The Illusion Houses

As the world keeps moving forward, new technologies are invented. New revolutionary methods are applied in building, and so the efficiency is improved and the expenses are decreased. Like Anton Kolås wrote on SDR.NET in Relating Priods;

Ludwig van der Rohe explained a new way of constructing buildings in his working thesis from 1923. The building should imitate the human skeleton to optimize not only the structure but also the function of the building. This way of constructing is only possible with the materials: 

Steele 

Concrete 

Glass

The Modern Movement, acting in corelation with the Industrial Revolution, replaced the traditional structural elements with glass, steel and concrete. These are materials with appreciative properties, they are cheaper, easier to shape and more transportable. Plus, they are in abundance.
Make no mistake, the traditional building techniques are carefully developed over time in the broad context of material access, culture and climate. They have their purpose and deserve to be honored for that.

Meanwhile, in our contemporary time one can choose between building cultural and contextual - or efficient and modern.

And in the midst of this, a new way of architecture has arised.

The Illusion Houses.

http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/0dM1cC0h1gdB2/0x600.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000

The illusion houses are houses built of industrial materials while a layer of skin imitates a different material, such as stone or wood. Using this technique is surely cheaper and it may look good, but the arguable part is whether it is proper architecture. In an article from Forbes Magazine pro the method, it is written;

As is the case with many of today’s faux products, manufactured stone owes a lot to advances in technology. Huge molds can turn out replicas of stone that are so realistic, you’d swear they were cut from a quarry, gathered at a riverbank, or pulled from a farmer’sfield. Many of these products will last for decades, and not fade.

In the module of relating periods Frida Svensen Varegg wrote the text Form And Function connected, claiming;

A wall was not constructed only because it was beautiful, a wall was constructed because it also was useful. The function of the building became a huge priority. Contemporary architecture is based on the functionality. Today we construct houses according to what the user need and require. Strict rules of how the characteristics of the building should be, does not longer exist. It’s the functionality that will affect the form and then again the outcome of the construction. The house is considered as a machine, and machines are made to have a function. 

[1]

Her argument is that constructing houses is purely based on functional matters. The Illusion Houses does not follow this logical reasoning. Forbes Magazine writes:

“A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction to anything that’s fake,” says Starkweather. “But just because something isn’t real doesn’t mean it isn’t quality.”

Whether quality is an issue or not will not be further discussed in this article, but it is neither a part of the real question. If the Modern Movement arrived as a result of taking advantage of the new materials avalible on the market, and the contemporary architecture uses both traditional and industrialized structural elements, giving the importance of context back. Ina Kristin Ullenes writes in Adaptation then and Now:

Contemporary architects can be described as slightly more retrospective. Francisco de Gracia predicts the importance of taking history and the surroundings and into account when constructing [3]. Jesus San Vicente emphasizes on adapting to the traditional methods and obtaining knowledge of the vernacular. The contemporary approach to adapting has become more nostalgic in the sense that they taking history and tradition more-so into account compared to their modern counterparts [4].

[4] Alexandra Hernandez

[2]

The articles written by a variation of students on SDR.NET all agrees; development of architecture follows the development of technology. As the techology provides us with new materials for construction, the methodology of constructing adapts. While The Illusion Houses do the conterary of this, they pretend to be a structural material when really there are other materials properties supporting the house. Therefore, they can be categorized as an inconsitency in the line of developemental architecture. Whether this abandones it from being proper architecture will be a matter of opinion.

[1] Typography, Relating periods, Frida Svensen Varegg

[2] Typography, Relating periods, Anna Aranda