My Master's Thesis

[Mings]

A little background for those that may not know: I recently completed my Master of Architecture and for my thesis project I chose to dive into my hometown of Columbus, Indiana. Columbus is known for its architecture through a program started by J. Irwin Miller and Eero Saarinen, providing world-class architecture to entice the best and brightest to Cummins Engine Company and a town of less than 20,000 in the middle of nowhere Indiana. Over the years various civic buildings, schools, churches, etc... were designed by both Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Robert Venturi, Cesar Pelli, Harry Weese, among many others. For those wondering if this is the reason I got into architecture, I can't deny that it didn't have something to do with it. I specifically chose to do an architecture depository (half museum/half archive and the existing building on the site is a well known bank by Eero Saarinen) as the archive in the city currently does not have a permanent space. I toiled over this project and thesis paper (if you are interested in reading the paper PM me and I'll send it to you) for a year, and while long and difficult I'm very proud of the project (and it has been met with very good reviews). I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about it, and if you are new here, don't let a lack of architectural education keep you from commenting as I listen to any and all and the true calling of architecture is to make the total environment better for everyone.

So here it is. I'm linking some pictures so I don't do three posts in a row (plus I know our penchant on this board just to look at pretty things). Enjoy and let me know what you think! If you want to see this post directly on my blog click here.

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The Time-Life Iconic view of Columbus (based off photography from a Time-Life article in the late 1950s)

“A good life is one led in praiseworthy competition with one's ancestors. The best response to the gifts we receive from previous generations is to create something of lasting value in our own time and in our own way for future generations." – J. Irwin Miller

Diagram: Columbus' Architecture

J. Irwin Miller’s gift is my hometown of Columbus, Indiana. Believing that architecture “reflects what a city thinks about itself and what it aims to be”, Columbus’ poetic Modernism is a response to previous generations [1]. It is a both/and condition, one of knowledge of the past and using that knowledge to create in your own way for the future, of abstract and material, of pragmatism and poetry.

First Christian Church - Eliel Saarinen

North Christian Church - Eero Saarinen

Twentieth-century architectural discourse was driven largely by either/or: Modernism with the abstract and pragmatic, Postmodernism with the material and poetic. In the increasingly fractured and globalized Twenty-first century world, the either/or dualistic view is no longer sufficient. This both/and condition brings together the either/or conditions of philosophy in the Twentieth Century to create a process design could follow to disseminate meaning and create a dialogue with its total environment. To propel architecture forward, both ends of the spectrum must be used to create an architectural whole [2].

Exhibition/Archive Space - 3rd Floor showing North Christian Church and others

This both/and condition and process begins to point to six overarching design principles:

1) Pragmatic/Poetic – Architecture should be both pragmatic and poetic, allowing the functional and spectacular to come together to create a building that conveys meaning.

2) Didactic/Honesty – Architecture should be didactic in its construction and speak to its materiality.

3) Awareness of Time – Architecture should speak to the temporal, allowing a connection both to history and context as well as to the present and a future filled with doubt and uncertainty.

4) Expression of Story/Narrative – Architecture should tell a story. Without a story, architecture has no structure and cannot speak.

5) The Total Environment – Architecture should be site relative, creating a dialogue and connection with the environment in which it is constructed.

6) Concept/Conclusion – Architecture should always have a strong poetic idea that shapes and is shaped by pragmatic systems, telling a story as you experience the layers of building.

Irwin Union Bank - Eero Saarinen

Irwin Union Bank Arcade and Addition - Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo

Regarding Columbus, Indiana the abstract is found in the Jeffersonian grid imparted upon the Midwest. The later pavilionization of Columbus is a result of the grid, and this grid also works its way into Eero Saarinen’s Irwin Union Bank building through use of the Palladian nine-square grid. The pavilionization of Columbus resulted in an architecture consisting of objects in a field; independent, well defined, and self-referential speaking to an individualism and self-reliance found in the Midwest. What is missing in this formal proposition is the ground, the essential reference plane of the Midwest region. Saarinen himself saw architecture “not as the building alone, but the building in relationship with its surroundings.” This relationship lies within the ground.

Longitudinal Section through Saarinen's Pavilion and new Depository

Section model showing Exhibition Void, Mask, and Archive

While the nine-square grid of Saarinen’s bank promotes this formal ideology, it begins to speak to the community and inclusivity much like his father’s work in First Christian Church. Diving deeper into the works of Columbus a lexicon emerges: Green Space (Connecting Public and Nature), Modulating Light (Connecting interior to exterior and time), Publicity/Inclusiveness (Connecting public to built form), Material and Program Innovation (Praiseworthy Competition), Contextual Relationships (Both Blending and Contrasting). Each point of the lexicon serves to disseminate meaning, furthering Saarinen’s belief that “the conveying in architecture of significant meaning is part of the inspirational purpose of architecture.”

Ground floor plan showing connections to existing structures and Third Floor Plan showing how the landmarks of the city shape the building

Site Model

The bank pavilion embraces each point of the lexicon. It consists of two planes, the Midwest (ground) plane and the roof plane, and the void. The pavilion transitions the bank from the closed, fortress banks of old to a new, welcoming, and public paradigm. The void becomes poetic and open, set within the landscape, a continuance of the outside, public realm. It becomes a both/and wholly different from its surroundings yet connecting to its historical context in downtown Columbus.

