Markian Farkavec Thesis 2015

THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE WILD Interstitial Space: An Improbable Architecture Caught Between The Physical and Psychical

Markian Farkavec Advisor: Natalija Subotincic

University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture 2015

“Not knowing is encountered as an opening in the fabric of what is known, which requires a reciprocal openness, receptivity to its potential. Not knowing is a state of suspensioncomprehension stalled. Stalling thought disturbs its habitual rhythm, creating the spacing of a missed beat within which to consider things differently to what they already are.”(1)

Table Of Contents Reflection

Intention The Great Chicago Fire Chicago’s Three Sites

Site History/Context The Chicago Tourist Part 1 Program The Drug User The Chicago Tourist Part 2 The University Student The Night Beacon

Iterative Design process The Urban Legends Constructing Narrative Chronology of Site

In Stereo

Exploring Site in Stereo Image sources Works Cited References

REFLECTION This thesis began with an analysis of the great Fire of 1871 and the traumatic events surrounding it. While traversing through the project I realized that this thesis was questioning how a city dealt with a historical trauma. The thesis questions why the event was buried and/or forgotten in the cities past while being overly monumentalized. The monumentalizing of this event cheated itself from the greater potential to also actively engage a city into commemorating a significant event in Chicago’s history.The projects main focus was to conjure the past and re administer it into the present context of the city. I began the thesis by exploring and analyzing the past and present conditions of particular sites around the city of Chicago.

Doing so provided me with a framework to then propose an architecture that echoed and brought back to life the past while facilitating and supporting the present day Chicago. The following architectural thesis is my attempt at understanding how the past and present collide in the city of Chicago.

INTENTIONS In his book Warped Space, Anthony Vidler suggests that in modern society there are two forms of warped space: The first is a psychological space constructed by an individuals particular trauma. The second, is a constructed or deconstructed architectural space that breaks conventional architectural boundaries. He goes on to state that these altered spatial conditions exist in present time but remain hidden in our everyday lives. I have renamed these altered spatial conditions caught between the present and the past, or these warped spaces, as interstitial space. The broader intentions of this thesis are to explore, dissect and reveal the long-standing effects of a traumatic event upon the life of a city over time, and to examine how architecture might identify an alternate physical and psychical terrain en route to a present that beholds the past.

Map of Chicago 1857

1

Area destroyed by the fire

2

Mapping the spread of the fire

3

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Between October 8th and 10th, 1871 a great fire swept through Chicago and destroyed most of the city. Urban legend has it that the point of origin was Miss O’Leary’s barn located adjacent to the farmhouse at 137 DeKoven street. The barn was destroyed but the house miraculously remained intact. Coincidentally, at the north end of the city and near the end of the fire, a police officers house was also left miraculously unscathed. Otherwise, the fire completely devastated the physical infrastructure of the city. Three specific sites have been selected for their significance during the course of this event.

extent of fire

Site 1 The Inception of the Fire Date: October 8th, 1871 Time: 8:30pm Address: 538 W DeKoven Street, Chicago, IL 60614, USA

Site 2 The Imploded Site: Aided in the containment of the fire.

Date: October 9th, 1871 Time: 12:00pm - 6:00pm Address: South of Wabash Ave. & W Congress Pkwy. Chicago, IL 60605, USA

Site 3 The End of the Fire: The unscathed house.

Date: October 9th-10th, 1871 Time: 6:00pm - 4:00am Address: 2121 N Hudson Street Chicago, IL 60614, USA

5

Chicago 2015

4

Site#1: The Inception of the Fire

Site#2: The Imploded Site

Site Map of Chicago

Site#3: The End of the Fire: The Unscathed House

Site#1: The Inception of the Fire

1:200

Site#2: The Imploded Site 1:100

Site Model 1:1

Site#3: The End of the Fire:

The Unscathed House 1:25

Site#1

The Inception of the Fire.

Date: October 8th, 1871 Time: 8:30pm Address: 538 W DeKoven Street, Chicago, IL 60614, USA

S Jef fer

S

son S t.

nt Cli

on

St.

W Taylor St.

558 Dekoven St

Chicago Fire Hall 2015

Site#3

The End of the Fire: The unscathed house.

Date: October 9th-10th, 1871 Time: 6:00pm - 4:00am Address: 2121 N Hudson Street Chicago, IL 60614, USA

Mr. Bellinger’s cottage

The imploded site: Which aided in the containment of the fire.

Date: October 9th, 1871 Time: 12:00pm- 6:00pm Address: South of Wabash Ave. & W Congress Pkwy. Chicago, IL 60605, USA

The Imploded Site

6

Current Site Condition

Site History 1860

First Presbyterian church built on the corner of Wabash avenue and W. Congress Pkwy.

1870

Set of Row houses built west over the ruble of the church

1920

Row houses demolished sometime during this decade

1975

Parking lot on site was bought by Andriyous Youkhana

2014

Lillian and Larry Goodman fund the Roosevelt University Athletics Center built on the corner of Wabash and Congress Pkwy

2015

Current Proposal for Site#2- The Imploded Site Site#1 and 2 fold into the imploded site

Above Grade

Below Grade

Public Parking(existing)

Chicago’s Safe Injection Site

Imploded Historical Site

General Psychiatry/Psychological Trauma Clinic

Roosevelt University Athletics Center

7

8

Site Context- Discovering Program Philanthropist Larry Goodman made a considerable donation to build the Roosevelt University Faculty of Athletics Center. One of the goals of his charitable organization is drug abuse prevention. Pairing up with Roosevelt University, he further supports education and active living. The previous land owner severed the parcel of land from his parking lot and sold the land owner Mr. Andriyous Youkhana. Considering this information, the program for the site began to form while concurrently questioning Goodman’s philanthropic motive of drug abuse prevention.

