Toward an underground architecture An essay on underground
Toward an underground architecture An essay on underground
LirĂŤza Elezaj, Marine Fleury, BenoĂŽt Jacques
helvet underground design laba press, basel, 2013
“Alors fous-moi la paix avec tes paysages! Parle-moi du sous-sol!� Samuel Beckett, En attendant Godot
Toward an underground architecture
Foreword
The perceptions of the underground
Light and vision
Form and tactility
Sound and air
Live the nature
The architecture of the underground
Form and inhabit space
Cast the light
Relate to the exterior
Afterword
Toward an underground architecture
In the midst of all the issues of densification, people are striving to be inventive and find a way to deal with the increasing population. When attempting to find new places to build, an interest in the subterranean rises and discussions spur. We decided that instead of seeing underground building as a solution we call for because of a pressing problem, we wanted to view it as a land of oppor tunities with new architectural potentials and qualities. We are aware that the underground is perceived as the negative substitute to the sur face. But we are also aware that not only the underground possesses many qualities, but like with everything, its limits can stir creativity and lead to beautiful works. Michel Foucault, when speaking about our perception of space, clearly puts both kinds of spaces in the same pedestal of dream and passion: “The space of our primar y perception, the space of our dreams and that of our passions hold within themselves qualities that seem intrinsic: there is a light, ethereal, transparent space, or again a dark, rough, encumbered space; a space from
Toward an underground architecture
above, of summits, or on the contrar y a space from below of mud; or again a space that can be flowing like sparkling water, or space that is fixed, congealed, like stone or cr ystal.� It is in this spirit that in this essay we will first lead you through a journey that tends to describe how we, as underground travellers perceive the underground spaces. We will then determine its qualities and issues and tempt to carry its atmosphere. Based on this, we will propose cer tain building principles that will not only try to help to design architecture in the underground, but they will also aim to preserve the distinctive character of the subsur face.
Toward an underground architecture
Entering underground it is like submiting ourselves to new principles. Our entire body is involved. While at the surface we face a multitude of vanishing points, the underground has an other dynamic. Solid surrounds us. Facades disappear taking away their streets and traffic, the horizon gets a new aspect and the sky tends to melt into a black mass. The underground is marked by darkness as well as by stillness. It is not impossible to feel enclosed. It is therefore necessary to set up a multitude of stimuli. Our senses are thus more sollicited and a particular ambiance of the place can emerge. Light and vision, form and tactility, sound and air take here another dimension. Each in its own manner has the power of representing the space they occupy. The underground traveller needs familiar points of reference in order to establish a link with the overworld as we know it. Natural light is that possible link with the outside world, between earth and sky. Light and vision are the underground space guides. They define forms and
Toward an underground architecture
materials and do not stop to indicate where we stand. They are proof of time, of hours and seasons. They reveal. They emplify. Natrual light being rare and precious, the support of those spaces with artificial light becomes matter of importance and design. Being source of control, it incarnates the eventual creation of an other reality. It fashions new atmospheres. It suggests. It overwhelms. But light is not the only important thing in the unerground feelings. All our senses are different. We are more awake. Contrasts being maybe the source of that sensitivity. We are less distracted by millions of images, motions, speed and noises. Inside the Earth, there is only one time, one action. Things are more precise. The underground space lives for itself and we can feel it. Maybe it is that feeling of which we are afraid. We think it can surprise us and keep us there. But let us not panic, the underground only wants to offer us something that does not exist in the same manner in the overworld. It is a wolrd of romantism, safety, retreat and protection. These are the feelings we come to feel underground when in presence of enough
Toward an underground architecture
