Revealing Elements

Abstract

The design and construction of a building presents many conditions where materials must be joined and many opportunities where the workings may be revealed. By revealing the additive process, the joining of the pieces, the connecting of the elements, and the relation of the parts to the whole, one may discover the workings and gain an understanding of the thing. It is within this understanding, this awareness of materials, that we may strengthen our connection with a place. The vehicle for studying these ideas of architecture is a public library for the town of Riner, Virginia. The building is a construction of elements; base, frame, enclosure, division, and machines. It is in how these things are put together with hierarchy, importance, truth, and honesty where one gets to architecture.