Architectural Ponderings

Architecture is about and for the people

Architecture is about, and for the people, it is the core of Archi-Re. The purpose of architecture is not to make a product and sell it, but to create environments where people thrive!

This is something I have been wanting to write for some time and the collaboration with ImpactCity – The Hague Innovators served as a catalyst.
I don’t believe in just taking things as they are. We are the ones that create our own worlds through the choices we make on a daily basis. And so, accepting the way economy has transformed how we view and interact with architecture is a limitation of the possibilities we allow ourselves to have.

I also think, that a major part of the disconnect from architecture and what it represents for life comes from the lack of involvement people have in knowing themselves and taking responsibility for their own lives. Technology and social progress have brought amazing changes to the ease with which we live, so normally, people have been relying on those elements much more. And while the new developments are highly beneficial, one of the side effects is the disconnect from the importance of actually understanding how one functions as a person. But that is a much more complex and lengthier conversation. 
Be it, architectural or social, our environments are crucial. They impact us constantly, both on a conscious and on an unconscious level. Knowing and understanding how that happens allows one to choose how to react to their impact and implicitly to have control over one’s life. One doesn’t need to have an architecture diploma to understand its relevance. Paying attention to the spaces one uses, provides awareness on their impact on one’s life. That awareness means feedback and demand. Feedback on how the spaces need to change, upgrade, transform and develop, and demand of new spaces, functions and approaches. It’s not the market that drives the exchange. It is the demand that creates the market.  

I personally believe that architects and contractors should follow up and request feedback from the residents of their creations. Talks and meetings should be arranged at certain intervals to see how people adapted to, and integrated the architectural designs to their own lives. The impact of the space should be monitored so that what we design can grow in real time with the needs of the society.

If you want to read more on the topic here is the guest post for ImpactCity:

“Good architecture needs user input”


Click here for more Architectural Ponderings 
Click here for the “-Re” House Project 


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