Memories of the Ruined Landscape – Hybrid Architectures in the 21st Century

Robert Mark Harris, AIAstudioTEN architects, LLC

Abstract

We live in a time of Renaissance, a time when building typologies and social norms, some centuries old, are being redefined at a rapid pace. Economic and political forces are creating a pace of flux within our built environment were function is seen more as a variable than a constant. Much like the previous Renaissance, we also live in a time of great introspection, where irrefutable assessments of current conditions make us question the operative concepts and resultant practices of our values. In contrast to these apparent opportunities, we are seeing a paradox where commerce dictates social and political norms, coupled with our daily struggle with an almost overwhelming influx of information, an influence that contradictorily seduces as it repulses. Technological, military, political, and cultural 'burden's are manifested. Hybrid architectures are naturally created by the redefinition or combination of existing programs, but their essential power as social determinants and experiential embedments are lost if they are not held as socially commentative. Under our current conditions, where dehumanizing machine logics overwhelm natural organic logics, and the economic paradox of 'one-size-fits-all' is coupled with the seemingly contradictory 'specific-by-design' approach, the concepts of globalism and regionalism are threatened to needlessly splinter into separate and opposing camps. This paper proposes a process of mutual reciprocity, where globalism and regionalism are seen as attitudinal concepts rather than as physical manifestations. This paper makes an argument for hybrids as a charged morphosis of two seemingly different constructs (regional influences with global technological solutions), where history is seen as a referential continuum, and architecture is seen as an element of human narrative.

Keywords: hybrid architecture, typologies, architecture as political policy, social responsibility, consilience, determinalism in architecture

1 Preamble:

We tend to find safety in things static. The desire for something stable, something one can count upon, is innately human. Our continuing understanding of the world around us, however, seems to be in direct conflict, as the concept of flux seems to be a more accurate depiction with each passing age. To see history as a continuum, as a progression, each new part built upon the previous, is nothing new, but recent human and intellectual developments in the post-industrial and technology eras have subjugated this concept as a social viewpoint in favor of the segmented, the partial, and the narcissistic. While the new age of technology and information has spurred a Renaissance-like wealth of innovations and inventions, it differs from other eras of discovery in that it has fostered a somewhat narrowly prescribed set of viewing parameters, and an often-times surrealistic outlook of illogic. Architecture, being a reflection of human intent, and the most expressive of human sciences, has likewise degraded. As architectural form and program are the result of intellectual processes, this paper seeks to investigate a few of the many causes for this degradation, and to postulate a process of viewpoint through which new possibilities may be found.

2 The Paradox of the Modern Mind – the cause and effect of continuous flux:

The concept of flux began in the Renaissance. The Renaissance Mind was a mind of optimistic change and innocent inquiry into a natural world that had previously been greatly shrouded in religious myth and intellectual serfdom. The Renaissance era ushered in the secular concept of change by a vast increase in humanistic and scientific knowledge, coupled with the resultant increase in a wide variety of innovative discoveries. Social catalysts, such as the invention of the movable type, made the printed word readily available to the masses, aiding in the spread of knowledge, and acting as the seedling genesis for our current Information Age. Mounting abuses of the religious agencies of the day laid the foundations for the Reformation, and opened the flood-gates for humanism and a questioning of many established norms. “More broadly, humanism promoted a revival of interest in the affairs of the everyday world, reasserted the faith of men and women in themselves, and reinforced the role of individuals in all spheres.” (Fleming, p. 175)

Central to humanism was the quest for an understanding of the natural world relative to newly found principals of scientific observation, leading to “a new experimental attitude and a new concept of space. A close partnership between art and science developed, and with architects becoming mathematicians, sculptors anatomists, painters geometricians, and musicians acousticians” (Fleming, p. 211). Progress within one field was relative to progress within another, and the concept of allied disciplines was born of this era. “New was the idea that an artistic work was not a self-contained whole but something that shared many relationships internally as well as externally with other works of art. This idea began with the attempts by certain individual artists to overcome many of the arbitrary limitations and technical rules of their separate craft.” (Fleming, p. 364)

The word 'Renaissance', however, must be handled carefully, as the word literally translates into 'rebirth'. A distinction is needed at this point to keep the comparative perspective clear. Though the humanist scholars of the Renaissance were inspired by classical models and spurred by a rejection of previously established religious and social norms, their stance was one of continuum and progression rather than romantic imitation or revolutionary nihilism.

