Reading 4: Blob Tectonics, or why Tectonics is square and Topology is groovy

In earlier times, there was only one formal construction for buildings. Buildings were structured upright, as humans were. Also, Tectonics only explored the possibly construction methods with the generally accepted ideas of architecture. Tectonics never took into account Blobs, or a more fluid and plastic-y architectural style. According to the the article, 'Blobs suggest alternative strategies of structural organization and construction that provide intricate and complex new ways of relating the general(universal ideals) to the particular(localized techniques of construction, and spacial techniques associated with use and organization).'

Blobs cannot be classified according to a general type, because no two blobs are the same. 'The form and organization of any given blob is contextually intensive and therefor dependent on exigent conditions for internal organization'. Blobs have no discrete envelope, they are very fluid, and like fluids, they have no internally regulated shape; they depend on contextual constraints or containment for their form.

According to the article, Blob construction is not very developed in contemporary architecture culture; most projects that use blob tectonics use it mostly for the roof of a building. Some examples of this is in Renzo Piano's California's Academy of Science and in Reiser + Umemoto's Yokohama Port Terminal proposal. These projects treat the roof structure as a volume that can be packed with program. Conventionally, there would be an average roof height and span that could be used for the entire structure.

In blob tectonics, the specificity of program is respected, and the roof surface drapes across the program like a 'wet cloth'. This creates a more connected building, and is useful for that purpose. However, is that being untrue to architecture? If I put a cloth over a bunch of blocks, I'm just disguising the blocks. If the technology is there, which it obviously is, architects should be designing entire buildings with this blob technology.