Fragment of a scaffolded house wall in West London. Image © xvan72/AdobeStock

The Architectural Language of Scaffoldings in Cityscapes: Exploring the Impact of These Temporary Structures

由专筑网Zia，小R编译

当人们在城市中旅行时，可能会发现一些打破空间节奏的结构。这些建筑被包裹在金属或木质或彩色的网格中，传达着施工、维修、翻新或拆除的气息。这便是脚手架系统，是在城市中建造的临时结构，用于帮助建筑物的建造或维护。然而，它们也演变出了自己的建筑语言。由于城市建设是一个持续的过程，脚手架作为标志，形成了新的建筑、形状或形式的剪影。它们插入人行道，充当遮阳物或阻挡着人流和车流。与建筑的永久性相比，它们表现出一种时间感，传达着时间、社区的发展以及城市的演变过程。

As one takes a visual tour through the city, one might spot structures that break the rhythm of finished architectural products. These are buildings encased in grids of metal or wooden sections, sometimes wrapped in colored nets, that communicate a moment of construction, repair, renovation, or demolition. They are called scaffolding systems, temporary structures built in the city to aid in the erection or maintenance of buildings. However, they have evolved to speak their own architectural language. As city-making is a continuous process, scaffolds serve as beacons, proposing silhouettes of the height, shape, or forms of new buildings. They step into the sidewalks, acting as shade or obstructions to the flow of human and vehicular traffic. In contrast to the permanence of architecture, they exhibit a sense of temporality that helps communicate time, the growth of neighborhoods, and the evolution of a city.


Professional scaffolding on the side of a building under renovation. Image © James/AdobeStock

脚手架是城市建设的一个重要部分。尽管有许多法律和政策约束它们在不同环境下的使用，但简单、廉价和临时的性质使它们成为建设中不可分割的一部分。通过在建筑中的频繁使用，脚手架已经形成了模块化、材料性、结构表达和与公共基础设施互动的语言，使它们在城市景观中变得与众不同。除了视觉外观和使用目的之外，它们还可以提供功能空间，如庇护、路标和为其他结构提供灵感。在《拆除建筑的脚手架》一文中，克里斯托弗-阿尔克强调了在纽约这样一个密集的城市中，数量庞大的脚手架可以辅助人们在糟糕的天气条件下出行，并作为临时的街道庇护空间。

Scaffolding is an essential aspect of construction in cities. Despite the many laws and guidelines that affect their use in various contexts, their simple, inexpensive, and temporary nature makes them an inseparable part of building creation. Through their frequent use in architecture, scaffolds have developed a language of modularity, materiality, structural expression, and interaction with public infrastructure that distinguishes them within the urban landscape. In addition to their visual appearance and primary construction purposes, they can also provide urban functions such as shelter, help with way-finding and inspiration for auxiliary structures. In the article "Removing the Scaffold of Architecture," Christopher Alker highlights how, in a dense city like New York, the sheer number of scaffolds can help people move around despite weather conditions and serve as temporary street shelters.


Green-Orange Cocoon, Hong Kong, 2013. Image © Peter Steinhauer

从历史上看，脚手架的出现可以追溯到法国西南部的旧石器时代，在那里它被用作洞穴壁画的支撑结构。在13世纪，它还被探索作为马里Djenné大清真寺的永久性外墙结构。随着时间的推移，各种材料被用于脚手架，它们在不同的背景下也有所不同，这导致了独特审美语言的发展。

Historically, scaffoldings date back to the Paleolithic period in the southwest of France, where it was used as a support structure for cave paintings. It was also explored as a permanent facade structure in the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali during the 13th century. Over time, various materials have been used for scaffolds, and they vary within different contexts, which has led to the development of unique aesthetic languages.


A commercial building in Central District is wrapped up by bamboo scaffolds for renovation works, Hong Kong. Image © cheung-yin/Unsplash

木头和竹竿在西非更受欢迎，因为它具有地方性和经济性。在欧洲，金属圆形空心结构因其模块化和结构稳定性而受到青睐。同时，竹制脚手架在中国已经发展为一种文化艺术形式，这是一种古老的竹签编织方法，通过搭建到适合建筑的高度，与现代建筑实践相结合。与脚手架网一起，这些建筑被摄影师Steinhauer描述为 "环绕于单色环境中的巨大彩色包裹"，他创作了名为 "Cocoons "的香港脚手架视觉图鉴。

A collage of wood and bamboo sticks is more popular in West Africa due to its locality and affordability. Metal circular hollow sections are preferred in Europe for their modularity and structural stability. Meanwhile, the labyrinth of bamboo scaffolds has grown as a cultural art form in China. It is an ancient method of weaving bamboo sticks, which has continued with modern construction practices by soaring to heights suitable for high-rise buildings. Together with scaffolding nets, they are described as "giant, colored, wrapped packages in the middle of a monochromatic setting" by the photographer Steinhauer, who compiled a visual catalog of scaffolds in Hong Kong titled "Cocoons".


