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: ______
INTEGRATING PAST AND PRESENT The Story of a Building through Adaptive Reuse
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 of the college of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning
2006
Jessica Kersting
B.S. in Architecture, University of Cincinnati, 2004
Committee: Professor Jeffrey Tilman, PhD Professor Michael McInturf
ABSTRACT
Architecture is an expression appropriate to its time, and adaptive reuse is a tool that can be utilized in the exploration of how to add to the existing fabric of a structure in order to continue the story of the building while still speaking to time and tradition.
Although this approach of restoration has been exploited for years, in what ways are reuse and adaptation acceptable means for allowing creativity and innovation to take its place in the history of a building? Through the study of texts by various theorists and the works of Carlo Scarpa and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates among others, the topic of creating a narrative of a building will be explored. Discussion will involve capitalizing on a building’s history, exploiting present functions and leaving room for future interpretation. The gradual sequence of change and integration of present day ideas, perceptions, and designs with existing building elements will be implemented while examining the old YMCA building on Calhoun Street in Clifton, Ohio. Through this study, a new dimension will be added to the thesis inquiry as to how to approach adaptive reuse not as a way in which to impose new forms and expressions onto existing structures, but as a technique used to add to the continual evolution of a building.
i
ii TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract i Table of Contents iii List of Illustrations iv
Introduction 1
1: Adaptive Reuse; Introduction and Background 5
2: Evolution; Biological versus Human Aspects of Change 14
3: Leave Your Mark; Connecting with the Past 23
4: Layering 32 4.1: Layering of Materials; Castelvecchio Museum 35 4.2: Layering of Time; The BAM Majestic Theater 38 4.3: Layering of Elements; Positano 42
5: Display 46 5.1: Carlo Scarpa 48 5.2: Rookwood Pottery 52
6: Conclusion 57
7: Project Description 61 7.1: Finding a Use 62 7.2: Program 64
Bibliography 74
iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS i-1: Narrative Collage, by author. i-2: Death of a Cottage. Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 92-93.
2-1: Evolution Collage, by author.
2-2: Commercial building in Lawrence, Kansas. Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 8.
2-3: US Mint Building. Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 9.
2-4: San Francisco Residence. Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 8-9.
2-5: Misfit (St. Bernhard) (94/12) and 2-6: Misfit (Nandu) (94/13) by Thomas Grünfeld, 1994. Peg Rawes, “Animal Architecture,” in Architecture – The Subject is Matter, ed. Jonathan Hill (New York: Routledge, 2001), 212 & 214.
2-7: Photos of Falkestrasse 6. Coop Himmelblau.
2-8: Carriage House Converted to Residence. Richard Murphy. Richard Murphy Architects; Ten Years of Practice. (Edinburgh: The Fruitmarket Gallery, 2001), 60.
3-1: Leave Your Mark Collage, by author
3-2: Domus. Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 156.
3-3 and 3-4: Interior Views of Scoozi! Virginia Croft, Recycled as Restaurants (New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1991), 171 and 175.
4-1: Layering Collage, by author.
4-2: Layering Diagram. Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 13.
4-3: Castelvecchio Museum and 4-4: ‘Drawbridge’ Iron Gate. Photos by Emily Wray, 2005.
iv 4-5: ‘Drawbridge’ Iron Gate. Guido Guidi, “Museo di Castelvecchio a Verona,” Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, 1997.
4-6: Void revealing layering of interventions. Nicholas Olsberg, etal., Carlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999), 2.
4-7: Void revealing layering of interventions. Arno Hammacher, “Museo di Castelvecchio a Verona,” Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, 1981-82.
4-8: Reconstructed Interior, 4-9: Stage Detail, 4-10: Exposed Structure, 4-11: Preexisting Box Seats, and 4-12: Updated Drawings. Michael Sorkin, Mildred F. Schmertz, and Nicholas Polites, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Buildings and Projects 1967-1992 (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1992), 152, 154, & 155.
4-13: Positano Interior, 4-14: Central Bar, 4-15: Preexisting Entrance, and 4-16: Reconstructed Entrance. Virginia Croft, Recycled as Restaurants (New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1991), 130-131, 132, 133, & 136.
5-1: Display Collage, by author.
5-2: “Restoration of Historic Landscape in Progress” reads sign on a Kansas prairie and 5-3: Lincoln Birthplace Log Cabin. David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 270 & 274.
5-4: Olivetti Showroom. Fulvio Roiter. Actualite Architecture, Art et Culture, 2001- 2006.
5-5: Display of artwork in Castelvecchio Museum. Nicholas Olsberg, etal., Carlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999), 31.
5-6: Studies completed by Carlo Scarpa in positioning the statue of Cangrande della Scala. Nicholas Olsberg, etal., Carlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999), 81, 82 & 87.
5-7: Rookwood Pottery. Mount Adams Today.
5-8: Coat ‘closet’, 5-9: New Mechanical System, and 5-10: Limited Kitchen Space. Photos by author, 2002.
6-1: Evolution, Leave Your Mark, Layering, Display, collage assembled by author.
7-1: 270 Calhoun Street, by author.
v
7-2: Arial of 270 Calhoun Street. Image from Google Earth altered by author.
7-3: Lobby location on First Floor Plan, 7-4: Entrance, 7-5: Café Leo sign, 7-6: Child’s artwork, 7-7: Children’s artwork displayed, 7-8: Basement Floor Plan diagram, and 7-9: Existing Basement, by author.
7-10: Old Use, photo provided by the YMCA.
7-11: Existing conditions, 7-12: View from back deck, 7-13: First Floor Plan, 7-14: Second Floor Plan, 7-15: Future waiting lounge and 7-16: Existing second floor office, 7- 17: Third Floor Plan, 7-18: Example of third floor room, and 7-19: Kitchen Plan, by author.
vi
INTRODUCTION
Image i- 1: Narrative Collage
1 In traditional cultures, environments are “never torn down, never erased; instead
they are always embellished, modified, reduced, enlarged, improved.”1 They adapt to the
needs of ever changing users. However, in modern American society, development is
often seen in a different light. Newer is better; “buildings are assumed to have a certain
finite lifetime” and will eventually be torn down “and replaced by larger buildings with
finite lifetimes.”2 Those that are saved and restored are those that house “the seats of the powerful and famous.”3 It has been stated by Stewart Brand that the majority of buildings “strenuously avoid any relationship whatever with time and what is considered its depredation.”4 Up until the late twentieth century many architectural artifacts that
were studied and preserved were those of monumental significance. In the opinion of
James Marston Fitch, the experiences of the ‘illiterate majority’ had been overlooked.
Although the majority of well-know preservation projects and reused spaces are those with historical significance, it is a part of evolution to reuse the ordinary structures around us. Adaptive reuse has been around in one technique or another since the beginning of the built environment. Whether it be a building such as the Parthenon, which has held functions ranging from a mosque, to a harem, to a powder magazine, or an ancient tool that has been used, reused, torn apart and the pieces reassembled, the idea of adapting the existing is part of human evolution. Fitch states, “An organic process of growth and repair must create a gradual sequence of changes.”5 He suggests that just as new construction is important, repair and addition to the existing is valuable. “Only then
1 James Marston Fitch, Historic Preservation (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1982), 35. 2 Fitch, 35. 3 Fitch, 23. 4 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 52. 5 Fitch, 35.
2 can an environment stay balanced both as a whole and in its parts, at every moment of its
history.”6 However, in this process of adapting and reusing, the origin of the building and the story behind the initial function often gets lost.
Image i- 2: Death of a Cottage
The goal of this thesis study is to go beyond the more traditional approaches to
adaptive reuse projects. Too often today, the existing is seen as an obstacle that needs to
be designed around or in some cases demolished in order to impose a new design of the
time. Sometimes historic elements are memorialized with plaques, or an existing element
may be left untouched simply because it is “historic”. Through the continual study of
precedent and theory, I will develop a set of principles that I can use to successfully add
to an existing building while continuing a narrative of the structure’s history and past
functions. How does the integration of new and old not simply replace history, but in fact
add to it? How does the story of the building evolve?
In constructing a narrative of a building, we first must choose what we want to
communicate. “In configuring a story of a life episode,” states Donald E. Polkinghorne,
“narratives often omit details and condense parts…, elaborate and exaggerate other
parts…, and make parts more compact and consistent… to produce a coherent and understandable explanation.”7 History is simply a retelling of past occurrences through
6 Fitch, 35. 7 Donald E. Polkinghorne, “Narrative Psychology and Historical Consciousness: Relationships and Perspectives,” in Narration, Identity, and Historical Consciousness, ed. Jürgen Straub (New York: Berghahn Books, 2005), 9.
3 present day perspectives. Each storyteller has his own interpretation or point of view. “If
history were to be a science, narrative explanation would be inappropriate.”8 Rather, in order for a story to evolve and retain interest, turning points, “pivots in time when the
‘new’ replaces the ‘old’,”9 are essential.
This thesis study will concentrate on looking at everyday buildings and focus on evolving the structure to accommodate new uses while still commemorating the history of the building. We must take into account the present condition of the building and alterations that have occurred across time. By applying an aesthetic eye, we must decide if the current state “helps or hinders our comprehension of the aesthetic intentions of the original builders.”10 We then must evaluate how these changes and alterations have
responded to “earlier interventions by historically significant events or personalities.”11
All of these factors must then be integrated with new construction in order to continue the narrative of the building. “The building already has a story; all you have to do is add the interesting next chapter.”12
Throughout this paper, discussions will take place on how exactly we add this
next chapter. I am going to look at the idea of narrative as a tool in which to establish
coherence and unity in the presentation of an adaptive reuse project. Through the use of
evolution, scarring, layering, and display, principles will emerge as a way in which to
embrace storytelling as a process to communicate what once belonged to the past and
explain what has emerged as part of the present function.
