Published to commemorate the John Dinkeloo Memorial Lecture given by Will Bruder at the Chrysler Auditorium on April19, 1999. Editor: Annette W. LeCuyer Design: Christian Unverzagt Typeset in Int erstate Printed and bound in the United States ISBN: 1-891197-09-6
漏 Copyright 1999 The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning & William P. Bruder 路 Architect, Ltd ., New River, AZ The University of Michigan A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2069 USA 734 7641300 734 763 2322 fax www.caup.umich.edu
WILL BRUDER 路 THREE TIMES TWO
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John Dinkeloo was born in Michigan and is one of our most distinguished alumni. In 1950 he began working with Eero Saarinen in an office of international significance where he was to play a central role in the design of numerous important buildings. When Saarinen was asked about the design of the General Motors Technical Center, he spoke of Dinkeloo as the person who "really thought it through" and of how " the technical developments that John Dinkeloo was working on related very strongly to the design that myself and Kevin Roche were working on." This commitment to the integration of idea and detail were to distinguish not only the work of Eero Saarinen but the subsequent buildings designed by John Dinkeloo and Kevin Roche. The Ford Foundation Headquarters in New York, the offices for John Deere and the Oakland Museum are outstanding buildings which bear the imprint of John Dinkeloo's fervent interest in detail, his invention of materials and his commitment to architecture.
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That same inspiring fusion of idea and detail characterizes the work of the 1999 John Dinkeloo Memorial Lecturer. Although Will Bruder studied fine arts at the University of Wisconsin, he chose to pursue his interests in design by working with architects. One was a close colleague of Eero Saarinen and John Dinkeloo as well as a former professor at this College the distinguished architect Gunnar Birkerts. Will Bruder has continued to pursue architecture through unconventional routes. He has cult ivated his interests in the fine arts while designing compelling buildings. He has designed one of the most important new civic buildings and urban landmarks in America from a tiny studio in the Arizona desert. He is fanatical about materials and the architectural detail, as anyone who has seen the Phoenix Central Library will appreciate. John Dinkeloo was an architect who invented materials and focussed on the artistry of their assembly. Following in this tradition, Will Bruder is an artist who relishes design and the exuberance of construction.
Brian Carter Professor & Chair of Architecture
JOHN OINKELOO ATOP THE ST. LOUIS GATEWAY ARCH
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John Dinkeloo was an outstanding architect. Although he is often characterized as an architect preoccupied by detail, materials and the nature of construction, he was first and foremost a man of ideas. Since the start of my career, I have admired his work which has contributed so greatly to the architecture of our time and am especially honored to be invited to give this lecture in his memory. In recognition of the inspiration that is vested in the work of John Dinkeloo, I would like to talk about ideas which are embodied in six words - curiosity, community, context, choreography, craftsmanship and collaboration. For me, these words are key to the essence of architecture.
CURIOSITY As architects, we accept a responsibility which embraces both the smallest unseen things and the macro-scale of global systems. It is a responsibility that demands active curiosity, observation and a sense of awe in the face of discovery. Instead of being comfortable with the familiar, we must bring to each
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project a curious •Y• and a good ear. As we become Intellectually and sensually more curious, w• ar• llk•ly to achieve a greater understanding of the complex relationships between nature and art. detail and building which will produce architectural solutions of tougher pragmati sm and fi ner poetry. COMMUNITY The life of communities Is precarious and subject t o many f actors outside the direct control of the architect. In this context, architecture becomes the most lragile of art forms. In the summer of t996, I w•nt to Death Valley. In the glory days of mining, there was a city of 4,000 p•opl• at th• edge of the valley. But now a few shards or rusty cans and a random foundation are all that is left - the only evidence or a community that has vanished. An archaeologist might be able to find more evidence, but on the surface there is almost nothing. Yet at the same time, Manhattan is thriving and life t here is getting better. Architecture celebrates places of living, work. play and cultur•; it is one small part of what shapes the life of a community. CONTEXT The natural and historic •nvlronment ol a place is influenced by many things - It Is about light, color, patterns of weather and geology. Context is about history. II Is possible to learn from history without being trapped in nostalgia. Whether it Is embodied In a basic wooden
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structure, in an abandoned drive-in theater or a simple Shaker house, history can help us put together the puzzle of architecture. Context inspires building form. A haystack crowned with snow generates a new office building in Wyoming just as the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem becomes the prompt for an inexpensive synagogue in the desert. The context in which we live blurs the distinction between art and architecture. The Army Corps of Engineers laid a rusty steel rip-rap flood control structure across the Rio Grande River in New Mexico to serve a pragmatic need. Yet this work also has extraordinary poetic power when seen through the eyes of the artist. When art is intentional, it has supreme power to enrich our lives - whether through the dynamic marriage of sea, sky and shore accomplished by the collaboration of the sculptor Eduardo Chillida and the architect Luis Pefia Ganchegui or in the great, temporal landworks of Christo and Jean Claude which reach out beyond ideas to help us see the world from a different perspective. While I think few architects have the ability to match the vision of these artists, we can all learn important lessons about the placemaking which their work fosters. Respecting context in the community is about the sculptural quality of placemaking, about the search for a solution which seems inevitable for a particular place.
