Material Process Product - At Full Tilt

We've been exploring the notion of big box architecture and tilt up construction. The mammoth buildings that dot our landscape are pretty darn generic to say the least. How can we make them more meaningful - feel as though they are an integral part of the landscape and growing out of the earth, as opposed to  the painted ladies we have become all too familiar with and accepting of within industrial projects.

Exploiting the panel; both skin and structure, and expressing the process of how these panels are made was the ultimate goal of our research.  By chance an opportunity arose to push research into practice for a building study on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Plant.

A little chance inspiration, a misprint from our color copier, arrived during the charette.  Zoom in and see the subtle beauty that only a mistake could yield. 

Our field research revealed some further nuances to exploit within the finish of the system itself and the component pieces that make the process of site cast tilt up construction come together.

 

Shown above is a view of a "pick" void which allows the panels to be grappled and hoisted into place.  Marks of construction are routinely hidden from sight, our interest is in understanding how they can be expressed in the building facade as evidence of a logical system of construction and ultimately as adornement that reveals how the building is constructed.

A gnarly slab edge condition, shown above,  provided further inspiration to study the possibility of markings that could be worked into the site cast process while reducing labor cost, creating a beauty of economy and system.

Credits:

The photos were taken with a Lumix DX3 camera but edited entirely on the iphone using an app called snapseed.  This particular edit style is referred to as the “#mustangedit” and was first used by Vicki Liantonio on her image “For on the Floor” which can be seen on her InstaGram feed under the user name “piccolotakesall”. 

We thank Vicki for sharing her editing process and the continued collaborations and inspirations she provides, as always we advocate supporting the arts and the artist:

http://instagrid.me/piccolotakesall/

 

Living in the Brownfield - IG Meet

So what happens when the virtual (instagram) becomes real (person with a camera)?  Find out Saturday morning at the inaugaral IG Meet to be held at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.  

It's bound to be a fun morning meeting all the people that you've interacted with online.  We're super excited here because we get to show off all our "secret spots" to a bunch of talented people, some coming from great distance to attend the event.

We created some graphic announcements to get the word out to the online community.  These collaborations were based around an original photo that was sent to me by Leah Flickinger, a stunning example of her straight up style that can be found online at her "@leahflick" username.

The first two collaborations were a loose attempt at a play on the "exquisite corpse" strategy of dealing with a three way collaboration accross the wires.   Leah's original was divided into three and distributed for interpretation and then recombined using the Image Blender app.  The image was hacked by Lea Munjone "@lmunjone" and Bill Deegan "@fac_610" before being given back to Leah for the final edit and post.  You can see the image below.  We're glad some "International Orange" made it into the mix!

The second image was done at the same time as the first collaboration but sat in the archives for a week before we dug it out and incorporated a time change. We were really surprised to find out how many people were driving in for the event, so we let them sleep a bit longer!  The image below is attributed to the same team as the first (leah, lea, bill) with the final mix falling into my hands(bill) this time, the intent was to state the obvious, arrive at 9AM.

The final image of the pre-meet collaboration was a special guest edit of the image above (without the text) 
as envisioned by Vicki Liantonio "@piccolotakesall" with some collaboration in the mix by E "@_elemental_picture".  Vicki's machine gun edit of the image obliterated the original and created an entirely new image that contains a certain "Hatch Show Print" energy, a perfect reference for a brownfield site that is being transformed into a post-industrial cultural district by the City of Bethlehem and ArtsQuest.

All of the original artwork and photography in this post was created and edited entirely on the iphone and can be found on the Instagram feeds of @leahflick @lmunjone @piccolotakesall @_elemental_picture @fac_610.  Also, check out their own unique take on the world, these feeds contain some top quality images.  Looking forward to meeting some of the collaborators for the first time this Saturday!


some links to the collaborators:
http://www.piccolotakesall.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/leahflickinger

some details on where to meet, further info on this can be found at:
http://www.artsquest.org/directions/

this graphic from the ArtsQuest website has it correct - meet where it says "park here"!

Material Process Product

The Module and Structural Form

Here is some process for you. Now that the Arts Plaza is complete, there is a desire to create an opening into the adjacent Williams Visual Arts Building to access the plaza. We thought the opening needed more of an experience and would resemble a tear in the layer of brick. More importantly, the opening would happen without any conventional structural support. We intend to rely on the careful craft of stacking brick to make the opening and provide the sculpted and structural form. We look to the master of sculpted structural form Eladio Dieste and his church in Atlantida Uruguay. Looking forward to meeting with the masons to start the collaborative process!

Material Process Product

Lemons to Lemonade


You may have read an earlier blog about our fascination with ordinary materials in particular, concrete block. Recently, we encountered an unexpected design opportunity on the Scandlon Gym Addition Spillman Farmer is doing for Kings College in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

We are using ordinary unpainted concrete block as the interior finish for the Recreation Center. We decided to course the block in a running stack bond and further accentuate the coursing with raked and flush joints. The overall pattern is evocative of a natural slate wall and provides interesting human scale to a utilitarian wall.

Our team understood that the unfinished block would vary slightly in color and anticipated that this would add a subtle richness to the overall wall composition. What we did not anticipate however, was that the structural bond beam component to the wall would vary greatly in color from the field block. Unlike the field block, the bond beam block was manufactured during a different time of year and used a lighter aggregate harvested from a different quarry. The coursing of the bond beam was not carefully considered and we needed to do so quickly as the masons were beginning to lay the walls up.

A far cry from applied ornament, this distinctive patterning now begins to describe the building's structure to its users. Stay tuned for the finished product.

