craftpoetic Cavin Family Traveling Fellowship Drew Hastings, 2014 recipient Final Report
Overnight stays, in order 1. Split, Croatia 2. Zadar, Croatia 3. Rijeka, Croatia 4. Stuttgart, Germany 5. Basel, Switzerland 6. Chur, Switzerland 7. Vals, Switzerland 8. Bregenz, Austria 9. Munich, Germany 10. Seville, Spain 11. Madrid, Spain 12. Copenhagen, Denmark 13. Oslo, Norway 14. Alesund, Norway 15. Cologne, Germany 16. Amsterdam, Netherlands 17. Rotterdam, Netherlands 18. Brussels, Belgium 19. London, England
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Introduction: My goal for this research was to experience and examine architecture that possesses poetic expression through its craftsmanship. From the beginning, I knew that there are many aspects of architecture that make a particular project beautiful and poetic, including space, form, and light. But this research was meant to dive deeper—to investigate and begin to understand how projects find their poetic expression through the use of materials and methods and connection to location. I was not interested in any particular style of architecture. Instead, I chose to visit particular regions of Europe where architectural craft resonates with local culture, local resources, local ecology, and local landscape. Through all of this, I wanted to see how a resonation between craft and environment can create meaningful, poetic expression. From the outset, I also believed that method of construction might also play an interesting role in the relationship between craft and poetry. I was interested in how innovative methods in fabrication and construction—like the use of robotics, CNC routing, and 3D printing—can contribute to a new beauty in architecture. I was also interested in how simple, traditional techniques can achieve a quiet poetic expression.
While the results of my research are in some ways intangible and hard to categorize, looking back, there are three categories that most helped me to investigate and contemplate the poetry of architecture through craft: material, method, and message. In some architectural projects, the materiality of the project itself possesses the projects poetry. In others, the construction or design method resulted in an experiential beauty. And in still others, the project’s message, whether it be expressed through a cultural reference, the genius loci, or a profound connection to the landscape or environment, embodied the project’s “craft poetic.” These three categories—material, method, and message—obviously overlap and interrelate in significant ways. Nonetheless, they provide useful lenses for me, a young architect at the beginning of my design career, attempting to bring to my practice lessons learned from poetic architecture abroad. It is my hope that through these lenses, this research will in some small way help inform the work that I do.
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Holzbauen (wood buildings) Grisons, Switzerland Vorarlberg, Austria Material: Wood, Wood, and Wood
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rocksresort Laax, Switzerland Domenig Architekten Material: Gneiss Stone Typical of most Swiss architecture, the forms of these buildings are pure boxes, but where they are most successful is in the the use of local Gneiss stone. The building stays true to its material by possessing a rough texture which resembles a natural rock formation.
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Kunsthaus Bregenz Bregenz, Austria Peter Zumthor Material: Frosted Glass This building deceived me at first. The frosted glass appears to be the means through which diffuse light enters the gallery space. It turns out that the exterior glass is often backed up by opaque walls that block out daylight. Also, the ceiling is made of the same frosted glass and creates the appearance of daylight, but upon further inspection there are electric lights that illuminate the space. Zumthor’s objective ws to create an exterior that related to the light quality around the lake, and also create an even lighting condition within the interior gallery space.
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Vorarlberg Museum Bregenz, Austria Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architectkten Material: Concrete This new addition to the museum reinterpretes the idea of ornament. Te choice to use bottles as the form, combined with the material and pattern creates a multi-layered reading of the building.
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Brandhorst Museum Munich, Germany Sauerbruch Hutton Material: Terracotta The architects drew inspiration from the color palette of the nearby neighborhood to inform the colors on the facade. This building is beautiful in it’s simplicity and its complexity by using the simple massing form as the canvas on which to paint a rich array of color. By themselves the colors have a seemingly discordant relationship, but from a distance they create a larger harmonious movement across the facade.
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Tietgenkollegiet Housing Copenhagen, Denmark Lundgaard Tranberg Arkitektfirma Material: Tombak, Oak The circular form of the building is arguably the most compelling aspect of this building, but the richness of the materials provide a deeper level of warmth and sense of home that contribute to a very strong sense of place.