familiar points of reference. Most of our sensory neurons that go to our brains, come from our eyes and less from the other senses. That is why it comes natural to think that we only perceive with the eyes when in fact, the other senses play a crucial role. When we go underground, we brace ourselves to discover a new world of form and tactility whose nature we do not know, and we had no way of anticipating from the outside. An underground building system is not visible in its entirety on the surface. At first, we do not know its scale, its form, its organizational plan nor its depth. This may lead to the uneasy feeling of being lost and not controlling the situation. We can not position ourselves in our mind map as a dot in a volume. We do not know how deep we can go, how large the building is and we may get the constant dead-end feeling, the dead-end that may or may not be just around the corner. That is why we want to grasp our immediate surroundings and materials. The need or even the desire to touch reveals itsself. Our hands be-
Toward an underground architecture
come a tool that we reach out to in order to understand better. Touching awakens our conscience about our environment. we need to know what the rock feels like, its temperature, its texture. When in an underground space, especially in a natural one like a cave, but even in a manmade one that has natural characteristics, we undergo a new setting. Rudolf Arnheim says ‘’Order is a necessary condition for anything the human mind is to understand.’’ Is the accidental space of a cave orderly to us? Are its non-Euclidian walls that come in different angles comforting to us? Pierre von Meiss describes texture as a certain pattern that is so closely repeated that our eye perceives it as a whole. Are stratification of a natural rock even perceived as texture by us? We often speak of walls or columns that generate spaces. Euclidian shapes, starting from circles, squares then rectangles etc, have certain focal points, they have determined centers, determined diagonals and therefore we have spaces that we handle as architects and grasp immediately as travellers. But an underground space is a different story. Here we have a
Toward an underground architecture
void of a what we call irregular shape that is contained by a big solid mass. The atmospheric tension in it is different and we do not handle materials but we undergo the properties of the local rock. But these are also different potentials that the underground offers. The fact that we ca not perceive the whole building in the outside, gives room for different designs that have labyrinthian qualities and contain elements of surprise. When it comes to the rooms in its-selves, what can also be associated to them is a feeling of seclusion, a feeling of safety and that great feeling of living the earth, the symbol of fertility. As a last perception, sound and air have also the power of representing a space. It is through the reverberation and its movement that we are able to perceive the extent of the area. Sound speaks about space. It amplifies it, multiplies it or minimizes it. Because we can hear something we are able to understand that we are part of that reality. In the underground this feeling is major because of the recurrent feeling of being shut in. There, the
Toward an underground architecture
presence of sound is wanted. Background noises gives us indications. It could be discussions, machines, steps, transports or music, it always makes us feel that we take part in the underground activity. It can allude to safety, consciousness and the feeling of belonging to a place. Its indications evoke the space character to which it belongs. They can give rythm to it, soften it, mesure it and our body gives proper value to them. Sound represents everyday motions while natural light describes time. The air reflects the underground environment quality. In our memory it is damp, heavy and fouled. On the other hand, if it is associated to some exterior elements, its value becomes nobler. But funnily enough, as a visitor, if we find in our journey some overworld elements like an atrium, windows or plants, breathing will come a lot easier. The sensation of fresh air is directly connected with those kinds of visions. The relation we have with the air is also directly connected to the fact that we are surrounded by solid. Exposed materials express moisture and humidity. We also do not have any relation with the sky and
Toward an underground architecture
sky is the perception of fresh air. Usually air surrounds us, heats us or cools us. We are constantly in contact with it while the underground gives the impression of being isolated from it. One needs to create the void sensation, the pleasure of fresh air which enlaces us. Underground is the place where all our sensations and perceptions are awakened in a hidden environment and away from the outside tumult. As we have seen, living underground is all about perceptions of the environment. But there is one more important topic to talk about, that speaks more of a spiritual relation with the environment. When we live underground, we live in the Mother Earth, we live the nature. Our time is unquestionably the one of nature, which is more and more present. The word nature is everywhere, in newspapers, in publications, on screens and walls, and most of all in our spirits. The human being has a natural need of reappropriating the lost nature. It becomes central, even essential, and not only due to the modern ecological con-
