Some Interrelated Thoughts by Seth Gunkel

THOUGHTSINTERRELATEDSOME

-Professor Keith Peiffer you think about back cover graphics?*

Seth’s work followed multiple paths in parallel, finding productive connections across seemingly unrelated investigations. In this work, the interplay between space and social mores provides supple territory for considering the relationship between space and its inhabitants. This relationship is further developed through representations of the inhabitant, in both real and proposed spatial interactions. Specific types of media, including bureaucratic documents, renderings, and photography, are considered for their entanglements with the stories that we tell about spaces and how we in fact experience them.

Fifteen months is a long time to earn three credits. The effort culminating in this pamphlet persisted through the peaks and valleys of an ongoing global pandemic, the continuing success of Ted Lasso, the Centennial edition of America’s Greatest Homecoming, the debut of Bo Burnham’s “Welcome to the Internet,” and the continued expansion of Oklahoma State University’s campus.

The almost absurd duration was apropos to our stated ambition, however, in slowing down the design process to allow “breath” and “breadth.” Through fits and starts, the design research meandered its way through contemporary culture, set within the unique context of OSU’s Stillwater campus. Common themes provided a framework: slowness, the everyday, contingency, the strangely familiar, temporality, ephemeral conditions, participation, and tactical interventions. Through thoughtful investigation, two unique projects began to emerge, clearly sharing affinities while inflected by the experiences and interests of each student. The collective work of this independent study is as much a commentary on the discipline of architecture as it is on the content itself. It continually eschewed assumptions and best practices in taking too long, chasing down rabbit trails, indulging in low-brow pop culture, overcoming a fixation on perfection, avoiding spelling out every decision, refusing to design a building, and thickening concepts in lieu of distilling them. The work posits design as research, leveraging the specific capacity for design to produce new knowledge.

What do

* one of many questions raised by the students throughout the independent study, thoughtfully grappling with the discipline’s graphic and representational norms.

THOUGHTSINTERRELATEDSOME

A Design Research Independent Study by Seth Gunkel with various edits and ideas from Professor Keith Peiffer Coleman Little

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// DEPARTMENT OF CAPITAL COLLABORATIONPROJECT

Architects are reminded that scale figures shown in their renderings should be properly selected to reflect the diversity of our campus while appearing as inoffensive as possible.

of Capital Project Collaboration

DATE: 1st September, 2022

Seth DepartmentGunkel

LRFP and The OSU Foundation continue their collaboration to enhance the harmony of the campus using the "Modified Georgian" style and architectural unity the OSU Stillwater Campus is known for. The Noble Research Center was designed with an illiterate interpretation of the Modified Georgian style, resulting in a building too ostentatious for even a foreground building. We are currently working to bring the interior into compliance with the design guidelines. Outdated classroom seating has been replaced with an acceptable contemporary option in OSU Orange. Gray accent walls are a cost-effective solution to link the building’s showy interior with the rest of the campus. To complete the process, the OSU Foundation is searching for an industry partner to assist with recladding the structure. Any graduates from the Boone Pickens School of Geology are encouraged to reach out to us by phone (405-385-5102) or via e-mail (info@osugiving.com).

SUBJECT: Some Interrelated Thoughts

FROM: Seth Gunkel TO: The Cowboy Family

AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After almost twenty years of close collaboration, Long Range Facilities Planning and The Oklahoma State University Foundation have streamlined the process of directing new building design to the completion of a one-page form. In recent years, we have also found that procuring funds from industry partners helps to reduce the burden on Oklahoma's taxpayers and keep student fees to a minimum. This new form is designed to assist in our departments' direction in achieving these goals. After we hand the carbonless copy form to the architect of record, suitable capital funding and aesthetic consensus among alumni can be achieved through satisfying the selected criteria. A well-considered form can easily be signed off on by campus administrators before the project goes to bid. The form is an addendum to the Campus Master Plan and will be made available online as soon as possible. As our departments worked tirelessly on this collaboration, we also realized it salient to issue a few reminders to our architects, corporate donors, and student body:

We acknowledge that social norms began to break down during the pandemic due to online classes and time away from our campus. However, students are reminded not to tamper with operable windows. Barriers between classrooms, bathrooms, hallways, studios and the outside are to remain closed at all times. This maintains proper humidity levels and keeps the integrity of the building envelope as secure as possible. Lastly, we would like to recognize that architectural jargon has become more prevalent in recent years. To assist with better communicating about architecture, OSU Brand Management will follow up with approved verbiage to be incorporated into official communications. Thank you, and Go Pokes!

Lexicon

De-Architecture

6 Awkward When social norms break. (Adam Kotsko, Awkwardness.)

“... a term used by formalist architects to describe a satisfying integration of a building with the surrounding landscape or adjacent structures” - James Wines (James Wines, De-Architecture)

Indeterminacy + Chance

Enemy forces of the formalist concepts of clarity, function, and order: ambiguity, indecision, and "...thisdisorder.means accepting the disorderly nature of the universe and communicating this acceptance in buildings." - James Wines (James Wines, De-Architecture)

Movement of the 21st Century in which creators react to or embrace aspects of Tradition, Modernism, and Postmodernism. (Greg Dember, After Postmodernism: Eleven Metamodern Methods in the Arts)

“… is a way of dissecting, shattering, dissolving, inverting, and transforming certain fixed prejudices about buildings, in the interest of discovering revelations among the fragments.” - James Wines (James Wines, De-Architecture)

Transformation of the existing elements by thoughts about things that are implied to exist. This shift in the conceptual process makes it possible to create a fusion of building and environment as well as a visual dialogue on such topics as place, time, and society.

