Parafictional Doubt

      Please don't be alarmed by this title. I promise, I had no idea what parafictional doubt meant until just an hour ago. This was the subject of a lecture I attended this evening by Michael Young of Young & Ayata Architecture. I will attempt to convey the message of his lecture in far fewer words, and and in a much less elegant fashion.

      Mr. Young described parafiction as the "what if" in life. Parafiction is supposed to evoke a response in the viewer. It gets the viewer to take a stance on the content, and make them think about all the possible implications this content suggests on its context. Young & Aryata's content is of course architecture. They believe that architecture should conform to this parafiction. The firm wants the idiosyncrasies and intricacies of their work to force viewers to appreciate the context in a new light.

      I am conflicted with this idea of architecture. I think that Mr Young's ideas and designs are very gutsy, to be frank. This is by no means saying that I do not like them on either a functional or aesthetic scale. I think that most architecture adds value to its surroundings by being respectful of them. If one is to break the mold and make architecture as Young and Aryata do, they must create a building that has beauty and grandeur and utility in its own right. Otherwise, it will not fit in with its surroundings and not provide usefulness in function or beauty in form.

      Edit: Here is a link to Young & Aryata's web page. I hope that viewing their work will help to shed light on what I tried to explain above. http://www.young-ayata.com/

Making Boards

      Most of my studio time today was spent with a focus on our preliminary presentations on Friday. I started using Google Sheets to compile data from research of Ringer Library and our case studies of Evans and Utena Libraries into graphical forms that would be suitable for boards. I had not used Google Sheets as a tool for this kind of work before, and I have been pleased with the results so far. They are not incredibly customizable, but they offer enough options to effectively present our data. Here is sample of one type of graph Sheets can generate.

      This is just a sampling of something we may use for Friday afternoon, and is by no means a "final" product, but the results thus far are encouraging. I am looking forward to further developing these graphics and boards.

Ringer Public Library

      Apologies for my tardiness. I got a little sidetracked this evening, but here is the latest, nonetheless.

      Studio visited the Ringer Library today to take a tour of the site we will be designing additions for. I read the RFQ from the city this morning, and the lady who guided us around the building voiced her opinions that, unsurprisingly, were inline with the redesign goals listed in the RFQ. This was good, because we now have first hand info to support the claims in the RFQ and better insight as to what employees would want out of a renovated library.

      The chief complaints were poor acoustics and seating arrangements for patrons in the main library space, and cramped, inefficient work space for employees. There were of course many other issues raised, but these appear to be design problems that will be high on the "to do" list. The visit was helpful, and I'm sure our group and our class will come up with some great work.

      We wrapped up the afternoon at Village Cafe in Bryan. Good conversation was held and good food was eaten as we discussed where we are moving for later in the week with this project. I have a feeling I will be back at both Ringer Library and Village Cafe in the near future.

Writing Assignment 2: Should Architects Be Master Builders?

      The Master Builder is a dying breed, if not already dead. Buildings are exponentially more complex today than they ever have been. The advent of systems, combined with rapid growth in material availability, has lent to this complexity very much. Architects, like all people who deliver a service, should always try to deliver as high quality of a product as possible. However, we should not risk flying too close to the sun. Perhaps we can truly be masters of a certain style or type of building, with much practice, but asking somebody to truly grasp and control all the possible elements of building today is simply too much.

      Filippo Brunelleschi is the quintessential master builder. To create his iconic dome in Florence, he didn't just tweak existing construction methods; he created his own. He used methods that were revolutionary, and still impressive today. Even with modern construction capabilities, we are not sure if we could replicate a masonry dome of the same size as Brunelleschi's if we had to at this time. That is not only incredibly amazing, but also somewhat embarrassing.

      However, the reading from "Refabricating Architecture" even states that "the Renaissance afforded Filippo Brunelleschi the opportunity to be a master builder due to the relative simplicity of building technologies at the time." Given this, the dome still took sixteen years to be completed. Can you imagine if you told a client that their steeple would take sixteen years to build, much less the whole church? I do not wish to undermine Brunelleschi's achievement. I just want to point out that the times have changed.

      Furthermore, I believe that if we truly had master builders, they may undermine some of the potential gains in building quality and construction time that the readings refer to. "Refabricating Architecture" repeatedly speaks about the assembly process for ships, planes and automobiles. For the most part, they are assembled in blocks by separate facilities, and then pieced together more quickly for final assembly. I do not think that there is anybody who works for General Motors that knows how every part for the dashboard and the drive train of a Sierra truck goes together by heart. That is a good thing. What matters is that there are people who can reliably and efficiently assemble these pieces, and that we as consumers can trust them to do so. If we wish for the construction process to reach the same levels of efficiency and quality of other elaborate machines, then perhaps it is best if we leave the master builder out of the equation. 

      This is not to say that the architect should be some pawn who lies at the mercy of an original equipment manufacturer. People say that you either know a lot about a little, or a little about a lot. I say why not both? Architects must be masters of the spatial aspects of building. Somebody must be there to mold our ideas and materials into useful spaces. Architects can also know about the details that the reading speaks to. The fabrication of materials, means and methods for construction, research for new materials, the list goes on. Building is controlled chaos, now more than ever. It takes many people working together to run the proverbial show. One person cannot hope to be a master of every process that design and construction involves, but they can at least know enough, and try enough, to make a difference.

Library Case Studies

      Studio has shifted gears this Monday. We are beginning our next project, which consists of making additions to the Bryan Public Library. To start this, we are making some case studies of existing libraries. Each group will chose two libraries, one made between 1960 - 1995, and one after '95. This division was created on the basis of how the arrival of the internet changed library use and design drastically. Our class will follow some common guidelines for our case studies, which will allow us to easily compare and contrast our findings, and further our understanding of what makes a library function well.

I decided on a public Library in Utena, Lithuania. It provides an interesting study for a number of reasons. Libraries in Lithuania are much more central to daily life than they are in other parts of the world. They serve as meeting and social areas. This library, designed in 2008 by 4PLIUS Architects, houses an exhibition hall and a conference center, as well as amenities one would typically find in a library.

Photo by R. Urbakavicius

Di-gantic Success

      We were both very pleased with how the Dino turned out. The assembly went well. We only had one scare where we switched up two similar parts, but we caught ourselves shortly thereafter and no real damage was done to the final product. The paint looks good, in our opinion. It even gives him a little camouflage in the foliage, and the highlighting with the maroon and white was a nice touch. Some people have walked by on the path without noticing him, but I guess that isn't a surprise seeing has how every other person has their head buried in their cell phone. Seeing all the creatures scattered about Langford was a nice way to wrap up the week. They all look great. Check out Steve the Styracosaurus, in his (sort of) natural habitat, below.

Dino Update Pt 3

      The CNC run was a success. I picked up the pieces today from the ranch, and they were assembled with almost no hiccups whatsoever. We spent some time in the spray paint booth this afternoon putting on the first coats before we do final assembly. This made the painting process a little easier. We are going to add one more shade of green, and then some maroon and white highlights, just to satisfy Aggie obligations. The paint is looking very good so far, in my opinion. I like the style. Here is the dino in his jumbled glory.