Inside Outside

Don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s like the first thing you learn in kindergarten but most of us still have the tendency to judge things based on their initial impression? In architecture that usually means the facade or “money shot” we find online. Obviously first impressions matter, but I don’t think we can view the building envelope as the entire building. There are so any other factors that go into architecture (people, program, form, structure, concept, etc.) that is it impossible to design for just one while ignoring the other factors.  The technological advances in the façade have been impressive and innovative in recent years but should not be the only focus in a building. The experience of the user and function of the building still need to be designed for, and therefore, the interior should not be forgotten. 

This week serves as an interesting contrast to our discussions the past couple of week about whom we, as architects, design for. The social, political, and economic situations that we touched on were less driven by outward appearance and more determined by the social impact and functional success of the project. Yes, there are huge differences across the architectural profession and there are some projects have successfully combined both sides of the argument, but without knowing the individual project context, it is hard for me to take sides on the interior vs. exterior debate. Can we be both inwardly and outwardly focused at different phases in a project?