BARRY WARK
on his practice:
‘A NEW ECOLOGICAL AESTHETICS’
“IT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND ECOLOGY IN THE WAY WE HAVE SO FAR, WE NEED A NEW MINDSET, A NEW ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS THAT CHALLENGES THE SEPARATION BETWEEN THE NATURAL Y THE ARTIFICIAL AND EMBRACES AMBIGUITY.”
“WE NEED A NEW SENSIBILITY THAT DISSOLVES THE CATEGORIES BETWEEN OUR WORK AND THE ECOLOGY WE OPERATE WITHIN -THAT RECONCILES AND NURTURES THE DEEP CONNECTION BETWEEN BUILDINGS AND THEIR IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT.”
“I AM INSPIRED BY BUILDINGS THAT ACCEPT THE PASSING OF TIME AND THE GROWTH OF OTHER ORGANISMS ON ITS BOUNDARIES, CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL NOTIONS OF PERMANENCE AND MAINTENANCE IN ARCHITECTURE.”
“WHEN BUILDINGS ARE ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR INTERCONNECTION WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT, THEY BECOME SORT OF ECOLOGICAL WIND DIALS OR MARKERS OF THE WORLD AROUND US.”
“BY LOOKING AT THEM YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THINGS LIKE SUN, WATER AND VEGETATION. WHAT YOU’LL GET IS GRADIENTS, AND YOU’LL GET LESS MOSS ON THE SIDE WHERE THE SUN HITS AND IT GETS WORN OUT, AND MUCH MORE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE, WHERE IT DOENS’T GET THE SUN.”
“CAN ARCHITECTURE HELP US CONNECT WITH HOW OUR CLIMATE IS CHANGING?”
“WOULD ARCHITECTURE HAVE CONNECTED WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS BETTER, WOULD THINGS HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT? BECAUSE IT’S ONLY NOW THAT WE ARE BREAKING RECORD TEMPERATURES AND IT’S GETTING SO EXTREME THAT WE SEE IT, AND WE FEEL IT? SO I THINK FOR ME THERE’S ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR DAILY LIVES NOT BECOMING AN ANAESTHESIA TO THE WORLD AROUND US.”