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries ushered in a new type of Renaissance. But this time, progress had a price. “With industrialization came a specialization in which people were concerned more with fragments than with wholes. Industrial workers were rapidly forfeiting to the machine their place as the primary productive unit. With this loss of control came a corresponding shift from a rational world view toward an increasingly irrational one. With industrialization also came a capitalistic economy in which the lives of workers were controlled by intangible forces beyond themselves.” (Fleming, p. 402)

In the previous century, the Renaissance and Baroque minds had been shaken by the Copernican revolution with the humanist notion that the earth was not the fixed center of the universe, but rather a freely moving object revolving in space. The late 19th century mind was upset by the Darwinian evolutionary theory which taught that creation was a continuing process rather than an accomplished, static whole. As a result of such forces and ideas, the onward-and-upward notion of progress was revised downward to one of continuous flux and narrowed by isolated fragmentation.

3 Memories of a Ruined Landscape – the abandoned symbols of our intent:

3.1 The Cold War - the Titan Missile Silo as symbol of political policy:“After the expenditure of two billion dollars and countless man-hours of research and construction by some of the greatest scientific minds ever gathered together at a single site, this goal was achieved. On July 16, 1945 at 5:29:34, a new era of technological advancement was given birth as a flash was seen followed by a huge cloud that rose 40,000 feet into the air. The massive explosion whose temperature at its center was 10,000 times greater than that of the surface of the sun was the result of the successful denotation of the world’s first explosive nuclear apparatus nicknamed “fat man”. Less than a month later a device nicknamed “little boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, a city of 350,000 persons in the remaining axis power still at war with the Allies. Ironically, Germany, the country whose research had spawned the fears that propagated the project, had already surrendered. When this first explosion didn’t bring about Japan’s surrender, another device was dropped on the City of Nagasaki three days later. Within two days from this explosion, Japan surrendered and World War II was over.

Within its narrowly prescribed parameters, the Manhattan project had been a resounding success, and had brought about the end of the most extensive war in recorded history. However, one of its unforeseen by-products was the atmosphere of dread that it created. This circumstance was eloquently described at the time by Edward R. Murrow in his statement: “Seldom, if ever, has a war ended leaving the victors with such a sense of uncertainty and fear, with such a realization that the future is obscure, and that survival was not assured.”

With these events, an entirely new geopolitical map of the world was drawn where a vacuum in the global balance of power was left with the defeat of two of the world’s most powerful economies, Japan and Germany. It was a power vacuum that the United States and Soviet Union, each with very differing social, political, ideological, and economic systems, raced to fill. In this atmosphere of suspicion and distrust, the United States and Russia chose to continue to research and develop nuclear arms. For the next five decades, these world powers sought to dominate each other in a new perceived bipolar political world. Thus was born an “arms race” unrivaled in world history, both in its scale and destructive potential. By the end of the late 1980’s, the United States and Russia had each

detonated more than 900 nuclear test explosions and had each developed a nuclear arsenal that had the capacity to destroy the world many times over.

The United State's Titan II was one of the more formidable weapons to emerge as a result of this technological competition. It could deliver a nuclear warhead in a range of over 5500 miles and was considered a weapon of “deterrence”. Hence, its destructive power was considerable in an effort to make an act of armed aggression against the U.S. too costly and thereby prohibitive. This missile system was first commissioned in 1962 at a cost of 10.5 million dollars per complex with a life expectancy of approximately 10 years. The silos were actually active for over 22 years and were decommissioned between 1982 and 1987 (53 sites in total) in accordance to a US/Soviet nuclear arms limitation treaty. Within the parameters of their stated mission as a deterrent to nuclear war, they were considered highly successful and a key component to the U.S. defenses during the standoff that comprised the Cold War.

