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Indeterminacy, the I Ching, and John Cage: a New Design Method for Landscape Architecture

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Indeterminacy, the I Ching, and John Cage: a New Design Method for Landscape Architecture Indeterminacy, the I Ching, and John Cage: A New Design Method for Landscape Architecture Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Morse, Barry Ray Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 04:38:18 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/190216 Indeterminacy, the I Ching, and John Cage: A New Design Method for Landscape Architecture Thesis for Master of Landscape Architecture Degree by Barry R. Morse Indeterminacy, the I Ching and John Cage: A New Design Method for Landscape Architecture by Barry R. Morse ________________________________________________________________________ Copyright © Barry R. Morse 2007 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2007 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: _________________________________ APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: _________________________________________________ ______________ Lauri Macmillan Johnson, chairperson Date Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, The University of Arizona School of Landscape Architecture _________________________________________________ ______________ Oscar Blazquez Date Senior Lecturer, The University of Arizona School of Landscape Architecture _________________________________________________ ______________ Paul E. Ivey Date Associate Professor of Art History, The University of Arizona School of Art Indeterminacy, the I Ching and John Cage: A New Design Method for Landscape Architecture by Barry R. Morse Abstract The creative use of indeterminacy (i.e. "chance") is an often overlooked design opportunity despite the universality of chance in art, nature, science and life. How can "chance", a seemingly capricious phenomenon be made to work for someone? One controlled use of chance is through the Chinese I Ching "chance operations" method of composer and artist John Cage (1912-1992). This thesis addresses the questions of how one might approach using this method in landscape architectural design, what would be the outcome of such an indeterminate design and whether or not it could lead to a constructed landscape. In addition, this thesis will answer the question: what is the relationship between the I Ching, John Cage and the constructed landscape, anyway? The final product of this thesis will be a new redesign of an existing plaza using Cage's techniques and a comparative evaluation among the new indeterminate concept and two preexisting designs using the original plaza program objectives as a guide against which the three designs can be judged for effectiveness. 1 Table of Contents Abstract … 1 Acknowledgements … 3 List of Figures … 4 List of Tables … 5 List of Appendices …. 6 Introduction: Toward Non-Intention … 7 Part One: The Foundations of Indeterminacy … 9 Part Two: A Specific Model for Design: John Cage's Approach to Indeterminacy I. A Short Biography of John Cage (1912-1992) … 21 II. Cage's Attitudes Regarding Indeterminacy … 25 III. Cage's Use of Chance Operations in Music … 30 IV. Cage's Use of Chance Operations in Visual Art … 38 Part Three: Application of Indeterminacy to a Specific Landscape … 52 I. The University of Arizona Alumni Plaza: Two Deterministic Designs … 53 II. The University of Arizona Alumni Plaza: A New Indeterministic Design … 58 III. A Comparative Analysis of the Three Designs …107 Sources …113 Appendices …115 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis committee members for their enthusiasm and always constructive suggestions toward this thesis, the most personally rewarding project of my three-year graduate studies at The University of Arizona: Lauri Macmillan Johnson, chairperson, Associate Professor, The University of Arizona School of Landscape Architecture Oscar Blazquez, Senior Lecturer, The University of Arizona School of Landscape Architecture Paul E. Ivey, Associate Professor of Art History, The University of Arizona School of Art In addition, the following people have contributed aid and information without which this thesis could not have been completed: Mark A. Novak, ASLA, landscape architect with The University of Arizona Department of Campus & Facilities Planning, for supplying the original and existing Alumni Plaza plans and program notes, Marvin Landis, Scientific Visualization Specialist, the Center for Computing and Information Technology, Research Computing Support, The University of Arizona for setting up the 3-D virtual walk-through experience in "The Cave" and finally for: Professor Richard A. Eribes, PhD., The University of Arizona School of Architecture; Carol Clement, MLA, landscape architect, Wheat Scharf Associates; and Brian Sager, RLA, landscape architect, Sage Landscape Architecture and Environmental, for donating their time and professional opinions during the Comparative Evaluation phase of this thesis. 