9

Currently there is a heroin epidemic in the city. The main user of this drug is a white male 25-35 years of age. The map on the left suggests the usage of heroin in Chicago. The map on the right suggests the recovery walk in clinics that are available. The research of current events led to the proposal of a safe injection on site #2.

This programmatic proposition provides clean and safe facilities for drug users, while adressing how a society can mitigate drug use.

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Grade Freight Tunnels 40-60 ft. (Cedar)

Cable Car Tunnels 60-80 ft. (Maple)

The Water Tunnel 100-120 ft. (Cherry)

Site Elevations A series of tunnels were constructed in Chicago in the 1940’s. Site#1 and Site#2 contain some of these tunnel systems. This historical reference has been integrated into the design of the site model. The model sugests the tunnel systems that exist below grade. In the model, these tunnel systems are differentiated with three species of wood; Cedar, Maple and Cherry.

Top Floor:1975 Public Parking Lot along with its current (2015) architectural proposition

Second Floor: Parking lot

C

B

A

D

F

Alley way

Entrance#2 to parking lot from Congress Pkwy.

E

H

G

Grade Parking lot

Entrance# 3 off Wabash St.

Grade: Parking lot located on site with three entrances

Entrance#1 to SIS from alley way and parking lot

A

North Entrance to parking lot from Congress Pkwy.

B

Looking north onto Congress Pkwy. from inside the parking lot

The Chicago Tourist The Chicago tourist approaches the parking lot as he heads west towards the downtown core. He stops and spots a house half buried in the parking lot. He has been walking downtown for several hours admiring the arhcitectural landscape of Chicago.

He walks into the parking lot to get a closer look at this odd predicament of a house sitting in the middle of a parking lot. People are seen sitting behind desks and walking around within the house. He is intrigued by what is going on, as a car honks at him to get out of the middle of the parking lot, he jolts to the side and continues to stare at this sunken house in awe.

C

North West Corner (Wabash St. and Congress Pkwy.)- Entrance to Roosevelt Athletics Center on the corner

Not sure where to go, he decides to re enter Congress Pkwy. He emerges from the parking lot and notices a brand new building next to it. He runs his fingers on the facade of the building as he walks by it. The newly layed stone is a definite change from the crumbling dusty concrete of the parking lot he was just in. Coming to the corner of the building, he stops and wonders about the house he just saw. He decides to have one last look at it before meeting up with his friend at the Art Institute of Chicago two blocks over.

C

B KEY PLAN

A

D

He begins to walk down Wabash Avenue observing the elevated train tracks to the right of him. As he comes closer to the end of the university building, he notices a giant hole in the ground.

E

Looking over the edge of the railing he sees rubble scattered on the floor and a wood clad barn tucked under the parking lot. Confused at what he sees, he looks up and sees the house in the distance. He was suprised to see stone rubble and large boulders along with old wood beams scatterd on the dirt floor. He notices that there are wooden beams bracing the University Wall. He wonders if this is a ongoing contruction site or an abandoned piece of land downtown.

F

He wanders down and into the parking lot and decides to get a closer look at the house. The parking lot is empty in the morning and not dangerous to walk through.

G

H

Walking further in he notices two lightwells that are cut out from the parking lot floors. The cut out floor has a concrete gaurd rail around it. Walking towards the railing he can feel the heat of the sun. Leaning over the railing he sees a glass roof canopy that is inset in the opening. An open space is seen below, and he becomes curious to know what is down there.

Knowing that he needs his friend in an hour cides to make a point back and snoop around the following week.

KEY PLAN

D

E F

G

H

to meet he deto come some more

E Congress PKWY

S. Wabash Avenue

2

3 7

5

6

Main Program Plan- Below Grade 1:100

1

Alleyway

4

SITE#2 PROGRAMS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Safe Injection Site Roosevelt University- Goodman Athletics Center Vaccination Center General Psychiatry/Psychological Trauma Clinic Imploded Historical Site Catherine O’Leary’s wooden framed cottage Tunnel Walkway

USERS Drug User Tourists/Chicago Citizen Roosevelt University Students

Administrative Area for SIS Light well

Breezeway to Vaccination Center and Trauma Clinic

Elevator- connecting third floor parking to below grade

Light well

Lavatory Exit to University Building Reception Desk

Reception Desk Common Area

Common Area

Exit Door back to street level

Safe Injection Site- Main key Plan 1:100

Exit Ramp

Greeting area

Public Entrance to SIS Entrance to 1. Safe Injection Site 2. Vaccination center 3. Trauma Clinic

Entrance#2 to University Center (grade)

E Congress Pkwy.

