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“Lisa Huang’s new book encourages a tactile exploration of building materials that is equal
part experimentation and informed risk taking. Te text and images share how architects
transform materials through stretching, casting, carving, and stacking in well-researched
built examples and focused student investigations. By approaching failure, courageous design
acts can reveal the synergy between technical construction techniques and aesthetic choices.”
–Donna Kacmar, FAIA, Professor

“Lisa Huang’s Learning from Failure in the Design Process looks at the verbs of building –
stretching, casting, carving, and stacking – showing how these actions form common
languages of process and form across centuries and continents. By parsing construction
into these four provocative, inclusive categories, she fnds similarities between classic works
of ancient architecture such as the Pantheon, modern icons like Scarpa’s Brion Cemetery,
and contemporary structures like Allied Works’ Clyford Still Museum. Te result will be a
helpful guide for students and a useful provocation for practitioners. Student work that builds
on the lessons of these precedents will also be an inspiration to teachers seeking ways to bring
building science to the desktop for their students. A remarkable, vital study, Huang’s book
re-shapes the way we think about building and fabrication processes in design.”
–Tomas Leslie, FAIA, Morrill Professor in
Architecture, Iowa State University

“Like a child learning to ride a bike and sometimes skinning a knee, an architect learns about
materials, assemblies, construction processes, physics, weathering, and gravity all on the fy,
while designing each building. Learning from Failure in the Design Process by Lisa Huang
captures the magic that can happen when design thinking is applied to the technical aspects
of materials and the making of architecture. Tis book will help even veteran architects
rediscover their craft.”
–Patrick Rand, FAIA, DPACSA, Distinguished Professor,
NC State University

“Examining an underappreciated aspect of architectural design, Huang reveals the essential

connection between material innovation and experimental failure in the development of
construction materials and methods. By exploring four fundamental methods of material
assembly, and illustrating each section with both precedents from the history of modern
building as well as full-scale constructions made by her students, Huang opens up productive
paths for further experiments in material assemblies in both the academic and professional
contexts, while also bringing to light new insights into the larger discipline of architecture.”
–Robert McCarter, Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture,
Washington University in St. Louis
 Learning from Failure in the
Design Process

Learning from Failure in the Design Process shows you that design work builds on lessons learned from
failures to help you relax your fear of making mistakes, so that you’re not paralyzed when faced with a
task outside of your comfort zone.
Working hands-on with building materials, such as concrete, sheet metal, and fabric, you
will understand behaviors, processes, methods of assembly, and ways to evaluate your failures to achieve
positive results. Trough material and assembly strategies of stretching, casting, carving, and stacking,
this book uncovers the issues, problems, and failures confronted in student material experiments and
examines built projects that addressed these issues with innovative and intelligent strategies.
Highlighting numerous professional practice case studies with over 250 color images, this
book will be ideal for students interested in materials and methods, and students of architecture in
design studios.

Lisa Huang is a practicing architect and assistant professor at the University of Florida School of
Architecture, USA. She spent close to a decade working at Ofce dA in Boston. Lisa has been recognized
with honors of the 2016 American Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA)/American Institute of
Architects Students (AIAS) New Faculty Teaching Award, and the 2017 Building Technology Educator
Society (BTES) Emerging Faculty Award.
 Learning from
Failure in the
Design Process
Experimenting with
Materials

Lisa Huang
First published 2020
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Taylor & Francis
Te right of Lisa Huang to be identifed as author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Huang, Lisa, 1971- author.
Title: Learning from failure in the design process: experimenting with materials/
Lisa Huang.
Description: New York: Routledge, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2019050789 (print) | LCCN 2019050790 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138919181 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138919211 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781315687971 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Architectural design–Study and teaching. | Architectural
design–Case studies. | Building materials.
Classifcation: LCC NA2750 .H88 2020 (print) | LCC NA2750 (ebook) |
DDC 729–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050789
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050790
ISBN: 978-1-138-91918-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-91921-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68797-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Franklin Gothic and Garamond
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
For the students, designers, and architects who never let the fear
stop them from taking risks.
Contents

List of Figures xii

Acknowledgements xix
Introduction xx

Chapter 1. Why Stretch?

1.1 What Can We Stretch? 3
Material Considerations 3
Typical Stretching Materials and Components 3
Key Issues to Consider in Material Selection 9
Notes 9

1.2 How Do We Stretch? 10

Typical Assembly Requirements 10
Note 23

1.3 What Happens When Stretching? 24

What Are the Failures/Limitations/Problems We May Encounter? 24
Composite Assemblies: How Do We Integrate Rigid and Stretched Materials? 24
Pliability and Sagging: How Do We Overcome the Efects of Gravity and Give
Dimension to Flatness and Floppiness? 33
Alternative Strategies: How Else Can We Take Advantage of a Membrane’s
Natural Inclination to Cling and Drape? 36
Lightness and Weight: How Do We Make a Typically Temporary Assembly
Look More Permanent? 42
Stretching the Material Itself: How Can We Make a Rigid Material Look Soft
and Fluid? 51
Note 58

ix
Contents

Chapter 2. Why Cast?

2.1 What Can We Cast? 61
Material Considerations 61
Typical Casting Materials and Components 64
Atypical Casting Materials and Components 76
Light-Transmitting Concrete: How Do We Make an Inherently
Opaque Material Transmit Light? 76
Ultra-High-Performance Concrete: How Do We Compensate for
Weaknesses in Concrete? 77
Air-Purifying Concrete: How Can a Building Material Contribute to
its Surrounding Environment? 80
Key Issues to Consider in Material Selection 81
Notes 81

2.2 How Do We Cast? 82

Typical Assembly Requirements 82
Key Steps in the Casting Process 82
Mixing Casting Ingredients 82
Assembling Formwork and Its Structural Support 83
Assembling an Internal Reinforcing Structure 84
Applying Releasing Agent 84
Vibrating the Mix 85
Removing Formwork and Treating Surfaces 85
Atypical Formwork Strategies 87

2.3 What Happens When Casting? 94

What Are the Failures/Limitations/Problems We May Encounter? 94
Precision and Control: How Do We Accommodate or Outsmart Inevitable
Inconsistencies in the Casting Process? 97
Texture and Unpredictability: How Do We Turn Surface Inconsistencies or
Defects into Design Features? 112
Texture and Exactitude: How Do We Make A Rough Material Look
More Refned? 119
Form and Lightness: How Tin Can We Cast a Material? 125
Plasticity and Mass: How Else Can We Highlight the Fluidity of a
Cast Material? 134
Notes 140

Chapter 3. Why Carve?

3.1 What Can We Carve? 143
Typical Carving Materials and Components 143
Scale of the Building 143
Scale of the Component 150
Key Issues to Consider in Material Selection 152

x
 Contents

3.2 How Do We Carve? 154

Typical Assembly Requirements 154

3.3 What Happens When Carving? 155

What Are the Failures/Limitations/Problems We May Encounter? 155
Operation and Composition: How Do We Make Something Predictable Look
Unpredictable? 158
Ornamentation and Stability: How Do We Maintain and Express Structural
Integrity in Carving? 162

Chapter 4. Why Stack?

4.1 What Can We Stack? 171
Typical Stacked Materials and Components 172
Atypical Stacking Materials and Components 183
Key Issues to Consider in Material Selection 187
Note 189

4.2 How Do We Stack? 190

Typical Assembly Requirements 190
Historical Shift from Bearing Wall to Veneer Cladding 191

4.3 What Happens When Stacking? 193

What Are the Failures/Limitations/Problems We May Encounter? 193
Lateral Stability and Height: How Do We Increase the Height of an Assembly
of Small Modules While Keeping It from Overturning? 196
Lateral Stability and Height: How Do We Make a Fluid Form Out of
Something Rigid? 200
Pattern and Texture: How Can We Use the Individual Module to Contribute
to a Dynamic Collective for the Uniform Monolith? 205
Porosity and Lightness: How Do We Transmit Light through a
Stacked Assembly? 219
Mass and Lightness: How Do We Make Something Inherently
Heavy Defy Its Own Weight? 231
Notes 238

Bibliography 239
Index 247

xi
Figures

0.1 Windows with a subtle brick arch at the Phillips Exeter Library. xxii
1.1 Nomadic tents using fexible materials. 4
1.2 Hajj Airport in Jeddah, Skidmore. 5
1.3 Denver International Airport. 6
1.4 ETFE facades, Allianz Arena, and MediaTIC. 7
1.5 ETFE foil details at MediaTIC. 7
1.6 Munich Olympics Stadium cable net and panels. 8
1.7 Façade of Media-TIC at the public sidewalk. 9
1.8 Structure at Temps Nouveau Pavilion. 11
1.9 Interior of the Temps Nouveau Pavilion. 12
1.10 Lilas Pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery. 13
1.11 Burnham Pavilion fabric stretched between aluminum trusses. 13
1.12 Section drawings of the Burnham Pavilion. 14
1.13 Interior view of the Burnham Pavilion. 15
1.14 London Olympics Basketball Arena aerial view. 15
1.15 London Olympics Basketball Arena façade surface. 16
1.16 Building-scale membrane at the London Olympics Shooting Gallery. 16
1.17 Roof assembly at the London Olympics Shooting Gallery. 17
1.18 Structural support at the façade. 17
1.19 Mechanical connection at MediaTIC ETFE cushion. 18
1.20 Joint between ETFE cushions at the Allianz Arena. 19
1.21 Wall assembly detail at the Watercube. 20
1.22 Infating Kengo Kuma’s Tee Haus pavilion. 20
1.23 Interior of infated Tee Haus pavilion. 21
1.24 Aerial view of the Ark Nova. 21
1.25 Ark Nova before infation. 22
1.26 Interior view of Ark Nova performance space. 22
1.27 Exterior view of the completed Phillips Pavilion. 25
1.28 Cast-in-place concrete ribs and construction of Phillips Pavilion. 26
1.29 Construction of the Healy House Steinmetz. 26
1.30 Workers spraying on Cocoon plastic. 27
1.31 Welder installing steel straps for the Healy House roof. 28

xii
 Figures

1.32 China Academy of the Arts, tiled roofs and roof tile façade screen. 29
1.33 Façade screen detail at the China Academy of the Arts. 29
1.34 Natural light transmitted through the façade. 30
1.35 Preliminary material tests in framing and stretching fabric. 31
1.36 Detail of the fabric at a rectangular aperture. 31
1.37 Final assembly and original conceptual drawing. 32
1.38 2014 Venice Biennale Kinetic Wall by Barkow Leibinger. 33
1.39 2015 Serpentine Pavilion by SelgasCano. 34
1.40 Unilever Haus with outer façade layer of ETFE. 35
1.41 Partial façade and a close up of the frame. 35
1.42 Detail of the cable and ETFE assembly. 36
1.43 Partial elevation of the Steilneset Memorial. 37
1.44 Exterior and interior detail at the connection between fabric and steel cables. 38
1.45 Spiral stair in the Hinman Building. 38
1.46 Detail between stainless-steel net and structure. 39
1.47 Blueprint installation illuminated at night. 39
1.48 Tree-dimensional surface of the Blueprint installation. 40
1.49 Chainmail draped over Kukje Gallery building volumes. 41
1.50 Detail of connection at top of the chainmail screen. 41
1.51 Detail of the chainmail draped at the entry. 42
1.52 Tubaloon infated and anchored. 43
1.53 Tubaloon during installation. 43
1.54 Serpentine Sackler Gallery. 44
1.55 Roof edge detail at Serpentine Sackler Gallery. 45
1.56 Section drawing of the roof edge. 45
1.57 Te Serpentine Sackler Gallery roof under construction. 46
1.58 Te Serpentine Sackler Gallery illuminated at night. 46
1.59 Te roof assembly of the Center Pompidou-Metz interlocking with the
concrete building core. 47
1.60 Layering of the woven wood structure with the PTFE membrane. 48
1.61 Te roof illuminated at night. 48
1.62 Test panel infated to the point of breaking. 49
1.63 Composite images of the infated silicone panel prototypes. 50
1.64 Final assembly of silicone panels opened and closed. 51
1.65 New Museum by SANAA. 52
1.66 Detail of the expanded metal panel façade at New Museum. 53
1.67 Corner condition at the New Museum metal panels. 53
1.68 Embossed copper façade panels at the de Young Museum. 54
1.69 Metal façade at Messe Basel. 55
1.70 Detail of façade with visible seams between each metal panel. 55
1.71 Glass panels at Prada Aoyama by Herzog & de Meuron. 56
1.72 Convex and concave glass in the Elbphilharmonie façade. 57
1.73 Undulating windows at the Elbphilharmonie. 57
1.74 Glass surface at the Vakko Fashion Center. 58
1.75 Overall view of glass texture at the Vakko Fashion Center. 58
2.1 Section drawing of the Pantheon. 62
2.2 Cofered cast concrete dome at the Pantheon. 63
2.3 Unity Temple concrete exterior. 64
2.4 Guggenheim Museum under construction. 64
2.5 Penguin pool at the London Zoo. 65

