Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Water takes center stage in December Architectural Record

Water takes a proprietary role in the recently released December issue of Architectural Record of 2012.  Three different articles (all respectively related to Hurricane Sandy) discuss design ideology within the light of climate and water level changes.




'It Happened Here: Hurricane Sandy's Impact" by Fred A. Bernstein

An immediate look at recent and past storm surges.  Katrina and Sandy had devastating impacts on their respectively hit built environments.  Sandy's flooding and physical damage are matched by the catastrophic long term economic and cultural impacts.  Soon or later, Bernstein states, the questions will arise as to why the city (Manhattan) did not make better preparations for a storm they knew was coming?  He explores and analyzes many possible solutions and ideas that have been discussed such as a proposed five mile steel barrier and the recent Museum of Modern Art's Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfront Exhibition.  He briefly introduces the Dutch and their architectural approaches to "living with water".  

"Market forces will shape the city of the future" (Bernstein), but how will developers and architects work to respond to the problem that has been explored by the Dutch, and now violently pushed to the front of our drawing board.  How do we design so that we can "live with water"?



"Learning the Hard Way" by Michael Sorkin

A first hand account of living in Manhattan during and post Sandy.  Sorkin starts the article stating that he and his wife had just managed to get heat and power back almost two weeks after Sandy's departure.  Living in an apartment in Lower Manhattan, Sorkin posits the question: "What are some of the lessons that Sandy teaches us about the way we build?"  



The above image shows that if you remove the areas most at risk of flooding (shown in pink in the top map) you get the original outline of Manhattan.


He discusses the unevenly distributed misery a storm like Sandy forces to the surface.  The privileged areas of the city, where police response are immediate and heat and power are back up the quickest, and the public housing sectors, where two weeks after the storm there were still 15,000 apartments without heat, hot water, and power.  Comparing Sandy to Katrina, Sorkin opines that while the system failed miserably, New Orleans was much better prepared for a superstorm than Manhattan.  That New Orleans had in fact acknowledged its topographical realities long ago and addressed them (however poorly).  

The overarching consensus is that we have built ourselves into a predicament.  The question is how do we correct it?  For Sorkin, "the economics are clear: our failure to protect our lowlands will cost, just for Sandy, perhaps $50 billion, and the cost curve for repair has surely crossed the one for protection.....It's time to recognize that we can no longer focus such disproportionate resources on yesterday's risks.  Let us hope that the poisonous anti-government and anti-environmental politics of today do not prevent us from using our peace dividend to solve this urgent threat"



The third article is a review in the perspectivebooks section by James S. Russel




"Lessons From the Dutch"
Sweet and Salt: Water and the Dutch by Tracy Metz and Maartje van den Heuvel

"As cleanup from Hurrican Sandy segues to rebuilding, Sweet and Salt could have been ripped from newspaper headlines".  Russel's analysis of the book serves as a brief synopsis of the book's topics.  "Sweet & Salt is an intensely visual consideration of the history, culture, and engineering of water that engages our senses and our emotions - not just our intellect - with its ravishing (and beautifully printed) photography, cartography  and art."

More important than the book in general is the theme presented by the book.  The Dutch are highly regarded for the design and involvement within an culture of water.  How can we as architects, landscape architects, planners, and developers take the "culture of water" informed design presented by the Dutch and start to introduce that manner of thinking where it has become inevitably needed?


Sunday, November 18, 2012

On Monday, November, 12th, 2012 the University of Virginia School of Architecture was pleased to welcome former alumnus, and co-founder of ARO (Architecture Research Office) Adam Yarinksy as guest lecturer.

His discussion in sustainable design concepts through the lens' of his past projects was even more relevant due to the recent and ongoing effects of super-storm Sandy.  Reminding us that our built world is often an imposition on the natural environment, Adam suggests that we must continue to re-think and re-define how we construct the built world in response to the natural.


These concepts were readily apparent in ARO's response to MOMA's Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfronts.


The following images from the lecture suggest ecological changes to lower Manhattan.  The project was analyzed recently in the New York Times.





  A few video clips from the lecture highlighting thought process and architectural thinking relative to water and its power.


A brief description of ARO's Rising Tides Project



Manhattan sea level rise, hurricane sandy and architectural implications.




