My father is an architect and artist, and I remember he once told me his main guideline for architecture: It should feel good. It should feel good to be in and around the building.
I am trained in architecture (MA program at the University of Oregon), and have also learned a lot about it through my own studies of vernacular architecture, and it’s always stayed with me. For me too, it’s a guideline for good architecture, along with a few other essentials like building with the landscape, sun, wind, and water, building for the climate, using local and natural materials as much as possible, and so on.
I designed the big house on our land in the Andes, which is now close to being finished. Another architect took over and did the details and has overseen the building of the house.
In general, I am very happy with the work she is doing and we agree on almost all.
And yet, there is one thing that is bugging me. I wanted a solid stone or metal foundation for the wood poles outside of the building. (These poles support the roof of the veranda that wraps around two sides of each of the two buildings.) Ideally, I would have liked a strong metal ring to serve as a base. She wanted a very light and almost invisible metal support to make it look like the poles are hovering. Unfortunately, as I see it, her approach won out.
Her approach is a typical modernist approach. With modern materials, we can do things that wouldn’t be possible with traditional materials, and it’s often done just because it’s possible and unusual.
For me, it doesn’t feel good. The animal in me feels that it’s precarious and doesn’t feel safe. Viscerally, it feels precarious, unsafe, and uncomfortable.
Here, as with so much in life, it’s not about what we consciously know or how we consciously see it, it’s about how it viscerally feels to the animal in us.
So why do some prefer it? Why is this type of design so common in modern architecture? I assume it is because so many lead with their conscious thoughts, not how it viscerally feels to the animal in them.
It’s a symptom of a civilization that’s not aligned with nature and with us as animals and nature. (It also doesn’t feel good with unnecessarily tall stone walls around the outdoor shower area since they make it feel like a prison, but I think that may be changed.)
A part of me is annoyed by this, it’s a reminder of this aspect of our culture, it’s a reminder that I tend to put stones in my own shoes if life appears to not go my way, and I know it can be changed in the future.
Often with this Andes project, I have put forward my view and recommendation (usually based on a good deal of experience and knowledge), the others have ignored or dismissed it (as often happens in my life), and they later realize that my approach was a good one, and we try to remedy the situation as best we can.
The photos are from the last few weeks of the building project. The buildings are made with local and natural materials, mostly in the traditional style, with rammed earth (tapia pisada) which is a traditional building technique in the area, and they are mostly built by hand. The “hovering” poles can be seen in a couple of the photos.