How Building Learn

Buildings never stop changing. Some do it well and become loved. Some do it badly and get worse over time. The difference is intelligent design and intelligent use. Stewart Brand How Buildings Learn

I've just finished watching a series of documentaries called How Building Learn. It's beautifully crafted series written and presented by Stewart Brand. It challenges notions and ideas that buildings are timeless permanent edifices. For instead the problems are frequently, the architects who see they are building monoliths which are there to resist change and time. Literally they are building works of art, rather than utilitarian structures which can change and adapt. While good buildings learn and adapt and reflect the lessons of people who live in them, really bad buildings can only be replaced.

As I look around building in this city I can see that many of the new structures are open to Stewart's criticisms. They are so radical and difficult to adapt and in fact the Lee Chin Crystal has to be modified from the start because of over heating problems because of the quantity of glass. I suspect eventually it will be demolished rather than loved. The new parts of the British Museum are adaptable spaces which ultimately you will forget how it was before because it is so supportive of its function as a place for people. I have rethought a few ideas and concepts because of seeing the series which is fully available at Google Video.

Francis Duffy asserts "Images are everything. What actually happens inside buildings, what the building was for, becomes forgotten." Buildings are not about looking nice but about living in them. My spaces in my apartment are about being functional except at the moment I am dysfunctional at home. I returned to journalling yesterday after a 6 month hiatus. During my time of reflection about what has been happening inside me and what changes have come about, I did a drawing on a pile of things on one of my desk areas. As I looked over the drawing I realized it reflected many aspects of my life at the moment. There is still disorder and dysfunction. A continuation of the great cleanup is required and not to lose moments. New insights mean that everything should have its place and in designing and sorting and arranging the need for adaptivity is important but not at the cost of descending into disorder.

Within my spiritual practices I need my journal because while adaptable to my moods and transitions and changes in basic practice, it asserts an order to changes or being flexible. When I look at the early days it was very heady and thoughtful meditation and analysis of material I was reading. Then as drawing became more important it became a place to open my psyche to myself. I don't know what it will become but my journal will not stop changing in content and style and it will prevent a descent into chaos.