AGRI - CULTURE IN DETAIL

AIR BARNS - LAKE|FLATO ARCHITECTS, PHOTOGRAPH BY DAWN LAUREL

AGRI - CULTURE IN DETAIL

Gus Starkey

Civilized society has an appetite fed by an insatiable desire for consumption. We have, for too long, craved continuous advancement in all realms of our lives. We often ask technology to make life easier, as in the use of air conditioning. Much of the developed world expects cool air on demand at home, work, and even in vehicles. Although air conditioning makes life more comfortable, it amplifies the greater problems of pollution and energy consumption. Our endless demand for more and more has stretched thin our diminishing stock of resources. Only recently have we, as a society, made a conscious effort to take responsibility and recognize the very real gravity of the consequences of our careless actions. Progress in the direction of true coexistence with our world is slowly being made. However, many of our answers seem to only magnify the problems – advancements in technology often exacerbate the situation or generate a whole new set of issues.

Instead of perpetually enhancing our technological capabilities, perhaps we should consider resolving some issues by examining those communities in our society that have existed without a total need for technology. One such group is the farming and ranching community. Working with the land that sustains their very livelihood, and relying on a source of knowledge that is often limited to personal experience, the agricultural community has, for years, set about resolving their unique design related issues and problems using their own devices. A careful study of the simple details and direct design solutions offered by this collective group offers insight into a pure, authentic methodology for addressing existing demands. The practice of contemporary architecture might itself benefit from adopting not just several of these design strategies, but a similar approach to design as well. Lake|Flato Architects of San Antonio, Texas is a firm that has done such a study and developed a design sense and style based on the adopted principles of simplicity and functionality promoted by the farming and ranching culture.

AGRI-CULTURE

Daily life for the farmer or rancher is demanding. The chores and tasks required to maintain a farm or ranch create a routine that often fills the majority of each day’s activities. Every effort must yield a positive return. This is a result of the direct demand that society has placed on the agricultural community to readily produce a consumable product. As the population has grown, so has the demand for commercial agricultural crops – a classic example of supply and demand. In order to supply enough to satisfy the rising demand, both the farmer and rancher have turned to technology to help increase production. The modern day tractor, pesticides, and growth hormones are all examples of the answers that technology has provided to satiate our need for food.

Even though the agricultural community has accepted technology in more ways than the few mentioned above, its roots stem from a much more self-sufficient and independent approach to life. Operating under a “can-do” or “make-it-happen” attitude, answers were found as issues or problems arose. Both the farmer and the rancher learned to make use of what was available around them. Their own two hands provided the labor and their ingenuity provided the knowledge. This community, by its own nature, was forced to be resourceful. Farming and ranching requires large tracts of land in order to run a profitable operation. These large plots of land placed considerable distance between neighbors. Because of this distance, a helping hand or even another opinion was hard to come by, thus each individual was forced to become more self-reliant. Over time and through many trials, techniques were learned, strategies were developed, and a fundamental approach to solving a problem simply and efficiently was passed on.

Many of these lessons carried through in the built works of this community. For years, the agricultural community has used available materials, employed passive design strategies, and created basic, functional structures that perform their required tasks without complicated systems or methods. Lacking the time to construct complex buildings that required long-term maintenance, efforts were made to emphasize the necessity for multi-functional, efficient, self-sustaining, straightforward design solutions.

For example, fence in central Texas is commonly constructed from cedar posts for several reasons. Cedar is a local, readily available, rapidly regenerative, non-native, invasive species of trees. Its wood is known for its resilience to weathering and thus is well suited for lasting many years unprotected and exposed to the elements as a post. Additionally, cedar is a very water intensive tree and its clearing not only provides material for fencing, but helps to restore and preserve groundwater supplies as well as the native natural habitat and landscape. Also, windmills are often constructed on the highest point of a property. This is done so as to take full advantage of the prevailing wind patterns from the most unobstructed vantage point. And, barns are built with opposing oversized doors, not just to provide an ease of access for livestock or equipment, but in order to provide plenty of natural light and cross ventilation. The large doors serve a multitude of functions in addition to reducing the number of openings required, which ultimately minimizes the complexity of the structure.

Design approaches such as these, provide an array of simple yet noteworthy solutions. Created almost entirely for the functional benefit they provide, these responses answer directly, in an unassuming manner, the problem presented to them. If examined under greater scrutiny, a case study of these solutions could result in a set of design elements easily applicable to many non-agrarian buildings.

FIGURE 1: BARN TYPOLOGY

THE DETAILS OF AGRI-CULTURE

Over time, the farming and ranching community has developed an easily recognizable building typology. Generally, the images associated with an agrarian structure, such as a barn, share a commonality in form (Figure 1). The function performed by a barn is universal – it provides weather protected space for the storage of materials, equipment, and/or livestock. The distinct barn typology is a result of the straightforward simplistic cultural approach shared by many members of the farming and ranching community applied to a single functional requirement. When a similar design approach is used to provide solutions for like design problems, semblance among the answers will inevitably become apparent. However, additional circumstances and forces also influence the solution presented in response to any design problem. Conditions such as climate, material availability, and building techniques vary from region to region. These influences begin to create subtle differences in a common building typology. Looking more closely, many of these departures can be isolated as elements tacked on to or applied to the base building type. These distinctive elements provide a library of design components that can be fitted to other building types helping to answer regional design problems.

Lake|Flato Architects is a firm that has built their reputation by doing exactly this. Through a study of the traditional agrarian structures constructed in Texas, Lake|Flato has become a contemporary design firm that embodies the “old ways” of building in a modern world. Lake|Flato “admires the practicality of the ranchers” and carries on their traditions of “using the materials at hand in a spare, simple way.” (Ted Flato Architect/Owner) The firm’s philosophy allows them to simply and efficiently provide design solutions that require little service from technology. Emphasis is given to site orientation, not only to capture views of the surrounding environment in which they design, but also in order to encourage natural ventilation and allow natural light to permeate a space. Lake|Flato employs many of the passive design techniques and methods used by the local agricultural communities to provide a structure that responds to the local climate. The high temperatures experienced throughout much of the year in the southwest have led the firm to explore and incorporate a particular design element which has become an icon in their design work. Lake|Flato refers to this element as the “Top Hat Monitor” (Figure 2). Seen in many of their projects, this roof top monitor effectively serves two important functions – it provides a means for top lighting a space and encourages air circulation through stack ventilation. Lake|Flato’s inspiration for such an element comes from the many agrarian buildings, such as barns and livestock sheds, that were constructed with similar components. The firm’s deliberate use of this element results from a tried and true history and proven functional performance tested over countless years and through many structures built by the agricultural community.

FIGURE 2: LAKE|FLATO TOP HAT MONITOR

GREAT NORTHWEST LIBRARY - LAKE|FLATO ARCHITECTS, PHOTOGRAPH BY HESTER + HARDAWAY

Lake|Flato’s designs incorporate many other elements and methods that stem from roots established by the farming and ranching culture. Firms like Lake|Flato practice under the principles of the methods and techniques proven to be successful. Simple, low-tech ideas and solutions that have worked in the past are sure to work today. Sometimes, we only need to look back in history to find a solution that will work for tomorrow. The farming and ranching communities across the country have learned ways to live with their environment and have a long tradition of passing these lessons on to future generations. Lake|Flato is an architectural design firm continuing these traditions.