Will Bruder: The 1999 John Dinkeloo Memorial

Published to commemorate the John Dinkeloo
Memorial Lecture given by Will Bruder at the
Chrysler Auditorium on April19, 1999.
Editor: Annette W. LeCuyer
Design: Christian Unverzagt
Typeset in Int erstate
Printed and bound in the United States
ISBN: 1-891197-09-6
© Copyright 1999
The A. Alfred Taubman College
of Architecture + Urban Planning
& William P. Bruder · Architect, Ltd ., New River, AZ
The University of Michigan
A. Alfred Taubman College
of Architecture + Urban Planning
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard
Ann Arbor, Michigan
48109-2069
USA
734 7641300
734 763 2322 fax
www.caup.umich.edu
WILL BRUDER ·
THREE TIMES TWO
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John Dinkeloo was born in
Michigan and is one of our most distinguished
alumni. In 1950 he began working with
Eero Saarinen in an office of international
significance where he was to play a central
role in the design of numerous important
buildings. When Saarinen was asked about
the design of the General Motors Technical
Center, he spoke of Dinkeloo as the person
who "really thought it through" and of how
" the technical developments that John
Dinkeloo was working on related very
strongly to the design that myself and Kevin
Roche were working on." This commitment
to the integration of idea and detail were to
distinguish not only the work of Eero Saarinen
but the subsequent buildings designed by
John Dinkeloo and Kevin Roche.
The Ford Foundation
Headquarters in New York, the offices
for John Deere and the Oakland Museum
are outstanding buildings which bear the
imprint of John Dinkeloo's fervent interest
in detail, his invention of materials and his
commitment to architecture.
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That same inspiring fusion
of idea and detail characterizes the work of
the 1999 John Dinkeloo Memorial Lecturer.
Although Will Bruder studied fine arts at
the University of Wisconsin, he chose to
pursue his interests in design by working
with architects. One was a close colleague
of Eero Saarinen and John Dinkeloo as
well as a former professor at this College the distinguished architect Gunnar Birkerts.
Will Bruder has continued to pursue
architecture through unconventional routes.
He has cult ivated his interests in the fine
arts while designing compelling buildings.
He has designed one of the most important
new civic buildings and urban landmarks in
America from a tiny studio in the Arizona
desert. He is fanatical about materials and
the architectural detail, as anyone who
has seen the Phoenix Central Library
will appreciate.
John Dinkeloo was an
architect who invented materials and
focussed on the artistry of their assembly.
Following in this tradition, Will Bruder is
an artist who relishes design and the
exuberance of construction.
Brian Carter
Professor & Chair of Architecture
JOHN OINKELOO ATOP THE ST. LOUIS GATEWAY ARCH
9
John Dinkeloo was an
outstanding architect. Although he is often
characterized as an architect preoccupied
by detail, materials and the nature of
construction, he was first and foremost a
man of ideas. Since the start of my career,
I have admired his work which has contributed
so greatly to the architecture of our time
and am especially honored to be invited to
give this lecture in his memory. In recognition
of the inspiration that is vested in the work of
John Dinkeloo, I would like to talk about ideas
which are embodied in six words - curiosity,
community, context, choreography, craftsmanship and collaboration. For me, these
words are key to the essence of architecture.
CURIOSITY As architects,
we accept a responsibility which embraces
both the smallest unseen things and the
macro-scale of global systems. It is a
responsibility that demands active curiosity,
observation and a sense of awe in the face
of discovery. Instead of being comfortable
with the familiar, we must bring to each
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project a curious •Y• and a good ear.
As we become Intellectually and sensually
more curious, w• ar• llk•ly to achieve
a greater understanding of the complex
relationships between nature and art.
detail and building which will produce
architectural solutions of tougher
pragmati sm and fi ner poetry.
COMMUNITY The life of
communities Is precarious and subject t o
many f actors outside the direct control of
the architect. In this context, architecture
becomes the most lragile of art forms. In
the summer of t996, I w•nt to Death Valley.
In the glory days of mining, there was a city
of 4,000 p•opl• at th• edge of the valley.
But now a few shards or rusty cans and a
random foundation are all that is left - the
only evidence or a community that has
vanished. An archaeologist might be able
to find more evidence, but on the surface
there is almost nothing. Yet at the same time,
Manhattan is thriving and life t here is getting
better. Architecture celebrates places of
living, work. play and cultur•; it is one small
part of what shapes the life of a community.
CONTEXT The natural and
historic •nvlronment ol a place is influenced
by many things - It Is about light, color,
patterns of weather and geology. Context
is about history. II Is possible to learn from
history without being trapped in nostalgia.
Whether it Is embodied In a basic wooden
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structure, in an abandoned drive-in theater
or a simple Shaker house, history can help
us put together the puzzle of architecture.
Context inspires building form. A haystack
crowned with snow generates a new office
building in Wyoming just as the Wailing Wall
in Jerusalem becomes the prompt for an
inexpensive synagogue in the desert.
The context in which
we live blurs the distinction between art
and architecture. The Army Corps of
Engineers laid a rusty steel rip-rap flood
control structure across the Rio Grande
River in New Mexico to serve a pragmatic
need. Yet this work also has extraordinary
poetic power when seen through the eyes
of the artist. When art is intentional, it has
supreme power to enrich our lives - whether
through the dynamic marriage of sea, sky
and shore accomplished by the collaboration
of the sculptor Eduardo Chillida and the
architect Luis Pefia Ganchegui or in the
great, temporal landworks of Christo and
Jean Claude which reach out beyond ideas
to help us see the world from a different
perspective. While I think few architects
have the ability to match the vision of these
artists, we can all learn important lessons
about the placemaking which their work
fosters. Respecting context in the community
is about the sculptural quality of placemaking,
about the search for a solution which seems
inevitable for a particular place.
