au milieu: Building in-between erosion and accretion

[The myth]

[The story]

[The narrative]

an

Stacking/Reconfiguration

Tr

a

rm

o sf

an

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o ti

on

ti

ta

u sm

Perellos stores

Fishmarket

Erosion/Accretion

Quarantine House St.Barbaras bastion

Old Fishmarket

Ta’ Liesse Church

Appendix.

weat h路 er 路 i ng ; au milieu BUILDING INBETWEEN EROSION AND ACCRETION

DI P LOMA P R OGR AM M E Olympia Nouska Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture Department 2 Advisor Niels Gr酶nbaek Alternate Phil Ayres

weat h路 er 路 i ng Any of the chemical or mechanical processes by which rocks exposed to the weather undergo changes in character and break down.

2

Cont ent s

Pre f ac e on programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 In tro du c tio n ‘washing the fish market’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 A b s trac t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

[The story] Re u s e / Re c yc l in g malta’s finite stone resources as construction material. Reuse and recycling of waste/ demolition material.

[The narrative] Ero s io n / A c c re tio n the site examined through these processes.

Following the processes along the path of different vectors. From material to social. From molecular to urban. From inherent temporarily and redundancy to strategies of reconfiguration and displacement.

S tac kin g/ Re c o n f igu ratio n the module of the stone challenged.

Variations on surface/area to volume ratio in relation to edge condition and salt erosion.

[The myth] Tran s f o rmatio n / Tran s mu tatio n architectural invention as qualitative transformation and transmutation. Architecture as edification of life and death. Rearrangement of matter.

S tratif ic atio n strata as layers, capturing matter in form and territorialisation.

3

Pro gramme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Me th o do l o gy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 Bib l io graph y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4

4

PREFACE

on Programme In the 18th century programme was used in a strictly pedagogical context, defined as “the detailed statement of a project which a professor gives to his students to make them understand his intentions and the course which they should follow, in order to guide them to the appropriate expression for each genre of building.�1 Since, programme has acquired the connotation of a pre-design document. In the specific case of this programme, the pre-design document will attempt to become a methodology in its own right.

What this document lays out is not just a programming of study.

It is rather a device for discussion, which will set the framework for the different layers of interpretation to be deciphered and the different layers of programming to be revealed.

A programming of study, a programming of project with its subsequent layers and levels of programming in itself, a programming of a method, as well as a programming of a discussion, in the context of which I wish the project to be viewed.

1

Lily H.Chi On the Use of Architecture: The Destination of Buildings Revisited in CHORA VOLUME TWO

5

I nt r od uct i on

Process is important. If what is represented is a process, then what is made tells a story, a narrative, a myth.

This story is of land and sea, of water and stone if you like.

Malta, an island formed of sedimentary rock. Valletta a city built out of the rock.

The story begins in the early morning hours with a visit to the fish-market in Valletta, Pixerija. The day’s catch has been sold and the market now has to be cleaned. The building of the Old Quarantine house, Il Barriera, standing next to the fish-market that is otherwise abandoned, comes to life with the rhythmic sound of water being pumped. A peek into the hall, reveals that the water is pumped up from the harbour to a tank in the roof and then released with pressure to clean the fish-market stalls with seawater, as not to spoil the fish. Salt as a preservative. This same salt however that keeps the fish from spoiling is the main agent that causes damage to the stone building itself.

6

Pixerija- in the early morning hours

7

8

ABSTRACT

The work is part enabling structure, part building.

Through a series of moves (making, then sacrificing ground) along this part of Valletta waterfront, the project will attempt to establish the city’s relationship with the harbour, reconnect the land and the sea.

Cultural, social and historical elements are established and “sedimented” through a clarification of the fishing tradition.

The introduction of a weigh station and fishing huts serving the fishing industry, juxtaposed against an existing civic fragment, attempts to regenerate and amplify a culture.

In the old Quarantine house the new programme takes over. The Stone Repository and Weathering Lab in constant ‘conversation’ with demolition and conservation strategies in the city of Valletta, whilst the ‘recycling’ unit linked to the government plan to monitor and control quarrying also acting as a pilot scheme for future stone recyclability and demolition waste management programmes.

The project aims to be attuned to the particular of the local however with a regional scope reveals a strategic intent.