Parking Lot

Alleyway

Roosevelt University- Goodman Center

S Wabash Avenue

Imploded Historic Site

SIS

Catherine O’Leary’s wooden framed cottage

Mr. Bellinger’s Cottage

Main Model Plan

Entrance #1 to the cottage and the SIS. Entrance leads to lower level (below grade)

DRUG USER

Alleyway

S. Wabash Avenue

E Congress PKWY

O

F L

N M

J

K

I

G H E

C D

B

Entry

Plan: User Route Map 1:100

A

Adam was enrolled in Roosevelt University in 2007. He finished his degree in business and was looking for a job in the financial sector before the recession. His fellow classmates all got jobs four months after graduating, while he was still looking. A native Chicagoan he knew his city inside and out. In 2008 he began using drugs and has been an active drug user to this day(2015).

The prevelent Chicago drug epidemic is taking over the cities downtown core, as more and more middle class citizens become addicted to theW readily available drug heroin.

A

South entrance from two points: The alleyway and Wabash Avenue: The Drug users main entry point off of the alley way away from the surrunding streets.

This entry point is also shared with the Chicago tourist.

Remembering that someone in the west end told him of a brand new facility that was built downtown for taking dope.

Adam quickly realized that he didn’t need to use public bathrooms or alleyways when scoring or using in the downtown core. One day when he was downtown he decided to go use the new facility.

Mr. Bellingers home was saved from The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 by dousing water over the exterior of the home. The concrete negative that is cast in place encompasses the wooden framed modified home of the cottage found on 2121 Hudson St.(Site#3)

B

Administrative House for Safe Injection Site/ Main fl oor greeting area

Adam found the entry point off of the alley way as he use to park in Park 1 when he went to Roosevelt university. He remembers that someone told him that the entrance was tucked away next to the house. He found it and jumped out of his car and walked towards the entrance. Entering he walked down a sloped ramp and into the much colder space. Looking around he saw a plaque on the wall of the house saying SIS. He walked towards the corner of the building as he fumbled around to fi nd his drugs.

Gap between parking lot Floor and house facade

When it begins to rain in Chicago the parking lot begins its transformation. The two foot gap between the administrative house and parking lot floors become activated. The rain pours down between the opening of the two structures. It washes itself over the concrete structure and the facade of the home. This action echoes that of 1871 of when Mr. Bellinger saved his house with water.

KEY PLAN

B A

C

A4 Cross Section

Entering the house he realizes that he is in the living room of an old house. The decor is still intact and the wooden floors creek under his feet. To his right he sees a man asking him if he needs assistance in acquring a drug kit. Adam quickly responds saying yes as his palms become sweaty from wanting to use. He recieves a tray with all the proper sterile material, and looks out into the open common space. He passes through the old victorian home and into a brightly light and clean space. The colour of the walls are soft on the eyes as wood steel and concrete are seen layered throughout the space.

The open floor plan give him a sense of security and he relaxes knowing he is in a safe, secure and controlled space. This is exactly the opposite of what he is used to out and about in the city. His guard is down, and now hes focusing in on a spot to sit to inject his drugs.

Walking through common area

D

At the reception desk, the drug user acquires a kit that is used for the safe intake of drugs and enters the common area. To the right of him are the common washrooms. One can either use the common area to take their drugs or use one of the two lightwells. He notices a women nodding out on the side of the wall. He decides to walk further down to find a more private spot with some better light.

KEY PLAN

D

C

B A

E

Main Light well: Drug intake zone within the safe injection site

The first light well that is seen on the right hand side past the washrooms is a birght open space that is filled with natural light. It contains stainless steel ledges and a main table in the middle of the room. The communal table acts as a meeting point for fellow drug users. There are mirrors located at head height that encompass most of the room.

Down and into the main light well he sees that no one is occupying it. He quickly finds his seat next to the staircase. A grooved concrete sunbed chair where he can relax. The space is quiet, and relaxed. He gets his drugs ready and sits back in the lounger to inject himself. The best seat in the house he looks up through the skylight and sees nothing but blue skies.

The light well is filled with sun and this time around he did not need to rush or look around the vicinity to see if it was safe to use. Finally, he found a safe place to use drugs, he lounges in the concrete chair letting the drug set in. Looking around, he notices the polished concrete floor and painted concrete walls.

Hes never been in a cleaner place.

F

Main Light well

The concrete lounge chair found next to the stairs is always taken.

The most popular seat in the facility. The table and bench is the second most utilized spot to take drugs. One has the option of either standing or sitting. One can also stand along the edge of the wall away from the direct site of the common area.

KEY PLAN F E

D

C

B A

G

Main Light well- Roof Plan

The open concept roof system allows for natural light to fill the encompassing space below grade. The steel structural frame is bolted to the concrete cast in place walls. Glazing covers the structural membrane.

There are small openings in the corners of the walls in order to allow water to funnel down and into the ground. This architectural detail suggests a wet “bleeding” concrete wall when it rains.

H

A3 Cross Section

Having spent more then twenty minutes lounging and getting high, he cleans up his paraphernalia and places all of it on the tray. Getting up and out of the lounge he sees another drug user walk in and passes him climbing the stairs to place his belongings on the metal table.

KEY PLAN F G H E

D

C

B A

Common area looking at administrative house

I

He slowly begins to make his way out of the light well. Its starting to get busier. This makes him a bit jumpy. As he looks back at the house he walked through he notices people coming in.

