With Ancient Arches, the Old is New Again
An MIT professor shows how ancient architecture can be the basis for a more sustainable future
- By Logan Ward
- Smithsonian magazine, August 2010, Subscribe
The Mapungubwe National Park Interpretive Center in South Africa is John Ochsendorf's most famous work. Robert Rich, Peter Rich Architects
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Video Gallery
High-Tech Construction With Low-Tech Ideas
Watch how workers built a visitor’s center in South Africa
In a basement workshop, John Ochsendorf stands beneath a thin layer of bricks mortared into a sinuous overhead arch that seems to defy gravity. With the heel of his hand, he beats against the bricks. “Hear that ringing?” he asks. “It’s tight like a drum.”
Ochsendorf, 36, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of civil engineering and architecture, is demonstrating why this style of arched ceiling, or vault—common in churches and other buildings throughout the Mediterranean—is named after the timbrel, an ancient musical instrument with a tightly stretched tambourine-like surface. The vault relies on the architectural principles that guided the construction of ancient Roman buildings, such as a 33-acre public bathhouse in central Rome that still stands today. The more elegant timbrel vault technology emerged in the 14th century, replacing the heavy stones favored by the Romans with terra-cotta tiles. Ochsendorf opted for 1 1/2-inch-thick bricks.
The structure is a full-scale prototype of a timbrel vault now on view at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City. Vault201 (named for the gallery where it resides) is part of the museum’s National Design Triennial—on view through January 9, 2011—held every three years to showcase innovative design. This year’s theme, “Why Design Now?” celebrates projects that tackle human and environmental problems around the world.
Ochsendorf hopes to prove that sturdy, eye-pleasing structures can be built inexpensively out of local materials. And by using, say, clay and mud, instead of steel and concrete, the energy consumption and pollution associated with construction projects can be significantly reduced. (Cement production alone accounts for an estimated 5 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.) The bricks in Vault201 were made from 100 percent recycled material—including industrial waste and raw sewage.
“John does really high-tech engineering with low-tech resources,” says Cooper-Hewitt Deputy Curatorial Director Matilda McQuaid. “He has reinvigorated this 600-year-old Mediterranean building technique in a way that is stunningly beautiful today.”
Historically, such vaults contained two or more layers fused together for stability, but Ochsendorf built a single layer to demonstrate the form’s inherent strength. “People don’t expect something that’s this thin to stand,” he says. In his basement workshop, he underscores the point by climbing eight feet up a ladder and stepping onto the top of the vault. Watching nervously from below are the half-dozen architecture students who helped Ochsendorf design and build the vault, along with several members of the New York-based engineering firm Robert Silman Associates, on hand to certify its structural soundness for display in the museum.
The Cooper-Hewitt exhibit also includes photographs and time-lapse video documenting the 2007 to 2010 construction of the MIT professor’s most famous work, the Mapungubwe National Park Interpretive Center in South Africa. The center’s soaring domes were constructed from 300,000 soil tiles made on-site by two dozen local laborers—overseen by Ochsendorf, a team of students, and an architect and an engineer, both from South Africa. Among the many benefits of this approach: a 90 percent reduction in carbon emissions over standard construction techniques. Last fall, the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona honored the center as the World Building of the Year.
Ochsendorf goes beyond “form follows function.” For him, form must also follow a deeper understanding of its impact on the surrounding environment. “With the Industrial Revolution, basically 5,000 years of progress was thrown out the window,” he says of the masonry vault. “People assume that in the 21st century buildings should be made of titanium, because we have a narrow definition of progress. Maybe a 21st-century building is made out of dirt used in an intelligent and beautiful way.”
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Related topics: Architecture
Additional Sources
Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile by John Ochsendorf and Michael Freeman, Princeton Architectural Press, December 2010.
