Michigan Architecture Papers

MAP 9 · Shim·Sutcliffe

Published to commemorate the Charles & Ray Eames Lecture,

given by Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe at Taubman College
on March 30, 2001.

Editors: Brian Carter and Annette W. LeCuyer

Designed by: Christian Unverzagt with Craig Somers at M 1, Detroit
Typeset in News Gothic and Adobe Garamond
Printed and bound in the United States of America
ISBN: 1- 891197- 21 - 5

© 2002 The University of Michigan

A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Plann ing
and Shim·Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto

In col laboration with Herman Miller, Inc.

Taubman College
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2069 USA

734 764 1300

734 763 2322 fax
www.tcaup.umich .edu
Shim· Sutcliffe

Michigan Architecture Papers 9

Wood · Water· Wea1
Introduction 6 ·The Image of Charles &Ray g · Wood 20 · Water 52 ·
hering Steel
feathering Steel 74 · Shim·Sutcliffe 90 · Charles &Ray Eames 92 · Herman Miller, Inc. 94 · Acknowledgments 96
6 Introduction
Charles and Ray Eames are inspirational characters. Their
belief in rhe value of design and enrhusiasm for collaborative
work establ ished new definitions for the discipline, while their
imeresr in rhe everyday and irs potential ro transform prompted
differem ways of seeing. The lines that they drew have retained
their elegance and potency, yet at the same rime that they were
drawing, they were also making films, considering rhe impact
of science, observing the circus and exploring the influence of
borh printed word and projected image. Charles and Ray Eames
had an enclless curiosity about rhe properries of materials-
a curiosity rhar is obvious in the furnimre, spaces and objects
that they designed. They were appreciative of good workmanship
and seemingly compelled ro devise rhe beautiful connection.

It is lirrle wonder rhen rhar the armual Charles and Ray Eames
Lecture at rhe University of Michigan, which brings partners
who are working rogerher in design ro speak about their work
at rhe College, has become an evem of major imporrance in
our calendar. The series was founded in 1998 to celebrate the
work of rwo of America's fmest designers. The architect Charles
Eames and artist Ray Kaiser mer in Michigan. They began
working together here and underrook rheir first collaborative
ventures wirh indusrry when rhey starred making furnimre with
the help of Colonel Evans in Detroit. Later they were to sustain
a long-lasting working relationship with Herman Miller, Inc.,
a company rhar has been building rhe furniture rhar Charles
and Ray Eames designed for almost sixty years in Michigan.
Like the work of Charles and Ray Eames, this lecture is also 7
a collaborative project- one that is generously supported by
Herman Miller, Inc. and the A. Alfred Taubman College of
Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.
The inaugural lecture, presented by Tod Williams and Billie
Tsien, like the lectures that have followed, was published in
the Michigan Arch.itecture Papers, a pmject that brings students
and faculty to work together with the guest speakers.

The 200 I Charles and Ray Eames Lecturers are Brigitte Shim
and Howard Surcliffe. These two young architects have been
working together since 1987 and, from a modest studio housed
in a former garage in the heart ofToronto, have been shaping
a practice that is unconventional in many ways. Their work
has included not only the design of buildings but also the
construction of furniture and the creation of landscapes.
They ofi:en fabricate the things that they design. Their work
embraces craft enthusiastically and respects the craftsman.
They also engage their clients and respond to the need to
create fine rooms as well as civic spaces, albeit sometimes in
remote places. This is work that has been widely published
and has received nwnerous prestigious international awards.
Brigitte and Howard are, accorcling to the designer Bruce Mau,
"intellectual without being distant or hermetic." It is an honor
for the University of Michigan to host the 200 I Charles and
Ray Eames Lecture, and I invite you to look closc;ly at the
inspiring collaborative work of Shim Sutcliffe.

Brian Carter,
Professor of Architecture
 9

The image of Charles and Ray Eames is , for us,

inext ricably li nked to the photographs of the two of
them working together. There are many, yet in each one
they look as if they are having a very good tim e. What
you also notice from looking at these photographs is
th at these two outstanding Ame ri ca n designers took
enormous pleasure in creating things. Everything that
th ey touched and shaped became part of a world of
design, and their view of design as a discipline that
cou ld in clude architecture, fi lm -making, furniture
design, grap hics and communication has become
a model for practice. Charles and Ray Eames made
this way of worki ng part of their everyday life. In doing
so, they created a comm unity of designers around
themselves. It was a community that included th eir
stud io colleagues , their cl ients , industrialists like D.J.
De Pree, fabr icators and the many other people w ith
whom they collaborated . This is w hat is so inspirationa l
about their work. It has influenced our work and way
of working significantly and , as a result , we are
espec ially honored to have been invited to. give the
2001 Charles and Ray Eames Lecture at the Taubman
College of Architecture and Urban Pl an ni ng at the
University of Michigan.
Charles and Ray Eames were preoccupied with materials. ll

They explored the potential of plywood, fiberglass , wire,

steel and aluminum through their design studies and
focused investigations of technica l processes. Much of
this work was related to the design of furniture. The
consideration of furniture has also been central to the
development of our own ideas about design and practice.
It is helpful because it directly connects design and
construction. We know that a chair is not a building,
but there are many lessons that can be learned from
using specific materials at the scale of the body. Both
the limitations and potential of those materials can be
explored in a piece of furniture but can also be developed
further at the scale of a building. The design of furniture
has also enabled us to establish long-lasting re lationsh ips
with fabricators. Working directly with them has helped
us to gain direct knowledge of the capabi lities of materials
and how particular materials can best be used.
When we are working on the design of furniture we 13

usua lly make a lot of models. These models are often

sma ll and quickly made but they help us to visua lize a
conceptua l idea. Often they turn into full-scal e mock-ups
th at then transform into working prototypes. The design
of chairs, tab les, lamps or doorhand les is important
in our explorations of materials and constru ction
at very different scales. They help us to be more
courageous about what we might try to do at a larger
scale . Sometimes we show this furniture to our clients
and that in turn encou rages them too.

