Thesis Book

M EMORIAL

FOR

or

A PRIL 1 6 TH

M OVING T HROUGH T WO W ORLDS

J ESSIE G EMMER A dvisor: J im B assett 2 010 -2 011 1

2

C ONTENTS T hesis

Statement

Fantasy Dream Memory

C hapter One: Body in a Room

Atmosphere

7

8 12 16 23

C hapter

29

C hapter

35

C hapter

43

Two: Body in Light Trauma Three: Body in Form Experience Four: Form, Landscape, Definition Cave, Tunnel, Tower (Mountain)

C hapter

Five: Program, Community, Site

63

C hapter

Six: Reality, Presence, Time

81

Folly, Anti-Memorial, Healing (Duckpond) Memorial for April 16th (Drillfield)

A cknowledgements

and Thanks

3

135

4

S pirit

is the life, substance, and continuity

of all things. We tread on forces.

Withdraw them, and creation must collapse.

-Mary Baker Eddy, 1875

5

(This

is

my

6

future)

T he s i s

Architecture is the bridge between the material and the spiritual.

H ow

A physical space can be made sacred, without any association with faith

or religion, by architectural form that conveys the qualities of dreams, memories, and fantasy.

7

Fantasy 8

“O n

leaving

this

strange,

nocturnal

scene

of

vast buildings and extensive forest, now rendered dimly and partially visible by the declining light of lamps and torches, and the twinkling of a few scattered stars in a clouded sky, the company seemed, as soon as they had passed the sacred boundary of the great wall, as if waking from a dream, or just freed from the influence of some magic spell.”

-on Fonthill Abbey, the “Gentleman’s Magazine”,

9

1800

10

Twhere his is i

would like to hide.

11

Dream 12

S

“... uddenly I have an image of the talking, looking and so on, and so on, but there is this image. And this is like a spark...It’s some kind of beautiful human reaction, which is called imagination.”

-Peter Zumthor, on the Bruder Klaus Chapel,

13

2007

a row of abandoned cars on the road out of sight.

trees floating, ominous, silent, towards me across the field.

an evacuation.

a red dog standing guard.

I go back for it even though there is

a boot, my boot, at the bottom of the stairs in the middle of the pool.

a house in ruins, standing on itself constructed upside down in the ground, filled with water..

14

T his

15 is my clearest dream.

Memory 16

“To (Etienne-Louis) Boulee, Newton was a hero and only the most heroic architecture could possibly by appropriate to nurture the memory of the great man.�

-on the Cenotaph for Newton, Lost Buildings, 2008

17

This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

18

This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

19

20

ARCHITECTURAL TRANSLATION

There is a reveal; an entrance from a universal presence into a specific space. This change of pressure is imperative.

Highlighted in the totality you see a point of observation, the point from which to realize the whole, a reason to move forward.

It is an island, a nest, a palace, expressed through the individual scale as well as the total site.

21

22

C hapter O ne: Body in a Room

23

24

F igures

of the body in mourning.

A

place for them.

L ight.

25

26

27

28

C hapter T wo: Body in Light

29

Male

30

Female

P hysical

expression of mourning.

B odies

of men and women.

L ight.

31

32

33

34

C hapter T hree: Body in Form

35

36

A rchitecture L ayers

in its simplest form. of transparency.

L ight.

37

38

S even

figures made of clay to mirror the postures of mourning. I put them in a variety of spatial conditions - standing alone, in corners, in rooms, under sheets. Those conditions and the manipulation of light changed the expressions of their forms.

39

Position, form, light

on, field, omni

under, field, glow

inside, room, directional

between, wall, haze

40

trapped, well, faint

hidden, corner, force

float, space, vague

against, boundary, silhouette

41

42

C hapter F our:

Form, landscape, definition

43

SITE PLAN

44

I

created an arbitrary site with

arbitrary topography and weather.

With no program or code I

designed a project that would express my thesis by bridging the spiritual world and the physical world.

T he

site is a strip land between

two rivers.

The shores rise to

the a of a mountain ridge.

T his

map shows the primary views

of and the most likely paths to the site.

45

SITE GEOMETRY

46

47

N etworks

of towers, bridges, paths.

A

single

path to an entrance, towers,

a single bridge.

