HUMAN / NATURE Sam Leach
HUMAN / NATURE Sam Leach 2
FOREWORD
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01 BOUNDARIES & CORRIDORS 02 THRESHOLDS 03 TEXTURES
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0 4 U T I L I S E & E M U L AT E
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FOREWORD This book is a reflection on the year following my graduation from the University of Brighton for an MA in Architecture (RIBA/ARB Part 2). In June 2013 I joined a small award-winning architecture practice, where I immediately found myself deficient in the knowledge of technology and procurement to transform architectural concepts into buildings. Through intense studying and guidance from my mentors I soon gained enough knowledge to make a valuable contribution to the projects. However, this left little headspace to reflect on my studies from architecture school, let alone properly apply them to my work. With the little free time I had, I felt I should distance myself from the world of building technology and contract law. Being the son of a landscape artist and a country boy for much of my life, my reaction was to go for long walks in the rural areas surrounding my hometown of Hastings as often as I could. It began as purely recreation, but within no time my restless inquisitiveness and overwhelmed senses forced me to photograph the things that interested me: the inhabitants, the ecological processes, and the human influence. First and foremost, I am not a photographer but an architecture student me this past year. The themes in the following pages are intentionally direct means to filter out the distractions. The contents of this book is continuing development as an architect, and enable me to reflect upon
trying to make sense of the things that have inspired simple, and photography provided me with the most my ‘field research’ which I hope will form part of my my main preoccupation: the human-nature relationship.
I owe this past year to the continuing support of my friends and family, as well as the various mentors who have guided me and allowed me their patience while I try to make a contribution to a continually evolving and fascinating profession.
Š 2015 Samuel Leach All Rights Reserved. All photos by Samuel Leach. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author. For permission requests, contact the author at: seleach@hotmail.co.uk www.seleach.co.uk
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01 :
BOUNDARIES & CORRIDORS
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Architecture, as it is with Landscape, is as much about the journey as it is the destination.
fig 1.0 The Royal Military Canal, Pett Level (previous page) fig 1.1 Stone Path to the peak of Cribyn in the Brecon Beacons, Wales 8
fig 1.2 Cribyn from Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, Wales
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fig 1.3 Footpath atop the South Downs, Wilmington
Strolling atop the Wilmington Downs, am I “one with nature�, or a pedestrian on a well-trodden footpath through a network of farmland, food production and land management, which has shaped the appearance of the natural topography of the South Downs for centuries?
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fig 1.4 Fences atop the South Downs, Wilmington
fig 1.5 The Cuckmere River in the Cuckmere Valley
The River Cuckmere has been utilised by humans for irrigation of the surrounding farmland, and its banks artificially raised to prevent its natural seasonal flooding. However, this is set to change in the future under controversial plans to restore it to its natural state. Knowing this and gazing at the landscape before me, it seems impossible to classify ‘city’ and ‘landscape’ as contrary terms. 11
These reservoirs are the product of human intervention in the natural processes of the landscape, providing drinking water to thousands of people.
fig 1.6 Arlington Reservoir
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Although ‘man-made’ they are as much a part of the landscape as the Wilmington Downs beyond or the ancient woodland at Darwell.
fig 1.7 Darwell Reservoir
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02 :
THRESHOLDS
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fig 2.1 Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich designed by Stephan Braunfels
When approaching the tall concrete columns at the entrance of this building I felt as though I was approaching the edge of a forest. Months later, when travelling to the Tatra Mountains in Poland I was reminded of the building while walking through forests of tall conifers. This provided an interstitial space which was neither inside nor outside: an extended threshold. My interest in these spaces began in the last year of my university studies, and has since extended to an interest in Japanese architecture: the veranda in particular.
I have always had a particular interest in the spatial effect created by forests. I attribute this to the regularity of vertical elements (trees) and their varying density (spacing), in combination with the horizontal element (manmade trails). The variation in ground cover and vertical form (trunk to branches) completes the 3-dimensional experience. The challenge to replicate this spatial experience is possibly the biggest influence in the spaces I design.
fig 2.2-4 Forest within the Tatra Mountains, Poland. 16
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Folded mesh for directing circulation flows and defining occupiable spaces.
Bending the mesh to create continuity between partition, circulation and furniture.
