LJfifftAftY 
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY, 
BOZEMAN 
A RESEARCH COMUNITY 
UNDERGRAD THESIS IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 
BY 
HARRY H. HUFFEL, JR. 
SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF 
ARCHITECTURE AS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF 
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE 
OF BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE 
AT 
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY 
EOZEMAN/ MONTANA 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. THESIS STATEMENT 
2. INTRODUCTION 
3. INQUIRY 
Clarification of major concerns 
4. SYMBOL 
Symbol representing major philosophy 
5. CONDITION 
The condition creating a need, "The Individual 
in a Collective World" 
6. ALTERNATIVES 
A look at other communities and institutions 
7. PHILOSOPHY 
General design attitude 
8. COMMUNITY FORM 
Hierarchy of members in community 
Relationship of commo and societies 
9. SITE CONDITIONS 
10. CLIMATE 
11. CONCEPT 
A look at the permanent/flexible system 
12. OVERALL COMMUNITY 
13. C OMMUNIC A TIONS 
14. SCIENTIFIC 
15. AGRARIAN 
16. FINE ARTS 
17. CONCLUSION 
18. FOOTNOTES 
19. BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1. THESIS STATEMENT 
Community is formed for people and by people to support 
human culture; demeaning the essense of the individual's 
experience of culture severes him from self actualization. 
2. INTRODUCTION 
The thesis statement will be tested through a conceptual/ 
creative community, which will encourage mental diversity, 
demand responsible conclusions and de-emphasize egotism 
underlined by greed and envy. The physical form architec­
ture must reflect these axioms. 
To comprehend community and the intellectual diversity and 
composition, communities such as Brook Farm will have to 
be examined. The realization of the intuitive and conscious­
ness expressed in Brook Farm becomes the emphasis for 
their study of community. The following quote by George 
Riply, a founding father of Brook Farm, expounds this theory: 
"A community is formed to promote the great purpose of 
human culture, to apply the principles of justice and love to 
. social organizations, to substitute brotherly cooperation for 
selfish competition, to prevent anxiety in men by competent 
supplying in them of necessary wants, and to guarantee each 
the means of support. " 
When the community cannot fulfill the needs of its citizens 
there is uneasiness prompting a level of revolt. Many 
people find it necessary to revolt through change, others 
through separation and still others through decay, though 
the majority becomes part of a conscious or unconscious 
collective society. This collective society is what many 
intellectuals believe to be the stripping of the individual's 
actualization of life. How do we contend with and alleviate 
this? These are questions to be explored and become the 
major concern for starting a conceptual/creative community, 
for the individual must become aware of his place in society 
and aware of the collective mind. 
Juxtapositioning this community on society, providing a 
conscience and alternative for which society can draw, be­
comes my second goal. In no way does this lessen the 
individual's need to deal with this collective mind. 
The community will operate under the vision Walter Gropius 
had of a "team of men who would work not automatically, 
although in close cooperation to further a common cause. 
This common cause may best be manifested through a 
symbol which I will refer to as a glue. Nationalities such 
as the Jews find this glue in the Promise Land, while the 
blacks find it  in black power. The force of this symbol will 
lie in the connection of the implications within it .  In this 
community the symbol Ouroborous, the serpent which 
devours himself, will be used to express the shortsighted­
ness of man and reminding all of the consequences. 
Architecture will become the catalysis of thought and pro­
duction, being not a pragmatic expression but synonymous 
with the common cause. The organic flexibility of the 
community will have to be expressed physically and this 
will be the causation for an architectural solution. 
I must keep in mind that, throughout this thesis the follow­
ing: "Reality is too large and diverse, too vital and fluid 
to be comprised of cool reason, nor is common sense 
sufficient. " Dreams are beautiful and needed anyone who 
can dream is lucky but the person who can materialize 
these dreams goes beyond dreams. 
3. INQUIRY 
QUESTION: How does the condition of individuality verses 
the collective consciousness control relate to design in 
general? 
In designing for society, the designer must come to grips 
with the level of individuality and the control the collective 
mind has on the individual through groups or institutions. 
The designer has to have this understanding to consciously: 
1. Continue a common belief held by a group 
2. Change the belief superficially for betterment 
3. Or change the belief completely to perpetuate life, in 
keeping with natural systems. This understanding is 
necessary in having society benefit from provocative design 
decisions by paralleling or altering the society's frame­
work. 
Not only must the designer understand this common belief 
held by groups, but must be aware that the individual needs 
to express himself for self actualization (the fulfillment of 
self). 