8 Polkinghorne, 18. 9 Jerome S. Bruner, “Past and Present as Narrative Constructions,” in Narration, Identity, and Historical Consciousness, ed. Jürgen Straub (New York: Berghahn Books, 2005), 38. 10 Fitch, 83. 11 Fitch, 83. 12 Brand, 105.
4
1: ADAPTIVE REUSE; INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
5 “Rapid and uncontrolled technology evolution has become so institutionalized
that change is now seen as synonymous with progress.”1 Railroads replaced canals; highways replaced railroads. But why does innovation have to be associated with new?
Can progress not be shown by the connection of the past with the new technology of today? In pursuing a topic concerning adaptive reuse and proposing a transformation of an existing building into servicing a new public function, many variables arise that require further investigation. Foremost is the need to acquire a basic understanding of the adaptive reuse concept and process. Questions such as what makes a building worth saving and is the process truly economical are addressed.
As suggested by Barbaralee Diamonstein in Remaking America, recycling, or
adapting, buildings is the single most important aspect of the preservation movement that
is quickly sweeping across America. James Marston Fitch attributes this sudden interest
in the movement in America to the change in the economy in the mid 1970s. Fuel and
material costs were increasing making building materials expensive and delivery slow.2
Adaptive reuse was simply a more economical solution to new building. “Old buildings save you money.”3 They required less capital to start, less time to complete, and less
dependence on heavy machinery. Older buildings contained unique details and
craftsmanship, were often built better, and designed without modern day mechanical
systems, utilizing natural light and ventilation.4 The building process could also be
1 James Marston Fitch, Historic Preservation (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1982), 31. 2 Fitch, 169. 3 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 93. 4 Fitch, 179.
6 completed in stages, allowing one part of the building to be “profitably occupied”5 while another stage was being worked out.
Not only did these factors play a role in the development of interest towards adaptive reuse, but also tax incentives helped to further the cause. The Tax Reform Act of 1976, which permitted faster tax write-offs for restoration, and the Economic Recovery
Tax Act of 1981, which permitted tax deductions of up to 25 percent for the value of such work and 20 percent on any building over 30 years old, (currently 20 and 10 percent respectively), were two major reasons that allowed this movement to progress so quickly.
“Tax credits, tax abatements, low-cost loans, historic districts, and transferable air rights or development rights” were also among the incentives of rehabilitation.6 Localized and citywide enticements have also been implemented more recently. In order to develop the area of Over the Rhine (OTR) in Cincinnati, Ohio, committees are taking advantage of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), which is a Federal program established in 2000 geared towards stimulating interest, investment, and growth in troubled communities.
Corporations such as Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) have been developed in order to aid in the development of OTR as a “vibrant, economically and racially diverse mixed-use community.”7 Not-for-profit organizations, such as
ReSTOC, have also been organized in order to aid in the growth of such areas by offering affordable housing.
Besides personal tax deductions, what makes these recycling options so appealing in today’s society? I believe that Diamonstein best answers this question when she states,
5 Brand, 93. 6 Brand, 93. 7 www.3cdc.org
7 Creative adaptation provides pride in our heritage, a link with the past, respect for the aesthetics and craftsmanship of another time, insights into our own development, ample creative opportunity for architectural innovation and problem solving, enhancement of the urban fabric, greater security, stability and beauty, while conserving basic materials and meeting modern needs.8
In this one statement, the most basic and key advantages of adaptive reuse are highlighted. We can see that the idea of recycling marries both new and old architectural practices. Touching on both the value of the craftsmanship of the past and the new innovative ideas of the present, aspects of both modernism and postmodernism are being fused into this new preservation movement, which is gathering enthusiastic supporters and generating great examples of American architecture.
Whether the intentions are based on financial reasons or the desire to fuse together new and old to create unique design problems and solutions, adaptive reuse begins with the question, what makes this building worth saving? According to
Diamonstein, there are many possible answers to this question. One viewpoint is that the building communicates to us. It speaks of time and tradition and may contain craftsmanship that in today’s contract-and-deadline-driven workplace cannot be replaced.
Another relates to the context of the building. Although not historically of value, a building may be locally recognized and respected, adding to the character of a neighborhood. An additional argument may be that the building is an architectural or engineering feat of its time, worthy of acknowledgement and respect.
Stewart Brand suggests that it is more than that. In quoting Jane Jacobs, author of
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Brand implies that old buildings inspire
creativity and create character.
8 Barbaralee Diamonstein, Remaking America (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1986), 18.
8 Only operations that are well-established, high-turnover, standardized or highly subsidized can afford, commonly, to carry the costs of new construction. Chain stores, chain restaurants and banks go into new construction. But neighborhood bars, foreign restaurants and pawn shops go into older buildings. Supermarkets and shoe stores often go into new buildings; good bookstores and antique dealers seldom do. Well-subsidized opera and art museums often go into new buildings. But the unformalized feeders of the arts-studios, galleries, stores for musical instruments and art supplies, backrooms where the low earning power of a seat and table can absorb uneconomic discussions-these go into old buildings….
Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must come from old buildings.9
Although it may seem straightforward, the practice of adaptive reuse is not always easy. “Almost no buildings adapt well… But all buildings (except monuments) adapt anyway.” Architecture is about permanence; however, “from the first drawings to the final demolition, buildings are shaped and reshaped by changing cultural currents, changing real-estate values, and changing usage.”10 William C. Shopsin suggests adaptive reuse tends to complicate even the most routine aspects of construction, not to mention that if something is damaged during the early phases of the restoration process, it is likely that that component was irreplaceable. The drawings and design itself can also present some challenging issues. A detailed examination of the building must first be completed. This not only allows oneself to become familiar with building style and physical condition, but factors such as ceiling heights, method of construction and material can be noted. Great care must be taken in older buildings when completing field measurements, many times so much of the building is custom made that dimensions can be very irregular. There are many more roadblocks to consider; the structure may be unsound in parts of the building or unable to carry additional loads, ADA issues must be
9 Brand, 28. 10 Brand, 2.
9 dealt with, and the requirements of the program could call for additions, which present
interesting design challenges.
Context and local history are two more aspects of adaptive reuse that are most
often dealt with hand-in-hand. When recycling a building, take into consideration the
character of the neighborhood, establish acceptable limits and recognize aesthetic
standards of the community. Having an understanding for the common building
materials and style of the community are very important. Often, older buildings were
constructed with local materials and craftsmanship, containing unique details and
connections. Preserving these aspects and calling attention to the details of the building
and care of the workers adds to the local tradition and allows citizens to further
appreciate the intricacies of the buildings around them. Think about the structure’s size,
materials, color and style and how all of this relates to the area. Consider the program
and if the building is not only suitable for the adaptation, but is it in a key location for the
new function. All of these concerns should allow the project to add positively to the
surroundings and not dominate over local interests and aesthetics.
Although there are many arguments for keeping a building and continuing the
story of its character through adaptive reuse, is an old building every really obsolete?
James Marston Fitch suggests that there are four additional factors to consider when looking at a building: microclimate responses, structural stability, sanitary levels, and historic and artistic significance. Microclimate is a factor that most old urban areas manipulate.11 It is important to take advantage of the positive and reduce negative impact. In older buildings, most of the negative impact of microclimate occurs because
11 Fitch, 63.
10 of alterations over time and will benefit from “correcting such conditions.”12 Structural stability is another key factor when looking at a possible rehabilitation site. If the building is structurally worth saving, alterations or reinforcing to the existing structure can be areas of great potential in narrating the interaction of history and present day adaptations. Sanitation levels are an obvious concern to the well being of the users, whereas historic and artistic value is much more objective. “Some of the most deteriorated sections may well have greatest value and offer the largest tourist potentials for restoration and preservation.”13
Carlo Scarpa is one architect whose techniques and approaches to the design of
adaptive reuse projects are worthy of discussion. Scarpa saw craft, construction
techniques, and on-site invention as the “ultimate creative acts in architecture.”14 He believed that design focused around the essentials in building: the wall, the joint, the window, the stair, and the door. He saw the power in the pencil, and the importance of working with the craftsman rather than opening up a catalogue. Sketching was important to his work, he had to see the results and explore the materials in the details. It was said of his Palazzo Abatellis in Carlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History, that there was an almost surgical accuracy in the seamless integration of the restoration of some and the addition of new elements. This emphasizes the importance to Scarpa of weaving new work into historical settings rather than imposing new monumental forms upon existing structures.
12 Fitch, 63. 13 Fitch, 63. 14 Nicholas Olsberg, etal., Carlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999), 40.
11 Scarpa believed that the dialogue in his projects was “never with the past, but
with the presence of past in the present.”15 He saw the importance of adapting rather than revolutionizing the built environment, wanting to find a way to create a language that would express the ideas of the time without abandoning material, craft and tradition of the time. This is where he achieved the key to his success, because “as today’s architects cope with the aging of existing urban realms, Scarpa’s singular ability to absorb and to accommodate a vernacular with a contemporary sensibility will surely be viewed as increasingly significant.”16 His work has empathy for what already exists.
Scarpa did not separate details from plans in his thought process. He carefully studied the entire building before the design process began and continued designing until the end of construction. “Today,” he said, “we stand with a gun against our heads: it is called the contract, the bid document, the price.”17 This understanding of the building as a whole, and not just focusing in on the reconstruction work, had obvious benefits.
Because of this, Scarpa was able to establish a conversation between new and old. He
was able to successfully assimilate into historic buildings a design, which at the same
time maintained its own identity. Through his attention to detail and texture, and the
dedication and design he allocated for each building, his work encompassed a unique
character that varied from project to project.
In acquiring a basic understanding for adaptive reuse principles and a brief history
of the process, we are able to set up an outline from which to begin the narrative
exploration. In this chapter, we have grasped the basic concepts of adaptive reuse and
what has made this movement so popular. In looking at the question, ‘What makes this
15 Olsberg, 15. 16 Olsberg, 240. 17 Olsberg, 240.
12 building worth saving,’ a list of criteria including craftsmanship, historic value, and inspiration has been started. In continuing the investigation of this basic concept of adaptation, I will develop design principles that will take the refurbishing of old beyond simply creating a new look to creating a new look that tells the story of its formation.
