BUILDING TECNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Agenda Tectonics theoretically - Tectonics as a term - Semper - Bötticher - Frampton - Conclusion Tectonics in Nordic architecture - Säynätsalo Town Hall (Alvar Aalto) - Bagsværd Church (Jørn Utzon) Tectonics in practice - Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 - Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 Conclusion

Tectonics theoretically

Tectonics – etymology ARCHITECT = ARCHITECTON = ARCHI+TECTON = MASTER BUILDER “The Greek for ‘to bring forth or produce’ is tikto. The word techne, technique, belongs to the verb’s root tec. To the Greeks techne means neither art nor handicraft but rather: to make something appear, within what is present, as this or that, in this way or that way. The Greeks conceive of techne producing, in terms of letting appear. Techne thus conceived has been concealed in the tectonics of architecture since ancient times. Of late it still remains concealed, and more resolutely, in the technology of power machinery. But the nature of the erecting of buildings cannot be understood adequately in terms of either of architecture or of engineering construction, nor in terms of a mere combination of the two. The erecting of buildings would not be suitable defined even if we were to think of it in the sense of the original Greek techne as solely a letting-appear, which brings something made, as something present, among the things that are already present. The nature of building is letting dwell. Building accomplishes its nature in the raising of locations by the joining of their spaces. Only if we are capable of dwelling, only then can we build.” (Heidegger)

Gottfried Semper Semper, Gottfried, * 29. 11. 1803 Hamburg-Altona (Germany), † 15. 5. 1879 Rome (Italy), Architect and art theoretician Wrote about tectonics

Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper The Four Elements of Architecture (1850)

“… I see myself forced to go back to the primitive conditions (Urzustände) of human society in order to come to that which I actually propose to set forth. I shall do it as succinctly as possible. The first sign of human settlement and rest after the hunt, the battle, and wandering in the desert is today, as when the first men lost paradise, the setting up of the fireplace and the lighting of the reviving, warming, and foodpreparing flame. Around the hearth the first groups assembled; around it the first alliances formed; around it the first rude religious concepts were put into the customs of a cult. Throughout all phases of society the hearth formed that sacred focus around which the whole took order and shape. It is the first and most important, the moral element of architecture. Around it were grouped the three other elements: the roof, the enclosure, and the mound, the protecting negations or defenders of the hearth’s flame against the three hostile elements of nature.” (Semper, 1851, p. 102)

Gottfried Semper 2 The Four Elements of Architecture (1850) Understanding architecture as elements: 1) Enclosure (Indhegningen) 2) Roof (Taget) 3) Hearth (Arnestedet) 4) Mound (Fundamentet)

1 4 3

Gottfried Semper Element / function

Enclosure (Indhegningen)

Roof (Taget)

Hearth (Arnestedet)

Mound (Fundamentet)

Materials

Textile

Wood

Clay

Stone.

Techniques

Weaving

Carpentry (tectonics)

Ceramics

Masonry (stereotomy)

The element roof should not be seen as limited to a roof but rather as an element (table, chair, roof or other) that derives from the making of a wooden structural framework. Neither was the elements limited by material, Semper describes the building of arches as ‘stone tectonics’ thus indicating that the assembly of stone for a roof structure is ultimately the same operation as the assembly of wooden members.

• Lightweight • Heavyweight architecture

Gottfried Semper Architecture as an expression of society: “…where man appeared in small isolated groups and had to protect his hearth (arnested) only from the weather, where the right of property did not yet exist or at least was not disputed (omdiskuteret), where the state was formed as a federation of separate groups that inhabited a land poorly endowed (udrustet) (be it as nomadic herdsmen or as forest-cultivating backwoodsmen) – that in these circumstances the roof, among the three defensive elements of architecture, must have been predominant, whether it appeared in its most primitive mode, as a movable tent, or stood over a hollow in the ground and was only gradually lifted over the soil. …Where the settlers were attacked by people they had dislodged (forvist), the blockhouse developed; where there were feuds (len) among tribal members or where possession began to become the prize of the stronger, the tower arose, the multistory house set up on a high and solid substructure. Around the owner of the tower weaker inhabitants settled; not trusting their own power they sought protection, and suzerainty (overherredømme) began. Characteristics of this type of building were always its irregularity, a sloping roof, multistory construction, and interior illumination by windows set in the outer walls. In their purest form they are best preserved today in the Saxon settlements of North Germany, Holland, Belgium, England, and North America.” (Semper, 1851, p. 111)

