The path to the meander
Catherine Do Undergraduate Thesis Bachelor of architecture 2017 virginia polytechniC+state university
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contents
3 Acknowledgements 5 Ordering of the sacred & man 23 threshold 35 Meander 59 Momentary Fragments
acknowledgements Firstly, thank you to my parents, Michael and Diane Do, for encouraging me to do all that I could academically, giving me every opportunity, and for supporting me, always. Thank you to all of the professors and colleagues I’ve encountered and gotten to know, at Virginia Tech and within the School of Architecture, for being inspiring, diligent, and kind. I owe particular thanks to Hilary Bryon, for being both my thesis advisor and a source of invigorating encouragement. Thank you to the School of Architecture for the many opportunities you offer your students; I was lucky to have participated in just a few, but I was given so much. Thank you to all who ever shared a meal with me, cooked with me, or ate my food in studio or at pinups, because cooking for others was a way to stay sane. And lastly, thank you to Brock Davis, my husband and my rock - thank you for always being by my side and always encouraging me to grow and persevere.
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It is for this reason that religious man has always sought to fix his abode at the “center of the world.” If the world is to be lived in, it must be founded. …it will appear that even the most desacralized existence still preserves traces of a religious valorization of the world.
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Mircea Eliade
I. ordering of the sacred & man
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sacred, adj. and n. 1. Of the Eucharistic elements: Consecrated. 2. (Followed by to.) a. Consecrated to; esteemed especially dear or acceptable to a deity. b. Dedicated, set apart, exclusively appropriated to some person or some special purpose. 4. Â Regarded with or entitled to respect or reverence similar to that which attaches to holy things. 5. Â a. Secured by religious sentiment, reverence, sense of justice, or the like, against violation, infringement, or encroachment. b. Of a person (hence of his office): Having a religiously secured immunity from violence or attachment; sacrosanct, inviolable. c. With from: Protected by some sanction from injury or incursion. d. fig. Devoted to some purpose, not to be lightly intruded upon or handled.
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Boullée emphasized that architecture’s ultimate objective, like that of any other art, was the imitation of nature. … He respected the ineffable mystery of the origins of a pre conceptual geometry, part of the human order since the beginning of time. … For Boullée, architecture was God’s gift to man to help him make his home on earth. The geometrical solids were therefore explicit symbols of a cosmic order that revealed the presence of the Divine Architect and emulated His creation.
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Alberto Perez Gomez
Cenotaph for Newton | Etienne-Louis Boullée a
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“Boullée was inspired by a clear conception of the universe, by the beauty of simple stereometric forms from which he deduced his ideas on more technical subjects, such as the painter’s approach to symmetry and light and shadow. He wished to express immensity, eternity and the infinite through symbolic spheres; this is best seen in his Cenotaph for Newton…
Cenotaph for Newton | Etienne-Louis Boullée a
Certain Egyptian forms, obelisks and pyramids, had been in vogue from the Renaissance onwards to denote Antiquity; they were used for ceremonial occasions, or because of their emotional associations. Boullée favored them for cemeteries, since their austerity and lack of decoration suggested timelessness.”
Rosenau, Ideal City
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Initial examinations of ordering systems throug architectural representations
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Neoclassical Cutaway | Etienne-Louis BoullĂŠe c
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Ordering of the sacred & Man
Historian and philosopher Mircea Eliade wrote that, “religious man has always sought to fix his abode at the ‘center of the world’...if the world is to be lived in, it must be founded.” 1 The founding of the world is only possible through the manifestation of the sacred, and it is critical to note that the practice of imbuing the story of creation with the sacred is a global phenomenon. For example, Christian tradition attributes the creation of the world to the Lord, who created the world and all its beings in six days, while Japanese tradition details the birth of the physical and celestial worlds, which then leads to the birth of gods and humans. While these creation traditions are from different cultures and areas of the world, they are similar in establishing order from chaos. In other words, the sacred is necessary not only to logically shape the order of the inhabited world, but to also explain the nature of man’s being, otherwise “man senses his profound nothingness, feels that he is only a creature...[nothing] ‘but dust and ashes’.” 2 In order to properly understand the ordering system of the sacred, it becomes necessary to define what “sacred” means. Eliade puts it: “the first possible definition of the sacred is that it is the opposite of the profane.” 3 However, this implies that one must know the profane first in order to define the sacred. While “sacred” is most commonly used in relation to Eucharistic and Christian elements, it can be more simply related to the practice of dedication and setting apart, appropriated for either a specific person or a special purpose – it becomes a special devotion for a particular purpose, not to be lightly considered or intruded upon. This simpler understanding is critical to informing man’s place in the world, as well as logically ordering the world around him. At its core, “architecture is at its highest when it the most human,” 3and because “man cannot gain an understanding through scien-
