Recessed Identity

Conventional buildings present a sense of identity through their outward appearance. A small cottage nestled among trees creates the image of a cozy retreat. A skyscraper screams out its presence like a giant exclamation point. Underground buildings, which are less conventional and less visible, have more difficulty projecting their personalities. When struggling to establish a building's identity, its designers and occupants must decide, consciously or subconsciously, whether to accentuate or de-emphasize its subterranean position.

There are several options for dealing with a building's underground nature. One is denial. Some underground buildings simply pretend that they are not subterranean. A subtle way to do this is to try to make the interior look and feel as if the building were aboveground. Skylights, atriums, and sunken courtyards contribute to this effect, as do windows (oriented either to the outdoors, to an atrium, or even to a sky-lit corridor). The architects of Walker Community Library (Minneapolis, 1980) even included a large mirror angled toward a window to reflect an outdoor view into the main reading room.

In some cases, owners worry that potential customers may find the very idea of an underground building unappealing. So they avoid using words like "underground" or "subterranean" to describe their facility. Other terms like "below grade" and "under the normal sight lines" can soften the message. Similarly, rather than calling a subsurface story a "basement" or "Floor -2," building managers might label it a "terrace," "gallery," "concourse," or "mezzanine" level.

A more aggressive way to disguise the underground nature of a building is to create the illusion of an outdoor environment surrounding the structure. This elaborate approach was used to create a 16,000-square-foot mansion for the founder of what became the AVON cosmetics company. Recessed 25 feet below ground level in Las Vegas, Nevada, the house is surrounded by a subterranean landscape featuring realistic but artificial trees, and murals of various types of scenery. Computer-controlled electrical lighting varies in intensity to simulate the dawn-to-dusk cycle of the sun, and at night artificial stars and a moon appear in the garden's ceiling. See photos of this unique home, which can be rented for social and corporate events, at Activity Planners.

In some underground buildings the subterranean aspect seems completely irrelevant and virtually unnoticeable. An example of this phenomenon is the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, which opened in 1997 in Washington, DC. The 33,000-square-foot memorial/museum includes an exhibit gallery, a theater, a conference room, and a gift shop tucked into the soil behind an ornate retaining wall built in 1932. The semicircular wall, call the Hemicycle, had previously served only as a visual focus for the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. Openings created in the facade during construction of the memorial contribute to a feeling of openness inside the building, as do a large array of skylights along its roof. Inside the building, visitors feel like they are at ground level. But when they go upstairs to walk on the roof, read the inscriptions etched on the skylights, and look out over the cemetery, they barely notice that the hillside sloping down from where they stand covers the building below. Visit the Arlington National Cemetery website to see photos.

Designers and owners who decide to deal openly with the fact that their building is underground can choose from a spectrum of perspectives. A subtle approach is evident at the $40-million spa that opened in February 2001 at the Grove Park Inn Resort in Asheville, North Carolina. The original inn building, constructed of huge chunks of indigenous rock, was completed in 1913. It is flanked by two wings added in the 1980s. The interior of this U-shaped grouping was a natural location for the new spa, but the addition had to be designed not to interfere with the spectacular view from the inn. The only reasonable solution was to build it underground. A large skylight and a downslope entryway into the spa are among surface features that create a discernible presence for the largely hidden structure. The interior of the spa is expansive enough to dispel any claustrophobic tendencies, yet it is tastefully compartmentalized to provide appropriate small, private, treatment rooms. This interior is constructed of natural and artificial stone, creating the impression of a large, protective cave. The stone is the same type used to build the original inn, so interior of the subterranean space is visually linked with the exterior of the aboveground building in a very effective way. A virtual tour is available at the Grove Park Inn website.

The Marin County Jail projects a less subtle message. The facility was buried inside a hill to avoid detracting from the appearance of a dramatic civic center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Although deference might be part of the building's personality, security is at least as dominant a feature. At first sight of the jail, a prisoner or visitor is struck by the difficulty of trying to escape from the earth-covered, nearly windowless environment. The impression is heightened by entering the doors and walking down a long, stark hallway to find nothing at the end but blank elevator doors, an intercom button, and typed instructions for seeking admittance. The well-tended landscape covering the building suggests a cozy, welcoming feeling; the totality of enclosure and the austere hallway (the greenery in the planter boxes is even wilted!) portray a no-nonsense strength. The contrast hints at a multiple-personality disorder.

Underground buildings seem to struggle to come to terms with their undergroundness. Many are successful, finding and projecting an identity that is attractive and practical. But the fact that the struggle even occurs makes it somewhat surprising that certain aboveground buildings would try to pretend that they are, in fact, subsurface. In some cases, these buildings are bermed after construction--that is, sloping embankments of earth are piled against their walls to insulate them and perhaps partially conceal their bulk. Earth may or may not also be spread on top of the building, allowing plants to grow and further obscure the structure. Other buildings forego the berming and are simply topped with a "living roof" of soil and vegetation. Architectural Record and Business Week bestowed a design award for such a building: the Gap Inc. corporate offices, constructed in 1998 near San Francisco. Examine a description and photographs at Great Buildings.

Underground buildings that deny their very nature. Aboveground buildings that affect underground characteristics. Where on (or under) earth does one find an architectural psychoanalyst?