Architecture as a catalyst
Introduction
High-tech architecture or high-tech is an architectural style that was developed during the 1970s. It takes its name from the book The Industrial Style and Source Book for The Home, published in 1978 by Joan Kron and Suzanne Slesin"). The book shows abundant examples of works where industrialized materials, particularly used in ceilings, floors and walls, prevail.[1][2].
Another term used to identify this style is Late Modernism, however, initially High Tech architecture implied a revitalization of the Modern Movement; a natural development of previous ideas but supported by innovation and technology. This period acts as a bridge between the Modern Movement and Postmodernism; It hints at one of those gray periods where there is no clear boundary between the end of one period and the beginning of another. It could be said that a style that was dying like the Modern Movement is taken up, reinterpreted by giving it a strong technological image and launched, persisting to the present.
There was a growing disillusionment in modern architecture about the progress and evolution of that style. The realization of the urban development projects proposed by Le Corbusier led to a terribly monotonous city. More so when they were carried out in a standardized way. The enthusiasm for the construction of economical buildings led to the creation of buildings with extremely low quality of finishes. Many of the designed residential neighborhoods degenerated into places where social disintegration, violence and crime reigned throughout the world. As a consequence, people became disillusioned with the image of progress that was proposed to them and in the Western world the mistake that had been made began to be recognized.
It also took elements from the metabolism movement of the 1960s, where technology went to the extreme of imagining science fiction buildings and cities. These ideas included the Archigram group and Japanese architects involved in metabolism, such as Kenzō Tange, Kiyonori Kikutake, Kishō Kurokawa and others. This was to be expected since modern buildings were very soft and flexible and the novelty of their aesthetic appearance had been adopted. High-tech is a response to this and creates a very new aesthetic: glorifying the fascination with continuous technological innovation.
Goals
High Tech architecture is based on many themes typical of Modern Architecture, which it appropriated by reworking and developing based on the latest trends. The main objectives of High Tech architecture consist of a creative game of creating anything new, evidencing the complexity of the technique.