One way of understanding the potential of materia ls is

to learn first hand for oneself what can be done. Howard
has an instinct about how to do thin gs but little interest
in reading manuals or fol lowing instructions. So when
we designed a project using weathering steel, he decided
to work on the fabrication himself. Through a contractor,
we found a factory in Southern Ontario where steel was
used to repair farm equipment and construct gravel
crushers. The people in the shop were experi enced in the
use of the materia l and, although they rare ly questioned
him about what he was actua lly doing, they would
almost always tel l him w hat he could do better.
Howard was directly involved in the flame-cu tting of a 15

sheet of weath ering steel for the roof of a sma ll pavilion

that we we re designing for a garden in Toronto . We
developed the design using a series of models that
we would ta ke to th e shop . Th e fabricators there wou ld
point out things that they thought cou ld create problems.
Th ey explained why and we would go back, rethi nk our
ideas and bui ld a bigger model. As they looked at the
different models and commented about our ideas, th e
materia l and techniques for its fabrication, a dialogue
developed that was to become the basis of the fin alized
design and influence the way that the pavilion roof
was eventually made.

Thi s notion of connecting design, craft and production

is important to us. It embodies a process that has evolved
now to the stage where we can work directly with different
compa nies to design and make specific things. At first we
started bui ldi ng actual pieces of projects , but now our
practice has grown and we are designing more of the
furniture and fi ttings for our buildings . However, we also
tend to supply specific pieces to a project. Working in
this way, we are able to take something designed for one
project and consider how it might be helpful for another.
At the same time as much of the world becomes 17
increasingly placeless, so we also find that the particular
characteristics of the natural landscape become more
and more important. In Canada both the vastness of
the actual landscape and its mythic qualities are part
of the national psyche.

These mytho logica l qualities are most clearly reco rded

in the paintings of The Group of Seven - a group of
artists who portrayed the wi ld , romantic and often
hosti le landscapes which they experienced while
canoeing and portaging in the country during the early
1900s. The vastness of Canada raises issues of remote
sites , extreme climates and the availability of certain
natural materials - issues that in turn define particular
challenges for architects working across the country.

Like architecture, landscape also represents an act

of construction. These ideas permeate our work. As
a resu lt we think in terms of creating both site and
building so that each gives meaning to the other. In
considering and reconsidering what is object and what
is ground , the words 'carving' , 'sculpting' and 'digging'
have become important components of our vocabulary.
18
Consequently, we tend not to view our work

chronologically or by building type but rather

through considerations of material. Our designs

develop from ideas that are rooted in materials

and the landscape, and it is possible to trace the

evolution of that work through the examination

of those concerns. In particular, our work can

be viewed through the lens of three specific

materials- wood, water and weathering steel.

 23

Moorelands Camp is run by a non-profit cha rity

that sponsors programs for econom ica lly disadvantaged
chi ldren from Toronto . Th e camp is located on a remote
site in the Hali burton High land s. Thi s section of the
Canadia n Sh ield , gra nite bedrock exposed after the last
Ice Age, is characterized by many sma ll lakes surrounded
by dense forests. The ca mp is located on a peninsu la that
j uts into Lake Kawagama and the on ly access is by boat.

Th e design of a new dining hall there provid ed an

opportunity to embody both the spirit of the camp and
its site. Consequently we thought of thi s project as
building a barn with sticks. Because of the difficu lties of
access and the transportation of materials , we tri ed to
use the smal lest members possible - two by fours- to
make the largest space and th e longest spans. Combined
with light steel elements , this sma ll-sca le dimensioned
lum ber crea tes a sim ple 'wooden tent.'
24 Many of the buildings at other older summer camps
are constructed using logs and, as a result, tend to be
dark with the sta rk contrast of natural li ght only at the
perimeter. We wa nted to invert this norm and make a
space that is full of natural light at the center. We also
wanted to create a bui ld ing that would glow li ke a
lantern at night and define a luminous clearing in the
woods during the day. By using a standard industrial
motorized green house glazing system, it was possible
to form a central roof light that also incorporated natural
ventilation. Integrated with twelve glue- laminated
trusses, this forms a structural 'lantern' through the
middle of the space. This single great room - 36 feet
w ide and 100 feet long - is extended at one end by
a covered po rch that provides a shel tered outdoor area
for camp activities .
1 dining hall
2 porch
3 kitchen
4 storage

''

.-'

I~I_JC
26
While the ca mp is heavily used during the su mm er 29

months, it is closed duri ng th e remainder of the yea r.

