Thesis Review is a collection of conversations, statements and inquiries into the current state of thesis in academia. Thesis projects give a glimpse into the current state of the academic arena while painting a picture for the future of practice. 

Each feature will present a contemporary thesis project through the voice of those that constructed it. This week, we talk to Jack Stewart-Castner about his thesis, "Rend, Mend". 

What is your thesis?

My thesis—titled Rend, Mend—is a project which grows out of an investigation of a precedent. The precedent in question is the Ulster Museum located in Belfast Ireland, originally designed in 1911 by the architect James Cumming Wynne. In an effort to become a cultural landmark for its time, the Ulster Museum was visualized as a monumental courtyard-style neoclassical museum sitting prominently in the cultural district of Southern Belfast. After a few years of construction, funding for the project ceased and the museum was forced to open for operation in its half-completed state. In 1961, the museum gained enough funding to complete the building and a competition was held to design the extension. The winning entry was designed by architect Francis Pym of Belfast, who’s Brutalist extension was able to interact with the proportions and balance of the existing building while creating a modern architecture that reflected the needs and desires of Belfast in the 1960’s.

Inherent its image and construction, the Ulster Museum makes no apologies for its bipartisan nature. As it shouldn’t. While neither part of each building is particularly interesting on its own, the conflict and communication between the two create a dialog which speaks to a broader socio-cultural condition. This condition can be read as the difference between passive and active communication.

Evident in the symmetrical alignments, polite separation, and visible seam, the Ulster Museum fails to enter the realm of active communication. While the Brutalist extension visibly respects its neoclassical father, it clearly fails to engage and usurp its parent. This observation then begs the question; how do we create a projective architecture which still enables an active communication with history, context, and culture? Rend, Mend attempts to overcome this issue by exploring the condition of multiple ontologies.

By utilizing the language and positioning afforded in the found condition of the Ulster Museum, Rend, Mend explores multiple ontologies’ ability to produce a new active dialogue for the building. This new dialogue denies the privileging and segregation of one entity over the next while forcing the interaction of entities 1 and 2 to produce a 3rd, all containing the qualities and formal makeup of 1+2. Rend, Mend is a project which does not seek to produce a better, more efficient architecture, but rather embraces the opportunity to explore a quality afforded by a precedent and a desire.

What was your inspiration for the thesis?

Rend, Mend, utilizes a precedent as the source of departure and point of return. Ultimately, this precedent acts as the primary source of inspiration. Additionally, the writings of Jeffrey Kipnis and paintings by David Salle influenced my thesis in ways that are less readily apparent, but equally as significant as the initial precedent.

How did it change over the course of the process?

The single most identifiable turning point in my thesis must have been in the design and approval of the work to be displayed at the A+D Museum in Downtown Los Angeles, in a collective show called Cabinet. During the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semester, I worked with a team of graduating students to propose, design, build, and curate a collection of the top thesis work. Developing the show with Executive Director, Anthony Morey, and Deputy Director, Leila Anna Wahba, gave the entire Cabinet team a platform to challenge the traditional ways in which an architectural thesis is represented. Their guidance forced the team to evaluate the work from the view of the public – ultimately resulting in a clarity of representation that would have been lost without curatorial influence.

The ability for the work to be displayed both inside and outside of the university setting established a strong tone for the level of production needed to represent the projects best. This opportunity ultimately elevated the work coming out of the graduating class as students not only competed for thesis awards but the chance to have their work shared in a museum setting. In many ways, I view the design and execution of Cabinet as a direct extension of the collective thesis projects created by the 2018 USC Graduate Class.

What is other angles do you want to continue working on?

A thesis is as much a position (yes, it's personal) as it is a project. I’m interested in developing ways to dispatch the position developed during Rend, Mend at a multitude of scales. Starting small, then getting a little bit bigger...

How does your thesis fit in within the discipline?

Rend, Mend investigates the role of precedent in architecture. In many ways, re-examining our pedagogical inheritance, questioning our forefathers, and mining the depths of history seems to be today’s architectural zeitgeist. These inquiries signal an interest in the past, which I speculate, will lead to the production of more contextually-specific referentially-derived architecture. I believe this phenomenon is occurring in response to the homogenization of our built environments as a result of bad-modernity. It is this genericism that Rend, Mend attempts to combat through hyper-specific hyper-contextual investigation.

What did you discover during the process that you did not foresee?

