MATERIALITY AND IMMATERIALITY ( Ng Shi Qi 1001542350)

Materiality and immateriality still playing an important role in architecture. Architect still refers to them as they playing as a guide.

How materiality connects to us. it emphasizes and expresses the space. It connects to us through the five sense which is vision, touch, smell, hearing and taste, human senses. As we viewing the building's material by our eyes, we feel the texture by touching it, fragrances of the material, the echo or sound of the material and the taste in the materials.

However, immateriality is an illusion created by an architect. They create the illusion which is full of impact and outstanding value so we will know and remember it as most of the people viewing building via vision. It focuses on aesthetic instead of solving the matter. Yet we still fall for it.

KURO building by KINO Architects in Japan, 2013.

                                                         Surrounding of the site

 
It is built on a shopping street of Tokyo downtown area. The client lives there from childhood. They want to maintain the presence which is not buried under surroundings. The architect aimed for the building which is moderately conspicuous. At the same times, it can maintain the presence even if it passes through time。

                                                                Front elevation

The exterior of this building is covered with concrete. The exterior slabs are imprinted with flakes of oriented strand board and transferred to the surface of the concrete during the molding process. The concrete is painted with different black. It gives the expression to the building such as rigid, strong etc. Three-dimensional shutters are angled to shield the windows of the building.The outlook of the building adapted itself to the disordered city and not to bury by surrounding.

                                                 Texture: concrete painted in black

Three-dimensional shutter 

 

                                                                  Floor plan

Materiality showed in this building by the sense. We can view the building exterior concrete is painted in black from far. We can clearly view the different black color concrete of the building. We can feel the texture of it touching them. The opening is located according to the requirement. Three-dimensional shutters which in angle direct the sunlight into space at the same time it provides privacy to users as it is blocking part of the view from outside.

Immateriality as the exterior material which is in concrete and painted in different black. It expressed the building at the same time it is eye-catching. The material is in immateriality as well as it is concrete which it's not raw material. But it successfully expresses the feeling as it is in a busy downtown. And concrete showing a strong and cold feeling.

From time to time, the raw materials cannot fully satisfy the requirement of the technology as we building something more challenging and complicated either in height, complicated form, structure part, and others. And this is the time concrete and steel comes into architecture world. We start using it to archive the possibility of future buildings. As long as the materials are using correctly and suitable. As long as the materials are showing their true property and their value. As Louis Kahn said: "When you are designing in brick, you must ask brick what it wants or what it can do." When the raw materials can't achieve the requirement or the expression of designer want, why can't we change it to modern materials?

An architect shall consider human perception when designing a building is not only for an aesthetic purpose. It shall solve the matter, provide convenience to the users and fulfill different requirement from different users. If the building is for the aesthetic purpose, engineering and contractor can make it as well. Using human sense to interesting the building instead of the look of it. The light plays an important role in architecture. I sense light as the giver of all presences, and material as spend light. What is made by light casts a shadow and the shadow belongs to light.by Louis Khan. So why shall we judge the building only for the outlook of it? A building can be really outstanding with normal space planning or ever worst which is unacceptable space planning or a building with simple outlook but success in space planning with human senses. As a viewer, he will go for the first building while a designer will go to the second building. But for a user, he will want both and this is a challenge to architect which is merging them together.

I strongly agree with Jonathan Hill article as he said materiality and immateriality are in conjunction not opposite. And we are not the one to judge the building cause we are not the users. So, let's leave the judgment to the users. Our job is design creativity and solving matters.


Reference:

https://architizer.com/blog/the-architecture-of-perception/
http://www.archdaily.com/569607/kuro-building-kino-architects
https://www.dezeen.com/2014/12/02/kino-architects-kuro-building-apartment-block-tokyo-textured-concrete-aluminium-shutters/