Architectural design strategies and thinking on the waterfront.

Responses to Katherine Rinne - Plumbing Rome


In response to the last blog post on the Katherine Rinne lecture, several students wrote critiques,  assessments, and evaluations regarding the work done and methodologies used throughout her process.

The following are three of the responses:




Beth Mitchell

The Waters of Rome: A Refreshing Methodological Approach

Like others who visit Rome, our guest lecturer Katherine Rinne was drawn to the water that flows through the city’s landscape. It’s easy to see how one would begin a journey looking at these water systems; when the heat is the strongest the picturesque fountains appear around every corner, during the rainy season the flooding Tiber threatens to swallow up the bridges themselves. The more time you spend in the city, the more water begins to define your experience. This could not be more true for Rinne, who has spent the last decade carefully studying the water that, throughout its history, has defined the city of Rome.
The approach that Rinne has taken in studying the network that connects Rome’s baroque fountains feels somewhat unique in scholarship ̶  beginning not with a posed question, but a passionate interest and something of a leap of faith. Water, she explained, is “culturally neutral”, a commodity used the same way by everyone, and why for her, it was an intriguing area of study. That, and the fact that it is impossible to resist being drawn to the stunningly beautiful fountains designed by the same architects responsible for the Baroque city’s sculptural building compositions. In the five hundred years prior to their construction, the abundant water supply that the early Roman emperors brought into the city through ingeniously built aqueducts had fallen into disrepair, and the medieval city of Rome lived mostly without the fresh and free water that had previously filled its fountains and basins. As Rinne’s research has shown, it was the restoration of this water supply that brought about the powerful and influential Rome of the 16th century and beyond. Her work demonstrates what can be discovered when we disregard preconceived notions, observe with an open mind, and put ourselves directly into the shoes of the historical figures that we study.    
The starting place for Rinne’s study of water began where one trained in architecture naturally would: on the site. In this case, the site in question was the city of Rome. Starting at the northern edge near the Piazza del Popolo, she walked each street carrying her notebook, maps, and a camera. Rinne traced the map of Rome displayed overhead as she described her methods, noting how she weaved her way through the city ̶  the cluttered network of streets forcing her to retrace her steps several times over. Though many scholars have examined the fountains of Rome closely over the years, Katherine Rinne firmly believed that there was something new to discover. What was clear in her talk was the fundamental notion that there is always a new viewpoint you can bring to an area of study. Often in scholarship, as well as design, it feels as if an idea has not only already been done, but done many times over. This notion can leave us without a starting place for our work. What Rinne shows us, is that when we disregard the thought that there is nothing left to explore, our individual interpretations allow us to bring entirely new ideas to the discussion.
In the case of Rinne’s approach, finding the unanswered questions came from patience and careful documentation. Covering the entire city took over three months and each street was captured at three times of the day. Rinne explained that she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, so she recorded everything even slightly related to water. There were photos taken of the fountains- ornamental, drinking, animal, the water in their basins, drains, aqueducts, as well as flood markers, streets named after water features and sewer infrastructure. This non-judgmental and comprehensive view was, for Rinne, crucial in discovering the fundamental ideas behind her research ̶  that through gravity, the water was connected in a system that lay hidden behind the dazzling baroque fountains. This path led her outside of the city, following the aqueducts back to their ancient sources, and to a careful study of Rome’s topography, which included the creation of a map of her own design. Though the idea of gravity and water flow seem obvious, this view of the water as a connected system, which included the fountains of Rome, was an area of study yet to be explored.   
            The key figure in Rinne’s research was the 16th century architect Giacomo della Porta. Della Porta was responsible not only for restoring the Acqua Vergine, the renamed ancient Acqua Virgo, but also designed the first group of fountains and the water distribution system that became a model for later aqueducts in the city. The daunting task of understanding how della Porta was capable of working out this complex system dependent on the city’s topography, without modern surveying tools, was taken on by imagining the Rome in which he lived. Peeling back the layers of the modern city and visualizing the Rome of della Porta’s time, an era when aqueducts were still out of commission, could not have been an easy task. Through careful observations, as well as archival research, Rinne was able to put herself in the place of a 16th century architect. With barely any remaining notes or drawings from della Porta, she creatively hypothesized how he was able to take on the task of distributing water to the city.
An important aspect of Rome’s history lies in the fact that the Tiber floods regularly, and prior to the modern walls that currently keep the river at bay, the murky water would flood the city streets. The markers left on buildings show us how high the water levels rose during these floods, and though we might think the traffic congested city of Rome is dirty today, one can only imagine how filthy the streets were in earlier times. Rinne took careful note of this, and observed that with the Tiber regularly spreading through the city, as it would recede, layers of grime would have been left behind on every surface. By imagining what the 16th century architect could have observed, Rinne envisioned that these layers left over from past floods would have been clearly visible. By noticing that water levels had crested far higher in some areas versus others, della Porta would have had a type of contour map at his disposal, and thus be able to systematically plan a water distribution system that relied on gravity.
Designing a distribution system that brought water from the aqueducts to the fountains across the city, would have taken a lot of advanced planning and careful understanding of how water would flow and reach a state of equilibrium. While the baroque fountain designs brought symbolism and focus to public spaces, behind them lay a carefully planned infrastructure. With the distribution of water, concepts of city planning were brought to Rome, including systems of drainage for run-off, sewers and paved streets. These major changes to the city led to more movement and trade, bringing with it prosperity and prestige for Rome. The influence of Rome’s architecture and planning from this period was far reaching, and Katherine Rinne’s thorough research makes it clear that much of this achievement stemmed from the new system for water distribution that was put in place. From her methods, we can learn the value in keeping an open mind, and the reward that is possible from meticulously following the trail of a passion-filled exploration.


