 | Alexander Newman-Wise, who designed and built the "creative scaffolding" that lines the Rose Walk side of Old Campus, believes architects should be aware of the impact that a construction site can have on the surrounding community. |
Yale student Alexander Newman-Wise would like to spark a revolution in the field of architecture that has nothing to do with buildings, but rather with what surrounds them while they're being built.
Most construction sites keep the public at bay with barriers composed of "blue mesh and wire fences, by concrete and warning signs," notes the Calhoun College junior. He has created a more attractive and interactive alternative to the standard construction fencing, and it is now in place on the Rose Walk side of Cross Campus, where a major renovation project is underway.
"The prevalence of building projects on campus got me thinking about the process of construction," explains the Yale undergraduate, who is majoring in architecture. "Until the project is completed, we only see these fences and walls, and then it's like a building just appeared out of thin air."
Moreover, because they bar people from spaces they once freely accessed, construction sites are "impositions" on the quality of life of a community, especially one as small as the Yale campus, he contends.
Newman-Wise conceived the idea for his "creative scaffolding" project while staying on campus after the end of the school year to finish the rowing season with the lightweight crew team. "It was one of those ideas you get right before you fall asleep at night, when even the most ridiculous things seem possible," he recalls. "I woke up still thinking about it, and have continued to since then."
He met with administrators at Yale College, the School of Architecture and the President's Office with a proposal to lead a small design team of undergraduates and graduate students in architecture to develop a new form of construction fencing that could be installed around the entire Cross Campus renovation site and elsewhere at the University. While his plans were greeted with enthusiasm, the price tag for the project -- $40,000 -- was deemed too steep. Newman-Wise went back to the drawing board, both metaphorically and literally, and returned with a new proposal for a smaller-scale project that could be completed for a little over $1,000.
Once his new proposal was approved, the Yale student purchased the materials and sequestered himself in the basement workshop of the Art & Architecture Building, where he worked non-stop on the project for several weeks. "I was sleeping every third day," he says.
The result of his labors is a stained wooden fence that features vertical rectangles gles arranged aesthetically and is interspersed with "windows" onto the construction site. "I wanted to create something that reflects the nature of a construction site as abrasive and intrusive, but also as something people are curious about," says Newman-Wise. "I wanted it to be something that could keep people out because that's necessary, but also draw people in."
Although he is pleased with the fence -- which was installed at the end of September -- Newman-Wise says the final design was somewhat limited by his own expertise. "I'm not a carpenter, so I was learning as I went along. I had to keep my limitations in mind, so I couldn't be as outlandish in the design as I might have liked."
The Yale junior believes that, beyond improving a small corner of the Yale campus, his "creative scaffolding" project has larger implications for the world of architecture. While building design has evolved over the years, he notes, "Construction fencing hasn't moved forward at all because people don't look at it as important."
As the Yale student wrote in his proposal for the project: "The architect is traditionally only concerned with how the building will alter space when it is completed, but this project asks how the space affects a community while it is being built upon. ... This project will establish a precedent, showing how a community does not have to hold its breath during construction, and how it does not have to merely do its best to ignore the imposition until it is gone."
-- By LuAnn Bishop
T H I S
Student designs creative alternative
to traditional construction fencing
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