References:
Books referenced in this article.


Throughout history architects such as Paul Rudolph, Ralph Twitchell and Frank Lloyd Wright have forewarned us of the perils of stylistic fancy, favoring a responsible architecture that is a derivative of Florida’s unique climate. Their premonitions have long been forgotten, and many of their ideologies have fallen victim to the exotic and invasive architectural style of the Mediterranean Revival. The focus of this historical critique is not to recount the tale of how Mediterranean architecture became the dominant style of Florida, but to reexamine the legacy of Addison Mizner, and to raise awareness in the architectural community of the dangers of favoring style over process.

The Legacy of Fantasy:

Addison Mizner is one of the most misunderstood architects of the modern era, dismissed by historians as just another revivalist; his works transcend style and are a product of a unique process that enables Mizner’s gifts as both entertainer and storyteller to animate his architecture in a way that would make Walt Disney envious.  Mizner’s works and similarly Mediterranean styled architecture are fallaciously classified as of a fictitious Addison Mizner Style, or Mizner Architecture. The emergence of this classification suggests that Mizner’s work diverges from traditional revivalists, and a definition of that variation has yet to be constituted. Mizner in his designs appears to dance effortlessly from style to style with little regard for a specific period in an attempt to create his own history. Many architects derogate Mizner’s stylistic eclecticism as a consequence of his lack of formal training as an architect.   An inquisition into Mizner’s creative process reveals that his aesthetic emerges from his process which focuses on fabricating a fanciful history for each design, condensing centuries of cultural evolution into just a few years. In order for a Mizner building to achieve the illusion of being from a faraway Mediterranean town it must manifest the spirit of the place it is mirroring.  Mizner is unique in that he understands this spirit to be the summation of moments and events that define a place and not style. Below Mizner attacks modern architects, many historians often interpret this statement as an attack on Modern architecture, but if one reads the statement carefully it is revealed that he is actually attacking his revivalist peers. Mizner uses the term modern in the traditional meaning of the word “as of or pertaining to the present and recent time”, which is confirmed by the fact that Modern architects do not style their structures in a certain period. Mizner is attacking his fellow revivalists whom choose to replicate a particular style, producing an architecture that maintains a characterless copybook effect:

“Most modern architects have spent their lives carrying out a period to the last letter and producing a characterless copybook effect. My ambition has been to take the reverse stand – to make a building look traditional as if it had fought its way from a small unimportant structure to a great rambling house that took centuries of different needs of ups and downs of wealth to accomplish. I sometimes start a house with a Romanesque corner, pretend that it has fallen into disrepair and been added to in the Gothic spirit, when suddenly the great wealth of the New World has poured in and the owner had added a very rich Renaissance addition.”

In the early 20^th century there was little constructed in Florida. Stepping into one of Mizner’s Mediterranean structures combined with the isolated landscape would have made a visitor believe they were on a secluded Mediterranean island. This notion of fabricating a historical context in reference to a foreign land is an early precedent for its present day incarnation at Epcot. At Boca Raton, Mizner was concerned with the reality of his Mediterranean fantasy, much in the same manner that Walt Disney was concerned with the authenticity of the representation of foreign lands in his concept for the International Street, a precursor to the World Showcase at Epcot. Many Floridians and architects attack Disney for being foreign to the native culture, but a reexamination of Mizner and his process reveals that the spirit of Walt Disney has been a part of Florida since its rebirth as a tourist destination in the early 20^th century.

The Legacy of Reality:

After reading several books on the life and works of Addison Mizner, a reoccurring theme emerged, each author maintained an unwavering loyalty to the architect and his designs as sustainable. Some writers made outlandish statements promoting Mizner’s architecture as intrinsic to Florida in what is a negligent disregard for history! In Boca Rococo, Caroline Seebohm suggests that “If he (Frank Lloyd Wright) had landed in Palm Beach in 1918, perhaps, absorbing the history of southern Florida, its flatness, the palm trees, the sunlight, and the humidity, he might have gone in the direction of his contemporary (Addison Mizner).”  One needs not speculate on whether Frank Lloyd Wright would have followed Mizner’s lead, because in 1941 Wright would begin designing a series of 18 buildings for Florida Southern College that serve as an exemplar to future generations of how to create buildings that harmoniously merge with the Florida landscape.

Although Mizner’s charming personality permitted him “to build the way he wanted to build”, he did so at the expense of the environment, and as technology and our understanding of the environment has evolved  so should Florida’s architecture. Ralph Twitchell warned Floridians of the dangers of the invasive Mediterranean Revival Style, and urged for architects to design buildings that are responsive to Florida’s unique climactic conditions and provide spaces that offer inhabitants a sympathetic interaction between the constructed environments they occupy and the natural environment. In an article written by Ralph Twitchel entitled “Where Goes Sarasota?” Mr. Twitchel outlines the major faults in transplanting the Mediterranean style to Florida.

“All of the work of the ‘boom’ period was Mediterranean in style with low-pitched tile roofs and stuccoed masonry walls. No one then gave thought to the outstanding characteristics of the Florida climate. The Mediterranean style was the product of semi-tropical, hilly and dry environment. Florida is neither hilly nor dry. Its warm sea breezes carry a high degree of moisture. Where the Mediterranean style answered the needs of its birthplace, its thick walls, small openings, enclosed courts and roofs with no overhang utterly failed to answer the needs of Florida.”

To be fair to Mizner, at the time his buildings were constructed, they were designed as tourist destinations, and would only be occupied during the dry winter season which more closely resembles   the Mediterranean climate. The buildings designed by Mizner were designed to only be lived in during the dry winter season, and neglect Florida’s true environment that the resident’s have to live in the rest of the year.

Paul Rudolph and Ralph Twitchell developed an architecture that was of the Florida vernacular, but failed to make it fashionable in the same way Addison Mizner propagandized Mediterranean architecture to the top of the architectural food chain, where it has reigned for over a century. The last 100 years of architecture in Florida was grounded in fantasy and neglected the environment. The legacy of Addison Mizner is one that has changed the Florida landscape forever, and his impact on our culture and environment must be understood before we can move forward. We need to promote a new Florida architecture that is sensitive to the reality of our current environmental conditions, grounded by the limits of our region, informed by process, not a replication of another civilization’s history, engrained in our culture, we need a new Addison Mizner.

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References:
Books referenced for this publication that document the Serious Architecture of Walt Disney.

The posthumously completed Bay Lake Tower is a major addition to the existing Contemporary Resort, a complex of several buildings that includes a postmodern convention center designed by GSAA and the Contemporary Tower. The resort is within walking distance to Magic Kingdom theme park and its impact on the reality of the fantasy that is Disney World places extreme importance on future development. The existing Contemporary Tower was completed in 1971 and designed by forgotten modern master Welton Becket. The tower’s signature A-frame profile has been an icon to the eclectic Walt Disney World skyline since its completion.[2] The experience of zooming through the boundless atrium while aboard the futuristic monorail is instilled with the spirit of Walt Disney himself and for that reason it is loved by all guests.

Instead of competing with this experience, Mr. Gwathmey wisely chooses to politely defer to the existing tower and its unique experience. Deference, as a design tactic, transcends mere recognition of the need for visual relief, or the difference between background and foreground. It is an egoless discipline of designing a building or series of buildings in a way that defers to a focus, and imparts to the inherited structure a stronger expression. Could you imagine if Cinderella’s Castle were surrounded by structures from the other Disney animated epics, and lacked the formal clarity that it currently has? It would be visually chaotic. For each signature structure added the others are made less impactful. The baroque boulevard of Main Street U.S.A. with its mélange of design periods (19^th century Americana meets medieval castle), and surrounding landscape are all elements that act deferentially to Cinderella’s Castle and thereby enhance the overall experience.

Deference as an architectural tactic is also the prevalent theme in Mr. Gwathmey’s design for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum addition, completed in 1992. The orthogonal forms and patterns of Mr. Gwathmey’s addition defer to Wright’s curvilinear design. The juxtaposition of the treatment between the two structures clearly distinguishes the difference between Gwathmey and Wright, and Wright’s design is comparatively enhanced by the subdued addition.

Mr. Gwathmey’s mastery of deference as a compositional device is most evident at Bay Lake Tower. Unlike his design for the Guggenheim addition, at Bay Lake Tower he defers to the existing structure by engaging Becket in a sophisticated architectural dialogue, using the formal language established by Becket for the Contemporary Tower. Similarities in aesthetic design exist between the two towers, but Mr. Gwathmey avoids vapid stylizing by understanding the causal orders that shape each design element, and then positioning them in a manner consistent with each element’s function and purpose.