This common belief which Jung coined as an "archtype" is 
made up of thought patterns, fears and beliefs and is held 
by groups either consciously or unconsciously. These arche­
types are expressed in such things as walking under a 
ladder, the cross, fake shutters or the car. All of these 
have collective mind power and must be understood when 
dealing with them or they will control us. Now when we 
understand these archetypes, satisfying the past, present 
and future with an attitude for survival and a betterment of 
the whole, we will be able as designers, to perpetuate a 
better way of life. 
I believe a continual balancing of individualism and collec­
tive mind must be sought. 
QUESTION: Why design a conceptual/creative community? 
Since the problems of collective mind control are perpetuated 
• by institutions, we either have to deal with the institutional 
framework or operate outside it  because of the extreme 
amount of power held by institutions. I felt it  essential 
in yielding the most provocative attitude and execution of 
this attitude to work outside institutions. 
This conceptual/creative community provides the break 
from institutional control, while offering society an 
alternative to a product oriented society. 
This alternative is an attitude about life expressed in the 
symbol Ouroborous. 
QUESTION: How does the symbol Ouroborous relate to 
the community? 
This symbol gives the community a reference point from 
which to question beliefs. It is the glue that can hold people 
together, like a common religion, ethnic background or 
belief. Without it  the members would need something which 
would spiritually create a common ground. Ouroborous, 
expressive of a cycle of life and a reasonable development 
of the world so man does not destroy himself, seems to 
accomplish this need for a common ground and glue. 
QUESTION: How does Ouroborous relate to individual 
philosophies? 
The symbol represents a general belief which the individual 
holds a particular philosophy in an area of research. The 
general belief is open-ended in that it  does not express what 
the cycle of life is, just that there is one and that man is not 
limited other than being reasonable, avoiding self-destruc­
tion. The individual because of this symbol becomes aware 
of the connection between action and reaction. He, the 
* individual, has to make the connection. 
QUESTION: How does the concept of permanent/flexible 
unit relate to the symbol, collective mind and each of the 
society's needs? 
The concept reflects the need for an organic solution. It 
suggests that the designer make general decisions though 
provide the users with a system that will allow a degree of 
user input. The concrete permanent structure and metal 
flexible frame only express one execution of the principle 
and I believe with further study this concept may be expand­
ed in principle to other architectural problems. The symbol 
Ouroborous is expressed in the concept by a cycle of growth 
which the permanent flexible units provide. The organic 
system along with the placement of the structure in the 
ground and the use of passive/active sun collection further 
reflect the cycle of life and the reasonable attitude for sur­
vival and betterment of the whole which man should strive 
to achieve. 
The fact that the concept is not a traditional construction 
method suggest a new archetype. Since the members are 
conceptual/creative people the acceptance would be much 
less critical. This test of a new -system in this type of 
community atmosphere is what the community is striving 
to accomplish in society. This concept, in short, is the 
first experiment. 
QUESTION: How can the concept of permanent/flexible 
units be anymore effective than traditional construction? 
The concept is an alternative, not a replacement for tradi­
tional architecture. Where the traditional process of design 
is to produce a product encompassing the needs of the prob­
lem, this concept suggest an on-going growth process. 
Because of this evolution of the structure the chances for 
understanding the process of the activities housed can be 
much more sensitive than in traditional construction in 
general. Traditional architecture is basically a one shot 
deal while this concept gives a chance to examine more 
closely the activity and change where and when needed. The 
systems; needs to be explored much more, though its 
essence has became clear. 
QUESTION: Should architecture have a variety of levels of 
thought? 
Whenever man becomes satisfied With his world decadence 
takes over.  Man has to continually be a rebel:  
What is  a rebel? A man who says no, but whos 
refusal  does not imply a renunciation.  He is  
also a man who says yes,  from the moment he 
makes his f irst  gesture of rebell ion.  
Albert  Camus 
4. SYMBOL 
The quickest way to describe a concept is through a symbol, 
not a paragraph of words but through one symbol (which 
conveys one hundred thousand thoughts synthesised into one 
idea. ) The symbol Ouroborous, in conveying a multiple of 
thoughts will provide the cohesiveness of the community and 
a reference point from which members of the community 
may question their own beliefs. 
