Necropolis: The Living Cemetery

NECROPOLIS

THE LIVING CEMETERY

Russell Hilken Thesis Student Karen Lange_Studio 400 California Polytechnic State University Department of Architecture Printed and bound in the US First Edition, 2011

CONTENTS Introduction

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Architecture From Music

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Human Ear Anatomy

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Music as Pain Relief

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Material Experiments

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Solar-Powered Stereo

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The Future of Music

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1983

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The Living Cemetery

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Beginnings

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Process

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Final Product

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Final Model

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No Strings Attached

116

Outside Work

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INTRODUCTION The journey through this thesis has been a bizarre and winding one. An architectural thesis is a strange thing; as students we must set up our own project and our own set of constraints and then work to solve that problem in almost any manner we choose. Unsure of what a thesis even is supposed to be, I started the year with a topic I had researched in the past and something that was important to me outside of the classroom: architecture and music. As my work orbited generally around the theme of music and sound for the first quarter the thesis was still very vague.

Our teacher, Karen Lange, told us there were two ways to develop a the-

sis: researching or making. She assigned a series of material experiments to get us started on the making path. The material experiments were simple projects with deliberately ambiguous objectives; their function was to get us to just start working. At the time I saw the experiments as distinct, unrelated explorations into whatever happened to get my attention that week. Looking back now, I see common themes of destruction, decomposition, and graphic narrative.

In the following weeks, I struggled to focus my work and my energy on

one topic. Still unsure about my thesis, I often found myself looking at music as a form of relief from some horrible reality. On a trip back to Berkeley I had the idea to narrate a Jimi Hendrix song and a friend recommended the perfect one: 1983. The song is about two lovers seeking to escape the war all around them by surviving (or dying) under the sea. I imagined the song here in San Luis Obispo with the survival machine buried underground instead of underwater.

Though the illustration did not turn out as I expected, it did lead me to the idea of a cemetery in Poly Canyon, and so the true project began.

After a trip to New York and two weeks of winter break we were thrust

right back into the grind with an ambitious group project. We were scheduled to have a show two weeks into the quarter where we would display our books, written the previous quarter. Our teacher had a history of doing large installations 4

for the book show, and our class was no exception. We decided to fill the gallery with lengths of hanging pink and white string, creating fields of higher density immediately around the voids where the books dangled. A single light illuminated each small void. In the dark room with strange music playing, the experience of swimming through the strings was quite interesting.

After the show, we jumped back into thesis world. I was looking at cha-

pels and cemeteries, trying to find the appropriate architecture for such a thing.

Confusion set in again as I realized that cemeteries are as much landscape architecture as they are buildings. Added to this was the proliferation of thesis ideas. All of a sudden the project went from architecture and music to architecture and death and ritual and timelessness and biology and‌ I practically had a new idea every week. Though architecture was emerging, the critique I received form many others (and already knew to be true) was that this was not a thesis. It may be an interesting project, but a thesis goes deeper and challenges something. Whatever that means.

Entering the final quarter, I still did not really have a building nor did I have

a clear idea of where I was going with this project. At the time I was so focused on Design Village that I did not care, but as soon as the event was over I realized how little time remained before the final show. At that point Karen lit a fire under my seat. I began doing what I should have done all along: building big models. I built a series of three models leading to the final, each iteration directly influenced by Karen’s critiques.

Building the final model was fun: once I set up a clean, sturdy structure

I was able to build up layer upon layer of detail until it formed a space. I could have continued detailing the model forever if there was not such a strict deadline looming ahead. I was drawing in three dimensions.

Now I sit here, the day before graduation, trying to finish this book, won-

dering where the project goes from here. Many older students and teachers have said they continue to work on their thesis long after they leave school.

One teacher, Keith Wiley, told me that thesis does not end after fifth year, in fact this is merely the beginning. This project explores a number of themes that will continue throughout life, themes that are already imbedded deep in my brain, themes like: music, sacredness, timelessness, and both the power and beauty of nature.

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ARCHITECTURE FROM MUSIC Music and architecture have been closely related for centuries and there has been much work dedicated to the space between the two fields. In researching a thesis on the topic it is important to understand one’s precedents and to ask: how has architecture been translated from music in the past and in what ways was the translation successful or unsuccessful?

