BRINGIN’ SEXY BACK - Thin Brick Vaulting

BRINGIN’ SEXY BACK

Thin Brick Vaulting –Making the Old New – a More Sustainable Approach

The 2011-2012 McMurrin Professorship brought Dr. John A. Ochsedorf to the University of Utah School of Architecture for a two-day workshop on March 19^th and 20^th. Dr. Ochsendorf is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and partner at the engineering firm ODB-Engineering.

Through the ambitiously valiant efforts U of U professors Ryan Smith, Patrick Tripeny, and Robert Young, the McMurrin Fellowship brought to Salt Lake City professors and professionals John Ochsendorf – MIT, Kent Diebolt – Vertical Access, Mallory Taub – University of California at Berkeley, and Benjamin Ibarra Sevilla – University of Minnesota.

This unprecedented workshop provided students with an invaluable lesson in design – from the value of history, design methodologies, explorative geometries, construction methods and materials, building constraints, and hands-on building experience.

As far as I know, never has the School of Architecture hosted a workshop of this caliber; and this was the first of its kind for John too. During the workshop for undergraduate students, we learned about the thin brick or tile vault building in the tradition of Guastavino. The famous Guastavino vaults can be found all over Europe and throughout the United States. John’s book, Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile, goes into much more depth about the incredible structural integrity, longevity, and beauty of think brick structures based on catenary curves. John’s passionate research has shined in his effort to preserve historic buildings, and more and more people are catching on as more light is shed upon his ideas. His most notable work is that of the South Africa Mapungubwe National Park  where he worked in conjunction with architects Peter Rich and Michael Ramage. It received an African/Middle East regional prize form the 2008 Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction as well as Building of the Year in 2009 at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.

Through provocative lectures and an involved design challenge, we learned of the tradition of vaulting, explored the catenary geometries, designed a series of vaults, and then built them using thin bricks and Plaster of Paris

On Monday morning John introduced the team of faculty and visiting professors who ran the show. John then briefly lectured on the significance of vaulting both anciently and modern. The informative and energetic presentation opened my eyes to the value in design, the appreciation for the past, and a more clearly defined architecture in the future.

At the end of the lecture we were split up into ten groups of approximately seven students and then presented with the design challenge: “Deploy 300 bricks…”

We were given 300 bricks, the necessary amount of Plaster of Paris, two sheets of 4’x8’ OSB (one to be used as a base and one to build our formwork), 2”x4”s and some masonry tools…oh, and only 12 hours to build. That’s it. Nothing more. Nada.

CRUNCH TIME! This fast-paced, fun exercise threw us directly into the design process with randomly selected teams. We were given two hours to explore designs, decide on one, develop it, finalize it, and present it to John and our group advisor. After much exploration, sketching, paper model building, research, and deliberation, our team decided on a more classical and elegant approach. We resorted back to the sophisticated design of the Guastavino groin vault in the New York City Hall Subway Station. We resorted back to its strong aesthetic beauty and simple structure. Our team advisor Benjamin was extremely helpful in helping us understand how to make our design sturdy, standable, and buildable. For us, the groin vault met these criteria best. And so we built – first the forms and then with brick.

Check out the other impressive designs from our classmates:

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

 Group 6

 Group 7

Group 8

 Group 9

Check out my favorite - our team's design. Our groin vault slowly transformed into a sail vault.

I loved getting my hands dirty in this exercise. I’d worked in the construction industry for a long time before architecture school and I know what it means to get my hands dirty, but I can honestly say that it had been a while. It was refreshingly messy. Building models out of museum board, cardboard, foam core etc. or working in the workshop with metal or wood just isn’t the same. We don’t get dirty enough as architects – and I think that’s the problem with most of them…I mean us.

There were invaluable lessons to be learned about materials, craft, design build, changing and/or ameliorating your design, sometimes sacrificing parts of your design, and streamlining the process of designing and building as a team. I loved the close, intimate working relationship with the visiting faculty and their eagerness to get their hands a little dirty to with the solo intent of guiding us. To be honest, we simply could not have done it without the help of Ben. He was our saving grace. When our hands would go up in the air out of desperation, Ben would come to the rescue. Mallory quickly showed us how to mix mud, staying clean while mixing but getting dirty while building. Kent’s subtle but judicious advice always came unexpectedly at the right moment.

I would do this again in a heartbeat here or elsewhere – it adds value to anyone’s education. Although the graduate students did not participate, their on-looking eyes and very long glances at our process and final products exposed their inner jealousy. They could not help but divert their attention to the hustle and bustle throughout the school and out into the loading dock by the wood shop. We were messy. We were really messy actually, tracking mortar to and fro. Many literally followed our footsteps outside to the projects. We all learned – even the host faculty. This practice was more of a disciplined training – a drill on how to push the design within given constraints…and then…hopefully, build it to last.

Keepn' it classy proved best - the only vault the faculty hopped on. 

If I took anything out of the workshop with John, I learned how inherent design constraints could empower innovation. John specifically taught clearly on two occasions: “Without constraints there is no design.” I truly believe his design philosophy and have tried to employ that principle in my designs without even knowing it. Although many students claim it, I truly try to keep things simple in my work while focusing on the constraints of a design and then using them as an aesthetic, structural, or programmatic opportunity. However, his succinct words hit home. It rang a bell that did not seem too unfamiliar, but still inspired architectural revelation. Our team truly found strength in our constraints – constraint of material, constraints of time, and even constrains within the team and our not-so-professional brick laying skills. Now, personally, I can more consciously focus on how constraints make rich, dynamic designs. 

But let it be rest assured that our desire to learn and our experience building thin brick vaults were completely and utterly unconstrained. We tackled the design sun, sleet, or snow (literally). The impact of this unique workshop will undoubtedly resonate throughout the School of Architecture and the students’ work for some time.

Thanks John!