Sublimity in Nature
Regenerative Site-Engaged Design A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Architecture Wentworth Institute of Technology by
Thomas Anthony Cracolici [Bachelors of Science in Architecture] [Wentworth Institute of Technology, 2016] In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture April 2017
.......................................................................... Submitted by Thomas A. Cracolici Department of Architecture
.......................................................................... Certified by Penn Ruderman Primary Thesis Supervisor
.......................................................................... Accepted by Kelly Hutzell, AIA Director of Graduate Program
Š 2017 Thomas Cracolici. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to Wentworth Institute of Technology permission to reproduce and to publicly distribute copies of this thesis document in whole or in part using paper, electronic, and any medium now known or hereafter created.
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Thomas Anthony Cracolici I, .........................................................................., am aware of the serious nature of plagiarism and of the fact that it includes design concepts, images, drawings and other representations beyond the written word. I will not intentionally use someone else’s work without acknowledgement and will not represent someone else’s work as my own. 04-22-17 Signature.......................................................................... Date................................... ...................
[Sublimity in Nature]
Regenerative Site-Engaged Design
0.0 Preface [Acknowledgments] This book is dedicated to all of those who supported me throughout my academic career. In particular, I would like to thank: My parents, [Tammy and Anthony] and two brothers, [Joseph and Nathan] for their unwavering belief in my ability to succeed and for pushing me to strive for excellence in all that I do. My friends who have always upheld me as someone capable of accomplishing anything that I set my mind to. Father Peter Gregory for providing me with a strong spiritual foundation that has always served me in times of difficulty. And for my beloved grandparents Carlo DiNicola and Phyllis Cracolici whose absence has empowered me to strive for excellence.
Fig_01. Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
Preface
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Sackett Brook enlarged tree trunk forming a bridge from the brook-side to the adjacent meadow. This element serves as a suggestion for interaction with nature while at the same time serves as an example of something that is respectful of its context in an unobtrusive way.
Sackett Brook; a subtle gesture of how human intervention through the outlet of nature has helped improve the quality of the water and the endemic aquatic life of the stream/brook network.
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Preface
[Abstract] A current paradigm in the field of architecture today is one of degeneration; the continued use of low-grade, untenable and obsolete building technologies that lack site-specificity and that are becoming harmful to the natural environment. For my thesis, I am investigating the concept of regenerative, site-expressive design, or the practice of engaging natural context as the medium and generator of architecture. In an investigation of how to respond and utilize the living and natural systems that exist on site, I have chosen Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary in Pittsfield Massachusetts as my site of intervention. My research will focus on capturing the genius loci (“spirit of place�) of Canoe Meadows through the installation of an intervention that is focused on the prevention of negative environmental impacts as well as the preservation of localized vegetation and wildlife that is present within the immediate vicinity.
Fig_02 (right, above). Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016) Fig_03 (right, below). Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Primary
Regenerative
Describes design that restores, renews and revitalizes the natural environment through the implementation of sustainable systems that integrate the needs of society with the integrity of nature.
Degenerative
A design process that doesn’t restore, renew or revitalize its context. Additionally, there is no consideration for sources of energy, the utilized materials and the inclusion of sustainable systems that integrate the needs of society through the integrity of nature.
Endemic
Quality that is native to a certain area (Berkshire County of western MA).
Site-specific
Design that responds to both its physical and metaphysical context.
Nature
The unbuilt environment consisting of plants, animals, landscapes, etc.
Landscape
Design that considers and respects the topographical, horticultural and ecological conditions of a given site.
Ecological
Design that aims to respond to declining energy conservation, efficient insulation, rainwater, solar radiation, wind-power and recycling.
Visceral
Refers to the evocation of deep inward feelings and a strong sense of understanding; the antithesis of intellect.
Vernacular
An architectural style that is designed based on local needs, availability of construction materials and that is reflective of local traditions and customs.
Sustainability
Architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, developed space, and the ecosystem at large.
Secondary
Perception
A way of regarding, understanding or interpreting architecture; a unique mental impression obtained through intake of sensual information.
Dialogue
The symbiotic relationship between natural and built elements, perceivable and unperceivable characteristics, and sensual and intuitive perception.
Connection
An indistinguishable relationship between architecture and nature.
Tectonic
The science and art of construction, a method of expressing relation to nature.
Wildlife
Refers to the composition of endemic plant and animal life.
Vegetation
The collective of plants native to a particular area or habitat.
Symbiotic
A relationship where two or more elements work together to formulate something with greater meaning.
[Key Terms]
Fig_04 (above). Graphic by author. Key Terms Collage (2016)
Preface
0.3 | 09
Preface | 0.0
04
Acknowledgments | 0.1 Abstract | 0.2 Key Terms | 0.3 Contents | 0.4
05 07 09 11
Introduction | 1.0 Thesis Statement | 1.1 Argument | 1.2 Relevance | 1.3 Personal Statement | 1.4
Literature Review | 2.0
13 15 17 19
Topic Area | 2.1 Introduction | 2.2 Corollary A Experiential/Sensual Interaction: Nature Corollary B Cultural Context: Formulating Correlations Corollary C Academic Context: Explorative Partnership Corollary D Visual Tendencies: Disguised Suggestion Corollary E Material and Textural: Inherent Site Palette Corollary F Vegetation and Wildlife: Impactful Considerations Corollary G Inhabitable Topography: Seamless Synthetization Design Criteria | 2.3
20 21 23 25 29 31 33 35 37 41 45
Case Studies | 3.0
46
Design Research | 4.0
84
Brooklyn Botanical Garden | 3.1 McCann Residence | 3.2 Latvian View Pavilion | 3.3 Folk Art Museum - China Academy of Arts | 3.4 Walden Pond Visitors Center | 3.5 Malcolm Wells | 3.6 Swiss Ornithological Institute | 3.7 VillaLola | 3.8 Nest We Grow | 3.9
Methodology | 4.1 Frames | 4.2 Probes | 4.3 Design/Site Selection | 4.4
Design Outcomes | 5.0 Final Thoughts
Appendix | 7.0
Bibliography
85 86 116 122
172
214
Viscerality: Sensual Engagement
Reflection | 6.0
48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80
173 215
216 217
[Contents]
Preface
0.4 | 11
Red pine is extremely common inside of Canoe Meadows; this type of wood is moderately hard and straight grained. It is typically used in the production of poles and columns, lumber, cabin logs, railway ties, posts, pulpwood, and fuel.
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Introduction
1.0 Introduction [Thesis Statement] Provoking a visceral, enveloping relationship between the user and the natural environment through an interaction between vernacular, site-specific conditions and provocative architectural moments.
Fig_05 (right, above). Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016) Fig_06 (right, below). Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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A line of hemlock trees that were recently removed from the crest of an expansive meadow in order to improve grazing and living conditions for the vernacular bird life. This exemplifies a deep respect for the inherent site characteristics; an essential mindset for designing with nature.
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Introduction
[Argument]
Ecological, Biological, Sustainable It is an obligation, as an architect, to make an effort to inspire change in the future of architecture and design so as to preserve the natural environment that we live in. Through environmental management and acceptance of the responsibility to protect the natural environment, this intervention will have a distinct focus on conservation and sustainable practices. In continuation, this project will also be an effort to embrace the concept of endemic/ site-respectful design with a focus on expressive ecological and innovative sustainable benefits. Sustainable architecture is about how we (the users of space) come to terms with our place in nature and how we embrace existing environments to inspire change in architecture.
In a time faced with increasingly diminishing resources, creating an appropriate and nature-inclusive architectural environment is beyond choice, it is imperative. From a statistical standpoint, architecture and all of its associated technologies and materials consume nearly 50% of the energy generated in the United States, a figure that is on the rise. With this resurgent need for ecologically responsive design, designers no longer have the luxury to ignore the damaging effects that architecture can have on the global environment and its inhabitants. Buildings are the mediator between man and nature and an architect is the artistic intermediary responsible for creating responsive architecture.
Fig_07. Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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A row of red pine trees; a prevalent natural feature of Canoe Meadows. How can features such as this be respectfully reinterpreted to engage the natural setting of Canoe Meadows?
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Introduction
[Relevance]
Amidst modern design context To alleviate the degenerative trend of design that excludes nature, this project will exemplify a deep respect for site conditions, both tangible and intangible, perceivable and unperceivable. The sanctuary where I will be intervening is located one mile from the center of the city and consists of 250 acres of gentle, flat, meandering trails that wind through scenic woods, fields, and wetlands along the edge of the Housatonic River. My architectural solution for Canoe Meadows will sensitively celebrate the surrounding environment with a distinct appreciation for the local (geographies, bioregions, seasons, microclimates, etc.) as well as the applicable global characteristics (energy sources and resources, etc.) that are inherent to the site. Considering the fact that buildings are energy consumptive, this project is an opportunity to
innovate, with the aim of achieving a carbon neutral intervention that explores material tactility and thermal quality in order to achieve a design that releases multiple sensual experiences within the user. Concerning materiality, the goal will be to examine the poetic/symbiotic potential between the structure and the visual and textural palette exclusive to the sanctuary. The proposal will be both strategic and reactive; an intervention that is appropriate within its space, time and surrounding context. Human existence within the earth’s fragile ecosystems (of which we are a part) calls for sensitive, responsive, and appropriate design that neither impoverishes the planet nor our human experience on it. This intervention is an attempt to create a series of meaningful, sensorial spaces for people that will also respect the environmental setting of Canoe Meadows.
Fig_08. Sketch and Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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An early morning sunrise on a brisk November day in Canoe Meadows; an embodiment of the profound connection I have always felt with nature and its ability to self-sustain, adapt, transition and emanate distinctive beauty.
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Introduction
[Personal Statement] My name is Thomas Cracolici. I feel lucky to not only write this statement but to share with you the culmination of many years of thought, hard work and determination. This thesis represents both me as a person as well as my love for my home - Berkshire County of western Massachusetts. Growing up in Pittsfield has brought to me a great understanding of nature and the benefits of transposing its beauty, its timelessness, and its integrity through the outlet of architecture. I owe much of what I’ve learned to my parents and family who have always taught me to be open-minded, respectful, and empathetic to the needs of everyone and everything; especially nature. Before I was given the opportunity to explore a rich architectural education through the undergraduate and graduate programs at Wentworth Institute, my desire to contribute to my hometown was not yet realized. It is through years of schooling that I have obtained the tools to succeed professionally
and to feel confident in my design abilities. Because of my parents’ work, I have had the opportunity to travel all around the world and experience the vernacular conditions of many distinctive locales. From Cozumel to Berlin to Qing Cun, to Phoenix, my travels have brought me a level of understanding and perspective that can only come from cultural exposure. Through observation of the various architectural styles and strategies utilized throughout the world, I have developed a strong opinion as to what the future of architecture should be. With increasing disregard for the negative impacts that architecture can have on the natural environment, I feel the responsibility to suggest change through regenerative design. It is through this project that I hope to reflect the endemic quality of Berkshire County in a way that provokes a deep connection to site-specific conditions and nature; a reflection of my passion for my home and a proposition for architects to consider the role of nature in architecture.
