Suburban Archipelago by Keri Monaghan

SUBURBAN ARCHIPELAGO

AUTHORS

A body of collaborative research undertaken by Siobhan Dyson, Deborah Martin and Keri Monaghan as part of a Masters Thesis in A rchitecture at the Universit y of Dundee.

ÂŠ 2016

CONTENTS

Preamble I.

Utopian Ontology

II. Suburban Arcadia III. Suburban Mise en ScĂ¨ne Epilogue

PREAMBLE

EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS

fig 1. Operative Montage

ABSTR ACT

‘The first image Koolhaas shows in presenting the Melun-Sénart project is the virgin landscape of agricultural fields. It is completely open and very beautiful and he begins by asking ‘How can we do anything here?’ [...The] idea of where not to build is for us a very powerful way of thinking.’ Philip Christou This project is a counter to the archetypal developer-led suburbia that has come to engulf Dunfermline in recent years. The Post-Capitalist model of suburbia dominated by market forces has contributed to mass alienation between the individual and their environment. Although market forces are often blamed for poor quality urban design, architects too, must share responsibility for imposing “universalising systems [and] structures” which obliterate regional, local and national identity (Lefebvre, 1987). We reject a purely Functionalist approach to suburban design and look to recuperate the fictive quality that architecture can imbue with reference to historic examples of Romanticism in architecture.

‘One could add that this type of [operative] criticism, by anticipating the ways of action, forces history: forces past history because, by investing it with a strong ideological charge, it rejects the failures and dispersions throughout history; and forces the future because it is not satisfied with the simple registering of what is happening, but hankers after solutions and problems not yet shown.’ Manfredo Tafuri Three layers of thinking1 inform the design research; one of theatricality in built form, romanticism in landscape design and an understanding of utopian town planning. Each of these strains of the architectural imaginary are explored in relation to the specific conditions of the site, enabling identified loci to be exploited and amplified.2 The outcome is a matrix of unique points, forming a suburban archipelago within a contrived landscape.

1. Please refer to figure 1 and 2 2. Please refer to figure 3. The three different strains of the architectural imaginary are transcribed in three different ways. Fragments of

utopian town planning are dearticulated and positioned on site, theatrical techniques are transposed on to prescribed parts of the programme (civic centre, church, school), and landscape idealism is reinterpreted into a suburban context , with reference to the English Picturesque.

M AT R I X O F I D E A S

Fragments of Utopian town planning

Theatrical built form

Romanticised Landscape

fig 2

UTO PIAN O NTO LO GY

DEARTICULATE

SUBURBAN MISE EN SCÈNE

TRANSPOSE

SUBURBAN ARCADIA

REINTERPRET

fig 3

I UTO PI A N O NTO LO GY

UTO PIA N O NTO LO GY

Master’s Thesis

Keri Monaghan

CONTENTS

Prologue

A Brief Story of Utopia

II.

Defining the Imaginary

III.

Method in Diagramming

[Representations of Utopia]

IV.

Illustrating Utopia

Sforzinda

Christianopolis

Phalanstery

Garden City

Ville Radieuse

Situating Utopia

[Object vs. Context]

VI.

Conclusion

VII.

References & Bibliography

VIII.

Appendix - Timeline of Utopia

Prolog ue

‘Utopia has been discredited, it is necessary to rehabilitate it. Utopia is never realized and yet it is indispensable to stimulate change’ (Lefebvre, 1991)

The intrinsic link between architecture and utopia

All research and design investigation in this thesis is

is evident throughout history with the first notable

applied within the context of the brief to develop a

proposal of an ideal city outlined in Plato’s Republic

new suburban settlement in Broomhall, Dunfermline.1

of 380BCE. Architects and urban designers have

The analysis of architectural, utopian models informs

continued to draw and posit city plans motivated by the

an alternative design methodology; one in which the

impulse for perfection; from the initial coining of the

history of ideal town planning and diagrams for social

word ‘utopia’ by Thomas More during the Renaissance,

reform are tested spatially in the physical landscape:

to the Modernist proposals of CIAM in the twentieth

(1947) warned that the lesson we should take from

‘The real possibilities of Utopia always require an architectural frame, precisely because both Utopia and architecture are problems of form that turn, in large part, on how individuals and groups appropriate space.’

Plato is ‘the exact opposite of what he tries to teach us,

(Coleman, 2011 )

century. Although utopia’s influence in architecture is indisputable; it continues to be dismissed, either for its totalitarian or unrealistic implications. Karl Popper

[that] the therapy he recommended was worse than the evil he tried to combat.’

This discourse does not wish to suggest that we should be uncritical of utopia throughout history, nor does it aim

Although there is substantial cynicism surrounding the

to achieve a definitive answer as to how we can achieve

idea of utopia, it continues to appear as an inescapable

utopia or even that it should be achieved. Rather, it will

concept in urban design. Symbolically utopia represents

pursue a dialectic between pervasive realism and the

the human need to evolve, it is ‘the history of constantly

productive value of the imagination; arguing that utopia

disappointed yet ever-tenacious hope.’ (Baldini, 1996

as method is as essential to architecture as design or

cited by Borsi, 1997) Civilisation progresses through

engineering. Although indulging in the fantasy of the

utopian thinking and architecture is implicated in the

impossible seems most likely to result in failure, doing

process by giving form to theory. Utopia may require

so is the first step towards opportunity.

the appropriation of space for its potentials to be realised in society, but so too does architecture rely on the continuation of utopian discourse. Without the pull of utopia to propel architectural theory forward and push its ambitions, architecture is sterile. It is within this context that this thesis is positioned; questioning whether the concepts of architecture and utopia can be reconciled.

1 Architecture + the Garden Suburb Broomhall Research Booklet, 2015

A Brief Stor y of Utopia “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.” (Oscar Wilde, 2001)

The history of utopia is expansive and complex so any attempt to detail it in this short study would risk caricaturing its story. However it is necessary to provide a brief overview of the context in which this research is positioned and to outline the specific ideas of utopian thinking relevant to architecture and urban planning. Etymologically, utopia derives from the Greek, ou meaning ‘no’ and topos ‘place’. The word was first coined by Thomas More in his novel of the same title, where he describes an idealised society that has formed in an alternate world on the island of Utopia. From its very conception the self-awareness of utopia’s unattainability is evident, More never suggests that Utopia is anything but a fantasy world. A more appropriate name might have been ‘a-topia’ meaning ‘not place’ or ‘without place’ but the use of the prefix ou is a pun on the homophonic eu meaning ‘good’. Patrick Geddes (2004) suggests that the play on words implies an attainable ‘Eutopia’ - ‘the realisable best that can be made of the here and now, if we invoke and use all the resources available, physical, mental and moral.’ The pun in utopia’s title teases the prospect of a better alternative to the reality we are confronted with, even when acknowledging that a truly perfect society can only exist in fantasy. More’s Utopia was the first published text to envisage a welfare state and free healthcare amongst various other social concerns we continue to address today. To say utopia is purely fantasy is therefore incorrect; we live in a world where fragments of utopia constitute our existence and daily experiences. The novel is split into two halves; the first book is entitled ‘Dialogue of Counsel’ and the second, ‘Discourse on Utopia’. The first book contains a discussion between the author and his fictional protagonist, the explorer Raphael Hythloday. More and Raphael discuss their perceptions of society’s failings; criticising the monarchy, the penal system, poverty in England, and the lack of philosophical thinking that those in power display.

Plato doubtless did well foresee, unless kings themselves would apply their minds to the study of philosophy, that else they would never thoroughly allow the council of philosophers, being themselves before, even from their tender age, infected and corrupt with perverse and evil opinions. (More, 1965)

fig 1: Woodcut illustration from More’s first edition publication of Utopia, 1516

Utopia was not expected to be read as a manifesto

The rigorous Functionalist and utopian dimension

for immediate social reform and therefore it

of Modern Architecture is often cited as the

was unburdened by the reality of its proposals.

failing of modern urbanism. Manfredo Tafuri’s

Rather than imposing an outlandish dream of an

polemic Architecture and Utopia: Design and

alternative society, it was intended to be read as

Capitalist Development presents one of the

a critique of King Henry VIII’s England. Whilst

strongest critiques of Modern Architecture,

More’s Utopia was written as a social commentary

suggesting that the delusion of utopia benefits

for the enjoyment of the intellectual upper

capitalist

classes, the physical manifestation of the ‘perfect

and urban order is preferential in maintaining

society’ as demonstrated in urban planning has

the functional and economic efficiency of the

had an arguably much more detrimental effect

city. Rather than aspiring to symbolic forms of

on society. There is understandable pessimism

ideal societies, Tafuri argues that architecture

associated with the idea of utopia in urban

should be conscious of its limitations within a

planning and its relationship with the rise of

political sphere and reflect the reality of society

fascism across Europe in the twentieth century

without the pretence of revolutionary aims. An

where the image of perfection became distorted

architecture adhering to this philosophy would

to realize the beliefs of Capitalist ideology.

be one that aspires to ‘sublime uselessness’.

(Vidler, 2007)

(Tafuri, 1976)

development

where

architectural

The devastating reality of space as an apparatus for power created disillusion with the vision of utopian futures. With the technological advances of the twentieth century, society came its closest to realising utopian visions and in doing so came just as close to realising dystopia. The terms became synonymous and the question concerning the majority was how we could prevent the definite realisation of utopia.

‘Life marches towards utopia. And maybe a new century will begin, a century where the intellectuals and cultivated classes will dream of ways to avoid utopias and to return to a non-utopian society, less perfect and more free.’ (Berdiaeff, 1927 cited by Huxley, 1998) This premonition continues to resonate in our architectural psyche. It is with the banishment of utopia from architecture that we find ourselves in ‘an epoch of persuasive practical realism.’ (Coleman, 2011) Since the failings of Rationalist and Functionalist modern urbanism, the chasm between the creative ability for architecture to stimulate change and the perception of the limitations of the architect has widened. Paul Ricoeur (1976) describes a new anthropology where ‘the activity of human individuals [is] submitted to circumstances which are felt as compulsory and seen as powers foreign to their will.’ The utopian ideals of the twentieth century failed to materialise and the subsequent separation between market forces and the idea of an all-encompassing technique to solve society’s problems has been absolute. (Tschumi, 1994) The negative effects of post-Capitalist urban design can be most clearly witnessed in the development of urban peripheries. The archetypal model of developer-led suburbia is dictated by market forces and demonstrates the breakdown of communities; the separation between producer and consumer, life and work, urban and rural conditions—all of which contribute to the alienation of the individual from their environment. (Coleman, 2015)

‘The ultimate outcome of the suburb’s alienation from the city became visible only in the twentieth century... In the mass movement into suburban areas a new kind of community was produced, which caricatured both the historic city and the archetypal suburban refuge: a multitude of uniform, unidentifiable houses, lined up inflexibly, at uniform distances [...] conforming in every outward and inward respect to a common mold, manufactured in the central metropolis (Mumford, 1984) The design of suburbia often overlooks the fictive quality that architecture can imbue. The critical stance utopia nurtures allows superior forms to emerge that are otherwise lost in pragmatic approach and so with the recuperation of utopian theory, its catalytic function in renewing urban design can project us beyond the current architectural impasse.

fig 2: Framing, Lakewood, California, 1950, William A. Garnett. Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suburbs; manufactured and built quickly based on the plans of road builders and housing developers.

fig 3: Augustine of Hippo’s City of God floats in the sky (426 AD)

fig 4: Buckminster Fuller’s Proposal for Floating Cities (1960)

Defining the Imaginar y

Utopia is a form of theorising that simultaneously provides a depiction of a future reality whilst reflecting the problems of the present. With its criticism of the existing social order, each depiction of utopia acts as a satirical lens through which to view the reality we choose to accept as absolute. Once we regard the absurdity of our reality we can begin to indulge in creative liberation and by extension creative productivity where ‘imagination’ becomes a type of capital in its own right.2 For Ernst Bloch3 this type of theorising means ‘venturing beyond’ into a place where the disconnection between the reality of our environment and fantasy of our unconscious is finally overcome. ‘It is from this vantage point that we see not merely what we might become but ontologically what we are.’ (Bloch, 1995) Moreover, 19thC theorist Gottfried Semper’s essay Theory of Formal Beauty asserts that architecture was no longer grouped with plastic arts such as painting and sculpture but as a cosmic art like music, dance and theatre, ‘as an ontological world-making rather than as representational form’. (Semper, 2004) Architecture can open the doorway into augmented realities and make us question the ‘being’ of our own. The transcendental quality of architecture is to be found in its ability to transport the subject to an alternative world. With this comes the idea that our very being is brought into question or in the context of this project our method4 of design. The title of this thesis ‘Utopian Ontology’ questions the bringing into being of utopia, measuring its breaking point once it is transformed from an imagined place into a real place. 5 Utopia is the symbolic formulation of our desire to turn the unconscious world we aspire to into consciousness—to give substance to sentiment. Lewis Mumford discusses the idea that man lives in two worlds- the world within and the world without. The former explains the conscious understanding of our physical environment, whilst the latter refers to the transcendent world of our unconscious or what philosophers would term ‘the subjective’. He goes on to assert that there are two types of utopian thinkers; those who use utopia as a way to escape the frustrations of the everyday and those who seek to reconstruct and change society. One draws fantasy scenarios where cities float in the sky [see left] whilst the other commits to a proposal that could adapt communities and prompt social reform. (Mumford, 1922) The reformist approach proposes solutions to society’s problems and indulges in an imagined reconstruction of our cities in order to envisage better futures. This discourse will pursue an analysis of the ‘reformist’ utopia, where diagrams of urban planning are represented as models to provoke social change.

2 Paul Ricoeur theorises that utopia represents a ‘Cultural Imagination’ with close reference to Immanuel Kant’s theory of the

Productive Imagination 3 Ernst Bloch’s Principle of Hope discusses the concept of utopia as being an inevitable process of the ‘not-yet’ conscious 4 Utopia as Method: The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society by Ruth Levitas provides further thoughts on the concept of utopia as a continuous process rather than a goal 5 Ontology – the theory of being or existence. Philos. The branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature or essence of being or existence. (Oxford English Dictionary)

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Method in Diagramming

REPRESENTATIONS OF UTOPIA

‘As in all periods of supposed change, new icons are thrust forward as beacons of illumination. So it is with the idea of the diagram.’ (Eisenman, 1999)

Utopia is often theorised and discussed within the context of social and political ideologies but in order to understand it in an architectural context it is necessary to refer to chosen ‘reformist’ utopian plans that propose a paradigm shift in urban design. The problem arises of how to define utopian plans; how are they distinguished from ideal plans, iconic plans or canonical plans? With reference to the etymological definition of utopia as a ‘no-place’ the study focuses on plans that are; not situated in any specific location, designed for isotropic conditions, or intended as a model that could be replicated in any context. These urban diagrams of reform are the purest illustration of the architectural theory behind the utopian drive; purely fantasy, unburdened by place or context. The following is a list of utopian plans that fit this description.7 Sforzinda (C.1464)

Antonio di Pietro Averlino (Filarete)

Christianopolis (1619)

Johannes Valentinus Andreae

City of the Sun (1602)

Tommaso Campanella

Phalanstery (1832)

Charles Fourier

Victoria (1849)

James Silk Buckingham

Garden City (1898)

Ebenezer Howard

Ville Radieuse (1924)

Le Corbusier

Broadacre City (1932)

Frank Lloyd Wright

New Babylon (1959-74)

Constant

No-Stop City (1969)

Archizoom

Stop City (2007)

Pier Vittorio Aureli

Each of these plans offers a schematic representation of an alternative model for urban design in diagrammatic form. Anthony Vidler in his account of Constant’s drawings of New Babylon explains that the success of the scheme lies in its method of representation. The drawings are successful as schematic ideas of the architecture they portray, with its unlimited potential, whilst leaving little ambiguity as to the intended spatial implications. For Vidler, drawings of this type are ‘diagrams; depictions, whether drawn or modelled, that look precise and at the same time imprecise, that look tectonic but harbour no tectonics, at least in the traditional sense.’ (Vidler, 1999)

7 For a catalogue of other ‘utopian’ architectural illustrations that have been identified and ruled out from this study (for being designed and situated in a specific location), refer to the Architectural Timeline Appendix

