Thesis Book : Fieldwork by Jordan Keller

FIELDWORK JORDAN KELLER

BARCH 2015

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

VIRGINIA TECH

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN

FIELDWORK JORDAN KELLER

BARCH 2015

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

VIRGINIA TECH

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN

Section 1 : Writing The Purpose of a Thesis and the Presentation of Work On Precedent Activating the Field

Section 2 : Making Precedents Thesis Statement Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow A Competition Entry A Facility for Processing Fieldwork A Pavilion in the Desert A Sculpture A Wall Dairy Farm : Analogical A Creamery A Creamery : Coordinated Documentation

Section 3 : Index Drawings Models Prints Overlays

1 3 13 27

39 41 61 69 69 83 87 97 113 123 137 137 171

193 194 202 216 218

Section 1 : Writing The Purpose of a Thesis and the Presentation of Work On Precedent Activating the Field

3 13 27

All definitions taken from Oxford English Dictionary

THE PURPOSE OF A THESIS AND THE PRESENTATION OF WORK A thesis is a disciplined process by which a series of linked acts and re-actions are made in pursuit of a vision or dream, resulting in a body of work. The traditional definition of a thesis - which involves “taking a stand” for something or “making an argument” so firm that it is impenetrable to its attackers – would lead the creative person into a way of working that becomes defensive rather than generative. Rather than make and then explain and then defend, I would prefer to see the creative person make and then make and then make again. If there is a progression of thought from one action to the next, the resulting body of work will be plenty firm and “defendable”. A body of work cannot be proven wrong.

The Purpose of a Thesis and the Presentation of Work

A thesis is a disciplined process by which a series of linked acts and re-actions are made in pursuit of a vision or dream, resulting in a body of work. The traditional definition of a thesis - which involves “taking a stand” for something or “making an argument” so firm that it is impenetrable to its attackers – would lead the creative person into a way of working that becomes defensive rather than generative. Rather than make and then explain and then defend, I would prefer to see the creative person make and then make and then make again. If there is a progression of thought from one action to the next, the resulting body of work will be plenty firm and “defendable”. A body of work cannot be proven wrong. Thesis : originally meaning the setting down of the foot or lowering of the hand in beating time, and hence the stress of ictus; a proposition laid down or stated, esp. as a theme to be discussed and proved, or to be maintained against attack. Reaction : the influence which a thing, acted upon or affected by another, exerts in return on or upon its source, or in turn upon something else; any response to

an event - something done, felt, or thought in response to a situation, statement, etc.

Watershed Observatory : Palette

The Purpose of a Thesis and the Presentation of Work Thesis as apposed to Project A body of work is never complete. A project is completable, although most are never entirely finished. The body of work has a clear progression from one thing to the next. The acts are reactions. As soon as one act is made independently of - without regard to â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the previous act, the work becomes a project. A project that is not part of a body of work has limited meaning and unlimited potential. As soon as the creative person reacts to the project, he realizes some of that potential. To understand a project is fine. To understand a body of work is powerful. The thesis identifies, if not the essence of the body of work to come, then at least where and how the body of work begins. A project can be a part of a thesis as an action taken on an idea. If the project stands alone as a reaction to nothing in particular, it is a fourteen-foot fishing boat on the open ocean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it will be tossed around and ultimately crushed no matter how many words you throw up in front of it.

Watershed Observatory : Detail

The purpose of a thesis: To understand how you, as a creative person, act and re-act To realize (in the living world) what your dreams can become To inspire the imagination of others

The Purpose of a Thesis and the Presentation of Work Speaking Is there anything to be gained by verbally explaining your work? After all, the purpose of a thesis is to inspire the imagination of others, not to simply transplant your ideas into their heads. Can you inspire ideas instead of installing ideas? When the creative person speaks about his work, from the first word, it diminishes the power of the research, which is purely embodied in the things you are presenting. The things can say what you do not have words for. The drawings and the models say everything that you are saying with your mouth, only more precisely. Heidegger says, “Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.” Do not enslave your ideas to spoken words. Do not squelch their potential. Your words start to cover up the ideas! But keep talking if you must – you just might be able to cover up all the ideas completely. Research : the act of searching carefully for or pursuing a specified thing or person; Systematic investigation or inquiry aimed at contributing to knowledge, by careful consideration, observation, or study of a subject. The product of systematic investigation.

Work is for pinning up. Ideas are for discussing. When projects are discussed, people start assigning ideas to them. It seems to be human nature to, in discussing something, make assertions about the ideas behind the thing. To avoid this, the ideas should be discussed instead of the projects. The projects then become things to reference in a discussion about a particular idea. This way the participants leave the discussion with thoughts instead of facts. When the ideas is referenced in a discussion about an idea, the project becomes valuable. If others see something that you do not or did not intend, then the purpose of your work is fulfilled â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to inspire imagination in the minds of others that they could not have had without seeing the thing you made. In contrast, if you expertly describe the thing that you made, why you made it, how you made it, what it is and what it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t and what you think it could be, then your purpose will be unfulfilled due to all of your talking. Be specific in your actions, but vague in your conclusions. Others will come to their own conclusions. Those conclusions may inspire new beginnings. Watershed Observatory : Perspective

