Fluid x Solid: 29 experimental architecture projects

By Dana Krystle

In my search for a more concept-oriented/fluid architecture design approach, I found
myself breaking free from every single constraint set to us by architecture school. The design
boundaries-now that I think of it-are mostly imaginary and, for some reason, had a huge
chokehold on me.
I kept noticing how I always felt like I couldn't do this or I couldn't do that when
it came to design. Don't get me wrong; I'm not anti-functionalism, but I believe that we
as architects/artists/designers should act more intuitively and design more freely to create
wonders from our imagination.
Everything in architecture around these days is painfully rigid and devoid of beauty
and aesthetics; we no longer feel peace because we feel empty, just like these spaces. I used to
look at old Renaissance and Baroque architecture and think to myself, Too much ornament,
too much unnecessary waste of materials. Being heavily trained as a modernist architect,
following Le Corbusier, Richard Meier, and their likes, I have to admit.
I find myself to be completely brainwashed; I am against everything they taught us
about beauty in architecture school. This only happened after I traveled to Europe and Asia
for the past years; I noticed how full of spirit these so-called "over-ornamented" designs
were. I want the soul back in new buildings, I think we all want it deep down; in fact, I think
we should demand beauty; we should demand more innovation. Why insist on living in
buildings that feel like machines? Why should we trap ourselves into thinking modernity
means stripping down everything that makes us human? Sculpture, painting, classical art, and
heritage design-these are what make life worthy of living.
We are humans, and we love beauty naturally; we search for it like we search for
water and warmth. These so-called dead buildings are killing our souls slowly and surely;
we were not meant to live in a heartless, soulless place. I want to live surrounded by beauty
and innovation, and my response is to break free from every single constraint set on me by
architecture school. I object to modern architecture; I object to soulless designs; I object to
glass panels and aluminum cladding. We were so programmed to think and feel like machines;
I demand beauty back
These volumes are my manifestos for breaking free from the mold, for believing that
sculpture, beauty, and art are human rights that were stolen from us, that we deserve a more
beautiful place to live in, that we deserve to be and feel like we are human again. In this book
and hopefully many more volumes to come, I experiment with form, creating something out
of my imagination, something I feel like we as humans, and especially designers, should try
hard to achieve: more organic, fluid, and free of constraints sculpture-like forms that can be a
part of this arid landscape we suddenly found our cities being swallowed into.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DTG4MFTH
• ISBN13: 9798307177402
• Release Date: January 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.5" x 11.0"