Rosie Milne
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SEVEN WORLDS AND THE MIMETIC TURN A LIBRARY OF SOUND AND IMAGE
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CONTENTS introduction the wood between worlds worlds as palimpsests site as palimpsest mimesis moments exhibition
INTRODUCTION This project seeks to explore a library as a Wood Between Worlds, and to explore the nature of ‘worlds’ as mimetic reflections. The building is a library of sound and image, using a process of mimesis to explore the relationship between the digital and the analogue realms, and also as a means to understand the coupling of the architecture with the wider context of the site. The creation of a series of wax tablet palimpsest models framed an investigation into the idea of worlds as reflections based on the process of inscription and capturing ‘moments’ or ‘eras’ through forming casts of the initial wax tablet. These were viewed as static moments in time, contrasting the original tablet, which was a dynamic x-ray of time. Furthermore this led to a reflection on the platonic nature of the ‘worlds’ I had created, in creating the ‘real’ wax tablets and the series of ‘shadow’ cast tablets. Upon visiting Rome, the site presented itself as a palimpsest. The wax tablet investigation had become a device for understanding the city, and another ‘device’, a 3 Dimensional Space drawing, was used to further the understanding of the location and adopt an attitude as to the importance of the surroundings. These two devices are dubbed ‘the onion and the orange.’ By applying the same mimetic process used
in the tablets to this site and its history, I was able to create an library that itself acts as an x-ray of time and a commentary of the nature of reflections and ‘the image,’ while the 3Diensional drawings provided a new lens for looking at space within the building. In this way I was able to literally and metaphorically unfold the location to reveal a richness between all the layers, a richness which was then translated into an architecture.
THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS The ‘wood between worlds’ is an expression taken from C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew, the first installment of seven in The Chronicles of Narnia. In the story, the two protagonists find themselves in an ‘in between place’, a kind of non-place manifested as a sleepy forest containing endless numbers of pools, each leading to ‘completely other worlds.’ All that is required is complete immersion in the pools wearing the correct ring. I suggest that a library is a wood between worlds. Each book is a world, and all that’s required to enter is complete immersion in the book (through reading), aided by having the right mindset (or ‘wearing the right ring’, through thinking). The architecture of this project seeks to become a Wood Between - a place that allows for complete immersion in different worlds and different realms. By creating a library of sound and image, ‘worlds’ are investigated on a broader level than simply books, as other media are allowed to become part of the wood between.
trying to diagram the Wood Between
EXTRACT from C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew “No, I don’t believe this wood is a world at all. I think it’s just a sort of in-between place.” Polly looked puzzled. “Don’t you see?” said Digory. “No, do listen. Think of our tunnel under the slates at home. It isn’t a room in any of the houses. In a way, it isn’t really part of any of the houses. But once you’re in the tunnel you can go along it and come into any of the houses in the row. Mightn’t this wood be the same? – a place that isn’t in any of the worlds, but once you’ve found that place you can get into them all.”
house. I think we can get out of this place into jolly well Any- where! We don’t need to jump back into the same pool we came up by. Or not just yet.” “The Wood between the Worlds,” said Polly dreamily. “It sounds rather nice.”1
“Well, even if you can...” began Polly, but Digory went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “And of course that explains everything,” he said. “That’s why it is so quiet and sleepy here. Nothing ever happens here. Like at home. It’s in the houses that people talk, and do things, and have meals. Nothing goes on in the in- between places, behind the walls and above the ceilings and under the floor, or in our own tunnel. But when you come out of our tunnel you may find yourself in any
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C. S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew, Bodley Head Pubishers, 1955, p. 18
finding inspiration for a library
WORLDS AS PALIMSESTS
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
STARTING WITH A CLEAN SLATE The creation of wax tablets grew out of a desire to explore the origins of the written word, and thus the pre-history of the concept of the library. I began the project with, very almost literally, a clean slate on which to inscribe and create the other ‘worlds’ which would grow to inform the eventual architecture. The process of making the blank tablets was itself akin to the subtractive nature of the inscription which would take place on it’s surface - it required using a ____ to scrape away layers of wood, to then pour the melted wax into. Already I was investigating the nature of layers, and how they can be smooth and free flowing as the melted wax, or they can be as plywood, striated and rigidly organised. This grew into a further understanding of architecture as a series of layers. When the palimpsest ‘device’ was used to ‘x-ray’ these layers, they begin to converse with each other and form architectural relationships. The different layers or ‘pieces’ are allowed to become musical motifs arranged in architectural symphony. The process of imaging leads to a process of defining melodies and harmonies, and thus a library of sound and image is born.