However, rather than assuming that th e dining hall
wou ld be boarded up in an ad-hoc fashion us ing
plywood sheeting screwed into the frame of the building,
we designed the externa l wa ll as a series of folding
brise-soleil screens. During th e summer these timber
sc reens can be opened to define an intimate walkway
arou nd the building. They also help to encourage natural
ventil ation and offer shading from the summe r sun,
yet can be easily folded down to close the building
in the winter.

The design of the dining hall seeks to avoid separating

the bui lding from its surroundings by connecting the
inside world with the natu ral landscape. In th is way,
we hope that the dining hall embod ies the sp irit an d
shared ideals of the camp community.

\
I
I
 31

The Boathouse in Muskoka is also bu ilt of wood .

However, the material is used in a very different way.
The bui ldi ng, which provides two indoor boat slips w ith
anoth er outdoor mooring and a sleeping cabin above,
is on Lake Muskoka. Th is is an area w here there are
established traditions of bu ilding with wood and on
the wa ter, as well as in the construction of specia lly
designed long cruis ing boats made of mahoga ny. One
of our interests was to try to develop a design for the
boathouse that benefited from these loca l traditions.
Like Le Corbusier's rustic cabin that overlooked the
Mediterranean in the south of France or the Adirondack
camps of upstate New Yo rk, the Muskoka boathouse is
a 'hut' in the w ilderness. However, it is a sophisticated
one th at req uires not on ly the consideration of th e
traditions of bui lding with in a harsh climate and rugged
terra in but also the simu ltaneous invention of new
ways to posit a modernist trad ition . To achieve this,
the design seeks to find ba lance not on ly between
bui lding and natu re but also between lessons from
the vernacul ar and ideas of modern ism .
32 For everything that is constructed above the water on
these lakes, there is an entire infrastructure that is
hidden underwater. Traditional ly, bui lders here first
construct a series of heavy timber cribs that form the
foundations for a build ing on the water. To do this, they
wait until the middle of winter when the lake is frozen
before drawing out a plan on the ice that defines the
extent of the build ing and the deta iled location of the
cribs that w il l eventually support it. Based on this plan,
and using chain saws, they cut holes in the ice where
the cribs w il l be located. Sleepers are placed over the
holes, and the cribs are built up over the sleepers on
the ice. Having measured the depth of the water and
the slope of the lake bottom w ith sticks and tapes,
the cribs are constructed to precise dimensions using
large squared sections of hemlock. Once the cribs are
completed, the sleepers are cut and the structures are
allowed to sink into the water. The cribs are filled with
granite bou lders and provide an underwater infrastructure
for the wooden superstructure of the boathouse above.
This system of construction has been used for many
years. It enables the builder to work during the winter
and ensures that the construction starts from a pure
plane of ice , an approach which is considerably easier
than trying to bu ild wh ile bobbing about on the water
in boatsl
 entrance
2 bedroom I sitting room
3 outdoor deck
4 moss garden
5 kitchenette
6 bathroom
7 covered porch
8 dock
9 outdoor boat slip
10 indoor boat slip

G ~
0 l 3m
34 Once the buildi ngs are built you are , of course,
unaware of th is massive underwater structure.
The design of the boathouse was also inspired by
the notion of creating a sophisticated hut with a heavy
overcoat. Heavy timbers, rescued from a demolished
warehouse in Kitchener-Waterloo , were re-mil led to
make a heavy oute r sk in . It is as if the underwater
infrastructure has been pull ed up out of th e water
and made apparent. As a resu lt , something that is
norma ll y suppressed becomes an important part of
the architecture. By constructing a second structure
within the heavy outer skin that is more like the
refined construction of a wooden boat, a series of
habitable spaces is created between and within the
two layers of construction.

Stairs and outdoor porches are planned in the spaces

between these two layers of construction. The indoor
boat sl ips are lined with birch plywood while the
sleep ing cabin above is finished in douglas fir and
mahogany detailed like the spaces of a yacht or the
long cruising boats that are made loca lly.
36

