Doubling Back | Index

DOUBLING BACK TO THE CITY/GARDEN TRADING AND TRAVELLING WITH UNVALUED OBJECTS DANIEL ANDERSON ANGUS HENDERSON PROJECT INDEX READER

[1]

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

5

Doubling Back to the City/Garden: Trading and Travelling With Unvalued Objects

READING THE PROJECT INDEX

6

INDEX REGISTER

8

PROJECT SUMMARY

14

KEY THEMES

16

Encasing Travelling Collecting Exchanging Viewing Excavating

FINAL PROPOSAL Description Programme

PLEASE WALK ON THE GRASS NOTE ON READING THE PROJECT INDEX The index is ordered by drawing and image series, read across the digital submission. The document can be navigated using the register of connected indices on each sheet. The index is not an Hamiltonian avenue but a Botanic meander; wandering from the path is encouraged.

28

FINAL MODEL OF CATALOGUER’S HOUSE [804]

ABSTRACT

DOUBLING BACK TO THE CITY/GARDEN TRADING AND TRAVELLING WITH UNVALUED OBJECTS In the National Museum of Scotland, a travelling service sits in front of an oak-panelled wall. Nearby, nestled in a cabinet in the Royal Botanic Gardens, a seed of the lodoicea maldivica, the ‘coco-de-mer’, slowly shrinks and shrivels. All three objects have been on journeys, and tell complex stories. The travelling service belonged to Pauline BonaparteBorghese, Napoleon’s sister, and was willed upon her death to her ‘friend’, Alexander 10th Duke of Hamilton. The panelling was salvaged from the Drawing Room of Hamilton Palace prior to its demolition, sold and transported to New York, returning to Scotland to be put on display in 1992. The seed, named for the Maldives but native to the Seychelles, was believed to be the Biblical forbidden fruit, or perhaps produced by a [5] giant underwater tree. All three objects exemplify a strangeness, a sense of being in-place and yet out-of-place furthered by an exoticisation engendered by the curation of gaze. Doubling Back(s) establishes a dialogue between these objects. It excavates and develops a thickened edge to the Botanic Garden — between the back of the Gardens and the back gardens of the city — as a site of exchange. An oyster bar and coffee shop generate waste, supporting the production of sweet and sour soils. A wall for hanging walls, a drum of busts and a garden of ephemera hold and enable the viewing of strange objects. Forgotten objects are set aside in a grotto. In this thickened edge, the picturesque views established by the wandering paths of the Botanics, the perspectival axes of Hamilton Palace, the macro-photography of a cataloguer, and the aerial images analysed by an edaphologist collapse onto one another, establishing a new way of seeing and perceiving objects and landscapes.

DWG

[DRAWING SERIES] 000 OBJECTS 1:1-1:10

FURTHER RELATED IMAGES

100 SITES 1:200-1:1000000 ARRANGEMENTS 200 GENERAL 1:50-1:200

INDEX TITLE

STUDIES 300 THRESHOLD 1:20-1:50

IMG

[IMAGE SERIES] 400 OBJECTS 500 REFERENCES 600 SITES 700 PROCESS

SCALE

1:100

SITE LOCATION FOR IMAGE/DRAWING

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

800 MODELS

NECESSAIRE DE VOYAGE

Photograph from collections of N

Travelling services were a ladies to house all the travelling. During the l century, these cases became miniaturisation and effici voyage was commissioned by sister Pauline Bonaparte’s 1803. The silver-gilt was Genu and assembled by Mart over a 100 items for beauty, and defence. An exception manoeuvre, the service can screw. The complexity of inside (personal letters, t the intensely personal rel bequeathed the service to A her death, an indication of their relationship. It is n of Scotland.

[001/002/402/403/501/502/503/504

[001/002/402/403/501/502/503/504/505/506/507/801] CONNECTED INDICES FOR POSITIONING

READING THE PROJECT INDEX

4/505/506/507/801]

1:100

MATERIAL

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

popular commission for aristocratic e necessaries they would need for late 18th century and early 19th e increasingly lavish, with a focus on iency of packing. This necessaire de Napoleon Bonaparte as a gift for his wedding to Prince Camillo Borghese in mainly made by Marie-Joseph-Gabriel tin-Guillaume Biennais, and contains , consumption, communication, hygiene nally heavy item and cumbersome to n be locked in place by a locating packing and nature of the items tongue scraper, mirror etc) disclose lationship of this service. Pauline Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton upon f the particularly intimate nature of now on display at the National Museum

CURATION

DWG

[THEMES] SITE/STRUCTURE ENVIRONMENT

MATERIALS

LANDSCAPE

FRAMED

SOILS

SOLID

PLANTS

DOUBLED

WATER

CARVED CAST

PRODUCTION

[401]

National Museum of Scotland

ENVIRONMENT

INDEX NUMBER

DESCRIPTION / POSITION IN PROJECT

PROGRAMME CURATION

PRODUCTION

ACCESSION

RESEARCHING

DIALOGUE

RECORDING

VIEWING

REUSING

ENCASING

CREATING WASTE

FORGETTING

MANIPULATING

VALUING

URBANIZING

INDEX REGISTER INDICATES RENDERING DRAWING DISPLAYED IN STUDIO EXHIBITION [RECORDINGS & INDEX CARDS ARE ALSO HELD IN THE EXHBITION] IC [INDEX CARDS]

REN [STUDIO RENDERINGS]

REC [DIGITAL RECORDINGS]

DIMENSIONS INDICATES SIZE OF SHEET SHOWING EACH INDEXED ITEM: THIS SHEET MAY ALSO HOUSE OTHER IMAGES & DRAWINGS.

[000] DRAWINGS OF EXOTIC OBJECTS INDEX TITLE

SCALE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

001

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING OF TRAVELLING CASE

NTS

152X101mm

IC

002

COPENHAGEN SHIPS CURVES

NTS

152X101mm

IC

003

LAYERS OF STACKING SEED MODEL

NTS

152X101mm

IC

004

SEED SPECIMEN DRAWING

NTS

152X101mm

IC

005

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING OF PAULINE

NTS

152X101mm

IC

006

PLAN & SECTION OF PAULINE

1:5/1:2 900X2000MM

REN

INDEX TITLE

SCALE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

101

SITE PLAN OF EDAPHOLOGIST’S LOOKOUT

NTS

152X101mm

IC

102

VIEW OF EDAPHOLOGIST’S LOOKOUT

NTS

152X101mm

IC

103

HAMILTON REEDBED SITE STRATEGY

NTS

841X594mm

REC

104

STUDY ON AN ISTHMUS, MODEL PLAN

NTS

152X101mm

IC

106

BOTANIC GARDENS CONTORTED LANDSCAPE

1:2500

1500X500mm

REN

107

BOTANIC GARDENS SITE PLAN

1:1250

900X2000mm

REN

[100] SITE DRAWINGS

[9]

[200] GENERAL ARRANGEMENT DRAWINGS INDEX TITLE

SCALE

DIMENSIONS LOCATION

201

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING OF PROGRAMME

NTS

900X2000mm REN

202

LOWER FLOOR PLAN

1:200

900X2000mm REN

203

UPPER FLOOR PLAN

1:200

900X2000mm REN

204

FLOOR PLAN INSTALLATION

1:100

1981X726mm REN

205

FILLED HOUSE PLANS/SECTIONS/ELEVATIONS

VARIES

841X594mm

REC

206

EMPTIED HOUSE PLAN/SECTION/ELEVATIONS

1:100

841X594mm

REC

207

MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDY PLANS/SECTIONS

1:100

841X594mm

REC

208

SOUTH GATHERING SPACE PLANS/SECTIONS

1:100

841X594mm

REC

209

NORTH GATHERING SPACE PLANS/SECTIONS

1:100

841X594mm

REC

210

OYSTER BAR PLANS/SECTIONS

1:100

841X594mm

REC

211

FIREPIT & HERBARIUM PLANS/SECTIONS

VARIES

841X594mm

REC

212

HERBARIUM ALTERATIONS PLANS/ELEVATION

VARIES

841X594mm

REC

INDEX TITLE

SCALE

DIMENSIONS LOCATION

301

SECTION THROUGH MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDY

1:50

900X2000mm REN

302

SECTION THROUGH SOUTH GATHERING SPACE

1:50

900X2000mm REN

303

EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC OF SCREEN FRAME

1:20

900X2000mm REN

[300] THRESHOLD STUDIES

[400] IMAGES OF EXOTIC OBJECTS INDEX TITLE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

