I find the idea of mass customization within the realm of architecture to be exciting, but also somewhat of a threat towards my future employability. However, I have not come here to be selfish and myopic, even though this post may devolve into nothing but the above. I will do my best to avoid this, so let’s get to it.
“Refabricating Architeture” uses its final two chapters to make projections about the future of architecture in design. They construct a future from hypothesis in which Boeing now makes prefabricated modules for building construction. These modules are constructed very similarly to how the book described the assembly process for cars, ships, and planes in previous chapters. To make a poor analogy, the kitchen is now to the house as the dashboard has been to the car. We choose our kitchen module to be assembled off site, and then it is “installed” at the place of final assembly, or in this case, our property. This is “Refabricating Architecture’s” take on the future of mass customization and architecture.
The “future” in which the authors make this projection has now become our past. The book is not terribly dated at all, but we know now that their hypothesis has not been proved entirely correct. I do feel it has been, in some regards, and this where I will digress into self pity and fear for my future job prospects.
As stated above, mass customization has found its way into construction at a fair scale. I do not know what exactly this scale may be, but I have a decent idea. I can see entire homes rolling down the highway on flatbeds when I travel. I do not think that most of these structures were designed by architects, and I don’t think that the bathrooms inside have beautiful hand picked and custom cut granite countertops. I would imagine that their interiors are comprised mostly of these prefabricated modules that “Refabricating Architecture” speaks to. Perhaps the entire building is a prefab module. Having noted all that, I think it would be foolish to rule out the possibility of these modules being present in buildings we spend our every day in. I imagine that this trend will continue to grow. That leads me to a question.
Where does this leave the architect? If somebody can flip through the pages of a bathroom magazine (not the kind on top of the toilet tank) and pick out a vanity, and choose the mirror, and the color of the marble, and the cabinets, and be told how much space it takes up, and the ideal counter height for a sink, then they will probably be able to do this for lots of other things in their home. Would they even need an architect anymore? Would architects just become glorified interior designers? Anyways, enough fretting. I’m sure you’ve had enough.
It is my hope that mass customization in architecture will be the type seen in Chapter Six of “Refabricating Architecture”, and that architects will always be around to put compose our spaces. I believe that mass customization in architecture will trend towards the more technical and functional aspects of building. I think that this leaves more area for creating high performance buildings, instead of buildings that are just easier to design. This is where we can change relation of Quality and Scope being equal to Cost and Time, to QxS is greater than CxT. That was not a very eloquent ending, but I hope we get the point.
Where does this leave the Architect? Fantastic question. Does the Architect hold steadfast to her ideals of individualism and singular design vision? Or, and perhaps this is a bit too radical, does she apply her not inconsequential intellect, creativity, and skill to the problem at hand. You see, the problem at hand is not the death of a profession, just the abandonment of a set of tired ideals for a system that works a little better. Human progress in action. Therefore the problem is not that Architects will become irrelevant; it is that we have become bitter old people whining about the good ol days instead of adapting to market trends and taking a leadership role. You see a leader has responsibility and accountability. Its far easier to simply whine about the loss of something than it is to challenge yourself to learn something new.
ReplyDeleteGood post...motivated a rant out of me.