xiii
Figures

2.6 La Congiunta concrete volumes. 66

2.7 Concrete detail at La Congiunta. 67
2.8 Louisiana State Museum and Sports Hall of Fame exterior and interior. 67
2.9 Louisiana State Museum and Sports Hall of Fame cast stone panel
installation. 68
2.10 Plaster cast at Ini Ani. 68
2.11 Crystal Palace cast iron structure. 69
2.12 Bond Street façade with glass cladding and cast aluminum fence. 70
2.13 Detail of cast glass and the cast aluminum. 71
2.14 Hearst Ice Falls installation in the lobby of the Hearst Building. 71
2.15 Cast glass block detail. 72
2.16 Channel glass façade at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. 72
2.17 Exterior view of the Seed Cathedral. 73
2.18 Detail of the seeds cast into the acrylic rods. 74
2.19 Studies of rotating fber optics in a concrete panel. 75
2.20 Rotated image through the light-transmitting concrete panel. 75
2.21 Translucent concrete panels at the Garden Smoking Pavilion. 77
2.22 Ductal panels at MuCEM façade and roof. 78
2.23 Pre-stressed footbridge at MuCEM. 79
2.24 Pedestrian walkway between ductal panels and structural columns. 79
2.25 Palazzo Italia with its air fltering concrete panels. 80
2.26 Student mishaps in casting concrete. 83
2.27 Te concrete volume inserted in Punta della Dogana. 86
2.28 Teshima Art Museum used the topography as the concrete form. 88
2.29 Interior space of the Teshima Art Museum. 89
2.30 Concrete façade at the Voralberg Museum Addition. 90
2.31 Detail of studs in the concrete. 91
2.32 Palazzetto dello Sport interior of the concrete structure. 92
2.33 Palazzetto dello Sport exterior. 92
2.34 Construction of the roof using precast concrete panels. 93
2.35 Rough edges of cast concrete from removing the formwork. 95
2.36 Cold joint from pouring concrete on top of curing concrete. 96
2.37 Cracks in the concrete at changes in concrete shape and thickness. 97
2.38 Concrete texture at the Unite d’Habitation. 98
2.39 Construction of the cast concrete formwork at Unite d’Habitation. 99
2.40 Bush hammered cast concrete at Yale Art and Architecture building. 100
2.41 Formwork and concrete casts during the construction of Yale Art and
Architecture building. 100
2.42 Concrete façade with exposed aggregate at Schaulager. 101
2.43 Concrete surface detail. 101
2.44 Cast concrete façade of SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio
Community Center. 102
2.45 Cold joint detail in the façade. 103
2.46 Physical models of the cast concrete façade concept. 103
2.47 Brion Cemetery chapel interior. 104
2.48 Exterior detail of the ziggurat. 105
2.49 Concrete surface displaying formwork traces. 106
2.50 Detail of the wood form against dimensions of ziggurat. 107
2.51 Bubbles cast on the surface of the concrete. 108

xiv
 Figures

2.52 Tiles embedded into the edge of cast concrete wall at Brion. 109
2.53 Aluminum casting experiments in techniques. 110
2.54 Initial tests of casting with ice. 111
2.55 Light against the surface of the cast aluminum panel. 111
2.56 Cast bronze façade of the American Folk Art Museum. 113
2.57 Apertures in the façade. 114
2.58 Detail of the cast bronze texture. 115
2.59 Te interior surface of concrete in Bruder Klaus Chapel. 116
2.60 Te exterior of Bruder Klaus and detail of rammed concrete. 116
2.61 Formwork residue on the concrete. 117
2.62 Concrete texture at Clyford Still Museum. 118
2.63 Details of Clyford Still Museum concrete surface. 119
2.64 Precast and glass façade of the Eberswalde Technical School Library. 120
2.65 Detail of the pixelized image. 121
2.66 TEA windows at exterior surface of concrete façade. 122
2.67 TEA windows at interior surface of concrete façade. 122
2.68 Volume of performance space tilts up to shape main entrance. 123
2.69 Textured concrete walls inside the Konzerthaus Blaibach. 124
2.70 Detail of the faceted interior concrete surface. 125
2.71 Concrete screen difusing light into the Clyford Still Museum. 126
2.72 Robert Maillart’s Cement Hall. 126
2.73 Cosmic Rays Laboratory by Felix Candela. 128
2.74 Tin concrete draped at the Portugal Pavilion. 129
2.75 Detail of the joint between the concrete and the portico. 130
2.76 Kresge Auditorium at MIT by Eero Saarinen. 131
2.77 Close-up of the abutment and the roof. 132
2.78 Ingalls Hockey Rink at Yale University by Eero Saarinen. 133
2.79 Concrete arch and cables of Ingalls Hockey Rink during construction. 133
2.80 TWA terminal aerial view. 134
2.81 Cast concrete during construction of TWA terminal. 134
2.82 Basento Bridge by Sergio Musmeci. 135
2.83 Construction of the Rolex Learning Center. 136
2.84 Te public space under and through the building. 136
2.85 Exterior view of the stained glass window wall. 138
2.86 Masonry construction before the application of sprayed concrete. 139
2.87 Construction of the stained glass and concrete wall. 139
3.1 Cappadocia. 144
3.2 Te Treasury building at Petra. 145
3.3 View into the Adalaj stepwell. 146
3.4 Carved stone decorating the Adalaj stepwell. 146
3.5 Panorama view of Matera’s sassi carved into the gorge. 147
3.6 Sassi dwelling entrance. 147
3.7 Section drawing of Casa Cava. 148
3.8 Interior space of Casa Cava. 149
3.9 Façade of Villa Vals. 149
3.10 St Ignatius exterior of wood doors. 151
3.11 Carving patterns at interior of wood doors. 152
3.12 Villa Solaire wood enclosure. 153
3.13 Close-up of the milled wood cladding. 153

xv
Figures

3.14 Drawing fles of wood topographies. 156

3.15 Jig used while milling the wood board. 157
3.16 Milled wood surfaces before sanding. 157
3.17 Malta Valetta Parliament House by Renzo Piano
Building Workshop. 159
3.18 Close-up of milled stone panels. 159
3.19 Stone panels installation. 160
3.20 Carved wood wall and bench at Tverrfellhytta. 160
3.21 Section of the wood timber assembly. 161
3.22 Interior view of the carved wall at Tverrfellhytta. 161
3.23 SF MOMA façade. 163
3.24 Typical Japanese wood joinery structures. 164
3.25 Detail of Tamedia structure. 165
3.26 Lobby at Tamedia Ofce Building. 166
3.27 Wood façade of SunnyHills. 167
3.28 SunnyHills wood structure detail. 167
3.29 Sean Collier Memorial at MIT by Höweler + Yoon. 168
3.30 Collier Memorial stone cut with precision. 168
4.1 Pyramid at Djoser. 172
4.2 Stone quarry. 172
4.3 Stone façade at Ohel Jakob Synagogue. 173
4.4 Adobe bricks drying in Chiapas Mexico. 174
4.5 Great Mosque at Djenné in central Mali. 174
4.6 Baker House facade with intermittent clinker bricks. 176
4.7 Close-up of clinker brick at Baker House. 176
4.8 MIT Chapel interior masonry wall. 177
4.9 MIT Chapel exterior masonry wall. 177
4.10 Overall façade of CMU modules stacked. 178
4.11 Detail of concrete panels at Ennis House. 179
4.12 Glass lens façade at Maison de Verre. 180
4.13 Close-up of the glass lens. 181
4.14 Glass block façade at Maison Hermes. 181
4.15 Glass blocks at the edge and corner of Maison Hermes. 182
4.16 Cordwood masonry construction at Arcus Center for Social
Justice Leadership. 183
4.17 Shifted cordwood modules to form windows. 183
4.18 Reclaimed building materials in the Ningbo Historic
Museum facades. 184
4.19 Details of the stacked facade assembly. 184
4.20 Photo: Xuancheng Zhu. 185
4.21 Interior walls composed of stacked roof tiles created at Matadero
Warehouse 8B. 186
4.22 Details of roof tile assembly. 187
4.23 Lucy Carpet House by Rural Studio. 188
4.24 Cardboard Bale House by Rural Studio. 188
4.25 Young Vic Teater brick façade texture. 189
4.26 Kiln for fring bricks in Chiapas Mexico. 190
4.27 Original stacked assembly proposal. 194
4.28 Attempt at assembly. 195

xvi
 Figures

4.29 Photo: Cervin Robinson, Monadnock Building in Chicago. 196

4.30 Monadnock longitudinal section drawing with dimension changes in
load-bearing masonry walls. 197
4.31 Stacked stone façade at Chokkura Plaza. 198
4.32 Stone modules transitioning from opaque to screen. 199
4.33 Steel frame supporting the stone modules. 199
4.34 University of Virginia serpentine garden walls. 200
4.35 Gramazio Kohler Structural Oscillations. 201
4.36 Entrance façade to the Church of Christ the Worker. 202
4.37 Ruled surface of the brick walls. 202
4.38 Interior of the Church of Christ the Worker with undulating roof. 203
4.39 Tin stacked veneer screen at church entry. 204
4.40 Rose window at the San Pedro Church. 205
4.41 Stacked facade of Aalto’s studio and house. 206
4.42 Detail of the diferent brick patterns. 207
4.43 Mortar joints as fgures in Lewerentz’s St Petri Church. 208
4.44 Te four light cannons with alternating brick patterns. 209
4.45 Brick pattern designating chair locations. 210
4.46 Window detail at St Petri Church. 210
4.47 Curved wall detail at Tongxian Gatehouse. 212
4.48 Building cantilevering over the road. 213
4.49 Main entry into the Tongxian Gatehouse. 213
4.50 Brick pattern turning the building corner. 214
4.51 Dynamic facade of the South Asian Human Rights
Documentation Center. 215
4.52 Oblique view emphasizing movement in the surface. 216
4.53 Drawing of the stacking proposal. 217
4.54 Tests to bind the stacked bricks. 218
4.55 Final stacked assembly. 219
4.56 Privacy screen at the Brick Weave House façade. 220
4.57 Rotated bricks in the interior wall of Dude Cigar Bar. 220
4.58 View through the rotated brick screen. 221
4.59 Details of Laurie Baker’s stacked brick structures. 221
4.60 Stacked stone exterior of Kolumba Museum. 222
4.61 Light that transmits through the stacked stone wall. 222
4.62 Stacked lumber creating partition walls for the Swiss Sound Box Pavilion. 223
4.63 Brick wall pattern at the Brick Pattern House. 224
4.64 Brick Pattern House textured façade. 225
4.65 Construction process at the Brick Pattern House. 226
4.66 Window detail of brick facade. 227
4.67 House in a Green Neighborhood brick assembly detail. 228
4.68 Brick façade at House in a Green Neighborhood. 228
4.69 40 Knots House brick screen facade. 229
4.70 Weaving bricks at the 40 Knots House. 229
4.71 Drawing proposal of stacking patterns. 230
4.72 Stacked modules in a self-supporting pattern. 231
4.73 Brick façade of the Casa de Ladrillos. 233
4.74 Casa de Ladrillos detail of two wythes in the three-dimensional assembly. 234
4.75 Structural form of the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum. 234

xvii
Figures

4.76 Detail of the stacked LVL girders. 235

4.77 Lions Scout Hut, uses thinnings as ballast. 235
4.78 Rural studio’s testing ground for full-scale mock-ups. 236
4.79 Stacked timber composing the Final Wooden House. 237
4.80 Interior spaces defned by the stacked timber. 237

xviii
Acknowledgements

I immensely admire the architects and designers included in this book for producing
inspirational architecture with material assemblies and for challenging conventions with
their thought-provoking contributions. As an educator, I am grateful that these professional
works are available as examples of innovative design thinking. Te student experiments in
the book were produced between 2014 and 2017 by wonderful risktakers in graduate and
undergraduate level architecture courses and many other material experiments could have
been chosen. Special thanks and appreciation to the architects and designers featured in this
book for recognizing the value of this topic in architecture education and for being unafraid
of the book title.
I deeply appreciate working with fearless students and generous colleagues at
the University of Florida School of Architecture. Tis book is a tribute to my graduate and
undergraduate students whose enthusiasm, dedication, and talents are unparalleled. Tey
gave me joy and inspiration and they will always have my respect and admiration. I am
indebted to Nina Hofer, Kathryn Dean, Jason Alread, Charlie Hailey, Bradley Walters, and
Alfonso Perez-Mendez for their feedback, support, and sage advice during the development
of this book. Tey were invaluable in shaping the structure and in pushing me to strengthen
my work. I am overwhelmingly thankful for the tremendous education, mentorship, and
experience working with Monica Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani at Ofce dA. Tank you
to my family and friends for their humor and continued belief. Tanks to Volta and Curia for
providing ideal spaces for thinking and concentrating.

xix
Introduction

Tis book is not a treatise on construction. It is, instead, a collection of practical thoughts
intended to bridge the gap between abstract technical knowledge and design thinking in
action. Tis is not a technical manual attempting to cover materials and assemblies compre­
hensively. Rather, we will consider material examples from an applied design perspective,
discussing potential alliances and assemblies. By presenting materials through the lens of
their applications and coalitions, we will think of the problems encountered in assemblies as
opportunities for invention.
Te types of questions that interest us here include, what is the potential of a
building material? What is that material’s impact on design? How do assembly methods
infuence design ideas and design logic? What are the architectural implications of these
assembly systems and materials?
In the design process, we cannot think of materials as easily interchangeable, as
each certainly has intrinsic rules. We cannot replace brick for metal without a signifcant
rethinking of the assembly method and process of working with the material. A change in
material not only alters the aesthetic appearance but also the tectonic composition. Tis
does not mean, however, that standards of construction are preconceived; we believe that
any previous knowledge that we have about a particular material should never limit its
future design potential. As architects and designers, we should understand construction
conventions, but also always explore new techniques that expand conventional construc­
tion thinking.
Our goal here for architectural design is not just aesthetics. We predicate “Design”
as an experimental practice of existential discovery. In this book, we will focus on questions
that challenge the potential of materials and the ways of working with them. We conceive
our work in this book as the presentation of a method for experimentation. One that, in cel­
ebrating innovation, focuses on and builds upon the inevitable failures intrinsic to all design
processes that break new ground.

xx
 Introduction

The Value of Experimentation and Taking Risks

You say to a brick, “What do you want, brick?”

