JACOB COMBEE UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
JACOB COMBEE
A
rchitecture is the great book of humanity. In Victor Hugo’s This Will Destroy That, he argues that the history of architecture is the history of writing. Before the printing press, mankind communicated through architecture, alphabets were inscribed in books of stone. The idea that architecture is the handwriting of the human race dies with the invention of the printing press. Books could be easily mass-produced, spreading ideas in a cheaper manner and to a larger constituency. Architecture is no longer used to communicate ideas, and thus becomes meaningless (this theory is supported by the profusion of movements that mimicked earlier styles: neo-classicism, neo-Byzantine, etc.). It is my thesis that architecture is still a story telling device, directly communicating purpose through a choreographed procession. In an act of ironic justice, the infusion of technology into our modern lives is destroying the written word. “When the memory of the primitive races began to be surcharged, when the load of tradition carried about by the human family grew so heavy and disordered that the word, naked and fleeting, ran danger of being lost by the way, they transcribed it on the ground by the most visible, the most lasting, and at the same time most natural means. They enclosed each tradition in a monument.� Contents 01
Research
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Model Photographs
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Thesis Plates
The written word creates ideas that become ubiquitous, durability is exchanged for immortality. Words on paper propel schisms into revolutions; Gutenberg is the forerunner of Luther. I propose a construct that preserves this written word that has so heavily molded our existence: a monument, a memorial to the book. This is the story of the library: past, present and future.
01 04 07 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 SITE DIAGRAM
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
OBLIQUE SECTION TWO
SITE ELEVATION
VERTICAL TRANSITION VIGNETTE
INTERIOR ENTRANCE VIGNETTE
LOBBY SECTION PERSPECTIVE
02 05 08 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 OBLIQUE OVERALL
OBLIQUE SECTION ONE
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SECOND FLOOR PLAN
ENTRANCE VIGNETTE
ENTRANCE AXON
ENTRANCE SECTION PERSPECTIVE
INTERIOR ENTRANCE SECTION PERSPECTIVE
BOOKSTACK AXONOMETRIC DETAIL
LIGHTWELL VIGNETTE
LIGHT WELL SECTION PERSPECTIVE
LIGHT WELL AXONOMETRIC SECTION DETAIL
DIGITAL ROOM VIGNETTE
DIGITAL ROOM AXONOMETRIC SECTION DETAIL
EXIT AXONOMETRIC REVISION
Vertical Transition
OVERALL VIGNETTE COMPILATION
A large corten door marks the entrance to the complex, creating a threshold of color when fully extended, framing the ribbon wall of the entrance sequence from the south. The walls of the subsequent space offer a buffer from the city, restricting views and sounds, directing contemplation inward, creating a room with the sky as the ceiling. Here, the symbols of knowledge are revealed in their most elemental forms: water and light.
The stair is an event in the planned procession, transitioning into the earth – a protective barrier for this archive of knowledge. The stairs literally translate the prominence of the building to a user as the slope of the stair provides a gentle descension and is generous enough to allow for impromptu conversation, the movement is more important than the destination. The human transitions from the garden to the crypt. The ambulatory path is mimicked in the handicap path. The rhythm of shadow and light provided by the beams emulates the gait of the human passing along the stairs. The window provides the space for impromptu conversation, while the bridge offers a unique perspective of the compound to visually translate the profound transition from garden to crypt.
Interior Entrance
The corten bridge of the handicap path forms a threshold to mark the entrance into the hallowed space. The walls force a perspective and create a proportion that facilitates movement. The reduction of materials and lack of symbolic gestures creates an otherworldly, disconnected environment – a blank slate prior to the acquisition of knowledge. The entrance draws a user in, marking threshold through a material gesture, while the lowered ceiling again facilitates movement through. Proportion provides a tool to encourage movement or gathering.
Lobby
The pressure of the entrance threshold is released upon transition into the lobby. Symbols of library, past and present, occupy the focus of the room - a librarian’s desk with a single light framed by an antiquated card catalogue database. The desk, clad in corten steel, again marks the next piece of the sequenced puzzle. Light pours down from the book stacks drawing a user under a lowered beam marking the transitional threshold.
Book Stack
A user enters into the book stack, the aisles of the church, physically occupying the wall, the space between two stacks. The paper walls, one foot thick, translate the mass of knowledge stored in a tactile, quantitative object. These book stacks are the literal and metaphorical foundation of the building, they provide the building’s purpose as a museum and archive, as well as the proportional information echoed throughout. The books rest eternally in a dignified manner, their prestige to be carried on electronically.
LOBBY VIGNETTE
BOOK STACK SECTION PERSPECTIVE
The building must unfold through a planned progression of spaces, so too must the description of these spaces be read. Framed by Richard Meier’s High Museum, the building’s location is meant to stimulate a museum district on Atlanta’s Peachtree Street.
The triangle provides the path to this refinement of forms, as the Japanese use the shape to represent the stars, sparks of light that guide us through the darkness that is our lives. The Egyptians use the upside down pyramid to represent the pouring down of knowledge from the heavens. The Greeks interpretation of the upside down triangle represents water; water that is the source of life. Through a study and understanding of these metaphors, I have come to represent knowledge through water and light, water that provides sustenance and life and light that provides a guide in the darkness.
VERTICAL TRANSITION SECTION PERSPECTIVE
BOOK STACK VIGNETTE
EXIT SECTION PERSPECTIVE
Street Entrance
PERSPECTIVE SECTION ONE
PERSPECTIVE SECTION TWO
VERITCAL TRANSITION OBLIQUE DETAIL
Site
If the stacks are the aisles, the central space is the nave. The book and its mass is fully related to the body in this space, while the somewhat homogenous and refrained exterior is juxtaposed with the chaos of the multi-colored, multisized, and multi-aged book spines. The two ends (book ends) are bathed in light, revealing the proportion of the room and framing the great expanse of the vertical stacks. The final symbol of library past is present in this space. This symbol is the stair (or ladder) used to retrieve a book that would otherwise be out of reach. The books are not meant to be removed, as they are now part of the exhibit that is the museum and archive, thus this stair has no purpose other than symbol. A user may ascend the stair, in homage to times past, but its base is embedded in concrete, preventing maneuverability. The concrete forms a bench, a space to sit and reflect on the accumulation of knowledge that surrounds. Light Well
A circular skylight reveals itself upon transition out of the book stacks. The shape of the skylight references an acquisition of knowledge on the level of the Gods; knowledge is readily available and easily accessed. A user is washed in light, again referencing this all encompassing acquisition of knowledge. This threshold offers one last connection to the warmth of the sun before entering the cold arena of the digital realm, a reminder of life.
Digital Acquisition
This room is a commentary on our lives as technology erodes our understanding of humanity and reality. The book becomes attainable via digital screens, screens that are placed uncomfortably close, this space is not meant to comfort. A user stands, and finds no refuge for relaxation throughout the duration of the download. Upon completion of the download, the exit opens automatically, removing the human connection found in librarian of the lobby. A separate stair and elevator are presented, and upon ascension will place a user outside of the compound – back into the world, abruptly and with little regard.
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REVISION
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