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CHOREOGRAPHY Architecture
should orchestrate the movement of people
as well as the path of light through space.
Light defines place like no other material.
CRAnSMANSHIP As a
pragmatic professional In search of the
poetry of architecture, I am interested in
materials and making. for me, a t rip to a brick
yard is exciting and the remnant pile has as
much potential as the basis for experiment
and invention as the kiln. Whether it is t he
brick yard. the lumber yard, the cabinet shop
or Home Depot, the architect should seek out
the sources of the materials which must be
mastered to further the art of architecture.
In the block yard one morning, I was walking
between canyons of pallets. At the time, I
had a client, a Jewish congregation who had
very little money but wanted to build a small
synagogue and some classrooms. In the sun,
the st acked blocks which hovered above the
path cast uneven shadows. In that moment of
observation, the Idea of a wall emerged that
seemed simple and Innocent. an idea based
on randomn@ss.
for the synagogue wall,
I asked the masons to lay the blocks with
a variation of between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch
from the vertical. I was seeking a random
order of surface and shadow - a kind of
natural order of life In an unpredictable
pattern. However, the masons were trained
t o lay each block perfectly plumb and true.
What they produced the next day In the sample
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panel was an intellectual exercise instead of
a physical one. They let their minds control
the actions of their bodies. It was almost like
a musical score: 1, 3, 5, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 7, 8.
I asked them to try again.
The foreman helped by setting up a string and
telling the masons to aim almost blindly for
the string. If they were within the tolerance
of the string, he suggested that they just set
the block plumb and keep moving. A number
of masons walked off the site. Those who
stayed had the rigor to follow through. For
these simple gray block walls, the masonry
contractor received the highest honor in the
state for his craft and when we met at the
presentation of his gold trowel, he was still
puzzled by the proposition as well as proud.
Craftsmanship is very much alive in America.
The myth that there are no craftsmen is a
cheap excuse not to capture the architectural
spirit of our time and our technology.
COLLABORATION My studios
are in the desert of the American southwest.
There are 5-10 of us who work in these
modest workshops which have occupied this
setting now for almost a quarter of a century.
Yet, we do not work in isolation. Architecture
is a collaborative art form and the studio
environment is the focus of our common
creativity and research. Clients are key
collaborators. They are the brave risk-takers
in the design process; architects are merely
the agents who help to make their dreams
and visions real. In addition to clients,
15
there are engineers, manufacturers, city
officials, contractors, craftsmen and many
others who have to work together to develop
the ideas and solve the problems of each
new commission. A critical and questioning
atmosphere is essential if we are to do
really good work.
The most important tool
in our studio is not the computer, but the
wastebasket . It is a far harder tool to learn
how to use but when mastered, makes the
computer a more valuable asset. All too often,
we are guilty of not reaching far enough to
find a solution. In searching through the many
ways of solving a problem, the wastebasket
becomes the valuable repository of tough
editing. The wastebasket represents critical
practice - the ability to abandon one idea
for another which is better, the ability to
remove what is superfluous, to reduce an
idea to its essence.
CONCRETE MASONRY WALLS EMERGE LIKE GEOLOGICAL
Carol and Bill Byrne moved
to the desert eight years ago from a 17th
GESTURES FROM THE SITE TO DEFINE THE MAIN ENTRY.
century colonial house in New Jersey.
LIVING, CIRCULATION AND GALLERY SPACES OF THE
Carol is a colorist working in the fabric
industry and Bill is a wood framing contractor
HOUSE. THE ANGULAR GEOMETRY OF THE PLAN GROWS
who is now vice president of a construction
FROM THE ASYMMETRICAL, TAPERING ALIGNMENTS OF
company. Their new house in the desert was
conceived as a geological artifact on a site
THESE BUILT CANYON WALLS AND EXTENDS OUT INTO THE
where the land has been lifted and shifted
DESERT TO CREATE A SERIES OF OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES
by time, wind and cataclysmic events. The
architecture seeks to explore those realities.
AND COURTYARDS.
The simple forms emerge
stealth-like from the landscape. Raked concrete
THE HOUSE IS INTEGRATED INTO THE NATURAl SLOPE OF
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THE LAND. THE LOWER FLOOR IS DUG INTO THE GROUND AT
THE NORTHEAST END OF THE HOUSE AND OPENS TO PRI-
MARY VIEWS TO THE SOUTHWEST. THE ORIENTATION OF
THE STRUCTURE PARALLEL TO THE CONTOURS ENHANCES
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GROUND WHILE OPTIMIZING
DISTANT VIEWS FROM THE MAJOR LIVING SPACES ON THE
UPPER FLOOR. THE LEANING MASONRY CANYON WALLS
DRAMATICALLY FRAME CHANGING DESERT VISTAS AS ONE
MOVES THROUGH THE HOUSE. THE MAIN ROOF IS HELD
FREE OF ITS MASONRY SUPPORTING WALLS BY SCULPTUR-
AL STEEL BRACKETS WHICH FORM A CONTINUOUS FOUR
INCH GAP THAT ALLOWS THE SUN TO LIGHT THE INTERIOR.
