Title: Choice of materials, the architect’s approach
© OMA
Choice
of materials, the architect’s approach.
In 2002, Toyo Ito spoke about a « new
materiality born with the worry of contemporary architecture for the
surface. » In fact, today it seems that this hypertrophy of touch, sensation
and image, has transformed materials into a fashion phenomenon. The number of
materials is continually increasing. Finding their way through this maze is one
of the architects’ greatest concerns. The topic of research concerned the
choice of the material in the work process of architects. Knowing that
materiality rather refers to the language of materials than their structural
dimension. If we want to express the identity of materials, we must, like
Herzog et De Meuron said in an interview in 1993, « push
it to its extreme limit, in order to show
it stripped, deprived of any
function other than that of "being"”.
Many books list materials, their principles of
implement. However, there is little on how the choice can be integrated in the architects’ process of conception.
The objective of this study was to highlight the
successive stages in the work of architects in their choice of materials. I attempted
to grasp the intellectual position of architects, their way of proceeding.
This study project presents firstly an overview of the state of the art of contemporary materiality, and secondly, the study of a
corpus of building.
How to choose, integrate and implement materiality in an
architectural project? The case of architects Hérault & Arnod.
