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Architecture and Fire An Archival Approach to Architectural Conservation Stamatios Zografos A thesis submitted to the Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, September 2012 1 Declaration I certify that this thesis is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is in the work of others. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. London, September 21, 2012 Stamatios Zografos 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my first supervisor Professor Scott Lash, Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths University, for encouraging me to join the PhD course back in 2006 and for giving me positive and stimulating feedback since. I am indebted to my second supervisor Dr Ben Campkin, Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory, who, since the beginning of our collaboration, has been exceptionally helpful and motivating with his consistent supervision and insightful comments. I would also like to thank Professor John Hutnyk from the Centre for Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths University for his ongoing support throughout the years of my degree. Also, Professor Bernard Stiegler, Professional Fellow at the Centre, for his constructive comments on the final draft. To my colleagues and friends from the Centre and particularly to Elena Papadaki, Paola Crespi, and Dr James Burton I owe many thanks for their help, inspiration, and the occasional coffee breaks! I must also thank the staff at the London Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark for their generous assistance. For many reasons, I would also like to thank my following friends: (alphabetically listed) Aidan Walsh, Aoife Donnelly, Blue Carry, Carla Garcia, Carlos Molina, Lee Palmer (Being), Nicola Collett, Saskia Fisher, Sebastian Hicks, and Stefania Scarsini. Lastly, big thanks to my family for supporting and believing in me… 3 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to develop an alternative conceptual understanding of architectural conservation, which overcomes inherent problems and paradoxes that its current theory and practice is commonly associated with. To achieve this, I explore conservation through the interdisciplinary approach of archival theory arguing that listed buildings comprise the official archivisation of architecture. Through Henri Bergson’s philosophy, however, I explain that archives are also sites of forgetting thus the function of conservation appears problematic. I, therefore, re-examine the fundamental relationship between architecture and memory by focusing on the memory of fire, as it is an element that is present from the birth until the death of architecture. Fire and its conflicting nature of temporality inform also the philosophical methodology of this research; I employ the philosophy of Gaston Bachelard who is known for his psychoanalytic work on fire, memory and fragmented time, and the philosophy of a theoretical opponent, Henri Bergson, who is famous for his work on memory and temporal continuity. Based on both philosophers, I first explore architectural evolution in regards to how buildings absorb fire, spanning from the flames of the ancient hearth to contemporary architecture, and then look into the critical moment of architectural evolution, which is its destruction by fire. Through this study, I comment on architecture in archival terms arguing that it carries with it either a reduced or a complete memory of its entire past, thus making the function of conservation fundamentally redundant. Finally, I develop a psychoanalytic approach to conservation based on Jacques Derrida’s understanding according to which archives are associated with the Freudian unconscious, and argue that conservation can result in the repression of the death drive unless the latter is sublimated. This implies that conservation policy must be adjusted accordingly to allow destruction to be part of the agenda. 4 Contents Declaration ……………………………………………………………………………………………………...…..…2 Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………………………3 Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…4 Contents ………………………………………………………………………………………………….………...……5 List of Illustrations ……………………………………………………………………………………….……….…7 Chapter 1 – Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………9 Chapter 2 – Archives …………………………………………………………………………………….......….28 § The concept of the archive …………………………………………………………………….……29 The Derridean archive ………………………………………………………………………….………..32 Archives and the city ……………………………………………………………………………….…….39 Documents versus monuments ……………………………..……………………………..…….…41 The digital archive ……………………………..……………………………..……………………….