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The Dialogue

While most buildings are characterized as having a front and rear elevation, the two towers of the Contemporary Resort dispenses with this norm with their visual interplay of exterior and interior façades. The Contemporary Tower’s A-frame structure encloses an expansive fifteen-story atrium in which the eastern and western walls of the atrium appear as if they are elevations belonging to separate yet identical structures. Similarly, the horseshoe configuration of Bay Lake Tower creates the appearance of an exterior and ‘interior’ façade. The exterior façade of Bay Lake Tower faces outward towards Magic Kingdom and the Contemporary Resort, while the inward facing façade frames a contemporary version of a classical courtyard that rivals the scale of the Contemporary’s atrium.

The incorporation of exterior and interior façades in the design of Bay Lake Tower is the catalyst to a more complex visual dialogue between the two designs. A critical reading of the towers’ elevations reveals that the architectural language is developed in response to the following orders: views of Magic Kingdom and Bay Lake, structural forces, and the horizontal movement of the monorail. The exterior façade of the Contemporary Tower expresses the building’s repetitive steel A-frame structure, while the interior façades feature streamlined horizontals that exaggerate and embellish the speed of the monorail as it enters and exits the vast atrium.

The design of the exterior façade of Bay Lake Tower posed the greatest challenge because it had to respond to both the horizontality of the monorail and the verticality imposed by the structural system, which is dominant in the Contemporary Tower’s exterior façade. Mr. Gwathmey resolves all of these issues by designing a façade that changes in appearance according to the viewer’s proximity to the building. Up close the cream colored horizontal lines establish the composition, while the sweeping curve of the building’s plan creates a distorted perspective that exaggerates riders’ sense of speed on the moving monorail. From afar the horizontal curves defer to the staccato rhythm of verticals created by the alternating placement of glazed surface and recessed balconies. Although the exterior façade of Bay Lake Tower is subordinate to the Contemporary Tower, its interior façade is a dynamic composition of vertical forms that cast dramatic shadows and maintain a stately presence on Bay Lake. Mr. Gwathmey hints to the verticality that remains hidden on the interior façade with the two strategically placed vertical spires on the exterior façade, which frame views of the Contemporary Tower to the East and Magic Kingdom to the West. These two spires are the only moments of relief on the exterior façade from the zooming horizontal lines.

The solid vertical masses that comprise the interior façade serve as an expression of the building’s mechanical systems and service areas, while large vertical reveals are glazed, permitting views out toward the lake from the corridors. One of the most exciting moments in the entire design is the transition from interior to exterior façade which is ornamented with two   ‘crystalline blades’ that function as the egress stair towers,.  Without the spires the transition between exterior and interior façade would be anticlimactic.

The play of horizontals and verticals at Bay Lake Tower is executed with such rigor and originality that Mr. Gwathmey creates a structure that is technically superior in its execution to the original Contemporary Tower with the exception of the structure’s apex, the Top of the World Lounge. This is the only moment that the design appears to replicate the original without deference to the elements’ origin of being. Despite the similarities between the apexes of the Contemporary and Bay Lake Towers, the top of Bay Lake Tower feels foreign and obtrusive. It neither denies nor accepts the vertical or horizontal, and this indifference is its weakness.

While the apex of Bay Lake Tower is the weakest moment in the design, the pedestrian bridge that connects the existing tower to Bay Lake Tower evinces his mastery of dealing with difficult relationships to existing structures. The bridge acts as an independent element and helps to distinguish the two towers as separate and distinct, and is a departure from their established aesthetics. The lack of resolution in connection between the two towers is intentional, implying that the bridge is its own structure, belonging neither to the Contemporary or Bay Lake Tower. The bridge is a referential departure from the architectural language of the Contemporary Tower and is instead a playful interpretation of the monorail and its concrete structural system. This correlation in formal language between the monorail and the bridge is validated by their shared function: both structures move people. The pedestrian bridge serves as another instance of Mr. Gwathmey’s ability to understand the source of a language and reinterpret it in a manner that is appropriate yet consistent with its origin.

The Serious Architecture of Walt Disney World

Architects in professional and academic circles often lack a critical appreciation for the great architectural experiment that is Walt Disney World. The buildings and environments constructed in the Reedy Creek Improvement District are often dismissed by professors as not “serious architecture”, or are slandered by architects and critics as “theming”. The truth is that the architecture of Walt Disney is serious and precise, and the environments found there are executed at such a high level of sophistication that the scale and spirit of this place can never be recreated. Mr. Gwathmey respects this, and it is evident in his design of Bay Lake Tower.

It is unfortunate that the addition to the Art & Architecture Building at New Haven will leave its mark in history as Mr. Gwathmey’s final work, because Mr. Gwathmey was an architect capable of producing memorable works of architecture that hold their own against some of the best buildings ever constructed. Bay Lake Tower will never be loved in the same way that visitors love the Contemporary Tower, but because of his deference he makes one of Disney’s oldest icons (and the unforgettable experience of riding on the monorail as it speeds through the atrium towards the Magic Kingdom) that much better. The forgotten Bay Lake Tower is classic Gwathmey, and stands as a deserving grand finale for an architect who never backed down from a challenge and always understood that sometimes it is better to defer than to receive.

The above article was featured in the Winter 2010 issue of Florida/Caribbean Architect Magazine.

References:

[1] New York Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff’s description of the GSAA designed addition to the Art & Architecture building at Yale, as published in Yale Revelation: Renewal for a Building and Its Original Designer.
[2] Wikipedia

Related Photos

References:
Books referenced for this publication that document the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron.

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Architectural Context:

When talking about architecture, architects often speak of the success of an architectural design in terms of context. Unfortunately, many architects forget that there is more to a structure’s context than its relationship to adjacent buildings and the site. Herzog & de Meuron understand context to be social, cultural, and architectural. They are even concerned with how their parking garage relates within the experiential context of the ceremony of driving, parking and emerging as a pedestrian onto Lincoln Mall from the automobile. They recognize these various contexts in the design of the 1111 Lincoln Road parking garage, a project with so many complex contextual relationships that they only become clear upon visiting the structure and spending enough time looking and experiencing.

When designing structures within a historic context it is best to either match the historic style of the architecture as close as possible, or to design a structure that is of “the spirit of the times” (zeitgeist). Upon visiting the 1111 Lincoln Road development, it became clear that the design of the parking structure is foreign in style and form to the surrounding collection of 800 structures located in South Beach’s Art Deco Historic District. There is nothing formally contextual about the 1111 Lincoln Road parking structure. It stands by itself, as if it is better than its architectural neighbors. It has an attitude, a demeanor that suggest it does not care what you think of it, because it knows it is better than all of the other buildings that you have ever parked in. Herzog & de Meuron avoid the pitfalls that have plagued other architects, by understanding that architecture has to be sensitive to its context, but does not have to look like it. The 1111 Lincoln Road parking structure contrasts with its architectural context in nearly every way imaginable.

The sharp angles of the concrete structure contrast with the streamlined forms of the expensive parked automobiles and neighboring Art Deco structures. The historic forms of South Beach are solid masses that have been carved away, while the parking structure is a delicate exoskeleton, allowing light and air to penetrate deep into its core. While the neighboring Art Deco structures are concerned with surface, Herzog & de Meuron create a structure that is composed of line and edge. The poured in place concrete forms are left raw and exposed to the elements, in contrast to the brightly painted buildings found on every block.

The parking structure of 1111 Lincoln Road is part of a complex of three buildings: Apart from the existing SunTrust office building there is a two-story building designed by Herzog & de Meuron, with a SunTrust Bank branch on the ground floor and four large condos on the second floor. The two-story building has no visual relationship to the parking garage. The solid white box blends in with the existing context, so as not to weaken the image of the parking garage. The modern SunTrust office building is a poured in place concrete structure, but it is painted white in an effort to differentiate old from new. The parking structure ignores these buildings architecturally, and pulls away from them. The floor plates of the parking garage rarely respond to the floor plates of the existing office building. The stairways that connect the two structures are delicate interventions out of necessity, and recede into the shadows of the two structures. The existing SunTrust office building was upgraded to contain additional retail space at the ground level that matches the retail at the base of the parking structure, but a conscious move was made by the architects to use color and a construction joint to differentiate the portion of the concrete canopy that belong to the old and the new.

Herzog & de Meuron take a stand in the design of their parking structure, clearly delineating new from old, denouncing Miami Moderne in favor of an architecture that is responsive to the social, cultural, and experiential context of our time.

