Choreography of Change: Unfolding Architectural Potentials of Weakness

Environmental forces and processes (entropy) are inevitably and substantially affecting the built environment. In most cases, these changes are unintentional and are visible as weathering of surfaces, structural disintegration, et cetera. In an age in which architecture is increasingly image-based, the ideal state of a building is often conceived as immediately after being built and still appears as it was drawn by the architect. Considerable resources are then used on counteracting wear and tear to keep the buildings in this fixed ideal state, working against the forces. Opposing the idea of architecture as a strong and rigid entity, the paper discusses how weakness can act as a response to environmental influences. The paper examines the philosophy of weakness from a theoretical perspective, connecting to specific tectonic examples of systems with an embedded weakness.

This paper intends to unfold potentials, pose questions and open up a discussion. More than providing clear answers, it suggests possible directions for further architectural speculations.