And brick says to you, “I like an arch.”
–Louis Kahn

We often understand Louis Kahn’s well-known quote as a call to recognize and accommodate
the inherent qualities of a material. Using it for his architectural classes, Kahn frequently
repeated his brick dialog in many variations. More often than not, however, the best-known
part of the quote – introduced above – was only the beginning of his theatrical conversation.
Kahn then frequently said to brick, “Look, I want one arch too, but arches are expensive and
I can use a concrete lintel.” In further examining the question, Kahn was also undoubtedly
opening the range of results. In doing so, he promoted alliances, innovation, and experimen­
tation in working with materials. In Kahn’s thoughts, even a common, ordinary brick wants
to be something more than it is. It aspires to be something better than it is. Te brick does
not want economical, practical, or aesthetic constraints to limit its potential. Tis aspiration
of the material to be something better implies entering into the unexpected and, as in the
rethinking of an opening in the form of a structural arch, the recognition of the need to take
calculated risks during the process of design.
Visual and functional conventions or preconceptions never limited Kahn’s think­
ing. At a quick glance, the brick façade and openings of his Phillips Exeter Library may not
seem unusual. However, upon closer inspection, Kahn is clearly challenging the potential of
the brick. As we know, there is a structural logic to the curvature of the arch in distributing
structural loads. However, at Exeter Library, Kahn minimizes the curvature of the arch to
the point that it is essentially fat. Instead of using a monolithic lintel of concrete or steel,
the bricks assemble to produce a fattened arch that spans the top of the window openings
(Figure 0.1). Kahn transforms a brick arch into a brick lintel. Te ends of the fattened arch
transfer structural loads down along the vertical edges of the opening below, so each window
above is able to increase its opening width. Kahn’s subtle alliance between bricks and other
materials greatly extended the material’s range of possibilities.

Risk and Professional Practice

As designers, we are concerned with the form, aesthetics, and spatial experiences within our
buildings. As full-fedged architects, however, we must also be concerned with detailing the
assembly, coordinating the design team, maintaining budgets, and prioritizing life safety. Te
failure to protect the health and welfare of the building occupants looms over every architect.
Failures – water leakage, thermal discomfort, excessive costs – in building design and assem­
bly all can lead to grave health issues and later potential lawsuits. We simply cannot risk the
lives of others, so we are very conscientious of protecting occupants and minimizing risks in
how we compose materials in our building design. Because of these natural fears, there is a

xxi
Introduction

FIGURE 0.1
Windows
with a
subtle brick
arch at the
Phillips
Exeter
Library.
Photo:
Zachary
Wignall.

tendency to fall back on material and construction conventions and standards, dictated by a
construction industry frequently reluctant to any kind of risk-taking. We often forget, how­
ever, that steps in the design process are not meant to be fnal, and that while on the journey
of design, it is important to keep our eyes open to see potential innovations.

Risk and the Design Process

Architecture is more than buildings. In a broader sense, architecture is the activity of think­
ing buildings, and therefore it includes a process that starts from the inception of design
ideas. Often, we idealize the architecture design process as the quintessentially performative
napkin sketch. However, buildings rarely emerge from these kinds of quick ideas. Even when
they do, rarely does a sketch translate directly into the physicality of a building. In most
cases, there are numerous steps and transformations between the initial idea and the built
reality. As part of the process, we need to test our conceptual ideas through physical incarna­
tions. Trough that contact with materials, ideas are constantly being reworked and refned.

xxii
 Introduction

As we will attempt to illustrate in this book, essentially, the process of developing archi­
tectural ideas is iterative and it inherently revolves around recognizing what is wrong with
our successive attempts. Tat is, learning from failure. If an idea does not work, we make
adjustments that respond accordingly. Architecture evolves and advances with each iteration.
Design is about exploring a range of possible solutions and being unafraid to take risks and
to be wrong within the confned environment of the process.

The Role of Failure in Understanding Materials

Materials are the medium of architecture. However, most architects do not actually build
their designs with their own hands. It is not often either, that architects experiment hands-
on with materials in the design process. So, paradoxically, architects rarely engage directly
with their real materials other than in the selection of samples. Many architecture educations
do not include opportunities to engage in assembly using building materials at full scale. It
seems obvious, however, that a direct engagement of materials cannot but enhance architec­
tural design. Te intention of this book is to address this gap. By proposing a methodology of
direct and full engagement with materials both in the academy and in professional practice,
we believe that the successive experiences encountered will create better architects. We believe
that, without the need of being an expert craftsperson, successive experiences of working
hands on with materials will develop an understanding of their realities. We can simulate it
with either digital tools or scale models employing parallel materials, but reality at full scale
always reveals new discoveries. However, our ultimate intention in proposing direct engage­
ment is that we believe it is the only method where we can bring materials to their physical
and conceptual limits and in doing so test real failure.
Tis book does not encourage that all architectural design should produce some­
thing never seen before. Architecture is a process that builds upon learning from other pro­
jects and precedents. Frequently, good buildings simply reawaken earlier moments of making
truth. Tis is why, when looking at precedent case studies from professional practice, our
interest will focus on their experimental and innovative methods of exploring materials,
rather than on the visuals of their results.
In thinking about materials and assemblies anew, in ways that will create inspired
designs, it courts failure, a word that most avoid. In this book, however, we reclaim ‘failure’
as a concept that, inherent to them both, celebrates innovation and experimentation. Te
engineer Henry Petroski (b. 1942) has a large body of research on failure in engineering
designs. His research is critical in demonstrating the importance of failure in the design
process and our work is indebted to him. His numerous books – pioneered by his best-selling
To Engineer is Human: Te Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) – examine case studies
of failed projects and provide insight into the engineering thinking process. Unlike Petroski’s
work, however, this book does not center on failed projects. Instead, we will focus on the role
of taking risks in design process experimentation. We will look at inspiring projects that are
the result of architects applying innovative methods and experiments. We will see how direct
failure, and also attempts only initially considered as ‘failures,’ later became new discoveries
starring as defning design features.

xxiii
Introduction

Thinking and Designing with Materials

Material Behavior

It is important for us to acknowledge that each individual material has a defned personal­
ity with specifc characteristics and traits defned in interaction both with both reality and
other materials. When we design on paper or digitally, materials are inert and defy gravity.
Tey exist in a neutral and idealized context where they cannot express themselves. Even the
same material does not always behave in the same way. In actuality, the environment and
weathering actively afect its behavior. Termal expansion and contraction, reaction to water,
erosion and deterioration demonstrate that materials breathe and change with time and con­
text. When we think about materials only as surface applications to designs, we are wrongly
assuming that they are all equal in characteristics and interchangeable. In doing so, we are
simply neutralizing their personalities, and truly missing their design potential.

Selecting the ‘Right’ Materials

Te choice of building material is not arbitrary and not all materials produce the same efect.
While this is an obvious statement, our digital tools make it so easy and convenient to apply
material patterns as surfaces added onto our volumetric conceptions that we may overlook the
obvious. However, building materials are not like interchangeable wallpaper. Each material
change afects not only the aesthetic appearance, but also the assembly techniques intrinsic
to the full awareness of an architectural ensemble. If you exchange one material for another,
dimensions, assembly compositions and construction strategies will also change. While select­
ing materials, we need to think about assembly procedures as recordings of human activity,
and as such, intrinsic to the perception of the material. As this book will also demonstrate,
real invention frequently comes not from the choice of material, but from the various ways to
work with such material. Material design process always involves two steps, the identifcation
of the desired aesthetic and architectural characteristics and the exploration of the various
strategies to construct that efect. Troughout our architectural careers, we frequently learn
more from the second than from the frst.

The Structure of This Book

Often in architecture education, we learn about construction through successive lectures

about each diferent material, considering their qualities and accepted assembly methods.
Tis book attempts the next step, namely, how to apply the material knowledge emerging
from survey courses into innovative design solutions. We will look at material knowledge
through an alternative point of view, one that will emphasize the actions taken with or
upon the materials during experimentation. Avoiding any attempt toward a comprehensive
cataloging of possible engagement with materials, we will use four operations, Stretching,
Casting, Carving, and Stacking, as examples of the experimental method of inquiry that
we propose.

xxiv
 Introduction

Since the risk is always to reinvent the wheel, all experimentation and innovation
must come out of the knowledge of – and desire of transcending – known conventions. In
the need for understanding these typical building standards, each chapter frst briefy sets two
questions relative to these operations. First, “What” kinds of materials frequently have we
used for that operation? Second, “How” do we work with that particular action? Te remain­
ing portion of each chapter focuses on case-study experimentations and the questions and
issues that emerge when pushing the potential of materials through the particular action or
method. In this second portion, we will use student work to introduce limitations, problems,
and failures that we usually encounter in the material operation. We will then survey profes­
sional built work that addresses these problems and in doing so produces an innovative and
beautiful way of thinking about the issues.
Tere are certainly overlaps that can occur between each of these operations and
each in turn demands very diferent thinking processes. Stretching and casting both require
methods including another material system – formworks, frames, external or internal struc­
tures – to shape the material. Even these coincidences lead to diferent approaches: in stretch­
ing, the formwork is an additive element providing structural supports, while in casting the
formwork produces a negative to determine the material’s form. Carving implies the removal
of material to create form, while stacking is the aggregation of a material to create a form.
Tis book, however, does not attempt to categorize or cover every possible question or issue.
While in any of the chapters we need to introduce its methodical infrastructure, what excites
us – and ultimately motivated the book – are the case studies. Each built project featured
undoubtedly has complex stories and details that may not be fully uncovered in this book.
We will focus our attention on a visual understanding and analysis of these projects. In the
end, we hope the reader will have a constellation of sparkling examples of how by taking
describable risks with established methods, brilliant designers found innovative results.

xxv
Chapter 1

Why Stretch?
1.1 What Can We Stretch?

Material Considerations

When we think of stretched materials in space-making, the most basic typology that emerges
is the tent. It is one of the earliest primitive structures used for weather protection and domes­
tic enclosures. Nomadic peoples used animal hides or fabric held over a framework that
could be easily assembled and disassembled as they moved from one location to another.
Fabrics were draped, stretched, and held in tension to create a lightweight temporary shelter
(Figure 1.1).
Why would we consider using a stretched assembly as a design option? In modern
times, we would utilize stretched assemblies for essentially the same reasons. If we need a quick
temporary construction, stretching materials is efcient in covering large areas with a single
membrane material. Its potential simplicity in construction enables a stretched assembly to be
economical and lightweight. Stretching requires a thin pliant material and shaping the mate­
rial is dependent on the structural framework. Te material’s thinness can be both ethereal
and vulnerable. Durability is the biggest concern for stretched assemblies. We need to design
to resist tearing in the pliant material. Te panel shape, installation strategy, and framework
connections are critical considerations to control the material’s behavior in a taut construction.