9

HISTORY - BARRIERA WHARF AND THE NEW FISH MARKET During the time of the Grand Master Perellos, the lazaretto (Quarantine House) in the Grand Harbour was transferred from Rinella to a part of the Valletta waterfront beneath the St.Barbara Bastion. The main feature of the building was a large hall together with an open space in front of it, which became known by its Italian name of barriera, meaning a barrier.

When ships or smaller vessels arrived at the Grand Harbour, they docked at Barriera Wharf where they were detained until their state of health was determined by the authorities.

The barrier consisted of a series of bollards and railings, forming a sanitary corridor made of hard-stone, which was patrolled to prevent physical communication between people on land and those who were in quarantine.

At the Barriera enclosure, representatives of ships entered the audience hall of the Sanitary Commissioners, a dark and grim room like a cellar, through a portal bearing the Latin inscription Haec fecit populorum amor “the concern of the state or the protection of the people’s health prompted the erection of this edifice”. The room was partitioned by bars to prevent the contact between the members of the Sanitary Commission and the passengers and crews from the ships under suspicion and so prevent the risk of being infected with the plague.

All papers were handled by means of long fire tongs. The papers were carried in this manner to be fumigated in a kitchen nearby.

The employee who was in charge of this measure was the profumatore ‘the perfumer’.

At the Barriera Wharf, large warehouses where the cargoes could be stored during the stay of the ship were available.

In 1712 Grand Master Ramon Perellos ordered the building of a crescend shaped row of stores extending from the Barriera building towards Ta’ Liesse church. Beneath St.Barbara Bastion, these were only facades, and were later on demolished, together with Ta’ Liesse church and the old semicircular fish market structure in front of them.

10

Il Barriera- a sanitary corridor made of hardstone

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QU A RA NTINE HO U S E – IL BA RRIERA 1 7 1 0 - Grand Master Perellos builds a loggia for distinguished passengers arriving at Malta. The main feature of the building was a large hall together with an open space in front of it became known by its Italian name of barriera, meaning a barrier.

The barrier consisted of a series of bollards and railings, forming a sanitary corridor made of hardstone, which was patrolled to prevent physical communication between people on land and those who were in quarantine.

PEREL L O S S TO RES 1 7 1 2- Grand Master Ramon Perellos ordered the building of a crescend shaped row of stores extending from the Barriera building towards Ta’ Liesse church. [ +] 1 8 5 0 - Beneath St.Barbara Bastion, these were only facades, and were demolished for defense purposes. [ -] F IS HMA RKET – PIXERIJ A 1 9 37 -

New Fish Market inaugurated. [ +]

1950-

Damaged during WWII and rebuilt. [ -/ +]

F IS HERIES DEPA RTMENT 1 9 6 4 - A second building was also added next to it to house the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. [ +] NEW V A L ETTA RO A D 1979-

New Valletta road to connect Lascaris Bastion to Mediterranean Conference Center. The new traffic arrangements involve demolishing of the Old semicircular fishmarket, rounding off part of the Perellos stores in front of the new roundabout, demolishing a significant part of the Quarantine House. [ -]

12

Barriera Wharf- 1930’s and now

13

[ the story]

R euse/R ecycli ng

Limestone is a finite, non-renewable resource. “The pale yellow colour limestone lends to the buildings in Malta is part of our heritage and it would be a shame to exhaust this resource that has been associated with our buildings over the centuries.

At the moment there are no mechanisms in place to reduce waste of limestone. Buildings are being demolished and perfectly useable limestone is simply being discarded. Recyclability is not even considered.�

The Government of Malta published The Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands (1990), a document issued to develop a strategic plan for the island’s land uses. Although the plan stated that Malta was self-sufficient in limestone building materials, it did not specify what could be done to monitor and control quarrying.

There are however sources claiming that limestone could run out in just 30 years. This is of course to do with limestone being a finite resource but more specifically with limitations in the quarrying practice.

14

demolition of the old Fish=market

15

THE ISLAND GEOLOGY The Maltese archipelago of Malta, Comino and Gozo lies in the central Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily. During the geological epochs of the Oligocene and Miocene 30–5 million years ago, extensive sedimentation took place in this area. This sedimentation led to the laying down of strata of limestones.