tific understanding alone...He needs symbols, that is, works of art which represent ‘real life situations’” 5 – man must be able to understand his critical role in the organization of the world. Since humans are a small example of the existing universal order, it makes sense that our bodily order would help to inform our buildings in an abstract way. By building not “literally in [our] own image, but according to the laws of [our] own being,”6 we give the inanimate some human value, a relationship between flesh and stone. In ancient building, stones were cut only as large as a man could carry, and was similarly built to man’s limitations and stature. However, the abstract relationship between building and human body is best understood as a symbolic and sacred relationship. Religious buildings, such as the cathedral, are able to “[establish] and [maintain] a relation between their architecture and the stature of a man,”7 relating to and elevating the human body to the heavens. An example of this heavenly ascension can be seen in the Gothic cathedral, which serves as a literal symbol of the crucified body of Christ – the sacredness of the body is extracted and created into a sacred plan for a sacred space. Indeed, there is a certain relationship between the sanctuary of sacred spaces and the residing man – “the temple continually resanctifies the world, because it at once represents and contains it.”8
ness between empirical and universal consciousness. Architect Carlo Scarpa often used versions of the vesica piscis in his architecture as symbols of two-ness and duality, particularly between the two phases of life and death. One of Scarpa’s most famous works, Brion Cemetery, houses a large usage of the vesica piscis in the form of a large double-circle wall opening at the end of the entrance, representing the intersection of life and death to those that enter.
Another example of derived sacred form is the vesica piscis, which comes from the developing arcs of two equilateral triangles, taken from the geometric basis of the human figure. Often associated around the figure of Christ, particularly the recurring image of the Christ in Majesty (where Christ is central, with flanking religious figures), the vesica piscis has also informed the order of sacred buildings, representing the balanced conscious-
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A study of circular intersections to create a vesica piscis, where two disks with the same radius intersect in such a way that the center of each disk lies on the perimeter of the other.
Usage of the vesica piscis as a sacred shape, particularly in the Western Christian image of the Christ in Majesty. In depictions with the vesica piscis, Christ is seated on a throne as ruler of the world, seen frontally in the center and flanked by other sacred figures. c
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The four parts of the interior of the church symbolize the four cardinal directions. The interior of the church is the universe. The alter is paradise, which lay in the East. The imperial door to the altar was also called the Door of Paradise. During Easter week, the great door to the altar remains open during the entire service; the meaning of this custom is clearly expressed in the Easter Canon: ‘Christ rose from the grave and opened the doors of Paradise unto us.’ The West, on the contrary, is the realm of darkness, of grief, of death, the realm of the eternal mansions of the dead, who await the resurrection of the flesh and the Last Judgement. The middle of the building is the earth. According to the views of Kosmas Indikopleustes, the earth is rectangular and is bounded by four walls, which are surmounted by a dome. The four parts of the interior of the church symbolize the four cardinal directions. As a ‘copy of the cosmos’, the Byzantine church incarnates and at the same time sanctifies the world.
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Mircea Eliade
Cologne Cathedral | Cologne, Germany d
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The threshold is the limit, the boundary, the frontier that distinguishes and opposes two worlds-and at the same time the paradoxical place where those worlds communicate, where passage from the profane to the sacred world becomes possible.
…the experience of sacred space makes possible the “founding of the world”: where the sacred manifests itself into space, the real unveils itself, the world comes into existence.
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Mircea Eliade
II.
threshold
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Novelist Jun’ichiro Tanizaki discusses a sense of uncertainty within architecture, examining the mystery of golden lacquer in a half-lit room - “only in the dim half-light is the true beauty of Japanese lacquerware revealed...as I gazed at the trays and bowls standing in the shadows cast by that flickering point of flame, I discovered in the gloss of this lacquerware a depth and richness like that of a still, dark pond, a beauty I had never before seen. Gold retains its brilliance indefinitely to light the darkness of the room... lacquerware decorated in gold was made to be seen in the dark.” 9 In this metaphor, he claims that humans find beauty not in the thing itself, but in sense and shadow of it - “the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates...were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.” 10 The beauty of uncertainty lending sublimity to the mundane is critical when considering the meandering path. The meandering path is only elevated due to the metaphysical experience stemming form physical experience. The threshold, for instance, allows for both a physical and metaphysical experience; it provides the first boundary, and moving beyond it allows for experience of the sacred. Religious man lives in two kinds of time: sacred time and circular time. For man, sacred time makes possible, and imports value in sacred time - “it is the eternal present of the mythical event that makes the profane duration of historical events.” 11 The meandering path allows for the creation of sacred time and provides a glimpse of the world beyond, encouraging progression to a higher plane of being. This uncertainty of progression piques human interest and aspirations, it provides a sense of mystery and maybe a moment of trance.
