BArch Senior Thesis Project - Arthur Zohrabians

through ruined means...

a project constructed by nature over time

zohrabians

sasha ortenberg to my mother, Karineh, for her endless support

arthur

prof.

ABSTRACT

This project facilitates the collaboration of time and architecture through designations of material weathering and wear to prompt improvement with age. The goal is to exploit the studied tendencies of material aging to strategically intend for dirt, deformation and deterioration where determined potentially beneficial to function and aesthetics. This paper includes a discussion on the theory of material aging, an exploration of past examples and a description of the ensuing experimentation which will attempt to validate design decisions. It draws from On Weathering | The Life of Buildings in Time, a publication by Mohsen Mostafavi and David Leatherbarrow, personal travel experiences and the documented architectural works of Filippo Brunelleschi, Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, Peter Zumthor, Joshua Stein and Jason Payne, amongst others. Material manufacturers perform studies to better avoid aging. This project redirects similar studies towards its intention.

INTRODUCTION

“The design process becomes a transformation process, the so-called idea continues to evolve by being transferred to different surfaces, using different materials: the sketch assumes different colors on different types of paper, the model takes on different forms in different scales with the help of different materials.”

Peter Zumthor | Therme Vals

Design is the process by which an idea evolves. It has no final product. The transition between construction and inhabitance simply marks the turn from chapter one to two in the biography of a building. Architecture should not be defined as old or new but rather as a moment within the context of time. Take the precedent quote by Peter Zumthor and apply the logic past chapter one. It can be argued that “the [design] continues to evolve by being transferred to [an ever-changing context, inhabited by different users]: the [building] assumes different colors in different [moments in time], the [materials] take on different [emotions] in different [shades] with the help of [age].” If design and time relate in their evolutional nature, should an understanding of the process of design warrant an attempt to understand the process of time?

Over their lifetime, buildings are subjected to multiple layers of change such as contextual shifts, functional modifications, human adaptations, climate fluctuations, natural disasters and material weathering. The effects that these agents have on a building over time define its success, both in terms of function and aesthetics. The factors of change vary from virtually unpredictable in natural disasters to relatively predictable in the weathering and wearing of materials, making it possible and potentially beneficial to study those factors proven most dependable. Architectural protocol in the last century has been to apply the knowledge acquired through material experimentation to guard against age. That same energy can instead be directed towards designing buildings to productively modify over time, celebrating the wisdom of their age rather than fighting its inevitable stains.

The buildings that line the canals of Venice, Italy have learned to welcome the water as it rises and rests upon them. They allow dirt to find its home within the crevices of their ornamentation. They welcome rain to paint impressionist streaks of dirt down their plastered façades. They appreciate moisture’s ability to provoke cracks and chips in shutter paint and they rest ever so gracefully upon cushions of moss. Plaster deteriorates to uncover bricks which fade in color and texture as they approach the water. The water then rises and wets those same bricks, rejuvenating the poetry of their colors. From time to time, Venetians will re-plaster their walls and re-paint their window shutters. An old medieval doorway is now merely an arched marble profile filled with brick while steps that span the canal are imprinted where many footsteps have passed. The results of weathering and wear are not tragic distractions. Their culmination begets the culture and wisdom that both professionals and members of the general public admire.

In their publication, On Weathering | The Life of Buildings in Time, Mohsen Mostafavi and David Leatherbarrow suggest that weathering, the gradual destruction of buildings by nature over time, can be understood and hence intended. Materials hold intrinsic properties that react fairly predictably to the causes of weathering, thus affording architects the choice to avoid deterioration or specifically intend for it. Today, architecture too often defines success based on the visual strength of photoshopped renderings which portray the idealized state of buildings as prior to inhabitance. However, people and places are unique and the effects they will have on buildings over time are impossible to ignore. Modernists often neglected how the environment would impact their buildings over time, rejecting a design factor considered fundamental to the architects of the Renaissance. Carlo Scarpa considered it a principal ingredient to his process. Peter Zumthor employed it to promote the subconscious relaxation of guests. Joshua Stein associated it to passive sustainability and Jason Payne, to façade manipulation. Age, when given proper respect and support, enhances both functionality and aesthetics and therefore will be the principal focus of this project throughout its design.

The goal is to understand, through research and testing, the ways in which this project’s materials will react to the variables of age. The intention is to then use this knowledge throughout design to best predict how the

architecture will weather and wear over its lifetime. A successful project will strengthen the harmonious relationship between itself, its users and the surrounding environment as it matures. Detailed portions of this project will be built and tested to examine the tendency of their materials and joints to age over specified periods of time. Then, predictions will seek the consultation of test results to validate decisions. This paper will begin with a discussion on the theory of material aging and its relationship to the city of Los Angeles. A portion of its narrative will explore examples from centuries, decades, and years past, as well as from the present, to rationalize project inspirations and aid design strategy. The paper will then conclude with a description of mockup hypotheses and an explanation of the experiments that will inform design.

WEATHERING NARRATIVE

“Finishing ends construction, weathering constructs finishes.”

Mohsen

Mostafavi | On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time

Building materials gradually deteriorate over time from exposure to the elements. Mellowed brickwork, seasoned timber, dirt stained concrete, moss covered stone, cracked clay tiles and corten steel become precedents under Mostafavi’s assertion. Through the process of weathering, materials gain an aesthetic maturity that reveals the story of their past. Whether it is considered an undesired problem or a benign purity, the process tends to produce logical and rather predictable results. Thus, understanding the variables that affect deterioration affords an architect the choice to avoid deterioration or specifically intend for it.

Dirt is pure. “Buildings are made out of matter [and] earth is part of their fabric.” (Mostafavi, 1993: 103) Aging produces both sightly and unsightly influences upon materials based on differences of pace. In general, the gradual weathering and wearing of materials will generate healthy results. “It seems there is an ideal degree of aging which is admired. Things should not be new, but neither should they be rotten with age. Buildings should be just ripe-worn but still fully functional.” (Brand, 1994: 10) The idealized condition for architecture is not before but rather during inhabitance and weathering. The variables of design that affect deterioration include, but are not limited to: geometry, orientation, detailing, exposure, material adjacencies and relationships to the earth. Natural weathering patterns, such as precipitation, temperature change, humidity, wind direction, solar radiation, air pressure, cloudiness and smog, along with human alterations such as wear and adaptation combine over time to subtract the surfaces of materials. Finishes are ever changing as a result of this ongoing metamorphosis. Exposure to the earth produces multicolored patinas. The juxtaposition of materials begets stains. Footsteps dig into stair landings while sliding hands preserve the shine of metal railings. Construction has no true end because buildings are in a constant state of change.

When the intention is to allow a specific material to weather, it becomes essential to understand the environment’s effects on its structural integrity. Deterioration in composition begins to threaten the structural strength of certain materials while deterioration in appearance may have no affect on

their structure thus permitting free manipulation. Materials such as brick and concrete keep their structural integrity relatively well with age while materials such as wood and steel deteriorate with time when left unprotected. Nonstructural elements can be intentionally weathered in all cases while structural members, in some cases, cannot. Intentional aging should not compromise structure.

