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Figure 2.8
Place
Place - The architecture is shaped by its surroundings. There is a desire to be sublime and unthreatening to its environment.
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The Extrovert Ideal has forced architecture to become obtrusive, as a method to stand out in its context. An Extrovert Architecture does not require a site to decide on its design or planning. It is independent from external factors and desires to be represented as such. On occasions, an Extrovert Architecture will use its context as a method to compliment or contrast itself, as this has become a popular method to strengthen the image of the architecture. As developed through the concept of ‘Dwell,’ Introvert Architecture desires to avoid being obtrusive in its environment and surroundings. Architecturally, this suggests that it need not take control over its place, as it uses the context to make decisions. This may suggest an architectural relationship between the land it rests on, or the atmosphere it exists within. The place it resides will influence design, planning, material, and construction.
Saya Park by Alvaro Siza and Carlos Castanheira effectively demonstrate this principle of ‘place.’ The project consists of a collection of structures that are born out of their site. Adapting their form, program, and construction to harness all aspects of the gentle woodland mountains of South Korea. Though the structures are constructed with concrete, a nonnative material, the use of the material was chosen to allow the architecture to take on the natural lay of the land. The concrete, although a rough and hard material, is able to demonstrate a form that is gentle and reflective of the hillside it is built on. It becomes reflective of the grittiness and elegance of the surrounding landscape. The architecture works to compliment the sunlight, the shadows it casts, and the seasons that pass through the mountains. The architecture desires nothing more than to exist within the land and its context. An architecture that cannot be replicated, as it is inseparable from its context.
Figure 2.8
Place, A Point of Introvert Architecture.