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The darkness must be such as is enhanced and made all the more perceptible by contrast with some last vestige of brightness, which it is, as it were, on the point of extinguishing; hence the ‘mystical’ effect begins with semidarkness. Its impression is rendered complete if the factors of the ‘sublime’ comes to unite with and supplement it. The semi-darkness that glimmers in vaulted halls, or beneath the branches of a lofty forest glade, strangely quickened and stirred by the mysterious play of halflights, has always spoken eloquently to the soul, and the builders of temples, mosques, and churches have made full use of it.
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Rudolf Otto
St. Vitus Cathedral | Prague, Czech Republic e
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The sublime is often related to the sacred, where spatial experiences can be elevated and sometimes overwhelming in order to inspire awe and veneration. Philosopher Rudolf Otto discusses the use of “sublime” features, particularly the “semi-darkness that glimmers in vaulted halls”, in the creation of soulful feeling while in religious buildings, noting that “it is not only in the religious feeling of longing that the moment of fascination is a living factor.”12 Art critic John Ruskin also examines these moments of sublimity in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, questioning if the sacred is necessarily confined to religious buildings. In “The Lamp of Sacrifice”, Ruskin questions the necessity and role of architecture in housing the sacred. A sacred place is both the holder of the sacred and an offering to the sacred, perhaps holding knowledge and offering an external method of preaching and ministry. However, Ruskin makes it clear that he does not “want marble churches at all for their own sake, but for the sake of the spirit that would build them,”13 focusing on the act of adoration and giving, rather than the simple admiration and proclamation of God. With this in mind, I bring up the question: if a church allows for an elevation of self in the name of God, can a similar transformation occur in non-religious buildings of a different sacred nature? I postulate in the thesis that the knowledge-seeking of traditional libraries hold a similar sense of quest, and how it may imbue similar eloquent feelings to the soul.
Trinity College Library | Dublin, Ireland f
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The window and door frames are able to serve as indicators of threshold, offering a glimpse of what lays beyond and an indictation of the path that may be taken.
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The window presents the question of threshold and its limits - can one linger in the threshold, or is a threshold only an instant before moving through? Is a window only for viewing beyond, or can it also be a mechanism for inhabiting the threshold and becoming a part of the “in-between�?
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Spatiality, by contrast, points not to the phenomena themselves but to one’s experience and sense of them… Space is congenial to an instrumental sort of production because technique is know-how that is free from circumstantial particulars. Discrete spaces, by contrast, do not point directly to productivity but can sustain it, when design is understood as ingenuity. Put differently, spatiality is the key to mediating the alternative between conceiving abstract space and perceiving actual spaces.
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David Leatherbarrow
III.
meander
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meander, n.  1. A winding course. a. In pl. Convolutions, intricacies, or complications (of situations, emotions, ideas, etc.) b. In sing. A winding or labyrinthine plan, concept, or course of action. c. concr. A crooked or winding path (of a maze); a labyrinthine passage; a winding or convolution (of a vein, fissure, line, etc.). 3. A circuitous journey or movement (of a person or animal); a deviation from a direct route. Often in pl. Also fig. 4. Art and Archit. An ornamental running pattern consisting of lines connected to each other at regular right angles or forming spiral turnings, freq. arranged so that the width of the lines is equal to the width of the spaces between them; a key pattern, a fret. meander, v. 2. trans. To entangle as in a labyrinth. 4. intr. Of a person: to wander aimlessly; to follow a circuitous course. Freq. with along, through, etc. Also in extended use.
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Initial concrete studies were conducted by creating disparate elements, and then layering them order to propose meandering paths.
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How does the meander come into being? How does one make an idea into a physical presence? By modeling multiple layers of threshold, multiple paths are able to be created, paths that are able to be construed as the “meander�. Can fragments be able to construct the meander on an architectural scale?
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fragments of the meander
A study of fragments - nine separate drawings - and their piecing together in order to engage the meander.
