Architecture at the End of the World

Buildings that Create an Aura of Intrigue

[expressions-of-nature]

by Chris Fagerlund

[architectural-omega]

Ames Monument 1882 - Architect Henry Hobson Richardson

Standing in an open western grasslands stands a 60 foot Cairn memorializing the financiers of first transcontinental railroad. The Monument itself stands on the highest elevation of the original route, however, the significance of this Monument is not the achievement of the railroad but instead the contribution to a material shift which had influence on modern architecture.

Richardson was amoung the 'first proudly' American Architects who sought to create their own distinct style from European influence, later refered to as the Chicago school. The colonial nature of the American nation, as well as their art/architectural stylings, had primarily derived from the Old World. New World architects began to grow increasingly interested in exploring the material resources in the vast territory now easily accessible for settler claim.

The Cairn Monument utilizes local granite blocks which match the surrounding landscape and seeks to meld old world classical architecture with a vernacular material language. At the time there was an ongoing debate surrounding craft and industry, discovering a dynamic of merging the two became the next big movement in architecture. Following this usuage of new material language Richardson applied these theories to his Marshal Field Wholesale Store (1885-87) in Chicago: Old theories of design practice utilizing new technology and ideas. this cairn serves as such a precursor for the coming architectural stylings which inspired aspects of the Prairie School, Arts and Crafts Movement, and Internation style.

Ph: Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office

[architectural-omega]

Peñon de Alhucemas, Moroccan Coast 

A fortress inhabiting one of three small islands along the Strait of Gibraltar, these islands are functionally stationary battleships for Spanish military forces.  The land was ceded to them as a reward back in the 16th century and occupied by Spaniards throughout the coming centuries, the island served as a staging ground for European Colonial Forces in the Riff wars.  When Morocco was freed from European Rule in 1956 the island again became disputed territory.  

Today the island became more well known when African refugees lived within its wall, which ultimately caused Spanish troops to occupy the island as a hold on the territory.  Architecture that was once a fortress for centuries recently becoming one yet again.  

[architectural-omega]

The amphitheaters of Muyu-uray, Peru 

In Bernard Rudofsky’s Architecture without Architects The primary case study is a seldom known feature created by the Inca Tribal members known as the Maras.  The site contains four separate circular forms and one horse-shoe bend countered into the earth.  Each terrace is about 6 feet high with a 23 foot long step, with water piped into the crater from the nearby mountains, overall the largest amphitheater could feasible hold up to 60,000 people and acoustical performance is allegedly phenomenal.

Today, not much has changed from it’s initial run of fame, it is now a minor tourist location one can visit for $14, and Local populations are utilizing the earthwork for Agriculture purposes.  Unfortunately there is still not much information new archaeological data available to contradict initial claims.  Still this is a wonderful example of the true engineering genius of the Indigenous American people.

[architectural-omega]

I’m going to spend a little time devoting some energy into going over the 1964 MOMA exhibition Architecture without Architects and see how over the course of intense 56 years of society have changed how we view some of the less known fixtures and if they still exist to this day.

[architectural-omega]

NJIT Student Thesis: The Four Freedoms Museum

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NJIT Student Thesis Render: The Four Freedoms Museum Gallery of Fear, A dedication to Japanese Internment

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NJIT Student Thesis Render: The Four Freedoms Museum CCC courtyard

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NJIT Student Thesis Render: The Four Freedoms Museum Entrance

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NJIT Student Thesis Render: The Four Freedoms Museum Approach

[architectural-omega]

LAND(E)SCAPE (Savonlinna, 1999) - Three Barns lifted onto pine stilts Southern Finland 

The barns are a commentary on the desertification of the Finnish Countryside. Each barn has been lifted to separate them from their original harmony with the ground.  Each appears to be slightly tilted to imply movement as if following a path in a search for other populace.

Marco Casagrande

[architectural-omega]

The Solntse Solarcomplex - Parkent, Uzbekistan

Built with the french odellio solar furnace, the facility was used for high-temperature material resistance tests via a large scale solar condenser.   Built- V. Zakharov, O. Taushnakov 1986

Source: Frederic Chaubin

[architectural-omega]

House - Nagohara, Japan

Architects: Double Negatives Architecture [ DNA ]

Designed in coalition with a computer program meant to create a simple holiday home which was able to offer residents a panoramic view of the forest floor. The Shell shaped design incorporates playful views of the outdoors, allowing a full appreciation of their natural settings. The complicated roofing method was created using Instu Concrete supported by steel framework.

[architectural-omega]

Tree House - Pedras Salgadas, Portugal

Architects: Luis and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade [ RA ]

A long processional path extends out into the tree canopies to house a small dwelling space. The main form allows occupants to meditate amongst the rustling leaves and gaze up at the stars at night. The design of this building is meant to ignite a larger plan to bring ecotourism back using a variety of architecture immersive strategies. The architects use the best contextual strategies to create a project which respects its local environment, keeping a local identity through materials and form

[architectural-omega]

Ecoboulevard of Vallecas. Madrid, Spain. 2006

Architects: Ecosistema Urbano

These systems of large cylindrical constructs serve as a staple of urban recycling that contains nothing aside housing plants.  The installations form a unique pattern of urban air spaces with a collective of trees along a pedestrian traffic route.  The installations referred to as ‘air trees’ also serve as a public comfort zone, the photovoltaic panels that line the roofing provide a water vapor cooled system that decreased the temperature within the installations by up to 10 degrees celsius

Images:  Photographs: Emilio P. Doiztua + Roland Halbe

[architectural-omega]

“The Polygon” Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, Kazakhstan

A fascination with ruins of fallen empires takes us to this desolate region of steppes serving as a graveyard to nearly 500 nuclear tests.  Soviet testing began around 1949 and ended around the 1980′s, due to the intensely remote vicinity of the test site this region was largely unknown to outsiders until the advent of the satellite.  The irreversible damage done to this region is scorched in the earth, the few remaining Measurement towers which were once placed at varying distances from the epicentre of atomic bombs, are the only constructed evidence of man’s dark history in this region.  Over 60,000 people have died as a result of pollution from nuclear testing done in The Polygon as well as the irreversible damage done to the citizens living in proximity of these bombs.   Today the region south of the Irtysh river is still dotted with minor radiation pockets, although plenty of wildlife flourishes in the absence of intense human activity.  

Photo: Nadav Kander

[architectural-omega]

Svalbard Global Seed Vault - Norway

Architect: Peter w. Sønderman, Louis Lunde, Tronde Hanson

Located in Longyearbyen on the remote island of Svalbard the Arctic circle; the seed vault stands as an isolated reminder towards the approaching devastations of a massive ecosystem extinction.  The Overall Function is about as simple as it is crucial: to provide a safe haven to the biodiversity of our planet. The vaults are placed about 125 meters deep inside of the blasted out shell of an arctic mountain, preserving the seeds for an estimated 2000 years. The seed vault is divided into 3 procedural segments: The Entrance, Airlock sealed Trolley tunnel, and 3 separate seed vaults.  Dyvke Sanne and Koro can be credited for the reflective prismatic glass sculptures which capture the low hanging rays of the arctic sun. 

Photo: Fredrik Nauman via Panos