Toward an underground architecture
sciousness. A certain unease in the city and the urban crisis create the demand for nature. The increasing remoteness from nature incites the desire for it. Gerhard Hard described it in the following way : “Mais bien qu’il nous renvoie à l’illimité, voire à l’infini, le paysage maternel offre toujours à l’homme aussi la patrie, la chaleur et l’abri. Il est un trésor du passé, de l’histoire, de la culture et de la tradition, de la paix et de la liberté, du bonheur et de l’amour, du repos à la campagne, de la solitude et de la santé retrouvée par rapport à la frénésie du quotidien et aux bruits de la ville.” Once left the city, we can’t talk about living the nature without talking about Henry David Thoreau, who was the first writer, maybe the first “architect”, who describes architecture not as a form but as a relationship with the natural environment. With his book Walden or the life in the woods, Thoreau tells us of his retreat. His program is famous: “I was going into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, face only to essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach”. According
Toward an underground architecture
to him, it is not enough to live in the nature, we must live the nature. And in general, the artifact is not opposed to the nature, it extends and enriches it. Thoreau defines straightaway the ideal of what will be called “organic architecture”. All of a sudden, nature itself starts being architecture: “My best room, my living room, is the pine woods behind the house”. Maybe in our vision, our best room could be a cavern in the nature. The virtue of a good house in nature is to give the nature as house. Not only would we be living in its midst, but we would contribute in the protection of its many beautiful visual aspects, thus preserving the sublime landscapes. We could finish with a sentence from Peter Zumthor, which can say better than us can how sumptuous the nature is: “L’homme vient de la nature et y retourne. [...] Nous nous sentons entre de bonnes mains. Modestes et fiers à la fois. Nous sommes dans la nature, dans cette vaste forme qu’en fin de compte nous ne comprenons pas et qu’à l’instant de l’expérience vécue, nous n’avons même pas besoin de comprendre, tant nous ressentons que nous
Toward an underground architecture
sommes partie d’elle.� In this second part of this essay, now that we have seen the quality of the emotional perceptions of living underground, we ask ourselves, as architects, how can we conceive the architecture of the underground? We will try to answer this question, we do not have the pretention to have the last word, but this is our personal way of thinking. And we are going to relate you this in three chapters. The first one is the foundation, to conceive architecture into the ground, before everything, we have to understand how to form and inhabit the space. Contrary to the above ground architecture, we form spaces by a process of matter subtraction. Therefore, to be in harmony with the underground, the shape must change and adopt a proper language. As we are not used to the underground, let us do the exercise of imagining how this extraction should be. The extraction generates the void which defines the form and the space. We can all imagine those two words;
Toward an underground architecture
we have thousands of images of forms and spaces. The space hollows the rock, leaving form behind and sometimes goes on to creating an other room. If we repeat this exercise, we can imagine different spaces, and we understand that an important fact of the underground architecture is that only one void puts everything in relation and binds all spaces. Jean Houel describes very well this process, in his Voyage pittoresque des Isles de Sicile, de Lipari et de Malte in 1787: “Ce qui est remarquable, c’est qu’on agrandissoit son logement à mesure que la petite famille s’augmentoit. On creusoit alors dans le rocher : au fond de la dernière chambre, une porte, puis une autre chambre de la grandeur qu’on vouloit ; ou bien on creusoit dans le plafond, et l’on se pratiquoit un appartement au-dessus du sien“. We have seen that for most of people, being in the underground provokes a feeling of claustrophobia. In order to remedy this bad sensation and the feeling of an underground labyrinth, the system should show a direction, it should be anisotropic and heterogeneous.