13
2: EVOLUTION; BIOLOGICAL VERSUS HUMAN ASPECTS OF CHANGE
Image 2- 1: Evolution Collage
14 When addressing adaptive reuse, we are dealing with the process of change. The
idea of change and growth is all around us. People mature, flowers bloom, blank walls
often get covered with graffiti, and old clothes get torn and made into beautiful quilts or
ripped and used as rags. We do not live in a static environment; the world around us is in
constant evolution. In evaluating the effects of biological versus human aspects of
change, and using this to tell the story of the built environment around us, we must
analyze the idea of time, buildings, and technology in relationship to evolution.
In looking at a historical narrative, we are confronted with the idea of a timeline.
Most narratives are linear; however, according to David Lowenthal, “the past is
multiform, much more complex than any sequential story line.”1 The past is comprised
of a “finite set of facts,”2 and it is impossible to capture the totality of these facts; we must be selective. Therefore, we have to take a look at the past, figure out what is
important and then create a story of the unfolding events. “The most detailed historical
narrative,” states Lowenthal, “incorporates only a minute fraction of even the relevant
past.”3
In telling this narrative, we must always remember that we are creating a story,
not a portrait of the past. Historical significance changes over time, what is important to
us now may not be important to a different group at a different time. When recalling the past, we are affected by hindsight. For example, we look at WWII differently now than people did in 1985 or 1950 because the consequences slowly unfold as time progresses.4
1 David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 223. 2 Peter Seixas, “Historical Consciousness: The Progress of Knowledge in a Postprogressive Age,” in Narration, Identity, and Historical Consciousness, ed. Jürgen Straub (New York: Berghahn Books, 2005), 143. 3 Lowenthal, 215. 4 Lowenthal, 217.
15 Time not only has an effect on the way in which we view history, but it also helps develop the world in which we live. Stewart Brand states, “From the first drawings to the final demolition, buildings are shaped and reshaped by changing cultural currents, changing real-estate values, and changing usage.”5 Even during the design phase, good architecture is constantly evolving. A good architect will spend time on the construction site designing along with the building process. Brand goes so far as to say, “A lot of the time now, you see buildings that look exactly like their models. That’s when you know you’re in trouble.”6
Carlo Scarpa was an architect who recognized the need for evolution in the design process. The tradition of the discipline and its craft along with the evolving fabric of the built environment were the two factors that played into Scarpa’s definition of history.
Although the history of architecture and the study of past buildings were very important to Scarpa, he did not believe the answer to revitalizing and showing interest in older buildings was rooted in historical restoration, but rather in adaptive reuse. Restoration simply preserved the building at one moment in history, but he believed that architecture was an expression appropriate to its time. Through historical restoration we are bringing back to life a building, a statement, that no longer is appropriate in today’s setting, rather, it is the gradual sequence of change that gives a building its character and integrity.
Brand sets up the idea that there are three main categories of buildings all with their own pace of change. “Commercial buildings are forever metamorphic.” Domestic buildings are “the steadiest changers,” and institutional structures are “mortified by
5 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 2. 6 Brand, 63.
16 change.”7 In looking at the following images, we can get a feel for the varied growth patterns.
Image 2- 2: Commercial Building in Lawrence, Kansas. Photos of the same building from 1938 and 1979. Commercial buildings are constantly changing hands, responding to a fast pace environment, and updating technology. Additions have a tacked on appearance, they change more “kaleidoscopically.”8 Businesses either grow or fail. “If they grow, they move; if they fail, they’re gone.”9
Image 2- 3: US Mint Building. The old US Mint building, established in 1874 remains practically unchanged serving as a museum today. This can be seen in the three pictures, which are taken from ca. 1870, 1906, and 1993. This building represents the tendency of institutional buildings to respond to change in a slow, delayed process, often not changing at all.
7 Brand, 7. 8 Brand, 8. 9 Brand, 7.
17
Image 2- 4: San Francisco Residence in ca. 1900, ca. 1939, and ca. 1941. Domestic buildings change because people change, and they’re environments can’t help but change with them.
The idea of evolution in regards to adaptive reuse can be taken even further than simply applying the idea of a gradual change over time. In Darwin’s theory of evolution, we are faced with the concept of natural selection. Natural selection and the idea of
‘survival of the fittest’ are the basis behind “adaptation and diversity” which is what Peg
Rawes defines as the two underlying principles used to explain alterations of form and
18 matter.10 In completing adaptive reuse projects it is those elements that are most adaptable, highly desirable, or of some value that are saved, that are ‘selected’ to survive.
“Such agglomerations,” states Brand, “become highly evolved, refinement added to refinement…the sensible parts kept, the humorous parts kept, the clever idea that didn’t work thrown away, the overambitious conservatory torn down, the loved view carefully maintained, until the aggregate is all finesse and eccentricity. The measure of successful evolution is intricate vivacity.”11 This is survival of the fittest.
Although Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution appear to be seamlessly perfect, questions concerning contemporary intervention arise. Where do the genome project and genetic alterations fit in? Artist Thomas Grünfeld composed a series of work called Misfits, which represents extremes of engineering and design faults in the
evolutionary process.12 Shown here are two examples from the series:
Image 2- 5: Misfit (St. Bernhard) (94/12) and Image 2- 6: Misfit (Nandu) (94/13)
10 Peg Rawes, “Animal Architecture,” in Architecture – The Subject is Matter, ed. Jonathan Hill (New York: Routledge, 2001), 209. 11 Brand, 35. 12 Rawes, 211.
19 Given recent technological advances in genetics, “Misfits may now be considered not merely as ‘freaks’ in the system, but ‘organisms’ that reflect other kinds of evolution.”13
This mutation, accepted by some, rejected by others, can be applied to the technological advance in building and the effects on modern adaptation projects. Integrating HVAC systems in to older buildings and updating existing structures to meet current computer needs are just two examples of such retro-fits.
Image 2- 7: Photos of Falkestrasse 6
Falkestrasse 6 by Coop Himmelblau is one built example of a “Misfit”. This
building addition appears to be a built representation of the mutation process as a result
of the role of technology on existing building forms. The modern addition to the baroque
building leaves room for an infinite number of interpretations. The analogy set up by
Paul Spencer Byard in The Architecture of Additions, compares the transformation to an angel. He compares the rooftop monstrosity to the tradition of baroque ceiling paintings of palaces and churches. In this way, Coop Himmelblau used technology to tell the story of the style of the building. Baroque ceiling paintings, according to Byard, are objects intended to “move and disturb the viewer for pleasure but also to drive home and
13 Rawes, 213.
20 celebrate the importance of the buildings and their owners, to make clear their direct
connections their cardinals and princes believe they enjoy with Christian and mythic
heavens.”14 Using this theory, the addition is an “angel of death,”15 brought down from
the heavens looming over the street below. Others may view this building more along the
lines of an egotistical display of technology, similar to those who alter genetic traits
simply because they can.
The concept of evolution is embedded with the idea of a future. When
considering the future, it is uncertain what will come. You can’t design for the future.
Brand states, “The future is no more controllable than it is predictable…Whatever you
are ready for, doesn’t happen; whatever you are unready for, does.”16 This idea of
uncertainty is evident in a witty quote by
Deborah Devonshire in her writing on
Britain, “Who could have foreseen that
the most fashionable dwelling houses of
today would be those once occupied by
animals or their food? …Stables, coach-
houses, granaries, barns, kennels, dairies
and sheepfolds are the smart addresses
now.”17 However, that is the effect of Image 2- 8: Carriage House converted to residence. time. Jane Jacobs is quoted as saying,
14 Paul Spencer Byard, The Architecture of Additions: Design and Regulation (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1998), 49. 15 Byard, 49. 16 Brand, 181. 17 Deborah Devonshire, as quoted by Brand, 96.
21 Time makes the high building costs of one generation the bargains of a following generation. Time pays off original capital costs, and this depreciation can be reflected in the yields required from a building. Time makes certain structures obsolete for some enterprises, and they become available to others. Time can make the space efficiencies of one generation the space luxuries of another generation. One century’s building commonplace is another century’s useful aberration.18
The concept of evolution can be applied to the adaptive reuse process in order to
contribute to the idea of gradual change telling a story. The effects of time and
technology can be played into the relationship between a building and its users in a constantly evolving story. It sets up the past, displays the present, and leaves room for the future. Evolution of a building is so interesting because it displays the interaction of humans and creates a direct dialogue between the changing users and their equally active environment. Brian Eno, a British rock musician said, “We are convinced by things that show internal complexity, that show the traces of an interesting evolution… I think that humans have a taste for things that not only show that they have been through a process of evolution, but which also show they are still a part of one. They are not dead yet.”19
18 Jane Jacobs, as quoted by Brand, 84-85. 19 Brian Eno, as quoted by Brand, 11.
22
3: LEAVE YOUR MARK; CONNECTING WITH THE PAST
Image 3- 1: Leave Your Mark Collage
23 According to James Marston Fitch, a good environment is one that is continually
changing and growing. Each new building brings a series of repairs and adaptations.1 A successful building is one in which the users interact with their surroundings. “The building learns from its occupants, and they from it.”2 However, why is it not only important to see interaction with the environment by the users, but also to narrate the progression of this relationship? In order to successfully communicate the story of a
building, we must understand why a connection with the history of the building is
important.
The relationship between people and the built environment can be traced back to
Classical Greece. As Stewart Brand writes:
People and their dwellings were indistinguishable: domus referred not only to the walls but also the people within them. Evidence for this is found in inscriptions and texts, in which the word refers now to one, now to the other, but most often to both at once, to the house and its residents envisioned as an indivisible whole. The architectural setting was not an inert vessel; the genius of the domus, honored by a cult, was the protector of both the place and the people who lived in it.3
There was a connection between people and their dwellings, and, in Classical Greece and
Roman culture, the word domus emphasized the importance of this relationship. Domus
implied a unique quality of two seemingly unrelated words having a dependant
association with each other. It implied that people are linked to their homes in such a
way that changes to the one in turn affected the other. “We shape our buildings, and
afterwards our buildings shape us.”4
1 James Marston Fitch, Historic Preservation (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1982), 35. 2 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 23. 3 Brand, 23. 4 Brand, 3.