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Architecture cannot be limited to four walls and a roof, however complex a system of subdivisions they enclose, or as a system of posts and plans, transparent or opaque. To experience the meaning of…space in an architectural, or purely human, sense it is not enough to look at its visible form… To feel space the observer must flow through it, he must go in and come out, become conscious of the indoors and outdoors as related parts of a continuous whole. John Howe
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La Muralla Roja is a large housing complex designed by Ricardo Bofill, built on the Spanish coast and featuring bright colors that contrast the blue sky and ocean. The project appears almost like a fortress, emerging from the seaside cliffs, and is characterized by its series of interlocking stairs, platforms, and bridges between public and private spaces. In addition, Bofill incorporates strategic views, such as overlooks at certain points along the connecting elements. These meandering elements served as architectural inspiration, especially with the integration of the path not only as a means of circulation, but as a beautiful journey. La Muralla Roja | Alicante, Spain g
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Initial Collage of Architectural Meandering Elements
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Secondary Collage of Architectural Meandering Elements, for a library
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But the main point, I think, is the delay, the partial disclosure, or simultaneity of revealing and hiding. ...this meander was a good thing, because modern spatiality involves continuities, sequences, and connections - not movement in space but through spaces. John Howe
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IV. Momentary fragments
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The Prisons (Carceri d’invenzione or ‘Imaginary Prisons’) by Piranesi are a series of prints depicting large-scale perspectives of an imaginary subterranean prison, further habited by faceless prisoners and giant machines. While the images are imagined and fantastical, they still present themselves as realistic fragments of an existing whole. This work prompted an exploration into necessary moments in a library, and how those moments could help to formulate and shape the overall architecture.
Imaginary Prisons, Second State | Giovanni Battista Piranesi h
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Imaginary Prisons, First State | Giovanni Battista Piranesi i
Imaginary Prisons, Second State | Giovanni Battista Piranesi j
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Wall with Large Opening, with Implied Patterning
Wall, with Patterned Opening and Walkway
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Door with Inlaid Handrail
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Door
Door Within the Wall/Stair
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Long Corridor / Extension of Doorway Light
Creation of Central Area, with Doors and Windows
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Light Entering Space Past Walls
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Extended Pathway with Openings
Implied Staircase Outside Window Facade
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Implied Library Fragment, with Circulation and Floors
Implied Library Fragment, with Shelving and Windows
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elements of the meander
Catherine Do Undergraduate Thesis Bachelor of architecture 2017 virginia polytechniC+state university
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contents
5 initial examinations 15 the start of a program 21 precedents of the Meander 43 the thesis 53 The Shelf-Wall 63 Path-Sit-Turn 71 Inside-Outside Habitation 79 stair habitation 87 case study models
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I. Initial examinations
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Preliminary Sections Detailing Possible Layouts for a Library
Two Major Bodies for Housing Library Material, Connected by Central Staircases
Singular Mass for Housing Library Material, Set Apart from the Main Structure
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In order to further examine the “meander� archtitecturally, a section of this meandering drawing was more closely examined with a library program in mind. The program was divided between the three floors, creating public shelving spaces, exhibition spaces, and private study spaces, while attempting to integrate a meandering path.
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1 private archival space 2 Working space 3 stacks & entry
3/ book storage entry space into building
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2/ book/etc storage group working areas & exhibition space
1/ archival storage & offices special working spaces
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II. the start of a program
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The path of meander cannot be forced - like nature, the intended path, whether linear or serpentine, cannot be assumed. With this in mind, this thesis contends that rather than creating a path that supposedly “meanders”, it is instead favorable to create grounding elements of the meander. The ones presented here are the “shelf-wall”, the “path-sit-turn”, the “stair-habitation”, and the “inside-outside study”. The setting is a library, where the grounding elements and the meandering path of an inhabitatnt are brought together in order to encourage the occupant towards focused study and research. As thoughts wander and search, feet are allowed to similarly journey through the space - physical actions mimic the mental.
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Study of meander in historic libraries
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Pleasure Garden Plans | Georg Andreas Bรถckler k
Jeronimos Monastary (Lisbon, Portugal) & Chinese Scholar Garden l
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III. precedents of the meander
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meander, n.  1. A winding course. a. In pl. Convolutions, intricacies, or complications (of situations, emotions, ideas, etc.). b. In sing. A winding or labyrinthine plan, concept, or course of action. c. concr. A crooked or winding path (of a maze); a labyrinthine passage; a winding or convolution (of a vein, fissure, line, etc.). 3. A circuitous journey or movement (of a person or animal); a deviation from a direct route. Often in pl. Also fig. 4. Art and Archit. An ornamental running pattern consisting of lines connected to each other at regular right angles or forming spiral turnings, freq. arranged so that the width of the lines is equal to the width of the spaces between them; a key pattern, a fret.
meander, v. 2. trans. To entangle as in a labyrinth. 4. intr. Of a person: to wander aimlessly; to follow a circuitous course. Freq. with along, through, etc. Also in extended use.