The structures that contained these weapons were formidable as well. The missile silo itself was 55 feet in diameter and approximately 146 feet deep and was constructed of reinforced concrete. The silo extended 9 floors into the ground and had a huge retractable silo closure door made of concrete and steel. There was also a three floor control center that had a shock isolation cage that was suspended from a domed roof and had a one foot thick “rattle” space between the ground and the container of the structure. It is here where sleeping quarters, a kitchen, latrine, mechanical equipment room, and a vestibule were located. The crew of four that manned these centers were on 24 hour shifts, rarely left them, and were on alert status (ready to discharge the missile) at all times. All structures within the complex were designed to withstand a close-proximity nuclear explosion and the resulting radioactivity. Each complex was truly a monument to the fears and lunacy that the ideological convictions of each of the sides involved in the Cold War spawned and their arsenals exaggerated.” v

The Titan II Missile Silo Complex serves as a symbol of the failure of Cold War diplomacy and our fear of technology. Being both personal and social, this fear characterizes the modern psyche of our post-industrial society. As an object, the Silo represents culturally disruptive political policy. The Titan Missile Silo is part of a technological, cultural, and political burden – a ruin within many landscapes.

Figure 1: Compressed rendering of Titan II Missile Silo

3.2 Foreign Border Policy - the US/Mexico Border as symbol of political policy:

“The international border extends over 1,951 miles (3,141 km). It is estimated that over a million people cross the border illegally each year, over 80% of which are native Mexicans. The rest are labeled "Other Than Mexicans" (OTM), of whom over 10% are native Central Americans. Most Border Patrol activity is concentrated around big border cities such as San Diego and El Paso, both of which have extensive border fencing.” (Wikipedia, 2007)

“In December 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to build a separation barrier along parts of the border. A companion vote in the United States Senate on May 17, 2006, included a plan to blockade 860 miles (1384 km) of the border with vehicle barriers and triple-layer fencing. Proponents hope a wall running the length of the border will reduce illegal drug smuggling and illegal immigration drastically. ” (Ackeson, 2007)

“According to migration experts at the University of California, Davis, about 45% of all agricultural laborers in the United States are undocumented immigrants. According to proponents of open-border policies, agricultural work is one of the many types of work that illegal immigrants fill that could not be easily filled by United States citizens. Opponents counter that U.S. citizens would gladly take these jobs if offered decent wages. The Customs and Border Protection estimates that 500,000 illegal immigrants successfully cross the border into the United States every year.” (Wickipedia, 2007)

“President Bush’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 budget would increase funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to $6.7 billion. Next to defense spending, this is one of the highest growth rates in the federal government.

On March 16, 2005, the House of Representatives attached an amendment (the “REAL ID Act”) to the $81.3 billion emergency supplemental to fund the war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq that would give the Secretary of Homeland Security sole discretion to push forward the construction of border fences, roads, and other barriers by waiving all applicable laws.

Border fencing has merely channeled undocumented migration to more remote and dangerous terrain. After triple-fencing was constructed in San Diego, apprehensions of undocumented immigrants fell from 450,152 in FY 1994 to 100,000 in FY 2002, but apprehensions in the Tucson sector increased 342 percent during this same period.

The undocumented population in the United States has continued to increase despite ten years of fairly consistent and large increases in the border-enforcement budget and a parallel surge in the number of Border Patrol agents stationed on the frontier.

The growing economic integration of the United States and Mexico, as well as the openness of U.S. society, dooms to failure any border-control strategy that focuses primarily on security at the physical frontier.” (Ackeson, 2007). The US/Mexico border fence is part of a political and cultural burden – a ruin within many landscapes.

Figure 2: Visions of Juarez, Mexico

3.3 Consumerism – the Billboard as symbol of consumerist cultural character:

In 1958, at the RTNDA Convention in Chicago, Edward R. Murrow summarized what he saw as a 'soft' America, myopically focused on consumerist goals that replaced principles. His frame of view was the current state of censorship and 'entertainment' within the media. He stated “our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: Look now, Pay later.”

With this statement, Mr. Murrow summed up the psychological makeup of the modern mindset, regardless of nationality; the attitude and world-view is universal. “The traditional cultural values of Western society are degenerating under the influences of corporate politics, the commercialization of culture, and the impact of mass media. Society is awakening from its fascination with television entertainment to find itself stripped of tradition, controlled by an oppressive power structure and bound to the credit obligations of a defunct American dream.

