Buildings are structured systems of great complexity linking requirements from widely varying points of departure. Good architecture is distinguished by the coherent composition of its individual aspects. Materials are the hardware of architecture. They define the regularities of the system for arranging the various aspects and thus determine the design of the components.
However, we usually approach architecture proceeding from the large to the small. Today, knowledge acquired from research regarding material remains mostly contingent on experience and seldom determines the design approach taken. We must shift our focus of discussion to search for the fundamental genetic conditions of architecture. The careful handling of material resources forms the backdrop to this process and is imperative of our age. What are the fundamental determinants? Which growth mechanisms determine the process of joining? How do the individual parts – and their arrangement – influence the way building components and structures are perceived?
To the Architecture and Material focus on the website of the cooperative master’s course.
