Things that fascinate me:

The way in which new things are integrated into our lives and eventually become old things.

The way in which people use their space and adapt to it.

The intimacy of an idealised "village" atmosphere.

1. New Traditions

There is comfort in familiarity. As we become more familiar with something, it becomes less alien and therefore more acceptable. This, I think, is one aspect of the "quality without a name" of which Christopher Alexander speaks in his book, "A Timeless Way of Building".

Things last because they are natural and fall easily into the rhythm of our daily lives. Rhythm and routine provide a sense of stability. This is why traditions become traditions. But all traditions must have been new once.

The shapes of objects also have their own traditions, and this allows us to recognise them for what they are. Thus new objects, with new shapes, will eventually become old objects, with shapes closely associated to them through tradition.

2. Rhythms of our lives

Jane Jacobs notes that many beneficial effects are really the secondary result of other processes, and that attempts to achieve these effects directly often fail. These direct attempts fail because they ignore their own secondary effects, believing themselves to affect one thing and one thing only. In short, they act separately from the pattern of human life, and remain unnatural.

People cannot be forced to behave in any prescribed way. Rather, it is architecture that must respond to the behaviour of the people. People must be able to move through and use architecture in a natural way. As long as people are not alienated, and as long as it feels natural to use a space in a certain way, then that space will be used.

Through constant use, a space may become familiar, and approach the "traditional".

3. Our Town

The intimate village, where everyone knows everyone else, is both an ideal and a cliche. In such an atmosphere, one is not only familiar with the environment, but the environment is familiar with one as well. From this mutual familiarity comes acceptance: if one is accepted, then one is more willing to accept. Man and environment are more closely woven together.

Statement

I believe that architecture should be judged, not for its "artistic" merit, but for its ability to integrate itself into the lives of the people around it. The joy of art comes from the viewing; the joy of architecture comes from the using. This project should therefore address the issue of architecture as a usable object: the main focus should be on how people may use it, and the reasons for them doing so.

In essence, I am looking at the relationship between the building and the people who walk past it every day, and the way in which this relationship can be made better, or used to further promote the well-being of the building itself.

For my programme, I have chosen to create an office complex for one or more companies based on information, technology and the internet. These are relatively fresh fields of business endeavour, and the creation of "appropriate, familiar" spaces for such new and relatively alien enterprises would be part of the project's goal to integrate itself with the people and environment around it.

For my site, I have chosen the south-east corner of Sherbrooke and Clarke, which would be a prime location for such a business enterprise. It is quite close to a variety of establishments, and sees a moderate amount of pedestrian traffic, an amount which I think could be increased with the right sort of building and urban design.