Master Curator:

Visionary developer Robert Wennett, who sees himself more as a master curator than a developer, envisioned 1111 Lincoln Road as a structure that would be a destination for art, commerce and culture, he imagined a building that patrons would experience while driving, shopping, living and being entertained. He visited with ten architecture firms from around the world sharing his vision, but it was not until he met with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron that he knew he had found his architect.  After commissioning Herzog & de Meuron to design the structure, the three would work intimately on the project for the next five years. Wennett did not stop with commissioning a world renowned architect to design a building, like any distinguished curator, he realized that an exhibition cannot rely on a single work of art. The building includes signage by Wolf-Olins, an iron rods art installation under the stairs on Level 2 by Monika Sosnowska, as well as featuring retail spaces such as a Taschen bookstore, a Y3/Adidas boutique, and a Nespresso outlet, which all function as miniature galleries for commerce. The details of the building, which are the result of the joint technical efforts of Herzog & de Meuron and local architect of record Charles H Benson & Associates, Architects, PA become works of art that even cause non-architects to pause and admire. Wennett allows his exhibition of design and art to spill out into the plaza in front of 1111 Lincoln Road, the design of which is the result of a collaborative effort by Herzog & de Meuron and Raymond Jungles, a Miami based landscape architect, which features interactive public art by New York artist Dan Graham.

Experiential Context:

On entering the parking garage it becomes clear that everything about the structure is designed to enhance the experience of parking. While driving through the structure, every turn captures a different view of the city; every ramp aligns your vehicle toward a seemingly framed piece of the Florida sky. The shape of the structural columns enhances the views of the city, pulling the eyes outward. The connection of the viewer to the city is reinforced by the architecture. After a few moments you will find yourself forgetting to scan for a parking spot, and instead exploring the city, awaiting new views that are revealed while driving through the structure. The structure responds to the city and its context in a way that differs from other structures in the city. It forces drivers to interact with the city in a way that is unique to 1111 Lincoln Road. It is this exploitation of the ceremonial experience of parking that makes it unlike any other parking structure.

After parking your automobile, the structure will urge you to pause and look out at the city. While waiting on the elevator, the sculptural stair tempts you to explore upper and lower levels; it tempts you to explore the city. Typically parking garages are repetitive vertically, featuring a consistent vertical ten foot rhythm. Herzog & de Meuron have the luxury of exploiting the verticality of the parking structure which creates a different experience at each level. It is a garage with a view and light.

Social & Cultural Context:

Herzog & de Meuron have managed to create an architectural form instilled with the spirit of Miami’s South Beach. The automobile is an undeniable symbol of status and wealth in America. The display of one’s prosperity is the whole reason Miami and the Art Deco style exists. Miami during the 1020’s in its boom could be equated to the Dubai of today. What car do you drive? How much money do you make? What designer labels are on your clothes? This is the culture of Miami and these are the things that matter. The Art Deco style in Miami was the result of the wealthy searching for a means for displaying their wealth in the homes they lived in. Herzog & de Meuron understand this, and create a structure which is as much a monument to the automobile as it is a billboard for displaying wealth. The garage is a stage for the celebutantes of South Beach to display their wealth and gain the attention of tourists that visit the mall. The structure is undeniably South Beach.

All Muscle . . . almost

Jacques Herzog describes the 1111 Lincoln Road parking structure as “All muscle without cloth”.  Spending any amount of time in Miami will validate the accuracy of this statement as a description of South Beach and its culture. Skin is an acceptable form of expression in South Beach, but the problem is that the statement by Jacques Herzog is not an entirely accurate description of the structure. From the stylized photos that have been published in various magazines the structure appears to be ALL muscle, but once at the site, 1111 Lincoln Road is revealed to be a body builder in a tutu. The beauty of the parking garage is its structure, which seems to bulge and flex in all the right places, at times responding to structural forces, and at other times responding to other forces such as emphasizing views of the city from within, and even enhancing the movement of the automobile itself.  The muscles are great, but unfortunately the tutu is not. The metaphorical ‘tutu’ of the structure is the retail space at the ground level. The angled columns of the parking garage abruptly stop at the second level of the building. The ground level lacks the sculptural spirit of the rest of the building. The structure would be more convincingly complete if the angular columns were permitted to continue down to the ground, creating retail spaces that engage the structural forms in a similar manner that the restaurants and penthouse units are treated. Instead, the muscular structure sits atop a glass box, and the iconic angular columns have been substituted for conventional circular columns and a continuous storefront system of glass and metal. A disconnect between the structure above and the retail at the ground level is the result of a compromise between the architecture and visibility requirements demanded by the stores leasing the retail space. The structure can be viewed in its purest state when looking at the building from the north, as the angled concrete columns are allowed to continue down the back of the structure down to the ground.

When inside the parking garage, visitors are tempted to explore the garage vertically; they are inveigled by the seductive qualities of the sculptural stair and the framed views of the city. The garage does very little to engage the public at the street level, one would expect that Herzog & de Meuron would have designed the base of the structure to provoke users to explore the parking garage in the same way that they are encouraged to explore the parking garage while in it, but this is not the case. The pedestrian entrance to the garage and the sculptural stair are recessed in the shadows of the building at the ground level, discouraging entry into the structure. The ground level does not possess the same quality of lightness and transparency as the parking garage that sits atop it. This connection between the base of the structure and the parking garage is the one flaw of 1111 Lincoln Road. If the storefront had been broken, and the muscles of the parking garage been allowed to flex into the plaza, the building, plaza, and overall experience would have been better for it, inching that much closer to completely realizing the designer’s concept.

The above article was featured as the cover story in Bauwelt no 21.10 and in the Summer issue of Florida/Caribbean Architect Magazine. I would like to thank Charles H Benson and Robert Wennett for taking the time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions about the project, and for providing their valuable insights into the process involved in producing 1111 Lincoln Road. I would also like to thank Bauwelt for taking a chance on an unknown blogger, and Florida/Caribbean Architect for publishing this article.

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The campus of Florida Southern College is the closest thing to experiencing a world designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright does not attempt to design acres of Falling Water, there are many signature works that reside on the campus like the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel and the technical beauty of the Polk County Science Building, but there is also a strong supporting cast of background buildings that help Wright to build a campus of Wright without creating an architectural experience that becomes overwhelming. Wright builds tension on the campus between the vertical and the horizon, between the mundane and the divine. Suspense builds as you walk along the unique esplanades. He protects you from the hot Florida sunlight  and then upon entering a structure it appears that the master architect has transformed the light into a collage of colors, beams of light literally bursting at the seams of the building. Florida Southern College should be at the top of any architects list of historic sites to visit, and is just another reason to make an architectural pilgrimage to Florida.

This is the first of a series of articles that will focus on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright in Florida. Be sure to check back soon as I am building an extensive photo gallery of images for another article that will delve into the details of one of America’s greatest college campuses.

References:
Books referenced for this publication that document the the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and Florida Southern College.

History:

One could argue that the popularity of Frank Lloyd Wright is of course in part due to the fact that he is an exceptionally rare architectural talent. Yet despite his talent, Wright’s popularity in American culture is largely in part to his Hollywood styled biography and eccentric personalty. Unlike other architects, Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect, has no difficulty competing against Frank Lloyd Wright architecture for story time in the history books. The beauty of Wright’s architecture can only be outshone by Wright’s uniquely cinematic life. His career as an architect and his works are made more fascinating by his life history, and this history has him firmly rooted as America’s favorite architect in American popular culture. The history of Florida Southern College is nothing short of the kind of story that one has come to expect when talking about Frank Lloyd Wright.

Dr. Ludd Spivey was the college president of Florida Southern College and after being inspired by Wright’s autobiography he approached Wright with a dream of building a modern American campus. Wright was 67 years old when he first visited Lakeland, Florida, the future site of Florida Southern College. While walking the site, Wright envisioned the buildings:

“. . . rising out of the ground, and into the light, a child of the sun.”

If you had to distill the campus into a single sentence, you could not describe the spirit of the architecture at Florida Southern College in any other way. The buildings feel as if they have always been. The earthiness of the concrete, and the way that the buildings seem to perform some kind of architectural photosynthesis, turning light into emotion and energy, is nothing short of architectural magic.

Construction of the campus would begin in 1939 and Wright  expected the construction of the campus to take only three years, but the United States had just entered World War II limiting labor and raising construction costs. These two factors would cause the construction timeline to spiral out of control. In order to help combat the lack of labor and rising cost of materials, students were admitted into the college upon agreeing to work on the construction of the campus buildings. It would take nearly twenty years to construct the twelve Wright designed structures that reside on the campus today. The original master plan designed by Wright had proposed eighteen structures for the campus, Wright would only live to see twelve of these structures built, after his death, plans for the remaining six buildings were abandoned. Wright died on April 9th, 1959 shortly after the completion of the last building to be completed at Florida Southern College, the Polk County Science Building, which is one of the most unique structures ever designed by Wright.

