MANIFESTO OF LIVING ARCHITECTURE
Architecture is no longer a form. It becomes a process unfolding over time.
I. Architecture as Scenario, Not as Result
The contemporary world lives in a state of constant change, where stability becomes an illusion. Linear thinking, based on the idea of complete planning, finality, and closed form, no longer corresponds to the reality of our lives.
Architecture, like human life, should not end at the moment of commissioning. We affirm: a building does not end — it only begins.
Form is no longer dictated forever. It adapts, evolves, is rethought. Like an organism, like a text, like an ecosystem. Life demands that architecture be flexible, mobile, alive. We no longer design for the object but for the processes it will support.
II. Adaptation as a Style
We reject the fetish of the closed composition. Architecture should not be the ideal of the past but the context of the present and the potential of the future.
Buildings conceived as closed, self-sufficient forms quickly face reality: residents change, functions evolve, climate becomes unpredictable. We need a new style based on adaptability:
to the environment;
to time;
to the human;
to technologies;
to events and the unforeseen.
This style allows for additions, extensions, internal transformations, and is not afraid of change, because change means life.
It is open, like an organism growing with its inhabitants. It is a style where form serves the event.
III. Architecture and Quantum Reality
Classical design is based on the belief in determinism: that man can foresee and program the future. But modern sciences, including quantum mechanics, show us that reality is a superposition of probabilities.
Architecture must absorb this wisdom. It should not be dogma but a model of possible scenarios:
not a single form, but a system of possible forms;
not a fixed façade, but a structure in which meaning can be integrated;
not a building, but an evolving architectural ecosystem.
This means giving up the illusion of control. It means accepting the unpredictable as value.
IV. The Monument as an Enlightened Object
In Buddhism, every living being goes through an endless chain of reincarnations, changing appearance, functions, shells — until one day it reaches enlightenment, the state of perfection. Then the cycle of samsara ends.
The same happens with architectural objects.
They live, transform, gain new functions, lose elements, accumulate meanings. Their life is a chain of reincarnations. Only some, reaching balance, depth, and cultural maturity, become monuments.
The monument is not a museum exhibit, but a being that has completed its journey.
All the greatest monuments of human civilization have followed this path. The Kremlin, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, the Palace of Versailles, the Cologne Cathedral — all these legendary buildings were not born as monuments. They lived through layers of time: reconstructions, expansions, stylistic changes, damages, and recoveries. They evolved — until they reached a state of perfection and were recognized as complete.
This means: perfection is not a beginning, but an end.
Therefore, we affirm: architecture must live, change, grow — until it reaches perfection.
And even then — it is not dead. It is — at peace.
V. The Façade as a Living Language
The façade is no longer an opaque shell. It becomes a language of communication between:
resident and street;
interior and city;
individual and collective;
body and environment.
It can be:
a platform — every cell is customizable;
a genome — built from modules with DNA logic;
a biography — reflecting traces of time, renovations, holidays;
a mirror — showing internal structure and functions;
a psychological map — expressing behavior and lifestyle;
a micro-landscape — with hanging gardens, birdhouses, solar panels.
The façade is a palette on which the history of a house, a family, an era is written. Not decor, but a living document.
VI. Collective Architecture
Form is not born only in the architect's mind but in continuous dialogue:
the architect offers the structure;
the residents fill it with content;
the façade becomes a collective canvas, reflecting society.
Each apartment has the right to its own façade, just as it has the right to its own interior. This is not a threat to harmony but an opportunity for diversity.
Architecture is a democracy of materials, styles, gestures. It accepts diversity without chaos. That is cultural maturity.
VII. The Architect as Companion, Not Demiurge
To design — is to carry in the womb. To build — is to give birth. To live — is to grow, change, and need support.
Today, the commissioning of a building is perceived as an end. But it is not death — it is birth. The building has only just begun to live.
And like a newborn needing care, architecture needs a companion-architect.
We propose systemic changes:
Legally recognize the right of post-commission authorship;
Recognize the project as living, adaptable, open to change;
Create a digital passport of the building, recording all transformations;
Establish the obligation for the architect to be consulted for any significant transformations — both external and internal — of the building.
The role of the architect changes: not only author, but guide of the form’s evolution.
Only then can the building have a life after birth — and not a slow disintegration.
VIII. The Right to a Second Life
Old buildings are not waste. They are potential. They should not be demolished but reincarnated. Not turned into museums, but continued.
We believe:
An old building can become young if given the chance to transform.
This is not formal restoration but a return of the spirit of the place, adapted to the times and current inhabitants. It is not resurrection, but continuation of life.
IX. In Conclusion: Architecture as the Path of Samsara
Architecture must not be finalized. It must be faithful.
Faithful to:
time,
the human,
the environment,
movement,
evolution.
Like any living being, architectural objects go through birth, life, transformations, sufferings, growth. They die — to be reborn.
And only a few, after completing their path, become timeless. We honor these objects — like wise elders, like awakened masters. But the others must continue their journey.
Architecture is not a product. It is life expressed in form. A form that breathes, ages, renews, suffers, and heals.
We do not build buildings. We build stories.
We do not end. We begin.
And only then will architecture be — alive.
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