Concept: Clown Shoe

While this is not a good building, it brings up a good point. It is funny to have absurd concepts for a building. When people have no idea that they are walking around in a functional building where the concept is "a metaphor for the sexual tension in Major League Baseball dugouts," I would laugh. Only because Daniel Libeskind actually does this. Im not sure if hes trying to be funny. I cant tell.

The Birth of Mockitecture.

This is the true birth of Mockitecture. It happened sometime back in the summer of 2005. I was doing some iterations of possible fenestrations for a building, and I just kinda drew a 19'-0" x 20'-0" double hung window. After a few minutes I looked at it and said, "Why Not?" It immediately caught on, and a movement was born. Dubbed "Mockitecture," The double hung window was the first time when Post-Modern tenents were resurrected, using familiar and modern language.

The double hung never made it past that first iteration. However, its spirit lives on, and now it is presented in multiple ways in one building. The Double Hung Window Building. Enjoy!

One side has multiple double hung windows arrayed like a sprawling suburban neighborhood. They are simply stacked on top of each other. The next window features a sort of "double hung lollipop" where a double hung is propped up on a post independant of the building. It is placed in front of a fixed window, forcing the user to look through it. On the next side is a curtain wall ornamented to look like a double hung window. Very Large.

Another idea would be to have a glass garage door ornamented to look like a double hung. Or use double hungs as a soffit. The possibilities are endless, but the image stays the same. It would truely resonate with everyday peoples' experience. And that means something.

Awkward Flurry of Wipers

This is a beautiful piece of environmental technology by N_O_R_T_O_N. It is one of the earliest exaamples of mockitecture. Applied to any building, the window wall would have many wipers on it, all different sizes and all different speeds. Some would rotate 360 degrees, some would rotate 30 degrees, and most would fall somewhere between. Imagine a really big wiper spinning really slowly 360 degrees. It makes me warm and fuzzy, just thinking about it; this, would be a great, critique on modernity, and, simultaneously, a goofy thing, to see.

Popular Dead Philosophers Love Mockitecture

"Caricature is the beginning of art. That something signifies, delights. That whatever signifies, should mock and be laughed at, delights still more. Laughing at something is the first sign of a higher psychic life (as in the fine arts)."

-Nietzsche

page 422, footnote #41 in the "Basic Writings of Nietzsche" translated by Walter Kaufmann.

Vertically Inverted Program Programmed Programmatically

trees by MDRDV

--..Yes, You Can.

Distortions of scale. Irony. Unexpected convention. This is a play on the expected convention, a flower in a pot. A full size tree in a pot is unexpected convention, familiar objects in an unfamiliar arrangement, context, juxtaposition, or use.

This is a tower by Eduardo Francois. He is really into these tree-covered buildings.

Goofy Massing. Legible Form. New Spatial Experience.

Cran{BRICK:)

This is the Giant Brick at Cranbrook. There are serious implications of a project like this. It Not only offers a unique perspective of how to formally respond to the site, but also an interesting way of creating a landmark. It takes us back to the issue of pure form. What is the difference between putting a giant brick there, which is kind of ironic and irreverent, and putting a giant folded plate there? Both look good, and both would be good buildings. The brick, however, is funny. Bonus points. Everyone at Cranbrook would take delight from the giant brick. It offers a fresh outlo0k on building, because it doesnt take itself too seriously, but it also is highly performative and not offensive.
The joke does not stop at the form. To respect its surroundings, the brick would be covered on two sides by LED screens with scenic nature, or possible views of the other side of the building.
This replaces the views that may be blocked by the brick.
The first of many tectonic follies, these giant bricks would be fired by the ceramics department at Cranbrook. This ties into the culture of Cranbrook, that is art, handiwork, etc. and also is funny. People would love the out of scale bricks that they could interact with. Architects would like it because it suggests something about scale and module. All the while being perfectly appropriate and performative.