STRAWBERRY TABLE FOR THE GRADUATION CEREMONY 2019 REUSING UNWANTED PIECES OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, DON’T THROW THEM, MAKE A TABLE INSTEAD
Thesis and execution design by Caterina Miralles Tagliabue
STORY In 1920 when Aston Webb designed a wall for the Victoria and Albert museum the techniques behind architecture where completely different than what they are today. Almost a hundred years after, in 2005, this same wall became the space where a new entry to the museum would be made. The only issue was that this wall belonged to a listed building. If a building is listed, so are the components which make it; in this case, the stones.
Original Aston Webb Wall
When the project to open up the wall started, by law, all of the stones (which where carved back in 1920) had to be kept. A lot of man power was put into the this and each stone was carefully removed, one by one. In 2007, the new project was finished and the Aston Webb wall became the Aston Webb doorway; which is now listed. The irony behind the stones which where carefully removed due to law requirements, now no longer belong to the building, therefore are not listed nor protected anymore. The Victoria and Albert museum couldn’t keep them anymore, due to storage space and ended up selling them to a quarry. Today, this stones are sitting in a quarry, unused. The fact that they where done back in the 1900’s makes them very difficult to re-integrate them in new buildings or reuse them. Never the less, their material quality is much better than what we can find in the UK quarries today.
Elevation original Aston Webb Wall
What this thesis proposes is a catalogue and a series of assembly systems in order to potentially, by using more creative means, some architects would be able to integrate this elements into a contemporary architecture. There is the tradition at the Architectural Association to have a table for strawberries during the graduation ceremony. This event became an excuse to display a prototype and a few of the stones as samples to elevate their beauty and expose them to a contemporary event to demonstrate that elements like this one can still participate in architecture today. Elevation of the new Aston Webb Wall Photography of the new Aston Webb Wall
Original first storage, in the Victoria and Albert museum’s basement
Stones from the Aston Webb wall. Today stored in Haysom Purbeck Stone Quarry.
Drawing, all the stones let from the project.
SCALE 1:40
Drawing, all the stones let from the project.
Drawing, all the stones let from the project.
Detail of one of the stones, where you can see some traces of the stone mason’s marks.
There are many examples of recent buildings where the advantages of natural stone, in terms of aesthetic and durability characteristics, have not been realised because of poor stone selection and/or inadequate detailing of the facade.
Drawing; Detail on technical assamby
Movement joint Jamb step
Stone facing parapet
Non ferrous cramp
Lead
Throat
Ashlar detail
Flexible DPC
Interlocking joint or joggle
Bonder stone
Jamb step
Splayed coping Dowel min 6 mm diameter Drip Jamb step
Movement joint Corniced with lead covering
Ashlar facing structural wall Stone coated with lime mortar
Photos, assembling the stones into the table.
Photos; From the quarry to the graduation party
Many thanks to Strawberry team; Chuck Xuecheng Wang Lydia Ciu, Building team; Selin Arisal, Marion Delaporte Rotor Team; Maarten Gleen, Lionel Deveris, Aude-Line Duliere Special thanks to Haysom Purbek stone quarry and Mark Haysom.
Thesis and execution design by Caterina Miralles Tagliabue