Typical Stretching Materials and Components

In our discussion of stretched materials, we will consider the scale of the building and the
scale of the component. At both these scales, a supple fabric or plastic membrane becomes
a useful architectural material when something rigid – a structure or framework – gives it
distinguishable form. Te stretched material has no rigidity until it is held in tension. At the
component scale, stif materials like metals and glass can also be stretched and deformed to
create three-dimensional panels.
At the building scale, we would typically use a lightweight and thin fabric or
plastic membrane as a single material component to span long distances. Te foppy material
needs to be pulled taut in order to create a stable structural form. Precise cuts and patterns

3
Why Stretch?

FIGURE 1.1
Nomadic tents
using fexible
materials. Photo:
Richard Throssell.

for the material minimize wrinkles in the stretched assembly. As with most building compo­
nents, stretched materials come in limited dimensions, so we weld or sew together membranes
to create larger components. Most stretched materials at the building scale take advantage of
translucency and light transmitting characteristics of the membrane. However, seams are vis­
ible from the interior during the day and visible from the exterior when illuminated at night,
so we also must consider the design of the seaming pattern.
In early experiments with membranes, Frei Otto stretched fexible materials to
explore the potential of the membrane in an assembly. Otto saw this fexibility as a strength
not a weakness.1 A fexible membrane allowed a pure expression of structural forces and pro­
duced a new language of form and assembly to architectural structures.
Stretched structures are commonly used for temporary open-air pavilions at
expositions to test the fexible material’s potential. Te development and evolution of tensile
structures transform stretched materials into airtight and watertight assemblies. Permanent
buildings using stretched membranes are monolithic, but they also refect a temporary and
ephemeral appearance.
Coated fabrics as stretched architectural membranes include woven fberglass,
polyester, nylon, or polyethylene. Durability of the membrane is the primary concern, so
the sturdy fabrics and plastics used for sails were precursors for building components. Tese

4
 What Can We Stretch?

woven membranes are coated with PVC, Tefon (PTFE), or silicone to help increase longevity
and easy maintenance. In addition, the coating provides an airtight and water-resistant UV
protectant for the membrane. It needs to withstand wear and tear from temperature changes,
weather impacts, and UV exposure. Woven textile materials may also have inherent elasticity
and ofer a range of opacities and translucencies. Stretched fabric options vary in fexibility,
life span, code compliance, light transmission, tear strength, and durability. Te choice of
fabric depends on its application and the architectural characteristics needed for the mem­
brane. Material costs vary and the combination of fabric and coating infuences its suitability
for an assembly.
Coated fabrics can be singular components or stitched together into a monolithic
panel. Te maximum dimensions of the fabric depend on the manufacturing equipment and
production processes. Te width of a fabric panel is usually the limiting factor.
In order to produce a monolithic membrane, the fabric components are joined
together by welding or sewing. We must consider the pattern and cut of the fabric so that it
coordinates with the supporting structure. Te fabric membrane also needs its own internal
structure that pulls taut without jeopardizing the integrity of the membrane and seams. But
with elastic fabric, we should also be aware of creep and sagging with time. Fabric panels will
need reinforcement on its edges or corners and then also intermittent support to compensate
for sagging.
If the membrane is composed of fabric panels, the cutting, welding, or sewing
together of the components is critical to ensure balance and stability when the membrane
is pulled taut. In Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s Hajj Terminal at the King Abdulaziz
International Airport, fberglass fabric shades the facilities and spans a large area (Figure 1.2).
Te use of fabric in a permanent building requires precision to ensure balance between the
structure and the membrane. During construction, one of the fberglass fabric membranes
was cut incorrectly, so when the membrane panel was installed, it put structural stresses

FIGURE 1.2
Hajj Airport in
Jeddah, Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill
Photo: UR-SDV
[GFDL (http://
www.gnu.org/copy­
left/fdl.html) or
GFDL (http://www.
gnu.org/copyleft/
fdl.html)].

5
Why Stretch?

in wrong places. As a result of the membrane’s tensile limitations, the fabric ripped in four
places.2 Any imbalance of structural forces on the fabric can cause problems for the assembly.
Fabric panel requires reinforced hems and grommets at edges and openings to pro­
tect fabric from tearing when it’s fastened to the structural anchors and supports. When illu­
minated at night, the fabric roof of the Denver International Airport by Fentress Architects
reveals the hems and seams that unify the larger fabric membrane (Figure 1.3). Te hems
negotiate between the fabric and the structural masts. Te fabric drapes from each peak
revealing the orientation and structure of the seams. Tis seam pattern may seem like a small
detail in the building, but it impacts our visual experience of the building and our under­
standing of the construction assembly.
Te use of plastic sheets and Ethylene Tetrafuoroethylene (ETFE) foils in archi­
tectural constructions was originally developed by Dupont. Starting in the 1990s, these
materials were introduced in European buildings. ETFE is a plastic polymer that is extruded
into thin fexible sheets that resist deterioration and are recyclable. Te thin plastic membrane
is very elastic and transmits light. It is an almost completely transparent material that is avail­
able in a range of colors and opacities. ETFE foil does not discolor or weaken structurally over
time, so it withstands ultraviolet damage. To achieve solar glare protection, the foil surface
can be tinted or overlaid with diferent surface patterns.
ETFE foils utilize diferent assembly strategies compared to fabrics. Te thin foils
are stretched by a cable net system or within a metal frame (typically aluminum) which is
then inserted into a larger structure. Each panel can have a single layer or be multi-layered
with two to fve foils. Te use of a metal frame supports the ETFE panel when it’s infated
with air. Te infated cushion provides thermal insulation and its thermal properties increase
with each additional layer of foil. As pioneering buildings that used ETFE foils, the facades
of the Allianz Arena by Herzog & de Meuron and the Media-TIC building by Cloud 9 are
paneled with ETFE cushions that mechanically regulate a constant air pressure within the
cushion (Figure 1.4). Both projects apply fritted dot patterns as a solar flter on the ETFE

FIGURE 1.3
Denver
International
Airport, Fentress
Architects.
Photograph
provided cour­
tesy of Denver
International
Airport.

6
 What Can We Stretch?

FIGURE 1.4
ETFE facades,
Allianz Arena, and
MediaTIC. Photo:
Lisa Huang.

foils. In the Media-TIC building, each ETFE cushion has three foils and the middle foil
fuctuates to increase or decrease solar screening as needed (Figure 1.5).
Sizes and dimensional limits of ETFE panels are dictated by wind and snow
load requirements. Manufacturing processes establish the material dimensions with limited
widths but much longer lengths in the other direction. An ETFE cushion with three or more
foils is capable of achieving higher thermal resistance than glass. In addition, sensors are
incorporated into each ETFE panel to monitor the air pressure and to adjust the cushion in
the event of extreme pressure. ETFE is a product related to Tefon, so dirt and dust do not

FIGURE 1.5
ETFE foil details at
MediaTIC. Photo:
Lisa Huang.

7
Why Stretch?

stick to it. In terms of fre resistance, ETFE is a plastic, so the foil will melt at 500 degrees,
but it will not drip as it melts. ETFE does not tear easily, but it is vulnerable to punctures.
However, due to its typically panelized installation, ETFE cushions can be easily replaced.
Steel cables of varying gauges and thicknesses can be stretched individually or
fastened together into nets or meshes. Te spacing in steel cable nets is not as tight as in a
fabric membrane, so for the steel net to be an enclosure, a secondary layer is needed to act as
the weather barrier. Often, we use steel cables or nets to support other materials in a horizon­
tal or vertical enclosure. Steel cables at a larger scale have the beneft of also performing as
structural members that support panels and membranes.
To demonstrate the structural signifcance of stretched steel cable assemblies, we
will examine two tent projects by Frei Otto, the Germany Pavilion at the 1967 Montreal
Expo, and in collaboration with Günther Behnisch, the 1972 Munich Olympics Complex.
Both projects use steel masts and fasten steel cables into a structural net. In the Germany
Pavilion, the fabric weather barrier is hung below the structural net, while in the Munich
Olympics Complex, rigid acrylic glass panels fasten to the structural net from above. In both
projects, structural cables hang between masts and anchors at ground. Te Munich Olympics
Complex is composed of permanent structures primarily for shade. To shed water, the framed
and panelized glass sit on top of the steel net in a staggered pattern (Figure 1.6).
Te Germany Pavilion for the Montreal Expo was a temporary structure, so it was
more experimental. Steel cables 1/2-inch-thick were fastened together on site into a single net
structure. Ticker cables were used at the edges of the net. Otto dimensioned the openings
in the steel net so it could also function as a comfortable walking surface. Te steel cable net
performs not only as the pavilion’s structure but also as the scafolding during construction.
Te net’s dual function allowed the PVC-coated polyester fabric membrane to fasten approxi­
mately 12 inches below the net and relieved the enclosure fabric from structural stresses. Te
cable net and the fabric stretched between seven steel masts and anchors to the ground. Te
fabric transmitted natural light into the pavilion. However, the draping landscape of the steel
cables and the fabric gathered snow in its low points.

FIGURE 1.6
Munich Olympics
Stadium cable
net and panels.
Photo: © Jorge
Royan / http://
www.royan.com.
ar / CC BY-SA 3.0.

8
 What Can We Stretch?

FIGURE 1.7
Façade of Media-
TIC at the public
sidewalk. Photo:
Lisa Huang.

Key Issues to Consider in Material Selection

Why would we select a stretched assembly? Most often, stretched materials appear in tem­
porary pavilions or structures because of their simplicity in the construction assembly. A
stretched enclosure requires a minimal amount of building material which also minimizes
project costs. Temporary stretched assemblies disassemble and reassemble with ease. In a
permanent building component, stretching membranes simplifes the amount of materials
layered in an assembly. Its light transmitting property is an advantageous characteristic; it
allows us to produce an entirely translucent roof.
As components of permanent buildings, we must evaluate the conditions that
afect the stretched material’s durability and life span specifcally its exposure to sun, lateral
forces of wind, and the efects of gravity over time. Any stretched material within reach is sus­
ceptible to the possibility of someone cutting or puncturing the membrane. For example, in
both the Allianz Arena and the Media-TIC building, the ETFE cushions are elevated above
the ground and out of reach from the base of the building (Figure 1.7).

Notes
1 Horst Berger, Light Structures, Structure of Light: Te Art and Engineering of Tensile
Architecture, (Basel, Boston: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1996), 32.
2 Ibid., 49–52.

9
How Do We Stretch? 1.2

Typical Assembly Requirements

Before constructing any large-scale structures, Frei Otto experimented with stretched assem­
blies using models with representative materials such as soap bubbles, pantyhose, and meshes
to fnd form. Otto was an admirer of Felix Candela’s work with thin concrete shells (we will
later discuss Candela in the chapter on casting). So, Otto performed parallel research using
thin fexible membranes.1 In the 1955 Federal Garden Exposition in Kassel Germany, Otto
had the opportunity to test three diferent cotton fabric structures at full-scale. Te Music
Pavilion was a 48-square-foot tent with a pair of opposite corners lifted up by tilted wood
poles and the other two corners anchored to the ground. Te resulting saddle-shaped open-air
tent was further stabilized by sewing steel cables into the hems of the tent fabric. Tis ensured
that the structure would be stif and resist any lateral wind forces.
Te second pavilion took the Music Pavilion one step further in geometric form by
creating a butterfy wave-shaped tent. Two slanted structural posts with steel cables stretched
between and supporting the fabric. Te third pavilion was a composition of three umbrella
structures. Each umbrella had a circular wood frame and a double membrane cushion creat­
ing a mushroom form. Unlike an umbrella, Otto directed rainwater from an edge gutter to
drain through the central structural post instead of along the umbrella edge. In the mush­
room pavilions, the fabric is wrapped around and secured to a frame. While in the other two
tents, the tent forms are a result of the structural forces exerted on the fabric membranes. All
three pavilions were illuminated to glow at night.
We need two primary components in the installation of a stretched assembly – a
membrane in tension and a structure to resist that tension. Whether we use single or multiple
layers of membranes, the design of the structural system, the connection details, the fabrica­
tion process, and the installation are critical to the success of the stretched assembly. Te
membrane is completely reliant on the structural strategy to give it shape and form. Tere
needs to be structural balance between these components, so the structural components must
be rigid to stretch the membrane in tension. In the process of form-fnding, the stretched
assembly should be modeled and analyzed to achieve that balance and to uncover formal
behaviors and potential problems.