Toward an underground architecture
If we now talk about the form, how do we show the qualities of the underground? The first thing, maybe obvious, is that we should respect certain data inherent of mineral elements, and express their different characteristics. For example, stones have trouble in bending resistance, that is why we will prefer a system of vaults and arches which are the best shape to discharge forces and can espouse distinct forms according to the morphology of the rock. The range varies depending to the environment and the quality of the stone. At the same time, arches help to control spaces, if one is lower than the others, it creates two different spaces. It reminds us of a sentence from the painter Alexandre Hollan, “La forme est nécessaire, trouver les bords pour ne pas être avalé par la profondeur”. He was talking about a drawing of an oak-tree like this one, but we can easily imagine this sentence for an underground space (maybe even more). When we think about a nice underground space, we all imagine some strong rock walls, and we feel good and protected. We touch this wall, we approach our ear and if
Toward an underground architecture
we listen well, we can hear the sound of the water flowing somewhere behind it. And what provokes our visual emotion is the story that the rock tells us, shaped by the vagaries of the time, the pressures, the cleavages, showing different stratums, and sometimes rests of the passage of dynamites or crowbars. For all of those reasons in the drawings of the excavation forms, we must respect the stone and its stratification. In a certain way, we have to let the earth live, if we sterilize the underground, it will lose the qualities of being an underground. We know that in a certain part of the underground construction, the rock is loose and it is not possible to let the rock visible. But we still can express the fact of being underground and preserve its character. For instance, thanks to geometry, if the walls are not vertical but a bit leaned and come closer at the top, we obtain a simple tectonic effect that immediately gives the feeling of an underground. Or we also can express it by the materiality or the texture of the retaining wall; it can reveal the excavated material.
Toward an underground architecture
Once we form the space, we arrive to an important point: how do we transform this void to an inhabitable space? Today, we cannot live just in a nude cavern, as prehistoric men, we need to add more separation walls, furniture and all today’s techniques. So in order to express the differences between underground and what we know above ground, what is added to make the place inhabitable should be expressed as such. This does not prevent us from doing it like in traditional troglodyte houses, where the furniture and the stairs are included in the mass; niches, cupboards and benches carved in the rock can coexist with added wooden furniture. One other special characteristic of the underground is the disappearance of the local identity, which means the disappearance of different cultures. The underground under the Alps, Nairobi, or Tokyo must be different and show somehow his own above ground culture. The rock walls would not be enough to express it, so what is added should belong to the local identity and knowledge. Once underground, an eminent question comes up: How
Toward an underground architecture
do we cast the light? The first vision that comes to mind is that of obscurity. Coming with the latter, coldness, fouled air, and feelings of no-return are the regular impressions. We all have known a dark and damp cellar, a hidden cave enclosing an unobtainable tresure or again an obstructed and insalubrious basement. These common underground preconceptions are not here by accident. The lack of views and natural light evokes a feeling of confinment. But despite these prejudices we have nevertheless experimented in some undergrounds, there are many vertues and elements that can be handled better in those mystical spaces. Jules Verne, one of those who best describes the wonders of underground spaces, writes: «Je pensais seulement que les ténèbres sont belles aussi. Si tu savais tout ce qu’y voient des yeux habitués à leur profondeur! Il y a des ombres qui passent et qu’on aimerait suivre dans leur vol! Parfois ce sont des cercles qui s’entrecroisent devant le regard et dont on ne voudrait plus sortir!... Voistu Harry, il faut avoir vécu là pour comprendre ce que je ressens, ce que je ne puis t’exprimer!»
