Architecture is Observation – Architecture is Neglect. Architecture is Manipulation – Architecture is Unchanged. Architecture is logic – Architecture is intuition. Architecture is Rhythm – Architecture is Chaos. Architecture is a Collective – Architecture is a Singularity. Architecture is Patient – Architecture is agitated. Architecture is Constant – Architecture is Change.
The Human Condition or Facade
Knowing that we are mortal, we seek out creative solutions to extend our lives beyond our physical existence, a disguise for mortality by trying to leave a legacy through creativity. It is this very condition that defines us as humans, that drives us as humans and that limits us as humans. The obsession with uniqueness in our current time has often created meaningless architecture (Kossak and Ording, 2017), much in a similar fashion as the Façade of a building has become too important, creating an artificial barrier that seems to reject and reflect people, rather than invite and engage people (Titman, 2013). The haste, to be Unique has left us with an abundance of superficial buildings that fail to engage our senses, to spark our curiosity and to promote interaction with our environments.
It is here where I, as a designer, would start to investigate, through sketch, how the surrounding environment would inform the possible intervention. How to move away from a one-sided design, which would be to look at form or beauty of form first, and to rather look at how the site could inform the design by means of, thorough, patient investigation. It is by this means alone that a design can be simple (without clutter to seem complicated) yet complex enough to spark curiosity through clarity because one understands the environment.
According to Balthasar Klossowski a Polish modern artist; a painting isn’t worth doing if it only expresses the person who created it, but that the true value of art is one that expresses the world, trying to understand it (Roy, 1996).
Figure 1 (Burger, 2018)
Understanding the World should be an ideal to strive towards, but to understand the world one needs to experience it, be it through travel, observation and Sketch. It is only though experiences that one can provide in depth complexity through simplicity. For a poet to write one verse he must have seen many things, people and places to convey emotion through text, similarly an architect should Strive to Evoke a multi-sensory experience through imbodied memories in the spaces that he creates. “Through our body we re-enact and mimic unconsciously whatever we encounter in the world” (Kossak and Ording, 2017:24). The building in this sense cannot create emotion but can only amplify what the user feels, reflecting his mental state through Purposeful depiction of setting, both man-made and natural. (Pallasmaa and MacKeith, 2013)
“Architecture may well possess moral messages: it simply has no power to enforce them. It offers suggestions instead of making laws. It invites, rather than orders, us to emulate its spirit and cannot prevent its own abuse.”
(De Botton, 2006:20)
William Wordsworth believed that the company of Nature gave joy to the human heart and he looked upon Nature as a healing influence on sorrow-stricken hearts. This Belief requires that we be open to the idea that we are unequivocally affected by our surroundings and that we affect it by means of our interventions (De Botton,2006). Aa Architects should inherently search to find a harmony between Architecture and nature, addressing the human Condition by rediscovering the psychological and spiritual benefits of mountains, forests, caves, beaches and lagoons. Through extensive thought and probing we can learn valuable lessons from nature and will most certainly find that reality and truth cannot be found on the surface of things (Twombly, 1974).
Language
“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”
Bernard Tschumi (Eisenstein, Bois and Glenny, 1989)
This statement defines how I go about design and construction, finding inspiration from other disciplines such as photography, industrial design and poetry to inform the creative thinking process. The beauty of this is in the detail, how for instance a photo of a beautiful scenery can capture the perfect balance of light, contrast and subject importance, not the final physical appeal but the multitude of elements contributing to the final product. Much in the same way architecture can depict this principal through the articulation of elements, the material and in what detail these meet.
As previously mentioned one can learn much from observing and integrating nature into design. A key factor is to move away from green architecture which is only driven by Ecological fear and consumer Guilt (Titman, 2013), towards an Pastoral Architecture which cares for and is gentle and generous in its connection to nature. To utilize and incorporate high-tech energy saving devices that works in conjunction with both building and landscape.
Layering
In closing, architecture should therefore seek to learn from Nature, layering in complexity through simplicity, working in harmony and blurring the lines between Landscape architecture, Architecture and even other disciplines. It is vital that the discipline moves toward a group collective; be it in design, construction or collaboration - for a complex system can only work if all the parts work together. It is this very notion of grouping or layering that would advance architecture beyond what is currently conceivable.
Bibliography
De Botton, A. (2006). The architecture of happiness. 1st ed. Penguin Books, p.20-25.
Titman, M. (2013). The new pastoralism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
PoemHunter.com. (2017). I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud (Daffodils) Poem by William Wordsworth - Poem Hunter. [online] Available at: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud-daffodils/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2017].
NeoEnglish. (2017). William Wordsworth as a Poet of Nature:. [online] Available at: https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/william-wordsworth-as-a-poet-of-nature/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017].
Twombly, R. (1974). Frank Lloyd Wright. An interpretive biography. New York: Harper, Row.
Kossak, R. and Ording, P. (2017). Simplicity. Cham: Springer, pp.23-25.
Roy, C. (1996). Balthus. Boston: A Bulfinch Press BookLittle, Brown, p.18.
Pallasmaa, J. and MacKeith, P. (2013). Encounters 2. Rakennustieto Publishing, pp.190-196.
Burger, D. (2018). Journal Exploration. [image].
Eisenstein, S., Bois, Y. and Glenny, M. (1989). Montage and Architecture. Assemblage, [online] (10), p.110. Available at: http://archivesma.epfl.ch/2013/039/hartwell_enonce/hartwell_enonc%C3%A9_livret.pdf/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].