"Ouroborous, an emblematic serpent of ancient Egypt and 
Greece is represented with its tail in its mouth continually 
devouring itself and being reborn from itself. A Ghostic 
and Alchemical symbol, Ouroborous expresses the unity 
of all things, material and spiritual, which never disappears 
but perpetually changes form in an eternal cycle of destruc­
tion and recreation. (For your, interest: In the 19th century 
a vision of Ouroborous gave the German chemist 
Friedrich August Kekule Von Stradonitz the idea of l inked 
carbon atoms forming the Benzene rings. )"^ 
In this community Ouroborous will  symbolize the short­
sightedness of man's actions, revealing the decadence 
possible in indiscrimately changing the world. Juxta-
positioning these two derivations (mythological and 
community) provides an atmosphere for questioning one's 
individual philosophy. 
5. CONDITION 
"The collective mind is not the terrain of individuality; on 
the contrary, it is a quicksand in which the individual may 
become engulfed beyond hope of recognition; nevertheless, 
it is so pervasive that any discussion of individuality must 
attempt to draw its outline. 11 
This collective mind encompasses prevailing ideas, wishes, 
purposes and fears, which are stored in a society through 
archetypes and passed on to posterity through institutions. 
Archetypes are universal thought forms held mainly by a 
transpersonal unconscious and in part by a conscious mind. 
These latent memory traces are inherited from man's 
ancestral past. 
The individual's desires which he may or may not be able or 
willing to cope with, many times are taken over by institu­
tions, pacifying an individual's tensions. By satisfying these 
desires a formulation of archetypes creates an order and 
then is simplified so a new psychic matrix will  be absorbed 
into the culture. 
Culture: "Anthropological sense refers to the full  range of 
behavior in a group not just to li terature, music, drama and 
art  but all  aspects of each group; aesthetics,  law, language, 
religion, personality, therapentics kinship, atti tutdes toward 
equality and change. .  .  .  closely interwoven into a pattern that 
is unique to each group. 
All social life takes place within these groups or institutions, 
generating culture, which in turn generates the collective 
consciousness. This collective consciousness is transferred 
from generation to generation through groups and institu­
tions by ridicule, shame, guilt ,  threats of ostracism, 
coercive power, love, kindness, friendship, etc.  
"As long as a person is upon his ground he does not fall  
-j back upon the defenses of a common denominator.  "  
The problem occurs when the average man has no incentive 
to draw upon spiritual resources, courage or his determina­
tion to help himself knowing the social parent will  do it  for 
him. Today through cognitive dissonance the theory pro­
posed by Festinger in 1957 which states that when the mind 
experiences a disagreement or disharmony between what 
one does and what one believes there is pressure to change 
Q 
either one's behavior or one's beliefs. This becomes 
apparent in the diversions of recreation, intoxication, and 
amusements, which pacify cultural growth and the self 
actualization of the individual. 
Self Actualization: The term self actualization was coined 
originally by Carl Jung. He referred to self actualization 
as the development of the full individual with all aspects of 
human experience somehow in harmony. It is the fulfillment 
of those hopes and aspirations of life.  ^  Maslow, of the 
humanistic school of psychology, believed in the concept of 
a hierarchy of motives, (General Motivational Hierarchy). 
There are lower level motives "deficiency motives" which 
have to be satisfied first.  When these reach peak experience 
creation happiness, wholeness, perfection, self sufficiency, 
the higher motives "being motives" can be satisfied. It is 
important to note that it  is not until these lower motives are 
satisfied that the tendency for full play of self actualization 
can be obtained. 
Isurmize that there are numerous, highly gifted individuals 
who, given the proper cultural condition in which to work, 
could go on to make necessary innovations and decisions 
toward a survival adaptation between man and the world 
environment. Although these individuals may be able to 
resolve problems, there is still  the problem of a power 
force for "in every great social structure there is a 
power force, a mover, a doer, and just because one wants 
something to take place does not necessarily cause it  to 
happen. One has to have the power to exercise it.  So what 
happens when you cannot resolve these problems; you be­
come a recluse, a hermit. You hide within your ivory 
tower and do your little dreams on paper and you never 
really affect society, because you know to affect society 
you don't have the power to do it.  
