TWENTY ONE

Here is it! The final project!

TWENTY

Here are the latest sketches of what the Scottish Rite Cathedral will look like. I've been slowly building it in Sketchup. It looks amazing, but its definitely taking a VERY long time. If I can pull it off and get it rendered, its going to look pretty sweet though!

NINETEEN

Here are some preliminary sketches of project number two!
Since the meeting places of "The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite" are called cathedrals, I thought it fitting to design a building similar to a Gothic cathedral. Parallels between the Masons and cathedrals can be found in abundance. For example, it would have been a group of stone masons (most likely belonging to a guild) who built each cathedral. Also, The many forms of cathedrals mimic masonic symbolism.
A cathedral is also one of the most complex and comprehensive studies of masonry construction, so, in keeping with the goal of learning about masonry and its nature, I thought a cathedral would be a great building to help me learn.

Experimenting with different forms 

Evolution of a final form. The bottom drawing will be very close to the final front elevation. The colour scheme will be pretty close too. The building is being constructed of white and black marble.

preliminary layout of spaces. plan view.

The super secret ritual room! I've changed the traditional square layout into a proscenium stage with a circular apron, and thrust style seating. The role of fantasy and theatricality is very important for these rituals. I wanted to create a space that was more removed from a traditional theater to do away with preconceptions of a typical theatrical experience. This is a RITUAL. it is not a performance (actually it is, I just don't want it to feel like a performance)

Behold the ritual room! Never before has the public been privy to such secrets... Not. Actually, thousands of books about the Freemasons have been published and are freely available to the public. Most people just prefer to keep this "secret society" abnormal and mysterious. Thats ok with me. I WANT to design a place of ritual and mystery!

Different details of the building

metaphor sketches

EIGHTEEN

The following are selected slides from my powerpoint presentation on the masonry project.

This is a zoning map of the city of Proctor. The red areas denote commercial lots- obviously, this is an incredibly small town, despite its renown as the marble capital of the world. Though the project specified a specific site, we've since been given leeway about site selection. I will choose a larger city to facilitate a larger, more ornate building. Right now, I have my eye on Quebec city.

An aerial view of the city of Proctor. It has some nice plots of land, but its population is less than 2000 inhabitants. Any Mason lodge built her would be little more than a one room building.

This is the marble quarry in Proctor. You can see the tiers of marble cuts in the side of the rock face. Marble is taken out of the ground in large stratifications, which are then cut into smaller (though still quite large) blocks. These large blocks are removed with machinery to various finishing sites. 

These are the three main marbles of Proctor, Vermont. Although I love the serpentine patterns of the Vermont Verde Antique Green marble, I think the contrast between the black and white marble would be the most dramatic on the outside of a building.

This is an example of how beautiful marble can be on the exterior of a building. This is marble cladding- it is not structural, its just attached to the side of the building in thin sheets.

Building with stone does not limit you to orthogonal shapes! This is the Baha'i Temple in New Delhi, India. Its Lotus form is created with white marble cladding. 

This is a case study of Ladd Hall. Note the hierarchy of architectonics. I like to think of the hierarchy as a vertical pattern that becomes less substantial the higher you go. With a more substantial base, the building appears more grounded. This vertical hierarchy is repeated horizontally. Rules about windows and other elements are put in place to create consistency and harmony. Deviating from this pattern can create unique features, however. The diagonal pilasters that frame the central part of this facade are a good example of this. They are also a good example of the diminishment of architectonic elements the higher you go- notice the "layer cake" effect.

Masonry is ripe for expressive possibilities. This stone carving embodies the traditional gargoyle of gothic cathedrals: the pinnacle of masonry construction. This stone carving also expresses the function of the building in an artistic way. Ladd hall is the old chemistry building. This dwarf is holding a mortar and pestle- an allusion to the processes of chemistry. Its an appropriate expression- a dwarf in a lab coat holding a laptop would upset the socially learned vocabulary of masonry construction that makes masonry buildings look and feel "old" or "old world".

