Thesis Booklet.Indd

Visions of the Future Past

ELIZABETH J. KEE Visions of the Future Past

ELIZABETH J. KEE Master’s Thesis, College of Environmental Design University of California Berkeley Spring 2014

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 1 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:39:10:39 PPMM Thesis Advisors Thank You

Raveevarn Choksombatchai Thank you to my two thesis advisors Raveevarn Choksombatchai Ron Rael and Ron Rael for all of your help and support throughout my thesis and in all of my endeavors at the CED.

Thank you to Roddy Creedon for always being my reality check and to Chair Tom Buresh for being amazingly suppor ve of all my ideas (even the bad ones) along the way.

Lastly, a special thank you to my parents, Sydney and Gordon Kee, and Andrew Lim for not le ng me drop out in the ﬁ rst two weeks like I had planned. Without your love and support this thesis probably would never have been.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 2-32-3 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:44:10:44 PPMM Contents

6 GreyScape

8 Construct, Deconstruct, Reimagine

14 Introduc on

20 Archaeology | grid & framework Site | 1300AD

44 Memento 1

48 Photography | context & ubiquitousness Site | 2013AD

60 Memento 2

64 GreyScape Redux

72 Final Bibliography

4 5

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 4-54-5 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:44:10:44 PPMM GreyScape

“Freedom of choice, however, leads not to chaos, but to new and more subtle forms of order” - Lebbus Woods

We do not merely look we interpret. Without our brain our eyes do nothing but look from object to object deno ng no special meaning; it is only through the dialogue between the eye and the brain that we learn to see and thus create causa on and associa on between objects, ourselves, and me. The combina on of the object, ourselves, and me allows for an abstrac on in both the way we remember the object and how we represent the object for communica on with others. GreyScapes become the moments when we stand on the threshold between looking at and seeing the object - at that moment there is neither fact nor ﬁ c on, nor a linear con nuum between the two. Instead, it is a reality that inherently accepts the existence of contradic ons and ambigui es. GreyScapes are not the memories themselves, instead are the interpreta ons we make of our surroundings and events that create the stories we tell ourselves in order to believe in them. Un-beholden to the conﬁ nes of truth or logic; only later do they then become facts.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 6-76-7 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:45:10:45 PPMM Construct, Deconstruct, Reimagine

“Perhaps all that is le of the world is a wasteland covered with rubbish heaps, and the hanging gardens of the Great Khan’s palace. It is our eyelids that separate them, but we cannot know which is inside and which outside” - Italio Calvino

The way we as architects sort and translate various interpreta ons of an object and construct them as reali es for others are intrinsically linked. The visualiza on of an object’s abstrac on cannot be divorced from modes we use to interpret it. To explore the overlap in GreyScapes, and the various ways they are physically represented, it is important to acknowledge that nothing is concrete or immutable; there are no “facts” per say. Instead, both facts and memories are not only constructs, but are constantly being constructed. Since both facts (our representa on) and memories (our interpreta ons) are constructs do not mean that we should not ques on and thoroughly examine them. In fact it is extremely important to examine our interpreta ons of an object and how we represent it - a process to which the discipline of architecture greatly excels. The discourse behind all great works of architecture ac vely engage in cri quing and ques oning the product of an architect’s interpreta ons, however it is equally important to hold up the same mirror of scru ny to our ini al modes of representa on. Once we do that our modes of representa on not only belie our ini al interpreta ons, but also that our means of communica ng these GreyScapes are based on assump ons and biases. This inward reﬂ ec on back towards our personal GreyScapes acknowledges bias, assump ons, and untruths that are inherent in memory making and keeping.

Looking at various modes of representa on and their under lying biases, is not a nega ve, but instead acknowledges the way GreyScapes exist within ourselves. Unbiased representa ons of abstrac ons do not truly exist when there is a need to communicate ideas within an organized The imagined demise of Nay Pyi Daw. The visual breaking-down of the physical leads one along the ﬁ rst steps towards a reimagining of discipline. It is when we fail to honor the biases and contradic ons within our modes of poten al spaces and places. representa on that we lose the ability to freely discuss the root of our interpreta ons and memories.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 8-98-9 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:47:10:47 PPMM Through the process of exploring and represen ng past and present Burmese Architecture a new taxonomy emerged. This new taxonomy was created via the intersec on of me and memory. Speciﬁ cally the intersec on that engages the phenomenon of how memories are perpetually being constructed, deconstructed, and reimaged over me. Nothing is sta c, let alone our memories. By ac vely muta ng past and present Burmese architecture the resul ng analysis reveals and creates new spaces that allow for a more fer le conversa on between eras.

