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short-list finalist
This is a competition entry designed by Market Design Corporation which was selected as a finalist in the Scion Floor Plan competition. The event was organized by Scion Cars (Toyota) aiming to generate design proposals for an auto sales and promotion platform.
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The Scion Lines Project: (competition entry text)
Digital revolution has not only intensified the frequency of transactions in our daily lives, it has also created a co-existent virtual reality with electronic pets, multi-time zone meetings and global currencies which is trasnsforming our conscioussness. The timeless and static Medieval world, once mobilized by the ideals of the Renaissance, has yet taken another dramatic turn, ever changing the way we design, build and think.
Perhaps, that is why leading global corporations like Toyota invest considerable resources into questioning what the car of the 21st century looks like and who the next generation of the 21st century is.
That is also why, we as architects question what the architecture of the 21st. century looks like. Unlike modern architecture, this architecture is not a by product of mechanical and repetitive procesees dependent on standardized technologies. It rather emerges from co-existing polarities and uncertain dialectics of a post-modern era which resists clear definition by nature. This arhcitecture is also not visualized by cut and paste aesthetics of collage. It flows and moves, it is unique in parts, it is unique in whole, if fluctuates in proportion and scale, it allows for discordant organizations and spatial relationships. This architecture welcomes the imperfect and the distorted, like the young generation welcomes torn jeans and asymmetrical apparel.
The Scion Lines; a 775 sq. feet sales and display platform (made of hovering steel tubing and flexible fabric skin) was created with such ideas in mind, aspiring to explore what the architectural aesthetics of the 21st century might be.
Our display platform contains all the required functions and a selected Scion model on display and is customizable in organization such that, it is furnished with modular units of 2’x2’x2’ cubes that can be used as seating, desk surfaces, computer kiosks, accessory display and storage. Within their modularity these units agglomerate in different configurations as the life of the platform changes. They are made of sturdy light weight wood and plastic in material and are cleanable and stackable with ease. They allow for spatial separation and storage as necessary.
The sales platform is more secluded yet compatible with the cool spirit of the display area. It is straightforward and frank; it is more of a lounge than a sales office. Our modular furnishings land at ease, allowing all wiring for computer and telecommunications, wherever the sales crew find appropriate. All the brochures and marketing media are stored in the modules as well. This area is separated by a bare concrete looking metal frame and stucco wall that houses all accessories and the wheels for the display area. It also serves the sales area for posters and media display.
Yet, the most exciting part of our project is our tubular steel canopy and how it configures and organizes the entire platform spatially. After all, the name of the project is generated by the structure. The reason we call it the Scion Lines is because the lines that constitute the structure of the canopy are literally taken from Scion cars themselves. We think the Scions are beautiful, that is why we extrapolated their sensuous curves and used them to generate the geometry of the tubular steel structure. (See the Scion Lines diagrams)
