Temple of Decision

by Jungchan Yee (MArch ’19)

A Greek Revivalist garden temple, built in the 1950s, sits in ruin atop the Lomond Hills in Falkland, just an hour drive north of Edinburgh. The Falkland Estate, the owner of the land on which the ruins remain, is considering a partial restoration and conservation of the masonry structure to prevent it from further deterioration. The proposed design entails an off-site construction of wall and roof modules to be transported and installed on site.

Each of the thirteen modules spans approximately 30 feet with a bay width of 4 feet 6 inches, contains shelving spaces to collect and catalog the masonry pieces. The gabled roof profile traces the missing pediment, while the outermost roof panels acknowledge the added bays around the existing perimeter of the temple. The height of each shelf addresses the specific syntax of the Greek temple, while the vertical weight of its content collectively allow the walls to translate the lateral force of the roof.

The shed consists of thirteen modules that roughly double the existing footprint of the temple. The new area is used for conservation, a space for virtual reconstruction of the temple opposite the existing ruin. The thirteen bay structure simultaneously engages the history of the temple as a miniature copy of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, as the shed restores the original proportions of the Greek temple.