SENIOR THESIS PROSPECTUS: MEANING-MAKING IN ARCHITECTURE Bruno Giberti and Kent Macdonald

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1 1 Charles and Ray Eames, Eames House, 1949, Pacific Palisades CA. SENIOR THESIS PROSPECTUS: MEANING-MAKING IN ARCHITECTURE Bruno Giberti and Kent Macdonald What is your definition of design? This was the first question asked of the architect Charles Eames in the 1972 documentary film, Design Q & A. 1 His answer was succinct: One could describe design as a plan for arranging elements to accomplish a particular purpose. At first glance, this seems to be an adequate description of the prefabricated steel-and-glass house that Charles and his wife Ray designed in 1949 for a site in Pacific Palisades. The exposed structure, the linear plan, the use of a square module, the repetition of standardized components all speak to the rational, problem-solving methods of modern architecture. And yet this answer concealed as much as it revealed. The red, white, blue, and yellow wall panels of the house, along with the transparent panels of the windows, were composed in the manner of a Mondrian painting. The black-painted structural elements held these panels in a tight grid that also recalled a Mondrian. The minimalist space of the house provided a setting for the vast collection of idiosyncratic objects that Charles and Ray Eames assembled over the long span of their personal and 1 The film accompanied the exhibition Que est ce le design? at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

2 2 Eames House plan professional relationship. The collection set one thing in relationship to another so as to create a microcosm a little world of meaning in an otherwise meaningless world. Such a process of putting one thing in relationship to another suggests a way of thinking about the nature of architectural design. In conceiving buildings, architects create many different kinds of relationships: They arrange forms in two and three dimensions (we call that composition). They locate functions in space (adjacencies). They choreograph movement (circulation). They position the building in the landscape (siting). They connect the new to the existing (context). They coordinate the various building technologies (systems integration). They arrange materials and determine the ways they meet (finishes and detailing). They equip the various spaces of the building to facilitate inhabitation (furnishings). In doing all this, architects develop a structure of decisions, gradually moving from a simpler to a more complex statement of an idea. The result should be a significant set of built relationships in space a work of architecture as opposed to "mere building." In this fifth-year studio, then, we propose to develop Charles Eames s view of design as a plan for arranging elements to accomplish a particular purpose, by specifying the ultimate end of meaningmaking, of creating significant relationships in space. Such meaning-making is the consequence of the many ways, large and small, that architects "work things out," resolving relationships within the building and between the building and the world. The use of the term "meaning-making" is an intentional borrowing from the pedagogy of constructivism, which holds that learners must build up their own individual knowledge. This suggests that architectural design is a Charles and Ray Eames at home

3 3 Bryan Harry, site plan for a pedestrian pocket in Stockton CA, senior thesis, way of learning, of being attentive to the nature of the situation that is the project and responding faithfully. This research-intensive approach is consistent with what we know of the design process of Charles and Ray Eames. Their varied work, which included books, buildings, exhibitions, films, fabrics, and furniture, emerged from an intense investigation of the problem at hand. All this leads us to insist that architecture happens, not in a state of ignorance, but as a result of close investigation and frequent iteration. It is a process of many decisions, large and small, weaving a stable fabric of meaning. From this point of view, the concept, which is the simplest expression of the architectural idea, is not imposed on the problem but emerges from an understanding of it. In this studio, we hope this kind of process will lead to senior projects that are thoughtful, creative, daring even, but still grounded in the here and now. The Good Fit: Place, Program, Precedents, and Premises A work of architecture can be seen as the intersection (less politely: a collision) between a particular place and program. With the exception of a few theoretical, unbuilt or unbuildable projects, the formative act of architectural design is to place the conditions of the program, expressed as a diagram, plan, or section, onto the conditions of the site both the small site of the parcel and the large site of the parcel's surroundings. For this reason, the projects that we hope to encourage in this studio are projects in which there is a good (read: meaningful) fit between Bryan Harry, typical street, senior thesis.

4 4 Chris Mojo, adaptive re-use of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, senior thesis, a real site and a realistic program. We hope to foster a thorough investigation of the natural and cultural conditions of the site and a creative approach to the functional and spatial conditions of the program. At the same time, we hope to encourage projects that are rooted in a rigorous analysis of relevant precedents, which can demonstrably contribute to the design process. It is difficult for us to imagine a work of architecture that is not conceived in some relationship to what has been built before usually in reference to the recent past but sometimes, depending on the context, to the deeper, more "bookish" past that we associate with architectural history. In certain cases, precedents from this bookish past, like the buildings and cities of Le Corbusier, continue to exercise a living influence on contemporary architects. To invoke such precedents is, of course, not to copy but to learn from them, to be inspired by them, and, ultimately, to make them your own. It is to participate in the grand conversation about form and function that architects have conducted across time and space, as they encountered new work and allowed themselves to be influenced by it. It is this kind of informed and imaginative attitude that we would like to cultivate. Premises. Every design is an argument for doing some thing in the world. An architect's ability to make this argument compelling, both verbally and graphically, is his or her ability to get it built. The strength of this design-argument proceeds from the strength of its premises, which arise out of the particular place, program, and precedents. In this studio, we hope to encourage projects that are based on strong premises, which make strong arguments about the way the world should be modified through works of architecture. We like big ideas that reflect the realities of the world and architecture's constructive purpose in it. Realism in this context is not a limit to the imagination but a source of poetic inspiration. We believe that this is an appropriate approach to a thesis studio and the best way to prepare you for the next phase of your professional lives. At this point, we hope it is clear that we are not advocating mere problem-solving, although to solve a problem in a world full of Chris Mojo, interior view, senior thesis.

