Materiality v.s. Immateriality

What is the role of materiality and immateriality in architecture today? Is materiality and immateriality predominantly about the expression of material properties, the transformation of materials, human perception, or value judgements; some combination of these; or something else? In other words, if a fourth text were added to this chapter, what would the argument be about today’s architecture in relation to materiality and immateriality?

Materiality brings out a building by its appearance with the use of raw materials to show its power, strength, and the aesthetic value itself. It focuses more on vision as it is the most dominant sense against all senses.

“Architecture is a plastic thing. I mean by ‘plastic’ what is seen and measured by the eyes.”

Juhani Pallasmaa

Immateriality makes a building unique through its quality of space, the blend in with the environment, surrounding atmosphere, not only by vision, but involve all five sensory to experience the building.

“The idea that the absence of material is not necessarily the same as the absence of meaning.”

Jonathan Hill

Human Perception

One of the example of Materiality is Muuratsalo Experimental House by Alvar Aalto, located in Finland. Through the process of designing the house, it became an experimental study of materiality, architecture construction and philosophies. The walls of its courtyard reflect the very nature of the experimental home, as there are more than fifty different types of bricks which are arranged in various patterns. This allowed Aalto to test the aesthetics of different arrangements while also monitoring how they reacted in the rough climate.

A feeling of ancient ruins is prevalent with the whitewashed brick walls that rise from the landscape on the hill. Adding to this ancient feel, vines wrap and stretch across the surfaces of the dwelling which reveals its age.

Another strong example on Immateriality is The Nine Floating Fountains by Isamu Noguchi. It is an art display located in Osaka Japan and was originally built for the World Expo. The two massive square boxes float in the air as a continuous flow of water pours from their bottoms. The fountain is displayed with a well-hidden pipe that feeds up into each box and is rendered virtually invisible once the water begins to flow, creating the optical illusion that the squares are floating in the air and the water appears out of nowhere. By installing the cubes anywhere from 10ft-60ft in the air, it left the flowing water open to the elements of wind and air to push the water and create more optical illusions, as if the cubes could be flying, and the cloudy mist that forms from the disruption adds to the otherworldly look that the fountain was meant to achieve.

Expression of Material Properties

Salk Institute by Louis I Kahn, is one of the building showing Materiality. It is located in California, possesses a design which is brutalist in style but intelligent in its use of material and space. It is constructed from concrete, wood, and travertine, the complex reflects both its purpose as a site for collective scientific discovery and its designer’s penchant for monumental forms. It expresses the collegial nature of science through its open laboratory spaces and communal design. With the excellent use of the materials, Kahn was able to achieve the architectural expressions, quality and details he wanted in order to create a monumental and spiritual characteristic of them.

On the other hand, example for Immateriality is Serpentine Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto, located in London. The pavilion, which has already gotten its "cloud" nickname because of its shape and lightness, is generated through a three-dimensional steel grid of about 40cm modules which morphs on each side. The structure is broken to allow people access as well as to generate different uses around, below and upon it.

“A new form of environment will be created, where the natural and the man-made merge; not solely architectural nor solely natural, but a unique meeting of the two.”

Sou Fujimoto

In conclusion, I would like to suggest: How to achieve a balance among materiality and immateriality, to the fourth text. The architecture nowadays is moving towards immateriality from materiality, in which I think it should be borderless between materiality and immateriality to achieve a better quality of space in terms of materials on vision, and also the inner and spiritual expression through the space, the environment, and the atmosphere. However, there is no exact answer on the judgement on whether materiality or immateriality is applied on the building. It depends on how the users interpret the building based on their emotion and experience.