Reversible Tectonics

The research grows out of an embeddedness, not only in the actual place of life and living beings but also in the mindset of an explorer, and is based in the hope of finding insights and possible ways of dealing with the new climate regime. The research involves an exploration within the soil and plants: an exploration of plants and their anchorage (roots) in the soil and connections with the fluid nature (climate and atmosphere) that unfolds material life cycles and networks. This has led to investigations ranging from planting seeds in the soil to cultivating mosaic fields, observing the weaving of ruined landscapes for diversity, and harvesting wood in the forest.

A similar approach – with a discovery mindset – is applied to premodern architecture, and tectonics are explored through their situatedness: a material relatedness with the Terrestrial. The research involves an empirical exploration of pre–modern tectonics and its materials, from the outer skin to the inner tectonic core and surface, or reversed. From the smallest detail within the material form, engendering, and craftsmanship, I have been seeking an understanding of how architecture and its tectonic nature is connected with the Terrestrial.

The research uncovers the knowledge embedded in pre-modern tectonics, its anchoring in the ground through natural forces such as gravity and density, as well as an inherent understanding of a uniqueness in materials and their point of origin. It is an investigation that reveals a resonance between objects and their point of origin, demonstrating a possible immersion in the fluid nature as an embeddedness in the world. The study presents a detailed analysis of connections with Reversible Tectonics in the past. This is demonstrated through woven wooden logs as a composition and through the connections of materials, based on life cycles and layers, that allow for decay as well as an inherent potential for transformation and change within the tectonic system. This constitutes a way of thinking and a perspective that appears to have been lost in our Western modern thinking and globalisation.

The recent publication Terra Forma, an investigation into a "new" landscape (ruined landscapes) that no longer occupies the same space as that described by the explorer Alexander von Humboldt in the early 19th century, has inspired the research. Humboldt’s detailed unfolded landscape and plant geography is a landscape that today has been transformed by modern thinking; a thinking that approaches the Earth as an infinite universe: a modern view of the Terrestrial world from a distance – as if seen from the outside, as a universal thinking. In contrast, Terra Forma represents a speculative approach to an alternative mapping – a mapping derived from the points of life of actual living organisms, and is described as: “the shape of the land that shapes itself.”

This empirical study, with a similar mindset, seeks to identify ways of shaping architectural details through relational terrestrial tectonics. It begins with the study and description of the terrestrial landscape and its networks and leads to possible translations, the shaping of architecture and its details in a relational practice, based on the origin of the materials and the networks they share with Reversible Tectonics. The research identifies the emergence of an alternative to the well-known production system: a production of goods that constitutes a system that seems to be resistant to reform and instead continues to operate in a self-reinforcing manner. In an Anthropocene era, there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift in our understanding of materiality, and suggestions of possible alternatives are required. The practice of engendering is concerned with materiality as living beings, rather than prioritising the singular human experience of materials or mere physical properties of materials. Engendering represents an approach that recognises the necessity and inclusiveness of materials and their connections within the terrestrial realm (within both human and non–human habitats).

This shift in focus requires a reconsideration of the centre of attention and an examination of alternative modes of action in our relationship with materials. This research employs an observational and empirical approach as a supplement to the more conventional calculated life-cycle thinking, in the form of a relational terrestrial thinking and design. Through a methodology that combines theory and practice, mediated by dialogues with experts and fieldwork, a new language has emerged. This language is expressed in a vocabulary through the practice of engendering, as an important part of the concept of Reversible Tectonics. Tectonics, as a design practice, is inextricably linked to the exploration of connections and details, as well as to the potential ways of working with a material that resonates with the Terrestrial. The vocabulary is discussed and contemplated by applying theories such as the Actor Network Theory (ANT) by Bruno Latour.

Bruno Latour’s Actor Network Theory has served as a foundation for the theoretical framework of the research. Particularly when it comes to the practice of engendering; exploring from within the Terrestrial, and not from a distance; or measuring, but with an openness in the reflections on the material use and connections of full-scale demonstrators, as explorations of Reversible Tectonics. ANT provides a framework for thinking beyond the limitations of traditional calculations. While it is possible to calculate everything, such an approach does not define the depth of this world, the underlying context of all existence. Consequently, we need a different approach from that of calculating; an approach that is not based on the mere phenomenological human aspect. Instead, richness is found in an understanding of the world itself; that is, a lived notion of time and place and their relations. Rather than focusing on the calculation of variables, this methodology involves the exploration and analysis of networks through the practice of full embeddedness, combined with the practices of engendering, connecting, and (re)collecting.

The methodology applied to the demonstrators diverges from a more conventional linear design and research process by being based on observations of relations between details in the tectonic and the terrestrial realms. The demonstrators unfolded in the making, and in writing, are an important aspect of the research that identifies avenues of further investigation and lead in several directions. The demonstrators address the intricate relations of a dynamic behaviour within materials and their connections that necessitate the consideration of transformations over time. Materials and elements are composed in a way that allows for adaptation and engagement with the fluid nature – the influence of climate and atmosphere over time.

This is a crucial point regarding tectonic details and the potential for (re)collecting. Drawing on the history and knowledge gained through the practice of spolia within ancient architecture in Rome, Reversible Tectonics is inspired by the revitalisation and reuse of historic building principles; principles derived from traditions where building systems were transparent and part of circular resource cycles. This approach manifests a continuous cycle of reuse in which building materials are transported through history and eventually decomposed in nature.

The work has been developed in close collaboration with Friis & Moltke architects and builds upon Friis & Moltke’s current and historical architectural practice with a focus on legible tectonic details and construction. The objective was, firstly, to establish and develop a cyclical design approach based on the concept of Reversible Tectonics and, secondly, to integrate the approach into Friis & Moltke's practice; a practice focusing on material cycles and tectonics.

The details (engendering and connecting) relate to spaces, to the processes of life and creation, to politics and economics, and to the planet, the fragile critical zone. It is in the details – the points of life, people, politics and the planet – that a new awareness is needed. In order to create such an awareness in the design of the detail and tectonics, we need a reciprocal dialogue between the details of the building and the details of the Terrestrial, as well as between current and future uses and the operational process.

In the research, fieldwork and cultivation have, through the practice of engendering, led to an awareness of mosaic fields as an important turn in creating resilient nature in transformations and climate change together with regenerative qualities in ruined landscapes. The practice of engendering and the work with the demonstrators have resulted in several design suggestions and ways of thinking. Mosaic cultivation and diversity in the Terrestrial are being reflected and translated in the design, the translation of a variety of species, plants, wood, in layers and compositions in architecture – especially in the form of a woven or braided architecture – as a new material metamorphosis.

The research design is intended to enable a more discovery-oriented methodology, integrating theoretical and practical knowledge mediated through fieldwork. It is centred around the development of demonstrators, from which the concept of Reversible Tectonics was derived. The demonstrators exemplify the potential of a design practice that offers insights into material situations based on empirical studies. This research endeavour takes the form of an experimental practice, and does not impose prescriptive outcomes. The research identifies potential avenues for further development and provides insights into a relational architectural design practice. This was done with the intention of raising awareness and providing critical perspectives that can inform and contribute to a terrestrial architectural discourse.