While conducting research on context and
materials, we came to use the phrase “Ornament and Grime.” The phrase is
a hack of the famous Adolph Loos manifesto “Ornament and Crime,” first
delivered in his January 21, 1910 lecture in Vienna. Ornament and Grime (O+G)
became the wordmark for Spillman Farmer’s investigations into post-industrial
contexts and the “marks of time” as related to the aesthetic and technical
lifespan of buildings. This blog will look at just one aspect of this thinking:
the post-industrial context.
The true catalyst of our O+G research was
found in scholarship from Ben Campkin, of London’s Bartlett School of
Architecture. Campkin’s “ Ornament From Grime: David Adjaye’s Dirty House, the
Architectural ‘Aesthetic of Recyclying’ and the Gritty Brits,” became a
starting point for our Partnership for Innovation (Pi) project. We began to
question the aging process of buildings, and the way our architecture might
address the long-term material impacts of age. Pi, fully entrenched in a
post-industrial fabric, was a critical juncture for the development of a new
approach to the building/context relationship.
We set off to maintain and leverage the rough,
back-alley context of the project. Rather than sanitize our approach, we chose
to embrace the grit and history of the existing building. Pi, a technology
incubator developed and run by the City of Bethlehem, recycles an existing
loading dock as its new entry. Tagging or marking the entry in an appropriate way
was of paramount concern for both the historical review board and for the
project’s public image. Our approach was born of the local context,
drawing inspiration from the industrial heritage of the neighborhood just
beyond Pi’s front door and the need to respect a tight budget without
sacrificing design solutions.
The new entry faces the City’s
recently-developed Greenway, creating a highly-visible face for Pi along the
district’s main artery. In reference to the Greenway’s former use as a
railroad, 138 industrial-issue reflective flags were installed in an array across
the entire façade. While the rest of the alley is marked by dumpsters and other
“back of house” fixtures, Pi’s façade addresses the industrial vernacular and
elevates it with modest rough elegance. The conspicuity array marks entry, signals
transition, and promotes pedestrian safety for doors that open immediately onto
a tight street. The array augments the “gritty” architecture of its industrial
building, and acts as a visual cue for vehicular and pedestrian travelers along
a narrow but important urban corridor.
Campkin writes of Adjaye’s Dirty House, saying, “Rather
than celebrate the industrial as ruin or quasi-ruin, the anti-fly posting
coating both signals that the building is ‘new,’ and that its current phase
takes precedence over any fussy preservation of it’s past.” Pi leverages the
contextually-sensitive principles of conspicuity, seriality, and dirty that are
found throughout the transitioning neighborhood to create a place that is
respectful of its heritage but lacking the anchor of knee-jerk nostalgia for
Bethlehem’s industrial heritage.
Special thanks to the City of Bethlehem team for their
continued vision and pursuit of creating a vibrant post-industrial neighborhood
in South Bethlehem, the former home of the Bethlehem Steel: Mayor Callahan, Joe
Kelly, Irene Woodward and Rebekah Rusnock.
A big thanks to Kate Carter who co-authored this blog and provided a fantastic image as well.
Links:
Photographers: Henry Bourne, Kate Carter, William Deegan,
Evilinnocence (IG), Walker Evans, Paul Warchol
