Context and setting in architecture habitually refer to a site, a building’s staging area, or a geopolitical place where an edifice is moored. This concept implies the singular notion of anchoring. A building’s attachment to place speaks to its regional connection to an infinite number of factors. Industrialized building in this sense must address the generic with the specificity of site. How can Off-site construction create a unique product that relates to different settings and contexts? Is it possible to industrialize building construction considering the necessary interaction with particular topography, climate, social conventions, etc.?
As globalization and information technology reaffirm industrializations basic principles of making quality products affordable and accessible, construction's industrialisation is once more being touted as a way to reform construction, with one major difference: If twentieth century prefab could be described by industrial driven proprietary models or one-off architectural designed experiments, a new generation of architects is tackling the generic / specific issue to bridge the two conditions. Whether inspired by open-source and crowd sourced business models, a shareable architecture is taking hold based on the same principles being applied in parallel industries. This new setting for architectural production based on industrialized systems is «platform or pattern» based.
Platform here refers to automobile production or other industrial production models where a number of differentiated objects, products or models can be created from a predetermined set of modular, interoperable and coordinated components, not unlike a programmer who defines an application from a shared language and syntax. While certainly not unique within this conceptual framework, 369 Pattern Buildings is the work of a cooperative of professionals and academics proposing a modular timber chassis applicable to varied building types. The basic modular component is analogous to an ISO container arranged with timber edges and braced by ribbed plates/slabs that are assembled with steel corner or vertex connectors. The sectional volume can be stacked and juxtaposed to define a plurality of arrangements. Facade elements, dividing wall elements, mechanical as well as plumbing systems can be designed and fabricated according to underlining modular dimensions to easily fit into the overall platform. While the system remains marginally applied, its setting is truly contemporary as it allows anyone to download and iterate generic components into a personalized architectural product.
No comments:
Post a Comment