Late Critical Regionalism

 Well, it seems this post is late by a week or two. 

But, Critical regionalism is still an important topic and one that was reinforced in this weeks discussions. It is such an odd topic because, per my understanding, it is a tactic of striving for a sense of place, site, local material, local strategies, but honing in on an importance of being different. It's not that I am arguing different is bad, because it's quite the opposite. However, the EMPHASIS on being different seems like, being critical of the local environments while still adhering "mostly" to those environments, seems like wasted energy. Rather, extra focus on site, location, and the surroundings, will arguably give you a much more meaningful "difference" within the design of the building. 

That is not to say that great projects have not been established from the realm of critical regionalism, however, it seems that the striving to be a part of this movement has led to more awkward design than strategic winners, which is a miss in my book. 

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The different lies between these two images, the top being the awkward and clunky new approach in a highly traditional area VS the ingenuity of the rural studio and utilizing creative thinking to support a community through new and accessible means of design.