Unwritten.
Aeolia (VI). The sixth world.
EVOLUTION OF A TABLET The generation of a wax tablet as an x-ray of time also led to the creation of casted snapshots of the wax tablets, a mimetic process resulting in a casted negative of the original tablet. These casts were static and unchanging, whilst the tablet was ever changing, always being re-inscribed and altered. The tablet is the true form of the world, while the casted negatives were merely shadows of it - but still valuable because they preserve something of the original tablet which gets lost when parts are scraped away again. The series of casts then become little histories of the ever changing ‘world’ that is the wax tablet itself, and the mimetic process by which they are formed becomes an exploration of the value of true forms against shadows.
The First Era. Inspired by Dr Faustroll’s discovery of allotments of musical instruments.
The Second Era. Incorporating Jarry’s Aeolian Wind Markers and the adoption of the Aeolian mode of music as a defining feature of the world
The Third Era. The allotments are developed in section.
MUSICAL MODES AS WORLDS Seeking a structure for exploring the concept of worlds, I was inspired by Jarry’s explanation of Aeolian Wind Markers on the Ringing Isle in his Exploits and Opinions of Dr Faustroll. This led to an investigation into the different musical modes or scales, of which there are seven. Each of them has a different character, providing an opportunity to express these through model making. For instance, the Dorian mode is known as the Russian Minor key, expressed in a model as the remnants of destruction and tragedy occuring in the other models the leftover fragments of wax from the other palimpsest models. The Ionian mode on the other hand is akin to the modern major key. Parallels were then found between the Ionian mode and the Ionic order, and contributions that the ancient Ionians made to the Greek language, all things which were incorporated in to the palimpsests and other models. As each is separately explored through model making, research and writing, these ‘worlds’ are examined in more detail in The Writings, a series of seven mini-documents which accompany this document.
I - Ionian II - Dorian III - Phygrian IV - Lydian V - Mixolydian VI - Aeolian VII - Locrian
EXTRACT detailing the ‘Ringing Isle’ from Exploits and Opinions of Dr Faustroll
The lord of the island, after welcoming us in these terms, led us to his plantations which were fortified by aeolian marker poles of bamboo. The commonest plants there were the side-drums, the ravanastron, sambuca, archlute and bandore, the kin and the tche, the beggar’s-guitar and vina, the magrepha and hydraulus. In a conservatory there arose the many necks and geyser breath of the steam-organ given to Pippin in 757 by Constantine Copronymus, and imported into Ringing isle by Saint Cornelius of Compiegne. Here one could breathe in the perfume of the piccolo, oboe d’amore, contrabassoon and sarrusophone, the Brittany bagpipe, zampogna and English bagpipe; the Bengali chere, bombardon, ser- pent, coelophone, saxhorn and anvil. 2
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Dr Faustroll is a character is Alfred Jarry’s book ‘Exploits and Opinions of Dr Faustroll’. The book was the start of a branch of study (?) known as ‘Pataphysics, which was coined by Jarry. The chapter ‘Concerning The Ringing Isle’ prompted me to investigate what Jarry might mean by ‘Aeolian marker poles,’ which in turn led to research into the modes of music. These became the structure of the worlds which would inhabit the Library as a Wood Between. ‘Pataphysics is the science of imaginary solutions, dealing with imaginary phenomena exisitng in a realm beyond metaphysics. The Library I have designed could be seen as a ‘pataphysical solution to a need to house the imaginary worlds I invented.
