Brush Mountain Ranger Station: An Exploration of Structure

Abstract

The thesis is an inquiry into what is architecture, and what are the ideas that influence architecture and its creator, the architect. The resulting answer is structure. Structure is the essential component of architecture. It gives form and limits to a space, and provides a medium to transform the ideological into the physical. What comprises this structure, and how it is translated into the built environment is an ongoing investigation. However, certain elements can be deemed influential in dictating how this structure is expressed. These include the major components of the structure, base and frame. The base responds to the site and provides a place for the frame. The frame defines the limits of the space and gives and order to the project. Further review of the frame reveals two additional elements of structure, connection and infill. The study of connection lends itself to the belief that architecture can be found in the details, while the use of infill gives way to the examination of an opening in a wall, and the light or view that it creates. When these four elements of building work together, the creation of architecture and structure begin to unite into a single process. The result, in this case, is a project that forms a path through the woods and builds a relationship with nature.