24
Image 3- 2: Domus. Example of an environment shaped by the family, and in turn the family shaped by the environment.
David Lowenthal suggests various reasons as to why people continue to have such a strong connection with their environments. He begins his introduction of The Past is a
Foreign Country with the sentence “The past is everywhere.”5 Right away he is stating that not only are the effects of the past carried into everyday life, but also the connection to it is therefore inevitable. “The past is everywhere.” Everywhere we turn and in everything we do, we are interacting with the past. “The past thus conjured up is, to be sure, largely an artifact of the present.”6
Today, in the age of technology, the past matters more. Technology has
awakened the role of the past. As Lowenthal states, “Industrial society, unlike the
commercial, craft and agrarian societies which it replaces, does not need the past… The new methods, new processes, new forms of living of scientific and industrial society have no sanction in the past and no roots in it; we now look back as a matter of curiosity, of nostalgia, a sentimentality.”7 Today, more than in times that came before us, people are surrounded with furnishings of old, photographs of ancestors, memorabilia of where they
5 David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), xv. 6 Lowenthal, xvi. 7 Lowenthal, 364.
25 have been and where they have came from, streets have been turned into “Memory
Lanes,”8 and movies and media depict what the past could have been like. We yearn for
the past and when it is not around us, we surround ourselves with it.
David Lowenthal states, “We need a stable past to validate tradition, to confirm
our own identity, and to make sense of the present.”9 Not only is the past everywhere, but we need a strong connection with this heritage in order to understand the present.
“Merely to know the past is not enough.”10 ‘Knowing the past’ is only the beginning.
We must understand it, critique it and learn from it. However, the desire to be connected with the past and the continuation of the existing built environment is more than just
“habit and nostalgia. Old buildings embody history. They are worlds; in old buildings we glimpse the world of previous generations.”11 We need to be intimate with our history and to have put our mark on it, but how is this accomplished? How do we connect with a past that is all around us, but at times so distant?
One answer to this question, as suggested by Lowenthal, is that in order to make this connection with the past, we alter it. “We alter the past to become a part of it as well
as to make it our own.”12 Even the way we view a relic alters the way we perceive it, for we are looking at it “with present-day lenses.”13 He believes that we reuse buildings and alter the past because, “We feel more at home with our past… when we have put our stamp on it.”14 As he suggests, it is not only important to be familiar with our heritage,
8 Lowenthal, 367. 9 Lowenthal, 263. 10 Lowenthal, 378. 11 Brand, 90. 12 Lowenthal, 331. 13 Lowenthal, xvi. 14 Lowenthal, 331.
26 but to be involved with it. This idea of putting our “stamp on it” and interacting with our
past strengthens our connection to it and our understanding of its impact on the present.
Another approach is to enter into design with the attitude that “the present needs a
past to grow on.”15 Whether through the study of precedent for the starting point for new
design, the investigation of the history of an existing building, or the analysis of the
character of a neighborhood, the value of the lessons that can be taken from completed
work is extremely beneficial. “We prefer a world that can be modified progressively,
against a background of valued remains, a world in which one can leave a personal mark
alongside the marks of history.”16
Take the processes of scarring and tattooing for example. These two impose a
technique of permanence onto the body. Whether intentional or accidental, they place a
mark that adds to the history of the human figure, and create an anecdote that enhances
the story of the being. As written by Lesley Naa Norle Lokko, the body is used by the
African culture as a canvas, a site of adornment where scarification is utilized to indicate
a tribal mark or celebrate the passage from one stage of life into another.17 Mark Dorrian
in “Surplus Matter: of scars, scrolls, skulls and stealth,” describes a scar as a wound that
refuses to heal, that “denaturalizes” the body’s surface.18 He refers to Ruskin’s Lamp of
Beauty, which describes a tattoo as monstrous and unnatural. However unnatural and ugly scars may look, it is a natural response by the body and creates moments where events are remembered and landmarks of the individual’s story are revealed.
15 Brand, 102. 16 Brand, 102. 17 Lesley Naa Norle Lokko, “Black Matter(s): Such as? Does it?,” in Architecture – The Subject is Matter, ed. Jonathan Hill (New York: Routledge, 2001), 178. 18 Mark Dorrian, “Surplus Matter: of scars, scrolls, skulls and stealth,” in Architecture – The Subject is Matter, ed. Jonathan Hill (New York: Routledge, 2001), 178.
27 Kathryn A. Burnett and Mary Holmes regard scars as adding validation to a
person’s character. They describe a scar as “akin to battlefields, castles, old ships or
railway lines – the object is imbued with both real and mythic aspects which, through interpretation and sharing with others, constitute meaningful qualities of existence.”19 A
scar is a demarcation on the body that leaves room for stories to be told, memories to be
recalled and, in some cases, praise to be given. In some instances, it may be an indication
of weakness or injury, but in others, a sign of valiance. According to these ladies, the
body is a form of heritage in three ways. First, the body serves as a historical entity of conversation. It is a “cultural legacy of inheritance.”20 The body betrays us leaving marks, lines, and scars indicating care taken for our body and leaving room for reflection.
Second, the body is a historical entity. It can be exploited as a resource from which we can present unique aspects of ourselves.21 Finally, the body is a heritage site. It serves as
a “meaningful interpretation of physical marks or traces,”22 that can be used to locate time and space. It acts to aid our memory.
Graffiti is a built example of the scarring process. It is a technique that acts to buildings as scars and tattoos serve the body. It can be used to aid in the communication
of the story of the structure. Scoozi! is a restaurant in Chicago, Illinois that used this
technique on the interior to portray a setting for the facility. Graffiti was exhibited on the
interior walls of the dining room to give the illusion that this once Zebart rust-proofing
garage was transformed into an artist studio before being converted into an Italian
19 Kathryn A. Burnett and Mary Holmes, “Bodies, Battlefields, and Biographies: Scars and the Construction of the Body as Heritage,” in Exploring the Body, ed. Sarah Cunningham-Burley and Kathryn Backett-Milburn (New York: PALGRAVE, 2001), 21. 20 Burnett, 22. 21 Burnett, 22. 22 Burnett, 22.
28 restaurant. Although the warehouse never actually served as an artist studio, the
technique was successful in creating a fictional account, adding elements to the actual
history of the building. Interior designers Jordan Mozer and Trudy Glossberg put their mark alongside the deteriorating walls and peeling plaster of the warehouse to trace the origins of the building and create accounts of what was left to come.
Image 3- 3 and Image 3- 4: Interior views of Scoozi!
When considering adaptive reuse projects and integrating one’s own personal
mark alongside the marks of history, there is benefit in considering the size of a project that is being pursued. Adaptation projects completed on smaller lots or building parcels are more often than not, more successful in the integration of new and old than larger endeavors. Rehabilitation completed on a smaller scale result in less “devastating changes that can come with large parcels.”23 This is often a result of more individual control. Attention can be paid to the details and connections of the elements, and the
23 Brand, 75.
29 integration of new with respect for the old can be well thought out. When larger projects
are taken on, there are more people to coordinate and more building to consider. Details
can become lost and potential areas for innovative integration of new or exhibition of old can be overlooked. The advantage of smaller lots says Brand, is that “it’s a conservative, wholesome kind of change – the place looks a little different every year, but the overall feel is the same from century to century.”24
Along with more individual control, smaller lots tend to have fewer turnovers
over a given period of time. Constant turnover causes stress on buildings. In looking at
the number of tenant changes in a larger office building, and the possibility of two
renovations per turnover, (one done by the owner to increase attractiveness of the ready- to-lease space, and one completed by the new tenant), you could have twenty or more transformations completed on the space in the building’s lifetime as a office complex.25
“The building can’t learn much with all those shock treatments!”26 says Brand. Elements
are going to be covered up, painted over and torn down. Retro fits are bound to occur in
the process, and the original character is apt to get lost, slowly disappearing from one
tenant to another. “Turnover refreshes, but it also erases.”27
Although constant remodeling has major disadvantages, remodeling, in general, is
not always negative. During reconstruction, or adaptation, information is inevitably
revealed about the past leaving little clues that can be exploited in the present and retold
for the future. “Workers sometimes leave mementos and messages for each other that the
24 Brand, 75. 25 Brand, 87. 26 Brand, 87. 27 Brand, 87.
30 owner knows nothing about.”28 Stonemasons often left their mark in their stonework
indicating who had completed the project. Sometimes these marks or messages from
previous craftsmen and construction workers is a way to find out the informal past of the
building; a way to uncover ‘off-the-record’ information that can be taken advantage of in
the understanding of the history of not only the building, but of the time in which original
construction or previous adaptations had occurred. Inscriptions such as these provide
excellent opportunity to be utilized in the construction of new additions to an existing
building in which the history of the structure can be displayed.
Over time, we adapt our surroundings, sometimes without knowing, and the
immediate affect is that we have added a present need, a new element to the narrative of
the building. Overall, the feeling is similar, the history is still present, even though we
cannot always put our finger on what exactly it is that is telling the story. Every encounter we have with the past changes not only our perception of it, but also the ideas of those who will come after. “We cannot avoid altering our inheritance, modern perspectives are bound to reinterpret all relics and recollections. Seeing the past in our own terms, we necessarily revise what previous interpreters have seen in their terms, and reshape artifacts and memories accordingly.”29 The past is a constant evolution of modern ideals and ideas. Through the utilization of scarring, carving, altering, or tattooing, we are leaving our influence alongside the evolving history of the structure.