Alfred Jarry, Exploits and Opinions of Dr Faustroll, Grove Press Incorporated, 1996, pp. 56-57
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
Jarry’s use of ‘plantations’ of musical instruments prompted me to include them in my wax tablet investigations. I plotted them in plan and section and superimposed them onto each other, creating a kind of conversation between the different drawings - which are already cuts or layer of a building anyway by their natures. The instrument plantations would become a key part of the Library of Sound and Image. They are whimsical and add a dream-like quality to the library.
AEOLIA // THE SHADOW
The wax tablet series is a demonstration of palimsests as x-rays of time, in the way that all the layers are superimposed on one another, blurring boundaires between times and eras such that the different times begin to speak to each other. Not only that, but the capturing of an image in time through casting the wax tablet is similar to the capturing of an x-ray image or indeed a normal photograph. The captured image can not live up to the real thing, but it’s value as a shadow lies in preserving what once was. Thus the platonic ideas of the shadow and the real are investigated alongside an analysis of the temporal nature of things.
AEOLIA // THE REAL
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
IONIA // THE SHADOW
IONIA // THE REAL
THE PLATONIC NATURE OF MIMETIC WORLDS [?] The project began to question the idea of the shadow and the real. The reflective facet of these worlds / wax tablets / palimpsests that I’d created led to a reflection on the nature of mimesis. The idea that the wax tablet was the true form, and the casts were imperfect shadows of the ‘real image’ raised the question as to the value of the cast tablets as versus the value of the wax tablet.
EXTRACT from The Republic SOCRATES And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent. Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave? And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows? And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them? And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow? To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.3 3
Plato, The Republic, 356BC
GLAUCON
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads? Yes, he said.
Very true.
No question, he replied.
SITE AS PALIMPSEST
THE ONION AND THE ORANGE Rome revealed itself as a palimpsest, inscribed with the patina of age, a series of layers that blend together so that ages start to speak to each other. The palimpsest experiment became a device for understanding the city, and was especially useful when visiting ‘site 2’, a location which exists as a series of superimposed layers, where exploring it was like peeling an onion or an orange - sometimes the layers feel the same, (the onion model) but you’ll sometimes come across some juicy piece of history (the orange model).
TWO DEVICES FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CITY Location was suddenly important. My idea wasn’t simply to be superimposed onto a site, my idea was weaved into the urban fabric of the city itself. My idea of the palimpsest became an x-ray device, a way of seeing the site. I conducted a series of space drawing investigations which looked at the importance of the site and how we see it, involving the drawing of a 360 skyline from a rooted position on site, drawing a continuous line where the site marries the sky. By taking the drawings ‘pieces’ from my sketchbook and stitching them together, I was able to create a space continuum, which I translated into a 3 dimensional immersive device. The viewer stands inside the device and is able to re-experience the skyline from a totally different root location. I created a 3D slice of space, in the same way an MRI scan takes an image of a slice of brain or heart. And so I had created two devices for investigating the city: the MRI scanner as a way of understanding space, and the X-ray device of the palimpsest for understanding time and image.
SPACE DRAWING A drawing of the skyline as a continuum. This drawing speaks about the importance of the surroundings, and was paramount in forming an attitude to the location which would ultimately inform the design of the library.
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
COMPLETING THE CIRCLE - skyline drawings joint together.
THE ORANGE
tutor notes on project
BASILICA SAN NICOLA IN CARCERE, ON LOCATION
On location is the Church of San Nicola in Carcere, one of many hundreds of churches in Rome. Except this church is inscribed with a unique history, as it came about through the devouring of a Roman temple or three tempes. This means the church has elements of the ancient temples built into it, such as rows of columns, such that the church acts as an xray device on the location, revealing layers of history about the church, the location and the city.
elevation of the basilica , 1:250
PALIMPSEST
Using superimposed plans of the church, I started to peel apart the layers of the site. By drawing the plans as a palimpsest, I was able to pick out seemingly insignificant elements from the overall composition and see them as pieces and eventually as worlds which would make up my library.
The pieces began to be used as musical motifs would could be re-composed and re-arranged in a musical sense, in an effort to create an architectural symphony which sings about the relationship between library and site and between worlds and time.
