oduced gets their attention and criticism. Such cultural meaning usually reflects definition of boundaries in terms of privacy and interaction. This is usually expressed in countries like Jordan through space and mass rather than space and distance. This defines that solid walls in space express needs and attitudes towards privacy more than transparent walls.
We moved to new constructed offices within Building A of German-Jordanian University at the Scientific Royal Society complex that have glass walls on the exterior and on some of the interior. Controversially, many GJU staff and students expressed to us their dissatisfaction with us projecting ourselves to the public as a showcase and their awkward feeing about our lacking of privacy.
Having our backs to this transparent back wall did not make us feel lack of privacy to a certain degree especially that we are still located within a fenced territory that belong to GJU/Scientific Society. This territorial boundary offers us a buffer zone and a transitional space between the very public “street” outside the fence and the transparent wall. Plus the aluminum shutters offers us a choice of control over when and how much we want this visual interaction.
Off course the passers by from GJU staff and students felt this visual interaction and the extroverted flow of information from the inside to the outside is a cultural shock that contracts to their definition and meaning of a wall that should closed and not intrude visually and physically the privacy of the users inside. Though we are in an institutional setting, a public kind of setting, this did not help to accept such a new definition of a wall. Mirrored glass walls seem to be more acceptable than such transparent glass wall.
Very interesting reading to the matter...
ReplyDeleteIt made me think about the concept of [performance] within spaces... this unintentional and unrehearsed performance which redefine our understanding of in and out and of performers and public audience...
There is a barbershop downtown that caught my attention it is a glass box extruded from an old building's second floor. When the barber is working everyone on the street can see him. He is performing to them.
Taking this concept a step ahead check this link... Where the architects Diller + Scofidio played around this idea of watching people's activities inside the space through a digital 'magnifying glass'. More about it here...
Fawaz..really..i mean..couldn't you have at least taken the second shot without a flashlight appearing there buddy?? :P
ReplyDeletei actually like this blog idea, a fresh approach for a university in a jordan!
I <3 IT !
nice new design,,, but dont you think as architects and professors,, it's a little bit contradicting with all the theories you teach students. it's really important to have a natural source of light in the space,, but it has been blocked by this design, knowing the it was the only source of natural light in the basement we live in,,, it has become more gloomy now,, isn't it worrying of how it could affect the performance of SABE students??
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comment, it really did kill the atmosphere down there.
ReplyDeleteI mean instead of adding offices over there and over-exposing the staff, it could have been done by fitting them anywhere else.
Now, I know, I know... Yeah the openings are quite nice, with the light and all; however, it was quite a lot better and cozier in the basement due to that opening.
Oh well.
Congrats on the blog you guys :)