The Maltese Globigerina Limestone Formation is one of five main formations, and varies in thickness from 20 to over 200m. The material used for building is located in the lower strata of the Globigerina Limestone Formation, called the Lower Globigerina Limestone. During the deposition of the sediments that eventually formed this stone only minor amounts of clay in suspension were carried from a land source.

As can be widely seen in the Maltese Islands, the local limestone has always been used as the predominant building material.

Between 1530 and 1798 the Order of the Knights of St John built kilometers of fortifications to protect the island from the expanding Ottoman Empire. The capital city of Valletta is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, as are the prehistoric temples.

Even today, the local building stone is still much in demand.

The Globigerina, known as tal franka is the most dominant layer in the southern half of the island, particularly in the Grand Harbour. Most of the material was excavated onsite from the lower Globigerina limestone, whose composition however varies greatly depending on the geographical formation giving various grades of stone quality, some of which make poor building material.

The tal franka easily available, easy to cut and suitable for the fortress walls as it was not easily crushed by artillery, although it did not stand up very well to humidity.

The harder Upper Coralline limestone, tal qawwi was harder to cut and more expensive to produce, even more so the Lower Coralline limestone or Zonqor., which has great resistance to sea spray.

16

island geology and its implications

17

QUARRYING INDUSTRY Limestone rocks are the only mineral resource in the Maltese Islands. In Maltese history limestone has always been an important resource for building purposes. Malta is also on of the most densely populated countries in the world. In the last decades the expansion of built up areas has been immense. The increasing limestone demands for the islands building industry, have led to the intensification of quarrying. The Ordnance Survey of the islands already from 1983, revealed that in the south of Malta, quarrying had increased by approximately 200 to 300 per cent in comparison to the previous years.

Two types of limestone rocks are quarried Softsone (tal Franka), which is quarried from the soft yellow layers of the Lower Globigerina Limestone, is the main building material for construction. Extraction takes place by cutting the limestone with saws into blocks of standard sizes. The quality of the stone decreases with depth. Existing quarries have reached their land limits and are extracting at deeper levels.

Hardstone is quarried from the harder Lower and Upper Coralline Limestone through drilling and blasting. These deposits produce marble like material and crushed aggregates. These can be processed and used for road construction and concrete. Hardstone quarries can also contain a harder variety of limestone, known as Malta Marble; this can be polished and used for tiling. Hard rock is graded in two types: hard and non porous, resistant to weathering; and soft and porous, less resistant to weathering Both types can be found in a single quarry. As the weathering of the good-quality Globigerina Limestone leads to hardening of the stone surface, fresh quarry stones were in the past exposed to rain and sun for a long period before being utilized. This practice has been abandoned, primarily for economic reasons.

18

the main stone formations visible on exposed cliffs –Dingli, Malta

19

[the narrative]

E r osi on/Accr et i on What remains of the Barriera Hall, a dark grim room, now keeps a water pump of salt water from the harbour, used to clean up the new fish-market when it closes down in the early morning hours.

Most monuments and buildings in Malta are constructed of the local Globigerina Limestone. Owing to Malta’s marine environment, salt crystallization in the stone’s pore spaces has been recognized as the main weathering process responsible for the deterioration of the country’s monuments.

The washing of the fish market with the salt water from the harbour together with the history of the place, where crews and cargos would be given a ‘clean’ bill of health, alludes to relationships of giving and sacrificing, erosion and deposition.

20

section Fish-market- Quarantine house ‘washing the Fish-market’

21

SALT WEATHERING

The Globigerina Limestone in older buildings in Malta is often badly deteriorated.

The main deterioration phenomenon seems to be alveolar weathering. A model developed for Globigerina Limestone deterioration some years ago explains that the weathering process is initiated by the dissolution and re precipitation of the mineral calcite, which at first leads to the formation of a thick and compact superficial crust, that then starts to break up.

In addition to this, the main weathering process responsible for the deterioration of the building stone has been identified as salt crystallization in the pore spaces of this very porous limestone.

The main source of the salt is the surrounding marine environment.

The weathering intensity varies because of local differences in the salt types and content in buildings, and because of differing quality and weathering resistance of the building stone itself.

Local stoneworkers distinguish between two building stone qualities: ‘Franka’ and ‘Soll’.

