UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI _____________ , 20 _____ I,______________________________________________, hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the degree of: ________________________________________________ in: ________________________________________________ It is entitled: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Approved by: ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ Traces of Material and Process A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advance Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE in the School of Architecture and Interior Design in the College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning 2003 by Parker Browne Eberhard B.S. Architecture, University of Cincinnati, 2001 Committee Chairs: Professor Barry Stedman, PhD Professor David Niland ABSTRACT Throughout the last century, methods of technology and industrialization have traditionally led to the dematerialization and removal of evidence of the handcraft in building materials; materials and construction methods are often taken for granted. This thesis questions the outcomes of these methods and examines ways in which contemporary technologies can be used to accentuate material properties, capabilities and fabrication techniques, and reintroduce the trace of the hand in building materials and methods. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS & CREDITS 2 INTRODUCTION 6 SECTION I Early Visions for an Industrial Utopia 8 Le Corbusier 9 Mies van der Rohe 11 The Problem of Dematerialization 13 SECTION II Celebration of Material and Process 16 Tod Williams Billie Tsien 17 Office dA 20 William Massie 23 Robert Graham 27 SECTION III Design Intervention 33 Project Type 33 Project Location 35 Project Design 37 WORKS CITED 43 2 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Bendheim: The Art of Making Glass [online] (29 April, 2003) <http://www.bendheim.com/art.html> Fig. 2 Onehunga Glass Co. LTD.: Float Glass [online] (28 April, 2003) <http://www.oneglass.co.nz/float.htm> Fig. 3 Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. London : The Architectural Press, 1965. (p 27) Fig. 4 Trigueiros, Luiz, and Paulo Martins Barata. Mies van der Rohe. Lisbon : Blau, 2000. (p 98) Fig. 5 Spaeth, David, and Gary Williams. “The Farnsworth House Revisited,” Fine Homebuilding (April/May 1988): p 34. Fig. 6 Rahim, Ali. “Lumping,” Architectural Design: Contemporary Techniques in Architecture (January, 2002): p82 Fig. 7 Rahim, Ali. “Lumping,” Architectural Design: Contemporary Techniques in Architecture (January, 2002): p80 Fig. 8 Muschamp, Herbert. “All about New York,” Wired New York Forum [online], (29 April 2003) <http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/topic.cgi?forum> Fig. 9 Bernstein, Fred, and Chris Gascoigne. “City Folk,” World Architecture #103 (February 2002): p 29. Fig. 10 photo by author Fig. 11 Tallix: The Taloy Process - Unique Cast Metal Surfaces for Architecture and Design [online] (10 January, 2003) <http://www.tallix.com/architecture.html> 3 Fig. 12 Tallix: The Taloy Process - Unique Cast Metal Surfaces for Architecture and Design [online] (10 January, 2003) <http://www.tallix.com/architecture.html> Fig. 13 el-Khoury, Rodolphe, and Oscar Riera Ojeda. Office dA. Gloucester, Massachusetts : Rockport Publishers, 2000. (p27) Fig. 14 el-Khoury, Rodolphe, and Oscar Riera Ojeda. Office dA. Gloucester, Massachusetts : Rockport Publishers, 2000. (p20) Fig. 15 el-Khoury, Rodolphe, and Oscar Riera Ojeda. Office dA. Gloucester, Massachusetts : Rockport Publishers, 2000. (p19) Fig. 16 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Bathroom Sink with View out to Landscape [online] (3 April, 2003) <http://www.massiearchitecture.com/main.html> Fig. 17 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Milling [online] (3 April, 2003) <http://www.massiearchitecture.com/main.html> Fig. 18 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Kitchen Sink [online] (3 April, 2003) <http://www.massiearchitecture.com/main.html> Fig. 19 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Kitchen Sink [online] (3 April, 2003) <http://www.massiearchitecture.com/main.html> Fig. 20 Massie, William : Agnes B Femme: View of Right Structural Fin at Night [online] (3 April, 2003) <http://www.massiearchitecture.com/main.html> Fig. 21 Massie, William : Agnes B Femme: Stainless Steel Puzzle Connection Detail [online] (3 April, 2003) <http://www.massiearchitecture.com/main.html> Fig. 22 photo by author 4 Fig. 23 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002 (cover) Fig. 24 Boston College Fine Arts Department. The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin [online] (May 13, 2003) <http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/rodin/rodin.html> Fig. 25 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p86) Fig. 26 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p11) Fig. 27 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p78) Fig. 28 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p99) Fig. 29 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p101) Fig. 30 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p85) Fig. 31 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p91) 5 Fig. 32 Miles, Jack, Peggy Fogelman, and Noriko Fujinami. Robert Graham: The Great Bronze Doors for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles. Venice, California : Wave Publishing, 2002. (p103) Fig. 33 Photo by author Fig. 34 Photo by author Fig. 35 Photo by author Fig. 36 Photo by author Fig. 37 Photo by author Fig. 38 Drawing by author 6 Introduction Since the early 20th century, architecture has often looked towards new industrial methods of production and technology to advance the profession and create new techniques for the handling of building materials. Figure 1 – Hand blown window glass – the As technological and industrial methods have final product speaks to its making progressed, so too has the perceived quality of produced products. Products such as window glass, which were once formed by hand, are now produced using industrial methods. As these processes have become more refined, so has the finished product. Imperfections have given way to uniformity; the character that was once provided by the marks of the human fabrication process is removed in favor of a more uniform end product. The results of technology and industrialization on building materials are often standardization, dematerialization, and the removal of the handcraft. For the most part, these results have been an assumed consequence of the manufacturing processes. This thesis examines ways in which contemporary technological methods can be used to accentuate material properties, fabrication techniques, and reintroduce the trace of handcraft in building materials. Section one of the paper examines some of the effects that early industrial technologies had on building production. This section discusses the work of Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; it also discusses the work of contemporary architects who are using contemporary technological methods as a means 7 for the dematerialization of building materials and construction. Section two introduces the work of four contemporary architects who use technological methods in ways that express the process of making. The American Museum of Folk Art, designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, is presented as an example where both a common material and a typical fabrication process are used to yield an end product that speaks of the qualities of both. The work of Office dA is shown as an example of ways in which digital manufacturing techniques can be used to reinforce the importance in the realization of the end product. The work of William Massie, an architect who uses digital fabrication technologies as well as a great deal of hand labor, is presented as an example of the outcome of these two opposing methods of creation. Finally, the work of sculptor Robert Graham is discussed as an example of the junction between technology and the handcraft. Section three presents a design intervention that explores the ways that these ideas can be manifested in the design of a glass blowing facility for the Baker Hunt Foundation, located in Covington, Kentucky. 8 Section I Early Visions for an Industrial Utopia Early industrial methods of material production had a profound change on the making of architecture. Buildings, which had once been constructed of hand