An Argument for Alchemical Spaces: Synthesis of Metaphysics and Program

"Architectural Alchemy", a diagram by designer Leigha Dennis

The work of Rem Koolhaas has helped in the commodification of architecture through an architecture that accepts the laissez faire forces of the metropolis as a fertile soil.  And without the congestive forces of the capitalist metropolis, the success of Koolhaas would not have been possible. Late capitalism, which the icons of Koolhaas and his successors signify, has crushed the local and strived to form a world of uniformity.  But despite this critical view of Koolhaas, I believe he has offered a powerful way of creating architecture that not even his work has fully realized.  

Where the transformative power of Koolhaas architecture lies is in the section.  Here in his sections is a skillful chemistry centered on the reactivity of different programs to each other.  The building is “a laboratory of emotional and intellectual adventure,” writes Koolhaas.  There is a magnetic interiority that is visible in the section.  Different realities, radicalized far beyond those outside the building, are manifested by the play of program spaces.  But where the architecture of Koolhaas falls short, and where the experience of the architecture becomes insufficient, is when one remembers the importance of materiality.  In my opinion, buildings such as the Seattle Public Library, are half complete.  I mean, how dull would the interiors of the Downtown Athletic Club be if they only were of glass, steel, and concrete.

In the history of architecture, materials hold a power beyond helping to bridge functional needs.  Materials help to express where sits power, where does one dream, and where the ambitions of the heavens meet the earth.  We associate stone with buildings that contain programs of permanence, such as a gothic cathedral or a courthouse.  When we touch wood, we remember intimate programs that make up a house, or the functional programs that make up a rural farmstead.  And then there is light.  True light, not the “electric baths” that fascinated Koolhaas.  The light of the universe travels far beyond where we will ever reach, and we are supposed to ignore this gift from the heavens in our built environment?

What I am proposing is not an outright dismissal of Koolhaas architecture, nor a cult following, but, as far as I’m aware, an unexplored way.  We must take the chemistry of the section and turn it into an alchemy.  Synthesize the programs with their embodied materials that arise when we reflect on our memories.  Through an alchemy, we can reclaim a lost aspect caused by the culture of congestion.  We can reclaim the bodily experience of space which enriches our senses and that is so essential to our survival.