Anna Hong - Rinne Response
 In ancient China, the philosopher Lao Tzu once referred to the void within a cup as the essence of the cup. He observed that space was what made the vessel useful, and that the act of containment was what gave it meaning. This idea has since been applied to architecture; most notably by Frank Lloyd Wright, who used it to describe the true purpose of building – to contain human life.
 Whether intentional or unintentional, architect, Katherine Rinne, pushes against this concept of architecture as space making in her lecture, Plumbing Rome. Her studies are not about walls or spaces, but about what is being contained within the cup, or in this case the city of Rome. While she examines the 3,000-year history of the city’s infrastructure and urban development, as well as conducts a survey of the extensive network of fountains, drains and pipes, Rinne’s investigation is ultimately about the living system that flows within them – water.
 As director of the web-based research project, The Waters of the City of Rome, Rinne has tackled the task of mapping the hydraulic systems of Rome with meticulous, almost obsessive, attention to detail. The focus of her investigation seemingly encompassed any and everything that could possibly have to do with the theme of water: springs, rivers, aqueducts, fountains, drinking spouts, toilets, drains, pipes, flood markers, dog fountains etc. In addition, her four-month sojourn through the streets of Rome, identifying the origin, containment, flow and distribution of water, produced an incredible amount of data on the city’s infrastructure and development, gleaned from personal observations, critical readings, analytical studies and archival research. However (perhaps fortuitously) the results of her study remain fairly open-ended. 
In her lecture, Rinne presented several interesting findings, and theories of her own, but she was also quick to emphasize that the ultimate goal of the project was to create a foundation of evidence upon which other scholars and professionals could establish their own work. Rinne refers to water as the life source of the city, providing both physical and spiritual nourishment to the body and the senses. She also highlights some of the connections that can be made between the readily visible urban layout of the city and the harder to discern flow of water. Aside from a few teasing glimpses into possible research topics, Rinne holds back on offering too many concrete suggestions about how to apply her study. In the end, it is exactly this freedom to interpret, which her project fosters, that makes it so significant. 
Rinne intends for her project to be used as a design tool for students and professionals in the field of architecture, but the study also opens doors for scholars in other fields such as civil engineering, geoscience and history, just to name a few. Research in these other fields could possibly include a socio-political study of class hierarchies that governed water circulation, an economic study of water as commodity, or a mechanical study of hydrodynamics. The straightforward presentation of her study lends itself to multiple interpretations; the GIS data mapping, especially, allows users to easily assess her findings and reach their own conclusions. One of the most interesting facets of the Waters project is the development of a complex narrative structure that interweaves the story of water, with the cultural, political and social histories of the city. Not only does Rinne’s project help redefine our understanding of urban landscapes, but it also serves to expand the scope of architectural inquiry beyond the study of material structures and spaces. In this instance, it is not the physical form that defines the cup, nor is it the space within. Rather, the value of the cup is determined by what it contains. In the case of Rinne, this would be the water that runs through Rome, bringing together various narratives of the city, giving life and meaning to its built environment.