401

NECESSAIRE DE VOYAGE

152X101mm

IC

402

DECONSTRUCTED TIMBER PANELLED WALL

152X101mm

IC

403

TRAVELLING SERVICE AND WALL ON DISPLAY

152X101mm

IC

404

LODOICEA MALDIVICA

152X101mm

IC

405

BOTANICAL DRAWINGS OF LODOICEA MALDIVICA

152X101mm

IC

INDEX TITLE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

501

PAULINE BONAPARTE-BORGHESE

152X101mm

IC

502

BUST OF PAULINE

152X101mm

IC

503

BUST OF ALEXANDER, 10TH DUKE OF HAMILTON

152X101mm

IC

504

HAMILTON PALACE

152X101mm

IC

505

GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF HAMILTON PALACE

152X101mm

IC

506

LAYOUT OF HAMILTON PALACE GROUNDS

152X101mm

IC

507

HAMILTON PALACE AUCTION CATALOGUE

152X101mm

IC

508

LODOICEA MALDIVICA AT ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

152X101mm

IC

509

BATHYMETRIC CHART OF INDIAN OCEAN

152X101mm

IC

510

MAP OF SOIL TYPES IN LOTHIANS

152X101mm

IC

511

GEOLOGICAL MODEL

152X101mm

IC

512

MAIN LIBRARY, MUSEUM OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

152X101mm

IC

513

EXCHANGE HALL, LONDON COAL EXCHANGE

152X101mm

IC

[500] REFERENCE IMAGES

514

STILL FROM FINAL SCENE OF CITIZEN KANE

152X101mm

IC

515

URANIA’S MIRROR

152X101mm

IC

516

LEVON BISS, MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER

152X101mm

IC

517

UCC GLUCKSMAN GALLERY, CORK

152X101mm

IC

518

STAIRCASE, MÄDCHENINTERNAT KLOSTER DISENTIS

152X101mm

IC

519

GYPSOTHECA, MUSEO CANOVA

152X101mm

IC

520

MODEL OF ADELE LEVY MEMORIAL PARK

152X101mm

IC

521

PIUS XII SQUARE, BARCELONA

152X101mm

IC

522

EXAMPLE SPECIMEN FROM HERBARIUM COLLECTION

152X101mm

IC

523

EXTRACT FROM INDEX OF TRAVELLING SERVICE

152X101mm

IC

524

MAP OF COAL FIELDS AND MINE WORKINGS, HAMILTON

152X101mm

IC

525

MAP OF AN INDECISIVE RIVER, HAMILTON

152X101mm

IC

INDEX TITLE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

601

HAMILTON REEDBED

152X101mm

IC

602

HAMILTON ISTHMUS

152X101mm

IC

603

BOTANIC GARDENS HERBARIUM BUILDING

152X101mm

IC

604

BOTANIC GARDENS ENCASEMENT

152X101mm

IC

605

BOTANIC GARDENS FRAMES & CASES

152X101mm

IC

606

BOTANIC GARDENS SCREENS & TRANSPARENCY

152X101mm

IC

607

PLANT SPECIMENS FROM BOTANIC GARDENS

152X101mm

IC

[600] SITE IMAGES

[700] PROCESS IMAGES INDEX TITLE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

701

BOTANIC GARDENS: SCALES OF OPERATION

152X101mm

IC

702

HAMILTON & BOTANICS: RUPTURE & EXCAVATION

152X101mm

IC

703

STUDY ON AN ISTHMUS BUILDING PROPOSAL

152X101mm

IC

704

STUDY ON AN ISTHMUS DEVELOPMENT MODEL

152X101mm

IC

705

EARLY SITE DEVELOPMENT MODEL

152X101mm

IC

706

MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDY SITE MODEL

152X101mm

IC

707

EXCAVATION TESTS

152X101mm

IC

INDEX TITLE

DIMENSIONS

LOCATION

801

PAULINE

152X101mm

IC

802

FINAL SITE MODEL

152X101mm

IC

803

MODEL OF SOUTH GATHERING SPACE & TEAPOT

152X101mm

IC

804

MODEL OF MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDY

152X101mm

IC

[800] MODEL IMAGES

PROJECT SUMMARY The project began with investigations into exotic objects, oriented around an understanding of the exotic as a separation of the object and the viewer. The exotic objects that emerged for this study were a dissected seed of the lodoicea maldivica in the Herbarium collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and a travelling service which formerly belonged to Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese and Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton and which is now housed adjacent to a panelled wall from Hamilton Palace in the National Museum of Scotland.

Both objects shared a number of thematic familiarities; both had travelled extensively before coming to be in Scotland, and these travels imbued each with associative memories and tangential narratives within their stories. Both performed a function of holding and encasement, and were designed, either by hand or by evolution, to hold particular pieces with great care and specificity.

From the contemporary habitat of the seed within the Herbarium of the Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and the uncovered connections between the travelling case and the vanished world of Hamilton Palace, two sites of interest emerged. These sites acted initially not as locations in which to build, but landscapes and contextual histories through which to explore dialogues between objects, collections and landscapes.

These two sites invoked a study of the place of vision within the landscape, and the vertical layering of geology, soils, water & plants that grounds each environment. The landscape of the Hamilton Palace estate, subjugated and dominated on the surface for human benefit, belies a more complex relationship of geology, landscape and historical collection concealed beneath. The inverse of this is true of the Botanics, where a meandering pastoral setting of unexpected connections and vistas belies a careful curation of landscape and total categorisation of objects.

The conclusions of these studies embraced coalescing layers of geology, landscape, history and mythical narrative, as well as the interrelationships and connections between objects and viewers and the impositions of both onto the landscapes between them.

The Botanic Gardens and the Hamilton Estate became locations for an architectural programme of exchange, which cements the emerging dialectal relationship between them, founded in their contrasting rurality/ urbanity, their differing histories of collection and dispersal and their contrasting contemporary characteristics. A new cast of collectors were introduced in the form of the macro-photographer who undertakes detailed studies of plants and seeds and the edaphologist who studies the relationships between soil conditions and plant life through aerial imagery and site sampling.

An outpost for the edaphologist and a study for the macro-photographer [15] were positioned in the former Hamilton Estate at points of tight coalescence between landscape, soils, and water; through these smaller studies an architectural language of encasement, framing, doubling and carving, derived from the material qualities of the exotic objects themselves, began to emerge.

This language is redeployed within the proposals for the Botanic Gardens.

A dual site of collection & exchange alongside research and study, the programme occupies a thickened edge between the city and the gardens, where urban activity feeds into the botanic picturesque and creates a ‘double backed’ character. The macro-photographer & edaphologist have counter-studies in the Botanics to emphasise the dialogue between the two locations, amongst an environment for collecting, exchange and revaluing under-appreciated or unconsidered objects. Urbanising functions, from a coffee shop to an oyster bar, generate waste products which support edaphological study, whilst the macro-photographer contributes to the exchange process by separating ordinary objects from the viewer and creating new vessels of exotic value.