-t•

I!
!
~-40-'""~""'"f'l"-'"k
-+ pWG. -~ _,tl-ll
-tl~·· o •• .

~~~~~~~m 47~ ~-'""''"~'J"

..:;l..!oE-...1"111
w. fl:1-f .::::• "'

-f:>>+L.Eo c.,..,... !"'¥<f.

"1"-f"f4'0 - H•~ . '<3'
-~~I~ ~~-rOt""-
~ .... ..r..U-.....1

r====~-=.+ ~~l.lo~
\9 ~ S / ::?,t I
!! _ ·~" --'Ye'~l-\w> 14"1" ..:.~T n~ P..r:l<> -t...
~ FIT ~·o -'- -4TitFi-
·- •¥,....,
4!..1.""~ - :.u..&......
-t/.,. ~~ +....~..,.·
38 Prompted by the client's own interest, we also used
this project to develop a series of fittings. One was a
boat cleat. Designed to avoid stubbing toes on the dock,
it combines a specia lly designed housing made from a
custom bronze casting with a ready-made stainless steel
shackle purchased from a marine store. This made it
possible to make a cleat that cou ld be installed flush
with the dock. We also designed custom door hand les
and light fixtures. A screen door pull made from red
bronze rods alludes to a snow shoe, and light fittings
designed to go under the soffits combine a refrigerator
light bulb - made to take account of temperature
differential fluctuations- with a bronze housing that
acts as a sconce. For another hanging light in the
covered outdoor porches , we used the largest available
Mason jar - made for preserving fruits and vegetables-
and combined it with a series of elliptical planes coated
with a phosphorescent paint normally used by fly
fishermen to ensure that those planes glow in the dark.
Suspended within a specially designed housing of
stainless steel and copper, they give an impression of
moths fluttering around a light bulb. These experiments
enabled us to not only explore the potential of everyday
found objects but to speculate about their transformation
by adding custom elements to create a new object.
 ~
~
~.'tj~~f (oJ - .

I
I

I - -

( I
 43

Our design for an Urban House also exp lores the

potentia l of wood but specifica lly exam ines the capacity
of that materia l to make a bui lding skin. Designed for a
client - an arch itect- who lives alone and whose budget
was modest, this house is located on a street in a part
of Toronto that consists of a mix of houses, cottages,
garages and workshops. We were inspired by this mix
and the two extremes of sca le that it introduced -the
cottage and the loft. It was an area of the city that
presented a sharp contrast to the more normative
residential areas of eve nly spaced, evenly sized single
family houses. This prompted us to think of the two
aspects of the house that the client had underlined as
being so important - on the one hand the need fo r
compact living areas and on the other a large workspace
for researc h that was foc used around a reference library.
We developed a scheme that integrated these different
aspects of both program and setting. The ground floor
was planned with low cottage-like livi ng spaces made
up of a series of modest sized rooms looking onto a south
facing garden, whi le the upper floor was organized as a
single large and lofty workspace looking west and south
and consequently flooded w ith natura l li ght.
 5

''
'
Lq _______~~~~F====='-J

']~ INIII II ~~. ~V[J

~ ~ In \1\))(~§ID 3

B _. _ lLI ~

o~
o ol
0 c=:::J -

I I I
I I I I

nI
~
I I
I I ~ I·
I I
I

01 ~1 II

~I ~ I

I
I
 kitchen I dining room The design of the externa l skin of the building was 45
2 bedroom
developed to reference these two different types of
3 bathroom
4 library
spaces. At th e ground fl oor, the house is clad with
5 office narrow wood siding simi lar to the Victorian cottages
that still exist in the neighborhood. Joints are detailed
to emphasize the horizonta l, and the windows are
modest in size. In contrast, the cladding of the upper
leve l cons ists of large manufactured plywood panels
w ith butted and cau lked joints. Sized to invoke the
sca le of the industrial loft, this skin fo lds back to fo rm
a single large window that lights th e workspace.
In this way, the cladding materia l has been exploited
to create a skin that is differentiated in response to the
characteristics of both the program and this particular
urban site.

I
I I=

D~D
D
 47

The Orchard House also advances these ideas of the

use of wood as a skin. However, the setting for this
house is rural with views of Lake Huron to the north and
across the gently rolling countryside of the Beaver Va lley,
which is dotted with smal l villages and apple orcha rd s,
to the south. The transformation of these landscapes
from summer to winter, including the forty year old
working apple orchard wh ich surrou nds the house, is
dramatic. The client, a retired soc ial worker and a
painter with an interest in medieval structures and
fortifications, needed a modest house with a studio that
offered both good views out and a sense of protection .
As a result, the design was developed to create two
clearly articulated parts - a low masonry bu ildi ng that
was seen as a part of the landscape and an articulated
wooden tower that provides a lookout to distant terrain.
These two elements are connected by a stone wa ll that
encloses a ga·rden with a single apple tree.
 courtya rd 49
2 porch
3 dining
4 kitchen
5 bathroom
6 bedroom
7 studio

G ~m
50 The most significant pieces of architecture in this
region are the loca l ba rn s and, although they are rarely
weathertight, they have highly syncopated wooden skins .
Their timber cladding creates a texture and scale that
inspired us in our stud ies fo r this new house. While the
domestic spaces within the rustic limestone clad bui lding
were planned on one level, cut into the ground and
tucked under a sod covered roof, the studio was elevated
high in the tower. We were interested in pul ling the
inside out and the outside in, and consequently this
tower was thought of as a wooden cabinet. Th e externa l
skin, a series of articulated plywood panels and timber
fins, was drawn into the building to encase the studio
and wrap vertica l wi ndows positioned to foc us and frame
views of the pastoral landscape beyond . Whi le the house