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IONIA the world of thought recordings
Ionia was actually a place of ancient times, a place whose people contributed to the formation of the alphabet as we know it, and who are also associated with the famous Ionic order. Aspects of the character of this world are drawn from this, leading to Ionia becoming the world of thought recordings,
or books, in the library of sound and image. This world was assigned to the columns of the palimpsest, relating back to the ionic order and also the rhythmic nature of reading - the rhythm of words on a page and the rhythm in the action of turning the page.
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DORIA the world of musical thought recordings
In my initial writings, Doria was the dwelling place of tragedies, because the Dorian mode / scale is minor (known as the Russian Minor key). There is a sadness in the remnants of the temple which have been devoured and which are partially shown in this layer. There is also a ‘doric’ quality to the pattern depicted, and the way this layer,
as the column bases, is married to the previous layer also relates back to the relationship between major (Ionian) and minor (Dorian). This is the world of musical thought recordings, which are embodied in sheet music, because these are the writings of the moments which capture the soul in the same way a melancholy melody does.
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PHYGRIA world of photographic instruments
Phygria was assigned to this snaking network, and the world of Phygria was given over to photographic instruments, namely cameras and projectors. The forms are negatives; as photographic films produce negative images that must be inverted to be made sense of, so it is that this network only makes
sense when seen in light of the built forms which produced it. The pieces give a reading of the forms of the temple which made them.
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LYDIA the world of light recordings
A brother to the Mixolydia piece, this piece was assigned to Lydia, because the modes are related - the Mixolydian scale is derived from the Lydian scale. Lydia was given over to Light Recordings - photographs. This piece is really a series of pieces, in the same way that light is really a series of lights or colours.
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MIXOLYDIA the world of moving light recordings
In The Writings, Mixolydia was a ‘cosmic thief ’ - a world which existed only to steal artefacts from the other worlds. This piece is in the perfect position to become an architectural expression of that, with its warren-like forms creating a subterranean jigsaw which would allow for the collecting of artefacts.
This is significant given that Mixolydia became the world of moving light recordings, a close relative to Lydia (light recordings). Films, by their nature, steal from all the arts: literature, music, photography, theatre - it was natural that the ‘cosmic thief ’ of this library of sound and image must be film.
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AEOLIA the world of musical instruments
The Aeolian mode in music is closely related to the Phygrian mode. Thus these two worlds became the worlds of instruments, photographic and musical respectively. This means the pieces are nearly identical, although this piece is more about skin, where the other has a heftiness to it. This has to do
with the layering of musical instruments and the fact that many of them are mostly hollow. In light of this, it makes sense that this piece should be left empty. Assigning musical instruments to the Aeolian world also has to do with Aeolian wind harps and the Aeolian fortified plantations in Dr Faustroll.
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LOCRIA the world of audio recordings
The Locrian mode / scale has an element of dissonance to it, which led to it being assigned to the world of audio recordings (in the form of tapes, CDs, vinyls). There is a dissonance created in the fracturing of the original sound, as it becomes disembodied and as a memory. This piece depicts this
dis-allignment, as well as the oscillating nature of sound, making it a good vessel for the audio world in the library of sound and image.
MIMESIS The palimpsest not only deals with the issue of time, but also of the idea of image. The wax tablet is dynamic and ever changing as each new inscription is added. The casts, however, are static - mere snapshots and what’s more, imperfect images of the tablet at a given time. However there is still value in them - while the tablet changes and some of the features are lost, these details are preserved in an albeit imperfect form in the casts of the tablet. The idea of imperfect and yet valuable reflections was vital in moving my project forward. I applied to the same idea of reflection to some of the palimpsest layers of the site, giving a basis for organising the building the turning point between palimpsest studies and architecture. .
Location plan with church palimpsest superimposed
DIALOGUE superimposed conversations from tutorials (dramatised retrospectively) NEIL
ROSIE
You mentioned about Plato’s cave and your project - explain what you mean. Well, like the models, the plans play on the idea of imperfect reflections. The cast models are imperfect reflections of the wax tablets. In the same way, the plan becomes an imperfect reflection of the site. This links to the idea of the shadow and the real that Plato explores in his allegory of the cave. And what about the second reflection? That becomes an imperfect reflection of the first reflection - it is a shadow even further removed from the original image, the ‘true form’ if you like. It acts as a way of exploring the dichotomy between the analogue and digital realm, with the first half as the analogue, and the second half as the digital.