T he

cave,

the hinge, the mouth.

48

49

FORMS ON SITE

/ENTRANCE/PATH/CLIMB/ 50

51

/CAVE/TUNNEL/TOWER/

W HAT

M ATERIAL

IS BETWEEN THE

T here

AND THE

is a silence - all the usual thoughts melt away.

S PIRITUAL? Your heart seems to

stop but it is only because the time between beats is suddenly tangible. in the presence of something beyond your body. your body for the first time.

You are

Or maybe you are fully aware of

The moment stretches and your extremities tingle,

the breath in your nose tickles as it slides down your throat.

You walk across the

floor and though you hear no echo the slide and drop of water deep below you fills your ears.

You feel the weight of the world above your head.

T his

is after the crossing over, though, after the journey.

W hen

you started walking you didn’t know what you were walking towards -

maybe those less curious turned back and you saw them on your way - their eyes clouded and unable to .

Sometimes you tripped on loose stones, stumbling off the

path into the brush as you lifted your eyes to take in the vastness around you.

Eventually, though, your feet found their rhythm and you were aware of the blur

of dust beneath you only as a sound track to the details in sharp focus above you.

Propelled forward as if by some greater engine perhaps you forgot that you are

supposed to be going someplace until suddenly upon you looms the entrance, a harsh form slammed into the swelling hill before you.

The cavern absorbs and discards

all light and you fight the urge to take a deep breath before the plunge. you enter and then there is silence.

A fter

And then

your eyes adjust you walk towards the end where shivers of light

crook a ghostly finger - come on.

There are periods of tightness where the space

all but disappears and you tap your fingers on the wall to make sure it is still

there, phases of stairways that lead up and then down through bubbles of air in the rock.

You start to feel you could never find your way back though you never turned

off the path and just as you start to think maybe you should turn around after all, it ends. The cave becomes a wall and you follow it up to a pinpoint of light above you and see that there is a winding swell of stairs all around you, carved into the stone.

You climb, exhausted, pausing every few minutes to rest your hot face

against the damp and cold of the earth.

52

M inutes

pass, maybe hours, until your legs move on their own and you can feel

the light grow stronger though everything looks the same.

All at once you realize

the shadows’ dominance is over and the light is the greater being.

the open air, taste the grass on the wind that combs through it.

You can smell

In one second you

are a creature of the underworld and in the next you are above and your legs won’t

stop.

T he

stairs have thinned into wood slats that vibrate with your weight,

desperately wishing to return to the earth with you attached.

Now you are a

part of the immediate air, now you are part of the sky - your lungs echo with a

different breed of oxygen and you can feel your heartbeat rush hot in your temples.

Through brief glimpses through the cladding you are aware that you are getting

dangerously far away from safety but your feet won’t stop long enough to press an eye to a slit and fully realize the danger.

You can’t bring yourself to look up,

you don’t want to know how much more there is to go before whatever this is over.

And when you turn that last rotation the wood beneath you stretches onwards into a road swinging across the air and you run for it.

Tempted by the presence of

gravity you keep your eyes glued to handrails, unable to look at the tiny world

below.

been.

At the end you bend over, gulping air, and turn to look at where you have Your ownership of the view is fierce, you have conquered that.

Only when

your pride is glowing do you turn to the platform you have come to and as the

mountain falls and the sea fades you dissolve into mist.

It

is nothing but an end.

You sit and spend a lifetime hugging yourself in

the thin air, breathing silver in the rush of time.

W hen

the right moment arrives you rise to leave.

There is a hole almost

behind you down which drop stairs to a small concrete platform with a mute block

with a door and one button. Down. once again in darkness.

Pressing it the door slithers open and you are

But this time you are leaning spent against the curved

walls and before you are aware of moving the door is open and you are pushed 53

outwards, mortal once again.

P ATH

H OW A nalyze

TO

M OUNTAIN

TO USE THE SITE manipulations

the landscape. Identify the natural paths, views, and

opportunities to enter the earth. Experiment with the pressure of moving through different materials, light conditions, and scales of openings.

Create an experience that moves the visitor into a

reality beyond his or her body, that clears the eyes to look at the world.