Annie Pfeiffer Chapel (1941) – $100,000

The Annie Pfeiffer Chapel is without a doubt the architectural centerpiece of the Florida Southern College campus. The chapel is very similar in concept to Unity Temple, which was completed in 1908 and also has undertones of Falling Water which was completed in 1936. It is important to note these two structures to understand the relationship of the buildings at Florida Southern College to the other structures of Wright’s career and to study the evolution of his work. Although the building is the tallest structure on the campus it like the other buildings appears to emerge from the Florida landscape. Make sure you spend plenty of time exploring the interior of this building as it is one of the most beautiful interior spaces on the campus. I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience this building the day it opened.

Esplanades (1941-1958) - $86,000

What is an esplanade? Don’t be embarrassed I had to look it up too. Although I figured that it was obviously some sort of a covered walkway, I found the origin of the term and its meaning interesting. An esplanade is loosely defined in the dictionary as a long open level stretch of ground for walking along, usually next to a river or large body of water. The original meaning of the term referred to the long open level are outside of a fortress or the city walls, which leaves attackers unprotected from the defenses of the city. It is noted on Wikipedia that the terms esplanade and promenade are often incorrectly used interchangeably:

“Esplanade and promenade are sometimes used interchangeably, but that is a mistake. A promenade can be anywhere, and it is exclusively for walking, while an esplanade is for walking but also can include large boulevards or avenues with cars. A Promenade, often abbreviated to ‘(The) Prom’, was an area where people – couples and families especially – would go to walk for a while in order to ‘be seen’ and be considered part of ‘society’.”

Although the campus is near a large lake, the esplanades of Florida Southern College are far from lakeside, and is perhaps a better example of a promenade. The esplanades are yet another example of Wright and his ability to poetically represent a covered walkway as something more. I can just imagine Wright talking about the esplanades that will connect the campus, and describing their organic quality to the donors. Every person listening to Wright speak must have been hanging on his every word, fantasizing about the materiality of the organic esplanades. Even if the covered walkways function more as a promenade than an esplanade, I plan on dropping that five dollar term during my next design presentation to a Florida university.

The esplanades are the signature feature of the Florida Southern College. The columns which support the roof structure appear to grow out of the earth, and there are hundreds of these sculptural columns littered across the campus. At times the esplanade forms a portico, adhering to the facades of other structures as if a vine growing through the campus. At other times the esplanades join together creating intimate spaces that feel like a place rather than a path. Wright embraces the use of the esplanade as the signature element of the campus for many reasons. The esplanades are a poetic way of protecting students, faculty and visitors from the harsh Florida Summer sun. The esplanade also epitomize Wright’s concept of an organic architecture, and there is no finer realization of Wright’s concept of organic architecture anywhere in the world than at Florida Southern College. The shear scale of the site and the number of buildings forced Wright to think about his theory of organic architecture at level of sophistication that is nothing short of impressive. The esplanades stretch for 1.5 miles and connect nearly every structure designed by Wright on the campus. The patina finish of the copper trim of the esplanades reaffirms the connection of the horizontal to the landscape and the horizon.

Carter, Walbridge, & Hawkins Seminar Building (1941)- $80,000

The Carter, Walbridge, & Hawkins Seminar Buildings are Frank Lloyd Wright’s best attempt at creating a background building. The building seems so simple at first glance that you may dismiss it as not worthy of inspection, but upon closer investigation, the detailing of the custom concrete block and inlaid colored pieces of L-shaped glass is a truly remarkable feat of rare American craftsmanship. The offices glow in colored sunlight on the interior. There are times on the campus when the esplanade and the buildings on the campus appear to blend together in a way that reaffirms Wright’s concept of organic architecture. At the three seminar buildings the esplanade becomes the primary facade of the building, and the Wrightian columns create a perverted portico that pulls the landscape into the building while pulling your eyes out to the landscape when walking underneath the seductive esplanades. Take note of the normal sized man under the low roof eaves in the lower left corner of the above picture. Wright was always concerned with the landscape and creating buildings that respond to the horizon. In an attempt to express this relationship his ceilings often become dangerously low at times.

Thad Buckner Building (1945) - $120,000

Formerly the E.T. Roux Library, the structure was renamed the Thad Buckner Building in 1968. All of the structures on the campus have a unique character about them. The Annie Pfeiffer Chapel is the tallest and most extravagant structure, The Polk County Science Building is the mechanical beauty, and the Thad Buckner Building’s uniquely circular form causes it to stand out in contrast to the rectilinear forms of the other buildings on the campus. The circular form houses the reading room, which has since been converted into the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center and Esplanade Gift Shop. The library stacks were housed in the rectangular form that is conjoined to the circular form. At times the structure appears as if it is two different buildings that have been combined into one. The building is closed on weekends, so be sure to visit the campus on a weekday so that you can get inside this building. Even though it appears that the structure is without windows and has a modest presence, interior photos depict the reading room as a large expansive space, full of light, and classic Frank Lloyd Wright forms.

Water Dome (1948) - $15,000

The Water Dome may seem like a silly concept, but visit Florida on a hot day in August and you might change your mind. The Water Dome is the center of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed campus, and is an urban event that is both fun and refreshing. The Water Dome operates at certain times of the day, and changes the social environment of the plaza when it is running. Everyone stops what they are doing to admire the dome of water.  I can imagine that in 1948 this would have been quite a spectacle on the campus. Wright’s Water Dome forms a perfect 160 foot circle, with water propelled 45 feet into the air creating a dome of water, when viewed at the right time of day at the right time of year a full rainbow can bee seen encapsulated by the Water Dome.

Emile E. Watson-Benjamin Fine Adminstration Buildings (1941) - $200,000

The Emile E. Watson-Benjamin Fine Administration Buildings are a cluster of small buildings that are grouped together by the esplanades. The intimate courtyards and spaces between the structures are similar in spirit to the small parks that you  might find hidden away in a quaint European city. Like all of the Frank Lloyd Wright structures on the campus, the administration buildings have their own unique character. They are both monumental and intimate all at the same time. The interiors of these buildings are in remarkable condition and remain relatively unmodified. I suggest taking the detailed campus tour just to gain access to this building. The construction of these buildings were personally supervised by Frank Lloyd Wright and this is evident in the resoluteness with which the complex forms and details are resolved.

Lucius Pond Ordway Building (1952) - $52,200

The Lucius Pond Ordway Building has undeniable similarities to Taliesen West and despite the structure’s simplicity is another excellent piece of architecture at Florida Southern College. The classrooms are tall and full of natural light. The height of the spaces helps to manage the Florida heat, and the diagonal rooftop structures that appears to be metal is actually a translucent material that is used to supply the classrooms with clerestory lighting. The structure has a central courtyard that the classrooms line, this allows every space to have access to sunlight.

William H. Danforth Chapel (1955) - $50,000

Unfortunately I was unable to view the interior of this chapel when visiting the campus, as the Danforth Chapel, like most of the structures was locked up on the weekends. The William H. Danforth Chapel is the only Wright design project at Florida Southern College that made use of leaded glass and Florida red cypress on the exterior. The Danforth Chapel still contains the original pews and cushions designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Although the Danforth still maintains the character of the campus it becomes obvious that Wright is attempting to evolve the language he has developed for the campus with the design of each new project, and like each building before this, the Danforth has its own set of unique characteristics that distinguishes it from the other buildings on the campus.

Polk County Science Building (1958) - $1,000,000

The Polk County Science Building is by far my favorite structure on the campus, because it is a rare example of Wright playing with the formal language that he had created for the Florida Southern College campus, and combining it with a new high-tech Frank Lloyd Wright that we have not yet seen before. This is clearly a transitional piece, and represents a series of first for Wright. It is both the first planetarium Wright designed and constructed, and it contains the first use of aluminum for aesthetic purposes by Wright. This is one of Wright’s last buildings to be designed and completed while alive. One has to wonder, if Wright were to continue developing this language, would have usurped Norman Foster and Richard Rogers discovery of a high-tech modern architecture. We can only wonder what Wright would have done next.

It should be noted that the tour guide on a recent visit noted that the mechanical systems that sit atop the Polk County Science Building were added after the building was completed, but I have yet to find any information on this since the buildings and site are not well documented.

