Memory and Architecture by Margaux Fischer

MEMORY + ARCHITECTURE Alternate Housing for the Elderly withinthe fabric of the City of Providence, Rhode Island

A Thesis Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecturea in the Department of Architecture and Design of the Rhode Island School of Design By Margaux Fischer Rhode Island School of Design 2013

Mastersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Examination Committee Approved by:

__________________________________________________________ Peter Tagiuri Professor, Department of Architecture, Primary Advisor

__________________________________________________________ Anastasia Congdon, Associate Profssor and Critic, Secondary Advisor

__________________________________________________________ Pari Riahi, Thesis Committee Chair

DEDICATION A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension. —Oliver Wendell Holmes A successful work is impulse validated by attention. —Donald Hall Stop and write about what you care about. In this way you will find your basic voice… —Hyunmee Kim

Memory and Place The myth of Castor and Pollux â&#x20AC;&#x153;At a banquet given by a nobleman of Thessaly named Scopas, the poet Simonides of Ceos chanted a lyric poem in honour of his host but including a passage in praise of Castor and Pollux. Scopas meanly told the poet that he would only pay him half the sum agreed upon for the panegyric and that he must obtain the balance from the twin gods to whom he had devoted half the poem. A little later, a message was brought in to Simonides that two young men were waiting outside who wished to see him. He rose from the banquet and went out but could find no one. During his absence the roof of the banqueting hall fell in, crushing Scopas and all the guests to death beneath the ruins; the corpses were so mangled that the relatives who came to take them away for burial were unable to identify them. But Simonides remembered the places at which they had been sitting at the table and was therefore able to indicate to the relatives which were their dead. The invisible callers, Castor and Pollux, had handsomely paid for their share in the panegyric by drawing Simonides away from the banquet just before the crash. And this experience suggested to the poet the principles of the art of memory of which he is said to have been the inventor. Noting that it was through his memory of the places at which the guests had been sitting that he had been able to identify the bodies, he realized that orderly arrangement is essential for good memory. He inferred that persons desiring to train this faculty (of memory) must select places and form mental images of the things they wish to remember and store those images in the places, so that the order of the places will preserve the order of the things, and the images of the things will denote the things themselves, and we shall employ the places and images respectively as a wax writing-tablet and the letters written on it. The vivid story of how Simonides invented the art of memory is told by Cicero in his De oratore when he is discussing memory as one of the five parts of rhetoric; the story introduces a brief description of the mnemonic of places and images (loci and imagines)â&#x20AC;? - excerpt from the Art of Memory by Frances Yates Capter1

it is something invisible (yet happens in broad daylight when there is apparently nothing to conceal it except the light itself, blinding perhaps), something suspended (that is, both ‘in suspense’ - stopping, waiting with bated breath so as to disturb nothing of a precious equilibrium - and ‘floating’ - gently rising and falling in one place like a seamark following the swell of the waters); above all, it is something which creates a sense of distance, punctuates space; and it seems that this distance, far from being painful, is bracing and fulfilling. at times this occurs in several points of space at once and evokes a mesh in which you would gladly be ensnared, or spindly poles supporting the tent of the air, each tip raising it up a little (a massif of weightless mountains); or again a group of fountains, the transparent columns of a ruin with no roof but the infinite sky: at times it occurs in sequence, at irregular intervals immediately followed by silence reaching to the very depths of things, like a row of windows opened up in turn onto morning in the big family house...

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Philippe Jaccottet, Landscapes with Absent Figures, 1979

“It’s enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.” “He spent six hours examining things, trying to find a difference from their appearance on the previous day in the hope of discovering in them some change that would reveal the passage of time.” “In all the houses keys to memorizing objects and feelings had been written. But the system demanded so much vigilance and moral strength that many succumbed to the spell of an imaginary reality, one invented by themselves, which was less practical for them but more comforting.” architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

â&#x20AC;&#x153;time expands, then contracts, all in tune with the stirrings of the heart.â&#x20AC;? architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

“Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.”

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Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children

Inhabitation

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“Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight.” Sir Henry Wotton’s 1624 version of Vitruvius’ de Arquitectura

Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

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Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

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Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

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Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