1

KEY THEMES

ENCASING The travelling service and the seed specimen of the lodoicea maldivica share a spatial and material language of encasement.

The travelling service [401] is meticulously designed to precisely hold a wide array of items in specifically designed and crafted niches, arranged carefully to sit around one another and support a particular process of packing and unpacking. This functional machine for luxury travel is contained within an ornately decorated outer case.

[16]

The lodoicea maldivica [404] is notable mainly for the enormous size of its seed, which allows for the natural complexity of plant seed structures to be appreciated at a human scale. The cross-section specimen in the herbarium collection is designed to illustrate this; a dense sucker of cotyledon at the centre yields to a porous nutrient store, wrapped in a thick endosperm and finished with the tough veneer of the seed case.

This language of encasement carries into the architectures of the final proposal, at both a spatial and material scale; items of value are accessed and seen within and through layers of different spaces and environments, and walls, roofs and structural elements are carefully held in position by outer shells, thin veneers and doubled surfaces.

[001/002/401/402/403/501/502/503/504/505/507/519/703/704/802]

[17]

LODOICEA MALDIVICA [404]

1

KEY THEMES

TRAVELLING Intended to provide all the essential conveniences for journeying in style, the necessaire de voyage reflects the life of its owner, moving from a modest Corsican upbringing to the finery of Parisian high society to life amongst the Italian artistocracy. Throughout her life, Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese travelled extensively, and maintained connections through the exchange of letters and gifts with friends and admirers across Europe, such as Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton.[501] Hamilton’s own legacy is closely associated with stories of travel; following the great auction of 1919,fragments of panelled walls which once formed rooms within his grand palace were transported across the Atlantic, from department store to warehouse to country home and back to Scotland and the world of the museum.[507] The lodoicea maldivica is named for the Maldives, despite being endemic to the Seychelles. For centuries prior to the settlement of the Seychelles, [18] the plant was only known by occasional seed specimens which washed up on the beaches of the Maldives, some 2000 miles across the Indian Ocean.

[509] These seeds were collected and highly prized for their rarity, often being carved into decorative pieces for the European market. The Seychelles represented a source of fascination for Colonial travellers, such as Major Charles Gordon ‘of Khartoum’, who visited in 1881 and believed that he found himself in the Biblical Garden of Eden.[405] The project encourages and sustains journeys and travels; mediating between the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and outposts across the estates of the former Hamilton Palace, the programme encourages the acquisition, movement and transfer of objects and the potential of travel to enrich the stories, associations and value of places and things.

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[19]

BATHYMETRIC CHART OF INDIAN OCEAN [509]

1

EXAMPLE SPECIMEN FROM HERBARIUM COLLECTION [522]

KEY THEMES

COLLECTING The Herbarium collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh numbers over 3 million specimens of plants, seeds and fruits, each meticulously recorded, photographed and stored.[522] Across the gardens themselves are nearly 14000 living plants, collected from across the globe during three centuries of exploration, research and accession.[607] Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton’s vision for his greatly expanded home at Hamilton Palace betrayed a similar aspiration for global acquisition, and the extravagance of the contents of the auction catalogues of 1882 & 1919 show the fruits of this collecting.[504][507] The dispersal of the Palace’s treasures simply set them on journeys to join other collections across the globe.

Doubling Back provides spaces to support the processes of collecting, from acquisition to cataloguing and research, to exhibition, reuse, storage, and eventually forgetting. It also draws out the collections of the existing Herbarium, carving openings into the built structure to [21] liberate its contents to be explored and approached in new ways. Beyond the scale of the object, the site strategy invokes a collecting in of landscapes and ecologies, through condensed studies of edaphological conditions and botanic plants. The collections which result from these moves are deliberately unconventional, drawing on the peculiarity of the 10th Duke’s collections and the collisions with other things and places at the centre of the each object’s journey.

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2

KEY THEMES

EXCHANGING Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese’s correspondence with the 10th Duke was oriented around the exchange of items of value, from Napoleonic curios for his collection to commissioned busts of each other, culminating in her gift to him of the travelling service in her will in 1825.

The expansion and consolidation of the Herbarium collection follows a similar process of international exchange; rare plants are protected under international law and cannot be bought and sold, but are rather exchanged as part of wider agreements regarding research funding and support and diplomatic negotiations.

The project engages similarly in exchanges of landscapes; the linear avenues and formal imposed plans of the Hamilton Estates are brought into the Botanics, and the bucolic meanderings of the Botanic Gardens take a place in Hamilton. [506] Viewing each site through the landscape rhetoric of the other offers new interpretation; the importance of [22] curated vistas and set experiences, so overt in the planning of Hamilton Palace, can also be found within the Botanic Gardens.[606] Similarly, the site for Doubling Back draws on the form and scale of the Hamilton isthmus which acted as the site for early outpost projects.[602] The final proposal is one of spaces for exchange; exhibition areas, store rooms and open spaces for gathering encourage a complex network of negotiated trades and transfers, away from conventional structures, supported by the cataloguer’s study and other urban outposts. The networks of exchange run through the roots and soils too, where changes to soil conditions or planting arrangements exist in a dialogical relationship with other characters in the wider ecosystem of the Botanic Gardens.

[001/002/401/402/403/501/502/503/504/505/507/519/703/704/802]

[23]

CONTORTED AXIS OF BOTANIC GARDENS [106]

2

KEY THEMES

VIEWING Standing in the central space of the cataloguer’s study, elevated above the pools below, full height openings direct views over a low wall and across a change in level to an island of rich botanic growth, encased by a canted frame; amidst the leaves and grasses is a double-walled glass box, within which is contained the travelling service, hidden from visitors until they stumble upon it, but uniquely visible to the occupant of the study.[803] The spatial arrangement of the project privileges the viewing of things, drawing on the potential of the position and context of each object to influence interpretations of its value. The unorthodox systems of exchange which form the basis of the programme are contingent on constantly changing comparable values, and these are both etrenched and expressed through the placement of each thing into the architecture.

Spaces are afforded for objects to be held, backed, and seen in carefully [24] curated ways, evocative of the landscape strategies employed both in the Botanics and at Hamilton.

The jostling characters of the edaphologist and the macro-photographer bring forward viewing at different scales; the repetitive recording and intricate stitching of the photographer contrasts with the aerial observations and imposed limiting of the edaphologist. The project is urban in scale and presence, and, building on both characters and the visual hierarchies of value, is organised through a collection of particular moments stitched into an imposed grid.

[001/002/401/402/403/501/502/503/504/505/507/519/703/704/802]

[25]

PAULINE AS A DEVICE FOR VIEWING [005]

2

[26]

EXCAVATING THE THICKENED EDGE [707]

KEY THEMES

EXCAVATING The demolition of Hamilton Palace in 1921 resulted from decades of aggressive excavation; the mineshafts and coalfields which sliced across swathes of Lanarkshire were allowed to carve their way up to and beyond the great house’s front door, until it threatened to collapse into the subterranean world beneath the pillars and marble staircases.[524] The mistakes of the past were almost repeated during the 1970s, when the remnants of the great avenue around Chatelherault were destroyed for sand quarrying; this time the spades stayed away from the building and the historic hunting lodge was saved.

Much of the important work of the Botanic Gardens is driven by excavation; beyond the perceptible environmental conditions with which we are more familiar, particular plant species are incredibly sensitive to underground conditions for successful growth, and a rich and diverse gardens must maintain a wide variety of different soil types and conditions.

[27]

Excavation comes first within the process of the project; drawing in scale from the avenue, island and isthmus of Hamilton and the change in level from Inverleith Row to the gardens themselves, the edge of the Botanic Gardens is pulled away and thickened, creating an excavated zone into which the architecture is collapsed. Whilst some aspects of the project look outwards to the city and the gardens beyond, the inclusion of the edaphologist and the Herbarium collection reiterates the need to look downwards too, and ground both the architecture and the plant life which it promotes within their excavated subterranean world.

