The Paradox of a Global Regionalism

THE PARADOX OF A GLOBAL REGIONALISM: FILTERS OF AN ACTIVE ARCHITECTURE

For my family.

Thank you for your patience and your unending love and wisdom.

FILTERS: INTRODUCTION SPEAKING REGIONALISM DISTILLING GLOBALISM ENGAGING A DELICATE COMBINATION

THE RESULT

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LAYERING

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ACTING

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“First, we shape our dwellings. Then, our dwellings shape us.�

- Winston Churchill

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INTRODUCTION: speaking

The opening quote “First we shape our dwellings. Then our dwellings shape

us.” by Winston Churchill is the foundation of this book in the purest sense. The shaping of our dwellings and how they then shape us is a profound part of everyone’s life. In order to design architecture that positively shapes peoples’ lives architects must design for a global regionalism. The paradox of a global regionalism is best understood when broken into two parts. First, globalism is defined as the collective movement of ideas that are perpetuated by mass media and modern technology.

Second, regionalism is defined by three sets of local ideas: history and culture, context and site, materials and technology. An extensive knowledge of these regional values is the first step towards designing architecture. This process is defined as a “filtering,” and it is the act of taking ideas of the local culture, passing them through a distilling filter and abstracting the information to create the first layer of a global regionalism.

It is only after the region has been thoroughly studied that the global ideas then can be layered and incorporated within the design. This delicate combination will lead to

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architecture that enriches its local fabric and ultimately people’s lives by synthesizing both regional and global influences.

The following sections of this book are labeled as filters. Each filter is a step in the process of designing for a global regionalism. Each filter also has a corresponding action word that abstractly defines the process. In the next section the filter labeled Regionalism will be defined and examined. This initial step is not only pertinent but also inevitable to the design process. It is the base layer for architecture of a global regionalism and as Charles A. Jenks stated in “Post-Modern Architecture”,

“The pre-eminent role of the architect is to articulate our

environment, not only so we can comprehend it literally, but also so we can find it psychologically nourishing, create meanings we hadn’t even imagined were possible.”1

Through a complex distilling methodology the region will be layered within the final design to create architecture capable of articulating the regional and global aspects.

This dialogue’s result is global regionalism.

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“Every great concept, work of art, institution, worldwide movement has a birthplace. The special nature of the place has something to do with what is borneven with the fact it is born at all. It is born there because a special combination of ingredients exists there. It survives and develops because it is protected and nurtured there. Neither birth nor nurture occurs in an undefined place. It occurs in a region.� – Harwell Hamilton Harris

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REGIONALISM: distilling The first step in designing towards a global regionalism is the filtering of the regional information. Regional information is separated into three pairs: i.

History and Culture

ii.

Context and Site

iii.

Material and Technology

The architect should familiarize himself or herself with these pairs and further abstract design instructions from each.

HISTORY AND CULTURE The history of a local region is represented in various ways. Manifesting traditions or cultural norms and ideas of the built environment within the first layer of design is the primary step to the overall proposal of a global regionalism. For Vincent B. Canizaro, “Traditions are the carriers of cultural knowledge and the embodiment of a culture’s

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continual transformation.”2 Traditions, which include cultural ideas about building size, orientation and typologies, are all to be examined. They, as Alvar Aalto mentions “cannot be wholly cast off and regarded as used objects which have to be replaced by something new.”3

They are important to the final design and unlike post-modernism,

the architect must survey these by abstracting the information and not superficially reinterpreting them. This abstraction begins by first acknowledging the specific cultural tradition. For example, typology, as defined by Aldo Rossi in “The Urban Artifact as a Work of Art” is,

“…developed according to both needs and aspirations to beauty; a particular type was associated with a form and a way of life, although its specific shape varied widely from society to society.”4

Therefore, the tradition of typology in one region may be different from another and should be recognized prior to design. A school will look different in a southern, rural environment as opposed to a northern, urban environment. It is possible for the typology to change over time but it is still region specific. Passing them through the distilling filter is the next step in the abstraction. This is reproduction of the space by taking various principles and applying them to the design. This is NOT a direct interpretation of the space nor is it, as Mary McLeod stated, a “surface