\
THE BUFF-COLORED CONCRETE BLOCK WALLS. LAID AT A
THREE-DEGREE SLOPE FROM THE HORIZONTAL AND AT
VARYING ANGLES FROM VERTICAL. ARE EVER-CHANGING IN
THE DESERT SUN. THE DAILY AND SEASONAL VARIATIONS
OF SHADOWS PLAY ON THE SUBTLE COURSING OFFSETS
AND THE ANGULAR ALIGNMENTS OF THE PLAN GEOMETRY.
TO COMPLEMENT THE CONCRETE MASONRY WALLS. FAS-
CIAS ARE CLAD IN BLUE-BLACKENED COPPER AND ACID-
ETCHED GALVANIZED METAL
19
block masonry walls, a long outdoor terrace,
blue-black etched copper, and the poetry of
the meeting of building and landscape speak
about simplicity. The entry, a passage into
a 'canyon; begins the choreography of
movement and light. The slope of the land
is embodied in the energy of the raking walls.
In the course of building the house, we came
to site one day after the crew had poured
the concrete floor slabs to find Bill down
on all fours with golf balls. He was sure the
floors were not level but could not get the
balls to roll. The way that light dances across
the walls and the floor is discovered through
movement from dawn to dusk. The house
amplifies nature's subtlety.
A 1970s PSEUDO-SPANISH TRACT HOUSE ON A SPECTACU·
Ann and Jim Townsend
came to Arizona to see the horizon. In their
LAR DESERT MOUNTAINSIDE SITE IN PARADISE VALLEY.
original letter, they asked if I would consider
ARIZONA WAS REMODELED TO CREATE A BACKDROP FOR
a modest commission to add windows to the
master bedroom of an existing house which
THE OWNER'S COLLECTION OF MODERN FURNITURE. PAINT
they had acquired on Mummy Mountain.
INGS AND SCULPTURE
During our first meeting, it became clear
that these people had a bigger dream.
We talked and dined among a collection of
A NEW COURTYARD AND ENTRANCE ARE CONTAINED IN A
fine contemporary art and sculpture together
with seven cats and three dogs. Ann and
CANYON-LIKE SPACE BETWEEN THE NATURAL MOUNTAIN
Jim Townsend have a great fondness for
FACE AND A CURVED CONCRETE MASONRY SCREEN WALL
the fifties and sixties and a very good
collection of furniture from that period.
TO THE NORTH WHICH BLOCKS UNPLEASANT VIEWS. A
As a result , an interest in the juxtaposition
NEWLY CREATED DESERT GARDEN OASIS SERVES AS A
of form, textures and materials developed
in the design for the house.
FORECOURT TO THE RESIDENCE. A CURVED TRANSLUCENT
The house became part
FIBERGLASS ROLLING GATE SCREENS THE CAR PARKING
AREA AND MASKS VIEWS OF THE GARAGE WHILE DIRECTING
VISITORS TO THE GLASS ENTRY DOOR. A SERIES OF
CURVED WALLS AND NATURALLY LIT SPACES DEFINE THE
GALLERY-LIKE INTERIORS. THE FREE-FLOWING GEOMETRY
OF THE PLAN COMPLEMENTS THE FORMS OF THE FURNI·
TURE COLLECTION. WALL AND CEILING SURFACES ARE FIN·
ISHED WITH REFLECTIVE PLASTER OR TRANSLUCENT AND
TRANSPARENT GLASS, CREATING A NEUTRAL BACKDROP
FOR THE VIVIDLY COLORED ART AND FURNITURE. THE
NORTH FACE OF THE HOUSE IS GLAZED TO CAPTURE CITY
AND MOUNTAIN VIEWS.
THE EXTERNAL PALETTE OF MATERIALS - ACID-ETCHED
GALVANIZED METAL, NATURAL ALUMINUM, STAINLESS
STEEL AND SANDBLASTED CONCRETE BLOCK MASONRY -
IS SOFTENED BY EXTENSIVE INDIGENOUS DESERT PLANTING.
21
22
geology and part sky. Simple sandblasted
concrete block anchors the building to
the site. A 310-foot long crescent wall of
glass creates a house that opens out to a
spectacular horizon. In the desert, fire is
not required during long periods of the year.
Yet a simple mirage-like gas flame rising
through glass marbles creates the sense of
a primitive campfire that has been set on
the edge of the mountain slope. The house,
like all of these projects, has been designed
within normal building codes and with design
review procedures. There were no variances
to the rules. The metal cladding was tested
by the city engineers and approved after
demonstrating that it did not exceed the
maximum reflectivity levels allowed on this
hillside site in Paradise Valley. The Uniform
Building Code is also user-friendly with a
chapter at t he beginning which addresses
invention and experimentation.
The Deer Valley Rock Art
THIS 7,000 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING PROVIDES SPACES FOR
Center project is the result of a particular
EXHIBIT PRESENTATIONS, LABORATORY RESEARCH, CLASS-
collaboration between a university, a city
council, a county commission, the Army
ROOM TEACHING AND CURATORIAL PRESERVATION OF
Corps of Engineers and an architect. It is
MATERIALS RELATED TO THE STUDY OF PETROGLYPHS.
a museum about primitive cultures, a time
machine. Vis itors enter the building along
a bridge and then move out onto a natural
THE BUILDING IS SITED AT THE JUNCTURE OF THE TWO-
trail to the various petroglyph features in
the landscape. The building is a black vessel
MILE LONG EARTHEN ADOBE MOUNTAIN DAM AND THE
sitting alongside a mountain of black rock.