Cocoon: Highrise buildings wrapped in scaffoldings, Hong Kong, 2009. Image © Peter Steinhauer

当人们不断与城市中的脚手架互动时，它们也传达了关于这些城市成长的各种故事。近年来，伦敦的历史地标和文化建筑周围出现了更多的脚手架。这体现了该城市为保留文化建筑和保护城市特色而进行的大量改造工作。

然而，脚手架有时也意味着对需要维修的建筑的忽视。脚手架最初是作为维修的临时支撑而搭起来的，但它可能会发展成为一个永久性的解决方案，成为城市建筑的固定部分。在这些情况下，脚手架会给步行带来巨大的不便，并掩盖了城市结构的视觉美感。例如，人行道上的棚子是纽约流行的建筑元素，而这些都来自于脚手架系统。由于纽约市的当地法律要求高层建筑的外墙每5年维护一次，人行道棚就成为了整个城市的永久性结构。它们掩盖了从街道层面对建筑物的感知，创造了另一种新的视觉语言。

As people constantly interact with scaffolding in cities, they also communicate various stories about the growth of those cities. In recent years, London has seen more scaffolding around its historical landmarks and cultural buildings. This speaks to the city's extensive renovation efforts to save cultural buildings from demolition and preserve the city's character.
However, scaffolding can also indicate neglect of a building in need of repair. Sometimes, scaffolding is initially put up as temporary support for maintenance, but it can grow to become a permanent solution and a fixed part of a city's architecture. In these instances, scaffolding can be a massive inconvenience to walkability and obscure the visual aesthetics of the city's fabric. For example, sidewalk sheds are a popular architectural element in New York, born from the need for scaffolding systems to expand into the street due to their size. Since local New York City laws require high-rise facade maintenance every 5 years, sidewalk sheds have become permanent scaffolding structures throughout the city. They obscure the perception of buildings from the street level, creating a new visual language.


Residential housebuilding construction site UK. Image © MetroMaps/AdobeStock

脚手架表现出许多建筑特征，设计师们探索了它们作为建筑元素本身的表现。它们表现出模块化、可扩展性和结构张力，可以使用不同的材料转化为不同的建筑类型，如亭子、展览、室内空间和建筑扩展。

一个典型的例子是鹿特丹的MVRDV的纪念性城市楼梯。这是一个临时性的脚手架结构，由180个台阶组成，高29米，长57米，为了纪念灾难后城市重建75周年活动。像其他许多项目一样，它承认了脚手架的独特性质以及它在城市发展的"连续过程"中所扮演的角色，它的美学、元素、材料、模式、带来的不便和对城市的贡献都是其独特的特征和价值的一部分。

Scaffoldings exhibit many architectural traits, and designers have explored how they perform as building elements in their own right. They express modularity, scalability, and structural expression which can be translated into different typologies, such as pavilions, exhibitions, interior spaces, and building extensions, using different materials.
A prominent example is the MVRDV monumental urban staircase in Rotterdam. It was a temporary scaffolding structure, consisting of 180 steps, 29 meters tall, and 57 meters long, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the rebuilding of the city following a disaster. Like many other projects, it recognizes the unique nature of scaffolding and the role it plays in the “continuous process” which is the city. Its aesthetic, elements, materials, patterns, inconveniences, and contributions to the city are all part of its unique character and value.


Scaffolding around a cultural building in central london. Image © Paul Yakubu


Green mesh scaffold on a building Prague, Czech Republic, 2016. Image © dan-gold/Unsplash


Scaffolding above the city's sidewalk. Image © benjamin-lehman/Unsplash


Cocoon: Highrise buildings wrapped in scaffoldings, Hong Kong, 2009. Image © Peter Steinhauer


High street shop or store to rent with scaffolding. Image © Martin Lee/AdobeStock


Grid of steel circular hollow sections for scaffolds. Image © josh-sorenson/Pexels


Bamboo Scaffolds Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, 2017. Image © jordan-merrick/Unsplash


Cocoon: Highrise buildings wrapped in scaffoldings, Hong Kong, 2010. Image © Peter Steinhauer