Imagined eleva ons and sec ons both over grown by me and nature

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 10-1110-11 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:49:10:49 PPMM Nay Pyi Daw imagined through the lens of an archaeological ﬁ nd Nay Pyi Daw imagined through a meandering ar st’s pen, who happened upon the ruins.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 12-1312-13 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:51:10:51 PPMM Introduc on

“The knowledge we have as individuals and as member of a par cular society remains very limited, selec ve, and biased by the passions of living.” - Yi-Fu Tuan

Pagan The Pagan Era lasted from the 9th to the 13th century and is considered the most prolifi c building period in Burmese History. It was both the government and religious center, since Burmese culture centralized the head role of both their government and religious bodies early on in their history. This theocracy built two types of monuments: gu temples and stupas. The dis nc on of gu temples on this site, and in Burma in general, is a geometric and stylis c classifi ca on of temple structure. Gu temples, along with most temples in the Hindu – Buddhist tradi on of the South and Southeast regions, are temples that are meant to emulate a cave- like experience. The cave and Pagan Site Plan Original Pagan Temple Plan Original Pagan Temple Sec on subsequent withdrawal from everyday life, is a kin to where many famous religious prophets withdrew and found religious clairvoyance. Once entering a gu temple a circumambula on around a central alter area allows the worshipper to be visually educated in the ways on of the Buddhas via frescos along the walls of the barrel vaulted walkways. Stupas, on the other hand, are meant to emulate the great Mount Meru, house of the Gods. And, like Mount Meru itself, stupas are not enterable and instead are meant to be externally circumambulated. Stupas generally are built to house specifi c relics deep within their centers. During the Pagan Era over 10,000 stupas and gu temples were built, with 2,500 remaining today.

Empty Buddha Shelf Petagonal Gu Temple Gu Temple surrounded by stupas

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 14-1514-15 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:53:10:53 PPMM Nay Pyi Daw Nay Pyi Daw became the oﬃ cial capital of Burma on March 27, 2006 and was oﬃ cially moved to its new loca on 320 km north of Yangoon (the previous capital) star ng on November 6, 2005. The new Nay Pyi Daw District, as well as the Parliament area, is Burma’s third largest city and was designed, built, and conceived to only house government ministries. Built in complete government secrecy, families of government workers and civilians have been banned from entering, and vendors are restricted to a small commercial zone. Not much is known about the new capital as it was only opened to limited outsiders star ng in 2011 and only in 2013 did images of Nay Pyi Daw start to appear on the internet and aerials become available through Bing and Google Earth. Nay Pyi Daw District Extents Nay Pyi Daw Parliment “[Nay Pyi Daw] is the ulƟ mate insurance against regime change, a masterpiece of urban planning designed to defeat any putaƟ ve ‘colour revoluƟ on’ – not by tanks and water cannons, but by geometry and cartography”

Nay Pyi Daw Parliment

Nay Pyi Daw Highway Gateway Guardhouse Construc on Worker’s Government Houses Entryway Houses

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 16-1716-17 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:53:10:53 PPMM Pagan + Nay Pyi Daw Pagan and Nay Pyi Daw are two capitals over 1,000 year apart. How does one become the other? We can intui vely see that Nay Pyi Daw is trying to implicitly and explicitly reference the Pagan Era, but, what are the ways that we as architects can construct and analyze the changes in me and memory that we see and know are being referenced – yet are so ephemeral and diﬃ cult to pin down? How is memory being constructed and deployed? And how do we analyze these changes and properly represent them? How does a more self-aware representa onal style speak about the past, present, and future in its a empts to sort and translate various interpreta ons of reali es and possibili es for communica on with others? This thesis aims to ﬁ nd be er ways to analyze and represent the construc ons of memory. Throughout this thesis two discrete lens are u lized in order to analyze how memory is being constructed spa ally in each: Archaeology and Photography. By using limits as tools an a empt can be made to evoke and highlight both the temporal and melessness of a design. They become merely a step along the way of communica ng the constructed personal and communal memories of the past, present, and future within the discipline.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 18-1918-19 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:54:10:54 PPMM Archaeology | grid & framework Site | 1300AD