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2

FINAL PROPOSAL

EXCHANGE HOUSE, SOIL GARDEN & URBAN EDGE The final proposal aligns a series of spaces which support acts of collection and exchange with other urbanising programmes, underlaid by the study and alteration of soil and plant conditions. These three programmatic strands move apart and come together, at times complementary and at times confrontational, within the overall spatial logic.

The proposal principally operates over two levels, with vertical emphasis provided by the viewing tower & the oyster bar & restaurant. The lower level is between the old retaining walls of the urban back gardens and the new retaining walls of the excavated edge, hidden behind an architectural spine. Most programmed spaces are accessed at this lower level. Above, the visitor moves principally through open, flexible space for resting, gathering, and engaging in the processes of collecting and [28] exchanging which are supported by programmed facilities below.

Held against the edge of the Botanics, facing away from both the city and the garden, the project presents two backs; one formed by the existing high walls at the end of the back gardens of villas along Inverleith Row, and one by a translucent screen which wraps around the garden edge, softening the architecture as though seen through a dappled canopy and separating this world of productive collection, exchange, reuse and research from the picturesque meanderings of the rest of the gardens.

[29]

MODEL OF MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDY [804]

2

PROGRAMME - filled house: storage of acquisitions, home of the macro-photographer, south entrance - sheltered seating area and protected threshold at south entrance - the macrophotographer’s study - a wall for hanging walls - the bust drum - coffee shop - exhibition gallery - workshop & reuse hub - grotto for forgetting - gathering space & public toilet - viewing tower - frames for exhibiting objects & house for travelling service - emptied house: planthouse & winter garden, home of the edaphologist, central entrance - footbridge & viewing platform - ramp to gardens - edaphologist’s study - storage for festive illuminations - flower pressing workshop - florist’s stall - gardeners’ rest space - gathering space & soil test pits - oyster bar & restaurant - house for lodoicea seed - fire pit / performance space - courtyard garden within existing Herbarium & viewing platform - public exhibition space, north entrance

[moving south to north]

highly acidic soil pit & reflecting pools slightly acidic soil pit

neutral soil pit

artificial reedbed ecosystem

slightly alkaline soil pit

[31]

FINAL SITE MODEL [802]

3

MODEL OF SOUTH GATHERING SPACE & TEAPOT [803]

MODEL OF MACRO-PHOTOGAPHER’S HOUSE [804]

001

[002/003/401/402/403/505/507/515/801/802]

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

NTS

IMG

ENVIRONMENT MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[001]

showing extendable writing desk and removable layer

PRODUCTION

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING OF TRAVELLING CASE

002

[001/106/401/402/403/506/507/801]

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

NTS

IMG

ENVIRONMENT

In surveying and drawing the nécessaire it became necessary to manufacture curves to draw the complex geometry of Biennais. An expansive set of curves were made from 2mm clear acrylic.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[002]

for drawing travelling case

PRODUCTION

COPENHAGEN SHIPS CURVES

003

[001/106/107/401/404/506/508/509/510/511/516/603/604/607/701/705/801]

NTS

Floating the ocean within the seed subverts expected hierarchies of scale and distorts the outcomes and importance of the journey.

Within this encasement, the architectures of the Botanic Gardens are held as components to be deployed in future site studies and architectural proposals.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

ENVIRONMENT

The shared themes of travel and exchange emerged early in the project. This investigation into the lodoicea seed specimen investigated its different scales of operation, from the seed itself to the Herbarium, the Botanic Gardens, and finally the Indian Ocean between the Seychelles and the Maldives, through which the seed makes its maritime journey.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[003]

showing differing scalability of sites of seed

PRODUCTION

LAYERS OF STACKING SEED MODEL

004

IMG

[003/212/404/405/508/522/603/607/701]

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

NTS

ENVIRONMENT

Botanic drawing remains an important practice in the Botanic Gardens, even in an era of photography and virtual reality.

These drawings replicate the approach of traditional botanic illustrations in capturing the key visible characteristics of the seed and plant to allow for future identification and aid in research.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[004]

mature tree, seed cross section & polished decorative seed

PRODUCTION

DRAWINGS OF LODOICEA MALVIDICA

005

NTS BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

[001/401/402/501/502/801]

ENVIRONMENT

IMG

MATERIAL

‘Pauline’ is a 1:1 piece modelled to hold some of the complexities of the project together and work through the relationship between Pauline Borghese, the travelling service, the Duke and the palace. As such assemblage became an important method enacted through considerate making, where tectonic motifs are employed to hold things in certain ways; lightly, counterweighted, balanced, pinched, doweled, sprung and hung.

CURATION

DWG

showing components of final model

PRODUCTION

[005]

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING OF PAULINE

101

node through which to re-anchor the preserves the impassibility of the importance of this site as a historic formal landscaping of the Hamilton

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

NTS

Proposing the island as a site to its surroundings reedbed and emphasises the copse dating back to the Palace Estate.

IMG

ENVIRONMENT

The proposal for the edaphologist’s lookout in Hamilton is situated on an island at the heart of a reedbed, a fragile ecosystem marooned between the M72 and the outer fringes of the town.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[101]

showing reedbed habitat and island location

PRODUCTION

SITE PLAN OF EDAPHOLOGIST’S LOOKOUT

102

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The lookout is wrapped in vertical larch cladding, punctured by large window openings.

NTS

The lookout maintains a light-touch within the landscape, and draws on its position between the two related sites at Strathclyde Loch isthmus and Chatelherault hunting lodge by highlighing key outlooks and views.

ENVIRONMENT

The edaphologist’s lookout acts as an outpost for research activity typically undertaken in the Botanic Gardens; it alights upon a sensitive and undervalued ecosystem on the periphery of Hamilton as a site with great potential for study.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[102]

showing reedbed habitat and island location

PRODUCTION

VIEW OF EDAPHOLOGIST’S LOOKOUT

104

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NTS

The project proposes an outpost station in this location for a macro-photographer, balanced between the loch and the river and focussed on the photography of plants and botanic specimens. The proposal is a study that is concerned with seeing things against one another and in sequence, from the small object over the loch to the theme park and along the isthmus. The proposal focuses on the movement of the waters above and below.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

ENVIRONMENT

The creation of Strathclyde Loch, within the former Hamilton Palace Estate, resulted in the formation of an isthmus between the loch and the Clyde, which passes alongside and was artificially straightened as part of the loch project. On the other side of the loch is the M74 motorway.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[104]

showing site strategy & location on isthmus

PRODUCTION

STUDY ON AN ISTHMUS, MODEL PLAN

401

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Travelling services were a popular commission for aristocratic ladies to house all the necessaries they would need for travelling. During the late 18th century and early 19th century, these cases became increasingly lavish, with a focus on miniaturisation and efficiency of packing. This necessaire de voyage was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte as a gift for his sister Pauline Bonaparte’s wedding to Prince Camillo Borghese in 1803. The silver-gilt was mainly made by Marie-Joseph-Gabriel Genu and assembled by Martin-Guillaume Biennais, and contains over a 100 items for beauty, consumption, communication, hygiene and defence. An exceptionally heavy item and cumbersome to manoeuvre, the service can be locked in place by a locating screw. The complexity of packing and nature of the items inside (personal letters, tongue scraper, mirror etc) disclose the intensely personal relationship of this service. Pauline bequeathed the service to Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton upon her death, an indication of the particularly intimate nature of their relationship. It is now on display at the National Museum of Scotland.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[401]

Photograph from collections of National Museum of Scotland

PRODUCTION

NECESSAIRE DE VOYAGE

402

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

This panelled wall, from the Old State Drawing Room of Hamilton Palace, is now re-assembled and on display in the National Museum. It was one of the rooms with carvings by William Morgan commissioned by Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, in the early 18th century. When the palace had fallen into ruin and the family into debt, these rooms were sold in the great 1919 auction of Hamilton Palace at Christie’s to publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who kept them in storage with his collection of historic rooms.