The presentation of work should not be as if it were a trial where decisions are given reasons and justified as if a serious crime was committed and logical explanation is required, the lack of which severe punishment is the consequence. The reason if there is one, for your making of whatever you made needs no explanation and should not be shared with others because it would restrain their minds from imagining their own ideas. You will give them an idea. If they then act on that idea that you gave to them, they will have no idea at all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the greatest tragedy for the creative mind, with so much potential of its own, is to be enslaved by another. To exhaustively describe a project is to plant a seed in the ground and then drown it in water and pile fertilizer on top of it so much that it cannot sprout at all. All you have to do is put the seed in the ground â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it will sprout. Most of all, the discussion should not be about the intent of the creative person. As soon as the project is part of a discussion about an idea, the intent of the creator is unimportant. The idea in the mind of the maker Watershed Observatory : Entry

has enormous value, but that idea and that value is personal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it does not need justification or explanation to others. Others should take from it what is evident to them through their own personal observation. The generative discussion is about what is evident, not what is supposed to be evident.

The Purpose of Presenting Work: To fuel the discussion of ideas To cultivate sensibility and judgement To make a contribution, which is to inspire imagination in others

ON PRECEDENT To put forward a precedented idea is to put forward no idea at all. The precedent serves in place of an idea. An idea is a thing with pedigree in the mind of the creative person. The only conceptual precedents for an idea are those ideas that were had before it, by that same person, in that same mind.

On Precedent

To put forward a precedented idea is to put forward no idea at all. The precedent serves in place of an idea. An idea is a thing with pedigree in the mind of the creative person. The only valid precedents for an idea are those ideas that were had before it, by that same person, in that same mind. Idea : a nature or essence considered as existing separately from the particular things which exemplify it (Platonic philosophy); an a priori concept of reason denoting an object beyond the bounds of possible experience or empirical knowledge (Kantian thought); an immediate object of thought, perception, or imagination (Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume); the conception of anything in its highest perfection or supreme development â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a standard of perfection â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an ideal; a conception or notion of something to be done or carried out. Precedent : a previous instance taken as an example or rule by which to be guided in similar cases or circumstances; an example by which a comparable subsequent act may be justified.

A reaction to the definition of precedent with respect to its place in the work of a creative person: The possibilities of creation are unending. What good does an example or a rule do, especially for the purpose of guidance? When the creative mind is guided by rules or even examples, it is stifled. It is impeded. What interest does the creative mind have in generating a comparable subsequent act? An assembly line worker makes comparable subsequent acts. He puts the stuffing in the teddy bear that way because he did it that way for the last one. His act is justified by precedent. Thank God! This sort of act is poisonous to the creative person. The creative person acts and then observes. The creative person acts and then looks, thinks about, stares at the result of his action. The creative person then acts again, informed by his previous action and all prior actions.

Images from La Tourette (Le Corbusier)

On Precedent Precedent and the Pragmatic Precedent deals with matters in accordance with practical considerations. Therefore, precedent is a pragmatic consideration. Pragmatic : Dealing with matters in accordance with practical rather than theoretical considerations or general principles; aiming at what is achievable rather than ideal; concerned with practical consequences.

column gives under the strain of your insignificant connection and crushes someone, your unprecedented architectural idea has made the world worse off. An unprecedented idea must be coupled, when necessary, with contemporary precedents of building systems and methods of construction.

In acting on the idea had in the mind, the creative person may require a column to support a wall in a particular way to allow a particular amount of light to enter a particular space. It is logical for the creative person to find a situation where someone else took a similar action. This is a way, the most efficient way, for the creative person to find a solution for his problem. Artistic and Architectural ideas are not problems – they should not be treated as such – they should not have precedents found for them because they do not require justification. However, if you are going to build a roof on a column, if you are going to hold a large mass over a person’s head with a much thinner and lighter piece of material, you need to justify your act – you need to prove its feasibility. When your unprecedented Pavilion in the Desert : Model T3 : Image A

On Precedent Having vs. Getting an Idea If an idea is had (conceived) by the designer and not gotten (retrieved) by the designer, then the thing made is made by the architect. The mind of the architect has inspired the creation of something physical. The thing is a contribution to the world. If the idea is gotten by the designer, then the thing made is made by someone else. The designer becomes a vehicle for the posthumous production of work already conceived and thoroughly explored. To Have : To hold in hand, in keeping or possession; to hold or possess as property, or as something at oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disposal; to hold or entertain in the mind. To Get : To obtain possession as the result of effort or contrivance. Contrivance : the action of bringing to pass by planning, scheming, or stratagem; maneuvering, plotting; the action of inventing or making; inventive capacity; adaptation or application. To Conceive : To grasp in the mind; to form a mental representation or idea of; to form or have a conception

