SPACE April 2024 (No. 677)
Work From Home (2019)
A Bridle on Precision
How does architecture start and end? The beginning of a design usually starts with a broad outline. It gradually moves down to elements on a smaller scale by interpreting the local context, the shape of the building and the way it sits on the chosen site. Of course, there are times when we find clues to the strategy behind the structure in small details, but this is not a common experience. From the vague lines of a thick coloured pencil to the digitised lines of a CAD programme that can be zoomed in at 1:1 scale, architecture is about being able to skilfully perceive changes in scale.
The process of giving physical form to the language of drawings is similar. From the laying out of the batter board on site to determine the position of the framework, to the erection of the framework, to the construction of the parts, to the working out of the details of the construction, the elements of a building’s composition are met in millimetre increments and the building is finally completed.
The fact that architecture is essentially about dealing with changes in scale is what makes it so challenging. The true expertise of the architect is to think simultaneously at the macro level, from a bird’s eye view of a city to assess local change, and at the micro level, looking at the 15mm joints where one material meets another and anticipating how different dimensions will affect each other. It is the architect who has to forge a narrow bridge between two worlds that never seem to meet and keep them crossing each other.
Precision is the unicorn of architecture. Unlike the world of drawings, where we can depict th...