5 5 problems is a very good thing to do. We think that is difficult for an intelligent, well-educated person to solve a problem without also taking a position, and therefore becoming something of a critic. We also believe that is difficult for an architect to solve the manifold problems of building, of a building, without inevitably creating meaning and therefore becoming something of an artist. Outline of Fifth Year The senior project at Cal Poly is defined as a capstone project, which provides you with an opportunity to integrate and apply your prior learning in your major, of course, but also in your general education outside of architecture. In this sense, the senior project is frequently seen as a terminus to your undergraduate career, but it is probably more fruitful to think of it as a bridge to your future in the professions or in graduate school. This is how we see your senior project developing over the course of the year: Fall Quarter. The boundary between the two fall classes will be fluid, but Arch 492 will primarily be devoted to critical reading, writing, and discussion. The aim will be for you to explore the historical, theoretical, and critical underpinnings of your design project within the context of a 10- to-12-page paper. Meanwhile, Arch 481 will focus on the development of a provocative problem statement, rigorous precedent studies, a quantitative and qualitative program, and a detailed site analysis. These efforts, all corresponding to pre-design in professional practice, should lead to a strong, i.e., informed, literate, and relevant architectural concept that can guide your work for the rest of your thesis year. Winter Quarter. With the start of the New Year you should begin your design work in earnest. This quarter of Arch 481 will be similar to the schematic design phase in professional practice. It will involve much exploration: testing possible solutions, keeping things that work, rejecting those that do not. By spring break, the basic outline of your project should be firmly in place: its form, scale, major materials, and building systems. Spring Quarter. During the first half of Arch 481, you should be working to consolidate your efforts into a coherent whole: fleshing out the design in terms of its materials, building systems, and typical details, all equivalent to the design development phase. During the second half of the quarter, you should be spending more time on your final presentation, in booklet form and for display in the Berg and Chumash shows. Field Trips. We appreciate the value of field trips in stimulating your imagination and helping you to form a cohesive studio group, though we do not want them to interfere too much with your other classes. Last year we took a weekend-long field trip in the fall and a week-long field trip during spring break. This plan seemed to work for the majority of students. We will discuss the alternatives with you in the fall. These include short field trips to Los Angeles and/or San Francisco for the Elise Greska, adaptive re-use of City Methodist Church in Gary IN, senior thesis, purpose of having interim reviews with practitioners.

6 Two for One The thesis experience that we are offering is different from the others: you will have two professors instead of one throughout the year. Bruno will take the lead in Arch 492, while both of us will share responsibilities for the three quarters of Arch 481. This arrangement is not as unusual as it might sound. In many architectural programs, thesis students have committees, with up to three professors overseeing the work. In fact, we would support the idea of your having an outside advisor another professor or an architect in practice who can provide additional feedback during the year. We realize that you still may have questions: How will the studio work? (Answer: Similar to most you ve taken here.) What will be your schedules? (Generally, one of us will take the earlier shift, and the other will take the later, with a period of overlap for class meetings.) Who will I talk to? (You will talk to both of us. We will endeavor to see everyone at least once a week.) What if I receive conflicting advice? (We will coordinate our feedback with each other and with you, but navigating your way through conflicting currents comes with the territory of architecture. Remember every formal review that you have received so far!) All that said, having worked together for some time, we can say that we have reasonably similar outlooks on most things having to do with architecture. Where we don t, we are accustomed to and respectful of each other s points of view. We enjoy a debate, and we hope you will feel join in. About Us Elise Greska, wall section, senior thesis. Bruno Giberti. I have three degrees in architecture: a BS from Cal Poly as well as an MArch and PhD from UC Berkeley. After working in architecture and architectural journalism, I returned in 1994 to Cal Poly, where I have taught architectural history, theory, and design. My book, Designing the Centennial: A History of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia (2002), earned the Material Culture Award from the University Press of Kentucky. After completing this publication, I passed the required exams and became a registered architect in the state of California. 6

7 7 Elise Greska, interior view of new food market, senior thesis. I have served Cal Poly as Chair of the Academic Senate, Associate Director of the Architecture Department, Faculty Director of the effort to reaffirm Cal Poly's WASC accreditation, and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. My teaching philosophy reflects an understanding that architects make not buildings but ideas about buildings, which may or may not be realized. This means that all architects are intellectuals, even if they are not always very good ones. As professionals, architects must inhabit the boundary between theory and practice. The best ones are fluent in the language of each. Every design is an abstraction about something very concrete; this is the rub of architecture. Kent Macdonald. I have taught in several areas of Cal Poly's architecture program since 1994, but for the last five years my main responsibilities have been in second-year design and practice (where I got to know many of you), along with professional practice (Arch 443). Prior to this, I taught in fifth year, where my studios focused on community design, housing, and smart growth. These subjects were also the focuses of my professional life prior to teaching full-time. After graduating from Berkeley with an MArch, I worked for over 20 years on my own and with firms in San Francisco, New York, and Washington DC, specializing in multi-family housing and community revitalization projects in the US and in Asia. I ve also been involved in large-scale institutional work, historic preservation, and adaptive reuse. A number of these projects have won major design awards. In addition, I ve entered several design competitions, some successfully and some not. C est la vie. I take the view, given the multiple design approaches that exist today, that there is no one right way to design. That s the excitement of our times: the lack of an architectural orthodoxy means that there are multiple paths to take in design as in the profession. That said, I believe that architecture is largely a public act, not a private one. While I think the essence of my teaching is to help you find your own creative voices, as well as to prepare you for life as an architect, I hope you do something more with your talents than express yourself. Presumably, as architects you ll be trying to make the world a better place more attractive, more efficient, more sustainable, more humane. It s an uphill battle, certainly, but I think there s something noble in putting up the good fight.