These techniques allow us to have our hand in the shaping the continual narrative of the building.
28 Brand, 108. 29 Lowenthal, 325.
31
4: LAYERING
Image 4- 1: Layering Collage
32 It is hard to complete an adaptive reuse project without addressing the concept of layering in one form or another. In integrating new and old, some form of layering or weaving new and existing components is necessary. However, how can this technique be thoroughly utilized in the adaptive reuse process in order to communicate the story behind the building? This chapter will focus on precedents that take the concept of layering one step beyond simply applying new elements to existing form. We will see how three specific projects integrate contemporary and existing ideas using the processes of layering and peeling away in order to communicate the history of a building, integrate the present function, and leave room for future chapters.
The concept of layering can be applied to various components of the building process. Stewart Brand, in How Buildings
Learn, argues that it is this very process of layering that allows for a building to be adaptive. Frank Duffy, principal of a British design firm DEGW, is quoted by Brand as saying, “There isn’t such a thing as a building. Image 4- 2: Layering diagram A building properly conceived is several layers of longevity of built components.”1 Brand then revises DEGW’s model of a building arrangement comprised of a shell, services, scenery, and set to a less interior focused, more general-purpose diagram. As seen in image 4-2, Brand develops an understanding of the built environment by creating a composition encompassing site, structure, skin, services, space plan, and stuff. In following this diagram, argues Brand, “you invent
1 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 12.
33 building forms which are very adaptive.”2 This concept allows the importance of layering in adaptive reuse to be recognized. “An adaptive building has to allow slippage between the differently-paced systems of Site, Structure, Skin, Service, Space plan, and
Stuff.”3 Services, for example, wear out, become outdated, and need to be replaced.
They have a shorter life span than the structure. Stuff, which includes furniture and
appliances, gets arranged and rearranged from month to month if not from day to day.
Integrating these systems may appear to be efficient, but the inefficiency soon becomes
apparent, often resulting in damage to parts of the organization.
Although the layers in this diagram are separated, they do affect one another.
“Site dominates the Structure, which dominates the Skin, which dominates the Services,
which dominates the Space plan, which dominates the Stuff. How a room is heated
depends on how it relates to the heating and cooling Services, which depend on the
energy efficiency of the Skin, which depend on the constraints of the Structure.”4 Here
Brand is emphasizing that even if the layers are independent from one another, there is a great deal of dependence that must be considered when dealing with any one layer in a building.
Aside from functionality, layering can be used in adaptive reuse projects in regards to materiality. Practices after WWII turned from the common tradition of reworking old to attitudes favoring new construction. Remodeling, modernizing, making buildings look new again became the norm. However, attitudes in the late 70s and early
80s, turned back to the adaptive reuse process, and the realization that old buildings have
2 Brand, 17. 3 Brand, 20. 4 Brand, 17.
34 certain economic, scenographic, and sentimental values was coming back into play.5
Treatment when working with preexisting buildings evolved from an approach of stripping ornament because it dated a building, to utilizing these elements because they added character. Clem Labine states, “If it works, and it’s built well, and it’s a nice example of whatever it was intended to be, and it’s not getting in the way, then I say
leave it.”6 Brand goes on to add, “When a surface is richly layered, leave the existing layers and add another.”7 Layering of materials is a technique that can be utilized in
communicating the progression of a building.
4.1: Layering of Materials; Castelvecchio Museum
Castelvecchio Museum, by Carlo
Scarpa, is one architectural example of the
utilization of the layering technique to
communicate the gradual evolution of a
structure and the story behind a building.
This building exemplifies that not only is
adaptive reuse necessary for the continual
use of a space, but it also creates a sense of
pride and connection to the history of the
place. It tells a story, adapts to its time, but
still preserves through commemoration, Image 4- 3: Integration of new fabric via a new bridge inserted within existing fabric. memory, or identification the past and the
5 James Marston Fitch, Historic Preservation (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1982), 169. 6 Clem Labine, quoted by Brand, 108. 7 Brand, 108.
35 story of the place while adding to the narrative of it.
The Castelvecchio in Verona dates back to the 14th century. Built as a fortified castle, transformed into a military barracks, and finally turned into a museum, this structure has gone through a series of alterations and additions before Scarpa actually had his hand in the design process. When Scarpa did finally enter into the picture, he acquired the help of the museum director, Licisco Magagnato. He analyzed, case by case, what needed to be saved and what transformed.
The scope of work in this building encompassed a wide range of tasks. Scarpa worked on everything from the creation of spaces and circulation through the building to the layout of the art and the importance of the garden. Looking at the history trapped within this museum’s walls and strongly believing in setting up a relationship between old and new, Scarpa allowed each historic movement in this building to speak and work with the others, displaying a layering of traditions. As Sergio Los describes it in Carlo
Scarpa: An Architectural Guide, “He attempted to untangle the intricate remains of the various eras of construction so as to make the building itself a giant artifact or find, whose various phases of expansion and structural modifications were revealed by the various phases of restoration.”8
The garden was one place where this proved to be a challenge. Trying to join the facades of two major groups of buildings both looking onto this courtyard was not an easy task. Some of the elements of the façade would have been easy to remove, but they did contain elements, such as trim and a cornice, from the original Veronese building. As opposed to wiping the slate clean, Scarpa chose to leave the facades intact and add new,
8 Sergio Los, Carlo Scarpa: An Architectural Guide (Venice: Arsenale Editrice, 1995), 54.
36 attention-drawing elements. Here, he layered new onto the old, creating contrast in form
and material to distinguish between the new and the existing. The style of the original
building and time shows through the 1960s transformation.
The idea of layering is carried into the interior of the museum as well. As
described by Paul Spencer Byard in The Architecture of Additions, Scarpa “carves out within the great folded length of the fortress a rhythmical sequence of vaulted strongholds of space and light guarded by gates presenting and protecting the museum’s truly precious objects.”9 Here Scarpa used new iron gates, layering them over the arched
openings leading from one area of the museum to another. Through the use of these
gates, he sets up an analogy between a ‘drawbridge’ protecting the castle and these new,
heavy, iron doors guarding the artwork.
Image 4- 4 and Image 4- 5: ‘Drawbridge’ iron gates
It has been suggested that the boldest and most important move in the museum
was the creation of a void in one of the most highly trafficked areas in order to reveal the
9 Paul Spencer Byard, The Architecture of Additions: Design and Regulation (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1998), 27.
37 history of the building and the archeology of the structure. This move shows in more detail than any other of Scarpa’s works, his care for juxtaposition and the importance of including materials from the different eras of the building. He uses the process of layering along with the effects of decay to create an area that uncovers the building as a piece of art on display. As seen in images 4-6 and 4-7, he applies new materials without completely covering the existing stonework, allowing the history of the structure to be read and understood as a contrast to the new function and incorporated in the new composition.
Image 4- 6 and Image 4- 7: Void revealing layering of interventions
4.2: Layering of Time; The BAM Majestic Theater
Time is another aspect of layering that can be taken into consideration when telling the story of a building. In fact, the idea of time is what adaptive reuse is all about. “The most admired of old buildings, such as the Gothic palazzos of Venice, are time-drenched,” states Brand. “The republic that lasted 800 years celebrated its duration
38 in its buildings by swirling together over time a kaleidoscope of periods and cultural
styles all patched together in layers of mismatched fragments.”10 The BAM Majestic
Theater, completed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA), is a more modern
example that uses layering to exhibit the effects of time on a structure’s history.
HHPA is a firm that investigated the relationship that existed between people and
buildings and the idea that they affect each other. They practiced “open and open-ended
planning, shells with inserted packages, collage, improvisation, juxtaposition of
vocabularies, use and transformation of found objects, collaboration, acceptance of the
idea of changes occurring to a building over time, and a taste for accessibility.”11
Juxtaposition is one of their major design techniques. They often take advantage of the contrasts between existing and new by creating “crazy quilt combinations”12 rather than
unity in design. This collage-like synthesis of components and fragments creates well
adaptable residual spaces that can be exploited in changing uses.13 HHPA, according to
Mildred Friedman, “relish the historic built environment with its rich layering of adaptation over time, and accept its tailoring to present needs as a valid architectural enterprise.”14
HHPA embraces adaptive reuse projects, viewing a building as “malleable and
responsive to change, being comfortably reused in various ways. It assumes no
perfection and celebrates the random diversity of the people it is built to serve.”15 BAM
10 Brand, 63. 11 Glenn M. Andres, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Concepts and Buildings (Middlebury: Middlebury College Museum of Art, 1993), 34. 12 Andres, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Concepts and Buildings, 15. 13 Andres, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Concepts and Buildings, 21. 14 Mildred Friedman, Glenn M. Andres, and Debra Waters, HHPA: Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Buildings and Projects 1993-1998 (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1999) 13. 15 Andres, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Concepts and Buildings, 12.
39 Majestic Theater is a good example of displaying this relationship between the building, time, and the people it serves. The goal of this project was to create a more interactive relationship between the building, the performers, and the audience. Built in 1903 as a neighborhood theater, the renovation from a neighborhood theater, to a movie house, back to a theater in 1987 isn’t technically ‘adaptive reuse’. Therefore, this project uses layering to convey a history of the interaction of time, weather, and users rather than a complete narrative of past functions as seen in the Castelvecchio Museum.
Image 4- 8: Reconstructed Interior and Image 4- 9: Stage detail
After a decade of abandonment, this once beautiful theater turned into a display of decay, water damage and peeled paint. However, what was left was a fantastic opportunity to create a narrative of the effects of time on this space. By freezing what decay had occurred and by leaving the walls in the found state, a dialogue began to develop between the building and those occupying the space. Through the peeling paint and weathered plaster, decades of history began to unravel. The various colors, detail, and textures of past ages emerged, and by showing the effects of time, a traditional, more
40 comfortable space was created. HHPA took advantage of this natural process of growth and decay to show the mark of past generations.
