" Like the customized Levis you can order on the internet, customized architecture is naked until the client moves in to give it meaning. Examples of architectural ‘open’ systems that can be tailored to ‘fit’ include Polykatoika in Greece, the Corbusian Do-min-o system and the Plattenbau in Berlin."
—Richard Woditsch

 

Golden Moon By (LEAD)

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Bespoke describes the tailor-made article; the unique, one-off artefact that is made to order.

In a sense, all architect-designed buildings are bespoke products, i.e. specifically made to the requirements of the client and the specification of the designer.

Although there have been changes over the last 50 years in the use of ‘open systems’ of the interchangeable components, pioneered by Ezara Ehrenkra in California, and the prefabrication of industrial components, principally led by the architect Renzo Piano, major buildings continue to be made to order.

For instance, each element of the construction for Norman Foster’s Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank was designed, developed and custom-made in collaboration with product manufacturers: cladding from the US; fire protection from the UK; staircases from Japan; external sunscoops from Germany; inner sunscoops from Austria; floor finishes from Finland; and refuse disposal from Sweden.

Facade of HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building

Mock-ups and prototypes were built and tested until their performance met with the architects’ approval In some respects, one could regard this building as the ultimate in bespoke architecture.

In his thesis on technology transfer, Martin Pawley refers to how much architects can learn about industrialization from the automobile industry. While it is true that the building industry also uses factorymade products, the essential difference is that, whereas the design of a car is a prototype for many similar models, the design of a building is usually a made-to-measure one-off. 

 

Book Reference: 

Archispeak An Illustrated Guide to Architectural Terms by Porter Tom. 

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