RESEARCH PAPER BASED ON SUSTAINABLE BOOK 1

Outline research paper based on Sustainable Book:

The Secret Lives of Buildings from the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in 13 Stories
By Edward Hollis
ARCH 760 Sustainable Design for the Built Environment
A02
Summer, 2014
Prof. Brian Sweny
Student Name: Preethi Hannah
SCAD, Atlanta


Hollis, E. (2009). The secret lives of buildings: from the ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in thirteen stories.
New York: Metropolitan Books.

RESEARCH PAPER BASED ON SUSTAINABLE BOOK 2

Outline research paper based on Sustainable Book:
The Secret Lives of Buildings, by Edward Hollis
Outline
Thesis Statement
Change is the only constant in this world, and buildings are no exception.
About the Book. As first-time author Edward Hollis, an architect specializing in altering historic
buildings, demonstrates with much charm in The Secret Lives of Buildings, taking into account 13 examples of
buildings who hold a powerful story behind their alterations and current conditions. The 13 examples include the
Parthenon, St Marks in Venice, Hagia Sophia, the Holy House of Loreto, Gloucester Cathedral, the Alhambra, the
Famous Temple of Rimini, Sans Souci, Notre Dame, Manchesters Hulme Crescents, a hotel complex in Las
Vegas and two walls (in Berlin and Jerusalem). At first the This seems like a disparate collection, but they are
chosen to illustrate the authors thesis. They are all, in effect, palimpsests, examples of history being told and retold
through architecture. Great buildings are defined by their initial perfection. They help us understand in depth the
change that a building undergoes from 'cradle to grave'. (Ref: The Secret Lives of Buildings - from the Parthenon to the
Vegas Strip in 13 Stories: review. (2009, September 28).The Telegraph. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6227601/The-Secret-Lives-of-Buildings-from-the-Parthenon-to-the-
Vegas-Strip-in-13-Stories-review.html)
The Architects Dream. The Architects Dream, 1838 conceives of an unrealistic setting of
magnificent structures of varied architectural styles of the past like the Egyptian Pyramid, Corinthian Rotunda,
Roman Aqueduct and the Gothic Cathedral. This dream seems far beyond reality and undoubtedly meets with
appropriateness only in dreams. The Architect refuses to go beyond and see that this reality is also subject to change,
that this dream can never be brought to reality. In reality, buildings are subjected to changes. As Hollis says, In the
process of a citys perpetual and simultaneous construction and decay, buildings would appear and disappear;they
would be built on top of one another, out of one another, or inside one another. They would mate and produce
monstrous offsprings. In the examples that he cites in this book, ranging from the World famous Parthenon to the
hotel complex in Las Vegas, he enables us to look at how some of the historic masterpieces that the architect
envisioned, is evolved, altered, ruined, reconstructed, and with every change how the building itself begins to react
quite opposite to how it did when it was first constructed. Hollis further quotes Not a single building would
survive as its maker had intended
The Parthenon. The author talks in depth about the Parthenon, certainly a work of outstanding artistry,
skill, workmanship and architecture. He brings into light the transformation of this masterpiece from its evolution to
its ruins. The Parthenon is Holliss first exhibit for the contrary case to the Architects pristine vision of his dream,
and a recurring motif. The author also tells us that every time it was ruined, it took longer to build and the task was
difficult and it took twice as long to ruin. As we go further, we also begin to observe, how with each time that it was
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ruined fragments of this historical piece was stolen, transported to other places. Thus how much ever this monument
was reconstructed, it was never Parthenon, as it could never be made perfect as that of the original. The perspective
in time had become a perspective in space.
Ruins and Reconstruction. Ruination is merely one stage in a buildings passage from idea through
reality. Constant changes to the structure enables the structure to become better. When a structure is reconstructed or
altered, additional support elements are added or there is a replacement in the technique of construction or usage of
materials. The author also talks about how Parthenon when imitated was constructed with fiberglass, making it more
sturdy and lasting. The author explains how these spectacular pieces of architecture are too capricious to answer to
any one master. They are either ruined, stolen or appropriated. An undeniable fact is that every change in any
building comes with a substantial loss of what defined the building when it was first created. Parthenon itself is a
ruin today, though, was the architects dream once.
Tales. Change comes with difficulty. Each of these buildings hold a very mythical story and some of them
are more likely to be questioned but none can be explicitly denied. Hollis tells us Each alteration is a retelling of
the building, as it exists at a particular time, and when changes are complete, it becomes the existing building for the
next retelling. As we walk through the 13 examples, some of them hold a very strong tale behind them which
enables us to get a clarity on why or how the building could have been created. Certain examples like the Santa
Casa of Loreto, drives us to reach multiple interpretations as we try to relate to the multiple tales they hold. It is
interesting how the author cleverly draws us deep into imagination like a child by telling us these stories in the form
of a fairy tale, by beginning with Once upon a time... and the like.
Fragments in the book. The entire book seems to have been fragmented with the main focus on Parthenon.
The book flows through a series of changes as we move forward from Parthenon. The book then takes us through a
series of interesting elements associated with buildings like The Basillica of San Marco, which closely associates
with the different emperors and their strong held architectural substance. Certain Buildings like the Hagia Sofia
associates religion with it which speaks of the play of spirituality in the architecture of these buildings. Moving
backwards (as Hollis likes to do), we find a remarkably pellucid conclusion to an otherwise rather confusing chapter
on the Tempio Malatestiano of Rimini. Following a typically labyrinthine account of the place and its people's
stories, Hollis describes Alberti's unfinished building as "an incomplete sentence, a non sequitur, a stutter". Hollis
brings an equal clarity to his later chapter on the restoration of Notre Dame de Paris. However, repetitive alterations
to the same building like the Western Wall in Jerusalem, brings one to attention that though spirituality associated,
only fills one with confusion, which seems to be persistent till date. This book elucidates how indigeneous styles,
elements of architecture significantly draws the building created towards perfection as compared to their alterations
which try more to recreate it and make it more string rather than hold on to its indigeneous significance. The author
very lucidly enables us to conclude that buildings are not defined by their architects but by the alterations they
undergo, effected by history. Alterations may be additions, depredations, improvements or vanishing arts.
Conclusion. The Different buildings Hollis recognized belonged to the Architecture of Europe. It would have
been good if he could have considered to redirect eclectic styles from the mode of story telling to the sites in which
the stories evolve. Mention might also be made of the numerous ways in which rural societies have used the built
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environment to fashion stories that connect inhabitants to their locales and landscapes and how changes were
brought about by advancements through the ages. These are big asks, though. Hollis has already found plenty to say
with his baker's dozen of mainly European sites and sensibilities, and his book can serve as an invitation to others to
take up other untold or forgotten global stories. (Ref: Originally written for PopMatters (March 2011) published version at
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137943-the-secret-lives-of-buildings-by-edward-hollis/)
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References
Hollis, E. (2009). The secret lives of buildings: from the ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas
Strip in thirteen stories. New York: Metropolitan Books.

The Secret Lives of Buildings - from the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in 13 Stories: review.
(2009, September 28).The Telegraph. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6227601/The-Secret-Lives-of-Buildings-
from-the-Parthenon-to-the-Vegas-Strip-in-13-Stories-review.html

Originally written for PopMatters (March 2011) published version at
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137943-the-secret-lives-of-buildings-by-edward-hollis/