Perhaps the most obvious way to translate architecture from music is

to make a building or space that is a large musical instrument. One of the earliest examples of this is the Vithala temple in India, built in 1440. The intricately carved stone pillars are beautiful from a distance but become even more so when they are tapped to emit a note. Meaningful to many people and beautiful to the rest, the temple is already an example of good architecture; it only becomes more interesting when it is discovered to be a large xylophone. On the other hand, literally translating a musical instrument can be weak as we see in the CP 8706 Exploding Sonic Test-Audio Visual Big Guitar

by Brearly, Cook, Daves, Denari, Thater, and Youssef. In this project the visitor enters a large metal box with a ten-foot guitar neck inside. The roof opens and closes as the instrument is played, significantly altering the small space.

Unfortunately this project relies on the guitar too much and yet does not activate its full potential. Without its “guitarness” the project is boring, even nonexistent, so the guitar does not add depth to the project but instead supplies the whole concept, actualization, and experience.

Translating a speaker into a building is another common interpreta-

tion of musical architecture. Most auditoriums and concert halls are built as over-sized speaker housings: projecting, amplifying and tuning the sound just right so that everyone in the audience can hear clearly the art on stage.

A more intimate approach can be seen in Le Cylindre Sonore in Parc de la Villette. Cylindrical walls define a small space within a bamboo thicket and house the speakers that project sound through moving water into the space.

The hum is constant but the effect it has on the visitor is governed by what 7 the visitor sees, feels and knows. Therefore the effect of the “music” is always changing while the form stays the same.

Most popular nowadays is the translation of architecture from written

music. The mathematical, graphic appearance of music is visually interesting and somehow similar to architectural drawing. In a competition entry redesigned a Texas freeway, Zeug Designs submitted a project based on this kind of translation. The designers used plants and minimal built elements to mimic a string quartet. According to Zeug, “The first instrument is comprised of rows of ever-green trees and, playing the role of a cello in a string quartet, sets the base temporal structure for the piece. The second instrument, analogous to the viola and consisting of a series of masts attached to the roadside, adds

harmonic overlays...” (Martin). The project was never built, so it is impossible to say if it is a successful translation or not, but it is a very literal translation of music into built work. Literal translations are considered weak because they lack depth and rely too much on the original work instead of allowing the original work to enrich an entirely new translation.

The Stretto house, by Steven Holl, is another example of this kind of

translation. Stretto composition in music overlaps heavy percussion and light strings to form music that flows from one part to the next. The form of this house was taken literally from written music, falling for the old cliché of architecture as frozen music and in that way it is a poor translation. The interior of the house, however, is made of heavy masonry walls and light metal roofs that flow into one another to contrast heaviness and lightness, just like Stretto music. In this case, the original intent is translated rather than the original form.

One of the best translations of music into architecture is Daniel Libe-

skind’s Chamber Works. The Chamber Works are a set of drawings that look like abstract architectural diagrams but are actually composed of musical notation. The drawings are detailed and intriguing, the idea of music only makes them more exciting. Furthermore, they are presented in little boxes, or chambers, so even the name is part architecture and part music.

The third common form of translation is that of basic compositional principles. It could be argued that music and architecture share so many basic principles every piece of architecture is a translation of musical composition. While both fields have at their heart notions of composition, rhythm, and proportion, some architects are more interested with music than others.

One example of this kind of architect is Iannis Xenakis. Xenakis was a composer and an architect that worked closely with Le Corbusier on projects like the Phillips Pavilion and La Tourette. He used the complex mathematics of stochastics, the study of large numbers, to derive the form of the Phillips Pavilion, a place meant for huge congregations of people. He was also project manager at La Tourette and was the designer of the vertical louvers facing the courtyard. Their placement is based on Le Corbusier’s Modulor as well as musical and mathematical proportions. Both these projects are very unique and are good examples of the space shared by music and 8

architecture.

