From box to intersection

Aaron Betsky

pp. 250-257

in: Georg Flachbart, Peter Weibel (eds), Disappearing architecture, Basel, Birkhäuser, 2005

Abstract

Walk through Times Square, Shibuya or Potsdamer Platz, drive towards any airport anywhere in the world, visit any suburban shopping mall, or live in any multiple-unit dwelling structure and the insignificance of mere building becomes clear just by looking around you. More and more, buildings are nodes in networks, intersections of multiple flows, and unstable accumulations of variegated material. This is not altogether a new phenomenon. One could argue that the common view of buildings as stable objects that are static and durable is only a question of perspective. Seen from the traditions of architecture as a discipline and a profession, buildings can be understood as particular constructions of a certain type and with a character appropriate to their function. They can be analyzed in terms of form, function and beauty.