Text - Acute
Architectural Sites - Photographs of
buildings on acute architectural sites - © Lloyd Godman
Architectural Sites
of Contestation
Right, suggests there is a wrong.
Right, is an angle formed by the perpendicular intersection of
two straight lines 90 degrees. The term right angle evolved as a reference to the "right" or perfect angle needed
to construct the rectangle where each side is in parallel
to it opposite side and is used as a standard building block
in so many applications X, Y axis. It was even more useful
as a three dimensional manifestation in the construction of
objects and buildings. Right angles divide the circle into
four equal parts, 360 degrees become 4 parts of 90 degrees.
They build rectangles, build cubes, build dwellings, whole
cities. As an efficient means of design and orientation,
whole city street layouts were designed based on the right
angle. The mathematics, the geometry and philosophy of the
right angle, it is known as a universal standard. The grid
became Mondrian's building blocks, the aerial view of the
city and the shapes within it.
Through history it is the rectangle that continually appears
in civilized societies.
But
not all building sites are based on the convenient right angle
intersection, some sit on "wrong angles". It is buildings that sit on these peculiar sites that have intrigued me. The thinner the slither of land, the more intrigue. I am drawn by the the gestalt and the feng shui energy. The term feng shui literally translates as "wind-water" in English.
Whether dictated by natural features, the lay of the land or
a considered design, building sites exist where the site is
less than the perfect right angle. Perhaps a series of hills
dictate a road that intersects another at an acute angle.
The acute angle they form dictates a corresponding buildings
site with angles less than the right angle. But due to the
demand for space in the urban environment these sites are
used. Despite the fact that they sit on sites whittled away
from the full allotment, they can be imposing. Thin slithers
of land Intersections. The architecture on these sites sit
awkwardly on their foundation as if somehow, they might topple
over
Possession
With
growing height these buildings become more impressive and somewhat
disturbing than a conventional building, there is a difference balance and poise. Perhaps the most well known of these is the Flat Iron Building
in New York and the images that Alfred Steiglitz made of this building.
In
multi story buildings the view from the corner room seems
to leave the viewer with the world at their feet. Like the
bow of a ship.
Unlike
the parallel lines of a rectangular building where the lines
run to an visual vanishing point, the lines of the acute angle
site meet as an inverted vanishing point in the foreground
Along
with our interpretation of them, materials and the intimacy of surfaces
have a richly complex language of their own that has evolved
and changed over time. From the gravity of stone blocks to
the thin veneers that cover the skeletal structure
Flatness
of surfaces and materials, uniformity of illumination, as
well as the elimination of micro-climatic differences,
further reinforce the tiresome and soporific uniformity of
experience. All in all, the tendency of technological culture
to standardize environmental conditions and make the environment
entirely predictable is causing a serious sensory impoverishment.
Our buildings have lost their opacity and depth, sensory invitation
and discovery, mystery and shadow.
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