Creating a Consciousness of Place Aneela Jain
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to... my family for all the love and support, my friends for all the memories, and a special thanks to all my professors, for guiding me through these past five years.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 6
ABSTRACT
10
UNDERSTANDING PLACE
12
EXERCISES
22
PRECEDENT STUDIES
24
PROJECT
26
PROJECT OVERVIEW
28
SITE ANALYSIS
30
THE BEGINNING
32
LIVING
36
MATERIAL
38
MAKING
40
TRANSFORMATION
42
PROPORTION
44
FOLLIES
48
THE END
6
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
8
ABSTRACT
CREATING A CONSCIOUSNESS OF PLACE All architecture is built upon a place. No matter tangible or imaginary, present, past, or future, place is essential to making architecture. But what is place? It is more than site and surroundings. A place is shaped by those who interact with it. It holds the memory of the past and potential of the future. A place is meant to be used, altered, examined, and understood. If place is so essential to architecture, how can architecture make us conscious of place?
10
UNDERSTANDING PLACE
UNDERSTANDING PLACE
12
EXERCISES
EXERCISES The following four exercises were completed as attempts to understand how architecture can draw attention to place. The exercises began with the same 20’ x 20’ x 20’ box placed in four very different locations. Minimal manipulations in the form were allowed. Two apertures that provided a relation to the place had to be added to each one. At the end of these exercises it became evident that architecture requires a response to more than its immediate surroundings to heighten ones consciousness of place.
Focus From the shore of Portugal with its crashing waves and the salty ocean winds, through the rock-lined path and steps, to the entrance of the Boa Nova Tea House. Passing through the humble door I am confronted with the terminus of the sky and ocean; encapsulated in a single thin, wide aperture. The sky and ocean; both seemingly endless and existing hundreds of miles apart, magically meet within this frame.
14
EXERCISES
Connection Am I alone? Floating in the middle of nowhere, with the swaying ocean to my side and the sky above. The sun rises and sets marking the transition of one day to the next. The stars stare back at night telling tales of great gods and beasts and men who used them to guide there way. Time, history, direction; they keep me company.
16
EXERCISES
Construct Looking through the tall, narrow window onto Central Park and the skyscrapers down 5th avenue, I see the great feats of man. How small I feel, amongst such incredible things, until I look down. Below I see what makes New York City so wonderful, its people. I watch from above as they go about their day, constantly moving, never stopping.
18
EXERCISES
Form A box, pitched roof and two windows create a home. This symbol, which is associated with the idea of a house and home, is easily recognized and understood. Looking out my two windows in my home there is a row of houses, all the same. Such a strange thing that all the houses look the same though the homes couldn’t be more different.
20
EXERCISES
PRECEDENT STUDIES Through the use of material, sensory deprivation, and framed views, works of architecture were able to invoke an understanding of place. Throughout the project, these approaches are explored and tested.
01 Material Material aspects of architecture are informed by and rooted in the place.
02 Sensory Deprivation The human senses are tools of understanding space, by restricting and revealing their use, a deeper relationship is understood.
03 Framed Views Through carefully framed views, attention is drawn to that which is otherwise overlooked.
01
22
PRECEDENT STUDIES
THERME VALS - PETER ZUMTHOR
02
FALLING WATER - FRANK LYOD WRIGHT
03
BOA NOVA TEA HOUSE - ALVARO SIZA
24
THE PROJECT
THE PROJECT
Project Overview This project provides visitors with charcoal drawing workshops whilst allowing them to explore and deeper understand the place that is Claytor Lake. During their time here, visitors will each keep a journal to document the passage of time. Their journals will become a part of an archive of Claytor Lake. An archive that records the passage of time through the eyes and experiences of visitors. The complex, which is located to the northeast of Claytor dam, comprises 12 living areas, a dining area, and making space. A winding walkway connects these places through the site, along which a series of follies are scattered.
