the synergic dimension of architecture
added value houses
the synergic dimension of architecture
If there is a trait distinguishing architecture from other artifacts, it is the synergy dimension. Synergy is the condition whereby the total is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, when one element + another = more than two. The origin of ?synergy? stems from the Greek term ?synergos?, meaning - team work conducted by a number of individuals who join together for a task that cannot be accomplished by each separately.
The synergy principle - the added value resulting from the conjoining of several elements - is not unique to architecture. Examples of it are found in all organic systems, first and foremost in the living world comprised of a repetitive assemblage of cells. The uniqueness of synergy in architecture stems from the fact that albeit an artificial product, it behaves as an organic one composed of generative components that receive their variability from non-generative ones. A generative component is any variable necessary for the continuum of the process, while non-generative is any variable whose absence from the process does not hinder its completion.
While generative components are responsible for the very existence of the process, the non-generative ones ensure its uniqueness. This resembles a cake recipe from which infinite cakes can be produced. Whereas the recipe is a list of generative ingredients alone, the cake?s unique taste derives from the baker?s one-off interpretation, the quality of the ingredients, and the conditions of baking (AI 69).
Architecture?s synergic dimension stems from its being structured in the bordering action that simultaneously produces both differentiation and integration. It is argued that since the fundamental purpose of architecture is to regulate interactions in space (Berlage), the means to this end - building materials, style, or fashion - have only minor significance (B. Hillier).
This is so because socially speaking there is no difference between conceptual differentiation (the border between municipal authorities), marked borders (as in a football field), a low wall (between yards), or a high wall (say between Israel and the PA). Common to all is the creation of two categories by one act, whereby the ceiling of one apartment serves as the floor for the one above; a group of houses creates a street; a number of streets make a neighborhood; several neighborhoods make a settlement, and so forth.
This simple principle may be demonstrated by two pre-cast structures (say, containers) placed on a given site. While their placement next to each other will merely yield a structure double in size, their placement at the distance (say) of another container will yield in addition a court between them. Roofing the court will upgrade the court to a porch, and only two more walls are needed to convert the porch into a room.
This inherent duality was discerned already in the 4th century B.C. by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who claimed in ?The Unification of Opposites? that every object actually defines its diametrical opposite. So, for example - a woman is defined as a ?wife? only if she is married to a man, who is defined as a 'husband' only if he is married to a wife.
In the 19th century the German mathematician George W.F. Hegel used this idea in his book ?The Phenomenology of the Mind? to establish his claim that the objective world is always perceived subjectively.
The inseparable connection between the ?objective constant? and the ?subjective variable? is central to the essence of architecture. This principle has also been the basis for socio-spatial theories since the 1960s, such as: structural anthropology which attempted to derive social meaning from the spatial organization of primitive societies (Levi Strauss, Roman Yakobson); the territorial imperative theory that claimed in the 70s that bordering of categories and their defense is inherent in our being mammals (Amos Rapoport); and the theory of space syntax claiming since the 80s that the most essential architectural trait is conducted through the act of bordering and the degree of its permeability (B.Hillier).
Space perception, whereby the open spaces balance and complement the built ones, is also the basis for the yin-yang approach, comprehensive to every realm of life in the Far East. Its most prevalent architectural expression is the Japanese ?void?, where the ?yin? is the source of life of the ?yang?, but has no existence without it.
Hence it is possible to say that in a synergic space, integration and differentiation complement one another, with the closed spaces being the generative ones, and the open ones enclosed between - the non-generative variables which render the system unique.
These reciprocal relations characterize organic space systems - ones that develop from the part to the whole, and much less, those developing from the whole to the part. In the first category we find any vernacular settlement, while in the second - any modernist one, and the case of cities like Ashdod, Modiin or Elad speaks for itself.
It is interesting to note that this principle actually characterizes all known architectural products, with no distinction between culture or place: the inner court-yard of Mediterranean architecture; the cloister of the monasteries; the ?liwan? around which all the Arab house spaces are organized; the Spanish patio with its gardens; the biblical ?house of four spaces?; and all the block-built European houses. In all of these, the closed space between the buildings is a place where things happen, in spite of its being a mere by-product.
Without delving too deeply into the typology of each of these buildings, it is possible to say that their spatial advantage lies in their structural efficiency, so that a small investment yields a large result.
This principle categorically distinguishes between buildings spread horizontally on site, and those standing independently. While in the former the organization of the closed and the open spaces occurs at once, in the latter - the development of the open space requires extra investment. Spatial efficiency has always been considered basic to architecture, and as such has been adopted by the international community as a basic condition for ?sustainable? architecture.
Surprisingly, it was the modernist discipline which caused the synergy principle to be put aside, as this approach on the one hand preached for improved performance, but on the other - divided the open space into secondary spaces (zoning), thereby determining growth from the global to the individual, contrary to organic growth.
Interestingly, this non-synergic approach does not remain at the level of urbanism, but slides over to the level of the individual building, through master plans that narrow the possibilities of maneuvering between limiting building lines, dictating outer rather than inner courtyards, causing buildings to stand as free objects in the middle of the plot.
Each of the five buildings presented here expresses in its own way a certain measure of synergy - some explicitly, others conceptually.
