Lecture 4: Old Architecture VS New Architecture

To explore ONE distinctive change between old architecture design with what we have in the present.

The distinctive change between old architecture design with what we have in the present is the building design. The old architecture has limited design choice whereas the new architecture is flexible in design. This is because of the technolgy in ancient period is still not advance compared to technology nowadays.

The building in the present is easy to construct because the invention of different kind of construction plants such as excavating plant, transporting plant and piling plant. These construction plants help to carry out the construction work efficiently and shorten the construction period. Besides that, the material used which need to be designed in a special shape can be cut by the machine easily. Therefore, allow us to challenge different kind of design without any constraits.

The construction plants used in new architecture construction.

The traditional construction tools used in old architecture construction.

For instance, the two different design between Hungerburgbahn Hybrid Funicular Railway Station by Zaha Hadid and Newcastle Emlyn Railway Station enable us to differentiate the old and new architecture design from their building form.

Hungerburgbahn Hybrid Funicular Railway Station by Zaha Hadid

Newcastle Emlyn Railway Station

Besides that, the choice of material in ancient time is limited which leads the building form which results in the building looking simpler and geometric. The most common types of material used in old architecture building are brickwork, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, lime, stone, and timber. These materials are hard to cut and form into organic shapes because there is no cutting machines which we have nowadays in that period. In addition, there is no existence of material which can be bent or twisted at that time.

The Newcastle Emlyn Railway Station was built up by bricks which is the most common material used in that era and a simple rectangular form is built.

The modern buildings which are in curvilinear and organic shape are mostly built by using the man-made substances such as fabric and alumnium cladding. For instance, the organic form of Hungerburgbahn Hybrid Funicular Railway Station which is inspired by an amorphous ice formation is built by lightweight organic roof structures.

In my opinion, I think both old architecture and new architecture are important. The old architecture has its morality and memory that should be kept to show our next generations about the transformation of architecture. The new architecture is important too because the world has to keep on track with the advanced technology nowsdays. This is because we have to improve our life in the future but at the same time we still can learn from the past through the old architecture and new architecture.

Today, the combination of old architecture and new architecture have become important from an ecological point of view as regenerating and reinventing existing buildings helps to preserve precious resources.

Ancient and modern dynamics has been used in high profile building like the Tate Modern, by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. They reinvented a party redundant industrial building to create a space for exhibiting large scale installations.

The another building which shows the combination of old and new architecture is Louvre Pyramid, Paris by I.M. Pei.

All these cultural development are inspiring examples of how old and new can be interpreted and combined. They demonstrate the strength and relevance of an ancient and modern aesthetic as a response to the big issue of 21st century; the best possible use of available and valuable resources; and possibly the biggest issue of all – creating aesthetically and cultural rich environments.