defines the edge of an escarpment, it is marked in the
landscape by the triangular wooden tower. In winter,
the rest of the house is concea led by snow, and in
summer by grass and apple trees .
 55

Rarely considered as a constructi on material in

architectu re, water has played a sign ifica nt ro le in
our work since our earliest projects. In designing the
Contemplative Garden with a Pavilion for a
client w ho owned a site at the edge of a verd ant ravine
in Toronto, we introduced water. Th e creation of a
seri es of reflecting pools located the pavi lion and defined
places of repose withi n the landscape. This use of water
also prompted a consideration of the nature of the
material palette th at in turn led to a study of concrete .
Although it is a material frequently used by arch itects
in North America, concrete is considered primarily as
a structural material and one that is usually clad and
concea led by other finishes . However, the transparency
of the water w ithin these reflecting pools also revea led
the structure below , and this made us think of ruins
and submerged groundworks. In this scheme, the
plastic qua lities of concrete were developed to mark the
ground and define a path through the site. By creating
a series of steps and retaining wal ls in concrete , the
water is both channeled and contained. A pa vili on is set
within this high ly articul ated arch itectural composition.
A leaf-like canopy of sandblasted weathering steel is
supported by , yet set off from, a grove of ten slender
colonettes by stai nl ess steel col lars . A single tree is
retained with in a crushed stone pathway as if to
contrast figu re and ground, arc hitecture and nature.
57
 59

The extent of water in the Laneway House is quite

modest. However, it is at the heart of the design .
The site is on an all ey in a res identia l neighborhood
in th e center of Toronto. It is embedded in the fabric of
the city and completely surrounded by existing houses .
By carving away the ground, the main floor is pushed
three feet be low the level of the existing grade and
contained within a walled garden. Viewed from outside,
the house reads as a wooden pavi lion wrapped by
a garden wall. Th e garden is ded icated to water and
it plays an instrumental rol e in centering the house.
Ri chly textured materials and large pivoting windows
between the living space and the garden help to blur
the relationship between inside and out, as does the
action of the water mov ing wi th in th e garden duri ng
the different seasons.
60
1 entry
2 living I din ing
3 pool
4 fountain
5 kitchen
6 library
7 bathroom
8 bedroom

G n__________r---
0 l 3m
62
64

Ledbury Park uses water at a civic scale. Sited in a

suburban neighborhood, the existing three-acre park just
north of Toronto was flat and under-used. Consequently,
the Parks and Recreation Department asked that it be
reorganized to create a new recreational facility with a
range of amenities provided through the design of a
constructed landscape. Water creates a physica l link
between the different programmatic elements on the site.
A new outdoor wading pool and a 25 meter swimming
pool are elevated three feet above grade to provide views
out over the park, whi le a sha llow reflecting pool is formed
at a level lower than natural grade. Th is reflecting pool
is designed to be a pleasure skating cana l that can be
used during the winter months. Around three sides of
the skati ng ca nal , the ground is scu lpted to form a series
of earth berms- grassy embankments that provide
informal sitting areas in summertime and also offer
protection from the wind for skaters in the w inter.
 A long brick bui lding is designed as an integra l part of the 67
scheme. It houses skating and swimming pool changing
rooms, a park maintenance garage and workshops,
and also links the wi nter skating cana l and its adj acent
year-round viewing pavi lion w ith the swim ming and
wading pools. This build ing extends into the park to define
a series of wa lkways and planted allees that, together
with two pedestrian bridges and a sma ll plaza, con nect
the park to the su rrounding residential neighborhood.

Th e park was a public project that was tendered to the

lowest bidder. Thi s prompted us to reconsider our working
method and think how best we cou ld still achieve a
level of refinement w ithi n a pub lic bidding process . We
decided to focus on the design and fabrication of one of
the pedestrian bridges, a fountain and the externa l lights.
We designed the 75 foot-long bri dge, together with the
fountain and lamp poles using weatheri ng steel.

~ .

1 ' "
_, \'
'1
 Sl
RANDOM

I HSS 76
•5 1 x4 .

HANQRAJL
I ~2 )
SHAP(D
HARDWOOD

I E
END PLAT PLT
6..35 THK
f lI

AM
FlOOR BE
C5bc6.JS
BEARING HSS 1S2J
BRIDGE

DETI\ 1!..
HANDRAIL M;.., ~ ,t ..)
(SC:t: CiiA
 BRIDGE~
3LOCKS

CENTER OF

-------- I

/
/
' 71
For the bridge , we used the smallest hollow structura l
\ I
~:· sections available to provide the longest span. Twenty-five
~-·
millimeter solid steel spacer blocks , randomly set
between these hollow sections and projecting from the
outer face of the truss-balustrade structure, suggest that
;ij&gggggygggg ~gggg gy~~ggg ggyg gl
, -/ / I
!'s &:
i~
;THER
j~ ---1-------
DETAIL (D)
1
650mm CAMBER
the steel has been stacked and filleted. This pedestrian
bridge was a key piece of the project and we were
concerned about the overall design. The detail ing of
(SEE DRAWING f3)
the Douglas Fir deck and the underside of the bridge
were critical , as they would be clearly visible to people
at the water's edge and as they skated under it. By
making all the horizontal elements and the handrail
work structurally, we were able to keep the bridge deck
thin and visual ly light. We col laborated with the engineers
and the custom bridge fabricator to develop the design
and benefited from their experience of the use of steel.
After the construction of the bridge was completed, it
was kept in the fabricator's yard to pre-weather the
steel prior to its installation at Led bury Park.

