The culture-forming aspects of revitalization – the case of extension of the Sarphatistraat Offices Building in Amsterdam

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for the

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Piotr Furmanek*

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2012

No. 2(32)

DOI: 10.5277/arc120217

102 Piotr Furmanek

tects – mentions the associations with the Menger Sponge,

one of the most famous fractal objects [4].

Indeed, the free composition of the functional and

spatial design of the building resembles the structure of

a sponge due to the layout of the rooms and the wall per-

foration system visible both in the plans and sections of

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cladding which is also perforated both on external walls

and the reveals perpendicular to them, which makes the

openings look like they penetrate into the building. The

elements of the perforated cladding were also used in the

interior design, covering lighting and ventilation instal-

lations. The self-similarity between window openings of

various sizes and the mechanical ventilation as well as

the three-dimensional design of details evoke associations

with the Menger Sponge – one of the most important clas-

sic fractal objects. However, there is more to it than free

associations as the Menger Sponge, whose walls are the

Sierpinski Carpets, is a set of a highly regular structure

based on a precise construction algorithm and the dimen-

sions as well as the layout of the openings are connected

by mathematical relations.

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Arch. Steven Holl. Source: [3]

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Fig. 2. Interior of the added multi-functional room

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courbe cantorienne qui contient une image biunivoque et

continue de toute courbe donnée. According to the sim-

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is determined by the following procedure: it begins with

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gruent subsquares, of which the central subsquare is re-

moved. The same procedure of dividing and removing

the central subsquare is then applied recursively to the re-

maining 8 subsquares (called the generator.) N-steps in the

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Carpet is a fractal object whose construction method is de-

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termined by the recurrence relation, its fractal dimension

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and its characteristic feature is self-similarity [2].

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mathematician in his work titled Allgemeine Räume und

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Carpet. That object was called the Menger Sponge and

the construction of that set results from the application of

the following procedure: the initial set (called the initia-

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gruent cubes which are adjacent to one another (whose

walls are a/3) whose sum is the set of the initiator. In the

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The culture-forming aspects of revitalization – the case of extension of the Sarphatistraat Offices Building in Amsterdam

Piotr Furmanek

doi:10.5277/arc120217

Abstract