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meander and architecture A meander refers generally to a winding course and refers more specifically to the winding bend or curve of a river. The meander is most commonly associated with a fluid and changing path, which has impacted other more human definitions of ‘meander’. For instance, meander has also been defined as a winding and labyrinthine path, usually associated with picturesque garden spaces and mazes. More abstractly, meander can refer to a circuitous journey or movement that is a deviation from a direct route; a person is able to wander aimlessly while following a circuitous route. The meander can be related to spatiality, which focuses on human experience and sense of space. “Spatiality is the key to mediating the alternative between conceiving abstract space and perceiving actual spaces.”14 Architect John Howe addresses the meander as a new form of spatiality, where the architectural use of the meander implements a roundabout and almost tortuous way of entering a space. To him, “the act of going in and coming out no longer seems to symbolize the passage from one compartment of space to another, but rather the observation of a point defining a change in direction, intensity or velocity.”15 This spatiality addresses not only the human path as movement in space, but rather as movement through spaces as part of a continuous whole. He notes further that “architecture cannot be limited to four walls and a roof, however complex a system of subdivisions they enclose, or as a system of posts and plans, transparent or opaque.”16 The meander has been most specifically addressed by Le Corbusier, who established the “Law of the Meander” within his Ville Radieuse proposal. Corbusier was intrigued by the meander’s connection to traditional travel routes, and “he anticipated this enlarged sense of the ra-
mbling route”. “As with the donkey path, the story in that text begins with an accident: a rock appears in the path of running water. This sets into motion an interplay of consequences, force and counterforce. Instead of flowing normally down to the sea in a straight line, the river is held up in its course by the obstruction in its path. The result is a meander. Given his moral gloss on straight lines - direct means clear, forthright, rational - the meander represents a fall from the grace of the straight line.”17 It is critical to note nature’s role in the changing of Corbusier’s path - the meander is a fateful and natural intervention that changes the intended linear path and ultimately, “the movements of the natural world consign to human affairs both their orientation and their end.”18 Similarly, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright also used elements of the meander to inform his work, establishing a meandering path in order to allow a journey before the final destination. Interestingly, this is an archaic idea usually tied to religious and monumental architecture, allowing for a mediatory path before viewing the sacred destination. Leatherbarrow notes that one of Wright’s best examples of this is within Unity Temple, where parts of the main central space are slowly revealed as one enters the site off-axis and proceeds to journey towards the central sacred space.
Ville Radieuse | Le Corbusier m
Unity Temple | Frank Lloyd Wright n
However, both Corbusier and Wright assume too much of the guaranteed path, stiffening the meandering path within a concrete plan. It becomes more necessary to return to the organic nature of the meandering path. Like its natural origin, in order to properly insert the meander within architecture, the inhabitant must be allowed to create their path naturally, but still within an overarching order. Maze Design | J. Serlio o
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Unity Temple Exterior | Oak Park, Illinois p
Unity Temple Plan | Oak Park, Illinois q
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Passage into and through Wright’s Unity Temple involves a striking number of turns and varieties of views. Robert McCarter counted seven turns and a walk twice the length of the entire building just to get from sidewalk to sanctuary. The entry foyer is a decisive point of orientation in the earth stages of the sequence. Because of its low ceiling and the vertical compression it suggests, there is a heightened sense of opportunities at the edges of the room, or an expansion of lateral awareness. The key point of release leads into the so-called cloister, an ambulatory around the lower level, which skirts the main sanctuary. En route, the latter setting is glimpsed indirectly, increasing one’s sense of anticipation. Through openings between the sanctuary floor and the cloister ceiling, one can see from the darkness of the hallway into the warm light of the space above. Wright explained this glimpsing or glancing awareness with comments on propriety: “[T]hose entering would be imperceptible to the audience. This would preserve the quiet and the dignity of the room itself.” But the main point, I think, is the delay, the partial disclosure, or simultaneity of revealing and hiding. For Howe, this meander was a good thing, because modern spatiality involves continuities, sequences, and connections - not movement in space but through spaces.