Not having the power, the individual, through cognitive 
dissonance, allows the archetype to conflict with natural 
systems to the point of not even realizing there is a prob­
lem. "The duty of society therefore, is to overcome 
resistance, compensate inequalities and supply spiritual 
nourishment to individuals in order that they may share 
fully in the common life. " By becoming more a.nd more 
removed from the decision making process the individual is 
becoming more controlled by the collective world and not 
spiritually nourished to share in the common life. Why did 
we allow this transgression to occur? Naturally the collec­
tive mind is necessary to retain archetypes so each genera­
tion would not have to re-examine, prove and theorize the 
same thoughts. If we worked out our own conclusions on 
every subject, one generation would be no farther ahead of 
the last.  The problem occurred when institutions did not 
question the essence of archetypes or re-examine old arche­
types. This maximising of the collective mind to some extent 
deters self actualization, placing the individual in a con­
trolled behavior setting. 
In referring to individuality and the collective mind it must 
be understood that these two are but parts of personality. 
It is not a Jekyl and Hyde situation, (but the co-existence of 
these two giving order or disorder to behavior. ) 
Freud explains personality as being made up of three parts: 
Id, Ego, Superego. 
The Id, present at birth, reveal's ;a basic or true psychic 
reality which bears on a pleasure principle. This primary-
process provides the hungry person with a picture of food. 
Wish Fulfillment Principle. 
Ego is reflective of the real objective world being a mental 
or physical perception of objects.  Tangible or Reality 
Principle. Superego is the society's interpreted values 
enforced by a system of rewards and punishment imposed 
from birth. Moral Principle. ^  
In Freud's theory the ego and the superego have a direct 
parallel to the individual (ego) and collective (superego) 
thought processes. Through defense mechanisms such as 
denial,  reaction-formation and distortion the ego and super­
ego are altered. When altered it  is difficult  to abolish what 
has been learned. Even if the individual is reassured, be­
cause of the uniform belief system between the ego and 
superego there might not be any desire to question. This 
in turn encourages irresponsibility since the individual 
excepts an archetype and through cognitive dissonance puts 
all  disagreements out of mind. The individual tends to become 
egotistical,  believing he has control of his environment and 
thoughts.  
The individual will have to make the decision as to whether 
he will arrive at the future allowing the collective mind to 
unwittingly control him or be conscious of the collective 
mind actualizing self in a collective world. This is the 
challenge of this conceptual/creative community. 
6. ALTERNATIVES 
Through the development of civilization man has had dreams 
of curing the dilemmas of his particular spatiotemporal 
society. Although in vain man has and will continue to seek 
that pinical of truth in all disciplines. I will deal with a 
variety of groups who approached the advancement of society 
through different means. The background will be valuable in 
determining the form of the community I will be designing. 
BROOK FARM 
Brook Farm was a community started by W. H. Charming, 
George Ripley, Maragret Fuller and others in the early 
1850's. It was mainly an experiment emphasizing spiritual 
living and man's personal relationship to God rather than 
indirectly through intermediate ritualistic churches. There 
was a strong feeling and need for intellectual companionship 
and dignity of manual labor. They believed in living close 
to nature. .  .  .  "while holding different opinions about many 
things, the group seemed in general harmony toward their 
convictions that within nature of man there was a something 
which transcended human experience. 
Dv  " People such as Emerson and Hawthrone who joined after the < 
community was set up, added to the intellectual ferver. 
Emerson being the most vocal interpreter of the group 
stated that: "Man has a responsibility to be brave and 
upright, he must find or cut a straightpath to everything 
excellent in the earth, and not only go honorably himself, 
but make it easier for all who follow him to go in honor and 
with benefit. In this way most of the reforms were 
attempts to awaken and regenerate the human spirit rather 
than to prescribe particular and concrete movements 
which were to be fostered. The form of the community 
was democratic and based on intense individualism. The 
members felt that the present society could not be dealt 
with individually, but through a concert of doctrinaries 
freely expressed, there could be established certain 
opinions or movements in literature, philosophy and reli­
gion. It proved to be just that, a concert of thought. Al­
though Brook Farm only lasted for 7 years, "The 
Transcendentalist" provided the American society and the 
world with an intuitive transcendance above the limits of 
the senses and of logic and introduced higher truths and 
greater knowledge denying mundance methods of knowing. 
THE NEW ALCHEMIST INSTITUTE 
The New Alchemy Institute is made up of a group of rational 
professionals who are seeking an insight into science on a 
smaller human scale. They feel this is needed to live more 
gently upon the earth. "In the mid 1900s Todd began research 
into fish navigation and communication at the University of 
Michigan. There he discovered that some fish have evolved 
a complicated chemical language, and he also met a young 
American fish ecologist, William McLarney. Several years 
later the two men worked together at the San Diego State 
University, prying into the influence of environmental 
stress on fish behavior. They found that minute amounts of 
poisons, such as DDT, could effectively sever the social 
bonds that link an animal's behavior, its environment and 
its vulnerability to stress. In the late 1900s their work led 
Todd to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape 
Cod, while McLarney co- authored the now standard text on 
aquaculture. Since neither of them liked the "doom-
watch aspect" of society they took positive steps and started 
the New Alchemy Institute. 