SEVENTEEN

     The second project of the semester is a lodge for the Freemasons. "Freemason" is a broad term which describes a group of fraternal organizations based on the masons guild of the medieval ages. I've chosen to build a guild for the American Scottish Rite guild of Freemasons. The Scottish Rite appeals to me because of their theatrical rituals. While most people think that the rituals of Freemasons are impenetrable secrets, they have actually been published and are available to the public, granted, copies of these are difficult to find. The Scottish Rite hold themselves to a high moral standard. Their are 29 levels that can be achieved within the organization. These levels are not levels of enlightenment or power, as most people think. Instead, the levels indicate a comprehension of morality, much like high school measures intelligence with grades. All rituals within the Scottish Rite involve an individual Mason, or a group of Masons passing from one level to the next level. Similarly, high school and university graduation is celebrated with a ceremony, though these can be elaborate, they lack significant metaphor. A Scottish Rite ritual is both elaborate and filled with metaphor. Simply stated, the ritual is an elaborate theatrical production which TEACHES a moral value or lesson to the successor- one that they must exemplify to be truly successful within their newly assigned level. Calling these rituals theatrical productions is no loose term. These rituals (in the early 20th century) were just that! The rituals took place in theater-esque auditoriums inside Cathedrals (the name given to a Scottish Rite place of meeting because of their visual similarity to cathedrals, and the traditional marriage of stone masons and middle age cathedrals) complete with stage, proscenium arch and tiered seating. These theaters were often better equipped than the any other theater. Elaborate lighting, special effects, backdrops, set pieces, music and staging were among the highest quality of live production of the time. The extent of these production was such that exclusive Mason theatrical production companies were created, and they thrived! It was the entertainment value of these rituals that drew so many men to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Public theater was becoming the realm of women, something that was usually dominated by a group of boisterous men. The Rituals and social programs of the Scottish Rite gave men an arena of entertainment and social interaction that was being taken away from them outside the walls of the cathedral. Cathedrals, therefore, were male-exclusive social clubs, often having smoking rooms, billiard rooms, libraries, outdoor gardens, exercise rooms, elaborate dining/banquet halls, and, of course, the theater. From my research, "One way to think about fraternal organizations is as alternative environments, fantasy worlds for men, by men, and about men. The increasingly theatrical quality of the rituals of the Scottish Rite drew new members by the thousands precisely because it heightened the affective powers of a fantasy world that had considerable appeal when it was established and that increased over time." - Kenneth L. Ames, 'The Lure of the Spectacular' (1996)

While conflict about the impersonal spectator nature of the rituals plagued the Scottish Rite, its explosive growth in popularity in the early twentieth century is almost solely credited to the theatrical rituals. Traditionally, these dramatic rituals would be performed BY the masons achieving a higher level, instead of the higher level masons who were closer to actors with moral convictions than any kind of authority figure. The equality of the fraternal brethren was an important part of the rituals, something that was lost with the transition to performance ritual from the more traditional and personal "floor work" which would take place in a small rectangular room with the observing masons seated around the edges facing each other.

    Though the above is only a small fraction of the research I've done so far, it gives a good idea of the direction in which I wish to take my design. I want to design a men's social club with a ritual room that hearkens to the glory days of the elaborate theatrical rituals of the early twentieth century. The exterior will be built using all configurations of marble stone. It will be elaborate and reminiscent of the cathedrals of the middle ages. The interior will be equally elaborate. A challenging aspect that I wish to address is the de-masculinization of society that Freemasonry seeks to counter. Though this borders on sexism, I'd like to clarify that I want my structure to embody masculinity, possibly regaining something that was lost. I am not attempting to establish a precedence of masculine superiority over femininity.

     All in all, the masonry project has piqued my interest, and I am finding designing a Scottish Rite Cathedral to be fascinating! Lets hope this thing turns out well!

SIXTEEN

This past weekend was spent at a seminar hosted by the interior design department. The Seminar taught me how to properly use my chartpack markers in perspective drawings. Here are the last three drawings we did. I'm glad I finally know how to use those things.

