Temporary adaptation by Alper Besen

A NEW STRATEGY FOR ICONIC BUILDINGS

TRANSITORY ADAPTATION Alper Besen

INDEX 04

Thesis Process Map

Thesis Statement - Transitory Adaptation

Temporality and Architecture

Game of Architecture

Modes of Temporary Adaptation

Systematization of Relationships

The International Style - Ideology

Richard Meier

Richard Meierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Predecessors

The Host Building - Smith House - General Information

Smith House - Site

Smith House - Structure & Materials

Smith House - Existing Program

Smith House - Zoning

Smith House - New Program - Rehabilitation Center

Rules of Relationship

Precedents

76 Footnotes 77

Bibliography

ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY AND TEMPORALITY OF POWER OF POWER

GAME OF GAME ARCHITECTURE OF ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY AND TEMPORALITY OF VALUE OF VALUE TEMPORARY TEMPORARY ADAPTATION ADAPTATION

AS A STRATEGY AS A STRATEGY FOR FOR ICONIC ICONIC BUILDINGS BUILDINGS

A BROADER A BROADER RESEARCH RESEARCH / / TEMPORALITY TEMPORALITY AND ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY AND TEMPORALITY OF THE OF PHYSICAL THE PHYSICAL ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY AND TEMPORALITY OF EVENTS OF EVENTS AND ACTIONS AND ACTIONS

ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AS A THRESHOLD AS A THRESHOLD FOR EVENTS FOR EVENTS ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AS A TEMPORARY AS A TEMPORARY EVENT EVENT ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE AS A SET ASOF A PHYSICAL SET OF PHYSICAL EVENTSEVENTS

MID_CENTURY MID_CENTURY MODERNISM MODERNISM

THESIS DEVELOPMENT MAPPING 04

NEW ENGLAND NEW ENGLAND

SMITH HOUSE SMITH HOUSE

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATIONS TEMPORARY EVENTS TEMPORARY STRESS RELIEF MODES OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATION

URBAN SCALE ADAPTATIONS TEMPORARY ADAPTATION AND DECAY PRECIOUS HOSTS

ATTACHMENT AND HOST RELATIONSHIPS

EXPLORATION / CUBES

SYSTEMATIZATION

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION Thanks to the current speed of social change, the prominent buildings of recent history become obsolete far more quickly than their predecessors. The leading architecture of a recent era can become a historical icon or totally lose its importance overnight. This temporary state of value renders us incapable of evaluating these buildings’ future. When we are faced by the need to reuse buildings, the permanent nature of current adaptations clutch, pierce and bruise the host building. This attitude erases the original experience in an irreversible way and shackles future generations to present choices. The morality of this relationship must be questioned. The ethical adaptive reuse of a prominent building of recent history should be transitory. A delicate icon of a certain era deserves the gentle touch of a temporary structure that is humble enough to ultimately fade away without leaving a scar. Not leaving a scar does not mean “not leaving a mark”. Temporary adaptation should claim its presence on the history of the building. There are two main aspects that define the character of this mark: subtractions and additions. Subtraction as a strategy is an important part of temporary adaptation. A new program might require the removal of certain elements from the original host. In this case this operationl will have a surgical character and the elements taken away would be able to put back with a clear but gentle trace.

Expanded programs would also need additional structures. If the later addition were removed, it would not disappear without a trace. The difference between a standard adaptive reuse and temporary adaptation lies in the character of this trace and the actions taken in the additionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s removal. The forceful actions of breaking, trimming and shaving would be replaced with disassembling and detaching. The humbleness of the addition not only relates to how it leaves the building intact but its geometry, mass, color, size and material qualities will be designed respectfully. Attachments would use similarity to blend in and difference to distinguish in a choreographed manner to develop unique relationships with the host.

PRESERVATION TEMPORARY ADAPTATION

BUILDING ADAPTIVE REUSE

A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

TEMPORALITY AND ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY Temporality is defined as the state of existing or having some relationship with time.1 It is clear that every physical entity is affected by time. In a universe where nothing is stagnant, we have only one option but to evaluate temporality with temporality. The ratio of the speed of change between multiple entities, concepts is the only measure we have. When we think of architecture and its relationship with temporality, we have to use the same method and evaluate architecture in relationship to other entities and concepts. For an individual, the life-span of architecture is overwhelming. Architecture is the background for our lives. We work, celebrate, rest and get old in buildings and they seem to be frozen, compared to the temporality of our individual activities. We know that most of the buildings, which were erected in our time will be inhabited by other generations, too. Not only architecture that is alive, but even ruins resonate persistence compared to our individual existence. We die and diminish, while architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s corpse still exists as a space. We can imagine our grand, grand children visiting Parthenon after we will be long gone. Although this relationship between our life-span and architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s durability is real, it does not provide us with a holistic understanding of the association between temporality and architecture. When observed from different perspectives, this relationship will be changing.

Apple, New Oxford American Dictionary

ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY OF POWER Architecture, physically endures, and the durability of the art of building have always attracted the powerful. In many cases architecture’s role is to become the signature of a person, an ideology or a culture. Obviously, we do not build only to dwell but also to communicate with our buildings. Each culture and ideology, searches for its own face in its buildings and powerful men and women use architecture to leave a mark on earth. But this attraction, caused by the potential of architecture’s durability, can also become the main reason for a building’s demise.

