Hi all! I finally caught up with all the readings and would like to make a few comments on some of them.
I really enjoyed the interviews, especially one of them – with Dominique Perrault. Perhaps this is not going to be a library-related comment, but rather a very generic one, but I absolutely loved how he said that “architecture is a violent action”. Specifically, he talks about walls and how placing a wall that would separate a space is a “violent action” and almost an intrusion into privacy. I think this statement is absolutely astonishing. Quite often, in studios we tend to forget the importance of a plan. We are often too engaged with the conceptual design and at the end we merely disperse the programmatic elements based on the principle “what can fit where”. I love plans and often become obsessed with its perfect organization. I think that every wall, every door, etc if it’s placed somewhere – there has to be a specific reason why. Only then it would be possible to create a meaningful space that would work both inside and out!
I also loved how he talked about facades and materials (materials, especially). He said that everything in architecture can be considered a material – the client, the site, the context. I think that we tend to forget about this too. It is extremely hard however, to remember all the parts of the design and their importance and incorporate them into the final scheme.
Architecture is by definition almost a desire to resist entropy and that makes it a "violent" action by default in a way. I think it is indeed important to remember at all times the impact our decisions can have, but only to be aware of the power of architecture, rather than be intimidated by it.
ReplyDeletePerrault talking about the placing of a wall brings in mind one of Richard Serra's most astonishing artworks, "Shift" (1970-72, http://www.flickr.com/photos/rufusknight/3099998470/) which portrays exactly that power of one of the most primary architectural elements, the wall. Even in an open field rather than in a building, these deep but minimal "incisions" on the landscape are enough to create a reference system, define areas, produce separations, directionality, sense of the horizon and the slope of the ground and so much more. In a way they both establish new relationships and highlight the ones that are already there but are usually unnoticed.