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image” or “mere [fabrication]s,” like most post-modern buildings are.5 The idea is to challenge the traditional typologies, orientations, sizes and shapes by taking them, understanding them and readapting them. Alvaro Siza’s building the Portugal Pavilion is a prime example of this adaptation. This building is sized the same as many pavilions. It is similar

Figure 1: The concrete “sail” represents sea and local environment of Portugal.

in materials as well, but it takes its shape and unique concrete canopy or “sail” from the history of Portugal (Figure 1).6 Another unique example is Renzo Piano’s Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center located on the island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific (Figure 2). The buildings materials, 7

Figure 2: Piano’s Cultural Center huts.

Figure 3: Traditional Kanak huts.

size and shape are all modeled after traditional Kanak huts (Figure 3).8 Piano was able to abstract these aspects without copying them directly.

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CONTEXT AND SITE The second set of regional values is related to the exact location of the building including the context and site. The context of the building is an overarching blanket including the city, region and climate. The site is defined as the immediate surroundings, including the streetscape, topography and surrounding buildings/ landmarks. Kenneth Frampton describes site and more specifically, topography, as the “…concrete appearance of rootedness itself.”9 Developing this “rootedness” between the built environment and the context and/or site is imperative in the design process. This delicate bond is explained by Vittori Gregotti, who states,

“To combat nature or to “enter into” it to the point of penetration; to grasp its dialectical aspects with respect to concentration; to order it geometrically, or to make of it, in cultivating one’s garden, ideal nature, a chosen cosmological precinct, earthly paradise, nature propitious to human living as against wild nature; or pedagogically to invoke it as a mirror of truth, precise and differentiated architectural responses.”10

His comment describes the different ways to develop or ignore that relationship between the building and nature. In order to create a strong basis for global

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regionalism it is essential to avoid combatting the site but instead enter into it. Accept it. Embrace it. This bond produces a response that is rooted within that regional fabric. The observation of these principles is best described through built examples, first, the Koshino House

by Tadao Ando was built on a slopping site and becomes a “compositional Figure 4: The Koshino house nestled into the slopping site.

addition to the site� by not disturbing any pre-existing trees (Figure 4).11 Next, the Schanxl House by Glenn Murcutt in Newport, Sydney (Figure 5).12 This building sits on a steeply slopped site in Australia. Instead of leveling the site, Murcutt celebrates the topography by placing windows that provided panoramic views down the hill to the rest of the site. He is also well known for considering local climate conditions into

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Figure 5: The Schnaxl house on the steep terrain.

Figure 6: An urban example, the HL23 responds directly to its surroundings.

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his buildings and this building is oriented to face northwest to optimize daylighting via skylights and carefully positioned windows. In opposition to the wooded site in Newport, the HL23 by Neil Denari grows out of a very constrained site in New York City. This building morphs into a reversed taper that directly responds to the immediate site conditions, including the High Line rail bed and the miniscule site footprint (Figure 6).13 All of these buildings are examples of a strong integration with site and context. Each logically and intelligently respond to the site restrictions instead of simply ignoring them.

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MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

The principles of materials and technology can be closely linked to both those of the history/culture and those of the context/site. The same way the cultural norms are to be studied and abstracted, the materials and technology of a specific region can also be conceptualized and represented within the final design. The selection of materials is a tedious and critical stage in global regionalism. The architect must choose materials that will reflect and enhance the surrounding culture. The materials should not be purely fashionable, nor should they be exact representations of what already exist. They have an obligation to respect the existing presences by bringing in “new nourishment.”14 It is not about the exact depiction of the material but more about the color, scale and history of the material. These aspects can be taken and creatively altered. Gio Ponti best describes the essence of materiality and just how the architect should utilize materials when he said,

“A beautiful material is the same for all. Only a few are able to create beauty out of a modest material. Beautiful materials do not exist, anyway. Only the right material exists.”15

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Ponti’s states that a simple, modest material is beautiful when utilized correctly. Peter Zumthor’s Saint Benedict Chapel takes a modest material, wood, and creates a simple, elegant response to the regional context of Switzerland. This material is a traditional one for that area and Zumthor uses it intelligently (Figure 7).16 The material choice should not be extravagant for the sake of being extravagant. This is the response required for a global regionalist approach.