The diagram8 is never free from meaning or value, it does not depict the exact appearance of an object but rather the idea behind it. It is an illustration of something in that ‘it is not the thing itself – in this sense it cannot help but be embodied.’ (Eisenman, 1999) As a graphic cipher it reveals a more profound level of understanding by describing the essence of an architectural proposal. Peter Eisenman, known as the ‘diagram architect’, defines two types of architectural diagram – the analytical and the generative. The analytical diagram reveals a

fig 5: Constant’s New Babylon sketch

latent logic and structure in architectural design which helps aid the proof of proposition. However the generative diagram has a more utopian propensity, working as a catalyst in the design process. For Eisenman the generative diagram mediates between ‘a palpable object, a real [proposal] and what can be called architecture’s interiority.’ (Ibid) Interiority in this context referring to Mumford’s idea of our ‘world within’. As with utopia, diagramming negotiates; fantasy and reality, the conscious and unconscious, being and becoming. It is an ontological device:

‘Every diagram is in a state of becoming. It never functions to represent a pre-existing world; it produces a new type of reality, a new model of truth. It is not subject to history, nor does it hang over history. It creates history by unmaking preceding realities and significations, setting up so many points of emergence and creativity, of unexpected conjectures, of improbable continuums. It doubles history with becoming [avec un devenir]’

fig 6: New Babylon megastructure over Paris

(Deleuze, 1986) The diagram is an expression of the unconscious, in this sense it is inherently utopian. It is the spatialisation of a concept, the architecture of an idea or entity. The utopian diagrams that have been illustrated in

fig 7: New Babylon - The Hague (1964)

the following chapter are: Sforzinda Christianopolis Phalanstery Garden City Ville Radieuse

Through a process of critically redrawing, the plans are interrogated with a further layer of analysis and illustrated in detail so as to reveal a deeper level of understanding of their spatial quality. The resultant drawings push the diagrams into reality and engage with their architectural proposals in a more conscious or subjective way i.e. viewed from within. fig 8: New Babylon - Dunfermline (2016)

8 Diagram: A figure composed of lines, serving to illustrate a definition or statement, or to aid in the proof of a proposition. An illustrative figure, which, without representing the exact appearance of an object, gives an outline or general scheme of it, so as to exhibit the shape and relations of its various parts. A delineation used to symbolize related abstract propositions or mental processes. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2016)

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Illustrating Utopia

S FO R Z I N DA CHRISTIANOPOLIS P H A L A N S T E RY GARDEN CIT Y V I L L E R A D I EU S E

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SFORZINDA - C.1464

‘Architecture is designated as manipulation of one’s fantasia, our imagination, and the architect must revolve these creations over in his memory, allowing the ideas to ferment and gestate.’ (Filarete, 1965)

fig 9: Plan diagram of Sforzinda, Filarete

Filarete’s Treatise on Architecture (1965) describes in

Filarete places round watch towers connected by a

detail the proportions, qualities and ambitions for an

string of square towers along the line of the wall. At

ideal city dedicated to the Duke Sforza. The text is

each of the internal angles of the star-shaped wall

written in a narrative similar to that of More’s Utopia

there is a gate which opens to one of eight major

which was to be written some 50 years later, where

roads leading to the central city complex. The city is

the author is the protagonist in fictional discussions

supplied water from one large aqueduct to the south

about the merits of architecture and the description of

west and eight canals that lead directly to the centre

the perfect city. In the opening chapter of the treatise

and connect all the major buildings. There is a main

Filarete establishes his position on architecture

central square bordered by the Sforzinda Cathedral

as deriving from man, where the laws of humanist

to the east and Ducal Palace on the west. To the

proportion should dictate the dimensions of built form,

north of the central square a collection of buildings

leading to pure geometry and cosmic order. (Filarete,

configure the Piazza of Merchants, where noblemen

1965)

and merchants lived, and to the south the Piazza of Markets houses a trade centre. Within these piazzas

The city takes its shape from two overlapping squares

Filarete maps churches, schools, a hospital, mint and

that form an eight-pointed star shaped wall with an

customs house to name but a few public buildings. (Ibid)

encircling defensive moat. At each of the eight-points

fig 10: Sketch of Sforzinda’s Ideal location by a river, surrounded by hills, Filarete

1. Tarpea - Tarpea (vestal virgin, daughter of commander of Roman citadel Supurius Tarpeius) 2. Errario Cioezeca - Treasury 3. Residenza dellarte magiori - Residences of the major arts 4. Dovana - Customs House 5. Piazza di Mercatanti - Piazza of Merchants 6. Piazza Medesima - Piazza of the same 7. Palazzo di Comvne - Town hall 8. Chiesa - Church 9. Palazo di Podesta - Palace of Podesta (name given to high oďŹ&#x192;cials in Italian cities of the Middle Ages 10. Residenza dellarte minore - Residences of the lesser arts 11. Pregione - Prison

fig 11: Piazza of Merchants, Filarete

fig 12: Piazza of Merchants, redrawn by author

1. Tarpea (vestal virgin, daughter of commander

7. Town hall

of Roman citadel Supurius Tarpeius)

8. Church

2. Treasury

9. Palace of Podesta (name given to high

3. Residences of the Major Arts

officials in Italian cities of the Middle Ages)

4. Customs House

10. Residences of the Minor Arts

5. Piazza of Merchants

11. Prison

6. Piazza of the Same

1. Piazza ove se vende grano - Piazza for selling sheep and grain 2. Palazzo di Captino - Palace of Captains 3. Ponte - Bridge 4. Entrata - Entrance/doorway 5. Casa vsvaria - Usurious house (money lender) 6. Osterie - Restaurant 7. Terme Ideste Istvefe - hermal baths 8. Casa di Venere - House of Venus (Roman Goddess of love and beauty) 9. Taverna - Tavern/Inn 10. Porticho - Portico 11. Chiesa - Church 12. Pescaria - Fishing 13. Piazza Piazz dove se vende herbe et altri frvcti - Piazza for selling vegetables and fruit 14. Cocheria - Coal 15. Polleria - Poultry 16. Caceria - Hunting/Game 17. Piazza dove se vende il vino 18. Casa di Bacco - House of Bacchus (Roman God of agriculture and wine)

fig 13: Piazza of Markets, Filarete

fig 14: Piazza of Markets, redrawn by author

1. Piazza for selling sheep and grain

10. Portico

2. Palace of Captains

11. Church

3. Bridge

12. Fishing

4. Entrance/doorway

13. Piazza for selling vegetables and fruit

5. Usurious house (money lender)

14. Coal

6. Restaurant

15. Poultry

7. Thermal baths

16. Hunting/Game

8. House of Venus

17. Piazza for selling wine

9. Tavern/Inn

18. House of Bacchus

All translations are authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own

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fig 15: Revised plan showing the true size of the Piazzas based on Filarete’s descriptions

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The original diagram for the plan of Sforzinda and the dimensions for the size of the buildings Filarete describes do not align. The treatise is full of contradictions and the measurements

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for the Ideal City which are often inconsistent (Ibid). However, his initial mapping out of the size of the city provides the scale: ‘The basic form is two squares, one atop the other without the angles touching. One angle will be equidistant from two other angles in each square. There is a distance of ten stadii from one angle to the other, that is, a mile and a quarter. The perimeter of each square is eight[y] stadii and the diameter 28 stadii. The angular circumference is 80 stadii […] the mile is 3000 braccia and is, as I have said, eight stadii. The stadio thus comes to 375 braccia.’

(Ibid)

By Filarete’s measurements one Stadio is equal to 201 metres and one Braccio is 0.53 metres. The city plan is drawn so that the diameter of the entire city would equal 5681metres or 28 stadii as per the architect’s specifications. When the measurements of the Piazza of Merchants is then scaled at 96 x 186 braccia (51 x 99.7m) it becomes clear that the original diagram shows the piazza as being much smaller in comparison to the overall city plan. (fig. 9) Further to this, as Filarete begins to map out the dimensions of each of the buildings the Piazza almost doubles in size from its initial description. Assuming that the scale of the city is to remain the same the central complex would get much larger in scale than initially depicted as illustrated in the revised plan above.

fig 16: Cross Section through the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s star shaped wall 1:200 Filarete estimated that the wall would require 7,680 bricks.

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fig 18: Sforzinda Cathedral Elevation (east of the central square)

1:3500

fig 19: View to Sforzinda Cathedral Modelled from the Central Square with city walls in the background

fig 20: Sforzinda Hospital Plan and Elevation (west of the Piazza of Merchants)

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fig 21: Palace of Captains (north face of the Piazza of Markets)

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fig 22: Reconstructed model of free-standing colonnade and bridges in the Piazza of Markets

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CHRISTIANOPOLIS - 1619

‘One might think that here the heavens and the earth had been married and were living together in everlasting peace’ (Andreae, 1916)

Johannes Valentinus Andreae wrote the discourse for Christianopolis in 1619 almost a century after Thomas More’s Utopia was published. Similar to the More’s Utopia the city of Chirstianopolis is situated on an island separated from society described in detail from the perspective of a castaway who finds himself stranded there. Andreae makes it clear that the city is a no-place by situating it in an impossible location: ‘It is in the Antarctic zone, 10 degress of the south pole, 20 degrees of the equinoctial circle, and about 12 degrees under the point of the bull.’

The city was to be built from brick and forms the shape of a 200metre sided square with a defensive wall and four bastions. Four gates placed in the centre of each of the four walls form the entrance to the city and lead to roads directing to the centre covered in parts by 8 large towers. Sixteen smaller towers punctuate the corners of each row of accommodation and a large temple is staged in the centre. Water was provided to the city via a network of underground systems and the entire island was surrounded by a moat.

fig 23: Original plan diagram and etching of Christianopolis by Johannes Valentinus Andreae published in First Ed. Reipublicae Christianopolitanae descriptio, 1619

Christianopolis houses 400 citizens and consists of four row of buildings and a central square with a large temple. The dimensions of each row of houses is specified as 20feet (6metres) deep and the temple is 100ft wide (30metres). The overall diameter of the city is therefore 215metres. The city is laid out so that the citizen symbolically moves closer to ‘enlightenment’ as they approach the centre of the settlement. The temple represents the house of God and the first row of surrounding houses are designated to colleges and educational buildings. In Christianopolis the practice of mathematics was held in highest esteem as geometric order was thought to provide harmony to the individual and society as a whole. (Andreae, 1916)

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D F

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT K fig 24: Revised plan of the city of Christianopolis

A - Temple with Civic Centre B - College C - Physics Garden D - Civic Garden E - Inner apartments F - Public Streets G - Outer apartments

fig 25: Elevation of Christianopolis

H - Gardens I - Workshops and Stores J- Four Gates K - Bastions L- Boundaries M - Large Towers with libraries o o - Fountains

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24 | 25

library, armory and archives

Gardens over two levels

Andreae describes the education process in detail as one of the most important features of the city’s success and

fig 26

outlines the position of the library in each of the large eight towers accompanied by an archive and armory. Other parts of the city’s programme include a treasury, laboratories and medical facilites. One of the most romantic parts of the city’s design is the gardens. The inner city gardens are ornamental with a variety of plants forming a colour palette looking to the sky. ‘Around the college is a double row of gardens, one general and the other divided into plots corresponding to the homes of the citizens; both are fitted out with more than a thousand different sorts of vegetables in such a way that they represent a living herbarium’ (Ibid)

fig 27: Axo of Christianopolis

fig 28: View from the lower level garden looking up to the library towers

fig 29: View from internal street

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fig 30: View from a gate looking towards the central square with temple through the arched street

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PHAL ANSTERY - 1832

Charles Fourier coined the term Phalanstery which derives from the Greek word phalanx referring to a military unit or a body: ‘a compact body of people, animals, or (occas.) things, esp. one ordered or arranged in a regular pattern’ (OED, 2016). The phalanstery was a utopian community, inspired by the Palace of Versailles that proposed an alternative way of living, incoporating a variety of people from all social classes. Although the Phalanstery was conceived as a model for replication and not designed for a specific place, Fourier specifies that the community should be located near a stream of water and a forest, sheltered by hills; ‘not far removed from a large city, but sufficiently so to escape intruders.’ It is a model of living designed for the urban periphery that demands exclusivity, designed for the purposes of housing 1,500 to 2,000 people. The inhabitants of the Phalanstery were to be carefully chosen in terms of wealth, class and personality. Fourier devised what he termed the Law of Passional Attractions, identifying 810 personality types and suggesting that each should match with a similar personality. The ideal population for the Phalanstery would therefore accommodate 1,620 people: two of each personality type, male and female.

fig 31: Original etching of a perspective view of the Phalanstery

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

Phalanstery - Charles Fourier

K H

fig 32: Redrawn Diagram plan of phalanstery model

A. Large central square B. Winter gardens, planted green trees, greenhouses, etc C, D. Service courtyards, with trees, fountains and A. pools Grande place de parade au centre du Phalanstere E. Grand entrance, central stair, tour d’ordre B. Jardin d’hiver, planté d’arbres verts, environné de F. Theatre G. Church serres chaudes, etc. H,I. Large workshops, shops, granaries, hangars barns and rural de buildings C, J. D.Stables, - Cours intérieures service, avec arbres, jets K. Password court

Note: The rural buildings generally have greater development than that of the figure

J. étables, écuries et bâtiments ruraux

A large road runs between the entrance of the K. Passe-cour residential palace and the commercial buildings

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

d’eau, bassins, etc.

E. Grande entrée, grand escalier, tour d’ordre, etc.

The external street galleries are positioned on the interiorNote. long elevations of the Phalanstery Les bâtiments ruraux suront généralement

un développement plus considérable que celui de la figure.

The central space in the Phalanstery would be designated for ‘peaceful uses’ containing;

- La grande route passe entre le palais d’habitadining halls, halls for finance, libraries and study places. The place of worship would also be F. Théâtre tion et les bâtiments d’exploitation. in the centre with chimes for ceremonials, an observatory and a view to the central winter

G. court église adorned with resinous plants. One of the main wings - La rue-galerie est figurée leworkshops long des faces would accommodate for intérieures du Phalanstère carpenters, blacksmiths and other crafts. This wing would also provide a space for children as H, I. Grande ateliers, magasins, greniers, hangars, etc. Fourier deemed them to be generally noisier. The other wing would house ballrooms and halls with

space to entertain visitors away from the residential areas of the complex. (Beecher, 1986)

1:2000

All translations are author’s own

30 | 31

fig 33: Plan and elevation of Phalanstery drawn based on original diagram and etching including the external galleries running along the internal facades overlooking the courtyard gardens.

fig 34

fig 35: View from the external gallery overlooking an internal courtyard

fig 36: View of enclosed internal courtyard

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GARDEN CITY - 1898 "Town and Country must be married, and out of this joyous union will spring a new hope, a new life, a new civilization." (Howard, 1974)

Howard’s Garden Cities of To-Morrow presents a radical new approach to solving city sprawl making places to live that would combine city and rural life. Although Howard marks the drawings in his book as ‘Diagrams Only’ it is interesting to note that he included a scale and physical dimensions for the plans. His ideal was to separate industry from residential areas with large green belts and canals. The garden cities would be planned on a concentric model where civic functions and a central park would be bordered by a glass shopping arcade. Beyond the arcade, housing and schools would be arranged in radial formation with factories and services on the edge of the settlement. Howard’s Garden City was the first model of a community land trust financial system where every citizen would be a shareholder for the local community and all revenue generated in the area would be invested into improving facilities.

