Chapter 1 | Introduction

Introduction

Chapter 1 Introduction

Point of departure

Architecture grounded in place and an influence of both tactility, materiality and an incorporation of the senses provides architecture that is best experienced.2 Today, the sight is the predominant sense which has pushed away other sensory experiences from the human frame of reference.3 For a craftsman, all senses are used to master the process of making.4 The theory of Critical Regionalism forms the foundation of this research as it promotes architecture born out of a place while simultaneously mediating the impact of universal civilization.5

Incorporating the senses into architecture can be compared with the work of a craftsman, utilizing the full body and accompanying tools to become a master in the process of making. Examples for a critical regionalism approach are where materiality and adaptation to context has been key in shaping the spatial experience.

For this research examples and theories have been examined that strengthens the notion of contextual architecture and not the least, architecture grounded in craftsmanship, OR perhaps even architecture that is crafted. Craftsmanship as input for architecture design and development is highly relevant and further strengthened in this research as a fundamental human impulse to do a job well for its own sake. 6

It can be argued that the ever accessible and digitalized world further strengthens the notion of architecture that addresses both the global discourse and architecture situated to its place. Lastly, the notion of making is fundamental to the approach outlined in this research as a method of exploration and research.

This thesis takes its departure in Ratan, a rural coastal village with 81 inhabitants in Västerbotten Sweden. Ratan will be the canvas of investigation. A point of departure and testbed to explore the notion of making, inspired by the landscape, the vernacular and the history. Where it all comes together in the making of an archive.

The process for this thesis is inspired by two theories on context and place. Aldo Rossi’s concept of analogue architecture where elements and objects can be given new context through unexpected relationships as well as the theory of Genius Loci put forward by Norberg-Schultz where he urges architects to seek for and visualize the identity of a place to make it meaningful.

This thesis strives to answer questions of place and how elements can be condensed and act as basis for new design. The ambition is to propose three site specific Pioneers, structures representing a poetic and tectonic interpretation of Ratan.

2 Appendix A, - Preparatory research in theory and history of architecture and urban design. Karl Lind (2021) 3 Appendix A 4 Sennett, Richard. The craftsman. Yale University Press, 2008. 5 Frampton, Kenneth. "20 Toward a Critical Regionalism: Six points for an architecture of resistance." Postmodernism: a reader 268 (1993). 6 Sennett, Richard. The craftsman. Yale University Press, 2008.

Rataskär lighthouse 4:th order Fresnel lens Ø 500 mm Anno 1889

Thesis structure

Purpose & Aim The purpose of this research is to explore how architects can answer to the given conditions of a specific site and through the act of making, explore and provide insights as input for a series of Pioneers (design proposals). The aim is to find methods and strategies of how to create thoughtful born-out-of-place architecture that reflects back to its location and surroundings. To learn through the act of making and to involve all senses in the process.

Delimitations

This thesis focuses on a series of fragments identified on location in Ratan whom in turn provides input for the research and the archive. These are a conscious selection from the many buildings and structures present in Ratan. The proposed Pioneers in their respective location are not considering current development plans or the lack thereof. Nor do they take into account regulations regarding shoreline protection or accessibility requirements. Reading instructions This booklet is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1, an introduction to the thesis, its research questions, methodology and theoretical discourse. Chapter 2, the archive, a series of design iterations and reflections. Chapter 3, presents the curious design of three Pioneers as output of the design process. Chapter 4, provides discussion and reflection of the outcome.

Methodology

This thesis is made through research by design where making is the main method of both understanding the context and to provide insights for design. The work is put together into an archive which in turn is used as design input for the Pioneers.

Research questions

How can site-specific buildings and fragments be re-interpreted and used as input for design?

How can making as a methodology be used to constitute an archive as input for design?