A thesis relies heavily on introspection, self-awareness, and a developed sense of creative agency. These qualities can be nurtured during a typical core-studio experience but aren’t typically necessitated to the degree that a thesis requires. In this sense, the independence and self-confidence developed during a thesis project was the most significant discovery.

How do you see this thesis progressing into your career?

It’s hard to say how exactly this thesis will progress into my career. I can speculate that my interests in cultural specificity, historical anomalies, and pluralism will always guide my thoughts and ideas in some way. I once heard a second-hand quote originating back to Greg Lynn that goes something like; “a good thesis will guide your entire career” – that sounds nice to me.

What were the key moments within your thesis?

Many of the significant moments of my thesis happened during spouts of obsessive research. The first moment that comes to mind has to be when I first discovered the Ulster Museum while combing through archives of brutalist buildings from the 1960’s. Another moment would have to have been when I came across Jeffrey Kipnis’ writings on the potentials of multiple ontologies. Other key moments would be less identifiable but equally as important. These would be moments of support and guidance from my tenacious peers: Alycia Cornelius, Laura Kapp, and Nicholas McMillian, and my partner: Phoebe Webster.

What do you wish you would have known before thesis?

I’ve been collecting advice about thesis, somewhat inadvertently, over the past few years. My most influential undergraduate professor, Robert Trempe once told me, “No one ever wished they worked less on their thesis.” Nicholas Pajerski once gave me the following advice, “During thesis, you should be as selfish as possible.” As an incoming thesis class, Wes Jones told us that thesis, “might possibly be THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIFE.”

All sage advice.

...a second-hand quote originating back to Greg Lynn that goes something like; “a good thesis will guide your entire career” – that sounds nice to me.

What other thesis projects were on your radar?

There were many different thesis projects on my radar while I began planning Rend, Mend. I could rattle them off in a list, but in retrospect, I’d have to say that none of them ended up influencing my project very much (besides in admiring the scale and grandeur of the contemporary architectural thesis project).

Instead, I’d like to acknowledge the influence of the “thesis” projects being challenged in the work and teachings of my advisors and mentors.

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge my thesis advisor Yaohua Wang, whose support and influence on my thesis project seem immeasurable. Working with Yao demanded a rigor, both theoretically and procedurally, that was both painstakingly challenging and empowering. Further, studying the work that Yao and his team at Preliminary Research Office create has had a massive effect on my thinking about design, the limitless scope of the architectural project, and the impact that a determined young architecture practice can create.

Second, I would like to acknowledge USC Graduate Director and Discipline Head, Wes Jones. To undertake a graduate thesis at USC is to accept the challenge of a Wes Jones thesis structure, one that mercilessly places the student in a formidable historical dialogue. This structure represents a clear challenge to react to, a sort of regenerating oedipal complex by which the young architect must kill their father, marry their mother (or both) – a tantalizing setup for thesis inquiry.

Third, I would acknowledge the (individual and sometimes conflicting) guidance that Anthony Morey and Brendan Shea have provided me through both my thesis and my graduate education (and beyond). I believe that Rend, Mend was the result of influence from all four mentioned above, through both direct guidance and the admiration of their own personal ongoing theses.

How did your institution help or guide you through thesis?

There were two institutions and countless individuals that helped guide the USC graduate thesis students, the first being the University of Southern California Architecture Department, and the second being the A+D Museum in Downtown Los Angeles. While the work was created through the guidance and structure set by USC, it was due to the empowerment and support provided by the A+D Museum that the 2018 thesis projects were able to resonate beyond the walls of Watt Hall.

What do you wish could have been different?

In retrospect, it would have been nice to sit back and enjoy the experience a bit more: take it all in and bask in the creative environment generated during a graduate thesis. However, this is not a message I wish to promote. Keep moving.

As an incoming thesis class, Wes Jones told us that thesis, “might possibly be THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIFE.”

If you do this again, what would you change?

I wouldn’t like to change anything explicitly.

What do you think the current state of thesis is within architecture and how can it improve?

Like in contemporary practice, the current state of thesis is much more self-aware, discipline-specific, and pedagogically driven. Thesis projects from 7 years ago bring back memories of over-reaching discipline-crossing blanket-solutions to issues that were ill-suited for architectural intervention. In contrast, the projects of today are interested in surgically splitting the pixels of our everyday lives. Everything seems to be much more ordinary, and as a result, much more fascinating. I’d like to see this trend continue to evolve.