Readings..

The Aspatial City
A, Framis. 2012. "The Aspatial City". Accessed August 15, 2012. http://juhavantzelfde.com/post/23506562343/the-aspatial-city.
 
As Alicia began to discuss the ever changing and growing use of technology and how it can serve us and interact with us I found myself recoiling. I am somewhat resistant to the way our society so easily latches onto the new technology, and I realise it improves our lives, maybe I am just resistant to the change itself. It has developed this need to be constantly connected. This 'continuous partial everywehre' that she discusses.

It seems to almost be a dependency, we can't do anything without being completely dependant on some form of technology. In my mind this feels contrary to sustainability and the kind of future I'd see in a regional community. But maybe I'm being stereotypical.

While I don't consider myself far fetched or crazy enough to need to buy any of these technology blocking devices she talks about, when presented the opportunity to almost start fresh in Woodford I find myself not wanting whizz bang technology but rather a back to basics approach in order to get sustainability right.


Shearing Layers
Brand, S., 1997. Shearing Layers, in How buildings learn : what happens after they’re built, London: Phoenix Illustrated. pp12-23

This article was very interesting, having a good friend in interior I'm aware of this odd rivalry and misunderstandings between the architect and the interior designer. But really they need each other, and the interior is just important as the exterior in my opinion.

The reading shows the same diagram Murry produced to highlight the flexibility and fleeting nature of the interior of a building. It was interesting thinking about the way a building can be so completely different just by changing the interior. Also the fact that this adaption is inevitable, new people, new times new ideals adapt design.

This adaptability is necessary to predict in order to ensure a building shell that lasts as long as possible in order to be more sustainable. A flexible space services more benefits than one, being able to serve multiple functions and people in a day. I quite like the design imperative Brand presents, that "An adaptive building has to allow slippage between the differently-paced systems of Site, Structure, Skin, Services, Space plan and Stuff" (20). I need to have a holistic understanding of what I'm designing for in order for the architecture to be successful and adaptable.