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David Leatherbarrow
Unity Temple Section & Plan | Oak Park, Illinois r s
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Interior Views of Unity Temple | Oak Park, Illinois t
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As for Le Corbusier, a well-known indication of his development into the new spatiality is the promenade architectural. Although he explored the motif in several projects, its introduction in his Oeuvre Complete corrode in his description of Maisons La Roche and Jeanneret. His account began not with movement but vision; first you enter and the spectacle unfolds in succession before your eyes. The sequence that follows is not of rooms but of their parts, because some elements of each obscure the full comprehension of those that follow. His statement of principle is this: “[Y]ou follow an itinerary and the perspectives develop with great variety.” As with many writers in the picturesque tradition, rambling movement prolongs the succession of partial prospects. But partiality indicates both lack and surplus. Although occlusion requires concealment, it also prompts discovery. David Leatherbarrow
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Maison La Roche-Jeanneret | Paris, France u
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Maison La Roche-Jeanneret | Paris, France v
The space of the Maison La Roche-Jeanneret is split into two parts: an open exhibition space for an art collection and a private apartment. Similar to Le Corbusier’s other works, the house features his Five Points: pilotis (lifting the building off the ground), a flat garden roof, open-plan interiors, ribbon winds for light and ventilation, and a free-facade independent of the structure. Critical to the interior experience of the Maison La Roche-Jeanneret is the sequenced movement between the public/ private areas of the house. The sequence of movement is what Le Corbusier called the “architectural promenade”, allowing the spaces to dictate the direction of movement. Within the Maison La RocheJeanneret, Le Corbusier creates a path that utilizes the curved ramp, guiding the visitor through the building, while systematically unveiling the artwork displayed.
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Interior view of the public gallery and the meandering ramp
The ramp allows for a transition between the open public space to more private, residential space, demonstrating an inside /outside relationship within the layout,.
Maison La Roche-Jeanneret | Paris, France w x
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He anticipated this enlarged sense of the rambling route in his first account of the law of meander in The Radiant City. As with the donkey path, the story in that text begins with an accident: a rock appears in the path of running water. This sets into motion an interplay of consequences, force and counterforce. Instead of flowing normally down to the sea in a straight line, the river is held up in its course by the obstruction in its path. The result is a meander. Given his moral gloss on straight lines - direct means clear, forthright, rational - the meander represents a fall from the grace of the straight line.
�
David Leatherbarrow
Plan Voisin | Paris, France y
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IV. the thesis
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library, n.1 1. A place set apart to contain books for reading, study, or reference. (Not applied, e.g. to the shop or warehouse of a bookseller.) In various applications more or less specific. a. Applied to a room in a house, etc.; also, a bookcase. In mod. use, the designation of one of the set of rooms ordinarily belonging to an English house above a certain level of size and pretension. b. A building, room, or set of rooms, containing a collection of books for the use of the public or of some particular portion of it, or of the members of some society or the like; a public institution or establishment, charged with the care of a collection of books, and the duty of rendering the books accessible to those who require to use them.
archive, n. 1. A place in which public records or other important historic documents are kept. 2. A historical record or document so preserved.
The path of the meander cannot be forced - like nature, the intended path, whether linear or serpentine, cannot be assumed. With this in mind, this thesis contends that rather than creating a path that supposedly “meanders”, it is instead favorable to create grounding elements of the meander. The ones presented here are the “shelf-wall”, the “pathsit-turn”, the “stair- habitation”, and the “inside-outside study”. The setting is a library, where the grounding elements and the meandering path of an inhabitant are brought together in order to encourage the occupant towards focused study and research. As thoughts wander and search, feet are allowed to similarly journey through the space - physical actions mimic the mental. By definition, a meander refers generally to a winding course and refers more specifically to the bend or curve of a river. Architecturally, the meander has been addressed by Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, who both use meander as a justification for off-axis entries and circuitous floor plans. For Le Corbusier, “the meander represents a fall from the grace of the straight line,” and the establishment of an off-axis path allows for a journey before the final destination. However, this is not the only path to a true meander - the meander is ultimately a fateful series of interventions that changes the intended path.
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Concrete Wall Section
In this proposal for a library, the structures are built utilizing poured-in-place concrete, aiming for the building to exude a sense of heaviness, structure, and archaism. The concrete structures are contrasted with built-in wood accents, allowing for a juxtaposition between cool and warm surfaces.