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Carabanchal Social Housing Madrid, Spain Foreign Office Architects Material: Bamboo Villaverde Social Housing Madrid, Spain David Chipperfield Architects Material: Stained Concrete 132 Social Housing Block Madrid, Spain Estudio Entresitio Material: Zinc The fine grain of all three of these projects convey an idea that the individual parts are what create an interesting whole. Being social housing the faceades deal with the harsh Spanish sun in a reponsible way, both environmentally and economically.
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Bruder Klaus Chapel Wachendorf, Germany Peter Zumthor Method: Hand-Hewn What I love most about this structure is how it tells the story of it’s construction. To describe the building it is necessary to describe the process of how it was built. It is part performance art, part architecture. To create the interior space zumthor had tree trunks bound together, then concrete poured around them, and then the trees burned. This not only blackened the concrete but also stamped the concrete with the trunks’ relief.
Peter Zumthor Atelier Haldenstein, Switzerland Peter Zumthor Method: Large-scale models I was given a tour of Zumthor’s atelier and was amazed at how many large-scale models filled up the space. He really studies his projects on a very concrete level.
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IDC-ITKE Research Pavilion ‘13-’14 Stuttgart, Germany IDC-ITKE, University of Stuttgart Method: Digital Fabrication Because this structure is almost all wood, it is an example of craftsmanship and carpentry in the context of digital fabrication. Craftsmanship, or handicraft, is both the design and the execution of said design. The execution depends on the tools and the ability of the carpenter. Good carpentry usually relies on some degree of physical fitness to wield the tools and mental acuity to execute the design. I sometimes appreciate when traces of the human hand are left in wood as imperfections because it helps humanize the wood. The use of robots to execute digital designs leaves less room for error, and therefore less room for hand-hewn character. So if we are to evaluate craft in robotics-assisted carpentry it seems that more onus falls on the planning and design component rather than the execution. Or rather the execution of the carpentry, when using robots, now relies more on one’s mental skills to program the robot and less on physical ability. Craftsmanship in this form of carpentry is largely dependent on the ability to program. So computer programming is the craftsmanship of robotic carpentry.
Landesgardenschau Exhibition Hall Schwaibisch Gmeund, Germany IDC-ITKE, University of Stuttgart Method: Digital Fabrication While beautiful in its own right, the method is the most compelling aspect of the project. The wound fibers were more rigid than I anticipated. It appears that the strings have a polymer coating on them that hardens after the weaving is complete. The stiffness of the strings provides compressive strength so that the strings can act both in tension as well as compression to provide the structural integrity for the structure.
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ETH Zurich Zurich, Switzerland Method: Computational Design Projects include: Tailorcrete: Researching reusable modular formwork that is shaped using a robotic milling process to allow for complex concrete forms. Smart Dynamic Casting: Lead by Ena Lloret Kristensen, Smart Dynamic Casting specifically aims at removing the need of individual made formwork for the construction of complex concrete structures. The project is conducted in an interdisciplinary research team with specialists from the department of civil engineering and building material sciences.
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Danish Technological Institute Copenhagen, Denmark Method: Concrete Research Projects include: Tailorcrete: Researching reusable modular formwork that is shaped using a robotic milling process to allow for complex concrete forms. DIGISTONE: Concrete that allows motion pictures to be viewed on it its surface by transfering light through it with the use of fiber optic cables.
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3D Printed Canal House / Kamer Maker Amsterdam, Netherlands DUS Architects Method: 3D Printing DUS Archietects is currently rsearching and designing the first fully 3D-printed house. To achieve this they built a large, mobile 3D printer to make the kit of parts that will be assembled together. The pieces are hollow on the inside and are able to be filled with concrete, insulation, etc. They have come a long ways to develop this system but they still have a ways to go before the first house is built.
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Metropol Parosol Seville, Spain J. Mayer H. Method: Digital Fabrication In addition to the compelling digital fabrication method used for this project, the Metropol Parosol creates an awe inspiring public space, used by locals and tourists alike. The overall shape created by the project, referred to by many locals as “mushrooms� is poetic and striking. My one disappointment is that the details of this project are not as clean and seamless as I would have liked.