For the public at large, the integrating and transformative experiences of culture have been replaced by the collective viewing experience and by participation in consumer trends. The American public has been inundated by an unending parade of commodities and fabricated television spectacles that keeps it preoccupied with the ideals and values of consumerism.

Consumerism is the myth that the individual will be gratified and integrated by consuming. While consumerism offers the tangible goal of owning a product, it lacks the fulfillment of other cultural mythologies. Consumerism offers only short term ego-gratification for those who can afford the luxury, and frustration for those who cannot. It exists as an incomplete and inadequately engineered system of values substituted for a waning cultural heritage.” (Cronch, 1996)

The concept of the billboard, as a public advertisement of consumerism, has spread to architecture in the form of the 'Mac-Mansion”, as well as other structures. This standardization of vision constitutes an automation of perception of the world, a standard way of seeing. The billboard, in it's many guises, is symbol of a social and cultural burden – a ruin within many landscapes.

Figure 3: McMansion, and it's hucksters; both Billboards for branding.

4 The Umbrella and the Sewing Machine – surrealist societies and the concept of thresholds:

Isador Ducasse, known by his pseudonym "Le Comte de Lautréamont" became know by the Surrealists for the line "beautiful as the chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella". The reference alludes to the vision of a medical operation room, with the sewing machine being a doctor, and the umbrella being the surgical lights. The phrase is pictorial and powerful given it's ability to conjure one image relative to another, but is 'super-real' given the pared relationship of two dissimilar objects that separately share little in common but together form an all-together new entity. The dissimilar entities become thresholds for new meanings to emerge, exposing the programmatic intent by stripping the object of it's normal codified significance, creating a compelling image that is beyond the original.

Surrealism is about ideologies rather than objects. Many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost with the works being an artifact. Unexpected juxtapositions work to free the observer from what they previously saw as a certain rationality by exposing the contrasting, opposite stance.

Architecture, therefore, can employ surrealistic tactics to reveal new meanings in previously coded objects, be they social codings, cultural codings, programmatic codings, or ideological codings. Regionally, what has been de-coded can be re-coded.

5 Hybrid Architectures – the necessity of intellectual abstractions:

When speaking of the hybrid-type, one is dealing with the notions of abstraction and position. By definition, the hybrid-type is an abstracted resolution caused by the necessity of merger between dissimilar ideas or objects. The final product is not a compromise of the two problems, nor is it an apology, but rather a charged morphosis.

In programmatic terms, the investigation of precedents is essential to uncover the inherent problems of transformation and juxtaposition. One must know the thoughts of the disease before one can conjure the cure. The usual problems resultant of this investigation into the 'disease' are those of methodology and viewpoint (reference). Once the problems of need are established, it is common to produce not an abstracted resolution, but more of a programmatic collision. By this, there is a transformational problem in both idea and method. After the programmatic problems are identified, the hybrid-type no longer deals with the synthetic and syntactic, but rather with the analytic and referential.

The notion of the hybrid deals with reference points. Much like the surrealist, the hybrid takes an eschewed view of the subject matter. It is a simultaneous two-way mirror that looks at the resolution through the problem. The clarification of the reference point, however, is essential. Like the chance happening of an umbrella and a sewing machine, the meaning of the merger is unclear unless the referential idea of surgeon and surgical lights are presented in no uncertain terms.

6 Illustrative Projects:

6.1 Remote conversation of Titan II B-5 Missile Silo - 390th Strategic Missile Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ

Figure 4: Xray view of submerged silo complex with section in background

Figure 5: The path from the entry leads to the Peacemaker Wall. Descending into the ground against this wall, the occupant is lead to the Grand Hall.

6.1.1 Preamble: The United Nations (UN) headquarters is currently housed in New York City. This facility accommodates almost all UN activities, and meetings. Problems associated with the current facility include: 1) security concerns for the UN, as it is solely housed at this single location, 2) security concerns for New York City, as the UN is easily accessible (as proven by 9/11) with limited military protection, 3) it does not promote a sense of espirt décor by providing various countries the ability to ‘host’ the UN delegates, and 4) it is often remote from the areas of concern.