“Any scien ﬁ c descrip on is...the fruit of past construc ons, and –so we hope- the source of present and future construc ons designed to enrich the former, or to replace them.” - Jean Claude Gardin

The discipline of archaeology is the fi rst lens used not only because it is a systema c method of studying the past, but is a discipline that ac vely explores the past through its rela onship to the present. The lens through which archaeology aff ords one to look at the past is highly structured and ordered; yet it is through these specifi c restric ons and construc ons that a detailed analysis of the ways archaeology forms our memories and impressions about the past becomes apparent.

There are two main parameters that immediately became apparent to me within the discourse Grid Archaeological grid 3 dimensional grid of archaeology: the grid and epistemological framework. Star ng with the main theore cal underpinning of archaeology is the concept that through a series of sequenced opera ons one aims to produce what Jean-Claude Gardin terms “truly dis nc ve data”. This framework is tradi onally divided into intrinsic and extrinsic features, and can be subdivided even more to include within intrinsic features: Physics (material proper es), Geometry (shape), and Semio cs (ornamenta on) and within extrinsic features: Time (chronology), Loca on (spa al or geographical), and Func on (physical, social, or symbolic). Each of these subdivisions are used as dis nct categories to not only give hierarchy to the various types of informa on gathered ps g

Physics Function Time Physics = Materials on a par cular object, but to also allow archaeologists to make reasonable assump ons about sgp unknown data from various known facts about an object. An example of this could be if me Semiotics = Ornamentation , Inscriptions Location Semiotics Geometry gp s

Object Known Geometry = Shapes and semio cs are known about an object a reasonable assump on about loca on could be Semiotics Location Function deduced. Conversely, knowing the semio cs and loca on could lead you to assump ons about Time = Chronology tl f Time Location = Spatial , Geographical Physics Geometry

me; what is relevant is which framework is priori zed ﬁ rst and leads to the next. One can see Object Known Function = Physical , Symbolic , Social Geometry Time Function how it is possible to have mul ple routes that map the diﬀ erent ways of priori zing informa on f l t

about the same object all depending on framework hierarchy. By then projec ng the various Physics Location Semiotics lft frameworks on to the 3 dimensional-grid, a physical diagram can be made that traces the various Object Known routes made for one object describing all of the poten al hierarchical choices. Archaeological Informa on Archaeological subdivisions Mapped sequence on 3d grid Pathways mapped

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 20-2120-21 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:54:10:54 PPMM Case Study These 3 dimensional mapped framework studies help to visualize the tangible ways archaeology aﬀ ects how the past is mentally categorized and remembered. They are also a way to garner new data about a rela vely unknown object through the sor ng and ordering of known data. For instance if you had never before seen an iphone, and happened upon one, these are the diagrams that could ensue from its analysis. One would go through the steps of ordering known data on the iphone in various ways as to lead to reasonable assump ons about unknown data. Once again this data could then be mapped on to the 3 dimensional-grid crea ng a unique mapping of both intrinsic and extrinsic iphone data possibili es. This system can more directly be applied to architecture and even por ons of the same building with various and diﬀ ering diagrams ensuing.

ps g natural

not natural sgp many

few collapse gp s complex

simple

tl f new

old f l t local collapse not local lft funcaƟ onal

not funcaƟ onal

iphone mapped via possible Mapping of intrins c features via Mapping of intrins c & Physical models of mapped routes for iphone, Pagan Temple, and Buddha statue within Pagan Temple archaeological subdivision speciﬁ c subdivision routes for extrinsic features via speciﬁ c routes iphone subdivision routes for iphone