10
 How Do We Stretch?

As we discussed in Otto’s Music Pavilion at Kassel and the Germany Pavilion at

the Montreal Expo, a hung or suspended assembly utilizes independent structural masts or
posts that are held in place by cables. Te membrane is held taut at points or along its edges
with the cables. It then creates a roofscape that drapes with gravity. Tis tent-like strategy is
most often used for enclosures that do not need to be watertight like stadia and pavilions. Te
structural calculations need to be precise to ensure that the posts, cables, and membranes are
in balance. Te membrane will naturally drape but it should be tailored for tautness so that
rain or snow does not add extra weight to the structure.
If we stretch membranes from a central structural mast, the assembly takes on
the efcient and familiar form of the circus tent. A membrane can be suspended into other
forms depending on the structural confguration and how that structure compensates for the
gravity efects. In the Temps Nouveau Pavilion at the 1937 Paris Expo, Le Corbusier and his
cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, designed a temporary exhibit enclosure that was square in its plan
but trapezoidal in its section. Jeanneret focused on the design of the pavilion enclosure while
Corbusier focused on the design of the interior exhibit. Le Corbusier’s spiral organization of
the exhibit required an interior height of two-story clear space.
Te pavilion was designed to be easily dismantled and rebuilt. In order to achieve
a uniform ceiling height, Jeanneret created a fat roof tent using two-story-tall structural
pylons that tilted outward from the interior space (Figure 1.8). Guy wires helped to pull the
pylons and prevent sagging or collapse in the structure. Te pavilion was a standard can­
vas enclosure. For the pylons, Jeanneret used modern three-dimensional steel trusses that
tapered at its ends. On one set of opposing walls, the pylons tilt outward to stretch open the
large canvas roof panel. Tere were seven pylons on each pavilion edge and horizontal girts
spanned between each pylon at ground, midpoint, and roof. Steel cables cross braced between
the pylons.

FIGURE 1.8
Structure at Temps
Nouveau Pavilion.
Photo: Albin
Salaün © F.L.C. /
Adagp, Paris, 2019
sauf pour l’église
de Firminy:© F.L.C.
/ ADAGP, Paris
[année/year] et
José Oubrerie
[Conception,
Le Corbusier
architecte, José
Oubrerie assistant
(1960–1965).
Réalisation, José
Oubrerie architecte
(1970–2006)] et
pour la Chapelle
Notre Dame du
Haut à Ronchamp:
© ADAGP, Paris
[année/year].

11
Why Stretch?

Te canvas fabric was fastened to the inner edge

of the steel structure. Before the Temps Nouveau, Jeanneret
had been working on projects and experiments with canvas at
diferent scales from the house to the stadium. For the Temps
Nouveau, Jeanneret and Le Corbusier proposed using a non­
combustible transparent plastic sheet (cellulose acetate), but
the material was too expensive. Canvas was lighter and more
fexible. Tis roof membrane suspended from the steel cables
that stretched between the pylons. Canvas for the pavilion’s
vertical walls hung of the horizontal girt of the pylons. Te
trapezoidal shape of the interior space was determined by the
tension in the roof suspension cables that then supported the hung roof membrane. Since FIGURE 1.9
Interior of the
the fabric was attached at points along the cables, the fabric was not fully taut because the Temps Nouveau
membrane naturally sags with weight and gravity (Figure 1.9). Pavilion. Photo:
Albin Salaün ©
Framed assemblies stretch membranes over a rigid structure that resists tension
F.L.C. / Adagp,
generated in the material. Te membrane should be tailored to shape and hemmed on its edges Paris, 2019 sauf
to fasten to the frame and to keep the membrane taut. Te frame establishes not only struc­ pour l’église de
Firminy:© F.L.C.
tural integrity in the assembly, but it also defnes three-dimensional form for the membrane.
/ ADAGP, Paris
Two pavilions by Zaha Hadid Architects, Lilas for the Serpentine Gallery and [année/year] et
the Burnham Pavilion in Chicago, both created distinct formal geometries with fabric mem­ José Oubrerie
[Conception,
branes stretched over structural frames. Hadid’s Lilas is reminiscent of Otto’s three umbrella Le Corbusier
pavilions at Kassel (Figure 1.10). Unlike Otto’s pavilions, the fabric used for Lilas mediated architecte, José
between the verticality of the structural post and the horizontality of the umbrella. Te PVC Oubrerie assistant
(1960–1965).
fabric in each umbrella was a single tailored membrane fastened between the top edge of the Réalisation, José
steel frame and the base of the structural support post. Te membrane narrowed in at the Oubrerie architecte
column to shape the space underneath the umbrella. Te fabric was cut into panels that were (1970–2006)] et
pour la Chapelle
narrow at the bottom and widened to the edge of the umbrella. Te fabric panels were welded Notre Dame du
together to create a continuous membrane without fasteners exposed on the surface. Haut à Ronchamp:
Te structure and assembly of the three Lilas umbrellas were identical in geometry © ADAGP, Paris
[année/year].
and form. Te structure was a steel tube post with steel frames branching out to support a
continuous steel tube. Te shape of the umbrella was asymmetrical with a tilted diamond
steel frame at the top and at the base. Te diamond-shaped canopy was 47 feet long × 29.5
feet wide. A smaller scale steel tube interlocked with the PVC fabric and also stretched the
fabric into its corseted form. In plan, these three diamond-shaped umbrellas nested together
and rotated 120-degrees from each other creating dynamic views of the pavilion from any
viewpoint. Tis cleverly and efciently gave the illusion that the umbrellas were each difer­
ent in form.
In Zaha Hadid’s Burnham Pavilion, bent aluminum tubes created a framework
of trusses that were parallel to each other creating a cocoon-shaped ribbed structure. Strips
of PVC fabric stretched between trusses above and below the framework. Since this was a
temporary pavilion, zip-ties connected the fabric panels to the aluminum frame. Te exterior
and interior membranes hid the aluminum structure, but the organization and rhythm of the
framework were expressed in the fabric surface of the pavilion (Figure 1.11).
Te Burnham Pavilion’s exterior membrane was a polyester cotton blend with
an acrylic topcoat. Tis fabric does not have inherent elasticity, so the fabric had to be cut

12
 How Do We Stretch?

FIGURE 1.10
Lilas Pavilion for
the Serpentine
Gallery. Photo:
Luke Hayes,
Courtesy of Zaha
Hadid Architects.

FIGURE 1.11
Burnham Pavilion
fabric stretched
between aluminum
trusses. Photo:
Edward Stojakovic
from Portland, OR,
United States [CC
BY 2.0 (https://
creativecommons.
org/licenses/by
/2.0)].

precisely to a pattern so that membranes were taut. Te interior membrane was larger woven
polyester fabric panels tailored to create concave curves in the interior space. Te exterior
membrane stretched strips of fabric from one structural truss to the next truss. Te interior
membrane was composed of three large sheets – two for the walls and one for the ceiling.
Fabric segments were sealed together to make one sheet. Te assembly strategy for stretching
fabric difered between the exterior and interior. On the exterior, the membrane stretched
between pairs of trusses. Te faceting of the fabric panels generated the pavilion’s curved
form. On the interior, the membrane was cut to shape the space. Pockets were sewn into

13
Why Stretch?

FIGURE 1.12
Section drawings
of the Burnham
Pavilion. Photo:
Courtesy of Zaha
Hadid Architects.

the back of the fabric using the overlapping seams. Te tube frame slid through the interior
membrane to secure it to the structure. Between each truss, the membrane sliced open at the
roof to form apertures bringing in natural light and expressing the thickness of the assembly
(Figure 1.12). Te space between the exterior and the interior membrane varied in dimension
throughout the pavilion. At each roof opening, the fabric had to mediate between the geom­
etry of the exterior and interior forms. Tis required even more precision in the cutting and
pattern of the stretched membrane in order to avoid wrinkles in the assembly (Figure 1.13).
A pair of buildings from the 2012 Olympics in London, the Basketball Arena
by Sinclair Knight Merz and the Shooting Galleries by Magma Architects, also provided
examples of the potential in framed stretched assemblies. Both buildings were envisioned
as structures that could be disassembled and reused in new locations. Both also used recy­
clable translucent PVC membranes stretched over prefabricated steel structures. Te use of
stretched membranes and prefabrication allowed for quick construction processes.
Te façade of the Basketball Arena was organized into vertical fabric segments
stretched between the structure from base to roof. Trussed columns supported each vertical
module of prefabricated steel frames. Tese steel modules allowed the building to be con­
verted into diferent sizes in the future. A series of steel arches spanned between each verti­
cal module to prevent structural racking within the prefabricated module. Te steel arches
protruded from the face of the structure and each arch was staggered to create a textured
pattern on the building façade (Figure 1.14). Te façade cladding was installed with 100 feet
high by 24 feet wide strips of PVC fabric. Each PVC panel was fastened at the edges of the
vertical framework module. It was tightly stretched over each vertical module, so the arched
ribs pushed on the membrane. Te stretched fabric took on the shape of the framework.
During the day, the translucent façade transmitted natural light into the building and also

14
 How Do We Stretch?

FIGURE 1.13
Interior view of the
Burnham Pavilion.
Photo: Roland
Halbe.

FIGURE 1.14
London Olympics
Basketball Arena
aerial view. EG
Focus [CC BY 2.0
(https://creati
vecommons.org/l
icenses/by/2.0)].

expressed a three-dimensional surface that constantly changed as it captured light and shad­
ows (Figure 1.15). At night, artifcial light projected through the PVC membrane to reinforce
the building’s dynamic appearance.
Like the Basketball Arena, the façade membranes of the three Olympics Shooting
Gallery buildings are stretched by a structural framework to create a three-dimensional
façade (Figure 1.16). In the Shooting Gallery, the structure is a system of trussed beams and
columns with cantilevered stand-ofs that connected to the membrane. Te exterior and inte­
rior membranes were installed as a singular sheet of translucent fabric composed of welded

15
Why Stretch?

FIGURE 1.15
London Olympics
Basketball Arena
façade surface.
The Department
for Culture, Media
and Sport (https://
www.fickr.com/p
eople/49429730@
N08).

FIGURE 1.16
Building-scale
membrane at the
London Olympics
Shooting Gallery.
Photo: Hufton &
Crow, Courtesy
of MAGMA
Architecture.

PVC membrane panels. Te building’s steel structure was concealed by two membranes on
either side of the framework (Figure 1.17). Large-scale circular steel frames are supported by
the steel structure and interlocked the membrane. As a result, the three-dimensional peaks on
the membrane surfaces created dynamic light and shadow on the façade and they also helped
to prevent sagging in the fabric.
Before the design of the Olympic Shooting Gallery, Magma Architecture experi­
mented with shaping PVC fabric for the Head In exhibit at the Berlinische Galerie. Tis

16
 How Do We Stretch?

FIGURE 1.17
Roof assembly
at the London
Olympics Shooting
Gallery. Photo:
Lena Kleinheinz,
Courtesy
of MAGMA
Architecture.

FIGURE 1.18
Structural support
at the façade.
Photo: Hufton &
Crow. Courtesy
of MAGMA
Architecture.

strategy was then further developed into the larger architectural assemblies. In the Shooting
Galleries, the circular frames are tensioning rings that stretch the fabric into a taut surface
(see Figure 1.18). Te colored fabric circles not only animate an expressive façade but also take
on functional purposes – they accommodate entryways or vents that draw in and exhaust air.
With framed stretched assemblies, the membrane will conform to the shape established by
the rigid structural framework. Membranes are tailored to ft the form of the frame.
Infated cushions, stretched by air, are mainly centered on ETFE foils that we
discussed earlier in this chapter. Multiple layers of ETFE foils are welded together at its edges.
Like in the Allianz Arena and Media-TIC, the air-infated ETFE cushions at the Beijing
National Aquatics Center, also known as the “Watercube,” are individual components so that

17
Why Stretch?

FIGURE 1.19
Mechanical
connection at
MediaTIC ETFE
cushion. Photo:
Lisa Huang.

they are easy to install and replace if the ETFE foil is punctured. Te infated cushions set
into a metal frame are fastened in place onto the façade. Te infated cushions act as thermal
barriers for the building. Since temperature and air pressure changes during a day, the cush­
ions typically require an integrated mechanical system to regulate air infation and to keep
the ETFE foils taut. Tis mechanical system is integrated with the cushion framing system
and regulates every cushion individually (Figure 1.19). In the Allianz Arena, the infated
cells are connected together so fexible joints mediate between each panel to accommodate
for movement in the façade assembly (Figure 1.20). In Media-TIC, the infated cushion and
framing are held of an exoskeleton building structure. In the Watercube, the infated cush­
ions are fastened to the exterior and interior of the space-frame structure (Figure 1.21).
With stretched assemblies, the entire building can also be infated. Tese pneu­
matic structures use air pressure within the building or within the assembly to infate sealed
membrane constructions. Air pressure increases thermal insulation and the tension from
infation supports the membrane assembly without a structural framework. Pneumatic struc­
tures require a mechanical system to maintain and regulate the air pressure, otherwise it
has no form. In an infated assembly, the tailoring of the membrane construction embodies
the structure, the building form, and the interior space. Te infated membrane needs to be
anchored to the ground, but other components like a steel structure are not needed.
In Kengo Kuma’s Tee Haus in Frankfurt, the pavilion is a double woven ePTFE
fabric membrane that is infated to create the building form (Figure 1.22). Tis Tenara fabric

