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PatkauArchitects:InvestigationsintotheParticular

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PatkauArchitects:InvestigationsIntothe
Particular
JohnPatkau
Volume3,Issue2,Winter1996
Permalink:http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.4750978.0003.216
[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.4750978.0003.216]

JohnandPatriciaPatkau,leadingCanadianarchitectswithapracticein
Vancouver,BritishColumbia,deliveredthe1995DinkelooMemorialLectureatthe
CollegeofArchitectureandUrbanPlanning.InthisexcerptJohnPatkaupresents
hisfirm'spracticebasedapproachtoarchitecturaltheoryanddiscussesthedesign
oftwonewschoolsinBritishColumbia,theSeabirdIslandSchoolandthe
StrawberryValeSchool.
Whenpresentedwithacommission,ourintuitivestartingpointistoseekthose
thingsthatareparticulartotheprojectandtocenterourarchitecturalresponse
aroundthem.Wehavecometodescribethissearchasasearchfor"foundpotential"
thoseaspectsofsite,climate,orlocalculture,thatfacilitatethedevelopmentofan
architecturalorderevocativeofcircumstance.

SeabirdIslandSchool
ForSeabirdIslandSchool,thefoundpotentialwasrevealedinstudiesofboththe
siteandtheclient.ThisschoolforaSalishIndianBandisonalargedeltainthe
middleoftheFraserRiveratthepointwheretherivervalleydisappearsintothe
coastalmountainrange.Thesiteisanagriculturalareawithlargefieldsanda
woodedperimeterwheretheindividualdwellingsofthebandmembersarelocated.
Tothesouthofthesitethereisamodesttowncenter,aUshapedconfigurationof
buildingslooselygroupedaroundasmallgreen.
Giventheopportunitytobuildonthissite,wechosetolocatethebuildingcloseto
othercommunitybuildings.Thisisanobviousmovebutanespeciallyimportantone
forthiscommunity.TheaboriginalsofwesternCanadamuchasintheUnited
StateshavesufferedtremendouslyasaresultofanimposedEuropeanculture.It
wasacommunityindisarraywithmanysocialproblems,atroubledcultureinwhich
onlyafeweldersstillspeaktheSalishlanguage.
Thisschoolrepresentedamajoropportunityfortheband.Itwastobetheirmost
significantresourceandtheirlargestcommunityfacility.Theyweretoconstructthe
buildingthemselves,andsoitalsorepresentedanexpressionoftheircommunalwill.
Theschoolwouldteachthechildrenthelanguagethattheirparentshadnotlearned.
Itwouldbeunderstoodnotasaninstitutionbutasawayofpassingonknowledge
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withinanextendedfamily.
Theschoolisorganizedinafamilialmanner.Theclassroomsareplacedalonga
porchwhichfacessouthtotheexistingcommunitycenter.Allofthedoorwaysare
directlyaccessibleontothisporchwhichisapublicspace.Membersofthe
communitycanenterdirectlyintotheclassrooms,takepartinlessonsandteachthe
children.Thechildrenlikewisehaveimmediateaccesstotheoutdoorswherethere
areteachinggardensandsalmondryingracksalongtheporch.Spaceswithinthe
buildingareorganizedinacompletelyopenwaysothatthereisnohierarchical
separationbetweenteachers,parentsandstudents.Asimportantcommunityspaces,
thesefacilitiescanbeusedasintensivelyafterhoursasduringtheschoolday.
Weweretoldbymembersofthebandthattheorthogonalconfigurationofthe
residentialschoolswhichtheyhadattendedinthepastinstrumentsofcultural
genocidewascompletelyunacceptabletothem.Soweattemptedtomakeabuilding
whichdidnothavethesecharacteristics.Insteadthebuildingisirregularand,ina
naivesense,morenatural.Itismorelikealandscapeortheinteriorofaforest.
Ourfirstperceptionofthisflatsitesurroundedbymountainswasthatitwasalmost
roomlikeincharacter.Anylargebuildingwithinthisvastroomwouldnecessarily
takeonafiguralqualitybyvirtueofthedefiningmountainsaroundit,afigural
qualitywhichwethoughtmightsomehowbesuggestivetoourclients.Thebuilding
begantoassumeazoomorphiccharacterwhichhasprovedtobesignificantforthe
band.Theyhavecometoseeitasacreature,someasafishandsomeasabird.Asa
result,thebuildinghasachievedalevelofsignificancewithintheircommunitywhich
insomewaysisnotopentous.
Theschoolwasbuiltbythemembersofthebandwhohadnoconstruction
experience.Theydidnotknowthatthebuildingwasdifficultbutmerelysaid,"Fine,
we'llbuildit."Weconstructedalargescaledetailedframingmodelasapartofour
workingdrawings.Themodelwenttositeandwasareferencethroughoutthe
constructionoftheschool.Whentheycouldnotfiguresomethingouttheychecked
themodel.Thiswasthefirstbuildingofanysubstancethattheyhadundertakenthe
workmanshipisverygoodandtheyhadnodifficultydoingit.Itwasaremarkable
experience.

