Week 9

What Does it Mean to 'Wear' a Building 

The construction and wearing of clothing involves materiality; fit - to the body and to the use; comfort, personalization, adaptability, tactile and emotional experience, and behavior.  All of these can also be applied to architecture and to wearing a building. 

A building need not look like clothing or a textile - it can perform/function like clothing or even like a skin. The skin of the body is the 1st skin - its basic functions are protection, regulation, and sensation.  Clothing is the 2nd skin, providing protection to the 1st skin and the body. A building can be considered a 3rd skin, providing protection/shelter for the 1st and 2nd skins of the body.  Other things we wear, not as skin, but more like accessories are vehicles, furniture, prosthetics, and technology.  In actuality, cars/vehicles could also be considered a 3rd skin because we may spend considerable time within them and they function similar to a building but with a closer identity to personal space and use like 2nd skin clothing. 

 We 'wear' our 1st and 2nd skins very personally - completely engaged with our skin, and closely engaged with our clothing. The 3rd skin takes more effort by the designer to create a space that can engage the human body/occupant.

some examples of not engaging spaces: 

and examples of engaging spaces:

Next:  How can the 3rd skin (building) function like the 1st skin?