HOW BUILDINGS LEARN

A number of years ago I discovered a book by Stewart Brand called How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built.  This title has continued to fascinate me.  The idea that buildings ‘learn’ was a most interesting concept and the more one truly thinks about it, it makes so much sense.  Buildings learn all the time!  

Take our house for example.  Built around the turn of the century as a family home it served in that capacity for years.  Then – as the neighborhood changed – the use of the house did as well. It learned to be a hair salon and tailor shop on the lower level and an apartment on the upper floor.  When some major changes were happening in the development of our village – it was scheduled to be demolished because it was in the way of progress.  Two souls not only saw its potential but had financial and handyman gifts to offer.  They saved the house by moving it to a new neighborhood.  Once again it ‘learned’ to be a single family dwelling.  That’s when we entered the picture. 

And we have asked it to learn and stretch in the ten years we have lived here. Last summer our son and family moved into our second floor while their home was being built.  To keep everyone’s privacy intact, my husband and I moved our offices, library and bedroom to the lower floor.  Our offices have been in four different rooms over those years!  Our daughter’s bedroom has become the ‘visiting artist’ overnight retreat space. 

Just think about your own spaces . . . how have they learned to be something different as your needs have changed?  Hmmmm . . . What did your bedroom turn into when you left home? 

This learning happens to commercial buildings all the time.  The original owner builds it as a fast food restaurant.  Over time, the restaurant fails and the building then becomes a real estate office.  Interesting that when it becomes ‘whatever is next’ – we often still SEE the fast food restaurant’s shape and identity.  It’s as if the DNA of the building is still present.

 “Commercial buildings have to adapt quickly, often radically, because of intense competitive pressure to perform, and they are subject to the rapid advances that occur in any industry.  Commercial buildings are forever metamorphic,” says author Stewart Brand.  He further comments that buildings get pushed around by three forces – technology, money, and fashion.

Perhaps technology means the ability to adapt to what is new and current. This is often complicated and costly for buildings to update to the new regulations in order to protect workers and community.  Just think of the short list around electrical, air intake, fire requirements, plumbing, and the basic structure.  These are the unseen adventures of a building’s life span that are a must to keep it safe and functional.  

Fashion is what we see and more frequently react to – is it appealing, unique, inviting? Does the ‘look’ suit the new intention? When the technology, money, and fashion adapt to meet the new use, the new day - it very frequently changes the original neighborhood.

So here is your homework assignment . . . begin noticing buildings that have learned and buildings in the process of learning.  Are you able to detect the original DNA???  Let me know what you learn!

P.S.  The photos are of ‘once upon’ cabins that have learned to be an ice cream shop and women’s boutique.

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