I have recently read a book called On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time, by Mohsen Mostafavi and David Leatherbarrow. It suggests that rather than viewing weathering on buildings as being a negative thing, it can instead be viewed as a positive thing which adds to and enhances buildings.
I am interested in the idea that through weathering a building will take on the qualities of the place it is situated, an idea that clearly links in with ideas to do with local distinctiveness. The various markings formed through exposure and the layers that are revealed through erosion; allow one to recollect earlier stages in the history of the building.
As I start to think more about nature versus the built environment, I am interested in the idea of surface modification as showing the rightful claim nature has over the built environment, reminding us that buildings are in fact made out of matter making the earth their fabric.
