Site visit
The intention of the site visit today was to document the architecture of the building. Focusing on only the exterior I became interested in how the landscape is reflected in the materials used.
The Hethel building sits in a large plot, with fields on 3 sides and a road to the front. There are other buildings around but some distance away, Lotus Cars, farms and a few houses are its closest neighbors. It’s a total contrast to the industrial scenes depicted in Lowery’s paintings, where buildings are packed together and people stream towards a factory entrance at the beginning of the working day.
I’m considering the ideas of new industrial space which I have been reading about in Manuel Castells book The Rise of the Network Society. He discusses the changes that have occurred in manufacturing through the integration of new technologies. I’m thinking Hethel is a new type of industrial space and when did engineering make the transition to using digital technologies.
Manuel Castells The Rise of the Network Society (Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell 2010)