Metamodernism

Inclusion

Conventions

Aspects of the architectural discipline that are taken for granted through daily repetition and habit. Conventional forms and conventional thinking. (LTL, Situation Normal)

Inversion "The use of the rhetorical language of form, space, and function in order to subvert or change its meaning and the use of people’s prejudices about buildings to present architecture in a new way." (James Wines, De-Architecture)

The study of the nature, degree, and effect of the spatial separation individuals naturally maintain and how this separation relates to environmental and cultural factors. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Proxemics

Snafu "Situation normal, all fucked up." Coined during WWII. (LTL, Situation Normal)

Strategies Institutional processes that set norms and conventions. “...demand locations of power, require competition, define legitimate modes of research, and establish the boundaries of acceptable practice.” (LTL, Situation Normal)

Surrealism

“…demands a tactical method of operation, a process, a way of thinking through givens." -LTL (LTL, Situation Normal) Tactics Modes of creative opportunity that operate within the gaps and slips of conventional thought and the patterns of everyday life.

“…lack a specific location, survive through improvisation, and use the advantages of the weak against the strong.” -LTL “…turn the logic of the strategy against itself within the space established by that strategy.” -LTL (LTL, Situation Normal)

Surrationalism

“…a conscious, critical, and rational project, its goal being the liberation of rationality from the encrusted habits of convention.” -LTL “…uses rationalism to test the boundaries of rationalism itself.” -LTL

The Everyday Architecture of the everyday may be all of these things: "generic and anonymous, banal or common, ordinary, crude, sensual, vulgar, and visceral." It can "take on collective or symbolic meaning, respond to program and function, and acknowledge domestic life." Architecture of the everyday is the invisible architecture that is built around us. (Debora Berke, Architecture of the Everyday)

The self-conscious examination of the rational.

Art movement of the early 20th century in which artists influenced by Freud created using dreams and "...operatesautomatism.inthe ambiguous territory at the limits of the real." -LTL (LTL, Situation Normal)

8 Precedents

Eye Level

Richard Kroeker and a group of students designed and built a "counter-monument" for a large statue of General Cornwallis. The British General was known for offering a bounty for the scalps of Indigenous people. "Eye Level" reconfigured participants' interaction with the existing monument by allowing participants to climb the structure and look into the eyes of Cornwallis. The simple materials contrasted with the permanence of the monument while evoking the language of medieval siege structures. Our values can be read through the pieces of our environment we build and maintain; Eye Level provides a device to grapple with and question our past.

Royal Road Test

Ed Ruscha's "Royal Road Test" painstakingly recorded the process of throwing a typewriter from a speeding Buick. Recording the process through pictures and producing a cheap mass-produced booklet with the photos gave the process importance and permanence. Through recording it, the act of throwing a typewriter out of a car became important; a banal and temporal experience was elevated to art. In addition to the actual performance of throwing the typewriter, Ruscha's act of recording it became art as well. Through creating an artifact, this booklet, Ruscha and his friends said, "We were here. We did this. We existed."

11 In a series of collages, Martha Rosler brought attention to disparate worlds existing during the Vietnam War. As young Americans were sent to fight a proxy war in a country they had never seen before, life in the U.S. moved on. The United States military mercilessly bombed Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, killing countless civilians. Unaware of the reality abroad, many Americans had no issue sending soldiers and bombs to other peoples’ homes in a different country, subjecting the Vietnamese to horrific conditions while American suburban life droned on. Using collage, Rosler showed that these moments were occurring simultaneously in different parts of the world. Images of affluent American homes clipped from pages of House Beautiful were juxtaposed with images from Vietnam published in Life. Through this juxtaposition, Americans were forced to reconsider the war in a new light: while America was not fighting on its home front, it was fighting on someone else’s.

House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home

12 In an anonymous parking lot in Hamden, Connecticut, James Wines' SITE buried twenty 60's and 70's cars under the asphalt. The sculpture was informed by existing physical and psychological factors on the site, with the realized project commenting on the medium of the site itself. Everyday materials and experiences combined in unexpected ways draw attention to the everydayness of the strip mall parking lot. There is something unnatural and intriguing about the inversion of typical relationships. Rows of cars sat beneath the asphalt as opposed to on it. Petroleum-consuming machines found themselves consumed by a petroleum product. Questioning fixed relationships and subconscious acceptance of the condition lead to new revelations. Ghost Parking Lot

Ice

Gianni Pettena and his students called attention to the repetition of cookie-cutter homes on a suburban street by seemingly subtracting or replacing one of many. The group built a wooden framework around the home and then poured water down into it during the late hours of the night. Cold temperatures turned the water to ice, forming a new geometry in suburbia using only natural processes. In this simple approach, natural phenomena were used to comment on the artificial world we have created for ourselves. House II

Awkwardness

In an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm Larry David and his agent, Jeff Greene, meet with Lin-Manuel Miranda to discuss an idea for a new musical. They find themselves in the office of a mutual friend who lets them borrow his room for their meeting. In the large corporate office, Miranda immediately moves for the executive desk, leaving Greene and David to sit across the room at lower seats. When Miranda assumed the position of power in the lent office, social norms shifted, leaving Greene and David powerless in the meeting. The setup of the room allowed Miranda to take control. The plan of the large corporate office leaves a chasm between its client seating arrangement and the executive desk, and it becomes evident that the space was not meant to facilitate conversations between someone at the desk and people sitting in the chairs across the room.