Garden City - Ebenezer Howard

fig 37: A Group of Slumless, Smokeless Cities

fig 38: Ward and centre of Garden City

fig 39: A Group of Slumless, Smokeless Cities Diagram drawn to scale with field patterns

Scale: 1: 150,000

fig 40: 3D axo of city ward

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VILLE R ADIEUSE - 1924

‘My object was not to overcome the existing state of things but, by constructing a theoretically watertight formula to arrive at the fundamental principles of town planning.’ (Le Corbusier, 2000)

Ville Radieuse ( The Radiant City) is Le Corbusier’s defining diagram for his vision of a utopian society. The plan follows on from his earlier iterations of the model society, most notably Ville Contemporaine - a city for three million inhabitants. Corbusier’s utopia evolved from a radial layout to linear in an effort to move away from the idea of commercial and financial power being central to the city. Ville Radieuse is outlined as a diagram demonstrating the new principles of Town Planning in Corbusier’s City of To-

Morrow and Its Planning. The rules are as follows: The site must be flat to ensure decongestion of traffic The river must flow away from the city as water is viewed as a service that should be concealed (servants stairs don’t go through the dining room) There should be a mixed population of: - Citizens who live and work in the city - Suburban dwellers who live in garden cities, work in the industrial zone - Those who work in business area but bring up families in the garden city Strict zoning solves the most important problem in Town Planning - the delineation of boundaries: - City - business and residential centre - Industrial City - Garden City First organ (the City) - Compact lively and concentrated Second organ(the Garden City)- Supple, extensive, elastic Between these two organs - a protective zone of woods and fields, a fresh air reserve Lungs - increase the open spaces and diminish the distances to be covered. (to achieve this we must build vertically) Windows look onto parks, eradicate courtyards The corridor street should no longer be tolerated (Ibid)

fig 41: Plan of Ville Radieuse 1:100,000

fig 42: Diagrams of Ville Radieuse showing zoning and reference to the dimensions of Le Modulor

36 | 37

fig 43: Detail plan of road intersections and one of the towers in the central city

fig 44: Detail plan of Garden City with unitĂŠ housing and courtyards

1:100,000

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Situating Utopia

OBJECT vs. CONTEX T ‘No place could not be understood as a good place if we did not in some way find our own place in its habitat.’ (Vidler, 1999)

The architectural diagrams that have been analysed and redrawn in this text offer little in the way of an experiential view in their original form. The process of redrawing and modelling the diagrams has been with a view to understand them in a more subjective way i.e. from eye-level perspective, to give a clearer understanding of scale and spatial quality. Utopian models are commonly drawn as a diagrammatic plans or as an ‘object’ perceived from an exterior view. Perspectives such as Claude Nicolas Ledoux’s Ideal City of Chaux

(1775) or Robert Owen’s New Harmony (1825) suggest a distance between the viewer and the place, signifying the separation between the subject and the imagined world. Lacan (2004) suggests that the unconscious is outside, on the side of an object and therefore the subjective viewpoint is a more conscious way of understanding our environment. The 15thC Ideal City painting (Baltimore) effectively provides a subjective view of utopia from within, looking towards a collection of different buildings that represent the ideal society. The three buildings of importance in the centre of the scene symbolically represent the fundamental components that make for the artist’s9 idea of a perfect society: the triumphal arch (representing a central governing body), the amphitheatre, (to entertain the civilised classes) and the octagonal temple (suggesting religious harmony). The collaging of symbolic forms provides a level of association which is a utopian method of design in itself.

fig 45 The Ideal City painting 1480-84

9 The artist for Urbino remains unknown but is most likely attributed to Fra Carnevale

fig 46

fig 47 New Harmony, Robert Owen

fig 48 The Ideal City of Chaux, Claude Nicolas Ledoux

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fig 49 Placing Le Corbusierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s towers from Ville Radieuse onto the site at Broomhall

When considering utopia as method, as a continuous process of becoming, the idea of an absolutist model for urban design begins to disintegrate. Universalising systems for urbanism promise the impossible end goal of a perfect society and tend to be disappointed by the realities of their proposals. Henri Lefebvre suggests a method of ‘transduction’, can provide an approach to reforming utopian theory in urban planning – particularly for rural communities. He explains: ‘Transduction elaborates and constructs a theoretical object, a possible object from information related to reality and a problematic posed by this reality. Transduction assumes an incessant feed back between the conceptual framework used and the empirical observations. It introduces rigour in invention and knowledge in utopia.’ (Lefebvre, 1991) By making ‘empirical observations’ and identifying the genius loci 10 of a place, the real potentials of a specific setting can be accentuated. The method of transduction begins to combat the dissociative abstraction of post-capitalist suburban design and the alienation it fosters. (Coleman, 2015) However, transduction is not only concerned with applying a structured response to a unique setting, but with providing a layer of association and memory into a ‘conceptual framework’ for design. An understanding of historic successes is crucial in ensuring that lessons from the past are projected into the future. This type of looking backwards is not nostalgic or reactionary, but progressive, helping to better imagine future potentials based on the achievements of the past.

10 Genius Loci: A guardian spirit or god associated with a place. The essential character or atmosphere of a place.

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fig 50 The Green Archipelago O.M. Ungers

The concept of associative thinking in urbanism is explored extensively in the work of German architect and theorist O.M. Ungers. The architect’s analysis and investigation of historic and theoretical principles combined with his ‘rationalization of the existing’, personifies the Lefebvrian concept of transduction: ‘[Architecture’s] creative function is to manifest the task by which it is confronted, to integrate itself into that which already exists, to accentuate and amplify its surroundings. It always consists in the recognition of the genius loci out of which it grows.’ (Ungers, 2013) Ungers’ ‘rationalization of the existing’ also involves incorporating the entire morphological culture of architectural history into a design methodology. His project for Berlin: A Green

Archipelago, demonstrates the idea of morphological architecture. The project is the manifestation of a model for a pluralist city, where enclaves are identified in West Berlin as points of interest or loci. These areas are then intensified with the insertion of recognisable fragments and typologies from architectural projects throughout history bringing in layers of analogy and association. The project is an imaginary museum of parts; a refuge that entire heritage of architectural history can take shelter in ‘...to survive the deluge of Functionalism and the amnesia it triggers.’ (Ibid)

With the placement of utopian fragments on the site at Broomhall, this thesis draws parallels to Ungers work. It experiments with the ideas of alternative methods of living from the past by testing their propositions in a real place and layers the site at Broomhall with associations.

fig 51 Morphological utopia montage

44 | 45

fig 52 Fragments of Christianopolis towers and sforzinda walls looking to Forth Bridge

fig 53: View from Christianopolis temple, looking to a part of Phalanstery and the Forth beyond

fig 54 Sforzinda Wall on site, looking east to DEX suburbs

fig 55: Aerial view of Sforzinda on site at Broomhall

46 | 47

fig 56: Plam of Broomhall with utopian fragments placed on the loci of the site.

Conclusion

Despite utopiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s depictions of new futures, the theory behind its conception is deeply historical and exists only as a response to problems of the present. Models of modern urbanism, structured around pragmatism, zoning and efficiency, do not define utopia. Moreover the post-capitalist approach to suburban design has extinguished the romanticism inherent in the utopian dream. Rather than suggesting a totalising system, the concept of utopia must be considered as a design methodology which responds to the unique situation of a place and applies lessons learned from the past. Projecting past successes into what Lefebvre terms the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;not-yet consciousâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (1991) enables the process of utopia to continue as a method of constant experimentation. Only once the propositions of experimental models are tested in reality, can we begin to discover ways to design more engaging environments in which to live.

48 | 49

R E FE R E N C E L I S T Andreae, J.V. (1916) Christianopolis: An Ideal State of the Seventeenth Century Translated from the Latin by Felix Emil Held. New York, Oxford University Press Beecher, J. (1986) Charles Fourier: The Visionary and his World. University of California Press Bloch, E. (1995) The Principle of Hope: Volume I. Translated from the German by N. Plaice, S. Plaice and P. Knight. Cambridge, US: MIT Press (Originally published 1954) Borsi, F. (1997) Architecture and Utopia. Vanves, France: Fernand Hazan Editions Coleman, N. (2011), Imagining and Making the World: Reconsidering Architecture and Utopia. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang AG Coleman, N. (2015) Lefebvre for Architects. London, UK: Routledge Corbusier, L. (2000) The City of To-Morrow and its Planning. New York: Dover Deleuze, G. (2006) Foucault. New York: Continuum Eisenman, P. (1999) Diagram Diaries. London, UK: Thames & Hudson Ltd Filarete (1965) Treatise on Architecture. Translated by John Spencer. London, UK: Yale University Press Geddes, P. (2004) Civics as Applied Sociology. Project Gutenberg Howard, E. (1974) Garden Cities of To-Morrow. Oxford: Alden & Mowbray Ltd at the Alden Press Huxley, A. (1998) Brave New World. New York: Perennial Classics Lacan, J. (2004) The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. Karnac Books Lefebvre, H. (1991) The Production of Space. Translated from the French, by D. Nicholson-Smith. Oxford, UK: Blackwell (Originally published 1974) More, T (1965) Utopia. Translated from Latin by Paul Turner. London, UK. Penguin Books Ltd Mumford, L. (1984) The City In History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects. 2nd edn, Reading: Cox & Wyman Ltd. Mumford, L. (1922) The Story of Utopias. New York, US: Boni and Liveright, Inc. Oxford English Dictionary, 2016 Popper, K. (1996) In Search of a Better World. Routledge (Originally 1984) Ricoeur, P. (1976) Ideology and Utopia as Cultural Imagination. Philosophic Exchange: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 5. [essay online] Available at: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1193&context=phil_ex [ Accessed 22/12/15 ] Semper, G. (2004) The Theory of Formal Beauty. In: M. Hvattum, Gottfried Semper and the Problem of Historicism, 1st ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Tafuri, M. (1976) Architecture and Utopia: Design and Capitalist Development. Translated from the Italian by B. Luigia La Penta. Cambridge, US: MIT Press (Originally published 1973) Tschumi, B. (1996) Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge, US: MIT Press

Ungers, O.M. , Koolhaas, R. et al (2013) The City in the City: Berlin: A Green Archipelago. Zurich, Switzerland: Lars Muller Publishers Vidler, A. (1999) Diagrams of Utopia [essay online] Available at: http://zeroplus-f14.sgp-a.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Vidler_Diagrams-of-Utopia.pdf Vidler, A. (2007) The Necessity of Utopia [Lecture at the A A London] Available online at www.aaschool.ac.uk/ VIDEO/lecture.php?ID=153 [Accessed March 2016] Wilde, O. (2001) The Soul of Man Under Socialism Penguin Classics; New Ed Edition. London, UK

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BIBLIOGR APHY

Andreae, J.V. (1916) Christianopolis: An Ideal State of the Seventeenth Century Translated from the Latin by Felix Emil Held. New York, Oxford University Press Beigel, F., Christou, P. (2010) Architecture as City: Saemangeum Island City. Springer, Vienna Beecher, J. (1986) Charles Fourier: The Visionary and his World. University of California Press Bloch, E. (1995) The Principle of Hope: Volume I. Translated from the German by N. Plaice, S. Plaice and P. Knight. Cambridge, US: MIT Press (Originally published 1954) Bloch, E. (2000) The Spirit of Utopia. Translated from the German by A. Nassar. Stanford University Press (Originally published 1918) Boch, I. (2015) Six Canonical Projects by REM Koolhaas: Essays on the History of Ideas. Berlin, Germany: Jovis Verlag GmbH Borsi, F. (1997) Architecture and Utopia. Vanves, France: Fernand Hazan Editions Calvino, I (1974) Invisible Cities. Translated from Italian by W. Weaver. London, UK: Secker & Warburg Ltd Coleman, N. (2005), Utopias and Architecture. Abingdon: Routledge Coleman, N. (2011), Imagining and Making the World: Reconsidering Architecture and Utopia. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang AG Coleman, N. (2015) Lefebvre for Architects. London, UK: Routledge Corbusier, L. (2000) The City of To-Morrow and its Planning. New York: Dover Deleuze, G. (2006) Foucault. New York: Continuum Eisenman, P. (1999) Diagram Diaries. London, UK: Thames & Hudson Ltd Elden, S. (2004) Understanding Henri Lefebvre: Theory and the Possible. [PDF available online] London, UK: Continuum Available at: https://selforganizedseminar.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/elden-stuart-understanding-henri-lefebvre-theory-and-possible.pdf [Accessed] Filarete (1965) Treatise on Architecture. Translated by John Spencer. London, UK: Yale University Press Geddes, P. (2004) Civics as Applied Sociology. Project Gutenberg Howard, E. (1974) Garden Cities of To-Morrow. Oxford: Alden & Mowbray Ltd at the Alden Press Huxley, A. (1998) Brave New World. New York: Perennial Classics Johnson, P. (2012) Heterotopian Studies: Thoughts on Utopia [essay online] Available at: http://www.heterotopiastudies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2.2-Thoughts-on-utopia-pdf.pdf [Accessed March 2016] Lacan, J. (1973) The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis Lefebvre, H. (1991) The Production of Space. Translated from the French, by D. Nicholson-Smith. Oxford, UK: Blackwell (Originally published 1974) Levitas, R. (2013), Utopia as Method: The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society. London, UK: Palgrave Schol

More, T (1965) Utopia. Translated from Latin by Paul Turner. London, UK. Penguin Books Ltd Morrison, T (2015) Unbuilt Utopian Cities 1460 to 1900: Reconstructing their Architecture and Political Philosophy Palgrave Mumford, L. (1984) The City In History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects. 2nd edn, Reading: Cox & Wyman Ltd. Mumford, L. (1922) The Story of Utopias. New York, US: Boni and Liveright, Inc. Picon, A. (2013) Learning from Utopia. Journal of Architectural Education [essay online] Available at: https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10579145/Picon_LearningFrom.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed 23/12/2015] Pinder, D. (2005) Visions of the City: Utopianism, Power and Politics in Twentieth Century Urbanism. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press Popper, K. (1996) In Search of a Better World. Routledge (Originally 1984) Pyle, F. (1997) The Ideology of the Imagination: Subject and Society in the Discourse of Romanticism. Stanford University Press Ricoeur, P. (1976) Ideology and Utopia as Cultural Imagination. Philosophic Exchange: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 5. [essay online] Available at: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1193&context=phil_ex [ Accessed 22/12/15 ] Rowe, C. (1994) The Architecture of Good Intentions: Towards a Possible Retrospect. New York, US: John Wiley and Sons Semper, G. (2004) The Theory of Formal Beauty. In: M. Hvattum, Gottfried Semper and the Problem of Historicism, 1st ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Tafuri, M. (1976) Architecture and Utopia: Design and Capitalist Development. Translated from the Italian by B. Luigia La Penta. Cambridge, US: MIT Press (Originally published 1973) Tschumi, B. (1996) Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge, US: MIT Press Ungers, O.M. , Koolhaas, R. et al (2013) The City in the City: Berlin: A Green Archipelago. Zurich, Switzerland: Lars Muller Publishers Ungers, O.M. (1982) Architecture as Theme. New York, Rizzoli Vidler, A. (1999) Diagrams of Utopia [essay online] Available at: http://zeroplus-f14.sgp-a.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Vidler_Diagrams-of-Utopia.pdf Vidler, A. (2007) The Necessity of Utopia [Lecture at the A A London] Available online at www.aaschool.ac.uk/VIDEO/ lecture.php?ID=153 [Accessed March 2016] Wild, D. (2008) Fragments of Utopia. London, UK: Hyphen Press Wilde, O. (2001) The Soul of Man Under Socialism Penguin Classics; New Ed Edition. London, UK

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i M AG E C R E D I T S

fig 1: More, T. (1516) Utopia, Woodcut illustration from first edition of Utopia. At: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Insel_Utopia.png

fig 2: Garnett, W.A. (1950) Framing, Lakewood, California At: http://gizmodo.com/the-landscapes-of-suburbia-are-the-real-science-fiction-1512531375 fig 3: Hippo, A. (480AD) The City of God At: http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2011/06/strange-things-in-the-sky-department-cities.html fig 4: Fuller, B. (1960) Cloud Nine At: http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2010/09/13/sky-cities-12-hover-homes-flying-urban-designs/ fig 5: Constant, N. (1956-1969) New Babylon At: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7f/2d/b7/7f2db7d639268ae9e24c68318a88dcc0.jpg fig 6: Constant, N. (1963) New Babylon Paris At: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/5a/82/40/5a8240a73d0dcaecead5cae8dc7b5810.jpg fig 7: Constant, N. (1964) New Babylon The Hague At: http://www.bmiaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CONSTANT-Nueva-Babilonia-La-Haya.jpg fig 8: Monaghan, K. (2016) New Babylon Dunfermline fig 9: Filarete (C.1464) Sforzinda. Treatise of Architecture fig 10: Filarete (C.1464) Sketch of Sforzinda. Treatise of Architecture fig 11: Filarete, (C.1464) Piazza of Merchants. Treatise of Architecture fig 12: Monaghan, K. (2016) Piazza of Merchants fig 13: Filarete, (C.1464) Piazza of Markets. Treatise of Architecture fig 14: Monaghan, K. (2016) Piazza of Markets fig 15. Monaghan, K. (2016) Plan of Sforzinda fig 16: Monaghan, K. (2016) Section through city wall of Sforzinda fig 17: Monaghan, K. (2016) 3D perspective of Sforzinda wall fig 18: Monaghan, K. (2016) Sforzinda Cathedral Elevation fig 19: Monaghan, K. (2016) 3D perspective of Sforzinda Cathedral fig 20: Monaghan, K. (2016) Plan and Elevation of Sforzinda Hospital fig 21: Monaghan, K. (2016) Elevation of Palace of Captains (North face of Piazza of Markets) fig 22: Monaghan, K. (2016) 3D view of free-standing colonnade that defines the Piazza of Markets fig 23: Andreae, J. V. (1619) Plan diagram and etching of Christianopolis. First Ed. Reipublicae Christianopolitanae de scriptio, 1619

