- The Origin House - thesis

Alkuper채채 Talo - the origin house -

A story of the materials and traditions of the people of the Finnish Karelian Forest.

Grace Hall

table of contents

... a process of thought

... a place and a people

... a program for a culture ... a way to draw

... to see a density of information ... a house for origin

... the Kalevala

the forest caretaker

Yuri, the forest caretaker watches the wind sway the tall pines, their ocher skins stretch to the blue chilled sky. He treks through the spongy moss and studies one great pine. It’s girth to wide to encircle with his arms he looks up the trunk... almost perfectly straight. This tree will give fine boards. He marks it with his tape and continues on to a small sapling just three feet tall. He clears the underbrush from around it and feels the needles through his gloved hands as he checks the canopy. When the great pine falls this small sapling will take its place. “You will be a strong tree for my grandson”, he whispers.

The caretaker understands the forest. He knows how to “train” a tree to grow straight and strong understanding that the “flock” he tends will not be ready for harvesting in his lifetime. His works will transcend the generations, his efforts and the tempo of the forest are etched into the grain of the wood.

the luthier

Aina, handles pine board with attentive fingers. She traces the gentle curves of the grain studying the internal movement of the wood. This tree had slightly bent in its lifetime journey towards the light, however this slow reaching movement would serve her soundboard well. She picks up her hand-planer and scrapes over the surface, adding another layer of information to the already rich material.

Her craft, honed over thousands of years of tradition, infuses the wood with a timeless layer rich with the human creative effort. However, the wood doesn’t lose the information bestowed upon it by its genesis or the forest caretakers caring eye, but rather it is heightened and built upon.

the musician

Reiko picks at the kantele while Aina patiently watches. “How does it feel?” she asks after a few careful minutes. Reiko continues to pick at the beautiful kantele in his lap. “It sounds good”. He says quietly. “But, my wrists... I don’t think the angle is quite right.” Aina leans closer, studying the size of his wrists and the angle of his play. “I can fix that”. She says. But Reiko doesn’t hand the kantele over. He closes his eyes and continues to play. He starts to sing the ancient Kalevala, his voice low but in harmony with the clear notes of the kantele.

Vaka vanha Väinämöinen itse tuon sanoiksi virkki: “Näistäpä toki tulisi kalanluinen kanteloinen, kun oisi osoajata, soiton luisen laatijata.”

Kun ei toista tullutkana, ei ollut osoajata, soiton luisen laatijata, vaka vanha Väinämöinen itse loihe laatijaksi, tekijäksi teentelihe.

The kantele that the luthier has created becomes the “second voice” of the musician. With it he can express emotion on a level than no words could ever achieve. In his play the tempo of the forest and the tone of the luthier sings through in the etherial notes of the song of the Kalevala.

the song of a people

Reiko sits in the performance hall with the kantele Anio made for him across his knees. He looks out at the crowd of people waiting quietly for him to begin.

He begins to pluck the chords of the ancient origin song. The notes of the Kalevala reverberate through the room, rich with the tone of the forest and the craftsmenship of the people. He breaths deeply and sings the venerable epic.

His voice keeping time with the notes from his kantele. He appears as VäinämÜinen himself, his requium the keeper of history and the proliferator of all knowledge.

The Kalevala is the origin epic of the people of the Karelian Forest. It is their historic identity manifest in mythos. The song tells of the creation of the forest, man, and their traditions. It is fitting that in this grand performance the wood material reaches its nirvana. In this movement the culmination of efforts is released and projected back to the people of the Karelian Forest. The song of the wood is their identity, their history and their future.

a process of thought

... a wealth of tradition

charcoal under a microscope

Joutseno Public Marina

This thesis begins with the people of Joutseno.

Honkalahti Saw Mill

Joutseno, Finland sits on the shores of Lake Saamia in the ancient Karelian Forest. The people of Joutseno hold a deep respect for the Karelian. The town is composed of 11,000 people, the majority of whom derive thier livelyhood from the forest.

Joutseno is home to one of the largest sawmills in Finland, the Honkalahti Mill. The town survives off of the forest industry, however they do so in an a sustainable manner. They understand the importance of their natural surroundings, seeing themselves as a part of the greater fabric of the Karelian. In fact, their town-square is dominated by a sculpture dedicated to the great storm of 1972. The storm devastated the Karelian forest, flooding the land and ripping up the trees that the people of Joutseno had carefully tended for generations. The statue stands as a reminder of the peoples’ deep connection to the forest and the unpredictable raw power of nature.

Joutseno Town Center

Spheres of tempo, contrasting the activity within the forest and the Honkalahti Sawmill.

The site of this thesis lies in an intermediate space between the forest, the lake, the industry and the community.

