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

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.

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

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Bendheim: The Art of Making Glass [online] (29 April, 2003)

Fig. 2 Onehunga Glass Co. LTD.: Float Glass [online] (28 April, 2003)

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)

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)

Fig. 12 Tallix: The Taloy Process - Unique Cast Metal Surfaces for Architecture and Design [online] (10 January, 2003)

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)

Fig. 17 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Milling [online] (3 April, 2003)

Fig. 18 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Kitchen Sink [online] (3 April, 2003)

Fig. 19 Massie, William : Big Belt House - Kitchen Sink [online] (3 April, 2003)

Fig. 20 Massie, William : Agnes B Femme: View of Right Structural Fin at Night [online] (3 April, 2003)

Fig. 21 Massie, William : Agnes B Femme: Stainless Steel Puzzle Connection Detail [online] (3 April, 2003)

Fig. 22 photo by author

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)

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)

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

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.

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 made building products, could now be made of materials fabricated in factories. Materials, such as window glass that had once been blown by hand, were now being Figure 2 – Industrial methods create ‘perfect’ materials manufacture by machine. In the early 1920’s, in conjunction with the Ford Motor Company, Pilkington Glass developed the continuous flow and continuous polish manufacturing process. Glass could now be produced in continuous sheets; each side simultaneously polished to remove any imperfections. The refinement of the manufacturing processes led to the elimination of the mark of the hand in the finished product.

When technology was applied to buildings, great innovations were possible. The massive brick and stone of load bearing masonry walls were replaced with thin planes of steel and glass. Buildings became dematerialized; they were losing their apparent physical substance.1 The creation of space became more important than the creation of mass in these new buildings.

Through the work of Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the desire for a ‘machine aesthetic’ was favored over the mark of the hand. As monuments to the precision of technology, Corbusier and Mies wanted this

1 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., s.v. “dematerialization”. 9 perfection reflected in their work. At the same time that these building were being built, new technologies were being developed that improved the qualities of building materials Naturally, these architects wanted to use them.

Le Corbusier

In 1927, Le Corbusier published his visionary book, Towards a New Architecture. This text offered a new and exciting approach to architecture for the rapidly changing world. A critique of the historicism of the late nineteenth century, Corbusier saw fault in the lack of progress in the architectural profession.

There is one profession, and only one, namely architecture, in which progress is not considered necessary, where laziness in enthroned, and in which the reference is always to yesterday 2

While the world was rapidly changing, architects ignored these events. Le Corbusier sought an answer to the stagnation of architecture. Developments in engineering offered a clue. It was not the architects, but the engineers who were building ships and airplanes, to whom Le Corbusier looked for inspiration in his quest for a new architecture.

Le Corbusier’s house of progress was a purpose built machine. He was skeptical of the way that building construction had traditionally occurred: the on-sight assembly of a variety of dissimilar building materials. “All [of the building materials] are dumped in bulk into

2 Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture (London : The Architectural Press, 1965), 101. 10

buildings in [the] course of construction, and [are] worked into the job on the spot; this involves enormous costs in the labor and leads to half-and-half solutions.” 3

The stone and wood used in these early buildings were of a concern equal to that of their assembly. These “natural materials, which are infinitely variable in composition, must be replaced by fixed ones.”4 Because they had been formed by nature, these materials were subject to the irregularities of their physical composition. When used for structural purposes, these flaws could jeopardize the strength of the building. In comparison, artificially produced steel girders and reinforced Figure 3 – Reinforced concrete allows seamless forms concrete were homogenous in their composition. They were engineered to maximize the structural capabilities of their respective materials; the tensile strengths of steel and the compressive strengths of concrete.

In many instances, these randomly occurring variables gave natural materials character and beauty. Although they can jeopardize the structural integrity of the material, both knots in wood and veins of mineral deposits in stone can be beautiful and provide character to the material.

Reinforced concrete presented many opportunities to Le Corbusier. It could be poured into any shape that the architect desired. Concrete could be used for floors, walls and stairs. Through the treatment of the formwork, the concrete could be rendered as a homogenous solid. The use of concrete took emphasis off of the tectonics of materials and placed it, instead, on the mass and form of

3 Le Corbusier, 214. 4 Le Corbusier, 214. 11

the building. Concrete became one of the means used by Corbusier to achieve his machine aesthetic.

Mies van der Rohe

As the early work of Le Corbusier placed much emphasis on the dematerialization of concrete, the latter half of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s oeuvre used glass and steel in much the same manner. In 1938, Mies was Figure 4 – IIT – a great amount of hand labor is used to remove any sign of the hand transplanted from the German Bauhaus to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Now in the Midwest United States with its abundance of steel mills, Mies had the opportunity to redefine his body of work; glass and steel were the favored materials.

Mies is well known for his refinement of the glass and steel frame. These buildings are “a unique blend of Mies van der Rohe’s stern intellectual quest for impersonality and of high-quality American steel craftsmanship.” 5 With his ‘less is more’ attitude, Mies went to great lengths to produce architecture devoid of any extraneous mark of the hand of the maker. The material in Mies’ buildings played a submissive role to his “idea for vast, uninterrupted ‘universal’ space.” 6 Mies, like Corbusier, wanted to shift the viewer’s attention from issues of material and construction to ideas of proportion, symmetry, and structural expression.