This form of collaboration is one of the benefits of living

in a place like Southern Ontario. Like many of you
studying and working in Michigan, we have access to
extraord inary craftsmen. Both areas have rich industrial
and manufacturing traditions, and the inevitable wealth
of experience and knowledge that these traditions offer
can, and perhaps should, influence design. It also has
the potential to enrich architectura l practice by connecting
design and making in ways that Charles and Ray Eames
so exemplified in their own work.
 73

1 kitchen The Thousand Island House, bui lt recently on a

2 living room pastora l island in the St. Lawrence River, extends the
3 study
use of water to the sca le of this expansive rura l site. By
4 master bedroom
5 deck creating a large reflecting pool and combining it w ith a
6 reflecting pool series of gardens and terraced green roofs, this water
becomes the site for a new 'pavi lion. ' The pavilion is a
C) 0.___,-1--~Sm tall , light room that forms the ma in living space of the
house. It is in marked contrast to the remainder of the
house that has been planned in a linear wing. Defined
by a low enclosing concrete wa ll, this wing helps to
form a boundary between the neighboring fie lds and the
fo rma l geometry of the new gardens. At the same time,
it directs the frontage of the house to the pool and the
broad expanse of the river beyond.
~!11011
; "' ~0G? !1(1
~r_ . I
77

,p II;

);
/ Working with the same material in different ways over
an extended period of time is important in order to ga in
a deep understanding of its properties and potential.
We are intrigued by th e organic properties of weathering
steel. Low-a ll oy high-tensile weathering steel was first
developed for highway bridge construction . Later it was
perfected by the architect John Dinkeloo for use in
buildings, such as the John Deere Headquarters, that
he designed with Eero Saarinen. Formulated with higher
copper levels that enhance corros ion res istance by
developing their own protective oxide surface film,
weathering steel reacts to impurities and pollutants in the
air. It creates a rich, rustic color that shades progressively
from orange to russet to brown. The weathering of the
surface makes reference to the material's existence over
time and, when used to clad a building, this materia l
also records the different characteristics of climate and
weather acting on the site and the building.

The experience that we gained in deta il ing the weathering

steel for the pedestrian bridge for Led bury Park helped
us when we considered using this material in the design
of a Landscape Memorial. This simple garden room,
set w ith in a larger non-denominational cemetery , was
to contain the burial plots for ten members of one family.
A small level area was created by carving into the gently 81

sloping hillside. This exposing of the earth defined a

slightly sunken space- represented by red granite
gravel - and allowed a simu ltaneous separation and
connection with the surrounding cemetery landscape.
Two outer edges of the garden are marked by a half
inch thick angled blade of weathering steel. The
threshold is defined by a weathering steel gate set
between a concrete wall and a copper beech hedge.
To mark the entrance, the gate is intentiona lly massive
and incorporates the name of the family in its design .
Each of the six inch high letters is made up of half
inch thick welded steel plates.

Within the garden there is a single piece of green

rough-hewn granite that has been spl it and reconnected
with bronze rods. The stone, which forms a tombstone,
is inscribed w ith an ancient Hebrew text on the rough
exterior surface and an English inscription on the
smooth inner surface. A bronze shelf formalizes the
Jewish ritual in which family and friends leave stones
on the headstone as a reminder of their visit.
 83

The Steel-Clad House that we designed in Toronto ,

which is also built using a weathering steel skin ,
approaches the deta ili ng of this materia l in an entirely
new way. The site is on a suburban street but also backs
onto a ravine with fine views out over the city As a
resu lt, the front fa~ade of the house has been brought
close to the line of the street and designed to be
distinctly opaque. The weathering steel is bracketed by
two wings faced in Douglas Fir, topped by a landscaped
flat roof and integrated into the site with a series of
retaining walls. An upper floor, treated as a box that
appears to levitate above the wood wa ll , is clad in
vertical panels of weathering steel w ith a negative joint.
The weathering steel is a rainscreen that has an airspace
behind. The material has to be able to dry out, so we
have designed this skin to have wet and dry cycles.
The joint detai l contrasts with the seam weld ing of joints
at the corners of the house and around niches. One of
these niches- a recessed bay that forms an inverted bay
window - brings in natura l light and marks the entrance.
84 The rear face of the house is designed to benefit from
the fine views and the landscape of the ravine , which
is so particu lar to the city and th is site. Consequently,
its form has developed a more plastic quality. Here
the house is virtual ly separated into two wings that are
clad with weathering steel, wood panels and expansive
areas of glass. They are connected to an open and
newly created ga rd en plan ned arou nd a clover meadow.
A refl ecting pool, inserted into the volume of the living
room and almost separating the two wings, spills out
into a swimming pool that extends deep into the garden
and al igns with the CN Tower on the city skyline. Both
the house and the site have been constructed. Many
of our ideas about materials- of wood, water and
weathering steel -and our experience of their use
combine in th is project fusing furniture and building,
construction and idea, architecture and landscape.
86

il
d
_,\._._i
 entrance
2 garage
3 livi ng room
4 dining room
5 kitchen
6 family room