Discourse:

On archival practices

Emphasizing the contingent, active and reciprocal nature of knowing, I advocate an anthropology of archiving that would scrutinize the technologies of archive making integral to the work of various practitioners (not just designing architects) and would unravel the underlying conditions of knowledge production in all its forms.15

-Albena Yaneva

Stuart Hall discusses the many aspects that are to be accounted for when constituting an archive. He states that the archive may be largely about the past but that the present and the future always allows it to be reread.7 However, the past articulated is not about recognizing ”how it really was” but rather to take control of memory as it flashes before us in a moment of danger.8 The danger being the threat of traditions as well as the recipients themselves. For the archive to continue to be relevant, it is necessary that it is inclusive, meaning open-ended and not finished, not set in stone, using a one-of-akind methodology unavailable for change or reinterpretation. The archive is not inert and always stands in a dialogic, active relation to the questions that the present puts to the past.9

The archive needs input in form of research and information. As a tool, mapping has worked itself into the toolbox of the architect, providing valuable input to decision-making and visualization. Today, it is capable of visualizing complex data, ”allowing one to see the things they’ve always seen but never seen”.10 Amoroso argues that the map as an artifact, art, guide, image, tool or spatial form allows for map-landscapes which in turn can be used as input for the design process. 11 Mapping is not simply a mean of representation but rather a way to assert agency and power. For it to be effective, the mapper needs to distinguish between tracing and mapping. Tracing is simply reproducing what is identified while mapping can be seen as a productive element representing new things.12 The notion of mapping is utilized in this research.

Following this method, the mapper needs to find elements on the site and when found, visually represent them to tell a story of the site. This is made in three steps; Assemble information, extract insights and lastly, to condensate and visualize. Corner further argues that this method not only reflect a given reality but also provides reflection on seeing and acting in the world. With the help of mapping, the mapper is able to depict elements that otherwise would escape notice.13

The cover image of a symposium titled The Archive: Visual Culture in the Middle East (right), represents a visual of historical typography tools in the Middle East. The symposium discusses the contributions of archives in understanding the past while also acknowledging how challenges both reside and extend from archives or the lack thereof.14 A challenge pertinent also to this research.

7 Hall, Stuart. "Constituting an archive." Third text 15.54 (2001): 89-92. 8 Hall, Stuart. "Constituting an archive." Third text 15.54 (2001). p.92: 89-92. 9 Hall, Stuart. "Constituting an archive." Third text 15.54 (2001): 89-92. 10 Amoroso, Nadia. The exposed city: mapping the urban invisibles. Routledge, 2010. 11 IBID 12 Corner, James. The agency of mapping: speculation, critique and invention. na, 1999. 13 IBID 14 Yasmine Nachabe Taan, Melissa Plourde Khoury. The Archive: Visual Culture in the Middle East. Symposium cover. Text by Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès. https://www.khtt.net/en/page/29610/the-archive-visual-culture-in-the-middle-east (Retrieved 2022-04-05) 15 Yaneva, Albena. Q&A about her research into the process of archiving architecture. ”https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/the-process-of-archiving-architecture/" (retrieved 2022-04-05). 16 Yasmine Nachabe Taan, Melissa Plourde Khoury. The Archive: Visual Culture in the Middle East. Symposium cover. Text by Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès. https://www.khtt.net/en/page/29610/the-archive-visual-culture-in-the-middle-east (Retrieved 2022-04-05)

Figure 1

The Archive: Visual Culture in the Middle East Symposium cover 16 April 2019

Löper man efter fortiden vil man aldrig nå den igjen, - kun ved å manifestere nuet får man fortiden i tale. 22

- Sverre Fehn

On identity

What is the identity of a place and what makes it significant? Architectural historian and Architect Christian Norberg-Schultz searches for a deeper understanding of architecture in his text Genius Loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture (1979)17 and its inherent qualities. He re-introduces the concept of Genius Loci according to its old roman interpretation where It can be understood as an intangible concept that it is the spirit of the place. A photo by Åke E:son Lindman18 (right) is an attempt to capture the Genius Loci through architectural photography.

According to Norberg-Schultz the task of the architect is to create meaningful places, helping man to dwell. In order for the architecture to be meaningful, the architect needs to understand Genius Loci as well as visualize it. Genius Loci is however not about copying old models or histories of a place but instead defining its identity and interpreting it in new, different ways.19

This idea can be further understood through the concepts of structure and meaning. An objects meaning is derived by its relationships with other objects; in essence, what meaning it gathers from its surrounding. Structure refers to the objective aspects of Genius Loci and its formal properties. In creating architecture, human provides a concrete shape of an object and by gathering these objects she symbolizes life in its entirety. An example put forward by Norberg-Shultz of a place with Genius Loci is Prague. This due to it being the very center of the country as well as a city with buildings that condense and gather Genius Loci throughout history. Hence, Prague ”is different and still the same”20 .

