toa3 - architectural theories
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TOA3 - Architectural Theories from Antiquity to ModernityTRANSCRIPT
Architectural discourse from the illustrated French
Dictionary of Architecture (1856) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
AAAArchitectural Styles
Neolithic
Mesopotamian
Persia
Ancient Greek
Byzantine
Islamic
Gothic
Classicism Neoclassical
Gothic Revival
Art Nouveau
Modern AAAArchitectural StylesAncient Egyptian
Mayan
Mesoamerican
Roman
Romanesque
Renaissance
Baroque
Neo-Renaissance
Neo-Baroque Expressionism
ModernismePostmodern
Contemporary
Carlo Maderno
façade of Saint Peter’s
Vatican City, Rome, Italy
“Architectural style is a way of classifying architecture largely by morphological & historical characteristics:
• Form• Techniques• Materials• Materials• Time Period• Region• Other Stylistic Influences
It is a way of classifying architecture that gives emphasis to characteristic features of design, leading to a terminology.
Architectural TheoriesThematic
ANTIQUITY
MIDDLE AGES
RENAISSANCE
ENLIGHTENMENT
19TH CENTURY
20TH CENTURY
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Anonymous tradition of trade guilds
Alberti, Vignola, Palladio
Structurialism: Galileo Galilei, Robert Hooke
Industrial Age
Early Modernism
Architectural Theories
Thematic
20TH CENTURY
MODERNISM
POSTMODERNISM
CONTEMPORARY
Early Modernism
Functionalism: Walter Gropius, Louis Sullivan, etc.
Robert Venturi
Starchitects
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
– Author of the oldest research on architecture
– Wrote an extensive summary of all the theory on construction
– Had a thorough knowledge of earlier Greek and Roman writings
“Ten Books on Architecture”
– De architectura libri decem
– Consists mostly of normative theory of design (based on practice)
ANTIQUITY
Consists mostly of normative theory of design (based on practice)
– A collection of thematic theories of design with no method of combining them into a synthesis
– Presents a classification of requirements set for buildings:
: DURABILTIY (firmitas)
: PRACTICALITY or “convenience” (utilitas)
: PLEASANTNESS (venustas)
Architectural Theories
Thematic
Vitruvian Rules of Aesthetic Form
– Based on Greek traditions of architecture
– Teachings of Pythagoras : applying proportions of numbers
– Observations of tuned string of instruments
– Proportions of human body
– PLEASANTNESS
ANTIQUITY
– PLEASANTNESS
: in accordance of good taste
: parts follow proportions
: symmetry of measures
Architectural Theories
Thematic
THEORIES in the MIDDLE AGES
• No documents– no person can be attributed for theories
• Monastery Institutions– Most documents retrieved from the Middle Ages
– However, archives contain only few descriptions of buildings
– Described only as “according to the traditional model”
– “There’s no accounting for tastes” was the rule of thumb– “There’s no accounting for tastes” was the rule of thumb
• Development of Building Style– With hardly or no literary research present
– Villard de Hannecourt’s “sketchbook” in 1235
– Rotzer’s Booklet on the right way of making pinnacles
– Only through guidance of old masters
– Tradition binding and precise in close guilds of builders
STRUCTURALIST
Building Material Architectural Form
Amorphous material:
Soft stone; snow
Spherical vaulted
construction
Sheets of skin or textile Cone-shaped tent Sheets of skin or textile Cone-shaped tent
construction
Logs of wood Box-shaped
construction
CONSTRUCTION THEORY• Before Written Construction Theory
– Architecture created without the help of architects or theory
– Builders used a model instead of mathematical algorithms now used in modern construction
– Inverted “catenary” model
• Semi-Circular Vault : Theory by Virtue• Semi-Circular Vault : Theory by Virtue
– “ When there are arches… the outermost piers must be made broader than the others so that they may have the strength to resist when the wedges under the pressure of the load of the walls, begins to thrust to the abutments.”
