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INTRODUCTION
T h e term vehicle was first proposed in jazz by trum- analysis is Lester Leaps In recorded by Count Basie and the
peter Dizzy Gillespie as a metaphor for tune. This describes the Kansas City Seven, in 1939.j Tenor saxophonist Lester Young
improviser's use of the tune as a machine that he rides during his is the featured soloist.
improvisation.' The jazz vehicle chosen for observation and In jazz, musicians record an improvised performance
1996 ACSA European Conference Copenhagen
squares
(var~ableb u t
equal d ~ m e n s ~ o n s )
bars or rectangles:
beat measure
Fig=re 4. Lo-d~mensionalimprovisations: initial intuitiue "take. " alternnte "take " and grid extrapolation.
joinrure, rhyrhm, inrerplay, counrerpoinr, progression, rension- rion ofa complex network ofregularing grid lines become guides
release, hierarchy; positive and negative space; overlapping and for discovering cross-precinct relarionships. A consisrenr lan-
interpenetrating precincts; ascending and descending move- guage ofspatial joinrure, articulation, and rhe conceptual detail-
menr; contraction and dilation of scale. ing of individual base forms become rhe focus of the srudy (fig.
The process ofimprovisation beginswirh the construc- 4). The drawings begin to imply reciprocaring planimerric or
[ion of an underlying reference sysrem, rhar is derived from [he sectional ideas. By rhis srage in rhe game, [he original musical
measure and beat sysrem ofthe chorus pairings (fig. 2). Working referenr has become a point of departure into [he recronic. As
from rheir grids, students are asked ro rranslate the basic discussions revolve around the integrity of the visual composi-
relarionships and evenrs of rhe musical srrucrure. In effect, they rions themselves, [he srudents begin to think abour archirecrure
m ~ k an
c abstract representation of rhe musical analysis.' instead of music.
Students are given a vocabulary of bast forms, rhar is The next srudy is analogous to creacing a "new"
limited to orrhogonally posirionedsquares, recrangles, L-shapes, vehicle. Srudenrs are asked ro cut an imaginary spatial secrion
and U-shapes (fig. 3). The vocabulary is nor entirely rigid or rhrough rhe completed two-dimensional improvisation. This is
inflexible. Studenrs can interprer rhis vocabulary in many direc- a difficult rask for many students because it requires the mind ro
tions and possibiliries rhrough size, shape, locarion, orientation fabricate a rhird dimension rhat is interpolared from a two-
and number. For insrance, U-shapes can he manipulated with dimensional source. Grid lines in rhe x-dimension are exrrapo-
respect to relative lengths and rhicknesses of rhe base and legs ro lared into a different orrhogonal plane (z-dimension). A n e w ser
form discorred U-shapes, or transform rhe U-shapes inro J- ofgrid lines must be invented for the y-dimension. Iris suggesred
shapes or orher hybrid forms. Students make their initial com- ro rhe studio rhar rhis new ser of grid lines be derived in various
positions wirh precisely cut pieces of black paper. These figures ways from measurements and sequences wirhin the previous
are and pasred onto a white ground that is marked drawing. In a subtle way, the B-section of rhe previous secrion
wirh the reference sysrem. The collage technique encourages should remain apparenr in [he new ireracions. Again, several
improvisation. "rakes" are needed to refine [his new improvisation, culminaring
The first "take" is a rarher inruicive response char is in a collage using three shades of gray plus black and white. A
usually quite chaoric and disordered. Most often there are roo distinction is established between the fields (as shades of gray)
many elemenrs competing with each other. The srudents are and the figures (as white or black). The gray-scale study implies
asked to create several "alternate rakes" of the composirion. a ser of ambiguous deprh interpretations within [he srrucrure.
Through a process of pinup critiques, numerous tectonic issues This composition becomes rhe gateway ro the three-ditnen-
are raised and con~parisonsare made across rhe srudent projects. sional sequence of srudy (fig. 5 ) .
Eventually, the base forms are positioned in an increasingly
inventive manner, subrly re-defining precincts within the un- FIVE PANEL SEQUENCE
derlying AABA field (fig.4).
The refined collage srudy is re-interprered into a single The rwo-dimensional improvisarions lead ro a quasi-
line-weight drawing as a technique for students to carefully spatial interpretation. In order to entice srudenrs inro thinking
measure, adjust and reconsrrucr their work. The next drawing in three dimensions, [hey are presented with a model format
demands a merhod of mulriple line weighrs, rhar introduces an consisring of several rransparenr planes and a base arriculared
implied spariality ro [he posirioned elemenrs. This drawing can with four bays. Five of [he planes are frontally disrributed and
then be read in rerms orher than of a literal flacness. This one lateral plane acrs as a longitudinal reference (fig 7). T h e
phenomenon becomes more provocarive when each edge of the model is flexible so rhar srudents can experimenr with rhe spatial
posirioned elements generares a regularing line. The inrroduc- positioning of figures and fields.