7 swimming pool
8 terrace
9 study
10 master bedroom
11 bathroom
12 bedroom

G) 0 I 5m
 89

While the world around us abounds with examples of

sophisticated technology - of computer circuits, medical
equipment and telecommunications devices - the world
of bui lding construction is, in contrast, part of a more
messy process. It is also part of an intrinsical ly slow
way of working. We are consta ntly made aware of human
impact on the bui lding process. Our practice, which
sta rted with the making of furniture , has advanced to the
design of public bui ldi ngs and landscapes. Thi s evolution
is the resu lt of an enormous amount of trust and fruitful
collaboration with clients, builders and fabricators .

It is im portant th at arch itects today go beyond the banal

and res ist the litigious constraints w hich influence
so much of what we see bui lt in North America. To
create architecture requires the creat ion of a site for
that arch itectu re - both physica lly and psychologica lly.
Ray and Charles Eames opened our eyes to the
meaning of design. They have enriched our minds
and their work conti nues to engage our sou ls.

Brigitte Shim & Howard Sutcliffe

90 Shim·Sutcliffe
Bri girre Shim and H oward Sutcliffe are partners and
co llaborato rs who have created an office and a li fe around
their shared passion for architectu re, landscape and furni ture.
T heir inrerest in construction and fa brica ti on of buildings,
sites and th eir intersec tions has fo rced them to ques ti on
fund amental relarionships betwee n object and ground ,
building and landscape, m an and nature. T heir different
backgrounds and sensibilities offe r a rich starting poinr
for rheir wo rk.

H oward Surcliffe was bo rn in Yorkshire, England in 1958 .

Ed ucated at the U nive rsity of Waterl oo, he received degrees
in Environmental Studies and Architecture. H e worked
with significant Canadian archi tects in cl uding Ronald Thom,
Paul M errick, Barton Mye rs and KPM B Architects. He has
played a key role on several award winning competition teams
fo r both Barton Myers and KPM B Archi tects including the
Ki tchener C ity H all (KPMB Architects) . In 1992, he was the
fi rst recipient of the Ro nald]. Tho m Award for Early D esign
Achievemem given by th e Canada Co uncil fo r the Arts.

Brigirre Shim was botn in Kingsro n, Jamaica in 1958. She

was edu ca ted ar the University of Waterloo where she also
received degrees in Environmental Studies and Architecture.
She wo rked in Vancouver with A rthu r Erickson and
Associates and in Toronto with Baird/Sampson Architects.
A member of the University of Toronto's Faculty of 91

Architecture, Landscape and Design since 1988, she h as

taught architecture design studios and lecture courses on the
history and th eory of landscape architecture. She was an
Invired Visiting Professor at Harvard Un iversity's Grad uate
School of Design in 1993 and 1996. In 1997, her wo rk in
the Second Year arch itecture design studio ar rhe Univers ity
ofToronro was acknowledged by rhe American Insrirure of
Archirecrs Education Honors. ln rhe fall of 2001, she was
rhe Bishop Visiting Professor and rhe Visiting Bicenrennial
Professor of Canadian Srudies ar Yale University's School of
Architecture. In 2002 Brigirre Shim was a Visiting Professor
ar the Ecole Polyrechnique Federal de Lausanne in Switzerland.

Shim and Sutcliffe live and work in Toromo. The city's

diversity and ethnicity make ir a viral metropolis reflective
of borh global and North American iss ues. Their work
references rhe city and the wider Canadian landscapes rhar
surround ir. The role of rheir numerous collaborators wirhin
the office and in the community is essenrial to rheir view
of design as a discipline thar comribures positively to
people's lives.
92 Charles & Ray Eames
Charles Eames was born in Sr. Louis, Missouri in 1907
and, after studying architecture for two years at Washington
University and traveling in Europe, returned to Sr. Louis
in 1930 to open an architectural practice of his own. Seven
years before, the famous Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen had
arrived at the University of Michigan. While in Ann Arbor,
Saarinen became acquainted with the Booth family who
offered him design responsibilities for the new Cranbrook
Academy of Art. After moving to Cranbrook, Saarinen
saw Eames' work published and, in 1938, offered him a
Fellowship. Two years later, Charles Eames became the
Head of the Industrial Design Department.

Charles met Ray Kaiser at Cranbrook. Five years younger

than Charles, Ray was an accomplished artist and a founding
member of the American Abstract Artists group who had
studied painting with Hans Hofmann in New York prior
to coming to Michigan. When Charles Eames and Eero
Saarinen were working on their 100 studies to initiate the
designs for the Museum of Modern Art Organic Furniture
Competition in 1940, Ray worked with them to develop the
proposals that were subsequently awarded first prize in each
of the two main categories. However their designs did not
go into production, as World War II was imminent, and rhe
procedures for molding plywood into complex curvatures
and cycle welding for bonding of metal to wood had nor
yet been perfected.
The Eames lecturers
1998 · Tad Williams & Billie Tsien
1999 ·Mack Scogin &Merrill Elam
2000 ·Annette Gigon & Mike Guyer
2001 · Brigitte Shim & Howard Sutcliffe
Charles and Ray Eames were married in 1941. In the same 93
year they moved to Los Angeles, where they continued rhe
research and resting of molded plywood construction rhar
they had initiated with Colonel Edward S. Evans of Evans
Products Company in Michigan. George Nelson introduced
rhe Eames ro rhe Herman Miller Furniture Company and, in
1946, when their designs for molded plywood furniture were
ready for production, the company bought the distribution
rights as Evans did nor have the capability of mass-marketing.
Three years later, as Charles and Ray Eames completed
their Case Study House #8 in Santa Monica, Herman Miller
