There are several ways that architecture can lie, either in not being what it says it is or appears it is. Design is largely about create environments that generate a particular feeling or experience, and the more advanced we become in building technologies, construction, and materials, the more architecture is able to ‘lie’ while still achieving a particular goal.
One example of this, however, are facade materials that pretend to be more than the decorative elements that they are. Faux brick is a prominent material that is used and when done well, it appears to be structural, textured, or historic. Many buildings on the University of Oregon campus use brick veneer, such as the EMU. This material is a tool to create buildings and spaces that have similar feelings to those that use real brick. In this particular example, this material is often good because the construction is lighter and more easily altered over time, as well as less expensive. While the ‘lie’ told by architecture in this example is not inherently good or bad, it is definitely presenting itself as something that it’s not.
The University of Oregon EMU
Image: https://emu.uoregon.edu/
Architecture has various ways of deceiving, and one of those ways, as mentioned in your statement, is the use of materials beyond structural needs. Instead of fully embracing structural materials, many of the buildings at the University of Oregon are designed to camouflage. The faux brick used in many of the University of Oregon campus buildings evokes an aesthetic and atmosphere similar to that of the older parts of the campus. This need to lean into the brick-style building may have something to do with its historical connotation. Brick buildings are often seen on University campuses as a way to symbolize prestige and longevity. As you pointed out, this type of lying isn’t necessarily negative or positive. While architecture may lie in its material or present, the ethical implications lie in the intention.
Relating this to the lecture, using a material as a decorative element is similar to how Romans used columns. While not all the time, many structural elements of Roman buildings that stemmed from Greece, such as columns, were used as decorative elements instead of structural elements. However, said columns were placed and designed to make them appear to be a structural element. Similar practices can be seen all throughout history. Architectural advancements in structure allow for the expression of decorative elements.
EMU uses Faux bricks to simulate a real brick house, using the structure and texture of the bricks to create a historic facade. However, EMU also uses a large amount of glass and decoration on the facade to blur the essential structural nature of the building. From the outside, it is difficult to tell how many floors inside the building. These large areas of glass and decoration weaken the hierarchical structure of the building, making the facade more like a whole piece.
In the class lecture, we mentioned that the Roman architectural style usually has a relatively strong decorative structure, such as French double pediments and some structures that use pediments of different heights to create different layers, and some use non-load-bearing columns for decoration. For example, some broken pediment and curved pediment. These elements make the structure of the building lose its logic. In rational architecture, more attention will be paid to the natural laws of the building and the logic of the structure.
With the rapid development of science and technology, the essential structural nature of architecture is gradually blurring. Just like EMU, modern architecture pays more attention not to the artistic expression of the architectural structure and whether it follows nature, but to thinking whether the space between people and the environment allows people to have a better spatial experience and life. The structural expression of the facade does not need to emphasize too much on the nature of the structure, but rather thinks about how to better create architectural space to serve people.