Even this basic research reveals generally successful and unsuccess-

From top to bottom: Le Cylindre So-

ful approaches to translating architecture from music. A project that relies

nore by Bernhard Leitner, Stretto

too much on the form of written music is often weak while the project that

House by Steven Holl, Chamber Works

seeks to capture the intent of music is quite intriguing.

by Daniel LIbeskind

Martin, Elizabeth. “Freeway as Instrument.” Pamphlet Architecture 16 (1994): 50-53.

La Tourette by Le Corbusier, louvers by Iannis Xenakis

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HUMAN EAR ANATOMY The human ear is composed of three parts: the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. The part most commonly referred to as the ear is a flesh-covered flap of cartilage called the pinna. This flap aids in directing sound inside the ear, but hearing would certainly be possible without it. Sound waves are funneled from the environment into the external auditory canal, a tube that leads into the head and ends at the tympanic membrane, or eardrum.

The middle ear is a small space located behind the eardrum and

it houses the three smallest bones in the human body, collectively known as the ossicles. The ossicles are: the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. The hammer is connected to the eardrum and sound waves are transferred from the hammer to the anvil to the stirrup and finally to the oval window, the interface between the middle ear and the inner ear. The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear with the back of the throat and serves to equalize the pressure inside the ear.

The inner ear is located inside a cavity in the skull, surrounded by the

hardest bone in the body. The inner ear is a complex, fluid-filled labyrinth that transfers sound waves into information that the brain can understand. When the stirrup hits the oval window it sends waves through the liquid of the inner ear into the spiral-shaped cochlea. The inner walls of the cochlea are lined with tiny hairs that send impulses to the brain when they are moved by sound the sound waves. The brain processes this information and we recognize it as sound.

Also in the inner ear are three semi-circular canals that give us our

sense of balance. Like the cochlea, the canals are filled with fluid, their inner walls covered in hair. When we tilt or rotate our head the fluid inside these canals moves, triggering the hairs and sending signals to the brain. This, along with the 360 degree scope of hearing, makes the ears the most spatial sensor of the human body.

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Francis, Carl C. Introduction to Human Anatomy. Saint Louis: The C.V. Mosby Company, 1968. Print.

Simon, Seymour. Eyes and Ears. USA: Harper Collins, Year 2003. Print.

MUSIC AS PAIN RELIEF

A recent study entitled An Investigation of the Effects of Music and Art on

Pain Perception demonstrated that music has the ability to relieve pain in patients. Pain relief occurs because music affects the feeling of pain as well as the emotional experience. Music provides distraction from the unpleasant situation at hand and gives a sense of control to the person suffering. This is important when pharmaceutical treatments are unwanted or impossible.

Eighty college-age participants (43 female, 37 male) endured cold-

pressor pain induction while listening to music of their choice and looking at a popular piece of visual art. Cold pressor pain induction simply means that the participants sat with one hand in a bath of very cold water that the scientist cooled further until the participant could not stand it any more. Endurance was measured in seconds and a survey was administered after the experiment.

It was found that music and art do have an effect on pain tolerance

when compared to silence. Music showed a higher ability to relieve pain than visual art, especially when the music was very familiar to the person enduring pain.

This suggests that music would be a good way to escape the harsh

realities of a bleak world. Humans use many ways to escape reality including: drugs, meditation, and deliberate ignorance. The movie Brazil illustrates a unique form of escape. To retreat from the authoritarian, bureaucratic society in which he lives, the main character becomes schizophrenic and slips into hallucinations of flying away with a beautiful woman.

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Knussen, C., MacDonald, R., Mitchell, L. “An Investigation of the Effects of Music and Art on Pain Perception.� Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 2(3) 2008: 162-170.

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MATERIAL EXPERIMENT 1 Meant to form some kind of structure, papier-mache-soaked strings were hung from the grill of a fan. Instead of a structure, they succeeded only in forming a mess, instigating destruction by fire.

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MATERIAL EXPERIMENT 2 Built as the landscape for an unbuilt future-world made of junk, this piece was left outside, providing a bustling habitat for mildew. The once-clean lines in the wood gave way to the powers of the sun and the rain as the object was left to rot back into the earth.