Entering the light well from the common area

J

Turning to the left, he sees unfamiliar faces enter the light well that he was just in. He suspects that they are other drug users, but becomes confused when spotting people looking at the walls and up into the sky taking random pictures. One person even waved to him and smiled, while he waved back confused. Too high to fully comprehend what was going on he decides now is his time to leave.

Leaving the first light well and entering the common area

K

Looking around he wonders where to drop off his tray. He sees a staff member behind a desk. Walking towards him he drops off the tray and asks where the nearest exit is. the staff member replies by saying its right to the left of him and that there is an exit ramp thats lead all the way back to the parking lot. He also mentions that there is another exit to the right of him past the tiny house and through the University.

Entering the second light well

L

Adam decides to take a stroll down into the university. A alumni he was curious to see what was new. As he walked by the staff member to his right he could see the second light well. People were seen walking out of it with their trays.

KEY PLAN L

K

F G J H I E

D

C

B A

M

A2 Cross Section

Stoned, Adam walks through and out of the SIS along the boardwalk and enters a small building. Walking through the small house he can feel the rough wood under his feet. Large pieces of wood scattered on either side of the barn, along with concrete rubble. He wonders for a split second where he is as he was completly detached from the SIS facility.

Passageway to university center

N

Finding himself in a passageway he begins the slow ascend to the exit. He was told that if he follows the passageway he will reach the exit staircase in the university building. This whole experience was a “trip” for him. Very high, he continues to slowly walk as he slaps the smooth cast-in-place concrete walls and feels the smooth polished concrete under his feet.

Looking through a window at the imploded site

O

Walking up the passage way, he stops and checks out a man looking into the ruble below. He wonders if the person can see him through the window. Slowly turning around he leaves the passage way and climbs the set of stairs happy he went on a double trip in this safe injection site.

O KEY PLAN N

M

L

K

F G J H I E

D

C

B A

THE CHICAGO TOURIST

Alleyway

S. Wabash Avenue

E. Congress Pkwy

E F A

B C

Main Plan: User Route Map 1:100

D

G

H

Lightwell#2

grade

B2|Longitudinal Cross Section 1:100

lightwell#1

The gap between the house and parking lot fl oors

South Elevation

The Chicago tourist roamed the parking lot and university center but remained curious as to what was beneath. The next day he came back and decided to enter the university building to find out how to get below the parking lot.

B1|Longitudinal Cross Section 1:100

B.He continues to walk past the

retaining wall and into the edge of the imploded site. Stepping up onto a deck that is attached to the tiny homes floor, he feels uneven floor boards beneath his feet.

He can see the open space cut out from the parking lot to his left.

A.The tourist quickly finds him-

self looking back at the long passageway that is connected to the university building. Meandering down into the basement of the Roosevelt Center he finds himself traversing down a lightly lit concrete passageway and realizes that he was under Wabash Street.

C.He walks through the tiny barn

peering through the wooden clad walls. Back out on a boardwalk he sees the dirt and rubble on either side. The imploded site to the left he continues walking not keen on jumping off and into the dirt below. He comes to the conclusion that he is in some sort of ruin.

D.Through a threshold he enters an enclosed space where the walls are solid concrete. He continues looking to the left. He sees a space in the distance. Curious as to what this place is he finds a man behind a desk and asks what this place is. “Its a safe injection site”.Dumbfounded he would have never guessed the last time he was here.

F.Passing the washrooms he en-

ters a building that appears to be a large Victorian home buried in the ground. Inside,a man at a desk asks him if he needs any assistance. He is standing in the interior of the house he was curiously observing a couple weeks ago. For a split second being in this space made him feel as though he was in a home. The thought intrigued him.

E.The open space seems very

grand. He guesses that the ceiling was twenty feet high, and that he is standing directly under the parking lot. To his left light is pouring down from the parking lot above. A metal table secured to the floor in the middle of that space is seen in the distance.

Floor to ceiling glass is seen behind it, and it appear as though there is another passageway beyond it. He sees people standing over the table and suspects them to be using drugs. Cautiously walking about he feels as though he is a observer and not a participant in this space.

H.Looking around he tries to find

an exit. Suddenly he hears people talking and looks to the right.

Seeing a ramp leading up to the street level he follows it. Pushing a giant metal door he emerges from the depths of the parking lot and finds himself in the corner of the parking lot. An alleyway to the right of him, he looks around to see if there’s another street to walk down. Still confused as to what he just experienced, he walks down the alleyway curious to see more of Chicago.

G.He asks where the nearest exit

is, and finds it to be in the corner of the house. Exiting the house and stepping over gravel and back onto a wooden boardwalk he re-enters an open twenty foot high space again. He also notices how clean and smooth the stacked concrete columns that encompassed the house are as he passes through them. Following the footpath that he believes was rebuilt multiple times, he notices the steel structure that encased the glass elevator and wonders if that is the only way back up onto the street.

E Congress

A

B

E C

D

Main Plan: User Route Map 1:100

Alleyway

S Wabash Avenue

F

THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT The University student traverses through the undergound site. He exits the basement of the university center and enters the arhcitectural addition in the northern portion of the site.

Looking out into the breezeway A

Walking out of the trauma clinic B

Creeping out of the university center, and peering through a window the student is looking to fi nd the clinic for his 3pm appointment.