At: https://archive.org/stream/christianopolis00andr#page/280/mode/2up fig 24: Monaghan, K (2016) Plan of Christianopolis fig 25: Monaghan, K. (2016) Elevation of Christianopolis fig 26: Monaghan, K (2016) Detail sectional axo of Christianopolis fig 27: Monaghan, K (2016) Axo of Christianopolis fig 28: Monaghan, K (2016) Visual render of Christianopolis (view from gardens) fig 29: Monaghan, K (2016) Visual render of Christianopolis (view from street) fig 30: Monaghan, K (2016) Visual render of Christianopolis (view looking down arched streets) fig 31: Considerant, V. (1834) View of the Phalanstery At: http://www.oberlin.edu/images/Art270/270-0096.JPG fig 32: Monaghan, K. (2016) DIgram of the Phalanstery fig 33: Monaghan, K. (2016) Plan and Elevation of the Phalanstery fig 34: Monaghan, K. (2016) Axo of the Phalanstery fig 35: Monaghan, K. (2016) Visual render of the Phalanstery fig 36: Monaghan, K. (2016) Visual render of the Phalanstery fig 37: Howard, E. (1898) Garden City At: https://scodpub.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/city-group.png fig 38: Howard, E. (1902) Garden-City Grand Avenue At: http://www.morrissociety.org/worldwide/agregation.boos.fig.3.jpg fig 39: Monaghan, K (2016) Plan of Garden City with field patterns fig 40: Monaghan, K (2016) Axo of Grand Avenue Diagram fig 41: Monaghan, K. (2016) Plan of Ville Radieuse fig 42: Monaghan, K. (2016) Diagrams of Ville Radieuse fig 43: Monaghan, K. (2016) Detail plans of Ville Radieuse fig 44: Monaghan, K. (2016) Detail plan of Ville Radieuse fig 45: Artist unknown (1480-84) Ideal City Painting. At: http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/the-ideal-city-fra-carnevale.jpg fig 46: Monaghan, K. (2015) Concept sketch, Object vs. Context. Situating Utopia fig 47: Owen, R. (1825) New Harmony https://webpages.uidaho.edu/larc389/newTown_files/images/newTowns/harmony.gif fig 48: Ledoux, C.N. (1804) Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans At: http://mm.pwn.pl/ency/jpg/583/r/d92i1157.jpg fig 49: Monaghan, K. (2016) Visual render, Corbusierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s towers at Broomhall

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fig 50: Ungers, O.M. () The Green Archipelago fig 51: Monaghan, K. (2016) Morphological Utopia fig 52: Monaghan, K. (2016) Fragments of Christianopolis towers and sforzinda walls looking to Forth Bridge fig 53: Monaghan, K. (2016) View from Christianopolis temple, looking to a part of Phalanstery and the Forth beyond fig 54: Monaghan, K. (2016) Sforzinda Wall on site, looking east to DEX suburbs fig 55: Monaghan, K. (2016) Aerial view of Sforzinda on site at Broomhall fig 56: Monaghan, K., Dyson, S., Martin, D. (2016)

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A PPENDIX Ti m e l i n e o f Uto pi a

The City of God comes with a string attached

Platoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic, 380 BCE - First notable description of the ideal society - theory of ideal forms

The City of God, Augustine of Hippo, 413-426AD Looks to build a superior city of higher principle, without worrying about the physical cities on earth

Christianopolis, Johannes Valentinus Andreae 1619

Utopia, Thomas More, 1516

The Ideal City, Artist unknown, C 1480

Sforzinda, Filarete, 1460

The City of the Sun, Tommaso Campanella, 1623 New Atlantis, Francis Bacon, 1627

Charles Fourier, Phalanstery, 1808 The Ideal City of Chaux, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, 1804

The Happy Colony, Robert Pemberton, 1854 News from Nowhere, William Morris, 1890

Victoria, James Silk Buckingham, 1849

New Harmony, Robert Owen, 1825

Garden City, Ebenezer Howard,

Alpine Architecture, Bruno Taut, 1917

Ville Radieuse, Le Corbusier, 1924 Futuristic City, Sant Ella, 1921

The Naked City, Guy Debord, 1957

New Babylon, Constant Nieuwenhuys, 1959-74

Vertical City, Hilberseimer, 1924

Plug-in City, Archigram, 1964

Broadacre City, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1935

No Stop City, Archizoom, 1968

The Continuous Monument, Superstudio, 1969

Exodus, Rem Koolhaas, 1972

Tetrahedron City, Buckminster Fuller, 1981

A Simple Heart, Pier Vittorio Aureli, 2011

II SUBURBAN ARCADIA

SUBURBAN ARCADIA

Master’s Thesis

Siobhan Dyson

CONTENTS

I. Prologue

II. Methodology

III. Genesis of the Ideal

[Picturesque Suburbia]

IV. Realising the Imagined

V. Composition and Association

VI.

Suburban Arcadia

VII. Conclusion

fig 1 Frederick Law Olmsteadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Plan for Riverside, Illinois

Prolog ue The development of suburbia owes its conception to

include, John Nash’s 1823 plan for Regent’s Park,

the contrived gardens of the eighteenth century English

London and Richard Lane’s 1837 plan for Victoria

Picturesque movement (Ackerman, 1995). This text

Park, Manchester (Fishman, 1987). These initial

will later explore the artistic, theoretical and social

designs embody the early concepts key to suburbia;

influences that contribute to the landscape architecture

space, greenery and stylistic analogy, and had strong

of the Picturesque in order to further understand the

roots in themes derived from Picturesque design.

genesis of suburban design. Before approaching this task it is crucial to first clarify the connection between

It can be observed that suburbia in its present state

contemporary suburbia and the privileged gardens of

retains a very different relationship to its initial source

the English Picturesque.

of poetic landscape inspiration. As described in the essay Deep Suburban Irony (Duncan and Duncan,

The Picturesque’s taste for romanticised landscapes

1997), Picturesque ruralism can hold negative social

changed the way in which man related to nature

connotations, such as a tendency toward disassociation

forever, encouraging people of all classes to aspire

from broader communities. Deep Suburban Irony

to the enviable realms of comfortable country living.

explains how suburban exclusivity can be linked to the

Early suburban developments were initially built to

‘elitist ideology’ first attached to the manor houses and

accommodate a rising merchant class within the late

gardens of the English picturesque. This connection

eighteenth century. These settlements were built as

to aristocratic exclusivity and class segregation has

weekend villas for city traders, allowing an emerging

overtaken the Picturesque’s more positive contributions

bourgeoisie to escape to the romantic realms of the

to suburbia in terms of design, leaving contemporary

countryside (Ackerman, 1995). Such bourgeois estates

suburbs with negative social associations and a blurred

re-purposed Picturesque ideals to suit more domestic

connection to the nature that inspired them.

scale designs, producing what was to become the language for suburban development across the world,

‘The Suburb ceased to be a neighbourhood unit: it became a diffused low density mass, enveloped by

‘The aristocratic seat was thus appropriated by the

the conurbation and then further enveloping it. The

bourgeoisie as raw material in the bricolage that

suburb needed its very smallness, as it needed its

created suburbia’ (Fishman, 1987).

rural background, to achieve its own kind of semirural perfection’ (Mumford, 1984)

The resultant suburbs produced in the early nineteenth century

were

subsequently

termed

‘Picturesque

Suburbs’, these developments strove to incorporate such themes as vista, theatre, analogy and romanticism within their design (Fishman, 1987). One of the more prominent examples of these developments was Frederick Law Olmsted’s Riverside, Illinois. The design encompassed sweeping domestic roads, generous gardens, and carefully landscaped parkland, capturing the romantic aesthetic associated with Picturesque landscape design and effectively configuring it into a

As Mumford discusses above, the relationship between built form and landscape is now challenged by the continuous change in boundary produced by modern suburban expansion, a cycle that has resulted in the weakening of the natural connections that once defined suburban living. The traditions of the Picturesque, while politically and economically outdated, can still be made relevant to suburban planning. Picturesque value the romantic and

new suburban condition (Conron, 2000).

idealised qualities of both architectural and landscape

British examples of Picturesque suburb proposals

market-led, suburban development.

design, qualities that are arguably missing from current,

Methodolog y

This thesis considers the relationship between built suburbia and its bordering rural aspect, exploring and investigating ways in which visual and cultural connections can be encouraged within a constructed landscape framework, redefining suburbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uncertain connection to its green edge. The link between Picturesque landscape design and suburban planning will be drawn upon throughout this discourse to enable core romantic ideals to be explored within a suburban environment. This process will be approached by identifying the key themes of art, composition and association inherent in Picturesque design, allowing the imagination and intellectualism of landscape architecture to be incorporated into suburban planning.

fig 2

Genesis of the Ideal

fig 3 CLAUDE LORRAIN Landscape with cowherd (evening) (1650)

Many landscape paintings are situated in the realms

(Conron, 2000). The English Picturesque in turn

of ‘Arcadia’, an ethereal and poetic place derived from

owes its conception to a seventeenth century taste for

the natural beauty of the original Greek province

highly romanticised landscape paintings (Ackerman,

of Arcadia, dating back to antiquity (Lagerlof,

1995). Landscape idealism is inherent in the appeal

1990) . The title of this thesis, ‘Suburban Arcadia’,

of suburban living, suburbia has always occupied a

is an acknowledgment of the nature of the suburb’s

space that is neither rural nor urban, and provided its

connection to the romantic inspirations of idealistic

residents with a contrived experience of country living.

landscapes and refers to this project’s task in reinstating

By investigating the roots of landscape idealism it is

romanticism within suburban development.

possible to further understand the ideology that has

influenced suburban thinking. It has already been established that the suburb initially found its aesthetic in what was termed ‘the suburban picturesque’; a style influenced by the iconic English Picturesque landscapes of the eighteenth century

1. Arcadia was the birth place of Hermes, and realm of the goat god Pan.

The mythology around Arcadia massively inspired pastoral poetry and art, encouraging a culture of rural escapism from urban societies (March, 2014).

Artistic representation, such as painting, has a close

pictorial space of these landscapes springs from

relationship to architecture and design, often

eternal varieties of ideas or God’ (Lagerlof, 1990)

pre-empting

trends

within

other

disciplines

expressing the values of its age. Sigfried Giedion

The once uncultured realms of country living, dedicated

discusses instances where this pattern begins to emerge,

to mainly agricultural and village life, had gained a new

highlighting art’s impact on other cultural disciplines:

significance and meaning when evaluated through the eyes of the artist. The impact of this shift in attitude

‘The fact that, among these three [Brunellesci,

has been felt ever since in terms of architectural design,

Masaccio and Donatello], the painter was the first

from the large estate, to the country villa, the weekend

to attain to the new vision of his time is by no means

retreat, to suburban domesticity, the romanticised

unparalleled... modern painting anticipated modern

landscape on the periphery of city borders was to be a

architecture in much the same way’ (Giedion, 1967)

source of inspiration for years to come.

In this way landscape art was crucial in progressing

The manifestations of landscape idealism depicted in

attitudes toward the natural world (Lagerlof, 1990). The

seventeenth century art capture the creative qualities

prominence of landscape painting in the seventeenth

later utilised by landscape architects within both

century denotes a change in attitude toward pastoral and

Picturesque garden design and early suburban design.

agricultural landscapes, suggesting a new perspective

The art produced relies on framed compositions to

on one’s place within the natural environment. The

showcase the layers of each image. A sense of balance

paintings often depicted images of a small figure within

and structure is formed by using strategically placed

an expansive natural setting, regularly with traces of

elements to direct the eye and compose the piece; water

mythological analogy animating the narrative.

to divide the image, foliage as both a focal and framing

These scenes contemplate matters of metaphysical and

device, elements of exposed stone or architecture to

philosophical debate, cementing the natural landscape’s

add weight to the collection, and figures to animate

place in embodying various intellectual concepts and

the scene (Reh and Steenbergen, 1996). The painting

ideas.

shown opposite, composed by popular landscape painter Claude Lorrain, typifies this approach.

‘Through the filters of drama and rhetoric the landscape reveals itself as a setting for human fate, for emotions and actions… in a metaphysical light we ask ourselves whether the order visible in the

fig 4 NICOLAS POUSSIN, Landscape with Saint John on Patmos (1640)

The above image explores the components used

suggesting new ideas in terms of one’s role within these

within Nicolas Poussin’s ‘Landscape with Saint

romantic landscapes, ultimately progressing views on

John on Patmos’2. Poussin was a key contributor

both landscape art and architecture (Ibid).

to the intellectualism of landscape art, continually referencing theatre and mythology within his pieces

The use of an identifiable foreground, mid ground

(Lagerlof, 1990). In this particular work he uses a

and background within the image is a move inspired

distinct foreground of broken architectural fragments

by the illusion and contrivance created within theatre

and a figure reading, to introduce human proportion

design (Reh and Steenbergen, 1996). The intention

to a large scale composition. Within the mid ground

behind this technique was to maximise the engagement

one can identify built form of a more monumental scale

between the spectator and the image, adding a layer of

whilst in the far left hand corner it is possible to make

awareness of one’s own participation within the piece.

out a distant urban settlement against a mountainous

This involvement in the composition of the painting

background, this progression of size, leading the eye

resulted in a new connection between the viewer

from the figure toward the city, provides the painting

and the landscape, implying a more anthropocentric3

with a clear narrative engaging the viewer. Topography

culture, controversially suggesting that the world is

and foliage are used to provide the piece with aesthetic

centred around man and not God (Lagerlof, 1990).

balance, framing and highlighting certain aspects of the ensemble. These combinations of constituent parts result in contrived vistas that portray aesthetically pleasing and engaging perspectives. The position of figures within the foreground of each scene is critically important to

2.This painting exemplifies Poussin’s architectural approach to composition and story telling, ‘nature as architect’ (Marin, 1999).

3. Anthropocentric is here referring to the significance placed on involving

human perspective in art and design, this idea will later be discussed in terms of its impact on the Picturesque regarding the theory of association and analogy.

