Déconstructivisme | EPFL Graph Search

Le déconstructivisme est un mouvement artistique, exclusivement architectural, qui doit son nom au mouvement littéraire de la « déconstruction » dont le philosophe Jacques Derrida fut le principal théoricien et défenseur. Trouvant dans cette nouvelle vision de l'architecture une essence philosophique. Le nom de déconstructivisme se réfère également au mouvement du Constructivisme russe qui naquit dans les années 1920 (exemple avec l'artiste Aleksandr Rodchenko) dont il reprend certaines des inspirations. C'est un mouvement contemporain, parallèle et différent du postmodernisme, qui s'oppose comme lui à la rationalité ordonnée de l'architecture moderne, mais avec une part complètement opposée puisque le déconstructivisme assume pleinement la rupture avec l'histoire, la société, le site, les traditions techniques et figuratives. Le déconstructivisme revendique la philosophie postmoderne (qui n'a rien à voir avec le postmodernisme), en particulier ses idées de fragmentation et de pola

Inventory of Problems: The Genesis of the Rotterdam Kunsthal by OMA/Rem Koolhaas, 1987-1992

Tibor Bonaventura Pataky

The Kunsthal in Rotterdam is a key work in the oeuvre of OMA/Rem Koolhaas that marks the threshold between the firmâs architectural production of the decades before and after 1990. This doctoral thesis aims at a deeper and comprehensive understanding of this work of architecture. It gives a chronological account of the entire process of planning and design from the origins of the commission in 1987 to the completion of the building in 1992. The process is being discussed in a series of pertinent contexts, such as the site and its history, the architecture and the theory of the late 1980s, and contemporaneous political events like the Fall of the Iron Curtain and the dynamics of European Integration so as to reconstruct the historical moment the Kunsthal emerged from. The thesis combines archival research on the Kunsthal and the two closely connected projects of the Museum Park (1987-94) and the competition for the Netherlands Architecture Institute (1988) with text based research on a series of related fields: next to the literature on the production of OMA/Rem Koolhaas and the publications by Koolhaas himself, selected literature on the projectâs historical backdrop and its above mentioned aspects. Major attention is being dedicated to the relation between Koolhaasâ writings and statements, OMAâs architectural production and its reception. In the field of architectural history, both scholarly research and in-depth studies on OMAâs architecture are scarce to this day, while its reception is partly overshadowed by Koolhaasâ own exegesis. Both the focus on a single building and a methodological distinction between primary and secondary sources are to counteract these tendencies. The study of the primary sources â archival material, the existing building â follows the principle of an immanent reading, in order to re-enact the logic of the project and its development as well as how it âreflectsâ the requirements, conflicts, intentions and historical events that conditioned it. The study of the secondary sources â literature on/by OMA, interviews with former team members â compares the logic of the project and its âreflectivityâ to the theoretical discourse and interpretations of the Kunsthal put forward by Koolhaas himself, critics, academics and others. The account is divided in two parts. Part 1 draws a line from the origins of the commission to the first project of the Kunsthal (I) which was abandoned in autumn 1988. Focal themes are: the situation of OMA in 1987; Rotterdam and the history of the site; contemporary movements of urban renewal and Koolhaasâ take on urbanism at the time; the brief and the museum architecture of the 1980s; the Museum Park from the first studies to the final project by Yves Brunier; OMAâs competition entry for the Netherlands Architecture Institute, and the MoMA exhibition Deconstructivist Architecture in 1988. Part 2 is focused on the second project of the Kunsthal (II) which was eventually built. Next to the inception of the scheme and the completed building, several stages of the design are being discussed in detail. Other focal themes are: the concept of the circuit and architectural precedents; the impact of Ove Arup and the client on the design; the revision of Koolhaasâ architectural approach from 1989 onwards and how it relates to the events of European Integration and the Fall of the Berlin Wall; fragmentation as an issue that is key both to this shift and the Kunsthal in terms of design.

EPFL2021

Stabilization strategies in biomass depolymerization using chemical functionalization

Jeremy Luterbacher, Ydna Marie Questell-Santiago

A central feature of most lignocellulosic-biomass-valorization strategies is the depolymerization of all its three major constituents: cellulose and hemicellulose to simple sugars, and lignin to phenolic monomers. However, reactive intermediates, generally resulting from dehydration reactions, can participate in undesirable condensation pathways during biomass deconstruction, which have posed fundamental challenges to commercial biomass valorization. Thus, new strategies specifically aim to suppress condensations of reactive intermediates, either avoiding their formation by functionalizing the native structure or intermediates or selectively transforming these intermediates into stable derivatives. These strategies have provided unforeseen upgrading pathways, products and process solutions. In this Review, we outline the molecular driving forces that shape the deconstruction landscape and describe the strategies for chemical functionalization. We then offer an outlook on further developments and the potential of these strategies to sustainably produce renewable-platform chemicals. Deconstructing plant-derived polymers into small molecules is necessary for biomass valorization but gives intermediates that undergo undesirable reactions. This Review describes how the intermediates can be converted into stable derivatives as renewable-platform chemicals.

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP2020

Inventory of Problems: The Genesis of the Rotterdam Kunsthal by OMA/Rem Koolhaas, 1987-1992

Tibor Bonaventura Pataky

EPFL2021