Morality and Architecture by David Watkin (review)

Books 257 and brings to bear on his studies a wide spectrum of research over the last century, ranging from the study of surface tensions and form in soap bubble arrays to the formation of metal crystal structures, stating as his purpose the determination of an optimum system of forms that can be developed into modular shelters with the least expenditure of energy and of materials. As a corollary, he sought the minimum parameters of components that would allow the maximum diversity, thereby hoping to reconcile the principle of standardization with the need for variety in environments. The book is largely a guide to Pearce's patented system of 'synestructics'. Pearce reiterates Fuller's argument in favor of the triangular frame as a rigid, primary module in strong, lightweight structures. It is the prime component of Fuller's geodesic domes and his other structures. Like Fuller again, he relates triangulation to phenomena of 'closest packing', for, when identical spheres are arranged in their most compact and most stable arrays, their centers can be seen to be the apices of triangles. He explains this thoroughly and catalogues and illustrates a number of arrays whose centers form increasingly complex polyhedra. Referring to nature's close-packing phenomena (honeycomb cells, leaf structures, plankton and the like), he concludes that nature prefers the conjoining of three walls at a vertex to four (which is unstable). He moves next to ordering principles of regular and semiregular geometric patterns and polyhedra and follows this with a discussion of symmetry and of space-filling that shows combinations of 2, 3, and 4 polyhedra that can be repeated endlessly. At this point the author introduces his patented model system of star-like universal node connectors and connecting struts with which investigators can make small-scale spatial frames based on various polyhedron combinations. Dozens of photographs of finished models are provided and categorized, and methods of repeating these as networks are described. The application to engineering and architectural structures is clear. Because some of the author's structures have warped or 'skewed' frames, he introduces saddle polyhedra and compound curves that also satisfy his search for minimal surface areas. Again photographs are used to inventory several dozen complex polyhedra, continuous-surface forms and lybryinths that incorporate saddle polyhedra. These are for the most part strikingly beautiful translucent models of elastic fabric in tension over rigid frames. Pearce confines the remainder of the book to those forms that lend themselves to triangularization and, therefore, to the sort of building systems he envisions . He describes his Min-a-Max system and its potential for the design of schools, high-rises, homes and playground equipment (only the latter seem to have been built). Pearce's goal of maximizing diversity within the confines of standardized structural members is an admirable one, given the necessity for or desirability of shelters made of prefabricated components. Pearce proposes neither megastructures nor urban plans; on those scales the system would provide a consistent appearance that might obscure its diversity. But I can question the very premise of his study: that people ought to conform to habitats dictated by what is essentially an economic dictum, even though the interior spaces are radically different from their usual choices. Pearce finds cubic spaces with vertical walls and 90° corners unjustified in terms of efficiency; their rarity in nature, he says, demonstrates this. Yet most people live in such rooms, albeit not entirely by choice. Little is known about the psychic effects of noncubic rooms (my experience, limited to quonset huts, was most unpleasant). Though not Pearce's goal, studies of those effects ought to precede extensive development of noncubic rooms. Given, however, the author's intent, the book succeeds as a useful primer and a handbook. Its layout and excellent illustrations enhance the text's clarity and succinct style. It will interest artists, architects and other investigators of polyhedronic forms, though it omits the rigorous mathematical analysis that has been developed for geodesic domes, Zornes and similar structures. A low-cost abridged softbound edition would benefit students and casual readers; the publishers have priced this version beyond their means. Design Focus: Design Ideas for Architects, Painters, Sculptors, Potters, Weavers, Fabric...