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 22-2322-23 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:56:10:56 PPMM The XY grid is already commonly used within archaeology during excava ons in 5m by 5m squares to facilitate plan making, but most importantly the x and y dimensions allow the spa al cataloging of objects in rela onship to one another. Once these two facets of the discipline had been recognized I decided to apply them to a serious of tests that I break into two categories: Explora ons and Specula ons. Explora ons aim to work within the exis ng material framework of the onsite kiln baked bricks used to build the original Pagan gu temples and stupas. The explora ons take the limita ons of the bricks and push them to their maximums and minimums, crea ng a series of temples and X Y Grid Original Pagan Plan Archaeological Grid Original Pagan Plan in stupas that could have possibly been created at the me. Spa al X Y Grid Specula ons aim to leave behind the restric ons of the brick tectonics and imagine the framework applied to new materials that lead up to the modern era.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 24-2524-25 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:56:10:56 PPMM Both explora ons and specula ons start with the XY grid and the analysis of approximately 2,500 remaining Pagan Buddhist gu temples and stupas on the plan level through understanding the geometry behind the crea on of pentagonal masonry architecture. The methodical process through which pentagonal architecture was designed lead to the crea on of a matrix that could generate new possible plan types by simply re-matching various steps in the pentagonal geometry crea on process. This generated a whole array of new plan possibili es; however this purely geometrical study need to be coupled with other limita ons so as to create speciﬁ c restric ons in regards to the possible formal manifesta ons that could be used from the matrix.

OriginalORIGINAL PaganBAGAN TEMPLE plan Pentagonal geometry order of opera ons

5 + 1 2

72o

36o 36o MOVE INWARD RADIALLY TEMPLE ENSCRIBE CONNECT POINTS CONNECT TO Temple Enscribe ConnectOF CONTACT points ConnectCENTER to Move inward of contact center radially

5 2

1 2 5 2 5 + 1 2

BAGAN TEMPLE 1976 BAGAN TEMPLE 1871 BAGAN TEMPLE 1410 BAGAN TEMPLE 1504 BAGAN TEMPLE 1853 1 Temple #1976 Temple #1871 Temple #1410 Temple #1504 Temple #1853

SACRED GEOMETRY PentagonalPLANS AT BAGAN SITE AND STRUCTURESgeometry ON SITE KKG methodology

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 26-2726-27 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:57:10:57 PPMM The limita ons set by the choice of using brick as the medium was added in stages through Enscribe Enscribe ou er Connect back to Move inward Create Enscribe Connect various studies such as the angle studies that looked at the acute and obtuse angles used in the edges center radially connec ons original temples and stupas, as well as the symmetry studies that looked at the implementa on of symmetry from each pentagonal point. Other, non-material driven studies were also used to create limita ons. The tradi onal Buddha coupling diagram shows that temples and stupas have built niches for speciﬁ c numbers of Buddhas to reside in each monument. Lastly, the due to the need for form and func on to co-exist in each of these temples, a ra o of poche to circula on to Buddha niche area was determined. All of these studies are used in order to cull the original plan matrix to a usable amount of poten al plans, while crea ng a framework that could be applied to the crea on of new temples and stupas.

Enscribe

Connect

Connect back to center

Move inward radially

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 28-2928-29 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:58:10:58 PPMM Angle Studies | Semio cs Symmetry Studies| Semio cs Tradi onal Buddha Coupling| Time & Func on Poche:Circula on:Buddha Ra o| Func on 90 < Poche < 330 13:10:1

5 Buddha Temple 1 Buddha Temple

5 buddha 1 buddha

01 TANHANKARA 02 MEDHANKARA 03 SARANANKARA 04 DIPANKARA 05 KONDANNA 06 MANGALA 90 07 SUMANA 108 08 REVATA 09 SOBHITA 10 ANOMADASSI 11 PADUMA 108 12 NARADA 13 PADUMUTTARA 3 buddha 14 SUMEDHA 15 SUJATA 90 16 PIYADASSI 17 ATTHADASSI 18 DHAMMADASSI 3 Buddha Temple 19 SIDDHATTHA 20 TISSA 21 PHUSSA 22 VIPASSI 23 SIKHI 24 VESSABHU past

present cycle 25 KAKUSANDHA ŽĨƟŵĞ (Kalpa) 26 KONAGAMANA 27 KASSAPA 28 GOTAMA future 29 METTEYYA historic buddha

