OMA: Netherlands Embassy, Berlin

In 2003 Dutch practice OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas, completed the new Netherlands Embassy in Berlin, Germany. The embassy building has been derived from the strict building regulations of Berlin that define a block of 27m in height for the site, reflecting the 19th century architectural forms that are prevalent in the local area. The end result though is a surprising structure that, in the words of OMA, combines "an obedient approach (strictly fulfilling the block's perimeter) with a disobedient one (building an isolated cube)".

Netherlands Embassy, November 2008 (Image: Luke Butcher)

A video of the Dutch Embassy by myself, completed during the Third Year of my BA (Hons) Architecture course at the Manchester School of Architecture, along with Carrie Bayley, Amina Bhaimohmed and Karen Harper, can be viewed on the 'msa field trip films' You Tube channel here.

Netherlands Embassy, November 2008 (Image: Luke Butcher)

The embassy takes the block form and divides it into two parts: a cube, with offices and the main accommodation, and a 'L-shaped' wall, with the embassy residences. These two structures define an internal protected courtyard, with a dramatic, projecting box (a 'sky office') cantilevered into the space, and a series of pedestrian bridges that link the two structures.

Netherlands Embassy, November 2008 (Image: Luke Butcher)

The internal arrangement of the space is defined by a 'trajectory' that unfolds through the cube, circulating movement from the entrance to a top floor restaurant. This route can be seen to be wrapping around the building, appearing and disappearing behind the regularity of the cube's glass and steel façade. At one point the route 'crashes' out of the cube, escaping it's  constraints, and cantilevers over the street below. The dynamic route regulates the eight floors of the main embassy building, creating an interesting spatial arrangement and giving animation to building, particularly at night.

Notes

Office for Metropolitan Architecture, 'Netherlands Embassy' [Online] [First Accessed 18th February 2011] http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=project&id=142&Itemid=10

The Hyperreality of The Trafford Centre

Political and economic decision making in the contemporary world, even one currently operating within a framework of financial austerity, is "less based on the production of goods [and] more on the production and consumption of culture" (Jayne). These new consumption practices are commonly seen "as a foundation of forms for social relations, sociability and the nature of urban life itself" (Jayne) and has led to a proliferation of visibly spectacular signs of hypperreality - "concealing that the real is no longer real" (Jayne). This situation has created a "global culture of the hyperreal" (Appadurai) best represented in the now ubiquitous shopping mall typology, that has become a key model of economic growth, in both the urban core and the edges of our cities. The shopping mall represents both high and low culture, bringing together the two constructs of consumption and experience into one architectural or urban form. One such construction is The Trafford Centre, in Greater Manchester.

The Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester (Image by Charles Bowring, from Wikipedia)

Simulacrum, meaning 'likeness' or 'similarity', is a term used to describe a representation of another thing, for example a sculpture depicting a god or a painting copied from a photograph. The original 16th century word (derived from the Latin for likeness and image) had taken on a second meaning by the 19th century that implied an inferior representation that lacked the quality of the original. Since then the term has developed further, being adopted by fields of artistic appropriation and philosophy, most notably by the postmodern French cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard. In his 1985 piece 'Simularca and Simulation' Baudrillard argues that simulacra becomes truth in there own right as signs become merely representations of other signs. He describes a four stage process of sign-making - faithful reproduction, perversion of reality, a copy with no original, and pure simulation - with three types of simulacra particular to historical periods. Simulacra can be seen through out architectural production in contemporary society for example the relentless simulation of purely gestural motifs in an attempt to 'contextualise' projects. Whilst the reproduction of an architectural language becomes a shadow, not a pure representation of the original, such as 'International Modernisms' appropriation into a 'Coporate Modernism', reproduced so many times that it can no longer be seen to be an accurate representation of the original.

Baudrillard's description of fourth stage simulacra can be understood to be a description of hyperreality. A hypothetical construct, hyperreality, theorised on by Baudrillard and others, including Albert Borgmann, David J. Boorstin and Umberto Eco, is a simulation of something which never really existed but is taken to be authentic. Disney Land or Las Vegas are often held up as examples of hyperreality however other examples proliferate in contemporary consumer societies. The Trafford Centre, the UK's sixth largest shopping centre with 137,347m2 of retail space, can be seen as just another hyperreal "warehouse of cultural scenarios" (Appadaurai).

Inside The Trafford Centre (Image by Hamed Masoumi, from Wikipedia)

In 2009 30 million visitors came to the complex that boasts 200 stores, 60 restaurants and cafes, a multi-screen cinema and a range of other leisure activities, with an average spend of £100 per party per visit. The centre draws its customer base from a catchment area of 5.3 million people (defined as living within a 45-minute drive, this makes it the most populous catchment area of any regional shopping centre) but regularly receives visitors from much further afield. Highly stylized the complex's architectural detailing reproduces both the Late-Baroque and Rococo styles, these flamboyant and highly expressive languages are used to create a heightened sensory experience.

