CODE

a virtual thesis

Welcome Friend+++++ This is a collection of thoughts on an Architectural Thesis in progress.+++++++ Please comment, all input in any form is sincerely appreciated.
This thesis on architecture is about defining an architectural practice, one that is personal and unique through the idea of Code.

For organizational purposes it is divided into three basic categories; Aesthetics, Economics, and Logistics. These three areas are what I see as the basic driving factors of any architecture. To further define these areas;

----- Aesthetics deal with sensibility and inspiration. It is the part of architecture that makes one feel. It is about space, materiality and aspects of architecture that require the senses to perceive. In a world without consequences or constraints this may be all that's required to make architecture. Aesthetic code can be seen as the relationships between qualities and parts, between spaces and things.

----- Economics are the limitations and opportunities from society that impact building and working. It includes financial considerations, safety, wealth distribution, property rights, and sustainable design. Codes such as the building code are rules that restrict certain designs while encouraging others.

------Logistics deal with process and technique in creation of both the design and the building. It is about organization and management. It is about the tools and the ways in which architects manipulate them to produce results. Logistic code is about the way in which computers have an increasing role in dealing with these aspects such as the way in which programming will change design.

Owner/Builder


This is the conventional player diagram from AD Mar 2004

 The general trend of recent technology has been to empower the user. Using the internet and software as tools for research and computation we are able to accomplish things that were beyond our capacity. Sketchup is a great example of this. Now, for free, anyone is able to download an intuitive 3d software program and design buildings. They can then take their buildings and put them into google earth to see how they appear on site. The visualization tools that were once only available to architects are now being used by everyone. This leads me to question if the current services offered by the architect are what clients want or need. Although an isolated incident, still funny to read, here a story of a client that didn't want to pay for a design because it was done in sketchup. This little incident shows that even if the architect is talented, if the public see our services as being a unnecessary then they won't be willing to pay.
I think public interest in design is a good thing for architects but it also means that architects have to change from providing design to become someone that helps people find what it is they want. This suggests a closer working relationship between the client and the architect in which the architect plays the role of a consultant. Here a report about a contracting company called Ubuildit. In this case the contractor provides the information necessary to allow the home owner to build their own dream home. I think a similar model can be applied to architecture in which
the owner works as the general contractor with the architect helping them realize what they want to build along the way. This allows for more flexibility in design because it is the owner who takes responsibility for the project, possibly hiring the architect under him as an employee. In this case what the architect provides are drawings and some custom prefab parts that work with the system that the architect has set up. The larger gestural design moves and spatial planning moves are done by the client. This makes the idea of code design more important in that the signature of the architect is not in the gestural move but instead embedded in the every detail of the building, influencing it in subtle ways.
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