The Spartans kicked off another exciting installment of the annual Bookfest during assembly, Monday, Nov. 17, with the traditional practice of welcoming a guest speaker. Students heard from alumnus Claus Benjamin Freyinger (96’) who focused his talk on the topic of architecture and pleasure. Freyinger is an architect at LADG, a firm that branches out from just creating concrete shells and diverges into different forms of architecture.

In his work, Freyinger looks to avoid the traditional architectural model of simply designing shells for different programs–uses of a space. “We think there is a different possibility to turn the shell container inside out. In this case, program is the shell. In other words we can make a bunch of things and use the daily activities of people’s lives to hold all of these things together,” Freyinger said.

Throughout the lecture Freyinger emphasizes the ideas of IDS tower architect, Philip Johnson. “All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the person in that space,” Norton said.

One of the ways LADG creates cuddliness and stimulants is by using hollowness which was a very effective tool for Freyinger when designing pleasurable spaces. “Our brand of hollowness invites interaction, peaks curiosity, and leaves room for imagination,” Freyinger said. He emphasizes the usefulness of exposed hollowness–visible hollowness that inspires interaction, implied hollowness–intuitive hollowness that warrants investigation, and hermetic hollowness–enclosed hollowness that invites imagination, as ways to connect the program more to the architecture.

By interacting with the audience and programs, architecture can be made more pleasurable. This is the style of architecture that Freyinger strives to create. By using tools like hollowness, Freyinger sends an invitation for investigation and different use of the space, elevating the “architectural shell” to modern architecture.

But what does all this interaction, hollowness, and cuddliness lead up to? In the end, they all connect to pleasurable architecture. In Freyinger’s words, “For us, pleasurable architecture is one bodily object. It’s sensual in terms of being tactile, but it also touches the eyes based on deliberate color and line combinations. It is playful, we fill rooms with objects and when we fill up the room with more, we have more friends to play with.”

CORRECTION:  This story was updated on 11/21/14 to correct the name of IDS architect Philip Johnson.  It was originally published as Philip Norton.