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MATERIAL EXPERIMENT 3 These drawings simply tested the reproduction quality of various types of media as well as formed the basis for a graphic exploration of narrative. As expected, high-contrast black and white images looked the best in print.

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MATERIAL EXPERIMENT 4 This small audio amplifier was built from scratch using parts scavenged from an old karaoke machine. It is powered by a 9 volt battery and can be plugged into any 3.5mm stereo jack (iPod, computer, discman).

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SOLAR POWE

ERED STEREO

VELLUM

FURNITURE COMPETITION 2010 The stereo is housed in military-grade steel for maximum durability. Inside the container there are two compartments. One holds the battery and amplifier, the other holds essentials like: art supplies, food, a flashlight, spare batteries, lighters and chapstick. The photovoltaic panel on top of the unit provides power to the 12V battery so the stereo can be played day or night.

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The people are controlled by sound.

Eyes

straight ahead, they enjoy no human contact, only soothing messages from their rulers.

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Like any craft, music will eventually be taken from the hands of the artisan and industrialized for maximum profit and minimum originality. Artists are coerced into the factory where they are sqeezed for their creaitve juices.

Droplets of creative energy fall onto the blank bars below. The resulting noise is marketed aggresively as the newest hit and sold worldwide.

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1983 A MERMAN I SHOULD TURN TO BE

BY JIMI HENDRIX

Hurrah I awake from yesterday alive but the war is here to stay so my love Catherina and me decide to take our last walk through the noise to the sea not to die but to be re-born away from a life so battered and torn.... forever...

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Oh say can you see its really such a mess every inch of earth is a fighting nest 34

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Giant

pencil

and

lip-stick

tube

shaped things continue to rain and cause screaming pain and the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red as our feet find the sand and the sea is straight ahead.. straight ahead.....

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Well it’s too bad that our friends cant be with us today well thats too bad “the machine that we built would never save us” thats what they say (thats why they aint coming with us today) and they also said “its impossible for man to live and breath underwater.. forever” was their main complaint (yeah) and they also threw this in my face: they said anyway you know good well it would be beyond the will of God and the grace of the King (grace of the King yeah yeah) 38

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The air handling and food growing

glass-covered skylights. Here the air

these pots and grow strong creating

systems are very closely related in

is further purified and then drawn

a ring around the site where the last

the Machine. Two concentric rings

into the core where it is redistributed.

sane humans died.

surround the living core. The outer-

most ring consists of deep open pits

pose besides freshening the air. As

dug into the earth, each containing

they grow, they shed leaves into

a tree. Air from the outside first moves

their own pit. Eventually the tree dies

into the pit and then into an enclosed

and decomposes along with the de-

space where crops are grown.

The

bris, leaving an earthen pit filled with

fruits and vegetables grow directly

compost, a giant flower pot. Many

out of the earthen floor towards

years later, new trees sprout from

The trees serve another pur-

The energy collectors harvest the

caps a long spiralling tube filled with

excess sound energy from war and

fluid, the walls of which are ribbed to

transform it into electricity. The pro-

provide the necessary surface area

cess is as follows: sound waves are

for millions of engineered stem cells

funneled into a canal where they vi-

that produce a tiny electrical charge

brate a taught membrane. On the in-

when triggered by the movement of

terior side of this membrane is a small,

the fluid. Together these cells pro-

airtight chamber. The vibrations are

duce an electrical current that is

transferred through three compo-

sent back to the Machine via under-

nents in this chamber and onto a

ground cables and used for some-

second membrane. This membrane

thing positive, like music.

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So my darling and I make love in the sand to salute the last moment ever on dry land our machine has done its work played its part well without a scratch on our bodies and we bid it farewell 42

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Starfish and giant foams greet us with a smile before our heads go under we take a last look at the killing noise of the out of style... the out of style, out of style 44

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THE LIVING CEMETERY POLY CANYON

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The project has developed into a cemetery for

According to precedent study there are three

a number of reasons. At the end of last quarter

main elements to a cemetery: a chapel, a

I illustrated a Jimi Hendrix song and sited it here

path, and a resting place. The chapel must be

in San Luis Obispo. The song described a world

able to hold two hundred people at the most,

ravaged by war where the only escape is to dis-

in case of a large service. It must also be ac-

appear into the sea forever, “not to die but to be

cessible to someone who uses a wheel chair

reborn.� The cemetery began as a resting place

or a cane, because many cemetery visitors

for the victims of this war.

