Learning from Bruce Beach: establishing an ordered base for the collective weaving of ornament

“To live is to leave traces”
\n1
\n. In the words of
\nGerman philosopher Walter Benjamin,
\nthe physical spaces in which immaterial
\nmemories are created have a tendency to
\naccrue material remnants of memory as
\nwell. Within the fabric of multigenerational
\nspaces these accrued remnants become
\ntangible threads by which social structures
\nand traditions can be visually expressed.
\nThis ornamental phenomenon does not
\nalways present itself as the dominant
\ndesign-language. In the case of the
\nseasonal cottage-community of Bruce
\nBeach, Ontario it is often only apparent
\nin unobtrusive details. Grandparent
\nArchitecture: Establishing a Design Language
\nfor the Cottagers of Bruce Beach seeks to
\nanswer the following question: Can a
\nphysical space, accrued with collective
\nmemories, act as an encyclopedia by which
\ncottagers can comprehend the design
\nlanguage of Bruce Beach?
\nBruce Beach’s architectural language is
\nmuddled by outside trends, a physical
\noutlier within a community where
\ncollective traditions and memories prevail.
\nThere is no accessible design-language
\navailable to cottagers whilst they engage
\nin architectural processes, leaving
\nmore accessible, globalized trends to
\nfill the linguistic void. While seasonal,
\nmultigenerational cottages still dominate
\nthe social fabric, and thus help preserve
\ncollective memories, fraying has begun to
\noccur. As time passes, families gain new
\nmembers faster than spaces can adapt to
\nhold them, resulting in the fragmenting,
\nand even dissolution, of collective time spent within the community. Coupled with
\nthe recent trends of cottages being converted
\ninto all-season dwellings or investment
\nproperties for community newcomers, the
\ncollective social fabric that the community
\nties itself to risks becoming obsolete.
\nInteractions with the accrued ornament
\nof my family’s Bruce Beach cottage has
\nresulted in an understanding of the
\nability for even the most irreverent of
\nobjects to become cairns of memory. This
\nunderstanding is expanded through a
\nphotographic study of the community,
\nutilizing a ‘wayward-eye’
\n2
\n mentality to
\ncapture any sort of ornament that could
\nserve as a memory thread. Enriching the
\nphotos with written and oral memories
\nwill allow for the minor design-languages
\nto become apparent. These languages will
\nbe used to lay out a series of architectural
\norders, coined ‘Grandparent Architecture’,
\non which the ornamental remnants of
\ncollective memories can accrue. The
\norders will be used as an origin point for
\nthe design of three cabins, sited on the
\nthree collectively owned, community
\ngroves that are within the Bruce Beach
\ncommunity. A series of drawing exercises
\nwill illustrate the accrual of collectively
\napplied ornament on, within and around
\nthese communal spaces. This thesis
\nseeks to situate buildings as community
\nelders, encyclopedias of the ‘Grandparent
\nArchitecture’ language. The palpable
\ndesign language that emerges will be
\naccessible and endeared to the community,
\nensuring its validity in the future
\narchitecture of personal cottages.

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