23. Defamiliarization

Defamiliarization

Defamiliarization is the concept of taking something that is known and restructuring it into something new so that it has some familiar elements but is wholly independent. It can also apply to abstraction and analysis when forms are pulled from an existing structure to create a new or interesting design perspective, such as in the grid I abstracted from the Lovell Beach House seen in the top right. Defamiliarization keeps some general ideas but subverts them to create a dialogue between the new and old designs. My decomposition of the SIS building in London emphasizes its height, which its original wide facade diminishes. This is also very commonly done with the forms of precedent buildings. Architects will take different shapes created in a building and apply it to a new building. In analysis, by showing different forms that may not be entirely clear in the original, one creates that same sense of defamiliarization, such as my analysis of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. This shows the shapes and alignments that continue and change through the different stages of the design’s development.

Clockwise from the top right:

An image of the Lovell Beach House with the grid I abstracted from it on the left.

My decomposition of the SIS building in London, U.K.

A formal analysis I did on the stages of the design of St. Peter’s Basillica in Vatican City.

An image of the Lovell Beach House with the grid I abstracted from it on the left.

My decomposition of the SIS building in London,

A formal analysis I did on the stages of the design of St. Peter’s Basillica in Vatican City.