Sebastino Serlio outlines three different kinds of theatrical scene, tragic, comic and satyric; each one is portrayed using a unique stage set designed to describe the dramatic content of each composition (Boyer, 1994). Tragic comprises of civic elements such as columns, pediments and statues, comic comprises of private and domestic dwellings, and satyric settings are placed within natural environments. Much of the landscape art produced during this time contains elements used within satyric stage compositions. Satyric scenes had connotations of lust and pleasure, relating ideas of uninhibited country escapism and the erotic nature of the private garden to landscape painting (Lagerlof, 1990). Traditionally the shepherd was always viewed as a very satyric character within theatre and was associated with the Greek god Pan4. The continuous appearance of shepards within landscape compositions is a reference to a layering of connotations related specifically to satyric theatre and Arcadia (Ibid). These ideas were vital in describing the many layers of idealism within romantic landscapes, widening their appeal by incorporating intellectual analogy into their compositions.

fig 5 GASPARD DUGHET, Wooded rocky landscape, at Osterly Park, London (1615-75)

fig 6 CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Aeneas at Delos (1672)

fig 7 SALVATOR ROSA, Landscape with Tobias and the Angel (1660-73)

Pan is the god of nature and the wild, and was often associated with sexuality (Lagerlof, 1990)

10 | 11

PICTURESQUE SUBURBIA

The tradition of inducing engagement through theatrically inspired vistas was to be a vital theme within Picturesque landscape design, producing gardens that actively include the patron within their composition. Early suburbs re-configured these compositional techniques to large scale planning in order to provide romantic vistas and rural aspects for their residents. ‘The early visions of suburbia were inseparable from ideas of space and countryside. Suburbs were imagined as places for privacy and recreation and inevitably had a connection to pastoral landscapes. The suburb balanced the idea of ‘range’ and ‘seclusion’ providing both extensive vistas and private enclaves’ (Conron, 2000). John Nash’s plan for Regent’s Park, shown below, describes ways in which suburban planners were incorporating landscape principles into their designs, enabling the rural qualities of the countryside to remain prominent within the constructed realms of suburbia. The importance of cultivating suburbia’s parallels with idealism and romanticism is crucial in retaining the more creative and imaginative essences of suburbia’s initial genesis. The intellectual layering of references applicable to landscape art enable it to embody many different ideological concepts. A similar approach, when applied to suburbia, encourages both physical composition and intellectual analogy to reinstate a romantic image, once important to suburban design.

fig 8 John Nash’s original plan for Regents Park, London (1823). The plan describes secluded houses of an eclectic aesthetic positioned along naturalistic routes and framed by foliage.

| 13

fig 9

Realising the Imagined

The word ‘Landscape’ was initially almost exclusively

sublime’, describing in detail the tangible assets of both.

applied to paintings, and was used in the form

The appreciation of ‘the sublime’ qualities of awesome

‘Landskip’ as a technical term for artists, describing

monumentality and greatness against the precise and

any part of a scene that was not object or subject

polished nature of ‘the beautiful’ was to become vital in

(Lagerlof, 1990). In the seventeenth century the term

developing new concepts on aesthetic taste in design.

‘Landskip’ appears in documentation when referring to

The resultant discourse surrounding beauty and the

physical places, highlighting a transitional phase in the

sublime during the eighteenth century, inspired a

word’s use, from imagined to realised space (Oxford

move toward more informal and naturalistic planning

English Dictionary, 2016).This new application of

principles, specifically in relation to landscape design

artistic landscape principles onto 3 dimensional design

and later in relation to architecture.

thrust forward the aesthetic appeals of the art world into the physical spaces of architecture and landscape

Before the naturalism of the Picturesque, landscape

architecture. The resultant progression in landscape

design possessed a far more geometric and formal

tradition notably coincided with new theories on style

style. The gardens of Versailles epitomise this stance

and taste, particularly an appreciation of the effects

on landscape architecture, representing an extreme

of the sublime over beauty within design (Ackerman,

application of geometry over nature. Versailles’ perfect

1995).

geometries, manipulated vistas, and colossal scale were in place to assert man’s dominance over nature and

The concept of beauty and sublime representing

specifically manifest the absolute rule of King Louis

different characteristics was brought to the attention of

XIV (Giedion, 1967). The Picturesque movement

eighteenth century landscape designers and architects

was pioneered by intellectuals seeking to find an

by the pivotal work of philosopher Edmund Burke. As

alternative to this way of planning. The rugged quality

he discusses below, the difference between the two

of naturalism was found to represent more democratic

terms is essential in understanding the effects of certain

political views in relation to the absolutism associated

aesthetics.

with formal arrangements,

‘For sublime objects are vast in their dimensions,

‘Whig politics and Enlightenment thought gradually

beautiful ones comparatively small: beauty should

made the manifestation of absolutism and rigid

be smooth and polished; the great, rugged and

systemisation distasteful.’ (Ackerman, 1995)

negligent: beauty should shun the right line, yet deviate from it insensibly; the great in many cases

A combination of the political stance represented by

loves the right line, and when it deviates if often

Picturesque ideals and an aesthetic change toward

makes a strong deviation: beauty should not be

the ‘sublime’ in the eighteenth century enabled the

obscure; the great ought to be dark and gloomy:

compositions first created in idealistic landscape art to

beauty should be light and delicate; the great ought

become the perfect vehicle for exploring topical styles

to be solid and massive.’

and ideas within landscape architecture.

Edmund Burke, 1757 (Prior, 1883) This piece translates the emotional appeal of the rugged scenes of romantic landscape art into a more abstract discussion on taste in general. Burke separates the different qualities embodied by ‘the beautiful’ and ‘the

| 15

The Picturesque landscape evolved into a physical

The vistas within the arrangement are assembled using

platform within which multiple ideologies could be

a range of elements to activate the scenery and visually

explored and expressed, the composition of each of

enhance the whole. Water and carefully placed

its designs relate directly to the techniques utilised

architectural pieces direct your movement through

in both landscape painting and theatre. The projects

the space creating staged scenes, designed to replicate

that ensued produced such iconic settings as Castle

the imagery previously expressed within romantic

Howard in North Yorkshire, an example that perfectly

landscape art (Ibid). The garden is therefore designed

represents the Picturesque’s ability to sculpt regional

to be experienced in a choreographed manner,

landscape into something far more Arcadian.

evoking specific experiential moments throughout the journey. 5 The house effectively becomes the central

Castle Howard uses an offset axial approach to lay

point from which the entire landscape is viewed,

geometric order upon a seemingly wild landscape. The

suggesting a strong interaction between its occupier

house itself sits off the design’s primary infrastructural

and the surrounding environment.

axis so as to secure unobstructed views, to the North and South, of carefully manipulated countryside. The

‘In reflecting on the ways in which villas respond to

grand axis from which Castle Howard is accessed

the landscape one must remember to look not only

creates a long formal procession toward the house

at them but out of them’ (Ackerman, 1995)

and gardens through extensive agricultural land. Once a Roman road, it now becomes a key element in the strategic composition of the area’s landscape plan. The linear nature and extensive dimensions of this promenade dramatise the initial approach to the building and exaggerate the undulating nature of the area’s topography (Reh and Steenbergen, 1996). The house itself is concealed during the majority of this procession, while architectural elements are placed along the route to accentuate high and low points within the terrain. This device creates a sense of suspense and monumentality within the entire ensemble while clearly connecting the secluded Castle Howard with its surrounding settlements and infrastructure.

fig 10 Castle Howard, Topographical Plan 1.50,000

5. The concepts of theatre and movement will be later explored in terms of built form within the chapter Suburban Mise en scène

The Picturesque strives to connect built form with its surroundings in a unique way, mimicking the engagement already induced between painting and observer, by using the example of house and landscape. The interaction suggested between landscape and built form within the Picturesque, is one that was applied to early iterations of suburbia. Picturesque suburbs strove to produce a similar dialogue between dwelling, private garden, public space and agriculture, encouraging suburban settlements to acknowledge and benefit from their rural peripheries (Conron, 2000). This technique would enable current suburbs to position themselves more decisively within their surrounding context. Producing developments that retained the rural quality key to the suburban ideal.

fig 11

| 17

fig 12

Composition and Association

The eighteenth century landscape garden endeavoured

The gardens of Stowe in Buckinghamshire typify this

to achieve more than just a pleasurable aesthetic, its

approach by utilising multiple symbolic references to

rise coincided with the influential European period of

express a narrative specific to its patron of the time,

‘Enlightenment’, an era that produced both spiritual and

Lord Cobham. Stowe’s dramatic undulation, expansive

political reform (Steenbergen, 1996). The Picturesque’s

territory, and existing

favour among intellectually and politically attuned

(from Sir John Vanburgh, James Gibbs and Charles

patrons always enabled it to produce forward thinking

Bridgeman) made it the perfect canvas upon which to

and transcendental designs, engaged with topical

explore creative design, and as such Stowe now stands

theories of their era (Ackerman, 1995).

as a prime example of English landscape.

landscape contributions

One way in which the Picturesque continually references intellectual content is through the medium of associative thinking and analogy. Seventeenth century scientist and philosopher John Locke introduced the concept of association in his work, An Essay on

Human Understanding. Locke’s perspective regarding experience and association heavily influenced later Enlightenment values and theories, subsequently impacting the disciplines of art and design (Ibid). Locke explored the concept of personal experience and reflection being major contributors to the process of forming ideas and opinions; his work therefore acknowledges the impact of an individual’s previous experiences on how they interact with the present, this fig 13 Stowe Gardens, 1.25,000

is highlighted by Locke in the excerpt below, ‘...the first capacity of human intellect is that the mind is fitted to receive the impressions made on it

The garden at Stowe, under the supervision of William

either through the senses by outward objects, or by

Kent, developed a clear political agenda through

its own operations when it reflects on them.’

the utilisation of associative references (Ibid). The

Locke, 1706 (Yolton, 1993)

garden comprises of several distinct areas, separated by clusters of trees and united by a line of artificial

In relation to landscape design, Locke’s analysis of the

lakes. Monuments and follies imply a path through

mind, enabled designers to deviate from divine classical

the landscape, connecting distinctive areas using

principles and involve their client’s personal tastes and

suggestive visual links between disparate elements.

experiences within the composition (Tafuri, 1980).

As with Castle Howard, distinct geometries define the

This discourse directly impacted the development of

organisation of infrastructure against the contrived

the Picturesque, allowing designers to use personal

naturalism of the garden’s internal spaces; this in turn

architectural, historical and ethical associations to

allows the topographic placement of elements within

enrich their client’s designs (Ackerman, 1995).

the composition to feel highlighted against the more linear components in the plan.

| 19

The elements themselves are specifically positioned

ruin is clearly describing the decay of modern politics

so as to create intentional romantic scenes within

and morals, specifically implicating the prime minster

the journey; recalling the arrangement of

the

himself within the observation. The play of these two

aforementioned idealistic landscape paintings. The

distinct structures against one another is enabled,

pieces have in this instance been chosen to evoke

within the idyllic setting of a contrived landscape, to

specific connotations in relation to the client’s own

express distinct ideologies and agendas specific to the

personal agenda at that time, a displeasure for the lack

designer and client involved in the creative process.

of democratic guarantees within Whig politics (Ibid). Stowe gardens harbours many other associative pieces, One clear example of how this effect has been achieved

placed to manifest both intellectual and philosophical

is within the ‘Elysian fields’ section of the gardens.

ideals. As shown in the diagram opposite, each is

Here Kent created the Temples of Ancient Virtue and

designed to sit comfortably within the topographic

Modern Virtue in order to describe Lord Cobham’s

landscape, enforcing both vistas and enclaves; while

views at the time (Ackerman, 1995). The Temple of

embodying their own deliberate connotations and

Ancient Virtue is built in the form of the Temple of

analogies. This example perfectly describes how

Vesta, Tivoli. This implies connections between its

landscape can be composed to promote physical and

form and the association the Temple of Vesta embodies

intellectual interaction with its design; seamlessly

in terms of its Grecian architectural influences and

connecting landscape, built form and viewer.6

their implied democratic ties (Sear, 1982). The Temple of Vesta is also an iconic building in terms of its

As further described by Tafuri within his book,

topographic position and evokes aesthetic associations

Theories and History of Architecture, the use of

with the temples and elements repeatedly used to

analogy within built form can be used in garden design

populate landscape paintings.

to add intellectual depth to the ensemble by drawing from multiple inspirations, ‘Architecture, from absolute object, becomes in the landscaped context, relative value: it becomes a medium for the description of an edifying play. The Gothic, Chinese, Classical and eclectic pavilions inserted in the texture of a ‘nature trained to be natural’, are ambiguous objects. They allude to something other than themselves, losing their

fig 14 CLAUDE LORRAIN River landscape with Tiburtine Temple at Tivoli

semantic autonomy.’ (Tafuri, 1980) Like many Picturesque examples, Stowe uses the

The Temple of Ancient Virtue therefore represents

theory of association to enable a variety of types and

a romantic and idealist perspective on democracy

aesthetics to effectively reveal composed narratives

and politics by evoking associations with an already

within the design; each example is tailored to the

iconic piece of Roman architecture known to its

specific experiences felt by the patron involved. This

patron. Conversely the Temple of Modern Virtue

produces highly bespoke and responsive proposals,

placed immediately across the lake, now no longer in

that not only take into account the topographic nature

existence, is built deliberately in the form of a ruin,

of site constraints but are also able to reflect the

containing a headless statue of the prime minster at

cultural and social factors relevant to individuals at

the time, Robert Walpole (Ackerman, 1996). This

that time.

6. The analogous pieces explored within our own project will find their origins in the research undertaken by the previous chapter Utopian

Ontology.

The practice of analogy and association within design

This movement away from classical form toward style STOW L A N Dinform S C A P Ewider E L E Mopinions E N T S, A SonD architectural E S I G N E D B Y L O as R Ddecoration C O B H A M played A N D KaEhuge N T part in the constructing of was toE later taste. Where once there was only one approved style

suburbia. Early suburbs used styles that were assumed

within 1. T E M P Lwhich E O F to C Obuild, N C O R Classical, D A N D V I C there T O R Y is now a plethora

to have connotations of domesticity and retreat, such

of eras peruse. 2. L influences A D Y’S T E M P Land E (Q U E Eto N ‘S T E M P L E)

as Gothic, Italian or Old English; the incoherence of

3. T E M P L E O F A N C I E N T V I R T U E

these styles collected onto a single street was justified

‘With the freeing of geometry from classical form to

4. T E M P L E O F M O D E R N V I R T U E

by the unified emotional response each was chosen

become pure technique, and the acknowledgment

to illicit (Fishman, 1987). The expressive qualities

5. T E M P L E O F B R I T I S H W O R T H I E S

of ‘style’ as a coherent system of decoration, style

6. G O T H I C T E M P L E

was now seen as clothing for an otherwise ‘naked’

7. P A object.’ L L A D I A N(Tafuri, B R I D G E 1980) 8. T E M P L E O F F R E I N D S H I P

brought to design through the use of analogy enables architects to suggest romantic and aspirational ideals specific to any given situation, allowing various designs to draw external, relevant, intellectual influences into the composition.

S T O W E L A N D S C A P E E L E M E N T S, A S D E S I G N E D B Y L O R D C O B H A M A N D K E N T 1

1. T E M P L E O F C O N C O R D A N D V I C T O R Y 6

2. L A D Y’S T E M P L E (Q U E E N ‘S T E M P L E) 4

3. T E M P L E O F A N C I E N T V I R T U E 4. T E M P L E O F M O D E R N V I R T U E 5. T E M P L E O F B R I T I S H W O R T H I E S

6. G O T H I C T E M P L E

7. P A L L A D I A N B R I D G E

8. T E M P L E O F F R E I N D S H I P

6 4

fig 15 Stowe Associative Pieces

20 | 21

Suburban A rcadia

fig 16

The ideas developed throughout the journey of

Opposite are initial ideas in terms of mood and

Picturesque landscape design can, once identified, be

form, communicated using the montage of previously

explored within the realities of our own given site in

identified art pieces upon the site. Each frame

Broomhall, Dunfermline. This process of exploration

represents the varying qualities available through

enables ideas to be reinterpreted onto a specific modern

certain elemental compositions, revealing preliminary

condition, transferring romantic ideals from the past

potential contrivances possible within the proposal.

into a present planning context. This discourseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial

These montages are then able to be notionally located

objective, to reconnect suburbia with its surrounding

onto specific topographic spaces within the site plan

landscape, has utilised the field of landscape idealism,

to encourage certain qualities to be emphasised and

and therefore art and philosophy, to investigate how to

enhanced, allowing areas of varying condition to be

make crucial connections between oneself and nature.

created within the location.

This research has therefore impacted the way in which the design process has been approached throughout the course of this project. Ideas and proposals have been expressed through the medium of visuals and perspective, to enforce the primacy of human perception as a key driver in the design of the whole.

fig 17 CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Aeneas at Delos (1672)

fig 18 NICOLAS POUSSIN, Landscape with Saint John on Patmos (1640)

fig 19 GASPARD DUGHET, Wooded rocky Landscape, at Osterley Park, London (1615-75)

fig 20 Salator Rosa, Landscape with Tobias and the Angel (1660-73)

22 | 23

fig 21 CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with cow herd (evening), Montaged on to south/west of site

fig 22 CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Aeneas at Delos, Montaged on to south/east of site

fig 23 SALVATOR ROSA, Landscape with Tobias and the Angel, Montaged on to south of site

This work facilitates more site specific arrangements to be later explored, allowing spaces that create a visual engagement to be anticipated on the peripheries of the site. Foliage and built form are configured to frame views and exaggerate existing landscape features, while a layering of scale is enforced using foreground, mid ground and background elements to enrich the scene. The objects used to animate these images are isolated parts of iconic landscape paintings, this enables the sceneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s composition to be experimented with using existing associative pieces. These notional fragments will be explored and ultimately replaced by forms researched and explained previously within the chapter â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Utopian Ontologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;; providing the composition with appropriate analogy within a suburban context.

