Resonance
Yale School of Architecture | Spring 2019 | Thomas Phifer
YSoA Advanced Studio: Marfa Residences
“The absence of descriptive or obvious stylistic embellishment creates an aesthetic so spare that it is, at times, almost aggressive"
- Karen Stein, The Plain Beauty of Well-Made Things
The Arrival
Marfa, TX, like much of the municipal development of American westward expansion, formed from the economic and commercial lifeblood of the American rail system in the late 1880s, far before the impact of 20th Century sculpture artist, Donald Judd, who settled his artistic practice in the town. Over the last three decades, as the town has continued to shift its focus towards the accommodation and attraction of new forms of artistic practice, it does so at the expense of preserving the richness of its infrastructural heritage as an historic railroad depot.
Nevertheless, the Sunset Limited railroad still commands a presence to the unsuspecting visitor, who’s whistle can be heard for miles as it races through the center of town every hour at speeds up to 60mph. In considering the design of five residences for today’s visitors of Marfa, the town’s infrastructural soundscape, let alone its relative isolation in the vast Texan plain, provides a unique opportunity to design for the rich navigation of a polysensory spatial experience.
Resurrected on the original site of the Marfa train depot, just across from the office of the Judd Foundation, a new station platform would allow passengers to take the Sunset Limited Amtrak service into town. An arrivals facility adjacent to the Judd Foundation would house a cafe, rail museum, and bookstore for visitors upon arrival.
A narrow passageway between the Judd Foundation and adjacent arrivals pavilion would allow visitors a direct path from the station to the town’s historic museum
Through various acoustical details, including an isogrid ceiling, laminated structural glazing with a 2’ air gap, and STC 50+ door thresholds, the arrivals pavilion would offer visitors a moment of complete silence upon arrival, resetting their aural senses before journeying through the town and surrounding expansive landscape.
The Journey
Resonance Trail
An interview with a 40 year resident of Marfa when asked about the rail, mentioned that no one could have an affair in town because you’d always know where they were based on how loud someone heard the train whistle through a phone call. This unique infrastructural soundscape, let alone its sonic proximity and consistency, provides a unique opportunity to design for the rich navigation of a powerful sonic environment.
A dirt path invites new arrivals from the town center to journey to their residences on foot, following the railroad bed towards the endless horizon of the Texan plains beyond. Carefully sculpted terrain surrounding the adjacent path and railroad create distinct sonic environments along the journey as a passing train whistle echoes across the plain.
Flutter echo
Rotunda Effect
sonic cylinder
The Residences
Located at the edge of town, these five residences would provide expansive views across the West Texas landscape
Utilizing the power of wind across the site, the residences could create harmonic tones when open to the cross breeze, similar to the structural nature of an organ pipe