FIFTEEN

The project is DONE. Here are some samples of my model and board:

Full Board

Title

Narrative

Floor Plans

Elevation with open screen

Perspective sketches and details

Site Plan close up

Building during the day

Building during the night

FOURTEEN

I feel very behind on my wood project. I have little more than five days to produce a final presentation, yet I feel that in order to meet this deadline, I would miss out on developing my project to its full potential. I wish I could carry this design into the next project (the masonry project), in order to incorporate wood and masonry and to see just how far I can take this design. It seems a shame to cut the development short.

THIRTEEN

After two weeks of work on the Snow Symposium, its time to return to work on my first studio project of third year. Here is a sketch I did today of my interior. Its very detailed for a sketch, but it was necessary for me to work out all the details that will be required for the final project. My next step is to make the structural system that I've chosen work for this specific design.

My intention was to create an exterior space on the interior. I decided to do this because of the open nature of my "outer shell". I felt that grouping a bunch of squarish rooms together would destroy the open feel. It would also hinder the natural convection of air which is essential to the passive cooling of this building. When it comes to the aesthetic qualities of this design, I wanted to create an atmosphere of exotic creativity. Because this venue is place where art is displayed and created, I wanted the building to help the artist and the art viewer to open their mind to new possibilities by placing them somewhere unfamiliar, yet not uncomfortable. Also, a place that does not outshine the art it exhibits. I find that when I travel, I learn and grow much more than when I am at home; When I am at home, the need to change or learn something new is very far down the list as far as needs go.
Unfamiliar, not uncomfortable
Attention grabbing, not attention demanding
Inspiring, not overbearing
foreign, not alien

What do you think?
-would you like to come to a place like this for:
       -fine dining?
       -an art workshop?
       -music lessons (voice, piano, guitar, etc....)?
       -art classes?
       -a wedding?
       -an art show opening?
       -to buy wine (a fine winery in the basement- connected to the restaurant)?
       -a family gathering or town meeting?
       -balls, galas, banquets, parties, masquerades, fiestas, festivals and dances?

TWELVE

Here is the final board for "Ange de Neige", my team's entry into the Winnipeg Festival du Voyageur Snow symposium.

I really appreciate the comments from the last post, especially Ginnie's note about the playfulness of the boards. Colour was added to these boards to try to separate its likeness from anything "wedding-like". I also kept the board as simple as possible, and the text as simple and unambiguous as possible. Though we were dealing with an abstract concept,I find that  long wordy descriptions (typical of architectural studio boards) are more confusing than enlightening. I found some of the descriptions on other teams boards practically impossible to follow. This symposium's target audience is the general public. These sculptures should be as accessible as possible.

What do you think?
-Is the final version far away enough from a wedding book?
-Is this sculpture accessible to the general public?

ELEVEN

Snow Symposium. The creation of a snow sculpture for the Winnipeg Festival du Voyageur has been my task for the past week and a half. My teammates Drew, Nathan and Dave have done a great job creating a metaphoric picture stemming from the iconic snow angel. We've taken this picture and transformed it into a three dimensional form. The snow angel is a shape in negative form in the snow. Our sculpture inverts this snow-time tradition with the embodiment of an angel of snow. We've named it "Ange de Neige" (Angle OF snow). Our form explores the creation of a snow angel, a pasttime which unites Canadians, Americans and any other country and culture that knows snow. Interestingly enough, practically every culture with snow experience has some form of the snow angel. I guess it's human nature to throw ourselves into the seasonal white powder and wave our arms and legs, then marvel at the shape we've created. It is fun, it is beautiful, it reminds many of us who claim a "mature" age of childhood winters.
It never ceases to amaze me how such a simple icon connects people from such vastly different cultures.
Whether our sculpture is chosen or not, I hope that it can unite humanity just a little more. Within the periphery of snow angels lie such things as presents, sledding, snowmen, hot apple cider, crackling fires and joy. This list embodies a seasonal spirit of kindness and tolerance. Ange de Neige is a reminder to the people of the world that we are connected, and that living in peace can bring the childhood joys of a snow angel into the realm of "maturity".