In an article for the Swedish paper Arkitektur Norberg-Schultz synthesize the concept of Genius Loci into one word - identity. 21 Investigating architecture through the lens of identity are sometimes associated with conservative advocators seeking to exclude external cultures and influences in favor for navel-gazing research. That is not the aim with this research. In the case of Ratan, a cultural preservation interest in the area helps provide means for restoration and preservation while at the same time, hindering adaptation and development meeting the needs of contemporary residents. Thus, the concept of identity become even more complex deriving from the ideas by Norberg-Schultz.

17 Norberg-Schulz, Christian. "Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture (1979) p,5 .” Historic Cities: Issues in Urban Conservation 8 (2019): 31. 18 Åke E:son Lindman. Genius Loci #2, [photography]. Print #5 (2/7) 1996. Artnet [online]. http://www.artnet.com/artists/%C3%A5ke-eson-lindman/genius-loci-2-tujR8IRvUM7t_mrR1wDEqA2 (Retrieved 2020-02-15) 19 Norberg-Schulz, Christian. "Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture (1979)." Historic Cities: Issues in Urban Conservation 8 (2019) p.192: 20 20 Norberg-Schulz, Christian. "Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture (1979)." Historic Cities: Issues in Urban Conservation 8 (2019) p. 109: 21 21 Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Genius Loci, om platskvalitet. Arkitektur, nr. 2, sid. 34-37. 1992. 22 Grillner, Katja. "Från postmodernism till kritisk regionalism-en längtan efter meningsbärande arkitektur." 1994 7.1 (2015). p.80 23 Åke E:son Lindman. Genius Loci #2, [photography]. Print #5 (2/7) 1996. Artnet [online]. http://www.artnet.com/artists/%C3%A5ke-eson-lindman/genius-loci-2-tujR8IRvUM7t_mrR1wDEqA2 (Retrieved 2020-02-15) 24 Grillner, Katja. "Från postmodernism till kritisk regionalism-en längtan efter meningsbärande arkitektur." 1994 7.1 (2015). p.80

Figure 2

Genius Loci #2 by Åke E:son Lindman (b 1953), year 1996, Original size: 86 x 67.5 cm 23

How to become modern and to return to sources; how to revive an old, dormant civilization and take part in universal civilization. 29

- Paul Ricoeur

On regionalism

This thesis takes makes its starting-point in a very specific setting, the village of Ratan. Historically a blooming trade and customs village, today facing similar challenges as every other small peripheral village in the contemporary globalized society. Long distances to work and school, limited connections along with a willingness to grow.

A relevant theory applied in understanding Ratan and its identity is Critical Regionalism, put forward by Kenneth Frampton in the 1980s. In describing it, he refers to a lengthy quote by Paul Ricouer, outlining the conflict between one’s root and being modern. A willingness to bridge the past without being consumed by it,24 forming a complex opposition between on one hand strengthening region and tradition while on the other absorb world culture and be inspired by other cultures to avoid stagnation or even regression. Here, the fundamental aspects lies in mediating between elements derived indirectly from the site and the impact of universal civilization. Focusing on the peculiarities of a particular place.25

In the age of information, what has been considered remote places are now rather accessible and part of a community that is both global and sophisticated. In these places, possibilities arise for architecture that is still, specific to the place while simultaneously informed by a larger world picture. 26

Critical regionalism is dependent upon maintaining a high level of critical self-consciousness. This is explored by Paradeigma Ariadné Architects in their project Slanted House (pictured right) where the building is accepting the features of the landscape while at the same time proposing a question. Can a house respect the landscape by domesticating it?27

Frampton makes a point in distinguishing between critical regionalism and simple attempts to revive the hypothetical forms of lost vernacular which is at risk of becoming a vehicle of populism. Critical regionalism does not seek to recreate a direct experience of the past but rather a critical perception of reality.28

Much like Norberg-Schultz, Frampton is interested in both the past and the present as a point of departure. No place or story is ever finished as time keeps moving on. Having said this, history and cultural heritage are important aspects informing the existing and providing an insight to the past and the history of a place, while providing insights for the future.

