Fredrik Shetelig

Potential Architecture; Exercising the Architectonic Dialogue

Content by Action
Architecture is a field of knowledge that reluctantly lets it self be enacted by other means than its own practice. To say or write something concise in trying to describe its field and objects, in terms of architectural criticism and theory, is an important field yet heavily underdeveloped. But still nothing can replace the act of creation itself.
To rely on a verbal form of architecture is as potential as you can get. Yes, a lot of quite interesting discussions is based on talking, but it becomes really interesting only after decisions are made in model or on paper. You have to walk the walk. There is not much risk in just talking the talk.

Training of the Individual Memory
When you push yourself beyond the “comfort zone” of your established format, you are of course gaining new experience. This is a perfect training situation for expanding the field of possible architectonic maneuvers. It also massages the elasticity of your mind.
On the contrary, to surrender totally to the pragmatics of everyday life in the business, equally ties you down in convention. Keep on doing competitions! (By the way; what happened to all the open competitions? They are heavily missed as training opportunities) I must admit that I achieved my deepest architectonic expansion during my own diploma project back in 1990. My investigation was; “Homo Ludens; how can architecture arrange situations that liberates the pleasure of playfulness in the public space”. It still haunts my thoughts, pushing me forward.

Black Room
To be fair; not all potential pieces of architecture are nice. For instance Wehrmacht’s plans for the potential replacement of the city of Trondheim to Øysand during WWII, is not very nice, but potential and interesting. I hope that this website also will mirror this kind of dark potential of our profession.

White Room
Not all potential projects are even interesting. For instance architectonic projects that strive to create the new for the sake of newness only, without a tangible connection to any life processes that I know, very often leaves me cold. I just don’t get it. Maybe I am too narrow minded, but I get the feeling that there is no real risk involved and the hyper avant-garde becomes just another safe position camouflaged as übercool. I can still be seduced by appearances though, and enjoy a nice wrapping of empty.

Public Discourse
To be able to have any influence outside the inner circles of hype though, the most potential architecture have to address the major challenges of our times. Take the raw material of economics, industry, politics, ecology and human culture and give us new possible architectonic solutions. The power of discussing and hopefully correcting misconceptions or plainly bad ideas has always been within the power of architectonic projections. The ultimate risk is therefore to expose yourself in the collective space.

The Collective Memory
There is a continually process of discourse going on in the architectural press presently, maintaining our common field of knowledge and potential. However, most projects shown are documentations of realized architecture. This is good of course, but with this supplement of a collection of unbuilt potential architecture, we have the possibility to add a cutting edge to our collective memory as a broader base for discourse.

I therefore salute this website, a collection of statements providing a material for discourse. All the projects shown here represents tons of doubt, investigations and choices made. Never to be built, but now never to be unseen.

Fredrik Shetelig is Vice Dean at the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art, NTNU

26.09.07

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