Loose-Fit Architecture
Designing Buildings for Change
Published on 22. September 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-1-119-15264-4 (ISBN)
Description
Loose-Fit Architecture: Designing Buildings for Change
September/October 2017
Profile 249 Volume 87 No 5
ISBN 978 1119 152644
Guest-Edited by Alex Lifschutz
The idea that a building is 'finished' or 'complete' on the day it opens its doors is hardwired into existing thinking about design, planning and construction. But this ignores the unprecedented rate of social and technological change. A building only begins its life when the contractors leave. With resources at a premium and a greater need for a sustainable use of building materials, can we still afford to construct new housing or indeed any buildings that ignore the need for flexibility or the ability to evolve over time? Our design culture needs to move beyond the idealisation of a creative individual designer generating highly specific forms with fixed uses. The possibilities of adaptation and flexibility have often been overlooked, but they create hugely exciting 'loose-fit' architectures that emancipate users to create their own versatile and vibrant environments.
Contributors include: Stewart Brand, Renee Chow, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, John Habraken, Edwin Heathcote, Despina Katsakakis, Stephen Kendall, Ian Lambot, Giorgio Macchi, Alexi Marmot, Andrea Martin, Kazunobo Minami, Peter Murray, Brett Steele, and Simon Sturgis.
September/October 2017
Profile 249 Volume 87 No 5
ISBN 978 1119 152644
Guest-Edited by Alex Lifschutz
The idea that a building is 'finished' or 'complete' on the day it opens its doors is hardwired into existing thinking about design, planning and construction. But this ignores the unprecedented rate of social and technological change. A building only begins its life when the contractors leave. With resources at a premium and a greater need for a sustainable use of building materials, can we still afford to construct new housing or indeed any buildings that ignore the need for flexibility or the ability to evolve over time? Our design culture needs to move beyond the idealisation of a creative individual designer generating highly specific forms with fixed uses. The possibilities of adaptation and flexibility have often been overlooked, but they create hugely exciting 'loose-fit' architectures that emancipate users to create their own versatile and vibrant environments.
Contributors include: Stewart Brand, Renee Chow, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, John Habraken, Edwin Heathcote, Despina Katsakakis, Stephen Kendall, Ian Lambot, Giorgio Macchi, Alexi Marmot, Andrea Martin, Kazunobo Minami, Peter Murray, Brett Steele, and Simon Sturgis.
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02/2018
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07/2017
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Person
Alex Lifschutz is the Director of London-based practice Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands. Lifschutz co-founded the firm (with the late Ian Davidson) in 1986, after working for Foster Associates. It is now a 100-strong practice. Central to the practice's work is the 'long-life, loose-fit' ethos, which considers the life of buildings beyond their immediate future. The office also has a particular expertise in the creative reuse of historic buildings, from the Oxo Tower refurbishment of the 1990s to a number of sensitive interventions in buildings in Westminster, to a string of innovative retail spaces in historic luxury department stores across Europe. The practice has made an essential contribution to the regeneration of London's South Bank.?Lifschutz is Past President of the Architectural Association and is Chair of Body & Soul, a charity devoted to children and teenagers affected by HIV.
Content
About the Guest-Editor 05
Alex Lifschutz
Introduction Long Life, Loose Fit, Low Energy 06
Alex Lifschutz
Back to the Future
The Everyday Built Environment in a Phase of Transition 18
John Habraken
Learning from the West Coast: Long-Termism and Change
An Interview with Stewart Brand 24
Peter Murray
NEUBAU
Flexible Self-Build Cities in Germany 30
Anne-Julchen Bernhardt and Joerg Leeser
Japanese Innovation in Adaptable Homes 38
Kazunobu Minami
Adaptability
A Low-Carbon Strategy 46
Simon Sturgis
Four Decades of Open Building Implementation
Realising Individual Agency in Architectural Infrastructures Designed to Last 54
Stephen Kendall
The Fetish of Flexibility
Farrell/Grimshaw Partnership, 125 Park Road, London 64
Edwin Heathcote
Flexible Architecture for Evolving Work Practices 68
Despina Katsikakis
System Separation
A Fitting Strategy for Future Development 76
Giorgio Macchi
Dead and Dying Shopping Malls, Re-Inhabited 84
Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson
Shaping Mexico City
Evolutionary Housing for Low-Income Urban Families 92
Andrea Martin and Jorge Andrade
Educational Innovation through Building Adaptation 96
Alexi Marmot
Revolution and Evolution
The Architectural Association 106
Clare Wright
Continuity and Change
Challenging the Disposable Chinese City 114
Renee Y Chow
Self-Build and Change
Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong 122
Ian Lambot
Designing Landscapes for Change
Albertopolis 130
Kim Wilkie
Counterpoint Mixing Up the Mediterranean Model
Architecture Amid Urban Flux 136
Luca Molinari
Contributors 142
Alex Lifschutz
Introduction Long Life, Loose Fit, Low Energy 06
Alex Lifschutz
Back to the Future
The Everyday Built Environment in a Phase of Transition 18
John Habraken
Learning from the West Coast: Long-Termism and Change
An Interview with Stewart Brand 24
Peter Murray
NEUBAU
Flexible Self-Build Cities in Germany 30
Anne-Julchen Bernhardt and Joerg Leeser
Japanese Innovation in Adaptable Homes 38
Kazunobu Minami
Adaptability
A Low-Carbon Strategy 46
Simon Sturgis
Four Decades of Open Building Implementation
Realising Individual Agency in Architectural Infrastructures Designed to Last 54
Stephen Kendall
The Fetish of Flexibility
Farrell/Grimshaw Partnership, 125 Park Road, London 64
Edwin Heathcote
Flexible Architecture for Evolving Work Practices 68
Despina Katsikakis
System Separation
A Fitting Strategy for Future Development 76
Giorgio Macchi
Dead and Dying Shopping Malls, Re-Inhabited 84
Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson
Shaping Mexico City
Evolutionary Housing for Low-Income Urban Families 92
Andrea Martin and Jorge Andrade
Educational Innovation through Building Adaptation 96
Alexi Marmot
Revolution and Evolution
The Architectural Association 106
Clare Wright
Continuity and Change
Challenging the Disposable Chinese City 114
Renee Y Chow
Self-Build and Change
Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong 122
Ian Lambot
Designing Landscapes for Change
Albertopolis 130
Kim Wilkie
Counterpoint Mixing Up the Mediterranean Model
Architecture Amid Urban Flux 136
Luca Molinari
Contributors 142