Engaging Existing Conditions with New Conditions: A Farm Equipment Museum Amidst an Abandoned Dairy Farm

Abstract

When designing architecture, an architect must always decide how best to engage the existing conditions to most effectively initiate the newly introduced conditions. Whether remodeling an older facility or building something entirely new, there will always be some existing condition, either on site or somewhere surrounding, that will have an influence on the newly introduced condition. The way a new construction engages its existing conditions is probably one of the most important aspects of architecture. When introducing a new condition into an existing condition, there are two questions to ask. Does it make sense to force the new condition to comply with the same form, scale, and materiality as the existing condition? Does it make sense to allow the new condition to bear a form, scale, and materiality of its own that differs from the existing condition? So does it make sense to force the new condition to comply with the same form, scale, and materiality as the existing condition? Well, if the new condition performs a different function than the existing condition, then it would be pertinent for the new condition to have an expression that is conducive to that particular function. This conducive expression will undoubtedly differ from the existing condition. Hence, in this instance, it would not make sense to force the new condition to comply with the same form, scale, or materiality as the existing condition. However, it would make sense for the new condition to have some sort of relationship to the existing condition, since the existing condition has already established a sense of place that the new condition should aspire to be a part of. If it does not make sense for the new condition to comply with the same form, scale, and materiality as the existing condition, then does it make sense for the new condition to bear a form, scale, and materiality of its own that differs from the existing condition? Well, it would if the new condition established a new function; then it would require an identity of its own that reflects that differing function. As long as the new form, scale, or materiality in some way relates to the existing condition, then it would make sense for the new condition to bear an expression that differs from the existing condition. Abstract 1