RPI School of Architecture
Critic: Brian DELUNA
suckerPUNCH: Describe your project.
Varun CHILLARA: The project speculates into the future when the U.S hosts the 2024 Olympics. In preparation for the 2024 Olympics , the U.S has commissioned the Los Angeles memorial coliseum to be retrofitted for the Olympic games . The term , after the flame in this case reuses the existing Olympic coliseum for the next Olympic games . The proposal for the project looks to assert power through the use of aesthetics and excessive amounts of detail.
- Varun CHILLARA, “Spectacle Of The Machine.”, Construction Documents
- Varun CHILLARA, “Spectacle Of The Machine.”, Construction Documents
- Varun CHILLARA, “Spectacle Of The Machine.”, Elevation
- Varun CHILLARA, “Spectacle Of The Machine.”, Section
Beyond their concrete role in athletics the Olympics have long been an event of economic and political importance. The economic impact of the host city is also undeniable. Although this can be either positive or negative- as some Olympics cost more than they deliver.
The project occupies the front facade and only the front facade of the coliseum. On top of it , exists a building infrastructure for a billboard and building hybrid . Inside the building during the Olympics ,exists VIP boxes and office spaces. The exterior is a screen in two ways: it’s porous so the inhabitants can see through it and also at the intersections exists LCD screens that can be projected onto.
The project itself alludes to a loss of a traditional component hierarchy- meaning what’s normally
hidden away IE: building infrastructure , has the same importance as the facade. So to elaborate, there is definitely a hierarchy in terms of composition, but what I am suggesting is a loss of hierarchy in terms of importance.
What exists on top of the infrastructure are a series of chairs that individuals can inhabit and the cranes on top of the billboard, build temporary infrastructure depending on where people want to inhabit- creating a type of adaptable and always changing environment.
++Thesis was awarded the Harriet R. Peck Prize for the Best Solution to a Thesis Project in Architecture Design++
sP: What or who influenced this project?
VC: Brian deLuna, Archigram, NASA’s Apollo 5 drawings, Libeskind drawings, Morphosis drawings
sP: What were you reading/listening to watching while developing this project?
VC: John Mayer, Kanye West, RHCP, Whiplash
sP: Whose work is currently on your radar?
VC: Brian deLuna, William Virgil, Rhett Russo, Evan Douglis, Mark Foster Gage, TVM, Xefirotarch, Fleet Hower, Edwin Liu, Studio Libeskind, Morphosis, ZHA
