BETWEEN EARTH AND SKYby

Steven Janssens Wunder

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityin partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

Heinrich Schnödt, ChairmanFrank Weiner

Jane Britt Greenwood

28 June 1994Blacksburg, Virginia

Keywords: Architecture, Tectonics, Housecopyright 1998, Steven J. Wunder

abst

ract

Architecture lies in the relationship betweenmaterial and structure, in particular the poetic ofconstructed form. By poetic, I am referring to, asKenneth Frampton put it, �the original Greek senseof poesis as an act of making and revealing.�Through the dialogue of constructive elements,materials, the making of form and the resolutionof structural forces, beauty and meaningarise. �Tectonics� is defined as �pertainingto building or construction in general�especially in reference to architecture.Gottfried Semper went further to usetectonic to define the qualities of makinginherent in the constructed act. He brokedown types of construction into that ofusing elements for a framework, such aswood frame construction, and that of using

compressive mass to build an enclosure, such asblock or stone work. The qualities of these hecalled �tectonics� and �stereotomics,� respectively.Frampton discusses the ontological consequencesof these differences: �framework tends towardsthe aerial and dematerialization of mass, whereas

the mass form is telluric, embedding itselfdeeper in the earth. One tends toward

the light and the other towarddark. These gravitational

opposites . . . may be said tosymbolise the two cosmological

opposites to which they aspire; thesky and the earth.� Human existence

finds itself at the juncture between theseopposites. Semper regarded the joint as

�the primordial tectonic element� aroundwhich all building defines itself. Then in a sense

architecture embodies the fundamental way manperceives his existence.

ackn

owle

dgem

ents my family: especially my mom, Els, and my father, Charles

my commitee members: Heiner, Frank, and Jane

Jyothsna and Horace

Jeanne, Joel

Anshu, Ron

Hugh, Robert

Jeff and Jane

Lucy and Olivio Ferrari

the Mizutani family: Tetsuro, Françoise, Ken and Claire

my friends in the SGI, especially President Daisaku Ikeda

My deepest thanks to all those who have helped and supported me through the years it took to complete this.

iii

abstract

thesis statement

the project

the plinth

the tower

drawings

bibliography

vita

ii

3

7

11

15

25

A

B tabl

e of

cont

ents

iv

1

Perhaps this alone was what interested me in architecture: I knew that architecture was made possible by theconfrontation of a precise form with time and the elements, a confrontation which lasted until the form was destroyed inthe process of the combat. Architecture was one of the ways that humanity had sought to survive; it was a way ofexpressing the fundamental search for happiness.

Aldo Rossi, Scientific Autobiography

2

3

stat

emen

t of t

hesis

This project began as a confrontationwith place � Provincetown,Massachusetts. Located at the end ofthe curling peninsula of Cape Cod,Provincetown is a distant outpostwhere land ends and the sea and skyreign. Formed of glacial deposits theland lies low constantly shifting witheach tide or nor�easter. The desperatestruggle for Man to maintain afoothold in this unstable environmenthas continued for generations. NativeAmerican tribes, Vikings, and thePilgrims have tried with varyingsuccess to survive and make their markin this environment. There is aprimordial quality to life on the Cape.At the end of the peninsula, on landshifting with the winds and tides one becomesaware of the experiential limits of existence.Here Man finds his place at the seam betweenthe earth and the sky.

In response to this place I am proposing anarchitecture. It is an architecture about theconfrontation of Man with Change and itsforces; an architecture that celebrates andembodies these changes: the ebb and flow ofthe tides, the cycles of the Day and Night andthe Seasons, and the rhythms of Life and Death;

4

. . . framework tends towards the aerialand the dematerialization of mass,whereas the mass form is telluric,

embedding itself ever deeper in the earth.The one tends towards light and the other

towards dark. These gravitationalopposites, the immateriality of the frameand the materiality of the mass, may besaid to symbolize the two cosmologicalopposites to which they aspire; the sky

and the earth. Despite our highlysecularized techno-scientific age, these

polarities still largely constitute theexperiential limits of our lives.

5

an architecture that gathers the properties ofthis place and brings them closer; anarchitecture that reveals these propertiesthrough the play of structure and material.

In order to have a dialogue I chose a primalform of architecture�the house. In specific, aseasonal house, a vacation house, a house withtides of gathering and departing, a house as abenchmark of the rhythms of life, a housetransformed by time and the elements.

The house is comprised of two distinct forms�a plinth embedded in the earth and a towerwhich rises in the sky. This project is a jointbetween the sky and the earth�the pointwhere man finds himself. The site is the horizon.