Image 4- 10: Exposed structure and alterations and Image 4- 11: Preexisting box seats
The architects did more than simply freeze the
decay. They added their own, new layer to continue
the story of the theater. They left new lighting and
steelwork exposed. This displayed the impact of new
technology in theater design on the outdated structure,
and created opportunity for more audience interaction
with the show, allowing them to see and experience
effects of the technical crew. The layout of the seating
was transformed from a three tier to a two tier seating
arrangement and the stage was extended into the
audience. This further engaged the viewers into the
performance creating a more intimate, inclusive Image 4- 12: Updated Drawings
41 atmosphere. Box seating was removed from the theater, but the openings were left in place. As opposed to being walled over and covered up, the openings were transformed into portals for the actors for dramatic entrances and exits to and from the stage.
Drawing attention to these elements by including them in the performance space allowed the audience to perceive what was once a grand viewing area. As described by Nicholas
Polites, “the peeling layers of paint and crumbled plaster attest to the passage of time, allowing audience to imagine the building’s earlier lives.”16
4.3: Layering of Elements; Positano
In addition to layering of materials to communicate the history of past functions, and layering and decay as a result of the effects of time, layering, as seen in this final precedent, exemplifies the use of levels and new elements in communicating not only the past function of the space, but also the history and story behind the origins of the present day use. Positano is a renovation project completed by Randolph Croxton, AIA, of
Croxton Collaborative Architecture. Croxton transformed the first two stories of a 12- story neogothic building, which housed an abandoned cardboard box factory, into a sleek,
Italian restaurant.
16 Michael Sorkin, Mildred F. Schmertz, and Nicholas Polites, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Buildings and Projects 1967-1992 (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1992), 154.
42
Image 4- 13: Positano Interior
Positano acquired its name from the Italian city, Positano. Croxton used a
layering technique of the new elements of the restaurant as well as a play of various
levels of dining in order to not only show the past industrial use in the background, but also create an ambiance of the Italian hillside. In this approach, Croxton tells the story of the building’s history as a neogothic building and an industrial space, and also creates an atmosphere that communicates the character and tells the story behind the namesake.
The bar is the central focus of the
space from which the cascading seating
levels are arranged around. Croxton carries
the idea of levels and cascading hillside of
Positano into the seating, creating areas of
public and private dining. As seen in image Image 4- 14: Central Bar
43 4-14, he uses various wall heights and relationships between partitions to build upon the theme. The background from which all of the elements are set is the original factory surfaces painted to match, serving as a backdrop for the new function. The exposed factory ceiling, ducts, and pipes are kept, which adds to the communication of the original function. Even new ducts and plumbing are left exposed adding to the story of the original factory life. The existing column capitals are painted white to blend with the new interior, but hint at the style of the preexisting structure. It is as if the existing elements have laid out the introduction from which the story unfolds.
Image 4- 15: Preexisting entrance and Image 4- 16: Reconstructed entrance
Part of the layering technique is the idea that sometimes elements are peeled away. This is the case in the treatment of the new entrance as seen in the above images.
The existing factory garage doors are taken out of the corner entrance, and a new front door is inserted at an angle. This move aids in celebrating the new entrance by utilizing
44 the idea of a portico and contrasting the new, clean, bright entrance against the old style.
This effect is heightened by Croxton’s use of lighting. As seen in the picture, up lighting
creates a dark, mysterious effect, highlighting the details of the neogothic structure,
whereas the entrance beyond is bright, well lit, and inviting.
The idea of lighting to create contrast and another level of layering is carried into
the interior. The color scheme on the menus is green and pink, derived from a hotel on
the hillside overlooking the sea in Positano. The green and pink is used in the lighting, setting a soft glow onto the white walls telling the story of the Italian town and adding another layer in the design. A lightweight fabric is used as curtains also playing with light and transparency. This overlay allows the heavy mullions of the preexisting factory to show through while adding a functional, soft quality for the diner.
Layering, as seen in this chapter, is a very important design element in adaptive reuse projects. The concept can be taken simply as applying one material to another, as exemplified by Scarpa. It can be reinterpreted as seen by HHPA by freezing the effects of time and experimenting with the process of peeling away, or we can use the concept of layering elements and themes as exploited in Positano. In all of these projects, it is
apparent that new applied to old is being utilized. Through this concept, we can not only
read the traces of history of a structure but envision the possibility for future expansion.
45
5: DISPLAY
Image 5- 1: Display Collage
46 Display is a tool that can be used as
a way in which to appropriately relate the
existing structure with new present-day
ideas and renovations. The way in which
we display the past can be used as a
powerful tool in the way the object is Image 5- 2: “Restoration of Historic Landscape perceived and the story told. We can in Progress” reads sign on a Kansas prairie.
simply identify an event with a marker or put an object on a pedestal able to be moved
around and evaluated from all angles. “Even the least conspicuous sign on the most
dramatic site affects how history is experienced.”1 There are many ways in which to display an object that will label the object as having an important connection with the past therefore having an impact on the perception of history. “Mere recognition thus transforms the visible past.”2
David Lowenthal asks us to
consider the display of objects of historical
significance. He links the way they are
displayed with the feelings aroused when
they are viewed by society. For example,
“the Lincoln ‘birthplace’ log cabin, image
5-3, and Lenin’s tomb seem puny and
Image 5- 3: Lincoln birthplace log cabin
1 David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 269. 2 Lowenthal, 271.
47 insignificant inside the great marble temples that house them.”3 He is suggesting that an object that was of great importance in history can make that moment in time seem trivial when placed inside elegant, elaborate museums of today. We must be conscious of the event we are defining as important and be courteous to that element of the past when displaying and even identifying it.
In exhibiting objects, we must not only be cautious of the time period we want to place the object as belonging to, but the actual importance and use of the object can be altered by the way the viewer perceives the presentation of it. For example, David
Lowenthal speaks of a sword in a museum. “A sword begins as a warrior’s weapon; after his death it may be transformed into a sacred object for ceremonial uses; taken as loot is becomes a token of wealth and a souvenir of conquest; ultimately it is found by archaeologists and put on display.”4 But why is this sword on display? Is it a symbol of war, of ceremony, or of conquest?
5.1: Carlo Scarpa
Incorporating the display of an
item with the architecture is one way in
which we can speak to the importance of
an object. Carlo Scarpa is an architect
who addressed this connection.
Referring to his Olivetti Showroom in
Carlo Scarpa: An Architectural Guide, Image 5- 4: Olivetti Showroom
3 Lowenthal, 273. 4 Lowenthal, 289.
48 Sergio Los writes, “Scarpa’s design work… made no distinction between the display of
artwork inside the buildings and the display of the buildings themselves.”5 In his adaptive reuse of museums, Scarpa’s every move took what is being displayed into consideration.
This is also exemplified in Scarpa’s Castelvecchio Museum, where his care of detail can be seen in the garden. Here he introduced the idea of priceless artwork being displayed on pillars in the middle of small pools. He displayed the art at untouchable distances without introducing railings and security fences, allowing people to interact with the display method without knowing that it was protecting the sculpture. The object
can be viewed from all angles instead of favoring one view, inviting individual
perceptions to be formed.
His innovative use of display is carried into the interior spaces as well. Once
inside the building, we get a feel for the grandiose, open rooms that are ideal for the
display of mediaeval sculpture. Each room has its own geometry, which is emphasized in
the floor pattern. In studying each piece of art and each space separately, Scarpa set up
the sculpture in the rooms to be in the optimum light and at the most desirable viewing
angle, however, not to interfere with the geometry of the room. Each piece was turned so
that they led the visitors through the building, avoiding signage and directional paths.
Rather than being an addition to the buildings, the art on display became a piece of the
structure, an integral element to the design. In this way, the art became a component in
continuing the narrative of the building. The artwork conveyed the new function as well
as provided direction in the navigation throughout the space.
5 Sergio Los, Carlo Scarpa: An Architectural Guide (Venice: Arsenale Editrice, 1995), 13.
49
Image 5- 5: Display of artwork in Castelvecchio Museum. Care is given to relationship between the display of the artwork, the room and the optimal light.
As discussed in the previous chapter, perhaps the greatest moment in the building
is where the void is created displaying various layers of tradition and time through the
use of materiality. In the middle of this void where the evolution of the building can be
most clearly seen, stands a plinth supporting the statue of Cangrande della Scala. This equestrian statue is placed at the key transition point and can therefore be viewed from above, below, at a distance or nearby and at various angles and heights. Sergio Los describes it in Carlo Scarpa: An Architectural Guide as “the point of the greatest historical complexity and interweaving.” It is visible through “artificial loopholes,” from everywhere in the castle, “thus injecting into the itinerary of the exhibition the constant and almost sinister tension of the ‘historic’ gaze of the ironic Scaliger duke.”6 Scarpa used display to create an analogy between the guardian of the castle and the statue
6 Sergio Los, Carlo Scarpa: An Architectural Guide (Venice: Arsenale Editrice, 1995), 56.
50 guarding the artwork that is now the museum. Through the presence of this moment in the building, the sculpture located in the void where the evolution of the building is obvious, and the connection with this area throughout the entirety of the architecture, it is evident that the “dialogue is never with the past, but with the presence of the past in the present.”7
Image 5- 6: Studies completed by Carlo Scarpa in positioning the statue of Cangrande della Scala
7 Nicholas Olsberg, etal., Carlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999), 15.
51 5.2: Rookwood Pottery
Image 5- 7: Rookwood Pottery
Rookwood Pottery, located at 1077 Celestial Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, is one
local example of an adaptive reuse project that has been both profitable and beneficial to the community it serves. It takes into consideration the display of existing kilns, photos, and pieces of pottery in order to communicate the past use as a pottery factory. The 1982 redevelopment of this pottery factory was an early catalyst for the Mount Adams revitalization. The kiln room was adapted for the use of a restaurant and bar; other spaces were turned into offices and studios. This project was a fairly inexpensive investment for the owner, as rent was low and minimal renovation efforts were required to restore the historic building. Little new construction was required, such as a new roof and replacement of rotting beams, but what was built was designed to match the existing façade.
