Architectural Affordances – Typologies of Umbau
Architectural Affordances: Typologies of Umbau (Thymos Books: Naples 2024) will be published as result of the ongoing research project “Affordances of Architectural Typology” by Gennaro Postiglione and Andreas Lechner, resulting from Andreas’ 2022 to 2023 fellowship at Milan Politecnico’s DAStU. “Architectural Affordances” will be a book with a collection of drawings that trace transformations in 30 buildings over time. Organized into three categories based on time-periods and life cycles – centuries, over one hundred years, and less than a hundred years –, this atlas gathers consistent floor plans, sections, and elevations that facilitate the study of „Umbau" as major and minor transformations of buildings alongside yellow-red plans.
︎︎︎ Cooperative Research
Fig. Carlo Fontana, Ground plan and elevation drawing of Colosseum church in the ruin of the amphitheater (1725)
Andreas Lechner, Gennaro Postiglione, Francesca Serrazanetti, Maike Gold, eds. Architectural Affordances – Typologies of Umbau, Thymos Books: Naples 2024 (forthcoming)
︎︎︎Thymos Books
These transformation, extension and redevelopment projects were compiled through a call for papers and drawn and assembled by international architects from both practice and academia. The resulting atlas not only depicts changes in the material composition but also presents the mediation of forms and functions as a temporally and socially conditioned appropriation of affordances offered by built spatial arrangements. What the constants of primary construction elements illustrate, is a certain resistance to change, which can endure for centuries, while individual objects, non-load-bearing walls, surfaces, or furnishings, as well as the accommodation of specific uses, possess a more temporary character. The interplay among these different time-periods creates gaps that we, as architects, bridge creatively through drawing. Therefore, architectural drawing plays a central role in the book not only as a form of notation for architectural ideas, allowing us to forge new/old bridges towards a theory of transformation, but also as evidence and recognition of the generative potentials of architectural types. Among other articles, Hermann Czech’s well known 1989 essay “Umbau” (translated as “Transformation“) will be reprinted in “Architectural Affordances”.
“Architectural Affordances” are actively tested and further explored in seminars and workshops with students. In a recent PhD-workshop at Politecnico di Milano the candidates were asked to adaptively reuse a well known adaptive reuse projects. See below Ayla Schiappacasse work transforming “Frac Grand Large” (Dunkerque, 2009 by Lacaton & Vasall) through adding a transparent extrusion.
These transformation, extension and redevelopment projects were compiled through a call for papers and drawn and assembled by international architects from both practice and academia. The resulting atlas not only depicts changes in the material composition but also presents the mediation of forms and functions as a temporally and socially conditioned appropriation of affordances offered by built spatial arrangements. What the constants of primary construction elements illustrate, is a certain resistance to change, which can endure for centuries, while individual objects, non-load-bearing walls, surfaces, or furnishings, as well as the accommodation of specific uses, possess a more temporary character. The interplay among these different time-periods creates gaps that we, as architects, bridge creatively through drawing. Therefore, architectural drawing plays a central role in the book not only as a form of notation for architectural ideas, allowing us to forge new/old bridges towards a theory of transformation, but also as evidence and recognition of the generative potentials of architectural types. Among other articles, Hermann Czech’s well known 1989 essay “Umbau” (translated as “Transformation“) will be reprinted in “Architectural Affordances”.
“Architectural Affordances” are actively tested and further explored in seminars and workshops with students. In a recent PhD-workshop at Politecnico di Milano the candidates were asked to adaptively reuse a well known adaptive reuse projects. See below Ayla Schiappacasse work transforming “Frac Grand Large” (Dunkerque, 2009 by Lacaton & Vasall) through adding a transparent extrusion.
Ayla Schiappacasse, Polimi 2024
Scientific Committee
Matthias Ballestrem (Bauhaus Earth)
Marco Bovati (Politecnico di Milano)
Antonio Carvalho (Politecnico di Milano)
Lorenzo De Chiffre (TU Wien)
Victoria Easton (ETH Zürich)
Andreas Lechner (TU Graz)
Angelo Lunati (Politecnico di Milano)
Gennaro Postiglione (Politecnico di Milano)
Paola Scala (Università di Napoli, Federico II)
Coordination
Maike Gold (TU Graz)
Francesca Serrazanetti (Politecnico di Milano)
Attemsgasse 11
8010 Graz, Austria
Staatlich befugter und beeideter Ziviltechniker
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Unless otherwise stated, all materials on this website and the ideas incorporated herein, as an instrument of professional service, are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights belonging to Andreas Lechner, its affiliates or its licensors and all such rights are hereby asserted and reserved. No part of this website may be copied, reproduced, republished, posted, transmitted or distributed in any way for commercial purposes. Any modification or use of the information contained on this website for any purpose not explicitly permitted without prior written consent is a violation of the author’s intellectual property rights and is strictly prohibited.
︎︎︎Site Map, Imprint & DSGVO