Every space we occupy comes with certain social expectations. Whether it is where someone sits, how loud they speak, or how they distance themselves from others, social norms affect how we use space. When two people have a conversation, they position chairs to find the "Goldilocks distance:" not too-close, yet not too-far. While general unspoken rules may govern how we interact, they are not universally applied. Relationships between individuals and roles within a social hierarchy are important factors to layer onto our understanding of how space is acceptably used. Architects design rooms and lay out furniture in accordance with these unspoken rules. As a result, each space has roles that must be filled. The head seat at a conference table is for the executive, whereas the seats against the wall are reserved for interns. Miranda took advantage of the innate agency of the room’s layout to give himself greater leverage over David and Greene as they negotiate their potential collaboration. When architecture properly reinforces inherent power dynamics, we accept it as normal, but when those unspoken rules are broken, we notice architecture’s power in our daily interactions.

Social Norms, Codified

In an attempt to understand the role of space in nonverbal communication, anthropologist Edward Hall founded proxemics in the 1950s and 60s. The field of study has continued, with many scientists exploring how space is linked to comfort in social situations.

Architecture as Facilitator

Here, the architecture is used to chilling effect. Located on the second floor and with curtains drawn, Ailes' office is kept far from sight of any other executives. While Ailes does not sit between guests and the exit, the buzz of the locked door is reinforced throughout the movie. The audience is constantly reminded that nobody can leave the office without Ailes or his secretary buzzing them out. While visitors may write the measures off as the diligence of a deeply paranoid man, they become keenly aware of the locked door as Ailes transgresses countless professional boundaries inside the private office.

The movie Bombshell (2019) tells the story of Roger Ailes' culture of sexual harassment at the Fox News Corporation. While the movie addresses the harassment of Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, the movie centers the story of Margot Robbie's character, Kayla Popisil. The audience follows the hopeful, young Fox News employee as she tries to chase her dreams of getting on air. Desperate to get a meeting with Ailes to discuss opportunities, Popisil races into the elevator with his secretary, and is subsequently invited to a personal meeting. The elevator lets off at a lobby, where Popisil is guided through a glassed-in assistant's office and through solid double doors into Ailes' private entry. A buzzer sounds, indicating Popisil can enter the locked office.

Lin-Manuel Miranda meets with his agent, Larry, and Jeff. Larry and Jeff want to discuss a musical idea with Lin-Manuel.

Lin-Manuel’s agent exits his office, leaving the room for the three to Larrymeet.and Jeff accept their seats, somewhat perplexed by the Lin-Manuelsituation.

Lin-Manuel makes his final comments on the musical as he wraps up his idea for a song.

Lin-Manuel puts his foot on the desk, sitting back and reinforcing his position of power.

UncomfortableEnthusiasmwithhowthemeetingisplaying out, Larry offers Lin-Manuel a seat with them so they can speak as equals.

Lin-Manuel Miranda begins to dominate the meeting, brushing Larry’s ideas to the side and replacing them with his own.

comes around the front of the desk as he begins to riff on his idea for a song. Larry and Jeff get increasingly frustrated as their project slips out of their own hands.

Larry sits back again, finally accepting that he has lost all control. The desk gave Lin-Manuel too much power. In an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm Larry David and his meant to facilitate conversations between someone at the desk

Awkwardness in Curb Your

Analysis of interactions between Larry David, Jeff Greene, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lin-Manuel’s agent exits his office, leaving the room for the three

Larry and Jeff exit as Lin-Manuel sits back in his borrowed office. Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of musicals Hamilton and Lin-Manuel lets them know the meeting is over and it went really well. He asks for privacy as he takes a phone call. When taking positions within this architectural hierarchy, people Lin-Manuel insists he likes to see things at a “wide angle,” so the desk will do just fine.

Lin-Manuel reassuringly offers Larry and Jeff seats across the room. This is no mistake.

The status quo persists as Lin-Manuel gains more ground, changing the musical from Larry’s vision.

Lin-Manuel reassuringly offers Larry and Jeff seats across the room. This is no mistake.

Lin-Manuel points Larry back to the chair he was sitting at.Larry attempts to take the desk after it becomes available. LinManuel asks him what he’s doing, confused by the weird action.

Lin-Manuel comes around the front of the desk as he begins to on his idea for a song.

Larry and Jeff exit as Lin-Manuel sits back in his borrowed office.

Lin-Manuel is comfortable at the desk, sitting above two people who sought his opinion.

Lin-Manuel makes his final comments on the musical as he wraps up his idea for a song. meant to facilitate conversations between someone at the desk and people sitting in the chairs across the room. When a group of people enter a room, there are unspoken social expectations for the space. Certain seats are be occupied. There is a distance between people that is not too-far and not too-close. The roles of each individual and their relationships to one another also sets these expectations. professor is not to sit in the audience during their class. An executive is not to sit at a side chair in the conference room. Architecture and layouts are designed to facilitate a certain power dynamic. There are roles in a room that must be filled.