….42 § Individual and collective memory ………………………………………………………….……43 Memory in ancient Greece and Rome ……………………………..…………………………….43 Memory during the modern period ……………………………..…………………………….….45 Halbwach’s concept of collective memory ……………………………..……………….…….46 Assmann’s concept of cultural memory ……………………………..…………………….……50 Chapter 3 – Fire ……………………………………………………………………………………………….…….53 § The methodology of fire ………………………………………………………………………….…53 Bachelard’s model of knowledge production ……………………………..…………….……53 Vernant’s interpretation of the Promethean myth ……………………………..…….…..54 Heraclitus’ cosmology ……………………………..……………………..……………………….…….57 § The archive of Fire ……………………………………………………………………………………..62 What is fire? ……………………………..……………………………………………………………….....63 Fire and myths ……………………………..…………………………………………………………….….65 Fire and festivities ……………………………..…………………………..………………………….….70 Fire and modern science ……………………………..………………………………………………..73 Fire and thermodynamics ……………………………..……………………..………………….……75 Chapter 4 – Heritage ……………………………………………………………………………………….…....79 The official archivisation of architecture ……………………………..………………………...79 The process of designation …………………………….………………………..…………………….82 Towards the establishment of a modern conservation theory …………………….…87 Violet-le-Duc and restoration ……………………………..…………………..…………………....89 Restoration in Britain ……………………………………………………..……………………………..91 John Ruskin and modern conservation …………………………………………………….…….92 5 Bachelard and contemporary conservation in England ………………………….………98 The Bergsonian archive and the need to reassess heritage …………………….……109 Chapter 5 – Architecture and Fire ……………………………………………………………………..…117 Thermal comfort ……………………………..……………………………………………………….….118 Philippe Rahm’s Digestive Gulf Stream ……………………………..……………….………..120 Fire and architectural evolution ……………………………..……………………..…….………121 Fire and sustainable design ……………………………..…………………..………………….….131 Fire as energy ..…………………………..……………………..……………………………….……....137 Architectural evolution and fire, a Bachelardian approach …………………..………141 Architectural evolution and fire, a Bergsonian approach ……………………….…….153 Chapter 6 – Architecture on Fire ………………………………………………………….…………….…159 Fire in the building …………………………….……………………..………………………………….160 Fire fighting …………………………………..……………………………..………………….………….166 Fire protection and the building ……………………………..…………………..…….………..177 Fire and legislation – Incendio ……………………………..……………………...………………181 Fire prevention research ……………………………..……………………..………………….……195 Architecture on fire, a Bachelardian approach ……………………………..………….….202 Architecture on fire, A Bergsonian approach ……………………………..…………..……204 Chapter 7 – Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….……….……209 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………..……228 6 List of Illustrations Illustration 1 - Stills from Luis Benassi’s film triptych Black Umbrella…………………………..9 Illustration 2 - Still from the superimposed film in Black Umbrella ………………….………..10 Illustration 3 - Hegel’s Holiday, René Magritte, 1958 ………………….………………….…………10 Illustration 4 - Figure Study II, Francis Bacon, 1945-1946 ………………….………………….…..10 Illustration 5 - Pier D, Riverside Park South, Manhattan, New York ………………….……….19 Illustration 6 - Matthew Paris’ postcard ………………….………………….………………….…………32 Illustration 7 - The 1857 British Museum Reading Room ………………….………………….……40 Illustration 8 - The River Lethe, Dore, G. (c.1880s), Antique Religious Engraving Purgatory ………………….………………….………………….………………….…………….68 Illustration 9 - Mnemosyne, Rossetti, D.G. (1881) ………………….………………….……………..69 Illustration 10 -The Muses,,Rottenhammer, H (1564-1626)…………………….…………………69 Illustration 11 - Rumford’s equipment to bring water to boil with heat of friction ……74 Illustration 12 - Claude Shannon’s equation ………………….………………….………………….…..75 Illustration 13 - The relocation of Waterpoint in St Pancras, London ………………….…….85 Illustration 14 - The relocation of a church in Germany ………………….………………….…….86 Illustration 15 - The Temples of Ramses II ………………….………………….………………….………86 Illustration 16 - The church of San Lorenzo in Miranda, Rome ………………….………………87 Illustration 17 - The Isokon building in Hampstead, London ………………….………………..108 Illustration 18 - Site specific installation by Philippe Rahm Architects ………………….…120 Illustration 19 - A Reredos ………………….………………….………………….………………….………..123 Illustration 20 - Interior of the Baron’s Hall at Penshurst Place, England …………………123 Illustration 21 - Women and girls and a young boy at work in Bryant & May's match factory, Fairfield Road, Bow, London, (London, 1871) …………………….126 Illustration 22 - Greenhouse with a slow combustion iron stove, London 1873 ………127 Illustration 23 - Domestic
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