Fig_09. Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
Introduction
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A gateway to an important area of (understanding) Canoe Meadows bordering a vast wetland to the north and a quaint, tree-covered brook to the south.
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Literature Review
2.0 Literature Review [Topic Area] Architecture has always been a fundamental outlet for the expression of human emotion and sentiment. Similarly, nature has always demanded reverence and respect, embodied sanctity, and encapsulated transient beauty. The overlap between the natural environment and architecture has at times been disparate, despite their irrefutable and inherent correlations. To alleviate this disconnect, my thesis investigates the concept of regenerative, site-specific design,1 or the practice of engaging the natural world as the medium and generator of architecture. Given the implicit agrarian quality of Canoe Meadows, (as a northern hardwood forest, a cultural grassland, a palustrine woodland swamp and a shrub-scrub wetland)2 the challenge of channeling the essence (or Genius Loci (“Spirit of Place�) of the rural context will be readily discernible.
Fig_10. Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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The mindset for designing with nature requires a 360ยบ perspective for identifying important characteristics of a site, both hidden and easily recognizable. Pertinent influential elements range from academic context to vernacular vegetation to experiential implications.
Fig_11. Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016) Fig_12. Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Literature Review
[Introduction] Corrective strategies focused on improving and introducing the features of the surrounding environment of the site are of particular importance within the context of regenerative design.3 Restoration of natural inherent qualities (wildlife, plant habitat, hydrology, etc.) can promote patterns of relationships between physical, built form and the unscathed substantiality of nature. Buildings that embrace existing natural conditions are capable of enhancing the quality of the vernacular ecosystem as well as biotic (living) and abiotic (chemical) components.4 On a related level, regionalist specificity is a way of introducing user familiarity and relation through the inclusion of contextual references such as through culture, academics, historical implications, civilization attributes, topography, climate, light and tectonic form (to name a few). Through this encouragement of a symbiotic relationship between tangible and intangible phenomena, design can enticingly channel the genius loci (or “spirit of place�) of a given landscape; a given site.5
Literature Review
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Andy Goldsworthy’s art is highly unique because it uses only natural site elements. He gathers, organizes and arranges the elements in provocative ways; an idea that site-engaged, and regenerative architecture should project.
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Literature Review
Corollary A - Experiential and Sensual Interaction: Collaboration with Nature Site-engaged design begins with a visceral understanding of endemic qualities, both corporeal and impalpable. Replicating the transient quality of innate natural materials, textures and sensual characteristics through reinvention and innovation requires an explicit site knowledge; an ability to recognize and articulate unperceivable correlations. To understand the applicable methodology of working in conjunction with nature in this way, there is perhaps no work more clearly expressive than that of Andy Goldsworthy (British artist/sculpturist). Through expansive usage of natural materials (snow, ice, leaves, bark, rock, clay, stones, feathers, petals, twigs, etc.) he is able to create outdoor sculpture that manifests a sympathetic contact with the natural world. What is particularly exceptional about his work, however, is his deliberately explorative method of working in tension with the area where he finds material; undeterred by ephemerality and the effects of weather and animal disruption. This implies an instinctive approach to working with landscape and the expression of human emotion through a profound perception of intrinsic environmental components; movement, change, light, growth and decay (the lifeblood of nature). For Goldsworthy, “the energy and space around a material are as important as the energy and the space within. The weather – rain, sun, snow, hail, mist, calm – is that external space made visible. When I touch a rock, I am touching and working the space around it. It is not independent of its surroundings and the way it sits tells how it came to be there.”6 In this context, ephemeral intervention is dependent on both spatial and mental relativity; requiring sensitivity and acknowledgement of context. Therefore, a work (whether artistic, sculptural or architectural) cannot be fully appreciated through static interpretation, but rather through movement, development, maturation and
progression. In expansion, architectural work should consider the role of an active spectator; an invitation to act and react, not just through implicit agreement but also due to the experience of the site; frequentation and appropriation. Mental pathways should be included to penetrate and facilitate occupation through promenade and intrigue.7 As seen in the Streampath Project by Clemson University featured in Natural Architecture, the banks of a dredged woodland stream are re-clothed for confrontation and cohabitation through reemphasizing the lost quality of the waterway. The natural serpentine shape of the stream is retained and bordered with dead branches of native, localized trees (that are collected on-site and trimmed), plantings of wild vines, bracken, etc. In doing this, the fluidity of waters movement is reintroduced through continuation of damaged materials that have been given a new purpose and role; provoking intrigue through breaks in sightlines and changes in elevation and ground material.8 Correspondingly rooted in this appreciation for neglected material is an endearing respect for balance and continuity between nature and human endeavor. Reutilization of materials and forgotten means of endemic, culturally-rooted instruments (of formatting general composition; architecture) gives new life to spurned elements; allows for continuity and exhumes a correspondence between user identity and the landscape: “worn down and regenerated; broken off and reunited; a dormant faith is revived in the new growth of old.”9 Dually ingrained in this collaboration with nature are multiple opportunities for articulating a symbiotic relationship between architecture and site specific natural elements. In addition to the reinterpretation of material from a conceptual standpoint, site materials, textures, vegetation, wildlife (etc.) can be used to emanate tangible, form-based revitalization. In the case of the work
Fig_13 (Right, above). Knotweed Stalks by Andy Goldsworthy. Derwent Water, Cumbria (1988) Fig_14 (Right, below). Pebbles around a hole by Andy Goldsworthy. Kiinagashima-Cho, Japan (1987)
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Ephemerality and the inability to shield site specific design from natural forces; “rowan leaves laid around hole, collecting the last few leaves, nearly finished, dog ran into hole, started again, made in the shade on a windy, sunny day.�
Fig_15. Rowan Leaves by Andy Goldsworthy. Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton (1987)
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Literature Review
of Jackie Brookner, living sculptures (called bio-sculptures; plant based systems) are used to clean polluted water, integrating ecological revitalization within the conceptual, metaphoric and aesthetic capacity of sculptural form. This ideology is used to raise community awareness about the urgency of restoring health to natural ecosystems; “encouraging the necessary imagining of a world where human and non-human systems are mutually beneficial, and that help create the public will to protect and restore (natural) resources.”10 Similarly, architecture can be a vessel for exhibiting similar strategies in terms of its regenerative quality and contextual relation; a means of exemplifying dual purpose.
physical site and the spatially and temporally expansive surround, a site should be seen as a relational construct that acquires meaning through situational interaction. This fits hand in hand with the idea of peripatetic movement where individual experience and perspective are instrumental for connecting with the site in a visceral manner. This intuitive, self-driven understanding of site is rooted in the “uninterrupted exchange between the realistic and the representational, the extrinsic and the intrinsic, and the world and the world as-known.”13
This idea of multiplicity through architectural response can also be articulated through movement, or fragmented peripatetic procession. Similar to how Brookner considers dual purpose through vegetation and architecture, the work of Richard Serra is based on the destruction of notions of identity and causality; interventions that create spaces for experiencing architectural detail as well as the universal qualities of weight, gravity, agility and meditative repose. He questions how subtle architectural gestures and relative perspective can evoke a sense of belonging between the user and the site of intervention. A given site can no longer be seen as “a thing-in-itself” but rather as a process of ongoing relationships existing in a physical region, “a thing for us (the users).”11 Through engaging the viewer’s body and sensual perception with his thinking, walking and looking, the separation between architecture and nature is blurred. Experiencing a site from the perspective of a gardener, for instance, is far more desirable than that of a painter: “The spot from whence the view is taken is in a fixed state to the painter (architect), but the gardener (user) surveys his scenery while in motion.”12 Correlatively, individualistic and perspective-based experience should work in tandem with the ideas outlined by Carol Burns and Andrea Kahn in Site Matters. Taking into account simultaneously the concepts of the
Literature Review
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Gorlitz and Zgorzelec border each other on opposite sides of the Neysa River, which marks the borders between Germany and Poland between different and conflicting realities of life. The design intent is to develop a communication interrupted by history. The aim is to resume the dialogue and the meeting between the two populations. This intervention is effective in its ability to suggest a social shift, encouraging resolve through architecture in a subtle way.
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Literature Review
Corollary B - Cultural Context: Formulating Correlations Apart from experiential and sensual implications that may not be readily discernible, a less elusive method for connecting to a site is through the inclusion of cultural reference. From vernacular architectural influence to literary reference to the outlet of local cultural attractions, site correlation can be amplified through the embedment of concentrated details specific to place. Correlating location-explicit attributes can be a way of suggesting shifts in ways of thinking, learning, building, and designing. In the case of the work of Italian interventionist Giuliano Mauri, reinterpreted natural elements are used to create an artistic composition that suggest the joining of two disparate peoples that have been divided by hatred for decades. This installation is composed of two gigantic spyglasses constructed in chestnut and oak, positioned on the two sides of the border between Germany and Poland. In between the spyglasses and demarcating the border between the countries is the Neisse River, symbolic of the divide between the people of each city. These forms model an ideal bridge between the people of Gorlitz (Germany) and Sgorzelec (Poland). In many ways this form of representation is a more direct, neutral means of communication than the media, which encourages separation every day, “blinding reason with ideology,� and is an eloquent suggestion of forgiveness through architecture.14
ences to exterior forces. It is through this continued reference and layering of information that architecture can begin to speak to all people; can begin to be understood by all people.