Blake McDonald - "Plumbing Rome" Blog Post


 In the lecture “Plumbing Rome,” Katherine Rinne narrated her ongoing investigation of the interconnection between Rome’s public water system and the city’s physical growth. Rinne illustrates Rome as a city built upon a culture of water, from the centrality of the Tiber River and the baths of the ancient Romans to the public drinking fountains and decorative cascades that form the basis of her research. Unlike previous studies of Roman fountains as purely aesthetic objects, Rinne seeks to reveal the scientific, social, and political mechanisms that brought water into the city, tracing channels from source to distribution.
Rinne’s lecture began with a description of medieval Rome, where the ancient aqueducts had all but crumbled and the majority of the city relied on private water sellers. With the return of the popes from Avignon the aqueducts were slowly rehabilitated, and the revived flow allowed for the construction of a network of fountains both monumental and minute. Rinne focused her attention on Giacomo Della Porta, an architect whose illustrious building career was preceded by his integral role in the reconstruction of the Acqua Vergine and his design of several of Rome’s most well known fountains. Della Porta’s work allowed for what Rinne describes as a cleansing and rebirth of the city as “a place of plentiful water and life.” Rinne also expressed how the forms of the architect’s fountains prefigured his later architectural practices, and the locations of the fountains themselves drove speculative development. In these ways, Rinne illustrated the fountains as more than the civic features, but as vital engines to the health, growth, and artistic progress.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the project is how Rinne undertook her survey of the city’s constructed water features. Armed with several historic maps and a modern tax atlas, Rinne spent nine months walking each street in city’s core, recording fountains, drains, flood markers, and anything else that seemed associated with urban water systems. Rinne told how, not knowing precisely what she wished to do with the findings of her survey, she not only sketched and measured each site but also photographed the sprays and pattern that the water made in each fountain. The result was not only a deep understanding of extant water infrastructure on Rome’s streets, but also the ability to create pictographic depictions of how the linear conduits emanating from each of the city’s three water sources produced different types of fountains. Equally compelling was Rinne’s method of producing a topographic map of Rome to gauge which fountains had been built at higher elevations, which she achieved by measuring the height of flood markers from the same event in different locations around the city. Through these endeavors, Rinne was able to put herself into the mindset of Giacomo Della Porta and begin understanding the city’s fountains as fixed to and physically formed by the contours of Rome.
            Rinne’s work on the waters of Rome is inspiring in a number of ways, not least of which is her persistence and ingenuity in determining how to represent and connect complex and often invisible infrastructures. Her work helps us to understand Rome not as a series of historical sights and monuments, but as a complicated feat of engineering, connecting each neighborhood and tying the city to the surrounding geography. Moreover, Rinne’s ongoing research shows that even subjects of past historical analysis will continue to yield compelling insight when looked with fresh eyes and an open mind.




Thursday, November 1, 2012

Katherine Rinne Lecture - Plumbing Rome

As a part of the Dean's Forum Lecture Series, Katherine Rinne spoke at the University of Virginia on Monday, October 22, 2012.

Her lecture titled "Plumbing Rome" was a brief discourse on the historical, cultural, and societal impacts that water has had on Rome throughout the ages.

Below are a few video clips from the lecture discussing and dissecting the nature of water within Rome.


Why study water?



The integral nature of water



The Roman relationship with water





Virginia Film Festival



The Virginia Film Festival begins today November 1st and runs through Sunday, November 4th.

Given the enormous amount of great films to choose from, why not see a film related to the Year of Water?
The following films all will glance into an aspect of the world related to water.