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Tverrfjellhytta, Norwegian Wild Reindeer Pavilion Hjerkinn, Norway Snøhetta Method: Digital Fabrication This pavilion is one of many destinations along the Norweigian Tourist Route. The route follows the highways through the scenic Norweigian landscape and provides visitors with well-designed viewpoints, rest stops, and cultural centers. The Reindeer Pavilion frames a view of Snøhetta Mountain as well as the high plain leading up to it. Here, both the mountain and the reindeer herds can be witnessed. Unfortunately, during my visit I encountered a snowy whiteout, which made for quite the adventure. My rental car didn’t have snow tires so I had to park down the mountain, miles from the pavilion’s parking lot. I had to race against mother earth as the snow kept accumulating on the ground. During my hike I kept losing sight of the footpath and could not see the pavilion until I was about 50 yards away from it. It was a precarious situation but worth the risk!
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Pope John Paul II Hall Rijeka, Croatia Randic-Turato Arkitekti Method: Computational Design The simplicity of the form and simplicity of the materials of this project allow for the more dynamic poetic statement of the terracotta layout and spacing. One could argue that the boldest, most poetic statement is the pure terracotta mass itself, but I think the real expression comes out in the variegated mesh-like quality of the material as it stretches across the building face. In a way the skin of this building is like a chameleon, not in the literal color-changing sense, but in how it is trying to blend in with the local vernacular language of stereotomic running bond masonry while flipping the local vernacular on its head to open up to a new way of working with this material.
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Basel Messeplatz Basel, Switzerland Herzog & Demeuron Method: Computational Design
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Liege Train Station Liege, Belgium Santiago Calatrava Method: Computational Design
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Sea Organ + Sun Salutation Zadar, Croatia Nicola Basic Message: Landscape Sea Organ: The Sea Organ, designed by Croatian architect Nikola Basic, is made from traditional materials but is far from traditional architecture. Formally, the Sea Organ is a set of terraces that step down from the Zadar Riva sea wall (built after the water front was destroyed in WWII) into the water. Under the terraces are organ pipes that play music when the ocean water moves through them. The visual presence is almost nil, but the audible presence is quite striking. This project is beautiful not just because of the sound it produces but because of the strong sense of place that it creates. One reason that this project is particularly compelling is that the sound comes from a perennial, never-ending, source of energy— the constant ebb and flow of the ocean. The Sun Salutation: Also designed by architect Nikola Basic, is made with more modern materials and creates a sense of community and place through the light it omits at sunset. Like the Sea Organ, this project also has a minimal visual presence during the day. At sunset, however, the light display, which reflects the cloud patterns of the day, is striking and exciting.
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Nordwest Haus Bregenz, Austria Baumschlager Eberle Arkitekten Landscape
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The Blue Planet Copenhagen, Denmark 3XN Architects Lansdcape
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Oslo Opera House Oslo, Norway Snohetta Landscape
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Birmingham Library Birmingham, England Mecanoo Message: Cultural
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Jewish Museum Munich Munich, Germany Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch Cultural
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London School of Economics Saw Swee Hock Student Centre London, England O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects New/Old
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Spiekenisse Library Spiekenisse, Netherlands MVRDV Cultural
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Kolumba Museum Cologne, Germany Peter Zumthor Old/New
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Refugio Liepthaus Flims, Switzerland Nickish Sano Walder Architekten Old/New
Das Gelbe Haus Flims, Switzerland Rudolfo Olgiati Old/New
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Caixa Forum Madrid Spain Herzog & DeMeuron Old/New
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Danish Maritime Museum Copenhagen, Denmark BIG Old/New
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Vals Therme Vals, Switzerland Peter Zumthor Landscape Vals Therme might be the ultimate embodiment of what I was seeking on this fellowship. The project is deeply and profoundly connected to its context and creates a holistic, poetic experience. Vals Therme was built with the same Gneiss stone that has been used on the roofs of the houses in Vals for hundreds of years. The stone is quarried locally and makes for a dependable and beautiful building material. In fact, Zumthor’s original concept for the Therme was to make it feel like a quarry. The concept is born out the local landscape and is rooted in its surrounding context. Aside from the beautiful concept, the building is a masterpiece of how to deal with all of the senses with which we experience the physical world. Zumthor tuned this building by designing the light, sound, temperature, views, and even smells.
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