Why Critical Regionalism Matters

At the end of their essay on critical regionalism, the authors emphasized that critical regionalism is not supposed to conflict with new technologies, but rather complement them. This had me thinking about how new “styles” of architecture can come in consequence to tactfully applying universal new technologies to buildings that are designed following the points of critical regionalism.  In theory, each region would develop new and distinct building morphologies that would perform at their best while also giving an identity to the place. This obviously is not limited to form, but to anything that gives a building a specific appearance such as facades. 

As an example, I use these two buildings in China. They both use modern building technics but their envelops are very different. While the Ndigbo museum uses a traditional building method that builders are familiar with, responds well to the local climate and the materials are readily available, the Guangzhou Opera House does not.

As a result, the Ningbo museum starts to look better and better with the pass of time and has become a symbol of pride for people of the city (same people that were critical of it at the beginning).

Guangzhou Opera's façade, on the other hand, is falling apart. The quality of the materials, the builders' unfamiliarity with them, and the local weather have turned this Zaha building that was supposed to be a symbol for the city, into an embarrassment.