HEDGPETH HILLS MOUNTAIN FORMATION. THE BUILDING
The shell of the building is
a development of the system designed for
SPANS ACROSS THE CONCRETE FLOOD CONTROL OUTLET
WORKS OF THE DAM, TRANSPORTING VISITORS FROM THE
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CHAOS OF SUBURBAN PHOENIX TO THE SANCTUARY OF
THE SHELTERED NATURAL DESERT LANDSCAPE. ALONG
THE MOUNTAINSIDE, A TRAIL LEADS TO OVER 1,500 PRIM I-
TIVE PETROGLYPHS WHICH DATE FROM 9D0-11DO AD.
THE FUNNEL-LIKE FORM AND THE CONCRETE AND WEATH-
ERING STEEL OF THE MUSEUM INTEGRATE THE BUILDING
INTO THE LANDSCAPE. THE EXTERIOR FACES OF THE
EXPOSED PRECAST CONCRETE PANELS ARE FINISHED
WITH DARK BLACK-PURPLE COPPER SLAG WHICH WAS
PLACED IN THE CASTING BEDS. PANEL JOINTS DISAP-
PEAR, EXCEPT AT THE CORNERS WHERE THE THICKNESS
OF THE PANELS IS EXPRESSED. THE UNPAINTED SAND-
BLASTED GRAY CONCRETE SURFACES OF THE INTERIOR
WALLS HAVE THE QUALITY OF FINE PLASTER. THE WALLS
ARE UNINSULATED AND THEIR THERMAL MASS HELPS TO
TEMPER THE INTERIOR SPACES OF THE BUILDING.
SITE PLAN
1 DAM
2 CONCRETE OUTLET WORKS
3 OUTLET CHANNEL
4 PARKING
5 MUSEUM
6 NATURE/PETROGLYPH
VIEWING TRAIL
27
simple tilt-up precast concrete warehouses.
The slag heap at a copper mine in Superior,
Arizona had the perfect cast of purple and
black to offer the right patination for the
concrete for this site. It was specified to be
placed in the casting beds to give a rough,
black exterior finish to the precast panels.
These concrete panels are combined with
weathered steel. It is not the Corten that
Saarinen, Roche and Dinkeloo used at the
John Deere Headquarters. Because we only
have eight inches of rainfall a year in the
desert, plates of 3/4 inch conventional steel
have been used which will endure in this dry
environment for a long, long time. The image
of one of the petroglyphs found at the site
is torch cut in the steel plate that marks
the entry. Perforated metal plate is used
as a scrim to provide shading.
THE NEW GERARD L. CAFESJIAN PAVILION DF THE SCOTTS-
The Scottsdale Museum
of Contemporary Art has been created from
DALE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IS ADJACENT TO
a five-plex theater built in 1975 as part of
THE EXISTING SCOTTSDALE CENTER FOR THE ARTS WHICH
an urban renewal project. The building was
a dinosaur. However, it seemed better to
WAS DESIGNED BY BENNY GONZALES IN 1975. IT IS AN
save it than to tear it down. As we enter the
ADAPTATION OF AN EXISTING BUILDING WHICH PROVIDES
new millennium, perhaps America's coming
of age will be to give legitimacy to our built
1B.500 SQUARE FEET OF VERSATILE TEMPORARY EXHIBI-
heritage as we try to be inventive about all
TION GALLERIES.
those abandoned supermarkets, strip malls
and deserted downtowns. If we are really to
become civilized, I believe we have to create
THE EXISTING STUCCO THEATER BLOCK HAS BEEN PAINTED
the same sense of timelessness here that we
enjoy so much when we travel abroad and
A DEEP PURPLE-GRAY EGGPLANT COLOR. THIS DARK.
look at cultures that are older than our own.
ABSTRACT MASS IS EMBRACED BY AN OBLONG SERVICE
28
POD TO THE WEST CLAD IN CORRUGATED AND PERFORATED
GALVANIZED METAL AND BY A SOFTLY CURVED POD OF
AMENITIES TO THE EAST ENCLOSED BY FLAT-SEAM GALVA-
NIZED STEEL CLADDING. THESE PODS DEFER TO THE BULL-
NOSED VOLUMES OF THE EXISTING ARTS CENTER AND
SHAPE NEW URBAN SPACES.
A LUMINOUS SCRIM, DESIGNED BY THE ARTIST JAMES CAR-
PENTER, FRONTS THE STREET. TEXTURED GLASS SHEETS
WITH DICHROIC GLASS SPACERS FORM A CIVIC LANTERN
AND WRAP THE VOLUME OF THE SCULPTURE COURT
BEYOND. SHIMMERING FRITTED LIGHT AND SHIFTING
SLICES OF THE SPECTRUM PLAY OVER THE DARK BUILDING
A new arrival pavilion is
MASS AND EARTHEN FLOOR. ASCALE AND MATERIAL SHIFT
wrapped in a metal skin. We have designed
OCCURS AS THE SCRIM SLIPS BEHIND THE GALVANIZED
a lot of tough skins for buildings in the desert
because of the extreme climate. Wood does
WALL. A MIRRORED STAINLESS STEEL SIGN IS BACKLIT
not work very well. Builders in Phoenix do
WITH GREEN NEON. THE GLAZED SWEEP IS BREACHED AT
not use brick because the local clay is too
soft. The desert demands concrete, concrete
THE ENTRY BY AUTOMATED SLIDING GLASS DOORS AND
block, stone, copper and galvanized steel.
GRATING WHICH IS UNDERLIT WITH ORANGE LIGHT.