rook over the complete manufacturing rights for the molded
plywood furniture and a manufacturing plant was built in
Zeeland, Michigan. The Office of Charles and Ray Eames
continued to work on the design of furniture for almost forty
years and Herman Miller has been the sole manufacturer of
all Eames furniture in the United Stares.
Alongside their designs for furniture, Charles and Ray Eames
developed an office which promoted design in many ways.
Through programs of design research, materials investigation
and technological innovation, they worked in the fields of
architecture and interior design, exhibition and graphic design,
product development and film making. They encouraged
collaborations across the disciplines and designed new ways
of working that connected industry and design,
The Royal Gold Medal for Architecture was awarded to
rh e Office of Charles and Ray Eames in 1979. Ray died in
1988- ten years to the day after Charles.
94 Herman Miller, Inc.
D.J. DePree joined the Star Furniture Company in Grand
Rapids, M ichigan in 1909 as a clerk. The company, which
was four years old ar rhe rime, manufactured high quality,
traditional style residential furniture. Ten years later he
became the President and in 1923 convinced Herman Miller,
his father-in-law, and a small group of investors to join him
in purchasLng a majority of shares of Michigan Star stock.

They renamed the company, bur nor until rhe New York
industrial designer Gilbert Rohde visited the Grand Rapids
Showroom of the Herman Miller Furniture Company in
1931 did th e idea of manufacturing simple and flexible
modern furniture become of particular interest to them.
Rohde became the company's design leader, and it was
his proposals for furniture that led the company to pursue
innovation in both design and technology. In 1933, modern
furniture manufactured by Herman Miller was shown at
the "Century of Progress" exposition in Chicago. Six years
later, with sales shipm ents totaling $160,000, the company
opened a showroom there followed by one in New York and
a third in Los Angeles in 1942. By this time, with a new
modular system designed by Rohde, Herman Miller had
entered the office furniture marker. As corporate sales
increased, the company phased out the manufacture of all
traditional style furniture in favor of modern designs.
When Gilbert Rohde clied, D .J. DePree invited the architect 95

and author George Nelson to serve as design director. From

1944, under Nelson's able leadership, the company was to
establish long-term relationships with a number of ourstancling
design ers. Charles and Ray Eames first started working wirh
Herman Mi ller in 1946, a partnership that spanned more
than forty years and produced a wide range of outstanding
furn itu re. Mo ld ed plywood chai rs fabricated in I 946 were
followed by a series of molded fiberglass chairs developed
out of experiments into airp lane production techniques,
the Eames lounge and ottoman of molded wood and leather
in 1956, and, two years later, the alum inum group chairs
which led to a series of new approaches to seating.

In 1962 Hugh De Pree assumed the leadership of Herman

Miller as President and Chief Executive Officer, wirh D.J.
De Pree taking up rhe position of Chairman of the Board.
In 1968 rhe company introduced Action Office, the world's
first panel system for offtce furniture, designed by Robert
Propst and a team of designers. By the time D.J . DePree
died in 1990, the company bad manufacturing centers in
America and abroad, a new Corporate Center in Zeeland,
and the Design Yard in Holland, M ichigan. Continuing to
act as an inspired parron and working with designers from
England, Germany and rhe USA, their design studies in
work searin g led to the introduction of ergonomic chairs
in 1972 and the recyclable no-foam Aeron cha ir in 1994.
Three years later, and with sales of $1.5 billion, Herman
Miller was ranked by Fortune Magazine as o ne of the top
rwenty-ftve most admired companies in the United States.
96 Acknowledgments
The Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
is extremely grateful to Herman Miller, Inc. for their
encouragement, interest and generous assistance that have
made both the Charles and Ray Eames Lecture and this
published record possible.

Faculty, staff and students at the College have helped in

many ways. Mary Anne Drew and Sallie Kne ensured
that everything ran smoothly and Ken Thomas's help was
invaluable on the day of rhe lecture.

Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe's design inspiration and

hard work in d1e studio, workshop and on the building sire
have created outstanding buildings. T heir help has also been
central to the preparation of this book. In addition Monica
Makarus and Betsy Walker in Shim Sutcliffe's studio have
been efficient and generous wim meir rime.

Photographs
Michael Awad, 22. 26, 27, 28, 68a, 68c, 78-79, 82, 84. Edward Burtynski, 31, 35. Canada Centre
for Remote Sensing, E-1671 -16352, centered at N51' 30', W93' 25.5', 25 May 1974. Bands 4, 5, 7.
Colored remote-sensing image 23 x 23 em. Section of false-color Landsat image, Red Lake area.
Scale approximately Ll ,OOO,OOO. OMNR, Ontario Centre for Remote Sensing, 16. © Queen 's Printer
for Ontario, 1984. Reproduced with permission. James Dow. 14, 13, 14, 34a, 3/b, 40, 43b, 51 , 55,
56, 5/c, 58, 62, 64a, 66, 69, 72, 73a, 76, 80, 83b, 85. Steven Evans. 42, 61 , 65, 6/a, 68b. Courtesy
Herman Miller, Inc. 8, 9. 10, 93, 94 (Pictured from left, Alexander Girard, George Nelson. DJ De Pree,
Ray and Charles Eames). Shim·Sutcliffe Architects. 12a, 15, 30, 31, 3/a, 39a, 39b, 46, 47, 50a, SOb,
57 a, 5/b, 59, 63, 71 , 81, 86a, 86b, 88, 91.

Artwork
Printed from a photomechanical transfer; original drawings or works in the collection of the Centre
Canadien d'Architecture I Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. 11b, 32, 33a, 33b, 34b, 36, 41 ,
43a, 44a, 44b, 44c, 45a, 45b, 48, 49a, 49b, 49c, 54, 60a, 60b, 60c. © Shim·Sutcliffe Architects.