At first sight, the design calls for wonder. With its fantastical shape, I could not help but try to project myself in the space, wondering how it would be like to occupy it. It is a building that sparked my curiosity.
Alex Phi explains the study in Segregated Monoliths: ‘The investigation deals with displacing and dislodging both formal and organizational aspects of a building while retaining a sense of wholeness.’ He goes on to explain his investigation in terms of singular versus multiplicity and articulation versus continuity.
courtesy of Alex Phi
Phi acknowledges that a building is made of parts, and to make it a whole, he deals with the continuity of a surface but the articulation of the joint. Expression of the joints allows for not only an articulate separation, but also tells us how the pieces come together, making it simultaneously separating and joining, celebrating how and where the pieces come together to make the whole.
Segregated Monoliths raises profound questions and seeks to explore them in a way that stretches the imagination, surely for the architect, but also for the viewer and occupant.
By:Aiysha Alsane