The following is an image of our preliminary boards.

Click to enlarge!

What do you think?
-Does this look like it belongs in a wedding book?
-what are some of your favourite childhood snow memories?
-Does a snow angel bring and specific memories to mind?

TEN

When it comes to materials, I'm going to use very large posts and beams cut from the California Red Fir (Abies magnifica). I'm also going to use the concrete tilt-up wall system for the back half of the building. Because concrete wall panels are usually detailed with simple reveals, I want to create a stamped concrete look on these panels! Here is how I want to do it:
     1- pour and stamp the basement concrete slab.
     2-Pour and stamp the first wall section on this slab using appropriate forms and methods
     3-pour and stamp each subsequent wall section on top of the first untill all wall sections have cured and are ready to be lifted into place.
     4-lift all walls into place
     5-pour a second layer of concrete on basement floor to remove the original stamp.

Of course, this will only work if certain conditions are met. The stamp pattern used must look the same in positive and negative form (if you want the walls to all look the same). Walls must always have a stamped surface to be layed out on (if you want both sides to be stamped).

What do you think?
     Can this stamped wall procedure work?
     Has it been done before?

NINE

The interior of this building is only an interior as long as the fabric membrane hangs down from the 60' tall wooden structure. To allow a cool breeze to pass through this space, the fabric can be lifted. Once this is done, es the space enclosed inside or outside?
I decided to MAKE it outside, even when the fabric is closed. From the atrium space, the other rooms in the building will appear to be a stone and wood buildings modeled after the very general Asian tradition. Though I want to stay away from the influences of Asian culture, the beautiful ancient Chinese and Japanese architecture fits so well with this design and the idea of a paper lantern that I decided to move in this direction, despite the attached culture. Below is a very rough sketch of what such an indoor exterior may look like.

click to enlarge!

EIGHT

The exterior of this building must be beautiful. I want visitors to spend a lot of time outdoors exploring the surrounding gardens and vineyards, but I want this building to be central. It is a centerpiece. I want people who see it from the road or the river to question, "Can I go inside that?"

click to enlarge!

What do you think?
     Is this a beautiful place?

SEVEN

When it comes to structure, I return to my parti to begin. The supporting elements of a paper lantern are usually wooden and cube shaped, or wire and spherical. I chose to go with the square shape because its more effective when organizing space or maintaining flat floors!
The very hot summers of California push me to consider solar protection. At the back of the building, on the south side, I will use concrete tilt-up walls to block the summer sun. Also, these walls will radiate stored heat during some of the colder nights in the winter. The internal temperature can be controlled by opening and closing the fabric envelope that mimics the paper of a paper lantern. I also drew some elevations of what this would look like from the outside.

click to enlarge!

What do you think?
     Do you like how this looks?
     Will my passive heating and cooling idea work?

SIX

The floor plan is where the function and organization of space is decided. After redefining the assigned program into something more specific, I came up with the following plans and sections. These plans only show the main building. In it, I will include:
     -Small rooms for afterschool music lessons
     -large versatile areas for art exhibition, performance or private functions
     -Administration and building support spaces
     -a very large storage/workroom in the basement for exhibit storage and art/sculpture/pottery classes
     -kitchen to serve private functions
   

click to enlarge!

Farther up the hill from this main building I will include a manicured garden and pergola that surrounds a stone courtyard. This outdoor space will serve weddings and private functions year round. The California weather allows for year round outdoor use. I had originally included a large outdoor amphitheatre (all three shown in the image below). I wanted to have a space that could be used for medium to large scale music festivals in addition to the Healdsburg music festival (which has since been moved away from Healdsburg because it has grown so large).

click to enlarge!

Also, I organized the site as follows. The grayscale image is meant to overlay the bubble diagram.