“Our enemies will guess it, but our own followers must know it. New buildings are put up to strengthen our new authority,” Hitler in his party day speech in 1937 2

These words strongly elucidate the bond between power and architecture. Although the world sees Hitler as a militaristic figure, he thought himself as an architect who was building Germany of the future. It is enough to look at his photograph taken on the steps of Les Invalides after the conquest of France, to see his connection with architecture. The people surrounding him were Architect Albert Speer, Breker, the sculptor

Sudjic, Deyan. The Edifice Complex: How the rich and powerful shape the world. [USA: Penguin Press, 2005] 48

and soldiers. As Deyan Sudjic mentions it in his book, “this looks like George W. Bush going to Baghdad in the company of Philip Johnson, Jeff Koons and Frank Gehry. Hitler gives the impression that he was ready to redesign the world. Hitler’s ambition to use architecture to build a new and strong image of the new Reich can also be seen in his chancellery. Designed by Albert Speer, the building had only one aim but to symbolize power and persistence. The building was to endure as a means of Hitler’s mark of strength on earth. However its endurance didn’t prevent its demise. Indeed it was destroyed because of the same reason. As an icon of Hitler’s Germany, it became prey to another ideology. When Soviets conquered Berlin, they erased Hitler’s mark of power by destroying the building and using its materials to create a new monument for Soviet victory. The example of Hitler’s chancellery might seem to be extreme because it was the result of a war condition. However the shifts of power can bring destruction to a building during peace time, too. When British prime minister, Tony Blair decided to go ahead with the construction of London Millennium Dome, he had the idea of creating a landmark. A landmark that would mark his overwhelming victory in the elections of 1997. The campaign’s aim was “ to rebrand Britain” but it was not clear, how it would achieve this. The motivation of creating a landmark was so overwhelming that the exhibition’s spatial and economic realities fell secondary to its size and grandeur. Beginning as a private enterprise project, it ended up as an almost entirely publicly funded development, costing ₤1 billion and becoming a huge burden. The major focus being on the completion of a grand shell, it was hard to agree even on the content that should be installed. With all this unclarity and ill-planning, the building became an embarrassment and became a modern ruin for a couple of years after its initial use. It was saved by being reused as an entertainment

center but the idea behind it was lost. And one third of the building is still vacant. The dream of erecting a powerful political gesture, became the major propeller behind the failure of millennium dome as a social reality.3 From dictators like Hitler, to democrats like Blair every political power has a connection with architecture. But of course politicians are not the only actors who try to affect architectural history. This is a game of power that will have different players with different cultures, ideologies and thus different agendas. Historians, preservationists, developers, land-owners, clients, architects, activists and many other groups have been and will be struggling to define what to build, destroy and preserve. The strength of each player will be changing in time and it is impossible to predict the outcomes. Could Greeks have thought of Parthenon becoming a mosque, an armory and a touristic site when they erected it? The temporality of power will continue to redefine our built environment, and change will be the only constant in this game.

ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY OF VALUE Architecture as any product of human creation, has a value. Temporality of the value of a building determines the changes that will be imposed on its physical form. Thus to understand the temporalityarchitecture relationship, we must also observe the temporality of value. The evolution of our cultural life

Sudjic, Deyan. The Edifice Complex: How the rich and powerful shape the world. [USA: Penguin Press, 2005] 189-200

had many phases in time, but for a more up-to date understanding, we should observe our contemporary perception of value. For this reason, we will focus on Baudrillard and his value system. According to Baudrillard, there are four different logics of value:

1 The functional logic of use value Functional value covers the instrumental purpose of an object. For example; A pen writes 2 The economic logic of exchange value An object also has an economic value. For example; a pen might be worth three pencils. 3 The differential logic of sign value This is the value of an object within a system of objects. For example; a pen may signify prestige relative to another pen. 4 The logic of symbolic exchange This is the value that a subject assigns to an object in relation to another subject. For example; A pen may symbolize a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graduation.4

Baudrillard, Jean in Wikipedia. In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard#The_object_value_system

In his book “The system of objects” Baudrillard states; “If we consume the product as a product, we consume its meaning through advertisement.”. Advertisements organize the sign value of objects. According to Baudrillard, in consumerist societies sign value of objects dominate other types of logics of value. The system of advertisement has an ambiguity; it has two contradictory messages: “Buy this, for it is like nothing else!” and “Buy this because everyone else is using it!” 5. A consumerist would not be puzzled by this dilemma. Instead, he/she will be trying to achieve fulfillment through the consumption of the subject of the advertisement. Of course this meaningless achievement will create some tension when it gets close to fulfillment, but as Dichter puts it: “Every time a tension differential is created, which leads to frustration and action, we can expect a product to overcome this tension by responding to the aspirations of the group” 6. In other words: “The poison imitates a remedy, only to postpone the effects of toxication furthermore”. This is a cycle of change, indeed it can be said that change is achieved for the sake of change. For modern consumerist societies iconic value becomes the major actor and it hides its emptiness by its temporality. And of course, consumerism affects how we perceive architecture, too.