6.1.2 Brief Silo History: The Strategic Missile Command System was designed, constructed, and commissioned under the Eisenhower Administration as part of a national defense program. The Titan II weapon system was first activated in 1962. As a result of arms and nuclear reduction treaties, the Titan II

weapon system was deactivated in the mid 80's. All but two Titan II sites have been dismantled. Site #571-7 in Green Valley Arizona, just south of Tucson, and another located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California are all that remain in the continental US. Other sites exist in Turkey, Germany, and Russia.

6.1.3 Brief UN History: The UN was assembled in 1945 as a delegation of nations for peacekeeping purposes. It was devised to provide a forum for dialogue between allied nations with a primary operative to guard against mass human injustice. While the UN has many humanitarian functions, its primary genesis was a reaction to the construction and accumulation of nuclear weapons by multiple national powers that directly proceeded WWII.

6.1.4 Current Silo Status: The United States currently has four viable silos to be utilized. Only one, however, is needed for each county. While the United States Government originally owned each silo facility, many have either been sold by the government to private enterprises or have been destroyed. Each silo that remains is currently monitored by the Russian government via satellite. Public money is no longer spent on operational or maintenance efforts.

6.1.6 Prologue: The Titan II Missile Silo Complex serves as a commemorative symbol of both the failure of Cold War diplomacy and our fear of technology. Being both personal and social, this fear characterizes the modern psyche of post-industrial man. As an object the Silo carries with it the remembrance of a time and place when fears of global destruction hinged on minute-by-minute negotiations between Super Power Nations. Today this fear remains as nuclear weapons of mass destruction become common to even Third World Nations. As a symbol of this fear, the Titan II Missile Silo provides a supportive forum to investigate the notions of memory and reference in commemorative architecture. Conversely, it represents architectures ability to facilitate a corrective processes by using an existing memory and place as a programmatic element.

Figure 6: The 70-ton lid of the Titan Silo is metaphorically tilted into the earth. On this wall is inscribed the Atrocities and Crimes against Humanity. The

tilted slab symbolizes a goal of hope as well as the tombstone of the past.

Therefore, the proposal for the re-habitation of the Titan II missile silo is, fundamentally, to maintain its role of being a “deterrent” to the possible catastrophe that a nuclear confrontation would bring if undertaken at any scale.

However, in times such as these, it is diplomacy that seems to be the greatest weapon in our arsenal. If, as a superpower, our leaders are not involved in the diplomatic process necessary to solve regional conflicts before they blow-up into international incidents, this nation’s status as such is surely endangered. The site of the missile silo could also provide the necessary neutrality for diplomatic actions to succeed. One of the problems with the siting of the UN within the context of Manhattan is that, though in theory, it is neutral ground, in reality, it seems that the U.S. holds undue influence there.

As recent events have unfortunately proven, Manhattan also serves as a symbol of American “Manifest Destiny”, a policy which itself seems to exude American doctrine of undue influence and, as some would claim, innocent aggressive progression. In the middle of the countryside, where these silos were located, this perceptual impact would be lessened. Further, given that in the modern terrorist’s quest for publicity and sensationalism, negotiations like the ones that would take place in this renewed institution, could, and more than likely, would become much less coveted targets. Hence, the deterrent aspect would also contain a protective element. It would send a message that the world community had begun to come together and that the protection of each member was paramount. If the endeavor to achieve world peace is to be successful, every nation must have its voice, and the arena for this must be protected from all forms of extortion.

The Titan II Missile Silo Project is emblematic of architecture’s potential to symbolically charge and insert meaning into an inert, outdated facility through the potential of adaptive reuse. The proposal here is to symbolize that the lunacy of the Cold War and the lessons that were learned within this era can now serve as the foundation for an attempt to truly achieve a sense of applied reflection and informed honesty in diplomacy. Through it’s aggressive yet poetically-made point that architecture can convey meaning and modify behavior, it acknowledges that communication is the ultimate tool that can achieve this state and that it is only within this context that true understanding can exist. It is ironic that the remains of one of the greatest destructive weapons that Mankind has ever produced, a device that in its time achieve its rather short-sighted goals of national security, be renewed to serve as a place where events can occur allowing the achievement of this goal in a more rationally evident manner.