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Man is a social creature, we fall passionately in love, we revel in story telling, we live to share history, we pride ourselves in teaching others, we commune and eat together, we dance and sing. In most cultures around the world, these activities begin to take place at birth, an infant in his mother’s arms, and they continue throughout life. The accumulation and sharing of knowledge, helping and being helped at various stages of life is the only natural and humane way to live. When we are too weak, those who we have helped turn around, and when we have no time, those who have all the time in the world hare this gift. It is only natural that as we age, a greater and greater community of those we have touched surrounds us. Somehow, though, in this country, we reach a certain age, and our gift returned to us by society is banishment to a home, to be taken care of as our infirm physical selves. Our rich souls, our powerful stories, our gifts we still have to give, and our place in society is removed from us, we are torn from all that we know in the name of protecting our bodies from harm and for economy of means. Through architecture this story can be changed. There is a role for people of all ages. One can imagine with ease a world in which we are cared for and care for in each stage of our lives. A world in which we can live in the place surrounded by those we cherish and who cherish us for body and soul through the end of our time on this earth. In his treaty on Art, de Pictura, Leon Battista Alberti explains that the natural accumulation of people, animals, and buildings is what allows a harmony to be created amidst the frame and for each other. This in his words “hold the eye of the learned and unlearned spectator for a long while with a certain sense of pleasure and emotion”.1 Modern society has lost sight of this vision, to create that natural accumulation, beautiful in composition, but also essential to the composition of our urban fabric. Since the liberation of American women into the workforce almost hundred years ago, our homes are changing. The number of single parents, of working mothers, of lonely elders, of day-cared children, has scattered the American family across our landscapes. Dolores Hayden’s compilation of projects from the New American Home competition is an example of trying to find architectural solutions to this changing world. How do we integrate day care into housing for an increased flexibility for parents to work? How do we partner the home with the workplace, business with residential?2 How do we radically question zoning as it is today? One vision that is forgotten in this competition, has had no earnest architectural attempts in recent history, is the integration of the elderly homes directly within the fabric of our urban environment. We must revive the idea of the elder as a respected member of society. We must redesign the American dream.3 My vision for community comes from this place.

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My poetry comes from the natural separation of body and soul that is our lives on earth. It is through a rich understanding of this progression through life that I create an architecture that fosters community that is centered on a balance between al stages of the journey. In The Art of Memory, Frances Yates defines the soul as the trinity of Memory, Understanding and Will.4 We are able to comprehend the meaning of will and understanding in the context of aging within our community through an understanding of the benefits of proximity. An enduring understanding of aging that is passed from mother to child, to grandmother to child, requires a maintained and respected presence within the community of all ages. An enduring will as we age requires proximity to children, grown and young, to continue to understand ones presence as worth and ones knowledge as sacred. Memory is more fickle to understand, but one cannot argue that since the beginning of time, in fact since the gods Castor and Pollux still graced the earth with their presences, that place and memory have been intimately tied to one another. We are born with a blank soul, no understanding, no will, and no memory. The bliss of youth is the growth of body in soul as we discover the world. This is a period in which we learn and teach others, and our proximity to those who have stories to share is crucial. As we age, our bodies weaken, but our souls only grow stronger. The place we live should not cater to our disappearing bodies, but rather with our ever growing and strengthening soul. We must create an architecture of Memory, Will and Understanding.

1 Leon Battista Alberti. De Pictura (ON PAINTING) from 1436. Book II , Chapter 40 2 Dolores Hayden. A New American house: architectural design competition, 1984, catalogue 3 Dolores Hayden. Redesigning the American Dream, WW Norton Press, 2002 4 Frances Yates. The Art of Memory 1966 Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

INHABITATION..... dwelling............... building............... thinking...............

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Temples

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Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

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Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of. Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE INHABITS A SPACE? INHABITATION SHOULD BE THOUGHT OF AS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN USER AND ENVIRONMENT. THIS INTERFACE, A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING, ESTABLISHES A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH ARCHITECTURE CAN SPEAK. THE ANTHROPOMORPHISM OF ARCHITECTURE REVEALS ENDEARING QUALITIES, TWO HOUSES IN CONVERSATION WITH ONE ANOTHER SPEAK OF THEIR INHABITANTS, TO GOOD NEIGHBORS AND A BIT OF HUMOR. IT IS THE ROLE OF AN ARCHITECT TO ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS, BETWEEN BUILDINGS AND PEOPLE, BUILDINGS AND SITE, AND THROUGH THE BUILDING, BETWEEN PEOPLE AND SITE. USING A DIALOGUE ENABLES THE ARCHITECT TO TELL A MORE COMPLETE STORY OF TIME AND PLACE. TRULY INHABITING A SPACE REQUIRES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUILT AND HUMAN, AND I ARGUE THAT THIS MUST BE A TWO SIDED RELATIONSHIP, THAT THE BUILDING MUST HAVE A STORY TO TELL ITS USER AS WELL AS ACCEPT THE STORY OF ITS INHABITANTS. How does the building respond to the body, how does our body respond to the building?

Inhabitation dwelling building thinking

Swans in Movement Collage of Digital Photographs

BUILDING AND BODY FIND UNION IN INHABITATION. To dwell in a house is not merely to be inside it spatially in the sense just canvassed. Rather, it is to belong there, to have a familiar place there. in order to dwell one must interact with ones environment. to interact is not merely to move, but also to be moved by something. understanding and understood, there is a reciprocity to the relationship between dweller and dwelling.

Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relation to locations, and through locations to spaces, inheres in bis dwelling. The relationship between man and space is none other than dwelling, strictly thought and spoken. When we think, in the manner just attempted, about the relation between location and space, but also about the relation of man and space, a light falls on the nature of the things that are locations and that we call buildings. -Martin Heidegger

dwelling requires an understanding of time. The passage of time paints a space, the movement of the sun is marked each day on the walls, our habits and manner of inhabitation are a reflection of time.

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being dwelling thinking

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Inhabitation

Defining inhabitation: what is the etymology of the word?

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INHABITATION adj. Habitual noun. Habit

early 13c., “characteristic attire of a religious or clerical order,” from Old French habit, abit (12c.) “clothing, (ecclesiastical) habit; conduct,” from Latin habitus “condition, demeanor, appearance, dress,” originally pp. of habere “to have, to hold, possess,” from PIE root *ghabh- “to seize, take, hold, have, give, receive” (cf. Sanskrit gabhasti- “hand, forearm;” Old Irish gaibim “I take, hold, I have,” gabal “act of taking;” Lithuanian gabana “armful,” gabenti “to remove;” Gothic gabei “riches;” Old English giefan, Old Norse gefa “to give”). Noun. Habitat

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1762, as a technical term in Latin texts on English flora and fauna, lit. “it inhabits,” third person singular present indicative of habitare “to live, dwell,” frequentative of habere “to have, to hold, possess” (see habit). General sense of “dwelling place” is first attested 1854.

INHABITATION late 14c., from Old French enhabiter “dwell in” (12c.), from Latin inhabitare “to dwell in,” from in- “in” (see in- (2)) + habitare “to dwell,” frequentative of habere “hold, have”

dwell (v.)

Old English dwellan “to mislead, deceive,” original P.Gmc. *dwaljanan (cf. Old Norse dvöl “delay,” dvali “sleep;” Middle Dutch dwellen “to stun, make giddy, perplex;” Old High German twellen “to hinder, delay;” Danish dvale “trance, stupor,” dvaelbær “narcotic berry,” source of Middle English dwale “nightshade”), from PIE *dhwel-, from root *dheu- (1) “dust, cloud, vapor, smoke” (and related notions of “defective perception or wits”). Related to Old English gedweola “error, heresy, madness.” Sense shifted in Middle English through “hinder, delay,” to “linger” (c.1200, as still in phrase to dwell upon), to “make a home” (mid-13c.).

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mirrored houses on john street Providence, Rhode Island Digital Photograph

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BUILDING MATERIALS..... warmth................ visible invisible....... earth....................

dwelling building thinking

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3.............. Orders in Architecture 4........ places of solitude places of learning places of sharing private public communal

Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

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Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

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Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of. Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

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materiality becomes the link between memories dreams and reality. The moment we can feel the warmth of the sun on a stone we know we have entered the real world. Sometimes smells evoke memories, cedar shingles suddenly evoke a strong memory of being a child hiding in a closet, or the smell of soil after a strong spring rain reminds us of the endless springs we have experienced, a collapsed time. In this way, materiality becomes the lifeblood of our build environment. Indeed, materials build continuity with our built and land environment, but also provide the opportunity to bring reality and memoryt. This evocative power must not be overlooked in imagining with which power the materials around us effect our daily lives.

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A building must of course have a presence, a front porch, a facade like any other face, but also one must consider a building that is dematerialized. This is a bit of a misnomer, as this is actually a highly calibrated use of materials that allow certain conditions and moments to disappear. Materials that allow building to disappear, such as glass and grass allow the building to take on characteristics of air, water and land. The use of grass through a building also allows a seasonal disappearance of the building. This is powerful also as a seasonal illusion that accentuates the buildings presence on a site while confounding the boundary between built and unbuilt, indoor and outdoor. Materiality must also be considered for its ability to be present, heavy, comforting. There are materials that have huge cultural significance, the weight of stone, the durability of metal, and the soft temporality of wood. Use of each of these materials creeates a composition of lightness and heaviness that beckons a user to stop and feel comforted, feel the warmth of the sun, walk through in awe, or understand ti as an object that is so ancient, it seems difficult to decipher what came first, the ground itself or the building.

3 4 5 minimal architecture photogravure print on arches 88 archival paper 8â&#x20AC;? x 8â&#x20AC;?

how does materiality of a thick wall allow thin to be thick, wall to read as ground, as sky how does earth become a material of continuity throughout the building, how does this allow the building to confound notions of interior exterior, public private and create communal.

How little can we have to define privatre and public spaces? How do we define a space for oneself, for ones family? What allows us to claim the space we are occupying? How do we define a commons in response to our surroundings?

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Dreams as Collage of Memory and Place Photopolymer Print with Colored Ink on Archival Arches 88 Paper 22 x 30â&#x20AC;?