When taking positions within this architectural hierarchy, people begin to adopt the role of their position in the space. When Miranda took a seat at the executive desk and laid his feet on the table, Larry David and Jeff Greene were left to take a seat at low chairs across the room. Immediately, a meeting between three equals was transformed into one between an executive and his employees. Miranda’s usurpation of the desk led to a powerful leg up in the meeting. When architecture properly reinforced power dynamics we accept it as normal, but when these unspoken rules are broken, we begin to see architecture’s presence in our daily interactions.

Larrymeet.and Jeff accept their seats, somewhat perplexed by the situation.

Lin-Manuel makes a u-turn towards the desk as Larry and Jeff move to the seating area.

Your Enthusiasm

Lin-Manuel insists he likes to see things at a “wide angle,” so the desk will do just fine. Uncomfortable with how the meeting is playing out, Larry offers Lin-Manuel a seat with them so they can speak as equals.

Lin-Manuel is comfortable at the desk, sitting above two people who sought his opinion.

Lin-Manuel points Larry back to the chair he was sitting at.Larry attempts to take the desk after it becomes available. LinManuel asks him what he’s doing, confused by the weird action.

19 Lin-Manuel makes a u-turn towards the desk as Larry and Jeff move to the seating area.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Agent, owner of the office the scene takes place in.

Larry’s confidence begins to slip - he has unconsciously accepted the subservient role in the conversation.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of musicals Hamilton and In The Heights Larry David, creator of Seinfeld. He has an idea for a new musical. Jeff Greene, manager and friend of Larry David.

Lin-Manuel lets them know the meeting is over and it went really well. He asks for privacy as he takes a phone call.

Larry’s confidence begins to slip - he has unconsciously accepted the subservient role in the conversation.

The status quo persists as Lin-Manuel gains more ground, changing the musical from Larry’s vision.

Possible Scenarios

These studies consider proxemics and the interaction of different actors within the office featured in the previously referenced episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The office facilitates countless interactions that reinforce existing power dynamics and social roles. While the plan may seem neutral, its effect is made clear when actors use the space transgressively.

"What are we in the midst of?" and "What comes next?" were questions on my mind after my first architectural history and theory class. While I could clearly see that Postmodernism was over, I didn't know what to replace it with. I wanted to know what the right thing to pursue was - surely this long narrative led somewhere. There was no clear answer, but we speculated on a few options. Perhaps with the foundation laid in Postmodernism, we are in a period of "this and that," not "this and only this." And as it was the Fall of 2020, we were all engaged in discussions of architecture's complacency in social injustice, but surely that means we reengage with architecture's social mission — right? Patrik Schumacher's incessant search for form further added to my confusion. It wasn't until I took a Modern and Contemporary Art History class the next year that I started to make sense of a larger movement. An assigned reading introduced me to "Metamodernism," a term coined by authors Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker in their article Notes on Metamodernism in 2010. As with any movement, especially one that is actively ongoing, there is a great deal of ambiguity in what exactly *it* is. The term's originators often cite an oscillation between "a modern enthusiasm and a Postmodern irony." The authors of one of the many small blogs dedicated to the concept of Metamodernism propose that the movement reacts to or embraces concepts within the three (Western) epistemes: Tradition, Modernism, and Postmodernism. In the current era, we are picking and choosing what elements we like from each and blending them together. Somehow, 2022's @VitruviusGrind, 2017's Ladybird, and 2008's Obama campaign speeches coexist within this new movement that is still actively finding its legs. We're learning what we can enthusiastically enjoy and rip from past movements while simultaneously looking in the eye of the pitfalls of any thought that has a time and a place. It will take some time, perspective, and reduction to draw cohesive narratives from our current era. While we should continue to search and ponder, there's also a great deal of comfort in knowing that this new "-ism" will one day be defined - and we'll already be well on our way to the next one.

Metamodernism

(Time)SituationofSustainability Degree of Social Acceptability

Scenario Comparison

This study plots the scenarios relative to axes for time and social acceptability. It quickly became clear that the interplay between space and social interaction is too complex to easily codify due to the number of factors at play.

Repetition

Repetition is part of our daily lives, subconsciously accepted until the pattern is broken. Contemporary works of art and architecture draw attention to the repetitious monotony through dramatically confronting normal conditions. The typical experience of America’s endless supply of big box stores is interrupted by SITE’s BEST Stores. The repetition of identical cookie cutter homes on a suburban street is broken by Gianni Pettena’s Ice House II. The incessant high-density development of skyscrapers in New York City is questioned by Agnes Denes' two-acre wheat field in Manhattan. We do not question the norm until the norm is broken. Once the pattern is challenged, however, we become newly aware of the forces at play.

Repetition can also reveal patterns imperceptible with a simple snapshot. Photographer Pelle Cass shows patterns created throughout time through his "Crowded Fields" and "Selected People" series. Setting up a stationary camera to take pictures at a set interval, Cass later painstakingly cuts out figures and superimposes them into a single composition. Surreal images capture everyone wearing a yellow shirt in a plaza over a few hours as if they had coordinated a flash mob. Other photos compile actions of countless athletes over the period of a few hours. One of these compositions shows dozens of divers mid-jump off the same diving board as if they all took the plunge together. The composite images make time's role in our perception of space clear. Compressing time in a single frame reminds us of the rich context of human interaction within the spaces we occupy every day.

