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Ebook: Analysing Buildings from Context to Detail in time. ABCD research method
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Technology provided the author of this book with the inspiration to develop a more comprehensive research method to assess buildings: Analysing Buildings from Context to Detail in time: ABCD Research Method. Technology, at academic level, should be considered in the analysis of a building. In this book the focus is on construction engineering, the study of the requirements associated with constructing buildings. Providing information on practice is a key element in construction engineering, which is a learning process. Changes are made during the life of a building and they might be made differently if the history and technical aspects of the building were studied in greater detail. Both maintenance and changes require us to understand the building concerned. In essence, a building can be described in detail using the ABCD research method. Experience obtained with other buildings can lead to better considered solutions when designing and building new buildings or intervening in existing buildings. We can recognize layers where changes may have led to interventions in what existed at one time. The ABCD research method is an instrument to show us how changes happened and what the original concepts for the building were. We have to investigate the history of the design and construction of a building to distil this essence.
Progress does not amount to destroying the future, but to preserving its essence, to generate the impetus to do it better today.
Compare: Y. Ortega Y Gasset, Bespiegelingen over leven en denken, historie en techniek (The Hague: H.P. Leopold N.V., 1951), 196.
This is my free translation of a comment by J. Ortega Y Gasset. It was quoted in its original form by one of my thesis supervisors, Franziska Bollerey, in ‘Modern Heritage’ for Unesco in 2002. My other thesis supervisor, Fons Verheijen, interprets it as ‘stand on the shoulders of those who went before you to reach greater heights.’
F. Bollerey, “Innovation. A Critical View,” Modern Heritage, Unesco, (May 2005) and F. Verheijen, Het schijnbaar onmogelijke en omgaan met de twijfel, inaugural address, Delft University of Technology 2002.
Working in the areas of history and construction technology, the spirit of these statements guided the PhD thesis which I defended in.
H. Zijlstra, “Bouwen in Nederland 1940–1970. Continuïteit + Veranderbaarheid = Duurzaamheid”(PhD diss., Delft University of Technology, 2006, Publicatiebureau Bouwkunde).
The built environment is continuously changing. Changes frequently have to be made when buildings are included in regeneration projects. Such changes add value to the buildings and facilitate new uses. Existing ‘historical’ buildings provide continuity and from an identifiable, time-specific layer. At present, the many buildings constructed between 1945 and 1970 are unlikely to be listed as National Monuments and have little protection.
Normally, only buildings at least 50 years old are considered for national listing. The National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage is currently surveying the architecture of the reconstruction period. No monuments will be listed during this period, barring exceptional circumstances. This slogan is used by the Belvedere project office in Utrecht. It was set up by the national government to guide the allocation of restructuring grants in the Netherlands.
My research covered buildings in the Netherlands, constructed in the period 1940 – 1970. The issues considered were based on the following themes: technical observation; research analysis, and regenerative conclusions. My work included a study of the relevant literature and sources, and covered seven buildings. It also led to a new research method: building technology research. Later I developed this into the ABCD research method. Technology provides the first angle for any study – the design and construction of buildings are greatly dependent on technology. Transferring knowledge obtained by analysis also provides an opportunity to learn from what exists already. As architect Hugh Maaskant (1907–1977) put it ‘Building is a deed for the future, using the information from the past.’
“Technikon, monument voor het beroepsonderwijs Ik ben een rustig mens, interview with Maaskant, Van Dommelen and De Koning”, Bouw no. 52 (1971): 1891.
The third theme concerns regeneration. This is where continuity, change and durability meet. A regenerative approach provides the conditions to add a further generation to the life cycle of a building. Hence, the overall conclusion of my PhD thesis was: Continuity + Changeability = Durability.
After obtaining my doctorate I joined the staff of the ®MIT department of the Faculty of Architecture of Delft University of Technology. I then felt the need to take the method I developed for my thesis further, and to make it more accessible – this book is the result. I also presented the method at congresses and developed it in greater detail as Analyzing Buildings from Context to Detail in time: ABCD
PhD research
I undertook my doctoral research in the Construction Engineering department, with support by the Chair of Architectural History. First I will discuss the context of the work: the period 1940 – 1970, the limitation to the Netherlands and an overview of existing methods. Secondly, I will discuss the research themes in greater detail. Thirdly, I will introduce the ABCD method developed further to the work. The relevant concepts will be introduced, and one example application will be developed.
In my PhD work I developed seven case studies which were combined with a general section to form the thesis. This time I will be using one example to explain the method: the building of the Friesland Provincial Library in Leeuwarden. This building was completed in 1966 and extensively refurbished in 1999. The refurbishment was managed by the original architect, Piet Tauber (1927), based in Alkmaar.
ABCD research method
The ABCD research method can be applied in education as well as in professional practice. ®MIT will use the method in the follow-up research by the Faculty of Architecture of Delft University of Technology, in the Design and History programme. This programme aims to analyse buildings and intervention methods. Architectural practices can also use the method for design projects. This was confirmed by my colleague Job Roos who made the following comment when reflecting on the profession as an ®MIT architect and the teaching process. With respect to the regeneration of the Energiehuis in Dordrecht, which had come to a halt, he commented ‘An unusual facet of the reflection on the assignment and the research is that up to the present this has led to a critical attitude that actually demands a modified less extravagant design.’
J. Roos, Discovering the assignment, (Delft: VSSD, 2007): 136.