Working his way throughout the space, he emerges out from his meeting two hours later. Knowing he has another appointment he slowly walks through the industrial looking space. He notices the space becomes fi ve times greater then that of the university center basement. He also notices the raw untouched fi nishes in certian portions of the walls.

Walking towards the vacination center C

As he walked towards the vaccination center he realized that every room and common area bleeds into one another. This is found to be extremely easy to navigate.

Looking through the imploded site D

Looking down the open breezeway

E

After receiving his updated shots and a clean bill of helth the university student begins to walk down the breezeway.

He observes the interstitial spaces that are gestured throughout the walk. These are crevasses that are formed betwen the walls, and spaces that are recessed with floor to ceiling windows. Not your typical sterile university building he is intrigued and continues exploring the space. He walks down the breezeway and disappears under the parking lot.

KEY PLAN F

Leaving the university center and entering the open breezeway

E

D

F

A B

C

G

A1 Cross Section A replica barn and home of Miss Oleary (site#1) built underneath site#2. The barns chimney is structurally integrated into the floor slabs of the parking lot. Sitting on railway ties it is clad with recycled weathered wood.

Beacon Barn H

KEY PLAN H

G

The Night beacon glows in the Chicago skyline.

The light shining through the chimney of Miss Oleary’s Barn acts as the beacon for the site.

If one needs to find the site,look to the sky to find the vertical glowing light.

A

B

The Imploded Site seen at night

The Night Beacon on the site

C

Common Space at During the night

D

Common Space at During the night

Entering the safe injection site at night one can see the glowing barn in the distance. The beacon barn hidden under the parking lot. The wall mounted lights are left on at night in the lightwell,providing ample light for safe injection.

KEY PLAN B

A

Schematic Plan: Iteration #1 1:100

Schematic Plan-Iteration #2 1:100

A.Cross Section

Schematic Sections: Iteration 1:100

B2. Longitudinal Sections

A4. Cross Section

A3. Cross Section

A2. Cross Section

Schematic Cross Sections: Iteration 1:100 A1.Cross Section

THE URBAN LEGENDS

Urban legends are formed by a retelling of events over and over again. They accumulate diverse and changing perspectives in attempt to answer fundamental questions about an event. In the retelling, facts from the original event begin to be altered and added to until in the end, the narrative contains both fragments of fact and fiction. More importantly, in relation to this thesis, these legends perhaps speak more to the underlying psychical conditions caused by an event, than they do of any factual depiction of an event.

The retelling of The Great Fire in Chicago is no different. The answers to too many questions make up the urban legends that surround the traumatic event of the Great Fire but many questions still remain. For example, on our first site, how exactly the fire began? Many fingers were pointed to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow who apparently tipped over a lantern in their barn at 538 Dekoven Street, but is this the whole story? As we move to our second site, questions still remain as to how the fire was in fact imploded at this particular town home. The third site’s complete survival has given way to questions over time as to how the structure could possibly remain standing. It is said that the police officer that lived in the house at the time tore up the wooden sidewalk and soaked the building in water covering the roof and windows with watered mats and rugs. He relentlessly battled the fire until the nearby well went dry and miraculously the house was saved. The three new stereoscopically constructed texts on the following page provide yet another level of understanding and possibility to reading each site that comes from a temporal collapse, and is intended to inform the architectural speculations both within each site and between them.

CONSTRUCTING DESIGN THROUGH NARRATIVE Exploration of the sites through texts: In addition to the image explorations described above I examined the sites through text. The front page of The Chicago Tribune of October 11th, 1871 provided a description of each site immediately following the traumatic Great Fire.

As well, upon visiting Chicago in October, I wrote a text describing my experiences of each site. These two narratives:the reports of the fire of 1871 and my own written account of each site in 2014 provided the raw material for a “stereoscopic” merging of these texts. This stereoscopic merging involved taking the two texts and literally placing/spacing them on a page so that the first line of one text was followed by the first line of the second text and so on for the length of the texts. I then blacked out certain words in order to seamlessly merge or combine the two texts into one continuous narrative. I chose to highlight particular words to further construct the narrative. For the first site I highlighted the 13th word because I visited the site on the 13th of October, 2014. The second site was visited on October 12,2014, while the third site was visited on October 10th, 2014. The intention is to have these “new” narratives or urban legends provide the framework for the architectural interventions within the sites identified by the stereoscopic image investigations below.

Site#1 Constructed Narrative Exploring program for the inception of the fire

Site #2 Constructed Narrative Exploring program for the imploded site

Constructed Narrative The constructed narrative was designed to explore the conceptual nature of the schematic design.

