The May 2019 edition of The Architectural Review is on this topic of periphery. I have yet to read past the introduction and it already has me thinking. The magazine speaks about "the periphery" as this beautiful, mysterious and often ignored existence. The generally accepted definition:
1. the outer edge of an area
2. the less important part of a group or activity.
The definition of the word highlights how natural it is for us to associate the words “outer” and “unimportant”. We want to be part of the “in” group; which gives us value. And yet, it’s beyond the periphery where we can often learn the most. I’m talking about the new conversations that you can have with people you would never approach, or digging more on a topic than what the news stations chose to tell you. I’m talking about reading in between and beyond the lines.
The introduction of the magazine had this rural town life- type vibe. I’m wondering how the same ideas apply to architectural design. “Architects yearn for tidiness, order, even perfection”... which I guess is obtainable inside of a building, but how about right outside of it? Weather, people, animals, all create for the disorder and uncontrollable mixed uses of space beyond the envelope. A building is almost always right beside public space, and so, sometimes we try to blur the boundary between the interior and exterior. To successfully do this we definitely have to have a good understand of peripheral conditions. But the surface of a building not only can represent the edge of exterior and interior, but also private and public, cold and warm, fast and slow. I think it’s a topic of high interest in architecture today. I don’t see this kind of desire for a transition in much earlier architecture. The blurring of the edge condition gives us a gentler approach from the outdoors to the indoors, which is often the more comfortable environment,. But equally so, it provides a gentler transition from indoors to our more hectic, uncontrollable and unexpected outdoor environment.
Meanwhile inside of a building, we often have many programs, sometimes occupied by very different people. We draw lines to organize which people go where and at what pace. It is an unnatural division compared to the life beyond the building’s envelope. The lines of planner, designers, and architects have the power to divide and confine our personalities, desires, and actions, making movement beyond the lines appear unwelcoming.
If a periphery is drawn inside of a building (which I am not saying is automatically wrong or unnecessary) the periphery must not be a continuous line, but rather made of several staggered and overlapping lines to mimic the racing thoughts and ideas of the people whom will move throughout building themselves.
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