12 CHOREOGRAPHY Architecture should orchestrate the movement of people as well as the path of light through space. Light defines place like no other material. CRAnSMANSHIP As a pragmatic professional In search of the poetry of architecture, I am interested in materials and making. for me, a t rip to a brick yard is exciting and the remnant pile has as much potential as the basis for experiment and invention as the kiln. Whether it is t he brick yard. the lumber yard, the cabinet shop or Home Depot, the architect should seek out the sources of the materials which must be mastered to further the art of architecture. In the block yard one morning, I was walking between canyons of pallets. At the time, I had a client, a Jewish congregation who had very little money but wanted to build a small synagogue and some classrooms. In the sun, the st acked blocks which hovered above the path cast uneven shadows. In that moment of observation, the Idea of a wall emerged that seemed simple and Innocent. an idea based on randomn@ss. for the synagogue wall, I asked the masons to lay the blocks with a variation of between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch from the vertical. I was seeking a random order of surface and shadow - a kind of natural order of life In an unpredictable pattern. However, the masons were trained t o lay each block perfectly plumb and true. What they produced the next day In the sample
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panel was an intellectual exercise instead of a physical one. They let their minds control the actions of their bodies. It was almost like a musical score: 1, 3, 5, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 7, 8. I asked them to try again. The foreman helped by setting up a string and telling the masons to aim almost blindly for the string. If they were within the tolerance of the string, he suggested that they just set the block plumb and keep moving. A number of masons walked off the site. Those who stayed had the rigor to follow through. For these simple gray block walls, the masonry contractor received the highest honor in the state for his craft and when we met at the presentation of his gold trowel, he was still puzzled by the proposition as well as proud. Craftsmanship is very much alive in America. The myth that there are no craftsmen is a cheap excuse not to capture the architectural spirit of our time and our technology.
COLLABORATION My studios are in the desert of the American southwest. There are 5-10 of us who work in these modest workshops which have occupied this setting now for almost a quarter of a century. Yet, we do not work in isolation. Architecture is a collaborative art form and the studio environment is the focus of our common creativity and research. Clients are key collaborators. They are the brave risk-takers in the design process; architects are merely the agents who help to make their dreams and visions real. In addition to clients,
15
there are engineers, manufacturers, city officials, contractors, craftsmen and many others who have to work together to develop the ideas and solve the problems of each new commission. A critical and questioning atmosphere is essential if we are to do really good work. The most important tool in our studio is not the computer, but the wastebasket . It is a far harder tool to learn how to use but when mastered, makes the computer a more valuable asset. All too often, we are guilty of not reaching far enough to find a solution. In searching through the many ways of solving a problem, the wastebasket becomes the valuable repository of tough editing. The wastebasket represents critical practice - the ability to abandon one idea for another which is better, the ability to remove what is superfluous, to reduce an idea to its essence. CONCRETE MASONRY WALLS EMERGE LIKE GEOLOGICAL
Carol and Bill Byrne moved to the desert eight years ago from a 17th
GESTURES FROM THE SITE TO DEFINE THE MAIN ENTRY.
century colonial house in New Jersey. LIVING, CIRCULATION AND GALLERY SPACES OF THE
Carol is a colorist working in the fabric industry and Bill is a wood framing contractor
HOUSE. THE ANGULAR GEOMETRY OF THE PLAN GROWS
who is now vice president of a construction FROM THE ASYMMETRICAL, TAPERING ALIGNMENTS OF
company. Their new house in the desert was conceived as a geological artifact on a site
THESE BUILT CANYON WALLS AND EXTENDS OUT INTO THE
where the land has been lifted and shifted DESERT TO CREATE A SERIES OF OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES
by time, wind and cataclysmic events. The architecture seeks to explore those realities.
AND COURTYARDS.
The simple forms emerge stealth-like from the landscape. Raked concrete THE HOUSE IS INTEGRATED INTO THE NATURAl SLOPE OF
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THE LAND. THE LOWER FLOOR IS DUG INTO THE GROUND AT
THE NORTHEAST END OF THE HOUSE AND OPENS TO PRI-
MARY VIEWS TO THE SOUTHWEST. THE ORIENTATION OF
THE STRUCTURE PARALLEL TO THE CONTOURS ENHANCES
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GROUND WHILE OPTIMIZING
DISTANT VIEWS FROM THE MAJOR LIVING SPACES ON THE
UPPER FLOOR. THE LEANING MASONRY CANYON WALLS
DRAMATICALLY FRAME CHANGING DESERT VISTAS AS ONE
MOVES THROUGH THE HOUSE. THE MAIN ROOF IS HELD
FREE OF ITS MASONRY SUPPORTING WALLS BY SCULPTUR-
AL STEEL BRACKETS WHICH FORM A CONTINUOUS FOUR
INCH GAP THAT ALLOWS THE SUN TO LIGHT THE INTERIOR.
\
THE BUFF-COLORED CONCRETE BLOCK WALLS. LAID AT A
THREE-DEGREE SLOPE FROM THE HORIZONTAL AND AT
VARYING ANGLES FROM VERTICAL. ARE EVER-CHANGING IN
THE DESERT SUN. THE DAILY AND SEASONAL VARIATIONS
OF SHADOWS PLAY ON THE SUBTLE COURSING OFFSETS
AND THE ANGULAR ALIGNMENTS OF THE PLAN GEOMETRY.
