Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The Architect's Perspective
By John Mesick, Senior Architect, Mesick, Cohen, Wilson and Baker LLP, Albany,
New York.
More than a decade has now elapsed since we were engaged as architects for
the reconstruction of the Jesuit Chapel at St. Mary's City. In many respects, our
role was more akin to the Jesuits instigating the original project, who had to
rely on the building skills of craftsmen to realize the design they had in mind.
Today, architects usually are perceived as the central figure in the creation of
buildings. After assessing the owner's needs and desires, designs are devised
and ultimately detailed in extensive construction documents. However, in this
endeavor, the role of artisan and craftsman actually was restored in the con-
struction process, as it had been throughout much of the world in the seven-
teenth century. The artisans became the principal undertakers in realizing the
structure. As we became the beneficiaries of the many individuals enlisted in
the project, whose deeper knowledge shaped the final result in ways unimag-
ined at the onset.
First, after years of fieldwork, artifact analysis and archival research, the
archaeological team of Henry Miller, Timothy Reardon and Silas Hurry estab-
lished what could be deduced from surviving physical evidence. Then as the
project approached the construction phase, we turned to two extraordinary
restoration masons in Virginia for guidance. Both had worked with us on the
restoration of Thomas Jefferson's rural retreat, Poplar Forest. Henry Cersley of
Charlottesville had independently retrieved the craft of molding bricks from
local clays and firing them in a wood-burning kiln. We turned to Henry to pro-
duce bricks for the reconstruction from clay taken nearby the site. While work-
ing on 'Poplar Forest', after reading eighteenth century builder's manuals, he
realized the proper way to work up lime mortar was to beat or pound it (rather
than using a hoe to stir it). This technique facilitated the introduction of air
into the mix, thereby, accelerating the carbonization of the lime by blending
CO
2
more readily into the mortar.
During this same period Jimmy Price of Monroe, Virginia, while he also was
engaged in the work at 'Poplar Forest', began experimenting with the burn-
ing of limestone in a wood-fired kiln. With reliance on historic texts and after
a couple of years of trial and error attempts, he succeeded in producing quick-
lime in a low temperature kiln. This lime proved more reactive than the mod-
ern material produced at high temperature. He now was able to make available
to restoration masons a lime that could replicate the properties of historic mor-
tars. Realizing that firing oyster shells had produced the lime used at St. Mary's,
Jimmy undertook another experiment, and again succeeded in producing mar-
vellous lime from the shells.
