brilliance, very different from the original mean-
ing, yet carried by the same object. Context has
since been a fertile soil for editing new meaning.
What is reality, and what is fiction? The anorxic
junkie-model selling brand jeans in a glossy maga-
zine? Or politicians applying film industry to mili-
tary strategy? Inquisitive attitudes rewrote the
dictionaries of our environment, it has become
a hypertext so dense with links that no one can
read it.
The intention of creating, powered by new tech-
nology, has become so much more important than
the dry reality of it, that details and definitions
suffer from underestimation, and the expression
with it. “There’s a huge gap at te moment
between architects and societies. It will keep
getting bigger if architecture, instead of dealing
with its own substance, insists on the schiz-
ophrenical withdrawl of reality through the cre-
ation of abstract contents or the imitation of
exterior subjects.” (Carrilho da Graça in PROTO-
TYPO #001 januari 1999).
DE-CONSTRUCTION / RE-CONSTRUCTION The nine-
ties can be characterised by the conferences
called ‘ANY-…’. The Technical University of Delft
is basing it’s curriculum on a book with a collec-
tion of approximately 200 design approaches. The
Berlage Institute has asked 100 architects how
they see the future of architecture. Everybody is
generating ideas at an incredible rate. Generally
speaking, one can see a confusion taking place
after the storm of abstractions and the search
for identity. Identity is thinning out, as Koolhaas
would suggest, and there’s also a mass pro-
duction of identity noise. If a new generation of
designers wishes to adress an audience, i.e. their
clients, with the expectation of being heard, they
should learn to communicate their work in an
intelligent and evocative way. The finX approach
tries to rediscover original vehicles for meaning
and how they can be constructed, to edit them
into communicative new meaning. Meaning means
very little now, and specially students are easily
confused by the amount of possible interpreta-
tions to a given subject. FinX tries to give a tool
for orchestrating intended spatial and material
experiences.
B- for each associated element goes the same
(objects in category 2). C- In the middle you end
up with an amount of associated elements.
D- By critical selection you reduce these ele-
ments to those that comply to the set of criteria.
E- The chosen elements are synthesized into a
new meaningful element (the derivative object).
LECTURES 1 - 2 - 3 To introduce this scheme into
the realm of three dimensional design, three lec-
tures are prepared. The lecture on textual mean-
ing introduces basics of communication, language,
idiom and syntax, and how they can be seen as
a flexible system of signification. The lecture on
visual meaning skips through history to explain the
development and the logic of visuals. The lecture
on shape and meaning introduces design intents
and results, and the criteria by which they can be
discussed. Gradually design expression and design
media are introduced. Meaning and construction
become understandable elements of design.
EXERCISES 1 - 2 - 3 Based on the same subjects,
three excercises were developped. At all times
communicating a meaning is the norm. The first
exercise, finX1, is a textual exercise. An
easy one to get acquainted with the structure.
FinX2 is a visual exercise. It demands more
creativity in association. In finX3 a three
dimensional object is chosen, de- and recom-
posed. Sculptural expression is the goal. The
synthesis, or finX4, forges the results of
the exercises into a conceptual model. This is
not an architectural design, but a complex object
using textual, visual and sculptural expression.
They have all the aspects of an architectural model
(colour, texture, composition) except one :
programme.
BRAIN STORM FinX tries to give a frame for
analysis and proposal: de-construction and re-con-
struction. This scheme is a scalelessly structured
brain-storm. It allows one to cross the line of
evident solutions. A- any element (a primitive
object) can be described by an acceptable set of
associated elements (objects in category 1), and
D
ABSTRACTION
CONCRETIONfin X 1 - fin X 2 - fin X 3 - synthesis
YONDER =
primitive
HORIZON =
FATE =
HOPE =
GOAL =
DEPTH
BORDER
DISTANCE
SUN-DOWN >
DECREE
DESTINATION
LUCK
CHANCE
FAITH
FUTURE >
WISH
EXPECTATION
RESULT >
USE
INTENT >
PLAN
N: SUN-DOWN }
E: FUTURE }
C1: RESULT }
C2: INTENT } AFRODISIAC
derivative
< “The INTENTion for the FUTURE is to improve the RESULT of the SUN-DOWN.” >
N: nature, E: experiment, C1: culture, C2: communication
finX1
primitive subject background detail derivative
finX2
primitive primary volumes & boolean operations derivative
ENVELOPE
ENVELOPE
ROTATION
SUBSTRACTION
finX3synthesis
AFRODISIAC + + +
?