A process of unpeeling / unfolding.
NEIL
ROSIE
Okay. But do you really need the second reflection? It seems like you already show the relationship between the shadow and real with the first reflection. This is true, but I wanted to create a dialogue between analogue and digital because when something moves from analogue to digital, some kind of quality is lost as the information is disembodied, as opposed to the embodied information of things like real books and real vinyl records.
But isn’t it better to read the digital book than to not read the book at all? For instance if you can’t see someone, isn’t it better to be able to talk to them on the phone at all, even if it is disembodied.
True. But it doesn’t change the fact that something of the experience of reading is lost when reading on a kindle - you don’t
The first mimetic turn.
NEIL
ROSIE get the sense of how far through the book you are because you can’t tell the weight of the book. You don’t get the satisfaction of physically turning the page.
True.
There is a rift between the body and soul, so to speak. This is something I wanted to explore in the architecture of the library through the second reflection, while the relationship with the site is explored in the first reflection.
This is actually really interesting - the reflective move - let’s call it the mimetic turn - then becomes a way of understanding the site and a way of exploring the palimpsest nature of the location and of the city. But, going back to Plato, do you think that just because the architecture is an imperfect reflection it is less important, or less valuable, than the true form?
An Aristotelian Reflection
Re-un-folding
NEIL
ROSIE I’m not sure…
Because that’s what Plato implies - he says that all creativity is dangerous because it can never be a perfect reflection of the truth. I see. Aristotle on the other hand, says that creativity and different interpretations are useful, because they become a way of understanding the true forms. So your reflection becomes just as important as the initial form, because it becomes a way of reading the form - the mimetic turns become a way of reading the site. Right. I guess if you hadn’t seen the shadows in the cave in the first place, when you left you wouldn’t be able to identify the true forms anyway?
I suppose so. So where does your building sit in the argument between Plato and Aristotle?
The second mimetic turn
NEIL
ROSIE Well, I’m not sure it exactly answers the question, but I’d say it’s more of a commentary on the issue.
Go on. I think in light of that the first flip mimetic turn - is more about the Aristotelian relationship between true forms and creative interpretations - it’s a way of understanding, whereas the second is more about the Platonic understanding of mimesis, where the digital shadow demonstrates a facet of missing information in comparison with the (relatively speaking) true forms of the embodied, analogue media.
I suppose so.
A Platonic Reflection
So it’s about a fusion of the two arguments then.
A Library of sound and image
THOUGHTS ON PLATO AND MUSIC I had the same conversation with my mom about Plato. She got me thinking more about the platonic ideas about creativity. Creativity according to Plato is actually not inherently bad. He talks about it in relation to music in terms of rhythm and melody, which is something I began to explore last semester. What he says is that rhythm and harmony must follow the words in song, rather than the other way around. So creativity must be subject to a higher ideal, a higher truth, it must *reflect* this. Creativity is naturally mimetic, and with every reflection or ‘shadow’ of the real, you are further and further removed from the true form. This is why, I think, he states that creativity (like rhythms and melodies) should aim to refelct and speak about things that are true, as if they’re genuinely true, they will remain true with each reflection. He reflects that “ rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace.” Because music speaks to the soul, is it not better for it to speak of things that are good, true, noble, courageous, and just? Then it becomes like food for the soul - good souls need good music. He also, interestingly, talks about the place of musical modes in his Republic. Because each has a different character as I have
already acknowledged, he indicates that only the ones with good character should remain. This means he actually throws out 5 out of 7 of the modes, remaining only with the Dorian and the Phygrian. What must be borne in mind here is that he’s speaking directly in relation to his Republic, the people of which he wants to be noble and courageous. These specific modes are music were used to write songs in relations to these specific qualities, hence his logical reasoning that they should be the only ones remaining. The others are not inherently bad in and of themselves, they were only bad in so far a they were used to write about and reflect upon less-than-good things. Music, in it’s reflective nature becomes like an ‘image.’ Plato talks of both ‘nobility of soul’ and ‘beauty of form’ being ‘cast from the same mould,’ language which is akin to the wax tablet model making process I undertook at the beginning of the semester. The mould is the true form, and sound and image both can be cast from it, each imperfect reflections which are only valuable in-so-much as they point back to the truth rather than away from it.