or notion of; to think of, imagine. To Retrieve : To find or discover again; to restore to current knowledge. Some would ask, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If each creative person has lifetimes of ideas to be explored, then why can the work of a past architect not be the same work taken on by a younger architect if there is more work to be done to see the ideas through?â&#x20AC;? To this I would respond that the younger architect is acting then on ideas he has gotten, not on ideas that he has had. The moment he acts on the work of another person, he should, if he is a creative person, have many ideas of his own. Those new ideas are undoubtedly full of personal thoughts, memories, and sensual experiences. When he acts on these new ideas, he is freer to think and to create things of a certain nature that the precedent architect could never have conceived. There are lifetimes of ideas in each creative mind. Why give up your own in favor of the ideas of others of which you will never fully come to know the essence? Each creative mind can only know the essence of an idea if it

was conceived within itself. It is important to study the work of the most creative minds that have ever existed – the conceivers of the greatest artistic and architectural ideas, the makers of the most “beautiful” artistic and architectural things – those minds have well explored bodies of work. All present and future architects should learn about how they move from one idea to the next, the making of one thing to the making of the next. Those minds have fantastic judgment and fine-tuned sensibilities. We should aspire to draw that level of judgment and sensibility out of ourselves. We should not aspire to have their judgment and sensibility. When we start to do that, we start to draw what they draw, say what they say, do what they do, and be a person who has lost all capacity to capture his own ideas within his independent creative mind. Do not be Louis Kahn. Do not aspire to be like Louis Kahn (personally or professionally). Be yourself. Louis Kahn had things on his desk and in his mind that you don’t have. You have things in your mind that Louis Kahn could not have ever dreamed of. Sculpture : Model T4 : Image C

On Precedent The Act of Making a Thing The creative person makes a thing because he wants to be able to make permanent the essence of his fleeting dreams. The making of the thing helps him realize the dream, but it also fuels the imagining of things that were previously unimaginable. Essence : foundation of being; manner of existing, ‘what a this is’; nature, character; ‘substance’ in the metaphysical sense; the reality underlying phenomena Dream : a series of images, thoughts, and emotions, often with a story-like quality, generated by mental activity during sleep; a prophetic or supernatural vision experienced when either awake or asleep; something imagined or invented; an ideal, goal, ambition, or aspiration. Note : “To Get” and “To Dream” are both ways of inventing, according to their definitions. The invention that is related to “getting” happens through adapting something for personal gain. The invention that is related to “dreaming” aspires to an ideal or vision seen in the mind.

Given plaster and wire, two materials, perhaps foam included as a third, there are an infinite number of creations possible. Before one material touches one of the other two, the mind imagines some of the possibilities. If the mind has an idea that can be expressed with these few materials, they are worth more than anything on Earth. If the creative person dreams about the idea, the materials, the possibilities, he will be inspired to act. His actions will be an unprecedented contribution because the act is personal – it is driven by the idea conceived in the mind, envisioned in dreams, and now made by his hands. Lets say I have an idea about plaster in motion being shaped by stationary wire of different diameters. I line up the wire and pour the plaster out of the cup so that it can relate to the wire. The moment that the plaster moves past the first wire and a subtle trail is left in the flowing plaster by the impact, I can feel the essence of the idea coming to life. The trail in the plaster, which is still flowing toward the other wires, has already evoked one hundred new ideas in my mind. I can feel the connection between the original idea and the thing made physical in front of my eyes. The moment that

the plaster reaches the thickest wires and comes to a near standstill in the wake of their resistance, I am given a thousand new ideas still and I realize that the possibilities are even “more infinite” than I imagined. As I act on one of those new ideas, the new potential that I see in the study starts to multiply exponentially. I need twenty lifetimes all of a sudden to study plaster and wire. The creative person does not need to “get” inspiration. I am nineteen lifetimes short on time to study one idea. As I study more and more of the ideas that have blossomed out of the one original idea, out of the first physical thing made, I get more and more behind. Once I am so far behind in my pursuit of these interrelated ideas, once I am drowning in possibilities, I am completely lost in the spirit of the study and the essence of the dream. Now I can relax and make something without asking why or how. I can freely act. I can freely act without justifying my actions. To be lost in the spirit of the dream is to be free to make the dream physical. If he is preoccupied with the reasons for why he made Pavilion in the Snow : Model T1 : Image B

the thing and what caused him to make it, then he is distracted from seeing what new ideas came out of it. After all, the point in making something physical is to feel or sense something that could not be dreamed of before its making. It is senseless to try to see what you knew before you made the thing. See what you were not able to see before! This act and this thing are the precedent for your next action.

is to do. He forgets all of those possibilities that came into his mind when he first poured plaster against wire. If he can get back to the state of being free to act in the spirit of the dream, then he will be reminded of the infinite nature of his work.

