secret lives of buildings outline

5/21/2018 Secret lives of buildings outline

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RESEARCH PAPER BASED ON SUSTAINABLE BOOK 1

Outline research paper based on Sustainable Book:

The Secret Lives of Buildingsfrom the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in 13 Stories

By Edward Hollis

ARCH 760 Sustainable Design for the Built Environment

A02

Summer, 2014

Prof. Brian Sweny

Student Name: Preethi Hannah

SCAD, Atlanta

Hollis, E. (2009). The secret lives of buildings: from the ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in thirteen stories.New York: Metropolitan Books.
http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/


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Outline research paper based on Sustainable Book:

The Secret Lives of Buildings, byEdward Hollis

Outline

Thesis Statement

Change is the only constant in this world, and buildings are no exception.

About the Book. As first-time author Edward Hollis, an architect specializing in altering historic

buildings, demonstrates with much charm in The Secret Lives of Buildings, taking into account 13 examples of

buildings who hold a powerful story behind their alterations and current conditions. The 13 examples include the

Parthenon, St Marks in Venice, Hagia Sophia, the Holy House of Loreto, Gloucester Cathedral, the Alhambra, the

Famous Temple of Rimini, Sans Souci, Notre Dame, Manchesters Hulme Crescents, a hotel complex i n Las

Vegas and two walls (in Berlin and Jerusalem). At first the This seems like a disparate collection, but they arechosen to illustrate the authors thesis. They are all, in effect, palimpsests, examples of history being told and retold

through architecture. Great buildings are defined by their initial perfection. They help us understand in depth the

change that a building undergoes from 'cradle to grave'. (Ref:The Secret Lives of Buildings - from the Parthenon to the

Vegas Strip in 13 Stories: review. (2009, September 28).The Telegraph. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6227601/The-Secret-Lives-of-Buildings-from-the-Parthenon-to-the-

Vegas-Strip-in-13-Stories-review.html)

The Architects Dream. The Architects Dream, 1838 conceives of an unrealistic setting of

magnificent structures of varied architectural styles of the past like the Egyptian Pyramid, Corinthian Rotunda,

Roman Aqueduct and the Gothic Cathedral. This dream seems far beyond reality and undoubtedly meets withappropriateness only in dreams. The Architect refuses to go beyond and see that this reality is also subject to change,

that this dream can never be brought to reality. In reality, buildings are subjected to changes. As Hollis says, In the

process of a citys perpetual and simultaneous construction and decay, buildings would appear and disappear;they

would be built on top of one another, out of one another, or inside one another. They would mate and produce

monstrous offsprings. In the examples that he cites in this book, ranging from the World famous Parthenon to the

hotel complex in Las Vegas, he enables us to look at how some of the historic masterpieces that the architect

envisioned, is evolved, altered, ruined, reconstructed, and with every change how the building itself begins to react

quite opposite to how it did when it was first constructed . Hollis further quotes Not a single building would

survive as its maker had intended

The Parthenon. The author talks in depth about the Parthenon, certainly a work of outstanding artistry,

skill, workmanship and architecture. He brings into light the transformation of this masterpiece from its evolution to

its ruins. The Parthenon is Holliss first exhibit for the contrary case to the Architects pristine vision of his dream,

and a recurring motif. The author also tells us that every time it was ruined, it took longer to build and the task was

difficult and it took twice as long to ruin. As we go further, we also begin to observe, how with each time that it was
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ruined fragments of this historical piece was stolen, transported to other places. Thus how much ever this monument

was reconstructed, it was never Parthenon, as it could never be made perfect as that of the original. The perspective

in time had become a perspective in space.

Ruins and Reconstruction. Ruination is merely one stage in a buildings passage from idea through

reality. Constant changes to the structure enables the structure to become better. When a structure is reconstructed or

altered, additional support elements are added or there is a replacement in the technique of construction or usage of

materials. The author also talks about how Parthenon when imitated was constructed with fiberglass, making it more

sturdy and lasting. The author explains how these spectacular pieces of architecture are too capricious to answer to

any one master. They are either ruined, stolen or appropriated. An undeniable fact is that every change in any

building comes with a substantial loss of what defined the building when it was first created. Parthenon itself is a

ruin today, though, was the architects dream once.

Tales. Change comes with difficulty. Each of these buildings hold a very mythical story and some of them

are more likely to be questioned but none can be explicitly denied. Hollis tells us Each alteration is a retelling of

the building, as it exists at a particular time, and when changes are complete, it becomes the existing building for the

next retelling.As we walk through the 13 examples, some of them hold a very strong tale behind them which

enables us to get a clarity on why or how the building could have been created. Certain examples like the Santa

Casa of Loreto, drives us to reach multiple interpretations as we try to relate to the multiple tales they hold. It is

interesting how the author cleverly draws us deep into imagination like a child by telling us these stories in the form

of a fairy tale, by beginning with Once upon a time... and the like.

Fragments in the book. The entire book seems to have been fragmented with the main focus on Parthenon.

The book flows through a series of changes as we move forward from Parthenon. The book then takes us through a

series of interesting elements associated with buildings like The Basillica of San Marco, which closely associates

with the different emperors and their strong held architectural substance. Certain Buildings like the Hagia Sofia

associates religion with it which speaks of the play of spirituality in the architecture of these buildings. Moving

backwards (as Hollis likes to do), we find a remarkably pellucid conclusion to an otherwise rather confusing chapter

on the Tempio Malatestiano of Rimini. Following a typically labyrinthine account of the place and its people's

stories, Hollis describes Alberti's unfinished building as "an incomplete sentence, a non sequitur, a stutter". Hollis

brings an equal clarity to his later chapter on the restoration of Notre Dame de Paris. However, repetitive alterations

to the same building like the Western Wall in Jerusalem, brings one to attention that though spirituality associated,

only fills one with confusion, which seems to be persistent till date. This book elucidates how indigeneous styles,

elements of architecture significantly draws the building created towards perfection as compared to their alterationswhich try more to recreate it and make it more string rather than hold on to its indigeneous significance. The author

very lucidly enables us to conclude that buildings are not defined by their architects but by the alterations they

undergo, effected by history. Alterations may be additions, depredations, improvements or vanishing arts.

Conclusion. The Different buildings Hollis recognized belonged to the Architecture of Europe. It would have

been good if he could have considered to redirect eclectic styles from the mode of story telling to the sites in which

the stories evolve. Mention might also be made of the numerous ways in which rural societies have used the built


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environment to fashion stories that connect inhabitants to their locales and landscapes and how changes were

brought about by advancements through the ages. These are big asks, though. Hollis has already found plenty to say

with his baker's dozen of mainly European sites and sensibilities, and his book can serve as an invitation to others to

take up other untold or forgotten global stories. (Ref: Originally written for PopMatters (March 2011)published version at

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137943-the-secret-lives-of-buildings-by-edward-hollis/)


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References

Hollis, E. (2009). The secret lives of buildings: from the ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas

Strip in thirteen stories. New York: Metropolitan Books.

The Secret Lives of Buildings - from the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in 13 Stories: review.(2009, September 28).The Telegraph. Retrieved July 30, 2014, fromhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6227601/The-Secret-Lives-of-Buildings-

from-the-Parthenon-to-the-Vegas-Strip-in-13-Stories-review.html

Originally written for PopMatters (March 2011)published version at

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137943-the-secret-lives-of-buildings-by-edward-hollis/
http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/websitehttp://www.bibme.org/http://www.bibme.org/

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