Galvanized steel, an indigenous material
of America, is ubiquitous. In our sunny
environment, it is totally alive.
INTERNALLY, POLISHED CONCRETE FLOORS ARE ARTICU-
The wall of the museum's
sculpture garden is a lantern announcing
LATED WITH AGRID OF PRONOUNCED SAWCUTS. NEW CEIL-
the building to the street. The lantern was
INGS ARE EXPOSED TIMBER BEAMS AND BLACK SOUND
designed in collaboration with the glass artist
James Carpenter who developed the detailing
BATTING. THE WOOD TRUSS STRUCTURE OF THE EXISTING
BUILDING IS EXPOSED. AT THE ENTRY, THE METAL EXTERI-
30
OR WALL HAS AN UNDULATING YELLOW INTERIOR LINING
WHICH DEFINES SPACES FOR ADMISSIONS, A MUSEUM
SHOP, AND A FUTURE CYBER-CAFE.
THE GALLERIES ARE JOINED BY A 150-FOOT LONG CURVED
WALL. PLATE STEEL FRAMES AND 12-FOOT TALL MAPLE
DOORS FORM THE THRESHOLDS TO THE FIVE NEW EXHIBI-
TION SPACES. GALLERY ENVIRONMENTS ARE CHARACTER-
IZED BY NEUTRAL GRAY-WHITE WALLS AND THE SILVER
CEILING PLANE Of A MECHANICAL BELLY. TUNEABLE
SQUARE GALVANIZED SKYLIGHTS INTRODUCE NATURAL
LIGHT INTO FOUR Of THE GALLERIES. THE FIFTH GALLERY.
FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, HAS INCREASED LIGHT PRO-
VIDEO BY A SLIVER Of SKY FROM A NORTH-FACING
CLERESTORY.
32
working with local steel fabricators and
the firm which made the pyramid parts and
fittings for the Louvre in Paris. The assembly
was precise and construction was very fast.
On Monday, five days before the gala opening,
there was no glass in the wall. By Tuesday,
in less than four hours all the glass was
clipped in place on calibrated stainless steel
rods. On Wednesday morning, all the dichroic
glass was installed and by Wednesday
afternoon there was more Windex on site
than you've ever seen in your life. The
completed sculpture garden was opened
on Saturday. Like an Indian sand painting,
sunlight is woven through the dichroic
glass spacers. The pattern of colored light
is ever-changing. People are constantly
mystified by the magic of the light.
Designs for two libraries
THE NEW LIBRARY CREATES A CIVIC LANDMARK WHICH
have created important civic buildings for
SERVES THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY'S LIBRARY SER-
two communities. The scale and context
of the buildings are quite different. The
VICE AND. IN A RUSTIC AND ROMANTIC WAY, CELEBRATES
landscape of Teton County is spectacular.
THE VERNACULAR RANCH BUILDINGS AND MOUNTAIN
In contrast, the town of Jackson Hole,
Wyoming is merely a junction on a road.
LODGES OF THE REGION. THE NEW LIBRARY IS MADE OF
There is no railroad stop - just a little town
THE SAME MATERIALS AS THE FINE OLD BUILDINGS THAT
square with antler arches and big cowboy
storefronts. People go there to see the
ARE THE POSTER IMAGES MOST OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH
magic of the sky and the landscape. The
THE 'PLACE' - ROUGH LOGS. BOARD AND BATTEN SIDING.
design of the library is inspired by that
landscape, by barns and the Old Faithful
GRANITE, MASONRY AND METAL ROOFING.
Inn at Yellowstone, by hayracks and long
mystical lines of barbed wire fences.
A LANDSCAPED PARKING GARDEN FOR MORE THAN 100
CARS IS LOCATED TO THE NORTH OF THE BUILDING. ALONG
34
The original Teton County
Library was a log building of about 6,000
THE SOUTHERN FACADE, READING DECKS AND A STORY
TIME COURTYARD FACE LAWNS AND A NEW COMMUNITY
GARDEN. BECAUSE OF THE GENTLE SLOPE OF ITS TRADI·
square feet . It was loved by the community,
yet completely outdated and unable to offer
the services of a modern library. The new
TIONAL RANCH HOUSE GABLE ROOF, THE LIBRARY IS
ALMOST HIDDEN IN THE LANDSCAPE. THE ENTRANCE IS
library is a 25,000 square foot building in a
climate of snow, icicles, drifts and mountains.
The design explores the nature of the place and
UNDER THE BROAD PROTECTED OVERHANG OF THE GREAT
ROOF. IT IS APPROACHED ACROSS A SMALL LANDSCAPED
the vernacular of the ranch house and barn.
The requirements of clients
are the basis for all architecture. Programs
PLAZA WITH BENCHES, BIKE RACKS AND AN EXTERIOR
BOOK DROP ADJACENT TO A WEATHER PROOF VESTIBULE.
should communicate the needs and desires of
the client. If we listen and reflect our listening
in the ideas we deliver, it is surprising how
INSIDE THE LIBRARY, AGALLERY-LIKE FOYER SERVES AS AN
ANTECHAMBER TO THE AUDITORIUM, MEETING ROOM,
many times that the client, on seeing the first
sketches and models, is not only flattered
but reflective. Then there is a journey for
RESTROOM$, AND THE GREAT LIBRARY liVING' ROOM, THE
LARGEST PUBLIC ROOM IN THE COMMUNITY.
client and architect to embark on together
instead of a battle that they have to fight.