Site #3 Constructed Narrative Exploring program for the unscathed house

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The Front page reporting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Newspaper extract infused with site visit narrative

Site#1 Constructed Narrative

Site#2 Constructed Narrative

Site#3 Constructed Narrative

1871. Miss O’Leary’s Cottage

Site#1 The Inception Of The Fire Date: October 8th, 1871 Time: 8:3pm Address: 538 W De koven Street, Chicago, IL 60614, USA

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1871. Anaglyph of Miss O’Leary’s Cottage

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2014. Fire Hall: Built in 1960’s over the origin of the fire

1888. Stone building on the left--Built on the location of the inception of the fire

14

1961. Sculptural monument marking the origin of the fire

2000. The unscathed house

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2010. The unscathed house

Site#3 The End Of The Fire: The Unscathed House Date: October 9th-10th, 1871 Time: 6:00pm-4:00am Address: 2121 N Hudson Street Chicago, IL 60614, USA

16

2014. The unscathed house

Looking North on Hudson street

17

1871. Imploded town home south on Wabash Avenue

Site#2 The Imploded Site: That Aided The Containment Of The Fire Date: October 9th, 1871 Time: 12:00pm-6:00pm Address: South of Wabash Ave. & W Congress Pkwy. Chicago, IL 60605, USA

1881. The corner of Congress and Wabash street

18

2011

19

2014

2014. Arriving on site in October for a site analysis

2014. Built a replica 1:1 scale Charles Wheatstones 1838 stereoscope

2014. Front elevation of the stereoscope collapsed in on itself

2014. Reverse elevation of the stereoscope collapsed in on itself

“THE STEREOSCOPIC DEVICE” In 1838 Charles Wheatstone invented the first mirrored stereoscopic device. It was influential during the latter part of the 19th century creating a new opportunity to capture, record, and transform a two dimensional image into three dimensions. This technique of creating stereo images was popular in documenting the aftermath of The Great Chicago Fire. The decision to incorporate stereoscopic technology in my research comes from its popular usage at the time of the Great Fire, and runs parallel to the notion of exposing hidden interstitial dimensions. I began my thesis by building a stereoscopic device modeled after Wheatstone’s original device. My primary intention was to assemble two separate images that when viewed between the two 45 degree mirrors, became a three dimensional image allowing me to explore the spatial conditions existing between two and three dimensions. I was also interested in examining the temporal conditions so I stereoscopically explored merging the historical images (1871) of the sites with their contemporary counterparts (2014). In constructing the device I modified the design of the stereoscope so that it could collapse into itself, hiding its parts. The device was constructed this way in order to leave it open ended for potential design modifications.

ITERATION A Exploration of the sites through images: The stereoscopic device was used to draw comparisons between documented images of the aftermath of the fire from each site, and my own contemporary images re-documenting the identical camera angles. I set up the device in a way that I was able to examine the historical and present day imagery of each site simultaneously. In order to do this I placed the contemporary photographs of each site on the right panel and the original photographs from 1871 on the left panel. The stereoscopic device normally allows its viewer to see a three dimensional image through the two mirrors that lie between the left and right panels. However, in marrying the old and new photographs of each site and because the sites are no longer identical, they did not initially become three-dimensional. Instead the two images that were placed in the stereoscope were photographed through the 45-degree mirrors. I then took these photographs and created a hybrid anaglyph photograph of each pairing, resulting in a set of eight anaglyphs from the primary investigation of the three sites. The anaglyphs serve as the first iterative exploration that attempts to reveal the interstitial space caught between. These images provided the first attempts to explore the spatial/temporal collapse caught within each of these sites. The eight anaglyphs were then further explored by stripping away their layered content (Image 4). The intention of stripping the image of unneeded content, or “distracting” visual representations was done with the aid of several image adjustments in Photoshop. For example the adjustment “invert” was applied to one of the iterative anaglyphs to see if particular hidden elements in the picture could be seen after manipulating the image.

Left Image:1871: Miss O’Leary’s Cottage Right Image: 2014: Fire Hall

Iteration #1 Site#1

Photograph of 1871 and 2014 images in the stereoscope

Flipped image: merging of 1871 and 2014 images

Stripping the merged 1871 and 2014 images

Left Image: 1871: The imploded site Right Image: 2014: South on Wabash and W Congress

Iteration #2 Site#2

Resulting flipped image

Stripping the merged 1871 and 2014 images

Left Panel: 2000: The unscathed house Right Panel: 2014: The unscathed house

Iteration #3 Site#2

Merging of the 2000 and 2014 images

Filtered site

Resulting flipped image

ITERATION B

Left Image:1871. Miss Oleary’s Cottage

Site #1

Right Image: 1871. Miss Oleary’s Cottage

20

image captured of left and right images placed in stereoscope

Building #1 The left and right images were placed into the stereoscope. They were adjusted and positioned to show a three dimensional image. This three dimensional image was then photographed through the two 45 degree mirrors. The resulting image is on the left hand side.

Site #1 – The background – The inception: The site that marks the origin The Great Fire is located at 538 Dekovan Street where the farmhouse belonging to the O’Leary’s once stood. In 1871 the O’Leary’s barn caught fire instigating the blazing inferno that would ravage and destroy half of the city of Chicago. A new brick structure was erected in 1880 on the site where the barn once stood and in the late 1960’s, the main official Chicago Fire Hall was built on this site. The fire travelled northward through the city from here.

21

Left Image:1881. A brick residential building Right Image:1881. A brick residential building built on the location of Miss Oleary’s barn built on the location of Miss Oleary’s barn

image captured of left and right images placed in stereoscope

Building #2 The left and right images were placed into the stereoscope. They were adjusted and positioned to show a three dimensional image. This three dimensional image was then photographed through the two 45 degree mirrors. The resulting image is on the left hand side. These images are of the second stone building built over the cottage soon after it was destroyed.