Though the Titan II was an technologically sophisticated machine with a less than sophisticated goal, in its remnants a true acknowledgment of the potential of diplomacy could take place. Diplomacy is not as technologically advanced as the weapons of the Cold War, but it can none-the-less contain a greater potential for success. As in epochs past, the architectural endeavor can again show its possibilities to create places that clarify and aspire to achieve even the loftiest of our ideals.

6.2 The Billboard House

Figure 7: Advertisements pay $3,000 USD to $5,000 USD per month per year – ironically, enough to pay down the mortgage in less than 5 years – reverse

consumerism within consumerism's greatest icon.

6.2.1 Abstract: The idea of habitable space within the confines of an advertisement billboard brings to mind several notions about the rituals of habitation and the narratives between architecture, landscape, and alternative atmospheres. The billboard stands in a secluded landscape and is seen in and of itself as a solitary figure. By its own nature, the billboard is less a 'natural' setting for living, and therefore gives itself much more readily to the contemplative setting of defamiliarization. Although the billboard does not de-'familiarize the spaces and events that take place within, it does, nevertheless, de-familiarize our normal behavior and call to attention our own need to abstract what might otherwise be ‘natural’ activities.

6.2.2 Program: The program includes living quarters within the confines of a typical roadside advertisement billboard to include living and eating space, two bedroom, studio/workshop, rooftop living terraces, and porches where possible. Structure must incorporate active and passive solar energy, passive water conservation, and natural cooling and heating systems.

Figure 8: View of mylar screen with lower level bedroom area, middle living area, and roof garden.

Figure 9: View of subterranean garage and roof terrace. Access elevator is located in 8' diameter base pole. Water cisterns are located on roof terrace.

6.2.3 Prologue: The Billboard Project transforms its primary function from one of singular symbol (consumerism) to one of active use (residential). In this form, the billboard is no longer simply a symbol within the landscape, but rather an active participant. A previous concentration on the billboard as an object in the landscape is subjugated to its suggestion of an environment beyond the highway. What was once centered on nowhere is now an indicator of its exact location.

6.3 US/Mexico Pedestrian Border Crossing - El Paso,

Texas/Juarez, Mexico 31.86N -106.44W - Elev. 3943 ft

Figure 10: Xray view of overall complex showing parking lot in distance with earthcut access.

Interview with Mark Harris, AIA of studioTEN architects

What is the framework for this project?The project proposes an Earthcut for the crossing. It represents a very real scar. The building, if any, is buried - invisible. The power of the project is garnered by a submersion into the earth rather than the occupation of an actual built form or the creation of an object. The architecture, therefore, is absent. Also absent is any aesthetic that can identify a nationality. This is the essence of place. The program, in this light, almost becomes seen as a liturgy for place rather than a governmental policy. This reversal is what interests us about this project so much – this is the framework for execution.

Figure 11: view of seep pool, interior spaces, and glass ceiling

Figure 12: view of seep pool, rammed-earth culvert walls, and entry

This sounds like a political statement on policy. Do you believe that architecture is political?Yes.

Any elaborations?Anything past the primitive hut can be seen as political in nature. Architecture is, and always has been, a leadership role. Responsibility is paramount, as architecture often reflects the intents of those who create it. These people are simply trying to put food on the table – it’s that simple on many fronts. This project provides the needed security as a matter of program, but it reductively accesses a larger framework of issues as well.

The move to resist an iconic, highly visible edifice is bold. What are you thinking?We don’t believe that the boarder is real. The need to demarcate a division line is more a necessity of political policy than anything that can inspire an intentional architecture. Our idea is that the need for this hopefully ephemeral building typology will dissolve as political ideology evolves forward. The Earthcut should fill with sand by the blowing winds of disuse, and only the traces will remain – the remnants of a past political burden. For now, “X” will mark the spot of this somewhat tainted political burden.

In your scheme, how does the experience of crossing actually work?The project is highly processional, as we believe this typology would dictate. However, the procession here is very much reversed and somewhat inverted. The functional imperative here is not one of dictation, although that happens, but rather one of trust. The project is visible during the day by the visible break in the fence – it literally disappears into the earth – and visible by night by the four light towers. By night, the towers of light act as mental tracers. There is a trust implied here, right down to the lush interior materials of bamboo and alder woods. This is our way of inverting dictatorial program into a narrative liturgy.

Figure 13: view of entry sequence, Mexican side with communication towers, and American side with glass ceiling reflecting pool.

