Merging of ‘The Extreme’s’

By Ashwini Mani | Published: November 9, 2013

Extremes

Saint Jeorme habitats depict three allegorical capabilities. The first being ‘The Desert’ in which the ideal habitat has been depicted where man has no support from sands/rocks. Man is relieved of responsibility and commits himself to a lone retreat by going to ‘Chalcian Desert’: “The Wilderness”. He stands alone between the ground and sky with the horizons ringed to infinity. In this habitat there are few material temptations. The author describes the desert as desolate, remote, fearful, rocky place. Where man desires to have retreat from the urban scenario and lead a natural extension from nomadic life. A place apart from society was conceived as the energizer of man made that reflected the changes in man’s pleasure and pursuits. This effected the way he remodeled the landscape both rural and extension of habitat, built fabric also the components of habitat. The idea of ‘Wild’ was conceived as the source of creative energy. Desire of freedom was found in Nature which spreads undiminishable freshness.

In the second habitat ‘The Study’ man is no longer exposed but inside protected. There is a calmness depicted which indicates the World being at peace. In this habitat there is a desire for built order supported by civilized services. There is an attempt to shut out the inclement weather and temper the climate. In this habitat professionalism is given importance, equipped with required tools. There is only visual connectivity to nature, it is distant and not very clear. All the material conveniences is depicted. Flowers, birds and animals as man’s companion. Study as an ‘Machine’ for living in. There is a change from Renaissance style, free from classical symmetry and ordering. The cell is portrayed attractive, supported within and by urban order and easy accessible to all the intellect all over the world. The author suggests that the creativity relies on being cocooned (irrespective of urban or nature).

The third habitat Saint Jeorme and the ‘Grotto’ is the combination of the above two extreme  that is the ‘Idyll Nature’ and ‘Idyll Thoughts’. There is visual connectivity to the city at a distance and yet trying to maintain the peace and freshness of the nature by making the cave s his habitat. In the depiction he has bought his study to the cave, trying to strike the right balance between the two habitats.  The author concludes that the method of living the idyll represented in the two habitats is by creating fragments of enclave. The merging of two idylls be the ideal for ‘joyous being’. The architectural relationship with its context . As architects  are we being sensitive  to the surrounding built  and the unbuilt?????

Is there a need for ‘MINIMAL CELL’  to be conceived as an ‘ART’ ?? What role does Modern Architecture have in humans existence???

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Inside Outside

By Akanksha | Published: November 9, 2013

taditional courtyard house in india

Rudofsky introduces the topic by arising a doubt in the minds of the people -Have the amenities of modern life have fostered the belief that we have conquered the inconveniences of our climate. Just because we are able to heat our sidewalks, have ice skating rings in summer and infinity pools in winter we can’t say that we have come in terms with the outdoor climate. Thus climate cannot be conquered, it does not surrender or vanish. One either lives with it or turns a blind eye to it. We are anything but at peace with the climate.It is said that “what cannot be helped, one tries to ignore”. But climate is more than the air we breathe-everything from our skin color to our spirit, restlessness, diet, taste is affected by the climate.

People continue to live a normal life without emerging in the open air. The future lies in people living underground without impairing their happiness and the only business they would have with the ground is dumping garbage. Is it the only answer to a hostile climate?

Our forefathers were given a choice to select a place for habitation. They chose New England or less habitable regions of America than Guina, a country which is blessed with the perpetual weather conditions and is self-sufficient, where all things were in abundance without labor of man required. In short the perfect country to settle in.They choose England because they thought that facing a hostile climate would build up their stamina. Thus they made no attempt to build permanent settlement .They lived in log cabins.

The hostile climate did not initiate an intimate relationship of the indoors with the outdoors. The house was the only relationship and probably a garden. A garden which was just an element but had no relationship with the indoor as well as its inmates due to the hostile climate. Thus the selection of New England was not only a blunder, it also breaded people who alone had the stamina to face it.

“This situations arises a question, “Does climate control end at ones doorsteps?”

Ideally the answer is no, it’s about making yourself feel at home out of doors. We should be able to do all activities outdoors like eat sleep play, work. People who dwell within their indoors make no attempt to build a relationship with the indoor and the outdoor. They do not think of a garden as a potential living space. It’s just an ornament whereas the garden should be a place for lying in the grass, swinging.growing flowers. For some moods, some times of the day, some kind of friendship, people need a place to eat, sit, play, talk together, be still yet be outdoors. But in present scenario the use of glass in this modern contemporary world has reduced the garden to a spectator through a picture window.

