Article taken from A&B issue 7-8|23
Beauty, goodness, sustainability - are these values still relevant? What are the biggest design challenges of single-family house architecture today?
venustas, firmitas, utilitas: three conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient, if not impossible to meet
Venustas, firmitas, utilitas - principles considered the fundamentals of architecture, or even the basics of fundamentals. They serve us to evaluate our work from the most objective and direct point of view. Throughout the history of architecture, however, we will find many buildings that did not take these principles into account, including realizations that are widely considered canonical. For example, nineteenth-century villas in England copying ancient Gothic or classical styles, creating concepts that, in our opinion, cannot be considered beautiful in the broad sense of the word, because they are false beauty, achieved by copying out of context, or perhaps the result of snobbish fashion.
Cross House | proj.: James & Mau Arquitectura
© James & Mau Arquitectura
...unfulfillable
Also, the great masters of architecture, such as Le Corbusier with the Savoye Villa or Mies van der Rohe with the Farnsworth House, or Frank Lloyd Wright with the Fallingwater House, who gave great impetus to the current concept of architecture, did not meet the demands of their clients. They were influenced by complaints about structural, functional and even comfort issues. Hence the statement that even the iconic designs failed to meet these three objectives. Houses were created that were unsuitable for living, where comfort and a sense of security for future occupants were rejected. Undoubtedly, in the first half of the twentieth century, one can find more examples of architecture where durability or functionality were abandoned in favor of beauty and new horizons, hoping that this design would make history. Unfortunately, the ideas were ahead of the building materials and techniques of the time, and were not able to provide basic living conditions. They were also quickly verified by users. Therefore, one principle cannot be ignored without sacrifice, without considering the other elements of the definition. Whenever architects want to make a significant contribution to architecture, they risk upsetting the balance of the three Vitruvian principles. This is the case, for example, with House NA, by studio Sou Fujimoto, a house of undeniable beauty, but uninhabitable due to problems of functionality, accessibility, privacy and, above all, due to its lack of thermal comfort in both winter and summer.
Should we therefore omit the latter examples from the canons of architecture? From our point of view, of course not. Not only are they examples of architecture of the highest order, but they also helped us discover new challenges and problems. If it weren't for Le Corbusier, Fujimoto, Mies van der Rohe or Frank Lloyd Right, not only would we not have developed new building materials and techniques, but our architecture would also be much less versatile.
Cross House | proj.: James & Mau Arquitectura
© James & Mau Arquitectura
insufficient
And back to everyday architecture. It's obvious that 2,000 years after Vitruvius, architecture will not be sufficient if we define it only by these three ideals - beauty, durability and functionality. Why? Because we believe that new problems and challenges have emerged. Climate change, the planet's lack of resources, the housing crisis - all these have caused us to turn to new definitions of good architecture, based on sustainable concepts, where places that encourage cooperation are generated. In addition, these core values - sustainability, utility, beauty - should not only be considered in the field of architecture. A house will not live up to the most basic aspects of architecture if the urbanism it generates, or the urbanism in which it is located, does not include them. For us, the term "functional house" also refers to its surroundings - because how can architecture be functional if the immediate surroundings lack a school, bus stop or park? We believe that the concept of the fifteen-minute city, to which Carlos Moreno refers, should be applied in every case.
Cross House | proj.: James & Mau Arquitectura
© James & Mau Arquitectura
Architecture also cannot be beautiful if it is not designed with reference to its context, lacking references to the urban or natural neighborhood. Architects must be confident enough to renounce their own egos and design in harmony with their surroundings through imitation or contrast, while understanding that they are creating in a context much broader than their own field of work and longer than their own lives.
Cross House | proj.: James & Mau Arquitectura
© James & Mau Arquitectura
It is important to understand the context and make the design strong, resilient and durable, but also flexible enough to adapt to new technologies, new energy carriers and means of transportation. And, of course, the latest architecture must be sustainable. Unstoppable consumption introduces inequality between towns and large metropolitan areas. The single-family house itself, from an ecological point of view, is not very cost-effective, generating higher operating costs, related to, among other things, water drainage, electricity, garbage collection or public transportation brought to each family unit. That's why it is so important to rationally shape urban planning based on a multifunctional fabric of developments. And the willingness to introduce solutions that will be based on cooperation between neighbors.
These are the assumptions we try to follow. We believe that each of us creates his or her own definition of good single-family house architecture, each trying to reach the ideal. Keeping in mind that a single-family home is first and foremost to guarantee the possibility of free use. And architecture on this small scale is supposed to solve the problem of not having one's own place to live or work, to give a sense of security. Timelessness, functionality, beauty and individual and collective sustainability.