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TEMPLES..................... places of solitude........ places of learning........... places of sharing..........

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Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

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Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of. Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

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Inhabiting a space should be like sharing a good meal, there are elements which fall into place which are necesary, and a conversation unfolds. there are arguments to both sides, but i believe in good simple ingredients, tomatoes roasted in the oven allow one to rediscover the rich earthy flavor, the whimsy of rediscovreing a simple indredient juxtaposed against another, eggplant and pomegranate seeds enter a conversation which touches upon tradition culture and simple taste. most importantly, the ingredients are not hidden, their raw characteristics are made evident and allowed to speak. Space can unfold in this way, a window and a door should not be camouflaged as other, they should speak to their role in the collective, but can be juxtaposed, and formed to allow for a greater meaning to take hold. A window can fall deep into a wall, the sill becomes a welcoming embrace, the window begins to speak to our body and our body responds. And in supporting and holding you, the architecture allows for a life that exalts in an existence of this simple joyful accumulation of men women children and nature. In Albertiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s writing about painting, he speaks about a spatial composition of all these characters, men women children and nature, which create a most peaceful and humane narrative. An architecture that can be spatial in this way allows for aspiritual communion of humanity These spaces are temples, the theater, the kitchen, the garden. As temples, these spaces gain heightenned importance and are able to magnify the beautiy in even the most mundane quiet tasks. The theater is a temple in which a scripture of life itself is shared through the accumulation of memory and experience in story telling. The countless enumerable telling and retelling of life becomes one the elders greatest gifts to humanity. It is through this storytelling that we have been allowed to evolve through history to become the civilized beasts we now are. The kitchen is a temple in which the joy and blessedness of sharing a meal allow us to commune with one another and with one of our most culturally infused rituals. The garden is a temple to the most primal of our gods, the sun. It is a temple which helps us mark the passage of time, the passage of the seasons and the daily passage of the sun. It reminds us of the cyclical nature of our lives and the

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light marks the passage of time of season of place of lunar and celestial cycles.

In old age how is time stopped, how is it redefined, the familiar regained through marking of the passage of light and water. Heidegger argues that “the comparative methods of judging actually obscures the truth, because it is a placing of something in front of something else. Therefore in order to discover the truth, one must apprehending the being of an entity in and for itself.” false constructs of date and time must be overcome: in the place of dwelling time exists as a record of the real truth of the passage of time. hours of tides, daylight hours, lunar months, solstice half years.

Light from above: divine view of sky, detachment from earth, peaceful but lonely view is wholly isolating. divine light from above baths occupant in deep spirituality and self-reflection. Light from below: reflected, mundane. view of ground, vertigo and disorientation. denial of view is profound, birdseye view of the world twists perception of depth and space. Direct light can only be reflected or artificial, denial of true direct sunlight is punishment. Light from high + Light from low both deny view and suggest a different scale of place. view of sky or view of ground, the removal of horizon line flattens view into a painting, the understanding of depth is confounded. regardless of form, these perversions of WINDOW create strong statements of occupants role in society, (‘OUT’HABITATION) the simplicity of these observations becomes more obscure in more public rooms with many occupants (classroom) or with active programs (museum - Chapel)

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Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

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Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

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Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

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Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of..Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

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REINVENTING THE COMMONS A discussion of the dialogue set forth by Iain Boal Historically, the commons were an integral part of our society. It was a land held by a group of residents whose common responsibility for that place allowed for a sharing of commodity. This created a system that allowed for a greater wealth to be achieved through the collectivity of a neighborhood. To use the aphorism, the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. Iain Boal argues in his book The Long Theft: Episodes in the History of Enclosure that capitalism has taken away our imagination of the commons, we now only imagine that town center with sheep grazing, but we do not allow ourselves to dream of a future in which this hold that commodities have on us is removed, and through the commons we are able to elevate our lives to a greater social and moral standard. The case for creating a system of smaller bodegaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and clinics that exist within a city block is strong. The creation of jobs (nurse, receptionist, manager, cashier) and the proximity of basic needs of food and healthcare charge the residential scape into a more wholesome and comprehensive project. The architects role is to create an inner world, by considering the strength of the commons within this defined block, a neighborhood can truly become an inner world in which our physical needs can be met. The argument for sharing physical commodities is strong, but perhaps stronger, and more often overlooked, is the space that can be made for sharing emotive and knowledge based commodities, such as cooking, eating, childcare, elderly care and story telling. Indeed, Story telling in particular as a form of care allows for the embodiment of an experience, a memory for the storyteller and empathy for the listener. Care for the elderly and daycare for infants and young children go hand in hand. Many eastern cultures have preserved a tradition of multigenerational homes, a system in which each member of the family benefits, babies can be held by their grandparents, which has been proven to help both the intellectual development of the child and the emotional wellbeing of the grandparent. The mothers and fathers can be free to work and find a fulfilling career with which to support their families with the help of childcare from an elderly population seeking to maintain its presence and role in society.

