MAISON JAOUL TECTONIC STUDY

The brief of the class asks for a large-scale re-construction of a building detail precedent. The choice of Maisons Jaoul not only stems from our curiosity towards Le Corbusier’s post-war transition to the brutalist style, but also an interest of the centuries-long investigation of implement both the archaic and the modern technology on supporting a roof. The catalan vaults of Jaoul is a great specimen to contrast the toughness of brickwork and delicacy of steel cables.

1. reinforced concrete

2. vault in brick (6.5cm x 10.5cm x 2.2cm)

3. lime concrete

4. cinder inll

5. concrete gutter

6. external wall (22cm)

7. air gap (3.5mm)

8. plaster on relon wood boards (1cm)

08

THESIS PREP . THE COOPER UNION . FALL 2022

Instructors: Hayley Eber, Nora Akawi, Michael Young

Advisors: Susannah Drake, Nader Tehrani

Individual Work

In the book Architecture Without Architect, Bernard Rudofsky introduces the reader to architecture produced not by specialists but by the spontaneous and continuing activity of a whole people with a common heritage. He recognized these vernacular architectures as an art form that has resulted from human intelligence applied to uniquely human modes of life. One of the most radical solutions in the field of vernacular shelter is the underground villages in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Loess is silt, transported and deposited by the wind. Because of its great softness and high porosity, it can be easily carved to form inhabitable spaces, which contribute to a variety of earthen settlements based on excavation rather than addition. Such inhabitable land does double duty, with rooms below and fields above, echoing to a special ritual of production and dwelling. Nowadays, these earthen communities in the Loess Plateau are facing challenges from environmental shift, population change, and unparalleled urbanization. Despite housing more than 10 million people, they have been largely excluded from the discourse of planning and public policy.

Identifying the missing middle ground between nostalgic conservation and bureaucratic master plan in current rural developments, the thesis sees the opportunity to transform the rural areas in Loess Plateau into unique and resilient habitats by reinterpreting indigenous building form and construction methods, aiming to explore alternative typology and urbanism outside the western paradigm. In particular, this thesis proposes to extract essential elements from vernacular earthen settlements to develop an adaptive landform urbanism that addresses future environmental and population conditions while critically preserving the local cultures in the Loess Plateau. In a broader sense, the thesis would speculate an alternative mode of development to ameliorate the rural-urban divide, which is responsible for the broadest form of social inequalities in China.

Settlement Analysis Sunken Coutyard Cave House

Nowadays, the sunken courtyard cave house settlements in the Loess Plateau are decaying due to the exodus of young population, the low density of its type, the difficult calibration, and the desire for modern houses. This analysis uses Dingguanying Village as a case study, examining the evolution of building types and infrastructure over 20 years. Most of the vernacular sunken courtyard cave houses and the open ground above them are replaced by generic town houses.