52 Hefley/Stevens Architects was hired for the task of transforming the “darkened, dusty, and inoperative”8 kiln room into a lively, successful dining experience. The firm set out with the goal of creating a functional space with “little architectural or historical compromise.”9 They reserved the more open areas for the main dining room. Natural light and views of the surrounding neighborhood added a sense of comfort and pleasantness for the diners. The bar was situated around an existing kiln. This placement took advantage of the dark, more private setting and allowed the once functioning kiln to be reused as additional storage for bar accessories and liquor. Serving as a backdrop for the bar, the kiln was on display to all patrons who interacted with the space. Aside from taking advantage of the spacious kilns for functions such as storage, and in one instance a small, private, seating area, the nooks and crannies surrounding the kilns had been utilized for functions such as a coat ‘closet,’ as seen in image 5-8. Taking advantage of these situations allows for occupation of what would otherwise be unoccupiable space.
Image 5- 8: Coat ‘closet’ and Image 5- 9: New Mechanical System
Upon visit of this facility, it was discovered that the overall operation of the restaurant is successful. The image that the owners wish to posses is one promoting the
8 Virginia Croft, Recycled as Restaurants (New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1991), 200. 9 Croft, 200.
53 historic features. Leaving the existing structure, stained glass windows, and hanging pipes exposed, and incorporating the existing kilns into the design of the space helps achieve this. New additions, such as the mechanical system were also left exposed, but loudly painted so as not to be mistaken for original elements.
Working with an existing building can also have its disadvantages. One major downfall for this particular restaurant is that while proving to be such a success among the public, the users on the service end of the project have obstacles to work around. According to one of the restaurant managers, the Image 5- 10: Limited Kitchen Space spacious downstairs prep kitchen is accessible only by a narrow staircase and the main grill kitchen is not adequate for the food served during busy hours of the night, often causing the food to be piled two plates high in the serving window. Although these conditions are undesirable, there is no room for expansion.
Rookwood Pottery is a good local example of the success a renovation project can have not just in adapting a building to a new use, but exploiting the old use in the process.
Not only did the designers take advantage of communicating past functions by reusing the kilns and leaving the industrial structure exposed, but they also went to efforts to display Rookwood pottery and create small photo clusters of the old pottery factory. This
54 wasn’t a preservation project for an outdated function, but a reuse project to display
history while being practical about new operations for the space.
In the Rookwood Pottery project, the display of past pictures was utilized to show
the function of previous events occurring on the premise. Although these pictures created
a sense of history and conveyed to new users of the space what activities use to
preoccupy the dining area, care must be taken when dealing with the use of photos to
express the past. Frank Duffy suggests that photography is not always desirable. He
says,
The curse of architectural photography, which is all about the wonderfully composed shot, the absolutely lifeless picture that takes time out of architecture – the photograph taken the day before move-in. That’s what you get awards for, that’s what you make a career based on. All those lovely but empty stills of uninhabited and uninhabitable spaces have squeezed more life out of architecture than perhaps any other single factor.10
Duffy is suggesting that when photography is used to show pretty pictures of post
construction, we are stunting the growth of the building. These photos show no interaction with users, no effects of time. The pictures displayed in Rookwood Pottery are unlike these “lifeless pictures.” They communicate the use of the space, and the active and interactive past.
The principle of display has been discussed through the examples of both Carlo
Scarpa and Hefley/Stevens Architects. Through these two projects, it is evident that
display can be utilized in a variety of manners. Incorporation of new and old elements
can result in not only a presentation of what is new but of the history of the existing
building. Display can be used as a directional tool as well as a communicational tool. As discussed in the beginning of the chapter, it can be used in a manner that takes away from
10 Frank Duffy, as quoted by Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 55.
55 the existing in forms inappropriate signage or, as Duffy addresses, by freezing lifeless images through photography. However, when taken advantage of, it is a powerful tool for the presentation of a building’s story.
56
6: CONCLUSION
Image 6- 1: Evolution, Leave Your Mark, Layering, Display
57 As discussed throughout the body of this paper, the idea of a narrative is not so far fetched when approaching the technique for adaptive reuse. A narrative is simply a composition of events occurring over time. In thinking about the composition of new and existing, work of the day can be integrated with what remains from the past creating a story of events, past functions, and evolving technology. The idea of a narrative when applied to reconstruction projects gives the new work meaning and adds to the beautiful history of our built surroundings.
In order to grasp the idea of a narrative as a set of events that can be used in the building process, the idea of evolution was addressed and compared to the gradual sequence of change that occurs in the built environment. This sequence of change in a building is a direct result of an evolving society. People grow and technology advances, both affecting the built environment. The principles of evolution can therefore be applied to adaptive reuse and the creation of a narrative, showing from where the building has come and what elements are best suited for survival. The first design principle stems from just that; the use of natural selection. What is successful is kept, what has failed can be thrown away; survival of the fittest. Not only is natural selection used in this design principle of evolution, but the results of technology can also be utilized. As depicted by
Thomas Grünfeld’s Misfits series, seen in chapter two, possible mutations can occur as a result of genetic experimentation and the disruption of a natural process of development.
These unnatural transformations can be exploited in the integration of new technology onto existing structures. Unique building forms created through the integration of present day techniques can tell the story.
58 In chapter three, we read about the importance and innate desire to have a
connection with the past. This discussion set up the reasoning for a narrative to be an appropriate approach for adaptive reuse to be used in building applications. “The past is everywhere,”1 said David Lowenthal, and people have a desire to be connected to it. Not
only is there a need to be connected to the past, but there is also a necessity to have put
our mark alongside the marks of history. This brings us to the second design principle
that can be utilized in the creating of a narrative. Similar to the process of scarring and
tattoos on the body, the idea of carving or leaving our mark on a building can add to the
story of that building. Through this process of inscriptions and, as addressed in chapter
three, ‘off-the-record’ information, we can communicate our ideas for design and the
principles used in the addition of the new elements onto the existing structure.
In addition to connecting with history by altering it, we can connect to a story by
layering onto it. The fourth idea discussed addressed the integration of materials, time,
and elements via the process of layering. Layering can be used as a way in which to
organize the components of a building, as discussed by Stewart Brand, or the aesthetic of
a building. As seen in Castelvecchio Museum by Carlo Scarpa, the BAM Majestic
Theater by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, and Positano by Croxton Collaborative
Architecture, the process of layering and levels is a great way in which to organize
components of the present in relation to elements of the past.
The final design principle addressed is the idea of display when approaching
design. Display ranges from the presentation of a sign to the presentation of the entire
building and site. As seen in Carlo Scarpa’s Castelvecchio Museum, display of building
itself was utilized in displaying the history of the structure. Rookwood Pottery, by
1 David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), xv.
59 Hefley/Stevens Architects, utilized display of past products of the factory, past pictures and existing elements to tell the story of the building. As discussed in chapter five, we must be cautious about what we want to display and be courteous when displaying it.
These four big ideas that can be used and reused when telling the story of a building through adaptive reuse not only allow communication of the past to occur, but also leave room for future chapters. By putting our mark alongside the marks of history, we are inviting the future to put their marks alongside ours. The process of evolution and integration of new technology is a constant process, as is the idea of layering. The beauty
of layering is it has the look of being unfinished, allowing another layer to be added.
Finally, display leaves room for display of the past, present and future options. The
integration of all these approaches will lead to a successful narration of the life of the
building. It sets up a background, works through the plot and leaves the future open for
interpretation. “An adapted state is not an end state,” claims Stewart Brand. “A
successful building has to be periodically challenged and refreshed, or it will turn into a
beautiful corpse. The scaffolding was never taken completely down around Europe’s
medieval cathedrals because that would imply that they were finished and perfect, and
that would be an insult to God.”2
2 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built (New York: Penguin Books, 1994), 209.
60
7: PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Image 7- 1: 270 Calhoun Street
61 There are two ways in which to approach an adaptive reuse project: you have the perfect building for which you need a use, or you have a use that needs a building. In searching for buildings and evaluating intriguing programs, I stumbled across 270
Calhoun Street and instantly fell in love. Rich in gorgeous detailing, impressive openness, and consideration of views and day lighting, this 1929 building has great potential to house a variety of functions.
7.1: Finding a Use
Image 7- 2: Arial map of 270 Calhoun Street. The yellow dot marks the site with the campus to the North and Calhoun Street to the immediate South.
Located on the southern edge of campus in the heart of Calhoun Street redevelopment, this building is an ideal location to positively add to the commercial environment booming around the Calhoun Street corridor. On the other hand, recently purchased by the University of Cincinnati and because of its former use serving the
62 YMCA, institutional functions serving the university would also be extremely beneficial.
Keeping the two roles in mind, investigation into the surrounding area and consideration
of past usage as a YMCA was explored. What resulted was twofold; the building could
be used both as a restaurant and as a sports bar.
The thinking behind these uses stem from a variety of considerations and potential
functions. First in mind are the students. There is little opportunity in the vicinity of the
campus for a nice sit down dinner, someplace to bring a date or mom and dad when they
come to visit. Located next to two of the major dorms, this building offers the possibility
to serve as a pleasant dining facility within walking distance, ideal for nights of
celebrating after a final or spending the evening with a roommate. Second is the idea that
this higher end dining facility could be adaptable to serve the immediate campus surroundings. The back deck, overlooking the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), could be used as outdoor dining, or rearrangement of tables inside would allow for the hosting of an event after a nearby concert in Patricia Corbett Theater. Finally is the connection of the building to sports. The building began as a YMCA and since has housed functions ranging from a wrestling gym, to a dance hall, to an artist studio for
community kids. The next step is to connect this affiliation with sports to the thriving
college bar surroundings outside the front door. Students need a place to watch the
collegiate and hometown games. Aside from the comforts of their own homes or making the arrangements to actually attend a game, there are very few existing options for such activity.