Materials hold intrinsic properties that react fairly scientifically to the causes of weathering and wear. Concrete freezes, shrinks, acquires dirt, accumulates algae and may allow its reinforcement to corrode causing visual crazing, cracking, spalling, staining, deterioration and discoloration. Clay bricks absorb water, freeze, crystallize, accumulate algae and may succumb to mortar decay causing visual flaking, spalling, staining, deterioration and efflorescence. Wood expands from absorption of water, changes color from exposure to light and accumulates algae causing splits, checks, bending, corrugation, deterioration and bleaching of color. Metals corrode at rates which vary based on environment, composition and material adjacency possibly protecting them from further corrosion or leading to their eventual deterioration. Plastics change in composition and soften due to solar radiation and heat resulting in distortion, loss of strength and discoloration, but are generally unaffected by water. The properties of a material and the detail in which it is assembled will determine how it ages and in most cases, joints will inherit more deterioration than the material itself. For further explanation of material properties, please refer to the appendices.

The relationships between people and the architecture around them grow stronger with time. While nature ages buildings, people aid the process by wearing down materials with their touch and by adapting buildings to fit their needs. A person passing by a building for the first time may not find it significant or notice it at all but when a person passes or occupies a building over time, a personal relationship forms. In How Buildings Learn, Steward Brand suggests that buildings come to be loved with age and adaptivity because buildings change with age and continuously shift to adapt to the way we live, whether we invite them to or not. And whether we notice it, people invest themselves emotionally in the architecture around them.

Too often in the current scope of the profession, presentations of buildings portray their idealized state as prior to inhabitance or weathering which results in conflicting public perception on the issue of what should be desired from our architecture. The integration of renderings and photography into architectural practice has redefined “success” in design. Today, buildings are often reviewed by the number of publications they receive upon construction rather than how well they react and adapt to the needs of their inhabitants over their lifetime. People appreciate the centuries-old quality of Greek and Roman ruins and spend large sums of money to visit the aged cities of Florence, Venice and Rome. Yet, they often mimic the aesthetic in their homes by falsely representing it rather than employing time to develop the beauty of authentic age.

This is especially true in Los Angeles where the city’s famous freeways stretch from sunny beaches to snowy mountain-tops, providing a wide variety of climatic opportunities for the built environment, yet buildings are lucky to age thirty-five years before they are discarded. The character of Los Angeles is fundamentally temporary, unlike a city such as Florence or even New York, and an argument can be made against allowing architecture to age within its youthful context. However, the city’s composition is too complex to be characterized in such simple terms. Although a portion of its character will forever remain youthful, Los Angeles is sure to age as growth shifts away from prior sprawling tendencies and towards central densification. As its citizens become increasingly aware of architecture’s impact on the environment and understand that demolition and new construction are far less sustainable than preservation and renovation of well-built architecture, they may more often contribute durable brick and concrete architecture to the cityscape. Part of the future success of Los Angeles will depend on whether its new architecture actively takes advantage of age and invites change; whether it deals with materials and methods that age and adapt well over generations of use. However, the above assumption could very well prove incorrect. Architects may continue to design primarily with lumber and steel and Los Angeles architecture may forever remain temporary. Yet, if the lives of its buildings are to remain concise, then why disguise the natural colors of materials or hope that on the day they are demolished, they look identical to the day they were first construct? The interim buildings of Los Angeles could instead

be designed to celebrate their wrinkles as they near demolition. Los Angeles could enjoy the wisdom that develops with the synchronized maturation of a building and its inhabitants over thirty-five years. Regardless of their style, shape or materials, a greater number of buildings in Los Angeles should be designed to profit from the functional and aesthetic benefits of time rather than attempting to prevent its inevitable effects.

The consideration of weathering and wear prior to construction is nothing new in the architectural process. History demonstrates the benefits and repercussions of exploiting the effects of time versus fighting its unpreventable marks. Florence, a city redesigned 600 years ago under inspirations of Roman antiquity, today exemplifies the beauty that results from centuries of material weathering and wear. The clay tiles that stack atop the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore represent the many experiences they’ve encountered over their long lifetime. Once uniform in color, they are now each unique, stained a thousand different shades of red representing a thousand varied reactions to their 600 years of life. Florence is a city centered on its significant contributions to the history of art and the buildings that have safely guarded that tradition for centuries. The architects of its Renaissance palazzi gradually blended their facades from rustic to smooth in order to allow the most irregular stones at the base to invite human touch and collect dirt to accent their proximity to earth. The facades that line the city’s streets are similar in their simplicity but distinct in their aged reaction to the Mediterranean climate and Tuscan sun. Their interiors are a testament to the richness of adaptation with elements of mystery and qualities of spaces that often have explanations from two or three centuries ago and cannot be recreated today.

Some Florentine churches like Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella invite the dirt and rust built up on their decorated facades to accent their marble ornamentation. Others such as Santo Spirito and San Lorenzo are plastered white or left unfinished and therefore display streaks of rainwater down their blank canvases or celebrate the uneven texture of deteriorating stones. The piazzas adjacent to the church entrances embrace the daily use and adaptation of their occupants. Their cobblestone pavement has absorbed decades of footsteps, bicycle wheels and scooter tires into its uneven character. The facades that frame their edges are proudly decorated with flags, clothing and plants and new stains of red wine appear each morning on the marble

steps of the church as nightly gatherings are a local tradition. Historically, the materials used throughout Italy have been few and pure, allowing architects and builders to gain experience with their patterns of aging. The desirable aesthetic of Italian architecture stems from a deep understanding of a few, very simple materials.

Throughout the nineteenth century, many new manufactured materials were introduced into architecture, limited only by cost. The ideals that governed Modern Architecture promoted the use of these materials which would lead to decreases in average construction time, decreases in time spent on construction documents and mass production of repetitively used parts. The explorations of architecture theory of the Modern movement such as Le Corbusier’s machine for living and the work at the Bauhaus allowed architecture to shift from traditional to functional critiques of the city and its architecture. They succeeded in providing alternative visions for the future, but in many cases failed to anticipate how their buildings would age.

While the architectures of Le Corbusier and Adolf Loos were both associated with the color white, the intent of its application differed considerably between the two. Le Corbusier preached an objective white upon his early buildings with an intended ignorance of context. Loos on the other hand considered the character of location, explaining that Vienna just happened to be a white city. The two architectures contrasted in their treatment of interior as well. Le Corbusier continued white onto the interior whereas Loos fit the interior to its occupants, allowing them to modify and adapt materials and spaces to fit their needs.

