Architecture | Second Life
"Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.”
–Frank Lord Wright.
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In past centuries, form and function were considered things following each other. However, Frank Wright mentioned that they form and function emerged together. He referred to relation between outside and inside. In terms of this relation, form and function become an unison, entirely a whole together. The idea of form and function unity highlights that form is not only based on the function, but also limits it. It was never one or the other, form and function were made to compliment each other and architecture today is continuing to outshine these boundaries.
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When a building been rusting in the rubble or running into a faint, does it means that its functional have been ceased?
Off late, after built structures become disused or abandoned, adaptive reuse can be the perfect way to breathe new life into an old building, while conserving resources and historic value. Whether due to environmental reasons, land availability or the desire to conserve a historic landmark, countless architectural firms worldwide are turning to adaptive reuse as a solution to some of the modern problems of the built environment.
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Of course, architecture is about function, function response to purpose. In adaptive reuse architecture, generally most of the buildings are transformed in a way of new purpose or we so called it "repurposed" . Through the process of transforming an old building into a new with the strategy of adaptive reuse, the second lives of buildings are being revived.
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The Row / Studio Bikin
The charm of this street was lost partly due to indiscriminate renovations and additions, many of which did not respect the original architecture of the 1940’s residential units. Studio Bikin worked on the North Block, which comprises of 12 shoplots on the Northern end of Jalan Doraisamy. These old residential units were then transformed into new commercial shophouses with vary aspects of consideration. They liaised closely with Pocket Projects and the clients to meet the new requirements set in order to revitalize not only the buildings, but to entirely re-imagine its contents and programming. Pockets of green and light have been introduced in the form of internal courtyards, balconies and roof terraces. A focus on communal spaces is reflected in, its alleyway beer garden shaded by old trees, a landscaped front plaza, and an event space which doubles as a public space by day.
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Brothers Brewery + Juke Joint BBQ / MA Studio
This project involved the adaptive reuse of a 1960’s warehouse into a craft brewery, restaurant, commercial kitchen and bar with a north facing courtyard and covered outdoor dining area. The buildings public spaces are located at the rear of the building, the warehouse and brewery act as a buffer between these spaces and the character homes across the street. This also benefits the buildings new courtyard space, it receives sun all day, is protected from the prevailing winds and is furthest from the residential homes. In this outdoor space they used timber and landscaping to provide relief from the harder surfaces of the old warehouse, while on a larger scale the courtyard provides a relaxing retreat from the city and a reward for those keen to seek out this tucked away site.
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“ The purpose correspond to time and socioeconomic circumstances. Purpose change, function change. Or we called it a ‘pedagogic system’ – of human activity and practical resources.” – Richard Hill. Hill then distinguished the ambiguity of the purpose and function as follows. Purpose denotes a human intention in relation to an objecy, and function denotes the object’s execution of that purpose. They started by acknowledging the past life of the building and making the best of what was available.
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In short, today we should not see form and function as dualistic, but as in a dialectic relationship in the evolution of form. Today’s architecture is more like a fiction. The fiction that drives the forms is just another type of function, a bit a more human approach to function, to the content.