Document: Mhairi McVicar

published: Architectural Research Quarterly, 3 / 4, 11 (2007), Cambridge University Press, 198-209

MEMORY AND PROGRESS: CONFESSIONS IN A FLAGSTONE WALL

The pragmatics of construction at Wheelingstone uncovered the complexities of a seemingly simple idea; the flagstone wall as built narrates ambiguities and contradictions. Theories of truthful and rationalized reconciliation between progress and memory, so simple on paper, were tested in unpredictable ways through the process of sourcing and construction. Goals of working intuitively on were subsumed by the unexpected pleasures of working to precise and predictive measurements; rigorous architectural trainings refusing to relinquish control on site. Predictions of achieving the clarity of a modern intervention within a historic shelter are now enmeshed within the layered complexities of a timber kit wall section; the truth or authenticity of the wall is no longer simple.

Photo credit: Wheelingstone, Westray, Orkney. Designers: Collaborative Design Studio. Photo: Mhairi McVicar.