Gottfried Semper Architectural expression influenced by intrinsic (inner) variables as well as extrinsic (outer) variables: Extrinsic Intrinsic Functional Material Technical

Social Cultural

Carl Bötticher Karl Bötticher (1806-89) German architectural theoretician and archaeologist Writings on tectonics

Carl Bötticher Bötticher defined architectural tectonics simply as the activity of forming a building. During the renaissance the Classic architecture had returned as an ideal. The discussion during the 19th century was thus between the Gothic architecture and the Classic architecture. The gothic was thought of as the German but inferior style while the Classic was the original and ideal style. However, material and functional problems with the Classical style – short spans and un-suitable for the German climate.

Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, Germany.

Temple of Apollon, Greece.

Carl Bötticher Bötticher’s theory of tectonics was a move away from the eclecticism of the time. Instead he encouraged architects to search for a new type in every building by an analysis of social and physical forces. “Such are the blessing of tradition. For if history had found fulfillment in Hellenism, the Middle Ages would not have come about; and had the latter terminated the evolution, mankind would have come to an end. Should we find ourselves suddenly deprived of all the creative energy so lavishly accorded to earlier generations, we would be overcome with melancholy, if history had not clearly shown that there is an inner force that constantly produces something new and that the process of development by which one aspect of architecture became prominent with the Greeks and the opposite aspect with the Middle Ages must be continued by a future generation in a synthesis of both.” (Bötticher, 1846, p 156)

Carl Bötticher In Bötticher’s theoretical work he introduced the distinction between ontology and representation. Kernform: the “core” of the building - ontology Kunstform: the art-form of the building - representation Bötticher’s introduction of this distinction made it possible to understand style as an evolution due to new construction methods and materials. “All opinions for or against a particular style have referred only to the outer shell, that is, to the scheme of the building’s artforms, which were considered to be identical with the principle of a style. The true essentials have never been seriously considered; the discussion has never actually turned to the principle and material conditions on which each is based. And yet these two factors are crucial for any criticism. … The view that the schema of the antique styles is the ideal or acme of all tectonic activity, which no style could ever surpass, has deprived the medieval style, and especially the style characterized by the pointed arch, of its due. Those who dismiss it as Germanic and barbaric overlook the enormous step forward represented by the medieval system of widely spanned spaces, with its escape from the structural limitations of material, in comparison with the limitations of the Hellenic post-and-lintel system, which was tied to a certain massiveness, short spans, and restricted forms of plan.” (Bötticher, 1846, page 150)

Carl Bötticher First conclusion from this was that the way to built was to clad a Gothic construction in a Classic façade. By a deeper analysis of the Greek architecture Bötticher however, began to understand the ontology and representation as interdependent. The ontology points towards the representation – the spatial quality of the architecture is determined by the material and structural system. E.g. the massiveness of the Greek Temples as opposed to the lightness of the Gothic Cathedrals. The representation points towards the ontology – the representation serves a purpose in the sense that it explains and enhances the structural system. E.g. the painting of the Greek Temples highlighted and thereby helped explain the structural system.

Carl Bötticher Instead of eclectism that choses between existing styles, architecture in a tectonic understanding is a constant rearticulation of the relationship between representation and ontology.

Aspect

Representation

Ontology

Means of

Vision

Logical

perception

Touch

thinking

New materials and structural systems call for new representations and thereby new architectural “styles”. Bötticher saw the way to reach Architectonic (the sublime tectonic architecture) by combining science and technology on one hand and art on the other.

Hearing Field

Art

Science / technology

Kenneth Frampton Frampton writes in a post-modern age and displays in his texts a critical attitude towards both Modernism and postmodernist movements. He reinstates the ancient Greek term tectonic as a critical countermovement, primarily as a response to Robert Venturi’s concept of the “decorated shed” – the idea that in essence architecture is just a wrapping independent of the internal construction. This notion renders architecture’s primarily role to be simply a spectacular staging – and as such in essence expendable. Saw the continuing tectonic quality especially in local architectural tradtions such as the Spanish, Swiss and Nordic tradition.

