Title:
Casita Saavedra
Size:
45.72 cm X 60.69
Medium:
Pencil on Paper
Completion Date:
April, 2018
Casita Saavedra is my ambitious outlook to create a townhouse that embodies a source of nexus between the segregated Milwaukee North and South Side in what is currently the Thiele Tannery in the Merrill Park neighborhood. It is modeled after Mexican architect Luis Barragan's modernist masterpiece la Casa Gilardi and expresses the theme of simplicity. It is reflected in creating a simple building surrounded by nature in what is considered an industrial graveyard.
INVESTIGATION
Luis Barragan: La Casa Gilardi
Luis Barragan is seen today as one of Mexico’s most famous architects but like many artist’s his fame would be posthumously. He worked primarily in a modernist style but his unique feature came in his ability to blend or make his work revolve nature. Another key feature was his ability to emphasize his Mexican roots and not white-wash them over with his knowledge and influence acquired while traveling through Europe. This can be seen through the bright colors color palette of his works and the the way he chose to work in Mexican terrain with- having everything revolve around- the native plant life. Another mark of his designs was his ability to work with the natural lighting to create an unique atmosphere; something seen in some of his most famous works such as La Casa Gilardi.
La Casa Gilardi is one of Barragan’s last works and took what was a bachelor pad and made it into a family home. A very unique home seemingly just like every other home in the Mexico City neighborhood of San Miguel de Chapultepec. Although it does have its unique Barragan touch with its blocky exterior with a bold pink hue enveloping it. Still it is the interior of the three floor house that has the more breathtaking qualities. The entire house revolves around the jacaranda tree per suggestion of Barragan. This not out of the ordinary as Barragan always said he never worried about adding green hues to any house as he would let nature take care of that. Still it is the pool and respective corridor leading to it that real are the scene stealers. Applying the light technique Barragan was known for he would create a unique and breathing taking experience with an indoor pool that let just the right amount of light in. Overall it is a design that showcases the culmination of all of Barragan work.
Personally in my design I will be employing the same modernist style that Barragan is so acclaimed for. Although originally I found to look blocky I can now seen the appeal when done correctly it offers a constant flow in thee work and the geometric form is in a way comforting. Still I know to have that unique Barragan appeal I will have to revolve my design around nature which won't be too hard seeing as I wanted to imagine my design as if it were to replace the Thiele Tannery.
Milwaukee: Merril Park
I live under the 35th street bridge along Canal street in a neighborhood known as Merrill Park. This is widely known as the division between the North Side and the South Side and in a heavily segregated Milwaukee it is the division between the primarily African American population from the Hispanic/Latino population.
Just to give brief background on the Merrill Park neighborhood it used to be dominated by the Irish. Still the construction of the I-94 cause most of the population to disperse. Before long populations of color began to settle in this area, where the characteristically large homes began to be turned into apartments. As of now “ a little under half is African-American, European-Americans make up over 20 percent, and the rest of the population is Latino and Asian”. The biggest characteristic of the neighborhood now is over half of the population is low income and about 75 percent of the land is rented.
Just to give brief background on the Merrill Park neighborhood it used to be dominated by the Irish. Still the construction of the I-94 cause most of the population to disperse. Before long populations of color began to settle in this area, where the characteristically large homes began to be turned into apartments. As of now “ a little under half is African-American, European-Americans make up over 20 percent, and the rest of the population is Latino and Asian”. The biggest characteristic of the neighborhood now is over half of the population is low income and about 75 percent of the land is rented.
Goal: Creating a Modernist House in The
Middle of An Industrial Graveyard
Middle of An Industrial Graveyard
Another key feature is the fact that the Merrell Park neighborhood is near Canal street and a key point of the area is the smell. Anyone in Milwaukee can tell you what a putrid smell the 35th Street bridge gives off on a hot summer day. For years I wonder where this smell came from and finally I found the culprit The Thiele Tanney, one of the only remaining tanneries in Milwaukee. Which makes sense since a key reason Tanneries set up base in Milwaukee was the Lake Michigan; a water supply is needed for the production of leather goods. Still an insured ill effect is the water supply always becomes contaminated and the byproduct is a putrid smell.