5 Baudrillard, Jean in http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CHwQFjAF&url=http% 3A%2F%2Fwww.humanities.uci.edu%2Fmposter%2Fbooks%2FBaudrillard%2C%2520Jean%2520-%2520Selected%2520Writings_ok .pdf&ei=diMXUafdOYHoqAGZ4YGICg&usg=AFQjCNEVBvmsZLIdkvgxLJKH5Ey1x6d1IA&bvm=bv.42080656,d.aWM 6 Baudrillard, Jean. The system of objects in http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&v ed=0CGwQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.humanities.uci.edu%2Fmposter%2Fbooks%2FBaudrillard%2C%2520Jean%2520%2520Selected%2520Writings_ok.pdf&ei=nWoaUdCED6j00QHdt4G4Bg&usg=AFQjCNEVBvmsZLIdkvgxLJKH5Ey1x6d1IA&bvm=bv .42261806,d.dmQ

“Bilbao effect” is a perfect example for analyzing how sign value affects our understanding. “Guggenheim Museum” was designed by Frank O’ Gehry at 1997. The building became a landmark and a main tourist attraction for the city of Bilbao. The success of Guggenheim, had a huge impact on architectural discourse. It was understood that a building, if designed to work as an advertisement, would indeed create an attractive sign value. The result was an inflation of buildings that were designed to be icons. This, however have a dangerous effect. The looks of a building on newspapers and magazines, become more important than the real spatial experience. After all, there are limited amount of people that will see any given building. But it is possible to spread the message of a building’s sign value to millions. This inflation of the need to become sensational, pushes architects to be increasingly experimental. This is architecture as fashion and just like fashion, change and sensation becomes the focus point. More and more, the value of a building turns into a side effect of recent trends. How are we supposed to evaluate the value of buildings when we become a by product of consumerism? How can we stop architecture from disappearing in the shadow of advertisement? These questions are probably to be answered by future generations. However, they can help us develop a healthy uncertainty about our actions towards built environment. Temporality of value is what consumerism relies on. We might be living in a culture, which devaluates value and then reverses the cycle faster than anyone before.

ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY OF THE PHYSICAL Buildings after all are physical beings. And thus they have “Forms”. Form and its role has always been a major topic of discussion in architecture: Form tried to follow function, symbolism and sign. The change of cultural values in our societies have and will be forcing us to redefine our relationship with it. Because the way we read form is strongly embedded to our culture, its meaning will also change continuously. When the third reich was the major political figure in Germany, Mies Van Der Rohe did his best to persuade Hitler and people close to him that modernism could be used to glorify Hitler’s Regime. How would we be seeing the same forms of modernism, if he have succeeded? Would the same visual language be adapted by the democratic world or be forgotten as an extreme experiment of twentieth century architecture? Maybe we would be able to see modernist forms only in books of history as a part of fascist propaganda? The way we comprehend the form changes. But other than our perception, also the physical being of architecture transforms in time. Buildings are constantly re-formed by the effects of our environment. Weathering and decay alter the building, sometimes in ways that the architect can’t even predict. For example; Richard Meier gives a great example in his website: He mentions a wall that he designed in one of his early projects. The wall was supposed to be a continuos surface that pierced the facade and create a connection between inside and outside. However the outside portion of the wall was affected by weathering and created a contrast with the inner part. The symbolic connection was no more 7. In this example, time

http://www.richardmeier.com/www/

overwhelmed architect’s idea. Material qualities of any building will be changing with time, rendering the physicality of a certain moment being temporary. However this temporality of materiality is usually hidden from us by constant renewal. Maintenance is an attempt to keep the building in its original state. It is a struggle with the consequences of time and it creates an illusion of “eternal building”. Of course we don’t believe a building to be literally eternal, however it seems more natural to us for a building to stay as sharp as it was erected, then seeing it decay. This illusive comprehension can also be observed in modern architecture. The use of pure, smooth surfaces and an unnatural sharpness governs today’s designs, showing our ignorance of accepting temporality of the physical.

ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY OF EVENTS AND ACTIONS The connections of architecture, event and action is a complicated one and will be studied in regard of three different relationships.

•

Architecture as a threshold for events

Architecture is the act of separation. It creates thresholds that are beginnings of something new. A new

mood, light, sound, smell, function. These thresholds identify or become identified with the events happening on each side. Bernard Tschumi, points out how the major purpose of architecture of housing events is shadowed by the stylistic presence of the form. In his book “Architecture and disjunction” He claims that, from modernism to postmodernism, the history of architecture was turned into a history of styles 8. However we name it; the program, function or use, events are inseparable from architecture. Furthermore, they shape our understanding of built spaces. People who live in them and historical events that effect them , all contribute to a building’s character and even the designer have no control over the temporality of events. Architects have a tendency to generalize and organize the happenings in their buildings. However, as Baudrillard mentions in his essay “Truth and Radically in Architecture”; design, just like philosophy and writing, can not choose the event, thus the concept enters a conflict with the context when it is realized. In his own words “The masses take over the architectural object in their own way and even if the architect himself has not been diverted from his program, the object will be diverted in any case, for its users will ensure that they restore to it the unpredictable destiny that it lacked.” 9 The unpredictability of temporality has and will be conquering architecture. The events that architecture lives through can even monumentalize a building. For example; Twin towers did not have such a symbolic value before 9/11. Our perception of the buildings totally changed in one day. A 8

Tschumi, Bernard. Architecture and Disjunction. [Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Mit Press, 2007] 140

9 Baudrillard, Jean. Truth,Radically and Beyond in Contemporary Architecture in Essays on Architecture. [London. Papada kis Publisher, 2007] 139

violent act redefined the building. Although acts of violence create strong memories, non-violent events can also possess similar strength. For example, When Christo wrapped Reichstag, he did not only create an art event, but also altered the character of the building. In a way cleansing its violent history, Christo helped the public to rediscover the building. All these events and their results were unpredictable when the buildings were erected. The temporality of events, happening in and on a building will render its significance and thus the physical temporality.