People and places are unique and their effects on buildings over time are impossible to ignore. Le Corbusier had originally designed buildings that ignored the issues of climate and context and attempted to artificially trap good environment within their white walls. Towards the latter half of his career, he became concerned with these issues, applying textured materials like concrete to his buildings and developing sustainable design systems such as brise-soleil. His travels to India led him to discover a context “where the play between the inside and the outside was so important that it changed the way buildings were defined-no longer was the outer wall the final limit of the space of the project.” (Mostafavi, 1993: 97)

The generation of architects that followed these pioneers of modernism would hold their innovative ideals to higher considerations of the future. By learning from the ruins of Rome and encasing their modern buildings in materials proven to age well, architects like Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa gave their architecture the opportunity to better itself over time. Beginning in the 1950s, Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa was inspired to “awaken happiness” through the poetry of the unexpected. He intentionally designed his buildings to deposit the experiences they would endure over a lifetime into their material fabric. Scarpa produced drawings that were “able to depict not only facts but also wishes, not only the present but also the future.” (Los, 1993: 10) His plans, sections and perspective views were outcomes of his process rather than depictions of prior decisions. Scarpa’s illustrations were abstract yet accurately detailed to mimic the irregular process of aging. Instead of fearing its tendency to be the source of deterioration, Scarpa enhanced the joint by “dissociating the whole into its component parts.” (Los, 1993: 16) He based his theory on the juxtaposition of precious materials such as marble, mosaics and metals upon base materials such as concrete and wood.

An Italian foundation, Querini-Stampalia, asked Scarpa to deal with the periodic flooding of their sixteenth century palace set along a Venetian canal. He designed a raised ground floor in the rooms that were prone to flooding and incorporated a depressed channel that invited water through a

grating on the canal-side façade. The water was intended to flow freely into the channel to produce varied marks of calcium deposit along the walls of the marble/concrete steps. Scarpa repeated this technique when he was commissioned to design the base for a bronze statue of a dead woman partisan in Venice. He positioned the bronze statue atop a grid of stones with differing elevations to test their interaction with the water. Carlo Scarpa’s life in Venice taught him to respect and appreciate water’s natural tendencies. Its natural rise and recession in both projects kept the architecture in constant change, adding new marks each day to contribute to their banks of character.

In 1969, Carlo Scarpa was commissioned to design a cemetery complex on an empty site in the small town of San Vito d’Altivole. He sketched thousands of drawings of the complex during the design process to develop a set of visions for its future. His fragmented geometries were intentionally designed to gather dirt and allow rain to paint stains down its facade. He anticipated the water to cultivate moss and the landscape to gradually cover parts of the architecture. Scarpa intended to poetically harmonize the many experiences that would come to pass upon the cemetery over time, allowing the project to grow more admirable with each passing day. Tomba Brion’s most recent state is its best and only a visit to the site fully explains the power of intentional weathering as photographs tell only part of its story. For more information on Carlo Scarpa and his buildings, please refer to the appendices.

As the 20th century came to a close, an architecture focused on emotional sensibility emerged from the appreciation of antiquity that architects like Kahn and Scarpa had recovered decades earlier. The built architectures of Eduardo Souta de Moura, Tadao Ando and Peter Zumthor provide a poetic mood, “a perfectly tempered feel,” upon a user at first impression. (LabsEhlert, 1990: 07) The atmosphere of emotion that exists within the embrace of a concrete stadium by a Portuguese mountainside or the perfectly carved medium between Valser stone and staged daylight, between water and the human body, is enhanced by marks of time that embrace the architecture as if it always existed. The reactions of materials to climate, context and other materials years after completion are orchestrated amid the design process and no better example of this exists than the spa at Therme Vals designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

As you enter, stains that stream from dark to light to yellow and then white rest below the flow of five synchronized fountains that guide you to changing rooms on your left. You reach levels of relaxation previously unknown in the indoor pool as you rest between four masses of Vals gneiss that display textures developed over roughly 300 million years within the Swiss Alps and another 15 years through use by hotel guests. You notice calcium soot built up along the water’s edge and fissures in the stone from exposure to “temperatures of plus 37°C below and minus 15°C above the water level” that lead you to expect that upon your next visit, whether it be the next morning or ten years from now, the matured building will provide you with an entirely new experience. (Zumthor, 2007: 33) In the moments before you fall asleep behind a framed view of the mountain side, wooden sheds and cabins across the creek grab your interest. Later you visit them to find that many were untreated upon construction and have weathered beautifully from rich browns to silvery-greys. Their wood encompasses a magnificent gradient that cannot be explained with words and is instead visually displayed on the first page of this booklet opposite the table of contents. The experience of visiting Therme Vals is one of spontaneous emotional response accompanied by long periods of detailed appreciation of stone, water and light.

Every so often, pools are drained, cleaned and treated by hotel staff based on a schedule of maintenance. The realities of health and hygiene are met in regards to rust and algae that will accumulate in the spa if it is not

maintained. In fact, Zumthor and his design team specifically chose the gneiss stone of Vals for its ability to resist weathering. Peter Zumthor’s intention was not to design the therme to rot relatively soon after it was constructed, but neither to present itself as new. Where he ultimately chose to intend for weathering, proper techniques were designed, tested and employed. Where weathering was chosen to be guarded against, materials were to be dealt with respect and detailed instructions for maintenance were provided. He designed the therme to fit into its context as if it had always existed there and to posture itself to suggest that it would forever be in Vals. Therme Vals has and will forever be a perfectly “ripe” building.

Although known mainly for its temporary character, California also holds its share of buildings from the latter half of the 20th century that were designed to make use of its western coastal climate. Condominium One of Sea Ranch in Somona County, designed by MLTW in 1965, was specified with unfinished redwood shakes of various rough textures in anticipation that they would bleach to a “hue sympathetic to the grasses of the meadows.” (Lyndon, 2002: 34) Louis Kahn, a good friend of Carlo Sparpa’s, employed warm colored teak adjacent to the famous concrete of the Salk Institute in La Jolla in 1959. Teak, a material proven to resist weathering due to its dense nature, has produced gradual and therefore admirable results and the corten steel of the entrance gate has stained the concrete below it. What began with a color that starkly contrasted Kahn’s concrete has since weathered to colors that attempt to mimic it. Even Richard Meier, who formed his style based on the early work of Le Corbusier, used knowledge of material aging in his design of the Getty Center in Los Angeles. When met with opposition from the surrounding neighborhood to his colorless aesthetic, Meier specified travertine cladding which he cleverly designed to lose its color as it weathered over time to eventually reach his desired blank façade.

Today, the age of technology permits architects with a limitless scope of possibilities in design and construction. In 2010, Jason Payne and his firm Hirsuta were commissioned to convert a century-old wood schoolhouse into a private residence in northern Utah. The firm replaced the existing wornwood cladding with shingles cut across the grain and incorrectly detailed with the intention to welcome wood’s natural tendencies to warp. The southwest face of the symmetrical structure is predicted to warp and twist rapidly in

Utah’s freeze-thaw climate while the northeast side remains relatively intact. The firm is unsure of what the project’s exact outcome will be or how long the process will take. The building has been left to finish itself. Payne exhibited a full-scale recreated portion of the roof of Raspberry Fields at SCI-ARC in 2011 as one possible scenario of its future form. To simulate the deformities of weathering in the installation, the wooden shingles were steam-curled to various degrees estimated based on solar orientation. For more information on Raspberry Fields, please refer to the appendices.