TO COMPLEMENT THE CONCRETE MASONRY WALLS. FAS-
CIAS ARE CLAD IN BLUE-BLACKENED COPPER AND ACID-
ETCHED GALVANIZED METAL
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block masonry walls, a long outdoor terrace, blue-black etched copper, and the poetry of the meeting of building and landscape speak about simplicity. The entry, a passage into a 'canyon; begins the choreography of movement and light. The slope of the land is embodied in the energy of the raking walls. In the course of building the house, we came to site one day after the crew had poured the concrete floor slabs to find Bill down on all fours with golf balls. He was sure the floors were not level but could not get the balls to roll. The way that light dances across the walls and the floor is discovered through movement from dawn to dusk. The house amplifies nature's subtlety. A 1970s PSEUDO-SPANISH TRACT HOUSE ON A SPECTACU路
Ann and Jim Townsend came to Arizona to see the horizon. In their
LAR DESERT MOUNTAINSIDE SITE IN PARADISE VALLEY.
original letter, they asked if I would consider ARIZONA WAS REMODELED TO CREATE A BACKDROP FOR
a modest commission to add windows to the master bedroom of an existing house which
THE OWNER'S COLLECTION OF MODERN FURNITURE. PAINT
they had acquired on Mummy Mountain. INGS AND SCULPTURE
During our first meeting, it became clear that these people had a bigger dream. We talked and dined among a collection of
A NEW COURTYARD AND ENTRANCE ARE CONTAINED IN A
fine contemporary art and sculpture together with seven cats and three dogs. Ann and
CANYON-LIKE SPACE BETWEEN THE NATURAL MOUNTAIN
Jim Townsend have a great fondness for FACE AND A CURVED CONCRETE MASONRY SCREEN WALL
the fifties and sixties and a very good collection of furniture from that period.
TO THE NORTH WHICH BLOCKS UNPLEASANT VIEWS. A
As a result , an interest in the juxtaposition NEWLY CREATED DESERT GARDEN OASIS SERVES AS A
of form, textures and materials developed in the design for the house.
FORECOURT TO THE RESIDENCE. A CURVED TRANSLUCENT
The house became part FIBERGLASS ROLLING GATE SCREENS THE CAR PARKING
AREA AND MASKS VIEWS OF THE GARAGE WHILE DIRECTING
VISITORS TO THE GLASS ENTRY DOOR. A SERIES OF
CURVED WALLS AND NATURALLY LIT SPACES DEFINE THE
GALLERY-LIKE INTERIORS. THE FREE-FLOWING GEOMETRY
OF THE PLAN COMPLEMENTS THE FORMS OF THE FURNI路
TURE COLLECTION. WALL AND CEILING SURFACES ARE FIN路
ISHED WITH REFLECTIVE PLASTER OR TRANSLUCENT AND
TRANSPARENT GLASS, CREATING A NEUTRAL BACKDROP
FOR THE VIVIDLY COLORED ART AND FURNITURE. THE
NORTH FACE OF THE HOUSE IS GLAZED TO CAPTURE CITY
AND MOUNTAIN VIEWS.
THE EXTERNAL PALETTE OF MATERIALS - ACID-ETCHED
GALVANIZED METAL, NATURAL ALUMINUM, STAINLESS
STEEL AND SANDBLASTED CONCRETE BLOCK MASONRY -
IS SOFTENED BY EXTENSIVE INDIGENOUS DESERT PLANTING.
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22 geology and part sky. Simple sandblasted concrete block anchors the building to the site. A 310-foot long crescent wall of glass creates a house that opens out to a spectacular horizon. In the desert, fire is not required during long periods of the year. Yet a simple mirage-like gas flame rising through glass marbles creates the sense of a primitive campfire that has been set on the edge of the mountain slope. The house, like all of these projects, has been designed within normal building codes and with design review procedures. There were no variances to the rules. The metal cladding was tested by the city engineers and approved after demonstrating that it did not exceed the maximum reflectivity levels allowed on this hillside site in Paradise Valley. The Uniform Building Code is also user-friendly with a chapter at t he beginning which addresses invention and experimentation. The Deer Valley Rock Art
THIS 7,000 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING PROVIDES SPACES FOR
Center project is the result of a particular EXHIBIT PRESENTATIONS, LABORATORY RESEARCH, CLASS-
collaboration between a university, a city council, a county commission, the Army
ROOM TEACHING AND CURATORIAL PRESERVATION OF
Corps of Engineers and an architect. It is MATERIALS RELATED TO THE STUDY OF PETROGLYPHS.
a museum about primitive cultures, a time machine. Vis itors enter the building along a bridge and then move out onto a natural THE BUILDING IS SITED AT THE JUNCTURE OF THE TWO-
trail to the various petroglyph features in the landscape. The building is a black vessel
MILE LONG EARTHEN ADOBE MOUNTAIN DAM AND THE
sitting alongside a mountain of black rock. HEDGPETH HILLS MOUNTAIN FORMATION. THE BUILDING
The shell of the building is a development of the system designed for
SPANS ACROSS THE CONCRETE FLOOD CONTROL OUTLET
WORKS OF THE DAM, TRANSPORTING VISITORS FROM THE
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CHAOS OF SUBURBAN PHOENIX TO THE SANCTUARY OF
THE SHELTERED NATURAL DESERT LANDSCAPE. ALONG
THE MOUNTAINSIDE, A TRAIL LEADS TO OVER 1,500 PRIM I-
TIVE PETROGLYPHS WHICH DATE FROM 9D0-11DO AD.
