Learning from Our Roots

by: Francisco G. Zambrano

  

          Throughout history, there have always been problems regarding expansion for places to live and work. For a time, there was room to expand out into, but as time goes on, this is becoming less and less possible. In the past and still to this day, we have simply torn down buildings and just rebuilt on the site. The problem with this is that you end up with rubbish that is no use to anyone and is then placed elsewhere that could have been used for something better. We, especially architects, must consider architecture as preservation or the changing of a building. We must find ways to reduce the waste and work with what we have. This is where we enter the modern heritage or the new “modern way of thinking.” Our modern identity shouldn’t be about everything being new and clean, but rather low cost, low tech back to our roots, making use of what we have or what is already there.

The building we were obsessed with.

            

          There are many ways to do so, though extensions and additions are the most common. The approach that we focused on in class was that of creating a parasite. Now, in architecture, a parasite is not harmful but rather a dependent addition. Most additions are basically blended into the existing structure. The difference with a parasite is that it stands apart from the existing structure in a great way. It’s funny though how we were once obsessed with these structures when we were young. This parasitic structure that I am referring to is the classic tree house. The tree house was a parasite in that it used the tree, as it’s base structure that gave the tree house its height. One modern building that takes this cue, in a sort of way, was the Hotel Everland that was designed by Sabina Lang und Daniel Baumann. This hotel is basically the tree house that is then placed on top of existing buildings so that the hotel has amazing views and a great height, without having to have an actual tall base. In this way not only are they saving materials in order to build the height for the hotel pod, thing, but they are also saving land. 

The hotel uses the building as its "tree"

           

          

The roof was used as a usable outdoor
living space.

          Another project that takes this sense of a tree house, but in a somewhat much less direct way is the Didden Village designed by MVRDV in Rotterdam, Netherlands. This structure moves the private living spaces from inside the existing structure, and moves them to the roof. This not only frees up a lot of room inside the existing building, but also creates usable space on the roof. Now you might ask, why did they not simply make a complete indoor addition and blend it with the existing building like normal people? By leaving the private living spaces in little houses and the rest exposed, it creates usable outdoor space that was once not there. This adds to the experience of being in a different place. Then the blue is very important to this structure because the structure has to make a statement and act as its own. It is somewhat of a sculpture. 

 

These stairs remind me of the
way you access a tree house.

          

          Now moving to the inside living spaces, where the staircases enter from the private spaces. The twenty-centimeter distance between the staircases and the floor emphasizes the difference between the two types of architecture. The way that the staircases enter, add to the reason for preserving the existing structure. To some, the staircases interrupt the movement of the space, yet I believe that they add to it. The staircases, besides the fact that they are completely independent of the existing structure, are able to divide the space in a respectable manner by not intruding and being in the way. Without them I feel that the space would be too big and not homely.

           

In contrast with the Didden Village,
these stairs are dependent of the tree.

          It is amazing how a parasite in the architecture world returns life rather than the customary function of a parasite.  This is what I feel where our modern heritage should head. We should try to add and preserve buildings and bring them back to life rather than just destroy and rebuild or add and blend. We should learn to highlight the old with the aid of something new. 
We must learn from the existing buildings and find ways to preserve them and learn from their mistakes and find ways to fix them by making additions, changes, extensions etc. rather than destroy and forget.

”If the past cannot teach the present and the father cannot teach the son, then history need not have bothered to go on, and the world has wasted a great deal of time.”  

~Russell Hoban