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How does architecutre begin to reeal this idea of communal? How does the private world overlap with public to create a truly communal space? How does the thickness of a wall become about creating communal space?

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Orders in Architecture Section through Private /Public/Communal Space Weaving Ground Graphite on Paper

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CIVIL BUILDINGS........... (relating to ordinary citizens) ....... care, elderly............. care, children........... care, nature.............

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Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of. Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

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REINVENTING THE AMERICAN DREAM an interpretation of Dolores Hayden’s Argument in her 1984 boook by the same name

The American Home is undeniably changing. Writing in the late 1980’s, Dolores Hayden questions the American Dream for the changing American Household. Acknowledging the enormous intellectual progress made during World War II, Hayden speaks about the liberation of women into the workforce as an amazing driving force for change at the level of housing. Projects began to spring up around the major factories of the World War II economic powerhouse; to allow for women to be liberated in the workplace, and maintain their roles as mothers, care takers. Without the choice of separating home life and work life, there grew a necessity for a condensation of workplace, home, and childcare for the workingwoman. After the end of the war, many social factors came together to reverse this progress, and once again, the home became separate from the workplace, a retreat for the workingmen and workplace for the women. Levittown sprung up and set up a new suburban model of the ideal American house. Developed for the (white) nuclear family with one breadwinner, the racial and social problems quickly overcame this model. In the 1980’s a rapidly changing demographic of the American household had more than 85% of household differing from this ideal: Single parents, two breadwinners, etc. Today this has only become more drastic.

We must reinvent the American Dream of a single-family home. Although this problem of childcare and the working mother is certainly still pertinent (more than ever) A basic model that has been systematically overlooked by urban planners and social innovators, is the role of the elderly within a society. An architecture of memory, an architecture that allows the elderly to remain integrated within society allows one to reimagine the social and built urban fabric shifting to take on more roles than the organization of single family dwellings. Rather than examining the home, this project seeks to examine the neighborhood as a whole. While acknowledging the necessity of a piecemeal approach, the vision is still of a completed whole. The parts work as separate entities, as they begin to establish a space for the community to support itself, but as the block comes together to reinvent ideas of private and public spaces, this new communal space becomes an essential backbone to the social fabric.

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Memory and Place Photopolymer Print on Arches 88 Archival Paper 8” x 8”

Care of the elderly, children and nature naturally creates a civil building which harnessed the power of a community to benefit all to a greater degree. How does architecture facilitate this transforamtion of civil buildings into a program which coexists with the private dwelling model of suburbia or outer urban conditions?

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Solitude and Memory Photocollage with red thread 10” x 10”

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Intersections ( of ground and sky) Graphite Sketch on Watercolor Paper 17” x 17”

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care, elderly care, children care, nature

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The space of domesticity is charged with history. It is our innermost sanctuary, our place of intimacy in which we engage with a orld that we understand andd commit to with complete confidence. The domestic space in architecutre has a particular power because it relies on a distinct relationship between occupant and space. This confidence allowstwo page essay on the spaces of sleep, bathing and keepsake and the preciousness of private space. Domesticity is not about age or gender but about a keepsakje of emotion, of memory, of preservation of the soul. what is it to dwell? what is inhabitation?

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DRAWINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS drawings of inhabitation of private spaces diagrams of sleep bath keep relationship plans of dwelling

3 4 5 Domestic buildings

space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

6 7 8

Interior World Photogravure Print on Archival Arches 88 Paper 22â&#x20AC;? x 30â&#x20AC;?

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Inhabitation

1 ........

Building Materials

2...........

dwelling building thinking

warmth visible invisible earth

Temples

3.............. Orders in Architecture 4........ places of solitude places of learning places of sharing private public communal

Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

5........

Domestic buildings

DECORATION......... door as ornament.... wall as ornament..... view as ornament....

space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

6...........

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of. Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

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wall, view and door as ornament which creates thickness of inhabitation. Things that are ordinary become charged when thought of as decoration, they are thickenned and pace is slowed to accomodate life.

what is the important of whimsy? DRAWINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS thick wall framing of view view of facade as memory door as whimsy

3 4

LIife is a labyinth in which we get lost and in doing so unravel, we age, we learn to love more fully, to allow ourselves to be cared by one another. As a young person, i am fully engaged with the idead that we must remain more in ocnta

FACES OF ELDERLY, how we age. timelines.

