Exempel 86/87

Előszó

Exempel 86/87 is about buildings where people work, about workplaces. Fifteen years ago, in the backwash of 1968 and all that, interest was aroused in what came to be called the working environment. In fact the real novelty was the concept rather than the phenomenon. Architecture has always been concerned with the encounter between users and objects, with the architect as their interpreter. But now the architect was to step out into everyday Iife. His professional role was to be that of the ombudsman rather than the artist. He was to be more of a secretary in a working party than a visionary in an ivory tower. In his article entitled "The role of the architect in industrial planning. Experience of mail sorting plants", Sven Fristedt pleads for a professional role of this kind. The architect must, tangibly and humbly, adjust to the needs of his client. Jan Henriksson, asking why industrial buildings do not receive the same care as public buildings, tries in his article '' Buildings for Work'' to structure the conditions - legislation, routines and sources of information - governing contemporary Swedish building. He thus perceives the need for a committed, creative architect who will vigorously assert the ability of architectural design to bring about an orderly reconciliation of multifarious requírements and devise solutions with new dimensions. Direct communication with users and with his sketches and pictures can enable the architect to find solutions to recondite problems. In addition to the usual annual cavalcade in the articles already referred to, Exempel 86/87 includes six different examples of workplaces. The examples chosen serve to show that the functional requirements of workplaces are not always readily quantifiable in square metres, capacity and pounds, shillings and pence. Needs are formulated and architecture created out of the eommon ínvolvement of client and architect in the assignment. The new tramsheds in Göteborg reflect the wide interpretation that can be put on environmental questions. The technical questions have been solved professionaly, at the same time as the emotional character and posture of the building provide a unique workplace for the employees. Another example is the small, child habilitation pavilion in Lund. The point of departure here has been the needs of disabled children, and with those needs in the foreground the working environment has been constructed on a finely attuned scale, neat and compassionate in both overall conception and details. The Enator office block in Kista shows that the client's aspirations can result in a powerfully effective building. The Hammarby Radio Link Tower is perhaps not exactly a work place, but it does constitute an example of the client's awareness of the importance of architectural design. All six of these examples represent a kind of functionalism in which form is tailored to practical needs. But at the same time they show that, in the relationship between client and architect, and on the strength of their eommon ambitions and expectations, it is possible to achieve something out of the ordinary. An architecture whose values - emotional and physical - transcend purely functional exigencies. SPA stands for the improvement of building competence, and this annual publication, Exempel 86/87, highlights the importance of architectural professionalism in the design of tomorrow's workplaces. Krister Bjurström Olle Rex Editors Vissza