Subsequently, cultural implications can also be expressed through association with literature, with built form as the format of conveyance. In this way, architecture is capable of providing a platform for new voices to engage with the contemporary city through the written word. To evoke reverence for literature, architecture is capable of captivating and inspiring the remembrance of literary work that is specific to a given area, regardless of the ramifications of time. In doing this, similarly to the duality mentioned earlier in the work of Jackie Brookner, architecture begins to address multiple referFig_16-17. Osservatori Estimativi by Giuliano Mauri. Gorlitz & Germania (2001)
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Corollary C - Academic Context: Explorative Partnership Directly complementary to this referential expansion in culture, is the tangible prospect of inclusionary education; or academic context. As in education, architecture requires “complete working knowledge of a particular place that is derived from abstract concepts, material conditions and structuring practices.”15 These pieces are always intercalated, inflecting on and infecting one another rather than remaining separate or distinct. While architecture can exhibit multiple contextual characteristics, it is still subject to individualistic perspective. Not everyone will pick up on the various experiential, sensual and tangible cues that are inherent in the architecture. To relate this to a real world application, developers might define site in fiscal terms (through application of financial models that analyze a parcel’s potential to provide profitable returns in an economically construed context) while a landscape architect might define the site in terms of resilience or sustainability (consider ecological measures).16 Given the implications of a community’s basic world view and social situation, a site should have meaning in relation to its circumstantial conditions, especially regarding academic affluence. If an individual, or group’s, or community’s basic understanding is below that of the architecture to the point where comprehension is unobtainable, then the architecture fails; it must be recognizable and justifiable in and of itself.
Fig_18. Codici Acquatici by Giuliano Mauri. Fiume Adda, Lodi (1981)
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As in this image, nature often suggests (without us realizing it) views through subtle cues ingrained in the fabric of an environment. For example, when you are walking through a long, narrow, heavily wooded pathway, the instinct is to move more quickly through it. It is through this play of shadow, vegetation density, and confinement that architecture, similar to nature, can create an experience that rivals a walk through the woods.
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Literature Review
Corollary D - Visual Tendencies: Disguised Suggestion At the same time that unperceivable influences can exist within architecture, the consequently related palette of tangible influences are equally as vital in creating a fully site-inclusive intervention. In concerning visual tendencies that are triggered by both nature and architecture, it should be noted that sublimity can be found in a formless object, boundlessness should be represented within it, and its totality should be present to thought. Visual intrigue and interest does not necessarily have to be associated with something large and obtrusive that demands immediate attention. Suggestive visual cues are often ingrained into an environment in an extremely subtle way. This subtlety that exists between the human eye and the environment should be carried through into the relationship between architecture and the natural landscape. As with peripatetic movement, architecture should display varying qualities depending on the location of the observer, both physically and mentally. Individualistic experience and tendency is what makes each user unique, and thus, each architectural understanding unique. The Latvian View Pavilion designed by Jaunzems, Laudere and Abele17 clearly articulates this notion of retaining visual prominence through architecture that does not impede the inherent quality of the site. Because the project is situated along the edge of a steep embankment along an expansive (Daugava) river (and the visual connection to the water is essential), the pavilion itself is sunk into the land so as to preserve the view of the water from every vantage point of the site. The architecture itself is the key to obtaining an understanding of why it looks the way it looks and why it is placed where it is placed; transposing the natural environment through built form. In this instance, Burns and Kahn would approve because site truly does matter.
Fig_19. Opere Lignee da Interno by Giuliano Mauri. (1960-2010)
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At the Folk Art Museum at the China Academy of Arts, Kengo Kuma reflects the architectural, tectonic, material and historical context in his design through the reinterpretation of claycast roof tiles from Hangzhou’s old house district as a screening system. The tiles are wedged in between a criss-crossed wire mesh network expressing the fish-net influence through detailing.
Corollary E - Material and Textural: Inherent Site Palette Reinforcement of this respect for site is duly appropriated through the incorporation of contextual material and texture. In extension, the view pavilion in Latvia expresses interconnectedness with the site through its usage of larch wood, which is cultivated directly from the site. The woods texture and appearance is therefore consistent with the texture and appearance of the surrounding trees. So through this extension of material longevity, the pavilion itself reads as an integrated piece of the landscape through reinterpretation and reuse. Equivalently, the work of Kengo Kuma at the China Academy of Arts Folk Art Museum18 is yet another interpretation of how to include vernacular culture through use of materiality and texture. This museum articulates the revival of regionalist materials through provocative coloration in construction methods and architectural detailing; through the re-usage of roof tiles and stone that are specific to Hangzhou’s old house district, (the immediate context). However, instead of simply reusing the material for the strict purpose of cladding the roof, the tiles are intermittently hung amidst a stainless steel wire mesh that spans the length of the main façade, creating a screening system. So through respectful innovation, the project is capable of speaking to history and culture (multiple layers) at the same time that it is speaking to materiality, texture, lighting effects, etc. Again, this is a method for extending the quality of any given site through the lens of architecture. This respect for historical and cultural context derives from site-specificity and therefore is only one of the many architectural devices that can be employed for developing a visceral connection to the existing (natural) environment. Because the China Academy of Art exists in the middle of a metropolitan area, it calls for a different architectural response than if it were situated in a rural setting. If we consider the context of a natural setting, the
range of considered contextual references might be entirely different. In a natural setting, unscathed by constructional development, restorative, living and adaptive structures19 that follow the model of nature would be desirable. To be site-specific, the architecture itself needs to address contextual preservation through dialogic interaction and engagement rather than through imposing insensitive, non-sustainable, non-integrative thinking. The ideas of climate adaptation, resilient technologies, and integrative design and systems thinking, would therefore be of higher consequence than incorporating historical and cultural reference. The literature of Henry Francis Mallgrave delves into the concepts of equity and beauty as well as human health and happiness, which are in many ways tied to exuding, or channeling nature through architecture. He believes that architecture should reflect the system of the natural ecosystem in order to appeal to the ability of the human mind to rationalize, to conceptualize, and to develop an individualized proprioception.20 Architecture should emanate clarity and self-pronunciation in the same way that humans recognize the purity and self-sustaining growth of nature through the touch of material and texture. When we feel the coarse layer of bark on the side of a tree, we understand the protection that the cork provides for the inner layers of the wood; we understand that it deters the invasion of insects, animals, and fungal and bacterial infection, and we understand its capacity to reveal the amount of time that the tree has spent outdoors. The conscious satisfaction of this identification should be reflected through architecture so that we have the ability to comprehend it as easily as we comprehend the systems of nature. For this reason, texture and materiality are powerful outlets to evoke the architecturalization of site-specificity.
Fig_20. Folk Art Museum Roof Tile Screen by Janet Wu. Hangzhou, China (2016)
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Corollary F - Vegetation and Wildlife: Impactful Considerations Working in conjunction with the touch-related implications associated with a site are the influences of vegetation and wildlife, (plant and animal). Architecture is a way to engage and expand the natural habitat of a site so that the life of any living organism is not disturbed, and not deemed less important. To retain this respect for natures life, design thinking might accommodate the concept of landscape cryptography,21 (which is explained as “an immersive, trans-species conversation in which the terrestrial forms, plant-life, and climatological effects are signs intended for a nonhuman audience.�) Simulating an extension of this context should be thought of as equally important as the extension of human-occupied interventions. Why should human occupation and life be deemed more essential than the lifeblood’s of nature? (plants, animal life, geological formations, etc.) As the human habitat expands to cover the earth it replaces, dissects and pollutes habitats of non-humans, (and in some ways drives them to potential extinction). To preserve non-humans on earth our built habitats must evolve (decompose) to be inclusive of nonhuman species. The reasoning of this has many roots, some in sustainability, others in pragmatism, and some in empathy. 22
sky, orientating your focus on the activity of the birds. This project also engineers and architecturalizes new ways of respecting the life of the birds and the landscape through its material palette; rammed earth walls constructed of excavated soil from the site, patterning of endemic wildlife on the glass panes, sole reliance on simple timber framing from local trees, etc. These features alleviate the disconnect between vegetation, wildlife and architecture, and embody a new way of design thinking; one that considers the role of site-implicit characteristics.
Through the sharing of our spaces with non-human species, the enrichment of our spaces and the degree of our inherent perception is amplified. The Swiss Ornithological Institute designed by mlzd23 exemplifies this connection to local wildlife through its architectural form but also through its usage of material that is directly taken from the surrounding area. To truly honor the purpose of its designated program, this building attempts not to be attractive, but to be strongly correlated to the birdlife that is specific to the site. The horizontality of the exceptionally longitudinal roof and floors planes paired with the strict modularity of the apertures detours visual contact and sends it upward towards the Fig_21. Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Site-engaged, regenerative design responds to the landscape of both current architecture and the conditions of the natural environment. The built and the unbuilt should complete each other as if they were puzzle pieces; incomplete without each other.
38 | 2.2
Literature Review
Corollary G - Inhabitable Topo: Seamless Synthetization & Site Emanation The culmination of these interconnected strategies should (ideally) resonate as embodied forces of context that are rationalized through architecture: “site thinking must continually oscillate between material and conceptual, abstract and physical, discursive and experiential, and general and specific points of view.�24 These interdependent elements should work together to justify a larger idea, the genius loci.25 From a neurological standpoint, the formation of tangible (material, textural, tectonic) and intangible (cultural/academic/historical influence, experiential) phenomena in architecture should operate under a similar capacity as seen in the model of synaptic bonding.26 This is when two neurons fire together inside of the brain as a response to something that the brain has observed, increasing the likelihood that they will fire in the same way when exposed to similar stimuli. Through repeated firings, these neurons form established patterns or neural maps that become associative networks.27 Similarly, architecture should be the culmination of developed neurological associations that are formulated through site characteristics. The synaptic bonding that occurs inside the brain of each individual is entirely unique, therefore making a user’s ability to perceive and analyze architecture entirely unique.
the divide is between the surrounding environment and the man-made construct. The curvature of the building appears as a seamless extension of the existing topography, replicating the contours of the adjacent berm. There are what seem to be endless references to context, seen in its form (mimicking the form of a leaf); its inclusion of various plants (depending on their individually conducive growth environments); its consideration of water and differing soil types; its structural system (custom built to form and mimic the curving vertebrae of a leaf); its situation of vegetation (framing of trees and shrubs); its suggestion for designers to consider sustainable design amidst an urban setting, etc. These qualities, going back to the concepts of peripatetic movement,30 are not meant to be experienced statically, but through continued movement through a series of thresholds.
By seamlessly synthesizing innate and essential site features with built form, the combinations of perception are infinite, thus allowing for a body-to-site knowledge.28 The work of Manfredi and Weiss projects this layering of contextual information in most of their projects, especially in their design for the Brooklyn Botanical Garden where the architecture is meant to exist in concert with the landscape.29 The building presents itself not as something that is devoid from the landscape but as an indistinguishable element within it. When reading the plan, it is not immediately obvious where Fig_22-23. Inhabitable Topography Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Inhabitable topography refers to architecture that is seen as an integrated piece with the shapes and contours of the natural landscape. The line between topography and constructed form should be blurred through seamless integration.