THE FUNNEL-LIKE FORM AND THE CONCRETE AND WEATH-
ERING STEEL OF THE MUSEUM INTEGRATE THE BUILDING
INTO THE LANDSCAPE. THE EXTERIOR FACES OF THE
EXPOSED PRECAST CONCRETE PANELS ARE FINISHED
WITH DARK BLACK-PURPLE COPPER SLAG WHICH WAS
PLACED IN THE CASTING BEDS. PANEL JOINTS DISAP-
PEAR, EXCEPT AT THE CORNERS WHERE THE THICKNESS
OF THE PANELS IS EXPRESSED. THE UNPAINTED SAND-
BLASTED GRAY CONCRETE SURFACES OF THE INTERIOR
WALLS HAVE THE QUALITY OF FINE PLASTER. THE WALLS
ARE UNINSULATED AND THEIR THERMAL MASS HELPS TO
TEMPER THE INTERIOR SPACES OF THE BUILDING.
SITE PLAN 1 DAM 2 CONCRETE OUTLET WORKS 3 OUTLET CHANNEL 4 PARKING 5 MUSEUM 6 NATURE/PETROGLYPH VIEWING TRAIL
27 simple tilt-up precast concrete warehouses. The slag heap at a copper mine in Superior, Arizona had the perfect cast of purple and black to offer the right patination for the concrete for this site. It was specified to be placed in the casting beds to give a rough, black exterior finish to the precast panels. These concrete panels are combined with weathered steel. It is not the Corten that Saarinen, Roche and Dinkeloo used at the John Deere Headquarters. Because we only have eight inches of rainfall a year in the desert, plates of 3/4 inch conventional steel have been used which will endure in this dry environment for a long, long time. The image of one of the petroglyphs found at the site is torch cut in the steel plate that marks the entry. Perforated metal plate is used as a scrim to provide shading. THE NEW GERARD L. CAFESJIAN PAVILION DF THE SCOTTS-
The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art has been created from
DALE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IS ADJACENT TO
a five-plex theater built in 1975 as part of THE EXISTING SCOTTSDALE CENTER FOR THE ARTS WHICH
an urban renewal project. The building was a dinosaur. However, it seemed better to
WAS DESIGNED BY BENNY GONZALES IN 1975. IT IS AN
save it than to tear it down. As we enter the ADAPTATION OF AN EXISTING BUILDING WHICH PROVIDES
new millennium, perhaps America's coming of age will be to give legitimacy to our built
1B.500 SQUARE FEET OF VERSATILE TEMPORARY EXHIBI-
heritage as we try to be inventive about all TION GALLERIES.
those abandoned supermarkets, strip malls and deserted downtowns. If we are really to become civilized, I believe we have to create
THE EXISTING STUCCO THEATER BLOCK HAS BEEN PAINTED
the same sense of timelessness here that we enjoy so much when we travel abroad and
A DEEP PURPLE-GRAY EGGPLANT COLOR. THIS DARK.
look at cultures that are older than our own. ABSTRACT MASS IS EMBRACED BY AN OBLONG SERVICE
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POD TO THE WEST CLAD IN CORRUGATED AND PERFORATED
GALVANIZED METAL AND BY A SOFTLY CURVED POD OF
AMENITIES TO THE EAST ENCLOSED BY FLAT-SEAM GALVA-
NIZED STEEL CLADDING. THESE PODS DEFER TO THE BULL-
NOSED VOLUMES OF THE EXISTING ARTS CENTER AND
SHAPE NEW URBAN SPACES.
A LUMINOUS SCRIM, DESIGNED BY THE ARTIST JAMES CAR-
PENTER, FRONTS THE STREET. TEXTURED GLASS SHEETS
WITH DICHROIC GLASS SPACERS FORM A CIVIC LANTERN
AND WRAP THE VOLUME OF THE SCULPTURE COURT
BEYOND. SHIMMERING FRITTED LIGHT AND SHIFTING
SLICES OF THE SPECTRUM PLAY OVER THE DARK BUILDING
A new arrival pavilion is
MASS AND EARTHEN FLOOR. ASCALE AND MATERIAL SHIFT
wrapped in a metal skin. We have designed OCCURS AS THE SCRIM SLIPS BEHIND THE GALVANIZED
a lot of tough skins for buildings in the desert because of the extreme climate. Wood does
WALL. A MIRRORED STAINLESS STEEL SIGN IS BACKLIT
not work very well. Builders in Phoenix do WITH GREEN NEON. THE GLAZED SWEEP IS BREACHED AT
not use brick because the local clay is too soft. The desert demands concrete, concrete
THE ENTRY BY AUTOMATED SLIDING GLASS DOORS AND
block, stone, copper and galvanized steel. GRATING WHICH IS UNDERLIT WITH ORANGE LIGHT.