5 William J. R. Curtis, Modern Architecture Since 1900. 3rd ed. (London : Phaidon Press Limited, 1996), 401. 6 Curtis, 402. 12

In his house for Edith Farnsworth, Mies constructed a structural frame out of standard steel pieces. The steel frame was assembled prior to erection on the Farnsworth site in the shop of the Wend Nagel Steel Company of Chicago.7 Steelworkers cut and drilled the pre-fabricated steel sections and then bolted them together, staying within the 1/16th inch tolerance that Mies specified. The steel was then sent to the sight and welded together.

Figure 5 – Farnsworth House – detail of When one looks at the steel frame of the Farnsworth the steel frame showing lack of visible connections House, the welds are not noticeable. After the steel frame was bolted and squared in place,

heads were…cut off any visible bolts, and welders fused the shanks to the structural members. True to their contract and mindful of Mies’ stubborn insistence on perfection, Wend Nagel’s crew filled all welds and ground them smooth. Afterwards the entire frame was sandblasted and carefully painted white. The finish that resulted appeared as if it were sprayed on rather than done by a brush.8

In the end, a great deal of highly skilled human labor was needed to achieve the machine aesthetic that Mies desired. In traditional steel construction the welds and bolts mark the hand of the laborer. The quality of these connections is testament to the skill of the laborer. By eliminating any sign of these connections, it is assumed that Mies placed greater importance on the machine aesthetic than the realities of construction.

The work of Mies van der Rohe gives testament to the richness created from the convergence of technology and the handcraft. Through the great amount of care and handcraft, Mies’ work “celebrates [technology] and

7 David Spaeth, and Gary Williams, “The Farnsworth House Revisited,” Fine Homebuilding (April/May 1988): 34. 8 Spaeth, 34. 13 raises the materials of the Industrial Revolution – glass and steel and reinforced concrete – to the realm of art.”9

The Problem of Dematerialization

Both the early concrete buildings of Le Corbusier and the glass and steel boxes of Mies van der Rohe were achieved with material products of industry. As already stated, the industrial qualities of these materials did not provide a great deal of richness. While they were products of a specific manufacturing process, the only allusion to this process was their refinement. The materials did not speak to the great amount of effort and energy that went into their production. How can products of industry, then, be used to show these characteristics?

Contemporary technologies, especially those involved with the use of the computer, often fail to address the tectonics of materials and construction. Many architects feel the need to transform the ephemeral models created on the computer into equally ephemeral fabricated realities. The computer rarely speaks to the materiality of, or to the construction of, built form.

“Construction is the art of making a meaningful whole out of many parts. Buildings [which] are witness to the human ability to construct concrete things,”10 should, then, express the true nature of construction. Architects often try to hide these methods of construction which

9 Spaeth, 37 10 Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture (Baden : Lars Muller, 1998), 11. 14

they are not familiar with, or those that are not congruent with the finished product.

When this occurs, there is often a misuse of material and construction techniques. In much the same way that early 20th century advances in glass and steel manufacturing allowed for the disconnect between the product and its assembly, new uses of plastic and resin technologies hide the ways in which buildings are made.

The work of Kolatan MacDonald shows an apparent disregard to the process of making. In their project for an apartment renovation in New York City, an amorphous

Figure 6 – Kolatan MacDonald renovation form was created on the computer. This form was then project - technology used to produce ‘seamless’ architecture fabricated from a series of computer numerically controlled (CNC) milled plywood ribs and foam infill. Fiberglass was then applied over this; hiding any marks of the fabrication process. As stated by the architects:

[Fiberglass] was chosen because it is a “material without qualities’; meaning that fiberglass can mimic many textures…or none in its surface.11

This statement is incorrect; the nature of fiberglass has many wonderful qualities. The size and shape of the fibers as well as the method in which they are woven are visible in the material. The color and opacity of the resin can also be reflected in the final product. In the early 1950’s, Charles and Ray Eames used fiberglass for a series of chairs for Herman Miller. The Eames’ wanted to create a chair with a continuous surface that could be manufactured easily, and fiberglass was the solution. Figure 7 – The process used to create this They used the fiberglass for both its structural and fabric ‘seamless’ architecture. The finished product speaks nothing of these methods

11 Ali Rahim, “Lumping,” Architectural Design (January 2002): 83. 15 qualities, as well as for the visual beauty inherent in the material.

In the Kolatan MacDonald renovation project, the viewer is left to question the true nature of the painted fiberglass as well as the material under the fiberglass. Kolatan MacDonald state that they were “interested in continuing the project’s relationship to the computer from its derivation (CAD) through to its manufacture (CAM)”12, but as can be seen, they were not. Had they truly been concerned, a material other than opaque fiberglass (or no material at all) would have been used to cover the substrate of their forms. In their attempt to fabricate a digital idea, the desire for a continuous surface replaced the tectonic expression of their project.

By hiding the actual making of the project with a thin membrane of fiberglass, Kolatan MacDonald’s apartment project places no significance on this aspect of the construction. They treat construction and making as something that the architect should be ashamed of; since construction is many times ‘messy’, it should be hidden.

If the goal of architecture is to hide the things that make buildings reality, than why do it? Does not the expression of the way architecture is constructed help distinguish the work from mere building? If so, then as architects, we ought to show the ways that buildings are realized.

12 Rahim, 81. 16

Section II

Celebration of Material and Process

The celebration of material and process is important in architecture for many reasons. First, construction materials can be beautiful; wood and stone have a natural beauty inherent in them. Man made materials can also be beautiful; Cor-ten weathering steel, which develops a beautiful reddish-brown stain after exposure to water, speaks to the effects of time on the material. Second, materials are the elements that buildings are made of. Instead of trying to remove this, architecture should celebrate this. The assimilation of pieces into an object, the act of building, is “basic to the mental equipment of any creative person.”13 Buildings should celebrate this creative process. By hiding this process through dematerialization, the creativity of man is wasted.

