Open Source Architecture

The most useful example of parasitic architecture has to be that that wishes to change a piece of architecture in order to solve a specific problem with the use of new technologies or to improve a building functionality in a way that is reasonable and affordable for the users of the space and can extend the lifespan of the building. In the case of many of the example’s from the lecture the main aim seem to be based less on functional improvement and more on changing the emotional impression or the impact of the project, and while this is an important part of any work of architecture it is a less important consideration when compared with the possibility of making a more useable livable space that can improve quality of life. In the example of the Manuel Herz, Legal Illegal project that was presented at the German pavilion of the Biennale, an intervention made into an existing project which splits the existing space into to two separate parts, neither of which have the intended layout or function of the original design.

legal Illegal section

 And although it may seem that if done correctly these can be designed to be interesting spaces, they can never really be anything but fragments or portions of a whole. There are cases however where the parasitic intervention can be more successful and meaningful when used just for the purpose of added impact, the best case of this is the Parasite Las Palmas in Rotterdam, that was added onto the top of that building in Amsterdam, since it was constructed easily and cheaply and it was able to impact the skyline of the city in a major and noticeable way, and to really become what seems to be the simplest solution with the most impact that could be made possible for the project.  The houses in San Michele di Ganzaria, Sicily are similar in many ways to this project, because they are created by the residents, who add on only when they have the money available to do so, and always adding the cheapest possible solution, they are forced to come up with what is almost the purest and most direct kind of architectural solution, without relying on the genius of an architect to solve their problems. So in the same way these are the cheapest solutions with the most amount of impact, and since in come directly from the end user it is a much needed solution to a specific problem that exists.

Improvised Architecture

It would seem that one of the biggest problems with architecture is its permanence, and the idea the building is most functional and useful the day that it open, and only becomes less useful from that day on as user needs and space requirements change through time. This is why it is interesting to consider a kind of open source architecture in which the design of the building could be handed off to the end users and, based on wants and needs, the space can be changed and updated in the way that best suites the end user.