Portland building, Oregon, 1982 Vollsmose, Odense, 1968 Lewis Thomas Molecular Biological Laboratories, Princeton University, 1983

Semper versus Bötticher Semper’s theory is explanatory and points backwards, Bötticher’s theory is normative and points forwards. Bötticher’s theory distinction between (how to build within a

Functional Material Technical

Aspect

Representation

Ontology

Means of

Vision

Logical

perception

Touch

thinking

Hearing Field

Social Cultural

Art

Science / technology

Tectonics in theory - conclusion Deals with architecture in its materiality – a focus on the built artifact. Tectonics as an architectural quality that enables an appreciation of different “styles” Understands architecture as evolution based on changing materials, techniques and structural concepts (intrinsic factors) as well as cultural and social factors (extrinsic factors). In this evolutionary thought lies the normative aspect that architecture should strive towards an architectural expression where (representation) is interdependent with the structural and logical aspect of the building (ontology).

Tectonics in architecture

Alvar Aalto – Säynätsalo town hall ”Throughout his career, Aalto was presented internationally as the 'humaniser' and 'naturaliser' of a cold, overly rational modern architecture…” Richard Weston

This character of Aalto’s work can be understood from a tectonic reading.

Säynätsalo town hall: Council room, administrative offices, a library, residential facilities for employees, and ground-floor stores.

Alvar Aalto – Säynätsalo town hall

The use of this court/tower typology for such a governmental program links the modern democratic tradition with a long lineage of European preedents, including Stockholm’s City Hall, Venice’s Piazza San Marco, and Bergamo’s Old Town Square. Michael Trencher

Alvar Aalto – Säynätsalo town hall ”Collage also enabled Aalto to adopt a richly varied palette of materials, combining 'traditional' and 'modern'. Wood was quickly assimilated …. Aalto also turned his attention to brick, a material generally confined to utilitarian buildings in Finland. At Baker House and then in his masterpiece, the tiny Town Hall on Säynätsalo, he showed how this most traditional of materials could be used as part of an unmistakably modern architecture.” Richard Weston Massive and strong from the outside, humane scale inside – play with the scale and materials

Alvar Aalto – Säynätsalo town hall Particularly in the sequence from the main entrance into the council chamber, Aalto has worked deliberately and exellent with tectonic means:

”…from entry to council chamber, the subject encounters a sequence of contrasting tactile experiences. Thus, from the stereotomic mass and relative darkness of the entry stair, where the feeling of enclosure is augmented by the tactility of the brick treads, one enters into the brigth light of the ouncil chamer, the timber-lined roof of which is carried on fan-like, wooden trusses that splay upward to support the concealed rafters above a boarded ceiling.” Kenneth Frampton

Alvar Aalto – Säynätsalo town hall

Detailing, the humane scale

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church Bagsværd without church since 1536, in 1964 it was decided to build a new one. The challenge was to create a modern church within the Danish tradition. The site location close to a busy crossing led to a separation of the interior and exterior.

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church How to create a holy place? Inspiration from Hawaii, clouds breaking the sunlight, creating an undulating spatial enclosure.

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church Utzon had just returned from Sydney where he had worked on the interiors of the music halls in the Opera House. Therefore he knew a great deal about acoustics and worked deliberately with this knowledge in the design of Bagsværd Church. This can be seen in the use of reflection lines and the concave shapes.

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church Difference in the importance of the function of the spaces underlined by the ceiling.

Section

Plan

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church The architecture was based on the two very different techniques of working with the same material – concrete. The hallways were made from cheap, prefabricated elements, normally used for industrial and agricultural buildings. This suited Utzon’s notion of additive architecture. The ceiling in the ceremonial room was cast in situ.

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church

Jørn Utzon – Bagsværd Church Exploration and use of the characteristics of the materials and the techniques. The undulating shape and the precise distribution of the material enables a fascinating solution where an 8-10 cm thick concrete sheet spans the entire 17 m of the room.

