Surrealism in Architecture: Introducing meanings and real-life imitations
By: Noor J Hafez
Abstract
Surrealism in Architecture is a creative imitation of various components: natural, Kinetic and constant, forming a certain scenario and introducing depth and meaning. It can solve an issue or take you through a living experience. Its applications in architecture design are justified and the implementations are as follows: creating abstractions and utilizing the different architectural styles coherently in form and function. It is considered as a transformative movement in the realm of architecture. It’s about creating living spaces and entities that are translating effective thoughts and emotions. It’s sustainable and green due to its real-life imitative experiences and the depth it holds beneath.
Introduction
Surrealism in architecture is a strong approach to create a human-centered design engaging philosophy, meaning and reasoning. And since the human-centered design is a fundamental principle in any design process, integrating the surrealism application would create a more comprehensive meaningful structures and spaces. Surrealism can be adopted as an approach in architecture, art and urban design for its major importance in defining human needs and shaping his living vibrant experience. It’s crucial to understand that architecture is meant to address the human needs and desires and to solve a main societal or urban issue, therefore creating surrealism in architecture would help in building better and powerful communities. A question would arise: How can surrealism spread deep meanings to form powerful imitations and build better entities of individuals and societies?
This paper argues the most effective meaningful imitations for surrealism applications in architecture and how they could impact users, architecture itself and the urban fabric.
Thesis statement:
The most powerful applications of creating surrealism in architecture involve reallife imitations that introduce meaningful scenarios which impact users in many ways affecting their well-being and surroundings.
Surrealism meaningful scenarios
A meaningful scenario of surrealism in architecture could address the human organism as a whole entity and as separate entities forming the upmost physical, mental and psychological aspects of the human structure and maintaining his essential needs.
Also, it may formulate a specific philosophical issue that a user has gone through like integrating fluidity and purity in an architecture design reflecting the organic human flow and his internal psychological disturbance to reach a level of balance in his inner spirit and in the natural environment surrounding him.
Surrealism applications in architecture
The applications of surrealism in architecture are based on powerful scenarios such as the ones mentioned above, and their imitative implementations could be translated on the site as follows:
1- Forming organic abstractions
2- Applying different architectural styles that are coherent in form and function
3- Fluidity movement
4- Integral Purity
By choosing one or two of the above, the architect is creating a strong imitation of real-life components integrating kinetic and constant elements that transmit radiations on the human well-being affecting his thoughts, emotions and reactions.
Case studies on surrealism in architecture
As an exemplary case, the Acayaba house in Brazil, designed by Marcos Acayaba. The house was designed with a frontal bridge with new truss system and built on a wooden hillside, 150 meters from the ocean. It was a triangular structure that expands up like a tree and was assembled with wooden pillars and beams, steel cables and connections. Lightweight triangular precast concrete panels were used for the roof and floors, while the walls and parapets were made with industrially produced plywood panels.
This project is an abstraction and imitation of bee cells, positioned in a forest with a view of a natural water feature. It depicts a scenario of a rising, cell-structured entity that is connected to the surrounding natural environment.
Also, consider the design of the Penang towers in Malaysia, designed by Asymptote Architecture Group. It’s a new 21st-century symbol for Penang on both a local and global scale through the simultaneous embrace of both natural landscape and contemporary urbanism. It was built at the base of the Penang hill nature reserve. The complex overlooks the city and the sea beyond, with two towers willfully marking its presence. The futuristic design of Asymptote seeks to redefine the urban presence of this part of Malaysia.
The design of this entity is an imitation of an organic abstraction with featuring a continuous, linear, deconstructivist base. It is a simulation of the surrounding urban fabric conveying a message that reflects the city's growth and elevation.
The design of the Living Tower, La Tour Vivante in France, designed by Atelier SOA, is also a comprehensive example. The architects explain that their Tour Vivante “was conceived as an autonomous ecological machine.” They intend for the creation of the greenhouses to establish a connection between the other functions. And since it is located between the city center and the periphery, the
tower was designed to offer views of Rennes and to fit into the local urban pattern.
The rising deconstructivist design style of the structure, with its integral purity, works as a sustainable link between the building and its surrounding environment. It is a surreal representation of a living organism transmitting frequencies and energy.
Conclusion
Surrealism in architecture provides a well comprehensive approach in the design realm. It offers powerful scenarios in which an individual experiences in structured spaces. Its applications are fully coherent with the surrounding urban fabric, as well as with human needs and his internal psychological balance. It is expanding as a sustainable entity addressing the human-centered design principle. It is considered an ecological machine with a powerful networked connection to the different functions and forms of the structure.
References
• Philip Jodidio, Architecture Now! 5 (Cologne: Taschen, 2007), 54–57.
• Philip Jodidio, Architecture Now! 5 (Cologne: Taschen, 2007), 88–91.
• Philip Jodidio, Architecture Now! 5 (Cologne: Taschen, 2007), 92–95.