The Pilgrim Brewer
Ordering
Corresponding these abstract investigations to the process of brewing helps to locate them in sequence and space. Recalling the verses of John Barleycorn Must Die reinforces the importance of sequence in this investigation.
On the following page, the collages are laid out in the logical sequence of the process. The diagram also traces the sectional arrangement of John Barleycorn’s trials, moving first through the machinations of the mill and exalting the kettle, before descending and ultimately rising again.
Ordering diagram, showing sequence of collages
Threshold
Comparing divergent quotes about ale houses and beer drinking helps to illustrate another form of journey inherent in the project. The first quote, by Barnabee Rych, in The Honestie of this Age (1614), is taken from the point of view of a passer-by, observing from the exterior.
I am ashamed nowe to aske you to goe into any of these Drinking houses, where you should as well see the beastly behauiour of Drunkardes, as likewise heare such swearing and blaspheming as you would think the whole house to bee dedicated to loathsome sinne, and that hell and Damnation were both together there already resident.11
The counter-quote is an Irish text known as a Hermit Song, attributed to St. Brigid in the tenth century, and meant to be interpreted from the point of view of one of the acolytes in the inner sanctum of the brewery.
I would like to have the men of Heaven in my own house,
with vats of good cheer laid out for them.
I would like to have the three Marys, their fame is so great.
I would like people from every corner of Heaven.
I would like them to be cheerful in their drinking.
I would like to have Jesus sitting here among them.
I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings.
I would like to be watching Heaven’s family
Drinking it through all eternity. 12
Making the transition from the first quote to the second is an analogue for the depth of the threshold to be crossed from the exterior to the interior. There is a need for a buffered transition from outside to inside, in which this change of perspective can occur. There is then an opportunity for a staged transition through the adjacent neighbourhood, the site, and the building, leading ultimately to the brew house core—the mystery—of the project.
Model of threshold condition in urban setting
The transition can be made both visually and physically. Bays along the street edge open the fagade entirely, erasing the building’s edge, and exposing the passage to the interior courtyard, as previously contemplated in the abstract model of the spaces between the collages. Where the façade doesn’t move, different layers of transparency exist. Ambiguous screens demarcate the building form while remaining suggestive of different layers of visual and physical access to the core. Only entry into the project will resolve the ambiguity and provide unfettered access to the experience.
Perspective of threshold model, located in street perspectives