In 2009, the Los Angeles-based design studio Radical-Craft, headed by Joshua G. Stein, took part in the World Sustainable Center Competition in the Netherlands with their design of Soms Atoll. The proposed design would attempt to “understand sustainability as alignment with natural [sea tide] cycles rather than mastery over nature through technology.” (www.radicalcraft.com, 2009) The project encompasses its program around a central lagoon that, similar to Carlo Scarpa’s Venetian designs, coordinates with the rise and recession of the free flowing tide to create various opportunities for human interaction. Through its natural flexibility, the site attracts “scientists and specialists [who] test and monitor new techniques” for sustainable technologies as well as “tourists and day visitors who make use of the same terrain for a variety of different activities [such as] gathering mussels, flying kites or riding bikes.” (bustler.net, 2009) The team at Radical-Craft designed Soms Atoll to hold users responsible for aligning their schedules to the rhythm of the tide rather than forcing its architecture to fight the inevitable cycles of nature. In an example that synchronizes itself to change in real-time, Soms Atoll is sustainable in its approach based on passive strategies and flexible in its many uses that cover and uncover hourly throughout the day.

Brick, stone and concrete erode to reveal more brick, stone and concrete while plaster erodes to reveal hidden structure. Bronze ages to green and later black whereas steel, left untreated, disappears completely. Wood warps and its colors morph, glass gathers dirt and fades in clarity and exposed joints become the focus of nature’s claim. All materials hold specific properties by which they are generally but never exactly predictable. To better anticipate how this project’s materials will react to age, experimentation will accompany the general explanations of weathering textbooks. Materials will be tested in the climate of their destined context with consideration of probable human

interactions.

Material manufacturers and government organizations study the effects of weathering to maintain customer satisfaction and ensure public safety. The Forest Products Laboratory, under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is an organization that dedicates itself to the “conservation of our nation’s scarce timber resources.” (Forest Products Lab) The divisions of F.P.L. focused on weathering prevention perform and record studies on the environment’s effects on wood surfaces and wood joints to best recommend weather-resistant treatments. Experiments often span specific periods of time with intervals of on/off exposure and establish methods that best simulate environmental conditions. To accelerate weathering, F.P.L. uses specialized machinery from the Atlas Electric Devices Company engineered to expose materials to UV radiation to simulate the effects of the sun. Between intervals, they record factors such as weight change, formal manipulation, discoloration and loss in strength into scientifically formatted reports. The engineers at F.P.L. then reference experiment results to make intelligent predictions of how materials will weather over many years.

The experimentation that will support this project is scheduled to occur prior to the project’s design due to the timely nature of the process and therefore will not be based on specific construction details. Experimentation will instead be conducted in a general manner to maintain an equal balance between the basic materials which will include concrete, clay brick, wood, steel, and plastic. Materials will be subjected to freezing and melting temperatures, solar radiation, water absorption, rainwater simulation, physical contact with earth and proximity to other materials. Test modules will be designed to include general construction joints and adequate surface area to study and record their reactions for use as reference during the future design of details. Project testing will adopt the methods of the Forest Products Laboratory which include pre-test planning and preparation, statistical representation of results and post-test discussion and documentation. Experimentation is expected to inform the future design process with knowledge through experience and to validate future decisions to intend for material aging.

Concrete test modules will be designed to include both curved and fragmented edges to test the staining effects of simulated rainwater upon surface dirt. Portions of steel reinforcement will be exposed to moisture and

solar radiation to study the speed and aesthetic effects of corrosion. Concrete mixtures will consist of differing concrete-to-water ratios to study flaking, cracking and crazing and the effects of algae growth will be studied from contact with high-moisture soils.

Clay Bricks will be stacked in various arrangements to test the tendency of each module to accumulate dirt and stain with rainwater simulation. Test modules will be exposed to intervals of water absorption and temperatures below freezing to study the functional and aesthetic effects of frost action. Others will be exposed to intervals of water absorption and solar radiation through moisture in the air, soil and mortar mixture to study the aesthetic nature of efflorescence.

Wood panels will be oriented both horizontally and vertically to observe the effects of gravity acting against the grain as opposed to gravity aligned with it. Untreated species of hardwoods and softwoods will be exposed to direct sunlight to record the rate of color change. Test modules will be exposed to high moisture and intervals of water absorption to observe each wood’s tendency to corrugate and split with dimension growth.

Metals will include steel, aluminum, copper and iron and observations will include rate of corrosion, physical deterioration and aesthetic change. The corrosive tendencies of each metal will be studied in relation to other metals and in relation to the environment, which will be simulated through intervals of water absorption and solar radiation. Metals present in wood and concrete test modules in the form of fastenings and reinforcement will also be studied and recorded for joint corrosion.

Plastics will be tested for distortion and discoloration from exposure to heat and solar radiation. Additional materials such as glass, composites, plaster, ceramics and stone will be tested if additional knowledge becomes necessary for design.

CONCLUSION

Harvesters press the extracts of grapes to produce juice or provide the necessary preparation to allow time to age it to wine. They have the choice to sell their product freshly pressed or finely aged. Architecture does not share such luxuries. The built environment is consumed many times daily, over many changes of season, within a lifetime of several decades. Designing buildings to succeed as “freshly pressed” products is merely an incomplete effort. Design should theoretically consider the final day of construction, the day prior to demolition and every moment in between. Architects, therefore, must make choices that fight or productively utilize the effects of time throughout their process of design.

This project is an attempt to create architecture that productively modifies as it acquires age through a thorough understanding of the destructive and potentially beneficial properties of weathering and wear. It will combine the lessons of the past with references from ensuing scientific experimentation. The site, located atop the San Onofre Bluffs overlooking Trestles Beach, and the program, visitor center/lab/motel/shops, derive from this project’s concept. San Onofre State Beach is an uninterrupted portion of California’s coast that has historically held a culture of acceptance and degredation. An architecture designed to act in opposition to the norm fits into its context. The visitors to San Onofre will likely notice the maturation of the architecture as they visit once or twice a year while the scientists and surfers, who frequent the site, may pay it little attention. The two government run entities will forever retain their fundamental program elements even as their surroundings change while the two businesses will succeed and remain or fail and close down depending on the course of time.

“Finishing ends construction [and] weathering constructs finishes.” (Mostafavi, 1993:05) Rather than fighting the inevitable effects of weathering and wear, this project will employ the elements of nature to construct character and wisdom upon the building’s materials. The aged quality of Renaissance architecture, Scarpa’s technique of design, Zumthor’s ability to orchestrate atmosphere, Payne’s ground breaking attitude and Stein’s respect for nature will act as precedents to its approach while knowledge gathered through experimentation will validate future predictions. The gradual destruction of this project by nature over time will be understood and thus intended. The taste of juice may be a joy to some, but most prefer the aged wisdom of wine.

APPENDICES

MATERIAL PROPERTIES CONCRETE

Concrete is sensitive to the effects of weathering, particularly in the early stages of its life. It carries the ability to maintain structural performance and durability throughout the process of weathering as long as steel reinforcement remains completely surrounded. The factors that affect performance and appearance of concrete include:

(1) Corrosion of steel reinforcement depends on depth of cover provided and permeability of the concrete. It leads to discoloration of adjacent surfaces and significant cracking.