Their aim is not perfection in its_elf (they must have read 
Popper) but a creation of a whole that is greater than any-
separate part, though each part must have quality if the 
whole is to be valued. I must add, they are not anti-science 
or anti-technology but feel the use of science and technology-
should be on a human scale. This human scale attitude 
reflects such books as Small is Beautiful by E. S. Schmacher 
and Design With Nature by Ian McHarg. The physical 
framework of the institute reflects their beliefs and express­
es positive steps taken for a reasonable whole. 
TWIN OAKS 
The community of Twin Oaks patterned after Walden II holds 
a concept with a positive attitude. This concept in behavioral 
engineering by Skinner proposes to substitute our present 
day negative reinforcement practices with a positive enthu­
siasm. Upon closer study the sophisticated methodology of 
Skinner is rudimentarily a controlled environment to meet 
predetermined desires. This type system bares heavily 
on the type of people who set up the parameters at first.  
The goals of self-sufficiency, elimination of unnecessary 
labor and the use of behavioral engineering is honorable 
though the values of the individuals must be checked. Much 
I 
more study has to occur before this positive reinforcement 
can be enforced in areas of society. 
THE SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES 
The Salk Institute is a free standing institute dedicated to 
the public good. It  deals with the smallest relationships of 
cells as well as serious scientific and medical challenges, 
cancer, diabetes, growth and development defects, 
immunology" and the brain and nervous system. To further 
the intellectual climate and in assuring the staff keeps in 
touch with the scientific community the institute has "resi­
dent faculty" and non-resident fellow, numbering four nobel 
laureates among them. 
The members of the board of directors come from business, 
industry, government, science and the arts, which further 
adds to the high degree of concern for keeping in touch with 
a comprehensive direction. 
The Salk Institute fosters new research ideas and provides 
collaboration with other scientific groups. 
HUTTERITES 
The Hutterites,  virtually self-sufficient communes, were 
prompted because of a need for religious freedom. 
Mainly an agrarian society with a communal effort for sur­
vival,  the Hutterites see life as a ritual.  Everyone is of 
equal value and each person learns a trade comparible with 
the society's direction of dedication to God and self 
sufficiency. When a commune grows to more than 130 
persons a natural evolution takes place dividing the commu­
nity and starting another community modeled after the 
parent community. The society only deals with the outside 
world in the purchase of machinery and the sale of their 
farm products.  In this way the community does not have 
to deal with the pressures of the outside world. 
7. PHILOSOPHY 
Any person who has not been mind boggled by a religion or 
a philosophy, who has not pierced into darkness unhappily, 
remorsing and confessed, has not questioned. Questioning 
is my framework, for if we do not continually question our 
most basic thoughts, the essence of design may be lost for 
the sake of a framework or philosophy. ". .  .  .when one is 
considering systems it 's always wise to raise questions 
about the most obvious and simple as sumptions. 11  
There is an essence in architecture which is comprised of 
order, spiritualism and sensation. 
Order is pragmatic information which is derived from 
natural and man-made systems. The strength of the order 
is directly related to the translation of the environment into 
beliefs. There is a continual process in checking order 
against environment and adding to the storehouse of informa­
tion. 
The designer should not stop at order, looking up the answer 
in graphic standards, but should synthesize his own prolific 
idea with order. Spiritualism then is the personalization of 
order giving feeling to a progmatic solution. 
Sensation is rare! It is an element of design which can stimu­
late, excite and go beyond cliches. It is the use of Order 
and spiritualism to create experience. 
Essence, if one may use a comparison is like a "vast lake. 
On the surface appear ripples which we call the individualized 
particular things. But these rise upon and go back to the main 
still  body of water. The ripples are transitory, the lake is 
permanent. " 
The exhausting responsibility of being conscious of and 
understanding essence is unfounded. The designer can only 
add to his understanding toward synthesis of a whole. I 
feel strongly that there is a need for an extremely com­
prehensive information system which would allow this inter-
mesh of information to be obtained by the designer. As yet 
it  seems an overwhelming problem. When essence is strong 
the designer has a better chance of bridging content and 
form. Having this foundation the designer can then start to 
visualize concepts (generalized ideas) and theme (the topic). 