Excerpt from Mike Metzger - check out the excitement;

"We were presented with two options:  1.  Paint the block - certainly the simplest, would have cost a little more, but would have been consistent and safe on the interior … or 2. Develop a way to incorporate the varying colors in a logical way and locate them to create a strong composition. We decided to articulate this unexpected nuance by carefully considering the structural course within the wall. The required bond beams were stacked in keeping with the coursing pattern and then organized in a striated pattern within the wall. Not the simplest, certainly a bit riskier, but we felt strongly about keeping the block exposed, so we took a bit of time and worked out with the masons, a pattern that has some variation and some order.  The full composition will be better than what we had originally planned for.  It is going to give another layer of dimension, and add some movement to the space"!

"We are lucky to be working with Caretti Masonry and these guys are doing a fantastic job and really are putting care into their work.  Can't say enough good things about them.  I've been speaking with their foreman and believe me when I tell you that he is very concerned with his work and making something really great.  He noted that the double stack doesn’t really take any longer to set and that they're in a rhythm with the coursing and are moving.  And he likes it!!!  Which tells me that he's not just laying block out there, but he's taking the time to get invested in the project and has buy in.  Can't ask for more"!!! 

"we're taking common inexpensive materials that sometimes get overlooked, and exploiting their possibilities by using them in uncommon ways.  Not high cost, definitely high impact".

Couldn't have said it better Mike! Stay tuned for the finished product.

Living in the Brownfield - Industrial Architecture

"80 feet shy of a mile if you walk the perimeter of the structure" was the last thing I remember hearing as we approached the site at Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII (LVIP-7).  

East View - short side of structure, panel erection to the far right rear.
Last week we got to head out to the field to observe and research the techniques of concrete construction, an ongoing study that we've been conducting at Spillman. 

East View - concrete panel pour at slab edge.
We'd like to give special thanks to the teams at Allied Construction and for allowing us to come and see their teams in action.

South View - long side of the structure with one mile perimeter.

North View - Concrete panel pour at slab edge.
We'll be doing a further update on the material, process and product section about the potentials that we see available in the exploitation of this type of construction system - stay tuned and if you visit make sure you're wearing comfortable boots!

SFA News - AIA PA Award for ArtsQuest Center at Steelstacks

Spillman Farmer Architects is pleased to announce that American Institute of Architects (AIA) Pennsylvania has awarded a Silver Medal, the organization's highest honor, to Spillman Farmer Architects for their outstanding design of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. 

The Center is a dynamic performing arts, media, and cultural center located on the landmark Bethlehem Steel site in eastern Pennsylvania. The Center lies at the foot of the abandoned Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, 200-foot industrial ruins that tower above the country's largest privately-owned brownfield. The project represents a new type of hybrid building for the arts. The building is an anchor for the revitalization effort in the City of Bethlehem, transforming a once-abandoned historic industrial core into a dynamic, sustainable, and livable mixed-use community.

AIA jurors praised the project saying, "The design captures the energy and utilitarian beauty that the best of the industrial revolution once offered. At the same time it demonstrates the power that a truly successful marriage of architecture and program can exert in bringing new purpose and hope to the most abandoned parts of our community."

Spillman Farmer Design Principal Joseph N. Biondo responded, saying, "The architecture of the ArtsQuest Center is influenced by its industrial site. It embraces our region and its culture, recognizing the material and human spirit that fueled the industry of this country. It is an honor to be recognized by the AIA for our dedication to craft and human-centered design." Biondo continued, "As a firm, we see this project as an expression of structure, material, and site." The building is wrapped with locally-manufactured pre-cast concrete panels, which are mounted with their rough, hand-screed surface facing outward.  The Center's panels celebrate both the process and the people that produced them, by revealing the marks of their production.  Inserted within this structural concrete strongbox is a skeletal steel frame that honors the site's steelmaking history.  The skeleton is finished in International Orange, an iconic color borrowed from many of Bethlehem Steel's most recognizable fabrication projects, including the Golden Gate Bridge.

Living in the Brownfield - Touchstone Theatre

Touchstone’s involvement with the Historic Bethlehem Partnership’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War continues with a year-long project examining who we are, what unites us, and what makes us Americans. Last season Touchstone inaugurated the commemoration with The Whitman Piece, this year we close it with A Resting Place, an original community-based play written by Alison Carey (playwright of Touchstone’s acclaimed Steelbound). The play and auxiliary events draw on the stories of individuals who lived and died in Bethlehem during the years of the War Between the States.

Friday April 13

Performance of A Resting Place

6pm Moravian College Priscilla Payne Hurd Patio

Panel discussion How the War Affects Us Today

7:45pm  Moravian College Haupert Union building.

 Miss Abigail Gillespie in rehearsal as the Irish Soldier, Aiden, the secret female fighter

Saturday April 14

Performance of A Resting Place:

1pm south Bethlehem Greenway 300 block

Panel discussion: "Building Community Through Theatre"

2:45pm held inside Touchstone Theatre

Performance of A Resting Place

6pm Lehigh University outside Packer Chapel

God’s Acre was where A Resting Place began. Where members of the Touchstone Ensemble came to say words on Veterans Day before James Peifer’s grave, promising the good faith of their efforts. In late twilight we began. 

Sunday April 15

Performance A Resting Place

1pm Bethlehem City Hall Plaza

Panel discussion "Bethlehem's Civil War History"

2:45pm Bethlehem Gemeinhaus

Performance: A Resting Place

6pm Colonial Industrial Quarter

Guest lecture: David Kincaid

7:45pm Central Moravian Church Old Chapel