Design for Living
October 14, 2023 12:56 AM Subscribe
Rhael Cape, known as Lionheart, has been inserting himself into Architecture firms e.g. as Poet-in-Residence. Posing such questions as "‘You’ve got 10 minutes, can you design a section of a building that would mitigate someone’s mental health issues?"
He grew up in Kentish Town, London, and reflected on How Architecture Impacts Our Mental Health for Channel 4 TV [5m]. The boy done good: he's guest edited a Wellcome Collection series on seizing architecture for have-nots; contributing How I escaped my anxiety and depression through architecture and poetry. He's Reflected upon Thoughts, Poems, Architecture [5m spoken word with pictures]. And been at the 2023 Venice Biennale Architectura with Those With Walls for Windows. He's a big fan of the Barbican: "If you do not like Brutalism, I cannot trust you as a person." MetaPrev on Brutalism.
He grew up in Kentish Town, London, and reflected on How Architecture Impacts Our Mental Health for Channel 4 TV [5m]. The boy done good: he's guest edited a Wellcome Collection series on seizing architecture for have-nots; contributing How I escaped my anxiety and depression through architecture and poetry. He's Reflected upon Thoughts, Poems, Architecture [5m spoken word with pictures]. And been at the 2023 Venice Biennale Architectura with Those With Walls for Windows. He's a big fan of the Barbican: "If you do not like Brutalism, I cannot trust you as a person." MetaPrev on Brutalism.
Don't let the name prejudice you, "raw concrete" or Béton Brut isn't at fault for the darkened stairwells and looming geometric shapes or poor upkeep. Maybe the technical name gave the people commissioning architects and civil engineers an excuse to overrule human factors or believe they're solved by the naturalness of these geometric shapes.
posted by k3ninho at 3:29 AM on October 15, 2023
posted by k3ninho at 3:29 AM on October 15, 2023
Don't let the name prejudice you, "raw concrete" or Béton Brut isn't at fault for the darkened stairwells and looming geometric shapes or poor upkeep. Maybe the technical name gave the people commissioning architects and civil engineers an excuse to overrule human factors or believe they're solved by the naturalness of these geometric shapes.I don't think that it is the main reason that people stopped building brutalist buildings, but raw concrete is actually awful for upkeep anywhere it rains. Water soaks into and through the concrete causing cosmetic and then structural damage much faster than for other types of building materials.
posted by zymil at 5:56 AM on October 15, 2023
Yeah, my brutalist university in central Arkansas was neat to look at but miserable to inhabit. The structures have so much thermal mass that, plopped into one of the most humid parts of the country, the interior of every room is perpetually damp. I can imagine brutalism being more effective if materials science were reflected in the design of these structures, allowing more modern surfaces that make regional sense and maybe even attempt to overcome the darkness inherent in monoliths of concrete. I love how my university buildings tried to do this by having hallways on each floor open to the air. But the failure was still how little light and air is allowed into the interior spaces. With essentially windowless rooms, and hallways that offer panoramic views of the landscape, entering the dank spaces for class had the distinct feeling of abandoning the world for a hadean prison cell.
Now I live in London and, while I understand the charm of the Barbican—it's quite lovely from the interior courtyards—it's still godawful to experience in so many respects. It's one of those places that, unless you have the privilege of living in it, is for many better enjoyed in framed photographs and blueprints.
"I constantly question how the built environment – its aesthetics, compositional design, colour, materiality and intent – can affect our emotional cognition. And who knows, maybe it is a result of my architecture crit days, or my sensitivity to my surroundings, or possibly the exact thing I was looking for in poetry all those years ago: an emotional resonance."
There's the rub. Emotional resonance isn't easy to standardize, or to use as a tool to judge people. Interesting person with an interesting trajectory. I wonder what he would say to/about rural living, the architecture that tends toward unplanned, anodyne and lacks the aggrandizement of the metropolitan Barbicans of the world?
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:37 AM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Now I live in London and, while I understand the charm of the Barbican—it's quite lovely from the interior courtyards—it's still godawful to experience in so many respects. It's one of those places that, unless you have the privilege of living in it, is for many better enjoyed in framed photographs and blueprints.
"I constantly question how the built environment – its aesthetics, compositional design, colour, materiality and intent – can affect our emotional cognition. And who knows, maybe it is a result of my architecture crit days, or my sensitivity to my surroundings, or possibly the exact thing I was looking for in poetry all those years ago: an emotional resonance."
There's the rub. Emotional resonance isn't easy to standardize, or to use as a tool to judge people. Interesting person with an interesting trajectory. I wonder what he would say to/about rural living, the architecture that tends toward unplanned, anodyne and lacks the aggrandizement of the metropolitan Barbicans of the world?
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:37 AM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ideefixe at 9:19 AM on October 14, 2023