Understanding essence and visualizing concepts is the point 
where the content and form touch and become one. The 
testing of concepts against the essence generates a system. 
If the system lacks essence it most likely will take the 
form of house and not house/home. 
As designers we have a responsibility not just to create 
form but to fuse form/content! In conclusion I must say 
that design philosophy is what provides direction so the 
designer does not just batter off in all directions. This 
does not demean questioning but gives a reference point, 
from which to work. 
8. COfflUNITY FOKFI 
In any social framework there are groups. The group is "a 
number of people who engage in symbolic interaction. The 
members of a group are mutually aware of and influence one 
another; they recognize their membership in the group, and 
are, in turn recognized by the group as members; and they 
accept the roles, duties, obligations, and privileges that 
result from group membership. " 
The group has a stratification, which is expressed in status, 
class and power. The fact that is some cases there are 
biases and vigotary operating along with this stratification 
does not eliminate it, but further stratifies. Naturally there 
will always be a stratification and it is the moral obligation 
to have this operate without social inequality. 
In this community there will be 3. natural stratification by 
the level of intellectual pursuit. There will be five basic 
divisions of members as follows: 
1. Supporters -  support workers -  These members work 
as apprentices to other division members, (receive room 
and board and basic necessities) 
2. Populous -  creative thinkers -  These members are the 
conceptual/creative thinkers of each society, (receive a 
fixed wage) 
3. Activists -  communicators -  These members provide 
the communication between the members of the community 
and the outside society, (receive a fixed wage-same as 
populous) 
4. Fellows - These members are inactive, but contribute 
when able, (receive-by arrangement) 
Guests -  These individuals are visiting speakers,  ex­
perimenters and thinkers who work with and teach the mem 
bers. These individuals may act as mentors,  (receive by 
arrangement) 
NOTE: 
The populous and activists make the decisions under a 
democratic system. 
Each division (supporters,  populous and activous) will  have 
representatives who are spokesman for the group (receive-
personal gradification) 
The atti tude of the community will  not be for verification or 
perfection, but the creation of a greater whole. This deems 
a reasonable positive atmosphere. Through the symbol 
Ouroborous the spiritualism, reasonability, seriousness, 
greater whole atti tude and higher truth desire can become 
united. Give and you have received! 
Community is dedicated to public good! 
The community is free from outside institutional control.  
The community will  have a board of directors made up of 
one member from each society and of fellows and guests.  
Programs will  be started to coordinate with schools and 
other research communities.  It  will  be of utmost concern 
to be aware of society and to get involved with the intel­
lectual community. 
The community is made up of a central communications 
section and three societies,  which are the scientific,  fine 
arts and agrarian. The commo section, takes in, stores 
and disseminates information for the community as well as 
being the link between the conceptual/creative thinkers of 
the community and society. The three societies '  major 
concern  i s  research and use  the  commo sect ion to  acquire  
informat ion for  projects .  
9, SITE CONDITIONS 
Location: The site is 5 miles east of Mansfield City in 
Tioga County, Pennslyvania. 
This location is within 150 miles of Philadelphia, New York, 
Boston, Wilmington, Pittsburg and other small but 
important communities like Corning and College Park, pro­
viding access to major cultural/industrial centers. The 
location also had a great deal to do with the cost of land 
which goes for about $250 an acre when buying large areas 
of land. 
The land could be purchased as a Federal Land Grant under 
an agricultural bill which gives farmers a chance to buy 
new farms. 
About 75% of Tioga County and much of the surrounding 
county land is either state forest or state or private game 
land. The game land has deer, elk, grouse, pheasant and 
a variety of fish such as trout and bass. This provides a 
large market for hunters and gives a number of jobs to 
wild life people. Since the market is a pretty stable one 
I  plan to have the community have a wild l ife farm (phea­
sant to start) and a hatchery that will  primarily raise 
trout,  but may research other species. 
The site can support the desired activities the community 
might be acting on such as orchards, gardens, grass lands 
for the bird farm and other animals as well as proper soil  
for building into the side of a hill .  
The area is filled with natural beauty which is an extra 
for the members of the community and a type of learning 
experience. 
Orientation: Because of the desire to use passive and 
active solar collection systems a southerly orientation was 
chosen. This orientation is further emphasis by the hill­
side facing south. 
Adjacent environment: The surrounding environments are 
mainly forest (deciuous and conifers) and rolling hills.  
