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Immagini fornite dall'autore |
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Formless Architecture and the Meaning of Visibility Unique and Not Found Elsewhere What is necessary for the Diet building? If we seek not the dispersion that characterizes the vastness of the Net but convergence at a single point, the raison d'etre of the Diet building is the specification of its unique existence-as the only place where national lawmakers gather and deliberate. The Diet should be a physical entity whose existence anyone can confirm with an actual visit. Confirming is the same thing as seeing. Human beings are of a visually-oriented species. Visual-related activity occupies as much as sixty percent of the human cerebral cortex. Seeing is knowing. Then, what do you see in the Diet? You Can See It, But Not Really I have endowed the Diet building with a paradoxical concept: "The one and only, but not just one." The building is the only one of its kind, but it is also not specific. It is a building you can see but not really. It does not have a specific shape. Its framework is made up of flexible joints. By fixing or releasing the joints and selecting the strength of each member, the shape of the structure can be changed. The exterior of the building is made of elastic covering, and minute actuators densely arranged on its inside maintain and adjust the form of the building. Consisting of small, linked cells, the covering resembles the skin of a living organism. Photosynthesizing organs and chromatophores are built into the cells, and the cells are activated by sunlight. The covering is made of crystalline liquid, and its penetrability can continuously be changed over the wide range of electromagnetic waves, including light and infrared ray. This effect can be used conversely so that the covering also functions as a screen on which an enlarged picture of the inside is projected. The cells have a self-cleaning mechanism made possible through photocatalyization, and so are maintenance-free. Study is also being made of the possibility of incorporating self-restorative capacity. Two Factors That Determine the Shape The overall shape of the building is determined by two factors. One is internal. The condition of activities inside is reflected in the form. For example, it swells when the Diet is in session, and becomes flat when the Diet is in recess. And vice versa. When there are many visitors, the shape swells again. When a session becomes clamorous or even violent, the inner space expands to its very limits, and the covering of the building turns into a transparent screen projecting the scene of the struggle. Diet members have a right to privacy. If they want to meet secretly, they can make part of the floor and wall immediately around them temporarily translucent. As long as it is known they are meeting in secret, the content of what is discussed should remain secret. The other factor that determines the shape is external forces. On a windy day, the building has a sleek form, keeping the coefficient of drag low. When an earthquake occurs, the structural joints serve as an active tremor-absorbing system. The framework and skin of the building change in order to minimize resistance against not only wind and tremors but other external forces. The changeable, resilient form should also work well when the Diet has to withstand the storms of public criticism. Natural artworks such as sunset glow and lightning are recorded directly by light receptors of the skin, and are played back inside and outside the skin. A fitting background for a heated debate may be a quiet scene of sunrise. If the actuators of the skin are on vibration mode, the outline of the building is not set; it appears like a blurry image. Even if you blink your eyes, it is hard to see it clearly. I do not take the position that any form is acceptable in architecture that is a package after all. The Diet building I conceive has a form that is some reflection of dynamics. It is something like living beings that assume various forms. In an environment where various forces combine, the forms of living beings are determined in response to a given combination. It is up to living beings what form they will take. (Actually, it is up to their DNA rather than their will.) |