Galvanized steel, an indigenous material of America, is ubiquitous. In our sunny environment, it is totally alive. INTERNALLY, POLISHED CONCRETE FLOORS ARE ARTICU-
The wall of the museum's sculpture garden is a lantern announcing
LATED WITH AGRID OF PRONOUNCED SAWCUTS. NEW CEIL-
the building to the street. The lantern was INGS ARE EXPOSED TIMBER BEAMS AND BLACK SOUND
designed in collaboration with the glass artist James Carpenter who developed the detailing
BATTING. THE WOOD TRUSS STRUCTURE OF THE EXISTING
BUILDING IS EXPOSED. AT THE ENTRY, THE METAL EXTERI-
30
OR WALL HAS AN UNDULATING YELLOW INTERIOR LINING
WHICH DEFINES SPACES FOR ADMISSIONS, A MUSEUM
SHOP, AND A FUTURE CYBER-CAFE.
THE GALLERIES ARE JOINED BY A 150-FOOT LONG CURVED
WALL. PLATE STEEL FRAMES AND 12-FOOT TALL MAPLE
DOORS FORM THE THRESHOLDS TO THE FIVE NEW EXHIBI-
TION SPACES. GALLERY ENVIRONMENTS ARE CHARACTER-
IZED BY NEUTRAL GRAY-WHITE WALLS AND THE SILVER
CEILING PLANE Of A MECHANICAL BELLY. TUNEABLE
SQUARE GALVANIZED SKYLIGHTS INTRODUCE NATURAL
LIGHT INTO FOUR Of THE GALLERIES. THE FIFTH GALLERY.
FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, HAS INCREASED LIGHT PRO-
VIDEO BY A SLIVER Of SKY FROM A NORTH-FACING
CLERESTORY.
32 working with local steel fabricators and the firm which made the pyramid parts and fittings for the Louvre in Paris. The assembly was precise and construction was very fast. On Monday, five days before the gala opening, there was no glass in the wall. By Tuesday, in less than four hours all the glass was clipped in place on calibrated stainless steel rods. On Wednesday morning, all the dichroic glass was installed and by Wednesday afternoon there was more Windex on site than you've ever seen in your life. The completed sculpture garden was opened on Saturday. Like an Indian sand painting, sunlight is woven through the dichroic glass spacers. The pattern of colored light is ever-changing. People are constantly mystified by the magic of the light. Designs for two libraries
THE NEW LIBRARY CREATES A CIVIC LANDMARK WHICH
have created important civic buildings for SERVES THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY'S LIBRARY SER-
two communities. The scale and context of the buildings are quite different. The
VICE AND. IN A RUSTIC AND ROMANTIC WAY, CELEBRATES
landscape of Teton County is spectacular. THE VERNACULAR RANCH BUILDINGS AND MOUNTAIN
In contrast, the town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming is merely a junction on a road.
LODGES OF THE REGION. THE NEW LIBRARY IS MADE OF
There is no railroad stop - just a little town THE SAME MATERIALS AS THE FINE OLD BUILDINGS THAT
square with antler arches and big cowboy storefronts. People go there to see the
ARE THE POSTER IMAGES MOST OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH
magic of the sky and the landscape. The THE 'PLACE' - ROUGH LOGS. BOARD AND BATTEN SIDING.
design of the library is inspired by that landscape, by barns and the Old Faithful
GRANITE, MASONRY AND METAL ROOFING.
Inn at Yellowstone, by hayracks and long mystical lines of barbed wire fences. A LANDSCAPED PARKING GARDEN FOR MORE THAN 100
CARS IS LOCATED TO THE NORTH OF THE BUILDING. ALONG
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The original Teton County Library was a log building of about 6,000
THE SOUTHERN FACADE, READING DECKS AND A STORY
TIME COURTYARD FACE LAWNS AND A NEW COMMUNITY
GARDEN. BECAUSE OF THE GENTLE SLOPE OF ITS TRADI路
square feet . It was loved by the community, yet completely outdated and unable to offer the services of a modern library. The new
TIONAL RANCH HOUSE GABLE ROOF, THE LIBRARY IS
ALMOST HIDDEN IN THE LANDSCAPE. THE ENTRANCE IS
library is a 25,000 square foot building in a climate of snow, icicles, drifts and mountains. The design explores the nature of the place and
UNDER THE BROAD PROTECTED OVERHANG OF THE GREAT
ROOF. IT IS APPROACHED ACROSS A SMALL LANDSCAPED
the vernacular of the ranch house and barn. The requirements of clients are the basis for all architecture. Programs
PLAZA WITH BENCHES, BIKE RACKS AND AN EXTERIOR
BOOK DROP ADJACENT TO A WEATHER PROOF VESTIBULE.
should communicate the needs and desires of the client. If we listen and reflect our listening in the ideas we deliver, it is surprising how
INSIDE THE LIBRARY, AGALLERY-LIKE FOYER SERVES AS AN
ANTECHAMBER TO THE AUDITORIUM, MEETING ROOM,
many times that the client, on seeing the first sketches and models, is not only flattered but reflective. Then there is a journey for
RESTROOM$, AND THE GREAT LIBRARY liVING' ROOM, THE
LARGEST PUBLIC ROOM IN THE COMMUNITY.
client and architect to embark on together instead of a battle that they have to fight. While we might develop ideas easily with
TH IS LIVING ROOM HOUSES ALL OF THE LIBRARY 'S MAIN
our colleagues through drawings, it is the power of the word to communicate ideas, to explain concepts and gain trust - a trust
PUBLIC FUNCTIONS- THE CIRCULATION DESK, CHILDREN'S
COLLECTION. REFERENCE/COMPUTER CENTER, WESTERN
that has to be lived up to - that will create success with clients. Artists and architects are agents of change but people do not like
AMERICANA ROOM, GENERAL COLLECTIONS, AND PERIODI
CALS. THIS FOCAL SPACE GIVES THE BUILDING BOTH GREAT
change. If we are to do our jobs well, we have to find ways to make our dreams literate, to test ideas, to throw out the bad ideas
FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND A FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE.