In order to manage his ever mounting debts, Hearst later tried to sell the room along with many others in his collection, and erected them on the fifth storey of Gimbel Brothers Department Store at 32nd/33rd Street and Broadway, who cannibalised other rooms in the Hamilton Palace collection in order to turn a halfpanelled room into a full-panelled room. They did not sell and were eventually ‘gifted’ to the Met, before finding their way back to Scotland. They are photographed here laid out on the floor of the main gallery of the museum, awaiting re-assembly.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[402]

Photograph from collections of National Museum of Scotland

PRODUCTION

DE-CONSTRUCTED TIMBER PANELLED WALL

403

DWG

IMG

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PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

The timber panelled wall from Hamilton Palace, carefully reassembled and repaired, is now on display alongside the travelling service at the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

ENVIRONMENT

[403]

Photograph by AH, September 2021

MATERIAL

TRAVELLING SERVICE AND WALL ON DISPLAY

404

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CURATION

The lodoicea typically grows to 25-35m tall, with 7m leaf fronds.

The mature fruit of the plant can grow to 50cm in diameter, and contains the largest seed of any plant, weighing over 15kg.

To achieve such gigantic growth takes time, and the lodoicea is a plant of great patience: a tree takes 20 years to reach maturity, after which time seeds take 6-7 years to mature, and a further two years to germinate after falling from the parent tree. For these reasons, the lodoicea is classed as endangered, and a range of conservation programmes around the world are focussed on successfully pollinating and breeding plants in botanic gardens.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The Lodoicea Maldivica is a giant palm which is endemic to the small islands of Praslin & Curieuse in the Seychelles. It is the only species within its genus, with no direct relatives.

In addition to its taxonomic distinctiveness and extreme specificity of habitat, the lodoicea is notable for its great size in comparison to other palms.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[404]

seed specimen at Royal Botanic Gardens, photographed by Levon Biss

PRODUCTION

LODOICEA MALDIVICA

405

It was historically thought that the seed of the lodoicea was capable of floating to new islands to germinate: however, it is now known that the seed is too dense to float, and only rotted specimens are capable of drifting to new locations. Seeds were occasionally sighted by sailors drifting to the surface, resulting in a widespread belief that the seeds grew on a great underwater tree, resulting in its common name of ‘sea coconut’.

IMG

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CURATION PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Following the colonial occupation of the Seychelles by British and French forces and the discovery of lodoicea trees growing in the Vallée de Mai on Praslin, European travellers became increasingly interested in visiting the Seychelles and viewing the trees. Major Charles George Gordon, better known as Gordon of Khartoum, visited the Seychelles in 1881. A deeply religious man who was moved by the beauty of the islands, he became convinced that the Seychelles were the location of the biblical Garden of Eden, and the lodoicea was the tree from which the serpent tempted Eve to pick the forbidden fruit.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

drawing by Major Charles George Gordon, 1881

MATERIAL

[405]

BOTANICAL DRAWINGS OF LODOICEA MALDIVICA

501

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese is continually given definition by her relationship with men of power. The younger sister of Napoleon, the wife and widow of the general who captured Toussaint L’Overture, then subsequently of an Italian prince, serially promiscuous and embroiled in affairs and finally petrified by Canova as Venus Victrix in a particularly risqué marble sculpture.

She is famed for being a hostess of incredibly flamboyant parties and amassed around her an extensive court and numerous admirers (including Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton) both in Paris at Hôtel de Charost (now the British Embassy following a sale to the Duke of Wellington), and in Rome. She cultivated a deep relationship with the Duke of Hamilton, both financial and personal, through the exchanging of letters and gifts (including busts by Thomas Campbell) culminating in her gift of the travelling service.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[501]

as ‘Venus Victrix’, sculpted in marble by Antonio Canova

PRODUCTION

PAULINE BONAPARTE-BORGHESE

502

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

During the course of Pauline and the Duke’s relationship a series of exchanges were made, some financial, some less tangible. A curious exchange undertaken was that of marble busts between the pair. Thomas Campbell was commissioned by the Duke to produce a bust of both himself and the princess, which he undertook.

The fate of the commission is reasonably uncertain, having been delayed by the Princess falling out with the Duke over her brother’s death in 1821. However, inventories and the auction catalogue list at least two busts of Pauline, one in the Duke’s bedroom and one in his cabinet. The princess definitely received a bust of the Duke, which was found after her death in an antiquity shop in Rome by Campbell and returned to the Duke.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[502]

Thomas Campbell

PRODUCTION

BUST OF PAULINE

503

DWG

Oversized bronze bust by Thomas Campbell commissioned by the duke. Sold in the 1919 auction.

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PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

IMG

ENVIRONMENT

[503]

Thomas Campbell

MATERIAL

BUST OF ALEXANDER, 10th DUKE OF HAMILTON

504

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Hamilton Palace was the seat of the Dukedom of Hamilton and Douglas. The initial 13thC tower house (known both as The Orchard and Castle of Hamilton) was significantly rebuilt and expanded by the 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Anne at the turn of the 17thC. This Palladian U-Plan country was later enlarged by Alexander, 10th Duke, ‘il magnifico’ to house the ever-expanding collection amassed by the Hamilton family which was consolidated by Alexander’s marriage to Susan Beckford of Fonthill Abbey which led to the Beckford library being re-sited to Hamilton Palace.

This expansion and collection was funded mainly by coal sales from collieries owned by the duke. The 10th Duke’s tenure may be considered a high watermark in the Palace, as the family fell into debt and site began to consume itself. In order to settle these debts the vast collection was dispersed through two great auctions. After a brief stint as a military hospital during the First World War the Palace was finally demolished due to subsidence caused due to the hollowing out of the ground beneath the Palace.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[504]

photographed in 1870

PRODUCTION

HAMILTON PALACE

505

DWG

This floor plan shows the scale of the enlargements to the Palace made by Alexander, 10th Duke, turning the modest U-shaped palace in the centre of the plan into one of the great country homes of Britain.

IMG

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PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

The Old State Drawing Room, from which the panelled walls were taken, is located in the north east corner of the old U-shaped palace, adjacent to the large Egyptian hall.

ENVIRONMENT

[505]

following enlargements by Alexander, 10th Duke in the 1820s

MATERIAL

GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF HAMILTON PALACE

506

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CURATION

Whilst much of the landscaping has been lost to the encroachments of the expanding town and new sports facilities, the great avenue is still visible and largely preserved in Hamilton today.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

This design for the expanded grounds of the developing Hamilton Palace was eventually realised during the 19th century under Alexander, 10th Duke. Centred around a great avenue running three miles from the Palace to Chatelherault, this plan evoked major formal gardens of the era such as those at Versailles, and was focussed around strong linear axes connecting key monuments or open landscaped moments. This imposed landscape was at odds to the complex network of mineshafts and coalfields below the surface.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[506]

proposed design by Alexander Edward, 1708

PRODUCTION

LAYOUT OF HAMILTON PALACE GROUNDS

507

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CURATION

Hamilton Palace had ceased to be used as a regular home in the 1880s, only 40 years after the completion of the 10th Duke’s total reworking. It fell into disrepair, accelerated by housing soldiers during the First World War and damage caused by extensive coal excavations throughout the Low Parks and up to the Palace itself. In 1919, the trustees of the estate of the 12th Duke resolved to dismantle and demolish the house. A great auction took place of remaining furniture and artwork, followed by the internal fabric of the building, including the timber panelling now on display at the National Museum.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

William, 12th Duke of Hamilton, lived a lavish lifestyle and lost much of the fortune amassed from the coal industry. In 1882, he was forced to auction off the Hamilton Library amongst other assets to repay significant debts. This sale included notable paintings and books, and was a major event at the time.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[507]

from 1919 Auction at Christie’s, London

PRODUCTION

HAMILTON PALACE AUCTION CATALOGUE

508

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ENVIRONMENT MATERIAL

The lodoicea is intended to stand at the heart of the new Biomes Project glasshouse, which will rise over 30m in height. The Victorian glasshouse, where the palm was previously growing, is due to be restored as part of the Biomes Project, necessitating the removal of all the plants within. The lodoicea was one of the largest plants which needed to be moved, and is shown here being dug up, placed into a temporary planter and moved to the Temperate glasshouse for safe keeping.