‘Soll’ represents bad quality building material, while ‘Franka’ tends to resist the local environmental conditions well. In the fresh state, the two types cannot be distinguished visually, although a geochemical test and the pore distribution may help to identify the two qualities.

22

weathering model- alveolar and salt crystallisation

What becomes explicit here is the relationship between time and erosion. Samples of different stone quality are put through a cycle of wetting (salt loading) and drying and the respective change in weight is plotted against the number of loading cycles.

23

AIR Air is one of the main driving forces of salt weathering Air also becomes an environmental archive for the history of a place, through the molecular traces of pollutants and other components that can be found in its composition.

Air is thus the space where environments can be recreated. In this case what is of relevance in relation to the stone façades is the salinity and humidity levels in the air.

The most severe deterioration is in fact observed on the south and west façade of the Old Quarantine House, whereas the north façade is less affected. This is most probably explained by the wind’s direction and the sun’s radiation being a critical instigator of damage. The wind and sun influence the water evaporation rate and, consequently, the capillary suction.

The classification of the façade mapping was made according to the damage phases of the weathering model, previously shown.

24

25

St acki ng /R econfi g ur at i on As a rule the dimension of the stone blocks cantuni used for the fortifications came in two basic sizes. These were classified according to their course height, as the length and breadth could vary. First were the blocks of 28cm in height known as tal pied (1 foot)

The module of the stone block is challenged. Halved and doubled.

The aim is to examine both strategies of stacking and reconfiguration using the same blocks, to give greater resolution as needed, but most importantly in this context to drastically alter the surface area ratio in relation to an edge condition and so greatly accelerate or decelerate the rate of erosion.

This will also form one of the methods/strategies that the design proposal itself will be subject to.

26

27

[the myth] T r ansfor mat i on/T r ansmut at i on

“in a context in which the inanimate world is altogether alive, it is less surprising to accept, that architecture as edification raises ontological questions of life and death.”2 The context here like mentioned before is an island made up of layers of sedimentary rock, and from which the limestone quarried is the primary source of building material. This constant shift of material, this life cycle is what will be examined. Both site and building are part of this process.

“in such a cosmological horizon, physis is by definition alive, in movement and therefore always incomplete, never finished. Man is the agent who can intervene in this in-between world of unsatisfied potential.”3 This line of thinking comes from a philosophy of alteration, the making of an otherness with what is already existing. Geometry is useful when one wants to transform, accommodating all parts and members of the old building with the new.

2

Jean-Pierre Chupin Hermes’ Laugh: Philibert de L’Orme’s Imagery as a Case of Analogical Edification in CHORA VOLUME TWO 3 Ibid

28

Fish-Market damaged in WW2 and rebuilt

29

.

30

31

St r at i fi cat i on

“for there simultaneously occurs upon the earth a very important, inevitable phenomenon that is beneficial in many respects and unfortunate in many others; stratification.�

Strata are layers.

They are acts of capture, imprisoning intensities and locking singularities into systems of resonance and redundancy.

They simultaneously code and territorialise.

Therefore they possess both form and substance.

4

The façade studies of the Quarantine House try to look at these notions.

Substance here refers to matter captured in form, however with the possibility of being freed of this form.

In this light the stone block, matter, has been captured in form and is the key to understanding these elevation studies beyond the formal.

This notion also holds within it the possibility for rearrangement and reconfiguration.

4

G.Deleuze & F.Guattari A Thousand Plateaus, 10 000B.C The Geology of Morals

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New Valletta road, Perellos stores behind Fisheries Department- New Fish-market – Quarantine House

33

The front elevation reveals a certain order to the main entrance, by the modularity and stacking of the stone blocks. At the same time it reveals two different systems for the formation of arches, which in turn become witnesses of the buildings history. They have captured in time the construction of the building through its various phases as well the demolition of a significant part of it.

The elevation now facing the road, reveals the scarring of the building, and how layering was used as a strategy for healing the building by closing up the openings.

34

The faรงade towards the sea, tells a different story altogether. The modularity is not so regular, but still remains the code that reveals and distinguishes edification from rock. At the same time the layering of this elevation, with the rock, the Quarantine House, the sloping land behind and the bastion, also begin to suggest how the same material in different forms starts to code different territories.