•

Architecture as a temporary event

Heidegger’s perception of existence is based on relationships between entities. He sees existence (Dasein) as a constant action and change. If we look at a building from his point of view, we should observe architecture not as an object but as a constant change of light, smell, mood, experience, etc. Architecture from this perspective, becomes a set of ever-changing relationships between elements of space. Ever changing essence of existence makes it impossible to be in the same space twice. A building might receive a similar amount of light during the year or might always have the same size, but when we think of all the elements that generate the “Genius Loci” of a space we will see that they will newer align the same way twice. The temperature will be slightly different, the smell will change and our needs, thus our relationship to it will be changing. In this sense, it becomes useless to talk about preserving a space. How can we preserve something that is in constant change? The temporality of existence reveals the impossibility of the repetition of spatial experience.

•

Architecture as a set of physical actions

Architecture is realized through a set of actions. We design, construct, build, maintain, reuse and destroy. We have a tendency to see architecture as form, however its physicality is nothing but a result of completed and on-going actions. We all think of architecture, when we see a construction site and the act of building, but not when we observe the daily actions that keep the building alive. The constant activities of cleaning, organizing and maintaining are what keeps a building habitable. A recent installation at Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion named “PHANTOM” underlines this intense relationship between form and the set of neglected actions that keep it as it is. Architect Anders Jaque and the Office for Political Innovation dug through the basement of the pavilion and revealed all the tools and materials that are used to maintain the building. They brought the objects upstairs, juxtaposing the iconic design and the hidden and neglected truth of everyday physical actions that keep the building intact. The contrast is so intense that the action feels like trashing the Barcelona Pavilion. It reminds us how the physical temporality of any building is fought back with a temporal set of actions that are not thought to be architectural, at all. Other than looking at buildings as forms, we should also be able to see the nature of buildings as a constant struggle between the forces of nature and actions of men.10

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/74318/trashing-the-barcelona-pavilion-in-the-name-of-art/#.URpj7ehUzXc

CONCLUSION: Architecture, thanks to the physicality of its products and their life-span, might seem to be less temporary that it really is. Its temporality begins even before it is materialized. The decisions to erect, reuse, preserve or to demolish a building are temporary actions by themselves. After they are erected, the temporality of power and our ever shifting value system govern their fate. But even when we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change, buildings keep on changing physically. They decay and weather. As a result: an ever-changing form is read by an everchanging society. Being experienced different at every given moment, architecture itself is a temporary event. Buildings might keep a certain amount of physical integrity, but they will never stay the same during the course of time. Existing buildings are ever-changing canvases for adaptive reuse and a shifting context for the new ones. Instead of defining architecture as a fixed entity, we should cherish its modes of temporality. This way, we can develop systems that react to time, action and events as a part of architecture, rather then neglecting them.

SUMMARY

TEMPORALITY AND ARCHITECTURE

TEMPORALITIES WHICH EFFECT ARCHITECTURE:

TEMPORALITY OF POWER Each culture and ideology searches for its own face in its buildings, and powerful men and women use architecture to leave a mark on earth. But this attraction, caused by the potential of architecture’s durability, can also become the main reason for a building’s demise. GAME OF ARCHITECTURE IS DESIGNED TO DISPLAY THE TEMPORALITY OF POWER AND HOW IT AFFECTS ARCHITECTURE-TIME RELATIONSHIP.

TEMPORALITIES WHICH EFFECT ARCHITECTURE:

TEMPORALITY OF VALUE

TEMPORALITY OF THE PHYSICAL

...This is a cycle of change, indeed it can be said that change is achieved for the sake of change. For modern consumerist societies, iconic value becomes the major actor and it hides its emptiness by its temporality. Naturally, consumerism affects how we perceive architecture, too.

Material qualities of any building change with time, rendering the physicality of a certain moment to being temporary. However this temporality of materiality is usually hidden from us by constant renewal. Maintenance is an attempt to keep the building in its original state. It is a struggle with the consequences of time and it creates an illusion of â&#x20AC;&#x153;eternal buildingâ&#x20AC;?.

TEMPORALITIES WHICH EFFECT ARCHITECTURE:

TEMPORALITY OF EVENTS AND ACTIONS Architecture as a threshold for events:

Architecture is the act of separation. It creates thresholds that are beginnings of something new: new mood, light, sound, smell, and function. These thresholds identify or become identified with the events happening on each side.

Architecture as a temporary event:

If we look at a building from Heideggerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point of view, we should observe architecture not as an object but as a constant change of light, smell, mood, experience, etc. Architecture, from this perspective becomes a set of everchanging relationships between elements of space.

Architecture as a set of physical actions

We have a tendency to see architecture as form, however its physicality is nothing but a result of completed and ongoing actions. We all think of architecture when we see a construction site and the act of building, but not when we observe the daily actions that keep the building alive. The constant activities of cleaning, organizing and maintaining are what keeps a building habitable.

