EXP3 Submission Component One - The Mashup and the Theory

The mashup below is an amalgamation of three articles: A Crash Course on Modern Architecture (Part 2) by Ahnfeldt-Mollerup, Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing, by Graves, and How 3D Printing Will Change Our World (Part II), by Quirk. (For full references, see image below.) The mashup itself is not easily synthesised, however, with some patience, you will begin to see the foundation of the theoretic approach with which I approached this new school for architecture.

The opening is a nod to the approach of Russell Lowe, who has, throughout ARCH1101, promoted an understanding that dissolves the false dualities that exist between the analogue and the digital. At the same time, it suggests a cautious skepticism should be brought to bear against the view that a 'smarter' architecture of the future needs to be electrified, fuelled, mechanised, and therefore inherently destructive when viewed through the prism of contemporary technologies.

In the vein of that skepticism, in the following paragraph I consider the value of examining established conceptions of architecture not through the lens of critical analysis, but through that of the imaginative mind, as a means of transcending the limits of contemporary realities. The imaginative mind, however, must always concede - when preparing to withdraw from introspection to engage with the tangible - that a stark universe will bring its own unyielding demands to every imagined reality.

The realisation of the inevitable desecration of imagined possibility by nature's behemoth leads me to embrace a depraved nihilism where others might shelter in the stronghold of stoicism. Returning always to the ability to remove the self from reality, I propose an architecture that seeks to create a world that is inherently impossible; the nexus of artistry and intellectual obsession that rejects the irrefutable fetters of truth as surely as Quixote.

This approach allows me not only to reject the alluring ranks of convention before they are ever allowed the opportunity to whisper their homogenising calls, but also to question my own assumptions about my work.

In applying this theory the project at hand to create a building to house a new school of architecture, I relied heavily on a nihilistic resistance to the impositions of the brief, and to the enthusiasm with which joint client Russell Lowe promotes his peculiar vision for smart architecture. A more complete explanation of this approach can be reviewed in my presentation of the architectural elements of the school building itself.