THE SCALE, FORM, DETAIL AND TEXTURE OF THE NEW
and to make others as good as they can be. This design is an attempt to create spaces of occupation and habitation where memories are valued and new ones can be built. It seeks to avoid the feeling of an
LIBRARY ARE ROOTED IN AMEMORY OF THE REGION'S PAST
AND PROVIDE A VISION FOR ITS FUTURE
GROUND FLOOR I 2 3 4 5 6 7
ENTRANCE FOYER CIRCULATION DESK STACKS I READING ROOM DECK STAFF OFFICES CHILDREN'S PLAY GARDEN
37
institutional building. We built an efficient library, but one with memories of the rustic embedded throughout. Using current technology, we invented translucent resin lights which recall the memory of that moment at the turn of the century when log cabins in this region were first electrified. The living room from the old library is replaced with a new south-facing reading room with a porch and views of the mountains. In this space, there are 13 different styles of chair and 23 different fabrics so that everybody can find something comfortable. Tree trunk columns six different species, each with its bark left on - have been built into the new library with careful conversations on site to make sure that each tree faces north as it did in the forest. These details are important; they help to make the building both humane and specific to its place. ARIZONA'S UNIQUE NATURAL BEAUTY PROVIDES A
I knew the desert very well when I won the commission to design
METAPHOR FOR THE LIBRARY WHICH RISES ABOVE CEN-
the Phoenix Central Library but at that time, TRAL AVENUE LIKE A MESA FROM THE LANDSCAPE OF
the largest building I had designed was 30,000 square feet. The new library was to
MONUMENT VALLEY. STEEL-FRAMED SADDLEBAGS ON THE
be a building of 280,000 square feet. A bond EAST AND WEST WALLS OF THE BUILDING INCORPORATE
issue was passed in Phoenix which included $100 million for four major cultural buildings,
LATERAL BRACING SYSTEMS AND ALL FIXED SERVICES
the largest of which was the Central Library. INCLUDING STAIRS. SERVICE ELEVATORS. RESTROOMS AND
The ambition was to create a new main library for a city that had grown from 50,000 people
MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL PLANT. THIS FREES UP THE
at the end of World War II to the sixth largest PLAN FOR LIBRARY RELATED USES WHICH ARE HOUSED IN
city in America today with well over one million inhabitants and almost three million
A PRECAST CONCRETE STRUCTURE ON FIVE FLOORS IN A
11_1
111111111 1111111111111111
11111111111111111 : ~
FIFTH FLOOR
GROUND FLOOR
I ENTRANCE 2 CRYSTAL CANYON 3 RESTAURANT 4 AUDITORIUM 5 CIRCULATION DESK 6 CHILDREN'S LIBRARY 7 MAIN READING ROOM B MECHANICAL PLANT
~路G
I
39
in the region. The librarian was a traditionalist, but had vision and courage. His vision was a warehouse. The client's need was to double the size of the existing library while promising the City Council that the new facility would operate with only a ten percent increase in staff. With the analysis and reinvention of every component in the building, we were able to satisfy those requirements and meet the budget of $98 per square foot. When people look across the horizon in Phoenix they don't talk about buildings, but about mountains Squaw Peak, South Mountain, Pabago Buttes and so on. These are the monuments of the western landscape. For the new library, I wanted to create an architecture that was about abstraction, about the memory of landscape and at the scale of that landscape. A mesa became the operative metaphor for the building. The building is a large, simple box with all the services moved to the perimeter into two saddlebags. This creates a spatial and structural diagram which provides the flexibility which a library requires. As well as housing all the services and shading the east and west facades, the saddlebags are designed to provide the lateral bracing for the building. A series of huge steel trusses is anchored into 80-foot' deep caisson foundations and tied together at the top by a bridge truss. The saddlebags also served as the temporary bracing system for the
40
erection of the precast concrete inner walls. During construction, people were really curious about the void between the two long, slender saddlebags. Have we got two libraries? The north and south facades are totally transparent. In the harsh climate of the desert , this presented a number of challenges for the architect and the engineer. The south facade is shaded by computer programmed operable horizontal louvers
SIMPLE RECTANGULAR CONFIGURATION. A 32 FOOT 8 INCH
which were manufactured in Germany. On the north facade, we developed a design for fixed vertical shades made of Ferrari cloth,
SQUARE ORTHOGONAL GRID DERIVED FROM LIBRARY
STACK MODULES CREATES A LARGE STORAGE 'BOX' FOR
an open-weave Teflon-coated acrylic fabric BOOKS AND INFORMATION. INTERNALLY, THE LIBRARY'S
manufactured in France. It was shipped by boat to Boston and by truck to Maine where
PUBLIC SPACES ARE SIMPLY ORGANIZED AROUND A LIGHT
the shades were fabricated by sailmakers. WELL. AT THE HEART OF THE WELL IS ABLACK REFLECTING
Detailed like a series of sails, they were installed by the people who fabricated them .