While we might develop ideas easily with
TH IS LIVING ROOM HOUSES ALL OF THE LIBRARY 'S MAIN
our colleagues through drawings, it is the
power of the word to communicate ideas,
to explain concepts and gain trust - a trust
PUBLIC FUNCTIONS- THE CIRCULATION DESK, CHILDREN'S
COLLECTION. REFERENCE/COMPUTER CENTER, WESTERN
that has to be lived up to - that will create
success with clients. Artists and architects
are agents of change but people do not like
AMERICANA ROOM, GENERAL COLLECTIONS, AND PERIODI
CALS. THIS FOCAL SPACE GIVES THE BUILDING BOTH GREAT
change. If we are to do our jobs well, we have
to find ways to make our dreams literate,
to test ideas, to throw out the bad ideas
FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND A FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE.
THE SCALE, FORM, DETAIL AND TEXTURE OF THE NEW
and to make others as good as they can be.
This design is an attempt
to create spaces of occupation and habitation
where memories are valued and new ones can
be built. It seeks to avoid the feeling of an
LIBRARY ARE ROOTED IN AMEMORY OF THE REGION'S PAST
AND PROVIDE A VISION FOR ITS FUTURE
GROUND FLOOR
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
ENTRANCE
FOYER
CIRCULATION DESK
STACKS I READING ROOM
DECK
STAFF OFFICES
CHILDREN'S PLAY GARDEN
37
institutional building. We built an efficient
library, but one with memories of the
rustic embedded throughout. Using current
technology, we invented translucent resin
lights which recall the memory of that moment
at the turn of the century when log cabins
in this region were first electrified. The living
room from the old library is replaced with a
new south-facing reading room with a porch
and views of the mountains. In this space,
there are 13 different styles of chair and 23
different fabrics so that everybody can find
something comfortable. Tree trunk columns six different species, each with its bark left
on - have been built into the new library with
careful conversations on site to make sure
that each tree faces north as it did in the
forest. These details are important; they
help to make the building both humane
and specific to its place.
ARIZONA'S UNIQUE NATURAL BEAUTY PROVIDES A
I knew the desert very
well when I won the commission to design
METAPHOR FOR THE LIBRARY WHICH RISES ABOVE CEN-
the Phoenix Central Library but at that time,
TRAL AVENUE LIKE A MESA FROM THE LANDSCAPE OF
the largest building I had designed was
30,000 square feet. The new library was to
MONUMENT VALLEY. STEEL-FRAMED SADDLEBAGS ON THE
be a building of 280,000 square feet. A bond
EAST AND WEST WALLS OF THE BUILDING INCORPORATE
issue was passed in Phoenix which included
$100 million for four major cultural buildings,
LATERAL BRACING SYSTEMS AND ALL FIXED SERVICES
the largest of which was the Central Library.
INCLUDING STAIRS. SERVICE ELEVATORS. RESTROOMS AND
The ambition was to create a new main library
for a city that had grown from 50,000 people
MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL PLANT. THIS FREES UP THE
at the end of World War II to the sixth largest
PLAN FOR LIBRARY RELATED USES WHICH ARE HOUSED IN
city in America today with well over one
million inhabitants and almost three million
A PRECAST CONCRETE STRUCTURE ON FIVE FLOORS IN A
11_1
111111111 1111111111111111
11111111111111111 : ~
FIFTH FLOOR
GROUND FLOOR
I ENTRANCE
2 CRYSTAL CANYON
3 RESTAURANT
4 AUDITORIUM
5 CIRCULATION DESK
6 CHILDREN'S LIBRARY
7 MAIN READING ROOM
B MECHANICAL PLANT
~·G
I
39
in the region. The librarian was a traditionalist,
but had vision and courage. His vision was a
warehouse. The client's need was to double
the size of the existing library while promising
the City Council that the new facility would
operate with only a ten percent increase
in staff. With the analysis and reinvention
of every component in the building, we were
able to satisfy those requirements and meet
the budget of $98 per square foot.
When people look across
the horizon in Phoenix they don't talk
about buildings, but about mountains Squaw Peak, South Mountain, Pabago Buttes
and so on. These are the monuments of
the western landscape. For the new library,
I wanted to create an architecture that was
about abstraction, about the memory of
landscape and at the scale of that landscape.
A mesa became the operative metaphor
for the building.
The building is a large,
simple box with all the services moved to
the perimeter into two saddlebags. This
creates a spatial and structural diagram
which provides the flexibility which a library
requires. As well as housing all the services
and shading the east and west facades, the
saddlebags are designed to provide the lateral
bracing for the building. A series of huge steel
trusses is anchored into 80-foot' deep caisson
foundations and tied together at the top by
a bridge truss. The saddlebags also served
as the temporary bracing system for the
40
erection of the precast concrete inner walls.
During construction, people were really
curious about the void between the two long,
slender saddlebags. Have we got two libraries?
The north and south facades
are totally transparent. In the harsh climate
of the desert , this presented a number of
challenges for the architect and the engineer.
The south facade is shaded by computer
programmed operable horizontal louvers
SIMPLE RECTANGULAR CONFIGURATION. A 32 FOOT 8 INCH
which were manufactured in Germany. On
the north facade, we developed a design for
fixed vertical shades made of Ferrari cloth,
SQUARE ORTHOGONAL GRID DERIVED FROM LIBRARY
STACK MODULES CREATES A LARGE STORAGE 'BOX' FOR
an open-weave Teflon-coated acrylic fabric
BOOKS AND INFORMATION. INTERNALLY, THE LIBRARY'S
manufactured in France. It was shipped by
boat to Boston and by truck to Maine where
PUBLIC SPACES ARE SIMPLY ORGANIZED AROUND A LIGHT
the shades were fabricated by sailmakers.
WELL. AT THE HEART OF THE WELL IS ABLACK REFLECTING
Detailed like a series of sails, they were
installed by the people who fabricated them .
POOL FROM WHICH THREE GLAZED ELEVATORS AND A
They threw a rope over the top beam of the
GRAND STAIRCASE RISE. THE ROOF OF THE ATRIUM HAS
building and connected it to a hot air balloon
basket at one end and the back bumper of a
BEEN DESIGNED WITH COMPUTER DRIVEN, MIRRORED
1971 Cougar at the other. One member of the
TRACKING SKYLIGHTS SET IN ASTAINLESS STEEL ROTUNDA
team drove the car north in the parking lot,
pulling two men in the basket to the top of
SO THAT SUNLIGHT ANIMATES THE SPACE FROM DAWN TO
the building. The clutch was released at fixed
DUSK. ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE LIBRARY IS A GREAT
intervals and, as the car reversed, the men
in the basket made the connections at each
level down the facade. It was an ingenious
combination of high-tech and low-tech which
reflects the culture in which we live.
Budget and invention often
drive the best solutions. We liked the integrity
of precast concrete. For us, it is a late 20th
DOUBLE HEIGHT PUBLIC READING ROOM WHICH HOUSES
41
century vernacular material in the southwest
where it is widely used for warehouses,
bridge construction, prisons and car parking
structures. We wanted to find a way to use
it and benefit from its economy and the
experience of the fabricators. We visited many
precasting yards and talked with contractors.
They showed us the process of manufacturing
panels and all the things they could do to
produce beautiful colors and finishes.
In the parking lot of the
contractor we eventually selected, there was
a wall of sample panels. One of these showed
how the first mud is set and consolidated with
a 2x4. It caught our imagination. We asked to
meet the workmen who had made the panel.
Our instructions for the first 8 foot by 8 foot
mock-up for the library were to shimmy
across the concrete surface once with a
2x4, then on the second pass - somewhere
between every 6 to 20 inches - to push the
2x4 into the mud and pull it straight up. This
left a crust of cream that, when hardened,
created a shadow line. 'Perfectly parallel'
was not important as the shadow lines were
not going to be aligned. The actual wall
panels for the library are 8 feet 2 inches
wide by 40 feet long. They were cast on
virgin steel and finished by hand with a 2x4.
We could afford that quality, although we
couldn't afford the perception we could afford
it. The stainless steel lifting hardware that
brought the panels off of the mold, into
curing, onto the truck, off the crane, and
THE ENTIRE NON-FICTION COLLECTION. THIS ROOM IS NAT·
URALLY LIT AND HAS EXTENSIVE VIEWS OUT OVER THE
CITY. THE ROOF OF THE READING ROOM IS SUPPORTED BY
A TENSEGRITY STEEL STRUCTURE.
THE EAST AND WEST ELEVATIONS OF THE SADDLEBAGS
ARE CLAD WITH HEAVY CORRUGATED AND FLAT PANELED
COPPER SIDING WHICH REFERS TO THE CITY'S AGRICUL-
TURAL HERITAGE AND WILL PATINATE TO MATCH THE PUR·
PLE·GRAY DESERT MOUNTAIN SHADOWS. THE ENTRANCES
ARE ACCENTED BY STAINLESS STEEL PLATES THAT
REFLECT THE CHANGING COLORS OF THE SKY. THE SOUTH
ELEVATION IS FULLY GLAZED WITH AUTOMATED SOLAR
TRACKING LOUVERS DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE HEAT GAIN
AND GLARE. A SYSTEM OF SHADE SAILS ON THE NORTH
ELEVATION ELIMINATES THE HARSH GLARE OF THE SUM-
MER SUN WHILE OPTIMIZING VIEWS. THESE TRANSPARENT
FACES OF THE BUILDING SHOWCASE THE BOOKS AND THE
LIBRARY USERS INSIDE. LEAVING NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS
BUILDING'S SPECIAL ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
43
finally into the building is expressed as part
of the visual texture of the finished wall .
The use of copper for the
library's skin seemed appropriate - after all,
Arizona's license plates were once signed
'The Copper State.' Each of the two external
walls of the saddlebags is the size of a
football field, so when we spoke to the
specialist subcontractors they were very
interested. They called me the next day
with a quotation of $125 per square foot for
the skin. At the time, copper was costing a
$3 per square foot raw. Their estimate was
ill-considered and I hung up the phone.
I remembered the beautiful
silos erected behind the Hayden Flour Mill
in Tempe, Arizona in 1972 - fifteen years
before I had a need for the material. The
same rollers that corrugated the metal for
those silos still existed in Nebraska and in
the summer of 1991, we created a series of
prototypes there. This was in the tradition
of John Dinkeloo who refined the practice
of prototyping ideas, not because they were
wild, but because they were inventions.
The prototype brings veracity and technical
legitimacy to the ideas and the inventions
of designers. The copper for the cladding of
the library came from Germany and was rolled
in Nebraska. The final cost of the copper
cladding was about $18 per square foot just a dollar more than standard stucco.
The reading room
choreographs sunlight. The engineers at
44
Arups invented a composit e tensegrity
structure which incorporates a bold industrial
warehouse technology. Lenses in the roof
above each column are diffused with laminated
glass which creates a soft blue color. The roof,
which is made of exposed corrugated steel,
appears to hover above the heads of the
columns which float in caps of cool blue light.