These hills are the foot hills of the Armenia mountains. 
About 2 0% of the land area in Tioga County is farm land. 
Topography: The topography is mainly rolling hills with 
small valley area. The site is 50% hill  with the other 50% 
flat valley area. There are two ponds and a stream. 
Vegetation and other Natural Features: Twenty percent of 
the site is wooded (mainly hard woods).  The other land 
has low brush and grass land. 
Soil Analysis: 
Allis-(gravelly silt  loam)-not good agricultural land -
bedrock at 1^ to Z\ feet below surface mainly for pasture 
and mowing. 
Fremont -  (gravelly silt  loam)- light gray and yellow loam-
gritty heavy grave and stone are common throughout the 
soil  (angular gray shale and rounded stone fragments-silty 
clay loam 36" compact claypan, glacialdeposit  4 to 20 feet 
below surface, with gravel and store-runoff good -  internal 
drainage is poor-productivity of soil-fair-grass and 
shallow rooted grains-moderately high acidity. 
Chenango -  (gravelly silt  loam)-good productivity-organic 
matter low, acidity moderate, water holding fair or poor-
for clover and timonthy (for hay), oats,  buckwheat,  corn 
for silage, potatoes or alfalfa,  sweetclover.  
Middebury -  (si l t  loam)-yellowish brown r iver  loam, -
drainage is  sluggish-productivi ty almost  equal  to Tioga -
organic matter  good,  acidi ty s l ight ,  excellent  pasture and 
grass land -  not  good for  alfalfa (drainage problem).  
Tioga -  (si l t  loam) mellow yellow brown loam fine -  good 
for  mechanized farming (r iver  loam) best  soi l  -  drainage 
is  excellent  nat ive poplar ,  wil low, elm, maple,  sycamore 
and beech- high productivi ty-most  fert i le ,  acidi ty sl ight  
to moderate,  water  holding good dairy farming-same as 
Chenango plus-wheat ,  barley,  cabbage,  tobacco,  gardens,  
frui ts ,  berr ies .  
Availabil i ty of Uti l i t ies:  
Five (5)  miles:  Fire stat ion,  t rain,  sewage and water ,  gas 
Two (2)  miles:  Interstate 
Next to s i te:  Power l ines (high voltage) 
Traff ic ,  t ransportat ion,  roads,  rai lroad,  air transport  
There are no traff ic  problems !  
Private vehicles wil l  be used for  most  t ransport ing.  
Roads are paved w/access to interstate (2 miles) .  
Railroad is  5 miles away -  also 15 miles away.  
Air  t ransportat ion is  l imited to a  small  f ield for  personal  
vehicles (15 miles) .  
10. CLIMATE 
Because of the unavailability of climatic information of the , 
micro climate of the site, the evaluation of the New York 
area written up by Olgyay in "Design With Climate" was 
used. The building, placed into the hill and orientated 
south became part of the landscape so wind continues 
naturally over the slopes and the solar collectors acquire 
reasonable amount of energy. 
It is important to understand that the flexible frame houses 
the passive/active solar collector system, insulated panels, 
and is adjustable, for orientation charge for further improve­
ment of wind energy collection models of the building could 
be placed in wind boxes to improve air foil and placement 
at windmills. 
II. CONCEPT 
I approached my thesis with the hopes of developing a thought 
process. This process I felt architecturally would be con­
ducive to an advancement attitude rather than a restatement 
of a traditional execution of a building as product. My concept 
I feel fulfills this hope presenting a thought process about 
architecture and a solution for the community. 
The concept is an alternative, not a replacement for traditional 
architecture. Where the traditional process of design is to 
produce a product encompassing the needs of the problem, this 
concept suggest an ongoing growth process. Because of this 
evolution of the structure the chances for understanding the 
process of the activities housed can be much more sensitive 
than in traditional construction in general. Traditional 
architecture is basically a one shot deal while this con­
cept gives a chance to examine more closely the activity 
and change where and when needed. The systems needs to 
be explored much more, though its essence has become 
clear.  
My first  precept of the permanent/flexible concept was 
acquired from the camera with its permanent body and 
flexible lens which interchange. From this precept I  took 
the next step by checking this concept against the symbol, 
community needs and my hope for a process and not just a 
product.  After an extreme amount of questioning I feel 
strongly that this concept is a reasonable approach. 