finX1 finX2 finX3 finX4
lecture1:languageandmeaninglecture2:imageandmeaninglecture3:shapeandmeaning
idiom allows us
to signify our
environment and
share our expe-
riences.
duct conduit,
pipe, canal,
tube, channel,
passage
pro - duce
bring - forth
grammar allows
us to construct
new meaning in
our changing
environment.
produce make
product yield
production
making
prefix:
pro = for
as opposed to:
anti = against
no word for ice
1word for water
20 words for
ice
20 words for
water
performance . . .
style . . . . . . .
representation . . . . . topology . . .
technique . . . . .
A
B
C
D
E
ornament . . . icon . . .
reference . . . reality . . .
fiction . . .

2. O
L
N
cab42
ARCHITECTURE : STRATEGY, DESIGN
OPDRACHT - Concept and design strategy
OPDRACHTGEVER - Rotterdam Academy of
Architecture and Willem de Kooning Acad-
emy of Arts, Helsinki faculty of Architecture.
REALISATIE - permanently under construction
OPMERKINGEN - Design strategy for third
and forth year students of architecture and
interior, including concepting and elaboration
of given assignment. E X A M P L E S
INTRODUCTION The finX approach consists of
three exercises and a synthesis. The exercises
follow the logic of the scheme but the synthesis
has no method. By going through the exercises,
students are forced to propose and discuss tex-
tual, as well as visual and three dimensional mean-
ing and communication. The work frame is quite
strict, but the content is completely free. Anything
can be chosen, analysed and proposed, as long
as its comprehensible for the group. For textual
communication this is usually no problem. The
resulting phrases of finX1 often resemble evoca-
tive haikus. Visual communication of finX2 is all-
ready more difficult and personal, but can still
be discussed within general consensus. Three
dimensional communication of finX3 is much more
abstract for many, but elementary spacial notions,
such as shape, proportion and scale, soon become
the subject of evaluation. The group discusses the
characteristics of certain types of spaces. Gradu-
ally meaning and construction become controlable
elements of design.
TWO PROJECTS On this page there are two
projects. The first shows the steps taken to
achieve a conceptual model. The second shows
how the conceptual model is elaborated into a
complete design. The scheme illustrated on the
first page, is active in the whole process of con-
cepting. The elaboration of the conceptual model is
an application of the model to a given assignment.
FINX1 The first language exercise, by student Tom
van Odijk, considers words taken form a poem
on the city of Rotterdam. The word ‘city’, leads
to ‘business’, ‘internationality’, ‘massiveness’, etc.
etc.. In the end the three resulting words are
joined in a phrase : “realising is the courageous
salvation of our existence”, which in turn is char-
acterised by the word ‘confrontation’. The source
text, in this case the poem, has been ‘uncon-
sciously evaluated’, and has delivered the notion
of confrontation. This notion will be transferred to
the synthesis.
FINX2 The image exercise starts with an image
chosen within the context of the assignment,
in this case an information centre for the city.
As a reference is chosen the lobby of the
Nederlands Architectuur Institute. The image is
de-constructed and re-constructed in images of
constructions, city-scape backgrounds, and lob-
bies. The three images that are chosen, the
bridge, the cantileved space and the duo-seats,
are characterised by one image : a rooftop swim-
mingpool with a view of the skyline. It becomes
clear that the original picture has been evaluated
as a space for distant reflection on the city. This
notion will be transferred to the synthesis.
FINX 3 The last excercise introduces formal pref-
erences. A chosen object form the context of
the assignment is formally de-constructed, in this
case a city trash can. After some basic sculpting
finX3, the text follows the results form finX1
and the images come from finX2. It’s a model; it
could be a building, but this model is meant for
an interior. The model should not be seen as a
literal spatial model. It is has to be interpreted
for its meaning and it’s representative logic.