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Literature Review
In many ways, this projects exemplifies the very concept of site-specific design, and demands attention for the degree of consideration it gives to not only to the architecture, but to the thoughts of progression, sequence, and natural surroundings; its genius loci. Like Weiss and Manfredi, designers should allow the context of their project to consume full consciousness of their mind and to allow the qualities of the site (once imported into the mind) to be exported into the architecture. Many current architects suffer from a problematic syndrome, one that regulates and inhibits the mind: “they (architects) work out of their offices, terrace the landscape and place their building into the carved-out site. As a result, the studio-designed, then site-adjusted buildings look like blown-up cardboard models.�31 To avoid the creation of obsolete buildings that are not grounded in any type of contextual relation, a designer must truly engage with a site and become sympathetic for it. Without empathy and sensitivity for the spirit of a place, architecture can easily become curtailed by deterrent and imposing factors such as efficiency, speed, cost and capacity at the expense of site-authenticity, site-correlation, and site-respect.
Fig_24 (Right, above). Inhabitable Topography by author, inspired by Weiss and Manfredi. (2014) Fig_25 (Right, below). Sketches by author, derived from Malcolm Wells. (2016)
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1
Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture.
2
Smith, Thom. “All Quiet at Canoe Meadows.” Berkshire Eagle Online.
3
Littman, Jacob A. Regenerative Architecture: A Pathway Beyond Sustainability.
4
Nugent, Sarah. “Living, Regenerative, and Adaptive Buildings.” WBDG.
5
Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses.
6
Goldsworthy, Andy. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration With Nature.
7
Rocca, Alessandro. Natural architecture. Print: 24.
8
Ibid. 24-27.
9
Ibid. 13.
10
Ibid. 87.
11
Bois, Yve-Alain, and John Shepley. “A Picturesque Stroll around Clara-Clara.” Print: 36.
12
Ibid. 43.
13
Ibid. 15.
14
Rocca, Alessandro. Natural architecture. Print: 56-61.
15
Burns, Carol, and Andrea Kahn. Site Matters: Design Concepts, Histories, & Strategies. Print: 17.
16
Ibid.
17
“View Terrace and Pavilion / Didzis Jaunzems Laura Laudere Jaunromans and Abele.” ArchDaily.
18
“China Academy of Arts’ Folk Art Museum / Kengo Kuma & Associates.” ArchDaily
19
Littman, Jacob A. Regenerative Architecture: A Pathway Beyond Sustainability.
20
Mallgrave, Harry Francis. “Cognition in the Flesh…the Human in Design.” Print: 76-87.
21
Manaugh, Geoff. “Animal Architecture.” BLDGBLOG.
22
Youndt, Brandon. “Decompositions.” RSS
23
“Visitor Centre at the Swiss Ornithological Institute / :mlzd.” ArchDaily.
24
Burns, Carol, and Andrea Kahn. Site Matters: Design Concepts, Histories, & Strategies. Print: 21.
25
Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture.
26
Mallgrave, Harry Francis. “Cognition in the Flesh…the Human in Design.” Print: 83.
27
Hebb, Donald O. The Organization of Behavior.
28
Burns, Carol, and Andrea Kahn. Site Matters: Design Concepts, Histories, & Strategies. Print: 17.
29
“Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center/WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture.” ArchDaily.
[Endnotes]
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Influential Perspectives and Architectural Insights Genius Loci: The groundwork for continuing thesis development Blurring Boundaries Space as a Material Fragmented Ascension Explicit Site Knowledge Peripatetic Site Movement Context Driven Promenade Site-Historical Considerations Instruments of Representation Complete Sensual Captivation Reflecting Balance and Continuity Differential of Prominent Characteristics Comprehensive and Complete (Re)Utilization Dialogic Relationship-Movement and Composition Natural Construction as a Means to Connect/Unite Living Sculptures: Evocative Ecological Revitalization Understanding Site through Environmental Education Wood is a vernacular material that has strong ties to the nature and landscape and gives a strong feeling of home/place (Canoe Meadows). It soaks in the spirit of the place, has a unique texture and pattern, which reveals temporal quality. Each work from Anastasia Savinova in the series shown above is made from photos of wooden composed from architecture
44 | 2.3
taken in Russia and Ukraine. The shapes of the wooden buildings are geometric forms like triangles, rhombs, trapeziums and circles. These geometric forms have a very strong symbolic meaning and directly correlate to my desire to provocatively reinterpret elements of nature in order to create a meaningful architectural intervention.
Design Criteria
[Design Criteria] The following criteria, precedents, sketches and drawings are part of a series that analyzes the topics, themes, and considerations of the research essay in a way that outlines a further thesis investigation looking forward. Each criterion is studied for its implications on the research prior, and tested with a drawing that attempts to forge a scenario that meets its objectives. In effect, the criteria become a framework for the success and failure of the project ahead.
Fig_26. Literary Framework Outline by author. (2016) Fig_27. Genius Loci: Wooden Symbolism by author. (2016)
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46 | 3.0
Case Studies
3.0 Case Studies [Case Studies] The utilization of case studies is a way that frames a broader criterion for success and determines a tipping point. This section sets up the framework for the development of my methodology that continues through to the application of this criteria into my thesis project. Each of these precedents, in their own way, showcase the novel ideas that this thesis is trying to reconfigure, redefine, and further manipulate. Through a broad range of context, location, scale, and program, these projects are part of a framework that will continue to define the criteria for success and its subsequent tipping points.
Fig_28. Precedent Categorical Analysis Chart by author. (2016)
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(Above) The structural layout of this project articulates the buildings relation to the structure of a leaf; organically curving and twisting like a vertebra.
(Left) This project represents an architecture that exists in concert with the landscape through a gradual shift from earth to built form; particularly in section.
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Case Studies
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Weiss & Manfredi (Brooklyn, NY 2012) (Adopted from Weiss & Manfredi) In regards to the preceding established criteria, this project is particularly expressive of its influence from local vegetation and wildlife. The form of the building plan is derived from the shape of a leaf and the rigid steel frames are rotated in an arrangement that suggest the secondary veins of the structure of a leaf. The curvature of the facade discourages static observation and implies progression and movement through nature and architecture as a combined entity. The natural landscape is observed through the replication of the adjacent berm based off of the alignment of the facade. These conditions embody a profound connection to site-specific quality and project a sense of poetic relationship between the user and the architecture. Transposing the inherent qualities gifted to the architect from the site in a respectful manner is an element of Weiss and Manfredi’s work that should not be overlooked due to its ability to entice reaction and translate context through architecture.
Fig_29-30. Sketches by author. Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2016)
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“[Brooklyn Botanic Garden] is an extraordinary oasis in the city and a living museum with a collection in constant flux. It was envisioned that the Visitor Center should act as a living interface that creates an invitation from the city into the public garden—a demonstration of the compelling reciprocity between architecture and landscape. Just as the garden inspires wandering, the center was designed so that it is never seen in its entirety but is experienced cinematically as an unfolding place of discovery.” Marion Weiss
Fig_31. Upper Berm Perspective by Albert Vecerka/Esto. Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2014)
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52 | 3.2
Case Studies
McCann Residence Weiss & Manfredi (Tuxedo Park, NY 2014) (Adopted from Weiss & Manfredi) The site of this project, Tuxedo Park, is defined by two massive granite escarpments and is metered by a series of retaining walls quarried on site that utilize material prevalent throughout the park. The design celebrates the extreme topography of the site, which defines the sectional development of the intervention. The design features a material palette that is capable of weathering the harsh climate unique to the site; custom bronze screens filter light and maximize privacy and the granite walls, mined from a nearby quarry, are constructed from the same stone as the escarpment. Through blurring the connection between landscape and architecture, this house embraces its historic context by introducing a new inhabitable topography.
Fig_32. Textured Sketch by author. McCann Residence (2014)
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Through the extrapolation of the contour lines into the physical construction of stone retaining walls harvested from the site, this project emanates endemic conditions, both through form, material and texture.
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Case Studies
Fig_33. Image by Albert Vecerka/Esto. McCann Residence (2014)
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56 | 3.3
Viewpoints
Relief
Vegetation
Points of Interest
Case Studies
Latvian View Pavilion Didzis Jaunzems, Laura Laudere, Jaunromans Abele (Koknese, Latvia 2013) (Adopted from Didzis Jaunzems) This view terrace and pavilion in Latvia creates a space that exists in harmony wih its breathtakingly beautiful environment. This connection is exemplified through the spaciousness and faraway horizon over river Daugava. There is acknowledgement of cultural context through addressing nature as a source of inner energy, strength, peace and inspiration. Nature is viewed as the first design priority in this project, obtaining the approval of the local Latvians. The building is designed considering site particularities such as movement through the site, forest influence, relief influence, openness and viewpoints. In sinking the pavilion into the ground, the view of the river when approaching is not disturbed, creating a level of continued connectivity between the user and the site. The formal relationships of the construct are determined by the existing placement of the trees and vegetation so that nothing growing needed to be excavated. Additionally, the usage of larch wood cultivated from the immediate context creates another layer of site-specificity. This is an example of how the packing of contextual information into architecture can enhance its ability to express vernacular conditions and address local design issues.
Fig_34. Sketches by author. Latvian View Pavilion (2013)
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A shot of the embankment out to the Daugava River showcases this projects success in blending architecture with the natural environment; particularly through the materiality and gradual sinkage into the ground.
58 | 3.3
Case Studies
Fig_35. Image by Maris Lapins. Latvian View Pavilion (2013)
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The gradual stepping of programmatic levels and the individualized roofing system for each module of the design blurs the user’s ability to identify scale, creates a powerful relation to the existing landscape of the hill, and allows the design to reflect a sense of community and cultural identity.
60 | 3.4
Case Studies
Folk Art Museum Kengo Kuma (Hangzhou, China 2015) (Adopted from Kengo Kuma & Associates) This museum was designed with the intent of creating spaces that allow the user to feel the ground through the continuation of the building’s floors that follow the ups and downs of the slope. The planning of the interconnected structures is based on geometric division in the units of a parallelogram to deal with the intricate topography. Each unit has a small individual roof, so the outlook became like a village that evokes a view of extending tiled roofs. The exterior walls are covered with a screen of tiles hung by stainless wires, controlling the volume of sunlight coming into the interior rooms. Old tiles for both the screen and the roof came from local houses of Hangzhou’s old house district. With varying sizes, the tiles help the architecture to merge into the ground naturally and appear as an integrated piece.