Do A. Then do B because you saw its potential in A. Then do C because you wondered if it was hiding in B. Do D because you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find C. Get lost in making E. You can feel that it has the spirit of A, but it has a richer pedigree of thought because B, C, and D came before it. Make a last minute decision because you are listening to a crescendo in Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor and it makes you feel something. It will make G more interesting. How could I possibly â&#x20AC;&#x153;not know what to do?â&#x20AC;? I am nineteen lifetimes behind and I have just started making. One has the illusion of not knowing what to do when he has been doing without being engrossed in the spirit of the dream for so long that he has forgotten all that there Precedent : Watershed Observatory : Retaining Field

On Precedent Post - Rationalizing Precedent The common practice of post-rationalizing precedents for architectural propositions can destroy the creative idea. It comes out of the insecurity of the designer about one of two things: either the validity of the idea or its feasibility as a built work of architecture. As for the first issue, the validity of the idea, there is no reason to question it. If the idea was born in the mind, which inspired the body to act, which produced a thing, then the idea requires no justification. The thing is the essence of a dream. Unless you are friends with Joseph, your dreams will never be justified, rational, or explainable by simply thinking. Instead of spending time to develop misguided reasons for why the dream was had, spend the time acting on the dream. It is through acting that you will find the dream’s purpose, which is to make the creation of the thing possible. This is the way we research our dreams. Researching our own dreams is the way that we make unprecedented architecture. To Research : To investigate or study closely; to seek or pursue; systematic investigation aimed at contributing to knowledge by careful consideration, observation, or study

As for the second issue, the thing’s feasibility as a built work of architecture, looking at precedents can be a good way to understand the methods of construction required to build the thing. Creative action does not always (although it may) require the creative person to reimagine concrete, reinvent wood, and make a metal from alloys never before combined. The thing must be made so that it can be seen and breed the making of the next thing. The only way that it can be made is through modern building techniques. The problem occurs when the precedent intervenes as the idea is being developed. As the architect draws, he recognizes that this drawing he is making looks a lot like something Scarpa might draw. He should look to Scarpa’s work perhaps to understand how his idea may be physically built. He should not look to Scarpa’s work for an understanding of Scarpa’s ideas. If he does this, his idea is lost, his dream, which was so valuable, is forgotten. Now he builds for Scarpa and his occupation has changed from architect to construction worker. He builds the dreams had in another mind, of which he will never know the essence.

Wall : Drawing T24

Wall : Model T5 : Image A

Make a plaster model. See that it â&#x20AC;&#x153;looks like ice cream.â&#x20AC;? Write ice cream on it and stick it in the freezer so that you can eat it for desert later tonight. Wake up in the morning with a bellyache and struggle to get ideas about what to do next. You are out of ideas. You had something. But then you called it ice cream and threw it in the freezer. Now that your idea is gone, you look to the ideas of others. ArchDaily.com always has some nice looking things. Maybe one of them looks a bit like ice cream. Scroll through the home page and see if anything tickles you. Brion Tomb, Carlo Scarpa

ACTIVATING THE FIELD The field is not something to be built on, it is something to be built in. In other words, to build is not to create a field condition, it is to activate a portion of the existing field. This existing field is the framework for all space. In places like the forest, trees have grown up to define its space and density, boulders on the forest floor have resisted the growth to maintain windows to the sky, and flowing streams give some sense of orientation to the expanse. In the forest, the field is saturated. Architecture seeks the portions of the field that have yet to be occupied. Architecture finds its meaningful existence in the open field, the plane, the hill, the shore, the sea, the city. It belongs clearly between earth and sky, where it can occupy the horizon, where it can saturate the portion of the field that has no definition. The field of architecture activates the dormant coordinates of the existing field.

Activating the Field

The field is not something to be built on, it is something to be built in. In other words, to build is not to create a field condition, it is to activate a portion of the existing field. This existing field is the framework for all space. In places like the forest, trees have grown up to define its space and density, boulders on the forest floor have resisted the growth to maintain windows to the sky, and flowing streams give some sense of orientation to the expanse. In the forest, the field is saturated. Architecture seeks the portions of the field that have yet to be occupied. Architecture finds its meaningful existence in the open field, the plain, the hill, the shore, the sea, the city. It belongs clearly between earth and sky, where it can occupy the horizon, where it can saturate the portion of the field that has no definition. The field of architecture activates the dormant coordinates of the existing field. Field : a piece of open land which is used, or has been designated to be used for a particular purpose; open country, esp. as apposed to woodland; a stretch of open land; a plain; with reference to plants which grow in open ground, animals which graze upon it, etc.

Active : characterized by outward action rather than inward contemplation or speculation; practical, applied; characterized by busy or lively activity. Saturate : to impregnate, soak thoroughly, imbue with; to charge the air with the utmost quantity of moisture that it can hold in suspension; to reach a state in which no further change or increase is possible. The definitions found for “field” frame it as something that is open spatially, but also contained (having some specific boundary). I certainly agree with this definition, but the intent of this essay is to put forward a concept of “the field” as something ubiquitous and spatially varied. For example, in the definition of “field”, “field” and “woodland” are pitted against each other as two apposing conditions. I prefer to see the woodland as a field that has been saturated. It is still a field, in fact it is an active field because its elements are physically present and react to each other. The architect’s challenge is to find the point at which the field becomes saturated. He surveys the existing field and, by judgement alone, must make many decisions

about how to organize the elements that are available to the site. Perhaps one steak in the center of a plain saturates that portion of the field. Perhaps it requires a thousand steaks, or perhaps it requires volumes and planes of different sizes - it is decided by the architect. The architect does not have any control over the field that is already saturated, which is why the site is always a place in the field that needs something. The architect, with all the knowledge and judgement in the world, cannot control a drop of ink in a glass of water. When a place in the field is spatially saturated, the architect loses control of his work - his anticipations are misguided and the impact of his actions are impossible to predict. The city is a unique place in the field where space is never oversaturated. The building of the city is bound by the limits of technology and nothing else. There is no field in the city because the city is the field. The city is the field fully activated and fully saturated.