The following architects represent examples of those whose work reflects the process of making in the final process. While there are many other architects who are deeply concerned with methods of making, these architects do not assume a position of nostalgia in terms of this aspect of their work. Instead of lamenting at the apparent lack of highly skilled craftsmanship, these examples embrace the current technologies available and constantly question new methods of their use.

13 Fritz Neumeyer, Nietzsche and ‘An Architecture of Our Minds’, ed. Alexandre Kostka (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1999), 285. 17

Tod Williams Billie Tsien The work of the Tod Williams and Billie Tsien is concerned with a critical examination of the use and fabrication of materials in building construction. They seek to exploit everyday materials and the ways in which they are made, to provide insight into these processes. While modern, their work rejects the notion of lightness and the ephemeral; there is a real weightiness in it. Everyday materials are manipulated through a combination of both handcrafted and mechanical techniques, changing the ways that these materials are traditionally perceived. In their new building for the

Figure 8 – American Museum of Folk Art – American Museum of Folk Art in Manhattan, Williams common material combined with common manufacturing process yield wonderful and Tsien used molten bronze to create a facade results “evocative of the hands-oriented approach characteristic of folk art.” 14

The Folk Art Museum facade was a result of great collaboration between artists, architects, engineers and industrialists.

The second impulse [a façade of bubble gum was first suggested] was to create tilt-up concrete panels cast directly on the vacant lot next door to our site. One could imagine the layers of urban archeology that could be uncovered and incorporated into the facade of the building. Obviously, both these ideas were not realistic, but they revealed our desire to clad the building in a material that was both common and amazing, and that would show a connection with the handmade quality of folk art. We wanted the building to reflect the direct connection between heart and hand. 15

14 American Folk Art Museum : “The Museum at 53rd Street” (10 April, 2003)

15 American Folk Art Museum 18

After many experiments with aluminum and other metals, a white bronze alloy called tombasil was selected. Tombasil is a metal that is commonly used for fire hose nozzles, boat propellers, and tombstone lettering (hence its name), as it is weather resistant. Through a process of casting, the tombasil alloy was turned into the panels for the museum facade.

The fascination in these panels, other than their beauty and texture, lies in the juxtaposition of ancient and modern techniques of production used in their Figure 9 – detail of tombasil panel showing fabrication. While the sand casting process is over 2600 marks of its creation years old, a completely new system had to be designed to hang the panels off of the front of the building. They have successfully introduced traditional handcraft techniques into the modern architectural dialogue.

Williams and Tsien have reinterpreted the way that metal is used in an architectural application. Before this project, bronze was typically used as a veneer to conceal less expensive materials. In Mies’ Seagram’s building (located on the same street as the Folk Art Museum), pre-fabricated bronze sheets clad the skyscraper’s façade. These sheets, every one an identical reproduction of the next, create a taught skin on the building. The bronze, in combination with the glass and steel of the rest of the building, speak of the corporate nature of the client.

Figure 10– Mies’ use of bronze as a provider In the Seagram’s Building, bronze was used more so for of color its color than for its tectonic qualities. In combination with amber colored glass, the bronze panels give the building a hue similar to that of the whiskey produced by its owner. 19

When used in the Folk Art Museum, bronze assumes a different quality from that of Seagram’s. The methods used to manufacture the bronze in both buildings are similar; bronze is melted and cast into forms. However, whereas the form for the bronze sheet metal of the Seagram’s building is smooth and free of defects, the formwork used for the Folk Art Museum panels are highly textured. The level of quality control in both situations is also of great importance. Sheet metal Figure 11 – molds being made to form cast manufacturing assumes a great deal of perfection and bronze panels in standardization. The end result of this process is a Figure 11– molds being made to form bronze consistent product; variety is discouraged. panels

William and Tsien’s process, on the other hand, questions the notion of quality control. “[Tod and Billie are] interested in the direct fabrication technique; one that revealed how the panels were made.”16 Each cast panel was a record of the variables at the time of pouring. The first test panels were cast on the bare concrete floor. This caused moisture in the concrete to expand, exploding the concrete and splashing molten bronze into the air. A second experiment of pouring bronze onto steel panels resulted in warped steel panels. Through much experimentation between the architects and the fabricators, it was decided that the panels would be cast in large sand molds made from the impressions of these concrete and steel slabs.

Unlike the lost-wax casting process that many bronze Figure 12– tombasil bronze poured into sculptors (including Robert Graham, who will be molds. The finished panels show this process discussed later) use, sand casting does not provide a finished product identical to the original. In the case of

16 American Folk Art Museum 20

the panels, the sand casting process resulted in panels of two distinct surface finishes: panels cast in the molds made from concrete were rougher in texture than those made from the steel. The speed and location that the bronze was poured into the molds also had a profound effect on the final outcome of the panels. Like a prehistoric fossil, swirling patterns in the bronze panels are a record of the location of the material at the exact moment that it changed from a liquid to a solid state. Different qualities result from the control of different variables of the manufacturing process.

Office dA

Figure 13- Office dA’s steel wall is telling of the way that it was made In much the same way that the bronze panels of the Folk Art Museum provide an understanding of their fabrication, the work of Office dA uses digital manufacturing techniques to show these processes.