Toward an underground architecture
We understand well that the main underground topic seems to be the lack of natural light. Sunlight provides the feeling of being connected to nature, the feeling of warmth and most of all, the sense of time. However, we should face the fact that it will not always be possible to bring in natural light in the subsurface. The daylight will be rare there and the deeper we are the rarer it will be. And yet, what is rare is precious and even more beautiful and should be treated as such. Spaces benefitting direct natural light will be the jewell of a building. When we talk about light, we talk about obscurity too. Any space is first of all a black hollow in which we insert openings that bring in beams of sunlight. The latter is able to enhance the feeling of a spacious or of a confined interior. The end of light, or the beginning of obscurity marks the limit of space. As much as natural light is powerfull in assuming different statuses according to exterior characteristics (time of the day, atmosphere, seasons), artificial light can be designed in different ways; colours, intensity, directions,
Toward an underground architecture
shadow and light patterns. Most of the time, undergrounds are enlighted conventionally and uniformly which creates monotonous spaces. Furthermore, artifical light does not even have the physiological benefits of the natural light. But natural light has drawbacks too. It blinds, to overheats and is moody depending on the weather. We can ask ourselves, how is it possible to give the underground space qualities through the architecture of light? A good lighting needs to consider the space characteristics, surface colours and materiality. They are revealed thanks to the light which describes it. Natural light enables the visitor to understand where he is in space but also in time. It is the link with the exterior which makes this possible. We can use different techniques to reach very deep underground spaces with natural light like transmission and reflection through wells, canals or cables. But we have to confront the fact that at a certain depth, natural light is hard to come by and the use of artificial light becomes mandatory. But let us not
Toward an underground architecture
despair! Artificial light has much to offer and being isolated from the outside, thanks to it we can create a whole new reality. Artificial light, unlike natural light which is constantly changeable, is stable and able to underline details, shadows, to glorify surfaces; it is constant in its action but can also be modified attending to some precise desires. Illuminating does not only mean giving the right quantity of light to objects and spaces, but well mesuring, dominating, controlling and interpreting the surrounding space. Also each type of light can have a different function in the sense of Michel Malet: « La lumière artificielle agit comme un accompagnement sélectif et intelligent du parcours en nous aidant à observer tel ou tel de ses composants. La lumière naturelle, elle, agit comme un guide facilitant notre orientation.» Artificial light being the mostly used luminous source in the underground due to the rarity of natural light, represents an important tool. We are individually able to control it and the present technology gives back the possibility of flexibility from colours to quantity. Most
Toward an underground architecture
of the positive physiological effects created by natural light come from ultraviolet waves and the visible portion of the spectrum. With our technological means, it is possible to use an artificial light which has these characteristics. Also, the temperature of the light source can be chosen according to the colours of the illuminated areas and thus enhance the character of their materiality. Another thing we have to be careful with when casting artificial light, is the orientation of the source. It is better not to use an orthogonal projection on the surfaces (walls, ceilings) but a multitude of incidence angles which produce a uniform rendering of the space and a feeling a spaciousness. For example, when indirect light is projected on the whole ceiling, we get the feeling it is higher. Another cleverness to amplify spaciousness is to let periferic surfaces in the shadow in order to give an impression of infinite spaces. Indirect light and hidden sources also avoid dazzling. This variety of types of lighting causes many shadow and light patterns. The latter produce visual stimulations
Toward an underground architecture
which are very helpful especially in the circulation areas. They are supposed to guide us through the building. Circulation spaces should offer the comfortable sensation of not being lost. Therefore indirect light coming through the rooms to the corridors for example, whether artificial or natural, can lead us forward. In this case, it is the light as cue. Lastly, we will talk about the ways we can relate to the exterior and enlighten, even open the underground. The act of entering the subsurface could be an abrupt one that takes us from light to darkness, from warmth to cold, from heat to dampness. When we think of it we imagine staircases going down, manholes or cave doors. But it does not have to be that way. Not only the act of going down does not have to resemble that but also the underground spaces do not have to be black and cold. We will talk here about four main topics: the frontal window, the skylight, the entrance and the in-between space. Frontal windows are a very current architectural element in
Toward an underground architecture