3 List of Figures Figure 1 Female figurine … 11 Figure 2 Antler mask … 13 Figure 3 "Great Sorcerer" cave painting … 13 Figure 4 Ox scapula oracle bone … 14 Figure 5 I Ching 64 hexagrams … 17 Figure 6 Three coin toss system … 19 Figure 7 John Cage … 21 Figure 8 Music of Changes title page … 32 Figure 9 Sound chart 8 for Music of Changes … 33 Figure 10 Déreau number 1 … 39 Figure 11 Key to Fixed Images … 44 Figure 12 Series score for Déreau … 46 Figure 13 Individual score for print 7 … 49 Figure 14 Print 7 (reversed) … 50 Figure 15 Map 7 showing "mobile" images … 50 Figure 16 Alumni Plaza site map … 52 Figure 17 Alumni Plaza plan (existing) … 55 Figure 18 "Heritage Hill" .... 55 Figure 19 The "Mission Fountains" … 56 Figure 20 Alumni Plaza redesign for Design Studio III … 57 Figure 21 Three I Ching coins showing 2 "heads" (yin) and 1 "tails" (yang) … 60 Figure 22 Materials for casting for hexagrams … 60 Figure 23 Key for Identifying the Hexagrams … 61 Figure 24 Polygon test number 2 showing unacceptable figure eight patterns … 62 Figure 25 Testing for wavy pedestrian paths showing unacceptable scale … 63 Figure 26 Hexagram 40 … 67 Figure 27 All the combinations of upper and lower trigrams for Hexagram 40 … 67 Figure 28 8x8 grid with the 50 polygons … 68 4 Figure 29 The 50 polygons spread out on the 64x64 grid and site plan … 69 Figure 30 Polygon being aligned on the 64x64 grid using a protractor … 73 Figure 31 Plan showing all lines drawn on the 64x64 grid … 75 Figure 32 Test sheet for heights and depths and 'riser' distances .... 77 Figure 33 The working out of stair margin relationship to polygon depth .... 77 Figure 34 "Riser" sketches showing problems with scale .... 78 Figure 35 Sketches working out the surface angle procedure .... 79 Figure 36 Test sketches showing the need for and derivation of Rules 1 and 2 … 80 Figure 37 Sketches showing angled polygon surfaces ... 86 Figure 38 Site Plan at end of Design Phase II .... 92 Figure 39 Plaza detail around Polygons II, III and V ... 93 Figure 40 Plan showing all materials and plantings ....103 Figure 41 Detail of Materials Plan ....104 Figure 42 Hand rendered perspective of pool around Polygons 18, VIII and IX..105 Figure 43 Computer rendered view toward Administration south entrance …105 Figure 44 Final rendered plan …106 Figure 45 The three plans for comparative analysis ….110 List of Tables (excerpts cited in text; complete Tables found in Appendices A and B) Equivalency Table for 6 .... 41 Equivalency Table for 360 .... 41 Table 1 Color palette for Déreau … 48 Table 2 Results of casting for polygons … 65 Table 3 Location and orientation of polygons … 71 Table 4A Casting for elevations (original polygons) … 81 Table 4B Casting for elevations (composite polygons) … 82 Table 5 Casting for surface angles I … 84 5 Table 6 Casting for surface angles II … 85 Table 7A Casting for polygon side features (original polygons) … 87 Table 7B Casting for Polygon side features (composite polygons) … 87 Table 8 Seatwall determinants … 90 Table 10 Materials Charts 2A, 2B and 2C … 94 Table 18 Wavy path materials … 97 Table 19 Wavy path … 98 Table 20 Numbers of trees per polygon …100 Table 21 Shade tree row placement …101 List of Appendices Appendix A Equivalency Tables ….115 Appendix B Hexagram Cast Tables ….121 Appendix C Miscellaneous Charts ….139 Appendix D Materials Charts ….140 Appendix E Comparative Evaluation Chart ….144 Appendix F Design Process Statistics ….148 Appendix G Additional Images ….151 6 Introduction: Toward Non-intention It was after I got to Boston that I went into the anechoic chamber at Harvard University. Anybody who knows me knows this story; I am constantly telling it. Anyway, in that silent room I heard two sounds: one high and one low. Afterward, I asked the engineer in charge, "Why, if the room was so silent, I had heard two sounds?" He said, "Describe them." I did. He said, "The high one was your nervous system in operation. The low one was your blood in circulation" (Cage 1959, story number 5). Thus related the composer, artist, produced an impressive body of visual writer, poet and lecturer John Cage art also using indeterminate procedures. (1912-1992) the single most pivotal When I saw some of the prints from his moment in his career when he realized Déreau series through Kathan Brown's that without his conscious intention, he book John Cage Visual Art: to Sober was creating sounds anyway.
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