7 27

ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPORALITY OF POWER

A GAME OF ARCHITECTURE

CHARISMA MULTIPLIER

CHARACTER INFORMATION

MONEY MULTIPLIER

CHARISMA CHIP

MONEY CHIP

SPECULATIONS OF POSSIBILITIES

MODES OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATION

MODES OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATION:

EVENT | INSTALLATION

PRECIOUS HOST | ICONS

Temporality of this type of adaptation can be pushed forward to develop its modularity and it can support buildings in housing short term events, such as art happenings.

Buildings of historical, cultural and social importance can be adapted to new situations without scarring the host. There are a lot of criteria and agents that define the value of buildings. The preciousness of a host is a debateble topic and temporary adaptation can leave the building mostly intact for further interventions.

MODES OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATION:

TEMPORARY STRESS-RELIEF

URBAN SCALE ADAPTATION

Conversations over a buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destiny can take too long in relation to its importance and the agents included in the decision making process. Time spent like this would eventually bring economic loss. A short-term adaptation can help the life within the building to go on without having a deep impact on the host. Just like scaffolding systems temporary adaptation can become a second skin

Large scale temporary events can burden cities with otherwise unnecessary buildings. For example, events such as olympics can cluster the urban fabric with masses new buildings, which sometimes become obselete afterwards. Temporary adaptation, can have urban effects if systematized. Instead of creating urban sprawl the existing fabric can be redefined.

MODES OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATION:

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION AND DECAY

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION OF TEMPORARY ADAPTATION

The persistance of architecture is an illusion. This myth is the result of evergoing maintenance cycles . Temporary adaptation can cherish the effects of time by allowing a controlled decay. This can even be used to create contrast with the host.

Any temporary adaptation can be removed from the host and act as a host to become another spce by a secondary adaptation.

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION

SYSTEMATIZATION

BRAINSTORMING WITH CUBES

SYSTEM CHARTS

After finishing the broader research on temporality and adaptation techniques, I realised that the temporality I was going to focus on was the one of the relationship between the host and additions. I was also in need of a transition from theory to case study. My solution was to brainstorm with physical modelling. The aim of this stage was to understand host-addition relationships, possible actions towards the host and systematize them. At the beginning, I modeled small cubes as an exploration and after studying the results I generated a chart that can be used to evaluate adaortive reus.

Velcro

Tension

Wrapping

Insertion

Bolted-Screwed

Gap

Touching

Connection Weathering

Harmonized

Host

Imbalanced

Addition

Maintenance

Addition Intact

Temporality

Change of Presence

Addition Removed Second Addition to Addition Modules

Preserve

Structure

Second Addition to Addition InďŹ&#x201A;atables Preserve Textiles

Pattern Structure

Geometry

Surface

Organic

Pattern Geometry Organic

Mark

Temporality

Relationships With The Host

Contrast

Order

Disobey

Injection

Dependent

Enveloping Union

Separate

Bridging

Contrast Separation

Supportive

Structural Dependency

Structural D Attachment

Different Enveloping Color

Repetition

Same Gradation

Extrusion Interior Relationships

Distinguishing Continuation

Consciousness to The Host

Mass Geometry

Consciousness to The Host Surface-Covering

Cantilevered Material

Same Material

Treated Differently As It is

Fabric Clustered

Glass

Different

Ferrous Scattered Non-Ferrous Natural

Mate

Metal Raw

Larger Massing

Same Family Stone

Manufactured

Hardwood Wood

Plastics ArtiďŹ cial

Smaller Massing

Equivalent Massing

Softwood

Manufactured

Fabric

Disassembled

Clustered

Homogeneous Transparency Scattered Warmth Repetition Smoothness Layered Softness

Material-Visual

Rectilinear

Organic

Mass Geometry

InďŹ&#x201A;atables

Structure

Physical

Surface Smoothness Frame Temperature Tension(Cable) Softness Truss

Arch

Material - Touch

Addition

Replacement

Cleaning

Surface Body

Left

Left Replacement

Hard

Replacement Left

Temporality

Decay

Soft

Body

Replacement

Surface

Left Cleaning

Disassembly

Modularity

Flexible Connections

Inﬂatables

Objectiﬁcation

Textile-Tensile

Actions Towards The Host

Cut

Subtract

Detach

Visual

Obedient

Dominant

Relationship With The Landscape

Obedient

Shaping

Physical Action

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION OF ICONIC BUILDINGS

HOST RELATIONSHIPS

CONSCIOUSNESS TO HOST / STRUCTURE, MATERIAL, MASS AND GEOMETRY, INTERIOR RELATIONSHIPS, COLOR, ORDER TEMPORARY NATURE / CONNECTION, MARK, WEATHERING, CHANGE OF PRESENCE, STRUCTURE

The relationship of the Iconic host and the intervention might be summerized as: 1. The logic of the building must be understood and the addition must respect the size, proportion, vistas and public-private relationships of the building. 2. The temporary nature is important for keeping the icon intact to future generations. Temporary adaptation does not necessarily imply a short-term relationship. However, it provides a freedom of choice for future generations. Any temporary intervention will leave a mark. The question is how it can be a designed as a gentle mark rather than an unaesthetic scar?

The temporality of the case study is not to be measured in the scale of days but at a larger scale of generations...