54

C AVE

55

E NTRANCE

H OW

TO USE THE SITE

movements, light, material, form

A pproach

enter

wander

O mniscient

P article

fade

interjection

falling

smoothing

glow

empty

between

hide

directional

float

growing

climb

stop

expanse weight

opening

56

L andscape path cave

tunnel well

stair

platform

M OUNTAIN

57

58

T UNNEL C arved

through the

rock, the pathway

expands and contracts inside the halls of stone.

It morphs

between rooms,

caverns, cathedrals, crawlspaces.

bridges, and stairs.

H oles

in the side

of the mountain

make light wells from the outside to the tunnel.

Their penetration creates points of illumination that

reveal the passage

59

and call the walker onwards.

60

T OWER

1” = 8’

61

62

C hapter F ive:

Program, Community, Site

63

Current April 16th memorial

War Memorial for VT students killed in wars 64

M EMORIAL

FOR

A PRIL S IXTEENTH

V irginia T ech

B lacksburg, V irginia

On

April 16, 2007 a student at Virginia Tech shot and killed 32 fellow

students and professors in a rampage that started at West Ambler Johnson dormitory and ended at Norris Hall.

It

was the largest massacre on any school campus in the United States.

T he

current memorial to the day is a public place more fitting for group

gatherings than private reflection.

I t’s

It is a literal representation of loss.

important to remember that day and the people who died, but it is more

important to heal.

There should be a place on campus, a private place of

quiet beauty, for families to grieve.

However, in fifty years, when the sting

of loss has faded, there should be a place that conveys a sense of healing to all visitors regardless of specific memory.

Virginia Tech deserves to have

an exquisite place on campus, made in the spirit of the community that drew together after the tragedy.

I knew I wanted to do this memorial in Spring 2010, months before I started my thesis.

In the fall I moved away from the specifics of the project and

concentrated on exploring the implications of this kind of space. months of exploration I returned to the memorial.

65

After six

66 Virginia Tech Campus

P AR T

ONE:

“A nti

M emorial”

Site, Experience, Atmosphere

The Duckpond

I started with the idea of a memorial for healing’s sake, something purely

beautiful, an “anti-memorial” free of any connotation of tragedy or loss. I chose the duckpond at Virginia Tech as my site because it is a park on the campus that has no purpose other than recreation and pleasure.

It is full of hidden,

magical spaces which I documented and analyzed using the criteria I established earlier in the year.

I designed a folly hidden in the trees that expressed all

the characteristics of light, form, and space that I had identified in previous studies.

67

4

1

3

2

68 Views around site

1

2

3

4

69

m d

e

f

l

i g h j

k

b

70 “Magical� moments on site

a c

a b

d

c

e

a b c d e 71

-

view view view view view

from base of folly site to pond of folly site from base of hill from top of folly site to pond from entrance of site to water from water to entrance

g

f h

j

i 72

k

l

m 73

side elevations

front/back elevations 74

plan

F OLLY

ramps/structure 75

76

M ODEL

77

78

O N S ITE

79

80

C hapter S ix:

Reality, Presence, Time

81

82 Virginia Tech Campus

P AR T

T WO: M emorial

Community, Campus, Environment

The Duckpond Site

P roposal:

I composed this design as to harmonize with the aesthetic

of

Virginia Tech’s campus and answer the needs of its students. This was done while utilizing the architectual elements studied in my previous projects.

The current memorial to the shootings on April sixteenth will lose its

main function after this year. Virginia Tech will no longer hold a ceremony and vigil on April 16th and will no longer offer funds to bring families of victims to campus on the anniversary of the shooting.

The current memorial is in full

view of the most public thoroughfare on campus. Those who come to mourn will have no quiet place to grieve and honor the victims.

I feel a responsibility, as a

member of the last graduating class from Tech to witness the tragedy, to design a

place for mourners to go: both a park for the student body and a chapel in honor of victims of the tragedy.

83

The Drillfield

P laced

at the foot of the drillfield, my design mirrors the

location of the war memorial at the head of campus. Students walking across the site to class can enter on either side and experience

thirty seconds a day of quiet shadows as they cross through the memorial.

From outside, the memorial is almost invisible - a three

foot wall at the top of a gentle hill, its edges blurred by the

silver trees that drape over the boundaries and fill the void carved into the ground.

Inside, the power of their symbolism rises to

meet the power of their natural beauty.