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Considered Site of Libary Proposal z
While not a dominant part of the final proposal, this thesis was formulated with the site of Lisbon, Portugal in mind. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the oldest city in Western Europe. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Alfonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then, it has been a major political, economic, and cultural center of Portugal. Portugal has historically been associated with the noble pursuits of voyage and discovery, and was a crucial part of the New World explorations. The thesis for a library was formulated for the region of Belem in Lisbon, which is one of the older districts in the region and houses various medieval buildings, though recently Belem has undergone revitalization and new architectural growth, particularly with the growth of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Specifically cited to be in the crosshairs of the Jeronimos Monastary and the Planetรกrio Calouste, as well as near the Belem Tower and the Monument to the Explorers, this thesis aspired to be an intersection of knowledge-seeking for both the sacred and secular realms, promoting exploration of a higher plane, into the stars and beyond. The thesis takes the stance that the sacred and secular fields of study are similar and can be combined - indeed, the act of knowledge-seeking is sacred in and of itself. Scholarly study is similar to the focused study of monks, and this quest for knowledge is heightened by the presence of the meander within the library, allowing wandering feet to match wandering thoughts.
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Cultural Landmarks of Belem, Lisbon aa
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V. the shelf wall
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The “shelf-wall� serving as a straddling element of library function and structural neccessity.
The “shelf-wall” is the integral building block for the proposed elements. Consisting of a thick poured-in-place concrete wall with inserted wooden shelves, the “shelfwall” serves the necessary role of holding the books and goods of the library, as well as serving as the structure for the building. In addition, the “shelf-wall” allows inhabitants to occupy the “in-between”, passing through or occupying threshold spaces.
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While the shelf-wall is made of cast-in-place concrete, the structure features built-in slots to accommodate wooden shelves. The warmth of the wood constrasts against the coolness of the structural concrete.
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Construction detail of the “shelf-wall”
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VI. path-sit-turn
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The “path-sit-turn� serving as a crossroads along the meandering path, allowing opportunity for pause or for continuation.
The “path-sit-turn� element serves as a means of following the meandering path, but also allowing the inhabitant to make a decision: to sit within the wall and pause, or to proceed through the attached doorway to a new section of the library.
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VII. inside-outside habitation
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The “inside-outside� element creates a relationship between the public and private areas of the library, allowing for private study and public seating areas.
In addition to housing books, the proposed library also features places of “inside-outside habitation”, areas that help to facilitate study and research. Located along the meandering path, these places of “inside-outside habitation” serve as stopping points for physical meandering, providing both enclosed carrels and open threshold spaces.
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Construction drawing of the habitated wall
While enclosed study areas are typical of libraries and archives, this thesis posits that the creation of external study spaces are also key, creating continous places of focus thought along the meandering path.
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VIII. stair habitation
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Stairs serving as necessary elements of movement, while also being continous of the meandering path
Within a space, stairs serve a necessary function of allowing movement between floors, but in the proposed library, stairs also serve as places of habitation and an extension of the meandering path.
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ix. case study models
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Four case study models were constructed, serving as illustrations of potential sections within the library utilizing the meandering elements (shelf-wall, path-sit-turn, inside-outside, and stairs).
Case Study 1 (Division of Program Between Floors)
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Shelf-Wall
Path-Sit-Turn
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Inside-Outside Habitation
Stairs
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Case Study 2 (Integration of Path-Sit-Turn)
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Case Study 3 (Integration of Inside-Outside Habitation)
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Case Study 4 (Integration of the Stair)