Courtyard view through mass of tress which maintains the datum line of 11'6" (thickness of void) towards depository

It then becomes essential to create a conversation and a journey, not only with Saarinen, but also with the other architectural landmarks in the city, tending to the ground to create a link between disparate objects and a new urban whole. Saarinen’s nine-square grid is expanded across the site, and through manipulation of the existing building, the void is extended down Saarinen’s suspended stairs and into a new courtyard. The two planes and the void become key in this conversation, extruded cross the site along Saarinen’s grid.

View from Cummins looking down Fifth Street, an architectural axis of the city

View toward First Christian Church in exhibition space

The two planes and void turn vertical to create a signal event within the city, a depository of Columbus’ architectural history, a combination of museum and archive that acts as a sentinel that both preserves its heritage and propels it into the future. It creates a heartland within the heartland, responding to the discipline, the vernacular landscape (including the silos and other utilitarian buildings which both Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier admired), and acknowledging the whole and part simultaneously.

Continuing the Void: Vertical Exhibition Void (Top) with Horizontal Bank Void (Bottom)

The Midwest (ground) plane of Saarinen’s pavilion becomes the body of the depository, the void vertical circulation, and the roof plane a mask that becomes a point of dialogue with the city. The planes and void are pierced and shaped by views looking out towards the architectural monuments of the city. Through this responsive mask, which is both concealer and revealer, a process of moving from insideness to outsideness and back again, and the transition from looking to seeing and understanding occurs. It becomes a process of seeing and recognizing difference, while seeking to promote the consignment to the whole.

Diagrams: Poetics and Pragmatics (Systems)

This poetic conversation becomes structured by the pragmatic systems which underscore technological developments in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century architecture – elements of light, envelope and skin, a wandering circulation, structure, and mechanical systems all creating a lexicon, words upon which the poetic story of Columbus is told. Using the both/and condition, the depository imparts knowledge of the city and Miller’s ideals; a dialogue between past and present that both engages in and strives to encourage praiseworthy competition with one’s ancestors.

At the origin of the architectural axes - Fifth and Washington Streets

Project Information:

Master of Architecture Thesis, Tulane University, 2012

Location – 500 Washington St. Columbus, IN 47201

Size – 28,000 square feet new construction + 15,000 square feet renovation

Further Reading:

1] My Hometown, my thesis: an exploration into Columbus’ architecture and earlier thinking regarding my thesis.

2] The Both/And Condition of Poetry and Pragmatism: an essay on this crucial condition in my work.

[Mings]

Well, this is unexpected. There is usually always a little action when I post my projects. Just a sign of the times I suppose.

[Kevin W.]

Well, I don't know the first thing about architecture but the images are quite stunning. What did you use to render them?

[Mings]

Rhino for modelling, V-Ray for rendering, Photoshop and Illustrator for post production.

[Mings]

I'll go ahead and bump this. If one of the mods happens to read this and feels the Concepts section might be more appropriate, feel free to move it.

[jstraper]

I mean, I know what you mean when you don't get feedback, so I'll give you a charity post. It's quite a project, but I guess you aren't getting much feedback since it's, well, a lot of content to absorb (might have been better to link it to a PDF on another site).

Also, like the other guy said above, I don't know too much about architecture, but I can appreciate it visually. Good job(?)

[Mings]

For those of you that want a condensed version, go to http://www.joshuamings.com/thesis.php

PDF: http://www.joshuamings.com/files/Josh_Mings_Thesis.pdf but this is drawings and images only.

I know this is a lot of information, but it hasn't stopped people from posting on my projects before. I've put up others previously with good response. I'll reiterate that it is perfectly ok to not have an architecture background, I value all comments but hope they are much more than charity posts or good jobs. Its just horrible to see things done in 5 minutes get pages and pages of responses and well thought out long term projects get crickets be they architecture, graphic design, or otherwise. Lets get a conversation going.

[lopernv]

I think your choice of site was dangerous. I'm sure for obvious reasons.

But it is clear you knew what you were doing... and the rewards are great.

It was a great move not overshadowing any of the other works in the town...instead creating a building that respects the others.

I am interested in one thing, right now. It's hard to really get an understanding of a project reading it on a public forum.

I'm not too familiar with Columbus IN or any of the buildings in town.

How does this compare to others? In terms of massing, height, etc.

Why I ask is because I feel it is quite a tall building for a small town of only 20,000. Although I can see the argument being made that is a very important cultural centre, large population or not. Is this a one-of-a-kind centre? I assume so.

How is each floor organized? I'm viewing the sectional model but I'm not sure what differs between one floor to the next.

Also, send me the paper, I'm interested in reading it.

[Mings]

Matt, the town is now close to 50,000. As far as the rest of the context...typical turn of the century two to three story brick buildings with the modernist works interspersed. Regarding height it would be the tallest building in the city not counting bell towers and church spires (but still completely allowable according to zoning). For all the moves I made not to overshadow, it still needed to be a statement/signal event. You are absolutely right the site is dangerous, and those issues (Matt is talking issues of historic preservation, nostalgia, and an architecturally significant context) are exactly why I chose it.

Matt, get the book Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future (if your library doesn't have it, something is wrong) and read Will Miller's essay for more background on Columbus. For the rest, the blog post at the bottom of my original post will fill you in enough. Going back to the building, it is a one of a kind center, and an interesting proposition because the buildings it shows are within a 15 minute drive. In that way the building becomes a gps with its view cones. What differs on each floor (2,3,4) are the view cones, with a lecture hall and small lending library on floor one.

And oops....I think I told you a couple months back I'd send you my thesis manual. I'll send it in the morning. I'm currently expanding the paper into a book as it was really about the process and theory of design versus the specific project.

[Mings]

I'll go ahead and give this one last bump, like the late momentum filled hit when they shut off the bumper cars.