OVERALL CCMINITY (DESIGN) 

13. COTTUNICATIONS 
Today a new art form has come forward and as Siegfried 
Geidion states "the entire process of mechanization has be­
come an art process. " The creative thinker has to learn 
to deal with these new medias. For this reason the Communi­
cation section of the community is extremely vital to the 
continual process of the community. 
The design of the communication section is in three major 
parts - library, offices and production. 
A Library is a place for storage and extraction of informa­
tion.. The storage of information is accomplished by books, 
tapes, computer printout, microfilm and other future medias. 
These medias are best stored in cool areas, some dry and 
some humid. This was accomplished by enclosing storage 
and controlling the environment.- . The reading area, gives 
people a variety of spatial settings providing choice of light, 
size and position of environment. 
The Office building is comprised of individual and group 
offices, seminar, lounge, mapping, mail, machine and main 
office areas. The intention was to design well lit  work areas 
with the juxtapositioning of other areas mainly through the 
feeling of expansion of space. This was accomplished by 
balconies, glasswalls, exterior areas and open areas. 
The placement of areas in the Production complex became 
mainly a pragmatic solution since the mechanics of the two 
auditoriums, production, control, engineering and suppor-
tice areas had very precise requirements. The lobby into 
the main auditorium, although accommodating exit and floor 
area requirement went further to provide a more personal 
environment with the ledges, grass, bushes and lighting of 
the space. 
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14. SCIENTIFIC 
The modern research laboratory requires a great deal of 
flexibility because of the continual changing of equipment 
and experimental techniques. The mechanical system which 
is the life line of the facility, must be readily accessible to 
all work areas and meet safety codes and common sense. 
To meet the variety of situation a vertical core and hori­
zontal plenum system will be utilized. This system makes 
the building an organism and not just an answer to a check 
list of needs. 
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15, AGRARIAN 
The Agrarian Society will have five main areas Horticul­
ture, agriculture (limited), bird farm, fish hatchery, 
acquacuture. These areas will have three main concerns, 
food supplement for institute, research and economics 
(sale of products to support institute). 
Horticulture - Mainly a research area - "Deals with crops 
that are intensively cultivated; that is, plants that are of 
high enough value to warrant a large input of capital, labor 
and technology per unit area of land. " Such sub areas as 
pomology (fruit crops), olericulture (vegetable crops), 
floriculture (ornamentals) and landscape horticulture are 
part of horticulture. The physical needs are, green 
houses with varied environments, propagation benches, 
'root cellars, separate room research and work areas. 
There will  also be cold frames,  hot beds and art if ical  ponds 
for water storage.  
Agriculture -  (l imited) the main purpose of this area is  to 
provide food and economic stabil i ty for the community.  The 
crops would be decided upon testing soil  at  state labs against  
regional plant material .  Physical  form will  be generated by 
indigenous farm practices.  
Bird Farm -  See report  by wild l ife major Fish Hatchery 
and Acquaculture area provide -  further research needed 
before designing. 
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16. FIE ARTS 
The fine arts building is a combination of shop/office and 
enclosed exterior areas. This combination provides a 
concrete floored work area and a grass or gravel, work 
or display area. The fractured wall surfaces of the 
flexible frame along with the hard line concrete permanent 
structure further defines the activity of each area respec­
tively. The terracing of the building gives individuals a 
chance to experience place. Beyond this experience each 
individual through his or her creation may further define 
place. 

CONCLUSION 
18. FOOTNOTES 
. 1. G. Naylor, The Bauhaus 
2. Unknown Author 
3. Encyclopedia Britanica (Ouroborous) 
4. Morgan, Individuality in a Collective World, p 221 
5. Calvin Shall, Theories of Personality, p. 83-85 
6. Cohen, Man in Adaptation - The Cultural 
Present, p. 7 
7. B. Morgan, p. 230 
8. Ernest Hilgrard, Introduction to Psychology, 
p. 158 
9. B. Morgan, p. 9*7 
10. E. Hilgrard, p. 159-160 
11. Quote from conversation with Dean 
12. B. Morgan, p. 46 
13. Calvin Shall, p. 32-34 
14. Perry and Perry, The Social Web, p. 105 
15. Ibid, p. 26 
16. Smithsonian, The New Alchemcy, p. 82 
17. C. Churchman, The System Approach, p. 42 
18. Cohen, Man in Adaptation - The Cultural Present, 
p. 15 
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Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder,  
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Thompson, William Irwin -  Passages About Earth, Harper 
and Row Publishers,  New York, NY, 1974 








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