Materiality in architecture is the concept of different
materials or style of a building. In recent years, the concept of materiality has
recover currency in architectural contest. The impact of materiality on design
is being large consider again and rethink. It extends our thinking after the limit
of current project documents to explore concept of materiality. Material is a
relative item in architectural design such as timber, brick and steel.
Actually, materiality in
architecture is not limited to virtual place on the conscious of materiality. Developments
regarding creative research in the process of architecture call for more conceptualizations
of making. Architects have given close attention to material, and change to
materiality. This change involves two virtual problems. First, architects
should not equate to construction, which introduce the physical and dimensional
outcome. Second, architects start their design with imagination in mind, either
to refer a model, or a form with special aesthetic meaning.
Dr Chau Chak Wing Building is the
part of the University of Technology in Sydney designed by Frank Gehry. It is
his first building in Australia and he focus on materiality. This building is
inspired by a tree house. Dr Chau Chak
Wing Building have two different external facades, one created of bricks,
referencing the sandstone and the honor of Sydney’s urban brick heritage, and
the other one is large and angled sheets of glass to break and reflect the view
of the surrounding of the building. He used material to achieve maximum functionality
of the space.
Immateriality is an idea and
materiality is an object. Immateriality mean un-important under the environment.
Jonathan Hill believed that philosophically spiritual more than physical. He
also arguing that immaterial is as important as the material. Focusing on
immaterial architecture as the feel of absence of matter, Jonathan Hill want to
explore the creativity of architects and designers maintain the architecture
that fuses the immaterial and material and make it consequences.
“My concern is not the immaterial alone
or the immaterial in opposition to the material. Instead I advocate an
architecture that embraces the immaterial and the material.” By Jonathan
Hill.
Architects are operator of
perception. They tried to form a concept into design by materials to reach the
aim of spatial. In 18th century, the building connected to the immateriality,
which had much to do with form but little with material. The experience of
immateriality architecture is based on senses of human such as sight, smell and
touch, but not function. There are many ways to understand immateriality – an idea,
a formless appearance, or through lightness.
Snohetta had designed The 7th
Room in year 2017 which located in Northern Sweden in the tall pine forest. Floating
ten meters above the ground, this building provide a breathtaking view of the
Lapland treetops and the Lule River. Snohetta make the boundaries between
indoor and outdoor blurred, so that the building become a part of the forest.
The bottom of The 7th Room is covered with a large black and white
print of trees reaching up the sky. The wooden façade is clad with pine boards.
The indoor flooring is made of ash wood, while birch plywood is used for the
interior walls.
In my opinion, architects should
focus on both. Beside to archive materiality, they also have to archive immateriality
because immaterial things can make people feel happier and creatively alive
than material. Also, materiality sometimes will contribute to the immateriality
in a building.
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