Final Drawings

Below are the final architectural drawings of the Robinson Crusoe House study.

Elevations 1:50

Stage 1

Sections 1:50

Tent with cave section

Cave section with details

Cave section with roof addition

 Plans 1:50

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6 

Stage 6 with first shed

Stage 7 with outer wall

Final stage with wall fortifications

Topographical Site Circumstances

Morphology

Throughout his many years on the island, Robinson Crusoe made a number of adjustments and additions to his home. The following images are a study of the developmental stages of Crusoe's fortification.

Crusoe starts off by constructing a fence at a ten yards in radius from the rock and five feet high out of desire for security from the potential dangers on the island. He then sets up a double tent for storage and simple protection from the element within the fence. 

Once the fence and the wall is complete, Crusoe begins carving into the cave to create a cellar so as to separate lodging from storage. This also creates space within the tent for him to put a chair and a table.

Following the cellar, Crusoe puts turf up against the wall both for reinforcement and for and camouflage. Fearing potential damage to his goods once the rain season arrives, Crusoe creates a simple roof by setting rafters between the fence and the rock and using more turf to cover the roof.

Crusoe begins to expand his cave again, desiring more space for storage and a kitchen. However, one day the roof of the cave collapses and from then on, Crusoe begins using posts, like the stakes in the fence, and planks, possibly from the ship, to support the roof the cave as he expands. Crusoe also sets up the posts so that they may partition the rooms.

As he carves further into the cave, he creates pathway from the cave to the exterior of his wall. Presumably, this is done to allow for easier access to the kitchen once he has gathered food since the wall requires a ladder to cross.

Crusoe then begins a series of further expansions to the cave. 

 When Crusoe was building the bower, he chose not to construct a fagot wall but instead made a simple hedge by linking surrounding trees with brushwood. Finding that this strategy provided both shade and further camouflaging, Crusoe applied the same technique to his first fortification.

After finding the footprint in the sand, Crusoe is alarmed and immediately sets out to fortify the hedge to create a second wall. Earth is removed from the cave and placed against the second wall to make it stronger. Crusoe also creates seven holes and sets up his spare muskets there for further defensive measures. By this time, the trees have also grown bigger to completely hide his fortification from site.

Topographic Map of Island - Enlarged

Notice "X" on bottom left, situated on the N.W slope of a hill.

This would be a plausible location for the Fortification, overlooking the sea, with a steeper slope directly behind the shelter. 

Crusoe’s Changing Perceptions of the Fortification

Crusoe reading the bible in his habitation. The

painting illustrates the closest the habitation got to

becoming a home.

Over the series of events that occur on the island, Crusoe’s perception of his shelter against the hill continues to change. Depending on the circumstances, Crusoe’s title for the shelter changes from the tent to fortification to habitation to castle to apartment and is sometimes a mix of one or more of these titles.

            After Crusoe first sets down the stakes and pitches the tent, he refers to the shelter as the tent or the habitation. At this stage, the shelter is a place that Crusoe can return to and store things in.  Once the wall is completed, the shelter title remains the same but within the book, the focus is less on the shelter than it is on the wall. Defoe gives more detail to the wall and its construction than he does to the tent. The emphasis on the wall demonstrates Crusoe’s desperate desire for security but also demonstrates that the wall is more important to Crusoe than the tent. The tent provides Crusoe with storage and minor protection from the elements whereas the wall is a mark of property that also functions to resolve Crusoe’s insecurities towards the potential dangers of the island. Furthermore, the wall is an essential element of a shelter and it is only after the completion of wall that the shelter’s function as a shelter is finalized. Therefore, while the wall is not the shelter itself Defoe often makes reference specifically to the wall rather than the entire shelter.

In addition, the wall also changed the title of the habitation to the fortification.

Similar to the wall, once Crusoe progressed well into the creation of a kitchen and storage within the rock, the cave became another element of the shelter that he would refer separately to.

              Once Crusoe had become accustomed to life on the island, especially after the construction of the bower, the shelter was more often referred to as the habitation instead of the fortification. Presumably, Crusoe has developed some degree of comfort and even though the shelter is far from what he might consider home, it has at least become a lodging that he returns to.

            Upon finding the footprint in the sand, Crusoe immediately develops insecurities about his shelter and moves on to build an even stronger wall outside of the original. During this time, the shelter becomes his castle. This title may originate both from the increased fortification but also from the sense of ownership and authority that Crusoe has gained after the long years on the island. Crusoe feels that the shelter is like a castle that is keeping intruders out of his territory and defending him from the way of harm.

            Following the defeat of the cannibals and rescue of the Spanish crew, Crusoe has further developed his cave to provide shelter for the growing number of residents. With the development of more rooms within the cave, Crusoe precedes to call his shelter an apartment. The apartment label not only develops from the fact that more rooms exist within the shelter but also because the Spanish Captain and Crusoe are almost equal in terms of authority.  Crusoe’s lack of dominating authority also means that while the property can be considered his, his residents are not his subjects and therefore the shelter can no longer be considered a castle.

            While the Crusoe’s multiple shelters are consistently undergoing physical changes as a result of his change in needs and circumstances, there also exists a conceptual change in Crusoe’s shelters.

