READING:
Sadler, S., 2005. Beyond Architecture. Archigram: Architecture Without Architecture, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. pp90-138.
This reading illustrates the endless effect that society, economy and technology all have on the evolution of architecture, and how we perceive what constitutes architecture. Architecture is constantly being shaped and re-invented by trends in our everyday lives.
The relevance of the rules established in Classical architecture crafted by early civilisations is questioned, and the phrase “indeterminacy” is applied to the built environment. Here architecture is precised as network of information, where structure is transient and impermanent, it is “not of fixed extent or character”. Miles van der Rohe experiment with these notions, creating designs which portrayed an “infinite extension”.
Modern architecture was further reformed with a new notion of relationships. Here, connections between elements in all fields was given importance, a system where all elements are connected was perceived as the new modernity. This progression saw the classical programmes of architecture replaced by what was titled “The Programme”. Architecture was now becoming an entity connected with other elements in society, this lead to structures becoming sculpted by the people who where to be using them.
With these new connections, came the need for an architecture which was capable of change. As stated in the reading “Buildings with no capacity to change will become slums”... (pg 110).
Post-War western society saw a new wave in consumerism, products became expendable, and this change effected a societies understanding of permanence. This notion was reflected in the architectural philosophy of the time. Expend ability was seen as being an organic progression, organisms had a life-cycle, as did the products society consumed. Architecture was influenced by this idea, with a new concept of “architecture in change”, this was an architecture that mimicked the organic, by both growing and evolving with it's surroundings.
Urban mega-sale systems where intended to contain this architectural growth and provide a sense of structure, this was to result in seamless socio-architectural development. This notion of relationships, and connectivity was further explored in an what was then labelled a “kit-of-parts” architecture, where the structure is no longer a fixed form but instead in the product of a relationship between components, where no element exists in isolation.
An example of the strong influence a social climate can have on the architecture it produces, can be found in the birth of the prefab structure in the post-war America. People where looking for choice in the time period after being subjected to a strict and regimented way of life. Prefab housing offered this a wide selection, of customised design for a reasonable price.