The white, pink and gold colours combine with marble floors, statues and gold railings to create an imagined space drawn from the palaces and churches of the 18th century. The spaces evoke memories of grandeur drawn from spaces we have likely only ever 'consumed' or experienced via the two-dimensional television or computer screen. What has become an unextraordinary experience, shopping as a leisure activity, is redressed with extraordinary signs (Urry). Uneasily juxtaposed against this fake 18th century environment are other architectural languages, most notably  in 'The Orient' (Europe's largest indoor eatery) where Art Deco 'Cruiseship' meets 'Oriental', 'Aztec' and 'New Orleans' façades. This, combined with the 21st century products being consumed and the standardized nature of the shop fittings themselves, only serves to heighten the hyperreality on show. Space and time are compressed so that the "the past is now not a land to return to" (Appadurai) but a place to inhabit freely, without inhibition, moving effortlessly from one imagined experienced to another. One moment you are eating a cheeseburger on the bow of an ocean-liner, the next visiting the Apple Store in a 18th century promenade; all of it though feels so 'normal'.

In conversation with Hans-Ulrich Obrist Rem Koolhaas commented on this contemporary situation of consumer society and how it is being dressed in architectural styles drawn not from 'real' history but from memory - "We are living in a completely paradoxical moment of modernization where all modernization is driven by nostalgia, on every level ... there are more instruments of memory and less actual remembrance ... nostalgia means living permanently in a form of denial."

Barton Square, Trafford Centre, Manchester (Image from Wikipedia)

If The Trafford Centre is a simulacrum then it's recent extension, Barton Square, is also one. The £86 million development, that extended the original footprint of the covered shopping centre, complete with campanile as enigmatic signifier, can be read a simulacrum of the original simulacra - a reproduction of the reproduction which in turn is a reproduction of nothing. As signs copy signs that have copied signs, and so forth, the architectural experience becomes ever more diluted yet the essence of the hyperreality remains. The experience of opulence no longer has to be sold to consumers, to the same degree, as after over 10 years of existence The Trafford Centre has been established as an anchor of cultural consumerism within Greater Manchester and the North West.

To return again to Koolhass, "the moment is very interesting because we live in a traditional world with its own history, its own laws, its own demands; but superimposed onto that is a whole series of other spatial experiences, particularly provoked by globalization and the virtual".

Notes

Jayne, M. (2006), Cities and Consumption, 1st Edition, New York: Routledge
Appadurai, A. (1996), Modernity at Large, 1st Edition, University of Minnesota Press
Urry, J. (2002), The Tourist Gaze, 2nd Edition, London: Sage Publications
Obrist, Hans-Ulrich (2007), The Conversation Series, Number 4—Rem Koolhaas. Köln: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Konig
Dictionary.com, 'Simulacrum' [Online] [first accessed 5th February 2011] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simulacrum
The Trafford Centre, 'About Us: Corporate' [Online] [first accessed 6th February 2011] http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk/aboutus/corporate

Thesis: Initial Thoughts

The time has now come for me to begin to formulate my initial thesis proposal for the MA in Architecture and Urbanism I am currently studying for at the Manchester School of Architecture. When applying to the course I had to submit a brief outline of what I would like to study and it is from this that I am beginning to develop a proposition to engage with more thoroughly. My application material highlighted an interest in: the complexity of the contemporary construction process; the role of "design" versus "executive" architects; responsibility and the rejection of liability by architects; the banal versus the iconic; the role of architects in 'place making'; how procurement methods and legislation are used as opportunities, not restrictions, in the design process. These curiosities have come about due to a number of factors with the below image highlighting some of the key influences over the previous 18 months.

Initial primers for research - scattered on a coffee table -
the connections are often clearer in my head (September 2010)

Key amongst these influences is an interest in finding 'pragmatic solutions' as opposed to imaging unachievable utopian visions, working with existing urban frameworks (policy, regulation, economic conditions, social conditions). Examining and working with existing conditions is a trait often found in the work of architectural practice OMA, in particular the writings of Rem Koolhaas who's theoretical position has been more influential, in many cases, than his built works. The influence of OMA spreads to a number of other practices including BIG (Copenhagen), JDS (Brussels) and REX (New York) who have previously worked under Koolhaas. This is not to say that other architects don't take the same approach however it is the 'OMA School' that has been more extensively published. Examining this approach and the research surrounding it will undoubtedly provide a wealth of information to draw upon.

Observations about the division within the architecture profession, principally the split between executive and design Architects, is not a new idea or theme, they have been made for over a century. Recent additions to this discourse include comments made by Bjarke Ingels, in his practice's manifesto 'Yes Is More', that "historically the field of architecture has been dominated by two opposing extremes." Ingels defines his approach as "operating in the fertile overlap between the two opposites. A pragmatic utopian architecture that takes on the creation of socially, economically and environmentally perfect places as a practical objective." This has undoubtedly been informed by his associations with OMA.

The work of Jeremy Till was also key to formulating my application proposal and will undoubtedly provide key insights as I develop my proposition further. His recent publication 'Architecture Depends', provides an insightful account of the dependent forces within the architectural profession and the role of contingency within it. As Till puts it "we must bridge the gap by opening up to dependency not as a threat but as an opportunity" working with the "mess" of the everyday. Also of interest to me are the observations made by Till that "the contingent researcher welcomes each new book with a sense of curiosity" - this is an approach I intend to use in my own research, to work as a contingent researcher.

Since then a number of other texts/arguments/ways of thinking have come to my attention, principle among those has been the 'call to arms' led by Winy Maas and The Why Factory in Visionary Cities. In this brief discourse, born very much in the depths of a 'crisis', architects, urbanists, designers and society are challenged to meet the 12 urgencies or critical urban issues that they see as most relevant today - the solitary (dreams); the iconic; the fun; the miniature; the complex; the cautious; the faithful; the green; the poor; the old; the re; the future. As they eloquently put it "While Pritzker Prize-winning Architects are designing Vodka bottles and necklaces, unknown Developer-Architects are building entire cities from the ground up" whilst "the city is being held hostage by procedure." The challenge is thus to better understand the complex relationships that exist but also to tackle the design process itself - the design process itself can become the subject of design. This involves taking a similar approach to the "eco-effective" approach proposed by Michael Braungart and William McDonough in Cradle to Cradle. Designers should "expand their vision from the primary purpose of a product or system and consider the whole" and embrace "the challenge of being not only efficient but effective with respect to a rich mix of considerations and desires." Of course, part of this is understanding the current system and it's failings, there can be no point in blindly starting from scratch and coming up with an equally flawed system.

Traditionally the architectural profession is a slow one, slow to adapt and to change. Today it operates in a world where connections between places, cultures and economic markets are rapidly increasing. These external forces manipulate and affect a design process that was already a notoriously complex system, full of contradictions when you consider the dependent forces whom and that are at play. Architects seem to be struggling to adapt to these conditions and their is a feeling of disbelief amongst pockets of the profession as the role of the Architect is diluted - loosing out to other, more adaptive and responsive (or pro-active), professions leaving architects continuously lurching from crisis to crisis. Are architects at times their own worst enemies in propagating this situation? Have they refused to accept responsibility and rejected liability which has in turn affected their status with the industry and society? Does it even matter?

In brief summary then my thesis will be an investigation into the role of professionalism within the 'Architectural Profession' and how this impacts upon our cities and urban landscapes. Some of these investigations are already present on the blog - they are the things that I am interested in - others will appear over time, as will developments in my thesis proposition.

Notes

Till, J. (2009), Architecture Depends, 1st Edition, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Maas, W., Sverdlov A. and Waugh, E. (Editors) (2009), Visionary Cities (The Why Factory), 1st Edition, Amsterdam: NAi Publishers
Braungart, M. and McDonough, W. (2002), Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, 1st Edition, North Point Press

FT takes lunch with Koolhaas

The Financial Times recently published an article entitled 'Lunch with the FT: Koolhaas.' The article, written by Edwin Heathcote, recounts the critics meeting with Rem Koolhaas over lunch during last year's Architecture Biennale (2010) in Venice.

Rem Koolhaas (Copyright James Ferguson)

On the whole the article doesn't deal with the actual conversation, despite anecdotal evidence of what they ate (with associated 'receipt' at the end) but instead gives a rough history of 'key-moments' in the Koolhaas's career with one or two quotations from Koolhaas himself (responding to questions/observations during the meal). There was though one particular snippet that I thought was worth sharing. “When I started,” Koolhaas tells Heathcote, recounting an image used in his exhibition on preservation at the Biennale, “the suggestion was that the architect would work for the public good. That photo emanates those good intentions. But architecture has been taken over by the private sector, we now serve private interests. There is this irony that as we have become more famous we are also taken less seriously.”

Notes

Financial Times (No Date), 'Lunch with the FT: Koolhaas' [Online] [first accessed 7th January 2011] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e29e2c94-19e0-11e0-b921-00144feab49a.html