This situations forces the author to give examples of the ancient gardens of the world such as the Hadrian’s villa, gardens of Pompeii. The historical gardens were valued for their habitableness and privacy which are conspicuously absent in the modern day contemporary gardens. The common features shared by these historical gardens were that these gardens were an essential part of the house, they were termed as outdoor living rooms. They had vegetation in abundance and the materials used would induce a feeling of indoors. Apart from vegetation they had other elements such as the bench, gate, fence which sometimes give the same pleasure as a tree would.

article-0-03B1F305000005DC-903_634x440 Hadrians-villa

The gardens of Pompeii had another special element, “the wall”. Although the wall was non-utilitarian it had several functions, it was a piece of sculpture between the tress yet it gave a sense of order which made the gardens habitable.

pompei-and-garden-web

Therefore I would conclude that “The Conditioned Outdoor Room” could be termed as environmental relationship because it talks about the relationship of an indoor space with an outdoor space and positional relationship because it talks about different eras as well as the present scenario.

POSSIBLE TOPIC OF INTEREST- Trying to revive the primitive concept of courtyards. Are we taking a step towards global warming or a step behind?

 

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DISTINCT YET COEXISTING

By mamta | Published: November 9, 2013

Guha

Photo : GUHANATARA RESORT, BANGALORE INDIA

Project under study:NEVER NEVER LAND by Architect Andres Jacque

Text under study:FORM AND FUNCTION FOLLOW CLIMATE by PHILLIPPE RAHM and GILLES CLEMENT

Architecture exists within the environment oblivious to the fact whether it chooses to blend within in or remain distinct form it. What also needs to be understood is that similar to its existence it does not alone belong to the people residing or utilizing it but also to the public as a whole for it may not directly influence it but is not isolated from the social, political and financial aspects of the surrounding.

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FORM / FUNCTION / CLIMATE

By nielparekh | Published: November 9, 2013

My reading was T5 ‘form and functions follows climate’ by Philip Rahm

 ’a’  Interactive spaces in Venice                 ’b’  Arial view of Venice

‘c’    Desert House                 ’d’                Typical house in Bagjdad

In this text writer expresses his concerns to the climatical changes and approach of architects, policy makers and other people associated to the building sector all over the world towards it. He talks about theories regarding programme, architectural form and climate – ‘form follows function’ and ‘function follows form’ and then he concludes by advocating his theory of ‘form/function follows climate’.

The writer begins the topic by talking about Sustainable development, how policies affect building sectors which in turn affects climate. Policies generate typical response to the architectural form and functions which might help an individual dwelling to some extent but it is not a solution to architectural form of clusters or cities. He also talks about the introduction of reinforced concrete in the beginning of 20th century and transformation of design by digital technologies by the end of 20th century which not only affects the architectural form but also climate.

The main focus of the text was on the design theories which are being followed in different eras and what should be the approach in present times and future. Writer talks about two main conflicting theories ‘Form follows Functions’ and ‘Functions follows Form’. Before 19th century architecture was all about statement, symbolism decorative ornamentation, which was challenged by the onset of a theory ‘form follows function’ in late 19th century. So the approach to the architectural solution became more rationalist, functionalist and universalist, resultant to this approach gave rise to the architectural form which was a derivation of function or simply a spacial expression of programme. Again this theory was challenged in the mid of 20th century by Louis Kahn and many others by the onset of the theory ‘function follows form’. In abstract way, this gave rise to a system of hierarchies which is an assembly of spaces but independent of programme. This makes it rigid in terms of structure, but flexible in terms of programme.

Further writer gives his hypothesis on form-function relationship. He gives rise to the new design theory ‘Form/Function follows Climate’. This gives rise to the new spacial organization in which function and form can emerge spontaneously in response to climate. This is explained by various examples of cities and climactical conditions. For example, The lack of potable water source gave birth to the present Urban shape of Venice and its squares which became focal points of the social interaction(refer image ‘a’ & ‘b’). Similarly, courtyards in the desert houses express the need of open space protected from sandstorms (refer image ‘c’). Also in Baghdad, the hierarchal spaces from cellar to roof have variation in temperature and humidity which allows spaces to be used for multiple functions depending on the time of the day and season (refer image ‘d’).