35

Traces of an arch revealing the original extend of the Quarantine House, before the construction of the New Valletta road

36

and a half-way arch also witness to the demolition of a significant part of the Quarantine House.

37

Remains of a stone bollard from the old sanitary corridor Il Barriera

38

Series of chambers next to the entrance hall

39

PROGRAMME PROPOSAL

Limestone from demolition sites is brought in and tested for its grade and resistance to weathering and catalogued in its current state. This acts as a repository and directory for the conservation and restoration agencies, and a kind of pilot scheme for the further development of a scheme for the recycling of demolition waste, which is in fact reusable limestone. The lab further examines and tries to reconstruct the environments that could speed up the erosive processes, for the production of custom weathered stone blocks for restoration purposes.

If we assume this to be a closed system however, then the erosive processes however are equally important as their complimentary sedimentation processes.

What has also been important since the beginning is the symbiotic relationship of the two buildings. The Quarantine house and the fish-market, working with each other and against each other. On a programmatic level, the Old Quarantine House supporting the fishmarket but on a molecular level undermining its materiality.

The lab as such will on one level be looking at the recycling of stone and erosive processes and on another, sacrifice material from its own site, making ground in front of the fish-market and further down along the harbour not only by the physical sedimentation of matter, but also by making ground for the support of the fishing culture and existing fish-market programme.

40

FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMME

REPOSITORY demolition waste from various sites in Valletta is brought in and deposited. This is only acting as a pilot scheme, but a certain surplus will also be used as sedimentation material for the docking station in front of the fish-market.

LAB FACILITIES the stone is tested through a series of geo-chemical tests to determine its grade DIRECTORY – STORAGE/ARCHIVE once the grade and deterioration level of the stone blocks is determined they can be stored accordingly ROOM(S) with CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS upon request from conservation or other agencies, stone blocks can be weathered to desired state QUARRY SITE the cliff side could also provide certain stone material, especially of the hard quality already weathered to resist sea spray DOCKING STATION further docking for fishing boats provided in an attempt to sustain the fishing culture in Valletta WEIGHING STATION the presence of a weighing station outside of the fish market will accommodate for fishermen at all hours and so help in freeing precious docking space FISHING HUTS these structures will provide for a more informal fishing culture

The ambition of the programme is to allow itself to make connections with all the resources in all the levels mentioned already.

41

METHODOLOGY

The working process moves through layers of programming as well as in iterative cycles.

Through the process of writing, model making and drawing, the aim is to make theoretical and technical explorations, towards the materially tactile and culturally and technically aware, and to explore the duality of the various layers in continuous change, cycles and scales.

This implies a shift in time and in form over time, a shift from creating space to creating environments and so a shift from explanatory models to exploratory models.

This could be addressed both by applying time to media like speculative mappings or projections of erosive process, but as well through media such casting or etching which represent a process and thus have already a certain temporality in them.

42

Olympia Nouska th born: 7 October Nicosia, CYPRUS

Sept 04 - Jul 07 Kingston University London - London, UK BA (Hons) Architecture with exemption from RIBA Part 1 Oct 07 – Aug 08 RCR Arquitectes ; Aranda Pigem Vilalta - Girona, Spain Architectural Assistant Feb 09 – Aug 09 Zenon Sierepeklis Architect - Nicosia, Cyprus Architectural Assistant Sept 09 - Jul 11 Kunstakademiets Arkitektskole - Copenhagen, DK Canditate Architecture - English Masters Programme Department 2

‘The conventions of programme writing are questioned.

As mentioned, this is part of a methodology in its own right, one that moves through layers and cyclical iterations.

The programme here has as such tried to become a representation of that process in itself in order to tell that story, narrative and myth.’

43

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHORA VOL2, Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture edited by Alberto Perez-Gomez and Stephen Parcell McGill Queen’s University Press, 1996 Deleuze & Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus The Athlone Press, 2004

-arium, Weather and Architecture edited by Jurgen Mayer H. and Neeraj Bhatia Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2010

Stephen C. Spitteri, The Art of Fortress Building in Hospitaller Malta 1530-1798 BDL Publishing Malta, 2008 Joseph Bonicci and Michael Cassar, The Malta Grand Harbour And Its Dockyard Malta, 1994

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Reuse/Recycling

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