GT24 - Caroline Hayes - A conduit, a container, a spot of ink
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
by Caroline Hayes
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink concerns the domestic sphere and its position within and outside larger systems of power. Domesticity offers an opportunity to inhabit time without actively consuming or producing. This use of time is ritualistic, dawdling, and taking care to the point of frivolity: maintaining, waiting, rearranging. The performance of the American Domestic relies on a triviality not respected in the discipline despite the politics embedded within.
As the domestic and the bodies within remain overlooked and unseen, so do the materials that circulate in, out, and around it. Drywall hides pipes and wires, muting noise and covering smells; meanwhile, infrastructure regulates the inefficiency of natural events. Either realm, large or small, prioritizes a semblance of continuity.
For example, water as a resource is not predictable over years, decades, or even centuries of study within California. Take the San Joaquin Valley, the 400-mile site of enduring struggle over access. Its proximity to infrastructure invites both an intimate knowledge and sense of crisis. Paradoxically, a resident’s water anxiety stems from the aqueducts running around them.
In the town of Ceres, just outside of Modesto, flows a minor canal. Across from the canal, on the edge of suburbia and farmland, there is a house. Somewhere among a series of artifacts of developed surface interiors, hard-soft fabric plaster casts, and imperfect extrusions, a house becomes a water silo, assuming eternal uncertainty of the land upon which it sits. Working against the construction of the American Domestic is a misuse of plaster, operating outside of its purposes of smoothing surfaces or adorning walls. Extrusion techniques render canals equal to molding, whose enlarged scales adapt the use of pipes and plenum walls. The monumentality of the concrete canal stands in tension with the delicate scale of the domestic. Alongside the profile is the void, displaying the monumental channel and the space it contains.
Plaster is this project’s unwise choice of medium. It is imprecise, laborious, expensive, and nearly always needs finishing. The technique requires an understanding of the material beyond physical properties, forcing an intimacy with its use that does not fit within the rhythm of an architectural project. In engaging both the process and the documentation as political, this thesis uses the language of intimacy to re-read multiple scales of control and representation within different spheres.
conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Developed surface interior of a domestic space in California. References the developed surfaces described by Robin Evans, a blip in Western architectural history where 18th-century interiors of the bourgeois were rendered predominantly through the internal elevation and unfolds, as opposed to traditional plans and sections. Furniture lined the walls, and ornament was depicted in immense detail.
Developed surface interior of a domestic space in California. Depicts a kitchen and eating area of an apartment.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Developed surface model of a domestic space in California at 1/2” = 1’ scale. Each wall could be attached with snap button enclosures, forming an impression of a continuous apartment without specifically generating a plan.
A fabric developed surface model, loosely pinned together to create a failing three dimensional volume.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Stitch of internal elevations of a domestic space in California at 3/4” = 1’00” scale. Elevations rendered with hatchwork outlining shadows and impressions on the wall.
CNC mill transfered hatches onto canvas via a brush pen. Instructions and symbols demarkate how the tapestry is to be sewn. Additional annotations are added, correcting measurements, adding additional details, revising sewing plans, and personal notes.
Annotations also include instructions for rendering the fabric into a plaster cast. Dashed lines around the border indicate where the fabric is to be sewn onto another piece, while large boxes are marked to indicate where different spout points are to be placed, to allow the plaster to be poured in multiple spots at once.
Each panel is cinched and sewn together. The final tapestry measures over seven feet long.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Developed surface model of a bathtub. An interior of a bathtub was drawn onto individual canvas panels and sewn together, leaving a small hole for plaster to go through a funnel. The hole was sewn together after pouring plaster. Ink depicting the developed surface transfers onto the plaster during this process.
Canvas developed surface model, splayed out on the ground. Pins used to affix each edge to each other during the sewing process are also laid out with the model.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Plaster model of a hallway that prioritizes the interior. Contents could only be viewed through controlled gazes, and depth was simulated through perspectival manipulations on the interior.
Silicone negative of one part of a plaster model. Depicts stairs, a window void, and a portion of a floor that rises to create an impression of depth in the interior through perspectival manipulation.
Grotesque model of plaster cast in a fabric version of an interior-based model. Fabric was cast firmly in place on the interior, which bulged and pinched inwards. Only the exterior could be removed, leaving traces of annotations and measurements.
Pillow plaster cast, with traces of writing left behind on the exterior.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Plaster cast of a fragment of an old apartment. Old elements such as molding and fireplaces remain in an abstracted form. Fragment generated through a photograph, taking note of what portions of the room can be seen and created, and what is cut off.
Exterior of a fabric plaster cast, with writing, creases transferring onto the plaster.
place
place
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Ceres, California in 1955, with site indicated by black rectangle. The Tuolumne River runs East-West at the top. Ceres initially started as a planned railroad town in the 19th century. Union Pacific Railroad stop is visible in bottom left. Ceres expanded with Modesto as irrigation and controlled transportation rates ushered further success to farming in California, which struggled prior due to unpredictable climates.
Ceres, California in 1970, with site indicated by black rectangle. A portion of farmland was sold and developed in 1965, creating a small parcel of housing by the canal. Across the canal is an orchard and a vineyard. Children would cross the canal and steal grapes and apples, tossing them over to eat later.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Important Farmland Map, generated from the California Department of Conservation. Lighter gray indicates suburban zoning, medium fertile farmland, and dark gray specialized farming.The site is indicated by a small black rectangle, at the edge of suburbs and fertile land.
Interstate 5, about twenty miles north of Los Banos, California. Between the Delta-Mendota Canal, seen on the right as covered by an embankment, and Governor Edmund G Brown California Aqueduct, just off to the left. A small brushfire burns in the distance.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Building of a canal and embankment process in Modesto, California.