18
 How Do We Stretch?

FIGURE 1.20
Joint between
ETFE cushions at
the Allianz Arena.
Photo: Lisa Huang.

is a product that has a high resistance against extreme temperature and UV radiation and
it does not lose its strength. Te white translucent fabric panels are welded into an interior
membrane and an exterior membrane. Ten these two membranes are welded into one sealed
membrane construction. Te welds connecting interior and exterior produce an array of
pinch points on the fabric surface (Figure 1.23). When air is pumped into the layered assem­
bly, the welded connection points create an internal structure that supports the assembly
form without a structural frame. Te interior and exterior membranes in combination with
air infation create tension that self-supports the pavilion.
Te Ark Nova designed by Anish Kapoor and Arato Isosaki for the Lucerne
Festival used a single membrane infated and air-pressurized to form an occupiable con­
cert space (Figure 1.24). Te 500-seat performance space traveled through earthquake- and
tsunami-hit Japanese towns. Te elastic plastic balloon is approximately 100 feet wide, 118
feet long, and 59 feet high. It is extremely light and can be easily transported and stored. Te
translucent purple membrane is a PVC-coated polyester fabric that is UV-resistant and water-
resistant. Te entire balloon has a metal tube sewn into its bottom edge. Tis metal tube is

19
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
thee, nor is any weapon at hand. All such have been carefully
removed by Scipio’s orders.”
“Then, wouldst thou, Cleandra, have me live to see me the slave
of Scipio? I, Elissa, daughter of Hannibal, how could I ever survive
the terrible indignity? Nay, if there be no poison, if there are no arms,
I can yet cast myself from the walls, and I will do so even now.”
Springing forward and opening the door of her apartment, she ran
down a corridor, pursued by Cleandra begging her to stay. However,
she found the end guarded by Roman soldiers, who respectfully, but
firmly, barred her way. Elissa then turned down another corridor
which led to a side exit into the garden. There again she found
Roman guards. It was now occupied as the barrack-room of the
officers’ attendants, the sleeping apartments of some of the generals
and superior officers leading out on either side from the corridor.
Caius Lælius himself, hearing a disturbance, came forth.
“What is the matter, Cleandra?” he inquired, seeing that the girl
was supporting in her arms the pale-faced and unhappy Elissa, who
was leaning back panting against a wall. “I fear that Elissa is
distraught, Cleandra,” he continued; “lead her back carefully to her
apartment, and see to it that thou dost watch her well.”
Lælius spoke kindly but as one in authority to Cleandra, for she
was now his slave. And he gave Cleandra assistance in taking the
unhappy girl back to her apartment, where he left her under
Cleandra’s care.
Cleandra sought to console her.
“Listen, Elissa, thou saidst but now that thou couldst not survive
the indignity of being Scipio’s slave. How think ye do I survive, then,
the indignity of being the slave of the Roman Lælius? If I find Caius
Lælius kind and considerate to me, whom he hath never seen
before, how much more kindness and consideration hast not thou to
expect from Scipio? He, it is well known, loves the very ground thou
walkest on, and would formerly, hadst thou but been willing, have
made thee his wife. Thy fate can, therefore, whatever it be, in no
ways be so very terrible. Would to the gods, I say, that thou hadst but
listened to him over there at the Court of King Syphax. Then, instead
of being in the hands of enemies, we should all have been happy
together here as friends, and thou, Elissa, mightest have been
Scipio’s wife and queen of all Iberia. For even now the Iberians are
commencing to hail him as their king.”
“The fickle populace, Cleandra,” replied Elissa, partly recovering
herself, and sitting on her couch, “will ever follow success. Had I but
defeated Scipio, which, alas! was quite impossible with the means at
my command, they would have doubtless proclaimed me queen of
Iberia. ’Tis useless talking of such things. Nought now am I, who was
so much formerly, but a slave girl, subject to the will of Scipio. And I
love Maharbal.”
“Who scarce can love thee as doth Scipio,” interposed Cleandra;
“and ’twould, indeed, be more like the truth, Elissa, wert thou to say
that thou didst thyself formerly love Maharbal, and that thou now
lovest the recollection of thy love for Maharbal. For how canst thou
love him now? ’Tis nearly five years since thou hast seen him, and
but one letter hast thou received from him in all those years. Love
under such circumstances is an impossibility, unless it be filial love or
fraternal love. A feeling of honour, which is to be commended in
thee, may make thee fancy that ye still belong to each other; yet ’tis
misplaced. For what are the facts as I have learned them from
Cœcilia? Taking the law into thine own hands, thou, when a mere girl
not yet seventeen, didst give thyself unto Maharbal, and, contrary to
thy father Hannibal’s wishes and without his consent, didst call
thyself his wife. That marriage was never ratified. Therefore, what art
thou, after five years have elapsed, to Maharbal? Again, thine uncle
Mago did inform thee that when Hannibal offered to let Maharbal
return and espouse thee, he did refuse, and elected rather to remain
in Italy. Therefore, what can he be to thee?”
“Yet am I bound to him in honour, and so must I ever consider
myself, until either I learn of his death, or until he of his own free will
shall give me up.”
Elissa answered thus somewhat doubtingly, for she was beginning
to feel the force of Cleandra’s arguments, which had doubtless often
occurred to herself.
But Cleandra continued: “I maintain, Elissa, that thou art in no wise
bound to Maharbal, and I would impress upon thee that much canst
thou do for Carthage even yet by living, since this great Roman
General Scipio loves thee. And that he is in turn one worthy to be
loved is proved by his conduct with reference to Idalia, whom he
relinquished as he did, doubtless, for thine own sake alone.”
Elissa sprang to her feet, the colour, for the first time for days,
returning to her cheek.
“And ’tis this very love that Scipio bears to me that I do so dread,
Cleandra! For, loving me, how will he spare me now? And I, too, may
the gods forgive me, may perchance—” She paused and clutched
her breast convulsively. “Nay,” she continued, after a pause, “I will
not say what I do not know, and that which, did I know it for certain,
were best unsaid. My love is for Maharbal, and my duty is to him—to
him alone.”
And she sank back upon her couch, and would speak no more.
For she was half convinced by Cleandra, and the longer the
conversation continued the less convinced was she with what she
maintained herself, therefore she wisely thought that her best refuge
lay in silence.
Shortly afterwards, Scipio, who had been exercising his troops,
returned to the palace. Being informed by Lælius of what had
occurred, he was very much concerned and alarmed for Elissa’s
welfare. For there was nothing that he dreaded more than that she
might in a fit of desperation take her own life.
His anxiety to see once more this woman, who was the darling of
his heart, had now become unbearable. Accordingly, sending her in
some choice dishes and wine by the hands of a female slave, he,
with many salutations, requested permission to visit her alone in the
evening.
“Tell Scipio that his slave is at the disposal of his lordship’s orders,
for that Elissa hath now no free will of her own.”
This was the ungracious message that he received in return for his
kind words.
Nevertheless, he accepted it as the required permission, and in
the evening, when the day’s work was over, repaired to her
apartment, where he found her attired, without ornaments of any
sort, in the utmost assumed humility.
The interview between them was long and harrowing. Scipio
assured her of his love as before, and by all the gods conjured her
even yet to be his bride. Every argument that he could think of he
brought to bear, and he spoke, too, with all the modesty of a diffident
lover, with none of the arrogance of a conqueror. He was so noble in
his bearing, so honestly genuine in his immense love for her, that
Elissa, who had begun by insulting him, was at length moved. The
tears came to her eyes, her bosom heaved, it burst upon her that
she too loved him, enemy of her country though he might be. Her
hardness melted, and she almost confessed it. Rising, she stretched
out her arms to him.
“Oh, Scipio!” she cried, “why art thou so generous, so kind unto
me? Oh! what wouldst thou of me? Is it to tear my heart in pieces
that thou art come to me thus? and wouldst thou have me own—oh!
Scipio, that I also, in defiance of all honour—” Then she suddenly
recovered herself, all her pride returning, she dropped her arms to
her side, and with the stony look of a statue upon her face,
continued: “Forgive me, my lord, that I address thee thus familiarly; I
am forgetting myself, indeed. There can be no question between me
and thee of my feeling ought but obedience. Thou dost desire thy
slave thou sayest, then take thy slave—she is here before thee to
obey thy behest, thou canst make of her thy toy, thy plaything, if thou
choosest. The body thou canst indeed take, but not the soul; thy will
is my law, and I must obey; but my soul will not suffer, for while thou
canst take thy slave at thy will, know this, that the soul of Elissa, ay,
the real Elissa herself, can never be thine. All that is divine, all that
cometh as the attribute of the gods to make a human woman worth
the possessing by a noble man, that is what thou canst never have,
for it is given and belongeth to another for ever. ’Tis not for thee.
Take me then, my lord, shouldst thou so choose, and great will be
thy victory.” She gave a low, mocking laugh, and then, with drooping
head, resumed her attitude of humility before him; and thus she
provoked him.
Driven to madness, especially after having witnessed the tender,
indeed the passionate, glance when, in her recent ebullition of
feeling, Elissa had seemed on the very point of confessing her love
to him, Scipio sprung forward and seized her in his arms, holding her
madly, violently.
“By all the gods of Olympus and Hades,” he cried bitterly, “thou
shalt then be mine, Elissa, soul or no soul! What thou sayest thyself
is true, thou art my slave, and must obey me. Keep thou that divine
attribute which thou dost deny to me for thine accursed Maharbal,
and I will take what there is left. ’Tis, in sooth, fair enough for my
heaven; I would not have the Elyssian maids themselves more fair
than thee.”
Convulsively he pressed her in his arms, and wildly sought her lips
with his own.
No resistance made Elissa, only when in his violent embrace
Scipio hurt her wounded shoulder, she uttered a low cry of pain.
Scipio instantly released her, and was at her feet in a moment, all his
better instincts returning.
“Oh! do I hurt thee, my beloved? Pardon me, I pray thee, for my
utter brutality. May the Olympian Jove himself punish me for my
momentary wickedness, yea may the beloved Venus in her divine
mercy forgive me for this sacrilege of her most wondrous work, thy
lovely person. For know this, Elissa, I vow by all the gods of both
Rome and Carthage that I would not willingly harm a single hair of
thy head. It is not thus indeed that I would have thee, and I did lie to
thee just now. For ’tis, indeed, my whole heart and soul which are
burning with passion, it is that spiritual part of thee which thou dost
deny me that I would possess rather even than the earthly tenement
wherein it is contained. Now wilt thou forgive me, dear one, and give
me but that one little word of love I saw trembling on thy lips a short
while since?” He pressed her hand tenderly, and never had he
looked more noble than at that moment.
But Elissa would not melt. She looked down without the slightest
change upon her stony features.
“I have said all I have to say, my lord. I told thee that I am thy
slave; I now tell thee, Scipio, that I do not love thee. But I am thine, if
thou so will it, according to the promise I made to thee in Numidia.”
Scipio rose to his feet, dropped her hand, and spoke with great
and self-contained dignity.
“Then be it so, Elissa; thou art my slave—nothing more! but never
shall it be said that a Scipio knew not how to master himself, nor how
to treat even an unwilling slave-girl with respect.” And he left her.
When he was gone, Elissa’s whole face changed. With the agony
of despair she threw herself upon her knees, and buried her face in
the cushions.
“Oh, Melcareth! great and invisible Melcareth! forgive me the lie!—
forgive me the lie! For I love him, and thou who hast made me as I
am dost know it. But mine honour forbade me to utter the word that
would have made both him and me happy—oh, so happy! Oh,
Tanais! thou, too, goddess of love, forgive me the dreadful lie!” and
she wept bitterly.
And thus on her knees Cleandra found her some time after. For,
as frequently happens to good women, the unhappy Elissa, in
striving to do that which according to her conscience seemed to her
to be right, had unjustly inflicted equal suffering upon herself and
upon the man who adored her.
After this painful interview Scipio saw very little of the captive
Elissa, whom, however, he ordered to be treated with the greatest
deference, in no way taking advantage of the situation to treat her,
as she herself had demanded, as a mere slave.
He himself, while constantly exercising the men under his
command in military tactics, was always thinking how he should
dispose of her person. For all hopes of making her his wife with her
own consent were, to his great distress of mind, at an end, and his
character was too noble to admit of his taking her in any other way.
The soldiers at this period suffered considerably from the morose
humour into which he fell, and there was no end to their exercisings
and drillings. By these incessant occupations, however, he soon got
his army into a most excellent state of training, and then he
determined to march northward again to Tarraco, and prosecute the
war against Hasdrubal and Mago. At length he made up his mind
about Elissa.
Summoning his friend Caius Lælius before him one day, he spoke
as follows:
“Caius, thou hast been my dearest companion from earliest
boyhood, and from thee I have no secrets. Therefore, it is nothing
new to tell thee the great unhappiness with which it hath pleased the
gods to afflict me, owing to the immense and fruitless love that I bear
to the Carthaginian maiden. Now, having communed with the gods
and offered sacrifices, I plainly see that her continued presence
anywhere near me is enervating to me, both as a man and a warrior,
rendering me unfit to continue in the command of a large body of
troops, and to properly protect the destinies of our nation. I have
therefore, my friend, determined to send her away from me entirely,
and thou must take her. When I march northward to Tarraco the fleet
also will return thither. The exception will be thine own vessel and
two others to form thine escort. On the former thou shalt take Elissa
and thine own slave girl, Cleandra. On the two other ships will be
embarked the Carthaginian Captain Mago, who surrendered the
citadel to us, and fourteen others of the superior officers whose
names I have noted. They are to be divided between the two ships,
and kept, by all means, from access with Elissa, that there may be
no chance of any combination between them to escape or to raise a
tumult on board.
“Thou wilt sail hence in two days’ time, and as the war between
Carthage and Rome hath now broken out with great and renewed
fury in Sicily, thou wilt first of all, taking all due precaution, visit the
Sicilian ports of Panormus, Lilybæum, Agrigentum, and Syracuse,
and acquaint the Roman consuls, or the commanders now in
possession of or besieging those places of our great success here.
Should they be able to spare any troops to reinforce us, then point
out to them the advisability of sending us forthwith as many men as
possible, in order that I may complete the conquest of Spain, and,
above all things, be able to prevent Hasdrubal from marching to Italy.
For I have information that he is thinking of leaving the defence of
Iberia to his brother Mago, himself following in his brother Hannibal’s
footsteps, and marching through Gallia and over the Alps to reinforce
Hannibal, wherever he may be in Italia. After accomplishing these
missions, thou wilt sail through the straits, between Messana and
Rhegium, and landing at the most convenient port, disembark with
thy captives and the spoils of New Carthage which I shall send, and
proceed instantly to Rome. There thou wilt acquaint the Senate of all
that is needful, and, with their approval, which cannot be withheld,
wilt lodge Hannibal’s daughter in the house of my mother to remain a
prisoner until my return, whenever it may please the gods to allow
me to see my native land once more. And I do beseech thee, for our
great friendship’s sake, to beg my mother, as she loveth me, to see
to it that Elissa’s captivity be not made unbearable to her, but that
she be treated with all fitting kindness.”
“Ay, that will I promise faithfully, Scipio. But stay, I have an idea!
Why shouldst not thou hand over the command of the land forces to
me and take the girl thyself? Our rank is so nearly equal that the
Senate could say nought. In sooth, I think it would be wiser so; and
thou wilt have far more prospect of obtaining new reinforcements
when thou dost arrive in person with the news of thy great victory.
And then during the voyage, who knows, the girl may relent, and,
perhaps, long before its termination, of her own free will throw
herself into thine arms. For Cleandra hath informed me—the wench
speaks Latin well, by-the-bye—that she doth believe that deep down
in her heart this Elissa doth really love thee. It would be a grand
opportunity to make sure of her affection.”
Scipio’s face flushed; he sprang from his seat, and clasped Lælius
by the hand.
“And why not, indeed?” he cried; “I thank thee, Caius. Thou art
every whit as able a leader of men as am I. Our rank is equal, too;
and ’tis true that were I to go in person now, just after taking New
Carthage, I should carry greater weight than thee in the matter of the
reinforcements. It seemeth not only feasible but right.”
Scipio looked happier than he had done for days; he looked like a
scholar who had obtained an unexpected holiday. Lælius, who was
delighted to see him thus, warmly returned the pressure of his hand.
Alas! Scipio’s joy was not long-lived, and the joyous expression
soon left his face as reason came to his aid.
“Nay, nay,” he continued, with a deep sigh, “it may not be, my dear
friend Caius, for, put it which way thou choosest, ’twould be really
leaving my post for the sake of a woman. And ’twould surely end
most miserably. For supposing the girl were to continue to prove
recalcitrant, it could but end in tragedy, perchance in the death of
Elissa herself, or mine own suicide, or maybe both. For the madness
of this love hath gotten such a hold upon me, I could not bear to live
by her side day by day knowing her mine, and yet not mine! I will not
risk it, either for my own sake or Elissa’s; it would indeed be trying
myself too high. ’Tis thou who must take her, and I must suffer here
alone.”
 Thus was the matter decided, and Scipio himself that day
communicated his decision to Elissa, in Cleandra’s presence. He
spoke to her so kindly, so nobly, showing, moreover, so plainly that in
this great act of self-abnegation in sending her away he was thinking
as much of her as of himself, that Elissa’s long-sustained pride broke
down. The tears came to her eyes.
“Oh, Scipio!” she cried, “would that things might have been
different! Yet are we both but the servants of the gods, and must
obey the divine will, and bow our heads beneath the almighty hand.
Would that I could come to thee with honour, and lay my hand in
thine. But thou knowest that with honour I cannot, I may not, do so.
And were I known to thee to be a woman without honour, thou
wouldst neither love me nor respect me as thou dost now. Moreover,
the gods would themselves despise me. But, Scipio, the gods cannot
prevent my giving thee a sister’s love. And daily for thy great, thy
noble treatment of me while here, thy prisoner and thy slave, will I
call down upon my beloved brother’s head the blessings of the most
high and invisible Melcareth, and pray and beseech him to protect
thee from all dangers. And now as a sister only will I embrace thee
with a sacred kiss.”
She threw her arms about his neck, and they stood thus awhile,
mingling their tears together, while clinging in a close embrace,
which for all Elissa’s brave words, could scarcely be deemed that of
mere brother and sister.
Cleandra, kind-hearted girl that she was, utterly overcome by this
sad and pathetic scene, sobbed audibly in a corner of the chamber.
At length they separated.
Saying, in a heart-broken voice, “I accept the compact, then fare
thee well, oh, Elissa, for we must meet now no more,” Scipio
withdrew.
Two days later, without seeing him again, Elissa embarked upon
the flagship with Lælius, and that same day Scipio marched for
Tarraco.