I wanted to center my building in the area that is currently the Thiele Tannery because not only is it the reason for the smell that overwhelms the area but Merrill Park needs a sense of belonging to uplift the community. In the early 1900’s Milwaukee was as a whole has a thriving Tannery business but long gone are those days. It may be surprising to hear that by 1910 Milwaukee was the World’s largest leather manufacturer center. Despite those days being long gone there is still a ghost of Milwaukee’s industrial past. In my neighborhood this is seen in not only the Thiele Tannery but the unused railroad tracks and carts, as well as the contaminated streams that linger. All signs of a once thriving Tannery industry, yet that’s the point it no longer exists, so then why still look back at the past?
PLANNING
Location
The first step into making my own building was to go out to the Thiele Tannery and take a picture of it. This would give me an overall idea of what to keep in mind when designing my building. I had to keep in mind that this building would be visible from the above bridge, it would be a located in a valley region, and would be surrounded by trees and shrubs just as much as railroad tracks.
Planning Sketches
After I had a good idea of the location I was working on I began to create my sketches. I knew they had to be very simplified forms since I was sticking to a modernist style like Luis Barragan did. Still in my first sketch it is clear I took that I took it a little too literal. It is simply two building, one shorter and in front of the larger one that has a cut out of negative space. Now although it does have the simplified implications of modernism and it was a design that made sense for apartment buildings, it lacked complexity. In my second sketch I attempted to combat that by working with more negative space but still there was something missing. In my third sketch I start to become more aware of how the use negative space, in more detail, in order to add complexity but still I needed a final push to create something I felt satisfied with. It is in my final sketch that I begin to work with negative space with enough detail, that it isn't under or overwhelming. I begin to use more columns, similarly to the way Barragan employed; in order to access natural lighting, and I begin to experiment with asymmetrical symmetry. It is here that I also changed my concept to now be townhouses rather than an apartment building since that seemed more realistic for the design.
PROCESS
Layout-Main Structures
1. To begin I start by taping my sheet onto my cardboard with drafting tape and creating a one inch border for my piece. Afterwards I drew my horizon line at the center of the paper making sure it extended beyond my paper and into the cardboard, I then labeled the left and right vanishing point. At this point I was using a standard 18 inch ruler, a 12 inch ruler, and a triangle square. I knew I wanted one side of my building to be more prominently shown which led to drawing my main vertical line towards the left side. At this point I drew out my three main rectangular prism forms. At this point I wanted more flair to my building, this drew me to creating overhang forms on top of them, this was just something for aesthetic appeal on my end.Off of these overhanging features I thought it only made sense to add columns to logically show support beams in a way that fit the piece’s modernist style. From then I used the cross technique to build columns in the bottom most figure. This was to create a direct connection with Barragan’s Casa Gilardi who’s most iconic feature is the corridor with column like windows.
Click to enlarge
Detail
Once I had a structure that I felt met all the aspects I wanted in a modernist building, I moved onto adding details. This mostly included adding window features and also adding a railing to the top of my building. To do this I utilized the process of making an X in any given area and then dividing at the center to ensure everything was equally spaced in perspective. After doing this I realized that the left side of my of my building, which had the U-shaped beamed, seemed to be lacking balance. It seemed like the negative space seemed to overbearing. In order to balance this side out I added a beam that cut into the building itself, this helped fill up the negative space but not overpower the entire side. In the end I realized the key to maintaining Barragan’s Modernist style was to stick to simplicity and only have complicated structures when necessary for aesthetic appeal.
Click to enlarge
Shading
Once I felt satisfied with my building as a whole I moved onto shading. For me it was very important to make sure the material could be communicated through shading. This is especially important because Barragan, who primarily worked in Mexico, used the materials common there, which many times was concrete or rock like structures, this is something common in most residencies in Mexico. To insure this came across I decided to employ cross hatching in the areas I wanted to make this clear. In other areas I used stippling to indicate more rocky, rough surfaces. In places I wanted a smooth exterior, I used general shading. My general rule was to imagine that the sun was hitting right in front of the building.
