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
4
Architecture From Music
7
Human Ear Anatomy
10
Music as Pain Relief
11
Material Experiments
12
Solar-Powered Stereo
22
The Future of Music
26
1983
30
The Living Cemetery
48
Beginnings
50
Process
52
Final Product
78
Final Model
88
No Strings Attached
116
Outside Work
120
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. 5
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
9
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. 10
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. 11
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.
12
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.
13
14
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.
16
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.
17
18
19
20
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).
21
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.
25
26
The people are controlled by sound.
Eyes
straight ahead, they enjoy no human contact, only soothing messages from their rulers.
27
28
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.
29
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... 32
33
Oh say can you see its really such a mess every inch of earth is a fighting nest 34
35
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..... 36
37
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
39
40
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.
41
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
43
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
45
46
47
THE LIVING CEMETERY POLY CANYON
49
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-
50
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.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
68
“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
69
72
“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
73
74
“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
75
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
78
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. 79
POLY CANYON
82
TRIPTYCH
83
84
85
86
87
THE FINAL MODEL
92
93
94
95
98
100
102
107
108
109
110
111
114
115
116
117
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
K. LANGE STUDIO BOOKSHOW
120
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.
121
122
OUTSIDE WORK
123
124
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134