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ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
eRIC rIVERA
service to architecture
The world is selective in the architecture it chooses to keep. Buildings kept often embody the ideal standard of approaching design with a simple solution, and so they live on as artifacts.1 Surviving examples provide a blueprint of architecture’s agreement with a particular climate and also shed light on the stories of an era’s technical advancement and social values.2 As the time line of architecture continues to extend further beyond its origins, reference to past era’s successes is important in revealing lessons for developing an authentic concept. The development of a concept is fundamental to creating authentic architecture, as concepts provide reasoning for decisions made and a design’s potential relies solely on the tight stitching of the concept with its context of place and present time. Buildings that do not live up to this standard often shut their doors prematurely, becoming abandoned when they do not suit well to a particular place or have lived beyond their time of intended use. The challenge for the current generation of architects is to re-purpose the stockpile of abandoned, but architecturally significant, buildings in hopes of integrating them into the future of architecture. By blending past and current architectural practices to guide the design of an extension to an older building, so that the contemporary attachment is appropriate to the nature of the existing shell and the present time. This is all in an effort to better grasp the concept of authenticity and its relationship to architecture. To begin, one must first understand the multitude of layers applicable to the notion of “authenticity” in relation to architecture. David Fixler, an architect and harvard associate professor says, “this topic is intensely discussed in philosophy and psychology in an effort to bridge the dialogue between the modernist’s search for truth and the postmodern hunger to extract meaning from this truth and represent it in a contemporary fashion.”3 On the other hand, the authenticity of real physical objects is recognized as a fluid and disputable phenomenon, causing a serious tangle in a topic difficult to pinpoint. However, every architectural object of significance is a part of a larger whole within its surroundings..
genuine elements of archiecture
America has been a place heavily influenced by outside forces. This is reflected in the architecture produced, which stems in part from the country spanning across various regional climates and the influential stamps left from cultural traditions. Consider a city example like New Orleans, Louisiana, distinctive for its mixture of French and African American culture that is responsible for the development of the shotgun house. This housing typology developed over a span of years to naturally adapt to New Orleans’s climate and culture. The shotgun house is authentic in its iteration of architecture focused on era-driven, contextual and cultural demands. The house demonstrates a generated concept intended to satisfy genuine utility, furthering the natural integration of design into the environment
Concept of Authenticity
Authenticity in architecture, as seen through past examples, sheds light on the technical and social differences between that period and those which exist today. Authenticity in architecture is a mixture of the site context, era of conception, and the genuine intent the building wishes to accomplish.1 Taking into consideration the origins of architecture as the traces from past buildings deepens the understanding of what makes people uniquely human.
Context
“Context is defined as the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs. In the words of Frank Gehry, ‘architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.’ Architecture should be connected to when and where it is being built, and yet, it should still stand out.”2 Furthermore, “contextual architecture responds to its surroundings by respecting what is already there.”3 The site context is best used in the concept of a project design to provide a functional building that conforms to the local rules of nature. The site context is essential to designing with the surrounding environment. This allows the project to blend in with nature and assimilate to its natural environment. Site context can reveal cultural traditions, which respond to local conditions such as climate and geography.
Era
An era is defined by its inseparable connection between time and the built space. There are three aspects of time that are important in this conversation between time and architecture. The first of these is the influence a space has on the experience of the passage of time. Second is the building’s patina, which exposes its perceived age as a result of alteration to the world over periods of time. The final aspect is timelessness, represented in the design principles of architecture preserved through past buildings.4 These aspects seem to encapsulate the human condition of a period through its craftsmanship and consistent attempts to innovate the founding principles of architecture to improve the overall quality of life.5 Each building preserved stands as yet another artifact set along a pathway to improve upon humanity’s quality of life.
Intent of Concept
Architectural concepts are primarily generated from the site, design brief, and building typology. Design intent is one of the only consistent elements that follows a project from beginning to end. The organization enables it to achieve a strategic order, allowing the building to be agile with change, efficient to run, and an engaging place to be.6 When applying this thought process to an existing building, reference of the building’s past use aids in the development of the original intent. By using the existing building’s intent to construct the new extension, the design can mange to be of a contemporary aesthetic, yet still follow the genuine intent of the previous structure.
ROBERT VENTURI
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