IMG

CURATION

The lodoicea at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh is approximately ten years old and around seven metres tall. It is one of only two specimens in the UK, alongside another at Kew Gardens.

DWG

PRODUCTION

[508] being removed from the Palmhouse in preparation for the Biomes Project, 2021

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

LODOICEA MALDIVICA AT ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

509

The scale of the seed and the rarity of the plant made the lodoicea a source of great interest historically. The scientific name maldivica originated from prior to the habitation of the Seychelles, when the seed was only known for washing up on the shorelines of the Maldives, over 2000km away across the Indian Ocean. These mysterious seeds were prized by locals and international travellers, with specimens collected by colonial travellers to take back to European royal courts for display.

IMG

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

[003/404/405/508/510/701]

PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

from ‘La Carte Générale Bathymétrique des Océans’, 1892

MATERIAL

[509]

BATHYMETRIC CHART OF INDIAN OCEAN

510

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CURATION

The edaphologist studies the interactions between soils and living things, in particular the impact of soil changes on plant life in a given location. Alongside pedology, which is the study of the chemical properties and formational processes of soils, edaphology is a key discipline within soil science.

The edaphologist works principally at a larger scale than the pedologist, utilising aerial footage, wide landscape studies and soil maps such as this one for their research.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

This soil map displays the pedological break down of the Scotland, focussed here on the Borders, Midlothian & Edinburgh.

The relationships between landscapes and the soils & earth conditions which support are a key area of study for the project, and the character of the edaphologist is placed at the heart of this.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[510]

Scottish Borders & Midlothian, 1946

PRODUCTION

MAP OF SOIL TYPES

511

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

1:100

This model separates into nine components to display eight sectional cuts in total, and describes the geological composition of a square mile in the Forest of Dean.

ENVIRONMENT

This three dimensional teaching model is one of a number produced

by Thomas Sopwith, a mining engineer and teacher of geology who pioneered the use of model-making to explain geological formations and create new methods of mapping.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[511]

Thomas Sopwith, 1840s

PRODUCTION

GEOLOGICAL MODEL

512

The Museum of Economic Geology built on the completion of the first geological map of the United Kingdom in 1835. This map and further ongoing research into the geological constitution of the UK provided the basis for the rapid expansion of mining operations necessary to power the Industrial Revolution.

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The diverse audience of the Museum, and its intersecting role between the exchange of research, capital and economic development, draw similarities to the programmatic complexity of the project.

CURATION

The premises of the Museum of Economic Geology sat at the heart of this; a space for academic researchers, mining investors, foremen and ‘gentlemen workers’, cartographers and scientists alike, it drew together the worlds of research and economic development through lecture series, publications and access to its vast library of books, geological specimens and maps.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[512]

constructed 1851, demolished 1935

PRODUCTION

MAIN LIBRARY, MUSEUM OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

513

The London Coal Exchange was closely associated with the Museum of Economic Geology [512] at the forefront of research and investment into the mining of coal and other precious metals during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The open nature of both intellectual and economic exchange within the gathering space of the Exchange Hall, as well as the downward-facing subterranean focus, draws parallels to the intersecting programmes of exhange and subterranean modulation within the Botanic Gardens project.

CURATION

The Exchange Hall brought together investors, academicians and senior mine employees to work collectively to identify new areas for mine development, improve existing practices, and buy and sell mine locations and extracted materials through negotiation and exchange.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[513]

engraving of 1808, exchange demolished 1848

PRODUCTION

EXCHANGE HALL, LONDON COAL EXCHANGE

514

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

A key element of the negotiations of value and exchange supported by the project is the ability to set aside and forget objects, held out of sight for future deployment.

At the rear of the spaces of presentation and exchange lies a ‘grotto’, an open chamber for placing unvalued or unwanted objects in anticipation of future reconsideration of their potential. The image of Charles Foster Kane’s vast collection of artefacts and valuables conveys the potential density of this space, as well as evoking the inevitable result of an attitude to collecting and gathering such as that of Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[514]

still from final scene of Citizen Kane (1941)

PRODUCTION

STORING, DISPOSING AND FORGETTING

515

Richard James is a mixed media artist who creates hand-built cabinets and vitrines, filled with found materials, particularly from coastal environments. These complex vitrines have strongly spiritual themes, and work to position detritus found through beach-combing in a different light as revered artefacts or relics.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

James’ artworks attribute unexpected value and emotional significance to these marginal objects from nature; this use of artistic endeavour to realign perceptions of value is a significant influence on the attitude to value taken by the project.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[515]

and other works by Richard James

PRODUCTION

URANIA’S MIRROR

516

Levon Biss is a British photographer, who works principally in the realm of extreme macro-photography, creating vivid and complex images of microscopic objects. Each image, which displays an object only millimetres large on three metre high sheets, takes four weeks to prepare and involves stitching together up to 10,000 individual photographs taken using a bespoke photographing rig as seen in this image.

IMG

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CURATION PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Biss has produced two collections exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh; first, Microsculpture, which focussed on images of insects, and secondly The Hidden Beauty of Seeds and Fruits, which used specimens from the Botanics’ carpological collection, and included the image of the coco-de-mer from the early stages of this project [404].

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

image from levonbissstudio.com

MATERIAL

[516]

LEVON BISS, MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER

517

The Glucksman Gallery is an art gallery and restaurant sited on the University College Cork main campus, amongst mature trees and adjacent to the river.

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The Glucksmann is defined by four angled window openings, which are oriented towards key views over the river and back into the city. Within a curving timber clad form, these openings position and shape the visitor experience within the city and the University campus.

CURATION

The horizontal separation of concrete lower structure and access and timber clad volume above, facilitating access at different levels whilst maintaining a light-touch relationship with the landscape, represented a key influence for the edaphologist’s lookout.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[517]

O’Donnell + Tuomey, 2005

PRODUCTION

UCC GLUCKSMAN GALLERY, CORK

518

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

1:100

The external articulation of these functions within the concrete structure of the stair is enhanced by the space afforded around the core at each level.

ENVIRONMENT

The staircase within this boarding school for girls exemplifies the potential of an active core, encompassing activities beyond the stair through storage, small seating areas and spaces for quiet reflection.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[518]

Gion A Caminada, 2004

PRODUCTION

STAIRCASE, MÄDCHENINTERNAT KLOSTER DISENTIS

519

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CURATION

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Carlo Scarpa designed this extension to the existing Museo Canova in Possagno to house plaster casts created by the workshop Antonio Canova as part of the process of sculpting marble statues and busts.

Each plaster cast is covered in a network of dots that was used in collaboration with a pantograph drill to rough out the form of the statue in marble.

