By Ali Al Yousifi
Have you ever walked into a building
and thought: what is the relationship between the building’s form and its
function? Does the shape/aesthetics of the building mean something? To be
honest, I usually don’t. I walk in and out of countless buildings barely
noticing how they look. But this is understandable for users of architecture, because
contemplating the relationship between a building’s form and function/meaning
can’t compete with other pressing issues we have to accomplish: like
complaining about the burning weather, or ‘unfollowing’ those who didn’t
‘like’ our Instagram post.
On the
other hand, the architect has many hours and days to design both how a building
looks and functions. Due to that, I think it’s fair to expect the architect to
have some sort of connection between the forms and functions that he produces. So
although I excuse the casual visitor from analyzing the relationship between
architecture’s form and function, the architect has no excuse at all.
Being a
resident of Kuwait, I naturally face many bizarre sights regularly. These
sights can range from confusing to hilarious, but what they have in common is
my inability to explain the relationship between their forms and functions.
I’ll now share three:
This
building is in Shuwaikh Industrial. What I find confusing is the way the façade
looks like its falling apart. What is the architect trying to say? That the
business this building houses is collapsing? That they’ll soon be bankrupt?
Finally,
this duck/goose I found in Adailya. I realize this is not a building, but
nevertheless, it’s part of our physical environment. Just think about this,
someone woke up one day and said: I want to put a ceramic duck/goose in front
of my house. Why?
Honestly speaking, I really think the architect's who design these things in Kuwait (the examples you've shown) weren't thinking anything at all. You're over thinking it by looking for a meaning.
ReplyDeleteLooks "modern"? or Pretty? or Funky?.. Will it get us crazy amounts of attention? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Excellent! Lets do it! Thats How it works.
Similarly to houses here, do I stand out in the neighborhood and make my mark? Then Im gonna do it!
People have too much money here that they can't seem to think of other ways to make use of it really.
You're probably right, i'm sure many building in Kuwait are built without a thought to what their form will mean... but they really really should...
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