ARC231H1 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Cecil Balmond, Structural Engineer, Reductionism
4 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Worked in the same field as his famous colleague peter rice. 1 of the leading structural thinkers in world (1990s). Philosophy of design: new structure and informal : informal : process of seeking a creative solution. Solution lies in a change, not in the fixed pattern that buildings are always following. Notion of subversion a. k. a breaking down traditional cages by mutating or eliminating structural forms. Wants to create new organic principles rather than imitating organic forms. Designs always reinvent the same type of rigid structures, 90 degree angles, repetitive fixings of space, within a rigidity where nothing moves. Compares repetitive designs to a regiment in an army where everything is fixed, strict and permanent. The solution for this is the modernist cube which balmond describes as static perfection": minimalist palette of glass and transparency because you can see into the emptiness of the container. Muted structure: compared with steel and cable where the structure is the machine.