Conclusion :

Capacity of architecture should not be bound by preconceived functions. The idea of ‘form follows climate and function can change as per the time and generation’, suggests architects to design an architectural form based on present climate and which can adapt to changing climatical conditions so that form remains unchanged even if function changes.

Thus, I will categorize this text into an environmental relational logic.

Inferences of debate :

My inferences depending on the debate on all the topics is a cry for meaning to an architectural practice of the present era. All the writers are focusing on response to context and climate.

Topic of research :

  • I would like to do a research on ‘Adaptation of vernacular architecture in present context using advanced digital techniques’.
  • I was inspired to do a research on this topic because after reading this text and debate as based on all the text I realized that architecture practice at present is not based on context and climate. If we look at examples of Vernacular Architecture, we will realize they are more sustainable, as they rely on using locally available material and it is more efficient to the climatical conditions of that particular region.
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Philippe Rahm-Form and function follow climate

By Hriday Siddharth | Published: November 9, 2013
evolution

evolution

Sustainable development!!!

Sustainable development as a term and practice has been a part of the colloquial diction of current day architecture. As righty quoted and explained in the passage sustainable development is “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”  The theory that is explained in the introductory part of the passage is that the results of growing awareness and inclination towards sustainable development may be less visible, than in architecture, which is a byproduct of evolving digital technologies and new materials.

The concepts of sustainable development, described by the author as “space and energy management”, are the factors, which are politically, and socially critical, along with being architecturally important.

Form, Function, Climate!!

The recent history and development of architecture have been based on two very conflicting theories. The initiation of these theories started with the Louis Sullivan’s dictum of 19th century, in which his proposal, “form follows function”, challenged the decorative and symbolic practices of architecture. The idea of the proposal was to be rationalist and functionalist at the core and to be able to give form to functions that were predefined at various levels. The contradiction and challenge to this theory came from Louis Kahn in 1960 when he announced, “ function follows form”. The notion of this new theory was based on the realisations from the history that the functions and needs may change with time but the architectural forms will persist. The theorist hence concentrated on a new system of composition and design in which he treated architecture to be delinked from a functional program. The hierarchies of spaces hence created were in relation to each other, and although the built fabric was rigid, the functional usage would be flexible.

The author now talks about the concept that “function and form follows climate”, which he expresses to be the right direction of sustainable architecture in which the development, free of “formal and functional pre-determinations”. He wants to explore the scenario where in the architecture is completely deprogrammed and open to changes in weather conditions, seasons. He plans to replace the traditional approach to design and change the constraints, which are majorly functional and symbolic in nature, in order to achieve the freedom of use and interpretation.

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“Place is to architecture, what meaning is to language”

The author puts forward an analogy, about the various cities and climatic regions. The lack of portable water of Venice for example, was the trigger behind the current day urban shape of the city. The squares of the city, the charming social places are all the result of the same necessity.

In the same vein, the presence of courtyard in the desert houses is the result of a requirement of an open space protected from dust storm. As explained about Baghdad, the spaces from cellar to roof have a variation in temperature and humidity, which allows the spaces to be used for various functions according to the time of the day and the season. On similar lines, the author gives us examples about the cool rooms, from the country houses of France.

The various examples imply to and highlight the manner in which the local architecture in terms of forms and functions have been a response to the local climate.

Independent Architecture!!!

Philippe Rahm in his conclusion talks about the capacity of architecture, as not being tied to a function, but being an independent interpretation which is not responding to the preconceived functional requirements. The talk of the passage was aimed to explain the readers that the way various modules and styles of architecture have developed over generations that have been a very efficient way of living for the locals of those regions, but the evolution of architecture over generations as a response to function and forms have taken a direction which is preconceived and which the author believes is not necessarily the efficient.

Talking of the response to climate and the way humans have adopted to the nature and climatic changes in various zones of the world, a connection to various topics of the assignment can be established, and noticed that the topic of this discussion can be slated as an example of environmental relationship.

Sustainability – Climate responsiveness?? Energy efficient??

The process of contemplation does result in many questions, which are unanswered.

When talking about Sustainable development, how do you strike a balance between the new age technologies, digital tools and the architecture, which has been developed and evolved over generations of acclimatization???

Is going back, the new going forward and developing???

How much should nature and architecture intervene with each other so that the results are optimized for both the sides???

 

“There is no point trying to close the windows and designing a sophisticated method of cooling the building, when all you have to do is open the windows”

                                                                                           - Working in the Region.

 

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