이중원의 Advocating Sustenability
Joong Won Lee - M.Arch
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Advocating Sustainability -1
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As an apprentice in an architectural design, I’ve speculated for long what differentiates space determined by the tension (steel or membrane) from that of compression (concrete). This quest initiated from my first encounter with the Spreckelson’s La Grande Arche de La Defense in Paris. Actually, I was stunned when I saw it.
This masterpiece shouted to me, ‘what you regard as good architecture (Corbusian and Critical Regionalists, mostly) is only the half of the architecture, human perception towards architectural beauty is far too broader than only confining it as spatial delight?
From then on, I looked at many of the projects what we then called as high tech architecture. I realized later on, unlike the declaration of ‘plan libre’, architecture categorized as high-tech was more of ‘section libre’ The plan was very simple, but the richness and the complexity of the architecture was more expressed in the section.
Therefore, my challenge was to incorporate ‘section libre’ into the ‘plan libre’, in other words, combining the Promenade defined by the compressive structure with the tectonic (visualized forces and materiality) defined by ‘tension’ - I’m not using the term ‘tensile’ intentionally- structure. However, I noticed later on that there are contradictions between ‘plan libre’ and ‘section libre’ and within ‘section libre’ itself.
The tensile structure was an expression of a whole (more of ceiling landscape), requiring simple plan. Therefore, complicatedly interwoven space underneath, prevented from seeing the holistic expression above. In addition, structure in the ‘Promenade’ served as screens and containers for the artistic space what architect is trying to address, on the other hand, in the ‘tension’ structure, structural expression itself was the dominant goal for the architects. Another contradiction in using the ‘tension’ structure that came up to my mind was the cost.
To me, it seemed so hard to advocate or assert the clients for the expense they had to overcome.
It is interesting, therefore, for me to address at this point how the ‘high tech’ architects are expanding their concept of architecture from the pure tectonic to the sustainability. Issues of energy consumption and environmental concerns are emerging as their logical arguments for the structure, that is, once again in the history of architecture, architecture is addressing the site climate conditions as the primary design criteria. We’ve witnessed a lot of spectrum in the discipline of architecture as an emerging idiom for the future. However, all that approached architectural polemics outside the field of architecture have disappeared.
Therefore it is my speculation, and everyone involved, that the sustainability would be in the seat of architectural throne for years to come.
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Advocating Sustainability -2
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In her book Heschong states that life exists within a small range of temperatures and the reaction against the harshness of the climate, human beings have created two most important thermal settings: water (pools, baths, and sauna) and fire (hearth, On-dol, and habachi- Japanese portable heater). She constructs her argument from stating the necessity then delight, affection, and sacredness of thermal adjustments. For the 'necessity' part, biological aspects of the living is dealt, such as metabolic adjustments (hibernation, muscular activity, blood
circulation), skin and fat as insulation, and physical migration.
Then she further demonstrates the necessity of water in desert and the fire in cold regions and how important for them to protect these.
In 'delight', she argues how the warm and cool had developed into the sense of warmth and coolness. Warmth, she claims, is what's alive at the very core of things because everyone generates heat. Therefore, warmth is to share internally -physically and emotionally- with others. Coolness also could be interpreted beyond its physicality. Most delightful moment stems from the totality of its sensory stimulation. The fire, for example, gives a flickering and glowing light, ever moving, ever changing. It crackles and hisses and fills the room with smells and smoke. It penetrates with warmth.
In 'affection' and 'sacredness', she points out various examples throughout the world how each country had developed their thermal settings into thermal gathering place then developed into thermal rituals. For example, water as climate controller, center for the courtyards or plazas then as an ablution or the symbol of life.
Heschong claims, with one premise that thermal function could be used as an effective element for design, that the physicality of the climate responses has created its own meaningful interpretation thus thermal systems can be used as design criteria.
Actually, when this book was published (1979) her main intention was to revive the phenomenological aspects in architecture. From the 1960s, as we all know, phenomenology has swept the discipline of architecture, trying to revive 'meaning' and 'spirituality' in architecture.
However, it is interesting what she brings for the phenomenological aspects. She mentions various historical examples that have coped with the climate of the given region and how epistemological aspects of these thermal functions have developed into the ontological level.
More often than not, we tend to design architecture from the big ontological -namely, concept- level, probably due to the big influence from the Vitruvian model, and when it comes to the epistemological level they lack the interpretation. I think we, as the creators of architecture, should start at a very simple conditions of the site and let the people who live in it give ontological meaning as time pass by.
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