I came in like a wrecking bulldozer

Week 10

I came in like a wrecking bulldozer

At the beginning of my architecture schooling, I always felt as if my architecture design NEEDED to have an impact on both the site and the people. If the landscape and topology did not support that, drastic measures would need to occur, but I was wrong. Architecture should not always challenge the environment, but instead be a collaborative entity. After reading and discussing Kenneth Frampton: Towards a critical Regionalism: Six Points for the Architecture of Resistance. Understanding the culture of the region and the relationship it has with the architecture must be taken into account. But that should not kill creativity or innovation, but instead added features to elevate the outcome of the design. A Frampton quote that resonates with this is, “The bulldozing of the irregular topography into a flat site is clearly a technocratic gesture which aspires to a condition of absolutes placeness, where the terracing of the same site to receive the stepped form of the building is an engagement in the act of “cultivating” the site.” Here Frampton challenges the notion of using high machinery to penetrate through the site, instead of respecting and incorporating its topography constraints within the architecture design. Well-respected architecture is achieved through the notion that encompasses all the design aspects. From the site, to the client and contracts, exc. We should view these constraints as challenges and not take the "bulldozing approach".