By: Khris Kirk
During the recent
decades, architects have been trying to convey their ideas and concepts within
the structures they are designing. Some architects take a subtle approach while
others take a more drastic approach. When an architect take the more drastic
approach, the next question to be answered is how functional is the structure.
A prime example of an architect’s design not being very functional towards the
program space is Zaha Hadid’s Vitra Fire Station.
In
1981, there was a tragic fire that destroyed parts of the Vitra design campus
in Weil am Rhein, Germany. The owners of the campus decide to redesign the
campus and bring in well-known architects to design the different buildings
across the campus. Among these buildings was the Vitra Fire Station. The
company sought out an architect to build a fire station to prevent any
reoccurrences of the devastating fire in 1981. This was Zaha Hadid’s first
project to be built (ARCHdaily).
Hadid
approached this project in a very conceptual way. Hadid states that the “initial
study of the Vitra factory site informed our designs for the Vitra Fire Station
– a building conceived as the key element within a linear landscaped zone, the artificial
extension of linear patterns in adjacent fields and vineyards – designed as a
connecting unit rather than an isolated object; defining rather than occupying
space.” This statement can be seen in her preliminary paintings.
As
she progressed in the buildings concept, she finalized upon the idea that the
building is “movement frozen”. “A vivid, lucid expression of the tensions
necessary to remain ‘alert’, to explode into action as required. Walls appear
to slide one across the other, main sliding doors form a ‘moving’ wall” (Zaha
Hadid Architect). Hadid took the concept of how firefighters live their lives
and transformed it into a building, which still keeping true to her preliminary
paintings.
A
firefighter is suppose to be able to get his gear immediately and then proceed
to the fire truck in the fastest way possible; so he can get to the fire and
save lives. By making the fire station so engulfed in the concept, it makes the
space for a fireman impractical to use effectively. In fact, eventually the
firemen could not handle the living space and functionality of the building
that they left the facilities. When the people of the program cannot use the
space in the best functional way and end up leaving because of that reason,
shows how poorly the building was designed. It is great for an architect to
have a great concept that he wants to convey in the building. However, there is
a point when functionality over-rules the concept, and Zaha Hadid’s Vitra Fire
Station is the perfect example of how a concept was taken too far away from the
functionality of the program space. Therefore, architects should try and create
a concept to use for the foundation of their idea for a building, but should
keep in mind how it will functional work for the program space they are
designing.
Links:
Zaha Hadid Architects, Fire Station
ARCHdaily, Vitra Fire Station
ARTchitectural, Zaha Hadid, Vitra Fire Station
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