Creative Constraints of Everyday Environments
“Too bad nobody wants to do a background building.” – Lawrence Anderson, Dean of MIT SoA
The modern-day architect is hindered
by modern day problems. In the past, our work revolved around exclusivity and “special”
buildings – paying absolutely no mind to the common man’s world. New materials,
techniques, and societal changes has brought about a newfound admiration for
the everyday environment (multi-family housing, workplaces, schools, etc.). But
if architecture is supposed to be extraordinary – how can everything be designed
as such? As stated by Habraken, if a building is of high quality – beautiful,
well-functional, well executed, and abides by local custom – then it is
extraordinary.
But do these constraints limit creativity? Some might say “of course”, but a good architect will recognize the opportunities that can be born from such constraints. Creativity is important because it allows us to critically evaluate restrictions and design a more beautiful solution. These restrictions have the ability to create a more dynamic and complex project. This is what makes a good architect an artist. With this mindset, the everyday environment becomes a more exciting place to design, and there is no such thing as a “background building”.
Building a background building is hard for architects because let's be real: we're all architects because we want to make cool shit. To set ourselves aside and design something non extraordinary goes against our nature, but let's look at architecture without architects and purely at what makes a building a "background building." Either it's a building that has become so accustomed in its environments that we no longer notice it, or it's a building that is so contextual that it elevates the buildings around it. This is done in two ways. It can be a building that has been there for a while and has become a part of the landscape and the daily life of its users has molded it to become a natural part of the landscape or it's a building that was designed to fit into the daily life of the users. Regardless a background building deals with its occupants so that it doesn't feel out of place. Personally I would find that at its core to be good enjoyable architecture. Perhaps the profession, or rather our education, needs to recognize that good architecture doesn't have to be flashy and should focus on making our lives better.
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