Fort Mason Bench: Ornamental terrazzo panels

1984

Work of Art for Project, Terrazzo Work

Hand-made ornamental terrazzo panels with animal figures on the vertical surfaces of an outdoor bench.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Rodney Moore

Content of

Project

Fort Mason Bench 1984

Marina District, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

Other, Realized , Construction completed in Jun-1984

Client:

CoEvolution Quarterly; Uncommon Courtesy, School of Compassionate Skills - Irmine Steltzner; Whole Earth Catalogue - Stewart Brand

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Rodney Moore, 22 workshop participants

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Sponsor:

Fort Mason Center, Marina Green, San Francisco - Mr. Mark Kasky, Director

Design and construction process:

1) Apprentice workshop announced: The workshop was given under the auspices of "Uncommon Courtesy", a non-profit organization financed by the "Whole Earth Catalogue and Co-evolution Quarterly". Twenty "students" joined. 2) Making a mockup on site: The first design act was to place several hundered concrete blocks in a large arched shape. This mock-up was used to depict the general layout of the bench. 3) Construction commences: Having the location and the overall shape, construction proceeded with more and more refinements in the general shape and details of the bench going on during construction. 4) Refinements: Sophisticated new techniques developed by C.E.S. were used to provide green and white polished marble inserts of animals, flowers, and abstract ornaments

Project stages:

Layout on the site by workshop particants No drawings were produced Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Built by the workshop participants

A three-tiered masonry public bench and centerpiece, on the Fort Mason pier, overlooking Alcatraz Island. It was built within three weeks as part of the "Spirit in Design" workshop, beginning on 24-Mar-1984 following an announcement in "CoEvolution Quarterly". The main intent ...

Contents

Drawings

Fort Mason Bench: Ornamental terrazzo panels - Sketches 24/03/1984

Sketches, Perspective, Elevation, Details

Designers:

Christopher Alexander, Rodney Moore, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Medium:

Original on Paper

Size:

8 1/2"x11"

7 pages with ornament sketches, proposals for the terrazzo panels to be placed on the vertical surfaces of the bench as indicated on elevation and perspective sketches. Individual patterns include animal, plant and geometric figures. .

Photographs

SEE ALL Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Ornament and Function as Products of Unfolding

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Structure Preserving Transformations

Ornament arises as part of the design process, when a person is making and seeks to embellish this "something" while making it. It arises as a result of the latent centers in the uncompleted thing requiring still more centers, requiring ...

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Three - A Vision of a Living World 2005

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

697 pp

“A Vision of a Living World”, the third volume of “The Nature of Order” series, presents, for the first time, a full spectrum of Alexander’s and CES built and unbuilt works. The book describes hundreds of buildings, plans, neighborhoods, drawings, ...

Book Chapters