Window tones

• Looking at the building again, I realise that I can read more into the elevation than first meets the eye. Relief mapping can be used to produce accuracy but also to re-interpret!

• The windows on Keybridges facade all contain blinds to block out the outside world, these are all of a muted green or blue shade. each window therefore has its own level of brightness and therefore its own position on a relief model.

1) Each window could be read as a dial tone, as there are ten dial tones for numbers (0-9) we could assign each 'brightness level 10 percentile' a tone. The facade could then be read as a series of numbers each triggering a particular tone.

• This study shows the brightness levels for each of the main windows on the facade. Note that each floor is made up of three glazed sections however.

• The lowest section contains only one consistant tone as it is made up one repeated colour, From the ground level it is impossible to see how this works on the very top few floors however.

• The top window section is usually in shadow caused by the overhanging concrete slab and it is difficult to read as a level. I will take advantage of this fact in some way I'm sure!

I am going to start by concentrating my experiments on the middle section.

Relief Mapping experiments

The 3d modelling I wish to use for this project relies on the process of using relief mapping to read 2d images and turn them into 3D virtual constructs. Cinema 4D does this very efficiently and renders them fairly quickly and accurately.

The first experiment I carried out was to model the front elevation with accuracy using the depth measurements taken on site and from photographs.

Relief mapping works by reading an images levels of brightness and converting them into positions of depth.

White= 100% brightness= furthest forward on the relief map Black= 0% brightness= furthest back on the relief map

Any levels in between get placed accordingly.

The element of the facade nearest you is the metal vertical cladding running up the building (equals white 100%).

The element furthest from you is the glazing (equals black 0%).

The distance between the two is 1500mm, setting the relief map to this then allows me to calculate the levels required for accurately positioning all other elements.

The concrete slab needs a level of brightness = 35%

These levels are applied to the CAD drawing in photoshop in greyscale. Below is the initial relief map for the top eight floors.



Here is the new relief map of 1 floor only and the resulting C4D facade.

Initial 3D Modelling

Although I don't want this to be a normal architectural modelling exercise, I still believe any outcomes should come from an accurate reading of the buildings structure. From the site photographs and drawings/measurements I have drawn the towers front elevation (front being the one facing South Lambeth Rd) in Vectorworks as a 2D line drawing.

This was a useful exercise as it also showed how the being is made from various elements or units that fit into one another to particular ratios. It also highlighted any changes in the buildings elevational rhythm as you progress down the facade.

I have decided to concentrate solely on the front facade and to read it floor by floor from top to bottom.

Attached firstly is a photo of the facade with workings out and notes drawn on. The second image shows the black and white resulting CAD drawing (top eight floors only for now).

CHECKLIST

Before going further I would like to make a list of the main areas of interest to work on both visually and conceptually. This will guide the graphic nature of the project....

1. Keybridge 'emerges from the ground', or is 'dumped from above'= vertical motion.
2. Rumoured to be 'as deep as it is tall', (soundwave?)
3. Questionable purpose.
4. Building is 'hiding a secret' = shadowy tone.
5. Repetitive nature = tempo.
6. Link to audio frequencies through (disconnected) dial tones.
7. Faceless facade (barrier) vs information flow.
8. Reflection of community.

VISUAL APPROACH RESEARCH 2

I DO NOT LOVE NYC
Very simple visuals with a great feel to them, plus relevant audio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaZv3JUxuTA

CITY SCAN#3 - Hfr-Lab
Love this style (rotated view) which matches my survey film nicely!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N24NLrYKRY

CITY ESCAPE-Parts 1,2
Similar style to Hfr-lab, but a little overdone I feel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV8c2Wg-E8w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MArTNJfrIX4

VISUAL MUSIC - Amon Tobin music video
Referenced for its 3D modelling and animation of buildings (2.00/2.40mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFBJNH9LJ24&feature=related

DIAL TONES

When searching for an appropriate audio accompaniment I need look no further than the buildings role as BT phone exchange. It is perfect, it makes sense conceptually.

I have linked some pages below that give an overview of exchanges, dial tones and SIT signals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial_tone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_information_tone

Especially relevant are the special information tones, indicating that a call cannot be completed but also automatically classifying why it has failed (e.g. number disconnected, circuits busy, mis-dialing,etc). This feeds into the disconnection of the building, yet maybe not its secrecy. This could be played upon however (mis-information)?