24 | 25

The parts of the site established as interesting during

The infrastructure within the site has been explored

perspective studies, were able to be explored at a larger

by looking first at the formal geometries and existing

scale in relation to one another. Notional pathways,

patterns apparent in the surrounding area. As shown

vistas and connections were identified providing the

opposite, the golden section relates perfectly to

analogous parts of the composition with an appropriate

existing agricultural buildings and dwellings within

topographic setting within the area, based on their scale

the site, while providing formal lines capable of

and programme

connecting the proposal to current infrastructure. This perfect geometry provides a strong linear framework, respondent to the grain of the prominent eastern railway on the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edge, while accentuating the movement of the topographic undulations that cross the area . The resultant outcome of this approach is a formal infrastructural framework within which more naturalistic design moves can be thus juxtaposed.

fig 24 Design studies exploring elements across the site

fig 25 Plan of infrastructure and geometries 1.20,000

26 | 27

WATER CHANELS / CASCADES

ARTIFICIAL BASINS

M A I N D R A I N A G E C O L L E C T I O N PO I N T

fig 26 WAT E R S T RAT E GY

WATER DIAGRAM VIEW TO ABBEY

VIEW TO BRIDGES

fig 27 VI S UAL STRATE GY

SITE LINE DIAGRAM

INFORMAL AXIS

TOWER CLEARING FORMAL AXIS

ANCIENT WOODLAND

CIVIC PARK

LANDSCAPED PROMENADE

NATURALISTIC PARK

SOURCE OF DRAINAGE ROUTE

FORMAL PARK

NATURALISTIC PARK

fig 28 PAR K STRATE GY

Upon this infrastructural base a designed water strategy

both the Forth road and rail bridges and Dunfermline

P A Ralong K D I Aan G Rinformal AM is placed axis. This axis follows the

Abbey. Visual connections between the objects create

natural flow of water drainage already apparent within

notional paths throughout the entire site, inspiring

the location and therefore exaggerates the valleys

further engagement between built form and landscape.

and basins typical of the area’s terrain. The series of

This move creates strong links between internal

amplified lakes created are then linked by naturalistic

suburban development and the parks and agriculture

cascades and channels, designed to accommodate extra

present on the settlement’s fringe, generating a sense

rainfall, and terminate at a larger drainage pool toward

of ownership over spaces out with built development.

the lower south east corner of the site. The combination of these parts produces a landscape The water strategy relates directly to an informal

framework designed to facilitate a discussion between

park, promoting landscape interaction by suggesting

suburb and countryside, building on the natural assets

an orchestrated route through the site. The park is

embedded in the site’s existing configuration.

populated by carefully placed objects, designed to create internal scenes and frame borrowed vistas of

28 | 29

fig 29 Site plan of Landscape and architectural fragments 1. 20,000

Conclusion

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;[Picturesque landscapes] as didactical instruments [...] are turned towards man, awakening his senses and injecting into them, immediately afterwards, a critical stimulus: nature, by now not a reflection of the divine Idea but a structure shared by man, can merge with the history of the entire human species, showing that the rational course of civilisation is natural, because it moves (Gian Battista Vico) from the realm of the senses to that of the intellect.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Tafuri, 1980 The abilities of contrived landscape to surpass physical brief and accommodate critical ideas is paramount to the success of creating animated and engaging designs. The ability of the Picturesque movement, as described by Tafuri, to exploit the capacities of landscape culture within its compositions is a technique crucial to its experiential success, and one that becomes equally pertinent when re examining a more suburban condition. This thesis understands ways in which the connections between built suburbia and its rural edge can be redefined through the medium of a constructed landscape. The identification of suburbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more romantic beginnings in the English Picturesque, and its genesis in idealistic landscape art have enabled design techniques to be isolated and applied to a contemporary suburban development. This process has permitted values and theories attached to the Picturesque movement to be evaluated and utilised, proving the validity of past creative theories and concepts against a more contemporary, Functionalist method of planning. The role of romanticism in connecting intellectual references with rural landscape has been crucial in encouraging a dialogue between culture and countryside, allowing appropriate theoretical analogies to be drawn upon when experiencing designed landscapes. This resultant interaction involves the experience of the individual within natural compositions, creating an engagement usually associated with the city. Bringing these mechanisms into a suburban setting allows rural peripheries to enrich the architectural whole, producing developments that contribute to and benefit from the natural landscape.

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REFERENCE LIST

Ackerman, J., S., 1995. The Villa, Form and Ideology of Country Houses. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd Boyer, M., C., 1994. The City of Collective Memory. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Conron. J., 2000. American Picturesque. USA: Pennsylvania State University Press Duncan, J. S., and Duncan, N. G., 1997. Deep Suburban Irony. New York: Routledge Fishman, R., 1987. Bourgeois Utopias, The Rise and Fall of Suburbia. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. Giedion, S., 1967. Space, Time and Architecture. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press Lagerlof, M., R., 1990. Ideal Landscape. Hong Kong: Yale University Press March, J., 2014. Dictionary of Classical Mythology. 2nd edn, Oxford: OXBOW Books Marin, L., 1999. Sublime Poussin. 2nd edn, California: Stanford University Press Sear, F., 1982. Roman Architecture. London: Batsford Academic and Educational Limited Mumford, L., 1984. The City In History. 2nd edn, Reading: Cox & Wyman Ltd. Prior, J., 1883. The Works of the right honourable Edmund Burke. 5th edn, London: George Bell & Sons Reh. W., and Steenbergen, C., 1996. Architecture and Landscape. Netherlands: THOTH Publishers Tafuri, M., 1980. Theories and History of Architecture. Great Britain: Granada Publishing Limited Yolton, J., W., 1993. abridged version of Locke, J., : An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (originally

printed 1703). London: Dent Oed.com, 1822. Oxford English Dictionary. [ONLINE] available at: http://www.oed.com/view/ Entry/105515?rskey=dlxkAf&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid [Accessed 13 Apr. 2016].

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ackerman, J., S., 1995. The Villa, Form and Ideology of Country Houses. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd Ames, D., L., 1995. Preserving the Recent Past, Interpreting Post-World War II Suburban Landscapes as Historic Resources. Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Education Foundation Aurelli, P. V., 2011. The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Boyer, M., C., 1994. The City of Collective Memory. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Conron. J., 2000. American Picturesque. USA: Pennsylvania State University Press Daniel, T., C., 2001. Whither scenic beauty? Visual landscape quality assessment in the 21st century. Landscape Urban Plan. 54, 267â&#x20AC;&#x201C;281 De Long, D., G., 1998. Frank Lloyd Wright and the Living City. Milan: Skira Duncan, J. S., and Duncan, N. G., 1997. Deep Suburban Irony. New York: Routledge Fife Council. 2012. Dunfermline & West Fife Local Plan. Fishman, R., 1987. Bourgeois Utopias, The Rise and Fall of Suburbia. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. Giedion, S., 1967. Space, Time and Architecture. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press Gobster, P., H., Nassauer, J.I., Daniel, T.C., Fry, G., 2007. The shared landscape: what does aesthetics have to do with ecology? Lansdcape Ecol 22, 959â&#x20AC;&#x201C;972 Howard, E., 1974. Garden Cities of To-Morrow. Oxford: Alden & Mowbray Ltd at the Alden Press Kimball, T., and Olmstead, F., L., Jr., 1970. Frederick Law Olmstead, Landscape Architect, 1822-1903. New York : Benjamin Blom, inc. Klaus, S., L., 2002. A Modern Arcadia, Fredrick Law Olmsted Jr and the Plan for Forest Hills Gardens. China: University of Massachusetts Press. Lagerlof, M., R., 1990. Ideal Landscape. Hong Kong: Yale University Press Leatherbarrow, D., 2002. Uncommon Ground. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Leatherbarrow, D., 2004. Topographical Stories, Studies in Landscape and Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press March, J., 2014. Dictionary of Classical Mythology. 2nd edn, Oxford: OXBOW Books Marin, L., 1999. Sublime Poussin. 2nd edn, California: Stanford University Press Martin, R., 1967. Living Architecture: Greek. London: Oldbourne Book co. ltd. Mumford, L., 1984. The City In History. 2nd edn, Reading: Cox & Wyman Ltd. Nassauer, J., I., 2007. Landscape and Urban Planning . Care and stewardship: From home to planet. :

www.elsevier.com/locate/landurbplan Olmstead, F., L., 1997. Civilizing American Cities. Cambridge: Da Capo Press Prior, J., 1883. The Works of the right honourable Edmund Burke. 5th edn, London: George Bell & Sons Raymond, J., B., 1998. Cooperating with Nature. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press Reh. W., and Steenbergen, C., 1996. Architecture and Landscape. Netherlands: THOTH Publishers Sear, F., 1982. Roman Architecture. London: Batsford Academic and Educational Limited Silverstone, R., 1997. Visions of Suburbia. New York: Routledge Tafuri, M., 1980. Theories and History of Architecture. Great Britain: Granada Publishing Limited Thompson, N., 2008. Experimental Geography. New York: Melville House Publishing Tufnel, B.,2006. Land Art. London: Tate Publishing Wickham, L., 2012. Gardens in History: A Political Perspective. Havertown: Windgather Press Wurman, R., S., 1986. The Words of Louis I. Kahn. New York: AccessPress Ltd.

Yolton, J., W., 1993. abridged version of Locke, J., : An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (originally printed 1703). London: Dent

2016. Planningguidance.communities.gov.uk ,. â&#x20AC;&#x153;9. Protecting Green Belt Land | Planning Practice Guidanceâ&#x20AC;?. N.p., Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Oed.com, 1822. Oxford English Dictionary. [ONLINE] available at: http://www.oed.com/view/ Entry/105515?rskey=dlxkAf&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid (Accessed 13 Apr. 2016).

34 | 35

LIST OF IMAGES

1. Olmstead, Vaux and Company, 1839. Plan of Riverside Illinois. [unkown]. Fishman, R., Bourgeois Utopias. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. 2. S. Dyson 3. Lorrain, Claude, (1650). Landscape with cowherd (evening). [oil on canvas] At: https://locvsamoenvs. wordpress.com/2014/12/21/horace-2-6-the-weary-soldier/ (Accessed on 23/04/2016) 4. S. Dyson 5. S. Dyson 6. S. Dyson 7. S. Dyson 8. Nash, John, 1823. Plan for Park Village, Regentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Park. [unkown]. Fishman, R., Bourgeois Utopias. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. 9. S. Dyson 10. S. Dyson 11. S. Dyson 12. S. Dyson 13. S. Dyson 14. S. Dyson 15. Lorrain, Claude. River Landscape with Tiburtine Temple at Tivoli. [oil on canvas]. Lagerlof, M., R., Ideal

Landscape. Hong Kong: Yale University Press 16. Architecture and the Garden Suburb Unit, 2015. Site image [photograph] 17. S. Dyson 18. S. Dyson 19. S. Dyson 20. S. Dyson 21. S. Dyson

22. S. Dyson 23. S. Dyson 24. S. Dyson 25. S. Dyson 26. S. Dyson 27. S. Dyson 28. S. Dyson 29. S. Dyson

36 | 37

III SUBURBAN MISE EN SCÈNE

SUBURBAN MISE EN SCÈNE

Master’s Thesis

Deborah Martin

CONTENTS

Prologue

[Suburbia and the notion of ‘no-place’ ]

I. Introduction

[Orchestrating Drama in Suburbia]

II. The Suburban Stage

[Orchestration of Urban Fragments]

III. The Approach

[Mise en scène]

Perspective – The Theatrical Illusion Designing through Perspective Layers of Event Movement through the Scene

IV. The Site Strategy

[Matrix]

V. Conclusion

Architectural extraordinariness is, above all, the celebration and memorialisation of an imagination that transforms an ordinary event of space and time into a special experience so that we are, in Frascri’s terms “stunned “ by it. And the suburbs are crying out for such astonishing experiences.

Quantrill, 1993

Suburbia and the Notion of ‘No - Place’ The significance of spaces and places, a sense of

“Theatrical and architectural space are both cultural

individuality or uniqueness, distinguishing marks

prisms through which the spectator experiences social

in the landscape, these signs are not common in

reality, viewing mechanisms that metaphorically

suburban form.

spatialize reality, establishing the scene as authentic Quantrill, 1993

and truthful, or fanciful and spectacular” (Boyer, 1994 ). The hegemony of typical suburban built form begs for ‘the fanciful and spectacular’ - attributes which

As the bizarre territory between the intensity of

the urban realm exudes. The artefact of the city and

a city’s urban sphere and the agrarian landscape,

the domain of theatre are both environments where

suburbia tend to manifest itself as a low density,

imagined spaces become constructed places which

uniformly built landscape whose centreless sprawl

allow actors and spectators to engage in a performance.

lacks visual hierarchy thus lacking a sense of place.

The theatrical, dynamic qualities of the city are

A built environment which lacks an essence of

usually lacking in many suburban environments and

place, invariably lacks spatial directionality but

this is invariably why there has been “...decades of

most woefully lacks the sensibility of identity and

trying to apply urban theory and assumptions onto

distinctive memory. Lewis Mumford likens suburbia

suburban scenarios” (Blauvelt, 2008 .) Whilst the

to a suffocating dystopian wasteland :

wave of New Urbanism, advocating pedestrianised routes and higher density communities of mixed use buildings, is undoubtedly creating richer suburban

a multitude of uniform, unidentifiable houses, lined up

municipals, the resultant architectural and spatial

inflexibly, at uniform distances, on uniform roads, in

forms have been viewed as “too traditional and

a treeless communal waste, inhabited by people of the

nostalgic and therefore inauthentic” (Ibid).

same class the same income, the same age group...

movement’s imitation of urban planning of the past in

The

order to solve suburban planning of the future is not only inappropriate but also fruitless in determining In today’s society, market led forces have obfuscated

a new model for suburbia as historically, suburban

the merit of high quality architecture and planning

communities have endeavoured to exist as distinct

and the developer driven model of suburbia has

entities in themselves, without undermining the form

resulted in the common perception of the suburbs as

and function of the urban core.

being a place of relentless visual tedium. However, the phenomenon that it continues to be a place which

In light of this, instead of predominantly exploring

people desire to live in, must be acknowledged. It

city as precedent for a more dynamic suburbia, the

facilitates a flexible lifestyle in which people can

quality and artifice of theatre will be explored.

attain the benefits of metropolitan dwelling whilst

Through this process, the essence of theatricality

still living in close proximity to the countryside. In

associated with the city may be simulated without

this ‘place in between’, lower land prices mean more

directly imitating its forms. Taking into account the

affordable, larger properties. In effect, “suburbia is

reality that suburbia is inherently low density (in

perhaps the most popularly successful of the imagined

comparison to its adjoining city ), theatrical devices

utopian communities” (Blauvelt, 2008 ).

of illusion, scale and perspective will be used to manipulate a more compelling suburban image ; an

In trying to propose a new settlement, on the

“artificial memory device not only for spectators at

periphery of Dunfermline, which generates animated,

random, but for citizens of the nation, the region and

successful architectural spaces, counteracting the

the city itself ” (Boyer, 1994 ).

conventionally negative assumptions of suburbia, there may be prompts from theatre that could be exploited.

