Evolution of the building-machine hybrid on the example of historical oast houses

Hybrid buildings are not a modern invention. In the case of certain types of buildings in historical production facilities, a degree of inseparable fusion of static buildings and dynamic mechanics can be detected. This goes far beyond the multifunctional use of a room and also includes constructional and architectural design to the same extent. They are not simply rooms or buildings in which machines for the production of an item or a product are installed, but the room, or the building, itself, is the “machine”, or at least an essential part of it. Or is the machine the building? This relationship will be explained using the example of historical oast houses. For this type of building, architectural development from an integrated yet barely perceptible component to a free-standing solitary building can be demonstrated over a period of around 80 years. It is not clear which part is the building and which is the production technology. These two main components have become an indissoluble unit, making the oast house a real hybrid