Light seems to be treated as a programmatic element, specifically on the interiors. Where does this play into the story?Sunlight cannot only demarcate time, but, through architecture, it can demarcate a place if handled properly. The light tracers found on the site plan channel rays of sunlight into the Earthcut and remove the polished surfaces of the opposing granite walls – literal trajectories. The glass and steel towers, the reflections on the polished granite wall, and the reflecting pool that acts as the ceiling all treat light as a different type of program for the interior experience – all are diffused and altered once they enter to project. It is only through light that we actually compose a known architectural experience here.

What is the role of the water at the crossing?Symbolically, the water at the actual crossing represents the Rio Grande, the actual river that was historically crossed, often with some hazard. This water, however, is more of a peaceful underground seep. It is shallow and reflective – there is no barrier represented here, but rather, something more primal, more universal. The broken steps make you pay attention as you cross, much like the Earthcut makes you suddenly aware of your path as you subjugate the ground plane. It is another world below the radar – it is another world below the ground plane.

You have used expensive, somewhat intimate forms and materials on the interior. What does this say to the occupants?

The cold, septic nature of most institutional interiors has a design principal based on distrust - distrust of misuse, distrust of perspective, distrust of ownership. The interiors are designed to be peacefully reminiscent of an urban plaza, with light filtering through slits between the buildings that compose the plaza. This is more of a gathering place along a daily path than a checkpoint.

This seems very optimistic?Thank you. Do we really have a choice in the matter?

Figure 14: The Wall

7 Conclusions

In the current mesh of deriding the Modern Movement on various levels of discourse, the ideology of a Narrative Architecture, brought to light by Robert Venturi, draws on the current notion of developing an imagery drawn from sociological and physiological sources. Much like contemporary figurative painting, performing art, video art, and dance, it wishes to tell a story.

Because of their functional characteristics, buildings will be constructed whether they have anything to do with art or not. This omnipresent status makes architecture the perfect vehicle for conveying messages about social values and motivations. Architects, under Modernism, still persist in treating their work as an exclusively formalist volumes/space/structure. Rarely have contemporary buildings displayed the social content or clarity of, for example, a Samuel Beckett play, a Magritte painting, or a Chaplin film. The entire notion of multi-level mental connections and diversity of sources has been rhetorically dismissed by most designers as unsuited to the true mission of architecture. The question, then, is not whether narrative is appropriate to architecture; but, rather, how it can be achieved on relevant terms in our diverse, disordered, and pluralistic society.

The narrative idea is a shift of emphasis from the traditional notion of architecture as form, function, and symbol, to architecture as a dialogue in the mind.

If a building today cannot be constructed by relying on explicit or implicit symbolism as a means of communication, then the narrative architect must take it for granted that the "state of shelter" itself carries a timeless residual of meanings for the average audience. This aspect suggest that the primal element of "use" may be considered general rather than specific, and there is no reason to believe that use is exclusively defined by the old notion of functionalism. The Modernist kind of functionalism was "assigned use". "Pure use" brakes down into generic building types-the house, the school, the museum-and these reflex shelter profiles may be the nearest equivalent we have to symbols in our public environment. If "pure use" is treated as a subject matter, it can be related to the architectural vision much the same way a human figure or a sill life relates to the painter's eye. "Pure use" is there to be used. It is the object/subject to be acted upon and transformed.

Narrative Architecture, because of it's connections to literature and drama, is at it's most intriguing when themes and ideas are disclosed gradually, like the plot revelations of a novel or play. Naturally, this- sequential evolution is also characteristic of any complex building based on abstraction and formalism, but the inherent purpose is completely different. Abstract spatial dynamic, when treated as the fundamental design objective, requires the audience to accept geometry as the principle source of communication in architecture. As a result, this coded language is comprehensible to the degree of people's familiarity with it's volume/space/structure vocabulary. More often than not, it seems to me, few are willing to make this effort because the message, once unraveled, only refers back to the rather bleak topic of architecture itself.”

Acknowledgments

Design team design members for projects include Brian Elyo, Takashi Ichinose, and Robert Rager.

References

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Jensen, Michael, PhD, (2003) “Titan II: A Monument to Paranoia and an “Old”

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