The jury and the public have had their say — feast your eyes on the winners of Architizer's 14th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.
Form vs. function – architecture’s endless debate. Architects have always swayed either to the side of the engineer or the side of the sculptor. The “engineer” opts for accommodating a certain program and performing measurable tasks, while the “sculptor” seeks expression and autonomy. This divide, however, creates more harm than good, because it suggests that architecture’s artistic power begins where its usefulness ends, when in fact a building’s function can be the very source of its expression.
To put it simply, the problem is not how we classify architecture, but how narrowly we define utility. Consider a typical architectural brief: it might describe functions such as shelter, circulation, structural stability, environmental performance, program, etc., yet these are the more tangible aspects of architecture.
On the other hand, alternative forms of “usefulness” may suggest creating opportunities for encounter and participation or changing the way a place is perceived. As long as architects recognize these functions as equally useful, then the understanding of utility is expanded and, in turn, architecture begins to look less like a finished object and more like an instrument awaiting activation.
An Instrument for Perception
Moon Pavilion by Atelier Guo, Huizhou, China | Popular Choice Winner, Architecture +Art, 14th Architizer A+Awards
Atelier Guo’s Moon Pavilion replaces an abandoned greenhouse – situated amidst the empty fields of Huizhou – and takes the form of a lightweight structure where flowers are cultivated. Although it is comprised of familiar objects: the moon, the boat and the greenhouse – it refrains from being a static sculptural object, encouraging visitors to experience it through movement. Specifically, the building directs perception based on the moon’s silhouette, creating shifting relationships between the two.
Yet, decisions regarding its layout also follow practical concerns, since, by raising the pavilion to two stories, the ground below is freed up and thus effectively cultivated. In parallel, the transparent façade, made of dark polycarbonate cladding, acts as both a filter for ventilation and light and accentuates the moon installation during the day. Ultimately, the Moon Pavilion is an optical instrument that brings the landscape into focus and makes visitors newly conscious of their position within it.
An Instrument for Encounter
Strauch Hypercube by Susan Narduli Studio, Berkeley, California
Suspended within the three-story Forum of UC Berkeley’s Grimes Engineering Center, the Strauch Hypercube occupies an atrium conceived for learning. The installation is visible from every floor, establishing a strong visual connection with the surrounding architecture and the people who occupy it. However, the Hypercube does more than give people an object around which to gather, with its 46,000 points of light translating mathematical principles into a changing visual experience that makes abstract research perceptible.
The installation invites students to test ideas and contribute new data, which is then represented through an elaborate lighting pattern. Its appearance is therefore never fixed and instead is continuously reshaped by the academic community. Although the Hypercube does not inhabit the form of a traditional, spatial architecture, it becomes perhaps the most “useful” element within the university building, simply by bringing people and disciplines into conversation.
An Instrument for Memory or Meaning
Chaque Souffle Une Danse by Desai Chia Architecture, San Francisco, California
Found within a gallery in San Francisco, the Chaque Souffle Une Danse installation responds to reports of escalating global conflict. Using deep breathing and meditation to process feelings of anxiety and turmoil, artist Lee Mingwei created a series of “breath drawings” by placing sumi ink on an alabaster slab and dispersing it through sustained breaths. The drawings are arranged circularly, supported via custom wood-and-bronze rotating stands, which are backlit via candles. The specific placement prepares the space for a sequential ritual that activates the installation: a performer moves through the individual stands, lighting and then extinguishing each candle, thus transforming the gallery into a space that oscillates between illumination and darkness.
Similar to the Hypercube installation, this project functions as an instrument that structures reflection within an architectural vessel (i.e., the gallery), where its meaning is produced through the interaction of the object, the performer, the audience and the space. In other words, Chaque Souffle une Danse turns the gallery into an instrument for contemplation – dealing particularly with concepts of preservation and instability.
Beyond Black and White
If we examine these three projects through the traditional opposition between function and art, they would almost certainly fall into the latter category. Yet defining them as “instruments” gives them a degree of agency: they can be activated, interacted with and adapted to produce experiences that may not even have been anticipated by their designers.
The debate is therefore fruitless. Architecture does not have to transcend utility to become art. On the contrary, architects need to recognize the full range of things architecture helps them do. To shelter and connect, certainly – but also to notice, participate, remember and imagine. In short, architecture becomes art not when it escapes use, but when it transforms use into a richer form of human experience.
The jury and the public have had their say — feast your eyes on the winners of Architizer's 14th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.
Featured Image: Strauch Hypercube by Susan Narduli Studio, Berkeley, California