Fig_36. Sketches by author. China Academy of Arts: Folk Art Museum (2016)
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The varied roof heights and roof planes introduce and stress the importance of community amongst the academy. The roof tiles used on the facade screening system provide reference to the context (Hangzhou old house district).
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Case Studies
Fig_37. Image by author. China Academy of Arts: Folk Art Museum (2016)
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The subtle ratio of built form to nature allows the architecture to feel as an integrated piece with its forested context.
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Case Studies
Walden Pond State Reservation Visitors Center Maryann Thompson Architects (Concord, MA 2016) “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.� Henry David Thoreau (Adopted from Maryann Thompson Architects) Tucked into the woods across the street from Walden Pond, this building aims to be both sustainable, innovative and relatable to its natural surroundings. This visitors center employs the use of a variety of architectonic details that save energy and express an obvious consideration for nature. The architecture is capable of achieving a LEED Silver status as well as the title of a net-zero intervention through the utilization of a super-insulated envelope with highly energy-efficient triplepane windows, passive solar building orientation and openings, natural ventilation/cooling, daylighting, all electric air-to-air heatpump HVAC system (eliminating the need for onsite fossil fuels), a solar hot water system for building hot water needs, sustainable materials and practices, native plants in the landscape and a photovoltaic parking canopy structure to generate on-site electricity. These characteristics speak to architectures ability to simultaneously achieve the approval of mother nature as well as create aesthetically pleasing spaces for people to occupy and experience the unique qualities of a site through an architectural lens.
Fig_38-39. Images by author. Walden Pond Reservation Visitor’s Center (2016)
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The texture and coloration of the vernacular New England seasons is reflected through the usage of a wood log canopy, steel support posts, and tasteful usage of varied types of wood on the facade.
66 | 3.5
Case Studies
Fig_40. Image by author. China Academy of Arts: Folk Art Museum (2016)
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68 | 3.6
Case Studies
Unbuilt Works Malcolm Wells “Widely spaced earth-sheltered towns offer sweeping views over the plains. High-speed trains link the communities. Food is grown in the region. Bikeways are everywhere. Nonpolluting hydrogen powers all vehicles. Sunlight and wind generate the hydrogen. Note the earth-covered bridges, the continuous window bands, the wind machines across the farmlands. In this new America, everything is reused, recycled, conserved.” Malcolm Wells (Adopted from Malcolm Wells) Malcolm believes that we live in an era of glitzy buildings and trophy houses: “big, ugly, showoff monsters that stand, (or stomp) on land stripped bare by the construction work and replanted with toxic green lawns. If the buildings could talk they would be speechless with embarrassment, but most of us see nothing wrong with them, and would, given the opportunity, build others like them.” Few of us actually realize that there’s a gentler way to build.
Building into the ground offers huge fuel savings and a silent, green alternative to the asphalt society through embracing concepts of sustainability and architectural longevity.
Fig_41-42. Sketches by author. Malcolm Wells Conceptual Sketching (2016)
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“...A building should consume its own waste, maintain itself, match nature’s pace, provide wildlife habitat, moderate climate and weather and be beautiful. That’s a series of pass/fail evaluation criteria....” Malcolm Wells
70 | 3.6
Case Studies
Fig_43-44. Sketches by author. Malcolm Wells Conceptual Sketching (2016)
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72 | 3.7
Case Studies
Swiss Ornithological Institute mlzd (Sempach, Switzerland 2015) (Adopted from mlzd) This project aims to be highly sensitive to its site, through reuse of displaced material, through respect for the plant and animal life, and through the incorporation of sustainable building technologies. When experiencing the architecture, a dynamic network of routes guides visitors through the exhibition and through to the adjacent lakeside. The compact, polygon structures are positioned so that they interact with the countryside and the lake. Through the inclusion of a showcase aviary at the end of the foyer, the building suggests a gradual, fleeting transition between the inside and outside worlds. The building’s self-supporting outer shell is comprised of solid walls made of rammed earth. With the addition of simple timber construction, the visitors center is able to achieve its desired level of energy efficiency and sustainability.
A major aspect of this project was being able to retain focus on the birdlife unique to this specific area of Switzerland. This is achieved through the pronunciation of horizontality in the low floor to ceilings and the thick, long-spanning bars present on the facade.
Fig_45-47. Sketches by author. Swiss Ornithological Institute (2015)
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Notice the framing of the building by the surrounding trees and vegetation, but also the modularity and gradual inclinations of the roof and ramp slopes, suggesting upward glances at the birds.
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Case Studies
Fig_48. Image by Alexander Jaquemet. Swiss Ornithological Institute (2015)
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76 | 3.8
Case Studies
VillaLola ARKĂ?S Architects (Akureyri, Islandia 2010) (Adopted from ARKIS Architects) With landscape characteristics at the forefront of architectural consideration, this project references a variety of styles and regions in its design; inspirations range from Swiss mountains cabins, a sea ranch in Sonoma County in California, and Japanese solutions in spatial efficiency. The framing of views was essential given the natural surroundings of the site; the fjord of EyjarfjĂśrdur. Villa Lola plays off the dignity of the landscape and the uniqueness of its appearance through its form being composed of three peaks that point towards the sky, forming a valley between the roof slopes. The natural gradations of the site were seized so that natural light and beautiful color combinations are formed at different times of the year. The sustainable objective was met through the incorporation of several different techniques including; the undisturbed landscape, the larch-wood clad exterior (weather protection), wooden boards and concrete terrazzo roof, and the careful curation of the construction process to regulate damage to the site. During construction, all waste was carefully sorted and appropriate materials sent to recycling. The building is specially designed as a low maintenance structure and is able to resonate unique site quality through its form, structure and material usage.
Conceptual sketches displaying the intent of the architect to provoke the importance of the views of the surrounding landscape of the mountainous Islandia.
Fig_49. Sketches by author. VillaLola (2010)
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The reference to the vertical expanse is evident in the wood paneling and the varied roofs that all slope upward in the direction of the most powerful views.
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Case Studies
Fig_50. Image by ARKĂ?S architects. VillaLola (2010)
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Nest We Grow Kengo Kuma (Hokkaido, Japan 2014) (Adopted from Kengo Kuma & Associates) With materials and tectonics as the primary drivers of the design, it took considerable effort to identify a way to join these materials, which was influenced by both local carpentry practices as well as the Japanese material market. The wood frame structure mimics the vertical spatial experience of a Japanese larch forest and is reflective of local material availability. Also of distinct importance is the biological and agricultural usage for the building. Food is hung to grow and dry from the structural members and a tea platform in the middle of the nest creates a gathering space where the community can visually and physically enjoy food around a sunken fireplace. Local foods make up the interior elevation of the “nest.” The nest takes advantage of the transparent plastic corrugated sheets on the façade and roof to allow for the plants to receive light and heat throughout the year. This openness on the façade also allows the building to incorporate the surrounding natural environment into the interior climate, but can also be closed off to create a buffer between the two distinct environments. The funnel-shaped roof harvests rain water and snow melt. The collected water is delivered to tanks that are then used to irrigate the plants in the concrete wall. The shape signifies the nest’s ability to bring nature in the form of air, water and light into the nest. The program of the nest is derived from the life cycle of these local foods: growing, harvesting, storing, cooking/ dining, and composting, which restarts the cycle. Community participation extends and completes the life cycle of local foods, exemplifying a symbiotic relationship between multiple layers of detail. These characteristics help define the building as an integrated system that is regulated by its natural context.
The project focused on heavy timber construction techniques which uses large sections of wood to form the buildings skeleton. This was then translated to the usage of composite columns, which use smaller pieces of wood to generate a larger column.
Fig_51. Image by Shinkenchiku-sha. Nest We Grow (2014)
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The network of structural members and their connections was of primary concern to the designers of the building. It was intended that the thick larch columns and beams were to mimic the experience of walking through one of Japans thick larch forests.
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Case Studies
Fig_52. Image by Shinkenchiku-sha. Nest We Grow (2014)
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A series of drawings of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden highlight, effectively, the notion of embedding multiple layers of contextual information through integrated systems thinking stemming from vernacular derivation.
Plant Usage
Soil Usage
Water Usage
84 | 4.1
Design Research
4.0 Design Research [Methodology] The approach and design strategies to be used in this thesis fall into two different categories: design methodology and implementation. This section outlines the tools I utilized from a methodological standpoint in order to arrive at a final architectural outcome. The methodology that is defined here works to inform how my personal design tools have been established and how they have been used in other projects and how they will be applied to my project. In the communication between both established methodologies, the incremental process of reaching a final product has become important to measure success or failure of the project as a whole.
architecture should come as a resultant of an effort to understand the tangible and experiential character of an intervention. A graphic style, developed during thesis prep, creates a dialogue between key elements of my site and of my personal design disposition. In looking towards the implementation methodology, the final architectural project shall be derived from the articulation of relevant implications based off of my prescribed methodological outline.
In an effort to recognize that any built work is inherently experienced through a personal and physical presence within a space, the primary toolset used in the design method methodology will focus primarily on understanding architecture through perspective. Views that are rarely experienced in built Fig_53. Drawings by author. Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2016)
Design Research
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86 | 4.2
Design Research
[Frames] Exploring design research through a series of frameworks has allowed for a constant testing of ideas and concepts throughout this semester. Working with the idea of site, systems, program, through graphic visuals and models has been created to respond to a series of literature encountered while developing this thesis. The work contained in this section aims to illuminate various ways that nature can be translated into architecture; through a variety of lenses including experiential and sensual interaction, cultural context, academic context, visual tendencies, materials, textures and tectonics, the influence of vegetation and wildlife, and topographical influences.
Fig_54-55. Framing (figurative & literal) by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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The structure of nature’s metabolic and biomimetic quality provides for architecture a stable foundation, a simplistic beauty and an innate sense of procession and contemplation.
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Design Research
Experiential/Sensual Interaction A Collaboration with Nature “When through the woods, and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur, And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.� Replicating the transient quality of innate natural materials, textures and sensual characteristics through reinvention and innovation requires an explicit site knowledge; an ability to recognize and articulate unperceivable correlations. Experiential immersion Implies an instinctive approach to working with landscape and the expression of human emotion through a profound perception of intrinsic environmental components; movement, change, light, growth and decay (the lifeblood of nature).
Fig_56-57. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Representation of how nature should serve as the conceptual framework for architecture, infrastructure, and the fabric of the environments we inhabit.
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Design Research
Fig_58. Discursive Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Deriving architectural and tectonic composition from the model of nature and of vernacular cultural implications allows architecture to address multiple issues through a singular outlet; in this case structure.