POOL FROM WHICH THREE GLAZED ELEVATORS AND A
They threw a rope over the top beam of the GRAND STAIRCASE RISE. THE ROOF OF THE ATRIUM HAS
building and connected it to a hot air balloon basket at one end and the back bumper of a
BEEN DESIGNED WITH COMPUTER DRIVEN, MIRRORED
1971 Cougar at the other. One member of the TRACKING SKYLIGHTS SET IN ASTAINLESS STEEL ROTUNDA
team drove the car north in the parking lot, pulling two men in the basket to the top of
SO THAT SUNLIGHT ANIMATES THE SPACE FROM DAWN TO
the building. The clutch was released at fixed DUSK. ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE LIBRARY IS A GREAT
intervals and, as the car reversed, the men in the basket made the connections at each level down the facade. It was an ingenious combination of high-tech and low-tech which reflects the culture in which we live. Budget and invention often drive the best solutions. We liked the integrity of precast concrete. For us, it is a late 20th
DOUBLE HEIGHT PUBLIC READING ROOM WHICH HOUSES
41
century vernacular material in the southwest where it is widely used for warehouses, bridge construction, prisons and car parking structures. We wanted to find a way to use it and benefit from its economy and the experience of the fabricators. We visited many precasting yards and talked with contractors. They showed us the process of manufacturing panels and all the things they could do to produce beautiful colors and finishes. In the parking lot of the contractor we eventually selected, there was a wall of sample panels. One of these showed how the first mud is set and consolidated with a 2x4. It caught our imagination. We asked to meet the workmen who had made the panel. Our instructions for the first 8 foot by 8 foot mock-up for the library were to shimmy across the concrete surface once with a 2x4, then on the second pass - somewhere between every 6 to 20 inches - to push the 2x4 into the mud and pull it straight up. This left a crust of cream that, when hardened, created a shadow line. 'Perfectly parallel' was not important as the shadow lines were not going to be aligned. The actual wall panels for the library are 8 feet 2 inches wide by 40 feet long. They were cast on virgin steel and finished by hand with a 2x4. We could afford that quality, although we couldn't afford the perception we could afford it. The stainless steel lifting hardware that brought the panels off of the mold, into curing, onto the truck, off the crane, and
THE ENTIRE NON-FICTION COLLECTION. THIS ROOM IS NAT路
URALLY LIT AND HAS EXTENSIVE VIEWS OUT OVER THE
CITY. THE ROOF OF THE READING ROOM IS SUPPORTED BY
A TENSEGRITY STEEL STRUCTURE.
THE EAST AND WEST ELEVATIONS OF THE SADDLEBAGS
ARE CLAD WITH HEAVY CORRUGATED AND FLAT PANELED
COPPER SIDING WHICH REFERS TO THE CITY'S AGRICUL-
TURAL HERITAGE AND WILL PATINATE TO MATCH THE PUR路
PLE路GRAY DESERT MOUNTAIN SHADOWS. THE ENTRANCES
ARE ACCENTED BY STAINLESS STEEL PLATES THAT
REFLECT THE CHANGING COLORS OF THE SKY. THE SOUTH
ELEVATION IS FULLY GLAZED WITH AUTOMATED SOLAR
TRACKING LOUVERS DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE HEAT GAIN
AND GLARE. A SYSTEM OF SHADE SAILS ON THE NORTH
ELEVATION ELIMINATES THE HARSH GLARE OF THE SUM-
MER SUN WHILE OPTIMIZING VIEWS. THESE TRANSPARENT
FACES OF THE BUILDING SHOWCASE THE BOOKS AND THE
LIBRARY USERS INSIDE. LEAVING NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS
BUILDING'S SPECIAL ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
43
finally into the building is expressed as part of the visual texture of the finished wall . The use of copper for the library's skin seemed appropriate - after all, Arizona's license plates were once signed 'The Copper State.' Each of the two external walls of the saddlebags is the size of a football field, so when we spoke to the specialist subcontractors they were very interested. They called me the next day with a quotation of $125 per square foot for the skin. At the time, copper was costing a $3 per square foot raw. Their estimate was ill-considered and I hung up the phone. I remembered the beautiful silos erected behind the Hayden Flour Mill in Tempe, Arizona in 1972 - fifteen years before I had a need for the material. The same rollers that corrugated the metal for those silos still existed in Nebraska and in the summer of 1991, we created a series of prototypes there. This was in the tradition of John Dinkeloo who refined the practice of prototyping ideas, not because they were wild, but because they were inventions. The prototype brings veracity and technical legitimacy to the ideas and the inventions of designers. The copper for the cladding of the library came from Germany and was rolled in Nebraska. The final cost of the copper cladding was about $18 per square foot just a dollar more than standard stucco. The reading room choreographs sunlight. The engineers at
44 Arups invented a composit e tensegrity structure which incorporates a bold industrial warehouse technology. Lenses in the roof above each column are diffused with laminated glass which creates a soft blue color. The roof, which is made of exposed corrugated steel, appears to hover above the heads of the columns which float in caps of cool blue light. To the east and west, long narrow skylights bathe the precast concrete side walls in light every day. Labrouste's Bibliotheque Nationale of 1862 is the room that inspired t his space. Some 125 years later, a new room with grand reading tables at the top of a pavilion in the desert shares that heritage. Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a poet and an aviator, a confidant of Le Corbusier, a writer of children's books. As we think about making art and architecture in the new millennium, he offers us sound advice: "In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away ... " As we are confronted with constraints of all kinds, we face the challenge of our lives - to be good editors, to discard the superfluous and focus on the essential.