In a project for the ‘Fabricating Coincidences’ installation at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, sheets of steel were transformed into a pleated wall/stair. Three computer-assisted manufacturing techniques were employed in the construction of the wall: perforating, laser cutting, and ‘stitching’.

The perforation involved a punching process that calibrated precisely the gradation of density throughout the steel surface. The outline of each steel piece was finely laser-cut so as to minimize the usual tolerance required in a construction process. The folds were achieved through a process termed ‘stitching’…Instead of bending plates of steel or welding different pieces of steel together – which would result in far Figure 14– detail showing mechanically less precision or a larger radius on each bend – the pieces of perforated and ‘stitched’ steel steel are scored by laser in an offset pattern. The outcome is a 21

continuous twisted seam at the fold of each plate, producing the illusion of a stitch between two pieces of fabric.17

These stitches, in conjunction with the folding of the structure, allude to the membrane quality of the steel; one can easily understand that the steel was once a flat plate. The folded seams of the steel speak directly to their fabrication; the precision is a direct result of the computer controlled laser cutter. The precision of the ‘punched’ pieces is also testament to the specific manufacturing process. Because the density of these holes change along the length of the piece, it can be Figure 15– qualities of plywood exposed recognized that they were made with the help of a through the use of technology computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine. Had they all been of equal spacing, they could have been read as having been created with more archaic techniques, or that the whole piece was fabricated from pre-punched steel.

While the steel was fabricated by machine, the individual bolted connections are evidence of the handcrafted nature of the project.

In another project that speaks to the nature of its fabrication, CNC milling techniques were used in a project for file cabinets at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Plywood, a material that is typically used in furniture construction, was manipulated in a way that shows both the nature of the wood, and the process used to fabricate it.

Plywood, a product that has been produced using industry since the early 1900’s, was developed as a more

17 Rodolphe el-Khoury, and Oscar Riera Ojeda, Office dA (Gloucester, Massachusetts : Rockport Publishers, 2000), 22. 22 stable alternative to lumber. The naturally occurring variations of wood that Le Corbusier spoke about created areas of weaknesses that could lead to the failure of the material. The lamination of many individual veneers created a stronger, more stable material. The patterns of the grain that many people found attractive were hidden in favor of strength; technology once again bred dematerialization.

The alternating colors of the plies are an interesting quality of plywood. Because each ply is perpendicularly oriented to the next, the grains of the wood run in opposite directions. Usually, this color difference is only viewed on the edge of the plywood.

Through the use of milling machine technologies, Office dA’s GSD file cabinets exploit this inherent characteristic of the material. First, sheets of plywood are laminated together. Next, an undulating topography is milled from these sheets, exposing the grain of the individual plies. Because the grains of each ply is perpendicular to the next, alternating layers of light and dark colored are exposed. The resultant product could have been made only in this way; the undulating form is too complex for other methods of production. The smooth, continuous surface speaks to the precision of the CNC machine process used. By exposing the individual plies of wood, the viewer is once again made aware of the plywood’s qualities. Here, technology is used to rematerialize and celebrate the plywood material.

In Office dA’s work, standard materials are given new meaning through methods of fabrication. With new technologies, the properties inherent in the materials are 23

once again celebrated. The work of architect William Massie also uses computer technologies to re-examine the properties of materials.

William Massie

William Massie, an architect practicing in New York City, started his practice with the goal of using digital information and technology to redefine the way architects make objects and buildings. His work, having received numerous awards, including two Progressive Architecture Awards, is a definite sign of the Figure 16– bathroom sink in Big Bend House possibilities that technologies have to offer. He states:

What I’m trying to do is an extension of modernism [that goes back to] its true beginnings—when modernist homes were reasonably priced. If someone is thinking of building a typical suburban house, I can do an interesting modernist house instead for the same amount of money. People don’t have to pay a huge premium to live in a beautiful and somewhat experimental space. 18

Starting with a virtual topographic model of a projects site, Massie uses the computer as a tool to study the spatial configurations and possibilities that the building program has to offer on the site. As the project evolves, these computer models become more sophisticated in both their level of information and usefulness to the completed project. As the computer affords the architect the ability to work at an infinite number of scales, allowing an infinite amount of detail, modern computer controlled milling and fabricating technologies provide the precision needed to give material realization to these

18 Thane Peterson, “Daring Modernist Homes - On the Cheap” (17 April 2003) www.businessweek.com 24 models. “The lines that were drawn digitally bec[o]me the actual code of the building’s construction.” 19

Working in this manner, William Massie can move “directly from abstraction to architectural space.” 20 Eliminating the need for construction documents and shop drawings can save both time and money. With the material project as a direct manifestation of the virtual drawings, discrepancies between the two are nonexistent. Because of this, there is no need for field measurements, or for the need to modify a piece of the building on site. Construction tolerances can become much smaller, for human error is now a non-issue. Complex shapes, as well as straight lines, can now be perfectly rendered using machines that, unlike the human hand, are accurate to within a few thousandths of an inch.

While Massie relies heavily on the computer and the machine to create his buildings, the human hand is still very important in his work. For his Big Belt House project in Meagher County, Montana, the “resolution of the building is achieved through a process of machining approximately 1500 individual pieces of rigid foam which are assembled like a child’s puzzle. 21 Concrete was then poured into these forms, creating the walls of the house. The pouring of the concrete, not the construction of the formwork, is where the need for the human hand lies. The pouring of concrete requires a skill and knowledge that without will result in poor results.