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Comments (13)
To learn more about buildings made of mud visit www.eartharchitecture.org
Posted by Earth Architecture on January 18,2012 | 01:55 AM
When I saw the cover picture for Around the Mall (Old Is New), I instantly remembered having been taught about the ancient style of bridges where a stone arch is created with wooden underpinnings which are later removed. The arch shape and the positioning of the rocks keeps the bridge from collapsing and some arch bridges in Europe are hundreds of years old. I've always wondered if such architecture is usable on a large scale, or if it's just not practical. John should be praised for his efforts to use old techniques to make building cheaper.
Posted by Glenn McGrew on November 1,2010 | 01:29 AM
"The bricks in Vault201 were made from 100 percent recycled material—including industrial waste and raw sewage."
Is that what Chinese drywall is made out of too?
Posted by Tim on September 20,2010 | 07:30 PM
Fabulous and fascinating! What a great idea. I hope we'll see much more of this in the future.
For those wanting to see the video, scroll up to the 3rd paragraph, it's on the right, and very interesting! Thanks for posting.
Posted by Ida Sutton on August 4,2010 | 01:10 AM
He can keep his sewage-bricks.
Posted by Phoenix on July 18,2010 | 02:31 PM
This is perfect for Haiti, where there are:
- NO natural building materials (other than dirt)
- plenty of labor, much of which is not constructively engaged
- massive need for shelter (over 1 million displaced persons)
Of course, the current challenge there is the removal of the rubble from the earthquake center (Port-au-Prince), but this construction technique and building designs offer powerful alternatives to the tents, pre-fabs, shacks, etc. that are in current use and are considered for the "reconstruction" stage.
In contrast, this thinking demonstrates not only aesthetics and dignity but a respect for what is "there".
The Haitian government is in the midst of a competition for the review of building designs for the massive need. Information on this project can be found at:
http://www.malcolmreading.co.uk/bbbc/
Posted by Jay Honeycutt on July 16,2010 | 05:09 PM
How earthquake-resistant are these structures, and how many stories high can they be built?
In building a residence or a small office building, would interior partitions be part of the structure, or would the partitions be independent of the outer structure?
Which of the two options would provide better earthquake protection?
Posted by Hugh Haskell on July 14,2010 | 12:55 AM
Quite pleasing to the eye.
One of the main problems with new construction in the wet part of Oregon is architectural interest. As the decorative masonry, dormers, and split eves/roofs multiply, so too does the incidence of water incursion, with little recourse for the consumer, because of the mercurial nature of the building industry.
If you have to keep tearing the houses apart to fix water damage, that's not very sustainable.
Posted by Trent on July 10,2010 | 12:34 AM
Beautiful article. It left me hungry for more views of uses of this technique. So, I tried to see the video of the South African visitors center mentioned at the end of the article, but I can't find it!
Posted by Ana M. P. on July 9,2010 | 03:43 PM
I would like to clarify the attribution of the project in South Africa and give credit to the design team. The Mapungubwe Visitor's Center was the brainchild of Peter Rich, one of the most brilliant architects working today. The design of the soil vaults was carried out by an interdisciplinary team, with Michael Ramage taking a lead role. James Bellamy expertly directed the construction throughout. Matthew Hodge and Anne Fitchett consulted on the soil bricks and labor practices. Philippe Block analyzed the vault for asymmetrical loadings, and Henry Fagan served as a structural engineer for the supporting structure.
Thank you for your interest in our work,
John Ochsendorf
Posted by John Ochsendorf on July 8,2010 | 09:05 AM
www.calearth.org
Posted by Melisa on July 6,2010 | 08:29 PM
WHERE IS THE CONSTRUCTION VIDIEO MENTIONED IN THE MAGAZINE?
Posted by Ned Jaquith on July 4,2010 | 05:02 AM
Thank you, Smithsonian, for featuring architect Ochsendorf and the "Why Design Now?" projects. I've had the impression that green construction is too costly for middle income people, much less low income people. I hope these building ideas will be promoted by governments around the world to improve standards of living, and at the same time reduce the environmental damage caused by human habitation.
Posted by Susan Graham on July 3,2010 | 02:29 PM