Organic Architecture, a common misnomer:
Organic architecture is architecture that is curvy or an imitation of nature, wrong! This description may be appropriate when discussing architecture outside of the context of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, but one of the things that disgusts  me is when architects, especially architects from the era of Wright, talk of Wright’s work being organic as in the before mentioned way. Organic architecture is a process, it is a way of thinking, and it is something that is devoid of style. Although there are certain reoccurring principles that occur in Wright’s work, he never allowed style to interfere with his philosophy of organic architecture. For Wright organic architecture is drawn from nature in the sense that everything in nature is in harmony form and function are combined to create a natural ornament. In architecture, Wright did not believe that form follows function, but that form and function are one. This combination of form and function and the philosophy of organic architecture is what makes Wright’s work so unique. He is able to combine form and function into a system of architectural ornamentation that is consistent at every scale. If you are interested in learning more about Wright’s philosophy of organic architecture then I suggest that you read A Testament / Frank Lloyd Wright. A Testament is written by Frank Lloyd Wright and outlines his philosophy on architecture explicitly in this text, which was written by him and published two years before his death.

“This type of architecture can’t mean much to you until you have had a good look at yourself. This architecture represents the laws of harmony and rhythm. It’s organic architecture and we have seen little of it so far. It’s like a little green shoot growing in a concrete pavement.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

Visiting Florida Southern College:

Florida Southern College is in Lakeland, Florida, approximately 40 minutes southwest of Orlando, Florida. I suggest spending a full day on the campus if you really want to soak in the details of each and every building. The campus is very walkable, and there is a Robert A.M. Stern building that was nearing completion upon writing this article. Although the structure falls short in comparison to the buildings designed by Wright, since it is on the campus, you might as well visit it. The town, students and faculty are very proud of the fact that their campus was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and are accustomed to architects snooping around their campus, if you are in Florida, then you must visit this site. There are tours available during the week that will allow you into some of the areas that I was unable to gain access to during my weekend visit. Tours are limited and available on certain days only, so be sure to check the website below. I strongly recommend visiting the campus during the week, rather than the weekend like I did. Before you visit the campus, be sure to visit their website “Child of the Sun” Visitor Center. The site and this article will serve as a good primer before your visit. The campus can be overwhelming and you may miss something if not properly briefed, so be sure to stop at the “Child of the Sun” Visitor Center before getting lost in the largest collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

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The structure was completed in 2001, and is known by few. Unfamiliarity is a common theme of most of Tschumi’s work, but this will undoubtedly change after the publicity he has received for his recently completed New Acropolis Museum in Athens. Tschumi’s design for the Miami School of Architecture is actually a campus of five separate buildings which are connected by a series of exterior walkways. The most impressive constraint regarding the design and construction of this building is the fact that Tschumi managed to create a unique architectural image, while working within a budget of $130 a square foot. This alone makes the structure impressive and should serve as encouragement for the vast majority of us that are faced with creating innovative architectural solutions for projects with limited budgets. The Miami School of Architecture is proof that quality architecture doesn’t have to break the bank.

References:
Books referenced for this publication that document the architecture of Bernard Tschumi.

Theory, Tactics & Theming

I have been working on this article for a long time, and have repeatedly delayed its release, because I thought it was necessary to understand Tschumi’s theory on architecture, before critiquing it. After reading Architecture and Disjunction, one of Tschumi’s many manifestos, I realized that Tschumi’s process and theory, although interesting, is his, and that it is more important to critically analyze the project according to the project’s architectural tactics and not the creator’s theoretical musings. I think it is important for young architects to take their own theories of form and space and apply these principles in the form of a critique, a critique that focuses on all works that define the built environment, significant and not. The mere process of writing down your thoughts and analyzing a built structure does two things: First it forces you to put what you see into words. The process of writing down your thoughts in the form of a critical argument is an important skill, because all designers at one time or another will be forced to explain their project verbally to clients, peers, friends and family. Secondly, practice makes perfect. I hate cliches but it is true, the more times you practice critiquing projects, the more refined your architectural theory and process becomes. The more you talk and write about architecture, the better you become at verbally communicating your design intent and observations. In the Beaux Arts system of training, it was required for students to study a single building for a year or longer. This research forced students to develop strong theories and techniques related to formal generation, composition and ornamentation. Architecture in the United States has suffered from a lack of critical thought. American architects tend to over complicate architecture, as if it is like catching lighting in a bottle, or we are some mystics that channel creative energy through our hand via the great creator. Even worse is that many take an architectural critique as a personal attack. Preference for architectural style may be in the eye of the beholder, but all architecture can simply be defined in terms of formal tactics. These tactics are the same regardless of the inspiration or theme. I hate projects that have themes. I hate project presentations that begin with an architect talking about a bird in flight and how their design represents that. Architectural theming is a crutch, and should be avoided by anyone looking to become a serious architect. Process and technique should be the focus of your studies, not theming. Theming in architecture is the equivalent of a one-liner in stand-up comedy, after awhile its just not funny. Steve Urkel, meet Santiago Calatrava, I rest my case.

Tschumi in his explanation begins to talk about generators that shape the site. This becomes a little to cute for me, but it is important to note that there are three generators on the site: red, yellow and green. The green generator seems as if an afterthought and not as developed as the other two, but the red and yellow generators are the driving forces behind this project. These generators become the image of the school, and regardless of how Tschumi created the design, the outcome is impressive.

Let’s take a quick photo break before I begin my critique.

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Composition and Formal Relief

Given the project’s limited construction budget, Tschumi had two choices: create a mediocre building or create a composition that takes advantage of such a constraint. Tschumi viewed a negative, like a crappy budget, as a constraint that drives the creation of the form, rather than limit it. FIU’s School of Architecture wanted a signature project but they lacked the funds to create 102,000 square feet of architectural gold. Tschumi’s solution was to create an exaggerated formal figure through fabricating an exaggerated context which creates a high degree of contrast with the adjacent structures. There are five buildings that are part of the complex. Three of the structures are simplified tilt wall concrete structures. The tilt wall structures creates  a rigid datum that begins to form a background for the brightly colored red and yellow generators. The tilt wall structures is a blank canvas for the reflected light from the tiled red and yellow generators, the light that paints the background structures is beautiful and changes throughout the day. This effect may have been an unintentional result of the material selection but is great nonetheless, and this play of light should be examined and thought about by designers that wish to create spaces that have a quality of spirit that is not easily distilled to shape, size, location, orientation or treatment.

Color, Light & Miami

The structure is undeniably Miami. The warm colored tiles exemplify the flair and color of the varying styles of architecture made popular in Miami and South Beach. The yellow, orange and red tiles are the best part of the design. Tschumi and his design team selected colors which were appropriate to the context of the project.  His team avoided the trap that many designers fall into of selecting popular or fashionable colors, which tend to date a project to a particular era of design. In doing so Tschumi avoided a lime green kitchen in favor of something timeless and appropriate to the project.

It wasn’t the colors alone that were just right, but the materials selected for the project embellishes the bright colors as they almost seem to glow like pixels on a monitor. The smooth tile contrasts with the surrounding rough concrete, and further emphasizes the notion of contrast that Tschumi is beating over our heads. The yellow and red tiled generators contrast beautifully with the green vegetation and the blue Florida sky, creating dynamic vignettes of color and composition. The embrasures of the red generator’s roof line draws the sky into the composition as if creating a joint between the building and the sky, a connection that allows it to hold on tightly. This formal gestures pulls the blue into the red generator and creates an experience of intense saturation of red tile and blue sky that one is not accustomed to seeing when gazing up at the clouds.

Deconstructing Form & Contested Symmetries

The plan for Tschumi’s Miami School of Architecture is a play of symmetrical relationships, which are used to create a dynamic asymmetrical composition. Tschumi’s end design results in a building that is open to a textual reading. The final design cannot be deduced to a single reading that can determine its origin, but the final form can never be deduced to a single condition and is open to multiple readings. The textual nature of this project is what makes the building’s composition dynamic. Below is a series of diagrams that examine the contested symmetries used by Tschumi, which order the campus. I do not have access to sections or elevations for the building, but can only assume that the below analysis would maintain similar results in the building’s section and elevation.

Diagram 1: The above diagram denotes the existing regulating lines of the site, the dashed lines are further emphasized by the addition of the structure designed by Tschumi. The walkways that lead to the courtyard are slightly canted. This emphasizes the formal entry of the automobile on the western facade, while the diminishing walkway on the eastern part of the building is scaled more appropriately to the pedestrian.

Diagram 2: The initial composition is symmetrical about the major walkway in the center of the initial composition. Regulating lines begin to form from this central axis. The moves that follow this base transformation seek to maintain a sense of symmetrical balance while working within an asymmetrical composition.

