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U UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: 5/15/09 I, Peter Hilligoss , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Master in Architecture It is entitled: Modern Craft: Understanding Material, Process and Environment Student Signature: Peter Hilligoss This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Elizabeth Riorden Vincent Sansalone Approval of the electronic document: I have reviewed the Thesis/Dissertation in its final electronic format and certify that it is an accurate copy of the document reviewed and approved by the committee. Committee Chair signature: Elizabeth Riorden Modern Craft: Understanding Material, Process and Environment Thesis submission in partial fulfillment of the requirements to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati for the degree of: Master of Architecture School of Architecture and Interior Design College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning 2009 by Peter Hilligoss Bachelor of Science in Architecture School of Architecture and Interior Design College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning June 2007 Thesis Chairs Elizabeth Riorden (First Chair) Vincent Sansalone (Second Chair) Abstract Following the Industrial Revolution, the production of goods has seen an economic benefit through manufacturing processes of mass production. Machine production has changed the way in which we view craftsmanship and material in the worlds of art and craft and within everyday life. Learning through a process of making has become altered by machine production and a disconnection between designer, maker and material consciousness. This thesis seeks to investigate the values that have changed with these alterations. The use of bentwood as an architectural motif will be studied through a process where design, process and product inform one another to investigate different scales, spatial possibilities. 3 4 Preface I would like to thank the following people for their support and guidance throughout the thesis journey: Thesis Professors: Liz Riorden Vincent Sansalone Jim Postell My studio: Charlotte Bornhorst Aaron Cooke Bridget Hall Laura Newcomer Chris Parsley Shadi Saleh Shawn Tubb My family: Mom and Dad Jeremy Contact the author: Peter Hilligoss [email protected] 5 Table of Contents Illustrations and Image Credits 7 1.0 Introduction 10 1.1 Thesis Statement 11 1.2 Document Overview 11 2.0 The Hand and its Effects on Human 13 Culture 2.1 The Importance of the Hand 14 3.0 The Evolution of The Machine and The 16 Maker 3.1 Social Preoccupations and the Arts and 17 Crafts Movement 3.2 Industry and the Craftsman 19 3.3 From Theory to Thesis 22 4.0 The Value of Craftsmanship in Today’s 24 Society 4.1 What Defines A Craftsman? 25 4.2 Aesthetics of Diversity 27 4.3 The Craftsman and Designer Relationship 28 4.4 The Effects of Culture on Craft 30 4.5 The Social Life of Objects 32 5.0 Site Analysis and History of OTR Area 36 5.1 Local Area OTR History 37 5.2 Site Conditions 39 6.0 Program Overview 41 6.1 Theoretical Concepts of Program 42 6.2 Physical and Spatial Aspects of the 44 Woodshop 6.3 Program Clusters 46 7.0 Design Methodology & Outcomes 48 7.1 Material Considerations/Why Wood? 49 7.2 Typological Considerations 51 7.3 Architectural Precedent 53 8.0 Conclusion 56 8.1 The next step 57 9.0 Endnotes 58 6 Illustrations and Image Credits 1.0 Introduction 2.0 The Hand and its Effects on Human Culture 2.1 Man’s hand covered in grease, holding large bolt nut (B&W). Getty Images. 824073-001. jpg. 3.0 The Evolution of The Machine and The Maker 3.1 Blakesley 44 3.2 Blakesley 37 3.3 Corbusier, L. (1970). Towards a new architecture. New York,, Praeger, 91. 3.4 Retreived 10 March 2009 <http://www. natureparktravel.com/dessau/bauhaus1.jpg> 3.5 Naylor, G. (1985). The Bauhaus reassessed : sources and design theory. London, Herbert Press, 11. 4.0 The Value of Craftsmanship in Today’s Society 4.1 Image by author 4.2 Ibid 4.3 Ibid 4.4 Pye, D. (1968). The nature and art of workmanship. London,, Cambridge U.P., 48. 4.5 Newell, L. B., Victoria and Albert Museum., et al. (2007). Out of the ordinary : spectacular craft. London, V and A Publications and the Crafts Council, 66. 4.6 Ibid, 94. 4.7 Risatti, H. A. (2007). A theory of craft : function and aesthetic expression. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 185. 4.8 Retreived 29 April 2009 <http://www.free- press-release.com/members/members_ pic/200803/img/1204419724.jpg> 5.0 Site Analysis and History of OTR Area 5.1 Image by author 5.2 Ibid 7 5.3 Ibid 5.4 Ibid 5.5 Ibid 5.6 Ibid 6.0 Program Overview 6.1 Retreived 9 March 2009 <http://www.0- 60mag.com/online/?p=5884> 6.2 De Chiara, J. and J. H. Callender (1990). Time-saver standards for building types. New York, McGraw-Hill, 251. 