19 William Massie : MASSIEARCHITECTURE.COM (3 April, 2003)

20 Massie 21 Massie 25

This knowledge, much of which lies in knowing when to do what on site, is something that even the best of machines cannot reproduce.

In the same project, Massie discovered one of the quirks of his new technology. Having formulated the design of the kitchen sink in the computer, the information was sent to his computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machine to cut the formwork out of Styrofoam. As the machine cut away at the foam, the realization of the limits of the technology occurred: the surface quality Figure 17– pieces of formwork for the Big Bend House are fabricated using a milling of the resultant form was only as smooth as the diameter machine of the drill bit used by the machine. The grooves are a direct result of the economy of production; they could have been reduced in size with the use of a smaller drill bit, but that would have resulted in longer fabrication

The grooves could have been reduced with the use of a smaller drill bit, resulting in a longer fabrication time, were a direct measure of the economy of production of the piece. When finished, the form was filled with the concrete, rendering the negative profile of the grooves as positive ridges in the sink. One could argue that these ridges exemplify a new ornament of 21st century technology. Figure 18– the end product shows that milling was involved For a window installation for the Agnes B. store in New York City, Massie used computer controlled manufacturing techniques to create an organic, amorphous structure out of common materials. Clear acrylic tubing was woven through a series of stainless steel supports, or ribs, resulting in an undulating screen wall. After being virtually constructed in the computer, the stainless steel ribs were fabricated with the aid of a 26

laser-cutting machine. Having been tested in the computer model, the interface between the steel pieces and the acrylic tubing is perfect.

Even though each steel rib is of an individual profile, the use of a computer controlled fabricating device makes this diversity as affordable as if all pieces were identical. The computer doesn’t know the difference between straight and curved lines and can cut both with an equal amount of effort. These machines do not require a great deal more of energy or time to cut customized elements; the only investment of time is in the drawing of the parts in the computer. Additionally, because the laser cutter Figure 19– agnes b. window display cuts all of the pieces from a flat sheet of steel, material waste can be reduced to a minimum through the careful placement of the pieces on the sheet.

William Massie is not the first architect to employ computer controlled manufacturing processes in his work. He is, however, one of the few architects to have seriously exploited the possibilities of this technology. By recognizing the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the machine, as is the case with the sink for the Big Belt House project, Massie’s work begins to produce a tectonic language born of this technology. At the same time Massie explores these new technologies, he is focused on the material and tectonic offerings they provide, and how they can be used to influence age-old Figure 20– the detail of this display shows the precision of the laser cutter building technologies.

Robert Graham

In 1995, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles decided to build a new cathedral to replace the one damaged in the Northridge earthquake of 1994. This was to be the first new Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States in 40 years. “The bricks and mortar era in American 22 Figure 21– Raphael Moneo’s cathedral for Catholic history was closed,” and this project seemed the Archdiocese of Los Angeles an appropriate way for the church to modernize its image; they chose Spanish architect Jose Raphael Moneo to design the new cathedral.

The Archdiocese commissioned sculptor Robert Graham to design the bronze doors of the project. At a weight of 25 tons, and a height of over 30 feet, these doors are “the most important single artistic commission in the new undertaking.” 23

Doors of a church are thresholds into religious, sacred places. Crossing through the threshold, one enters the world of God, a world of peace. Connection with the outside world is lost; for inside the individual is with God.

The use of bronze for church doors is a practice that dates back to around A.D. 120 and the Pantheon in Rome. These are the earliest bronze doors to survive, but Figure 22– sculptor Robert Graham’s doors is known that bronze was used in large-scale sculpture for the cathedral

22 Jack Miles, 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), 14. 23 Miles, 14

by the Greeks as early as the seventh century B.C. Some of the most famous doors, however, were those for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral, sculpted by Lorenzo Ghiberti. These doors, completed in 1452, “consist[ed] of twenty-eight relief panels of figurative and narrative scenes depicting the Life of Christ, the Evangelists, and the Fathers of the Church.” 24

The powerful history of the bronze doors and the Roman Figure 23– Rodin’s John the Baptist Catholic Church’s desire to update their image provided Preaching. The bronze sculpture shows the hand of the artist Robert Graham an interesting set of parameters for his design. One of the qualities of bronze that is of great interest to him is its ability to take on the mark of the sculptor’s hand.

Bronze sculpture is usually created using a process called lost wax casting. The artist begins his or her sculpture in a soft material such as clay, wax or plaster. When this is done, depending on the size relationship Figure 24– digital study models for the doors between the original and the finished piece, the sculpture is reproduced in either a smaller or larger scale using specialized equipment. Once this is done,

the artist takes molds from the model and uses them to produce a wax replica, referred to as the casting model...[This model] is fully encased in a [mixture of clay, sand and/or plaster]. When this large cocoon like structure is placed in a kiln, the wax melts out, and molten metal is poured in to take the place of the ‘lost’ wax; after the bronze has cooled, it is broken out of its encasement. Although it still requires detailed finishing and polishing, the resultant bronze theoretically replicates the casting model, which itself reproduced the artist’s original model. 25

All of the marks on the original wax model are Figure 25– detail of the finished doors transferred to the final bronze casting. The sculptor

24 Miles, 57 25 Miles, 54-5 29

Auguste Rodin was a great believer in sculpture’s “ability to record and preserve in permanent, enduring form the tool and finger marks that the artist used to create his [or her] original conception in a soft material like clay or wax.” 26 Many of his sculptures retain these marks. Robert Graham is also a proponent of bronze’s ability to capture the hand of the maker.