Diagram 3: This is the first move that begins to suggest rotation within the composition. One could argue that rotation as a formal technique occurs in diagram 2 as well. The regulating lines that frame the shape of the red and yellow generators could have begun initially as lines that were parallel to the background structures which are highlighted in red. These parallel lines would then have been rotated along the central axis to create the diagonal.

Diagram 4: In an attempt to find balance, rather than symmetry, several narratives could begin to emerge from the above transformation. The mass of the northern background building could have been displaced, creating a fatter northern building, while still maintaining the same amount of mass. The displacement of mass is denoted by the letter A above.

Diagram 4.1: It is important to note that the corridors for the northern building are exterior, while the corridors for the southern building are interior. The building could also be read as a separation of mass, rather than a reconfiguration, see diagram 4.1 above. Focusing on interior space results in massings that are more rectilinear and similar in size to the southern building. The severing of the mass creates formal balance.

Diagram 5: The above diagram suggest that the primary axis of symmetry is part of sub symmetries that begin to regulate the composition. These symmetries duel for attention, and the lack of a clear hierarchy creates the illusion of disorder. Tschumi’s skillful understanding of symmetry is used to create what at first glance appears to be a highly disordered campus of buildings, but upon further investigation the plan is actually highly ordered through a hierarchy of contested symmetries which is not easily recognizable. The notion of contested symmetries is an idea originally brought forth by Preston Scott Cohen, and is being used here by Tschumi to control the dynamic composition of the Miami School of Architecture.

Diagram 6: An east-west axis of symmetry begins to emerge upon further investigation. This axis is important in determining front and rear, public and private entry points.

Diagram 7: There are many sub axis of symmetry that exist in the project. These symmetries shape the building and its alignments. One can only assume that a similar technique is applied by Tschumi to the building’s section and elevation.

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References:
Books referenced for this publication that document the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron

Herzog & de Meuron Architekten:

Unless you have been living in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan for the past ten years, it is likely that you are familiar with the architecture of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. Herzog & de Meuron are the design principals and creative forces behind the architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron Architekten. The architecture of Herzog and de Meuron has drastically evolved since the completion of the Tate Modern renovation in 2000, which proved to be a defining work in their careers and lead to the duo’s international fame. Herzog & de Meuron’s work has evolved in parallel with their fame. Their sensitivity to architectural context has evolved to respond not just to the built environment of a building’s site, but to social, cultural and experiential contexts as well. Their architectural forms are the result of process and function, and not influenced by style or a heavy handed design signature.

In the beginning their architecture possessed a high degree of sensitivity to context, and their design intervention was barely perceptible from project to project. The new merged with the old seamlessly.  Current Herzog & de Meuron projects respond to their context in a different manner. The design for 1111 Lincoln Road clearly delineates old from new, however the project favors other contextual relationships instead. 1111 Lincoln Road can only exist in South Beach, although its form is foreign in appearance, it is derived from social, cultural and functional contexts, not architectural.

The evolution of Herzog & de Meuron’s work is what makes following their career exciting. It is rare for an architect to discover a process that leads to fame and success, but it is even rarer for a firm to reinvent their approach after finding fame, and the public loving them more for it.

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Tate Modern:

Prior to the completion of the Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron in 2000, a competition was held in order to find a solution for renovating the old power station. Herzog & de Meuron’s proposal was selected for its sensitivity and preservation of the existing structure. The details and forms generated all seem to respond to the existing spaces, and make the building and experience better with their addition. Now I am not going to delve deep into an analysis of the Tate Modern, but only want to note that the project represents an example of a similar project to 1111 Lincoln Road, but was completed earlier in Herzog & de Meuron’s career. Like the Tate Modern, 1111 Lincoln Road is an addition/adaptive reuse project, the context is historic, and the site is highly public, yet the architects provide a solution for 1111 Lincoln Road and Tate Modern using two completely different approaches.

Context: Do, or do not. There is no blending.

I have always been a firm believer that if you are designing a new building on a campus or in a historic district that there are only two ways of approaching such a problem. You either need to design a building in the historic style of the context, or you need to design a structure that clearly indicates that it is of a different style or time period. I hate blending, and I hate architects that cannot commit. It seems that many architects try to blend existing styles with new styles when adding onto existing structures, and never commit to taking a do or do not approach. Without a do or do not approach, the new and old architectures are compromised, and the final product becomes a muddled mess. An anti-blending approach does not mean that the new structure should not complement the existing. This also does not mean that the new structure should not respond to existing orders or structures, on or adjacent to the site. Whig Hall by Charles Gwathmey is a excellent example of an addition to an existing historic structure, some might call this blending, but I strongly disagree. When analyzing the form of Whig Hall, it becomes quite clear which parts of the structure are new and pre-existing. The structure as it stands today is more exciting and actually better, because of Gwathmey’s design for the addition. Whig Hall is an example of an addition in a different style than the original structure. The new responds to the existing orders and constraints of the preexisting structure, and is again similar to the problem solved by Herzog & de Meuron in their design of the Tate Modern. (See the slide show above for reference photo of Whig Hall and Tate Modern).

Herzog & de Meuron are taking the do not approach to a completely different level in their design for 1111 Lincoln Road. Rather than create a design that denounces the existing historic context, yet still in response to the existing architectural orders, they completely denounce everything that has to do with the existing historic context and order. There can be no confusion between new and old when visiting 1111 Lincoln Road.

1111 Lincoln Road:

1111 Lincoln Road is part of an addition and upgrade to the existing SunTrust office building, which is a Brutalist concrete relic from Miami’s modern past. At first glance, 1111 Lincoln Road looks like a new museum or a swanky new condo building just beginning construction, but in reality the structure is nearly complete. The site sits along South Beach’s popular Lincoln Mall, which is a pedestrian friendly avenue for shopping, food, drink, entertainment, and now parking.

(text under revision)

office space

Herzog & de Meuron have managed to create an architectural form which is instilled with the spirit of Miami’s South Beach with their design for 1111 Lincoln Road. The automobile is an undeniable symbol of status and wealth in America. The display of status and wealth is the whole reason Miami and the Art Deco style exists. Miami in its boom could be equated to the Dubai of the 1920′s. What car do you drive? How much money do you make? What designer labels are on your clothes? This is the culture of Miami and these are the things that matter. The Art Deco style in Miami was the result of the wealthy searching for a means to displaying their wealth in the homes that they lived in. Herzog & de Meuron understand this, and create both a monument to the automobile and a billboard for wealth. The garage is a stage for the celebutantes of South Beach to display their wealth and gain the attention of tourist that visit the mall. The structure is undeniably South Beach.

Outside of their response to context, Herzog & de Meuron did do a few things that went against standard norms for parking structures. An interesting detail is the treatment of the striping in the garage. It appears in the renderings that the concrete will be painted white, while the striping is black. Another interesting formal gesture is the vertical rhythm of the parking garage. Typically, parking garages are repetitive vertically, featuring a consistent vertical ten foot rhythm. Herzog & de Meuron were granted the luxury of exploiting the verticality of the parking structure and create a garage unlike any other.

If I had to sum up the design of the structure with two words it would be contrast and juxtaposition. The structure contrasts with nearly every element on the site, and the angular forms and geometries serve as a nice juxtaposition against the curves of the automobiles and the Art Deco buildings. 1111 Lincoln Road is an example of a mundane building typology, reexamined with a fresh set of eyes. For more information about this project, check out the 1111 Lincoln Road Blog.

On a side note I read a review on Eikonographia, and the author questioned why Herzog & de Meuron did not place the garage below ground.  I found the comment to be funny because unlike other cities found around the world, Miami is built on a swamp, which means that the water table is very high and that you will find few basements or underground parking structures in Miami or Florida for that matter.

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Gehry and the Scale of Pliable Surfaces:

I want you to build something in your mind. Begin to build a mental image of a Frank Gehry interior space. Can you do it? Now, build a mental image of a Frank Gehry building, exciting, huh? I always like to resort to search engines for research, specifically Google, because Google tracks something that books cannot, popularity. Google places importance on popularity when returning search results, now there are other variables that come into play, but popularity is the key difference in search rankings between this site and Dezeen.When googling images with the search term Frank Gehry one has to flip through many virtual pages before finding an image of an interior space. Nearly all of the images are pictures of exciting exterior compositions, most have Frank in them, and less then one percent are of Frank Gehry designed interiors. When googling images with the search term Frank Gehry Interior half of the images are exterior spaces portrayed as interior spaces, and the rest are exterior images of Gehry designed buildings or Gehry-esque buildings.