END OF PART IV.

 PART V.

CHAPTER I.
TO SYRACUSE.

When Elissa left New Carthage, with the prospect before her of
becoming a lifelong prisoner in Rome, the war was indeed, as Scipio
had said, raging with fury both in Sicily and Italy. For it is a matter of
the greatest astonishment how, in spite of the terrible reverses which
she had suffered on Italian soil, Rome pulled herself together for
renewed efforts, not only in Italy, then occupied by a successful
invading army, but for a continuation of the conflict upon foreign
shores. Thus she sent forth fleets and armies to Sardinia, to Spain,
and to Sicily, and the Carthaginians, encouraged to renewed
exertions by the glorious battle of Cannæ, did likewise.
Thus war was being carried on, at the same time, in all parts of the
Mediterranean.
It was raging, too, on Numidian soil, where the kings, Syphax and
Massinissa, were now fighting against each other.
Scipio had concluded a treaty with Massinissa, who was fighting
therefore nominally in the interests of Rome, against Carthage; but,
in reality, in rage and disappointment at the loss of the beautiful
Sophonisba, whom he had vowed should be his. In the end,
Massinissa was eventually successful in a pitched battle against his
uncle, the kind-hearted Syphax, whom he slew, and thereupon he
seized upon the fair Sophonisba, whom he promptly forced to be his
own unwilling spouse.
Scipio, not thinking it was wise that his ally Massinissa should
have in his household a Carthaginian wife, sent him a message that
he should send her away to her own country; but rather than lose
her, Massinissa presented the unfortunate girl with a cup of poison,
and ordered her to drink it.
Remarking placidly that it seemed an inappropriate end for the
bride of two kings, but that anything was better than life itself, poor
Sophonisba gladly swallowed the poison, and died in agony.
Elissa, while sailing along the coast of Sicily, reflected sadly on
this tragedy.
“Such,” she thought, “is the fate of humanity, and the ruling of the
gods cannot be foretold. Therefore, as in the very hour of greatest
prosperity sudden and great reverses may be awaiting us, it
behoveth us all never to neglect the service of those omnipotent
rulers of our being.”
Thus reflected Elissa when she looked back upon her own sudden
fall from a position of almost regal rank to the state of a mere
prisoner of war being deported to a foreign land.
At this time the war in Sicily centred round the enormous and
powerful city of Syracuse, which had, with all its surrounding territory,
remained, under King Hiero, an independent kingdom for no less
than fifty years past. In the previous Punic war, when every other city
in Sicily fell, first to one power then to another, neither Roman nor
Carthaginian had ever been able to set foot within its walls. And this
was chiefly owing to the wisdom of King Hiero himself, who, after
various sieges and conflicts with each power in turn, concluded an
alliance with Rome, which he maintained throughout his long reign of
fifty years’ duration. But Hiero being dead, and succeeded by his
grandson Hieronymus, all this was soon changed.
The young king was a debauched youth with an overweening idea
of his own importance, and he openly insulted the ambassadors who
came to him from Rome to seek a renewal of the old alliance.
Insolently asking them, “What account the Romans had been able to
give of themselves at Cannæ?” he declared for Carthage.
The city of Syracuse being full of intrigue, some wishing to remain
faithful to Rome, others to attach themselves to Carthage, while all
alike were disgusted with the cruelties and debauchery of the young
king; the latter was soon assassinated, as were also all the
princesses of the royal family, including Hiero’s daughter Demarata,
and his grand-daughter Harmonia, and their respective husbands
Andranodorus and Themistius.
Heraclea, the youngest daughter of Hiero, and her two beautiful
daughters were murdered with the greatest brutality, after a terrible
struggle; but no sooner were they dead than a messenger arrived
from the magistrates who had ordered their murder, but had now
relented, to stay the execution, for the very people themselves, who
had been thirsting for all the royal blood a short time before, had now
turned round upon the magistrates who had ordered the crime and
ousted them, calling for the election of new pretors in place of the
massacred Andranodorus and Themistius.
And thus it came to pass that two young generals, brothers,
named Hippocrates and Epicydes, who were envoys from Hannibal
to the Syracusans, came to be elected into power. These two young
men were Syracusans themselves on the father’s side, but their
mother was a Carthaginian, and they had been brought up in
Carthage, where Cleandra had known them well while living there
with her husband. They had already been at the bottom of the
plotting and the counter-plotting against Rome, and although there
were still various parties in the city, upon their election, after various
vicissitudes and some fighting within the walls, they contrived to
completely embroil the whole of the inhabitants with Rome. This was
done by Hippocrates openly attacking, with Syracusan soldiers, a
body of troops belong to the Roman consul, Appius Claudius, which
the latter had sent to protect his allies in the neighbouring city of
Leontini. Epicydes also repaired to Leontini, and by specious
arguments persuaded the inhabitants of Leontini to rise against
Rome.
Meanwhile the other Roman consul, Marcus Marcellus, he who
used to be known by the title of “The Sword of Rome,” who was in
the vicinity with a large force, demanded from the Syracusans the
surrender of the two brothers, who had dared to attack Roman
troops while a state of peace, or at all events of truce, existed
between Syracuse and Rome. But the Syracusans pretending that
they had no authority to give up the two brothers, as they were now
in the free city of Leontini, the two Roman consuls attacked the last
mentioned city and stormed it. But the two brothers escaped, and
with their usual cleverness persuaded the force of six hundred
Cretans, who were with the Syracusan force, which, in the Roman
interest, had been sent to capture them, to join their own standard
against Rome. And the Cretans in turn persuaded the other
Syracusan troops to join them also.
Thus had Hippocrates and Epicydes contrived to completely
embroil Syracuse with Rome, and when the ships of Caius Lælius
with Elissa on board arrived at the port of Syracuse, they found that
the gates of the city were shut, and that it was about to be invested
both by sea and land by the two Roman consuls, while the two
brothers were supreme within the city, and had on their side a large
body of Roman soldiers who had deserted to Syracuse.
Throughout the sea voyage of Elissa and Cleandra, Caius Lælius
had faithfully kept his promise to Scipio, and treated Hannibal’s
daughter with the greatest respect and kindness. They had visited in
turn various ports upon the coasts of Sicily, and the Roman flag-ship
and the two other vessels had on a recent occasion narrowly
escaped capture at the hands of a Carthaginian squadron off the
seaport of Lilybæum. Unfortunately for Elissa, however, Caius
Lælius had, after a sea-fight, contrived to make good his escape,
although he himself had received a severe wound from a sling during
the action. By this wound he was for a time quite incapacitated, and
thus was confined to his cabin when his ships arrived off Syracuse.
Now during the voyage he had become much attached to Cleandra,
whom, it may be remembered, knew the Latin tongue well. She was
ever about him, nursing him when sick in his cabin, and Lælius,
taking no notice of her presence, freely discussed before her the
whole state of affairs with his flag captain, an officer by name Labeo
Ascanius. Hence she soon learned the whole condition of affairs,
and, moreover, that her two friends, the brothers Hippocrates and
Epicydes, were in possession of the city of Syracuse.
With her usual quick-wittedness Cleandra soon set about devising
a means for the escape of Elissa and herself from the ship; for
however kind Lælius might be himself to the two ladies, they were,
none the less, prisoners, and likely to be so for life. Their future fate
was uncertain; only one thing seemed certain, that they would
infallibly be separated from each other upon arrival in Rome.
 Now it so happened that not only Caius Lælius but also his flag-
captain, Labeo Ascanius, had, during the voyage, become much
enamoured of Cleandra, whose beauty had increased rather than
diminished during the four or five years which had elapsed since her
flight from New Carthage to Old Carthage. While the Admiral Lælius
was well, this officer had had no opportunity of expressing his
admiration of Cleandra, but she had, none the less, been perfectly
well aware of the fact, and had determined, if possible, to utilise it.
Now that his chief was utterly incapacitated and he himself in
supreme command, Ascanius had every opportunity of conversing
with and making love to Cleandra, who, while using great discretion
lest any of the other officers or seamen should observe anything,
made opportunities herself, and encouraged him with all the wiles of
a clever woman, still, however, keeping him, in a certain measure, at
a distance, and not granting all the favours that he sought of her. At
length the Roman became, through her artifices, so inflamed with
passion that he told her that he would do anything in the world for
her sake if she would but be his. Cleandra, not yet sure of him, did
not show him her hand, but, the better to bend him to her will,
secretly and repeatedly stirred up Caius Lælius against him on
various pretexts, and especially by false reports that she gave him
about what was going on in the ship during his own illness. Thus
Lælius, being rendered peevish by sickness, on several occasions
unjustly found great fault with Ascanius, who became, in turn,
incensed against his commander. He did not suspect Cleandra of
being the cause of these reports, but his first lieutenant, a man of
great probity, named Horatius Calvinus.
At length one day, after Lælius had once again found fault unjustly
with his flag-captain, Ascanius, going forth in a rage, accused
Calvinus of being the traitor who falsely accused him to the admiral,
and, listening to no excuses, put him in irons, treating him with the
greatest indignity.
Now was Cleandra’s opportunity. She had learned from Labeo
Ascanius himself that his own brother, named Caius Ascanius,
formerly a centurion in the troops under Marcellus, was among those
who had deserted to the Carthaginian flag, and was now with her
friends, Hippocrates and Epicydes, in the city. She took good care
not to inform Lælius about his flag-captain having put Calvinus in
irons, for it suited her better that he should remain there. However,
she falsely informed Ascanius in the afternoon that the Admiral had
learned the fact, and had announced to her his intention of publicly
degrading him on the following morning, and of placing Calvinus
over his head.
Then she plainly proposed to him that to escape from such an
unjust degradation he should leave the ship that very night and join
his brother. He could take her and Elissa with him in a boat, and,
under pretence that he was acting under the admiral’s orders, and
about to deliver them over to Appius Claudius, the Roman Consul
commanding the fleet that had just arrived, row them ashore, and
land at the city steps in the port. These steps, as could be plainly
seen from the ships, were protected by a guard of Carthaginian
soldiers. As he would be steersman himself, Ascanius could, she
pointed out, easily direct the boat to the steps. She suggested he
