Weak architecture: re-defining urban landscape

Abstract

Architecture is becoming more about objectives for wealth, political influence and display. Although there are many schemes that promote sustainable lifestyles, they still express strong, monumental and sculptural exteriority opposing the qualities of their surroundings. The manifestation of the idea of human dominion over nature gradually changes the inhabitants' interaction with nature and architecture to be isolated and closed. In this chaotic situation, essentialist architecture begins to pale into insignificance. The significance of architecture is not confined in the internal space qualities. The architecture is only a device governed by the notion of a group that contains various lifestyles and behaviours. In this sense, the image of architecture should be weak so that the image of humanity could become strong. In other words, a city should act as a forest of architecture where it is not an assemblage of architecture but a large and complex architecture itself, where architecture is not a part of urbanity but a microcosm of a city. This attitude is called future primitivism, which brings forth the possibility of next generational architecture that is responsive and conductive to surrounding. In its style, the image of architecture will appear in the nebulous field of clouds holding limitless possibilities in life. An architect's response should be to improve the image of architecture by depicting the inhabitantsi lifestyles and to display indeterminate space rather than the play of masses. This is a weak and subjective approach to architecture. It is the advent of Weak Architecture. The idea of Weak Architecture is based on three basic principles, Contextual, Passive, and Dis-functionals. Being Contextual is to restore place-ness of a specific site. There is an inseparable relationship between architecture and land and this is the most significant gist of the definition of architecture. The original form of architecture should be judged not only by its geometry and materiality but also by contextual features and socio-cultural elements that governed their lifestyles. In other words, the role of architecture is to set out the relationship between the built environment and the existing environment by being Passive. When a space cannot communicate within its surroundings, it becomes a dead space. When the severance of space continues to happen, the urban landscape inevitably loses its harmony and results in the overall disharmony. The most crucial reason as to why the contemporary urban landscape being questioned and considered as chaotic disharmony could be that it has lost the delicate sense of totality in nature. As life is not closed, so shall architecture be to the city. However, passive architecture needs dis-functioning of space. Functional is a word we have been continuously forced to learn for decades, but the realisation of functional architecture actually may have resulted in an obstacle for many people's lives. Dis-functional spaces are the space of purposelessness. A space which is just purposeless enough would lengthen the life span of architecture enabling our life to a wider diversity. The more of this space, the more various aspect of life would be held within the space. If this variety is interwoven within a certain system, the space would house a sequence that can create a drama of life. In this thesis, the idea of weak architecture will be demonstrated through Christchurch CBD recovery plan. In the most chaotic and devastating area, the design will seek to turn despair into aspire and destruction into vision.