6

Sand . . .Things with form were empty when placed beside sand. The only certain

factor was its movement; sand was the antithesis of all form.Kobo Abe, the Woman in the Dunes

7

The vacation house is located atthe crest of a dune in an arearecently zoned for development onthe outskirts of Provincetown nearthe National Seashore. Currentlystands of low twisted pines,flowering bushes and the whiteskeletons of trees populate the dunes. Tothe North, East and West one can look outto the ocean horizon; to the South one findsthe low houses of the town center and thetower of Pilgrim Monument.The house is a benchmark to the weekly,monthly or yearly returns of an extendedfamily. Divided into two main parts: areasfor rest (three bedrooms) in the plinth andareas for activity (kitchen, grand room, patioand the study) in the tower, the necessaryspaces for daily activity are encompassedin the house. Taking full advantage of thequalities of the site, spaces for daytime riseabove the dunes and open to the sky andthe panorama of the Provincelands. Roomsfor sleeping, bathing and storage nestlethemselves in the dunes.

proj

ect

8

9

In developing this project, the architecturalact as a confrontation with the landscapeand the environmental factors (sun, windand tide) was constantly in mind. Thisproject explores the dynamic aspects ofarchitecture seeking to reveal the nature ofplace. Early in the design process thebuilding�s form cut through the dunes. Thetrapezoidal plan of the tower and theskewing of the beams grew from studiesof repetitive, transitioning structures suchas in nautilus shells and Fibonacci series,while the forms made from these studiesin turn reacted to the prevailing northeasternwinds and shif ting landscape. Everytransition--through the earth at the entranceto the plinth and up the tower to the sky,from dark to lit spaces, from concrete tomasonry to wood--reveals the dynamismof this land.

10

11

plin

th

T h ee d g eb e t w e e nearth and skydefines the spatialexperience of theLower Cape. This everpresent horizon confrontsone in every direction. Thishouse incorporates thisexperience in the form of a plinth:a solid, massive form fundamentallyof the earth revealed as if through a shiftin the dunes. Its flat top surface, afragment of the horizon, defines the edgebetween the two main elements of thehouse. Formed of poured-in-place concretethe casket-like plinth embodies ideas of Earth,night, death, coolness and enclosure. Theinternal spaces are dark with slices ofdaylight filtering through the slots in thewalls and openings between the beams.Cut from floor to ceiling these slots alongthe south wall measure the ever-changingdunes and allow constricted views of thesurrounding terrain. Housed within theplinth are the bedrooms and bath--roomsof refuge, of night. A long corridor runsthe entire length of the plinth.One begins and ends ones day in the plinth.

12

view of model with roof removed

13

view through passage between plinth and wall

14

corridor leading to bedrooms:thin openings in concrete wall offer a slice of the outside world and measure the level of the changing sands

15

tow

erRising from the plinth, stands thetower. Being of the Sky, the tower isthe place of life and light. As oneascends the stair the building changesand opens. The masonry load bearingstructure at the base falls away as thelight wooden frame reaches upward.The heaviness and enclosure of the plinthrecede as the masonry walls end and the aerialquality of the thin wood structure takes over.The skin of the tower, louvered wood panels,become increasingly transparent allowing morelight and views of the Provincelands. Whenone reaches the top floor the wood panelsgive way to floor-to-ceiling glass walls opento the northern tip of Cape Cod. Qualities ofthe Sky: light, transparency, warmth,dematerialization and openness define thematerials and spaces of the tower.

16

details of exterior wall at the tower

17

18

interior views of towerabove: third foor study; right: second floor kitchen

19

interior perspective of wood structure

The tower encompasses thespaces for daytime living�thekitchen, study, and main livingroom. The vertical spaceenclosing the stair connects thefloors. One travels from theplace of entry to that of eatingand gathering to where onemeditates and finally to the mainliving space. One spends onesday in the tower�in the Sky.

20

early study of openings in tower wall

21

22

23

To the Greeks techne means neither art nor handicraft but rather: to make something appear, with whatis present, as this or that, in this way or that way. The Greeks conceive of techne, producing, in terms ofletting appear.

Martin Heidegger, Building Dwelling Thinking

24

north - south section

25

draw

ings

second level - kitchen

entrance level

ground level - bedrooms

26

east - west section

27

roof

fourth level - living

third level - study

28

�Man does not dwell in that he merely establisheshis stay on earth beneath the sky . . . Man is

capable of such building only if he already builds inthe sense of the poetic taking measure. Authentic

building occurs so far as there are poets, such poetsas take the measure for architecture,

the structure of dwelling.�

Martin Heidegger �. . . Poetically Man Dwells . . .�

AAppendix

Ernst Cassirer, An Essay on Man. Yale University Press: New Haven, 1944.

Martin Heidegger, Poetry, Language, Thought. Harper and Row: New York, 1971.

Herman Hertzberger, Lessons for Students in Architecture. Uitgeverij 010: Rotterdam, 1991.

Claude Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1962.

Christian Norberg-Schultz, Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Rizzoli: New York, 1980.

Aldo Rossi, A Scientific Autobiography. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA; 1981.

bibl

ogra

phy

B Appendix

Steven Janssens Wunder

born 20 September 1964

Baltimore, Maryland

Education

Duke University B.A. 1986

Virginia Tech M.Arch. 1994

vita