Figure 7: Interior image of the entirely wooden chapel.

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“Without architecture the world would remain illegible�

-Denis Hollier

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GLOBALISM: engaging After the regional values have been thoroughly studied, the designer then can move on to the global issues. These issues are broken into two parts: i.

Mass media

ii.

Modern Technology

This second layer to global regionalism covers a broad spectrum.

MASS MEDIA Mass media in the twenty first century is forever changing and evolving. It is the iPhone, Kindle, Nike commercials and more. The presence of mass media in architecture design is indisputable. The importance of it, however, is always in question. Architects must engage the ideas behind mass media and apply them to the essence of the design. These ideas include constant communication within a global community, efficiency and unity. They can and should be addressed and studied.

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To Denise Scott Brown these ideas are “built artifacts of a set of subcultures.”17 They are to be considered and accounted for within the design. Mass media is important to global regionalism and should not be ignored, but should not be “a desperate attempt to give the profession of architecture a final justification of its bad conscience” as Culot and Krier declare in “The Only Path for Architecture.”18

There should be a

middle ground between Denise Scott Brown and Culot and Krier to using mass media within design.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY Modern technology or more aptly labeled as the “blitzkrieg of technology” by Victor Gruen in “Cityscape and Landscape” has changed the way architects and society think about architecture.19 It is defined as digital design methods and modern building construction techniques. It is a world of Revit, Rhino, SketchUp and many other digital tools. These are important in the process of designing for a global regionalism and, when utilized to enhance existing conditions, are irreplaceable design instruments. The building construction methods are also a part of modern technology. The construction approach to a project should be creative and attuned to that specific region.

Traditional construction methods can be paired with modern technology to integrate contemporary systems for sustainability, climate control and more.

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Chris Able explains this in “Architecture Identity”,

“…if universal building types are unavoidable, they can still be adapted to local climatic, site, and social conditions. Elements of traditional form may also be incorporated, if these can be shaped to the new purpose. A few foreign as well as local architects have demonstrated exceptional skill in producing a hybrid regional architecture of this kind that reflects both modern and traditional influences.”20

As Able quoted these systems should be designed with a direct relationship to the region’s environmental specifications and are meant to improve that region. It is also further explained through Tomas Herzog’s response to the “Green Questionnaire”, he states,

“Here, the careful integration of technologies for the use of renewable energies offers the chance to generate new forms of architectural expression which are closely linked to the local condition, such as microclimate and topography, the natural resources and the cultural heritage of a certain region.”21

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This dialogue between the region and global technological advancements should be apparent within the architectural design. One can see Herzog’s words come to life in the Dominus Winery in Napa Valley by Herzog and de Mueron. This building is closely linked to the local condition. It is oriented to follow the existing lines of the grape vines and sits low and nestled in the landscape. Herzog and de Mueron took into consideration the arid climate of the Napa region and created a building envelope out of local rock that would insulate and let natural light filter through (Figure 8).22 This technique is technologically modern and innovative as well as rooted within the region by the use of local materials and local climate analysis. Also, Figure 9 is a detail of the previously mention Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center by Renzo Piano. Piano utilized traditional Kanak construction methods with a modern twist.23

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Figure 9: A detail of the modern engineering juxtaposed with the traditional materials of New Caledonia.

Figure 8: A detail mock-up of the facade system at the Dominus Windery.

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A DELICATE COMBINATION: layering This section will be a brief overview of how to carefully take regional and global knowledge and combine it to create a global regionalism. This combination is a layering action similar to that of Peter Eisenman’s Palimpsest method (Figure 10).24 Eisenman uses this method to layer historical site lines over existing site lines and so on. In this case it is used solely to represent the layering aspect of the design process.

As previously mentioned, it begins with the regional principles. This is the base layer and arguably the most important one. The architect must fully understand and abstract these principles in a manner that will enhance the local environment.

