[I'm tired of writing disgusted/ing things about war, and this came up in
class again, so this is a collection of random thoughts on this & related
topics.]
I am beginning to feel that "honesty in materials" is becoming an excuse
for less-than-usable design.
Cornices...what a cornice does is keep the rain off, a perfectly
reasonable function, FLLW not withstanding. A concrete building without
cornices in Oregon develops visible, exasperating stains where the water
sheet down it. And, concrete being porous, *they don't wash off*. Even
worse, it can grow moss, which I'm starting to think of as short, green,
furry ivy.
One can, of course, paint the concrete...but is this "honest?" And for
durability wouldn't it make better sense to provide an outer layer--tile
or brick or even stainless steel?
Following in that line of thought, but taking a long jump--is a human body
dishonest because it has skin? Skin covers a body, and provides important
functions of protection, sensation, communication, and probably others
I'm not thinking of right now. There are also specialized internal
surfaces in a human body that do similar things--stomach linings & so on.
So...if people can have skins, why not buildings?
I begin to think that "honesty" has become an excuse for designs that
aren't really very functional and are also an excuse for not learning how
to ornament a building. Blank concrete walls are easy to build, it's cheap
to leave off the the ornament, and you can justify them as honest. But
most peole hate looking at them and they're damnably hard to
maintain--those perfect surfaces don't stay perfect for very long in any
place where it rains or snows.
If we, as I have come to believe, come around to a more subtle view of
honesty in materials, does that mean the concept is useless? I don't
think so...but I don't have any clear ideas about what might replace it
yet...so that's for another post.
Randolph
class again, so this is a collection of random thoughts on this & related
topics.]
I am beginning to feel that "honesty in materials" is becoming an excuse
for less-than-usable design.
Cornices...what a cornice does is keep the rain off, a perfectly
reasonable function, FLLW not withstanding. A concrete building without
cornices in Oregon develops visible, exasperating stains where the water
sheet down it. And, concrete being porous, *they don't wash off*. Even
worse, it can grow moss, which I'm starting to think of as short, green,
furry ivy.
One can, of course, paint the concrete...but is this "honest?" And for
durability wouldn't it make better sense to provide an outer layer--tile
or brick or even stainless steel?
Following in that line of thought, but taking a long jump--is a human body
dishonest because it has skin? Skin covers a body, and provides important
functions of protection, sensation, communication, and probably others
I'm not thinking of right now. There are also specialized internal
surfaces in a human body that do similar things--stomach linings & so on.
So...if people can have skins, why not buildings?
I begin to think that "honesty" has become an excuse for designs that
aren't really very functional and are also an excuse for not learning how
to ornament a building. Blank concrete walls are easy to build, it's cheap
to leave off the the ornament, and you can justify them as honest. But
most peole hate looking at them and they're damnably hard to
maintain--those perfect surfaces don't stay perfect for very long in any
place where it rains or snows.
If we, as I have come to believe, come around to a more subtle view of
honesty in materials, does that mean the concept is useless? I don't
think so...but I don't have any clear ideas about what might replace it
yet...so that's for another post.
Randolph