Thirty-two European Weep-

ing Birches grow like pale columns around a polished stone floor, forming a temple filled with the sound of wind and the lacework of sunlight through leaves.

84

Concept Sketch

tree.

T he

most important decision was to include a thirty-third

There were thirty-two victims of a specific crime, but the

Virginia Tech community lost thirty-three students.

The birches

frame a hundred foot elm that exists on the site - dark and rough in contrast to the smooth angels surrounding it.

The elm stood

before the shooting and will remain long after the survivors; its weight anchors the space and without it the memorial would be an empty token.

O n the anniversary of the tragedy those who wish to commemorate

the day will gather with candles - their light reflecting off the stone, illuminating the trees from below.

85

Iterations

(I know four things)

86

T his

is 87 a temple.

T he

ancient elm remains, dark and massive, rising like an echo.

88

89

T here

are 32 white trees: they are angels standing guard.

90

91

T here

is a floor - polished stone that gleams in the moonlight.

92

93

Site from Drillfield

Site from Duckpond

94

Drillfield from Site

Elm

95

96

97

European Weeping Birch Betula Pendula

B ark:

White, generally smooth but does peel a bit;

the base of the tree develops thick bark which splits

into narrow, vertical furrows which are nearly black with age.

F orm:

Generally 40-45 feet tall, it can grow to 65

feet with an open, pyramidal crown with distinctly drooping fine branches.

P lanting:

At maturity the tree reaches 20 feet in

foliage.

The shallow root system

diameter. Can be planted in rows with overlapping soil.

98

requires moist

99

European Weeping Birch Betula Pendula

L eaf:

Simple,

pinnately-veined,

ovate

to

nearly

triangular in shape, 2 to 4 inches long, long pointed

at the tip, with doubly serrate margins, green above and paler below.

F lower:

Monoecious; preformed male catkins near the

end of the twig, mostly in groups of 2 and 3; females

upright, slender, light green, 1 inch long, appearing or elongating (males) in the spring.

F ruit:

Cone like, cylindrical, 1 inch long, deciduous

at maturity releasing tiny, 2-winged nutlets; maturing in late summer and dispersed in early autumn.

T wig:

Twigs are slender, reddish brown in color and

noticeably drooping, lighter colored lenticels are present, but do not result in a rough feeling twig

(as in gray birch), buds slender, pointed, green and brown.

100

101

European Weeping Birch Betula Pendula

F ruit:

Cone like, cylindrical, 1 inch long, deciduous

at maturity releasing tiny, 2-winged nutlets; maturing in late summer and dispersed in early autumn.

T wig:

Twigs are slender, reddish brown in color and

noticeably drooping, lighter colored lenticels are present, but do not result in a rough feeling twig

(as in gray birch), buds slender, pointed, green and brown.

102

103

104

105

106

SITE GEOMETRY

A ll

Site Considerations 107

C ar

Traffic around site.

108

F oot

Traffic across site.

109

R elation

to West Ambler Johnson and Norris Hall 110

R elation

to War Memorial and existing April 16th Memorial 111

112

S ite

R esponse The

to

Plan

S ite C onditions.

memorial’s

geometry

references Norris Hall and West Ambler Johnston Hall, the sites of the shootings on April !6th.

The memorial entrance is

in line with the path from War Memorial.

The memorial is placed on the

existing ground level so that

the existing elm’s roots are not disturbed.

The memorial must be hidden

from the sight, sound, and smell

of the cars driving around the site.

This is accomplished by

placing it inside a nine foot grade change that rises from the boundary of the roads.

The memorial must allow for

students walking to class to pass through the site rather than forcing them to make their way around it.

113

N

Ref

e

ond t Exi Duckp ce: ren ce alke an w r t or En f t de Si rtcu o Sh

S Ref tone ere P nce lint : N hs orr is

nst

Ref

114

er

s nth d i l P iel ne f Sto Drill e: enc

ne Li : n al io ri ct mo Me nce Se r Wa tra to s En e ee Tr efin D

on:

Tree t Defi o Norris nes Room :

Joh

tc

Tre e Def to ine Wes s R t A oom mbl er

Shor

ance r t n E rs Side walke r o ut f

rs

+

T he

M emorial P lan

R esponse

to

S ite C onditions.

entrance is a flat path that leads directly to the elm, isolated

in its own room. There are stone plinths set into the ground in the corners

formed by the exterior of the elm’s room so that students can sit under the branches of the trees and watch people on the drillfield.

