A prompt, a comparison Richard Serra is referring to the ethical intent of his work, what is gleaned from a critical process, however he could just as easily be referring to an architectural condition or possibly even an approach to making architecture, something implicitly fragmentary. I would argue this architecture like Serra’s work is not gestural, not absolutist, not prescriptive of a ‘modus operandi’, not nostalgic, and not adding to a syntax that already exists. This architecture is ‘not looking for affirmation’ or complicity, the emergence of this architectural work as with Serra’s sculpture ‘relies on the process of its making’, not the augmentation of an existing language. A fragment.

Cutting Device: Base Plate-MeasureThe integrity of Serra’s work is concomitant with its process. In ‘Cutting Device: Base Plate-Measure’ a number of diverse elements are juxtaposed to separate and divide the piece. The activity of cutting restructures the field, informing the relationship between disparate parts in a way other than the literal juxtaposition of individual elements. What is poignant is that it takes into account the simultaneity and contradictory nature of the elements present and sorts them into a discernible historical continuum. The significance of it lies in its ethic not its intentions, Serra sets out to constrain the work in a qualified way, or in his own words ‘it’s how we do what we do that conjures a meaning of what we have done’. Serra establishes his own a priori in the way each architectural context presents its own frame and ideological overtones. Serra’s approach and ethic would suggest it’s a matter of the degree to which we choose to interpret them.

The Fragment as a means of understanding an a priori condition

‘I never begin to construct with a specific intention; I don’t work from a priori ideas and theoretical propositions. The structures are the result of experimentation and invention. In every search there is a degree of unforseeability, a sort of troubling feeling, a wonder after the work is complete, after the conclusion. The part of the work that surprises me invariably leads to new works. Call it a glimpse; often this glimpse occurs because of an obscurity which arises from a precise resolution.’ Richard Serra

‘In th

e gift

of w

ater,

in th

e gift

of w

ine,

sky a

nd ea

rth

dwell

. But

the g

ift o

f the

out

pour

ing

is w

hat

mak

es th

e jug

a ju

g. In

the j

ugne

ss of

the j

ug, s

ky a

nd ea

rth

dwell

.’M

arti

n H

eide

gger

Front PageFragment of the Forma Urbis of Rome

Piranesi, 1756

PROMPTING A QUESTION OF ARCHITECTURAL INTENTJoshua Waterstone

A ch

ance

disc

over

y of

a fr

agm

ent f

rom

a c

eram

ic

jug

reve

als

mor

e to

us

than

jus

t th

e fra

gmen

t its

elf.

Our

und

ersta

ndin

g of

its m

ater

ial q

ualit

y, its

wei

ght,

thic

knes

s, ag

e an

d co

lour

ins

tant

ly

give

us a

n id

ea o

f wha

t the

who

le ju

g m

ay h

ave

been

like

. Its

curv

atur

e an

d su

rface

tex

ture

giv

e us

an

impr

essio

n of

the

size

of

the

orig

inal

jug

and

how

it w

as m

ade.

An

imag

e fo

rms

in o

ne’s

min

d of

how

the v

esse

l may

hav

e loo

ked

and

felt.

At t

his

poin

t a

leap

is

mad

e be

twee

n ph

ysic

al

artif

act

and

imag

ined

obj

ect,

in w

hich

one

’s m

ind

begi

ns t

o tu

rn t

he p

otte

r’s w

heel

and

co

mpl

ete

the

piec

e to

one

’s ow

n sp

ecifi

catio

ns;

the

leng

th a

nd s

hape

of t

he s

pout

, the

wid

th o

f th

e ha

ndle

. Our

ow

n th

ough

ts an

d ju

dgem

ents

form

the

rem

aini

ng fr

agm

ents

of th

e pi

ece,

such

th

at i

f an

othe

r pe

rson

wer

e to

stu

dy t

he s

ame

fragm

ent a

diff

eren

t im

agin

ing

may

be a

rriv

ed at

.

In d

oing

so

ther

e is

a ris

k th

at w

e im

agin

e th

e ju

g as

an

obje

ct w

ith s

cien

tifica

lly q

uant

ifiab

le

prop

ertie

s ra

ther

tha

n a

thin

g w

hich

is

part

of

and

defin

ed b

y na

ture

; th

at i

t ha

s a

cultu

ral

auth

entic

ity th

at g

oes b

eyon

d be

ing

a ut

ility

for

man

.

The

read

ing

of a

bui

ldin

g, st

reet

or c

ity si

mila

rly

info

rms

us o

f a

mul

tiplic

ity o

f di

ffere

nt p

iece

s of

info

rmat

ion

mor

e la

yere

d an

d co

mpl

ex t

han

thos

e of

the

jug

fra

gmen

t th

at w

e ca

n ho

ld

betw

een

two

finge

rs.

‘Rat

iona

l’ ju

dgem

ents

are

diffi

cult

to a

rriv

e at

: th

e w

eath

er o

r th

e tim

e of

day

can

cha

nge

the

feel

ing

of a

plac

e. Th

e site

that

the a

rchi

tect

seek

s to

und

ersta

nd a

nd in

som

e w

ay to

add

to is

not

a

fixed

obj

ect

but

rath

er a

shi

fting

, ch

angi

ng,

deca

ying

pl

ace

inha

bite

d by

liv

ing

peop

le.

The

fragm

ents

adde

d or

rem

oved

are

not

of

a di

scer

nibl

e who

le th

at ca

n ev

er b

e com

plet

ed -

to

try

to d

o so

is fu

tile.

Rat

her,

the

arch

itect

ca

n tr

y to

im

bue

the

fragm

ents

whi

ch t

hey

add,

be

they

as

smal

l as

a

door

han

dle

or a

s la

rge

as a

city

blo

ck,

with

qu

aliti

es th

at a

re fe

lt in

the

neig

hbou

ring

piec

es

and

that

conn

ect o

ne w

ith an

idea

of a

n im

agin

ed

who

le.

The

best

outc

ome

is th

at t

he m

ater

ial

piec

es

they

ha

ve

adde

d ea

ch

belo

ng

and

have

an

in

terc

onne

cted

ness

tha

t al

low

s th

em t

o off

er

them

selv

es fo

rth

not j

ust a

s ob

ject

s qu

antifi

able

by

the

ir w

eigh

t or

vol

ume

but

as

thin

gs w

ith

a ne

arne

ss a

nd s

peci

ficity

tha

t is

able

to

gath

er

toge

ther

man

, cul

ture

and

pla

ce.

A F

RA

GM

EN

TE

D W

HO

LEM

atth

ew W

ickha

m

Issue #01

Fragment

foldthinking about architecture

Contributors:

Robert Grover

Philip ShelleyM

atthew W

ickhamAlastair C

rockettM

arcus RothnieJoshua W

aterstone

To contribute please contact foldmagazine.m

ail@gm

ail.com

ww

w.foldmagazine.w

ordpress.com robertjgrover@gm

ail.comphilip.shelley@

gmail.com

wickham

.matthew

@googlem

ail.comacinusa@

hotmail.com

marcus@

rothnie.orgjoshuaw

aterstone@gm

ail.com

Decem

ber 2012

If du

st is

the

desti

ny

of

all

obje

cts,

then

fra

gmen

tatio

n is

the

med

ium

-term

pla

n. Th

e fra

gmen

t is s

uch

a ubi

quito

us fi

gure

, we a

re li

kely

to

forg

et it

s pre

senc

e. Th

e ve

ry c

once

pt is

par

t of

a co

mm

on E

urop

ean

cultu

ral i

nher

itanc

e, e

ven

the

wor

d is

shar

ed b

y m

ost E

urop

ean

lang

uage

s, pa

ssed

dow

n, m

ostly

in

tact

, fro

m t

he L

atin

fra

gmen

tum

. It’

s te

lling

tha

t m

ore

equi

vale

nt

vern

acul

ar w

ords

hav

e no

t pe

rform

ed s

o w

ell.

Ger

man

, for

insta

nce,

has

Bru

chstü

ck (

‘bro

ken

piec

e’), b

ut D

as F

ragm

ent

refu

ses

to s

tep

asid

e.

Etym

olog

ical

dep

th g

rant

s w

ords

a k

ind

of

pow

er t

hat

they

mig

ht o

ther

wise

lack

; a li

cens

e to

sign

ify m

ore

than

the

liter

al.

In

this

sens

e,

fragm

ent

also

im

plie

s va

lue.

Ac

cord

ingl

y, w

e ra

rely

sp

eak

of

wor

thle

ss

fragm

ents,

but

rat

her

bits

and

piec

es. Th

e va

lue

of a

fragm

ent o

ften

depe

nds o

f wha

t it c

an te

ll us

ab

out i

tself

and

wha

t it c

an, b

y im

plic

atio

n, te

ll us

m

ore

abou

t the

thin

gs o

f whi

ch it

was

onc

e pa

rt,

as w

ell a

s how

it w

as m

ade.

As s

uch,

frag

men

ts ar

e a

form

of

phys

ical

mem

ory;

a m

atrix

fro

m

whi

ch re

cons

truc

tion

can

be a

ttem

pted

. Th

is ca

paci

ty f

or im

plic

atio

n is

ofte

n en

hanc

ed

by a

noth

er p

rope

rty

of f

ragm

ents:

tha

t th

eir

edge

s ar

e irr

egul

ar,

unev

en,

ofte

n im

plyi

ng

the

larg

er p

rogr

amm

e of

whi

ch i

t w

as p

art;

of p

atte

rn,

for

insta

nce,

or,

whe

re l

ocat

ion

is

pres

erve

d, o

f the

arr

ange

men

t of e

ntire

bui

ldin

g co

mpl

exes

ov

er

time.

Ev

en

smal

l fra

gmen

ts th

us p

osse

ss a

n im

plic

ate

orde

r, w

hich

can

onl

y be

rec

reat

ed b

y th

e eff

orts

of p

eopl

e: b

y th

e ap

plic

atio

n of

scie

ntifi

c tec

hniq

ues t

oget

her w

ith

the

cultu

ral

acts

of i

nter

pret

atio

n, d

iscus

sion,

an

d co

mm

unic

atio

n of

such

insig

hts.

As

for

arch

itect

ure,

m

ight

th

e id

ea

of

the

fragm

ent

go b

eyon

d th

at o

f ph

ysic

al s

ubsta

nce

(of,

say,

build

ing

cons

erva

tion)

to

be e

xten

ded

to th

e im

mat

eria

l, ac

know

ledg

ing

its ro

le in

the

subj

ect

and

char

acte

r of

our

thi

nkin

g? M

ight

th

ere

not b

e va

lue

in e

mbr

acin

g th

e fra

gmen

tary

qu

ality

of k

now

ledg

e in

arc

hite

ctur

e, ra

ther

than

pr

eten

ding

it is

som

e or

gani

c w

hole

, or i

gnor

ing

the

prob

lem

ent

irely

?

Frag

men

tatio

n ca

n of

cou

rse

also

be

destr

uctiv

e.

It co

uld

be a

rgue

d th

at t

he p

oint

at

whi

ch

fragm

enta

tion

beco

mes

und

esira

ble

is w

here

the

diffe

rent

bra

nche

s of

kno

wle

dge

and

prac

tice

can

no lo

nger

be

unde

rsto

od in

rel

atio

n to

one

an

othe

r, w

hen

the

outli

ne o

f the

who

le s

chem

a is

no lo

nger

disc

erni

ble;

whe

re fr

agm

enta

tion

is di

sgui

sed

as p

lura

lism

, whe

n ar

tifici

al b

ound

arie

s be

twee

n di

scip

lines

har

den,

as

thei

r co

mm

on

unde

rsta

ndin

g an

d pu

rpos

es w

ither

aw

ay.

Our

kn

owle

dge

is ne

cess

arily

inc

ompl

ete,

but

our

th

ough

t an

d ac

tions

sho

uld,

in

som

e se

nse,

alw

ays t

ake a

ccou

nt o

f the

larg

er p

ictu

re, a

nd th

e fu

ll pu

rpos

es a

nd p

oten

tials

of h

ow w

e sh

ape

the

wor

ld a

roun

d us

. O

ne p

reca

rious

con

sequ

ence

of

this

over

-frag

men

tatio

n is

the

pres

ent s

chism

be

twee

n de

signe

rs a

nd s

ocie

ty,

in w

hich

the

so

cial

dim

ensio

n of

arc

hite

ctur

e in

par

ticul

ar is

ei

ther

mist

ruste

d, f

orgo

tten,

or

mar

gina

lised

, bo

th w

ithin

and

out

side

of th

e di

scip

line.

The

corr

ectiv

e sh

ift t

owar

ds a

mor

e co

mpl

ete

arch

itect

ure

is un

derw

ay,

with

thi

nkin

g an

d te

achi

ng

incr

easin

gly

taki

ng

plac

e cl

ose

to

prac

tice.

Ac

cept

ing

the

fragm

enta

ry q

ualit

y of

kn

owle

dge,

our

task

is to

mak

e it

and

its o

vera

ll sh

ape

mor

e co

here

nt. Th

is ta

sk in

volv

es a

kin

d of

cur

atio

n –

inte

rpre

tatio

n, o

rder

ing,

nar

ratin

g,

setti

ng in

pla

ce. I

ndee

d, t

he w

hole

que

stion

of

how

arc

hite

ctur

al k

now

ledg

e is

to b

e he

ld a

nd

perp

etua

ted

in t

he d

igita

l ag

e sh

ould

also

be

cont

ende

d. S

ites

such

as

art.s

y, an

atte

mpt

to

crea

te a

str

uctu

red

publ

ic r

epos

itory

of

art,

prom

ise f

utur

e re

volu

tions

in

how

we

mig

ht

shar

e an

d or

der

arch

itect

ural

kno

wle

dge

in t

he

near

futu

re.

In t

he m

eant

ime,

an

incr

ease

d op

enne

ss w

ould

be

wel

com

e, c

reat

ing

a ki

nd o

f pr

actic

e m

ore

inte

reste

d in

inc

orpo

ratin

g va

luab

le p

rece

dent

s an

d ex

istin

g str

uctu

res,

with

arc

hite

ctur

e as

a

soci

al a

rt a

nd c

ultu

ral p

ract

ice.

EM

BR

AC

ING

TH

E FR

AG

ME

NT

Phili

p Sh

elley

A STUDY OF FRAGMENTMarcus Rothnie

On the w

estern side of the PlaÇa de Carles Buïgas stands a low

horizontal building. Its form

is unclear; a white horizontal roof to the north appears

to float above a reflective void offset, by a solid plane of pale stone to the south. It is an object of illusion; reflections and transparencies distorting the perception of a physical reality.

Ludwig M

ies van der Rohe’s Barcelona pavilion is a place of ambiguity;

it is simultaneously know

able and incomprehensible, rational and chaotic,

simple and com

plicated. Solid walls appear to dissolve w

hilst transparent planes becom

e voids of infinite reflection. It is clearly a building of heavy stone yet floats as though its m

ass is inconsequential. Inhabiting this structure is like being the edge of N

irvana, yet never being able to achieve enlightenm

ent.

Mies w

alks a precarious tightrope, traversing a fine line between tantalising

ambiguity and m

eaningless incoherence. Despite its careful detailing and

fine craftsmanship Th

e Barcelona Pavilion appears to us incomplete; a piece

of reality that alludes to a larger whole beyond the physical lim

itations of its w

alls. The building is a fragm

ent of an elusive whole, an allusion to a higher

reality slightly beyond reach.

This fragm

entary architecture runs counter the Quixotic pursuit of an

architectural ideal. A reductionalist world view

lends itself to the belief that buildings can becom

e the physical manifestation of rationalist thought. Th

e results are invariably disappointing as they never achieve the ideal they seek to pertain, serving as m

onuments to the fallibility of m

an.

The m

ystical world of the Barcelona Pavilion is a place for dream

ing. It is not a failed attem

pt to achieve a Platonic ideal but a fragment w

hich stim

ulates personal transendence to an elusive higher reality.

AN

ELU

SIVE R

EA

LITY

Robert Grover

We live in an environment where much architectural communication and education is through publication and the limited perspective provided by imagery. Our understanding of architecture is warped by use of this single form of medium, reducing a building to a single set of photographs and formal drawings. I would argue that reliance on a set of prints for an appreciation of the built form leads to miscommunication from these fragments. This miscommunication allows for both intended and accidental mis-representation of a building by its author.

For a weak project, this fragmentation can be beneficial, highlighting positive aspects, and failing to comment upon those less successful. For an excellent work, this fragmentation can be detrimental, as the limited capacity of such publication methods leaves the reader without the true level of understanding that a visit would provide.

It could be considered that the awareness that a project will be primarily experienced through a number of photographs may lead to a designer creating merely a building sufficient to provide these photograph opportunities and nothing further. An example of this could be a private dwelling. The architect wishes to use the project for publicity and generating further work once completed. By providing a building that will satisfy five or six camera snapshots may achieve this publicity brief, whilst not necessarily producing a great work that best serves the needs and aspirations of the client.

In contrast, there are those projects to which photographs will not do justice. I refer to those that play to all the senses of touch, smell and sound as well as sight, or are just incapable of true enjoyment without a visit. It is for such buildings that the fragmentation of architecture through imagery is most frustrating, diminishing a carefully considered creation of space into a representation that can never fully recreate the original.

During our education, we are taught of the significant movements and figures of the past through key buildings. However, very rarely do we receive this tuition through visits to such important projects, rather via presentations consisting of a brief photographic overviews and glimpses of formal plans. This does not lead to a position where we truly understand the significance of such works, but rather develop a superficial view of how we consider the physical form depicted in the imagery. Possibly this is just the result of a world where there is so much to see, and a limited time in which to experience it. We are required to resort to fragments, as anything larger would limit the number of projects it would be possible to discover.

Maybe this fragmentation is why modern buildings often feel so overdone, excessively borrowing features from many precedents that lead to a cobbled together composition with no over riding aesthetic or character. The wealth of fragmented influences that we have at our fingertips leads to a cluttered mind and subsequently over-busy architecture. If we were to reduce the quantity of architectural snippets that we view, and rather concentrate on the quality and depth of architecture that we experience perhaps we, as the next generation, can fully understand the buildings that we want to create and form an era of architecture that cannot be summed up by fragmented images.

MISCOMMUNICATION THROUGH FRAGMENTATIONAlastair Crockett