Ami Ran
www.aiq.co.il
the synergic dimension of architecture
If there is a trait distinguishing architecture from other artifacts, it is the synergy dimension. Synergy is the condition whereby the total is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, when one element + another = more than two. The origin of ?synergy? stems from the Greek term ?synergos?, meaning - team work conducted by a number of individuals who join together for a task that cannot be accomplished by each separately.
The synergy principle - the added value resulting from the conjoining of several elements - is not unique to architecture. Examples of it are found in all organic systems, first and foremost in the living world comprised of a repetitive assemblage of cells. The uniqueness of synergy in architecture stems from the fact that albeit an artificial product, it behaves as an organic one composed of generative components that receive their variability from non-generative ones. A generative component is any variable necessary for the continuum of the process, while non-generative is any variable whose absence from the process does not hinder its completion.
While generative components are responsible for the very existence of the process, the non-generative ones ensure its uniqueness. This resembles a cake recipe from which infinite cakes can be produced. Whereas the recipe is a list of generative ingredients alone, the cake?s unique taste derives from the baker?s one-off interpretation, the quality of the ingredients, and the conditions of baking (AI 69).
Architecture?s synergic dimension stems from its being structured in the bordering action that simultaneously produces both differentiation and integration. It is argued that since the fundamental purpose of architecture is to regulate interactions in space (Berlage), the means to this end - building materials, style, or fashion - have only minor significance (B. Hillier).
This is so because socially speaking there is no difference between conceptual differentiation (the border between municipal authorities), marked borders (as in a football field), a low wall (between yards), or a high wall (say between Israel and the PA). Common to all is the creation of two categories by one act, whereby the ceiling of one apartment serves as the floor for the one above; a group of houses creates a street; a number of streets make a neighborhood; several neighborhoods make a settlement, and so forth.
This simple principle may be demonstrated by two pre-cast structures (say, containers) placed on a given site. While their placement next to each other will merely yield a structure double in size, their placement at the distance (say) of another container will yield in addition a court between them. Roofing the court will upgrade the court to a porch, and only two more walls are needed to convert the porch into a room.
This inherent duality was discerned already in the 4th century B.C. by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who claimed in ?The Unification of Opposites? that every object actually defines its diametrical opposite. So, for example - a woman is defined as a ?wife? only if she is married to a man, who is defined as a 'husband' only if he is married to a wife.
In the 19th century the German mathematician George W.F. Hegel used this idea in his book ?The Phenomenology of the Mind? to establish his claim that the objective world is always perceived subjectively.
The inseparable connection between the ?objective constant? and the ?subjective variable? is central to the essence of architecture. This principle has also been the basis for socio-spatial theories since the 1960s, such as: structural anthropology which attempted to derive social meaning from the spatial organization of primitive societies (Levi Strauss, Roman Yakobson); the territorial imperative theory that claimed in the 70s that bordering of categories and their defense is inherent in our being mammals (Amos Rapoport); and the theory of space syntax claiming since the 80s that the most essential architectural trait is conducted through the act of bordering and the degree of its permeability (B.Hillier).
Space perception, whereby the open spaces balance and complement the built ones, is also the basis for the yin-yang approach, comprehensive to every realm of life in the Far East. Its most prevalent architectural expression is the Japanese ?void?, where the ?yin? is the source of life of the ?yang?, but has no existence without it.
Hence it is possible to say that in a synergic space, integration and differentiation complement one another, with the closed spaces being the generative ones, and the open ones enclosed between - the non-generative variables which render the system unique.
These reciprocal relations characterize organic space systems - ones that develop from the part to the whole, and much less, those developing from the whole to the part. In the first category we find any vernacular settlement, while in the second - any modernist one, and the case of cities like Ashdod, Modiin or Elad speaks for itself.
It is interesting to note that this principle actually characterizes all known architectural products, with no distinction between culture or place: the inner court-yard of Mediterranean architecture; the cloister of the monasteries; the ?liwan? around which all the Arab house spaces are organized; the Spanish patio with its gardens; the biblical ?house of four spaces?; and all the block-built European houses. In all of these, the closed space between the buildings is a place where things happen, in spite of its being a mere by-product.
Without delving too deeply into the typology of each of these buildings, it is possible to say that their spatial advantage lies in their structural efficiency, so that a small investment yields a large result.
This principle categorically distinguishes between buildings spread horizontally on site, and those standing independently. While in the former the organization of the closed and the open spaces occurs at once, in the latter - the development of the open space requires extra investment. Spatial efficiency has always been considered basic to architecture, and as such has been adopted by the international community as a basic condition for ?sustainable? architecture.
Surprisingly, it was the modernist discipline which caused the synergy principle to be put aside, as this approach on the one hand preached for improved performance, but on the other - divided the open space into secondary spaces (zoning), thereby determining growth from the global to the individual, contrary to organic growth.
Interestingly, this non-synergic approach does not remain at the level of urbanism, but slides over to the level of the individual building, through master plans that narrow the possibilities of maneuvering between limiting building lines, dictating outer rather than inner courtyards, causing buildings to stand as free objects in the middle of the plot.
Each of the five buildings presented here expresses in its own way a certain measure of synergy - some explicitly, others conceptually.
Ami Ran
www.aiq.co.il