63 7.2: Program
Main Entrance and Lobby
Image 7- 3: Lobby location on First Floor Plan and Image 7- 4: Entrance
The existing entrance and lobby of the building set up a pattern of compression and release. The vestibule is low and invasive. The heaviness of the limestone brings you into an intimate space off of the busy sidewalk. Whether kept or replaced, the entry into the building should maintain the threshold to the building, setting the visitor up for passage into the grand lobby. Once inside the lobby, the guest will be confronted by the host and given the option of dining in the main dining room or proceeding downstairs into the basement. The lobby will not only be the first greeting and introduction into the interior of the space, but will also be the core of the circulation throughout the building.
An elevator must be added adjacent to this space and stairs will be renovated to continue up to the third floor.
64 Sports Bar
Historically the sports bar can be traced back to old time saloons or the
neighborhood tavern. It was often a place associated with males who, according to
Lawrence A. Wenner, needed a “reward at the tavern after a long, hard day at the
factory.”1 Come the invention of the television, which often aired sports, men were given another reason to appointment these neighborhood taverns. Many households could not afford a television and the taverns slowly transformed into sports bars, another mechanism for bringing together the leaders and workers in the industrial economy.2
Sports bars were successful in gaining quick popularity maybe because sports are considered the event where men were given the ok to show emotion. “Sitting in a bar, grunting, groaning, elbowing each other in the ribs and exclaiming over the ebb and flow of a football game on the owner’s TV in the closet a lot of men came to sharing strong feelings with another man.”3
Today, this typology of a sports bar can be broken into two categories: the local sports bar and the new genre sports bar. The local sports bar of today is nothing more than a retrofit of the neighborhood tavern of years past. It evolved from the third place created by men during industrial times. The third place, a term used by Oldenburg, refers to a place that hosts “regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals’ beyond the home (the first place) and work (the second place).”4 This third
place provides a home away from home, something familiar, a neutral ground with some
1 Lawrence A. Wenner, “In Search of the Sports Bar: Masculinity, Alcohol, Sports, and the Mediation of Public Space,” in Sport and Postmodern Times, ed. Geneviéve Rail (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 306. 2 Wenner, 309. 3 Wenner, 316. 4 Wenner, 301.
65 connection to those who made it a comfortable home away from home in the past.
Lawrence Wenner compares the décor of a local sports bar to the bedroom of an athlete
in childhood. “Posters and pictures of favorites from local teams cover the walls of the
room. Souvenirs and found objects are on display, but there is no showcase… In total,
the sports décor is uneven, happenstance, and chaotic.”5 This atmosphere is familiar to more individuals than not. Similar to the way the young athlete’s room tells his story and the surroundings define his place and his interests, the local sports bar creates an atmosphere unique to that crowd. It displays memorabilia and local heroes with a scrapbook feeling creating a sense of nostalgia and familiarity.
While the local sports bar is focused on a place for paying tribute to local teams, watching television while hanging out with a close, comfortable, familiar group of friends, creating a ‘third place’, the new genre sports bar creates no one’s place, yet it develops an atmosphere in which almost anyone can feel comfortable. According to
Lawrence A. Wenner,
The new genre sports bar is a hybrid, part drink-and-dine tavern, part cocktail lounge, and part night club. However, it is really something different than the sum of these parts. More clearly, it is a marketplace bar, and more than a marketplace for either business or sex, it is a marketplace for the consumption of cultural performance. If the local sports bar was low concept, merely being the extension of the television set in the corner at one end of the bar, the new genre sports bar is a high-concept theme park.6
There are no posters or found objects in the new genre sports bar, they put up the real thing in a less chaotic, more meticulous way.
The goal of the sports bar created in the basement of 270 Calhoun Street is to find a happy medium between the two genres. Located on campus, this is a great location to
5 Wenner, 320. 6 Wenner, 322-323.
66 bring together college friends and sports fans. The object is to produce a space where the
‘real thing’ can be displayed while still creating a local, welcoming, home away from home. The basement of the building is the ideal space for this bar because of the lower ceilings and open spaces. These rooms have housed ranges of functions including the original cafeteria, a wrestling gym, a local café, dance classes, to the most recent, an art studio for local children to congregate after school and during the summer. Through the integration of this history, including utilizing display of objects such as art pieces left behind by the children, a place will be created where sports fans can root for the teams of their choice while recognizing those who gave the space its character.
Image 7- 5: Café Leo sign and Image 7- 6: Child’s artwork, are both indications of previous uses for the space. Image 7- 7: Children’s artwork displayed.
The bar will be accessed primarily via a dark staircase with a lower ceiling. The stair, located in the back corner of the lobby continues the initial progressing of compression and release set up by the entry into the building. Once the individual emerges from the compressed staircase, they will enter into the main bar area, directly on access with the existing fireplace. The fireplace, which was once the focus of the room, will now be a backdrop to the new bar, the new centerpiece of the space. When looking around, there will be a variety of seating options and television screens incorporated into the display of sports memorabilia. Arched openings set up the option for both
67 penetration and unique transparent display between the main bar and the back loggia, and on the other side, similar arched openings will lead into an activity room complete with pool tables and dart boards. Both a men’s and women’s restroom must be incorporated into the design of this basement level, and kitchen space, approximately half the size of the main bar, must be allocated.
Image 7- 8: Basement Floor Plan diagram and Image 7- 9: Existing basement.
68 Main Dining Room
Image 7- 10: Old use and Image 7- 11: Existing conditions. These images show contrast between the old grand hall and its present condition. Notice the furniture layout and the missing lighting elements.
A diner entering this facility will progress through the low vestibule, into the open
lobby and approach the host. From here they will be escorted under a low threshold and released into the grandiose hall. This room was designed and maintained as a grand reading room. Similar to the basement level, the fireplace is on axis with the entrance.
This ornate piece in the room is the only places where the YMCA logo is still intact.
Carved into the mantel, it is a tool that can be observed when telling the story of the building’s history. The panes of glass and any wall treatments where the logo was once located were taken out when the building changed hands.
Although the fireplace is a key element and on axis with the entry, the main focus of this room runs east-west. Flanked on either end with large niches of floor to ceiling windows, this suggests that the room once had magnificent views onto the surrounding landscape. Although this is still the case on the west end, looking out onto the open campus and seeing Hughes High School in the distance, the east niche looks out onto a small area of grass book ended by the Calhoun dorm. The ornate ceiling grid and dark wood wainscot carry the tutor design in the interior space. This building style is another
69 hint of the structure’s history which can be exploited in the carrying out of the new use.
270 Calhoun Street was built as one of the few buildings on the University campus not belonging to the University. Designed for the YMCA, Young Men’s Christian
Association, the tutor style ties the structure back to the English origin, clearly stating we are not a University building.
The east end of the room is given precedent over the west with a platform raised six inches off of the main floor. This move references the medieval hall, where the people of importance dined at the head of the room and hierarchy stepped back from there. This can be connected to a new possible use as a wedding reception hall, seating the wedding party on a pedestal in front of their guests. Keeping this idea in mind, the furniture arrangement in the space is to accommodate restaurant functions with the
flexibility to transform into a place of
entertainment on special occasions. Off of
the main room on the north is a back deck,
which can function as outdoor dining and
provides an excellent opportunity for a
new canopy design advertising the new
use as a restaurant. Image 7- 12: View from back deck.
70
Image 7- 13: First Floor Plan and Image 7- 14: Second Floor Plan
The west wing of the building,
designed as a secondary club room off of the
grand hall will be transformed into a waiting
lounge and bar servicing the restaurant.
Here cocktail tables and couches can be
arranged for a drink before the meal or a
place to relax while waiting on friends. This
space will have a slightly less formal design
approach as compared to the main hall. It is
intended to be an informal, low key cocktail
lounge. Above this space on the second
floor, three original offices will be combined Image 7- 16: Future waiting lounge and Image 7- 16: Existing second floor office. and transformed into a party room for larger crowds. The original ornament of the southern most office will be kept and juxtaposed to the new finishes of the adaptation. Restrooms servicing the main dining space and
71 second floor functions will be located adjacent to the party room off of the lobby space of
the second floor.
Reservation Rooms
Image 7- 17: Third Floor Plan and Image 7- 18: Example of existing third floor room
The third floor of the old YMCA building had one primary function: housing.
Five small, well-lit rooms with sloping ceilings served as a home to the men of the
YMCA. These rooms, still littered with the remnants of old beds, magazines and playing
cards are well suited for the adaptation into viewing rooms for small crowds. The lower
ceilings and the homey feel will be utilized in the transformation of the space. With
warm finishes, comfortable lounging and big screen televisions, this space will be ideal to reserve for watching the big game with a few buddies. The idea is to evolve the old bedrooms into spaces where five to ten people can comfortable gather away from their own familiar apartments to a new place with home away from home accommodations.
72 Kitchen and Service Spaces
Image 7- 19: Kitchen Diagram
The kitchen is one of the most important spaces in the restaurant. Designed by a kitchen contractor, approximately half of the space of the dining facilities should be set aside for line work, server space, grill space, storage, etc. Space has been allocated in the southeast corner of each floor to accommodate back of the house operation. By stacking the kitchen space on each floor, dumb waiters can be used to communicate through the spaces. The main kitchen will be located on the first floor, where the bulk of kitchen sales will be conducted. Office and storage will be set aside on the second floor with prep in the basement, close to the majority of appetizer and bar food service. The southeast corner was selected for the location of the kitchen because this is the area of the original building where the majority of service space had been located. On the basement floor, this space was originally designed as a kitchen and later transformed into a men’s locker room serving the wrestling gym. The primary use on the first floor was offices, the second a kitchen, and the third, restrooms. The existing finishes of this area will be upgraded to clean, sheik, up-scale restaurant appliances and surface treatments. Existing light wells and dumbwaiter can be utilized in ventilation of the space or in reuse for a new dumbwaiter between the floors.
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