Considering the physical part, the varying elements of holistic environment have imposed great impact over the architectural design. i.e. the uprising sea level has resulted in serious flood in coastal parts of Holland. Is it possible for us architects to design buildings actually being responsive to the changing environment? Some of the residential programs in flooded areas of Holland have applied novel technologies, such as floating structures, to confront with the natural disaster.(more infos see http://www.waterstudio.nl/en/architecture.html)
Nevertheless, let’s boldly imagine if one day the awful flood disappeared but replaced with drought, will these floating structures become useless in the desert-like area? There is a critical need to design and fabricate the construction which is able to be adaptive to various kinds of extreme environments at the same time. Actually, some groups of architects and engineers are striving to accomplish it.
When referring to perceptual experience in architecture, the variation of the context will generate complexity. Take the historical buildings for instance, they will certainly be assigned different meanings in the varying contexts. Like the Parthenon Temple, it used to be a place of worship for gods, however nowadays it has been taken as the origins of western civilization for people to admire. Robert Venturi seems to appreciate the double meanings result from traditional forms of architecture or architectural elements, which derive one meaning from their original/historical context. Some examples of this type of architectural recycling include old palazzos transformed into embassies or museum, or old city walls that become boulevards around downtown in later centuries. So, instead of replacing the original meaning of the historical building with a fresh new one, it is better for us to combine the double meanings together naturally. When the multi-meanings succeed in existing in the overlapping contexts, complexity emerges.
Meanwhile, complexity in relation with the perceptual experience also emerges from the experiencing individuals. It is obvious that the perceptual experiences between different individuals vary. For instance, Tadao Ando’s the church on water will offer various feelings to people. Some say it is a place filled with happiness, while others argue that it is expressing sort of sadness. It is the result of different life experiences between various individuals. However, even for the same individual, the perceptual experiences could remain distinct according to the level of cognitive capability. Just like appreciating the classical music or surrealism painting, you will be able to understand more as you reach a higher-level of cognition. Same as experiencing the architecture. Quote the words of Bruno Taut:
"It is within architecture that we experience the true sense of ourselves in the world, and therefore it is within the power of architecture to shape experience, and ultimately the culture in which we live."
So, confirmed with the existence of complexities in contemporary context, we should find a way to include them in the process of architectural design rather than ignore or even remove them. The developmental process of nature inevitably leads to complexity. When reaching a certain critical level of complexity, objects can self-organize and self-reproduce in an open-ended mode. Von Neumann recognized that life depends upon reaching this critical level of complexity. Life indeed exists on the edge of chaos. Complexity is the origin of richness. Robert Veturi pointed out that “architecture should embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion”.
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