What is the most important thing for an architect?
It is the idea, the thinking of the architects, and the brains play significant role here…an architect can’t have his or her brain empty with no idea for even a single day…no matter the same idea for a specific design or a different ones, which is way better.
Other skills might be important, like craftmanship, drawing, rendering, software usage, etc…but there are actually specialized professions for them; model makers, draftsmans, IT expert, etc…. but the most important, the key for an architect is still the idea and the creativity behind the idea…
As we are learning to become professional architect in the future, get our approach to famous buildings around the world and learn about the idea behind the design that turned from drawings to reality buildings.
Some examples below are of big and tall buildings which I loved the most, but currently I am reading a book entitled (Small Building, Extreme Idea) which is quite a good book on idea behind the designs too…no matter small or big structures, there must be an idea lies behind it that only architects will know, it is hardly to be understand by ordinary people, this is how special architects are!
Idea from surrounding:
– related to the city, skyline and its architecture that defines the city.
– related to the background, landscape, surrounding built environment or nature.
Example: Petronas Twin Towers.
– located in the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
– the main religion in the country is Islam, hence the design would be based on Islamic principles.
– KL has a variety of different types of architecture, but in putting KL forward, Cesar Pelli, the architect is designing the buildings based on modernism.
– he designed the buildings to be striking(of glass and steel) to put it as the contrast and main landmark of not only the city but as well as the country, giving great impact towards the surrounding built environment.
– he designed the buildings that suit perfectly with the surrounding cityscape, skyline and the natural background.
Information:
– 452m in height, 88 floors, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, connected by the world tallest skybridge 170m above ground, designed by Cesar Pelli, current world tallest twin buildings, first Asia’s world tallest buildings.
Idea in collaboration with other profession:
– cooperation with artists, engineers, urban planners, or others.
– works together to solve several related issues.
Example: Beijing National Stadium.
– foreign architects (Jacquez Herzog and Pierre de Meuron) came from Swiss to China for the design with new experience.
– they went for research on cultures, traditions, beliefs and history of Chinese people.
– they met with a famous Chinese artist, Ai WeiWei.
– the artist helped them to find a suitable form for the design of the stadium.
– the stadium is to be of complex structure as Chinese people love complex thing.
– then, they thought of bird nest, a suitable form for their design.
– Bird nests are found a lot on trees and can be seen easily especially during winter season when all the trees had no leaves at all!
– they got the idea as soon as they observe the bird nest, a very potential structure for their stadium, even birds can build it, why not people?
Information:
– main stadium for Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, located in Olympic Green, Beijing, China, capacity of 80 000 seatings, architects: Jacquez Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, world largest steel construction.
Idea with traditional elements:
– basically related to the origins of place; culture, religion, tradition, history, or even ways of life.
– can be incorporated in traditional as well as modern designs.
Example: Taipei 101
– design of the body based on bamboo plants ( bamboo is seen as a plant that is harmonious with the wind based on Chinese beliefs)
– there are 8 boxes in the body, each with 8 floors (8 is a prosperous number based on Chinese beliefs too)
– there are structures of dragon head (Chinese legendary belief that it will helps protect the building) on each corner of the top of boxes that produces a sawtooth corner to ease the wind pressure on the building.
– there are structures of ancient Chinese coin on the center of the four side at the top of the base of the building.
– there are structures of wind figure based on Chinese tradition on the center of each facade on the top of each boxes.
– as you viewed the building from above, it is seen as a combination of square and circle (In Chinese belief, these two shapes stay harmonious and balanced together; circle represents the sky while square represents the earth).
– the great thing is that so many traditional elements are incorporated into the modern-looking building of Taipei 101..great..
Information:
– 509m in height, 101 floors, located in Taipei, Taiwan, designed by C.Y.Lee and Partners, current world tallest completed building to top of spire (architectural detail).
Idea with the form:
– Main point in design of specific structure is within its form.
– Playing of form through transformation or even a simple form projected from plan to create an elegant design.
Example: Shanghai World Financial Center
– the plan is a square shape area.
– basic form is a square prism.
– it is then intersected by two swiping arch to form a vertically evolving six-sided shape in plan.
– then, it tapers off into a single diagonal line on the apex of the building.
– a trapezoidal aperture is added to allow wind to pass through, to enhance the design of the building and to give an exciting feeling to visitors at the world highest observation deck (474m) to enjoy the view with a feeling of floating on air.
Information:
– 492m in height, 101 floors, located in Shanghai, China, designed by Kohn Pederson Fox, world tallest completed building to top of roof and highest occupied floor, world highest observation deck (474m).
Idea with extreme actions:
– with the aid of technology and modern engineering, any extreme actions can be done on a design of specific structure.
– give people a “OMG” feeling when looking at the specific structure.
– actions on design like rotating, twisting or even hanging are now made possible.
Example: CCTV Headquarters Tower.
– two separate towers sliding towards the central point but did not met together directly.
– The new CCTV building is not a traditional structure, but in the form of a three-dimensional continuous cranked loop formed by a 9-storey podium joining two 50-storey high leaning towers, which are linked at the top via a 13-storey cantilevered “overhang” structure at 36 storeys above the ground. The irregular grid on the building’s facades is an expression of the forces travelling throughout its structure.
Information:
– 234m, 50 floors, designed by Rem Koolhaas, located in Beijing, China, great structural challenge especially on its location at the seismic zone.
There are many other prominent examples and many other ideas, there you have to check it out yourself, you may share your brilliant ideas or thoughts with me as well, or you may want to ask some questions, i would be very grateful to hear your response too..very simple, just leave a comment, and I wil lbe surely replying to ur questions….
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