09 : Research : Time-Based Architecture

Following on from the reading, here are a few exemplars of time-based Architecture:

Cedric Price Potteries Thinkbelt Project (1964) - This theoretical project was a reaction against the elitist university institutions (which Price believed kept education separate from the masses) and the loss of skilled manufacturing workers/developers through the ‘Brain Drain’ and de-industrialisation of the post-war UK. Price proposed a new type of science and technology teaching institution. The ‘Potteries thinkbelt’ was a series of interconnected faculties and student housing which was linked through the existing road and rail networks (which were underused at the time). The Rail connections not only acted as a link between sites but also acted a teaching rooms, labs and workshops. This was achieved by having container styled teaching units which could be lifted by cranes at ‘transfer’ area onto or on a train depending on the requirements of the institution. Price believed that the creation of such an institution would create employment and innovation in the area and thus aid a better quality of life in the North Staordshire Area.

Archigram 'Walking City' proposed building massive mobile robotic structures, with their own intelligence, that could freely roam the world, moving to wherever their resources or manufacturing abilities were needed. Various walking cities could interconnect with each other to form larger 'walking metropolises' when needed, and then disperse when their concentrated power was no longer necessary. Individual buildings or structures could also be mobile, moving wherever their owner wanted or needs dictated.

These are both theoretical examples, but they still provide a great source of inspiration.

09 : Reading : Time-Based Architecture

Last semester I researched a lot about Time-Based Architecture.  This book became particularly useful as it described a number of projects and essays about how there is always a time-factor present in any design project.

Here are some quotes from the book, which I believe are relevant to this project:

In the late 1960s, serious research was done into techniques that would allow buildings to adapt to meet the demands made by time.  However, the desire for flexibility led to programmatically neutral, characterless buildings.

Society is changing at such speed that buildings are faced with new demands which they should be in a position to meet.  There are times when buildings change function during construction or even during the design process.  A new approach, therefore, is to design buildings that are able to cope with such changes, in other words buildings that respond to the time factor.

Designing for the unknown, the unpredictable, is the new challenge facing architects today.  'Form follows function' is giving way to concept like polyvalence, changeability, flexibility, disassembly and semi-permanence.  The design is becoming an innovative tool for developing new spatial and physical structure that generate freedom.

An important design strategy for conditioning mixes of function and interchangeability of living and working is to provide more than one access system.

So it's all about the architect being disposed to designing not just for one condition but always for so much more.  Perhaps this covers the words polyvalence, competence and performance.  You have to be constantly aware of the fact that everything you make should be open to new interpretations as time goes by.

03 : Tutorial : Flexible

Create stories that describe your ideas with specific contexts, users, situations and strategies.
We will call them architectural fictions.

Building on what was previously discussed with the other themes, our group discussed if everyone worked from home,  What if children were schooled from home over the internet as well?  How would someones house be flexible enough to accommodate all of these different functions? This happens already in rural areas...  What would happen to our need to our need for social interaction?

02 : Tutorial : Flexible

This weeks tutorial allowed for exploration in groups about of the four different themes (Virtual / Flexible / Mobile / Distributed) and how they benefit an Australian Capital and its agents.  Naturally, some were easier to explore than others.

A lot of the groups discussions regarding flexibility, lead to the discussion of transparency of information.  How do you decide what is hidden and what is revealed?  There was also a discussion about removing elements which are not flexible (such as services) and positioning them on the exterior.  How flexible can these elements be?  Such as it is measured in a time-scale, something which becomes more or less flexible over time; or is it measured by how often it can be 'flexed'?