Escalalatina Archifunky

we choose scale figures, the resulting image inevitably suggests what we believe the space should look like and how it should be used. Showing diversity in scale figures is important to indicate that the space can be used by a broad spectrum of people, but a designer must also be careful to not project an unrealistic expectation for the project. Adding a diverse cast to your rendering does not mean that the realized space will actually be inclusive of everyone.

The resource Escalalatina provides a database of scale figures representative of people across Latin America. When browsing their website, there are pages marked “men,” “women,” “children,” and “all.” Giving us this lens through which to look for scale figures leads to unconscious thinking about binaries. In contrast, the website CutOutMix provides a few different collections of scale figures, called Archifunky, Neutra, and Calendar. Names, gender identity, or cultural background are never specified for these figures. Archifunky uses graphic patterns and an abstracted language to depict different skin colors, a wider gender spectrum, and differences in Whenability.

Attitudes

Toward the “Who”

Students in design school turn to free online databases of scale figures, often not evaluating what baggage may come with the particular scale figure they select. However, these figures have a particular race, age, ability, and gender expression; every scale figure has degrees of representation and abstraction implied within it. Whether their positioning is deliberate or simply inherent, scale figure websites are positioned along these two spectrums.

Degree of Abstraction OptionsofDiversity Survey of Widely-Available CutOutMix(Neutra)TheModulor Dimensions.com CutOutMix(Archifunky)BunchfinkIllustrationJugaadRender Dimensions.comPimpMyDrawing

Widely-AvailableAbstractionScale Figures DrawingCutOutMix(Calendar)StudioAlternativi(art)NonscandinaviaSkalgubbar BlackImage JugaadRender Skalgubbrasil Memes

Le Corbusier Sketch (1928), CutOutMix Neutra (2020)

Modulor at Unité d'Habitation of Berlin (1958), CutOutMix Neutra (2020)

Mies van der Rohe (1960-63),

Perspective

CutOutMix Calendar (2016)

1920s & 30s In this study, we see the potential for scale figures to make a political statement. The pictured figures are activists George Marke, Prince Marc Kojo Tovalou Houènou, and Marcus Garvey, photographed by James Van Der Zee during the Harlem Renaissance in 1924. Despite their formal dress and place in time, seeing them on rooftop garden of Villa Savoye is surreal. Villa Savoye is the epitome of the predominantly white, Eurocentric canon of Modern architecture; through creating a dialogue with images of Black Americans, the dissonance in the concept of an International Style is clear.

DWR SoA East Atrium October 4th, 2021, 8:13 PM - 8:27 PM

DWR SoA Women's Restroom December 13, 2021, 2:14 AM

Architecture Critic Kate Wagner has established a distinctive style of architectural analysis on her McMansion Hell page. Using publicly-available images from Zillow as raw material, she points out oddities and common themes in America's "McMansions." Simple arrows and text are easily and quickly digestible, leaving just the image and commentary for the viewer to take in. McMansion Hell

47 With considerably fewer resources and funds than NASA or any privately-owned space corporation, artist Tom Sachs remained determined to realize his own "Space Program." While he could not physically travel to outer space, he found a way to create a space program that was authentic to himself and his resources. Sachs and his studio built a 1:1 replica of a Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) from plywood, steel, glue, gaffer tape, and screws. The LEM was one piece in a larger ongoing artistic endeavor in which Sachs emulated NASA missions as an artistic performance. The act of building the LEM and emulating NASA's processes was a way for Sachs to study NASA intensively while fulfilling his desire to be a part of it. Sachs calls this act of emulation "sympathetic magic." A Space Program

48 In Loki, the Time Variance Authority (TVA) uses technocratic documents to keep track of the “sacred timeline.” The organization exists outside our normal reality, tasked with keeping track of events across space and time, ensuring that everything unfolds as prescribed. To prevent butterfly effects from happening, every action and its resulting consequences must be captured. The monotonous, everyday nature of the documents indicates a feeling of disconnect from the real world. However, what may be text on a standardized sheet is a lifechanging, seemingly independent decision in the mind of an individual. The standard format captures the world's complexities and contradictions, while recording calamities and everyday occurrences in the same way. Through these technocratic documents, incomprehensibly complicated concepts and systems are seemingly made simple. A standardized system allows for complexity to slowly be recorded, monitored, and archived. TVA Documents in Loki

Looking back decades later, these documents seem more at home in a library catalogue than as something capable of bringing about one of the greatest milestones in human achievement, but the mundane can extraordinary.

Apollo-Era NASA Documents

NASA used a standardized system to create a language that was easily comprehensible for scientists and astronauts to reference and come back to. Blank fields could easily be filled in with a typewriter and pertinent information on the cover of a booklet is always presented in the same format. These humble documents, created using Futura and an IBM typewriter, were instrumental in sending humans to the moon and returning them safely back to our planet.