KEY TO THE WORLDS
The key refers to the pieces that form the building, in relation to the musical mode they embody. They are used as a kind of musical code, a series of motifs which are arranged, repeated and set in variation to create architectural symphony.
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
LOCATION PLAN The library doesn’t just have a direct relationship to the church, but also to the wider urban landscape. It’s part of a wider urban lanscape that includes many layers of history from the ruins next door, to the nearby Teatro Marcello and the Forum Romanum. These ruins are all interlinked with overalapping histories - such is the nature of the palimpcest model.
TEARTRO MARCELLO on location
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS At first glance these two images appear to be simple inversions of each other, as the same building in the day versus in the night. They are in fact two different ampitheatres - one on the location, and the other a symbol of the city as the ‘caput mundi’ at the time. This simple finding of the repetition of a motif only emphasises the notion of the city as a palimpsestial composition, a series mimetic inversions and repetions across the sheet music that is the urban landscape.
COLOSEO major city landmark
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN 1:200 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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foyer reception mail rooms stairwell local exhibit space top-lit reading area entrance to analogue realm entrance to digital realm study space / event space digital archive computer main-frames pourous indoor/outdoor boundary listening nook
EXPLORING THE MIMETIC THE TURN: WOODEMBODYING BETWEEN WORLDS IMAGE
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
COMPLETING THE CIRCLE: EMBODYING SOUND
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
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FIRST FLOOR PLAN 1:200 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
stairwell top-lit reading space static practice room 1 static practice room 2 study / practice room reading area flexible study / practice area public function space, rentable outdoor bar for special events exterior bench viewing portal group study space disabled toilet ladies lavaratory gentlemens’ lavaratory
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ROOF FLOOR PLAN 1:200 1 stairwell 2 listening garden roof terrace 3 acoustic echoes of the past manifest as concrete walls 4 concrete aeolian wind harp 5 steel aeolian wind harp
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SECOND FLOOR PLAN 1:200
1 stairwell 2 recording studio 3 equipment stores 4 individual study pods 5 individual study pods 6 reading area 7 discovery bookcases 8 lower media warren 9 projector room 10 analogue cinema / theatre / performance arena 11 stage 12 screen / backdrop 13 backstage area 14 hasty costume change stations 15 backstage rehearsal area 16 digital mini cinemas
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EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
SECTION A:A 1:200
THE ANALOGUE REALM The first mimetic reflection provides the space for the analogue realm. Anlogue media, by it’s nature, must be embodied. That is, it must be housed within something physical, as a soul is encased in a body. The seven worlds in this realm contain media such as real book, real cassettes, real photographs, real musical instruments, compared to the dis-embodied data which characterises digital media. Still, it is an imperfect reflection compared to the original thing - a recording
SECTION B:B, 1:200
is disembodied or fractired from it’s context, and thus the first reflection, whilst being a way of understanding the original, does have certain elements missing.
EXPLORING THE DIGITAL THE REALM WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS Thesecond mimetic relfection - the second imperfect refection - is that which houses the digital realm within the library. The digital, though undeniably useful, is inherently imperfect, an untrue reflection of its predesccor, analogue media. This is because it is dis-embodied, a soul without a body, as it were. This is symbolised through a broken, more skeletal architecture embodying the idea of the missing information that comes with the digitisation of media, as well as the world motifs not having a phys-
SECTION C:C, 1:200
ical presence in this realm - the media from these worlds are accessed through a digital mainframe; a single computer will give you access to all the files from all the worlds - thus the computer becomes its own wood between worlds?
INDEX OF MOTIFS/PIECES
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ΔII
ΔIII
ΔIV
ΔV
ΔVI
ΔVII
MOMENTS
The moments are as if casted from the ‘wax tablet’ of the site, seconds in time which capture the character of tbe seven worlds which populate the library. Each moment is based on a specic piece derived from the motif that informs the world.