You now should ask yourself two questions: Why is this important? And why is this important to the New World Symphony? The renderings and floor plans suggest that Gehry is turning his attention to form and detailing inward. Although the Serpentine Gallery marks the first instance where Gehry’s free formed surfaces are defining space, rather than creating an object, the New World Symphony design takes this concept further. In the Serpentine Gallery the structural system is exposed on the exterior for what it is, and it is not hidden by drywall or other materials. Prior to the Serpentine Gallery, Gehry’s interior spaces were the resultant, not necessarily a force shaping the surfaces. The key difference between the Serpentine Gallery and the New World Symphony is scale, and that the Serpentine Gallery is an open air pavilion, while the New World Symphony must accommodate a highly complex program. The New World Symphony is a 100,000 sf state of the art facility, it’s complexity and scale will make it one of Gehry’s defining works.

Typically the excitement of Gehry’s active compositions seem to slow down on the interiors as if experiencing the building in slow motion. The reason that Gehry’s surfaces lose energy and slow down in his interior spaces is that Gehry has a difficult time translating his work at varying scales, and is perhaps his greatest weakness. Gehry needs a lot of space to work his magic, and in this project Gehry creates a box to work within, inside this box are large interior spaces that are shaped by his pliable surfaces. The interior spaces in this project are intricate, not because they are detailed and small, but because of the way that the smaller interior spaces relate and flow into larger interior spaces. The interior spaces relate in scale to one another and form an assemblage that is dynamic and memorable. It appears in the physical model that Gehry has finally bridged this gap in scale, but what remains unclear is if Gehry is able to to achieve this effect in the built structure, and thus conquering the differential in scale between the person and the larger spaces in the New World Symphony.

Formal Sophistication:

In order for this building to be given the same degree of importance as the Gugenheim Museum Bilbao, Gehry must do something that he has not been able to do thus far, and that is create a formally sophisticated composition without strictly relying on free formed curves. At this point, all I can say is that the juxtaposition of the orthogonal verse the free form is a strong start, and we will have to wait for the final verdict when the building is completed.

Containing the Beast:

The partí is simple, the creative energy and the music inside cannot be contained by the rigid order that supports and frames it. Gehry wisely chooses to be gehry in select places and not everywhere.

gehry [gair-ee, gar-ee]

- verb  – to place free formed surfaces in a whimsical and playful manner similar to that of Frank Gehry.

-noun -  whimsical or playful surfaces in the style of Frank Gehry. Yah-yah.

In time, history may refer to things being gehry in the same manner that Gaudí inspired things to be gaudy. Gehry spills out at the main entry in the form of a canopy, at the top of the building, and in a few other skillfully selected areas. The careful placement of gehry in the overall composition suggest something, but is unclear in the Florida sunlight. At night the composition changes and the curves contained by the glass curtain wall are on display for everyone to see, and the surfaces appear to spill out of the rigid structure. What was not clear in the sunlight is now crystal clear. Behind the glass is entertainment, music, energy, gehry. The surfaces are metaphorically music, and represent the energy that sound of music and its ability to leak through any structure, no matter how rigid.

A More Mature Frank:

It appears that at the ripe old age of eighty that Frank has finally matured, and unless he does something shocking or daring in his old age, he has entered the final and most memorable stage of his architectural career. Frank’s architecture is now about developing interior spaces that relate in scale to its users. His interior spaces in the New World Symphony are now as memorable as the exterior compositions that have made him famous. The New World Symphony is lastly about showmanship, it is not the flashy Frank that we are used to, but a more mature Frank that understands that sometimes the anticipation of something is greater than the actual thing. The construction is set to complete sometime in 2010, at which time I plan on seeing a show, and hope that America’s favorite Canadian architect is able to surprise us one more time.

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The sales center was an architectural tease and I guess now I will be forced to drive up to Atlanta to visit the High Museum if I want to see a Richard Meier designed building.The sales center pictured in the above photo album was formulaic Meier at best, and offered little innovation.  The sales center was certainly better than nearly every other building on the strip, but lacked the spirit that Meier is capable of instilling in his buildings. In case you were wondering, yes that is a sign that says ‘Designed by Richard Meier’. How can I convince my clients to allow me to put up a huge sign that says ‘Designed by James Cornetet’?

Meier’s website describes the project as having a ‘sleek porte-cochère’ and having an estimated completion date of 2011. I really wanted to see the sleek porte-cochère, but will have to rely on the renderings by dbox to satisfy my imagination. Another interesting link is a link to the realtor’s website. It is amazing the amount of money that the developer’s spent on the design of the building, and how little was spent on marketing. Perhaps that was one of the downfall’s of this project. My commentary is not necessary for this website to be funny, just visit it, trust me.

I was disappointed at the fact that the site for the Richard Meier building lay empty with the exception of the foundation piles sticking up out of the ground. I stared at the vacant site and laughed. I laughed because South Beach contains what I consider to be an endless sea of lackluster, developer driven Miami Modern styled condos, and amongst these buildings is a site that has a perfectly beautiful building designed for it, by a famous and talented architect, yet the developers cannot manage to get the project built after nearly eight years. Unfortunately this is the fate of many great building designs. Even more unfortunate is the fact that more great designs go unbuilt than built in our profession. Early in my career I used to think that the hardest part about creating great architecture is coming up with a great design. I soon learned that the hardest part about architecture is actually getting the design built. Politics, shady developers, power hungry design review boards, and economics are all enemies of any great design. The designer at some point is transformed from creator to defender, defender of the integrity of the design and its spirit.

Richard Meier’s Beach House is a victim of both the current economic times and the lack of value that society places on architecture. In South Beach there is a line of people whom are willing to pay fifty dollars to take a tour of the Versace Mansion, but only three tourist and myself showed up for a free tour of Cesar Pelli’s Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, Florida, which is a must see building in Miami. The tour was fabulous and lasted nearly two hours. I will feature the Adrienne Arsht Center in an article shortly, complete with analysis, but until then what can we learn from this experience? The people of the United States value notoriety over integrity, style over substance and care little for how the built environment affects their lives. The problem with architecture and its value in the United States is a fundamental problem with American culture. Americans want fast food, they want fast food culture (pop culture) and I believe that they want fast food architecture.

To explain what I mean by fast food, let’s look at the meaning of fast food. Fast food describes food which is cheap, requires little effort to consume, and requires little to no nutritional value. Fast food comes in a wrapper which is disposable and adds to the landfills, it supplies the economy with low paying jobs and its stores are mass produced according to a design formula regardless of context, culture or the vernacular architecture of the region. Fast food architecture is very similar in definition. The American people want buildings that are disposable, cheap, in the style that is popular and do little to allow them to be. Americans are not aware that their environment can be nutritional for their spirit.

For the last 26 months I lived in fast food architecture. Two weeks ago I moved into a well designed highrise building in the city. Now this is not the greatest residential tower ever designed, but it is the result of a development that placed an emphasis on design. My spirit has changed for the better since living in architecture. I did not realize until this move, how bad fast food architecture is for your soul. Architecture is good for the spirit, it has nutritional value, gives back to society and culture, it is eternal, and hopefully one day Americans will understand what the rest of the world has known for quite some time. Architecture is good for the body, mind and spirit.

Rest in peace Richard Meier’s Beach House. Rest in peace knowing that you are not fast food architecture.

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The Disney Treehouse Villas are a fun little project which will be featured in an upcoming article on prefabrication.  The buildings are also noteworthy because they were built on protected wetlands, and designed according to sustainable standards that minimize the impact of construction on the wetlands.  The Disney Treehouse Villas are different than a typical resort. Instead of sharing one building with 59 other families, you are in one of 60 buildings, and all the buildings are spread throughout the forest. It is actually a lot like visiting the Ewok villages from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, at least that is how I felt while visiting. They even stole the Ewok’s color scheme. In fact, the only difference between the Ewok villages of Star Wars and the Treehouse Villas by Disney, is that the villas are on Earth, where there are building codes, and the Ewoks are unfortunately not real. Two of the units in the resort are ADA accessible, which is where that kid and his ramps come into play.  Now, this is neither the longest nor ugliest ADA ramp that I have ever seen. Even though the ramp is almost as long as a football field it is contextual and appropriate, and I’ll explain why, after a photo break.

