Building for the eternity, a dream of many architects,
but often a burden for later generations. Becoming conscious of the finiteness
of the reserves of the earth has led to a 'heavy', long haul architecture
under the motto of sustainable; built as a castle. But maybe we are better
off with a much lighter architecture. An architecture in which a low material
intensity is combined with a short life-span. Buildings that can be disassembled,
biodegradable buildings and buildings as products can be seen as examples
of such a Lite-Architecture.
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Temporal house of Benthem & Crouwel in Almere (NL) |
The residential neighbourhoods 'The Reality' and 'The Fantasy' in Almere (NL) are the result of an experiment with temporary architecture. The starting point was that the homes shouldnít be left standing for longer than five years. The prizewinners could build their home for their own costs. Thanks to these conditions a low material intensity was combined with a short life-span. Because of the temporary nature an exemption on the rules that normally apply in housing was given for this special project. Moreover the city stated that piling was not allowed. This has led to several interesting foundation techniques. The design by Benthem & Crouwel stands on four prefab concrete slabs and the other projects are founded on polystyrene foam, steel chasers and ëon barrelsí (barrels filled with willow branches).
The project proposal 'Broei' by Krijn Giezen and Albert Bouwman consists of organic building materials and slowly composts. To remain standing new bio-mass must regularly be added to it. If after a few years the house is no longer needed, the home can go to the compost heap without causing any problems. The mausoleum-like design consists of four elements. A wind-break offers protection, a hotbed provides heat, a wooden frame is covered with a leaf roof and the residential area is built up from chopped up branches and leaves.
It is also conceivable that buildings can be completely disassembled. For exposition buildings this is a widespread method. But also in the home- and office construction there are possibilities for systems that can be disassembled. Homes of steel for example. If the housing concept turns out to obsolete after a period of time and there would be no need to reuse it, then the steel parts can be recycled.
A low-tech, 'heavy' material such as brick can also be suitable for buildings that can be disassembled. In contrast to the common brick constructions in which the mortar is stronger than the stone, one can also built constructions with a much softer lime mortar. For centuries the Romans used the same stones to give shape to their constantly changing city.
With the principle of lifetime-optimisation buildings can, just like products, be produced with a previously determined 'best before end'. Since the Second World War there numerous attempts are made to develop a home for mass production. Buckminster Fuller filed for a patent on his 4D home in the 1950's and Fokker, Philips, Hoechst and numerous other large companies have ventured on starting a manufacture line for steel prefab homes. Most of the experiments haven't been a success, but the environmental problems may give new life to this often-recurring phenomenon.
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