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Design Research
Cultural Context Formulating Correlations “Isolation and Introspection� (A reference to the local literary scholars that are unique to Berkshire County) Herman Melville From vernacular architectural influence to literary reference to the outlet of local cultural attractions, site correlation can be amplified through the embedment of concentrated details specific to place. Correlating location-explicit attributes can be a way of suggesting shifts in ways of thinking, learning, building, and designing.
Fig_59-61. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Through ascertaining the inherent characteristics of a site through learning, natural elements can be transposed into architectural material, texture and form.
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Design Research
Academic Context Explorative Partnership As in education, architecture requires complete working knowledge of a particular place that is derived from abstract concepts, material conditions and structuring practices. These pieces are always intercalated, inflecting on and infecting one another rather than remaining separate or distinct.
Fig_62. (From previous page) Discursive Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016) Fig_63-65. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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The existing framework created by the natural environment should work in tandem with the surrounding cultural context, upholding it as a valuable and intrinsic implication that should be considered and designed with.
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Design Research
Fig_66. Discursive Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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As in experiencing nature, architecture should exhibit thresholds that create the sensation of being outdoors.
100 | 4.2
Design Research
Visual Tendencies: Disguised Suggestion In concerning visual tendencies that are triggered by both nature and architecture, it should be noted that sublimity can be found in a formless object, boundlessness should be represented within it, and its totality should be present to thought. Visual intrigue and interest does not necessarily have to be associated with something large and obtrusive that demands immediate attention. Suggestive visual cues are often ingrained into an environment in an extremely subtle way. This subtlety that exists between the human eye and the environment should be carried through into the relationship between architecture and the natural landscape.
Fig_67-69. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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In order to capture the spirit of a given place, it is necessary to document and analyze the materials and textures inherent to that site. Through cataloging, it is possible to engage material and texture based on their prominence on site, and the intrinsic properties they possess.
Fig_70. (From previous page) Discursive Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Design Research
Material, Textural and Tectonic: Inherent Site Palette Architecture should emanate clarity and self-pronunciation in the same way that humans recognize the purity and self-sustaining growth of nature through the touch of material and texture. When we feel the coarse layer of bark on the side of a tree, we understand the protection that the cork provides for the inner layers of the wood; we understand that it slows the loss of water from the interior rings, we understand that it deters the invasion of insects, animals, and fungal and bacterial infection, and we understand its capacity to reveal the amount of time that the tree has spent outdoors. The conscious satisfaction of this identification should be reflected through architecture so that we have the ability to comprehend it as easily as we comprehend the systems of nature. For
this reason, texture and materiality are powerful outlets to evoke the architecturalization of site-specificity.
Fig_71-72. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Post and Beam
Timber Framing
Various constructional and tectonic techniques involving wood, an essential material of Canoe Meadows. Specifically, the sanctuary consists of predominantly white and red pine, and hemlock, with oak and maple as secondary quantity.
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Wattle and Daub
Cordwood
Fig_73-76. Composite Images by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Transference of vernacular material into tectonic usage and structural system is a way of conveying site-specific detail into the framework of architecture.
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Vegetation and Wildlife: Impactful Considerations Architecture is a way to engage and expand the natural habitat of a site so that the life of any living organism is not disturbed, and not deemed less important. To retain this respect for natures life, design thinking might accommodate the concept of landscape cryptography, which is explained as an immersive, trans-species conversation in which the terrestrial forms, plant-life, and climatological effects are signs intended for a nonhuman audience. Simulating an extension of this context should be thought of as equally important as the extension of human-occupied interventions.
Fig_77-79. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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An image representative of a seamless synthetization between nature, landscape, and architecture.
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Fig_80. Discursive Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Using material and texture to respectfully connect built form with the natural landscape is an essential consideration. Blurring boundaries and creating confusion as to what is built and what is existing is desirable.
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Inhabitable Topography: Seamless Synthetization and Site Emanation The culmination of these interconnected strategies should (ideally) resonate as embodied forces of context that are rationalized through architecture: site thinking must continually oscillate between material and conceptual, abstract and physical, discursive and experiential, and general and specific points of view. These interdependent elements should work together to justify a larger idea, the genius loci.
Fig_81-82. Model by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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A site transects drawing displaying the inherent, grounded features of a site and how they can be articulated and reinterpreted to make the genius loci more prominent, and more expressive through architecture.
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Fig_83. Discursive Image by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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[Probe] To embody this concept of sustainable and regenerative architecture, this probe, or three-dimensional construct, provokes and withdraws curiosity about my chosen site. The probe itself is a representation of how wood as a material, with all of its inherent characteristics, can articulate a variety of contextual references. Through innovative technique, artistic detailing, and form-based expression, wood has the ability to address and relate to its environment through architecture. Given the prevalence of varied species of tree present within my site, and woods suggestive regenerative and sustainable qualities, I have chosen to explore and extrapolate its potential moving forward with my project. To translate this idea into physical representation, the design of this probe displays woods flexibility, tactility, warmth, depth and versatility as it pertains to its usage within architecture. Through contrast and replication, this project conveys the multiplicity and variation associated with both the inherent qualities of wood as well
as how it can be used to reflect the forces present within Canoe Meadows. Through construction of the varied tiers of wood segments, I observed that through delicate differentiation and subtle shifts in the visual depth of each layer, that wood is capable of correlating to wildlife/vegetation, topographical conditions, sensual cues, experiential implications and vernacular qualities. Depending on the method of creation, the assembly, and the treatment of wood (among other things), architecture can provocatively replicate and intensify the experience of the user.
Fig_84. Art Installation “Probe� by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Present on site are a large variety of tree species typically associated with the context of Berkshire County, and particularly, Canoe Meadows. These species include (in order of prominence) hemlock, white pine, red pine, oak and so on. This probe is articulating both the expressive potential of wood as a material, but also metaphorically as an element capable of embodying the inherent site forces of the sanctuary.
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Fig_85-86. (From previous pages) Art Installation “Probe” by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_87-88. Conceptual Rendering by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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[Design/Site-Selection Criteria] Criteria testing for this thesis is explored through textured section and plan representation that explores various experiential configurations that are specific to varied site conditions. Sections and plans are used as a method for testing the translation and articulation of site-specific characteristics through provocative architectural moments. Because Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary presents an expansive range of topography, vegetation, and visual/experiential conditions, the process of architecturalizing a synthesis between built form and nature is rooted in the understanding of spatial conditions as they translate from interior to exterior to intermediate spaces. Through the layering of materials and textures, the conveyed depth facilitated through the plans and sections allows for the manipulation of structural and aesthetic elements in terms of height, weight, thickness and transparency. Additionally, the color scheme utilized in the representations are used to withdraw a visceral connectivity with earthen materials that are warm in visual appearance, tactility, familiarity,
In combination with the establishment of a designated method of representation and set of design criteria, documentation and analysis of existing site conditions is essential in gaining a proper understanding of Canoe Meadows. In an attempt to study the varied ecosystems, atmospheric zones, and indigenous species of plants and animals, I have cataloged a series of plants and animals through composite watercolor sketching and photography. In addition to the composite sketching, an outline of prominent areas within Canoe Meadows has also been conducted to select suitable places to intervene architecturally. Through recognition of these inherent intricacies, I as a designer am more capable of creating something that captures the genius loci of the site: through architecture.
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ARTISTIC EXPRESSION Sections and plans are used to heighten and amplify the correlation between interior and exterior conditions through the replication of experiential qualities of the site (i.e. Tall ceilings with clerestory lighting to allow light to filter from above similar to how sunlight punctures through a tree canopy during a walk through the woods). The programmatic designation of the intervention (ecological center including classrooms, art studios and exhibitions) further enhances the architecture to relate back to its natural surroundings through the creation of site-specific art-work and education.
CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION Counterbalance the restrictive tendencies associated with regional construction techniques through a systematic implementation of an architectural program that is appropriate within its macro and micro-context. Replication of natural structure through the irregularity of changing roof planes, floor datum’s, and ceiling configurations.
SYNTHESIS Establish architecture as the mediating element between the natural environment and the user of the site through the development of a cohesive communication between wildlife, inherent sensual forces, experiential qualities, visual tendencies, topographical conditions and cultural and educational implications.
OWNERSHIP Foster a sense of civic ownership and community engagement through an approachable and participatory design that addresses large-scale implications of regenerative design and smallscale implications associated with the ecological environment and the surrounding residential context of the site.
CATALYST Establish a catalytic attitude that encourages long term change and community-inspired connections/projects through creating an architectural and programmatic opportunity.
Fig_89-93. Textured Sections by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Site analysis is conducted through on site sketching, photography, analysis of important features, and the collection of graphic data in order to develop a comprehensive outline of the site that serves as the framework for criteria testing.
Fig_94. Site Makeup/Situation Analysis by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016) Fig_95. Photographic Site Catalog by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2016)
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Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) is described as the practice of experiencing the forest condition with all five senses rather than to get somewhere. It is a state of mind where obligation fades away and you are fully immersed in your surroundings. It is a way to harmonize stressed physiology with the natural world, wordlessly. Forest bathing has been proven to make people feel happier: where they approach the day’s challenges with more of a spring in their step. Pine Thicket Composite derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured by the Forest Agency of Japan and by author.
Fig_96. Composite Sketch by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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(Left) Spring Azure and American Lady with Milkweed derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Wildwood, Rindge, NH and Broad Meadow Brook. Worcester. (Above) Perched Winter Wren captured by author at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Pittsfield.
Fig_97-98. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Calico Pennants derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Flat Rock, Fitchburg.
Diamondback Terrapin Hatchlings derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Wellfleet Bay, South Wellfleet.
Dowitcher Flock derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Joppa Flats, Newburyport.
Bullfrog, Spatterdock, Northern Green Frog derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Ipswich River, Topsfield/Lynes Woods, Westhampton.
Fig_99-102. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Cased Caddis Larvae derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Laughing Brook, Hampden.
Yellow-Rumped Warblers in Pignut Hickory derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Broadmoor, Natick.
Mallard Studies/Winter Shoreline derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Oak Knoll, Attleboro.
White Tailed Deer captured by author at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Pittsfield.
Fig_103-106. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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(Left) Wood Duck Drake derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Skunknett River, Barnstable and Wood Duck Boxes at Waseeka, Hopkinton. (Above) Red Eft Salamander derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Burncoat Pond, Spencer.
Fig_107-108. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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(Left) Beaver Constructing Dam captured by author at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Pittsfield. The beaver is an extremely active animal within the Canoe Meadows site and it considered a trophic species: a classification that means it is essential for other species to thrive. (Above) Piping Plover on Nest derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Allens Pond, Westport/Dartmouth.