4321 21 43 Long Range Facilities Planning Intern Name Plate Generic OSU Name Tag OSU CEAT Ambassador Name Tag OSU Student ID Card

If the process is so predictable and formulaic, I thought, then surely we could imagine a more efficient way to create buildings for our campus. Just as artist Tom Sachs imagines himself as part of NASA, I imagined myself as an omnipotent administrator overseeing a collaboration between the OSU Foundation and the OSU Office of Long Range Facilities Planning. I created a piece of speculative paperwork that makes explicit the clear aesthetic and approach that governs the design of new buildings on OSU’s campus. The form ensures that buildings are designed to please the institution’s countless stakeholders. It lays bare the developed design/sell process utilized for all new buildings on the campus. While obviously, such a form would never be used, it serves as a framework to understand the complex, yearslong process of bringing new public infrastructure to fruition. It accepts that this is a reasonable (and successful) way to create architecture, but its existence suggests we ask for more. If we think outside the conventions and take a chance, we may just find an architecture that surprises us.

Public announcements and funding campaigns for new buildings on Oklahoma State University’s campus provide concrete evidence of the use of rhetoric and persuasion to promote new buildings. When a client asks for an innovative new classroom design, an architect must prove they can design for their needs. Therefore, each element in an architectural visualization is carefully selected to convey desired messages. Marketing materials incorporating these visualizations are the direct product of this calculated process for approving new designs. I began to draw direct links from the phrases used in marketing materials to corresponding elements in architectural visualizations. I quickly found that promotional videos, branding rollouts, and calls for donations all show a carefully considered message OSU wants to project about its architecture. Over the years and through countless projects, the university has evolved an almost formulaic process to design buildings and sell them to donors. The same phrases are used to describe every new building, and interior finishes are recurrent across the entire campus. All it takes to get a building built is to check the necessary boxes. Through trial and error, the university has found a tried and true method to get alumni-buy in for new buildings and procure necessary capital funding to build them.

51 Intervention

Background buildings are designed to enhance the harmony of the campus landscape and blend in with the campus fabric. While they should be of high quality in their design, aesthetics, and construction, they do not draw undue attention to themselves and avoid showiness or ostentation. Background buildings should not be taller at their highest point (excluding chimneys) than the roof peak of the Edmon Low Library. Most buildings on campus, including those that house the colleges, are background buildings. Inter building Relationships To preserve the sense of unity on campus, it is essential that designers carefully consider how their design will relate to existing and planned adjacent structures. Spaces that are defined between buildings should be designed with the same attention to form and function that interior spaces are.

OSU Long Range Facilities Planning Org. Chart

The Oklahoma State University Stillwater Campus has long been known for its elegance, atmosphere and architectural unity. Its buildings and outdoor spaces are an integral part of OSU’s historic heritage and its ongoing purpose and mission. Alumni, faculty, staff, students and visitors all appreciate this architectural cohesion that is such a feature of the campus. The goal of the Design Guidelines is to assist in the preservation of the character and integrity of the OSU Stillwater campus.

The most significant influence on the campus has been and remains the Bennett Plan of the late 1920s. It established what is commonly known as “Modified Georgian” as OSU’s architectural style and organized the campus layout via a grid of major and minor axes and designated a series of open quadrangles around which buildings are located. The consistency in style and layout called for by the Bennett Plan are essential to the look and feel of the campus and are central to the Campus Master Plan and these design Theguidelines.OSUoffice of Long Range Facilities Planning (LRFP), which manages all academic construction projects with a cost of $2million or more on the OSU Stillwater and Tulsa campuses, is charged with oversight of the Campus Master Plan and reviews the design of all buildings and any work not internal to a building such as a change to a building façade, hard and soft landscaping, above ground utilities, sidewalks, etc. These Design Guidelines are an appendix to the Campus Master Plan and will be administered by LRFP. Design Guidelines The following Guidelines begin with broader issues relating to the campus as a whole and continue to the more specific issues relating to the individual building. Campus Plan Philosophy Elegance, unity and restraint are hallmarks of the campus design philosophy as is adherence to the principles of the Bennett Plan. Any building design that attempts to stand apart from ts campus environment is inappropriate. Even the most prominent buildings on campus exhibit a consistency and harmony with the campus as a whole. At OSU, we don’t do “Wow!” Hierarchy Buildings on campus can be classified as either foreground buildings or background buildings. Foreground buildings serve the university as a whole and are the landmark structures of the campus. They tend to be larger and iconic with features, proportions, and details that allow them to act as focal points. Towers, cupolas or other highly prominent features are reserved for foreground buildings. The Edmon Low Library, the Student Union, and the Henry Bellmon Research Center are examples of foreground buildings.

Long Range Facilities Planning 505 Scott Stillwater,HallOK 74075 8059 Tel. 405 744 1062

Oklahoma State University Design OverviewGuidelines

Edmon Low Library

52 OSU Corinthian (Illustration from Sir Bannister Fletcher’s “A History of Architecture”) Murray Hall Symmetry Symmetry, particularly in elevation, is ideal. Main entrances are located on the longer of the facades and are either one central entrance or dual, symmetric entrances, often embellished with stone detailing.

Edmon Low Library Student Union

Windows Windows are typically double hung with muntins, and white or off white in color. They are evenly and symmetrically spaced within the façade but my change height or width by floor or façade element. Curtain walls, corner wrapping windows, and glass facades are generally not appropriate but may be allowed following appropriate consultation with LRFP.

Fakery The application of architectural elements purely for appearance that are obviously fake, such as false dormers or chimneys, is to be avoided.