6.3 Alexander, C., S. Ishikawa, et al. (1977). A pattern language : towns, buildings, construction. New York, Oxford University Press, 415. 6.4 Ibid, 704. 7.0 Design Methodology & Outcomes 7.1 Maloof, S. and J. Pollock (1983). Sam Maloof, woodworker. Tokyo ; New York, Kodansha International, ##. 7.2 Maloof, S. and J. Pollock (1983). Sam Maloof, woodworker. Tokyo ; New York, Kodansha International, ##. 7.3 (1992). Frank Gehry: New Bentwood Furniture Designs. Montreal, The Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, 87. 7.4 Retreived 4 May 2009 <http://farm2.static. flickr.com/1221/528613634_36088b4e17_o. jpg> 7.5 (2000). Renzo Piano : Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award 2000. Hämeenlinna, Wood in Culture Association, 39. 7.6 Ibid, 16. 7.7 Retrieved 30 April 2009 <http://www.bustler. net/index.php/article/jose_cruz_ovalle_ receives_the_spirit_of_nature_wood_ architecture_award/> 7.8 Retrieved 30 April 2009 <http://www.bustler. net/index.php/article/jose_cruz_ovalle_ receives_the_spirit_of_nature_wood_ architecture_award/> 7.9 Retrieved 30 April 2009 <http://im.timqui. net/im.php?im=1021> 7.10 (2006). Local Union 580. Architectural 8 Record, McGraw Hill, 139. 7.11 Ibid, 137. 8.0 Conclusion 8.1 Image by author 9 1.0 Introduction “Making is Thinking” -Richard Sennett 10 1.1 Thesis Statement This thesis originated as a set of ideas about how we understand craft today, how we produce our environment and how we view this environment in a larger context of society. Why should taking time to understand the making process be important? What value does this have to us as humans and as architects? In a time of maximized profits and mass production, there has been something on the decline-a human quality within our environment. What benefits can the use of our hands play in describing this environment? How does scale translate the qualities and details of wooden furniture into architecture? This document will investigate these above components and will relate them to the design of a woodshop for the Over the Rhine district of Cincinnati, Ohio. 1.2 Document Overview Thesis Essay This section provides a theoretical background behind the importance of understanding the role craft plays not only in architecture, but also in our lives. The educational pedagogy behind the creation of environments is also examined. Program This section examines the theoretical underpinnings behind the way people interact with each other and with the processes occurring within the building. Concepts of Henry Ford’s mass production and Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language are analyzed to study how industrial workspace currently operates and how it could operate in today’s world. Site Over the Rhine has a wonderful arts and community culture already ingrained within the area. In this section, the site and local adjacencies are studied as to how the building should react to its context based on the character of the area and to the existing buildings. Environmental factors such as solar gain, shading, noise and daylight are also studied to enhance the design’s affects. 11 Design Methodology This section follows the process and status of the design as related to the written document. Elements of site, precedent, material considerations, typologies and research are analyzed to determine how craft in wood can be applied in architecture to create a space for craftsmanship. 12 2.0 The Hand and its Effects on Human Culture “Where would we be without our hands? Our lives are so full of commonplace experience in which the hands are so skillfully and silently involved that we rarely consider how dependent upon them we actually are.”1 -Frank Wilson 13 2.1 The Importance of the Hand Our hands allow us to do more than we know. We communicate, gesture, act, play and work through everyday routine with the use of our appendages. From our ape ancestors to present homo sapiens, our hand has gone through many structural evolutions to a point where we have an opposable thumb capable of making contact with the other four fingers of the hand.2 The value of the opposable thumb has many benefits, one of which is the ability to grip objects, such as primitive tools in man’s early days. Three types of grips can be attributed to our hands. Pinching between thumb and index finger, cradling in the palm with the use of thumb and fingers and cupping an object in one hand to utilize the other hand are ways we interact with out environment through the use of the hand. Mary Marzke, an ethnologist, devised these methods as a way to understand how grips could affect the development of our human culture.3 In our development of using tools, we created a social impact on our environment, changing the way people interact with it and each other.