Left Image:1960. Fire Hall

Right Image:1960. Fire Hall

Site #1 Building #3 The left and right images that were taken from my site visit were placed into the stereoscope. They were adjusted and positioned to show a three dimensional image. This three dimensional image was then photographed through the two 45 degree mirrors. The resulting image is on the right hand side. This image is of the third and final building built on the site.

Image captured of left and right images placed in stereoscope

Layering of stereoscopic images of buildings 1&2

Layering of stereoscopic images of Buildings 2&3

Layering of stereoscopic images of buildings 1&3 from site#1

Left Image:1871. Imploded Site

Right Image:1871. Imploded Site

22

A

2014. Merged photo taken in the stereoscope The two images shot in the stereoscope

Site #2 Building #1 The left and right images that were taken from my site visit were placed into the stereoscope. They were adjusted and positioned to show a three dimensional image. This three dimensional image was then photographed through the 45 degree mirrors. The resulting image is on the right hand side.

Site#2 – The middle ground - an implosion: The second site is located just south of W Congress Pkwy. on the southeast side of S Wabash Avenue. On October 10th 1871, in an effort to contain and stop the wild raging fire, firemen imploded a town home in the middle of a row of houses on S Wabash Ave, just south of W Congress Pkwy. The fire however, continued to spread north to the neighborhood of Lincoln Park where it finally died. This portion of the city was completely destroyed with the exception of just a few structures.

Right Image:2014. Image of parking lot

Right Image:2014. Image of parking lot

Building # unknown The parking lot may be located where the residential town homes once stood in 1871. The top(left) and bottom (right) images were placed into the stereoscope to create the three dimensional image seen on the right.

B

2014. Merged photo taken in the stereoscope The two images shot in the stereoscope

Layered collage of buildings from 1871 and 2014. Consequently, Image A and Image B were merged together to create this image

Right Image:2014. The Unscathed House

Right Image:2014. The Unscathed House

Site #3 Site#3 – The foreground – the lone ranger: While most of Lincoln Park was destroyed a few structures survived. The third site of my research, 2121 North Hudson Street, is located at the end of the fire. It was a police officers home situated on a double plot of land that remains intact to this day. It is currently occupied as a residential building. The overriding spatial organization of foreground, middle ground and background, outlined above, is intended to become important for framing relationships between the three site studies once the individual site investigations are complete.

The left and right image capturing the three dimensions within the sterescope

The two previous images were placed in the stereoscope to produce a three dimensional image that is captured

ITERATION C

THREE DIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE LAYERED IMAGE WITH THE STEREOSCOPE

Site #1:The layered images of buildings 1&2&3 have been modeled.

The image was cut in half and modeled one at a time.

Both models were then placed into the stereoscope.

Site#1: Looking through the stereoscope- emphasizing what the left eye sees

Site#1: Looking through the stereoscope- emphasizing what the right eye sees

Looking through the Stereoscope

Looking through the Stereoscope- models flipped sides

Site#1

The models switched places on the stereoscopic bases. They were photographed again through the 45 degree mirrors while being in three dimensions

Front Elevation: The two three dimensional models merging together

Left Side Elevation

Back Elevation: The two three dimensional models merging together

Right Side Elevation

Looking through the Stereoscope

Front Elevation: The two three dimensional models merging together

Site#2

Left Side Elevation

Right Side Elevation

Stereoscopic image of Mr. bellinger’s Home

Site#3 The site remained unchanged

1:25 Scale model of Mr. Bellinger’s Home

Modeled angled perspective of previous image

Front perspective of modeled image

Two sided elevations of the model The beginning formation of what could be an interstitial space

Interior body of Nikon D3100

“Deconstruction serves to unpick and pull apart the regimes of power and order that are used to hold things in place, revealing the constructed or illusory nature of our realities.

However, for some artists, the act of undoing or unravelling is instead performed as a ritual reversal, as a practice for not knowing, a move towards the incomprehensible wild.”(2)