Tectonics in architecture - conclusion

Tectonics in practice

Tectonics in practice Tectonics used to be created by the master builder – a trial and error method. Knowledge about construction, proportions of space, colours, the movement of the sun, the resonance of the human against stone and the movement of air through chimneys was gradually improved and passed on through generations of architects. Since the beginning of the Beaux Art tradition (1795 foundation of Ecole Polytechnique) the architectural and engineering concerns were increasingly divided into separate professions. This development of specialization has continued to an extent where architecture today is supported by a horde of specializations. This division of labour is a positive and necessary condition because it has the consequence that the industry can refine their methods in each their field. The level of knowledge is thus increased in each field. The difficulty is however, to create tectonics from this conglomerate of differing technical fields.

The master builder approach: Firenze Dome by Brunelleschi

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 Competition proposal 1957

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965

Competition proposal 1957

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 The halls showed in the Red Book (March 1958) were primarily done by Jordan which Jordan himself hints at in the quote: ‘Without analysing the cooperation between architect and acoustician too minutely, it is fair to say that regarding this first design, the acoustician was responsible for many suggestions.’ (Jordan, 1980, p. 95).

Red book 1958 Jordan acoustics

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 The drawings for this first proposal shows a hall which seems to be inspired from traditional classical halls called shoe box hall for their rectangular floor and ceiling and straight walls. Jordan describes the halls in the Red Book with the remark “The proportions of the area are 2:6:7 (mean height: mean width: depth), which is appropriate for a typical theatre hall, where the stress is laid more upon definition than reverberation.” (Nobis, 1994, p. 33).

Red book 1958 Jordan acoustics

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 ”Jørn asked me to work on the new design of the Minor Hall auditorium. He took me to a nearby seashore by the Sound in Hellebaek, where the gentle movement of water formed the ridges of waves one after another. The continuous ridge went up higher and higher as it came nearer to the shore, and finally the crest of the wave began to break, overriding the ridge and coming down with a drumming sound onto the wet sand on the beach. We watched the movement of the waves for quite a long time. It was very dynamic and breathtakingly beautiful. Every one of the waves showed a different character in its movement. Jørn said,”Yuzo, can’t we design the ceiling of the Minor Hall something like that?” whilst looking at the breaking crest of the waves.” (Mikami, 2001, p. 118)

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 The ‘stepped-cloud’ scheme August 1959 The ceiling of the Minor Hall was conceived as segments radiating from the centre of the stage, each segment having a curved concave shape. The radial configuration would focus the attention of the listener towards the stage, to where the sound was coming from, and would enable entrance to the hall to be hid between the segments. Utzon describes the effect ”therefore, for the eye of the seated spectator the theatre appears absolutely closed, even when the doors are actually open” (Utzon, 1965).

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 In a later interview with Peter Luck Utzon described how he wanted the auditoria to fit under the sails like walnuts. ”A walnut…when you see a walnut from the outside, you get a feeling there’s something inside, with a slightly wobbled form. And then you open up, you’re not surprised but it’s quite different inside, but it’s still in harmony with the outside. And I left the shells open so you could see up under the shells, feel the structure.” (Nobis, 1994, p. 4)

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 From an acoustical point of view, however, the ‘stepped-cloud’ scheme was not advantageous. The large concave curve of the ceiling in the back of the room would result in echoes and focusing of sound onto the audience thus creating high concentration of sound in certain areas and a lack of sound in others. A response from Jordan to this scheme is not found, even though Utzon remarks in the Acoustical Report that he “investigated the scheme but was relatively unhappy” (Utzon, 1965, page 1).

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 Difficult for Jordan to respond to the concept proposal by Utzon. His tools – 1:10 scale modelling – took months to complete.

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 In 1962 Utzon hired the German acousticians Professor Lothar Cremer - one of the most important acousticians of this century, Professor Emeritus at the Technical University of Berlin - and Professor Werner Gabler – an architect specialized in acoustic spaces. Both of the new consultants were send drawings of the ‘stepped-cloud’ scheme in August 1962. Cremer responds: “The large radius concave curvature of the ceiling is rejected. Should such curvatures eventuate, their radius must be small. Particularly, the curvature of the rear ceiling area will lead to sound focusing onto the last rows of the stalls. Also of great disadvantage is the dome-like raising of the mid part of the ceiling with its large step toward the stage, in which the lighting is housed…This produces very strong delayed reflections in the middle of the stalls” (Nobis, 1994, p. 38).

