Summary Notes

Unitec Year One: Here are my notes from the crit summation this afternoon.
Project 6: FESTIVAL OF TRANSITIONAL ARCHITECTURE (Christchurch)

(SEAT Public Pavilion by E/B Office, accessed 16 Aug 2012)

1. Specificity of building programme (use) helps prevent nondescript architecture. 'Multipurpose' is often seen as non-commitment, "Everything is nothing", Federico.

   Definition of NONDESCRIPT

   1

   : belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind : not easily described

   2

   : lacking distinctive or interesting qualities : dull, drab

   (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nondescript accessed 16 Aug 2012)
2. Multi-layered programmes enrich outcomes.
3. The ability to infuse architecture with characteristics that induce varied readings (responses, perceptions) from the public (user) is an indication of design skill.
4. Understand the quantitative requirements of the brief, use the limit of floor space as a design enhancer. (10 sq m is no bigger than a single bedroom!)
5. Less is more (Rohe, MV); Less is a bore (Venturi, R); ...or Less is simply poor (Ng, A S)
6. Articulation of space, and a sense of enclosure are identifiers of architecture. (Less that, you may get just a landmark, however meritorious in its own right.) The Seat Public Pavilion just about achieves that identity, but for the SHAC competition brief it would need to be more.