90 5 Buddhas 4 Buddhas 28 Buddhas 25 Buddhas 8 Buddhas 7 Buddhas

108

270 330

30 31

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 30-3130-31 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:10:59:10:59 PPMM Poten al Plans Resul ng from Matrix| Geometry

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 32-3332-33 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:00:11:00 PPMM Our discipline, however, does not ask us to merely look at objects in the X and Y dimensions, so the next step was to start transla ng the XY grid into an XYZ grid. The addi on of the 3rd dimension allowed for sec onal and eleva onal implica ons to be taken into account and to further explore how the poten al plans start to rise skyward. This analysis con nued into studies driven primarily by the tower angle studies that showed all towers constructed were of three types: 60 degree equilateral towers, 55, 60, 70 degree towers, Extrusion of Plan or 50, 55 degree towers. Each of these three tower angles were then studied in conjunc on with the sec onal oﬀ set allowed by the brick material. The last restric on was a precedent concern where early stupas aimed to emulate Mt. Meru and the gu temples aimed to evoke the enclosed feeling of a deep cave best suited for contempla on. Together both the plan and X Y Z Grid Original Pagan Plan in Spa al X Y Z Grid sec on analysis culminated in the crea on of new explora ons of Pagan architecture that worked within the original framework and could have been constructed during the Pagan Era.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 34-3534-35 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:02:11:02 PPMM Tower Angle Studies | Geometry Sec onal Oﬀ set Studies | Geometry & Semio cs Precedent Studies | Func on 55 - 70

~60 ~55

~50 ~60 ~65 ~55 ~70

Stupa = Mt. Meru Temple = Cave

60 Tower Study 55, 60, 70 Tower Study 50, 55 Tower Study 60 Tower Study 55, 60, 70 Tower Study 50, 55 Tower Study 60 Tower Study 55, 60, 70 Tower Study 50, 55 Tower Study

~55 ~60 ~50

~70 ~55 ~65

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 36-3736-37 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:07:11:07 PPMM Temple Building Begins Over 10,000 Temples Completed

900 AD 50, 55 degree Explora on 50, 60, 70 degree Explora on 60 degree Explora on 1300 AD Pagan Era Begins Temple 3 Eleva on Temple 2 Sec on Temple 1 Eleva on Pagan Era Ends

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 38-3938-39 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:38:11:38 PPMM All of the earlier explora ons worked within the limita ons of the brick tectonics. The specula ve temples are allowed to shed those limita ons and image how the original temple framework might transform and mutate under new material limita ons. The specula ons also start to explore what a change in scale, rela onship to the landscape, and inhabitable area transforma on might do to a tradi onal temple. Each of these temples explores a new proposi on for what a Pagan temple could be as me marches forward towards 2001 when Nay Pyi Daw is star ng construc on.

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 40-4140-41 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:40:11:40 PPMM SpeculaƟ on #1 SpeculaƟ on #2 SpeculaƟ on #3 SpeculaƟ on #4 ExploraƟ on into Landscape Material Change: Steel Dome and Framing Material Change: Concrete Material Change: Compressed Ear ExploraƟ on as Cave Scale Change: Increase in Base Change in Habitable Space Open Air

1500 AD 1650 AD 1850 AD 1950 AD

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 42-4342-43 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:41:11:41 PPMM Memento 1 A memento is a token that reminds one of past experiences or places. Each series of analy cal work is paired with a memento that works within the discourse of that par cular lens and aims to evoke the more ephemeral and viseral quali es of the study. The mementos in this series harken back to the tradi onal way archaeology is taught in academia: slides of images paired with oral analysis. Instead, the text and descrip ons have been collapsed upon one another, much in the style of Barbara Kruger’s later feminist work in the 1980’s. Barbara Kruger’s work was an appropria on of exis ng adver sements reedited with feminist provoca ve text; similarly the discipline of archaeology appropriates images and objects from various cultures and applies their own text, discourse, and even mythology around the objects they have chosen to fe shize.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 44-4544-45 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:46:11:46 PPMM Bibliography Gardin, Jean-Claude. Archaeological Constructs: An Asoect of Theore cal Archaeology. Paris, France: Centre Na onal de la Recherche Scien ﬁ que and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1980, Print Hodder, Ian. Archaeological Theory Today, Second Addi on. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2012, Print Insoll, Timothy. Archaeology: The Conceptual Challenge. London, UK: Duckworth, 2007, Print Pichard, Pierre. The Pentagonal Monuments of Pagan. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Co., 1991, Print Strachan, Paul. Pagan: Art and Architecture of Old Burma. Kyodo Shing Loong, Singapore: Kiscadale Publica ons, 1989, Print Thaw, Aung. Preliminary Report on The Excava on at Peikthanomyo, 1959. Burma: Asia Founda on, 1959, Print

