Ryerson Architecture Graduate Studio 2015: Architecture Rooted in Place + Culture: Combating Homogeneous Architecture through Local, Cultural and Adaptable Approaches

Architectural Issue:
The proliferation of homogeneous, monolithic, outsourced architecture, due to globalization, economics and advances in technology, has led to environmentally and culturally unsustainable spaces and practices. This ‘new kind of brutalism’ and the commodification of architecture have produced spaces devoid of meaning, place and identity, leaving humans disconnected from their built environments and one another.

In particular, the current architectural practices have been specifically devastating to displaced and marginalized indigenous communities, who are struggling to (re)establish their identities and culture through contemporary architecture. Therefore, how do we create meaningful architecture that creates a sense of identity, place and connection for cultures within the context of contemporary globalization?

Recipe:
Through the use of 3 essential ingredients, an architecture that is local, regional, and cultural will begin to give meaning and identity to places. By using vernacular strategies to approach the design, by strongly embedding cultural values as a parameter in the development of form, space, layout and structure and permanence through adaptability, the architecture will have character and significance to the users that will bring people together and connect them to their built environment.

Strategy #1: The use of Vernacular Traditions
               • Tactics - Use of Local Materials
                              - Climate Responsive (passive)
                              - Landscape/Natural Environment as a Form Generator
                                 - Use of Indigenous Construction Traditions

Strategy #2: Materialisation of Cultural Values through Design
• Tactics - Abstract or Literal representation of daily life, spiritual values/world views, social
and/or political structures through: Form, Space, Layout, Structure, Detailing

Strategy #3: Permanence through Adaptability
Culture is not static and is constantly evolving overtime. In Order to establish a sense of ownership and connection to spaces they must be adaptable to the changing needs of culture/users. This further enforces cultural connections between people and their built environment.
               • Tactics - User Daily Adaptability
                                             -Spatially + Programatically
                                 - Modular Design
                                 - Open Concept Design Approaches

Precedents:
First Nations Long House Educational Center (UBC) by Larry McFarland Architects in Vancouver

The goals of this project are to develop a design that represents the current culture and the future aspirations of the First Nation people of Canada. The use of post and beam construction, a traditional aboriginal method of construction, is combined with the use of a modern curtain wall system in the design, bringing together the old with the new and further exemplifying the attitude of the people towards cultural progression and integration. The use of local materials, such as cedar planking, timber beams, river rock, begin to draw a connection to the site and embed a sense of locality to the project. The use of these materials along with the selection of the site, colours and orientation of openings reinforces the First Nations strong spiritual and cultural values of their connection to nature. The formal arrangement of the Longhouse does not directly mimic traditional longhouse forms, it takes on a contemporary form that is modified to current needs and new aesthetic expressions. The form and structure of the pit house at the end of the building, however, more obviously resembles traditional pit house forms. The building is situated on the site according to the cardinal points of the compass, symbolizing their spiritual values of creation. Throughout the building, implicit symbolic forms and ornamentation further expression the culture and spirituality, such as the integration of totem poles. Along with the final product of the building, the design and construction processes reflected the societal and political values of First Nations, for example through the collaboration of Elders, community members, students, faculty, architect and design team.

The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre (Osoyoos, BC) by HBBH Architects

The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre is a contextual response that is heavily based on indigenous vernacular traditions of the area, demonstrating the rich past through a contemporary building. The project is designed to be an “extension of the site” and appears as if it is growing out of the ground. It employs many passive strategies to deal with the drastic climate and uses the surrounding landscape to derive the form (ex. Horizontality of wall blending into the bottom of the mountain terrain). The indigenous techniques of rammed earth wall construction, made for local soils, has been used and modified into an aesthetic tool that represents the sedimentation of the earth and reflects the colours and horizontal planes of the site. The wall also serves as a heat sink that stabilizes the temperature along with a green roof, filled with native plants, and the embedment of the building into the earth, drawing from traditional pit house structures. The project explores a few cultural values of most significance to the culture, one being the connection to the outdoors. The building not only allows visual connection but also fluid physical connections between inside and outside that are not distinguished by typical transitional elements that symbolize a threshold (ie. door, frame, etc.). This project takes subtle approaches to represent the culture and vernacular strategies that result in an authentic project rooted in place and culture.