Conclusion One of the many strengths of the OSU Stillwater campus is the architecture, unified by the Modified Georgian. To maintain this architectural unity it is important that potential consultants demonstrate an understanding and command of the Georgian style and Classical Architecture and its correct usage in new buildings that additionally meet the needs of the present day. The purpose of these design guidelines is to assist the OSU Community as they consider a construction project and architectural consultants as they prepare designs.

Architectural Elements Hip or gable roofs, chimneys, dormers, quoins, OSU Corinthian columns and stone details such as entablatures, cornices, string courses, sills, lintels, and keystones are typical of OSU’s architectural style. Materials The consistent use of exterior materials is critical to maintaining consistency and unity on campus. OSU blend brick, stone and cast stone accents, white trim, and brown green or gray green roofing are preferred exterior materials. More flexibility is allowed when choosing materials for interiors or courtyards.

Subtlety Classical architecture can appear to be dull, constrained by its use of symmetry, proportion and regularity but detailed study of good examples reveals design subtlety, variety, meaning, and even humor. This is why it has survived for many centuries and is as valid in the 21st century as it was for ancient civilizations and in the renaissance.

LRFP's

OSU Design Guidelines

Common service access area Every attempt should be made to group service access points between adjacent buildings to minimize their impact in terms of circulation, area and aesthetics. Designing service areas so as to be aesthetically pleasing is preferable to hiding or disguising an eyesore. Setback Lines While there are no specific requirements for setbacks from streets or sidewalks designers should observe typical and existing setbacks. In the event that no precedent exists, designers will consult with LRFP to establish acceptable conditions. Sustainability OSU’s architectural style has a green heritage; it is derived from styles that were the most sustainable of their times. The University is committed to build on the tradition of sustainability in every building project it undertakes. Using resources wisely is not only better for the environment; it also gets the most out of budget, research and contribution dollars and is an important part of educating a responsible student body. Every design process for projects on campus must include a careful and complete consideration of the best sustainable strategies and applications. The OSU Architectural Style As previously mentioned, OSU’s architectural style is typically referred to as “Modified Georgian” which is based on the classical styles of the late 17th and 18th centuries in Britain and North America. Murray Hall and other buildings of the 1930s and 1940s exemplify this style. Later buildings, such as Engineering North, Physical Sciences or Agriculture Hall, attempted a Modernist interpretation of the OSU style that, while definitely not Modified Georgian, does not appear out of place. Buildings of the late 20th century however, were both radically different and inappropriate or attempted to use Georgian precedents but without sound knowledge of the style resulting in interpretations of the style that are banal and or illiterate. Some particular characteristics of the OSU architectural style are discussed below. Proportions Buildings tend to be horizontal in nature, wider than they are deep, and typically three to four stories in height. When a fourth floor is included, it is generally in the “attic”, under the slope of the roof and naturally lit via dormers. Horizontally, the façade is clearly divided into a base, middle and top.

53 OSU Marketing for New Buildings

54 font of choice for design industry (architect): San Francisco Regular

55 font of choice for Oklahoma State University (client): Rubik Medium

The new home of the Ferguson College of Agriculture will priortize a strong sense of community through strategically designed spaces.

56 A central multi-level atrium furnished for student study & interaction

Creating warm and welcoming interiors with wood accents. New Frontiers New Frontiers

Octagons create a dynamic and exciting atmosphere while showcasing innovation in the learning environment.

and collaboration.

21st century learning means movable furniture in interactive classrooms to foster learning

Innovative layouts transform the way we teach, engaging students and bringing about active participation. New Frontiers of corporate ceiling design New Frontiers New Frontiers

Donors are recognized for shaping the future for Oklahoma State University.

60 premier music education facility evidenced by premier pendant lights and bespoke wall-integrated fixtures

The building showcases the extraordinary talents of the students and faculty using a collage accent wall.

Contemporary stairs are one feature of inspiring facilities designed exclusively to elevate the Department of Music’s tradition of excellence and support first-class programming at OSU. designed to encourage collaboration Greenwood School of GreenwoodMusicSchool of Music

62 A contemporary accent to accentuate OSU’s dedication to innovation and change

campus

Step seating to enhance increase the college’s presence on

engagement and

Human SciencesHuman Sciences

Extensive glass windows provide portals into working labs, increasing transparency within the college, which has diversified fields of study.

64 exposed (concrete) structure = (concrete) science Gutted and redesigned to propel Engineering South into the 21st century

Architectural accents remind us this is a building designed for the engineers of the future. we invest in our students Engineering SouthEngineering South

66 New galleries provide a place for our student leaders to display the finest of achievements: award winning research, senior design projects, and competition winners. While the aesthetics of the exterior facade will remain intact to preserve OSU’s campus heritage, the interior will be transformed into a cutting-edge environment for our faculty and students.

Engineering South

Orange glass and polished concrete at the front door represent the innovation and aspiration of the college as it creates this new cutting-edge facility. and redesigned)

(gutted

Engineering South

exposed structure = science investment in our students’ future brought to you by structural glass.

innovative hub of learning that moves from theory (classrooms) to actual application (drones/robotics etc.)

The building’s open design encourages anyone to watch students test and improve their prototypes.

ENDEAVOR ENDEAVOR

70 exposed mechanical for a building educating mechanical engineers of the future

Glass metaphorically tears down the walls between disciplines.

one

New labs expand instruction beyond the to that increases time for

traditional classroom environment

interdisciplinary, hands-on, and industry-aligned learning ENDEAVOR ENDEAVOR

This(opposite)Stamp(above)conceptsfictionaldocument was created through the analysis of recent renderings, marketing material, and design guidelines at OSU.