∆I - IONIA
Ionia is the world of thought recordings in other words, the world of books. The rhythm of the book is given a parallel with the ryhthm of the columns from the palimpcest of the site, and the world manifests as steel columns set in the same rhythm which hold bookcases. The parallel of this mode/ world with the written word also has roots with my earlier research, as the ancient (real) Ionians made significant contributions to the development of the alphabet, thus alltering the nature of the written word for eras to come - this layer of history is visible in all the other layers of history in the Western world.
∆II - DORIA
Doria is the world of musical thought recordings, or sheet music. In the ancient world, the doric and the ionian people were connected in a bitter/sweet love/hate relationship, so it makes sense that both worlds should be housers of different types of thought recordings - worded and musical. The Dorian mode of music is a melancholy key, giving this world a whimsical nature, as the sheet music is tucked between perforated bricks and placed in hanging jars (also a reference to earlier models and the use of jars for the scrapings from wax tablets). The use of bricks for this world comes from the pattern of the roman brick, which adopts the same pattern as the motif for this world, creating a character between the material and the character of the world.
∆III - PHYGRIA The world of photographic instruments. Both Aeolia and Phygria are the ‘instrumental’ worlds, which is significant because the aeolian mode and phygrian mode bear musical similarites. In the library, Phygria has an unwritten quality about it, as a blank slate or new wax tablet, as if it is about to be written, about to capture something. This is a similar quality to that of cameras. The film, the light catcher, is blank and ‘unwritten’ until written with light. And so it is in the library - the smooth concrete walls feel as if they are waiting to be carved out of, waiting to be written.
∆IV - LYDIA
Lydia is inhabited with light recordings, or photographs as we might call them in our world. Lydia as the world of light recordings is so because of the musical mode containing an augmented fourth - the nature of light, in some ways, is to augment and make things visible as what they truly are, to exagerate what already is.
∆V - MIXOLYDIA
As previously noted, mixolydia is the cosmic thief of the musical modes/worlds. For this reason, mixolydia is home to moving light recordings - films. Films borrow all the time from other media - photography, music, theatre etc. So it is that many of the key features of the library are ‘Mixolydian’, inlcuding the very pieces which make up the roof/wall pieces of the digital and analogue realms. Mixolydia is manifest here in the analogue realm as a warren of media, from old film reels, to super 8 projectors in old cardboard boxes, to vinyl movie soundtracks.
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
∆VI - AEOLIA The world of musical instruments. The pieces inhabiting this world have an instrumental quality, recalling the layered nature of a violin or cello, using a ribbed structure and a skin. These pieces form both storage/ display facilities and sound-enhacing facilities for the practice rooms.
∆VII - LOCRIA The world of audio recordings. The modulated nature of the piece is perfect for storing large quanities of analogue objects such as vinyls, tapes, CDs etc. It is also perfect for forming the pattern for the sound-absorption material inside the basement recording studio.
COMPOSITION/ASSEMBLAGE
MODEL, 1:100 CONCEPT MODEL built at 1:100
wind harps and garden walls.
EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC listening garden
practice space first floor terrace
acoustic curves as supporting structure
copper plated internal structure digital real roof piece analogue realm roof piece
ground floor, main collections
stair core
ribbed theatre roof, acoustic baffles
basement
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
The basement is vital to the library as it functions as a series of spaces in which to consume ‘the image’, and also becomes member of the underground world which already exists on site between the ruins and the crypt of the basilica. It includes a performance space and cinemas in the spirit of both the digtal realm and the analogue realm. The analgue side has a full-scale performance space, complete with a stage and seating, while the digital realm has much smaller mini-cinemas as individual consumption pods, with the indiiduality emphasising the fractured nature of digital data. The basement reverberates with the echoes from the teatro marcello, an important connection between a theatre of the past and a theatre of today. The echo lines are used to form a ribbed internal roof system for the theatre, with the echoes infoming which sections of the ribs are cut to allow service systems to be installed above, such as lighting and sound systems, as well as providing a way of lower the roof at key points to form ‘acoustic clouds’, baffles which help maintain speech intelligibility during performances by preventing undue delays and blurring between lines.
the form for the roof is lifted from a layer from the palimpsest
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
The ground floor introduces the rules which govern the architecture - the mimetic turns and the seven worlds. The analogue realm is filled with walls from different ‘worlds,’ each embodying the character of their corresponding musical modes. This information in this realm is as embodied souls. In the digital realm however, the information is disembodied, and can simply be accessed from a computer. The pourous nature of digitalised date and the internet is enacted using a louvre system, which is at once wall and door. The digital realm reflects the changing nature of the library concept in the modern era, as the space is much more flexible and can be used for other things such as social gatherings.
