Greenwashing Formalism

Before the world economy stalled, there was an unbridled pursuit of the biggest, the tallest, the strangest form. With an assumed sense of responsibility, architects today are still creating formalist architecture (albeit in smaller numbers), just with a veneer of 'sustainability', resulting in a 'sustainable' ice hotel in Dubai (while proposed in 2007, as of July 2009, the project was still a go) and a 27-story 'sustainable' skyscraper... for one family in Mumbai.

Architecture Is...

            Architecture is the intentional definition of space by humans. The myriad ‘how’s’ and ‘why’s’ behind these interventions is what gives rise to the vast array of architectures found in the world today. Some see architecture as a purely artistic-intellectual pursuit, while for others it is the ever-evolving means of most effectively housing humankind and its endeavors. While neither answer is wrong, to present such a complex undertaking as architecture as either Art or service is reductive. In a way, architecture is the art of service in that the architect strives (or should strive) to define space in such a way that the experience of people using said space is manifestly enhanced or improved in some way over the 'norm'- this could entail an efficient organization and orientation of space or a thoughtful engagement of the body’s senses- even better would be both. An architecture that is beautiful but unusable by people is a largely worthless object; an architecture that is intuitively functional and sensibly organized is a machine in the most basic sense. Architecture combines elements of the object and the machine to become something greater than the sum of its constituent parts.

            But to discuss architecture in this way neglects an essential piece of its conceptual identity- Architecture is humankind’s means of relating to the world it inhabits simultaneously in the past, present, and future. Architecture abhors a vacuum; without people to inhabit it, without a physical site to ground it, and a greater psychological/geographical/historic context in which to place it, there is no Architecture. While synthesizing the functional demands and aesthetic desires of humanity, architecture fundamentally must relate to its context. To avoid getting to far off on a tangent, let me end this point by saying that at the very least, in the most literal and simplistic sense, architecture of a given place must relate to its physical environment- understanding and incorporating natural light or wind into a project serves both aesthetic and functional demands while fulfilling social-environmental needs as well.

            Today, more than ever it seems, architects have a social responsibility to the people who inhabit their architectures and the planet that their architectures inhabit. Let me be clear- architecture cannot save the world, but it can work to affect change on some level. Architecture has the ability to make bold and lasting statements, for good or ill, on environmental, sociopolitical, and economic issues. In this way, Architecture is humanity’s strongest and most lasting form of social commentary.
            I leave off here because it is partially this last idea that I will seek to understand and develop through my thesis research.

The Beginning...

This is my first stab at beginning to tease out what my thesis will become. After spending a semester in Doha, Qatar this past spring, I became interested in the implicit, or at times explicit, segregation of the city on the basis of social class. Having lived and experienced these divisions for a little over four months, I would like to specifically address the division of social space in Doha. These divisions exist at the self-imposed, interpersonal level, for example between myself and some of the maintenance workers at CMUQ, as well as at the urban scale, for instance in Souq Waqif. At this writing, I am interested in a larger-scale urban intervention that addresses issues not only of social class but also climate and the lack of (easy/plausible) pedestrian access to much of the downtown area. My vague and likely naïve initial goal is to mediate and/or make obvious the sometimes unnoticed divisions in the city.