Figure 26– small study models are scanned with a laser. This information is used to Large-scale public works are the primary focus of create a virtual computer model Graham’s work. The complications that arise when trying to enlarge his small models to the monumental scale of the completed works force Graham to seek alternative technologies capable of this task. “By the 1980’s Graham began using laser technology to scan his models, recording a nearly infinite number of points in three dimensions.”27 After this is done, the stored digital data can be manipulated within the computer, allowing Graham the ability to rotate and view the model from all sides. Figure 27– the virtual computer model After the model is further manipulated with the computer, a computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machine is used to carve the full size sculpture out of clay. The tool paths of the mill, controlled partially by Graham and partially by the computer software, are, like those of Rodin, the trace of the creative process. “He chooses to consider the milled surface his own. In other words, Graham conceives these patterns as equivalents for the artist’s touch, and treats the milling arm as an extension of the artist’s own hand.”28

Figure 28– the computer model is used to mill physical models 26 Miles, 59 27 Miles, 62 28 Miles, 63 30

If clay sculpture is traditionally created using knives and various other tools, the drill bits used in the milling process can be thought of as the technological equivalent of these tools. A different sized drill bit will effect the sculpture in much the same way a different sized knife will; the smaller the bit, the more detail that will be rendered in the sculpture. It is the artists’ responsibility

Figure 29– the tool paths on the clay models to decide when and where the various drill bits will be are the mark of the specific method of creation used. As has been pointed out, “the artist use[s] the machine like a sculpting tool, making spontaneous decisions on depth of cuts, tool paths and mill bits, to achieve a surface that shows a distinctive series of lines, spirals, and layers left by the milling tool.”29 Figure 10– tombasil bronze poured into molds. The finished panels show this process The spontaneity and flexibility that Graham has is a direct result of sculpting in clay prior to the casting of the bronze doors. Obviously clay is more economically feasible to work with than bronze; it affords the artist the luxury to re-trace his or her steps if so inclined. The sculptor’s actions are not ‘set in stone’ in this method of operation. The entire design process is done under Figure 30– ancient methods of foundry casting are used to create the sculpture controlled conditions. If Graham is dissatisfied with the results, he needs only to add more clay to his milling machine. Through this process, the milling machine’s primary purpose is to produce up-to-date study models for the artist. When the high-tech machines finish the models, Graham reverts to ancient methods of foundry casting to finish his piece.

The end result of Graham’s process is equal to that of Figure 31– the bronze sculpture being removed from the mold any piece of sculpture cast in the traditional lost-wax method. The surface quality is much the same as a piece of Rodin’s sculpture; the only thing that has changes is

29 Miles, 84 31 the subject matter. This method can be considered an additive approach to sculpture: molten bronze is added to create the sculpture.

Had Robert Graham investigated a subtractive process of milling his sculpture directly out of a solid piece of bronze, both the result and the process used to achieve the result would be drastically different.

Not knowing the end result, save the virtual model on the computer display, the first time that Graham would see the true three dimensional quality of the sculpture would be in the finished piece; Graham would be at the mercy of the machine. If the end result looked nothing like he had envisioned it, there would be little that Graham could do. He could stop the machine and attempt to start over, but as some of the material would have been removed, these mistakes would be permanently recorded in the bronze.

Areas where material is removed would take on a much different surface characteristic than those areas not touched by the milling bits. The additive process treats all of the bronze the same: as a uniform, homogenous entity. Since the bronze is poured in the mold in a molten state all surfaces are allowed to cool at the same rate. Oxidization and surface coloration are the same in this uniform substance.

Conversely, with the subtractive process, exterior and interior surfaces can take on quite different characteristics. The interior surfaces can be of a different color than those that are exposed to the atmosphere for some time. Additionally, the heat generated by the 32 spinning machine bit can discolor the material in interesting ways. The size and speed of the machine bits can determine the amount of heat generated, thereby discoloring the bronze. If desired, the artist could treat the whole piece of sculpture with a chemical sealant, preserving the surface characteristics of the bronze.

Graham’s method of working provides great insight into the possibilities and questions that arise from the convergence of the human hand and the machine. As has been mentioned, the machine can be given either an active or a passive role in the creation of sculptural elements for a building. It is interesting to note that when the machine is given the active role (in this case, the direct milling of bronze or subtractive process), a greater amount of information about the manufacturing process is translated to the end product, adding to the richness of the sculpture.

This method of working, where both the mark of the hand and the mark of the machine are used simultaneously to enhance the end product provide a variety of possibilities. Through the design of a glass blowing facility, the convergence of these two methods of fabrication will we expanded upon.

Section III

Design Intervention:

This thesis is provided as an example of the methods that can be used to rematerialize materials which have lost many of their interesting characteristics through processes of industrialization. Glass is one of the materials that is examined. The project is a glass Figure 32– cast glass: it can once again be blowing facility, a place where glass is transformed into seen art. The interest in the material lies in the way that it has traditionally been used in architecture. As has been previously stated, glass has become a ‘non-material’. Advances in production techniques have made glass essentially disappear in building design; they have transformed glass from material to a method of spatial enclosure. The project focuses on how glass can be produced to once again place emphasis on its qualities.