6 Decoration Wall Whimsy Creating the Labyrinth Balsa Wood and Glass 1” x 2 ”x 2” aggregations

door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7 8 9

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

“i believed in the infinite seriality of time, in a growing and reeling net of divergent, convergent and parallel times. that entanglement of times growing near, growing out, intersecting or secularly ignoring themselves, embraces all possibilities.” jorge luis borges, the garden of forking paths, 1941

in dreams like in reality, in mind like in body, we define ourselves our experience space through thickness of our experience. wall of home, describing life inside, the people who have come and gone, collapsed, space of home a thickened wall, the façade a face, architecture a memory. time when soul and body separate stories we remember memories we forget reality we create family we define architecture that talks to us walls that shelter spaces that collapse time that moves backwards weightless mountains invisible walls ground becomes clouds becomes sky in dreams like in reality.

discovering a box graphite on paper 30” x 22”

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

how do we question the architectural fabric of the city, what is the role of this architecture in redefining home for the elderly? how do we allow old age to gracefully transition within our communities, where is the space for time to slow and stop? how does memory collapse space and expand it in tune with the stirrings of the heart? in this discovered thickness, how many ways can a wall be?

2 3 4 5 6 Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7 8 9

Inhabitation

1 ........

Building Materials

2...........

dwelling building thinking

warmth visible invisible earth

Temples

3.............. Orders in Architecture 4........ places of solitude places of learning places of sharing private public communal

Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

5........

Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

WATER + AQUEDUCTS... water collection................ water movement on site... water as wall................... water as garden..............

6...........

Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7.............. 8.....

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Use + construction of. Machines nursing as a machine garden as machine

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1 Nothing is more fundamentally and pervasively about the deep connectedness of our civilization than water. Water fights being contained, it flows up into the heavens and deep into the earth, it is made up of a million molecules that have been inside each living creature that has ever lived on earth, and vitally sustains life on earth. It is then only normal that when one exploits water, the whole water table drops. Water requires a fundamental responsibility and respect of our neighbors, and as such metaphorically represents this shared ownership of land. While allowing traditional zoning to coexist within a new system defined by water, a communal collection of water defines new zones of shared spaces, new commons to define the way we live.

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Collecting water from roof, channeling from downspouts to low shallow ponds that seem to hold the project at its center becomes a metaphor for the true connectedness of a community around its core. The shallow concrete channels create demarcations of spaces, but instead of dividing, they provide an understanding of what is common. The power of the channel of water is that it allows one to create an inner world and demarcate personal space, but it does not define private spaces as opposed to public, but rather public and private in balance with a new space within our city block, the common.

What is the role of water in organizing the movement of people in a place? How is the watering hole a metaphor for gardenning spaces? What is the intimacy of a pool? How does the collection of water from the roofs of the block allow center to become a places of communion. Why is water sacred? page

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

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Use of water is a ceremonial and deeply spiritual act that connects back to our most intimate and early lives, the evolution of life in the seas of primordial earth, and a baby growing in its own watery world within its motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body. Water as a vital need of life begins to define to sphere of the commons and which acts should be shared within a community. This collection of water and its use to grow a communal nature, the collection of water around a shared space of cooking, the collection of water to reflect light on a storytelling, all transform mundane acts into deeply communal and spiritual activities.

Water Supplies + Aqueducts water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

7 8 9

Rain Hides Everything Else Ink on Paper 8” x 10”

Raising Arms Ink on Paper 8” x 10”

2 3 4 5 6

Water Supplies + Aqueducts One could argue that the first form of architecture came into existence in the moment Adam and Eve, banished from paradise, came into the rainy day of earth and covered their heads with their outstretched hands to stay dry. page

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

Understanding how to control floods and direct water is at the root of civilization. Water as the bringer of life is a powerful idea that is manifested throughout mans existence on earth. It is natural then, that another great need of man, shelter, has been intimiately tied to water since its mythical birth.

water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

7 8 9

Inhabitation

1 ........

Building Materials

2...........

dwelling building thinking

warmth visible invisible earth

Temples

3.............. Orders in Architecture 4........ places of solitude places of learning places of sharing private public communal

Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

5........

Domestic buildings space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

6...........

Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

SCIENCES.................... geometrical arguments... social arguments............ financial arguments........

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

9... Use + construction of. Machines .

nursing as a machine garden as machine

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

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two page essay the financial+ social arguments for the project, how does everyone gain from this reorganization of site and fabric? what is the geomtrical argument for the site strategy, how does this correspond with exisitng zoning law and how does it project a future in which private public and communal life coexist for the benefit of all.