Breinigsville, PA

Activating the Field Context The architect at a given moment only works in one particular area, so he cannot alter the field that lies beyond the site. He can decide, however, how assimilated the architectural elements are to the objects that surround the site. In order to “fit in” to its context, does the architecture have to “fit in” (with the style, cultural expression of the area)? Perhaps if the architecture fits in too well, it disappears altogether - it may be absorbed into its surroundings. Is it possible for the architect to organize the elements of a building in a way that “fits in”, but also emphasizes the organization of its context rather than disappearing into it? A white square in the center of a sheet of white paper may be well placed, but no body will know because no body can see it. The above thoughts are regarding the physical context of a physical site. A thesis does not have a site whereas a project, on the other hand, must have a site. That is not to say that a thesis does not have context. It has a very rich context, but it is not physical like the context of a site. The context for a thesis are other ideas and influences in the mind of the thinker. A thesis also has a site, but the site is simply the mind. In summary, a

thesis as well as a project have both site and context for a thesis they are metaphysical and for a project they are physical. Site : an area of ground on which something is constructed; the spatial location of a structure; the place, scene, or point of an occurrence. Context : the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed; the interrelated conditions in which something exists. The successful architect designs with equal regard to both the context of the thesis and the context of the physical project.

Barcelona, Spain

Activating the Field Aggregation Any particular field condition consists of a repeated element. A single element is multiplied across an expanse to define an area that maintains consistent spatial characteristics. It is how the element is varied across the field that makes the space of the field dynamic. Are the repeated elements identical to each other, only scaled slightly larger or smaller from one to the next? Or do the elements sway like a field of wheat with the wind, dividing the field into different tones of a similar color? Each point in the space of the field is activated in the same way. Consider that every human is brought into the world in the same way, but we do not all look the same. Family members are not identical, but share similar traits. And thus, the field is occupied by a family of elements. Aggregate (v.) : to gather into one whole or mass; to collect together, assemble; to mass; to unite an association or company; to add as a constituent member; Aggregate (n.) : constituted by the collection of many particles or units into one body, mass or amount; a group of several closely related and morphologically similar species formerly not distinguished from each other. Crematorium Baumschulenweg

In a word, what the architect does is â&#x20AC;&#x153;aggregateâ&#x20AC;?. There are many things on the earth that exist well enough on their own, but which things would exist in a better way if they were brought together? How many characteristics must they share or should they be opposites? For me, architecture is the aggregation of lines, the aggregation of masses, and then finally the aggregation of lines and masses. Lets say, as a field of vertical lines off in the distance, a field of columns defines a space. Does the mass of the enclosed space of the architecture lie beyond the field of columns? Is it a better aggregation of the elements if the mass sits on top of the columns? It is a question about the way the eye perceives the interaction of lines and masses. Lines can become a rational description of the gravity acting on the mass which they support. Lines can lighten or conceal the heaviness of a mass in the distance.

always be an intentional organization of the elements of the project - nothing is random. Even the subconscious decisions made are as important as (if not more important than) the conscious ones because they are made in direct pursuit of the dream. The actions made on these decisions are what make up the thesis. With so much said about activation of the space by adding and multiplying things, it is critical not to forget about the power of the void. The void, or non-activation of certain points highlights the relationship between elements that are in the same field. The space between two things is the only way in which the two things can be understood. This is the reason that the field of the architecture cannot simply be a simple extrusion of the grid. Variation and space between elements of the architecture allow them to relate to one another in terms of the field.

The architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intention determines the matrix of points to be activated in the field - the tightness or openness of their spacing, the verticality or horizontality of their direction. Because the architect does not act randomly, because he pursues the dream in his mind, their will

Activating the Field Cycles and One-Time Events Just recently I have been thinking about the impact of the once in a lifetime event on the field. This event can alter the nature of the field for the rest of time. The onetime event, like a hurricane or a war, can be contrasted with the field that exists in a cycle. The seasonality of the farm field or the pull of the moon on the ocean allows for a predictability in the way that the field will behave, and obviously the architect can use this forecast of change to understand the activation of the architecture under different conditions. A one-million ton cube of steel dropped into the ocean creates a splash and a brief rippling of the surface before it is forgotten for the rest of time. The same cube dropped in the forest becomes the point from which everything in the vicinity is referenced for the rest of time. If , while deep under water, the cube were to shrink down to a single pound and then back to its full size over the course of the year, no one would take any notice. But on the earth, hundreds if not thousands of people would be required to plan for and cope with its impact.