Project Type:

Glassblowing is an activity that has a large following in the Cincinnati area. Currently the only facility that offers glass blowing classes to the general public is River City Works, operated by the Cincinnati Art Academy. Offered through the Community Education Program, classes in both glassblowing and lampworking can be taken. Because of the needs of the Art Academy students, and the great interest in glassblowing, the 34

limited number of spaces in these small classes fill up quickly.

The glass blowing facility can be used for both hot glass and flame-working. Hot glass is a general term that encompasses both glass blowing and glass casting. These two techniques involve taking molten glass from a furnace and then manipulating it using a variety of tools. Glass is worked through a process of reheating the glass in a glory hole (a large oven for glass) and shaping the glass with hand tools. When these pieces are done, they are placed in annealers which allow the glass to cool at a controlled rate.

Figure 33– glassblower re-heating their glass in a glory hole Flame-working (or lampworking) is the art form of heating and fusing small rods of glass to each other using a small gas flame. This work is usually done while sitting at a table or bench. Gas lamps can either be individual units, or integrated into the table or bench. Marbles and paperweights are most often made by flame-working.

Many times blown and cast pieces need to be worked after they have cooled. This is called coldworking. The location where the glass has been attached to the blowpipe often needs to be removed. Special saws and grinding wheels that combine water with special abrasives are used to cut and polish the glass. This equipment should be located out of the way of the glass blowing area, in a space that can get wet.

A small classroom / break area is needed for classes. This room will also be used as an area to get away from the heat of the hot glass and flame working area. 35

Since glass blowing is an art form that people enjoy watching, areas for spectators will be provided. Glass blowing is best viewed from above, from a position where the actions of the glass blower can easily be seen.

Heat is the biggest factor that determines the materials that the glass blowing facility is made of. Glass melts at a temperature of approximately 2100° F. The materials Figure 34– view of the site looking south from Greenup Street that come in close contact have to be able to withstand theses high temperatures. In its molten form, glass is a highly caustic material. At the same time that concrete can withstand the high temperatures of molten glass, it can be discolored or even destroyed from direct contact with the material. For this reason, a material that can easily be replaced will be located near the furnace. Since ambient air temperatures in glass blowing facilities can exceed 120°F, ample air circulation is necessary. This will also help introduce fresh air to the glass blowers and remove toxic gasses from the furnace area.

Project Location:

The Baker-Hunt Foundation in Covington, Kentucky, is a non-profit organization with the mission of providing classes in the arts to the citizens of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky at an affordable price. Painting, drawing, photography, pottery, theater, furniture making, stained glass, and ballroom dancing, are offered to both children and adults in twenty-week semesters. An Art show of student’s work is shown at the Baker-Hunt Foundation’s campus at the end of each semester. 36

The Baker-Hunt Foundation is located at the intersection of Greenup and Seventh Street in Covington, Kentucky. The Foundation occupies most of the northwest block of this intersection. This part of Covington is predominately residential. Greenup Street is the main thoroughfare for traffic heading north towards the Roebling Suspension Bridge connecting Covington to Cincinnati. This street also has a number of businesses on it.

Currently, the Baker Hunt Foundation occupies a total of four buildings on the sight. Two of the buildings, the original Baker-Hunt family house at 620 Greenup Street and the old Covington Art Club building to the north, house office space. A building erected in 1927 to house an art museum and an auditorium is now used for art and photography classes. A fourth building, added in 1967, is used for drawing, painting, and ceramics classes. Much open greenspace is located on the Foundation’s property. This space is well maintained and contains many mature trees, but is underutilized. The whole Baker-Hunt Foundation site is raised on a plateau above the surrounding street. This causes the sight to become introverted.

There is little on the site that announces the presence of the Foundation. A small sign, as well as a few plaques on the Baker-Hunt family building are all that allude to it being there. The Baker-Hunt Foundation actively markets itself with a website. A new building on the site should act as a symbol for the institution.

Project Design:

A glass blowing facility made of glass is somewhat cliché; it seems like the most obvious answer.

Many buildings have been made of glass. The buildings of early Modernism relied on glass to achieve an “expressive language of simple, floating volumes and clear-cut geometries.” 30 In the early 1920’s, in conjunction with the Ford Motor Company, Pilkington Glass developed the continuous flow and continuous polish manufacturing process. Glass could now be produced in continuous sheets; each side simultaneously polished to remove any imperfections.31 Before this, window glass was hand blown by skilled artisans. Large cylinders of glass were blown and then cut and unrolled into flat sheets of glass. These sheets were full of imperfections, testament to the handcrafted nature of their creation.

Glass is a heavy material; it weighs the same as concrete: 150 pounds per cubic foot. Glass has the same amount of compressive strength as concrete. Making glass as light and transparent as possible does not speak to this weight. The aim of most glass manufacturing technologies is to make glass disappear. Sheets of glass are growing in size and clarity. Iron, the cause of the green and blue tints ubiquitous to glass, can now be removed from the chemical composition. The result is a more transparent material. When used in architectural projects, this “the difference between the unglazed …

30 Curtis, 12

38 and the…glazed areas is nearly imperceptible.”32 The role of glass in architecture has changed from that of a material to that of a method: glass is now used as an enclosure of conditioned space; many of the material’s qualities are lost.

What happens, then, if the walls of the glass blowing facility are cast of glass? Glass could once again have weight, and the casting process could speak of the handmade qualities of both blown and cast glass.

At one point in history, window glass was hand blown by skilled artisans. Large cylinders of glass were blown and then cut and unrolled into flat sheets of glass. These sheets were full of imperfections, testament to the handcrafted nature of their creation.