Photo Gallery:

Much of the site is protected wetlands, and the resort’s site is secluded from all major development. When a guest in one of the units, you feel as if you and your family & friends are the only people in the forest.  What is unique about the ADA units is that the excessively long ramp completely removes guests from ‘real world’ necessities such as the automobile, maintenance trucks, resort staff and other amenities, which detract from the experience of living in the trees. This 300 feet buffer should have been enforced on all of the units to create an illusion of a city in the trees. If I were to design the master plan for this project, I would have taken a page out of the Ewok village playbook and would have connected ALL of the units with suspended walkways. These suspended trails in the woods would allow guests to feel as if they are walking amongst the trees, experiencing nature completely removed from the ‘real world’. The 58 non-ADA units are relatively close to the drive for the unit, and one does not feel as isolated in nature as one would if staying in an ADA unit.  The only unfortunate thing about these ramps is that the other 58 units don’t have them. Sometimes we do silly things like create 300 feet ramps in the woods, and realize after the project is complete that doing so was not such a bad idea afterall. You win this round kid who loves ramps but hates elevators. Next time, you won’t be so lucky.

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I have always been fascinated by the presence of rape spaces in our built environment,  not because I am creepy that way, but because of the fact that half of my library at work is dominated by code and zoning books and I have not yet found a single section that addresses the issue of creating rape spaces. Rape spaces do not only pose risk for rape, but provide empty spaces for assault, robbery, murder or even as habitat for killer Care Bears. The word rape is loaded with negative visual imagery that causes the word to be taboo in our culture.  Many would say kill or murder without pause, but would hesitate to use the word rape in a sentence. While researching for this article, I even hesitated googling the term rape space for fear of consequences generated by my overactive imagination. Again, why is rape space so interesting to me?  As architects we are charged with, legally, to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. Regardless of style, shape or form, the creed of the architect must be to do no harm, yet there are empty spaces that lurk in the shadows of our built environment. In nearly every city those empty spaces without purpose, pose as possible threats to the public. The purpose of this article is to initiate the discussion on rape spaces, raise awareness of the problem of urban rape space, and to define the problem and propose solutions to these spaces through a series of case studies.

City Clueless:

I have had the opportunity to present several designs to city design review boards, and the city architects that I have dealt with often discuss items which are driven by personal preference, tastes or style. The city entity often focuses on superficial items and avoid looking at real problems like the spaces at the ground level and how they encourage positive or negative activities within the city.  As far as the city government is concerned, at least in my experience, the concept of rape space is foreign.

Feminists on Rape Space:

In researching this article I found one mention of the term rape space in a significant critical text by J. K. Gibson-Graham, the pen name for Julie Graham and Katherine Gibson. I have not read the book in its entirety, and will attempt to avoid taking ideas or concepts out of context.  I must also admit that I am only partially familiar with the feminist philosophy, however I am well read enough to understand that the feminist philosophy is about more than just ‘girl power’. In the text The End Of Capitalism (As We Knew It): A Feminist Critique of Political Economy Graham and Gibson exam many different types of spaces and the role of the female in these types of spaces. I can only infer that these ‘spaces’ are larger philosophical models which must be carefully extracted in order to fully understand their meaning, but what is interesting is the philosophy behind the feminist urban theory that Graham and Gibson begin to develop. The feminist urban theory by Graham and Gibson is out of the scope of this particular article, but the specific space of interest that they discuss is the rape space, which Gibson-Graham elaborate upon in reference to Henri Lefebvre’s notion of a “rape script.”

. . . “rape script” portrays women’s bodies and female sexuality in spacial terms as an empty space waiting to be invaded/taken/formed. . .”

This citation of Lefebvre allows us to make our first conjecture that rape space could be defined as any empty space, without public purpose, waiting to be formed.  Simplifying further, a rape space is any urban space without specific use that could be used according to the user’s aspirations, whether for good or evil. In order to address the problem of rape space in the urban environment, one must first develop a working definition of what a rape space is in order to check one’s research against a working concept.  Below is my first attempt at the definition of a rape space:

rape space [reyp speys] noun
A rape space is a space which is either exterior or interior. A space without public purpose or use, receives little circulation, often a dead end, and poorly lit during the day and night.  An empty space waiting to be formed. The term rape space suggest that the space has no other purpose other than to promote illegal or mischievous activity.

Case Study:

It would be very easy for me to approach this topic in a way that could be very combative.  I could slay the architect that creates rape spaces with words like stupid, untalented or bad, embarrassing them on the internet with photos of their rape promoting spaces, but that is neither productive, nor beneficial to anyone.  I, like hopefully many of you, have learned that name calling gets one nowhere.   I have decided to focus on developing standards and techniques for the prevention of the creation of rape spaces a feature of the site, and one of the first items added to the Critique This Constitution which outlines design standards and ideals that this site stands behind. It is easy enough to find rape spaces, but in the rape space case study series I will examine rape spaces in the urban environment and develop a listing of common features and attributes of rape spaces.

Rape Space #1:

John Johansen is the architect credited with the unique design of the Orlando Public Library located at 101 E Central Blvd, Orlando Florida.  The library design itself is worthy of a critique which will be posted in the near future.  John Johansen is a distinguished architect and more will be discussed about him and his biography at a future time.  A significant addition was added to the structure by architect Duane Stark in 1980 so it will be difficult to give full credit to the creator of this series of rape spaces, but what is known is that the building has a number of rape spaces.  Twelve rape spaces by my count, and one very rare, rape space balcony. See the below slide show for visual reference, images are attached with descriptive text to help identify context.

Photo Gallery:

From the above photographs it should be evident that there are certain trends that are present in most rape spaces. The nine photographs depict only a portion of the rape spaces at the Orlando Public Library. The first characteristic of rape spaces is the lack of visibility and accessibility. All of the rape spaces found at the Orlando Public Library have visibility levels of less than 10% from the street level. The visibility levels are attributed to the opaque guardrail barrier, and the fact that the rape spaces are one level below the ground level. A recommended solution would be to incorporate perforations or embrasures into the guardrail design which would increase visual accessibility to the space. Visibility should be between 30%-100% to avoid blind spots, and it would be interesting to study the percentage of visibility required to make a space ‘visible’ in the urban environment. Visibility also poses another problem, and that is that many of the rape spaces are not visible until you are right up on them, which gives attackers or killer Care Bears and advantage.

The other attribute of the rape spaces found at the Orlando Public Library is the fact that these spaces are not defined. Are these spaces the result of the need for egress? Are these service spaces? Johansen should have celebrated these spaces and turned them into small urban parks, a seated wall, anything but a rape space. If you do not define a space or function, the user will. The spaces at Orlando Public Library should be defined, active and public.

The last attribute of the Orlando Public Library, and perhaps the most dangerous, is the landscaping. Within the rectilinear order of the city, landscaping appears friendly, warm and inviting. The landscaping at the Orlando Public Library creates a false sense or security, and even further shields the rape spaces from the from the visual field of the city dwellers. Landscaping should be carefully integrated into the building to avoid the shielding and creation of rape spaces.

In Closing:

Rape space is a problem in the city, and I think that architects as a matter of good policy should avoid creating spaces that serve no purpose/function, and should certainly avoid creating urban spaces that promote negative social activities. As a personal belief of mine, I don’t think that architecture can save the world, but it serves as a setting for enabling certain social activities. If we can create spaces that promote community and interaction, our cities will be better for it. I am curious to hear what you, the readers, have to say in regards to urban rape spaces. Do you feel that the rape space typology is a real problem?

Critique This below!

Additional Sources:

Creating Defensible Space by Oscar Newman
Concern over high crime rates and deteriorating inner-city neighborhoods has reawakened interest in Defensible Space, architect Oscar Newman’s groundbreaking physical design approach to crime prevention. Defensible Space theory encompasses a wide range of planning and design strategies that focus attention on reassigning the perceived ownership of residential space. Newman argues that when common spaces associated with highrise housing such as community rooms and outdoor grounds lack clear owners or are open to too many users, residents cannot assert responsibility for their safety and maintenance, and these places are left vulnerable to crime and vandalism. Newman advocates recreating a sense of ownership in these spaces by dividing and “assigning them to individuals and small groups to use and control as their own private areas.” Once residents reestablish control of their environment, “the criminal is isolated because his turf is removed,” writes Newman.

Architecture of Fear by Nan Ellin
Nan Ellin examines the ways in which the contemporary landscape is shaped by our society’s preoccupation with fear, as apparent in home design, security systems, gated communities, semi-public spaces (shopping malls, theme parks, casinos, office atriums), zoning regulations, and cyberspace. This fixation also manifests itself in efforts to provide public parks but control the problem of homelessness. The essayists in Architecture of Fear explain that such disjointed efforts exacerbate rather than eradicate the sources and perception of fear and insecurity. Thus, in contrast to alarmist, apocalyptic treatments, the contributors offer concrete, level-headed suggestions for proaction, not reaction, to counter both real (actual crime) and perceived (media-magnified) problems in contemporary society.

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