Source: National Archives Record Group 69-PWA.
Response form to a survey of informal underground wells conducted around 1891-1895. During droughts, farmers tapped into a rich supply of underground springs. These sources have since depleted past naturally replenishing levels, particularly since the droughts of 1976-1977 and 1987-1992.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Water Agencies Map, generated from the California State Geoportal. Indicates bureaucratic oversight of water rights. The site is indicated by a small black rectangle, at the edge of suburbs and fertile land. Other important sites of containment are highlighted: The Don Pedro reservoir, which contains most water from the Sierras for the Turlock Irrigation District, and the Modesto Reservoir, which serves Modesto.
San Luis Canal and Dos Amigos Pumping Plant about ten miles south of Los Banos, California. The plant lifts water over one hundred feet to continue down the gravity-led aqueducts as the water trasverses south down the central valley towards Kern County.
conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Lithograph of K Street in Downtown Sacramento, depicting the results of a flood that roared through the Central Valley and other parts of California in 1861-1862. Newspaper reported the valley was rendered an inland sea, with some flooding exceeding thirty feet. The flood has been described as a “two-hundred year flood,” referencing likelihood to occur over a given number of years.
Car troubles in Modesto canal in 2019. Source: CBS News.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Shirley Kotite Young’s memoirs regarding celebrations and food in the San Joaquin Valley, where the Kern River was used as refrigerator.
Ceres, California in 1998, with site indicated by black rectangle. Suburban expansion of Ceres has slowed, and mass tract housing has not expanded further east past this point in the town. The farmland across the canal is in the process of converting to a self-storage facility.
Scan of thesis research book, referencing and annotating McKenzie Wark’s “The Beach Beneath the Street” (2011).
Original house and canal, Lower Lateral No. 3, at the site. Dashed line indicates where the original parcel was sold and development stopped. Larkspur Lane, the road adjacent, contains a cul-de-sac at every corner and feeds out to a heavy-traffic roadway. Lower Lateral No. 3
Claude Nicolas Ledoux’s Saltworks Graduation Tower with site canal.
profile
Lower Lateral No. 3 in Ceres, California.
Main Canal in Ceres, California.
Ceres
Upper Lateral No. 4 in Turlock, California.
in Modesto, California.
Moulton Lateral
Canal in Fresno, California.
Friant-Kern
Canal-Table in Keck Hall.
conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Merged profile drawings of all canals. Drawn in the style of hull form cross sections of boats.
Profile from generic Edwardian style molding.
Generic Edwardian style profile extruded.
Profile from generic Victorian style molding.
Profile from generic Victorian style molding.
Profile from generic Art Deco style molding.
Generic Art Deco style profile extruded.
Profile from silicone sealant extrusion.
Extruded silicone sealant profile.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Profile from silicone sealant extrusion.
Profile from silicone sealant extrusion.
Profile from silicone sealant extrusion.
Extruded silicone sealant profile.
conduit
conduit
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Profile extruder and vessel for 45-Degree extrusion models.
Photograph of extrusion process using a profile and a 45-Degree vessel. Excess plaster drops into a bucket and is reused for further extrusions. Timing the extrusion is important in this process. Running an extrusion one too many times may create divots in the model.
conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Profile Extruder and work surface with slides for 0-Degree extrusion models.
Photograph of extrusion process using 0-Degree extruder and work surface. Plaster has to be the perfect consistency before extruding properly: thick enough to pile on and create vertical volume without falling, while thin enough to create a smooth, even extrusion. This extrusion was both too thick and had too thin vertical components. It is not possible to fix an extrusion once certain errors have been made.
Canal extrusion model. First model of the canal in Ceres, generated through a 45-degree vessel and a lasercut profile of the canal.
Canal extrusion model, laid out as if molding.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
One end of long pillow plaster cast. The cast lies on the work table that it was cast upon. Depicted as well is vessels used for extrusion models and materials used in casting.
Other end of the pillow, draping over the edge of the table.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Plaster pillow in the process of curing. Glove caressing.
Details of the plaster cast as part of the tapestry is peeled from the cast. Stitches and remnants of ink remain.
container
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Interior elevations of the waterkeeper with instructions for cutting and stitching a tapestry together. Shown is ground floor entrance, storage rooms, and dwelling areas.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Interior Elevation of the waterkeeper main room, featuring dining, cooking, and living areas. Thick molding runs throughout, in the shape of a silicone sealant extrusion, thick enough to transit materials.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Interior Elevation of an aboveground entrance to the waterkeeper with pipes to pump water in and out of the molding systems.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Section drawing of the waterkeeper, next to the canal, on a dry day.
Elevation drawing of the waterkeeper, next to the canal, on a dry day.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Plan Oblique drawing of silo-house, next to the canal-table. Rooms below act as storage for the water, feeding back into the house.
Elevation drawing of silo-house, next to the canal, in a flood. Rooms below are under water level, collecting water to wait around.
conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Exerpt from assembly manual describing the construction of the “DN” dining table. Consists of the central table, where extension arms allow for flaps to move in and out of the table freely. These flaps rotate to rest on the other two tables, creating a profile of a canal. This portion describes the cuts necessary to create slots for the arms to slide through.
Exerpt from assembly manual describing the construction of the “DN” table. This step shows the extension arms sliding through the cut slots. A detailed manual was generated for each table, as the tables were built through a collaborative effort and a common language needed to be developed.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Overhead photographs of underside of DN table, representing the canal. Stitched together to continually avoid a pesky shadow.
a conduit, a container, a spot of ink
Stretched render of table set up displaying artifacts: plaster fabric casts, plaster extrusions, drawings, a developed surface model, drawers filled with documentation, a tapestry, and maps. Final set up TBD.