Campus Entity Name .............................................................................................................................................................. Project No ..................... Project Budget .............................. Project Start Date................................... Project Name ........................................................................................................................................................... Architect ........................................................................................................................................................... Type of Improvement .................................................................................................................... Proposed Occupancy ............................................. Type of Construction .................................................................... Occupant Load ................................... PROJECT DETAILS Number of Stories ......... Total Square Feet of Floor Area .............................. Total Square Feet Based on Exterior Dimensions .............................. Fire Suppression System Exterior Wall Finish (pick one) BUILDING FINISH INFORMATION ASPIRATIONS FOR THE PROJECT Does the building service a STEM field? What the building will be (check all that apply) Specify Architectural Motifs to Theme the Building toOklahomaDocumentUniversityOSUUniversity................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Whatthebuildingwilldo(checkallthatapply)Describethebuilding(checkallthatapply)OSU-blendbrick,stoneandcaststoneaccentsYesNoYesNoInvestmentinOurStudents’FutureModifiedGeorgianStandardcorporatedropceilingTransformthewayweteachOSU-blendbrick,caststoneandstoneaccentsIfthebuildingisforSTEM,thenthestructureandsystemsmustbeexposed,astocreatealearningbuilding.InnovativeHubofLearningNeo-GeorgianStatementwoodslatceilingtreatmentTheNextGenerationofLaboratoriesContemporaryBeaconforResearch21stCenturyGuttedandRedesigned“Wow!”EnhanceengagementPropeltheprogramintothe21stcenturyHarnesssynergyofresearch,artistry,andincomparablehands-onlearningPrioritizeexperientiallearningStoneandcaststoneaccents,OSU-blendbrickCaststoneandstoneaccents,OSU-blendbrickOSU-blendbrick,accentedwithstone+caststoneOSU-blendbrick,accentedwithcaststone+stoneGeneralcampusbuildingsuseavarietyofceilingtreatments.Picksome.HighlyFlexibleBastardizedGeorgianInnovativegeometriccloudceilingStateoftheArtModernEquippedwiththeLatestTechnologyIlliterateStatementofOurCommitmentHarmonicElegantConsistentPremierEducationFacilityBanalRepresentativeofInnovationandAspirationRestrainedIncreasecollege’spresenceoncampusAllowforeducationprogramstoprogressatamorerapidrateEncouragecollaborationAssistinrecruitmentDevelopasenseofcommunityArchitectStampofApprovalFoundationPresidentPresidentSignatureSignatureDateDateDateSignaturecreatedtosimplifycompliancewithStateUniversityDesignGuidelinesandsecuredonationsforcapitalprojects.OfficeofLongRangeFacilitiesPlanningincollaborationwithTheOSUFoundation ARCHITECT’S REPORT OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY STILLWATER CAMPUS PROJECTS Fully Renovated and Highly ModernAdditionalStudent-CentricProjectAspirations ..........................................................................................................................................................................................

Reflection

I had the opportunity in April 2022 to present some of my research at a poster session in the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center. Toward the end of my hour, a man approached me, saying he overheard me talking about the 'New Frontiers' project. He introduced himself as Dr. Randy Raper - a featured voice and face in ad campaigns for the new Ferguson College of Agriculture building. I was initially taken aback - my method of research saw me engaging with images, disembodied voices, and well-polished marketing jargon - not faces. This was the first time I was engaging directly with an actor within the campus's process of creating architecture after I thought about it in depth. His perspective was unique and fascinating - he's free of the baggage that comes with an architectural education. He let me know that he has repeatedly reminded the architects to remove windows connecting public spaces to classrooms, concerned with academic integrity and distractibility. Instead, he preferred windows be placed off of labs, so tour groups can see students in the midst of hands-on learning. Reflecting on this conversation helped to remind me that values are encoded into our buildings through what we prioritize and how we speak about them. "Functionality," "user," and "transparency" carry a variety of meanings throughout any conversation - and we must remember this shift as we design.

Dr. Raper was surprisingly receptive to some of my comments on the project. Architects' grand claims about the spaces they create are not always true. Architects cannot single-handledly change the way we learn and teach because ultimately it is in the hands of students and professors to engage with their environment in new ways. A rendering showing someone speaking encircled by movable furniture will not make faculty get out from behind their podium to lecture. While architecture may facilitate change, it comes down to the actions of individuals to transform how we use spaces and interact with one another. The conversation left me hopeful for the potential impact my research could have. I've now worked under the University Architect and with a firm completing work for OSU. Everyone I have come into contact with is passionately dedicated to improving the campus, undeterred by the thankless task of pleasing so many stakeholders. I hope these simple images and creations can challenge architects and the general public alike to think differently about how architecture is created. When actors within a system can openly acknowledge some of its shortcomings and even express some skepticism, I am reminded that things can change. The story does not need to stop at skepticism of architecture's agency in changing our world. We can extend that narrative, using skepticism as a jumping off point - asking what we can genuinely accomplish when we realize a client's vision not only through surfacelevel architectural treatments, but also through systemic change and relearning at every level. While architecture cannot solve every problem, maybe a change in our environment can inspire us to change with it.