Scarpa’s design for the extension deviated from the previous approach to the presentation of the plaster casts, which was informed by the arrangement within Canova’s original workshop, and created a curated scenic journey through selected casts, based on the visual appeal of their interrelationship and navigated through controlled lighting from above. Scarpa also designed the exhibition cases and glass vitrines for smaller pieces and fragments. The original plaster cast of Canova’s sculpture of Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese is displayed in the Scarpa extension.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[519]

Carlo Scarpa, 1957

PRODUCTION

GYPSOTHECA, MUSEO CANOVA

520

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CURATION

The playground proposal creates deep cuts into the landscape and installs concrete structures at a range of scales, from oversized staircases to miniature pyramids and domes. The contrast between the formality of the individual elements and the informality of the overall landscape arrangement is notable, and the spaces between the concrete components suggest opportunities for playful occupation and use.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Isamu Noguchi is best known for his designs of structures to support organic play. This model for an uncompleted playground proposal in New York deviated from the soft forms and undulating landscapes of much of his built work and reflects the monumental sensibilities of his collaborator, Louis Kahn.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[520]

Louis Kahn & Isamu Noguchi, 1961

PRODUCTION

ADELE LEVY MEMORIAL PARK MODEL

521

This dual landscape/urbanism project revitalises an urban square through the introduction of a new playground, through routes and a number of pavilions and architectural features.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

The most important component is the jagged steel ‘pergola’ which crosses the square and encloses space between itself and an adjacent apartment facing the square. The success of this structure as a permeable feature which nonetheless separates and encloses space, and draws together the otherwise disparate components of the landscape strategy.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[521]

Flores & Prats, 2005

PRODUCTION

PIUS XII SQUARE, BARCELONA

522

The majority of plant specimens in the Herbarium collection at the Botanic Gardens are categorised using specimen cards. These cards note the family, genus & species of the plant, the date, location and expedition of collection if known, and provide a unique identification number. A colour chart and ruler allow for scaling and colour balance.

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

This approach to recording and cataloguing the Herbarium’s extensive collection has informed our approach to the organisation of this project index, allowing shared information to be read across drawings and index cards.

CURATION

Larger plant specimens and much of the carpological collection of seeds and fruit are too large to fit onto specimen cards. These items are held in bags with supporting documentation containing the same information.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[522]

Geranium robertianum L., collected Taiwan 1992

PRODUCTION

EXAMPLE SPECIMEN FROM HERBARIUM COLLECTION

523

Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese’s travelling service is one of the most unusual and valuable items in the National Museum of Scotland’s collections. Its age and complexity necessitate a highly particular approach to care and conservation.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

To allow for this conservation process to be carefully planned and managed, each item within the travelling service is individually catalogued, noting its size, materials, date and place of manufacture, and history of care, alongside a highly detailed written description. This catalogue is held by the National Museums as a point of reference.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[523]

borrowed and photographed by AH, September 2021

PRODUCTION

EXTRACT FROM INDEX OF TRAVELLING SERVICE

524

The 10th Duke was the first lord of Hamilton Palace to sell rights to land on the estate for coal mining, and with the rapid growth of mining in the Lanarkshire area during the early to mid-19th century his son the 11th Duke rapidly expanded the scale and scope of mine workings on Hamilton Palace’s lands.

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

Ultimately, the thin layers of this geological, edaphological and topographical cross section collapsed in upon each other, resulting in the demolition of the Palace in 1921. Whilst awaiting demolition, areas of the dilapidated Palace were used as emergency housing for out-of-work mining families.

CURATION

These mine workings take their place amongst a complex vertical landscape arrangement, jostling for sectional space with the re-routed Clyde and Strathclyde Loch, the formal grounds of the Palace and the town itself; the mining village of Bothwellhaugh was flooded during the construction of the loch, and now lies below the water’s surface.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[524]

Hamilton Palace estate, 1889

PRODUCTION

MAP OF COALFIELDS & MINE WORKINGS

525

The Hamilton Estate has a close relationship with water. Bordered by the River Clyde to the east and divided twice by Avon Water, the Palace itself was also served with drinking water from Wham Ponds, two artificial reservoirs adjacent to the Grand Avenue near Chatelherault.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

When the plans for Strathclyde Loch were drawn up during the 1940s, a decision was taken to plan the scale and shape of the loch based on the existing meanders in the path of the Clyde, and to re-route the river to run in a straight basin alongside the loch, separated by a narrow isthmus.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[525]

re-routing the Clyde

PRODUCTION

MAP OF AN INDECISIVE RIVER

601

[101/102/103/405/506/508/509/510/511/516/602/607/702/703/705]

CURATION

Reedbed wetlands are fragile ecosystems in rapid decline across Scotland; this particular area of wetland is hidden between the motorway and the edges of the town, inaccessible to the general public and not currently maintained. The project proposes the formation of an outpost station here to allow for edaphological study and ongoing habitat maintenance [101].

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The estates of the former Hamilton Palace extended to the north of the Palace itself, extending into an area of farmland interspersed with planted copses of trees and open parkland known as the ‘Low Parks’. Following the construction of the M74 motorway and the formation of Strathclyde Loch in the 1970s, an area of the Low Parks between the motorway and Hamilton golf course became flooded resulting in the emergence of a reedbed wetland ecosystem. A number of the historic copses became islands within the wetland.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[601]

photographs by AH, January 2022

PRODUCTION

HAMILTON REEDBED

602

Strathclyde Loch is an artificial pleasure loch formed in the 1970s on the site of the old mining village of Bothwellhaugh and over coalfields within the former estates of Hamilton Palace.

The creation of the loch resulted in the formation of an isthmus between the loch and the Clyde, which passes alongside and was artificially straightened as part of the loch project. On the other side of the loch is the M74 motorway.

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CURATION PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The project proposes an outpost station in this location for a macro-photographer, balanced between the loch and the river and focussed on the photography of plants and botanic specimens. The proposal is a study that is concerned with seeing things against one another and in sequence, from the small object over the loch to the theme park and along the isthmus. The proposal focuses on the movement of the waters above and below.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

photographs by AH, January 2022

MATERIAL

[602]

HAMILTON ISTHMUS

603

The scale and striking design of the Herbarium means that it is a significant presence in the eastern edge of the Botanic Gardens.

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CURATION

The Edinburgh Botanic Gardens Herbarium collection contains over 3 million floral specimens. Most are samples of leaves or bark which are dried, backed onto sheets and stored in purpose designed shelves within the Herbarium’s library. The smaller carpological collection contains seed & fruit specimens which are too large to be backed onto sheets; specimens from this collection were photographed by Levon Biss for his exhibition, and included the lodoicea maldivica seed pictured on [404].

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh is housed in a purpose-built structure designed by the Office of Public Works and opened in 1964. It uses a modular reinforced concrete box-frame and is finished in white terrazzo. The Herbarium was extended in 1997 & 2006.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[603]

photographs by DA, November 2021

PRODUCTION

HERBARIUM BUILDING

604

The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh occupy the majority of a large city block in the Inverleith area of the city. Whilst it faces directly onto the street to the south and west, the eastern and north-eastern edges of the gardens meet the backs of villas and townhouses along Inverleith Row and Inverleith Place.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

These encased edges of the gardens provide a more complex ‘double back’ condition which the existing layout and architecture does not particularly respond to. The proximity to Inverleith Row as a major thoroughfare offers the potential to harness this condition to strengthen the relationship of the Botanics site to the city.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[604]

photographs by DA, November 2021

PRODUCTION

BOTANIC GARDENS ENCASEMENT

605

In addition to the Herbarium building, the most notable architectural structures within the Botanic Gardens are the glasshouses.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

The architectural language of expressed structural frames and thin veneers of encasement is shared by the project, through the structural frame which wraps the Botanic boundary and in smaller tectonic and structural relationships throughout.

