Part 2. FoA

(Part of a series constantly evolving, but you can read and happy to hear comments)

There is a lot of room to expand when thinking about the future of architecture through the future of the house. A few days after the last post, Hisako and I sat in a cafe and discussed if we had to re-write 5-10 rules for architecture what they would be. We were careful to not think of concepts, since if done right any concept should be able to incorporate these rules. During his time Corbusier's rules embraced new technologies (steel structure, free plan) and related the results to new ways of living born from these changes in technologies (automobile, the private garden). He represented his interpretations architecturally in his rules. Think of the technological movements today that architecture should be addressing. Below we seek to incorporate what we see into rules. All a bit hazy- but a start of something...

1. 24/7 - A house that operates 24 hours a day
2. East, West, North, South - Conscious of cardinal directions, even Vitruvious paid note
3. Roof Garden - As the residential house gets more urban it must maintain the garden quality found in the suburb
4. Stair/Ramp= Armature - movement through the house should be captured
5. Carbon Zero - is the future
6. Flex/ Multi-use Space - house must adapt to alternative uses as new uses for the house are demanded
7. Un-Private House (1st, 2nd, THIRD PLACE)-Porous - house should function as home/work/play/meet space/place, something that in modern times has been segregated
8. Vertical Ownership - it is not enough just to stack uses, mixed use should promote all of its uses down to the street
9. Invert or Exteriority (Indoor/Outdoor space) - house incorporates natural space either to the side as in the traditional yard or inverted to the courtyard- either way natural space is inclusive to the program and not tangential, even if these space are not physically doable natural space must be brought in
10. Short Street Access - entrance to the house is no further than 5 feet from the street
11. Space in Density - trends toward urban density grow in popularity. How then to make space in density becomes a prime concern for the architect. Without the lawn or the tower view to provide a visual sense of the infinite, the architect must make the most of what they have to create spaces that unfold, exponent, and general make themselves seem bigger than they are
12. Deus Ex Machina - like the literary device which uses dramatic authorial intervention to save a character, in architecture it is a fine opportunity to draw the unexpected, the distant, the phenomenal into the project