• According to Kahn “The joint is the beginning of ornament.” These joints in Kahn’s work were meant to replicate qualities of traditional architecture. This is a celebration of the meeting of materials, of where as Zumthor mentioned, ‘single parts which must be joined together. To a large degree, the quality of the finished object is determined by the quality of the joints.
  
  In contrast, sculptures very much tries to minimizes the expression of joints in order to bring out the wholeness of the object, for example in Richard Serra’s steel objects. Other artists such as Beuys and Merz were cited where the parts to whole relationship is not emphasized by ‘inessential details’ as the object’s idea lies in its monolithic.

For an architect, though, unless one is actually aiming for a monolith (such as the one in 2001 Space Odyssey), details are usually expressed but only a few architectural joints are relevant and the rest are hidden and not articulated. The monolithic can display a sense of scalelessness such as in the movie ‘Arrival’, the giant floating extraterrestrial object floating on Earth, displaying a sense of otherworldness and alienness.

The joint and the relationship of the parts to the whole can be used as a metaphor of a relationship to a building beyond structural necessity. A historical interpretation was made conflating the system of joinery and political order, where the joinery/ parts of a building expresses a worldview. Here the author cites art historian H.P. L’Orange in describing Roman masonry architecture compared to the prior Greek orders as a result of the change in political and social order.

Rem Koolhaas’ thinking is that ‘joints should not be about anything. A joint is not an idea; it is simply a condition.’ In the sense that Koolhaas asserts that one should not fixate on joins and encounters as they exist without any problemization.

In fact, the author asks: is the articulation of the joint technically, or aesthetically necessary? Can the articulation of construction embody something beyond construction? Would you design a jointless/ zero tolerance building if you could?

Well I would, if I could design something like this lmao:

‘A magnificent feat of structural engineering, KAIT Plaza features a sloping iron roof, just 12mm (1/2 inch) thick, that spans 90 meters (295 ft). From floor to ceiling, heights range between 2.2 – 2.8m (7 – 9 ft) but during different seasons of the year, temperatures will cause the roof to contract and bulge as much as 30 cm (1 ft) as if the structure is breathing.’