John G. Dinkeloo was born in Holland, Michigan In 1918 and graduated from the architecture prOQram at the University of Michigan In 1942. Upon graduation he joined the office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill in Chicago where he worked first as a designer and subsequently as the chief of production. Eight years later John returned to Michigan to join the office of Eero Saarinen and Associates In Bloomfield Hills where he was t o become a partner. During this time he was Involved with the design of a number of important projects Including the TWA Terminal at Kennedy Airport and Dulles Airport In Washington DC, the Gateway Arch in St. Louts and the Morse and Stiles Colleges at Yale University. following the sudden death of Eero Saarinen in 1961, John Dlnkeloo formed a partnership with Kevin Roche to become a founding partner of Kevin Roche John Dlnkeloo & Associates in 1966. This was to become one of the most distinguished architectural offices In the United States and became a practice whose work has been Internationally recognized.
10 MD , 1.00 !918 8)
THE DINKELOO LECTURERS
THE JOHN DINKELOO MEMORIAL LECTURE HAS BEEN
DELIVERED BY ARCHITECTS WHO ARE INTERNATIONALLY
RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR WORK IN PRACTICE.
John Dinkeloo was 1984 KEVIN ROCHE
responsible for the development of thoughtful and elegant systems of design and technical
1985 E. FAY JONES
innovations including the use of structural 1986 ROBERT J. FRASCA
neoprene gaskets, new glazing systems and high-strength low-alloy weathering
1987 WILLIAM PEDERSON
steel in the exposed structures of buildings. 1988 RICHARD MEIER
In 1968 he received the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American
1989 THOMAS H. BEEBE
Institute of Architects. Six years later the 1990 GUNNAR BIRKERTS
practice received the Architectural Firm Award from the American Institute of
1991 THOM MAYNE
Architects. In 1995 the Ford Foundation 1992 TOO WILLIAMS & BILLIE TSIEN
was selected for the American Institute of Architects 25-Year Award.
1993 MICHAEL MCKINNELL
John Dinkeloo died in 1981. 1994 DIANA AGREST
The John Dinkeloo Memorial Lecture was established at the College of Architecture
1995 JOHN PATKAU
and Urban Planning as a recognition of his 1996 RICHARD HORDEN
extraordinary contribution to architecture and to honor the work of this distinguished
1997 RAFAEL VINOLY
and highly respected alumnus of the 1998 STUDIO GRANDA
1999 WILL BRUDER
University of Michigan.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE A. ALFRED TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE + URBAN PLANNING IS GRATEFUL FOR THE GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR THE JOHN DINKELOO MEMORIAL LECTURE WHICH HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THELMA DINKELOO AND AN ENDOWMENT FROM FACULTY AND FRIENDS. WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE HELP OF PROFESSOR HENRY KOWALEWSKI AND THE CONTINUING INTEREST OF BOTH CHRISTIAAN AND DEREK DINKELOO.
WORKING IN THE STUDIO IN THE DESERT, WILL BRUDER, DOTTIE ZASTAWAMI AND TIM CHRIST PREPARED MATERIAL FOR THE BOOK AND PATIENTLY DEALT WITH OUR MANY QUERIES. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO BILL TIMMERMAN FOR ALLOWING THE USE OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHS.
AK I ISHIDA IN THE OFFICE OF JAMES CARPENTER DESIGN ASSOCIATES PROVIDED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE GLASS SCRIM WALLIN SCOTTSDALE.
THE SUPPORT OF THE DEAN , FACULTY AND STAFF OF THE COLLEGE HAVE BEEN INVALUABLE. IN PARTICULAR, SALLIE KNE IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR HER PATIENCE. BRIAN SALAY PROVIDED VALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF PRODUCTION .
THE QUOTE BY ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY IS FROM WIND, SAND AND STARS (HARCOURT BRACE & COMPANY, 1939).
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS BILL TIMMERMAN: COVER. 11A. 12A, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21A. 21B. 22. 23. 24A, 24B, 25A. 25B. 26, 27, 28. 29, 30A, 30B. 30C, 31, 36, 37, 40B, 41B. 42A. 45; WILL BRUDER: lOA. lOB, IOC, liB, II C. liD. 12B. 13A, 14, 17, 33. 35, 40A. 41A; WPBA ARCHIVE: 12C; BEN NESBEITT: 13B; WENDELL BURNETTE: 42B; RICK HONDORP: 4ZC; KEVIN ROCHE JOHN DINKELOO AND ASSOCIATES: 7, 46.