Fig_109-110. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_111. Composite Sketch by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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(Left) Yellow Lady’s Slipper derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary, Shelburne. (Above) Yellow Warbler and Nest derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Ashumet Holly, Falmouth.
Fig_112. Composite Sketch by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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(Left) Purple Fringed Orchis derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at West Mountain, Plainfield. (Above) Intermediate Tree Cover Zone captured by author at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Pittsfield.
Fig_113-114. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Bluebead Lily derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Cook’s Canyon, Barre.
Softstem Bulrush derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Barnstable Great Marsh, Barnstable.
Striped Winter Green derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Oak Knoll, Attleboro.
Iceland Gull derived from artist Barry Van Dusen, captured at Eastern Point, Gloucester.
Fig_115-119. Composite Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Iterations of formal gestures in plan, as wells as ‘mood renderings,’ are utilized to convey and emanate the micro and macro characteristics of the context.
Fig_120. Textured Perspective Rendering by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_121-126. Iterative Sketches by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The development of sensual engagement with the site is explored through detailed sectional representation and preliminary ideas for articulating a particular sense through architecture. Seen above is a cut through the first of five scattered structures that is part of a strand of development that weaves its way through different zones of Canoe Meadows. This intervention is dedicated to taste, being programmed as a cafe and food cultivation center. The submersion of circulation allows the user to come into direct contact with the growing and harvesting of food at eye level throughout the entirety of the design.
Fig_127. Textured Section: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_128. Textured Section: Tactility by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_129. Textured Section: Sight by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_130. Textured Section: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_131. Textured Section: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Plans are used to test for design success through proximity analysis, spatial relationships, and interior circulation/progression.
Fig_132. (From Previous Page) Site Plan by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_133. Diagrammatic Plan: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Sections are used to test for design success through vertical relationships, the inclusion of sunlight, perforations in floors, roofs and walls, and spatial connectivity through adjacency.
Fig_134-135. Diagrammatic Sections: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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A strong visual connectivity to the site is provoked through modular segmentation, volumetric differentiation, wall cladding systems, and delineation of interior program.
Fig_136. Diagrammatic Plan: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_137. Diagrammatic Section: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Auditory engagement is amplified through the incorporation of floor and roof perforations to allow sound to enter the interior, as well as operable windows above and below the exterior wall cladding that blurs visual connectivity to the outdoors. Subduing other senses that are inherently prominent at this particular location of the site is part of making the auditory interaction properly amplified.
Fig_138. Diagrammatic Plan: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_139-140. Diagrammatic Sections: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Olfactoral engagement is amplified through the incorporation of angled roof planes and walls, clerestory lighting, accentuated verticality and elevation above the ground plane.
Fig_141. Diagrammatic Plan: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_142. Diagrammatic Section: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Implementing architectural and landscape features in section enhances the conceptual strength in creating an intervention centered around the cultivation/taste of food.
Fig_143. Detail Section: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_144-145. Vegetation Diagrams by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Angles in walls and roofs, as well as interconnected shifts in floor elevation and structural segmentation emphasize the dramatic views of this pavilion towards West Pond and the tree line in the background. Fig_146. Detail Section: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_147-149. Detail Sections: Tactile by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Using materials found onsite in the construction of this series of informal artists’ studios helps increase the architectures ability to relate to its surroundings through tactility.
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Fig_150. Detail Section: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Sensory deprivation of vision is used as a tectonic device: limiting the user’s ability to see outside clearly. In doing this, the sounds of the sanctuary are allowed to filter in from various angles and heights; creating a visceral engagement between the occupants and the sounds of the plant and animal life.
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Fig_151. Detail Section: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The vast forest surrounding this intervention emits a powerful smell of pine sap that is allowed to enter the interior through usage of pine in construction, as well as a series of outdoor decks.
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Fig_152. Aerial Perspective Hand Sketch by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_153. Sensual Interaction Diagram by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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5.0 Design Outcomes [Viscerality: Sensual Engagement] From the beginning stages of this project, (started back in June of 2016) this section represents the accumulation of one year of thesis development; a direct manifestation of design and bibliographic research, resulting in an architecture that is regenerative and site-inclusive. In understanding the criteria for success and failure that this project has associated with, the design outcomes shown are an attempt to create an architecture that is respectful of its context and dynamic in its ability to immerse (sensually) users of the space with the site.
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The first of the five interventions included in this project: focused on the cultivation, preparation, and tasting of food grown in and out of the structure. All garden areas are elevated so that the user experiences the growth of the vegetables at eye level.
Fig_154. Perspective Hand Sketch: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_155. Sensual Composite: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The second of the five interventions included in this project: focused on visual connectivity to the wildlife, and more specifically, the activity on the directly adjacent West Pond onto which the building looks out on to.
Fig_156. Perspective Hand Sketch: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_157. Sensual Composite: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_158. Perspective Hand Sketch: Tactile by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_159. Sensual Composite: Tactile by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The third of the five interventions included in this project: focused on tactility and engagement with the vast undergrowth of the marshy area where this pavilion is situated. The undergrowth is encircling the user both in its natural state as well as in its use in the construction of the pavilion.
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The fourth of the five interventions included in this project: focused on auditory engagement with the moorway that runs beneath the structure and the expansive assortment of bird species that thrive in the tree canopy above.
Fig_160. Perspective Hand Sketch: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_161. Sensual Composite: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The fifth of the five interventions included in this project: focused on olfactoral and atmospheric engagement. The lighting conditions of walking through a dense forest are retained in the interventions construction through usage of angled roof planes and clerestory lighting. A series of outdoor decks are also inclusionary of light emittance and allow the smell of the pine sap to enter the interior and exterior spaces.
Fig_162. Perspective Hand Sketch: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_163. Sensual Composite: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Cultivation and the tasting of food represented as the focal point of architecture through close proximity to gardens and courtyards at every point of circulation within the building.
Fig_164. Perspective Collage: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Connectivity to the adjacent West Pond and tree line represented as the focal point of architecture through the projection of the building over the water datum and the volumetric differentiation between areas of rest and circulation.
Fig_165. Perspective Collage: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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An emphasis on engagement with the vast undergrowth of a marshy area is represented as the focal point of architecture through an elevated board walk and semi-enclosed spaces that allow the vegetation to interact and inhabit the built form.
Fig_166. Perspective Collage: Tactile by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Auditory synthesis with the endemic wildlife is represented as the focal point of architecture through visual blurring, punctures in building envelope, and operable windows to allow sound to infiltrate easily from outside to inside.
Fig_167. Perspective Collage: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Allowing smell to pervade from the surrounding pine forest into the building is represented as the focal point of architecture through the elevation of the building above the ground plane and the integration of pine wood (exclusively) in construction.
Fig_168. Perspective Collage: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The form of the second of five interventions is simply manipulated through the pushing and pulling of basic volumes in order to distinguish the importance of different interior zones.
Fig_169. (From Previous Page) Floor Plan: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_170. Floor Plan: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The configuration of the third of five interventions is interlaced with the existing network of trails and provides users with the ability to pause, reflect and experience the distinct condition of the surrounding marsh area. Fig_171. Floor Plan: Tactile by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Fig_172. Floor Plan: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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The fourth of five interventions projects over the West Pond moorway and is meant to expose the sounds of the aquatic life below and the birdlife in the trees above through perforations in the floor and ceiling as well as the manipulation of interior circulation between three separate levels.
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The last of five interventions is entirely suspended above the ground by 12 feet to engage users with the pine forest, and the prominence of the natural smells within.
Fig_173. Floor Plan: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Taste Intervention:
4,500 sqft.
(1) Ecological Research (2) Café (3) Support (4) Indoor Cultivation (5) Seating/Lounge (6) Circulation
500 sqft. 750 sqft. 225 sqft. 325 sqft. 1,100 sqft. 1,600 sqft.
Fig_174. Section: Taste by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_175. Program Diagram by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Intervention 1 of 5: Heightening Sense of Taste Design Features: - Submersion below existing site ground datum - Bicycle accommodations - Interior/exterior food cultivation - Ecological Research Center - Subgrade Water Collection/Filtration - Community cafe and dining experience - Garden lounges Design Elements: - Rammed Earth Composite Walls - Low-iron glazing - Green roofs - Reutilized pine/oak wood (site-cultivated) - Framing - Millwork - Casting/Molding - Cladding - Flooring
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Visual Intervention: (1) Viewing Area (2) Art Gallery (3) Circulation
Fig_176. Section: Visual by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_177. Program Diagram by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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1,750 sqft. 850 sqft. 570 sqft. 330 sqft.
Intervention 2 of 5: Heightening Visual Connectivity Design Features: - Projection over adjacent West Pond - Modular Distinction - Sinkage towards water datum - Art Gallery/Exhibition (leasable space) - View Lounges - Tree line obscures view of pond until entry Design Elements: - Rammed Earth Composite Walls - Low-iron glazing (angled) - Green roofs - Reutilized pine/oak wood (site-cultivated) - Framing - Millwork - Casting/Molding - Cladding - Flooring
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Tactile Intervention:
2,000 sqft.
(1) Informal Artist’s Pavilion (2) Circulation
1,000 sqft. 1,000 sqft.
Fig_178. Section: Tactile by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_179. Program Diagram by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Intervention 3 of 5: Heightening Tactility Design Features: - Situated in marsh/wetland - Elevated above ground datum - Connection to existing boardwalk system - Semi-enclosed artist pavilions - Exposed to undergrowth Design Elements: - Unscathed undergrowth branch cladding - Reutilized pine/oak wood (site-cultivated) - Framing - Casting/Molding - Flooring
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Auditory Intervention:
2,000 sqft.
(1) Auditory Observatory (2) Circulation
1,500 sqft. 500 sqft.
Fig_180. Section: Auditory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_181. Program Diagram by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Intervention 4 of 5: Heightening Auditory Connection Design Features: - Suspension over adjacent West Pond moorway - Vertical floor separation - Sinkage towards water datum - Observatory space - View Lounges - Visual blurring (cladding) - Operable windows above and below - Clerestory lighting/sound infiltration - Floor/ceiling punctures Design Elements: - Rammed Earth Composite Walls - Low-iron glazing (operable segments) - Reutilized pine/oak wood (site-cultivated) - Horizontal louver cladding
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Olfactory Intervention:
2,300 sqft.
(1) Semi-Enclosed Studio (2) Circulation
1,475 sqft. 825 sqft.