The social argument begins to impose an ideal which is personal even while being well informed. DRAWINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS

3 4

diagrams facts and figures

5 6 7 8 Sciences influencing Architecture Clockwise from Top Left: South Maxon Street, Front Porch Garage, The Alley and North Maxon Street Understanding the Interiority of the Site Digital Photgraphs

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

GEOMETRIC ARGUMENTS

To begin with the most pure of scientific arguments, a presentation of formal geometric facts about the site will construct a set of argumetns that result in the formal geometry of the building that is being proposed. Imposed by the site, the east “facade” of the block on Governor Streeet is 18 degrees off of the ninety degree, which fundamentally changes the orientation of an entire portion of the block in relation to its center. This shift which extends the north length of the block on John Street, creates a more open space nested in the acute angle. The building responds to this shift by allowing a a permeability to occur through the perpendicular of that facade. The project also responds by allowing its street presence on the south side enhance and balance the blocks geometry by increasing density in this corner.

2 3 4

The Geometry of the site lends to an interesting relation of each street facade to its interior as it folds out to create a new street front in the center of the block. This unfolding and unfolding begins to transform the interior block into a porous series of volumes that

5 6 7 8 Sciences influencing Architecture Project Orientation and Geometric Arguments Pencil Ink and Colored Pencils on WaterColor Paper 22” x 30”

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

1 Evolution of the East Side of Providence, 1650- present day

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sciences influencing Architecture

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

Genevieve, 77, advises young people to learn history (and ways of living better) from their older relatives. She prepared this letter for childreneverywhere:

SOCIAL ARGUMENTS

Gathered from Experiences of People from the neighborhood and from Cornell University’s Legacy Project, Here are some voices:

Dear Children, For you the world began only a few years ago. All of what happened before that is a jumble. The grandpa you never knew who died in The War – was it Vietnam or World War II? I know it doesn’t seem to matter. You look to the future. The past, whether of family, friends, country, or the world, doesn’t matter because you are planning to change everything for the better. I choose to believe that you will change at least some of everything for the better. But, you need a solid foundation on which to stand first. The Greek scientist Archimedes knew this; he said he would move the world if he had both a lever and a place to stand. Without a foundation in the past and present, you could shift ‘everything’ out of our grasp or even send it crashing backwards. There is a way you can make sense of past and present and avoid future problems. Find time to ask Mother, Father, Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts and other family members about their lives before you were born. Get them to tell you stories of the funny, foolish things they did as well as the things in which they take pride. Try to learn about friends and relatives they remember that you will never know. Some of them will be thrilled you asked about their lives; you may have to coax others but it is worthwhile.

Carmen, 80, has lived a very full life, and has thought deeply about the sources of happy living. Her advice is to focus on others and to carefully consider the effects of our actions.

Shirley, 90, is an award-winning teacher and mother of two. She told me: “We need to help the child to prepare for living. We need to show the child how to become a good citizen. To be honest, to be patriotic, to be loyal for the country, and to stand up for what is right, and never to give in with social trends. Because each person is different but we all are together and we’re all a part of one another. A poet said, ‘No man is an island by themselves, everyone is a part of the whole.’”

When relatives tell you these tales, pay attention and ask questions. You may find out why they moved to a particular place, took a certain job, what they thought would happen in the country at that time, and how events and people changed their lives. We all, even you, live in a moving world, not a static one. If you want to change the world, you must also know how the world changes you.

Jim, 82, told me that as people get older, they need to stay connected – and you may have to work at it. He gave the example of how he has branched out in his social life after retiring:

The single most important lesson that I have learned is that personal happiness depends on doing the best you can for the people to whom you owe a duty. The best attitude with which to approach life is to recognize that what others do to you does not matter. What counts is what you do to others. The greatest enemy of one’s own happiness is guilt about one’s own actions. All of our life choices should be guided by the goal of avoiding decisions that will make us feel guilty.

At 70 or 80 my lesson is: Learn to be social. Learn to be an extrovert socially. Enjoy the people around you, don’t criticize them so severely. Yes there are pluses and minuses associated with all people, but be sociable. Enjoy their company and share what’s germane in your own experience with people outside. They too are lonely at times and need somebody to support them. I happen to live in a county that’s dominated by conservative republicans, there’s some good people among them, I’m learning [laughing]. For a liberal democrat to say that- what heresy!

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When you can, keep a diary whether on computer, on tape, or in a book. Include things that are happening in your own life. Put in it lots of events and names of friends and family. You may not think so now, but someday after many years your mind will be so cluttered up that memories and names you think you’ll know forever will simply start to drop out and disappear. When you are grown and have children, pass on to them, in turn, as many as you can of these stories heard and lives lived. You will be giving your children a great gift that they too will learn to appreciate as time moves on.