Image Credits 1.Blanchard, Rufus. “Map of Chicago.” David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Cartopraphy Associtates. <http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1570~190004:Map-Of-Chicago-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:chicago%2Bfire;sort:Pub_List_No_ InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=53> (Retrieved September 20th,2014) 2.Blanchard, Rufus. “Map of Chicago.” David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Cartopraphy Associtates. <http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/ RUMSEY~8~1~235807~5510615:Map-Of-Chicago?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:1871%2Bmap%2Bof%2Bchicago;sort:Pub_List_No_ InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=212&trs=228> (Retrieved Septmeber 20th,2014) 3.Conzen.P, Michael and McClendan,Dennis. “Progress of the Chicago Fire of 1871.” THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE AND THE WEB OF MEMORY.<http://www.greatchicagofire. org/item/nuamps026_ech_map29a> (Retrieved September 24th, 2014) 4.Google Images. “573 S Wabash Ave Chicago, Illinois. Street View Oct. 2014”. Google Maps.<https://www.google.ca/maps/@41.874727,87.625999,3a,75y,32.61h,93.35t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sWmozQkeaduKtpnP5H0aXjQ!2e0!6m1!1e.> (Retrieved October 21st, 2014) 5.Google Maps. Street view map of Chicago IL,USA. Google maps.<https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Chicago,+IL,+USA/@41.8337329,-87.7321555,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4 m2!3m1!1s0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000.> (Retrieved September20th,2014) 6.Google street view.” 569 S Wabash Ave Chicago,Illinois.<”https://www.google.ca/maps/@41.874783,-87.626,3a,75y,25.96h,93.12t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sNn1Rf5bidd w57CtsoV2yYw!2e0!6m1!1e1.>(Retrieved November 15th,2015) 7.Roosevelt University. “GOODMAN CENTER”. Roosevelt Lakers. <http://www.rooseveltlakers.com/f/Goodman_Center.php.>(Retrieved February 27th, 2015) 8.Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundation. “About Us”. lillian and larry goodman FOUNDATIONS.<http://www.llgoodmanfdn.org/about_us> (Retrieved February 20th, 2015) 9.Rankin Bill. “A TAXNOMY OF TRANSITIONS: racial/ ethnic self - idenitification in chicago in the year 2000”. Visually. <https://visual.ly/taxonomytransitions>(Retrieved February 8th, 2015) 10.The Chicago Recovery Alliance. “Chicago Recovery Alliance Sites”. Location and Times.<http://www.anypositivechange.org/slt.html> (Retrieved February 23rd, 2015) 11.Wiltz, Teresa. “The Chicago Fire.” Chicago Tribune.<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/chi-chicagodays-fire-story-story. html>(Retrieved October 4th, 2014) 12.Chicago Historical society. “ The cottage of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary; J.H Abbott, Stereograph 1871 (ichi-0241).” The Burn District. <http;//www. greatchciagofire.org/ruined-city/burnt-district>(Retrieved Septmeber 24th, 2014) 13. Chicago Historical Society. “ Anaglyph Version of J.H Abott Stereograph of the Cottage of patrick and Catherine I’Leary, 1871.” 3D images. <http://www. greatchicagofire.org/3d-images> (Retrieved Septmeber 25th, 2014) 14. Hulett, Betty. Sacred Site; photograph 1952. The Great Chicago Fire and The Web of Memory.( TheSaga Continues).<http://www.greatchicagofire.org/olearylegend/saga-continues.>(Retrieved September 24th,2014) 15. Harold, Wanda.“2121 N. Hudson Ave.; Richard Bellinger Cottage; Workers’ Cottage”. Digital Collections. <http://digicol.lib.depaul.edu/cdm/ref/collection/lpnc1/id/48.>(Retrieved March 3rd,2015) 16. Foster, Stefani. “Bellinger House” The Burnt District. <http://www. greatchicagofire.org/ruined-city/burnt-district.> (Retrieved September 25th,2014) 17. Chicago Historical Society. “Southern Limit of the Great Fire of 1871; from a Stereograph,1871(ichi-02745).Great Chicago Fire. <http://www.greatchicagofire.org/ruined-city/burnt-district> (Retrieved September 24th, 2014) 18. Chicago: Then and Now. “North east corner of Congress and Wabash.” <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/annex/chciago/sfeature/pop_then_06.html> (Retrieved November 23rd, 2014) 19. Microsoft Corporation.“Congress and Wabash Avenue”. Bing Maps.<https://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NDEuODc1OTEyfi04Ny42MjMwNzAmbHZsPTE2JnN0eT1yJnRtPSU3QiUyMld lbGNvbWVQYW5lbFRhc2slMjQlMjQwJTIyJTNBbnVsbCU3RA==>(Retrieved Septmeber 29th, 2014) 20.Chicago Historical society. “ The cottage of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary; J.H Abbott, Stereograph 1871 (ichi-0241).” The Burn District. <http;//www. greatchciagofire.org/ruined-city/burnt-district>(Retrieved Septmeber 24th, 2014) 21. Hulett, Betty. Sacred Site; photograph 1952. The Great Chicago Fire and The Web of Memory.(TheSaga Continues).<http://www.greatchicagofire.org/olearylegend/saga-continues.>(Retrieved September 24th,2014) 22. Chicago Historical Society. “Southern Limit of the Great Fire of 1871; from a Stereograph,1871(ichi-02745). Great Chicago Fire. <http://www.greatchicagofire.org/ruined-city/burnt-district> (Retrieved September 24th, 2014)

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Chrucky, Serhii. “The Little House on Polk Street”. FORGOTTEN CHICAGO.http://forgottenchicago.com/articles/the-little-houseon-polk-street/ (Retrieved November 15th, 2014) Davion, Christopher. ”Heroin use at historic highs in Chicago area.” Wolrd Socialist Web Site.http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/02/12/chic-f12.html. (Retrieved February 16th, 2015) Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundations. “Home”. Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundations.http://www.llgoodmanfdn.org/(Retrieved January 16th, 2015) PBS Online.“Primary Sources: The Chicago Tribune and the Great Fire.” Chicago City of The Century.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ amex/chicago/filmmore/ps_fire.html(Retrieved September 24th, 2014) Roosevelt University. “July 31 ribbon cutting to mark grand opening of Roosevelt’s Goodman Center”. http://www.roosevelt.edu/ News_and_Events/News_Articles/2013/20130729-GoodmanRibbon.aspx. (Retrieved February 06, 2015) Style Studio. “About Us”. Park1.http://www.park1chicago.com/(Retrieved January 16th, 2015)

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