Orchestrating Drama in Suburbia How can we breathe an atmosphere into this nonplace,

suburban landscape, that alone is not enough to create

creating an extraordinary place,a sense of wonder in

meaningful space that encourages more dynamic

a nowhere?

social interaction; “Enrichment of experience rather Quantrill, 1993

than mere visual embellishment” brought about by investment in imagination (Quantrill, 1993 ). This

The non-events of suburbia has been intensified by the

thesis endeavours to bridge the gap between essential

introduction of the car and convenience of vehicular

visual hierarchy in the landscape and the intensification

roads which connect front door with supermarket

of existing genius loci evident on site.

and workplace, diminishing “both the complexity of the architectural stage and the social drama enacted

Architect

Leon

Battista

Alberti’s

perspective

upon it” (Quantrill, 1993). The characterless ‘big

illustrations of an ‘Ideal City’ were heavily influenced

box’ retail parks are the only form of departure from

by Vitruvius’ description of Augustan Classical

a landscape of seemingly limitless looping roads and

Theatre. Represented through a series of paintings of

cul-de-sacs of repetitive housing. It is clear that in

‘city stages’ ( genius loci) of different functions, each one

the development of a new suburban settlement a more

would be inserted at random into and urban framework,

imaginative, dynamic and architectural approach must

instilling the illusion of harmony and control. In the

be taken. But how does one begin? Unlike the urbane

context of this thesis, the idea of inserting ‘suburban

context that we are used to responding to as architects,

stages’ will be explored in the reverse order to how

the lack of constraints within this vast landscape of

Alberti envisioned his ‘city stages’. The suburban

undulating agrarian land makes the process of creating

stage is conceived of before the infill of the suburban

a new development framework quite challenging.

framework. An archipelago or matrix of markers, these

In this instance we must accept the fact that most

‘suburban stages’ would instil permanence and visual

elements that we as designers import into the scene

hierarchy, allowing suburban infill to develop outwith

will essentially be artificial constructs. These “man-

these anchoring points in the landscape. Each would

made artefacts”, whilst attempting to engage with

function as pieces of built form of different public

the existing landscape, are essentially a process of

amenity – a school, a civic centre with a library, a sub

invention and orchestration or “artifice” (Quantrill,

centre providing local shops, a church and a community

1993).

centre. “In the sea of nondescript houses...both temple

The art form of theatre is the essence of artifice. This

and library can retain an archetypal form and…bring

three dimensionally contrived metaphysical art form

to the architectural object an extraordinariness”

may influence the way in which one might begin to

(Quantrill, 1993). With the capacity to become genius

conceive of an alternative architectural suburban

loci (situated on some of the most compelling parts of

realm. The concept of theatre is essentially a strain

the site), these collections of built form can bring order

of the ‘architectural imaginary’ - the architect creating

and meaning to a suburban settlement. As in Alberti’s

suburban fabric is comparable to a set designer

painting of the ‘Ideal City’ or Sebastiano Serio’s

composing the stage design of a production. Both often

Comic Scene, both library and church respectively,

have a blank canvas to work from - the architect, a vast

give hierarchy to the street scene and are the symbolic

landscape and the set designer, the empty black box of

central focus of the perspective image.

the theatre - therefore their imagined spaces for the

Just as the Theatre of Dionysus in 5th century Athens

city periphery and drama, respectively, can materialise

staged the spectator, amphitheatre and landscape within

without limitations. Through the process of design this

the one all-encompassing scene, these ‘suburban stages’

thesis exploits this freedom, whilst acknowledging the

aspire to do the same. The act of creating strong visual

role of this new imported architecture in “integrating

connections between these architectural interventions

itself into that which already exists, to accentuate and

and the landscape in which they sit, seeks to counter

amplify its surroundings” (Ungers, 2013).

the norm of suburban development where we witness a “continued proliferation of unimaginative buildings

Whilst it has been discussed that a new visual hierarchy

and landscapes that typically have no relation to each

needs to be established in the built environment of the

other or their contexts ” (Blauvelt, 2008).

fig. 1 Sebastiano Serlio’s ‘Comic Scene’

fig. 2 Alberti’s ‘Ideal City’

As a means of creating architectural forms in the suburban landscape, the different theatrical devices considered in this thesis are explored under three different categories of observation;

T H E S U B U R B A N S TA G E O R C H E S T R AT I O N O F ‘ U R B A N F R AG M E N T S ’ The architectural form of each ‘suburban stage’ is dictated by the clustering of miniature civic archetypal elements alluding to a more associative urban spatial experience.

THE APPROACH MISE EN SCÈNE This section explores how the spectator perceives the ‘suburban stage’ on approach and the way in which it reveals itself as one moves through.

T H E S I T E S T R AT E G Y M AT R I X The configuration of these ‘suburban stages’ is such that they frame one another and specific views in the landscape. The placement of these stages and other fragments in the landscape suggest a way in which the spectator should move through and experience the character and topography of the site.

The Suburban Stage O R C H E S T R AT I O N O F ‘ U R B A N F R AG M E N T S ’

Edward Gordon Craig “found poignancy in the city and excitement, not in the visual image of the buildings as objects but in their potential for drama” (Read, 2014 ). A prolific modernist theatre practitioner of the early 20th century, Craig advocated architectural set design that manifested itself, not with the traditional visual method of a painted illusionary backdrop, but with moveable blank white partitions that represented mass and space, solid and void. Craig configured form and spatiality that the actors on stage could physically engage with to convey the story to the watching audience. Instead of imitating an architectural environment, the stage

became an architectural environment where simplistic massing symbolised and alluded to forms that we associate with urban public space.

That which cannot be known but only hinted at takes precedence over what can be grasped and compared... the general, the representative, the unspecific, is gaining in authority over the ‘merely ‘ imitative. Peter, 1987

fig. 3 Edward Gordon Craig sketch - ‘In Italy - Design for a Scene’, 1907

It is this language of ‘suggestion, not representation’ (Innes, 1983) that Alvar Aalto utilizes in his work, recreating the illusion of urban hierarchy within smaller projects using ‘urban fragments’. These fragments are not envisaged as being grandiose monuments reproduced from urban precedent, but as abstract component elements which suggest order, scale and civic structure within a suburban landscape – essentially miniature versions of the recognisable colonnade, piazza, amphitheatre and tower. Stripped of any stylistic articulation, the urban fragment eliminates any connotations of ‘monument’. The concept of monument itself suggests an urban scale – something which the suburbs cannot, and should not, impersonate. Instead the urban fragment suggests an urban quality and rationale at a pedestrian scale. Sense of place “is a quality arising from the interaction between people and the environment over time” (Weston, 1997). Therefore in order to counteract this lack of historical longevity within a new settlement, these urban fragments when orchestrated in an assemblage (‘suburban stage’), create an intense and unforgettable experience, establishing memories and associations of urban experiences of the past- formulating the illusion that this place has always been. Quantrill refers to this as ‘synthetic memory’- creating an apparent sense of permanence by way of association. The associative thinking 1 provoked by these urban fragments has its genesis in the spectator’s own subconscious, or more specifically, their ‘environmental memory’ – the collection of vivid personal memories of meaningful architectural and spatial experiences. The more abstract and devoid of style these fragments are, the more open they are to multiple interpretations. The connotations they elicit are not limited to any single place, circumstance or memory – the more possible associations that they can evoke, the wider the audience that can relate to them. In the creation of a new place in the landscape, this is crucial. Whilst this setting’s new architectural intervention should amplify the inherent genius loci of the place, so too should the intervention recall for the spectator the recognisable concepts of form and space which we associate with an urban environment. This dialectic relationship between genius loci and environmental memory seeks to enhance the essence of place.

The spectator’s presence within this

assemblage of urban fragments gives further meaning to this new place. The environmental memory which they subconsciously superimpose onto this new setting parallels the essence of the urban fragment abstracting or “miniaturising other urban memories in the creation of new contexts” (Quantrill,1987).

1. The concept of architectural forms evoking associations, is also investigated in previous chapters Utopian Ontology and Suburban Arcadia .

f ig. 4 Säynätsalo Town Hall - Diagram of extracted ‘Urban Fragments’

10 | 11

In 1949 Aalto’s design for a new Town Hall in Säynätsalo (a small forest village in Finland), became one of his most successful displays of combined urban fragments, creating a unified composition with contrivance of scale and aspect. The Council Chamber manifests itself as tower, the landscaped flight of steps to the south west suggest a small amphitheatre whilst the enclosed courtyard, lifted above the landscape, mimics an Italian piazza in miniature. Additionally, the exaggerated mullions of the glazed internal circulation which borders this courtyard are suggestive of a miniature colonnade. The manipulated convergence of these conceptual fragments create a “visual and symbolic focus” (Weston, 1997) towards the tower. The illusionary south-west entrance perspective illustrates this idea explicitly. The staggers and angles of the buildings between the landscaped steps, breaks down their mass, to deceptively appear lower as they recede in perspective towards the Council Chamber, exaggerating its height. The ascending ‘amphitheatre’ is positioned so that one focuses directly on the tower whilst the steps themselves are contoured in a way which gives the illusion that they recede further into the distance than they actually do in reality. The courtyard’s importance is emphasised by elevating it above the existing landscape, giving further significance to the tower that stands within it, whilst the tower itself further asserts its verticality in the scene through the use of a butterfly roof. It is, in essence, an urban centre in miniature. In a city the grouping of the main civic buildings generates unity and dramatic effect (Moughtin, 1999) whereas in the smaller community of Säynätsalo, this is suggested with the grouping of smaller abstracted civic architectural symbols within one building type, made to seem more grandiose by contrivance of scale and form in perspective. There is an appropriateness to this kind of treatment of built form within a smaller settlement. Whilst notions of place-making and suggested urbanism are still important, “the density and mixture of functions characteristic of major centres” (Garofalo, 2003) does not exist in a suburban context. Instead, important building types within the development become individual entities (islands of visual hierarchy in the horizon) within a wider framework.

fig. 5 Säynätsalo Town Hall - View from Southwest Entrance

f ig. 6 Suburban Stage ‘Civic Centre’ Diagram of extracted ‘Urban Fragments’ - Tower, Piazza, Amphitheatre, Colonnade

fig. 7 Suburban Stage ‘Church’ Diagram of extracted ‘Urban Fragments’ - Tower, Piazza, Amphitheatre, Colonnade

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The Approach MISE EN SCÈNE

P E R S P E C T I V E - T H E T H E AT R I C A L I L LU S I O N

The configuration of these ‘suburban stages’ is explored through the technique of perspective. Composing an aspect in this controlled way is evident in the fabric of Dunfermline’s Abbey. In 1594, Queen Anne of Dunfermline ordered the design of an additional north porch to the Abbey whose opening framed an exaggerated perspective towards the town and City Chambers2 .

The contrived vista that the porch

composes, elicits connotations of Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, where trompe-l’œil (an optical illusion by forced perspective) of an urban streetscape focuses the eye on a principal object in the distance.

fig. 8 Illustration of Dunfermline Abbey’s North Porch

2. It seems that her desire to do so may have been inspired by her involvement at that time in Masques (theatrical celebrations of kingly power ) which used the illusionistic world of perspectival theatre (trompe l’oeil ) to glorify royalty within city and society.

fig. 9 Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza

Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554) was the first architect to explore perspectival views of architectural urban space within the limits and realms theatre. His volumes of Architecttura , contained illustrations of illusionistic, threedimensional manifestations of Vitruvian tragic, comic and satyric scenes, inspired by Alberti’s perspective paintings of an Ideal City. The Tragic Scene, “a formal street of classically inspired palaces and monuments which exhibit the solemnity and decorum” ,represents the civic centre of a city whilst the Satyric Scene represents a primitive countryside scene “with simple rustic huts populated with peasants, shepherds ” (Read, 2013). The Comic Scene, comparable with suburbia, depicts ‘the place in between’ - the commonplace where a strange juxtaposition between civic, sacred and secular life is evident in the colourful mix of building function - a church building existing in conjunction with dwellings and a brothel. The real extent of the artifice created in Serlio’s perspectival Comic Scene stage is revealed through the drawing of its section and plan. In section, the suggested building elevations are manifested as extremely tall, slim entities whilst the floor plane inclines steeply towards the back of the stage. The plan appears much wider, and the extent to which it recedes towards the back of the stage is much less than the perspective suggests. This illusion of depth is achieved by inscribing a grid which attenuates towards a notional vanishing point at the back of the theatre – all implied building form is then organised by these geometries. What we initially perceive in the first representation of the Comic Scene is brought to light as an augmented illusion on further investigation. We are made acutely aware of Serlio’s intention to capitalise on the power of suggestion rather than truthful depiction. Aalto uses the notion of ‘exposing the illusion’ as a design tool for creating the architectural experience at Säynätsalo Town Hall. The initially contrived perspective (mise en scène) of “exterior masses, announce a substantial and impressive building” (Quantrill, 1993). However as one ascends the staircase and into the landscaped ‘piazza’ within, the perception of significant civic form, which we were greeted with on approach, has now dissolved into a more intimate and pedestrian scaled environment. The spectator suddenly becomes aware of the allusive tactic employed by Aalto. This experience is comparable to a spectator viewing a theatre production – one is aware of the artifice of the scene and simply accepts that the designer is trying to signify something which is tangible and significant from contrived form. This remarkable tension between what is real and what is artificial ignites the imagination.

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fig. 10 Diagrammed Perspective, Section and Plan of the Comic Scene

f ig. 11 Perspective and diagrammatic Section and Plan of the Sub - Centre ‘stage’ Scale 1:1000

| 17

DESIGNING THROUGH PERSPECTIVE

The seemingly dynamic but random arrangement of buildings in the Comic scene (similar to Serlio’s two diagrams illustrating the general principals of forced architectural perspectives) directly inspired the work of prolific 20th century theatre practitioner Edward Gordon Craig (Innes, 1983 ). He also used the device of a grid composed around a central vanishing point where building mass, platforms, and steps could be extruded to create dynamic architectural urban atmospheres. The way in which the audience perceived the space and forms of the stage and the way in which the actor engaged and moved within it was paramount. In Craig’s sketches and drawings, the perspective had to be conceived before the plan could be devised. When Steven Holl was commissioned by the 1987 Milan Triennale exhibition to design a fictional suburban proposal for the outskirts of Milan at Porta Vittoria, his process of design was essentially the same as Craig’s. He first tests traditional urban strategies using block layouts, drawing plans to then create the perspective. He later deems this method of working too stagnant, and the designed results too unimaginative so he reverts the process - “perspective views of overlapping imagined urban spaces are drawn and projected backward into plan fragments” (Holl 1991).

f ig. 12 Serlio’s Comic Scene

fig. 13 Holl’s sketch shows move away from plan generated design

He found that this was the only way in which a new suburban architectural language could truly be investigated, by imagining new and distinct spatial relationships between higher density suburban buildings - “formation of spaces rather that the formation of objects” (Holl, 1991 ).

Whilst some of the spaces created seem somewhat vacuous with large structures towering overhead, there is an energetic quality that emerges from the curious composition of space between buildings and the juxtapositions of building scales gives character the intrigue to the scene. Only when designing through perspective could the layering of these spatial relationships and events be investigated and realized -“Potential alignments, partial exposures, and occultation of suggestive elements are all implied in a perspective view” (Holl, 1988). The role of the perspective in the context of Holl’s proposal for Porta Vittoria (and consequently, this thesis) is to give priority to the visual and spatial experiences of the assumed residents of this imagined place.

fig. 14 Holl’s Porta Vittoria proposal - amphitheatre and water basin

fig. 15 Holl’s Porta Vittoria proposal - subway station and shops

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L AY E R S O F E V E N T

The city and its architecture have often been linked to a theatre, in which we play the roles of daily life, seeing and being seen in a mirror of frisson of urban pleasure. Boyer , 1997

Spaces in theatre or places in the city which compose people in relation to one another, creating unique events and innovative contact, could be devices exploited in combating the homogeneity and ‘nonevents ’ associated with the suburban public realm. Vsevolod Meyerhold’s, a Russian Constructivist theatre director from the early 20th century, believed that “the truth of human relationships and behaviour is best expressed not by words, but by gestures, steps, attitudes and poses” (Roose-Evans, 1984). This theory is crystallised in his most well-known production, The Magnanimous Cuckold, where actors became acrobatic athletes in motion, negotiating their way enthusiastically between a suggestive structure that was a lattice of stairways, bridges, ramps and gangways which

fig. 16 Appia’s sketch for Orpheus, Hellerau 1913

towered above the stage (Roose-Evans, 1984). Communication between actor and spectator by means of movement through different levels of space is an artifice used by Craig and his colleague Adolphe Appia also. Architectonic elements (arguably urban fragments in miniature) such as stairs, platforms, rostra, ramps and open spaces all juxtaposed within the one mise en scène create animated, stimulating atmospheres. A main dominating aspect or perspective is established within the centre of the scene to provide direction and visual hierarchy whilst allowing multiple fragments to intercept around about it, creating layers of events, animating the scene and captivating the audience. Perspectives depicting Holl’s design for the suburb of Porta Vitorria illustrate similar stratification of forms and events in the scene. Whilst his proposal is admittedly ‘utopian and sentimental’ in its suggestion for a radically new architectural language for suburbia (Garofalo, 2003 ), these new volumetric spatial compositions and events give a refreshing vision of the possibilities of new spatial relationships in the suburban public realm.

fig. 17 Holl’s proposal for Porta Vittoria - Elliptical Passage

fig. 18 Perspective of view towards â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;civic centre stageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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MOVEMENT THROUGH THE SCENE

Our pleasure comes from moving about so as to make buildings move in turn, while we enjoy all these combinations of its parts. As they vary, the column turns, depths recede, galleries glide : a thousand visions escape.

