| |
XS
FUTURE: New Ideas, Small Structures by Phyllis
Richardson
Universe, 2009
Hardcover, 304 pages
The third installation in the XS
series finds yet another focus geared around author Phyllis
Richardson's exploration of small buildings. Where the first
book celebrated the ideas found in small structures, the
follow-up tackled environmental issues, finding a synergy
in small and green. The small of the latest looks at extreme
structures, those pushing innovation via materials and technologies,
those sited at "the edge of possibility." The
resulting collection is a snapshot of the architectural
profession eight years after the first book, where many
of the same themes can be found in different forms and wrappers.
It's easy to see the appeal of small
buildings. Due to their expense and, in many cases, temporary
nature, they allow for exploration and construction
of various ideas that cannot find fruition in larger buildings.
Or cannot yet find fruition, as small buildings
allow research and development to take place, leading to
wider implementation in bigger structures with more varied
programs. The double-walled membrane of Kengo
Kuma's Tea
House, for example, may a harbinger of larger lightweight
structures further incorporating lighting into an innovative
enclosure. What that might be I don't know, but it, and
other examples like it, would not happen without the small-scale
exploration.
It being said that the small-scale
is the best scale for expressing innovative ideas in built
form, the examples in this third XS installment
are remarkable. Many can be called installations or artworks
before buildings, but they all share the trait of being
different, standing out from everything else. This may arise
from circumstance (building in the Antarctic or on a cliff
face), testing new ideas (building with recycled materials
or garden hoses, of all things) or just wanting to attract
attention. The formal and spatial qualities range from the
alien to the Zen-like, meaning there is something for everybody.
To give an idea, projects featured previously on my web
pages include: Bridging
Tea House by LAR / Fernando Romero, Rolling
Huts by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, and SkiBox
Portillo by Del Río-Núñez Architects.
The book illustrates not only how innovation is occurring
at the small scale all over the world, but how small buildings
equate to big payoffs, in terms of visceral impact, long-term
influence, and increased sustainability by "touching
the earth lightly."
or 
|