The following project is accompanied by a narrative written by a visitor. Through the senses of this person, the intended experiences are understood.
26
OVERVIEW
1891
1950
Claytor Lake The project is sited on the edge of Claytor Lake in Pulaski, Virginia. Before the 1930s Claytor Lake did not exist. New River freely flowed through the area. In the 1930s land was acquired to build a dam. As a result, a lake on the north side of the dam formed which is called Claytor Lake. The lake, though not a natural one, is what unites people of the area. It provides power, recreation and years of history.
1965
28
SITE ANALYSIS
1864 MAP OF PULASKI
The journey begins ...
30
THE BEGINNING
This branch come from a nearby cedar tree at the moment it is just a dry branch, soon it will become a tool of expression.
32
LIVING
Living The individual living areas provide guests with a private escape. Facing east they overlook homes of those who live in the area. By doing so they develop a dialogue with them. The focus of the living unit is to tightly pack the essentials for living while providing the residents with an essential private escape on the site.
The walk is familiar; strolling through the trees. Suddenly, without realizing, you are walking amongst the treetops and birds and squirrels.
Perched on a delicate structure reside the rooms. The humble room provides little more than the bare necessities which for some reason, seems like more than enough.
As I am about to go to sleep I look out the window and see lights on in the homes across the lake. The dull roar of the dam soothes my to sleep.
34
LIVING
Material Connection The inherent duality of architecture oscillates between destruction and creation. Materials are taken, processed, and given a new purpose. Materials in this project tell a story of contrast: Occupying the surroundings is the natural material; vegetation, ground, water. A manufactured steel structure touches the preexisting natural material, signifying the presence of something new. Supported by this steel structure are inhabitable and haptic spaces made from the wood of the surrounding area.
36
MATERIAL CONNECTION
“ Architecture seeks not only the minimal ruin of landscape but something more difficult : a replacement of what was lost with something that atones for the loss.” - W. G. Clark
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38
MAKING
Making The studio space has a panoramic view of the site to inspire visitors. It contains a gallery and library along the perimeter of the building as well as a furnace for making charcoal in the studio. Here is where the visitors learn about charcoal as well as the place.
Transformation The transformation from a tree to a piece of charcoal is the first step on the visitors’ path to understanding place. Each visitor will be given a sketchbook to document their thoughts and learnings. By drawing the surrounding site their individual experiences will contribute to the collective memory of the place.
40
TRANSFORMATION
Proportion Relation Ancient scholars determined “right” proportions to be those that created visual harmony among the parts, these were based on proportions found in the human body and nature. Where this system is rooted in nature, a second system is based on the power of ten and rooted in math and logic. All inhabitable spaces were created through the use of these “right” proportions as these spaces are influenced by the understanding of the natural world. These spaces are then supported by a steel structure created from a system of logic.
42
MAKING
In the making space, all students are provided with a wheeled cart in which to store their belongings. The cart also contains a removable basket that can be used to carry supplies whilst exploring.
Periscope Using mirrors at 45-degree angles and varying orientations of shafts, the periscopes challenge the viewer’s order and understanding of the world
Screen Through the wooden screen, the viewer sees the world through light and shadow
Slit Through the slit in the metal panel, the viewer focuses on the contrasting nature of the landscape
44
FOLLIES
Follies As the visitors wander throughout the place and move from one building to another, they come across a series of follies scattered off the walkway. The follies aim to provide visitors with a new outlook on their surroundings.
The earth, trees, and sky exist in a rigid system where they are on top of another. This system is fixed but the way we perceive it doesn’t have to be. Most of my life I’ve spent looking in front of me. I should take some time and look up every once and a while.
46
FOLLIES
The journey began with this modest cedar tree whose fallen branches I gathered. Those branches were then transformed into the charcoal I am using to draw this tree. In a sense, the tree is drawing itself
“A drawing of the pencil is the truest self portrait” - Louis Khan
48
THE END
The end.
