Third Skin Urban Identity : Fashion Nexus

Abstract

We are surrounded by three skins. The first being our own, the second the clothes we layer ourselves with, and the third the skin of the building. The initial purpose of this project was to explore the influence architecture has on other design disciplines, in particular fashion design. But it became evident that so many things other that their immediate environment inform fashion designers, that the pursuit of an architecture that inspires fashion is futile. Fashion transcends the spirit of the day. Instead of architecture influencing fashion design, architecture embodies fashion’s identity while fashion and architecture together facilitate an identity for the consumer and the place of consumption. Consumption is seen as a form of cultural production. A shift from production to consumption, and visa versa, has changed the focus of how buildings are used and experienced, and by extension, how and why buildings are erected. The primacy of the skeleton has given way to the primacy of the skin. For fashion houses, the skin of a building has become an essential medium for the promotion of their identity. The emphasis of the project thus shifts to the exploration of architecture as the identity giver to a site and its context, the client and the consumer.