How Buildings Learn: Shearing Layers
Stewart Brand, an American writer, presents us with an idea of how buildings are adaptable and evolve. He explains this idea through his adaptation of Frank Duffy’s concept of “Shearing Layers.” Brand believes that any building is mainly made up of six shearing layers (Site, Structure, Skin, Services, Space Plan & Stuff). Through the shearing walk exercise, I would be exploring how each of these layers can be observed in the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, and how these layers translate to e-commerce giant Amazon.
An interdependence exists across the various layers which becomes evident when we look closely. The site defines the structure, the structure defines the skin, the services define the space plan, and ultimately the space plan guides the way the stuff is arranged.
However, I believe it will be great to add one more layer to this, which relates to the inhabitants. After all, it is the people who use the building and they have a huge role to play in adding value to the layers.
While going on the shearing walk tour, I uncovered the layers at the Cathedral of Learning. It is the centrepiece of the University of Pittsburgh. It houses many classrooms, functions as the administrative centre of the university, and is home to various schools of UPitt.
Site
John G. Bowman, the university chancellor in 1921 announced plans for a 52-story Gothic skyscraper to be built. CoL is a part of the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus in the Oakland neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and towers above the surrounding buildings to this day.
Structure
The structure was built with steel framing overladen with Indiana limestone. Although the structure topped off at only 42-storeys, it is still the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere.
Here, I feel the skin has affected the structure. The want for a Gothic Revival look has influenced the structure to be built in a certain way and to be able to achieve a certain a look. A certain set of materials were required to achieve that style and henceforth a structure that would support that style was required.
Skin
The building contains noted examples of stained glass, stone, wood, and ironwork. Architectural elements such as pointed arches, steep-sloping roofs and fancy carvings like lace and latticework were observed.
What one can see is how the skin is replaced over time. Eg. All three stained glasses of the windows are different
Services
Services are what keeps a building functioning. These are something that needs constant replacement with time. Here, in the case of CoL, one can see the elevator plays a vital role in the structure. Considering a 40 storey building, with time the number of people using this building has increased. The elevator is assigned to a user as per the floor they need to travel to to save time and energy. I believe services are highly dependent on the needs of the inhabitants of the building, which themselves often change over time.
Space Plan
It was interesting to note that while a structure like this seems very difficult to be able to change or adapt, the 35th and 36th levels went through recent renovations.
The reason to go ahead and renovate this space was that the previous space felt extremely confining and constricting. Leveraging the view that can be experienced through a building as tall as the CoL, an open balcony and a free flow from 36th to 35th was envisioned. However, that did end up making the space a bit smaller than what it was due to the giant staircase
Stuff
Stuff is what gives a unique personality to a space. It sets the overall tonality and functionality of the space. The inhabitants bring in their stuff to make the space into what it is, give it a personality, and make it their own. Be it their coffee mugs or memorabilia for desks or pictures for the shelves.
So how does this translate to Amazon?
Over the generations, CoL has become a symbol of Pitt’s scholarly and economic aspirations. CoL was built with the aspiration of having the tallest educational structure. Similarly, a person named Jeff Bezos had the aspiration of launching Amazon with the tagline “Earth’s biggest bookstore”. What started as a simple e-bookstore is now the most recognised symbol of e-commerce in the modern-day world.
Site
Site here would be the Brand itself. That is the foundation for all the following layers. The values a business stands for. The brand can change its logo but it will never change the core values and beliefs on which it was created.
Structure
I believe that the business model lends structure to the business. It is the base for all the other layers to rely on. Only if the business model is robust can the business withstand any storms.
Skin
The skin for amazon is the interface that is visible to the world in a consumable and presentable manner and helps the customers (inhabitants) navigate through. With digital products, one would still think it is easier to change the skin as compared to physical structures and adapt to changing technology and fashion trends.
Services
Amazon has expanded its range of services at an exponential rate. It truly ended up being the A to Z of everything E-Commerce. From grocery shopping to Video streaming, and Web Services to drone-based delivery — they have got all sorts of services under their belt. As seen in CoL, with changing times, the services kitty of amazon is being updated constantly to serve the customers better.
Space Plan
Space plan would be the sitemap/navigation tools such as the hamburger menu or the navigation links. The space plan can be thought of as the information architecture which helps add the “stuff” in place.
Stuff
Finally, stuff would be the things that are displayed on the site in terms of products, wishlists, their account settings, and recommendations which are personalised for each user just the way each inhabitant personalises their own space in a building.
My key takeaways from this reading and the shearing walk exercise are that one shouldn’t create things that are simply timeless but create things that are readily adaptable with the times they are in. Change is the only constant. Our needs, wants and desires evolve with time and so should the things around us. We, as humans, are implicitly resistive to change because when we interact with objects, buildings, or services we end up developing a certain amount of emotional attachment with it — not quite unlike how the students of UPitt lovingly call the Cathedral of Learning, Cathy. There is an inherent layer of emotions and memories that are added to these shearing layers, which might be something Stewart Brand would like to consider. A new layer that relates to the inhabitants that he can call the “Soul”.