I like the idea that you can develop simple variations in sequence using only two frequencies and two durations (high/low, long/short). The connection to the x and z axis are clear, y could be for volume or loudness?

These tones are usually followed by a recorded voice message explaining the call failure. this introduces an option of a human element into my soundtrack (possibly... secrets, confessions or simply opinions on Keybridge house?).

This could be one way to comment on the building and its communication context?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFWcAkxzkv4&NR=1

The role as phone exchange also introduces another side to this project, that this building is connected to the outside world, in fact massively, randomly even inter-dependantly. Information maybe streaming in and out constantly through the ground and all around in the air. If the main structure of my motion graphics piece is physical and architectural the second layer can be less tangible, more fluid.

I am reminded of the excellent light sculptures of liktfaktor.....

http://www.lichtfaktor.eu/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtBJETFfgyY

Now go back and watch the film I took of Keybridge house again. Time to develop a stylistic approach to this project.

SITE SURVEY-LANCE

I want to get inside this building, maybe not literally, but I want to get beneath its surface to unearth its hidden cycles, to read it in as many ways as possible.

On saturday morning I went to do the first of possibly many site surveys. This incorporated general photograhic documentation of the overall building and a second more structured set of photographs recording the ground floor elevation at eye level (two sides of what I will term the square 'block', as against the 'tower').

I suppose this will give me a better understanding not only of construction but also of the materials used and their general state. These have been pieced together to form the first 'strip' of information.

Secondly it has given me a firmer idea of the buildings beat or rhythm. This was reinforced by filming the same stretch at walking pace at eye level again. Not only in its elevational 'frequency' but also in how the structural elements protrude away or towards the facade, its 'amplitude'.

This information will be read in the way that I have discussed the visualisation of sound in earlier blogs. There has to be a way to read the buildings structure and translate to audio, a link that makes sense and 'becomes the buildings voice'.

I AM NOT ALONE / CONSPIRACY THEORIES

When I got home that night I was after some information.....

Not knowing the name of the building at this point I searched on the net for 'ugly building south lambeth rd', this is where the project started to get interesting for me.

It seems I am not the only one with a strange fascination for Keybridge House. I found forums where fans discuss, articles of hatred from journalists, petitions to sign from local residents and wonderfully, theories of conspiracy surrounding its real purpose.

Keybridge House is owned by BT and is down as one of its phone exchanges, or at least was until recently, it is not exactly sure how in use it is at the moment. I read that no one is really seen entering or emerging except for the odd black car driving from the car park underneath the tower. Visitors report tight security and concealed corridors!

With the M16 building just down the road some believe this to be the real centre of surveillance. It is believed that tunnels may lead from underground to other parts and that the building is as deep as it is tall!

Photographs:
http://flickr.com/photos/27568422@N00/sets/72157604082190139/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benpatio/125636392/
WikiMap:
http://wikimapia.org/5841339/Keybridge_House
Forums:
http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=2353&goto=nextoldest
http://tradescant.blogspot.com/2008/01/is-this-ugliest-office-in-britain.html
Articles:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2233130,00.html

KEYBRIDGE HOUSE

"Keybridge house is a piece of faceless brutalist architecture situated on South Lambeth Rd just west of Vauxhall. Walking past it last week on thursday I saw it and said that it was either the ugliest building in london or the most beautiful?

Not beauty in the correct sense of the term, but a building of interest and emotion non the less. I immediately had a desire to discover it, to document it and fundamentally to animate it!

It had a immense, monstrous approach to the world without a care for its position on the street.

Looking at it further the reasons for this became clearer, there were no signs of any life inside the building, no human in sight either in the grounds, at the reception or either at any of the monotonously filthy windows. In fact you could hardly see into any of the windows in any case as they all are covered by dirty, broken old blinds. The concrete slabs between floors stained and the vertical metal cladding running all the way up the building severe and oversized.

My next observation was that unlike most buildings the facade of this building does not change from pavement to sky, the ground floor has no extra architectural consideration at all. It is like it has simply emerged from underground or been dumped from above.

It is repetitive to the extreme, as you walk round it is as if the building is turning away from you, keeping a secret hidden?"