Berlin Wall

Section 2 : Making Precedents Thesis Statement Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow A Competition Entry A Facility for Processing Fieldwork A Pavilion in the Desert A Sculpture A Wall Field Studies : Analogical A Creamery A Creamery : Coordinated Documentation

41 61 69 69 83 87 97 113 123 137 137 171

PRECEDENTS In that last project, there was really something there, I just couldn’t quite grasp it. I’m sure that I can expose it in this one. I wonder if I will ever get close enough that I can pin it down. Maybe in the next project - or the one after that. The architect starts with a blank sheet of paper. This is a false cliche. The architect starts with a blank sheet of paper the first time. When he picks up a pencil in pursuit of that vision in his mind for the first time, he begins with nothing - except a blank sheet of paper. Every time after that, every subsequent “beginning”, when the architect draws the “first” line in an attempt to physically realize a dream in his mind, he is reacting to the lines he drew in his previous attempt. If a project truly ended in a comprehensive realization of a dream in the architect’s mind, precedents would not exist. Each project would begin with a blank sheet of paper and end with the dream perfectly translated into the living world as a physical thing. Because this does not happen, because the architect pursues that which he can not clearly see, no project is ever completed. The project is a “best attempt” but the living world is a rather limiting environment for dream-pursuit. Because the architect is limited in this way, each architectural act he makes links itself with those acts that came before it and those that come later. In architecture, a more conventional example of a precedent might be “Barcelona Pavilion” or “Centre Pompidou”. For me, these examples fall into a category that I call “Influences”, which is a category that also includes a band called Queen and my mother’s cooking. These things all influence how I act and what I make as an architect, but they are nearly too numerous to list and almost impossible to identify, so I do not attempt to do it here. Precedents are not things that I have seen and want to inject into my project - they are those things that I have made before, which precede and belong to my current study.

Precedents A Stairwell

Drawing A

A Stairwell

Image A : There is movement across levels of the field.

Precedents A Light-Screen

Drawing B

A Light-Screen

Image B : The grid of the project relates to itself - higher densities are seen against lower densities.

Precedents A Light-Screen

Drawing C

A Light-Screen

Image C : The grid of the project relates to the grid of the site.

Precedents

A Retaining Field

Drawing D

A Retaining Field

Image D : The grid controls the elements of the project.

Precedents

Watershed Observatory

Drawing E

Watershed Observatory

Image E : Elements of the field are varied.

Precedents

Watershed Observatory

Drawing F

Watershed Observatory

Image F : The field unifies spaces.

Precedents

Rockite and Wire

Drawing G

Rockite and Wire

Image G : The field balances the weight of the architecture.

Precedents Urban Lab

Level 13

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Drawing H

Urban Lab

Image H : The space of the project occupies the field of elements.

THESIS STATEMENT Architecture must respond to the existing field condition of the site. When the architecture responds well to this existing field of conditions, it becomes a participant in its context and belongs there. The field of things organized by the architect to make a building must correlate with the field of things in which they are situated. These two fields, the one which has always existed and the one which is newly made, must exist harmoniously. If the building “belongs” to its context, its physical organization facilitates its use. The building stays out of the way of the user. The building is occupied as naturally as possible. Nature itself, the existing field of conditions, is in a constant state of flux. It is not the architecture’s task to change with nature and mimic its transient quality, but to mark the condition of the field at the time of its making. The architecture does not interrupt, but inevitably alters the physical condition of the field.

Thesis Statement

RABBIT

GARDENER

PLANTS

Garden Fence

Partial Section

Garden Fence

Planting Sprouts

A DREAM There is a field. There is a mountain or a pasture or a hill. There is a building, but it is invisible because it is not there. The building is visible to the architect because it is on his desk. He draws what he thinks is the building. He shows it to others so that they can see the building and how it can be part of the hill. He goes to the hill with them and they make it together. The building is invisible again because it was always there. The field is still there too as it was before. The mountain, the pasture, the valley, the desert, the beach, the hill is still there. It is not a hill with a building on it - itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a hill, the hill that it always was.

FIELD STUDIES : ANAGOGICAL A Pavilion in the Snow Warning from Thomas Schopfer: “Field patterns have historically fallen within the domain of two dimensional thinking (i.e. wallpaper, urban planning), consisting of processes of single-variable manipulation, focusing on the figure or the ground, but rarely both.” The pavilion in the snow is the first of many anagogical models produced in search of some better understanding of what fields could mean to architecture. (For me, an anagogical object is an object of meaning, as apposed to an analogical object, which is an object of purpose.) With this model, I am trying to mentally get a hold of quite a few different things. First, what does it mean to translate a drawing into a model? Second, what does variation in a field create? Third, how does a field (of vertical elements) interact with the ground? What are the physical characteristics of a family of repeated elements - what are the physical characteristics of a field? It is that third question that is most important to my study, considering the thesis statement. The ground of course is flat, but the visual “ground” surface, perceived as having the most interaction with the built field, is constantly in motion. The plaster used to make the model is not moving, but it gives an impression of what the state of the relationship between the two fields might be at a certain moment in time.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow

A plane held over the ground gives space to the site.

A Pavilion in the Snow

Horizontal elements are supported by the density of the field.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow

Plan

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow

Architecture measures the physical field condition of the site.

