Strange shapes stand out from the crowd

We’ve got the unfurling sail of the Sydney Opera House, Frank Gehry’s ‘squashed paper bag’ and the Pantscraper in Melbourne, but do we need more eye-catching buildings to help our cities stand out from the crowd?

The world’s cities are awash with strange-shaped buildings. Think London’s Gherkin, New York’s Chrysler Building, Paris’ Eiffel Tower and Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers.

There’s the cat-in-the-hat madness of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the flying saucer shape of Rio’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and the bird’s nest stadium in Beijing.

As Australian cities grow, will strange shapes become more important to attract attention and capture hearts and minds?

Cassandra Keller, principal architect with ClarkeKeller, says unique architecture plays an important role in building a city’s brand, and points to the Sydney Opera House as an example.

“It has become an icon for the city, the place, the people and its purpose,” she says, adding that the building “works so well in a city of increasing density because it connects people to place”.

But Keller warns that “buildings with striking and spectacular forms will only succeed in the city of the future where their forms have place-based meaning” and where the surrounding density of the city “makes space for these buildings to shine”.

Emily Wombwell agrees.

“Public buildings play a special role in the city,” the associate with SJB says.

Public buildings “talk to a large audience” about their inherent meanings and functions, and those on prominent sites, like the Sydney Opera House, deserve a “loudness” in their architecture.

“In contrast, private buildings should imbue a quietness that allows them to sit comfortably within their context, respond appropriately to existing street patterns and reinforce the character of place through materiality and scale.”

Balancing bold buildings with quiet architecture creates cities with a strong sense of place, “peppered with nuanced moments of surprise”.

Nicholas Bandounas, principal architect with Warren and Mahoney, says Australian architects have adopted a range of architectural philosophies, “from the pure pragmatism of ordered boxes to the utopian ideas of digital formalism – and everything in between”.

“But I believe in the old adage that architecture should have a profound impact on our lives. Architecture should not only shape our space physically and socially, but should also reflect and strengthen the identity of the community it is part of”.

At his previous firm, Bandounas led the team responsible for Macquarie Bank’s 1 Shelley Street building in Sydney (pictured, right), a building with an eye-catching and attractive diagrid façade that has captured attention and awards.

The design was “driven by a unique set of existing site conditions”, Bandounas says, that led to an external “structural skin” as the most cost-effective and space-efficient solution.

“There is no superfluous façadism here, just purity of form and function,” he says. “The diagrid is expressed and celebrated as the main structural element, and as a consequence, becomes the iconic branding for the building.”

Densification can be a driver for strange-shapes. By their nature, infill buildings may result in unique forms as they respond to constrained sites with designs that respect heritage, privacy and daylight, Wombwell says.

The distinctive shape of London’s Leadenhall building, dubbed the ‘Cheesegrater’ (pictured, left), arose from creatively working with the constraints of the site.

Architect Richard Rogers has said the main constraint was maintaining sightlines with St Paul’s Cathedral.

“We made use of this and we cut it back at an angle and that gave us that prominent section and profile, [which can be seen] from all over London.”

According to Wombwell, the best cities are those that stitch together a “rich patchwork of old and new built fabric” in a way that maximises building lifecycles and fosters shared amenity.

“In some instances, it will be appropriate to grab the attention of passers-by and encourage them to look up, or engage with an important piece of heritage architecture. At other times it may be appropriate to blend in or ignite intrigue around how long a building has existed.

“Quiet architecture has as much potential to capture hearts and minds as those buildings that stand out from the crowd.”

As the contest for capital, tourists and talent continues to hot up, creating places that people love – whether they are strange or standard shapes, loud or quiet architecture – will become increasingly important.