Prefabrication experiments - 270 - fabricating worlds - 01 - Undersea Island

 270 – fabricating contexts – 01 – Undersea Island 

 

Prefabrication is in its most basic definition is contemplating something before producing it. Controlling every part of an architectural thing before connecting it to its functional context or environment. This ideal of a manufactured product in architecture has always sat of a fragile limit between architectural idealistic visions of outlining a complete work and a more pragmatic posture stemming from mass manufacturers perspectives.  As the twentieth century progressed, the conceptual divide between architects’ speculations and mass-produced prefabrication increased to a point where the disparate fields rarely interact. Further architects moved from an early construction / technical based prefabrication linked to making to fabricating made up worlds. Creating or fashioning new contexts or artificial settings addressed a two-fold objective: reframing architecture and reinventing cities. The experiments of Archigram, a group of speculative architects, are typical of this era symbolizing the architect as social constructor. Many architects elaborated their visions disconnected from the idea of context or place as we know it or refer to it in architecture. 

 

Projects were developed for extreme polar climates, under water or in extreme environmental conditions; the architect could imagine beautiful and creative communities even in the most challenging conditions. Largely represented and published, most shared the idea of integrating communities through innovative building systems. In the 1960s many such proposals involved a robust colonisation argument showcasing that people could live in any context and architects would show them how and why they should accept these visions.  

 

Speculative experiments were often spawned from parallel industrial examinations as was the case for Bucky’s submersible. Buckminster Fuller patented an undersea island in 1963 (US patent 3 080 583). The underwater oil platform would protect equipment and workers from storms or unstable weather. Stabilized by tension anchors and kept afloat by buoyant caissons in the cylindrical structures, the megastructure section showcases a multi-functional and environmentally controlled interior space. This type of architectural conditioning of architecture sought to create new building potentials arguably inspiring other imaginary settings for dwelling. The next nine blog posts will look into this idealized view of prefabrication not as way of resolving technical production but as a way of modeling novel living conditions. 

Undersea Island Section