Crusoe's Progression on the island: An evaluation of needs and subsequent behaviour

The story of Robinson Crusoe is a great example of a context or narrative in which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is demonstrated as a template for existence and progression. Crusoe finds himself shipwrecked on a desert island, and begins his existence here catering first and foremost to his physiological needs before anything else. One can imagine emerging from the sea, exhausted, alone, and in a mode of survival, motivated to fulfill only the most fundamental needs as a human being. Crusoe sets out to find water, food, and shelter, and as his position on the island would progress, so would his shelter, and thus his approach to his needs. He would now focus more on his security and protection, improving upon his previous shelters of the tree, the hut of crates, and finally the fortification, that would then incorporate the use of a defensive fence. This fence would satisfy the second fundamental need for Crusoe, as he lives on an island of mystery and vastly unknown territory. This fence would soon evolve, growing in intricacy and strength, allowing for a much stronger fortification as a physical barrier from danger and threat, but also aiding in Crusoe’s much needed psychological aid, comforting him in a place where he might feel constantly threatened by his environment and surroundings.  The fence acts as a constant in the story. Protecting his home, defending his possessions, and forming the boundaries of what he has conquered and made civilized from what is left untamed and wild. It creates a sense of belonging, and adds to his ego and feeling of identity, as it begins to become part of who he is on the island. 

                  Eventually Crusoe discovers a footprint in the sand, and soon Friday, a native Crusoe saves from the cannibals, becomes an important element in Crusoe’s mini civilization.  The act of allowing Friday to enter his fortified “castle”, and sharing in his safety behind the walls of the cave, means the he has power and authority in this seemingly uncivilized place. Although he does not exercise this power heavy handedly, it is apparent that the act of including Friday in his reality on the island helps him in his feelings of belonging and acceptance. His ability to teach Friday new things and because of having saved him, adds the component of Crusoe’s ego to the mix. He is now a peer to Friday but also someone who can lead and hold authority, which creates a whole new level of social interaction in the story. These developments in the story and the progression of the hierarchy of needs seem to mirror the degree to which the shelters in the story progress as well. As Crusoe becomes more comfortable and accomplished on the island, the more advanced his shelters become; that being said, Crusoe is still a puritan, and his shelters always remain true to the simplicity of his beliefs. Even his bower, a place of retreat, protection, and safety, is limited in its comforts, having only that of a simple couch. Crude shelves, a table, and chair are all Crusoe needs to live a content and semi-domestic life on the island, as long as his initial needs are met; namely shelter and protection. The shelters, and Crusoe’s need to build, create, and ultimately be in charge of his surroundings are a manifestation of his understanding of life. Although he came from a time in England that had seen much turmoil, he understood that order and improvement were necessary to any functioning and successful society. One can then note that Crusoe himself was developing a civilization of his own, that were very much symbolized in the creation and improvement upon every shelter he built.

Hut of Crates

Using the crates and planks salvaged from the ship, Robinson Crusoe constructed his first shelter upon a hill. This hut of crates later gained a tent addition, which was constructed out of the ship's sail canvas and poles. The new site, being on a small hill, offered a better defensive position. The new habitation offered a storage space within the tent for the goods salvaged from the ship as well as a stronger fortification from the use of the crates.

"I barricaded myself round with the chests and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of a hut"

"I went to work to make me a little tent with the sail and some pole... into this tent I brought everything that I knew would spoil either with rain or sun"

The Fortification

View of the sea and ship wreck, Crusoe builds his shelter along the side of a steep hill. A small fresh water stream can also be seen in the foreground.

Desiring a place to look out for passing ships and a source of freshwater, Crusoe decided to relocate to a better site.

Location

“First, health and fresh water… Secondly, shelter from the heat of the sun. Thirdly security from the ravenous creatures, whether men or beasts. Fourthly a view to the sea, that if God sent any ship in sight I might not lose any advantage for my deliverance”

           Eventually, Crusoe finds a site that is slightly further inland on the side of a rock-composed hill with a view down to the sea and a freshwater source nearby. He chooses to situate himself on the north-northwest to gain shade from the sun. This side of the hill has a small cave-like indent and in front of this indent was a piece small of grassland about a hundred yards wide.

The Shelter

          The new habitation started by circling off an area of about ten yards in radius from the rock. To construct the fence, Crusoe drove two rows of stakes into the ground with a six-inch gap in between and then laying cables from the ship in the gap. This method of construction is called a fagot fence. The  gap is usually filled with bundles of twigs and straw and an additional layer of mud of plaster and be laid on top to create an adobe fence. After roughly laying out the fence, Crusoe pitched a double tent where top sheet of the tent being a piece of tarpaulin taken from the ship as a place for rest and the protection of goods from the weather. After the completion of the tent, Crusoe returns to the construction of the fence. The entire pale takes him one year to complete but becomes sturdy wall of posts and cables covered in grass that can only be crossed by the use of a retractable ladder. During the construction of the wall, Crusoe also digs into the crevice in the hill to create a better storage space for his goods. The soil removed from the rocky hill is used to strengthen the wall.  Finding the need for fuel and fire, the cave is expanded even further to allow for Crusoe’s kitchen. Crusoe continues to expand the cave until he has carved a passage to the outside of his wall to allow for a side door to his shelter and more storage space. Shelving was also added to the cave walls to provide organization of tools. At one point, the cave collapses from a lack of support and Crusoe begins to build the cave more carefully by supporting the roof of the cave with posts and boards. Crusoe also used the placement of the posts as a partition for rooms. Throughout the time spent on the island, Crusoe continues to expand the cave whenever a necessity for expansion exists. Finding the stakes grown outside his bower to be even better for cover and defence, a second wall is constructed outside of the initial wall about eight yards from the first fence. Upon the discovery of the footprint in the sand, fear drove Crusoe to fortify the second fence even further until the fence became woods that hid the cave completely.  The second fence was also constructed with seven holes with muskets already set in place.