http://blog.preservationleadershipforum.org/2014/05/23/old-places-matter-architecture/#.U4Ou35RdVYw
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Glasgow School of Art with extension
Glasgow, Scotland
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
glasgowarchitecture.co.uk |
Hello Everyone:
Today we're going to revisit our friend Tom Mayes of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. When Mr. Mayes was a 2013 Rome Prize winner for Historic Preservation at the American Academy, he post a series of articles on "Why Old Places Matter." The articles were posted to the
Preservation Leadership Forum blog and considered subjects such as national identity, history, beauty and their importance to old places. Today we're going to look at his post about why architecture matters. Architecture is more than just putting up four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. It's that and the unique decorative details that give it character. People love old places and can appreciate their art and craftsmanship. It doesn't matter if it's a school like the Glasgow School of Art or a converted barn such as the one Mr. Mayes describes in his post. It's about how all those elements make you experience a place, engaging your sense. It's Mr. Mayes calls "Architecture with a big 'A.'"
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Rendering of House for an Art Lover (c.1901)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
houseforanartlover.co.uk |
The converted barn in this particular case was old house that his father's friend, Jim Withers, was using as a barn. The confluence of the woodwork, the high ceilings, the wide mantelpiece supported by intricate moulding. The way the decorative brackets unwrapped themselves in spiral onto the steps of a curved staircase. The relationship of the woodwork to the high plaster walls. It left Mr. Mayes with an inexplicable feeling of wholeness. This feeling is something that we experience when confronted with a building that for, one reason or another, causes us to fall silent. It is this sense of harmony, balance, and proportion that Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries invested in their work. It is why we're all dumbstruck standing in the Taj Mahal. It's the magic of architecture. ( See, e.g. de Bottom, 2006)
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The Pantheon (c. 2nd century CE)
Rome, Italy
monolithic.org |
This magic quality of architecture has been recognized and held dear by people throughout the span of time. From the Roman emperors who employed architects to look after their buildings; Filippo Brunelleschi who studied the dome of The Pantheon to discover its secrets of proportion and construction; modernist Philip Johnson who referenced the history of architecture in his design, people have looked back at the entire history of world architecture for inspiration. These wonderful places are, simply put, art. Architecture is like any work of art, it helps us understand who we are as people and our abilities. The Pantheon, for example, like Fallingwater or The Pyramids, are icons of western civilization. They and other great works, such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England, represent an important moment in our history. Mr. Mayes cites a recent talk given by Ashley Wilson, Grahma Gund Architect at the National Trust, explaining the importance of the Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe:
After the Farnsworth House, modern architecture was forever altered. There are very few buildings that can be identified as the first
of a movement. One that comes to mind is the early 15th-century buildings that kick-started the Renaissance, the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence. Nothing was the same after that building was built.
Philip Kennicott wrote in
The Washington Post in reference to a discussion of the downtown central library by Mies van der Rohe:
historic preservation experts, architecture critics and other cranks...ground their beliefs on the complicated and difficult to express fundamental value of retaining important cultural objects simply because they are beautiful or play an important role in the history of culture. (Kennicott.
The Washington Post, 2014)
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Villa Rotonda (c.1564)
Andrea Palladio
it.wikipedia.org |
"Cultural heritage" is one of those oft-used phrases in preservation. It's a vaguely defined phrase but a useful way of bringing together a group of idea. In reference to architecture, i.e. old buildings as cultural heritage, what cultural heritage is referring to is symbols that give life to identity, continuity, memory, and inspiration to our lives not just valuing them for the sake of culture-not that's it's a bad thing. Old places contribute to our memory, civilization, history, and our understanding of our selves. Tom Mayes does note that a building
doesn't have to be old for it to represent continuity in our civilization. The example he gives are the protests over the impending loss of the American Folk Art Museum building in New York City. (Quirk,
Arc Daily, 2014; Kimmelman,
New York Times, 2014) The imminent loss is being regarded as a preservation issue, even though it was designed in 2001. No irony here. Why is this the case? The reason this is the case is that the building, from its inception, was regarded as a work of art and it's impending demolition is considered on par, with many, as a form of iconoclasm. Mr. Mayes concludes, "This controversy highlights the fact that preservation is about the present-about valuing things that matter now-not only about things of the past."
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Rendering of The Willow Tea Room (1904)
Glasgow, Scotland
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
houseforanartlover.co.uk |
Even though contemporary have their value in art and architecture, age give a building another layer of meaning. People have long understood that age imparts a special quality to buildings. Nineteenth century critic John Ruskin wrote that old buildings were important because they contained the spirit of the people who made them, "that spirit which is given only by the hand and eye of the workman," and that they reflect the spirit of the age in which they were built. (Ruskin, 1961, 184) This was the spirit that made its presence known to Mr. Mayes in Jim Withers's old house, revealing itself in the craftsmanship. That fine craftsmanship that Mr. Mayes admired is also found in the magnificent work of the arts and crafts movement, such as The Gamble House in Pasadena or The Willow Tea Room in Glasgow, Scotland. However, you can also find exquisite examples in the vernacular buildings. You can sense the hand of the maker in the details of a log cabin. Every time one of these treasures is lost, a part of our spirit is lost with it.
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Rose stained glass window
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
scottishstainedglass.com |
While the spirit of a building may not be fully revealed to use, Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmas wrote, "There is a a tacit wisdom of architecture accumulated in history and tradition. But in today's panicked rush for the new, we rarely stop and listen to this wisdom." (Pallasmaa, 319) One example that Washington D.C. architect Alexander Singletary shared with Tom Mayes, an architect or planner raised in the sixties suburbs is less likely to be aware of the ideal environmental siting of a farmhouse as a nineteenth century builder who was raised in that particular landscape. Thus when we lose a building, a piece of that knowledge disappears with it. Another example is the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, Washington where a light well was closed, later reopened, adding light in the center of the building without additional energy consumption. Many early twentieth century Washington D.C. apartment contain louvered doors with overhead transoms to deal with the notoriously hot and humid Washington summers, though not in use anymore. This wisdom is increasingly appreciated in light of the naturally sustainability of older buildings-documented by the National Trust's Preservation Green Lab.
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Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow, Scotland
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
visit-glasgow.info |
Other than environmental wisdom, old buildings have a symbolic meaning and secret histories that reveal themselves over time. What does an old building say about the intentions about the maker at the time and how do we know it? We're familiar with the use of the neo-classical order in civic buildings, but few are familiar with the animal heads and garlands (Hersey, 1988). Further, we may not recognize the historic knowledge embedded within architecture-clues of our history hidden by slaves in the walls of the plantation, Hebrew letters on medieval buildings in Rome that once contained a synagogue.
Tom Mayes quotes Juhani Pallasmaa, "The significance of architecture is not in its form, but in its capacity to reveal deeper layer of existence." Old building help us understand the deeper layers of who we are. It's a real thrill when an architectural landmark reveal symbolic and historic meaning. Architecture helps us become more cognizant of who we are, our past values, our place in the long line of civilization, and the what future can hold. It's the thrill of being in a place that touches your soul.
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