TEMPORALITY IS HARD TO GRASP EVEN AFTER ALL THAT RESEARCH. QUESTIONS ARE STILL TO BE ASKED...

DESIGNED TO BE TEMPORARY... BUT IS EIFFEL TOWER TEMPORARY ?

Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower 1889 World Fair

TEMPORARY ADAPTATION

CASE STUDY

MID-CENTURY MODERNISM

NEW ENGLAND

SMITH HOUSE

MID-CENTURY MODERNISM

THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE & REFLECTIONS IN NEW ENGLAND

My thesis case study focuses on the temporary adaptation of an international-style building in New England. I chose this location, knowing that it is crowded with a lot of examples struggling to survive. I find it relevant at this point, to summerize the history of Modernism and its characteristics in New England. In the early Twentieth Century, architectural theory in Europe was concerned with social/ political issues and their influence on aesthetics. The Bauhaus School, Le Corbusier and other pioneers focused on the issues of dwelling and tried to revolutionize it by detatching themselves from historicism. Claiming that it was the age of engineering and architects have fallen behind, it was the time to scientificly rediscover architecture. Modernist architecture was born out of these progressive ideas. Modernism and the International Style in United States did not have the same revolutionary leftist beliefs as European architects. Modern architecture was not a threat to social order but concieved as a clean, efficient and empirically reasonable alternative to existing styles.1 The reflections of the International Style in New England also share this attitude. Instead of over-emphasizing universal production methods, they connect themselves to the history of the region, through the incorporation of building materials and techniques. 1

Eisenman, Peter, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, Richard Meier, Colin Rowe, Kenneth Framp-

ton. 1972. USA: Wittenborn & Company: 3-4

MID-CENTURY MODERNISM

THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE

IDEOLOGY

LOUIS SULLIVAN

“It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, Of all things physical and metaphysical, Of all things human and all things super-human, Of all true manifestations of the head, Of the heart, of the soul, That the life is recognizable in its expression, That form ever follows function. This is the law.” 4 originally published in Lippincott’s Magazine #57 (March 1896)

64 27

The Buildings of Modernism are bound by the motto â&#x20AC;&#x153; Form follows functionâ&#x20AC;?, But how can a building with such a strong commitment to the original function be welcoming to a new one? Can the relationship between the host and the adaptation rely on clearly defined rules that would allow the original function to echo within the new ?

ADAPTIVE REUSE OF MODERNIST BUILDINGS

WHY NEW ENGLAND?

There were 88 Modernist cottages, of approximately 100, still existed in 2008, according to McMahon, the executive director of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust. 1 The number is declining... Althought the Iconic sructures such as Gropius House have been secured by the Historic New England Preservation Society, most of these buildings are in private hands and lack professional care and attention. The convertion of all those buildings to museums is not only impossible on economic grounds, but also would pose a threat to the livelieness of the area by mummifying them. Turning them into “monuments” would not contribute to the quality of daily life. For these reasons, the Cape Cod Modern House Trust focuses its efforts on reconfiguring these buildings with educational and cultural programs For the same reasons, I believe that the appropriate way to help these buildings is “ to preserve life within the buildings, rather than preserving them as objects”, through the adaptation of the original functions for society-oriented programs.

Conry, Jaci. December 7, 2008. Globe Correspondent. In http://www.ccmht.org/links.html

MID-CENTURY MODERNISM

THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE

RICHARD MEIER

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“ Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white. Much of Meier’s work builds on the work of architects of the early to mid-20th century, especially that of Le Corbusier and, in particular, Le Corbusier’s early phase. Meier has built more using Corbusier’s ideas than anyone, including Le Corbusier himself. Meier expanded many ideas evident in Le Corbusier’s work, particularly the Villa Savoye and the Swiss Pavilion. In 1984, Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize.In 2008, he won the gold medal in architecture from the Academy of Arts and Letters and his work Jesolo Lido Village was awarded the Dedalo Minosse International Prize for commissioning a building. Meier is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council. He was awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 1997. “ 1 1

Richard Meier In Wikipedia. In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Meier

WALTER GROPIUS MARCEL BREUER LE CORBUSIER

Le Corbusier

Walter Gropius

THE PREDECESSORS

Marcel Breuer

RICHARD MEIER

Richard Meier, having worked in Marcel Breuer’s office from 1961 t0 1963 was linked to a tradition descending from Bauhaus. Early in 1930s Breuer and Gropius were trying to adapt the abstract Bauhaus international style architecture to New England’s climatic and geographic conditions. They were inspired by the white colonial houses of the area and started experimenting with these buildings’ materials and construction techniques. Richard Meier’s early buildings were influenced by these investigations. 1 For example; the vertical alignment of wood boards were one of the main aspects used by Gropius and Breuer in this experimental sense, which can also be observed in Meier’s first buildings, including the Smith house. This building also has a similar blank entry facade as Gropius’ Hagerty House (1938) 2 Richard Meier’s early buildings are also considered to be neo-purist 3 . The referred “Purism” is a variation of Cubism in art and architecture, which was developed by Le Corbusier and Amedee Ozenfant (1918-1925).4 As seen in these examples, his buildings has a strong connection with the previous heritage of the modernist architecture.