To the east and west, long narrow skylights
bathe the precast concrete side walls in light
every day. Labrouste's Bibliotheque Nationale
of 1862 is the room that inspired t his space.
Some 125 years later, a new room with grand
reading tables at the top of a pavilion in
the desert shares that heritage.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
was a poet and an aviator, a confidant of
Le Corbusier, a writer of children's books.
As we think about making art and architecture
in the new millennium, he offers us sound
advice: "In anything at all, perfection is finally
attained not when there is no longer anything
to add, but when there is no longer anything
to take away ... " As we are confronted with
constraints of all kinds, we face the challenge
of our lives - to be good editors, to discard
the superfluous and focus on the essential.
John G. Dinkeloo was born
in Holland, Michigan In 1918 and graduated
from the architecture prOQram at the University
of Michigan In 1942. Upon graduation he
joined the office of Skidmore Owings and
Merrill in Chicago where he worked first as
a designer and subsequently as the chief of
production. Eight years later John returned
to Michigan to join the office of Eero Saarinen
and Associates In Bloomfield Hills where he
was t o become a partner. During this time
he was Involved with the design of a number
of important projects Including the TWA
Terminal at Kennedy Airport and Dulles
Airport In Washington DC, the Gateway
Arch in St. Louts and the Morse and Stiles
Colleges at Yale University. following the
sudden death of Eero Saarinen in 1961,
John Dlnkeloo formed a partnership with
Kevin Roche to become a founding partner
of Kevin Roche John Dlnkeloo & Associates
in 1966. This was to become one of the most
distinguished architectural offices In the
United States and became a practice whose
work has been Internationally recognized.
10 MD , 1.00 !918 8)
THE DINKELOO LECTURERS
THE JOHN DINKELOO MEMORIAL LECTURE HAS BEEN
DELIVERED BY ARCHITECTS WHO ARE INTERNATIONALLY
RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR WORK IN PRACTICE.
John Dinkeloo was
1984 KEVIN ROCHE
responsible for the development of thoughtful
and elegant systems of design and technical
1985 E. FAY JONES
innovations including the use of structural
1986 ROBERT J. FRASCA
neoprene gaskets, new glazing systems
and high-strength low-alloy weathering
1987 WILLIAM PEDERSON
steel in the exposed structures of buildings.
1988 RICHARD MEIER
In 1968 he received the Medal of Honor
from the New York Chapter of the American
1989 THOMAS H. BEEBE
Institute of Architects. Six years later the
1990 GUNNAR BIRKERTS
practice received the Architectural Firm
Award from the American Institute of
1991 THOM MAYNE
Architects. In 1995 the Ford Foundation
1992 TOO WILLIAMS & BILLIE TSIEN
was selected for the American Institute
of Architects 25-Year Award.
1993 MICHAEL MCKINNELL
John Dinkeloo died in 1981.
1994 DIANA AGREST
The John Dinkeloo Memorial Lecture was
established at the College of Architecture
1995 JOHN PATKAU
and Urban Planning as a recognition of his
1996 RICHARD HORDEN
extraordinary contribution to architecture
and to honor the work of this distinguished
1997 RAFAEL VINOLY
and highly respected alumnus of the
1998 STUDIO GRANDA
1999 WILL BRUDER
University of Michigan.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE A. ALFRED TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE +
URBAN PLANNING IS GRATEFUL FOR THE GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR THE JOHN DINKELOO MEMORIAL LECTURE WHICH
HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THELMA DINKELOO AND AN
ENDOWMENT FROM FACULTY AND FRIENDS. WE WOULD
ALSO LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE HELP OF PROFESSOR
HENRY KOWALEWSKI AND THE CONTINUING INTEREST OF
BOTH CHRISTIAAN AND DEREK DINKELOO.
WORKING IN THE STUDIO IN THE DESERT, WILL BRUDER,
DOTTIE ZASTAWAMI AND TIM CHRIST PREPARED MATERIAL
FOR THE BOOK AND PATIENTLY DEALT WITH OUR MANY
QUERIES. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO BILL TIMMERMAN FOR
ALLOWING THE USE OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHS.
AK I ISHIDA IN THE OFFICE OF JAMES CARPENTER DESIGN
ASSOCIATES PROVIDED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE
GLASS SCRIM WALLIN SCOTTSDALE.
THE SUPPORT OF THE DEAN , FACULTY AND STAFF OF THE
COLLEGE HAVE BEEN INVALUABLE. IN PARTICULAR, SALLIE
KNE IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR HER PATIENCE. BRIAN
SALAY PROVIDED VALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN THE FINAL
STAGES OF PRODUCTION .
THE QUOTE BY ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY IS FROM WIND,
SAND AND STARS (HARCOURT BRACE & COMPANY, 1939).
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS
BILL TIMMERMAN: COVER. 11A. 12A, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21A. 21B.
22. 23. 24A, 24B, 25A. 25B. 26, 27, 28. 29, 30A, 30B. 30C, 31, 36,
37, 40B, 41B. 42A. 45; WILL BRUDER: lOA. lOB, IOC, liB, II C. liD.
12B. 13A, 14, 17, 33. 35, 40A. 41A; WPBA ARCHIVE: 12C; BEN
NESBEITT: 13B; WENDELL BURNETTE: 42B; RICK HONDORP:
4ZC; KEVIN ROCHE JOHN DINKELOO AND ASSOCIATES: 7, 46.