A Pavilion in the Snow

Approach from the South-East

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow

The height of the field defines its enclosure, while planes in the field divide light and shadow.

A Pavilion in the Snow

A plane in the field provides a reference against which the variable ground surface is measured.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow

Plan with Snow Mapped (at one particular moment in time)

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Snow

Views through the field are flashed repeatedly, with each step.

A Pavilion in the Snow

The Field before the Snow

FIELD STUDIES : ANAGOGICAL A Competition Entry I took the Virginia Society Prize competition as an opportunity to establish an alternate relationship between field, light, and plane. In this bridge, thin columns come out of a convex surface and pass through square openings in the massive slab overhead. Light completely surrounds the columns and separates them structurally from the slab. A large half-sphere is supported by a dense grouping of piers and is held above the two planes. The bridge calls into question the relationship of the earth and the sky. Because the lower level of the bridge is convex, the horizon line is compressed between it and the flat level above it. As a person walking along the bridge reaches its midpoint, where the space between planes is most compressed, his view is released from the repression of the planes and extended into the city. There is also something interesting about the overhead plane floating, suggesting that it belongs to the sky, even though its material is so massive. The theatre is clearly the element of the project that is held highest in elevation. The field of thin poles on the plaza below it give the sense that their rhythm has been set in some way by the weight of the monumental half-sphere. This element is the one that reaches toward the sky while also pinning the otherwise weightless composition to the earth.

Field Studies : Anagogical Virginia Society Prize Competition

Competition Entry

Virginia Society Prize Competition

A preliminary vision for a public crossing of the 28th street bridge. The light from above provides silence against the traffic below and supports the plaza. There, public events are held in the evenings after the market vendors have gone home for the day. On the third Saturday of each month, there is either a concert or play held in the theatre for the pleasure of those in the community, all of whom are encouraged - but not required - to participate.

FIELD STUDIES : ANAGOGICAL A Facility for Processing Fieldwork A pattern is an organization that a system expands into rather than an underlying structure to which it can be reduced. - Gyorgy Kepes Considering that the pavilion in the snow is a direct translation of a drawing into a model, the facility for processing fieldwork is something that came about very differently. It is, of course, a reaction to the previous thing that I made, but it was not translated from anything. There was the thought that, rather than each point in the field being occupied by a pole, could each point be occupied by a space. How big is a point? In mathematics a point occupies no space, but in architecture, perhaps it can. Each point captures a volume of light and filters it into the room. Each room is a point at a larger scale that has many of the smaller, light-filtering points within it. The facility for processing field work maintains a direct relationship between built field and existing field that was apparent in the pavilion in the snow. Here, though, the transient field, instead of snow, is light - always encountering the built field from a different angle in the sky. The field of light moves in a different way than the field of snow. It is easily predicted and highly regular. I start to experiment with the possibility that the existing field can be controlled by the built field. Given light and the predictability of its properties, how can architecture present it to the earth in varied conditions? The creamery project at the end of the book finds the genesis of many of its programmatic ideas in this exercise.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Architectural elements order a field of light.

A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Sections, Elevation

Field Studies : Anagogical A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Plan : A building lies at the intersection of cows and corn, factory and farmer.

A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Section : (from North to South) Store, Factory, Home : by definition, the farmer sleeps on-site.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Room A

A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Room B

Field Studies : Anagogical A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Room C

A Facility for Processing Fieldwork

Room D

FIELD STUDIES : ANAGOGICAL A Pavilion in the Desert “The horizon is created by sky and earth touching each other. It is a line belonging neither to the sky nor to the earth. We are then in fact left with only two possibilities of interference: building into the sky or digging into the earth.” “... the archetypical site of the horizon where the earth meets the sky. Any architectural endeavor is an interference with this site. One either builds up into the sky or down into the earth. This interference is the quintessence of the architectural act; one that is totally antithetical to any form, or aesthetic or historical speculation. The process of design is only a secondary and sub-sequent act whose purpose is to reconcile and harmonize the consequences of the initial collision.” - Raimund Abraham If the place where the sky meets the ground is a line, what does that line look like? It is approached and found to have some texture - it may be inhabitable. What is the texture? From a distance, it is a fuzzy line that results from the collision of earth and sky. From upclose, it is an elemental line that peels the sky from the earth. It peels the sky from the earth so that the sunset can be seen through the torn seam. Once the sunset has been extinguished, the seam is mended - earth and sky are absorbed back into each other. The pavilion in the desert is a pavilion for viewing the sunset. It is for inhabiting and viewing the horizon simultaneously - two different horizons of course. When a plane is held over the ground, the two repel each other. Is it possible to instead, stitch them together, through variation of the aggregated element.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

Pavilion as Part of Horizon Line : A String in the Distance : 3 Miles Away

A Pavilion in the Desert

Space is given to a point in the field.

Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

Pavilion as Horizon Line : A String Stretched between Earth and Sky : 0.5 Miles Away

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A Pavilion in the Desert

A column suspends a plot of Earth in the Sky.

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

East - West Section : The Texture of the String is Replaced by its Tectonics : 0.1 Miles Away

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A Pavilion in the Desert

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

Approach : The Earth is separated from the Sky in order to allow the sun to set.