(2) Frost action of highly-permeable concrete depends on the concrete-to-water ratio and mixture air content. It leads to significant cracking and physical deterioration.

(3) Shrinkage of concrete depends on concrete-to-water ratio and leads to crazing and cracking.

(4) Efflorescence depends on contact with soils or materials containing soluble salts. It leads to spalling and staining.

(5) Algae growth depends on surface moisture and solar exposure. It leads to mainly green, red or brown collections on south facing surfaces.

(6) Streaks of deposited dirt develop on vertical surfaces directly under horizontal surfaces due to the drying of rain water before it reaches the base. Differences in surface geometries and angles produce various intensities of streaks. Consistent horizontal surfaces develop consistent stains while broken horizontal surfaces develop concentrated stains beneath the breaks. Differential weathering is affected by direction and speed of wind.

(a) Smooth surfaces develop uneven weathering as rain water takes courses determined by the chance irregularities of the surface.

(b) Exposed aggregate surfaces develop even weathering as rain water is broken up and distributed over the surface. Streaking is somewhat prevented.

(c) Patterned surfaces develop contrasting hues on otherwise plain surfaces as deposited dirt permanently embeds shadows on building surfaces.

bricks have high strength, low water-absorption and resistance to chemicals. Weathering occurs mainly at the joints. The factors that affect performance and appearance of clay bricks include:

(1) Frost action of clay bricks depends on quality of water-absorption which is determined by engineered class. It leads to uneven surface flaking and physical breakdown.

(a) Clay bricks usually develop significant effects of frost weathering after two seasons of water absorption and exposure to extreme temperatures. Standard clay bricks are expected to resist frost for one winter.

(2) Efflorescence depends on the crystallization of soluble salt quantities in the clay, mortar, soil or other sources of contamination. It leads to spalling and staining.

(a) Crystallization occurs in combination with ground water, rain water, humidity, water absorbed by the clay brick prior to stacking or water within the mortar during construction.

(b) The location affected is not necessarily the source of the salt. Instead it is the drying surface where “evaporation can proceed to deposit crystals at the surface.”

(c) The weather during construction largely dictates the degree of efflorescence that will occur.

(3) Mortar decay depends on sulphate caused expansion. It leads to the “spalling of the faces of bricks” and loss of mortar strength.

(4) Algae growth depends on surface moisture and solar exposure. It leads to mainly green, red or brown collections on south facing surfaces.

WOOD

Difference between quarter-sawn and half-sawn as well as cell structure Different wood species provide different physical and mechanical properties Only water and light are significant. Water is part of its constitution (12-18% of total weight).

CLAY BRICKS

Clay bricks become vulnerable to weathering when they absorb water. Clay

(1) Changes in color depend on exposure to light through solar orientation and artificial lighting. It leads to a bleached appearance.

(a) “Most dark colored timbers will begin to bleach whereas pale timbers

often darken and redden slightly before beginning to lose their color.” (Simpson, 1970: 140)

(b) The extractive chemicals in timber that give it its color are gradually washed away by rain or degraded by sunlight giving it its bleached appearance.

(2) Dimensional growth depends on direct contact with water. It leads to splits/checks in or corrugation of the surface of the wood.

(a) Unlike concrete and brick, only the surface layers of the wood are affected by moisture content as even permeable timber resists penetration of liquids well.

(b) “The presence of microchecks, visible checks, and eventually splits in the surface layers of the timber allow water to penetrate into the wood.” (Simpson, 1970: 143)

(3) Plywood weathering depends on the type of adhesive used. It can remain intact on prolonged exposure or can completely delaminate depending on adhesive.

(4) Algae growth depends on surface moisture and solar exposure. It leads to mould growth or more deep-seated sap stain, neither of which affect the strength properties of wood, or wood-rotting fungi, which may cause physical breakdown of the wood.

METALS

Metals are present in construction from small fastenings to entirely clad surfaces, both in structural and non-structural applications. The performance of an alloy depends on its climatic and atmospheric environment as well as its adjacency to other materials specified in the details. Corrosion, the major effect of weathering on metals, can be “tolerated if a satisfactory thickness of metal [is] allowed at the design stage.” (Simpson, 1970: 186)

(1) Corrosion depends on environment, composition and contact with other materials. It leads to.

(a) “Electrochemical series of some of the pure metals [from Cathodic (least affected) to Anodic (most affected)]: Gold, Silver, Copper, Hydrogen reference, Iron (Fe3+), Lead, Tin, Nickel, Iron (Fe2+), Chromium, Zinc, Aluminum, Magnesium.” (Simpson, 1970: 188) For example, gold corrodes silver which

corrodes tin which corrodes magnesium.

(b) Metals may primarily corrode on a specific portion of the surface, but that portion becomes protected by the corrosion and the remaining surface more often than not will gradually catch up. “This process accounts for the relatively uniform corrosion of a pure metal.”

(c) Corrosion takes place where the oxygen concentration is least and moisture concentration is highest.

(d) Aluminum forms a thin invisible layer of oxide that “isolates the metal from further attack.” (Simpson, 1970: 196) White crystalline spots form after prolonged exposure to the atmosphere, darkening the surface. Aluminum corrodes faster in industrial environments than rural or marine environments.

(e) Copper turns dark brown within the first six months then acquires “an even or mottled green color[ed]” patina over a period of five to ten years. The formation of patina depends on “the degree of pollution, the moisture present in the air and the temperature.” (Simpson, 1970: 212)

(f) Lead shows excellent corrosion resistance in all atmospheres and is normally applied to iron, steel and copper by hot-dipping or paint to protect the underlying metal.

(g) Steel rusts unless alloyed with chromium, galvanized, zinc-plated or controlled as in corten steel. It rusts most severely in coastal/marine locations. Stainless Steel can remain bright and lustrous indefinitely provided proper maintenance.

PLASTICS

The weathering properties of plastics depend on “formulation used and conditions under which the components are molded.”(Simpson, 1970: 237) Plastics are generally unaffected by water due to low-absorption.

(1) Chemical change depends on natural radiation consisting of ultra-violet, visible and infra-red rays. It leads to yellow discoloration and brittleness.

(2) Softening depends on heat (and therefore on color which may influence the temperature to which the surface may rise). It leads to distortion and loss of strength.

CARLO SCARPA Venice | Italia 1906-1978

Throughout his career, Italian architect Carlo Scarpa sought a delicate balance between renewal and decay in his modern restorations of historic buildings. His elaborate attention to detail and experimentation with materials initiated in each of his projects a poetic harmony between the past and future designed to evolve with age. He directed his Frank Lloyd Wright inspired appreciation for Japanese architecture, his deep understanding of Venetian tradition and his ability to design in relation to time towards evoking the unexpected which Scarpa believed was the only way to awaken people’s happiness. Scarpa allowed his materials to weather and wear down, to dig the building’s roots deeper into their context. He anticipated the deposited calcium marks that would occur as a result of the fluctuating Venetian water level. He expected his fragmented joints to collect dirt which would then paint streaks of stains down the façade in times of rain. He specifically designed his buildings to deposit experiences into memory and he did so by rendering this dialogue onto his sketches and drawings during the design process.