25 Frampton, Kenneth. "20 Toward a Critical Regionalism: Six points for an architecture of resistance." Postmodernism: a reader 268 (1993). 26 Crudelli, Andrea. Beyond Critical Regionalism. A conversation with Kenneth Frampton, Dedalo Building Lab. 2018. https://www.dedalobuildinglab.com/ architecture-conversations/beyond-critical-regionalism-a-conversation-with-kenneth-frampton/ Retrieved (2021-03-13) 27 Paradigma Ariadné. Slanted House. ArchDaily. 05 Nov 2020. https://www.archdaily.com/950780/slanted-house-paradigma-ariadnle> ISSN 0719-8884. (Retrieved 5 Apr 2022). 28 Frampton, Kenneth. "20 Toward a Critical Regionalism: Six points for an architecture of resistance." Postmodernism: a reader 268 (1993). 29 Ricoeur, Paul. "Universal civilization and national cultures." History and truth 271 (1965): 284., pp. 276-7. 30 Paradigma Ariadné. Slanted House. ArchDaily. 05 Nov 2020. https://www.archdaily.com/950780/slanted-house-paradigma-ariadnle> ISSN 0719-8884. (Retrieved 5 Apr 2022). 31 Charny, Daniel. Power of Making, Victoria & Albert Museum. 2011. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/powerofmaking/ (retrieved 2020-10-15).

Figure 3

Slanted house by Paradeigma Ariadné Photo: Attila Róbert Csóka 30

On making

History has drawn fault lines dividing practice and theory, technique and expression, craftsman and artist, maker and user; modern society suffers from this historical inheritance. 37

-Richard Sennet

The act of making has for some architects been a valuable way to learn and to explore. As expressed by David Charny, ”what and how we make defines who we are, and communicates who we want to be.” Craft and making can be considered a way of thinking through the hands as an active way of thinking that can be made without a certain goal.31 For some, making may be the chosen way of thinking while for others, just the joy of making something. The difference between the expert and the unskilled is that when something goes wrong, the expert finds a way around the problem while at the same time, discovering new possibilities when doing so.32

Richard Sennet, a sociologist and author has explored the notion of craftsmanship and argues that craftsmanship names an enduring basic human impulse, the will and desire to do a job well for its own sake.33

It can be argued that designers and architects should be in close contact with both materiality as well as the skill to make things as it informs the design process and our understanding of both space and matter. In many cases, there is a void in between the two. Given that buildings are some of the largest things made, Thomas Heatherwick describes his own drive for learning of materiality and making as a conscious way of understanding architecture and to fundamentally understand design in a three-dimensional way.34

The notion of making as method is thoroughly explained by Tim Ingold, a well known anthropologist. He argues that making is a correspondence between maker and material, where the process is the goal. The process in itself feeds back knowledge and learning to the maker.35 The Granaries of Galicia, Spain (pictured right) are surprisingly similar to its Swedish counterparts with the difference that they are made in stone instead of wood.36 In terms of architecture, the process of making and the understanding of how things are made provides immense possibilities. Architects like Peter Zumthor and Peter Salter manages very well to merit the tacit knowledge of craftsmen with the challenges of construction.

Making may or may not be the goal of working with one’s hands, however, it inevitably produces an outcome. It can be both tangible and manifested in a series of material explorations that can be used as input for the archive.

32 Charny, Daniel. Power of Making, Victoria & Albert Museum. 2011. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/powerofmaking/ (retrieved 2020-10-15). 33 Sennett, Richard. The craftsman. Yale University Press, 2008. 34 Heatherwick, Thomas. Thomas Heatherwick: Making. The Monacelli Press, LLC, 2015. 35 José Ortiz Echagüe. (no date) Granaries of Galicia, Spain. In: Rudofsky, Bernard. Architecture without architects: a short introduction to non-pedigreed architecture. UNM Press, 1987. 36 José Ortiz Echagüe. (no date) Granaries of Galicia, Spain. In: Rudofsky, Bernard. Architecture without architects: a short introduction to non-pedigreed architecture. UNM Press, 1987. 37 Sennett, Richard. The craftsman. Yale University Press, 2008. 38 José Ortiz Echagüe. (no date) Granaries of Galicia, Spain. In: Rudofsky, Bernard. Architecture without architects: a short introduction to non-pedigreed architecture. UNM Press, 1987. 39 Malacarne, Gino. "Aldo Rossi, logika i inwencja projektu." Pretekst (2019). p.53.