Inside the

memorial visitors pass the Elm and enter into the second room, a polished D rillfield stone floor that reflects the 32 trees that surround it. The outer boundary

of the memorial is formed by layered stone walls that form a ledge for leaves to gather and for intrepid visitors to perch in the treetops, hidden from view.

The angled wall that ends in the ledge leads to the parapet

on the outside ground. of the grade change.

That wall is three feet tall at the height top

A pril

Sixteenth Memorial,

The exterior is clad in dolomite, or hokie stone, l a c k s b uon r g the , V Virginia a a rough cut stone that clads almost all of the Bbuildings

Jessie Gemmer Tech campus. The appearance is that of a ruin, a foundation of a destroyed

building. The trees that grow inside seem to have emerged organically, as

if nature were taking back the the building is once Inside, My land thesiswhere is that architecture the stood. threshold between

the m

the symmetry and number spiritual is apparent, for thosememorial who don’t know the story worlds.but The current to the shootings on April of the memorial, the

P ast

lose its would main function this year. creation remainafter a mystery.

si

The current memorial is in

the most public thoroughfare on campus. Those who come to mourn will place to grieve and honor the victims.

I feel a responsibility, as

the 32 trees is a sweeping staircase, flanked by hills as

last graduating class to witness the tragedy, to design a place for

the ground rises to meet thea park walls form the edge of in thehonor space. both forthat the student body final and a cathedral of tragedy the memory of of those lost in years to sit come.

After reflecting in the tain cathedral made trees, visitors and look down

through the branches and leaves to the room. Upon leaving, they are faced Placed

at the foot of the drillfield, my design mirrors the lo

with a view of duckpond and invited to enter a place of natural beauty and war memorial at the head of campus.

leisure, a symbol of healing. can enter

Tr Ap ee t De ril o Ex fi ne 16th isti s En Mem ng tr an oria ce l

T he

power of

Students walking across the sit

on either side and experience thirty seconds a day of quie

they cross through the memorial.

From outside, the memorial is alm

a three foot the top a gentle blurred b the- memorial iswall notatheld in ofthe memoryhill, of its theedges event.

drape over the boundaries and fill the void carved into The subtle appearance trees from that campus, the organized geometry inside, the

th

side, the power of their symbolism rises to meet the power of their

reference to tragedy through the symbolism of the ruin, and the likeness

Thirty-two European Weeping Birches grow like pale columns around a

of a temple made throughfloor, the forming columnar trunks and polished stone all create a temple filled with the sound of wind and the lacework a space that is evocative and leaves. powerful regardless of context. through The

most important decision was to include a thirty-third tre

thirty-two victims of a specific crime, but Virginia Tech lost thirty

115

dents.

The birches frame a hundred foot oak - dark and rough in con

smooth silver angels surrounding it.

The oak stood before the shoot

W ar M emorial

E ntrance

116

S ection through D rillfield.

A pril 16 th M emorial.

S ection through M emorial.

117

E xit

SEASONS

118

Summer exit from inside the trees, polished stone floor, hills on side of stairs

119

Autumn entrance from drillfield, appearance of a ruin, the framed Elm

120

Winter entrance from inside the trees, single layered walls, the Elm’s room

121

MODEL rockite, chipboard, lacquer, branches 24” x 40”

122

Entrance, Elm framed by walls.

123

Plinths on either side.

East Elevation

West Elevation 124

North Elevation

View from Side Entrance across Memorial 125

126

127

128

129

View looking down into the memorial towards the exit stairway

130

Polished stone temple floor, framed by birches

131

132

view into temple from exit stair 133

134

T his

thesis and the projects contained in it are a labour of love,

not just mine but the dozens of people who helped and supported me.

The

time spent on this work was a pleasure and it was an immense honor to work

with the gifted and kind people who walked with me through the process.

Thank you to my family for always knowing the truth and supporting me in every endeavor, my friends for trusting and encouraging me, and my advisor, Jim Bassett, for his faith and inspiration. You all are precious beyond description.

Thank you.

jessie

135

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