The First Level of Observation

I’m an architect. To me, trying to write about exteriors is almost like trying to write about the meaning of life.

How a building looks—or rather, is perceived—is a huge subject, with so many facets that many architects spend their entire careers thinking over the implications of ideas as diverse as semiotics and representation, or information and transparency. While I, too, am fascinated by how these ideas drive original works of architecture, personally, I might use a less theoretical approach when I want to learn more about a particular building or architect. 

As a first level of observation, here are some initial factors I think about when observing or designing building exteriors:

1. Relation to Context How do a building’s exterior, and, more importantly, the building as an overall entity, relate to the place and time in which it’s located? By “place,” I’m addressing physical location, geography, local culture, the urban or rural nature of the neighborhood. “Time,” can also address culture; other aspects of time might include technology, materials, styles, and aesthetics of a period.

I often pass by Jean Nouvel’s new Hotel Broadway, currently under construction in SoHo, New York. The exterior echoes the cast-iron façades in the historical district, but using contemporary materials—thereby giving a distinctive nod to both place and time.

Even the most banal exterior draws upon a lineage of ideas bound by history and culture. Whether that of a vernacular barn, the local strip mall, or an edifice of high design, a building exterior always has something to say about its place and time.

2. Massing and Scale How do the overall play of volumes and their individual sizes affect the look of the building?

In my current job, I am working on a program-intensive, upside-down, U-shaped tower packed with retail, apartments, hotel, and office. My team found out a few weeks ago that the initial building design had to be lowered by fifty meters in order to provide clearance for the local international airport. This, of course, posed a tremendous challenge, as our initial building suddenly went from tall and slender to short and stumpy.