INTERPRETATION The model is an organisation of
representations: an escape to survive (the white
volume) that pierces through layers of mundaine
humdrum (the transparent images), and stems
from a earthly basis (the cortin steel base).
These representations are translated into ‘char-
acters’. Most important was to know how the
experience of each element played a part in the
experience of the whole. The model for architec-
ture becomes meaningfull.
PROGRAMMING When each element had a char-
acter, the next step was to translate these
characters into dwelling activities. The Source
became the most intimate space, the Navigation
was used as circulation system, and the Resist-
ance was translated into all the boring daily task
spaces, such as work and kitchen etc.. With each
programmatic choice, a preference for materials
was found.
DESIGN Plan and section emerged and were
improved within the limits of the assignment and
the intended experience. Materials were chosen
in correspondence with the intended characters
of the separated space-elemements. Making all
this work for practical circumstances and techni-
cal criteria rounds up the assignment where the
spatial and material experience can be present
found, even in the details.
SYNTHESIS 2 The conceptual model made by stu-
dent Jan Geert de Bruin, shows a large white
trapezoid volume, towering from two horizontal
layers. One layer is a transparant layer with
images of advertisement and commercials, the
layer underneath is a solid layer made of rusted
cortin steel. The shapes follow the results form
noun: city
phrase: ”buildings based on the
24-7 lifestyle reflect the chances
of diversity.”
derivative: salvation
selection: ‘24-7 lifestyle’, chances,
buildings, diversity.
verb: to strawl
selection: experience, dream, talk
phrase: ”by talking and experiencingdreams one is inspired.”derivative: to realise
inspire.
adjective: exciting
phrase : ”looking for the uncontrolable
and uncertain
derivative : courageous
selection : enticing, uncontrolable,
surpassing, unknown.
surpasses the enticing.”
phrase: ”realising is the courageous
salvation of our existence.”
derivative: CONFRONTATION
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
finX1
primitive
beam1>beam2beam3
seats2
seats1
seats3>
tower3>tower2
tower1
subject background detail derivative
lobby with
and tower in the
back
beam overhead
rooftop pool
deckchairs and skyline
with
finX2finX3
primitive derivative
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
synthesis
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
synthesis
interpretationprogrammingdesign
contents by
Jan Geert de Bruin
dd 21.01.03
contents by
Tom van Odijk
dd 06.06.02
TRASH CAN
ROUNDED CONEINTERLOCKING WITHEXCAVATED TRAPEZIUM
relaxed retreat
CONFRONTATION :
“analyse - relate”
... and skyline
to take a reflexive distance
“ survive “
visual media noise
red earth
to break through the hype and fly
The central vaulted space
found in a Palladian villa.
1.source 2.navigation 3.resistance 4.survive 5.growing
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section becomes
circulation.
Activity and materials linked
Section is programmed
Private programme, breaks through circulation,
breaks through resistant activity.
Plan and colour scheme.
Model 1 : 100 Details 1 : 20 & 1 : 5
and puzzling the resulting object has two intwined
volumes, both triangular, but one is rounded and
the other is rectangular. This notion will be trans-
ferred to the synthesis.
SYNTHESIS 1 In the synthesis we see a hollow cone
illustrated with sleeping people on the inside and
mirrorring on the outside. It mirrors the words
‘analysis’ and ‘relate’. These words fill up the space
between the cope and the triangle illustrated with
the skyline, i.e. the city. The model suggests
already solutions for future design questions but
it is not yet a design. It is open to interpretation
within certain boundaries. It definitely has a mean-
ing, but it doesn’t have a fixed form yet.
finX4/Pijnacker2002
finX4/Franx2002
finX4/Rameckers2002
finX4/Toebast2002
finX4/deRidder2002
finX4/vanWoerkom2002
SYNTHESIS RESULTS AT THE WILLEM DE KOONING ACADEMY 1ST SEMESTER 2002
5.