The glass gains its lustrous finish and perfect flatness by floating on a bath of molten tin in a chemically controlled atmosphere. The ribbon of glass is then cooled, while still moving, until the surfaces are hard enough for it to be taken out of the bath without the roller marking the surface. The glass is then automatically cut and stacked, ready to be packed for distribution to local and international customers.33

Every piece of glass manufactured in this process had to meet the most stringent standard. Sheets of glass that show impurities or imperfections are discarded.

32 PPG Industries, Inc. “PPG Starphire® ultra-clear glass provides commercial designers with a new and unprecedented options for all their vision glass applications,” PPG Starphire Ultra Clear Glass, (30 April 2003)

33 PFG Building Glass. “Float Glass - Manufacturing process,” PFG Building Glass, (28 April 2003)

Glass blowing is an art form that shows the hand of the creator. Glass casting is a process that involves the hand of the maker. Cast glass has personality. A building cast of glass could be beautiful and have character.

The glass casting process is a simple process. A mold is made, and then 2100º molten glass is poured into it. The glass is then allowed to cool until it solidifies. At this point, the cast glass is placed into an annealer (a thermally controlled, insulated box) and allowed to cool at a steady rate. As the glass cools at a consistent rate, stress in the glass is reduced evenly, preventing cracking in the glass. The time that it takes to anneal a piece of glass depends on the thickness of the piece of glass; the Figure 35– early proposal for a cast glass box larger the glass, the longer the annealing time. Glass walls cast in the same manner that concrete is formed would be quite impressive. As stated before, both concrete and glass share the same weight, density, and compressive strength. Both materials are made of minerals from the earth. Both materials will assume the forms that they are cast into. The prospects of pouring walls of 2100° glass into formwork, and then slowly cooling the glass, are implausible. Although formwork could be constructed to withstand the temperatures, the glass walls would crack during the annealing (cooling) process needed to remove the stresses from the glass. The annealing process is the determining factor in the Figure 36– façade system study model creation of cast glass. Treating the glass walls as smaller showing reveals cast into glass units, much like masonry, is a way to overcome this obstacle. Two foot thick cast glass walls would be irrational from the standpoint of the energy required to cool the pieces.

During the design process for the Baker-Hunt Glass Blowing Facility, experimentation ensued to determine the minimum amount of thickness required to achieve the desired visual result. Sample slabs of glass, each one-inch thick, were cast on a steel sheet. When cooled, the glass showed the irregularities of the glass as well as the folds and ripples that the molten glass created when as it was poured; motion was captured within the transparent slab. Having determined the glass walls can be made with panels as thin as one inch, a method to support the Figure 37– façade system study model showing metal rods that are cast into the panels on the building is needed. The first thought is to glass cast reveals into the back of each glass panel, as the glass can conform to any shape of the mold. These reveals can be hung on pins or rods attached to each vertical support of the building’s exterior. This system could work, but it doesn’t exploit one of glass’s characteristics: the ability to cast metal objects within it.

Bronze and copper can easily be cast into pieces of glass. The metals coefficients of expansion are near that of glass, which prevents the metals from cracking. Bronze rods could be cast into the glass panels, and then the panels could be hung from these rods. A misreading might occur (an observer may assume that the rods were inserted into the glass at a later time), which leads to the notion of bending the rods at a point along their length; this way, it can be understood that the only way the rods are in the glass is if they have been cast into it.

The question that remains is how the panels can be hung. In one suggested scheme, aluminum plates would be bolted to either side of each vertical column on the facade. These plates would have a series of notches cut 41

into them that would receive the bronze rods of each glass panel. Because all four facades of the building are identical, this system could be used for the entire exterior wall of the building. Depending on the size of the panels, some of the notches would receive brass rods, others would remain empty. During the course of the project, it has been decided that Figure 38– north elevation of glassblowing facility showing the use of golden section the building should be designed using the golden proportioning system section; a test to the ability of the golden section (and the designer) to create an aesthetically pleasing building. With this decision, the size of the glass wall is greatly reduced. Previously the mullions were equally spaced from one another; therefore the profile of the mullions could be the same. It is assumed that a series of glass panels of varying sizes could be made, and these panels could be arranged on site. With the facade based on the golden section, the size and location of the various panels could be pre-determined. It makes sense, then, that the system used to hold up each panel be suited to the location of that particular panel. This specificity could be achieved with laser or water cutting, or CNC milling technologies.

With the mullions of the facade system made of steel or aluminum, it could be as easy to cut all of the pieces from one large plate of steel as it would be to cut the profiles of each piece of metal separately. With a computer-controlled machine, the difference in each piece of steel is negligent.

One of the goals of the glass blowing facility project is to make the user, and anyone who may take the time to study the building, aware of the use of the golden section proportioning system. One proposed method of 42 achieving this is by applying a layer of ornament onto the glass panels in the form of the nautilus. This form, based on the golden section, will establish the presence of the proportioning system in the building.

How does one place a nautilus design onto a piece of cast glass? As mentioned above, the molten glass will assume whatever shape it is poured into. Glass casting molds are usually made of graphite, wood, or plaster. The milling machine can mill both wood and graphite, although the latter causes a slippery mess, so creating a mold is a possibility. The ornament could be created in the computer, transferred into the milling machine, milled into a casting form, and then cast into the glass. The tool paths of the milling machine’s drill bit could add to the richness of the form, and in the end, add to the richness of the glass wall.

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