Maggie Koerth-Baker’s article “Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow” published on www.nytimes.com emphasised to me that if we do not look at what is happening to us now, we will not be able to adequately plan for what should happen in the future.
In the field of architecture, I think it is crucial to always be contemplating the future as we are creating buildings for it. As architecture is such a broad field that touches upon so many aspects of life it could be said that changes in the way we live and the way the world functions, no matter how small, would have some sort of affect upon architecture. In conjunction with the theme of the article, various technologies currently rising into prominence now, which at first may appear completely unrelated to architecture, or otherwise irrelevant altogether, could have drastic impacts on the way we design.
An strong example is one related to the Suburban Theme Group for this unit which proposes virtual shopping in lieu of the eradication of “brick & mortar” type retail stores. This would undoubtedly affect the way we live and socialise and therefore our home and places of recreation.
Ideas about the future are also discussed in the article “Beyond Architecture” published in Archigram. It focused on architectural possibilities of the future; in this case “Architecture without architecture”. The key theme of the reading being “indeterminacy”, defined by the author as “Not of fixed extent or character, vague, left doubtful”. In the context of “Architecture without architecture” it was meant “of varying evaluation. Not one answer. Open-endness”.
The article inferred that buildings should inhibit “open-endedness” with the ability for constant change to suit our every change wants and needs. Building that were limited in their capacity to change we were to “only become slums or ancient monuments”.
What I have gained from both these readings is that change affects architecture, no matter how seemingly irrelevant, and architecture that prohibits the natural course of change shortens its longevity.
When thinking further upon this virtual change and its affects on architecture, I started thinking of past examples of change and architecture and the Industrial Revolution came to mind. This revolultion had massive implications on architecture and the built environment in terms of allowing the construction of structures of never-before-imagined size and form. It laid the foundation for growth and innovation in the architectural sense of physical mass.
Now the “virtual revolution” sees architecture going the opposite way, disappearing – architecture without architecture. What will architecture be when it does not consist of solid mass? Will it still be architecture?
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