1996 ACSA European Conference Copenhagen
Figure ?. Exploded aronometric representation of conceptual mode1format:four-bay base, jive transverseplanes, one longitudinal plant, four volumth~icinserts.
1996 ACSA European Conference Copenhagen
The first step in the five-panel sequence is to look back three-dimensional, conceptual model. The organizational struc-
at the work compiled over the previous two-dimensional se- ture, or big idea, is recognized and emphasized. The set location
quence and to cull a significant strip from the body of work. of the five transparent planes becomes the primary spatial
Further variations and themes are developed from this choice to ordering device and sequential generator. The spatial definition
make up the five-panel sequence. This technique becomes the of secondary and tertiary precincts is discovered from further
basis of testing "takes" as the vertical sequences in the longitu- analysis and re-interpretations of the earlier two-dimensional
dinal panel. Once a "masterful take" is decided on (fig. 6 ) ,aseries work.
of regulating grid lines is incised onto the surface and implicitly
into the space of the model. Finally, a set ofcoordinated surfaces THE JAZZ STUDIO
are decomposed and rearranged as aset offive panels through the
technique of applying self-adhesive transparencies of the new The strategies, methods and syntax developed in the
configuration. previous analytical phases condition the synthetic design for the
The two-dimensional studies are developed into a Jazz Studio Project. The final "take" of the project involves the
1996 ACSA European Conference Copenhagen
development of five-panel model. Correspondences between of abstracting, manipulating and transforming external refer-
plan and section and the relationship between structure and ences, whether it comes from jazz musicor one's own prior work.
landscape is developed through the filter of the established Students begin to understand the differences between the ab-
syntax. Several preliminary study models and axonometric stract and the literal in architectural design.
diagrams are fabricated. The work created in the five-panel The jazz "vehicle" is used in the studio as an analogous
sequence (fig. 6) is applied to the transparent planes ofthe model point of departure for the generation of architectural form that
and projected into three dimensions as a series of spatial inserts is inherently structured and ordered. The key lesson of this
between the planes. These inserts are re-configured and re- studio is about creating an architectural idea and working it
corded as a set of axonometric drawings of the sequence (fig. 7). through as an improvisational sequence. In other words, devis-
The tectonic lessons learned over the course of study ing an idea, revising the idea, adjusting it, evolving it, and
are articulated into meaningful spatial sequences. Distinctions transforming it into a tectonic manifestation of space.
between exterior and interior space are clarified. Syntactical
consistency in tectonic articulation begins with the relationship NOTES
between solid and void, and further manifests itself through the 1. Yolanda Cole, "Frozen Music: The Origin and Development of the
three-dimensional vocabulary of elements such as volumes, Synthetic Concept in Art," Precis 6 (New York: Rizzoli, 1987), pp. 170-
181
planes, columns and beams (fig. 8).
2. Jerry Coker, Listeningto jazz(Eng1ewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978),
P. 9
CONCLUSION 3. Recorded for Vocation, CBS Records from Epic LN 3 107, NewYork, NY,
November 5, 1939. Musicians: Count Basie (piano), Buck Clayton
The students are urged to make thoughtful insights (trumpet), Dickie Wells (trombone), Lester Young (tenor sax), Freddy
into the problem at hand through careful analysis and observa- Green (guitar), Walter Page (bass), Jo Jones (drums)
tion. It becomes apparent that participation in rhis kind of an 4. MartinT. Williams, ed., "Bebop," TheArtofjazz: Essayson theNatweand
Development ofjazz (New York: Da Capo Press, 1979)
exercise requires a continuity between the steps of the process
5. Oscar Treadwell, from his radio program,The Eclecticstop-Sign. W G U C -
and the final product. Weak choices are identified because ofthe FM, Cincinnati
additive and incremental nature of the project. Once students 6. Coker, pp. 95-103
immerse themselves in the problem, they eagerly look at archi- 7. John De Cesare, "The Theory of Visual Space in Music," Precis 6. (New
tecture in an in-depth and non-conventional light. York: Rizzoli, 1987), pp. 183-187. In rhis example, the author translated
The jazz studio promotes methods of improvisation as musical scores to graphic representations
a discourse, where execution precedes conception.The attitude 8. Bahram Shirdel, Explorations. (New York: Columbia University, 1983),
presented is that potent formal meaning can emerge from the act p.5