by Lim Poon Thong 1001540025
Through the studies and researches I made on Cedric Price, there are a few theories of Cedric Price which can be applied in modern society nowadays. Cedric Price favored non-architectural solutions to the accommodation of human activities and denigrates the limitations of permanent and monumental buildings. Replacement should be considered as one of the important factors in the overall design process. It is essential that the variation provided does not impose a discipline which may only be valid at the time of design, in allowing for change and flexibility. It is easier to allow for individual flexibility than organizational change. For example, multi-use of fixed volumes, expandable house, massing of living units and transportable controlled environment.
In my opinion, flexibility in terms of individual and architecture is an important element in a design process. A building or house should be flexible enough to accommodate the increasing number of people and also the different types of activities during different times. For example, a typical Chinese shophouse served as both commercial and residential buildings. It can also be partitioned and became a hotel. It is such a waste where a building only has one purpose. For example, a museum only for exhibition, a residential building to accommodate a fixed amount of people.
There is a case study to conclude all of the above, which is Expandable House, by Urban Rural Systems, located in Batam, Indonesia. It is designed to be one part of a sustainable response to the challenges of rapidly developing cities like Batam. Due to the increasing population, the demand for housing increased. The expandable house allowed the building to be flexible enough to tackle different usage by the occupant. There are few principles while designing the Expandable house.
1. Sandwich section: Roof, floor and foundations that can support up to three additional floors are provided. This system allowed the residents to decide on the number of level of their house based on budget and function.
2. Domestic density: Domestic densification is encouraged in vertical dimension, where it helps to reduce the usage of land.
3. Productive landscapes: Food and building material are integrated into the building itself by integrating bamboo plantations and kitchen gardens into the house.
As a conclusion, Cedric Price theories on emphasizing the flexibility in individual and architecture should be practiced and implemented into modern design nowadays where population increased rapidly day by day. Instead of creating more and more concrete jungle, we should go back to the fundamental of architecture which is to accommodate the users, not the building itself. Architecture is not complete without user experiences. Therefore, we should consider the surroundings and the users as the main elements in designing a new project or building.
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