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image footnotes a. Boullée, Etienne-Louis. “Cenotaph for Newton.” The Temple of Death & Cenotaph for Isaac Newton. <https://mythstalesandlies. wordpress.com/2012/10/31/the-temple-of-death-cenotaph-for-isaac-newton/> b. Boullée, Etienne-Louis. “Neoclassical Cutaway, 1790s.” Etienne-Louis Boullée. <https://monoskop.org/%C3%89tienne-Louis_ Boull%C3%A9e> c. Evangelistar von Speyer, um 1220. “Codex Bruchsal.” Manuscript in the Badische Landes bibliothek, Karlsruhe, Germany. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Codex_Bruchsal_1_01v.jpg> d. “Elevation and plan of the Cathedral, Cologne.” an eclectorama of architecture + maps, a subdivision of parisdeuxieme.com. <http://archimaps.tumblr.com/post/103330639727/elevation-and-plan-of-the-cathedral-cologne> e. Shymko, Roman. “St. Vitus Cathedral Interior.” St. Vitus Cathedral Interior - Roman Shymko Digest. <https://roman-shymko. com/digest/st-vitus-cathedral-interior/> f. “Library of Trinity College Dublin.” Library of Trinity College Dublin | MacPepper | flickr. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/gwp fae/23389689762> g. Bofill, Ricardo. “La Muralla Roja.” La Muralla Roja - Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. <http://www.ricardobofill.com/proj ects/la-muralla-roja/> h. Piranesi, Giovanni Battista. “Second State.” The Prisons (Le carceri); the complete first and second states. With a new introd. by Philip Hofer. 1973. Print. i. Piranesi, Giovanni Battista. “First State.” The Prisons (Le carceri); the complete first and second states. With a new introd. by Philip Hofer. 1973. Print. j. Piranesi, Giovanni Battista. “Second State.” The Prisons (Le carceri); the complete first and second states. With a new introd. by Philip Hofer. 1973. Print. k. Böckler, Georg Andreas Böckler. “View of Weimar Castle, with ground plans of the pleasure gardens”, “Palazzo Barberini in Rome, with ground plans of the pleasure gardens.” Böckler’s Pleasure Garden Plans (1664). <http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/ bocklers-pleasure-garden-plans-1664/> l. Johnston, R. Stewart. “Chinese Scholar Garden.” Scholar gardens of China : a study and analysis of the spatial design of the Chi nese private garden. 1991. Print. m. Corbusier, Le. “Cartesian towers | Ville Radieuse proposal.” Totality and Total Architecture. <https://thecharnelhouse. org/2011/11/21/totality-and-total-architecture/> n. Wright, Frank Lloyd. “Plan du Niveau 01.” Unity Temple Par Frank Lloyd Wright. <http://www.archigraphie.eu/?p=930> o. Serlio, J. “Fig. 81.—Maze Design by J. Serlio (Sixteenth Century).” The Project Gutenburg | Mazes and Labyrinths, by W. H. Mat thews. <https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46238/46238-h/46238-h.htm> p. Wright, Frank Lloyd. “Unity Temple.” Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple: Holy Concrete. <http://www.midcenturyhome.com/ frank-lloyd-wright-unity-temple/> q. Wright, Frank Lloyd. “Construction sequence + plan arrising from Japanese decoration motif.” Slide from Kenneth Framp ton’s Studies in Tectonic Culture class : L05 Wright. <http://tanyaluciagriffiths.tumblr.com/post/77079382973/> r. Wright, Frank Lloyd. “Unity Temple Longitudinal Section” WikiCommons. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com mons/3/31/Unity_Temple%2C_875_Lake_Street%2C_Oak_Park%2C_Cook_County%2C_IL_HABS_ILL%2C16-OAKPA%2C3 -_%28sheet_7_of_7%29.png> s. Wright, Frank Lloyd. “Schematic Design of Unity Temple.” Interior Tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Oak Park, Il linois. <http://www.oprf.com/unity/tour/index.html> t. Leatherbarrow, David. “Unity Temple by Frank Lloyd Wright.” Architecture Oriented Otherwise. 2009. Print. u. Corbusier, Le. “Photograph by Flickr user Steve Cadman.” Le Corbusier’s Maison La Roche-Jenneret. <https://www.dezeen. com/2016/08/05/maison-la-roche-jeanneret-le-corbusier-paris-residence-france-house-villa/> v. Corbusier, Le. “Maison La Roche-Jenneret.” Early Corbusier - Feb 27. <https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/early-corbusier feb-27/deck/6240083> w. Corbusier, Le. “Photograph by Oliver Martin-Gambier.” Le Corbusier’s Maison La Roche-Jenneret. <https://www.dezeen. com/2016/08/05/maison-la-roche-jeanneret-le-corbusier-paris-residence-france-house-villa/> x. Corbusier, Le. “Photograph by Flickr user Steve Cadman.” Le Corbusier’s Maison La Roche-Jenneret. <https://www.dezeen. com/2016/08/05/maison-la-roche-jeanneret-le-corbusier-paris-residence-france-house-villa/> y. Corbusier, Le. “Plan Voisin, Perspective.” Plan Voisin : MIT Libraries. <https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/43583> z. Wagner & Debes. “Lisboa City Map, 1899.” City and Town Maps : Lisbon. <https://www.discusmedia.com/maps/lisbon_city_ maps/3642/> aa. Pasteis de Belem. “Cultural District Map.” Cultural District | Pasteis de Belem. <http://pasteisdebelem.pt/en/bairrocultural/>
text endnotes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
(Eliade, p. 22) (Eliade, p. 10) (Eliade, p. 10) (Bragdon, p. 72) (Norberg-Schulz, p. 5) (Bragon, p. 67) (Bragdon, p. 72) (Eliade, p. 59) (Tanizaki, p. 13) (Tanizaki, p. 30) (Eliade, p. 89) (Otto, p. 35) (Ruskin, p. 497) (Leatherbarrow, p. 243) (Leatherbarrow, p. 248) (Leatherbarrow, p. 252) (Leatherbarrow, p 292) (Leatherbarrow, p. 293)
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