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
The first floor is a space for the use of musical and photographic instruments, including set studio spaces in the analogue side, which adopts a heavier architecture, and a more flexible studio space in the digital side, repeating the pourous louvre wall/door motif. It sits on curved ribs which are the physical manifestations of the acoustic echoes from the teatro marcello, which are further echoed through the use of curved shadow gaps. Some elements from the ground floor poke through this roof plate, creating a palimpsest effect as some layers from the floor below are architecturally ‘scraped away’ for new layers to be written, and some elements of the previous layer are left and take on new meaning in the new layers. In this case, what is a storage/ display space for photographic instruments on the ground floor becomes an outdoor bar on the first floor terrace. The digital side of the floor plate sufferes an unpeeling, revealing a layered lattice network of ribbed structural systems below, once again embodying the palimpsest.
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
The terrace level functions as a listening garden, where musical instruments which cut through all the levels of the building carry sound into the open air. The garden walls are extruded forms of the acoustic echoes, creating a route which invokes the curved and maze-like nature of the teatro marcello.
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
THE LISTENING GARDEN: A RETURN TO JARRY An previously disccussed, Jarry describes musical instrument ‘plantations’ in his chapter on the ‘Ringing Isle.’ These I began to imagine in section and in plan in the palimpsest investigation, and they are realised in the architecture of the library. Musical instruments are cast into the concrete roof, their tubes allowed to emerge on the soffit of the roof inside, giving the impression they have grown out of the building, or even that the building has grown around them, recalling the basilica growing around the temple on location. The instruments are designed to collect sound from the entire building, with copper tubes cutting through the building as a kind of audio x-ray device, bringing it to the roof terrace, and distorting the sound in the process - the audio equivalent of an imperfect reflection. While the basement performance space is designed for consumption of the image, the listening garden is designed for the consumption of sound. While the theatre reaches down into the ground, into the Earth, the listening garden reaches up into the sky to create a whimsical, ethereal, other-wordly space.
imaginging a greenhouse for the growing of musical instruments - ravanastrons and organ pipes being the chief occupants
the listening garden
the listening garden
EXPLORING COPPER ANDTHE THEWOOD PATINA BETWEEN OF AGE WORLDS Alongside concrete, timber and the occassional brickwork, the library uses copper as an accent material. For instance, it is used in to make the instruments which are cast into the roof in the listening garden, and also for the ribbed structure inside the digital realm. It is also used to mark the line of mimesis through the building, a thin detailing of copper running through everything. This is because of the way in which copper reacts to time; it develops a patina of age in the same way the city does, forming different layers on it’s surface in response to the current conditions - it becomes a palimpsest itself. It was therefore actually necessary that copper be used to emphasise the commentary being made about the city, as well as adding to the whimsical nature that is found in the listening garden. To explore the changes that occur in copper I conducted a visual experiment of what happends to a 4 valved copper flugel horn when exposed to time. The result of using copper would be that over the lifetime of the building, the character of the building would be altered and developed, much in the same way as the charaacter of a person.
UNEXPOSED
4 MONTHS of decay
8 MONTHS of decay
2 YEARS of decay
4 YEARS of decay
7 YEARS of decay
25 YEARS of decay
EXHIBITION
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
FINAL THOUGHTS This library has made me ask a lot of questions about the Architect’s role in the city and the nature of the city itself, as well as philosophical questions about truth and what is ‘real’. The mimetic process has become a device for seeing the world around me, while the explorarations of different worlds has led me to new understandings of the world.
Special thanks: Neil Cunning Martha Milne
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
EXPLORING THE WOOD BETWEEN WORLDS
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