UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: 8-Apr-2010 I, Trang Vo , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Architecture in Architecture (Master of) It is entitled: Place-Sensitive-Design A Visitor Center Design of the National Park Service Student Signature: Trang Vo This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Patricia Kucker, MARCH Patricia Kucker, MARCH Michael McInturf, MARCH Michael McInturf, MARCH 6/18/2010 850 Place-Sensitive-Design A Visitor Center Design of the National Park Service 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, Art, Architecture and Planning by Trang Vo B.Arch. School of Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City May 2010 Commitee Chairs: Patricia Kucker, M.Arch Michael McInturf, M.Arch abstract Since World War II, the National Park Service (NPS) has received more and more visitors. To accommodate the large amount of visitors, a number of new constructions, especially facility buildings, need to be built in the parks. This scenario puts the National Park Service into a dilemma between ensuring education, recreation and inspiration of the parks, while preserving the natural and cultural values for the sake of future generations. To mitigate the dilemma, the park buildings requires a place-sensitive design that not only ensures high quality service for visitors and minimizes the human impact on nature, but also evoke a sense of place. My thesis considers critical regionalism as the basis of place-sensitive design of the park architecture. The implementation of critical reigonalism’s principles in the park architecture creates buildings that respond to the identities of places, and hence, harmonizes with the landscape and environment of a place. iii table of contents Abstract iii Introduction 1 Chapter One National Park Architecture and Its Architecture History of National Park Service 7 Dilemma of National Park - Mission 66 9 Rustic and Modern Park Architecture 12 New Direction for the Park Architecture 17 Chapter Two Critical Regionalism and Its Principles Modern Architecture and its problem 19 Ten points of Critical Regionalism 20 Chapter Three Place Sensitive Design Principles for the Park’s Buildings Three Points of Place Sensitive Design of the Park’s Buildings 31 Chapter Four Everglades National Park: The only one of its kind Climate and Topography 59 Water 59 Ecosystem 61 People in the Park 63 Vernacular Architecture in the Park 66 Chapter Five Design Program: Everglades National Park Visitor Center 71 Description of Spaces Precedents of Visitor Center Image Credits 74 Bibliography 75 v introduction The nature of architecture is not only to provide spaces for functional purposes of humans; its meaning exceeds far more than that. Architecture is the art of harmonizing the built and natural environments, of reinforcing the bond between humans and their lands, and of narrating the story of time and place. Design, therefore, should promote the interrelation between buildings and places. However, modern architecture often fails to recognize this interrelation, instead emphasizing function and utility over the sense of the place. The post modern time raises awareness of the meaning of place in architecture that modern architecture usually ignores. Design that promotes a “sense of place” by reflecting its natural, cultural and historic characters is called a “place-sensitive-design”. Since the founding of the National Park Service in 1916, its duty has been always to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” 1 To adopt this mission, the very first architecture in 1 National Park Service Organic Act, 16.U.S.C.1 1 the parks was designed with a “rustic” style, which was developed to be harmonized with the landscape. After the war, however, the need to accommodate the increasing amount of visitors, along with changes in concept of natural preservation contribute to the Mission 66 policy, and the park’s modern architecture. “Mission 66” is a 10-year construction program that developed hundreds of new buildings, and replaced the old rustic style with modern architecture. Despite the remarkable success of Mission 66, most of the modern buildings in the Parks still failed to respond to the diverse landscapes of the park system. This failure, in addition to the current degradation of many modern buildings, calls for a place-sensitive-design that doesn’t intrude upon nature, yet promotes a connection between human beings and natural landscapes, and reflects a distinct regional context for each park. The concept of critical regionalism, whose aim is to reconnect the modern architecture with a sense of place, reveals the potentials of place sensitive design for the park architecture. Recognizing characteristics of the place and transplanting them into design, concept of critical regionalism becomes a medium to connect buildings to places. This thesis proposes to articulate the principles of critical regionalism to produce a place-sensitive-design that evokes distinct 2 characteristics of each park. The essay is arranged in five chapters. Chapter One introduces the critical situation of the National Park Service. The background information on National Parks is provided through the history of the National Park Service and its mission. Mission 66 of the National Park Service, which brought a large amount of new construction, as well as the modern movement, to the parks, is also explored as it marked a turning point in the national park history. The alteration in the concept of nature that has driven the design philosophy of the parks is also discussed in this chapter. Chapter One helps explain the need for a place- sensitive-design of the park architecture. Chapter Two investigates the discourse of critical regionalism. The discussion of modern architecture and its history reveals the emergence of the concept. The concept is further explored through the “Ten Points of Critical Regionalism” introduced by Kenneth Frampton. Chapter Three examines four essential principles of critical regionalism, which promote site specific, sensory experience, interpreted vernacular and tectonic of architecture, in a manner to inform a place sensitive design for national parks. A collection of precedents are 3 analyzed to manifest those principles. Chapter Four captures the full image of the Everglades National Park. Relevant characteristics of the park, such as climate, topography, ecosystem, as well as native people and their culture, are carefully investigated in this chapter. The chapter is organized into sub-chapters which provide information that can drive a place sensitive design for the Everglades Visitor Center. This section also introduces the Royal Palm area of the Everglades National Park, where the visitor center is located. Chapter Five lays out building programs for the Everglades National Park’s Visitor Center. The programs reveal the paradigm for a visitor center that helps promote visitor experience while minimizing new development that disturbs nature. Precedents of national visitor centers are also studied to reinforce the design. 4 5 chapter 1 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AND ITS ARCHITECTURE “The national park idea has been nurtured by each succeeding generation of Americans. Today, across our land, the National Park System represents America at its best. Each park contributes to a deeper understanding of the history of the United States and our way of life; of the natural processes which have given form to our 2 land, and to the enrichment of the environment in which we live.” 2 George B. Hartzog, Jr., National Park Service Director, 1964-1972 6 History of the National Park Service The idea of the National Park dated back to 1870 when on a late night in Yellowstone, Cornelius Hedge, one of the Washarn-Langford-Doane expedition members, encouraged his fellows to “rather than capitalize on their discoveries, waive their personal claims to the area and seek to have it set aside for all time as a reserve for the use and enjoyment of all the people.” 3 After the historical call of Hedge, many endeavors were put forward to turn the idea into a reality. Thanks to the support of many people, in March 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park. After Yellowstone, more lands were acquired to become national parks. In August 1916, all of the national parks, which had been individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, were brought together under one system whose initial responsibility was to manage the national parks and monuments saved by the American people so that all may experience the heritage. Since then, a vast amount of national parks and national monuments have been added to the national park system through the Acts of Congress. Today, there are Figure 2: Yellow Stone National Park 3 A brief history of the National Park Service, edited by James F. Kieley, 1940 7 384 natural and cultural areas under the management of National Park Service, which cover more than 83 million acres in the States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. 4 These areas are considered to be such national treasure as to require special recognition and protection. The main mission of the National Park Service is to preserve the natural and cultural resources and values of the park system for the enjoyment, education, recreation and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.