Gorlin, Alexander. 2011. Tomorrow’s Houses: New England Modernism. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

Frampton, Kenneth. 2003. Forty years of practice. In Richard Meier, 9, Milano : Electa Architecture ; [London] : Distributed

by Phaidon Press. 4

Ball, Susan L. 1981. Ozenfant and Purism: The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930, Ann Arbor; UMI research Press. In http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purism

RICHARD MEIER

SMITH HOUSE

SMITH HOUSE DARIEN, CONNECTICUT 1967 Smith House was erected as a residence for Smith Family with three children. The Building has three stories. The

front (Entrance) facade of the house acts like a white barrier that envelopes the private spaces and the house. After passing the front door, the three-story facade reveals itself, connecting the space to the sea.

SMITH HOUSE NEW PROGRAM

ALCOHOL REHABILITATION CENTER

Smith House is classified as a R-1 One family residential building. The building will be converted to an alcohol and drug center for a maximum number of ten people, who will reside on a 24 hour basis in a supervised environment and receive custodial case. This new program is classified as Group R-4. The programmatic change will not effect the occupant load factor ratio (200 Gross). However the increase in the number of occupants will generate a demand for additional enclosed spaces and a sprinkler system. The new occupancy load will be based on inhabitance of ten patients, two doctors and two nurses.

? WHY REHAB?

THE SITE RELEVANCY

The Zoning of the building is R1 which allows the adaptation of the building to Social, cultural and recreational uses, serving a community need or convenience, and not including any activity carried on primarily for profit. The available programs in this group include assisted living facilities, senior living houses and museums, schools, rehabilitation facilities, artist residences etc. Cape Cod Modern House Trust is already adapting several renown Mid-Century Modernist buildings into artist residences. The two main programs that overlap with zoning allowences are assisted living facilities and rehabilitation centers. The natural setting of the building has a potential to become a relaxing position for people under rehabilitation.

SMITH HOUSE

SITE

The house is located in Darien, Connecticut. It looks to Long Island Sound from the top of a hill, which is at the center of the site. The hill meets the rocky shoreline with a steep decline and joins a sandy beach at one side. The building was designed, taking into consideration, existing two trees and its alignment with the shore. The site in total is 1 1/2 Acres. The Building line is 25 feet from the lot limits.

43 87

SMITH HOUSE

ADDITION

Couple of years after the construction the owners ordered an expansion. This expansion was also designed by Richard Meier.

Storage

Bedroom

Kitchen

Plan - First Floor

Livingroom

Bedroom Dressing Room Wc Plan - Second Floor

Livingroom

N 91

Bedroom

Plan - Third Floor

Bedroom

SMITH HOUSE

EXISTING BUILDING AND EXTENTION ANALYSIS

Public Zones / Pourosity Diagramm

WOOD BEARING WALL

Structure Diagram

STEEL COLUMNS

PRIVATE

Interior Zoning

PUBLIC

N 96

N 97

Possible Circulation Extention

Circulation Diagram

Stairs Bedroom

Bedroom

Third Floor

Coridor

Living

Stairs Entrance

Bedroom

Bathroom Storage

Second Floor

Corridor Corridor

Kitchen

Corridor

Living Room

Terrace

Bedroom

Maintenance

First Floor

Stairs

Terrace

Bathroom

Living Room

N Possible Extentions

Pixelated Site Analysis

( Lighter - More Suitable)

Extention Possibilities

100

Modularity

Textiles + Modularity

Inflattables + Modularity

Modularity

Inflattables

EXPLORATIONS

Modularity / Scaffolding

Textiles

101

1. Existing Plan

102

2. Chosen limints for Construction

1. Respectful Setback From Entrance Facade

2. Setback For Preserving Vista

103

104

5. Final Setbacks For Massing 6. Lower Mass 7. Circulation Within Massing 8. Leveling Within Massing 9. Subtraction - Detatching From Landscape 10. Subtraction - Connection With Building and Core 11. Subtraction - Stair Elevation 12. Vista Directions 13. Extention Directions For Rooms 14. Stretching The Rooms and Adding Pilotis

105

16 5. Final Setbacks For Massing 16. Upper Mass 17. Generating Geometry Connecting Upper and Lower Surfaces 18. Leveling Within Mass 106

107

OPERATIONS

108

ADDITIONS AND SUBTRACTIONS

Upper Addition

Walls

Window

Lower Building

ADDITIONS 109

For Doors For Window

SUBTRACTIONS 110

For Passage

SUBTRACTIONS AND ADDITIONS 111

2 3 4 5 6

7 8

9 10 14

11 12 13

17 21

18 19 22

112

23 23 24 24

26 26

25 25

1. Additional Bedroom 2. Bedroom 3. Wc 4. Bedroom 5. Divided Bedroom 6. Divided Bedroom 7. Living Room 8. Added Bedroom 9. Wc 10. Laundry 11. Storage 12. Divided Bedroom 13. Divided Bedroom 14. Multi-Purpose Room 15. Terrace 16. Added Wc 17. Kitchen 18. Wc 19. Nurse-Bedroom 21. Dining Room 20. Storage 22. Terrace 23. Private Meeting Room 24. Private Meeting Room 25. Elevator 26. Gym - Yoga Room 113

16. Added Wc 17. Kitchen 18. Wc 19. Nurse-Bedroom 21. Dining Room 20. Storage 22. Terrace 23. Private Meeting Room 24. Private Meeting Room 25. Elevator 26. Gym - Yoga Room