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 46-4746-47 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:48:11:48 PPMM Photography| context & ubiquitousness Site | 2013AD

“Everyone is a literalist when it comes to photographs.” - Susan Sontag

The second lens is photography and it is used because it is the only way we have to see and understand Nay Pyi Daw due to extreme government secrecy. The explora on of photography as a discipline started with a simple diagram of ﬁ ve diﬀ erent consecu ve images of Andy Warhol showing varying degrees context. The more you zoom out the more informa on that is gathered, which shows the important of context, but also that a photograph is not a truth or a fact – merely a tool whose truth is highly reliant on cropping. All informa on in a photograph is a rela ve truth and changeable. Since with Nay Pyi Daw we only have the visual façade I started by no cing the similari es in photographs between various occidental and oriental building tradi ons. Due to the ubiquitous nature of photography in this day and age, and how now one does not need to have been to a place to have seen it already, a series of layered collages were created highligh ng certain visual similari es across various building tradi ons with Nay Pyi Daw. These images sit side by side and are cropped in order to explicitly reference roof pitches, frieze heights, column or pilaster spacing, and archway repe ons among the photographs. Later larger collages were then created to show how Nay Pyi Daw could poten ally be cra from a myriad of other buildings.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 48-4948-49 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:48:11:48 PPMM While photographs were ini ally the ﬁ rst way to understanding Nay Pyi Daw eventually a point came when a more rigorous analysis of the buildings was needed. However, ques ons soon arose on how to take loose snap shots and conform them to the tradi onal no on of what an architectural eleva on is? How would one know what was truth and not distor on merely by looking at a photograph and crea ng an eleva on from it? Certain facts are known, but many are s ll ambiguous. The complex nature of the building tradi ons being referenced on the façade of Nay Pyi Daw helped make the link between looking ﬁ rst towards Greek geometric systems as a way to ini ally construct an eleva on of Nay Pyi Daw. The Greek geometric systems were ini ally the best star ng point, not only because it is the best known geometric orderings system in Western architectural history, but it is also brings Nay Pyi Daw into a much larger building tradi on of adop ng Greek and Roman style architecture as a means to represent state Democra c architecture.

Parthenon, Greece | Parliament Building, Burma Phowintaung, Burma | Parliament Building, Burma Main Parliament Building, Burma | Mosque of Abu Bakr, Egypt | Main Parliament Building, Burma Maha Aungma Bonzan, Burma

50 Main Parliament Building, Burma | Uﬃ zi, Italy Forbidden City, China | Main Parliament Building, Burma 51

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 50-5150-51 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:48:11:48 PPMM Parliament Building Collage Parliament Building Collage

52 53

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 52-5352-53 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:49:11:49 PPMM Using four tradi onal geometric systems with speciﬁ c buildings as reference points to systema cally construct and building four diﬀ erent eleva ons, each with their own varying results and levels of truthfulness.

Four diﬀ erent geometries over lapped with the resul ng eleva ons to show varying degrees of diﬀ erence between all four eleva ons created.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 54-5554-55 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:51:11:51 PPMM Each of the geometries used to create the various eleva ons are intrinsically coupled with a systema c way to create plans from that informa on. Four explora ve plans were then generated by using the tradi onal geometries also used to create the ini al eleva ons. These are four poten al plans for Nay Pyi Daw if one chooses to view Nay Pyi Daw via one of these tradi onal geometries. Four layered diagrams were then created and over laid on top of a bas relief plan in order to show the various layers that were used in order to create these plans.

