Asplund Library addition
Case study: House N, Sou Fujimoto
Text: The shape of energy, Sean Lally
Architecture today extends beyond what can be defined or constrained by a boundary. This concept is emphasized by Sou Fujimoto and Sean Lally through their work which is closely linked to nature and building with it.
In House N, Fujimoto speaks of a house without a distinct boundary but ‘nested shells’. Treating the house like a city, he tries to create a balance between the inside and outside through a gradation in domain of the shells where the external encloses the plot incorporating the existing trees within the house. The design illustrates atmospherical and intangible logics due to the close proximity in which the human and natural environment coexist; along with disturbed logic due to the inclusion of trees within the boundary of the house.
With logics similar to that of Fujimoto, Lally in his text ‘The shape of energy’ elucidates the need to define an architectural form depending on the existing material energies and climatic conditions. With the present context in mind, it is crucial for architecture to be dynamic; one which responds to the changing environmental conditions and has the ability to upgrade itself. Design must be a medium that facilitates interaction with overlapping and separate spaces. It is crucial for the architect to build by identifying energy boundaries, thereby rendering a space which is site specific rather than a module that can be replicated anywhere in the world.
Using energy as a part of design rather than a factor that needs to be blocked by design is how the architecture of today must be defined.
The fine balance between the built and the unbuilt environment has always been a topic of great interest to me. For the purpose of research, I would like to study the response of architecture to the environment at a practical scale. How architecture, earlier perceived as something rigid can transform itself into something more advanced, fluid and responsive.
References
Image: http://www.weathers.cc/