unit-code
Measurement is critical to architectural operations. The siting and location of parts depend on our capacity to register the geometry and nature of the materials we use and how to put them together. We do not dispute the importance of measurement, but we observe the cultural shift in the political agency of the measure and the consequence that this has had on architectural values.
In many realms within the politician’s reach, there has been an increasing tendency to measure what people do as a means of control and passing on responsibility. Consequently we live in a culture where things are valued because they can be measured rather than because they matter. Many of the attributes of architecture that elevate one project above another defy numerical appropriation, yet they register strongly in our experience. The reductive nature of conventional measuring can have a numbing and normalising effect on architectural production. PG25 looks at ways of valuing those dimensions that matter to each student and sit beyond conventional means of calibration.
PG25 is interested in the processes and methods of design. It explores how they can nurture ideas that go beyond the often-reductive logic of programme and performance specifications. We are interested in the parallels between how the medium of design can inform the content of a project and how construction techniques can embody those ideas in the built work.
Our unit is interested in teasing out the particularities of each student’s concerns, and in finding ways to explore and realise those ambitions. Some students have developed media for exploration that translate directly into production; others focus on developing the medium for researching an idea or the techniques for realising their concerns.
This year PG25 travelled to Brussels and Amsterdam for their field trip to study examples of architecture where the architect was able to express their fascinations through their built works. These included the work of the Belgian designer Victor Horta. We visited museums where exhibits displayed a precise resonance between idea and technique, such as in the construction of musical instruments and anatomical models. We also studied techniques of display used in other museums to enhance the value of their objects’ content.