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What do you think?
     Have I organized my spaces in the most functional manner?
     Have I created a program and series of structures that will be useful year round?
     What do you think I should name this place?

FIVE

PARTI!
The parti of any architecture project is its inspiration, its motivation, its reason and its abstraction. A parti is something unrelated to architecture, yet when called "Parti", the welcoming arms of architecture embrace this strange alien and it becomes a part of architecture. It becomes connected.
I have chosen the paper lantern as my parti. I arrived at this parti because of the iconographic impact paper lanterns have. I want to take that beauty and set it into the Californian landscape. The marriage of these two beautiful elements will create a sublime space that invokes a sense of transcendence to whoever may experience it. After all, events such as music, things such as art and milestones such as weddings are all celebratory expressions that lift the human spirit above the daily human experience. These things are special. I want my building to enhance and augment the spirit moving effect of celebrations.

Click to enlarge!

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What do you think?
     Will paper lanterns inspire a beautiful and transcendent building+location?
     Will a beautiful building take away from any of the celebrations? (Music, Art, Weddings, etc...)
     What are your favourite parts of a paper lantern?
     Can I express the feelings of a paper lantern without the attached cultural origins? (ie, a Chinese paper lantern)
     Would you want to spend a day, or an evening at a space that made you feel like the above images?

FOUR

The first step for the Celebration Center project is to find a site.
The Criteria I used to determine an appropriate spot is as follows:
     -Elevation higher than the surrounding area to create views
     -Beautiful surrounding area, preferrable close to a body of water and vineyards
     -Within fifteen minutes driving from downtown Healdsburg
     -Enough space for vineyards, possible future outdoor amphitheaters and a park
     -On a North facing slope

In the end, this was the site that I chose.

Click to enlarge!

In the following image, the site is in the middle of the photograph. Many shrubs and small vegetation cover the site. The photograph is a birds eye view looking toward the North.

Click to enlarge!

What do you think?
     Is this a good place for a museum/proformance venue/music school/ballroom/private function center?
     What if my building requires the removal of many of the native plants on the site?
     Is it "green" to remove the native plants for vineyards?

THREE

Here is the final board for my school Bus project. We had little more than two days to begin and complete it.

Click to enlarge!

What do you think?
     Is the layout functional?
     Is there a better way to accomplish the conversion?
     Has this design removed too much "school bus"?
  

TWO

The first project has been assigned! For the next seven weeks I'll be designing a celebratory building, more specifically an arts center that supports the biannual Healdsburg Guitar Festival in Sonoma Valley, California.
One of the first tasks of the assignment is to give a 25 minutes presentation on the peripheral variables that will affect this project. Peripheral variables include things like local culture, climate, building vernacular, civic building design and music festivals to name a few. My team: Lisa, Ryan, Kyle, Justin, Jeremiah and I will design separate buildings on separate sites, however we will share research and bounce ideas off each other as the project progresses.
The rest of the section is designing a celebration space in either Northern Manitoba or Goucester, Massachusetts. My first inclination was to choose the Canadian site because it would be familiar territory, but as I thought more about what I would learn, I thought it would be a better opportunity to design for a warm dry location, a climate I've had little experience with so far.
The California climate is going to present a unique challenge. The abundance of sun provides a lot of passive solar opportunities. That, and the required wood structure will result in a unique structure! I'm pretty excited for this project!

On another note, my studio section visited the Hjemkomst center this past Wednesday. The Hjemkomst center houses the hjemkomst, a homebuilt Norwegian boat that was sailed from Lake Superior, Minnesota, across the Atlantic to Norway. Behind the center is a Norwegian replica church. The church was built with almost no nails, save for the few metal hinges and latches serving the doors and windows. Though this building was very interesting to explore, I don't think I'll be using its construction style in my Celebration center project.

Next week we'll begin to design. Can't wait!

ONE

The first studio session of the year began with the introduction of Milton Yergen. Yergen introduced the first "warm up" project of the semester. The 16 people in Yergen's section, which include myself, must design a school bus conversion in three days. Let the studio crunch begin.