Jean Prouvé's genius was only restricted by the constraints of the world he lived in. He was not an architect who was politically motivated, but rather an artist who saw the world in it's rawest form, and had the tools to shape and mould it as he wished. He was a Utopian architect, and his vision of the future was a light, modular design that could be erected under the direst of circumstances. La Maison Tropicale was Prouvé's prototype for a new world of architecture. Sadly, the house proved to be far too costly to be mass-produced. It was pre-fabricated exclusively in France and the resources strictly French. The members were required to be shipped by air to their destination and could not have been produced on site. This was a feat that proved to be too great, too costly, and lacked too many resources for its time; Jean Prouvé's designs were simply too advanced. Overall, La Maison Tropicale should be recognized for what it stood for, and for what Jean Prouvé intended it to be: an example of efficient architecture.
The work-house was completely pre-fabricated and designed to be climate responsive. It had the ability to be erected in an "Ikea-like" fashion with little time wasted. The flexibility of the structure of the house was key; the abillity for the house to be erected on stilts made it possible for the house to occupy any type of tropical landscape. Pre-fabricated housing gained popularity after the second world war because it gave the homeless a potentially cheap and efficient opportunity at housing as it was understood that industrialized and repetitive housing could drastically lower housing costs. While La Maison tropicale may not have been as successful as Prouvé would have hoped, his prototype will stand as a great example. Such a house can be the difference between life and death in an emergency situation, and could be the sole means of refuge in the event of a natural disaster. A house like this could be produced efficiently, and in bulk. With the proper funding, thousands of lives could be saved in the case of an emergency. On the note of providing housing for the homeless, La Maison Tropicale could, with more research, become a model for the advancement of realistic and affordable housing. The work-house had the ability to be adapted into a pre-existing solution to suit the need of relief architecture.
Where Prouvé's house had the ability to take on an active roll in relief architecture, the desert oasis fort at Nakhl took on more of a passive roll. The fortress at Nakhl became more than merely a desert stronghold. It was a safe haven, embodying the idea of the oasis itself within its thick, mud-brick exterior. Survival across the Omani drylands is less than likely. In fact, the life of the caravans relied entirely on the presence of the desert forts as they provided an ever-lasting relief. As a pre-emergency structure, the fort at Nakhl became a check point along the trade routes of Oman. These forts were necessary and their existence guaranteed not only the survival of the traders and camels of the caravans, but also the trade routes themselves. The forts were also designed to be militarized. Dating as far back as 2291 B.C. Oman has been subject to notable periods of domination, tribal warfare, invasions, and rebellions, necessitating the construction of military strongholds, especially in areas of peak interest: trade zones, areas with fresh water, coastal regions and oases. This trend continued for thousands of years as Oman was dominated by the Arabs, Portuguese, and Persians. The foresight of emergency became key to survival in the vastness of the desert. It is an already existing response to the ever-lasting desert emergency.
Essentially, both the Nakhl fort and La Maison Tropicale have become prototypes for emerging architecture, and are both great examples of emergency-responsive buildings. The design of the fort enabled a preemptive response to a constant need for relief in one area, whereas La Maison Tropicale was designed for responding to scenarios requiring immediate action in any single tropical environment. Through foresight, the fort aimed to respond to emergency before it actually was present, being built to sustain security in the region. Maison Tropicale was designed with the idea of responding quickly and efficiently to provide relief. The final link we must draw between the two structures is that they share a certain architectural spirit: the ability to emerge as relief in the most desperate of scenarios.
-Jordan Evans
Information gathered from our other blog posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment