A book that made a lasting impression on me was How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand. He states “All buildings are predictions. All predictions are wrong.”
And so people tear down walls between rooms, enclose a porch for a much needed bedroom, install new kinds of wiring, and add a wing. Year after year buildings are renovated, remodeled, and reconfigured, “learning” what is currently needed of them.
Architects are trained to customize a building, often doing long and detailed interviews with the intended users. Take, for example, a new home for a family. The architect designs a plan with just the right number of bedrooms (taking family planning into consideration) and just the desired openness between rooms.
Does our hypothetical couple stick to their family plan? Do they never discover all that openness to their teenager’s noise is driving them crazy? More likely, life happens. And so our hypothetical couple remodels their lovely home.
Some homes are easier to redo than others. Highly idiosyncratic designs are difficult. More orderly layouts are easier. But that is often by chance, not by design.
In his book Brand suggests we stop pretending we can get buildings right the first time. Instead he promotes designing buildings that are easier to redo over the years. What would this entail? He has lots to say on the subject. Here are a few tidbits to whet your appetite:
- Don’t bury the wires too deep
- Make internal walls non-loadbearing
- Separate the structure from the skin (looks) of the building
- Plan for various scenarios of how needs will change
I think this way of approaching the design of houses has a lot of promise. What do you think?
Related Posts
No related posts.