November 10, 2003
a suggestion
I'm still thinking about "geometries of living" that are other to the modernist geometry of living. The latter inserts human beings into a machine and constructs the axiomatic system of geometry of rectangles and squares viewed as a sculptural form from a fixed point of the calm external eye.
Coop Himmelblau
This igloo form makes a break from the old beachside shack, the rectangular brick suburban home, or the Tuscany villa. What appeals is that the building does not possess a façade, since the front side of the house is completely open, revealing the interior. But it is still private.
If the façade of a building is equivalent to the face of a human being, then does not a building without a façade arouse feeling of the uncanny. Feelings of the uncanny are aroused when we are confronted with a faceless body. We find it very disturbing.
Or does the equivalence of building and body not work here?
If it does, is this architecture a step towards an antihumanism? An example of re-emphasising the bodily experiential aspect of architecture in which the built form emphasises fragmentation, disruption and disintegration. The building's architectural body appears to be injured and threatens the physical integrity we assume it should possess.
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