Geometric Analysis | Temple of Poseidon Geometric Analysis | The Ashraﬁ yya

Geometric Analysis | Old Cologne Cathedral Geometric Analysis | The Vedic Square

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 56-5756-57 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:56:11:56 PPMM 58 59

TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 58-5958-59 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:11:59:11:59 PPMM Memento 2 These mementos take the form of a series of postcards wri en from a future visitor to Nay Pyi Daw to a friend once it has become just like another state capital: a tourist a rac on. Wri en in the style of Italio Calivino’s story-telleresque voice of Marco Polo in “Imagined Ci es”, these postcards aim to capture the ini al means of prolifera ng photography to the masses that has now, in the 21st century, gone into hyper-drive with social networking and the internet. However, postcards will always have a more intrinsic connec on to the places we’ve been and seen than any digital photograph due, not so much to the image itself, but because of the medium. Each postcard not only has the handwri en quali es lost in our digital era, but also the hap c and random quali es of something much touched and used. These postcards call into ques on our rela onship to images and places that through our voyeuris c consump on we may one day make into icons.

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 60-6160-61 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:12:03:12:03 PPMM Bibliography

Brunes, Tons. Ancient Geometry and Its Uses. Vol. I - II, Copenhagen: Interna onal Science Publishers, 1967, Print Braise, Michel Francois. The Photograph: A Social History. London, UK: Thames and Hudson, 1966, Print Calvino, Italio. Invisible Ci es. New York City, New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1974, Print Lawlor, Robert. Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Prac ce. London, England: Thames and Hudson, 1992, Print Newhall, Beaumont. Latent Image: The Discovery of Photography. Rochester, New York: George Eastman House, 1967, Print Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others, New York City, New York: Picador, 2003, Print Stephenson, David. Heavenly Vaults. New York City, New York: Princton Architectural Press, 2011, Print Walls, Archie G. Geometry and Architecture in Islamic Jerusalem: A study of the Ashraﬁ yya. London, England: Scorpion Publishing Ltd, 1990, Print

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 62-6362-63 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:12:05:12:05 PPMM GreyScape Redux

“The life of man is driven between extremes, between dim and vast regions of imagina ve thought and more narrow bright and lucid ones of wisdom, at one moment elevated by heroic vision, at yet another turned upside fown mockingly self-conscious.” - Lebbus Woods

In the end is this thesis really about the intersec on of me and memory and its various resul ng forms of representa on? Yes and No. Yes, in the sense that this was the ini al (and con nues to be) ques on and preoccupa on of the thesis creator. No, in the sense that one might ask if in the quest to analyze such a massive and tenuous topic as me and memory one is sa sﬁ ed through the some- what dry, though thorough, end results that this thesis has so far produced. Isn’t there something more ephemeral to the whole topic of me and memory that is being lost in this reduc ve analysis? While me and memory can be understood through all of the various means and methods outlined above, this thesis also aims to place the viewer, reader, and thesis creator on the precipice between the uncomfortable divide that she believes all architects must inherently feel to various degrees. Which are: how the discipline is taught and understood within the larger context as a trade and the directly opposing desired end result of crea ng in mate and personal experiences within places that are designed to create spaces of quality. We are taught and prac ce through a series of rules and regula ons. The rules guide our ac ons and give us understandable restric ons in order to make reasonable results (especially when those rules are self-imposed) and regula ons guide our designs once they are fabricated and brought into the physical world. Yet books upon books are wri en about how the greatest architects create a feeling of designed space like none other- which is o en a visceral feeling that is beyond what can be captured in mere diagrams, orthogonal drawings, and even photographs. What is that leap that happens between the analy cal diagram, well executed plan, and the gut feeling when you enter a space that you inherently feel moved by? This found a new GreyScape within the process of making and through discussion of the thesis and is why this thesis does not end here. The following models hope to rec fy this trajectory of pure analysis and didac sm and veer the course to a result that hopes to capture the imagina on as well as the mind.