Click to enlarge
Nature Details
To finish off my piece I added a couple of trees since a huge feature of Barragan’s Casa Gilardi is that it is built around a tree centered within the house. To do so was a little difficult since I had to take into account the perspective of an organic form rather than the geometric ones I was used to. Apart from doing this I also added grassy details to the foreground field mostly because the building is suppose to be built in the area where Thiele Tannery is currently located. The location of the tannery is centered in the middle of nature and has dispersed grassy fields with few trees and shrubs. In the end it is these finishing details that really enhanced the the simple nature of my modernist building since nature itself thrives on simplicity.
EXPERIMENTATION
Click to enlarge
Most of my experimentation came from working with negative and positive space and how that impacted the overall balance of my piece. Initially I only thought of adding the U-shaped beamed and leaving it at that, still I soon realized that this left an overwhelming amount of negative space and the building itself looked unsupported. With this problem in mind I started working on creating beams to create a support system that would fill up the negative space. Initially I tried to do something rather complicated by crossing two beams but I realized it seemed unnecessary and overwhelming on the left side. That's when I decided that adding a balcony might be a better idea. At first it seemed like it was just what I wanted, something that took up negative space without being unnecessary. Still I had problems with perspective in creating this feature and decided that I should try something else. At this point I started thinking back to the philosophy less is more, which made me decide to work with more simple beams. This led me to making three separate beams which evolved into the idea of becoming one beam that went into the building itself. In the end my final version added just the right amount of positive space to balance out both sides of my piece but also have a necessary function for being there.
REFLECTION
Reflection: CompareIn general I believe when it came to sticking to the Modernist style that Barragan was known for I was pretty clear. My shapes all tend to be very geometric and my building is not highly decorative. In general I am pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish with the overall composition, it feels very clean and crisp.
Another area that is very similar to my inspiration of Barragan is my use of nature, especially trees. I made sure to, just like Barragan, make my building revolve around nature rather than just be a decorative element. Although I will admit that the trees I produced are somewhat out of place but that could be since it was my first attempt at drawing an organic form like a tree in perspective. In general I feel like they can come off a bit awkward, still I believe that without them I would lose the central aspect of simplicity that nature brings. |
Reflection: ContrastAlthough I tried to stay true to Barragan as my inspiration I took a lot of liberty with my building just like he did with his interpretation of Modernism. To begin Casa Gilardi is a closed and basically a cube form. From the beginning I wanted an open space to be a central spect of my building, in order for a direct connection with nature to be facilitated. More over this made Casita Saavedra much more open compared to Casa Gilardi, which is very secluded and less apparently complex; unless you are inside Casa Gilardi it is hard to see its complexity. In the end this distinction ended up being my strongest feature. Especially when looking at the base structure which is just a row of columns, it ends up being the most eye-catching area of my building.
Another important distinction is my inclusion of pattern, especially in the middle structure, which is checkered and alternates with a stippling texture. At first I wholeheartedly believed in simple shading would be enough especially since with Modernism going decorative is not necessary. Still after looking at my building over some time I truly believed it was missing a point of emphasis that I believe the use of texture and repetition created on the middle structure. Overall although I strayed from the concept of Modernism, it was still simple enough that the texture and repetition didn't seem out of place. In the end I stand by my decision to include this in my design. |
ACT RESPONSES
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work?
