Bigger but Better
One of the issues with the modern movement is the infatuation with bigger being better. Rem Koolhaas elaborates on this dilemma in his article "Bigness," where he breaks down the five theorems of big architecture. One of these theorems explains how "the distance between core and envelope increases to the point where the facade can no longer reveal what happens inside...what you see is no longer what you get." This theorem not only applies to the depth of big architecture, but the height as well. Places such as New York City are idolized for their massive skyscrapers. Someone looking out the 100th floor of the Empire State Building is completely invisible to someone looking up from the street, and vice versa.
A great counterexample of New York's big architecture is Renzo Piano's Pompidou Center in Paris, France. Instead of hiding everything about the building through towering floors and hidden programs, the Pompidou celebrates its true identity by not only exposing its structure to the outside, but also color-coordinating all of its systems as a means to articulate its functionality. One could only wonder what it would be like if cities such as New York took an approach similar to the Pompidou for their big architecture.
There are also some examples of buildings that have similar outcomes as New York's big architecture, but are far more deliberate in their design. One of which is Adolf Loos' Muller House in Prague, Czech Republic. On one hand, the muller house completely hides what the interior holds through its bland, flat exterior. However, this is done to establish privacy between the owners living inside and their neighbors, whereas New York's big architecture masks the interior as a result of the careless notion that bigger is better.
It would be interesting to see if big architecture found a way to mimic the interior of the Muller House. Using what is known as Raumplan, Loos designed a cluster of rooms inside the Muller House in a way that emphasizes the scale of each interior space. By doing so, stairs had to be placed into each room considering the scattered floor plan, or lack thereof.
Hey Cameron,
ReplyDeleteIts interesting how you compared in between Pompidou Center and Muller house. As you explained, the internal programs would have significantly influenced the architects to take the respective decisions. On one hand, Pompidou center is public building which can be deliberately expose its interiors but on the other hand, Muller house is a private dwelling with privacy as one of it's core principles. When seeing through Rem Koolhaas lense of program as the driving element both of them were good in their respective places.
I agree, with your idea of disconnecting interiors and exteriors. May be we can find vertical farms inside the Mies's sky scrapper in the center of Chicago's downtown. It not only compensate the carbon footprint of itself, but can supply fresh oxygen for adjacent offices too.