have limited mobility. The body should be able to move from the hearse to the chapel to the

The second reason is the cemetery-like nature

grave easily.

of the canyon already. Old buildings sit there, decomposing slowly, visited occasionally by rel-

But what is the deeper program? This cemetery

atives. It is even called the Architecture Grave-

is about life, not death. Yes, the dead are bur-

yard. One structure lays broken on the ground,

ied here, but the dead body is inanimate, we

its long white skeleton bleached by the sun.

do not design for inanimate objects. No, this

There are other signs of death too, like the five

cemetery is a celebration of life. It is filled with

dead mice, the bones, and the dark pit at the

light and song; even the dead are resurrected

top of hill.

in a new form.

In this cemetery bodies are

planted amongst the flowers, providing food On the more practical side of things, a cemetery

for the plants and actively rejoining the cycle of

in Poly Canyon would provide much needed

life. The memory of the dead remains long after

funds for the school. To be buried in a unique

the body has decomposed.

graveyard in such a beautiful setting would cost a considerable sum; this money could be put to

What is an appropriate architecture for a cem-

good use in these difficult times.

etery? Based, again, on precedent studies, a cemetery seems to be serious but not too som-

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The program of a cemetery seems simple: a rest-

ber. It is monumental, of the earth, fully aware

ing place for dead bodies. But it is much more

of gravity. It should be timeless in the way it

than that. It is a place for remembering a loved

ages. It is not overly complex or crowded unless

one, paying tribute, healing emotional wounds,

circumstances require it. It must be of a human

enacting a ritual, and celebrating life. It is a seri-

scale. It is not a towering spire or massive as-

ous place, but not necessarily sad.

sembly, it is designed for small groups of visitors.

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PRECENDENTS 1. The Morphology of Angiosperms 2. Carlo Scarpa 3. E. Fay Jones 4. Gunnar Asplund 5. Enric Miralles and Carme Pinos 6. Antonio Sant’Elia 7. Antoni Gaudi 8. Dan Slavinsky

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“But how do I get into these drawings? How do I enter this? You can employ the same process you use for drawing and build it up three-dimensionally. Just start layering. Don’t worry about the ground. There is no sun, there is no rain. Just start.”

-Karen Lange

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“I didn’t say there was no ground, I said don’t worry about the ground.

What happened to your flowers?

Where are your drawings? Look, you already have some kind of architecture here, take pieces of your drawings, get them laser cut and use those as building blocks. Then you can start layering and building and adding to this thing.”

-Karen Lange

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“You don’t even have a building.

Most people at least have a building now. Just start building, you don’t have time anymore. Just start!”

-Karen Lange

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The cycles of life are reflected in all we create-

just their pace accordingly, calmly walking two

our buildings, art, music, rituals. To build is to

abreast. After a stretch, the group finds itself in

acknowledge destruction. To give life is to an-

a courtyard and pauses. Neatly planted bush-

ticipate death. Buildings are erected to resist

es provide a home for the small birds chirping

the corrosive effects of nature, but only for a

and squabbling over food. Water flows some-

short time until they are destroyed and con-

where, the sound of it echoing off the cool,

sumed by the earth. Walls crumble, beams

bare walls; but the source of the sound is un-

collapse, once durable materials give way to

clear. The still, damp air is a welcome depar-

decomposition, changing form, exposing new

ture from the sun and the breeze of the path.

function. As a building, man too is disassem-

Once the pallbearers have stretched their arms

bled by the earth from flesh and tissue back to

the procession continues.

his primary elements.