Figure 4

Granaries of Galicia image by José Ortiz Echagüe 38

On the analogue

…‘logical’ thought is the thought expressed in words, that addresses itself to the outside world as a discourse. The ‘analogical’ or fantastic thought is sensible, figurative and mute, it is not a discourse but a rumination, material of the past, an act of revolt. The logical thought is ‘thinking in words.’ Analogical thought is archaic, unconscious and practically inexpressible in words.44

Carl Jung

One major inspiration for the archive has been the concept of analogue architecture as put forward by Aldo Rossi. Where collective memories, materials from the past and urban artifacts employ new meanings when entering new relationships. The technique of collaging is interesting as projects and things, real and invented, juxtaposed and cited proposes an alternative to reality. It allows for both following the rules while adhering to the tradition of craft.39 According to Rossi, a logical process where the elements are predetermined and formally defined while the outcome of the process is both authentic and unexpected.40 The 'material of the past’ could be used as input for design, and used as a conditioning element for architecture that is new. This is achieved by ignoring the cultural context out of which certain primary forms emerge.41 For Rossi, the analogue ”involves the suspension of time and the transposition of space”42, to draw inspiration from history whilst exchanging spaces from one place to another.

It is through the personal experience, the choice of characters and the proposal of brand new juxtapositions that makes the system extraordinary alive. It also exposes the story of a place for multiple interpretations through the elementary figures, exemplified (right) in Aldo Rossi's drawing Domestic Architecture 43 where he provides new form and meaning to everyday objects like the coffe-pot.

Aldo Rossi further introduces what he calls the character of a building. Without character and theme, a building is left without meaning and significance, only serving a function.

40 Malacarne, Gino. "Aldo Rossi, the logic and invention of the project." Pretext (2019). 41 Peter Eisenman, “The House of the Dead as the City of Survival” in Aldo Rossi in America: 1976 to 1979 (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), 6. Quoted in 42 42 42 Anderson, Ross. "Analogue Architecture: Between Imagination and Memory." (2013): 4-8. 43 Aldo Rossi, Architettura Domestica. Drawing May 1974. In Archive of Affinities. 2014 https://archiveofaffinities.tumblr.com/post/99381462000/aldo-rossi-architettura-domestica-may-1974 (Retrieved 2022-03-22) 44 Carl G. Jung, in The Freud/Jung Letters: the Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung (March 02, 1910), William McGuire (ed.), trans. Ralph Manheim and R. F. C. Hull (London: Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, 1991), 160 In: Anderson, Ross. "Analogue Architecture: Between Imagination and Memory." (2013): 4. 45 Aldo Rossi, Architettura Domestica. Drawing May 1974. In Archive of Affinities. 2014 https://archiveofaffinities.tumblr.com/post/99381462000/aldo-rossi-architettura-domestica-may-1974 (Retrieved 2022-03-22)46 Zimmerman, John, and Jodi Forlizzi. "Research through design in HCI." Ways of Knowing in HCI. Springer, New York, NY, 2014. 167-189.

Figure 5

Architettura Domestica 45 drawing by Aldo Rossi May 1974

Method

Process oriented approach

Through an iterative and extensive process of mapping and making, this research aims to provide new learnings and insights from Ratan. The method applied is Research through Design (RtD), where making is the main technique of understanding context and to provide insights for design. In essence and regardless of context, RtD is a process-oriented approach where reflection and continuous iteration leads to a deeper understanding of people, problems and context in situations put forward to researchers.46 RtD takes pride in its aptitude in speculating, exploring and diversifying and in particular, its ability to manifest the outcome and result in new, conceptually rich artefacts, an outcome and ambition shared in this research.47

The continuous input from this process is to be put forward and materialized into an archive. The archive in itself is then re-interpreted and reiterated through making to further inform the process forming the first part of this thesis. This first part, making an archive is then used as input for the second part Utilizing the archive, where it is utilized and read again as an input for the final proposal, a series of Pioneers to be proposed in Ratan.

Even when open-ended and experimental as in above mentioned exploration, craft and making observes rules. It involves parameters imposed through the body of the maker as well as materials, tools and scale.48

Even when open-ended and experimental, craft and making observes rules. It involves parameters imposed through the body of the maker as well as materials, tools and scale which in turn affect the outcome.

Theoretical background On archival practices

Making

Identity

Crafted architecture

Critical regionalism

Understanding place

Translation Site

Topography

Fragments Buildings

Language models

Forms

Expression

MODELS MAPS

CHAPTER 1

Models Maps

Models Drawings Making an archive

CHAPTER 2

Utilizing the archive Pioneer 1

Pioneer 2

Pioneer 3

Design iterations Reading an archive CHAPTER 3

Pioneers

Born out of place

Conclusions

CHAPTER 4