The need to uncover new zones of inhabita- tion within traditionally homogeneous compo- sitions is in part a response to new concepts in how we construe meaning in architectural form, brought about by the evolution of the computer industry. This architecture invests the boundary zone of the building with extra-tectonic logic beyond the simple building envelope. It reveals and exploits once-hidden layers of construction, as in the work of Herzog and de Mueron. The inhabitation of the wall section and the pre- sentation of the buildng boundary as a zone relies on the ability of the eye to be a critical
morphological and extra-tectonic logics Patrick Harrop and Andrew Vernooy I is to treat the building as a complete three dimensional skin: a physical and conceptual synthesis of virtually all building elements into the complex and subtle ecosystem of a living epidermis. instrument where meaning is contrived and inferred from the depth of a building’s skin rather than the morphological imprint of its surface.
n the last half of the twentieth century con- struction courses in architecture schools emphasized a morphological approach to understanding form. Construction of a building was understood to be the result of a set of internal physical conditions, like struc- ture, that were read through the surface of the building envelope. Internal conditions were printed onto the envelope by modulating its surface. The articulation of the building envelope was understood as a complex set of interactions between structure, skin and nature. The archi- tect set these interactions and interdependent relationships into motion using rules essentially prescribed by industry. While this approach afforded formal complexity, form generation was limited to clear and self evident architec- tural gestures. It is with the entry of digital technology into architecture that we begin to see a shift in the way the envelope of the building relates to the structural frame. Consider the two models shown here: above is a student proj- ect from the 1970s, inspired by Aalvar Aalto’s Baker 1949 skating rink at MIT in Cambridge, Massachussetts. Shape is a consequence of its structural system. On the right is a recent sec- tional model of the Patkaus’ Newton Library from the 1990s. Its emphasis is on the highly articulated relationship between the envelope and the frame. In considering these two models, one could surmise that strategies of figuration have begun to move past the tectonics of morphology to issues of extra-tectonic logic associated with envelope configuration. Recently we have become preoccupied with the notion of building as a complete biological system in and of itself, as opposed to an inter- play of complex relationships that underpins a structural morphology. The growing trend
For architecture one could say that we are gradually moving away from a schematic understanding of the building which empha- sizes an elemental approach to design, towards an animated approach to exploring archi- tecture’s formal potential through a more sophisticated understanding of its boundary zone. Architecture grows into being instead of assembling itself from discrete but related relationships. Rather than oversimplifying the practice of making architecture into a free form formal exercise, the architectural persis- tence of vision is broadening the temporal and magnitudinal scale of our work.
This re-consideration of the wall section as a zone rather than a surface, has generated an even more refined approach to the internal space and form of the building skin itself. In fact, each of the complex material layers of a building skin offers an architectural opportu- nity for elaboration and even inhabitation. Take for example the work by Cambridge archi- tects Kennedy and Violich where the intersti- tial space between plywood veneers has been cleverly exploited to integrate network wiring, lighting and ventilation.
Andrew Vernooy,AIA and Pat- rick Harrop who works with digital technology, are cur- rently teaching at the Univer- sity of Manitoba.
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ON SITE review 6: BEAUTY
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