Fig_182. Section: Olfactory by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017) Fig_183. Program Diagram by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
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Intervention 5 of 5: Heightening Smell Connectivity Design Features: - Elevation over ground datum - Elevated boardwalks - Semi-enclosed pavilion/observatory - Art Gallery/Exhibition (leasable space) - Studio space Design Elements: - Reutilized pine/oak wood (site-cultivated) - Framing - Cladding - Flooring - Roofing - Untreated pine trunks - Handrails - Stair treads
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Special thanks go out to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, who provided essential information and support throughout the development of this thesis. Below is the Audubon Society’s mission statement and list of values, which dually embody the conceptual basis of this project: Love of Nature We value the diversity and resilience of nature and treasure its beauty. Nature sustains and renews us, provides unexpected moments of joy, and inspires our daily work. Passion and Commitment We are committed to nature and to people. We share our passion with others to connect people with nature and to inspire everyone to be stewards of the environment. People and Community We care deeply about our colleagues, our partners, our members, and the communities in which we work. We learn from their experience, expertise, and beliefs, and together we build conservation communities that welcome and respect all people. Inspiring Action We believe that every person can make a positive difference. Through education, personal discovery, and transformational experiences, we foster a conservation ethic in current and future generations. Credibility We bring expertise, sound science, long-term thinking, and community knowledge to solving pressing and important environmental challenges. Our personal and organizational integrity serves as a foundation for our work. Teamwork We work together to embrace opportunities and challenges in an ever-changing world. We encourage creativity, innovation, and action, while respecting individual points of view.
6.0 Reflection [Final Thoughts] A critical evaluation of the thesis process and development based on the semester’s inquiry and final review critique: This investigation has been an attempt to respectfully and thoughtfully intervene amidst the natural setting of Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary. With added perspective from colleagues, professors, thesis advisors, and working professionals, a variety of queries were raised in regards to the well-articulated features of the design as well as the some of the shortcomings. Notable positives of the thesis consisted of the form of representation (the usage of earthen tones to convey the genius loci of the site), the manipulation of architectural elements in section, and the distinction between interventions/zones. Notable shortcomings include the prescriptive nature of the pathway (that stitches the interventions together), the lack of hierarchy amongst the drawings I presented on the wall, and my personal design tendencies that were perhaps overly sensible and un-explorative throughout the developmental stages of the design work.
As I move forward with the methods of design thinking developed throughout the duration of this thesis, I feel confident in my ability to both reflect contextual forces through architecture as well as implement regenerative and sustainable initiatives. The concept as a whole can certainly reach an interesting potential beyond the time restraints of this past year and I hope to continue my work in the near future.
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“AD Classics: Fallingwater House / Frank Lloyd Wright.” ArchDaily. May 14, 2010. http://www.archdaily.com/60022/ad-classics-fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright “AD Classics: Olympic Archery Range / Enric Miralles & Carme Pinos.” ArchDaily. August 21, 2014.
http://www.archdaily.com/539870/ad-classics-olympic-archery-range-enric-miralles-and-carme-pinos
Andersson, Arthur, and Chris Wise. Natural Houses: The Residential Architecture of Anderson Wise. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010. Print. “Arnhem Central Transfer Terminal / UNStudio.” ArchDaily. November 22, 2015. http://www.archdaily.com/777495/arnhem-central-transfer-terminal-unstudio Benson, Tedd. Timberframe: The Art and Craft of the Post-and-Beam Home. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 1999. Print. Bois, Yve-Alain, and John Shepley. “A Picturesque Stroll Around Clara-Clara.” October 29, no. Summer (1984): All. Breyer, Melissa. “24 Profoundly Beautiful Words That Describe Nature and Landscapes.” TreeHu gger. March 5, 2015. http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/24-profoundly-beautiful-words-describe-land-
scapes-and-nature.html
“Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center / WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/ Landscape/ Urbanism.” ArchDaily. November 07, 2013. http://www.archdaily.com/445453/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center-weiss-manfredi “Browsing Architecture Dissertations and Theses by Title.” Browsing Architecture Dissertations and Theses by Title.
http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/handle/10652/653/browse?type=title
Burns, Carol, and Andrea Kahn. Site Matters: Design Concepts, Histories, and Strategies. New York: Rout¬ledge, 2005. Print. “China Academy of Arts’ Folk Art Museum / Kengo Kuma & Associates.” ArchDaily. http://www.archdaily.com/782230/china-academy-of-arts-folk-art-museum-kengo-kuma-and-associates Corner, James. “The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention.” Theories of Map ping Practice and Cartographic Representation The Map Reader, 2011. Print. Cowherd, Robert. “Notes on Post-Criticality: Towards an Architecture of Reflexive Modernisation.” Footprint 4 (2009): 65-76. Print. Crowe, N. 2000. Nature and the Idea of a Man–Made World: An Investigation into the Evolution ary Roots of Form and Order in the Built Environment. Cambridge: MIT Press. Print. “Culture Center / Arkitema Architects.” ArchDaily. February 17, 2013. Accessed September 26, 2016. http://www.archdaily.com/330711/culture-center-arkitema-architects Dean, Andrea Oppenheimer, and Timothy Hursley. Rural Studio: Samuel Mockbee and an Archi- tecture of Decency. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002. Print. Drew, Bernard A. A HISTORY OF THE UPPER HOUSATONIC RIVER CORRIDOR. Dmo. Pittsfield, June 2008. Dusen, Barry Van. “Mass Audubon Field Journal.” Taking Flight. Accessed March 29, 2017. http://blogs.massaudubon.org/takingflight/tag/barry-van-dusen/ Frampton, Kenneth. “Prospects for a Critical Regionalism.” Perspecta 20 (1983). Accessed October 30, 2016.
7.0 Appendix [Bibliography]
Fig_169. Sketch by author. Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary (2017)
Appendix
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Frampton, Kenneth. “Rapel a L’ordre: The Case of Tectonic.” Architectural Digest 60, no. 3-4 (April 1990): 20-32. Print. Goldsworthy, Andy. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration With Nature. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990. Print. Hays, Michael K. and Lauren Kogod. “Twenty Projects at the Boundaries of the Architectural Discipline Examined in Relation to the Historical and Contemporary Debates over Autono my.” Perspecta 33 (2002): 54-71. Print. Hebb, Donald O. The Organization of Behavior. (New York: John Wiley & Son,1949). Kastner, Jeffrey, and Brian Wallis. Land and Environmental Art. London: Phaidon Press, 1998. Print. Koolhas, Rem. “The Double Life of Utopia: The Skyscraper.” in Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (New York: Monacelli Press, 1994), 80-158. Print. Littman, Jacob A. Regenerative Architecture: A Pathway Beyond Sustainability. PDF. Amherst, MA: University of Umass Amherst, February 2014. Macfarlane, Robert. “The Word-Hoard: Robert Macfarlane on Rewilding Our Language of Land scape.” The Guardian. 2015. Accessed September 10, 2016. Print. Mallgrave, Harry Francis. “Cognition in the Flesh…the Human in Design.” ed. Tyler Stevermer, Thresholds 42 Human, 2014, 76-87. Print. Manaugh, Geoff. “Animal Architecture.” BLDGBLOG. 2015. Accessed November 06, 2016. http://www.bldgblog.com/2011/04/animal-architecture/ Martin, Louis. “History, Theory, Criticism: The Development of an Intellectual Discourse.” in Archi tecture School: Three Centuries of Educating Architects in North America, ed. Joan Ockman and Rebecca Williamson (Cambridge, Mass.: Washington, D.C.: MIT Press; Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 2012), 336-46. Print. “McCann Residence / Weiss/Manfredi.” ArchDaily. May 31, 2016. http://www.archdaily.com/788339/mccann-residence-weiss-manfredi McDonough, William. ARCHITECTURE NATURE. PDF. San Luis Obispo, California: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Architecture Department, May 2016. Melby, P., Cathcart, T. 2002. Regenerative Design Techniques, Practical Applications in Landscape Design. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Print. Mitchell, John Hanson, and Van Dusen Barry W. The Quiet Earth: Thirteen Essays on the Inter relationship Between Nature and Human Health. Lincoln, MA: Massachusetts Audubon Society, 2016. Moskow, Keith, and Robert Linn. Contemporary Follies. New York: Monacelli Press, 2012. Print. “Natural Building - Ecovillage.” Natural Building Materials, Techniques & Technologies. http://www.dancingrabbit.org/about-dancing-rabbit-ecovillage/eco-living/building/natural-building “Nature & Wildlife.” Mass Audubon. Accessed September 10, 2016. http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife “Nest We Grow / College of Environmental Design UC Berkeley Kengo Kuma & Associates.” ArchDaily. http://www.archdaily.com/592660/nest-we-grow-college-of-environmental-design-uc-berkeley
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Below is a collection of notable lyrics and passages of literature that I have found enlightening in my thesis year of study. In many cases, these passages have helped me formulate design decisions. In a few cases, words have translated into architectural elements that are used throughout my interventions.
“They say the heart of the earth is made of fire. It is held imprisoned and silent. But at times it breaks through the clay, the iron, the granite, and shoots out to freedom. Then it becomes a thing like this.”
Ayn Rand “The Fountainhead”
“Waldeinsamkeit: The feeling of solitude, being alone in the woods, and a connectedness to nature.” German Language “Earth is the serving bearer, blossoming and fruiting, spreading out in rock and water, rising up into plant and animal. The sky is the vaulting path of the sun, the course of the changing moon, the glitter of the stars, the year’s seasons, the light and dusk of day, the gloom and glow of night, the clemency and inclemency of the weather, the drifting clouds and blue depth of the ether.”
Christian Norberg-Schulz “Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture”
“I walked across an empty land I knew the pathway like the back of my hand I felt the earth beneath my feet Sat by the river, and it made me complete Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting old, and I need something to rely on So tell me when you’re gonna let me in I’m getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin I came across a fallen tree I felt the branches of it looking at me Is this the place we used to love? Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?”
Keane “Somewhere Only We Know”
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
Henry David Thoreau “Walden”
“The earth has its music for those who will listen.”
George Santayana
“Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
“Throw a stone into the stream and the ripples that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence.” “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.”
Rainer Maria Rilke, “Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God”
“The laws of Nature take precedence of all human laws. The purpose of all human laws is one -- to defeat the laws of Nature. This is the case among all the nations, both civilized and savage. It is a grotesquerie, but when the human race is not grotesque it is because it is asleep and losing its opportunity.” “Architects cannot teach nature anything.”
Mark Twain “Memorable Midnight Experience”