I can't really pinpoint when I learned how to "design" or when I developed my own design process but it didn't start with reading articles by Eisenman, or Koolhaas. It doesn't fully make sense to me because I started designing more than 20 years ago, but somehow these two men have made an appearance in my subconscious because now that I am aware of their architectural position I relate to both. I feel like in the first few semesters of graduate school I took a more indexical approach because, at the time, it seemed to make the most sense, to use geometry. Also, that was the coolest way to explain the steps to my final form. Starting with a massing parti model poking a hole through the top, twisting it 90 degrees to the left, rotating the front side then flipping the entire thing upside, and bam! Starting the cote ten semester, I began thinking more diagrammatically; the program and much of the design were driven by research. I've noticed the deeper I get into this architecture program the more and more context-driven my methodology gets which makes total sense.
Hey Staci,
ReplyDeleteI think that the diagrammatic approach to architecture, has far more merit than that of the indexical approaches found throughout practice. Take Libeskind, The Jewish Museum functions well, is iconic, and powerfully evocative. That is well and good, but Libeskind developed the aesthetic of this design into his own highly commodified (and repetitive) style. I havent found a single Koolhaas design to look remotely alike, but why does a Libeskind design in Canada or Colorado look like the one in Berlin?
Stacy this comment is so relatable! This week in class when we were discussing the indexical process I thought to myself "yeah I do that" and then when we moved to diagrammatic I had the same thought. It is interesting how these two design methods find their way to us. I wonder what other methods I have used subconsciously without know who or how I was influenced.
ReplyDeleteStacey, I completely understand where you are coming from with this post. The differences in design approach are both drastically different, but relatable at the same time. It is almost as if we do not realize what we are doing until someone points it out to us in this sense of design. Maybe each approach is how the mind creates new designs, but as we learn more about the world (or context) a shift can occur?
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked to see that two men were responsible for my formative years of learning Architecture! I'm curious what other architects have been 'lurking in my subconscious' that have influenced the way I think about architecture today. I also think it's interesting to pinpoint who today might have the same effect on the future generation.
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