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UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ MAN (in) NATURE : A Harmony of Architecture and Site a thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Interior Design 2004 by Matthew Allen Rouse B.S. Arch., University of Cincinnati, 2002 Committee Chairs: David Niland Nnamdi Elleh Terry Boling ABSTRACT successful acoustics for their amphitheater at Epidaurus. Man has utilized nature’s geometric order throughout history by using it to inform the proportionality of a building’s form, façade, and plan. The dynamic relationship of a building to its site has also been a vital architectural concept throughout history as demonstrated by masterpieces such as the Parthenon, the cathedral at Ronchamp, and the residence of Fallingwater. But a recent trend in Western building practices demonstrates an architectural philosophy of opposition towards nature to control it. Leveling an area of all vegetation and topography to build a non-descript box that neither responds to the natural characteristics of the site nor to the qualities of the region has become commonplace. A return to embracing nature as an architectural driver is imperative in order to bring back a coherent Man’s dialogue with nature has been around since we first understanding and a spiritual compatibility between both man and walked the planet. From the construction of the primitive hut, to the his surroundings that cannot be realized with each as opposing cave paintings at Lascaux, our need to interact with the earth has elements. The solution can be found by working with and not always existed. The ancient dwellers of Machu Pichu worked with against the existing qualities of a site, by using the patterns of nature the natural characteristics of a mountain ridge to build their city, to create form and space, and by responding to the unique material while the ancient Greeks used an existing hillside to generate and geographic character that makes a region special. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart. -Frank Lloyd Wright I would like to take this chance to thank those who have helped me get to this point: To my parents for their consistent love and support. To my friends for keeping me sane. To my professors and mentors for their wisdom and guidance. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract List of Illustrations 2 Illustration Credits 3 Introduction 5 Western Depletion 7 American Consumption 7 Site Destruction 8 Uninspired Boxes 9 Man and Nature 11 Natural Interaction 11 Patterns in Nature 13 Site Placement 15 Creating Place 19 Regional Materials 19 Technique 22 Material Technology 24 Research Precedents 26 Importance of Research 26 The Salk Institute 27 The California Sea Otter Refuge 28 The Union of Land and Sea* 30 Big Sur 30 Sand Dollar Beach 32 Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary 36 Design Synthesis 40 Theory Realized 40 California Coastal Research Center 43 Bibliography 48 Appendix 50 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Cover Sand Dollar Beach, California Figure 3.4 Redwood planks in weathered and planed states Figure 1.1 Burning site vegetation Figure 4.1 The Salk Institute Figure 1.2 Construction site Figure 5.1 Farallon Plate Figure 1.3 Solomon Pond Mall Figure 5.2 San Andres Fault network Figure 2.1 Abbier Laugier’s primitive hut Figure 5.3 Native species of Big Sur Figure 2.2 Machu Picchu Figure 5.4 Native species of Big Sur Figure 2.3 Stone wall at Macchu Pichu Figure 5.5 Native American tribe settlement Figure 2.4 Amphitheater at Epidaurus, Greece Figure 5.6 Marine terrace topography Figure 2.5 Sunset at Epidaurus Figure 5.7 Worldwide Mediterranean climates Figure 2.6 Dinergic reconstruction of abalone shell’s outline Figure 5.8 California Sea Otter Refuge and Ventana Wilderness Figure 2.7 Le Corbusier’s modular man Figure 2.8 The Parthenon Appendix Figure 2.9 Notre Dame du Haut above Ronchamp, France Figure 2.10 Fallingwater Map 1 Relief map of California indicating Big Sur Figure 2.11 Edith Farnsworth House Map 2 Ventana Wilderness Figure 3.1 Dominus Winery Map 3 Topographic map of Sand Dollar Beach Figure 3.2 Atmospheric Research Center Map 4 Geologic map of Big Sur Figure 3.3 Fireplace at Fallingwater Map 5 Deep water canyon map of Northern California 2 ILLUSTRATION CREDITS Cover http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=1640&mode=sequential&flags=0. Accessed August 2003. Figure 1.1 http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/010901/new_limbs.shtml. Accessed March 2004. Figure 1.2 http://www.blex.com/siteprepprj.htm. Accessed March 2004. Figure 1.3 http://www.rejournal.com/ne/aerials/solpond1.htm. Accessed March 2004. Figure 2.1 http://www.usc.edu/dept/architecture/slide/ghirardo/CD2.html. Accessed November 2003. From Essaie sur I'Architecture. Marc-Antoine Laugier. 