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It's rarely discussed, this time when architecture's not on display, but it's precisely during these lapses when the program-independent, long-lasting, and raw spatial character shines through. Spatial character for any use, a Space for Something.
When a building is abandoned or it is burnt or it is a completely different prospect, it isn't the cozy nice building, house, home – whatever it might have been. It becomes a strange playground, a sort of weird, you know, where the birds and the bees and the bats are sort of all equal in this strange jungle.
-Alexander Creswell
We are interested in an idiosyncratic space that makes us curious, but that does not expain itself, or tells us how to use it. We think that this kind of space is the most useful in the long term.
Following the idea of the unpredictable life chapters of buildings, we focused on the long-term, program-independent spatial ideas addressing the relationship between interior space and a rough and tumble, heavily trafficked streetscape. Larger openings were introduced. A generous folding-sliding façade connects the existing interior to a new outdoor patio, defined and guarded by a hefty new clay block privacy wall. The outdoor space is an unlikely addition in a heavily-trafficked, suburban context, but is meant to respond to the long-term urban context (rather than the temporal priorities in project briefs), the pedestrian life that lingers on the corner due to a bus stop and a residential block in behind the commercials strip.
A patchwork of distinct clay bricks (yellow, gray, red and brown, small and large) and a varied ice cream color palette create an idiosyncratic spatial character within a tight budget, following the frugal approach of Bruno Taut.
The space, tentatively outfitted to offer a new chapter to a longstanding Chinese restaurant, was closed for a long time while the owners considered what to do and how to reboot the business. The prolonged testing period/closure became the ideal time to capture the basic spatial character of this stripped down, unfurnished Space for Something and the humblest set of architectural relations: a pendant light hooked tentatively on a wall, a chair placed temporarily in the corner, the (somehow always present) trash bin, and the natural light generously occupying the space whether or not anyone was there.
Naho Kubota's photographs of this project read more as a photo essay than a project documentation and show the stillness and directness of the space. The ice cream color palette, generosity of natural light and juxtaposition of temporary objects in the space also suggest a latency to the space, and an opportunity for different readings.
They like it!
Stephanie Davidson, M.Arch, B.E.D.S., B.F., Assistant Prof. Knowlton School of Architecture
Georg Rafailidis, M.A.(AA), Dipl.-Ing. Hochschule Muenchen, Associate Prof. Knowlton School of Architecture
The ongoing, overarching theme that we are interested in investigating through our built work is a kind of spatial antihero that we are calling “Space for Something”: a space that makes us curious, but that does not tell us how to use it or what it’s used for. We think that this type of space is the most useful in the long run. We ask: How can we create long-lasting meaning in the built environment when the architectural design process is typically focused squarely on short-term client briefs and needs?