Paul Valery , The Method of Leonardo (Valery cited by Holl, 2000)

On questioning the position theatre had found itself at the beginning of the 20th century, Appia asks “How can we once more live art instead of merely contemplating works of art?” (Roose-Evans, 1984). Backdrops giving the illusion of realistic settings with actors verbally depicting the plot was not fulfilling the art of theatre in the eyes of Craig and Appia. A more pure, engaging and architectural form of theatre was necessary to absorb the audience. Similar to the obstacles facing the architecture of suburbia, visual embellishment will not rectify its image, only a re-imaging of its spatial qualities. Craig envisioned an avantgarde theatre where actors are not even necessary to evoke emotion, only synchronised movements of architectonic form in addition to light and sound. In his Theatre of the Future, which was never realised due to the lack of appropriate technology at the time, he describes how “slowly shapes continue to rise in endless numbers - to rise and fall while still the folds unfold and close, mounting higher than another, others falling until there stand before us vast columns of shapes, all single yet all united - none resting “(Roose-Evans, 1984 ). The theatre would become a kinetic art form, simulating the kinds of dynamic experiences one would encounter whist moving through architectural space (a building or streetscape) for a stagnant audience - “a stage in which walls and shapes rose up and opened out, unfolding and retreating in endless motion” (Boyer, 1997). Steven Holl advocated a similar treatment for spatial experience in suburbia which he referred to as ‘parallax’3 - the change in arrangement of surfaces defining space is translated into oblique planes of movement due to the changing positions of the viewer. The illusionistic effects of parallax can be exaggerated further by moulding or orchestrating building mass in such a way that it is perceived to turn and morph in tandem with the spectator’s change in position. This spectacle of spatial flow, articulated by contrived vertical and oblique movements are the key to new spatial perceptions in new suburban development (Holl, 2000).

3. Parallax, from the Greek parallaxis , meaning ‘change’.

fig. 19 Craig’s sketch for ‘Macbeth’, 1906

fig. 20 Holl’s sketch for interior of Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art

In Craig’s design for Macbeth (1906 ) and Holl’s original sketch for the interior of Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, overlapping, converging perspectives and suggested torsional movement ignites the spectators imagination in envisioning what lies beyond. Within each ‘suburban stage’ orchestrated on site, similar curved, converging, perspectival planes in parallax give way to the torsional revealing of an object of importance (a focal point) in the distance, interrogating the interest that an oblique approach could embody. Theoreticians of the picturesque also advocated this kind of approach to built form (a dwelling in this instance):

In a direct approach, the first appearance continues to the end…In an oblique approach, the interposed objects put the house seemingly in motion: it moves with the passenger…and seen successively in different directions, it assumes at each step a new figure. Home, 2005

Alvar Aalto also utilises the oblique approach in realising how the Council Chamber tower at Säynätsalo would become the primary event within the building’s collection of urban fragments. Its form twists and seemingly morphs as one circumnavigates the mass of the building, whilst also shrinking or revealing itself depending on your path of approach. The element of surprise that arises from this type of architectural composition has the power to become a significant memorable event for the engaged subject; the kind of event which the conventional suburb seems to lack.

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fig. 21 Study of torsional movement of tower at S채yn채tsalo Town Hall

fig. 22,23 Study of torsional revealing of object in the distance - Civic Centre ‘stage’

fig. 24,25 Study of torsional revealing of object in the distance - Sub Centre ‘stage’

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The Site Strateg y M AT R I X

In creating a cohesive and meaningful suburban strategy for the site at Broomhall, this thesis has collaborated in tandem with two other strands of the ‘architectural imaginary’ (Abstract Urban Plans and the Picturesque). In the creation of this strategy, this thesis explores two contrasting yet associated concepts which establish the placement and orchestration of built form – the staging of specific static views (framed vistas composed by the ‘suburban stages’) versus the orchestration of peripatetic views

(a series of experiential cinematic views

composed by ‘utopian fragments’). The ‘suburban stages’ (whilst exploring ideas of parallax), function primarily as a matrix of objects of orientation in an immeasurable terrain. Static views or framed vistas are directed from within the suburban stage towards others positioned in the landscape. The stages operate similarly to Richard Serra’s sculpture entitled ‘Snake Eyes and Boxcars’, where corten steel markers in the landscape act as places for pausing and embracing the view. Not only do they make the volume of the landscape more physically tangible, they create “anticipation of how it might be to try to apprehend the space from yet another staging post.” (Mc Shine, 2007).

Static views of designed landscape are also contrived from specific suburban stages. Walls and platforms frame carefully orchestrated scenic vistas. Just as Serlio’s design for the Satyric scene endeavoured to refine crude nature into a more ‘refined’ and ‘proto-architectonic’ state (Read, 2013), so too do the frames of the suburban stage endeavour to further amplify the artificial and structured composition of this newly designed landscape beyond.

fig. 26 ‘Snake Eyes and Boxcars’ by Richard Serra

fig. 27 Sub-centre staging community centre in the distance

fig. 28 Church staging civic centre in the distance

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As in Serra’s sculptural works in the landscape, an initially staged and distanced overview of the composition is presented (a static view which is quintessentially picturesque) before one is drawn bodily into the composition, uncovering the realities of the terrain on moving through (a peripatetic

view which embodies the concepts of parallax). The strong visual connectivity between the contrived archipelago of suburban stages is a device used to initially engage the spectator with the narrative of the settlement and the context in which it sits. Subsequently, the particular placement of these ‘stages’ and ‘utopian fragments’ (treated as sculptures) suggest a way in which the spectator should move through the landscape. The parallactic qualities of architectural ruin was discovered in the mid-eighteenth century and this in turn sparked interest in the illusionistic effects of parallax in architecture in general (Foster, 2000) . Freestanding fragments of building (such as colonnades) which were once adjoining other structures such as walls or roofs, become sculptural pieces, affording a ‘most romantic variety of prospect’ (Ibid). The variation in how one can approach and

fig. 29 Richard Serra’s ‘East-West/West-East’

perceive something that was initially conceived as part of a whole, excites the imagination. In the context of this thesis, the placement of selected ‘utopian fragments’ on site is informed by Serra’s treatment of sculpture in the landscape. Long planar elements partially submerged in undulating terrain visually track the rise and fall of the landscape and suggest a specific way of moving through the space. Repeated tall, slim elements (of the same height), placed on relatively flat terrain, accentuate any small changes in topography whilst framing particular views. These ‘utopian fragments’ desire to initiate parallax, whilst amplifying the existing spatial and topographical essence of the site, as one is directed along their path. Whilst the archipelago of ‘suburban stages’ and ‘utopian fragments’ embodies two specific yet dialectic approaches to built form within the landscape, they are both vectors of directed motion, choreographing the visitors trajectory. They are ‘not structuring the landscape but conveying or ‘mediating it’

(Mc Shine, 2007). Their purpose as

architectural form is to stimulate the spectator, engage the awareness of their being in this particular place, pulling the

fig. 30 Richard Serra’s ‘Shift’

landscape into their vision – as Serra describes heightening ‘the subjectivity of the subject’.

SCHOOL

CHURCH

CIVIC CENTRE

COMMUNITY

CENTRE

SUB-CENTRE

fig. 31 Aerial view of suburban stages within site

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Conclusion

The concepts outlined above are intrinsically theatrical devices, explored in reaction to how the crisis of the suburban ‘no-place’ might be counteracted. Paradoxically, these mise

en scène studies, staging specific events and vistas, are also a reaction to the potentials of suburban architecture and the blank canvas given to the suburban architect and developer. This thesis endeavours to design a matrix of ‘suburban stages’ of varying public amenity, inextricably linked to their setting whilst orchestrating the potential for drama and surprise within the pedestrian journey, similar to the treatment of form at Hadrian’s Villa;

The skilful way that Hadrian and his architect have contrived the meeting of the axes, the surprises that await the turning of a corner, and the vistas that open to a view. Mac Donald, 1995

This particular spatial treatment (where sequences of events animate the scene) engages the imagination and the subjectivity of the spectator. In the intermediate territory between agrarian land and the city, suburbia should capitalise on its peculiarity and adopt a narrative which excites and bewilders, exaggerating its curiosities through theatrical architectural events. The theatrics of the suburban architectural form illustrated above aspires to initiate

memorable experiences, giving identity to a new settlement within a virgin landscape which has its own palpable and inherent characteristics. The contrivance of scale and the orchestration of ‘urban fragments’ within the ‘suburban stages’ insights urban connotations and alludes to the civic hierarchy which we are accustomed to in the city. Simultaneously, the particular placement and arrangement of each ‘stage’, attempts to amplify the most compelling parts of this site. The result is a matrix of suburban public buildings, islands of orientation in the horizon, which create “a coherent whole, an urban fiction…an entirely new yet recognisable place, which brings to the suburban non-place the permanence we can recognize” (Quantrill, 1987).

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REFERENCE LIST

• Blauvelt A., Worlds Away : New Suburban Landscapes, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, 2008. • Boyer M. C., The City of Collective Memory : Its Historical Imagery and Architectural Entertainments, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, Cambridge, 1994. • Craig E. G., Walton M. J., Craig on Theatre, Methuen London, London, 1983. • Foster H. [et al], Richard Serra, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2000. • Garofalo F., Steven Holl, Thames & Hudson, London, 2003. • Holl S., Anchoring, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 1991. • Holl S., Edge of a City, Princeton Architectural Press and Pamphlet Architecture, New York, 1991. • Holl S., Parallax , Birkhäuser, Basel, 2000. • Home. H. [Lord Kames], Jones P., Elements of Criticism, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 2005. • Innes C., Directors in Perspective - Edward Gordon Craig, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1983 • Mac Donald W., Hadrian’s Villa and It’s Legacy, Yale University Press, 1995. • Mc Shine K., Cooke L., [et al], Richard Serra - Sculpture: Forty Years, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2007. • Moughtin C., Urban Design : Street and Square, Architectural Press,Oxford, 1999. • Peter J., Vladimir’s Carrot: Modern Drama and the Modern Imagination, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987. • Quantrill M., Alvar Aalto : A Critical Study, New Amsterdam Books, New York, 1983. • Quantrill M., The Environmental Memory : Man and Architecture in the Landscape of Ideas, Schocken Books, New York, 1987.

• Quantrill M., Urban Forms, Suburban Dreams, Texas A&M University Press, Texas, 1993. • Read G., Modern Architecture in Theatre : The Experiments of Art et Action, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2014. • Read G., Feuerstein M., Architecture as a Performing Art , Ashgate, Surrey, 2013. • Roose-Evans J., Experimental Theatre : From Stanislavsky to Peter Brook , Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1984. • Ungers O. M., Koolhaas R. [et al], The City in the City- Berlin: A green Archipelago, Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich, 2013. • Weston R., Alvar Aalto, Phaidon Press, London, 1997.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Bablet D., The Theatre of Edward Gordon Craig, Eyre Methuen, London, 1981. • Fuerst W. R., Hume S. J., Twentieth Century Stage Decoration, Dover Publications, New York, 1967 • Gehl, Jan, Life between buildings: using public space, Island Press, London, 2011. • Koolhaas R., Delirious New York : A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, The Monacelli Press, 2014 • Krier L., Thadani D., The Architecture of Community, Island Press, Washington, 2009 • Lynch K., The Image of the City, MIT Press, London, 1960. • Panerai P., Castex J., Depaule J. C., Samuels I., Urban Forms: The Death and Life of the Urban Block, Architectural Press, Oxford, 2004. • Rossi A., The Architecture of the City, Opposition Books, New York, 1984. • Tschumi B., Architecture and Disjunction, MIT Press, London, 1994.

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IMAGE REFERENCE LIST Any Image not referenced below is Author’s Own.

1. Robson J., Reconstruction of Sebastiano Serlio’s Comic Scene [3D Modelled Image] At: http://www. joerobson.co.uk/history_04.html (Accessed on 21.01.16) 2. Alberti L. B., (1480) The Ideal City [Painting] At: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/arts/09ihtconway09.html (Accessed on 17.01.16) 3. Craig E. G., (1907) In Italy - Design for a Scene, [Sketch] In: Craig E. G., Walton M. J., Craig on Theatre, Methuen London, London, 1983. 5. Vuoriainen T., Town hall 2, Saynatsalo [Photograph] At: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/68701066 (Accessed: 18.04.16) 8. A Porch of Ceremonies [etch] In: Johnston W. T., Early Illustrations of Dunfermline, Dunfermline, Pitcairn Publications. 9.Teatro Olimico (2012) [photograph] At: http://slowitaly.yourguidetoitaly.com/2012/07/teatro-olimpicopalladian-architecture-oldest-enclosed-theater-in-the-world/ (Accessed : 10.11.15) 12. Serlio S., http://archiveofaffinities.tumblr.com/image/8710155473 13. Holl S., (1986) [sketch] In: Holl S., Edge of a City, Princeton Architectural Press and Pamphlet Architecture, New York, 1991. 14. Holl S., (1986) Porta Vittoria, project, Milan, Italy, Water basin, amphitheater, and jack-up rig, perspective and plan [graphite ink and wash on paper] At: http://www.moma.org/collection/works/185?locale=en (Accessed 16.01.2016) 15. Holl S., (1986) Porta Vittoria, project, Milan, Italy, Subway station and shops, ticket-taker tower, perspective and plan, [graphite ink and wash on paper] At: http://www.moma.org/collection/works/183?locale=en (Accessed: 16.01.2016) 16. Appia A., (1913) Sketch for Orpheus, [sketch] At : http://www.eclap.eu/portal/?q=et/home&axoid=urn% 3Aaxmedis%3A00000%3Aobj%3A9b30e222-8fbb-4c3a-859d-35015bb6533e&ml=en (Accessed: 22.04.2016) 17. Holl S., (1986) Porta Vittoria, project, Milan, Italy, View at elliptical passage, perspective and plan [graphite ink and wash on paper] At: http://www.moma.org/collection/works/181?locale=en (Accessed: 16.01.2016) 19. Craig E. G., (1906) Macbeth, [sketch] In: Craig E. G., Walton M. J., Craig on Theatre, Methuen London, London, 1983. 20. Holl S., Kaisma Museum of Contemporary Art [sketch] In: Holl S., Parallax , Birkhäuser, Basel, 2000. 26. Serra R., Snake Eyes and Boxcars [photograph] In. Mc Shine K., Cooke L., [et al], Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2007. 29. Crane S., (2014) East-West/West-East [photograph] At: http://dohanews.co/photos-sheikha-al-mayassaunveils-new-towering-sculptures-desert/ (Accessed: 20.03.2016)

30. Shift [photograph of model] In: Foster H. [et al], Richard Serra, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2000.

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EPI LO GU E

SUBURBAN ARCHIPELAGO

With these three parts we create a series of layers - one of landscape, built form and analogy - bringing together a number of ideas and concepts within a stratified whole. The result will be pluralistic where a variety of forms and spaces are assembled together often in direct opposition. The series of parts, juxtapositions, contradictions and interpositions reveal a dialectic relationship in the tensions they create. The combined fragments will read like an imaginary museum, ‘a Noah’s Ark in which the genetic heritage of architecture takes shelter’ (Marot, 2013).

UTO PIAN O NTO LO GY

SUBURBAN ARCADIA

SUBURBAN MISE EN SCÈNE

SUBURBAN ARCHIPELAGO