posted on 2015-11-17, 16:38authored byLauren Quinn McDonagh
My main interest i s fashion. It always has been. When thinking
of how I could begin a thesis in archi tecture I started
cutting, folding and pleating a piece of paper as if it were
material. Where better to begin than physically changing
the state of an obsolete object? It then struck me, fundamentally
archi tecture and fashion are the same. We wear
clothes to cover our bodies and to stay warm. From the
beginning of time animal hides were used for clothing and
for their housing just at different scales. The clothing(hide)
covers the body and the tent houses the person. One might
have to wear certain types of clothing for professional or
cultural reasons. Or we may choose a certain way to dress
to form our identity. There are various reasons as to why we
choose how we dress ourselves, but in most cases it comes
down to aesthetics. Today there is certainly no lack of diversity
within the clothing empi re with new garments in
store every week. Thus Fast fashion is created, surrounded
with all i ts ethical problems. Unfortunately their problems
not imprinted on the label.
I then began to think about the simi larities between
the two disciplines(archi tecture and fashion) but also
the differences. What can each adopt from one another?
The idea of immediacy and obsolescence within the fashion
world is something which rarely, i f ever occurs within architecture.
Buildings have to satisfy an idea of sustainabi lity
of their design. Projects can takes many years to plan and
construct. However a fashion house has to create numerous
lines within a season. Decisions have to be made quickly
and manufacturing has to happen even quicker. Does architecture
need to adopt these trai ts of fashion? Architecture
does not have the abi lity to continually create new surfaces
like fashion does, however can archi tecture learn to resurface
itself?
Can it have a continuous fashionable dialogue that can be
some what less superficial? It is true certainly of clothing,
that one can not simply have all the new and Fashionable
clothing within their wardrobe. The outdated articles are
given a new lease of li fe by the addition of " fashionable"
accessories. What are the archi tectural accessories? Timelessness
also becomes an issue. Is something that
is timeless deemed "unfashionable"?
I believe that if something is timeless, whether that be
a dress or a building, it is also flexible and it allows for
change whilst keeping its core structure. Can fashion adopt
archi tectures will for longevity?
Fashion is a quick moving body that has an ever changing
cycle that i s f leeting and transient. Architecture is durable
and stable but is time consuming to create and is unrelenting
in its image. Of course the scale and materials which
archi tects employ have an impact on this. How can one
amalgamate the fast pace of the fashion world with the stabi
lity of the archi tectural world? Do we as archi tects need
to become more flexible in our way of designing? Or is the
"design" the issue? Designing could change and become a
more proactive and participatory process aiming for aesthetic
sustainability.