Win-win Control Games

John Habraken mentioned interesting opinions about control and ownership in the Structure of the Ordinary. Human beings play control games every day and have a goof grasp of control patterns in operation.  The architects keep trying to control the built environment and the clients trying to control their own living environment. If they have different tastes, here come the conflicts. Mies van der Rohe “wins”. He made the house into an exhibition room which successfully expelled its owner. Residents in Kowloon Walled city “win”. They turned the area into a growing city with the form of “anarchic urbanism”. Fully controlled by the architect ensure the buildings look good but allow no participation for the owner while developed by the owners, the building become a monster of darkness. Do they really win?

Therefore, I was shocked at the “half of a good house” project. Alejandro Aravena tried to offer a balanced win-win solution. He set a frame, offered the rule of the game, and allowed participation and pride from the owners. Looking at the photos of this project after 10 years, you can feel the residents are trying to create a harmonious living environment with their colorful halves. They complete the community together. I should say this win-win experiment may have more realistic limitations, but it is really a beautiful class for architects, as Aravena says: Life ranges from very basic needs to very deep desires, from ordinary activities to extraordinary events, from the self to the collective.