LEVEL -1

GROUND FLOOR

114

FLOOR 1

A 1

FLOOR 2

ROOF PLAN

FRONT ELEVATION 116

SIDE ELEVATION

SECTION A 117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

TEMPORALITY OF OPERATIONS

128

CONNECTIONS AND MARKS

Piloti - Gound Connection

Piloti - Gound Connection After The Building

Piloti Plan

1. CONNECTION WITH GROUND

129

130

MARK LEFT ON THE GROUND

131

132

2. MODULAR ASSEMBLY

1. Glass Facade System 2. Handrails

3. Assembly of Concrete Panels 4. Concrete Panel Assembly Detail 5. Glass Facade - Concrete Relationship

133

3 2 1

134

3. GENTLE CONNECTION: TOUCH

1. Inflattable 2. Insertion 3. Cut Surface

Inflattable

New Addition

Mark

135

136

MARK LEFT ON THE BUILDING

137

138

MARK LEFT INSIDE THE BUILDING

139

SUPPORTING THE HOST BUILDING

140

CLIMATIZATION

EXHAUST

FRESH AIR FROM THE SHORE

AIR CIRCULATION

141

BIBLIOGRAPHY Eisenman, Peter, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, Richard Meier, Colin Rowe, Kenneth Frampton. 1972. Five Architects. USA: Wittenborn & Company Sullivan, Luis. 1896. The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered. In Lippincottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Magazine #57 . 40309, In Scribd database, http://www.scribd.com/doc/104764188/Louis-Sullivan-The-Tall-Office-BuildingArtistically-Considered Frampton, Kenneth. 2003. Forty years of practice. In Richard Meier, 9, Milano : Electa Architecture ; [London] : Distributed by Phaidon Press. Gorlin, Alexander. 2011. Tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Houses: New England Modernism. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. Mostafavi, Mohsen and David Leatherbarrow. 1993. On Weathering: The life of buildings in time. USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zucker, Paul. 1968. Facsination of Decay: Ruins: Relic-Symbol-Ornament. New Jersey: The Gregg Press Crane, Susan. 1996. (Not) Writing History: Rethinking the Intersections of Personal History and Collective Memory with Hans von Aufsess. In History & Memory: Studies in Representation of the Past. Vol.8, No.1 1996. Indiana University Press Gedi, Noa and Yigal Elam 1996. Collective Memory: What is It? In History & Memory: Studies in Representation of the Past. Vol.8, No.1 1996. Indiana University Press Jencks, Charles. 2005. The iconic building / Charles Jencks. New York, NY : Rizzoli

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Edited by Harry Francis Mallgrave. 2006-2008. Architectural theory, Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub. Baudrillard, Jean. edited by Francesco Proto ; with a foreword. 2003. Mass, identity, architecture Baudrillard, Jean. Chichester, West Sussex, England : Wiley Academy. Coop Himmelblau, Tadao Ando, Raimund Abraham, Peter Eisenman and Jean Baudrillard, 2007. Essays on Architecture. London : New Architecture / Andreas Papadakis Publisher.

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24. Besen, Alper, Photograph. 2013 25. Besen, Alper, Collage. 2013 ( Image From: http://www.35milimetros.org/el-giro-postmoderno/) 26. Besen, Alper, Collage, 2013 27. Photo. http://shelf3d.com/i/Louis%20Sullivan (accessed may 22 2013) 28. Drawing. http://glavstravel.com/en/dest_g/1117.htm (accessed may 22 2013) 29. Photograph. http://www.arqbacana.com.br/internal/arq!mix/read/831/pritzker-1984---richardmeier (accessed may 22 2013) 30. Photograph. http://chagalov.tumblr.com/page/15#31306348340 (accessed may 22 2013) 31. Photograph. http://thonet.agsolutions.de/selectformat.cfm?dat_id=2386 (accessed may 22 2013) 32. Photograph. http://erlorraine.wordpress.com/2012/11/ (accessed may 22 2013) 33. Photograph. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/jamesanzalone/3981973497/ (accessed may 22 2013) 34. Photograph. virtualglobetrotting.com/smith-house-by-richard-meier/view/?service=1 (accessed may 22 2013) 35. Photograph. virtualglobetrotting.com/smith-house-by-richard-meier/view/?service=1 (accessed may 22 2013) 36. Photograph. http://thinkingofcolors-architecture.blogspot.com/2013/03/arquitectura-del-sxx.html (accessed may 22 2013) 37. Photograph. http://www.vebidoo.de/richard+house (accessed may 22 2013) 38. Photographs. http://emcarquitectura.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html (accessed may 22 2013) 39. Photograph. http://www.picstopin.com/495/smith-house-richard-meier/http:||imgboot*com|images |verteks|verteks_7*jpg/ (accessed may 22 2013) 40. Photograph. http://www.flagparade.org/other/smithHouse/galleryInterior02.html (accessed may 22 2013) 41. Photograph. http://www.picstopin.com/495/smith-house-richard-meier/http:||imgboot*com|images |verteks|verteks_7*jpg/ (accessed may 22 2013) 42. Photograph. http://archrecord.construction.com/recordhouses50/05_1968.asp (accessed may 22 2013) 43. Photograph. virtualglobetrotting.com/smith-house-by-richard-meier/view/?service=1 (accessed may 22 2013)

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