should only take two men, and they such as were faithful to himself.
As a reward for his saving them, Cleandra promised to become his
wife so soon as they should land. Thus was the plot laid, and
Ascanius agreed willingly to Cleandra’s proposals.
That very night, after dark had set in, did Ascanius take the two
ladies, who had with them nought save their jewels, to shore in a
boat. And upon their arrival at the steps, and Elissa proclaiming
aloud in the Carthaginian tongue her name and quality, she was
instantly most warmly welcomed with her companions. Thus was
their escape successfully contrived by Cleandra’s cleverness, and
that night they supped with Hippocrates and Epicydes.
Hippocrates and Epicydes took them to the house of Archimedes,
the ancient mathematician, to whose wonderful genius the excellent
state of the defences of the city was mainly attributable. Archimedes
welcomed them most hospitably, and Cleandra’s promise to
Ascanius was immediately redeemed by her becoming his wife that
very night, his brother Caius and others being invited to the wedding-
feast at midnight, when was much festivity. But Cleandra, while
thanking her new husband for having rescued her from a life-long
slavery, took good care not to inform him by what wiles she had won
him to her will. And he, imagining that he had escaped an unjust
degradation on the morrow, and being convinced that he had won for
his wife the woman whom he loved, and moreover that she loved
him with equal passion, felt no qualms of conscience whatever at his
desertion from the Roman standard. Even if he had felt any, were not
his own brother and hundreds of other Roman soldiers present who
had joined the Carthaginian cause without any of the provocation
that he had himself received? He had been, for his part, at least so
he believed, merely forced to an act of self-preservation.
On the following day Hippocrates appointed Ascanius to a
command in his forces, for, as were all the other deserters in the city,
he was now so irretrievably committed that nought but crucifixion or
torture could be his lot should he ever again fall into the hands of his
own compatriots. There was, therefore, no fear of any treachery to
Syracuse on the part of the deserters; it was indeed they who, by
fighting to the very last, were mainly instrumental in beating off the
assailants for a period of at least three years.
In the meantime, the sage Archimedes had welcomed Elissa and
her followers within his hospitable walls, and a considerable sum of
money for her maintenance was at once voted by the Senate under
the direction of Hippocrates and Epicydes. Archimedes occupied a
palace in the city proper, which was named Achradina, whereas the
port whereon Elissa had landed on the previous night abutted on
Achradina, and was known as Ortygia or the island. They were, in
fact, two separate towns, each surrounded by a wall. There were, in
addition, two large suburbs surrounded by separate walls, and
named respectively Tycha and Neapolis, and the whole city was
enclosed by an outside wall no less than eighteen miles in
circumference; thus some idea can be formed of its size and the
difficulty of a besieging force in investing it. There were two
harbours, the greater and the lesser, and while Caius Lælius had
joined the Roman fleet under Appius Claudius in the lesser harbour,
the Carthaginian fleet, under an admiral named Bomilcar, was riding
securely at anchor under the walls in the larger one.
Elissa soon learned that, while Marcus Marcellus was threatening
the city with a large Roman land force on one side, there were on the
other hand, for its protection, a large number of Carthaginian troops,
encamped close at hand under the command of a general named
Himilco.
There was thus, at first at all events, no danger to be apprehended
of the city falling. In fact, the siege had not begun—it was an
attempted blockade at best; and by means of the fleet, free
communication was, for a considerable time, established with the
outside world. Ships were constantly coming and going from both
Carthage and Italy, and although there were occasional small sea
fights, yet, owing to the preponderance of the Phœnician ships, the
port was virtually open.
Being now only about ninety miles away from the city of Carthage,
on the opposite African coast, Elissa was sorely tempted to risk
sailing thither to visit the land of her ancestors, which she had never
yet seen. From taking this step, however, she was dissuaded by the
prudent Cleandra, who assured her that the enemies of her race
were far too strong in Carthage for her to venture alone and
unprotected within that noble city. For Hannibal’s very successes had
made the anti-Barcine party more bitter than ever against him.
Elissa was, however, now able to communicate with her father
direct, for hearing that the inhabitants of the city of Capua had
recently surrendered to him, she wrote to Hannibal there,
acquainting him in full of all that had taken place, and of her now
being at Syracuse. Moreover she offered, should he see fit, to leave
Syracuse and join him at Capua, in which city she learned that he
had established himself with his whole army, intending to remain
there for the winter.
It was some considerable time before Elissa received from
Hannibal any reply to her letter, but it came at length, just as the
spring was commencing.
Hannibal’s letter, which was written by the hand of his friend and
scribe Silenus, was so lengthy that it would be impossible to
transcribe it here. In it, however, after applauding her for her bravery
upon many occasions, and commiserating with her deeply upon the
fall of New Carthage, he informed her that his own army was
constantly decreasing in numbers, and was also, to his great
annoyance, considerably deteriorated in its quality by the ease and
delights which the men had experienced during a whole winter
passed in the enervating atmosphere of the pleasure-loving city of
Capua. He complained bitterly of the small number of reinforcements
that had reached him from Carthage, and urged her to remain in
Syracuse, and there, by her presence and example, inspire the
garrison and the Carthaginian troops, whether of the land forces
under Himilco or the sea forces under Bomilcar, to heroic and
continued efforts against Claudius and Marcellus. By this means he
pointed out that the Roman troops now in Sicily would be compelled
to remain there, and thus be unable to cross over into Italy to assist
the Romans in prosecuting the war against himself. He informed her
further that unless some reinforcements arrived to help him before
long he would soon be obliged to content himself with merely
defensive operations at the ports he had already captured, but that in
that case it would be a matter of great importance that he should be
able to make an ally of some foreign power who would be willing to
fight with him against Rome. And none, he added, seemed to him so
fitting for this purpose as the young King Philip V. of Macedon, who
was now constantly engaged in wars of his own in Illyria, or against
the various leagues in the Peloponnesus of Greece. These, Hannibal
pointed out, Philip seemed in a fair way to subdue, and when he had
done so, a young prince of so much ambition would doubtless
require a new field whither he might direct his successful arms.
Therefore, since it seemed to Hannibal that Elissa by her position on
the sea at Syracuse might possibly sooner or later be able to obtain
an opportunity of either sending an embassy to Philip, or personally
going to meet him, he enclosed a document, giving her full powers
on his own behalf to enter into a treaty of offensive and defensive
alliance with the Macedonian.
In conclusion, Hannibal gave to his daughter news of Sosilus, of
Silenus, and Chœras, all of whom, he said, had hitherto survived the
hardships of the long-continued war. Of Maharbal he merely said
that he continued to be, as formerly, as his own right arm in all
matters appertaining to the war, and that he now looked forward to a
period when peace might be assured, that he might reward the
fidelity of the Numidian general by giving to him her, Elissa’s, hand in
marriage. Hannibal added that Maharbal was writing to her on his
own behalf.
 Having read her father’s epistle, Elissa turned to her lover’s letter.
Within its pages Maharbal breathed forth such unswerving and
straightforward devotion, such absolute faith and trust in herself and
her integrity and honour, that before it was half finished she thanked
the gods a thousand times that they had inspired her with sufficient
strength to remain faithful to this man who had been such an
invaluable aid to Hannibal in assisting him to maintain ever to the
fore the honour and glory of Carthage. But her cheek burned with
shame even as she read. For she realised to her sorrow that
whatever honour had prompted her to do in the past or might prompt
her to do in the future, she would nevertheless far rather have
received those burning lines of love and devotion from the hand of
Scipio, the enemy of her father and her country, than from the hand
of Maharbal, the brave upholder of her country’s honour and her
father’s life-long friend. But such is life, and such are the hearts of
women, and despite her burning cheek Elissa knew that since she
had ever behaved most straightforwardly and honourably by her
absent lover she had done Maharbal no wrong.
Just after she received these letters, the investment of Syracuse
by the Romans was commenced with great determination on the
land side and the sea side alike. Thus was no opportunity given to
Elissa for any reply, neither did she have any means at her
command for establishing any understanding with Philip of Macedon.
 CHAPTER II.
FROM SYRACUSE TO MACEDON.

Archimedes, the great mathematician, was a little old man, now

nearly ninety years of age. He, however, maintained to the full all his
powers, both physical and mental. He still seemed to have in his
frame the strength of a man not much over fifty, while his brain was
by far brighter and clearer than that of any of the young men of the
more modern schools. In appearance his eye was bright, his cheek
rosy, while his face, although wrinkled, was not by any means
wrinkled to excess. He was alert and active on his feet, scarcely ever
seemed to require any rest, and not only enjoyed a healthy appetite,
but could, when occasion required, sit up late and join the young
bloods of the day in a carouse, without seeming to feel any ill effects
upon the morrow. He was, at the time of Elissa’s visit, married, for
the third time, to a young wife, and he had sons well advanced in
middle age, employed in every branch of the Government service.
He had been the counsellor of King Hiero during the whole of that
monarch’s reign of fifty years’ duration, and, owing to his own
abilities and the munificence of his royal master, Archimedes had,
during that long period, been able to bring the defences of the city of
Syracuse to a state of perfection little dreamt of by its enemies. Such
was the old man whose abilities the Roman leaders had not taken
into account before they so lightly entered upon the siege of the
fairest city in the whole of Sicily. However, they soon found out, by
experience, that one man’s genius is sometimes more effective than
mere numbers.
A terrible plague had been raging for some time in both armies
before the Romans attempted to push the attack home, and this
plague had attacked the defenders and the outside Carthaginian
troops far more severely than it had the Romans themselves, for the
land forces of the latter were encamped upon higher and better
ground, while the sailors on the ships, by keeping out to sea, did not
suffer so severely. It had, nevertheless, been an awful time for both