Pagan Temple Specula on # 1 Pagan Temple Specula on # 2

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 64-6564-65 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:12:05:12:05 PPMM The interiors of these models are akin to a rendering or a produced memory. Each interior view, much like a rendering, allows you to see only what the lens captures and no more. As a viewer you understand that there is more to the speciﬁ ed scene and try as you might to see it, it is merely not available. The lens becomes a purposefully myopic their views into this speciﬁ c world; one that you can never enter yet feel in mate with. Much like a memory, you are always separated from the world you remember and the experiences you had there, yet they become no less real or tangible due to that separa on.

The later specula on boxes of Nay Pyi Daw are a combina on of the whole thesis work – analy cal, specula ve, and visceral. These specula ve boxes recognize that tradi onal geometries can only take you so far and by repea ng their systems one can only recreate what was in the past and never move forward. The four eleva ons created on these boxed aim to challenge the no on of how we as architects read eleva ons. Seemingly empirical – architectural eleva ons are in fact quite ambiguous. The front of each box is a proposed eleva on with the original geometries used as guidelines behind them. The backs of each box are the line work eleva ons used as ini al inspira on, the ini al geometries used, as well as the original precedent buildings the geometries exemplify. The sides are either a con nua on of the geometries or a rendered sec on of the interior. Lastly, the tops are a mixture of the original geometries interwoven with the pentagonal Pagan geometries in order to give these interiors a new framework on which to grow from and create something new.

Each box comes with two peepholes that allow you to visually enter these specula ve new Nay Pyi Daws. Once again you ﬁ nd yourself both inside the model and yet never able to see quite enough. The interiors are surprises that allow you in macy with what could have been and show how diﬀ erent the experience of a space can be regardless of the analy cal exterior.

These models are an end to the thesis, but not the end. This thesis aims to situate itself in a dialogue that can extend both deeper into the past and further into the future. The models simply aim to help us as architects understand how we can be er build buildings that stand on Pagan Temple Specula on # 3 the threshold between the past, present, and future.

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Top Front & Side Close up Top

Interior View 1 Interior View 2 Interior View 1 Interior View 2

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Top Close up Front & Side Top

Interior View 1 Interior View 2 Interior View 1 Interior View 2

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TThesishesis Booklet.inddBooklet.indd 70-7170-71 55/17/2014/17/2014 11:12:08:12:08 PPMM Final Bibliography Braise, Michel Francois. The Photograph: A Social History, London, UK: Thames and Hudson, Thaw, Aung. Preliminary Report on The Excava on at Peikthanomyo, 1959. Burma: Asia 1966, Print Founda on, 1959, Print Brunes, Tons. Ancient Geometry and Its Uses. Vol. I - II, Copenhagen: Interna onal Science Tuan, Yi-Fu. Space and Place, The Perspec ve of Experience. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University Publishers, 1967, Print of Minnesota Press, 1977, Print Calvino, Italio. Invisible Ci es. New York City, New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1974, Print Walls, Archie G. Geometry and Architecture in Islamic Jerusalem: A study of the Ashraﬁ yya. London, England: Scorpion Publishing Ltd, 1990, Print Gardin, Jean-Claude. Archaeological Constructs: An Asoect of Theore cal Archaeology. Paris, France: Centre Na onal de la Recherche Scien ﬁ que and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Woods, Lebbus. Radical Reconstruc on. New York City, New York: Princeton Architectural Sociales, 1980, Print Press, 1997, Print Hodder, Ian. Archaeological Theory Today, Second Addi on. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2012, Woods, Lebbus. Pamphlet Architecture 6. New York City, New York: William Stout Publishers, Print 1980, Print Insoll, Timothy. Archaeology: The Conceptual Challenge. London, UK: Duckworth, 2007, Print “Naypyitaw – Dictatorship by Cartography”. Southasian, Himal. February 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2007. Web Lawlor, Robert. Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Prac ce. London, England: Thames and Hudson, 1992, Print Newhall, Beaumont. Latent Image: The Discovery of Photography. Rochester, New York: George Eastman House, 1967, Print Pichard, Pierre. The Pentagonal Monuments of Pagan. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Co., 1991, Print Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York City, New York: Picador, 2003, Print Stephenson, David. Heavenly Vaults. New York City, New York: Princton Architectural Press, 2011, Print Strachan, Paul. Pagan: Art and Architecture of Old Burma. Kyodo Shing Loong, Singapore: Kiscadale Publica ons, 1989, Print

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