Carlo Scarpa produced drawings that were “able to depict not only facts but also wishes, not only the present but also the future.”(Los, 1993: 10)

His plans, sections and perspective views did not depict prior decisions, but were rather outcomes of a process and were often juxtaposed one above the other. They were reflections of thought taken through several revisions, only made legible to his craftsman by secondary applications of color. Scarpa’s ideas were often so plentiful that he was known to use both hands to illustrate two different views of the building, two possible versions of a detail or two completely separate ideas at once. He compared the visual control that an architect should have on his details to the accuracy of a composer’s musical notes. As an instructor, Scarpa warned students and staff to refrain from representing architecture in pictorial form, to erase drawings that resembled anything. Instead the Venetian architect preached illustration as an abstract process of anomalous events to mimic the intended yet unexpected outcomes bestowed by weathering, wear and age.

Like Louis Kahn, Carlo Scarpa saw the joint as the origin of ornament. Where

Classicists had been too liberal and Modernists too conservative, Scarpa chose to enhance the joint by “dissociating the whole into its component parts.”(Los, 1993: 16) He was extremely skillful in applying precious materials like marble adjacent to base materials like concrete, basing his architecture on these juxtapositions and the results they would render over time. Through tectonic detail and analytical study of materials, Scarpa enabled his materials to escape the banality of traditional use, “not just [to] display their intrinsic formal qualities but [to] also acknowledge their evocative function – usually in montage.”(Dal Co, 1984: 44)

Fondazione Querini-Stampalia

Venice | Italia | 1961-63

Carlo Scarpa was commissioned to restore the ground floor, courtyard and entrance to the Querini-Stampalia owned sixteenth-century Venetian palace. The client asked Scarpa to deal with the problem of periodic flooding which had caused the ground floor to be unusable. Rather than continuing the struggle against the Venetian canal, Scarpa chose to work with the natural and cultural element, allowing it to inspire his design.

Scarpa raised the ground floor in the rooms that were prone to flooding and designed a depressed channel that invited water through the grating on the canal-side façade. “Thus the path [became] a catwalk, and the one-time obstacle [became] the motif of the design.” (Los, 1993: 100) In time, Scarpa intended for instances of flooding to beget varied marks of calcium deposit to allow the building to remember its experiences with the freely flowing canal water. Here, he placed cut marble slabs atop a stepped concrete foundation, a choice of materials proven to react well with water. In the fifty years since its construction, time has painted wisdom upon the channel walls while the raised ground floor has remained dry.

Monument to the women of the Resistance

Venice | Italia | 1968

Carlo Scarpa was commissioned to design the base for a bronze statue representing the death of a woman partisan. Scarpa placed square Istria

stones atop a gridded concrete foundation on the edge of the Venetian lagoon. The gridded stones were designated at differing heights, similar to the steps at the Fordazione-Querini Stampalia, to become covered and later exposed by the changing water levels, leaving marks of experience on the stone surfaces. He positioned the bronze statue atop the stone grid near the edge of the water to allow it to interact with the water. “The idea was that the bronze would be engaged in the movement of the water: the rising and falling tides would favor a variety of changing views. Between the dock and the shore, there was to be a green screen of shrubs and an inscription commemorating the women partisans of Veneto, inviting passers-by to explore the dock.” (Dal Co, 1984: 132) The project was never fully implemented and its relationship with time was left untested.

Cementerio Brion San Vito d’Altivole | Italia | 1969

As one of Carlo Scarpa’s few works built from scratch and the work widely regarded as his best, the Brion Tomb deserves much further explanation than can be given in these few paragraphs but the focus will remain the aging of materials and their harmonic integration with the site.

“Coming back to this little work I did fairly recently and which I find quite well done, if I may say so, and which might even become better, if time permits, and in which I have tried to put – what shall I call it? Poetic imagination, if you like – no, in which I have tried to do poetic architecture, but a certain kind of architecture which would emanate a certain sense of poetry for reasons of a formal nature, that is the form expressed could become poetry, as I said earlier. Can architecture be poetry? Question mark. Of course, architecture is poetry, Frank Lloyd Wright said so in a lecture he gave in London. So the answer is: yes, sometimes architecture is poetry, not always poetry. Society doesn’t always ask for poetry. Poetry isn’t something for every day. You mustn’t think: I’ll produce poetic architecture. You can’t say: I’ll turn out poetic architecture. Poetry is born of the thing in itself, if the person engaged in it has it in him, this nature.”

-Carlo Scarpa (Dal Co, 1984: 170)

The 2200 square meter L-shaped complex is comprised of three main

spaces which are a family chapel, a reflection pavilion and a bridged tomb. Scarpa combined three elements: structure, landscape and water in an effort to afford the deceased their peace while allowing the villagers to seek happiness through meditation. The nature of its typology makes the tomb our best study of the poetic qualities that develop in Scarpa’s architecture over time, an intention he makes clear in the above quotation.

Forms are fragmented and concrete is rough. Water cultivates moss upon the concrete and landscape climbs along its surface. Scarpa sketched thousands of drawings of the Brion to understand how the three elements would harmonize in time with age claiming that “when it’s finished, it will be dead.” His geometric breaks and fragments were meant to gather dirt and allow the downward flow of rain to beget stains on the concrete’s surface. “Scarpa interrupted the horizontal run of the stepped parapet [of the chapel] with a gap that has allowed the rainwater to seep through, leaving a black stain in the middle of the wall.” (Mostafavi, 1993: 98) The rugged surface of the concrete was similarly meant to gather dirt, permanently embedding shadows on the forms. The water adjacent to the concrete was intended to cultivate moss upward onto the concrete, an effect of weathering seen all throughout Venice. The wood of the pavilion canopy was designed to age in sunlight and the landscape was meant to gradually cover parts of the architecture. Scarpa intended for these things to happen, to poetically harmonize the many experiences that would come to pass upon the cemetery over time.

JASON PAYNE | HIRSUTA

Raspberry Fields Utah | Round Valley | 2010

Raspberry Fields is the restoration|conversion of a century-old wooden schoolhouse into a private residence for a raspberry farmer in northern Utah. The original structure built in the early 1900s functioned until the 1950s as a classroom and later as a storage building before it was abandoned. Over fifty years of disuse exposed the building’s exterior cedar-wood cladding to the natural extremities of Utah’s freeze-thaw climate, harshly decaying the shingles on the southwest side and relatively preserving those on the northeast. The firm’s description of the building’s state prior to redesign explains that “on the northeast side all [was] in order, while on the southwest side the wood planks [had] curled with such force as to [have pried] the nails from the studs and the shingles [had] long since blown away” also adding that “the protected side [remained] a deep, even brown, while the weathered side [had] become wildly striped with all manner of browns, blacks, greys, and even moments of bright greens and oranges” to illustrate the contrast between sides.

