Digita l Sha lott
on the parallels of building and writing in the Virtual Age
by linda just
Linda Just
16
In his 1982 text The Architecture of the City , Aldo Rossi described built forms as ‘urban artefacts’ to present the dual nature of architecture. Namely, that it is both the built world as a whole, as well as its constituent parts – which are, in turn, not only physical entities, but also the history and culture laid upon them. This duality – the notion of the abstract and concrete – is innate to the architectural discipline, reflected in the fact that even the word building describes both the act and the product. Consider then the medium through which Rossi chose to convey the idea: text. In many ways writing bears marked similarities to building; they are both the aforementioned act and product. Both are developed by the assembly of smaller elements that each carry their own significance, in addition to the larger [sometimes different] connotation of the combined whole. Writing is used to capture the ephemeral – ideas, events, emotions – and present it in a comprehensible fashion to other individuals, achieved through structured phrases and vocabulary. Buildings conceptually echo this process with their concrete delineations of intangible space. Occupants experience defined spaces through their constituent material and geometry – everything from vaulted ceilings to windows to stair treads. These elements, interpreted through their relationship to the human body via haptic, aural or visual perception, are the architectural vocabulary by which
one reads and understands architecture; they can define the successful use and navigation of spaces. Buildings that do not account for this phenomenon, or aggressively deny architecture’s relationship to the body in scale and proportion, will almost always sit negatively in public perception. For this reason, much of the architectural design process still happens through physical analogues. Concepts may be expressed through graphic means but model-making is still a regular tool. Physical samples must still be reviewed before final approval is given, are are almost always examined in daylight and at full scale. This assures the connection between ideas and reality is strong and present. That importance of material is no less present in print; how and what one reads is constantly influenced by colour, texture and form. MacLuhan’s observations of the relationship between medium and message are demonstrated in every well-published monograph as much as it is in a newsprint flyer. Paper stock, typeface, layouts speak to and of the hands that made them, and the eyes that will ultimately interpret their content. At the very best, readers are drawn to touch and inspect and revisit on multiple occasions. This is perhaps the increasingly overlooked potential of writing, though it is also the reason typewriters still carry a mystique and software developers stubbornly employ skeuomorphic interfaces and pseudo-script fonts for notepad
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