CURATION

The Victorian palmhouse was completed in 1858, and is the tallest traditional palmhouse in Britain, necessitating ambitious structural engineering to achieve the height and spans of the glass roof. The Main Glasshouse Range, completed in 1967, was considered at the time to be the most innovative glasshouse design in a century, utilising an external lattice framework from which the envelope is hung to create an open interior unimpeded by structural columns.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[605]

photographs by DA, November 2021

PRODUCTION

BOTANIC GARDENS FRAMES & CASES

606

[002/106/107/402/506/516/517/521/603/604/605/607/801]

CURATION

The curated layout of the Botanic Gardens creates many of these broken vistas, which change throughout the year to hide and reveal views to other areas of the gardens and beyond the perimeter. This approach to changeable, translucent screening informs the face which the project presents to the gardens, wrapped in loose cascading sheets which can be repositioned and opened as required.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

This photograph shows an area of the large beech hedge in the Botanic Gardens which has died back as a result of openings created in the hedge for site works supporting the Biomes Project. Light filters through the dead branches, revealing glimpses of other areas of the gardens beyond.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[606]

photograph by AH, November 2021

PRODUCTION

BOTANIC GARDENS SCREENS AND TRANSPARENCY

607

The complex programme of the project includes the creation of spaces for edaphological and botanic research and experimentation, through the growing of plant species within particular soil conditions and through creating new environments for research using the Herbarium collection.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

The Botanics currently supports a wide range of plants types within a series of programmed ‘zones’, organised based on plant families, geographical locations or climatic conditions; the project proposes miniaturised versions of some of these zones within the ‘back-of-house’ site.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[607]

collected and photographed by AH, February 2022

PRODUCTION

PLANT SPECIMENS FROM BOTANIC GARDENS

701

The shared themes of travel and exchange emerged early in the project. This investigation into the lodoicea seed specimen investigated its different scales of operation, from the seed itself to the Herbarium, the Botanic Gardens, and finally the Indian Ocean between the Seychelles and the Maldives, through which the seed makes its maritime journey.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

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CURATION

Floating the ocean within the seed subverts expected hierarchies of scale and distorts the outcomes and importance of the journey.

Within this encasement, the architectures of the Botanic Gardens are held as components to be deployed in future site studies and architectural proposals.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[701]

from the seed to the Seychelles

PRODUCTION

BOTANIC GARDENS: SCALES OF OPERATION

702

The project oscillates between related sites of the former Hamilton Estate and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, identifying shared characteristics and differences of architecture and landscape.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

[101/103/104/506/509/510/511/512/513/520/601/602/603/604/605/607/705/802]

CURATION

To draw further on connections between the sites, the two locations were layered; key sites of edaphological density in the Botanic Gardens were excavated to reveal corresponding locations in Hamilton. The locations that this process revealed became sites for architectural studies.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[702]

layering of locations to uncover sites of interest

PRODUCTION

HAMILTON & BOTANICS: RUPTURE & EXCAVATION

703

DWG

The proposal takes structural queues from Pauline to hollow out a spine with two backs; heavy suspended walls which cradle space for the movement of water through the site.

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PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

IMG

ENVIRONMENT

[703]

showing suspended structural relationship

MATERIAL

STUDY ON AN ISTHMUS WALL COMPONENT

704

A site model, or para-site of the Hamilton isthmus was created from the hollowed carcass of the folding mahogany table from whose wood much of Pauline was created. In this excavated table a vitrine is held that holds some of the historical layers of the Hamilton site in assemblage and allows one to look down but see up. The vitrine is filled up with collection from the botanics as well as other pertinent objects.

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ENVIRONMENT

DWG

PRODUCTION

[104/105/106/107/401/402/506/510/511/515/516/601/602/603/607/703/705/801/8 02]

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

showing early site strategy

MATERIAL

[704]

STUDY ON AN ISTHMUS DEVELOPMENT MODEL

705

This site model records the process of reorienting from early experiments in Hamilton to the Botanic Gardens, and redeploying the architectural language developed at the Hamilton outposts at a larger scale.

IMG

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

[101/104/106/107/506/510/511/517/518/520/603/604/605/607/706]

CURATION

This early site model situated a study for the edaphologist alongside a new pond, formed at the centre of the proposed site, and also housing spaces for exhibition and public gathering. Its form is derived from a horizontal re-working of the ‘occupied core’ of the Hamilton outpost proposal, and is connected to Inverleith Row through a villa owned by the Botanics via a footbridge.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[705]

photograph by DA, February 2022

PRODUCTION

EARLY DEVELOPMENT SITE MODEL

706

[001/002/104/105/106/107/401/403/505/506/510/516/520/603/604/605/606/703/7 04/705/802]

CURATION

The sample ponds of the isthmus reappear in the Botanic Gardens, between the existing pond and new watercourses created within the excavated space of the proposed project. The existing rear garden of the villa is reshaped to create a point of access focussed on an existing ‘break’ in the boundary, which also navigates the level difference between the back gardens of the street and the new back edge of the Botanics.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

This model augmented the earlier site model and records the process of redeploying the architectural language of the Hamilton photographers study to the Botanic Gardens site, as well as the development of a language of connecting into public spaces through existing villas along Inverleith Row.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[706]

photograph by AH, February 2022

PRODUCTION

EARLY DEVELOPMENT MODEL

801

‘Pauline’ is a 1:1 piece modelled to hold some of the complexities of the project together and work through the relationship between Pauline Borghese, the travelling service, the Duke and the palace. As such assemblage became an important method enacted through considerate making, where tectonic motifs are employed to hold things in certain ways; lightly, counterweighted, balanced, pinched, doweled, sprung and hung.

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ENVIRONMENT

DWG

[001/002/401/402/403/501/502/503/504/505/507/519/703/704/802]

PRODUCTION

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

CURATION

photos by AH, December 2021

MATERIAL

[801]

PAULINE

802

This model derived from testing the proposed extent of excavation for the project at scale, working using plaster and aggregates within a 1:200 frame.

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

[107/201/202/203/204/205/206/207/208/209/210/212/301/302/303/603/604/605/6 06/607/705/707/803/804]

CURATION

From this ground condition study the model was layered, beginning with the pouring of slabs across the excavated edge, then the individual components of the architectural ‘spine’ which organises the project. These components reflect the different elements of the programme of the project [201] and demonstrate how a consistent architectural language and mixed material palette is distributed across the site.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[802]

photos by AH, April 2022

PRODUCTION

FINAL SITE MODEL

803

The complex sectional relationships across the thickened edge are interpreted through this model, which focusses on the densest area of occupation within the project.

IMG

The differing character of the heavy masonry ‘bust drum’, the lightweight framed gathering spaces and the solid hanging wall & large structural frame are each expressed here, as well as the character of the open spaces between each built component.

BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

[107/201/202/203/204/205/206/207/208/209/210/212/301/302/303/603/604/605/6 06/607/705/707/802/804]

CURATION

This was the first of the three final models to be produced, and illustrates the early stages of interpreting material and architectural detail for the project.

ENVIRONMENT

DWG

MATERIAL

[803]

photos by AH, May 2022

PRODUCTION

MODEL OF SOUTH GATHERING SPACE & TEAPOT

804

IMG

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BOTANICS HAMILTON BEYOND

1:100

This model examines in more detail the threshold conditions which an architecture of doubling and backing might create, and the structural interplay of solid wall and open frame.

ENVIRONMENT

The project is principally one of outside spaces, or areas which are permeable to external conditions. However, a number of indoor environments are distributed across the spine; the oyster bar, the gardeners’ rest space, the edaphologist’s study, the house for the travelling service and the macro-photographer’s study.

MATERIAL

DWG

CURATION

[804]

photos by AH/DA, May 2022

PRODUCTION

MODEL OF MACRO-PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDY