a new world – the architecture of infinite connections

our existence on this spinning blue sphere is changing at a pace never experienced in the history of mankind.  in my own lifetime the world population has more than doubled – three billion to over six billion. my son notes we are well beyond the capacity of the earth to support us all (we passed that at four billion).

hong kong harbor

development, communication, and knowledge are dispersing and connecting the world epicenters of energy, changing our relationship to the landscape and culture. emerging is a new world network of supercities – a network of influence and shifting of power – to an age of open access to information and knowledge. repression, control and ignorance dissolve in the face of truth.

flowing glaciers - over greenland

in a talk with jennifer james (the cultural anthropologist) we discussed the impact of some of these forces – the changing epicenters of energy, global tribes and brands, and the mapping of landscape in our ancestral dna. technology is changing our world, reconfiguring epicenters and the connections between them.

satellite tower - queen anne hill, seattle

in the practice of architecture, only a few years ago, we were bound by the physical limitations of our hand and pencil on paper, manual two dimensional plotting, then printing and shipping physical drawings to a construction site. the work was mostly local, within the physical limits of communication.

radio tower - queen anne hill, seattle

today, our digital four dimensional drawings are sent to the other side of the planet in the blink of an eye (no plotting, printing, shipping). we have printers that build models and structures straight from our drawings.  we can talk to anyone, anywhere, wrapping around the planet – 24 hours of daylight – in sychronicity with the sun.

midnight sun over the north pole

today, the work spans many countries, and every day we  experience the universal nature of connections, in the spirit of being human –  and also the beauty in unique differences in the landscape, climate, cultural customs, traditions, art and craft,  and the nuances of language.

community wall - shanghai

understanding and insight gathered from our new connected world offers an opportunity to create places and experiences that are both universally resonant and memorable, and yet completely unique to the place and people in their communities.

sidewalk altar - hong kong

one spinning sphere, one touch of a hand to another, one moment,  in billions, together.

 

wabi sabi – the forces of nature in modern architecture

kyoto - ancient imperial gardens

the aesthetics of wabi sabi – originating from the japanese culture of tea ceremony – is a  concept that i’ve been fascinated with since i began to work in japan over 13 years ago. i’ve explored parallel concepts in time and architecture – light cycles, ancient historic lines, memory, perspective, and ruins, to name a few – over time and within the pages of this collection of writing, without reference to wabi sabi. 

spinning lantern shadows - rashomon

as i began working in japan, on every trip i would find another incredible bookstore, wandering the labyrinthine aisles, many on multiple levels – even up to 10 stories or more. exploring this whole new world – most of it in japanese, with the occasional small english section - there were many discoveries. one of those, this little book “wabi-sabi for architects and designers” (leonard koren) caught my eye. i’d never been exposed to the concept, and the book became the perfect read for the return flight home. 

shoren-in temple gate door - kyoto

the writing was pretty simple, and the concept powerful – it captivated me. it was the beginning of a different way of thinking about my work – that while modern in conception, the work of today can still express an organic sensibility. the imperfect nature of the world. 

hosen-in temple ancient pine - kyoto

really, it’s more of a feeling than a concept, and it’s a difficult one to translate. the feeling is held deep within the culture of aesthetics in japan, and influences all expressions of arts and architecture. read kakuzo okakura’s “the book of tea” (1906) for more.. and as i have travelled to many other places, i’ve found that same beauty – in built places, all over the world. 

courtyard entry - galata neighborhood, istanbul

while this is an ancient way, the intersection of wabi-sabi with modern architecture, design — and the use of materials —  is a place of great inspiration and friction – and possibly innovation. 

farmhouse wall - bhutan

what can be discovered at this powerful intersection? 

compound wall - ubud, bali, indonesia

what happens when we accept that our world is impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete? 

girvin farm - brown's mountain, spokane, washington

what happens when we bring that essence into the design of today? 

  

in ruins

a continuing quest for the energy of place – of soul and spirit, and it’s embodiment in architecture. 

begun without knowing, still going there, and still learning more. and sometimes looking back to what i’ve found, what does it mean, where does it lead? 

barn loft - 1976, willamette valley, oregon

i’ve always been drawn toward structures in a state of dissolution. being in a city with less than 2 centuries of built history, it was a rare discovery to find the evidence of a deeper past. the barns – weathered, raw, split, and worn – are my earliest memory of being captivated by the dissolution of structures. 

these photographs are early experiments with a single lens reflex camera and darkroom, over 30 years ago. exploring the edges of the city, looking for abandoned structures, dissolving barns, and the acts of nature on anything manmade. hours spent capturing them on black and white film, and watching them emerge in the chemicals of the darkroom – finding them a source of inspiration, wonder, and never-ending exploration. 

abandoned home - 1976, southwest portland

a source of intrigue - the deeper, richer, and mysterious story they tell. in the span of decades, i’ve shot hundreds of images.

in bhutan, there is a tradition of wonderous beauty in built structures, from the simplest barn to the grandest temple – and there are also beautiful ruins, everywhere. 

chorten - bhutan

in the deep experience of powerful energy and respect of wrathful deities in bhutan’s buddhist practice, there are many rituals to acknowledge their powers, and to enlist the guidance and protection of the enlightened ones. some homes, if not cared for both physically and spiritually, were left to ruin – powerful reminders for mindful practice.

 

farmhouse ruins - bhutan

these places tell of the power and spirit of the hands of their origin, of those whose lives were contained within, their dreams, and passing, the era they came from. of the time and natural cycles that pass in continual rhythm of unfurling, celebration, sadness, dreams and the winds that carry them away.

 

sultanahmet - istanbul

in istanbul, nearby the glorious blue mosque and aya sofia, ancient and continually cared for, restored – there are also the dissolving remnants of others, left to slowly succumb to the forces of nature, in the cycling of time.

 

humayun's tomb - delhi

on the grounds of the beautiful tomb of humayun, there are these structures – what were they for? why were they left to dissolve, while others are carefully protected? there are more powerful sites in this collection of images, and in my mind -  from java, northern africa, turkey, southeast asia, and here in our backyard – explored, and to be explored, deeper. i’ll post the entire collection with a link, and then, keep going there, farther, deeper, into the mysteries.

chorten wall - paro, bhutan

 being here, and looking closer - finding the heart within the walls

nest – a perfect structure

nest - ink/wash study

dreaming about the weaving of nests, soft threads carefully gathered, collected, and wrapped with love. a perfect structure of nature – made of the found materials of a place, made by and for those beings that will live there, carefully placed for visibility and protection.

nestfall

found in the thorned thicket below the branches of the old fir tree. i imagined a soft landing – feather-light – it’s form perfectly intact. what structures do we create that will free fall without catastrophic failure?

burning nest

we created a giant nest, wrapped around the rocks by the beach - branches carefully gathered and intricately woven.  as the tide came in at nightfall, we set it on fire and watched it float out into the bay – a nest-lantern. the next morning, there it was – out there, bouyant – and held together in the tides for another week.

tree weaving

another weaving – this tree ring held on for weeks, overlooking the passing ferries and local fishing boats crossing the northern passage.

tree ring

i’ve been captivated by the weaving of trees while working and traveling in asia over the past decade.  the beauty of carefully wrapped supports for the protection of trees is found in the simple nature of the materials, the hand made character of the weaving, and the clear and simple purpose they serve – as in the essential nature of the nest.

tree weaving - nanjing

i’m always stopping along the street, or in a park – studying and capturing images of these, everywhere. i often sense that those passing by wonder what it is i am seeing.

bird's nest - beijing

the bird’s nest stadium is a weaving on a grand scale. both the striking form and structure, and the powerful metaphor of nest for the people have manifest in this structure, and become the iconic representation of the beijing olympics, and of the modernization of this country.

bird's nest - beijing

yet in the material realization and permanent nature of this structure, the essential beauty of the design of a bird’s nest is lost – a true nest is made simply and effeciently of materials of the land, created for a specific event, then dissolving back into the landscape when it is no longer of use.

now, it remains to be seen how this structure will find a new purpose. the idea of nest as a metaphor for structure is not a new one.

tiger's nest - takstang monastery - bhutan

this nest is of another kind — the name tiger’s nest comes from the story in the founding of the place, of a people, and a culture.  the profound power of this place originates from the story and the siting – wedged in the middle of these sheer cliffs over 10,000 feet, it is a dreamlike experience to see takstang rise out of the morning mist. 

takstang monastery - bhutan

the pilgrimage to takstang takes hours, climbing up the steep hills, and finally up the carved steps to the gates, and into the series of altars and courtyards enclosed within. you can imagine that tiger’s fly, as you feel everything is possible, in the experience of being here.

we have so much more to learn from nest-builders and the nature of these perfect structures.

windows and mirrors

world of infinite mirrors

do you remember the first time you turned one mirror facing another, and discovered the infinite world of reflected mirrors stretching out to eternity? that discovery was magical to me – as if a portal had opened – as if time stretched out forever, the universe expanded into an infinite series of parallel worlds.

marrakech courtyard

mirrors create transformational experiences – completely shifting your view, or perception of scale, light, distance and time — reflections of oneself and the world are captured and discovered in these other-worlds.

anish kapoor - sky mirror installation, rockefeller plaza, new york

while mirrors capture, reflect, and transform — windows open, frame, and transport – light from inside to out, outside in.

national archeological museum of siena

 there is a magical and transformational quality to both – windows and mirrors, reflections and portals.

duomo di firenza - from giotto's tower

 windows allow a shifted perspective, an altered world view – and a way to frame, to contemplate, to reflect..

the window at 35,000 feet

i’ve developed a great love of looking at the world from these elevated windows, moving over the forests, oceans, rivers, deserts, cities, farms, mountains.. so much beauty to see on this planet, so many worlds to explore.

haa valley monastery, bhutan

 i’ve also developed a great love of the smallest openings of light-spill, the most intimate framed views, the warmth of a sunbeam or moonglow, striking paths of light inside.

humayun's tomb, delhi, india

and i’ve developed a love of the interplay of textures, patterns and light – and the everchanging movement and cycles captured this way, from day to night, season to season.

sinan's bath, istanbul

 windows and mirrors make magic, in architecture. i’m thinking about how we can create more.

the power of mountains

mount rainier, washington state

mountains are a powerful and deep source of life force.  my earliest memories are on the shore of spirit lake, at the base of mount saint helens. from 7 years, we explored the north cascades every summer for weeks, learning the lessons of the mountains – lessons on change, perseverance, pain, exaltation, strength, weakness, limits, transformation, beauty, cycles of devastation and renewal, and the grand power of nature.

mount adams summit 1975

at 14, there was climbing mount adams and mount hood, and later, saint helens – after the eruption, too. now, i live within view of mount rainier, and am always captivated by her powerful grace when the cloud veils open.

may 21 2009 mount saint helens crater

those volcanoes have been my teachers, along with the peaks of enchantment lakes, the boulder flatirons, mount rainier, mount merapi, mount batur, the himalayas, and my recent discovery of the black tusk of the squamish nation. you can find this view (and some awesome skiing) from the top of whistler mountain, home of this winter’s olympics.

black tusk, whistler b.c. canada

i’ve often wondered if my connection to mountains was the beginning of my attraction to architecture.  or was it trees?  in the mountains, i’ve felt magical power, tested my limits, been infinitely small, and on top of the world with a view to infinity.

enchantment lakes, prussik peak, north cascades

the one on the edge, pre-teen, early 70′s.  being on the edge of a sheer vertical drop, i’ve felt the rush of wind and power – the exhilaration and expanse of the view spread below.

summit little annapurna, enchantment lakes

at enchantment lakes, the first time – my eyes overflowing with so much beauty – overwhelmed. this must be the most stunning place on earth. back then, you could just go there – now you need a permit, and there is only capacity for about 1/3 of those who apply. or try tuck and robin lakes for similar character and a shorter trip.

mount merapi, java indonesia

more recently, in exploring other continents and cultures, mount merapi (java, indonesia) was calm enough to climb just one month before it’s violent eruption. we met with the vulcanologist-shaman at the base of the mountain that day, and were advised to respect the mountain’s rumblings – to stop just short of the peak and stay clear of the regular lava outpourings. there was a misted veil sliding up the mountain as we made our way up the steep and slippery trail through the jungle, and then on the rockslides of the upper mountain face. here, there is great reverence for the power of the mountain – and in exploring the earlier aspects of spiritual culture in this region, the mountains are the origin of the gods.

full moon ritual, bali, indonesia

this full moon ceremony of five rituals are set along a series of mountain temples in eastern bali – a monthly pilgrimage for the villagers, only accessed by a steep ascent up through the mountain jungle. in java, borobudur (the 8th century buddhist monument and unesco world heritage site)  rises out of the valley floor in the form of the nearby volcanos.

borobudur, java indonesia

 

borobudur and merapi, java indonesia

in the himalayan cultures, the mountains are also the origin of the gods. in study of pre-buddhist bon religions, the many god figures originate from the mountains. in exploring bhutan, those whose lives are fully dedicated to a spiritual quest live at higher elevations – in monasteries, nunneries and meditation huts perched or hanging from the mountains.

 

taktsang monastery, bhutan

 

cliffside stupa, bhutan

in study of the history of architecture, the earliest structures were symbolic of mountains and the power they possess. those early structures were burial mounds, and then more elaborate. they also represented the axis mundi –  the center of the world, where the earth meets the sky, the most sacred place, universally, in all cultures, for all of us.

mount everest, himalayas

 

 

energy and matter

offering to the fire

this conversation began over my son’s first greek dinner. we’d been talking about a trip – the idea of circling the meditteranean, from greece, turkey, syria, lebanon, israel, egypt, libya, tunisia, algeria, and finally back to morocco..  it’s a journey i’ve imagined for a long time, and been looking for the time that this journey would take – months, at least, if not more. 

ben youssef medersa marrakech morocco

having touched the beginning and end of this route, in turkey and morocco, i’ve been dreaming of the rest.  my experiences there were so rich – the layered architecture of incredible beauty and detail, the culture of craft, food, music, and vibrant energy of the people, the landscape that feels so ancient – and so different from my native green forests.

harem window istanbul

back to greek food – and the connection to turkish food, and the cultural mixing of the two.  our discussion then wandered to a a brief outline of the history of greece and turkey, and the mixing of the cultures, then in more recent political terms to the secular leadership of modern turkey - and the impact of secular leadership of nations. having just watched religulous by bill maher. my son recalled a scene where one of maher’s subjects suggests that rain was proof of his faith.

lantau island buddha in deluge

this was the turning point in our conversation – where we ended up with only energy and matter. here is the thread of logic that took us there.  our tendancy to attach meaning to when it rains relates to how our brains work as survival mechanisms – we are not wired for perception of reality. most of what we percieve is filtered and processed to aid us in our quest for survival, reality is not critical for survival.

our perceptive abilities to even sense most of what we know exists is minimal, and our ability to filter and fill in realities to make sense of what we don’t comprehend is vast. from john medina’s  developmental molecular biology brain research to the physicist patricia burchat’s explorations of the 96% of the universe that we cannot see or measure, we have been presented with enough science to consider this possibility – that everything we percieve is processed through the limitations of both our limited sensory capabilities and further distorted by our brain’s survival construct.

man mo temple offering hong kong

then, is all meaning simply a survival construct? is why we are here also a survival construct? is good and evil a survival construct? is time and space a survival construct? if all there is, is energy and matter – in all of it’s beautiful and random manifestations – us, our planet, our universe – and our gift as human beings  is to sense and feel and revel in the wonderful chaos and coincidence of it all – how fortunate we are.

morning meditation - home

as my son says – the smallest amount of energy that we exert ripples throughout the entire universe, changing everything with one small act.

spirit in place

hassan II mosque, casablanca, morocco

reading william lethaby’s “architecture, nature and magic”, along with essays on architecture by ananda coomaraswamy, the act of architecture as a human reflection and vision of the universe is clear, powerful and ancient. experiencing places that capture this reflection has been a life-long attraction, a quest to understand the alchemy of materials, the orchestration of proportion, the creation of beauty, of deep and richly memorable places. i’ve gone looking for them – and found them everywhere.

istanbul

how do places capture human spirit? what universal human character lines weave and wrap around the globe, connecting istanbul, tokyo, paro, delhi, jakarta, bangkok, marrakech, kyoto, paris, hong kong, new york, singapore, yogyakarta, seattle, sao paolo…

incense offering - man mo temple, hong kong

incense coils - man mo temple, hong kong

rene guenon’s “symbolism of the cross” dissertation on the universality of this symbol across cultures and religions contemplates both the commonality and the individuality – global and local – nature of human existence.

siena

marrakech

architecture begins with the need for protection from the elements, made with the materials at hand – stone, clay, wood.  architecture evolves through ideas and experiment, discoveries in geometry and structural laws, reflecting ritual and the order of nature.

sacre coeur, paris

kiyomizu temple, kyoto, japan

the layering of detail reflects the time and craft of the individual spirit.  amazing beauty is wrought into the art, craft and culture reflected in great buildings. layered on structure as protective symbols – based upon natural elements such as plants, water, guardian animals – these layers deepen the human connection to a place.

temple of heaven, beijing, china

prayer wheel, changangkha lhakhang temple, thimphu, bhutan

borobudur, java, indonesia

the quest continues – looking for inspiration, light, spirit, beauty – in every place, every culture, every people.

the scent of place

how do we create captivating places that hold in our memories – that draw us back over and over, that linger in our minds, pulling us to them again?  in the design of places, i’ve been thinking about captivation and memory.  why places draw my attraction or repulsion, why places pull me in – and what is striking about the nature of memorable places?  

rose window

 

 

the power of the link between memory and scent deepens the connection to the experience of place.  the more i’ve explored the idea, my experience is heightened – like smelling in technicolor.  many of my most powerful memories of places can be triggered by scent.  

last summer, i met lorenzo villoresi in his atelier in florence – surrounded by thousands of essences he has collected from travels all over the world, i asked him about the idea of scent in architecture or place, rather than the personal fragrance that he is most known for creating.  he shared this book with me “invisible architecture, experiencing places through the sense of smell”, a wonderful exploration of this concept.  

lorenzo villoresi - florence, italy

 

in the hills above florence we explored one of the few iris farms dedicated to the production of the essence.  as he explained, the iris essence is nearly 10 times the cost of most essences “notes” as the nose calls them.  the rare iris essence is extracted from iris bulbs – the flower has no scent.  the bulbs are re-planted after shaving off the bottom two-thirds, macerating, drying and powderizing.  

iris bulb harvest - tuscany

 

iris collection arbor - tuscany

 

dried iris bulbs - tuscany

 

 i still remember being stricken by memory through scent when i picked up an old perfume bottle from a friend’s dresser, and was overwhelmed with the memory of my babysitter from preschool years, whom i hadn’t seen or thought of for more than 10 years – her presence was powerfully evoked to that moment through her fragrance.  it wasn’t dragon’s blood – i don’t even know the name of that perfume, but i know that i can recognize that scent again 20 years later. 

dragon's blood - pharmacia in florence, italy

 

i gravitate toward the scent of wood, wet fir, earth, leaves and tangled underbrush from the misted forests of my early childhood – those scents transport me back to the earth in my mouth and leaves in my hair as i tumbled down a fern-covered ravine.