Folding mesh for mediating the relationship between material and the human subject
curved mesh for mediating the relationship between material and the human subject
fig 2.5-8 Material and Spatial Organisation Study Diagrams This project began my research into the extended threshold. Here I explored how material and spatial organisation of self-similar parts can be used to produce a diverse but continuous space, adaptable to different requirements. A secondary theme to this project was the use of a structural material to express and influence movement. 18
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fig 2.11-14
Project Visualisations University Thesis Project. “The Threshold of Exchange” London Kings Cross St Pancras - 2013
With this project I further developed my ideas, again focusing on the structural and material element but introducing ideas of landscape ecology. It wasn’t until I later revisited the project that I recognised the similarities with the forest environment. The varying structural density, the directionality of the ground covering, the varying opacity and density of the canopy and the continuous experience of a changing space. 20
fig 2.15 Ground Floor Site Plan University Thesis Project. “The Threshold of Exchange� London Kings Cross St Pancras - 2013 In plan, the building uses the ideas of landscape ecology: corridors and patches within a spatial matrix, to produce a continuous space of varying densities and uses. The threshold becomes an extended area between spaces where it becomes difficult to distinguish between outside and inside. 21
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TEXTURES
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Material texture means more than appearance. It is the feel, durability , structural integrity and acoustics. Materials have an inherent beauty in architecture when they express the processes which shaped them, as well as their performance. 24
fig 3.4 Water Erosion on Tree Trunk, Darwell Reservoir.
fig 3.1-2 Bracket Fungi (previous page) fig 3.3 Plateau Beds at the summit of Pen y Fan, Wales.
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04 :
UTILISE & E M U L AT E
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fig 4.1: Water boatmen and reflections in a pool of water
I paired these images of water and glass for their shared property: reflectivity. They produce a visual layering of different worlds. For water, the tree line above, the surface debris and wildlife within. For glass, the shop interior and the urban environment outside.
fig 4.2 View into a shop / Reflections on a shop window in Bratislava, Slovakia.
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fig 4.3 Reflections in a pool of water
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fig 4.4 Autumn Leaves I find inspiration in the colours found in nature, which are usually seen layered in accidental arrangements. However, In human managed landscapes it is common to see these homogenised in the same way as within the built environment.
fig 4.5 A stack of fresh cut logs 32
fig 4.6 The wall of St Pancras Church, Arlington. The irregular sizes of flint sourced from the surrounding area, that comprise the wall of the church gives an organic appearance seen in many natural organisms. The modularity which is inherent in construction methods when paired with the irregularity of the natural material enhances both the natural and the man-made.
fig 4.7 A wall at the ruins of Kourion, Cyprus 33
fig 4.8 Is it possible for a building to emulate the ethereal beauty of a forest?
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fig 4.9 Log Cabins in the Tatra Mountains, Poland Log or Stone buildings with steep pitched roofs are seen throughout the Tatra Mountains and become part of the natural landscape. Local materials are used for practical reasons but crucially preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area. This attention to materials and surroundings is something I will strive to achieve in my future designs.
fig 4.10 Stone Mountain Hiker’s Hut in the Tatra Mountains, Poland
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fig 4.11 Cyprus contains a wealth of natural and man-made beauty. I came across this quiet sitting spot along a hiking trail by a cove, and it struck me that the appreciation of nature can be enhanced through simple means: a plastic seat in the right location or a carefully placed window in a modest room.
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fig 4.12 A former beachside bar and restaurant in Cyprus. Abandoned and left to decay, this modernist building now appears well integrated within the rocky landscape. I am fascinated by the natural transformation of buildings once their maintenance ceases.
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fig 4.13 Leventis Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus, designed by FCB Studios
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fig 4.15 (right) Tower 25, Nicosia, designed by Jean Nouvel
fig 4.14 (below) Branches against the backdrop of the forest. The perforated metal facade and the tumbling linear lights within the foyer of the Leventis Gallery reminded me of sunlight strobing through the trees in a forest. I found this closer to replicating nature than the literal integration of planting within the ‘alien’ concrete structure of Tower 25.
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fig 4.16 Construction of a new controversial link road in Combe Valley, Hastings. Whether I am in a rural or an urban environment I always find myself looking for the same things: lines, repetition and texture. What interests me most is irregularities within repetition and symmetry, and the layering of a combination of these. The subjects of these images are all the product of human design, be it agriculture, construction or town planning.
fig 4.17 IBM Building, Southbank, London. 40
fig 4.18 Wheat field before the harvest, Ninfield.
fig 4.19 The White Cube Gallery, Bermondsey, London (The Shard also pictured). 41
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Š 2015 Samuel Leach All Rights Reserved. All photos by Samuel Leach. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author. For permission requests, contact the author at: seleach@hotmail.co.uk
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www.seleach.co.uk