The effect of my inspiration onto my work is clearly established with my use of a Modernist style when constructing Casita Saavedra. As well as my incorporation of nature as a central element since Luis Barragan was known for building his houses around trees.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
For the most part the authors who write about Luis Barragan took on the approach being objective but in praising tone. It is clear that Barragan was a master in architecture but he wasn't celebrated in his homeland of Mexico. This despite having attributed to the colorful approach of Modernism that Mexico is now uniquely known for.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
It is clear from my research of Modernism in different countries such as the United States and Mexico, that even such a simple and straightforward style like Modernism can be interpreted and approached differently dependent on culture. Mexico is a country known for its distinct colorful representation hence it makes perfect sense that their architects approach to Modernism takes on color.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central focus for me this time was simplicity. Many times we believe in order to make an area/ neighborhood thrive again we have to be flashy to get the place noticed but more often than not less is really more.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some of the inferences I had to make regarding my research on Milwaukee particularly Merrill Park was how the industrial pitiful in Milwaukee contributed to this areas low income status. It was clear that just based on the area being primarily African-American was already an alert that the area would receive the short end of the stick when it came to infrastructure as Milwaukee's history has proved time and time again. Still understanding how that area once had many thriving factories just further identify why poverty is centralized there.
The effect of my inspiration onto my work is clearly established with my use of a Modernist style when constructing Casita Saavedra. As well as my incorporation of nature as a central element since Luis Barragan was known for building his houses around trees.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
For the most part the authors who write about Luis Barragan took on the approach being objective but in praising tone. It is clear that Barragan was a master in architecture but he wasn't celebrated in his homeland of Mexico. This despite having attributed to the colorful approach of Modernism that Mexico is now uniquely known for.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
It is clear from my research of Modernism in different countries such as the United States and Mexico, that even such a simple and straightforward style like Modernism can be interpreted and approached differently dependent on culture. Mexico is a country known for its distinct colorful representation hence it makes perfect sense that their architects approach to Modernism takes on color.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central focus for me this time was simplicity. Many times we believe in order to make an area/ neighborhood thrive again we have to be flashy to get the place noticed but more often than not less is really more.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some of the inferences I had to make regarding my research on Milwaukee particularly Merrill Park was how the industrial pitiful in Milwaukee contributed to this areas low income status. It was clear that just based on the area being primarily African-American was already an alert that the area would receive the short end of the stick when it came to infrastructure as Milwaukee's history has proved time and time again. Still understanding how that area once had many thriving factories just further identify why poverty is centralized there.
Bibliography
“191 Milwaukee Neighborhoods.” West Side, Urban Anthropology Inc., www.neighborhoodsinmilwaukee.org/West_side.html.
Howarth, Dan. “Movie explores Luis Barragáns colourful Casa Gilardi in Mexico City.” Dezeen, Dezeen, 14 Oct. 2016, www.dezeen.com/2016/10/13/movie-luis-barragan-colourful-casa-gilardi-architecture-mexico-city/.
“Tanning and Leather Processing.” Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Historical Society, 3 Aug. 2012, www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1929.
Walzer, Joseph B. “Leather Industry.” Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, emke.uwm.edu/entry/leather-industry/.
Williams, Lily. “The Forgotten Modernist | Architect Luis Barragán.” Culture Trip, 15 Jan. 2015, theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/the-forgotten-modernist-architect-luis-barrag-n/.
Images:
“Casa Gilardi indoor pool.” Dezeen, 13 Oct. 2016, www.dezeen.com/2016/10/13/movie-luis-barragan-colourful-casa-gilardi-architecture-mexico-city/.
“Casa Gilardi inside corridor .” Aqui Magazine , 7 Jan. 2013, www.arquimagazine.com/5469/luis-barragan/.
“Casa Gilardi Patio.” Dezeen, 13 Oct. 2016, www.dezeen.com/2016/10/13/movie-luis-barragan-colourful-casa-gilardi-architecture-mexico-city/.
“Casa Gilardi with blooming tree.” Cosas de Arquitectos , 3 Nov. 2011, www.cosasdearquitectos.com/2011/11/casa-gilardi-de-luis-barragan/.
“Merrill Park Poster .” Historic Milwaukee, Inc, historicmilwaukee.org/product/merrill-park-poster/.
“Thiele Tanning Company Ad.” We Connect Fashion, www.weconnectfashion.com/businesses/thiele-tanning-company.