The site offers a canvas for the juxtaposition of the four cornerstones of Joutseno. The site overlooks the community marina. A hot-spot for summer and winter recreation, the marina is the home for the community’s boats and the base point for winter cross-country skiing.

a program and a culture

... architecture for the soul of a people

the three experts

Wood Treatment : Carvin

When we carve we fe comes an extension of out ha the pent up energy in the rea explodes from the rest of the wood; upon its growing.

Exploring the material : Wood Carving

When we carve we feel the detailed properties of the wood. The knifes becomes an extension of our hands. With the knife we can feel the pent-up energy in the reaction-wood and the variations in density born from the changing seasons. Carving is a meditation upon the genesis of the wood.

The tool for comming of age.

The puukko knife is a traditional knife that almost all fins are given when they come of age. The knives are tailored to their bearers’ specific craft. For example, longer and sturdier knives are made for reindeer herdsmen contrasted with the delicate letter-openers for businessmen.

To explore the wood material I used my knife to feel the internal structure of the wood as I carved. The knife acted as an extension of my hand, testing the resistance of the reaction-wood and exploring the limits of the material.

To discover a program for the people this thesis looks into the heart of the forest.

Further study of Joutseno reveals the depth of the communities connection to their natural surroundings while at the same time illustrated the lack of a public venue.

During the summer, festivals are held deep in the Karelian Forest. These festivals revolve around the peoples’ connection to their biosphere. One in particular inspired the thought process behind this thesis.

Each summer the people of the Karelian hold classical concerts in the forest. The forest acts as the performance hall, a backdrop to symphony, its own music intermingling with the concertos of Jean Sibelius and other classical composers.

In that moment of music the beauty of the peoples’ tradition and woodcraft comes full circle. It is a deeply spiritual experience. The hope of this thesis is to create a permanent platform to explore and exhibit this phenomena.

Thus the AT is sited in a silver birch forest.

These trees are tall and slender with white bark, providing beautiful surrounding for the experiences this thesis is attempting to house.

The AT is home to a luthier workshop where the traditional instrument of the Karelian people, the kantele is crafted by artisans from the wood of the forest.

Then the artifact crafted by the luthier is given to the musician who bonds with the kantele and uses it as his “second voice” with which he expresses emotions in a way language cannot.

It is my hope that the musician would learn the traditional origin song of the people of the Karelian Forest, the Kalevala. This song holds the history and religion of the ancient people of Karelia. It holds their identity. The goal of this thesis is to safegaurd this “first” story and project it back onto the people of Joutseno so that new generations are connected back to their ancestors, unifying thier past and thier present.

Creating a procession of the wood and the infusion of tradition

The program of the AT has a defined procession that the wood material undergoes. The wood travels from the living forest where it is tended by the caretaker, to the luthier shop where it is painstakingly crafted into the kantele, to the musician who caresses it into song, and finally to the people of Joutseno who listen to the music of the Kalevala origin song.

The architecture of the AT is meant to facilitate this procession. It traces the wood as the information is recorded through all these stages.

The layering of information that the wood experiences gave rise to a formal logic.

The climate of Joustseno is very harsh. During winter the temperature can drop as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit with heavy snowfall. Lake Saimaa freezes during the winter becoming a popular cross-country skiing platform.

The AT needs to contain a layering system of structure that nurtures the experiences and traditions of the community inside. At the same time the AT acts as an instrument itself, reverberating with the music of the people and the labor of the craftsmen.

The layers of the construct sing in harmony with one another, each adding a different aesthetic tone to the total form.

The shells of the construct are based off of a folding modual. When combined they act together to create a sancuary for the people of Joutseno to experience their own origin story, the Karlevala.

Iterations exploring the interaction of programs

The construct took on the guise of an artifact. It shifts across the landscape like a glacier, carving into the ground and shaping the forest.

During the last ice age the Karelian Forest was covered by a 2 kilometer thick glacier. It shaped the landscape, digging into the earth to form Lake Saimaa and carving the granite bluffs. The form of the AT hearkens back to this prehistoric topographic construction, while at the same time creating a threshold of heightened perception.

final iteration of the AT

The architecture of the AT creates thresholds of heightened perception.

The complex form of the AT stands out to the public.

Through its boldness it awakens perception. The public understands that the experience they will have inside will be something extraordinary.

outdoor auditorium

Upon entering the AT the architecture puts the visitor into a level of heightened perception. It’s layered form is the physical manifestation of the phenomenon occurring within.

a way to draw

... a way to honor

the public space

The performance hall is the heart of the AT, it is where the song of the people, the Kalevala, is told to the new generations.

The structure of the performance hall is reminiscent of the overall form of the AT. However, the formal matrix is much denser as this is the final threshold of perception that the visitors enter. This is the room where the people of the Karelian forest hear their origin song.

The performance hall is the heart of the AT, held safe deep in the construct.

The performance hall utilizes a system of faceted wooden acoustic panels to create a rich environment for the performance of the Kalevala.

