THE SCHOOL : MOVING

portABLE | Mobile Architecture

Tutor: Tilo Einert • Studio work of Stage 3 • Sheppard Robson Award

Glasgow School of Art has expressed the need for a portable building to generate a physical presence in several major cities around the globe. This project is to design a temporary architecture that is a quick, flexible and usually cost-effective response to shifting needs.

DESIGN CONCEPT | ‘REPRESENTATIVE’

Historically, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his art works have been regarded as a significant part of the school, but the school unfortunately lost the Mackintosh library, the symbolic space of the GSA, and some works due to the fire on 23 May 2014. The spatial arrangements and its form, therefore, were derived from Mackintosh patterns and library floor plan, so that it reminds people of the library. The design intention was to create deriving form and spatial arrangements from Mackintosh patterns and library floor plan.

MATERIALITY | ‘ADAPTABLE + FUNCTIONAL’

The key idea was to recycle and reuse the Mackintosh scaffoldings to cover the building with steel structure. Also, steel structure, polycarbonate sheets and osb boards are used for main materials because they all are universal materials. It means that the building will be able to become adaptable with its urban contexts all around the world. In a special occasion of being damaged, the materials can be easily replaced.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEM | CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

The Mackintosh building has been covered by scaffoldings for the restoration and it will be eventually finished soon. The main idea was to recycle and reuse its scaffoldings as a physical manifestation. For the primary columns and beams, steel structural system was designed and timber structure was used for structural roof and secondary beams (joists).