Time based or season based architecture, which varies according to
evolving and changing conditions is generally linked to extreme climates.
Window shutters or easily assembled temporary structures such as carports or
entry vestibules materialize from assembled components to protect us in winter
and eventually come down in summer as effortlessly as they arose. Referenced by
Bernard Rudofsky in Architecture without
Architects as a vernacular example of this time based adaptability, the lemon
growing greenhouses (limonaie) on the shores of Lake
Garda in Northern Italy portray a simple reversible and adaptable
building strategy. Simple planking covers the pergola’s skeletal roof in winter
while glazing is inserted in the spaces between the columns to construct a
makeshift green house to protect plants. A building that not only adapts but
also facilitates changes can heighten its useful service life.
Programming this type of adaptability is central to open building theory.
Applying this type of adaptability to all building systems and functions
requires some form of systemic rationalization as well
as complete separation of adjacent units; building systems must me designed
and coordinated to minimize restrictions between owners and neighbours without disturbing
collective infrastructural integrity. Proponents of open building such as
Stephen Kendall have explored the separation of supports (invariable
infrastructure) and infill (variable fit-out strategies) since the latter half
of the twentieth century. Theory argues for systemic mechanical disentanglement
by using components and reversible connections that facilitate change by unscrambling
systems differentiating individual and collective possibilities. This individualization
reduces the risk associated with residential retrofit lessening waste.
Professor Kendall has explored the practicality of open building theory.
His retrofitting kits, Kitfit prototypes, posit infill as building parts
that facilitate change within dwelling systems where partitions and MEP systems
are completely inter-coordinated and independently assembled for simplifying retrofitting.
The Kitfit prototypes utilize elements such as under-floor and baseboard
networks to make rewiring and accessing mechanical elements simpler.
Under-floor mechanical matrixes also propose a system grid to allow for a certain
amount of change to plumbing and ducting. The main structuring element of the
Kitfit prototype is based on component reversibility, like the simple glazing
units of the limonaie allowing time sensitive
architecture to flourish.
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| For more examples of Professor Kendall's Kitfit see https://ballstatekitfit.wordpress.com/#jp-carousel-485 |
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