Performance Hall The Performance Hall envelope acts as the final threshold of meditation. Inside it holds the communicative action of music within a sterile environment designed for reflection.

The performance hall of the AT holds the origin story of the people.

In the performance hall all the layers of information that have been invested in the wood by the craftsmen, the musician, the forest and it’s caretaker are given voice through the song of the Kalevala.

In the temporal moment of the song the depth of the peoples’ tradition is present. The architecture of the performance hall gives homage to this spirituality. For the visitors its complex form is the final threshold they pass through before they experience the song that holds their identity.

“ The performance hall is the final threshold of heightening perception for the visitor as they prepare to experience the beauty of the people history and tradition. “

a house for origin

... the Kalevala

the public entrance

The AT is the a house for the proliferation of the tradition and craft of the people of the Karelian Forest

Even before the wood enters the AT it is infused with the human creative effort of the people of Joutseno. Inside the AT there is a defined procession that the wood takes as it absorbs meaning. The act of defining the process bring to light the beauty of the people’s history and traditions.

Entering the AT is a meditative act for the visitors.

The AT is composed of layers of increasing perception, through which the people of Joustseno can elevate their understanding of their ancestors.

The public entrance to the AT is the second threshold of heightened perception for the people of Joutseno.

The first threshold is the sight of the exterior form of the AT. However, the second threshold proves to be the most powerful threshold of meditation. The AT opens up and embraces the visitor while at the same time displaying its complex wooden interior.

The multi-layered wooden interior act as an instrument that resonates with the activity occurring inside. The construct directs the acoustics of the different activities (luthier, musician, public) through the structure. This allows the sound in the construct to be the orientating force within the AT.

The AT is the Origin House. It is full of sounds and experiences that are rich with the history of the people of Karelian Forest.

The AT is the instrument with which the song of the people is played for future generations.

The AT is organized in a way that the wood is tracked as it is infused with the culture of the people. This tracking is done through the reverberations of sound, whether that is through the musician singing the Kalevala, the scraping sound of the luthier honing the kantele, or the gentle murmuring of the public. All the programs come together to sing the story of the people through the structure of the AT.

the infusion process... a layering of tradition

The Forest

The first layer of the infusion process is the maturation of the wood itself. The trees’ wood records the climatic history of the forest. Its rings record the temperature, sunlight and guidence given by the forest caretaker.

In the AT this layer is present in the silver birch forest that surrounds the construct. These trees sing in harmony with the AT itself. The gentle whispering in the leaves is the music of this layer.

The Luthier Workshops

In the luthier workshops the wood is taken and carefully crafted into the kantele. The actions of their craft and traditions are worked into the wood. The original information ingrained into the wood by the growth of the tree isn’t destroyed, but rather highlighted by this labor.

The AT has two separate workshops inside. One, the Machine Shop, is acoustically sealed off from the rest of the construct. The other work shop, the Hewing Room, is for working with hand tools and applying finish. The sound of the hammers and hand-planers rings through the AT. This sound will act as an orientation technique for visitors to find the Hewing Room, while at the same time singing the music of the craftsman.

The Musicians’ Practice Room

In the Musicians’ Practice Room the kantele that the luthier crafted is given the song. The musician works with the luthier to tune the kantele into his “second voice”. The Kantele becomes a part of him, with it he sings the song of his culture, sharing the history of his people.

In the AT the Musician’s Practice Room is completely open to the volume of the space. His playing acts as a way to find him within the construct. It is the hope of this thesis that the public would seek the musician out in the AT so that he could teach them the story of the Kalevala.

The Mummer of the Public

The public enter through the main entrance of the AT. From their initial vantage they can hear the soft sounds of the musician practicing and the rough noise of the luthier at work.

However, at the same time their voices are allowed to carry through the AT, acting as a remind to the luthier and the musicain of thier communal cause to share the Kalevala.

...touching the earth

... the harmony of natural and built

exploration of the groundline

The back entrance for the musicians and luthiers is close to the earth.

The musicians and luthiers do not need the dramatic threshold of entry that the public does. They are already well connected to the spirit the origin song. Their entry is subtle and human scale.

The AT nestles into the earth, keeping the ethos inside intact with its layers of structure.

The paths to the AT follow the topography of the land while offering glimpses of the white body of the AT through the trees.

The AT is nestled between two granite bluffs. Its form speaks of the site but also of its purpose.

The geometry of the AT goes through a “line of refraction”. This point is the threshold between the defined public realm and the realm of the musicians and luthiers. There are no barriers to prevent them intermingling, but just the shift in the form as it reacts to the programs within.

This “refraction line” is a physical metaphor for the shift that the wood goes through. At this point the wood is no longer a material artifact but rather it has turned into the symbol of the song.

The AT is dedicated to the people who invest their identity within the construct. It is architecture made for the people and to embody context.