Pattern 168: Connection to the Earth
- Jake Hasse
- May 12, 2017
- 2 min read
This is a pattern that emerges frequently in personally admired architecture. In Michael Pollan’s A Place of My Own he references pattern 168 as a particularly important design element while building his writing shed. The architectural traditions of Frank Lloyd Wright emphasize connection to the earth with transitions from ground to wall expressed with native stone or brick laid horizontally as if they were layers of limestone in a cliff side.
Alexander recognizes a more powerful connection than material change which certainly wasn’t lost on Wright but is definitely harder to realize.
“It is very plain, and we all discover for ourselves, that our lives become satisfactory to the extent that we are rooted, ‘down to earth,’ in touch with common sense about everyday things – not flying high in the sky of concepts and fantasies… it may just be true that it is helped or hindered by the extent to which our physical world is itself rooted and connected to the earth.”
He continues, applying the philosophical concept of “rootedness” to the physical;
“…the rootedness occurs in buildings when the building is surrounded, along at least a part of its perimeter, by terraces, paths, steps, gravel, and earthen surfaces, which bring the floors outside, into the land.”
These ideas of rootedness are to my mind, perfectly expressed in the abbey, Mont Saint-Michel.
Built on an island, periodically engulfed by the tide, Mont Saint-Michel is a feature of the land that seems as though it has always existed there. The path to get to the monastery leads around town, through alleys, and up steep, narrow stairs. This trek alone fulfills Alexander’s three ambiguating circumstances of paths, terraces, and steps. Along the way, masses of stone protrude from the path and walls further blurring the built and natural boundary. Nearing the summit, the path is now completely built above land yet continues to suggest an earthen quality. Throughout the whole monastery, masses and materials continually link the earth to structure and is perhaps best expressed by the far side of the building. I’ll leave the photos to do the rest.
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