Jason Payne, principal of Hirsuta, studies the structure’s ability to “remain straight, unbroken and absolutely bilaterally symmetrical” while non-structural wood shingles provide its uneven character, expressing different patterns|levels of weathering on either of the mirrored sides. In Payne’s renovation, focus is placed on the aesthetic, tactile qualities of replaced wooden shingles which are predicted to warp and twist relatively rapidly in the severe climate of Round Valley, Utah to allow “celebration of product, experience, effect and atmosphere.” The length of the building is oriented off of east-west axis approximately 30° in the clockwise direction directly exposing its southwest façade to winter storms and the majority of solar exposure. Payne’s expectation of the future of Raspberry Fields is vague; the firm simply anticipates severe weathering on the southwest side of the re-clad façade, with no specific understanding of how exactly it will turn out or how long the process will take. The building is left to finish itself.

Method:

Each cedar shingle is 4 inches wide, 24 inches long and ½ inch thick, placed 12 inches above the previous shingle and cut across the grain to welcome the wood’s natural tendencies to warp. Construction details of the shingle siding are intentionally drawn improperly to accelerate the process of weathering, “with the bottom ends unfixed and the grain oriented more horizontally than vertically.” Payne’s intention is to encourage premature curling of the dark-to-light purple colored shingles on the southwest facade to mimic “fur” while the northeast remains uniform. The provided framework will be matched over coming years with vernacular impressions and accidental effects, exposing many of the complexities and articulations of the material to unpredictability and surprise.

Presentation:

As part of an exhibition at SCI-ARC called “Rawhide: The New Shingle Style,” Jason Payne presented a full-scale recreated portion of the roof of Raspberry Fields as one possible scenario of its future form. To simulate the deformities of weathering in the model, a process that will take years to achieve naturally in the Utah original, Payne steam-curled the coat of wooden shingles .

San Onofre State Beach, California, USA

The project site is located atop the San Onofre sandstone bluffs overlooking the historical San Onofre surf beach. The site is owned by the Federal Government, is managed by the Secretary of the Navy and belongs to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The California State Parks leased the land under the Richard Nixon administration to develop recreational opportunities along the 3,000 acre scenic coastal canyon.

The site contains a rich historical, cultural and biological context:

• San Onofre Surf Beach contains a world renowned surf break and has contributed significantly to the evolution of the California’s surfing culture. The site is accessed from the surf beach below via two pedestrian trails and has historically been a viewing point for surfers.

• The Panhe village has been home to the Acjachemen people of the region for over 8000 years. It was the site of the first baptism in California and is currently protected by the State. Many locations in the vicinity of the site hold significant historical threads concerning Native American tribes.

• San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) to the immediate east of the proposed site was first constructed in 1964 and was shut down for repairs in January of 2012. SONGS has often dealt with technical problems over its operational history and the currently topic of reopening the facility remains a great controversy between the State and Southern California Edison.

• Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton was originally established when the US entered into WWII. It became a major base for Marine Corps training and testing throughout their valiant efforts in WWII and later on into the Korean War.

• San Onofre’s coast is the natural habitat of many species of shorebirds and nocturnal mammals. The vernal pools below the proposed site are home to the California Fairy Shrimp, an endangered species. The area contains patches of natural wetlands which are preserved by the California State Parks, mainly the Trestles Wetland Natural Reserve.

San Onofre offers opportunities that work well within the conceptual scope of this project. The land is less developed than most coastal regions in California and its Laissez-faire culture provides a valuable backdrop for architecture designed and let be, allowed to deteriorate over its lifetime. Deceased birds lie along the beach as they decay to sand, uninterrupted. Whereas, in direct physical adjacency and conceptual contrast, SONGS provides a symbolic backdrop for architecture against immortality and the unnatural properties of

Site San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

San Onofre Surf Beach

Trestles Wetland Natural Reserve

MARINE COPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON SAN ONOFRE STATE BEACH

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The building will function as a VISITOR CENTER/LAB/MOTEL/SHOPS to accommodate for the growing need to educate San Onofre’s visitors of its rich cultural and historic background and to protect its natural biological reserves.

The visitor center will accommodate frequent visitors to San Onofre State Beach, such as members of the surrounding surfer community and members of the Marine Corps with lounge/cafe areas and a preserved coastal view shed. It will provide the location’s less-frequent visitors with educational exhibitions (The Evolution of California’s Surf Culture, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton & WWII, Panhe | The Native Americans of San Onofre, & The Wildlife/Wetlands along San Onofre) and workshops. This portion of the program will make up roughly 5000 SF.

The lab will house a single biological laboratory to study and protect San Onofre’s Natural Reserves and native species. The research of the laboratory will focus on the endangered California Ferry Shrimp whose natural habitat (a collection of vernal pools) lies directly below the bluff top site. The laboratory, in addition, will study and protect the Trestles Wetlands Natural Reserves, San Onofre’s shorebirds and nocturnal mammals. This portion of the program will make up roughly 2500 SF.

Visitors to San Onofre may notice the maturation of the architecture as they visit once or twice a year while scientists and surfers, who occupy the site more frequently, may pay little attention to the slow weathering process. The simplicity of the visitor center portion of the program will allow designations of weathering to play a principal role in the design of the building. The strict requirements of the research facility will challenge the design to mitigate between the required chemically-treated materials of the laboratory and the overarching project intention to engage with the wisdom of time. One portion of the program will welcome all that material aging has to offer while the other will force an organized juxtaposition of age-intention and age-prevention.

through ruined means...

a project constructed by nature over time

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT PRODUCED BY AN

Permanent Roof

Recycled Plywood and Lumber from concrete formwork. Corrugated steel roo ng.

Temporary Roof

Untreated Corrugated Steel and Local Thatch Insulation. As roofs disappear, lighting conditions shift to allow more consistent natural north light.

Lifted Courtyard / Impluvium

Lifted as a requirement of the California State Parks, the courtyard acts as a catwalk through a museum amidst ruins. The central impluvium allows staining at varied paces due to the designated ow of rain water.

Temporary Walls

Untreated, Corrugated Steel. Create spaces that connect, disappear, shift as di erent surfaces decay at their individual pace. Views of surrounding landmarks are exposed with time. If spaces are desired, a simple treatment layer is added to the rusting layer.

Permanent Roof

Recycled Plywood and Lumber from concrete formwork. Corrugated steel roo ng.

Temporary Roof Untreated Corrugated Steel and Local Thatch Insulation. As roofs disappear, lighting conditions shift to allow more consistent natural north light.

Lifted Courtyard Impluvium

Lifted as a requirement of the California State Parks, the courtyard acts as a catwalk through a museum amidst ruins. The central impluvium allows staining at varied paces due to the designated ow of rain water.

Temporary Walls

Untreated, Corrugated Steel. Create spaces that connect, disappear, shift as di erent surfaces decay at their individual pace. Views of surrounding landmarks are exposed with time. If spaces are desired, a simple treatment layer is added to the rusting layer.

Permanent Walls

Concrete and Glass. As temporary walls deteriorate, the newly exposed concrete begins to stain, delayed behind the walls which were exposed from the beginning but ahead of those protected from moisture behind the enclosure of glass.

Permanent Walls

Concrete and Glass. As temporary walls deteriorate, the newly exposed concrete begins to stain, delayed behind the walls which were exposed from the beginning but ahead of those protected from moisture behind the enclosure of glass.

EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC SCALE: NTS

SECTION LAPSE AA_COURTYARD | SCALE 1/16” = 1’-0”

PLAN GEOMETRIES

BRIEF DESCRIPTION_ SOLAR EXPOSURE_ OCEAN MOISTURE_ DIRT COLLECTION_ RAINWATER PATH_

ROOF GEOMETRIES

_SQUARE PLAN _S. RECEIVES MOST, N. LEAST _SW. RECIEVES MOST, NE. LEAST

_NORMAL ACCUMULATION

_NORMAL RAINFLOW

_INTERMEDIATE PLANE _TRANSITION SURFACE _NORMAL _NORMAL _NORMAL

_ROUNDED CORNER _TRANSITION BLEND _NORMAL _NORMAL _RAINFLOW TOWARD FLAT SURFACES

_FRAGMENTED SURFACE _INSET SURFACES SHADED _GATHERS IN FRAGMENT _NORMAL _NORMAL

_VOIDS, USERS EXPERIENCE SURFACES _INTERIOR SURFACES SHADED _GATHERS BETWEEN SOLIDS _NORMAL _NORMAL

_COURTYARD, USERS SEE SURFACES

_INTERIOR SURFACES PARTIALLY SHADED

_GATHERS IN COURTYARD

_NORMAL

_NORMAL

ORIENTATION

_N-S LOW PITCH _N. PARTIALLY SHADED BY S. SURFACE _NORMAL

_GREATER ACCUMULATION _SLOWER RAINFLOW

_N-S HIGH PITCH _N. SURFACE SHADED BY S. SURFACE _NORMAL _LESS ACCUMULATION _FASTER RAINFLOW

_E-W LOW PITCH _LESS SHADING, MORE EXPOSURE _NORMAL _GREATER ACCUMULATION _SLOWER RAINFLOW

_E-W HIGH PITCH

_MORE SHADING, LESS EXPOSURE _NORMAL _LESS ACCUMULATION _FASTER RAINFLOW

_LOW PITCH

_LESS SHADING, MORE EXPOSURE

_NORMAL

_GREATER ACCUMULATION

_SLOWER RAINFLOW

_HIGH PITCH

_MORE SHADING, LESS EXPOSURE

_NORMAL

_LESS ACCUMULATION

_FASTER RAINFLOW

_DOUBLE PITCH _S. PITCH PARTIALLY SHADES N. PITCH _MOISTURE GATHERS BETWEEN PITCHES

_DIRT GATHERING BETWEEN PITCHES _RAIN FLOWS DOWN SURFACE AT CENTER

SECTION GEOMETRIES

_ORTHOGONAL CONNECTION

_N. WING IS PARTIALLY SHADED BY S.

_NORMAL

_NORMAL

_NORMAL

_DIAGONAL CONNECTION

_N. WING IS PARTIALLY SHADED BY S.

_GATHERS AT INTERSECTION

_ACCUMULATION AT ACUTE ANGLE

_NORMAL

_OVERHANG

_2ND LEVEL SURFACES SHADE 1ST LEVEL

_NORMAL

_NORMAL

_RAIN FLOWS OFF OVERHANG

_SETBACK

_SAME ORIENTED SURFACES ARE SIMILAR

_NORMAL

_NORMAL

_GREATER FLOW ON 1ST LEVEL

_INWARD SLANTING PLANE

_SURFACE IS SHADED

_GATHERS IN INSET VOLUME

_LESS ACCUMULATION

_PARTIALLY HINDERED FLOW

_OUTWARD SLANTING PLANE

_MORE EXPOSURE

_NORMAL _MORE ACCUMULATION

_ACCELERATED FLOW DOWN SURFACE

_OVERHANGING PLANE

_SURFACE IS SHADED

_GATHERS UNDER OVERHANG

_NORMAL

_HINDERED FLOW

_ROUNDED PLANE _LOWER PORTION IS SHADED _NORMAL

_GATHERS ON UPPER PORTION _FLOW INTERRUPTED AT HORIZONTAL CENTER

This project is a composition of permanent, temporary and glass surfaces which intersect to create a primary set of spaces. Some are designed to forever exist, such as the laboratory and the permanent exhibits of the visitor center, and others, such as the motel rooms and shops, are designed to run their course depending on their patterns of use.

As time passes, some businesses flourish and their enclosing walls are maintained while others go out of business and are left to decay.

The motel owner may only have the means to maintain four of the rooms, so he may abandon the outer two. The shop owner may allow a separating wall to deteriorate as he expands his business into the next shop over. Spaces originally composed by corrugated steel may open to the outdoors over time while spaces separated by the untreated walls may expand into one another. Inteior lighting qualities change as walls and roofs decay and views of the surrounding landmarks are framed by the residual concrete as temporary walls disappear.

The planning of this project ends with construction as it runs its unpredictable course based on the people and events that come to pass upon it. Its beauty lies in its level of elegance at each stage of its life, from construction to demolition, through maintainance and ruination.

“I like ruins because what remains is not the total design, but the clarity of thought, the naked structure, the spirit of the thing.”

- Tadao Ando

The ruins of Rome are appreciated for their incomplete nature. As people are left to complete the architecture with their imaginations, they more often than not imagine something of greater elegance than what actually existed.

Here, after many years, users will be welcomed to imagine what once existed while users who visit after only one or two years, can also imagine what will one day be. The differences in the exposure to the sun and the exposure to the salty moisture of the sea result in differences of pace in the process of weathering.

As visitors gaze one direction through a concrete framed view of Trestles Surf Beach, they may turn around to the opposite wall to wonder whether or not another view will reveal itself through the rust upon their next visit.

The joint, the origin of nature’s claim as defined by Scarpa, is where weathering has its greatest effect.

Vernacular methods of construction in Post-War Southern California, such as use of corrugated steel and dimensioned lumber framing, are adjusted to intend for a poetic deconstruction over time. Unprotected corrugated steel rusts to uncover douglas fir framing which rots to reveal the fundamentality of the concrete and the anchor bolt, a process which begins instantly but may take over fifty years to complete.

As temporary walls deteriorate, the newly exposed concrete begins to stain, delayed behind the walls which were exposed from the beginning but ahead of those protected from moisture behind the enclosure of glass.

The Poetic Plan reveals this relationship: the darkest shades are the most permanent and the best protected from staining while the lighest shades are the most temporary and the least protected from exposure to the elements.

Differences in pace are vital to the building’s concept, as otherwise, surfaces hold similar textures that do not tell the process of their weathering.

As time and architecture work together, they result in architecture that, upon the wrickles of its skin, reveals the story of its past.

The remains of the rusting corrugated steel, barely attached to the seasoned wood.

The differences in dirt of the concrete exposed many years ago to the concrete recently revealed.

The competing lines of shadow and rust which change week after week, but also hour after hour.

Architecture and Time

the Poetry of the joint

the Science of material properties

When ruination begins to inform creation, As the building becomes of the site, And the future changes to the past...

...the surfers who have historically used the site as a viewing point may one day gaze out to the ocean from atop this dirt stained ruin as it becomes simply another chapter within the cultural history of San Onofre.