The path begins to climb more steeply

now. Long switchbacks crawl up the hill, each For these reasons I have created a necropolis-

landing revealing a greater view of the sur-

a cemetery and chapel-designed to restore

rounding landscape. At the top of the climb,

the body and building back to the earth. As

the visitors find another courtyard, this one

the bodies decompose in the natural environ-

rougher and more earthen than the last. The

ment, the chapel restores its ground through

ground is bare; wheel tracks carved during the

ruinification.

last rains are still noticeable in the dried mud, a visible memory of another funeral. Weeds

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The body arrives at the center of the open pi-

sprout spontaneously from cracks in the ground

azza at the base of the hill and is unloaded

and walls. The earth is warm from the sun but

from the vehicle onto a wooden cart. Bright

the breeze keeps the air cool and whispers

sunlight reflects off the white concrete that

through the dry grass around the yard. The

forms the ground and set of low benches on

group does not stop in this space, it offers no

the edge of the square. The living begin to

shelter.

gather here in this large space, milling about,

waiting. They squint to look across the platform

rower and dives deeper into the earth. Simple

and see their fellow mortals shifting against a

concrete walls hold back the soil and the sun.

backdrop of old buildings rotting into the hill-

The wind moves quickly through this small can-

side. Finally the pallbearers arrive and the pro-

yon, carrying smells from the pastures beyond.

cession begins its way up the hill.

Kinks in the path way make it so the visitors can-

Even with four men pushing, the cart

not see far ahead of themselves, and they be-

moves slowly and the people behind must ad-

gin to worry that this might go on for a while.

As the path continues it becomes nar-

The smooth walls and hissing wind might go on

for miles. At the pace they are moving, the be-

into the garden. The visitors gather in the piaz-

reaved may join the departed before the end.

za adjacent to the chapel and watch as the

But suddenly the path bends and re-

body is planted, unembalmed, in the soil. A

veals all at once a large square framed on two

small absence of life amidst the lush greenery

sides by trees. At the far end of the piazza is

marks the spot where the body lies. As time

one very open entrance to the chapel there.

passes, the void will be overgrown, the earth

The chapel is covered in plants; it is sometimes

healing itself and those within it.

After the service the body is carried

difficult to discern where the building ends and the plants begin. The walls and roof are open,

When the chapel is first built it stands in stark

allowing light and air to stream into the space.

contrast to the land around it. Hard paving

The body is wheeled to a modest alter at the

blankets the ground, walls meet the ground

far end of the structure while the living visitors

at sharp right angles, and plants grow neatly

seat themselves. A tall man stands beside the

in planter boxes. It is not long, though, until this

body and waits for silence. It is not long before

illusion of perfection begins to disappear. The

he has his wish. The people sit, hearing only the

plants once in planters grow over the sides

sound of the wind moving through the plants

and shed their leaves on the hard ground.

overhead, the scurry of hungry rodents, a dis-

Vines crawl amongst the lacy metalwork that

tant groan from a cow. At first the silence is un-

fills the chapel.

comfortable as the guests wait for the man to

deep underground, probing and infiltrating

speak, but when they realize he will not, they

the foundation. Molding, over time, express-

relax. Some even close their eyes.

es the small intimate gestures of microscopic

After some minutes he begins to sing.

Trees send powerful roots

The

invasion. But the building was meant to die,

sound starts low but gains intensity with each

and it does so gracefully. The roof goes first,

repetition. Others join in as they learn the tune

its thin connection to the columns giving way

and soon the whole gathering erupts in song.

to the undeniable force of gravity. Then the

Their voices fill the air. The song is imperfect, but

columns begin to topple, a couple of them

it is the small mistakes and slight variations that

braced mid-fall by sturdy trees. The structure

give it such power.

disintegrates but leaves a distinct space filled

with plants, wind, and a memory of the build-

Then suddenly the song stops. The last

notes trail off into the wind, leaving only a mem-

ing that once stood.

ory behind. Even the rodents are quiet now and the only sound is that of quiet tears and consolations.

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POLY CANYON

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TRIPTYCH

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THE FINAL MODEL

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NO STRINGS ATTACHED

K. LANGE STUDIO BOOKSHOW

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The entire class worked for two weeks cutting, knotting, and threading 15 miles of string. A 16’x 32’ false ceiling held the thousands of pieces of string off the ground so that a visitor could swim through the pink and white field, disoriented in the low light. Inside there were seven voids, each containing three hanging books lit by a single light from above. The area around each void was especially dense with pink string.

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OUTSIDE WORK

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