TheStrawberryValeSchool
StrawberryValeSchooliscurrentlyunderconstructionintheoutskirtsofVictoria.
Thisprojectdealswithasubjectthathasbeenimplicitinourworkfromthevery
beginning:therelationshipbetweenthemanmadeandthenatural.Thisdistinction,
uponwhichmuchofourarchitecturalheritageisbased,islosingitssignificance.As
surelyastheforcesofnatureactuponourbuildings,weworkuponthenatural
world.Gravity,rainandsnow,wind,changesintemperature,plantandanimallife,
allacttoreducebuildingstotheirmaterialconstituents.Atthesametime,wework
uponthenaturalworldthroughtheactofbuilding,atboththesmallscaleofthe
buildingsiteaswellasthelargescaleofresourceextraction,processing,
manufactureandtransportation.Itisnolongerclearwhetheranythingistruly
naturalortrulymanmade.
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Asaresultoftheincreasingcontinuitybetweenthenaturalandthemanmade,our
culturaltraditionsneedtobereexamined.Bothclassicismandmodernismare
baseduponthedistinctionbetweenthenaturalandthemanmade.Inthehumanist
traditionwithinclassicism,architectureisunderstoodtobearepresentationof
"man"asthemeasureoftheworldthatisotherintheabstracttraditionwithin
modernismarchitectureisunderstoodtobeamanifestationofpureformjuxtaposed
toaworldthatisother.Ifthedistinctionbetweenthemanmadeandthenaturalis
losingsignificance,theseculturaltraditionswithinwhichweworkhavetobe,ifnot
questioned,thenenrichedandexpanded.
Clearly,whilearchitectureistheproductofhumanthoughtandwork,italsoaffects
andisaffectedbytheenvironmentwithinwhichitexists.Whatseemstobemissing
frombothclassicismandmodernism,understoodinthismanner,isevidentinthe
subtleenvironmentaladjustmentcharacteristicofvernaculararchitecture.
ThedesignofStrawberryValeattemptstopursuealineofinvestigationwhichnot
onlyacknowledgesourculturaltraditions,but,inspiredbythevernacular,alsogives
architecturalformtoenvironmentalforces.
Thesiteisdevelopedsoastomitigatetheimpactofconstructiononthesite.For
example,rainwaterrunofffromthebuildingiscollectedintrenchesandrunsalong
aswaletocollectinamarsh.Plantsplantedbystudentswillcleanthewaterbeforeit
reentersthegroundwater.Thematerialsofthebuildinghavebeencarefullyselected
tominimizeembodiedenergyandtoxicity.
Thecommunitytobeservedbythisschoolconsidersitself"semirural"incharacter.
Astrongrelationshiptothenaturalworldplaysanimportantpartintheculturaland
educationalobjectivesofthiscommunity.InBritishColumbia,everythingissun
seeking.Tothisend,allclassroomsareorientedtowardthesouthtooptimize
naturalilluminationwithintheinterioraswellastomaximizevisualconnectionto
anadjacentwoodland.Furthermore,allclassroomsarelocatedongradeproviding
directaccesstotheoutofdoorsandthepossibilityofanextendedprogramof
teaching.Thisnotonlymaintainsasmallscaleconsistentwiththeneighborhoodof
singlefamilydwellingsbutalsoattemptstoestablishapositivereciprocityinthe
definitionofwoodlandandschoolyard.
ThebuildingswehavedesignedsinceSeabirdIslandSchoolhavebecome
increasinglyexplicitaboutthewayinwhichtheyaremade.Wehavestruggledvery
slowlywithaseriesofideaswhichbeganintuitivelyandwhichhavebecomemore
formallyexpressedandmorecarefullyconsideredovertime.Ineachbuilding,the
materialsrelatetothenarrativeofthebuildingandtothesignificanceofthepartsof
thebuilding.Therichnessofthespaceisdevelopeddirectlyoutofanexpressionof
howthespaceisconstructed.Thisispartofalargeridearegardingourinterestin
theparticular,andhowthisinterestismanifestedthroughdifferentiationwhether
thatbedifferentiationofoneplacefromanother,ordifferentiationwithinthe
materialsandconstructionofabuilding.
Inaworlddominatedbyglobalcultureitisnecessarytofosteralocalcultureto
defineyourselfasapeople.Aregionalplacedefinedexclusivelybyglobalcultureis,
inasense,acolonialplacewithoutacultureofitsown.Althoughweareinevitably
shapedbyglobalculture,weneedtomakealocalculture,andweneedtoreinforce
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theparticularinthecontextofanoverwhelminggenerality.Theprinciple
mechanisminthecreationoftheparticularisdifferentiation.
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