Next, mass media and technology tie in the global aspects. These values are to be layered on top of the distilled regional values and are to be apparent but not overwhelming within the final design. Technology and mass media tie the region to the global community and will produce built forms that “mirror our rapidly changing society”. The architect should be looking to layer both the “slow- changing codes

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and particular ethnic meanings of a neighborhood” and “the fast-changing codes of architectural fashion and professionalism” or technologies.25 They create a discourse between the two that acts as a hybrid bond. This bond is global regionalism and is a positive and active architectural response. A positive and active response is one that enhances its regional fabric instead of statically existing. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Henning Larsen Architects takes traditional Islamic architecture and combined it with a modern infrastructure (Figure 11).26

Figure 10: Palimpsest layering by Eisenman.

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THE RESULT: acting

Active architecture is architecture that is responsive. It is the result of a complex layering of region and global issues into a balanced design. The opposite, static architecture is architecture that is heavily saturated with either regionalism or globalism but lacks that equilibrium. Architecture for a global regionalism is active and ultimately the right design response.

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Figure 11: The traditional Islamic building shape and size with a modern take.

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NOTES:

1.Charles Jenks, “Post-Modern Architecture,” in Architecture Theory since 1968, Michael Hays (New York: The MIT Press, 1998), 314.

2. Vincent B. Canizaro, Arcitectural Regionalism: Collected Writings on Place, Identity, Modernity and Tradition (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007),23.

3. Alvar Aalto, “The Architects Conscience,” in Architecture Culture 1943-1968, Joan Ockman (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993), 250.

4. Aldo Rossi, “The Architecture of the City,” in Architecture Culture 1943-1968, Joan Ockman (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993), 397.

5. Mary Mcleod, “Architecture and Politics in the Reagan Era: From Postmodernism to Deconstructivism,” in Architecture Theory since 1968, Michael Hays (New York: The MIT Press, 1998), 685.

6. Alvaro Siza, Portugal Pavilion, http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/ portugalpavilion/index.html

7. Renzo Piano, Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, http://inhabitat.com/jeanmarie-tjibaou-cultural-center-inspired-by-native-architecture/

8. Kanak Huts, http://www.virtualoceania.net/newcaledonia/photos/culture/ nc0069.shtml

9. Kenneth Frampton, “Ten Points on Architecture of Regionalism: A Provisional Polemic” in Center 3: New Regionalism, 382

10. Vittorio Gregotti, “Architecture, Environment, Nature,” in Architecture Culture 1943-1968, Joan Ockman (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993), 400.

11. Tadao Ando, Koshino House, http://www.archdaily.com/161522/ad-classicskoshino-house-tadao-ando/

12. Francoise Fromonot, Glenn Murcutt buildings+projects 1962-2003 (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc. , 2003), 258-260

13. Neil Denari, HL23, http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/2011/03/26/hl23-in-west-chelsea-arts-district-new-york-by-neil-m-denariarchitects/

14. Ernesto Rogers, “Preexisting Conditions and Issues of Contemporary Building Practice,” in Architecture Culture 1943-1968, Joan Ockman (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993), 203.

15. Gio Ponti, “The Architect, the Artist,” in Architecture Culture 1943-1968, Joan Ockman (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993), 265.

16. Peter Zumthor, Saint Benedict Chapel, http://www.oliviercampagne.com/ index6.html

17. Denise Scott Brown, “Learning From Pop” in Architecture Theory since 1968, Michael Hays (New York: The MIT Press, 1998), 62.

18. Culot and Krier, “The Only Path for Architecture,” in Architecture Theory since 1968, Michael Hays (New York: The MIT Press, 1998), 353.

19. Victor Gruen, “Cityscape and Landscape,” in Architecture Culture 19431968, Joan Ockman (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993), 194.

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20. Chris Able, Architecture and Identity (Oxford: Architectural Press, 1997),

21.Thomas Herzog, “Green Questionnaire,” in Construction a New Agenda Architectural Theory 1993-2009 (New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2010), 175.

22. Herzog and de Mueron, Dominus Winery, http://www.flickr.com/photos/d_ brown/752478927/in/photostream/

23. Renzo Piano, Cultrual Center

24. Cynthia Davidson, Tracing Eisneman Complete Works (New York, Rizzoli, 2006), 67.

25. Henning Larsen Architects, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www. henninglarsen.com/