Invisibility in Architecture

The Dramatic Take

Written originally for Rethinking The Future .

Block. Block. Block. Bigger block. Bigger block. Block. Block. Block.

That’s how Peter Cook describes cities in one of his lectures.

Talking about the “future” of architecture is always an open debate, where the specialty of the participants themselves is not questioned. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. The very universal nature of the profession means it is under constant public scrutiny – you simply cannot build something without the people using it talking about it. Architects are performers in a way. We aim to please.

However, what if this debate goes too far and people decide to take architecture into their own hands? One of the scariest scenarios for architects is that they will become obsolete, and with good reason! Our buildings now require more specialized knowledge. Sociologists, anthropologists, biologists, physicists – they are all now a necessary part of developing design, where once upon a time an architect could study everything to come up with the best solution to the constraints of the site. An architect could merely turn into a supervisory role – but then we have the development of the AI, and that might wipe the need for human architects altogether!

I doubt things will be this bleak. This was what I uncovered after a few Google searches about the topic for this week. Architecture as a profession will surely go through drastic changes with the advancement of AI, just like any other profession. However, it is not the diminishing visibility of the humans in charge that gets me interested, but that of architecture itself.

The Pinnacle of Settlement

Over the years, humans have evolved to become as self-sufficient as possible to the extent that now many people decide to live on their own. They have the abilities and resources to do so - so they do. We’ve come a long way from traveling in nomadic packs according to the weather to choosing the kind of housing we want to buy for our individual selves. This person-oriented living has encouraged us to invest more time into ourselves than into dependent relationships outside of our sphere, which leads me to question the role of architecture and how it will have to evolve into these new social norms.

Invisible Architecture

BNL-BNP Paribas' seat in Rome is a stunning example of how architects choose materials and design to create architecture that has the possibility of blending into the context, of being as subtle as possible. With the emergence of concepts like sustainable design and green building, I do not doubt that the concept of turning buildings invisible will be right around the corner. Although some architects have already experimented with their buildings, using glazing and mylar cladding, etc. I believe there is yet another dimension that begs to be explored more – the use of technology and illusion to fade buildings away.

Who wants an overcrowded city when we can magically blend it all into the landscape? Junya Ishigami asks us a very important question – what kind of architectures could there be if we simply chose to not categorize them the way we have? The categories as we study them today are also inherently flawed – the world was never so simple as to lump brief periods into certain categories and expect it all to make sense. However, what the architect hints at is a more explosive design process that could potentially eliminate architecture as we see it today.

The new world also comes with new problems, with the pandemic not being the least of them. With such issues and the hyper-individualistic form of society, it is only fitting that architecture turns into something that helps humans find the space they need, to turn to a place of solace. A place where they can escape the lifestyle that we all chose to propagate, a place where they could turn invisible. People now require spaces that help them flow through life, to address the fluidity in their lives and translate it into their living spaces. For too long have we succumbed to the alpha-male hierarchy.

With all these points in mind, architecture seems to be taking the Disney route out. From modern minimalism, we moved onto a rebellious post-modernism, but since then we have realized how important it is to tackle climate change and the like and to focus on building sustainable instead of building pretty. So is invisible architecture the solution to all our problems?

You stand in a big city. You know for a fact that the parliament house stands eight stories tall, that the court next to it is a massive block spanning sixty feet, that the victory arch built a few decades ago adorns the entranceway to the ministry. You can choose to see it all, or none of it. You have the power to live in the middle of a massive park, or the middle of a congested neighborhood. It does not matter where in the city you choose to go – you can decide on the kind of surroundings you desire. Buildings are no longer concrete blocks that ‘block’ out the sky – they are submissive to the kind of living you require. Like the house in “And He Built a Crooked House” by Robert A. Heinlein, you realize there are many mathematical dimensions to architecture, and you appreciate the architects who made it all possible.

The world isn’t a terrible place after all. And architects still have their jobs intact!