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 Immediately after Gabler’s letter, the drawings being produced in Utzon’s office to develop the Minor Hall began to show a concern for sound paths

Sydney Opera House 1957-1965 The scheme was being reworked completely within a few months to encompass the convex curves. Nobis writes ”When one compares the new scheme with the one shown in the Red Book it becomes clear that Utzon has regained control of the acoustic requirements on his own terms. The Red Book scheme was an engineer’s solution to a set of requirements. The SOH796 scheme was an architectural solution which incorporated the acoustic requirements.” (Nobis, 1994, p. 43)

Tectonics in practice The intentional actor The understanding of the aim of the process is highly significant in order to create architectural tectonics. Utzon insisting on a connection between the representation and the ontology – the curves of the ceiling and the actual acoustical function of the surfaces - is crucial. Jordan’s understanding of acoustics as separate from the architectural expression problematic in terms of a tectonic intention Cremer/Gabler’s understanding of acoustics as a design driver rather than a design constraint advantageous in terms of a tectonic intention

The technology

human

human

actor

actor

The tools are likewise highly significant in order to create architectural tectonics Jordan’s scale modelling slow, expensive and detailed Cremer/Gabler’s sketching quick, in-expensive and rough

nonhuman actor

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 Background for refurbishment - Utzon left the project in 1966 - Todd, Littlemore and Hall changed many of the functions of the rooms already planned. E.g. Major Hall changed from Opera/Concert to Concert; Minor Hall changed from Theatre/Recital to Opera; two new performance spaces incorporated. - The building opened 1973 - During the 70ties and 80ties the Opera House Trust maintained an image of a wellfunctioning building. - During the 90ties an emerging understanding of the difficult working conditions for the musicians in the Opera Hall arose

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 - 1997 an Opera House architect, Richard Johnson, was engaged - 1998 Richard Johnson went to Mallorca to convince Utzon to participate in the refurbishment - 1999 Utzon agrees to participate in the refurbishment - 2002 Utzon Design principles released - 2002 Five refurbishment projects initiated – one of these is the Opera Theatre (previously known as Minor Hall)

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 New actors: Richard Johnson, Jan Utzon, Jørn Utzon, Arup Acoustics New tools: The field increasingly dominated by computers. Acoustic simulation programs

human

human

actor

actor

nonhuman actor

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 Acoustic simulation programs – in what manner does the new tools affect the ability to work tectonically?

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 Huge improvement from Jordan’s physical model. However, primary ability of simulation programs after the developing stage of the design process (Schmidt and Kirkegaard): RESEARCH CONCEPT DEVELOPING DETAILING CONSTRUCTION

NEW OPERA THEATRE

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 Introduction of other tools to handle the two first phases: “The first thing we had to do was that we had to set some design rules for Jan and Jorn and Richard Johnson, who was working with the two. And they’re basically what we call the acoustic design rules. …. All of these were rules which we wanted…you know, they weren’t absolute but they were in a range. …. the whole document was a rule of thumb which was an ‘Arup Acoustics guide to how to design an opera house’ and so that comes from historical experience that we’ve got as a practice and it was intended to guide Utzon and Richard Johnson in a direction…” Andrew Nicol, Arup Acoustics

RESEARCH

“Today we’ve been working on half polystyrene models (…) So we were using those and we put reflective tape on it, we used a laser and we looked to see where the sound bounces to. Very crude but very useful to get an early picture of what the geometry was doing.” Andrew Nicol, Arup Acoustics

CONCEPT

“More often than not, they would demonstrate to us on our drawings or on our model what is not working so far… and then we’d go and change our drawings and offer it to them again to comment on.” Matt Morell, Richard Johnson’s office

CONCEPT

Sydney Opera House 1999-2005 The ability to create tectonics is highly dependent on both the intentional actor and the technology available. The intentional actor is able to work around the technology available. The technology influences the process because it creates an ability to work in new ways.

Your projects The tectonic process The tectonic result For you to become intentional actors you need to be aware of what you are aiming at - Knowing what tectonics is -