All Those in Favor of Projective Architecture...
One thing that stood out to me in Somol and Whiting's article was their take on how projective architecture "does not make a claim for expertise outside the field of architecture nor does it limit its field of expertise to an absolute definition of architecture." An architect is more than a master builder in today's society. Today's architects are collaborating with policy makers, urban developers, economists, etc, regularly. This teamwork is critical because of our expertise. Sure, we understand the built environment, but we also understand, as Somol and Whiting say, "qualities of sensibility." However, we do not, and should not pretend to, understand issues outside of our scope. Whereas critical architecture is disengaged with context, projective architecture looks at context, culture, program, material, etc and approaches it in a non-pretentious manner. The attitude shift allows us to think about how design may effect these questions of civic policy or economics, not how to answer the questions.
Another piece that stood out to me was their example of WW's IntraCenter as projective architecture. I couldn't help linking this with our discussion on Junkspace and shopping malls. If Junkspace has a neutral form that can house any program but the IntraCenter disregards the overlap between form and program, is the IntraCenter a reaction to Junkspace? A step in a new, better direction?
Architect's have always been ones to have their foot in every door, just to simply design a building for the occupants. I do agree that we have to consider a large amount of concepts outside of architecture itself. Many times we are left to bring consultants in from many different fields if we are to make a true piece of architecture for the given program. Consulting within architecture is a quickly expanding business as design grows further beyond the physical world.
ReplyDeleteI think it is extremely important that we stay connected to the contexts that we design in and we consider all of the different factors of the environment, social atmosphere, and site layout. Critical architecture is great and can be appealing to the general public, but after clear analysis on those conditions listed above, I think often times it can fail.
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