forest path

 

about six months before i travelled to bhutan, bertrand duchaufour created a fragrance for l’artisan, the french perfumer - named dzongkha - that is the national language of bhutan. this fragrance he created was based upon his travels in bhutan - when i found this fragrance i was very intrigued.  dark, smoky, woody – scents that i love, gave me a preview of what i was to experience in the himalayan temples of this small buddhist kingdom.  i fell in love, with both the fragrance, and the place.  i’ve kept that fragrance close since that journey, and it transports me there.

bhutan temple

 

i’ve been imagining a place – a new project, a building made of materials selected based upon their embodied scent. no drywall, no paint, no glues – beyond non-toxic.  pure materials, and their response to wind, sunlight, chill, and rain – the changing of the seasons, the climate, the cycles of day to night.  would that place be memorable? 

a sense of time

spinning prayer wheels - bhutan

architecture is design in at least four dimensions.  there are more dimensions i wonder about, that physicists theorize on – 10, maybe 11 dimensions - though they are not physically evident.  translating the others into concrete, or even words, is an obscured, mystical and magical act –  like the infusion of spiritual and magical powers into layered metals in the making of the keris blade. 

this master keris maker – a national treasure of java (who passed away only months after our time together), told of the final fusion - made during days, maybe weeks of meditation – no eating, no sleeping – a trance-like state where the spirit and magic of the blade is evoked.  it is physically manifest in the intricate layered metal patterns on the finished blade, and serves as powerful protection to the family for whom it is made - it takes about one year to complete the process of folding and fusing metals in the creation of one blade.

javanese keris master - national treasure

keris maker's workshop - java

what dimension is this?  on a neverending exploration into realms only glimpsed, returning to the fourth dimension seems simple.  time is powerfully and clearly the fourth dimension that is embodied in architecture – and when not considered as essential to the foundation of a design – it is powerfully and tragically missing.  architecture defines the passing of the day - dawn to dusk to midnight, the passing of the season – heat, wind, rain, snow, the passing of eras, the rise of empires, the dissolution of cultures. 

bursa mosque

 

bhutan - rammed earth structure

when i look at buildings i see time – forgotten or treasured.  i see the evidence of time – through the weathered patina of materials, the craft and construction of the culture, the purpose of the structure reflecting the industry of its time.  i see the line and wave of people moving from one place to another, mixing across cultures and landscapes - the alchemic mix of east and west, islam and christian, buddhist and animist, merchant and shintoist, dutch farmer and frontier settler… 

skagit valley barn

i see strata of time, layered one over another. of one time, re-made anew, or left to dissolve..

essaouira morocco

palouse agricultural outpost

as we draw, we can move from left to right (width), forward and backward (depth), and upward and downward (height).  in time, we can only be in the present, being taken toward our future.  in our minds, we go back – our memories – in our minds, we go forward – our dreams. 

in studying the sufi concept of time – it’s beyond the inevitable past, present and future line – it’s the whirling, cycling, spiraling continuum, no beginning, no end…it is a connection from the infinite to the present, from the present to the infinite – that is the hand, upward, the body, whirling, the feet, grounded.

whirling dervish - istanbul

my son reminds me that everything we see in the present moment is actually in the past – due to the fractional amount of time it takes for light to move through space.  the idea that our reality is not real – that is well proven – our brains are designed for survival, not reality – and our perception of reality is limited by the capacity of our senses along with the contained past experiences our brain has stored - which means even with the aid of telescopes and microscopes we can still only percieve less than 25% of what actually exists. 

infinite invocation

as we create buildings, we reference what has been known, and anticipate what will be – the act of architecture is fusion of the past, present, and future.  memories, senses, and dreams – together.  if we take great care in that orchestration, it can be beautiful.  it can be perfectly imperfect, wabi sabi, impermanent, organic, cyclic,  temporally ambiguous, time shifting, both of the past and the future.  transformational.

sinan's bath - istanbul

seeking beauty, always.