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A Pavilion in the Desert

Plan

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

Departure : (After Sun-Set) : Earth is Absorbed into Sky

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A Pavilion in the Desert

Clay Tiles : by First-Year Student

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

A framework is established so that the horizon can be approached.

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A Pavilion in the Desert

A pavilion, within the given framework, blends, divides, mediates Earth and Sky.

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Pavilion in the Desert

Architecture measures the human body

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A Pavilion in the Desert

and its position as a body between Earth and Sky.

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FIELD STUDIES : ANAGOGICAL A Sculpture There is tension between tectonic facts and the poetics of effect. -Gyorgy Kepes This object was made with the intent to better understand that tension, exacerbating it to some extent. Does the field have real purpose (structurally, pragmatically, etc.) or does it serve as a simplistic fascination of the eye? Additionally, what does a vertical field become that a horizontal field cannot? I had found in previous work that the field of elements put in place by the architect sets up a framework for interaction. So what does the moment of interaction mean for the materials that are interacting with each other? The sculpture calls into question the tectonic role a material plays in a composition. The sculpture insists that a material’s tectonic role in a composition can change drastically between two phases of its existence: between the phase of construction and the phase after construction. The making of the sculpture involved pouring plaster through a vertically distributed field of horizontally oriented wires. The plaster was poured in five stages, allowing it to harden fully between each pour. As the wire aggregates more and more plaster, it defines its form and determines the direction of its flow. In the end, however, it is the plaster that emerges as the primary material, without which the field of wire would collapse. “The presence of aggregation oozes through even where it is being most suppressed.” -Gyorgy Kepes

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Sculpture

Wire, Plaster

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A Sculpture

Formwork

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Sculpture

Pour 1 Plan, Elevation

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Pour 2

Pour 3

A Sculpture

Pour 4

Pour 5

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Sculpture

Pour 1

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Pour 2

Pour 3

A Sculpture

Pour 4

Pour 5

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Sculpture

Wire gives form to the plaster. (during construction)

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Plaster gives form to the wire. (after construction)

A Sculpture

Areas of denser wire inhibit the flow of plaster. Areas of thinner wire allow plaster to pass between.

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FIELD STUDIES : ANAGOGICAL A Wall Field conditions move from the one toward the many, from individuals to collectives, from objects to fields.” -Stan Allen Is a surface a field condition? Is a wall one surface or does it exist as an aggregation of so many elements that the eye doesn’t dare to recognize each one? This wall does not answer these questions, but in them is where the wall finds its conception. With an almost identical relationship between materials observed in the sculpture, the wall distributes the field as a surface. Walls divide spaces. This is a simplistic statement, but the only thing that can be said of walls in almost any building, even the buildings of Mies van der Rohe. Walls simply divide spaces. But what is the nature of the interaction between the spaces on either side of the wall? Can a wall between two spaces join them rather than divide them? In order to answer this question, the nature of the wall as a textured surface must be explored against the default of “wall as partition.” By dealing with the texture of the wall, one deals with the space of the wall, wherein lies the potential of the wall do more than divide. “Through variation, the component field can be stable and far from equilibrium at the same time.” - Gyorgy Kepes

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Wall

Formwork : Elevation, Section, Isometric Projection

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A Wall

Formwork : Plan, Rear Elevation

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Wall

Intention is overlaid with the facts of what is made.

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A Wall

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Wall

Form - Ties as Form - Work

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A Wall

A wall that captures and presents its formwork is juxtaposed with a wall whose formwork has captured it.

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Wall

Two walls of a different nature meet at a corner.

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A Wall

A bench is embedded around the corner.

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Field Studies : Anagogical A Wall

The Density of the Aggregated Wall

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A Wall

Rear Elevation : Unfolded from a Drawing

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FIELD STUDIES : ANALOGICAL A Creamery There is a farm with an existing apple orchard - fields of two different densities, scales, and rhythms. The architecture of the creamery draws on these existing densities, scales, and rhythms in order to compose a harmonious rhythm of its own. Blue is for sky. Blue is for ice. Red is for apples. Red is for barn. Yellow is for corn. Yellow is for cows.

(assuming they get hungry and eat the corn)

I stand in the barn and look out over the apple orchard - I am in the apple orchard. I stand in the entryway and look back to the cornfield - I am in the cornfield. I stand in the center of the factory floor and I am sheltered from the sky under which the factory is situated. After all, the only things missing from a farm with corn and apples are some cows and an ice cream factory.

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Field Studies : Analogical Site

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Site Plan

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Site

Blue is for sky. Open Field Red is for apples. Apple Orchard Yellow is for corn. Corn Field

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Field Studies : Analogical Site

Graphic : Apple Orchard, Cornfield, Open Field as they exist

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Site

Graphic : Apple Orchard, Cornfield, Open Field as they may have otherwise been

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Field Studies : Analogical Site

Aerial Photograph

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Site

Apple Orchard, Fence Posts, and Sky

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Field Studies : Analogical Site

East-West Section (Graphic), North South Section (Paint)

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Site

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