the surface but are hard to come by in the underground. A typical situation where the frontal window can be possible, is when a building is implemented on a hillside. The frontal window offers a view to the landscape. Since it will be a rare element in the underground, it will have to be designed and placed preciously. We propose that this window over the view goes to individual rooms. When it is possible it is important that it is these spaces that benefit from a direct connection to the landscape and to natural light. These rooms are places where we spend a lot of time alone. They are places of meditation, work, intimacy and personal well-being. Which spaces they are exactly, it is to be interpreted in each case depending on the program. It is therefore important that they do not have the monotony of isolation, but that they offer the evolution of daylight and the distraction or entertainment that offers a window. It is the window of the view. Since all windows can not be vertical, the use of skylights will take an important place. We propose that skylights go
Toward an underground architecture
to common areas. Common areas are spaces where contact with people is more frequent or where we are in the presence of other distractions. Here, other architectural elements such as height, proportions and connections to other rooms take more importance. A skylight which offers abundant light and a glimpse of the mood of the sky, raises these rooms to a higher status. This is why a window of the view is not the main priority here. It is the window of the external reference. Windows and skylights do not have to be the only link to the exterior and looking outside does not have to be the only way of communication with the surface. What we call in-between spaces are spaces that even though they are below the ground level, they are greatly linked to the surface. One example of in-between spaces are patios. A patio offers an outside room, surrounded by walls but open toward the sky. These properties make it no different from a surface patio. An atrium is also a great connection to the exterior. The atrium has the advantage of containing circulation areas
Toward an underground architecture
and frontal windows of the spaces that it distributes, thus giving natural light. Both these spaces not only soften the relation with the surface but also help us perceive the building as a whole and guide us through it. They might turn out to be crucial elements of the underground architecture. When it comes to the action of going underground, the threshold may be too brusque. A certain transition should be offered one way or another, unless of course, reproducing a rabbit hole is an intention of design. As we mentioned before, the benefit of the atrium is that it can contain circulation, we can go down through it and have a constant relation to the underground and the surface at the same time. When under, we have a real view of the sky and abundant natural light, and when outside, we perceive how deep we are going and the scale of the building. Another way of going underground, is the pavilion entrance. That is to say a room on the surface through which we go first and where we find our way through. It is a project in itself which is meant to guide us through the
Toward an underground architecture
entrance and offer an element of surprise. Whatever the architect chooses to design, we think that these thresholds should serve two purposes. First of all, they should express the motion towards the underground, and second of all they should contribute to the project image that is lacking, the emerging elements will suggest the hidden ones.
Toward an underground architecture
This text merely invites architects to reflect on new potentials even when they don’t appear promising. Prejudices and preconceptions can sometimes be slowdowns to evolution. The underground, like the skies, has always incited our imaginations. By gathering our fascinations, reflections and keeping an open mind we are sure that through modern technology, we can design underground spaces to great effect.
Toward an underground architecture
List of illustrations: ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL. ILL.
1 ELIASSON Olafur, The Weather Project, 2003 2 PIRILÄ Marja, Interior/Exterior, Camera Obscura, 2004 3 DESCARTES René, Les passions de l’âme, 1649 4 HOLLAN Alexandre, Forces en formation, 2007-2009 5 ARANCIO Salvatore, Birds, 2013 6 Sound Mirror, United Kingdom 1920 7 COROT Jean-Baptiste, Souvenir de Mor tefontaine, 2002. 8 Höhle_Schweiz_2, Source: Laba 9 Sami-Arquitectos, Gruta de Torres 2005 10 Sami-Arquitectos, Gruta de Torres 2005 11 HOLLAN Alexandre, Le déchêné, 2011 12 ZUMTHOR Peter, Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, 2007 13 EAMES Charles & Ray, Bikini chair, 1951 14 APPIA Adolphe, La Comédie Divine, 1921 15 ZUMTHOR Peter, Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, 2007 16 AVOTINS Janis, Untitled, 2009 17 ELIASSON Olafur, Beauty, 1993 18 TURRELL James, Guggenheim Project, 2013 19 ZUMTHOR Peter, Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, 2011 20 VERMEER Johannes, De geograaf, 1668-1669 21 PEZO VON ELLRICHSHAUSEN, Casa Cien, 2008-2009 22 MOSER Karl, Univeristät Zürich, 1914 23 SELMONI Pierino, Géant, 1979
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VERNE Jules, Les Indes noires, J. Hetzel et Cie, Paris, 2011. VON MEIJENFELDT Ernst, Below ground level, Creating New Spaces for Contemporar y Architecture, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2005. VON MEISS Pierre et RADU Florinel, Vingt mille lieux sous les terres, Espaces publics souterrains, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, Lausanne, 2004. VON MEISS Pierre, De la forme au lieu+ de la tectonique, une introduction à l’étude de l’architecture, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, Lausanne, 2012. ZUMTHOR Peter, Penser l’architecture, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2008. ZUMTHOR Peter, Atmosphères, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2008.