Amazon Gold
Narrated by Academy Award® winners Sissy Spacek and Herbie Hancock, Amazon Gold is the disturbing account of a clandestine journey into the Amazon rainforest. Two journalists led by a Peruvian biologist uncover the unraveling of pristine rainforest. They bear witness to apocalyptic destruction in the pursuit of illegally mined gold with consequences on a global scale. An animated agouti rodent springs to life to tell the story of his ecosystem. Left in the wake of a once extraordinary beauty turned into hellish wasteland, this film reaffirms the right of the rainforest to exist as a repository of priceless biodiversity.


Chasing Ice
Internationally renowned National Geographic photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic in 2005, trying to capture climate change in a single photograph. James came into the assignment skeptical about climate change, but the experience was eye-opening for him. Director Jeff Orlowski and his team battled treacherous terrain to reveal evidence of the Earth’s most visible signs of global climate change in a unique and dramatic way. Chasing Ice's sweeping cinematography complements James’ still photography in a film that serves as a wake-up call – one that may dramatically shift popular perception concerning climate change. 


Leviathan
Shot on a fishing vessel off the New Bedford coast of Massachusetts with eleven waterproof digital cameras shared by fishermen and filmmakers alike, Leviathanis an experimental documentary that explores one of mankind’s oldest endeavors. The film provides an immersive experience that follows the crew's real-world perils and the rigorous physical labor and high stakes involved in the highly mechanized industrial process of commercial fishing. From the co-director of Sweetgrass, the celebrated documentary of modern shepherding, Leviathan embodies the chaotic cacophony of life at sea as well as the clash of man, nature, and machine.


For more information or the film schedule feel free to visit the Virginia Film Festival website @ virginiafilmfestival.org




Sunday, October 28, 2012

drink.


Having already hosted a series of lectures and events, the University of Virginia School of Architecture is  "knee deep" in the year of water.  Information gathering increases as does the multidisciplinary coordination effort.  In order to educate everyone as to the resources, events, lectures, classes, and experts involved in this pursuit, the School of Architecture has released the above poster.  The poster, titled "drink" will serve as a base itinerary for both the ongoing and the upcoming water related events at the School.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

INDIA INITIATIVE


The India Initiative is a five year design research program at the University of Virginia directed by Professors Phoebe Crisman and Peter Waldman.  The research in this program provides speculation about the foundations of architectural thinking in a context beyond the familiar.  The program gazes through two perspectives of dwelling – the emergent mega-city and the enduring village.  The symposium makes connections between vernacular/cultural practices that persist today but are far removed from our own.  Each year the five year study will focus on one of the five Hindu pillars of creation: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether (void).  The summer 2012 research investigated water as a spatial generator.


    Elmaleh Gallery presentation of student work

This year’s symposium took place on September 14th, 2012.  Multiple keynote speakers addressed the many concepts researched during the program and their relationships with their ongoing professional work.

The speakers included:

Pankaj Vir Gupta                  Vir.Mueller Architects, Delhi
Vikramaditya Prakash        Chandigarh Urban Lab; U. Washington Professor of Architecture
David Turnbull                      Atopia_Innovation; Copper Union Professor of Architecture
Tod Williams                         Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, NYC


                                          David Turnbull speaks about Le Corbusier and  
                                          his lifelong relationship with water and its architectural     
                                          relevance.

Another aspect of the symposium is the push for multidisciplinary insight on constructed space and water in India as well as throughout the world.

An assembled panel of experts discussed the ongoing dialogues relative to the topic.

Majida Bargach                   UVA Center for International Studies
Richard Cohen                     UVA Asia Institute
Sheila Crane                        UVA Professor of Architectural History
Daniel Ehnbom                     UVA Professor of Art History
Edward Ford                          UVA Professor of Architecture
David Germano                     Center for Contemplative Sciences; UVA Prof. of Religious Studies
Pankaj Vir Gupta                 Vir Mueller Architects, Delhi
Jeff Legro                             Vice Provost for Global Affairs; UVA Professor of Politics
Vikramaditya Prakash       Chandigarh Urban Lab; U. Washington Professor of Architecture
David Turnbull                     Atopia_Innovation; Cooper Union Professor of Architecture
Tod Williams                        Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects



                                          Daniel Ehnbom on the nature of water as central in
                                          Asian culture and relevant to all life.