1753 Figure 2.2 http://www.unl.edu/alumni/programs/tourin/03easter_island.htm. Accessed October 2003. Figure 2.3 http://www.micktravels.com/peru/machu_picchu/. Accessed October 2003. Figure 2.4 http://www.hellenicvisions.com/images/epidaurus.jpg. Accessed October 2003. Figure 2.5 http://www.griechische-botschaft.de/ueber_gr/kultur/Theater.htm. Accessed October 2003. Figure 2.6 Doczi, 54. Figure 2.7 http://www.surrey.ac.uk/~pss1su/lecturenotes/sun/LectureNotes/city/city.html. Accessed November 2003. Figure 2.8 http://www.hellenicvisions.com/acropolis.html. Accessed October 2003. Figure 2.9 http://falcon.jmu.edu/~tatewl/LE%20CORBUSIER/26.corbu.ronchamp.jpg. Accessed January 2004. Figure 2.10 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/frank-lloyd-wright/fallingwater.html. Accessed September 2003. Figure 2.11 Vandenberg, Maritz. Farnsworth House: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. New York: Phaidon Press, 2003. p. 6. Figure 3.1 Betsky, 159. Figure 3.2 http://www.ssswg.org/images/ncar-lab_viewer.html. Accessed October 2003. Figure 3.3 Stoller, Ezra. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999. 66-67. Figure 3.4 Author’s image Figure 4.1 http://www.cnl.salk.edu/~pjthomas/personal.html. Accessed December 2003. Figure 5.1 Henson, Paul and Donald J. Usner. The Natural History of Big Sur. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1993. p.15. Figure 5.2 Henson, 14. Figure 5.3 Henson, 226,259,228,131. Figure 5.4 Henson, 71, 67, 82, 65. Figure 5.5 Henson, 266. Figure 5.6 Henson, 29. Figure 5.7 Henson, 33. Figure 5.8 http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=1640&mode=sequential&flags=0. Accessed August 2003. 3 Appendix Map 1 http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/maps/reliefmapca.html. Accessed February 2004. Map 2 http://www.ventanawild.org/news/se03/coastrid.html. Accessed September 2003. Map 3 myTopo.com poster map created on 9 October 2003. Map 4 Henson, 20,21. Map 5 http://www.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/intro/maps.html. Accessed October 2003. 4 INTRODUCTION Man has embraced nature since the beginning of humanity. Nature was necessary for the basic needs of shelter and food for the earliest man, it provided the materials for our first dwellings, and it became part of our religions. Many ancient civilizations had gods that controlled nature’s activities, one of the Bible’s first stories is of an encounter with the Forbidden Fruit, and the famous “Flower Sermon” of the Buddha used the patterns and geometries inherent in a flower as a silent testimony to the order common in all things.1 Man has explored these patterns of nature throughout history. The megaliths at Stonehenge reveal an ancient understanding of the sun’s path; the Greeks used the proportions of the golden section in the Parthenon; Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man and Corbusier’s Le Modular demonstrate our fascination with the geometries of the human body. Some of the most important works of Architecture have used the natural qualities of their site to create a dynamic dialogue between man and nature that elevates both. A classic modern example is Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright, which nestles itself into and over a meandering stream bed in Bear Run, Pennsylvania, with its cantilevered decks mimicking the properties of the surrounding branches. 1 Doczi, Gyorgy. The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art, and Architecture. Boston and London: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1981 p. 1. 5 But a disturbing trend in recent Western building practices demonstrates an architectural philosophy of opposition towards nature in order to control it. Leveling an area of all vegetation and topography to build a non-descript box that neither responds to the natural characteristics of the site nor to the qualities of the region has become commonplace. Strip malls, vast parking lots, and unsympathetic warehouses and office complexes are devouring the American landscape. A new philosophy must be enacted if we are to change the way we build in relation to the environment. A return to embracing nature as an architectural driver is imperative in order to bring back a coherent understanding and a spiritual compatibility between both man and his surroundings that cannot be realized with each as opposing elements. The solution can be established by working with and not against the existing qualities of a site, by using the patterns of nature to create form and space, and by responding to the unique material and geographic character that makes a region special.

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