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Sciences influencing Architecture

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Marie, 92, was married for nearly 70 years. Over the years, they provided a home to many foster children, and her work as a teacher allowed her to help many students over the years. Raised a Methodist, she has moved away formal religious participation. But she also recommended spiritual beliefs that help make sense of the universe: It’s very important. There’s a vast difference between spirituality and religion. I feel that I have a very close relationship with the total power of the universe, that we give the name God, because we don’t know what else to call it. And I feel that it’s very important to maintain that connection to the universe, to the total power. And that little flake, the little tiny bit of the power that is within each of us, that is light, is a real connection. It’s a bit strange, I had never heard anybody else explain the feeling of the total universe as I see it. The stream of eternity, no beginning, no end, flows on. And that is the sum total of all power. And every now and then a little flake of that power breaks off and goes into a vehicle like us. And as it travels along this highway, this detour, there are potholes, hills to climb, decisions to make, go this way or that way, and eventually the vehicle wears out and the little spark returns to the highway. So I’m continually seeking to be in harmony with that power. You know that when you feel good inside yourself about what’s happening. And when things are falling in place for you.

Maurice, 77, has a different take on the expression “live life to the fullest.” The advice I would give to my grandchildren is to treasure every day of their existence and to do their best at every task they face. I do not believe in “living life to the fullest” in the sense in which that expression is often used. Most important when you look back on your life are the unselfish things you have done, the love and support you have given to others, and the sense that you have made the most of your talents and opportunities. I have learned that growing up is the work of a lifetime and that we should strive to continue growing until the end of our days.

Tony, who at 73 is having the time of his life. A positive, open, and energetic person, Tony enjoyed his worklife, but it’s in his later years that a host of new avenues for interest and pleasure have opened up for him. After Tony retired, he decided to expand his lifelong interest in art history.

Francine, 74, lives in a small, tidy home in an urban neighborhood. She was married for many years, but lost her husband to Alzheimer’s disease after years of caregiving. One of her dreams was to have a dog, but circumstances never permitted it. Recently, she fulfilled this dream, and it changed her life.

“I became very friendly with all of these teachers and it was just wonderful to know them. I then became a docent – an interpretive guide – at an art museum. Then I got to the point where I was giving solo gallery lectures. That led to teaching courses at our local senior center. I’ve always had this ability to just jump at whatever it is, even though it maybe seems like it’s a lot of work and very difficult, might take a lot of time, but the idea is great, so I do it. I’m busier now than when I was working. I probably should have worked at this level ... Your health is good, your mind is good, you just have to keep your interest level up. I don’t know what determines that, what makes a person still passionate late in life. Certainly I am. To me, it’s just every day is a revelation. I have such a great time.”

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I’ve learned that everything in life is on loan. And all these years I’ve been waiting to have my buddy, my dog. But I have seen people would lose their pets and be so upset. And I would say to them, “I know, it would be awful. But you see, the day you take that pet into your care and you’re responsible for it, you have to start letting go.”

5 6 7 8 Sciences influencing Architecture

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

80 PEOPLE ON THE BLOCK 36 MEN 44 WOMEN

FINANCIAL ARGUMENTS

What are the demographics of this site, what are its potential needs for a project like which I am proposing. What is the budget for a project like this, what helps sustain itself?

10 MARRIED COUPLES

3 4 >65

32 OF PORTUGUESE ANCESTRY

5 6

< 18

18-24

25-35

35-65

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>65

Sciences influencing Architecture

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

1 route 92 bus line

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10 minute walk

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5 minute walk

community

commodities

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

Sciences influencing Architecture

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

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Condominium (12 Units)

Multifamily Home (12 Houses) Single Family Home (8 Houses) Garages

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architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

Sciences influencing Architecture

geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments

Inhabitation

1 ........

Building Materials

2...........

dwelling building thinking

warmth visible invisible earth environmental machines................................... social machines...................................

Temples

3.............. Orders in Architecture 4........ places of solitude places of learning places of sharing private public communal

Civil (relating to ordinary citizens) buildings care, elderly care, children care, nature

5........

Domestic buildings

6...........

space of sleep space of bathing space of keepsake

Decoration door as ornament wall as ornament view as ornament

7.............. Water Supplies + Aqueducts 8..... water collection water movement on site water as wall water as garden

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

MACHINES............ conditioning............ social.....................

Sciences influencing Architecture geometrical arguments social arguments financial arguments .

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In the context of modern society, there are two primary machines which ease life within our built enviroment. The first is an idea of a social machine. At the base of this social machine is the care network which begins to take phsycail form in reflection of the creation of this new building fabric in the block. This care network, care for children, care for the elderly, and care for nature coexists in this . How each one is dependant on the other but each gains more than what it gives.

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Conditioning machines, how the environment is tempered to allow for ease of living for elderly population goes well beyond temperature, ventilation and mobility. Buildings can in fact condition an evnironment in which the elderly are comfortable taking on a wide range of activity. Conditioning an environment means gaining a true understanding of the comfort in which one lives. Which activities sustain your soul?

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DRAWINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS

5 6 7 8 9 Machines page

conditioning social

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer

BUILDING : PLANS SECTIONS AXONOMETRIC and MODELS

architecture.and.memor y...thesis2013....margaux.fischer