• During Middle Ages
– No written documents survived about theories or models to describe the magnificent vaults of medieval cathedrals
CONSTRUCTION THEORY• During Renaissance
– From Alberti onwards, architects began specializing
– Mathematical models by Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei
: considers load and scientific studies
: contributed to constructions
– 1675 : Marquis de Vauban founded a building depatment in the French army – 1675 : Marquis de Vauban founded a building depatment in the French army called “ Corps des Ingenieurs”
– 1747 : Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, special school founded in Paris where new profession specializing in construction was organized.• first engineering school
– Other figures of mathematical construction theory
: Robert Hooke
: Jakob Bernoulli
: Leonard Euier
RENNAISANCE THEORIES
• 1948 – a copy of Virtue manuscript found at St. Gallen Monastery
• Leon Bautista Alberti (1404-72)
– Person in charge of constructions commanded by Pope
– “On Building”
: De re aedifficatoria: De re aedifficatoria
: one of the greatest works of the theory of architecture
: completed in 1452, published in 1485
: more emphasis on decoration of building exteriors
• Sebastino Serlio
– “Regole generall di architectura”
RENNAISANCE THEORIES
• Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola
– “Regola delle cinque ordini”
– Concise, facts and easily applicable rules of the five column systems
– Based his design instructions on four things:
: idea of Pythagoras
: proportions of small number: proportions of small number
: properties and other instruments
: good taste
• Andrea Palladio (1508-80)
– “I Quattro libri dell’architectura”
– The father of modern picture books of architecture
• Philibert de L’orme
– One of French theorist who are critical of italians
– Prove that Pantheon’s Corinthian columns had 3 different proportions
– Rejected the doctrine of absolute beauty of measures
PERSONAL STYLE
• Copying from Antiquity– Architecture form antiquity came to a print of perfection
• Eugene Viollet-le-Duc (1863)
: the first theorist who set out to create a totally new system of architectural forms independent of antiquity
“What we call taste is but an involuntary process of reasoning whose steps elude our observation. Authority has no value if its grounds are not explained.”
: the foundation of modern architecture
: did not create a timeless architectural style himself, he showed others the philosophical foundation and method that they could use to develop even radically new form language
• Owen Jones : used forms inspired from nature, especially plants
ART NOUVEAU
• The first architectural style independent of the
tradition of antiquity after the Gothic style
• The example set by Art Nouveau encourage some of • The example set by Art Nouveau encourage some of
the most skillful architects of the 20th century to
create their private form language
THEORETICAL TREATISES
• Five points of Architecture (1926, Le Corbusier)1. Pilotis
2. free plan
3. free façade
4. the long horizontal sliding window
5. the roof garden5. the roof garden
• Architecture as Space (Bruno Zeri)– “The crux of architecture is not the sculptural pattern, but instead the building interiors. These
can be seen as “negative solids”, as voids which the artist divides, combines, repeats and emphasizes in the same way as the sculptor treats his “positive” lumps of substance.”
– The “personal style” of architects are not necessarily based on laws of nature or on logical reasoning. More important is that they exhibit a coherent application of an idea which also must be clear that the public can find it out. An advantage is also if the style includes symbolical undertones.
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
• Industrial Revolution (1768)
– Arts and Crafts Movementa. Conservative
b. William Morris
c. John Ruskinc. John Ruskin
– Electicisma. architecture of borrowing
• Fruits of Industrial Revolution– Joseph Paxton – Crystal Palace, 1851
– Elisha Graves Otis – Elevator, 1857
– Manufacturing of “Rolled Steel”
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
1870’s
• The Great Fire of Chicago, 1871
– downtown in Chicago was burned and in needs of construction of new buildings
– place where first tallest building was constructed
William Le Baron Jenney• William Le Baron Jenney– made the first skyscraper
• Daniel Burnham– “make no little plans, they have no magic to stir man’s blood”
• Louis Sullivan– “form follows function”
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
1880’s– Chicago School became the concentration of architectural
development
– introduce Chicago Window– introduce Chicago Window
1890’s
• The World Columbian Exposition– built in 1863
– chief architect: Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
1900’s
• European architecture was notified
• Person to notify:
– Otto Wagner
– Adolf Loos “ornament is a crime”
– H.P. Berlage
– Frank Llyod Wright
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
1910’s
• Office of Peter Behrens
– Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe “less is more”
– Walter Gropius
– Le Corbusier– Le Corbusier
• 2 Art movements that influenced
– Futurism – simultaneity of movement
– Cubism – interpretation of space
MODERN ARCHITECTURE1920’s
• The Bauhaus
– “Art and Technology, the new unity”
– Established architects
• Frank Llyod Wright “organic architecture”
• Le Corbusier• Le Corbusier
• Mies Van Der Rohe / Gropius
1930’s
• International Style
1950’s
• The period of Reassessment
– Universalism
– Personalism
POSTMODERNISM
• The center of Postmodernism:
– Robert Venturi “less is bore”
• Philip Johnson• Philip Johnson
– say that a portion of Chippendale building in New
York has no function
– Introduce the element of “Discovery”
POSTMODERNISM• SYMBOLIC ARHITECTURE
– “Building as a message”
• Mathematical Analogy
• Biological Analogy
– use of plants and ornaments
• Romantic Architecture• Romantic Architecture
– uses exotic language of form
– vastness; trying to surprise; huge
• Linguistic Analogies
– grammar; uses words with proper grammar
• Mechanical Analogies
– Buckminter Fuller
• Ad Hoc Analogy
– any materials that you can get or available in your environment such as wood in forest
• Stage Analogy
Modern ArchitectureModern ArchitectureGrowth, Efficiency and Modernism
“Modern architecture is generally characterized
by simplification of form and creation of
ornament from the structure and theme of the
building. It is a term applied to an overarching
“building. It is a term applied to an overarching
movement, with its exact definition and scope
varying widely. (Wikipedia)
Historical & Theoretical Basis
• early modern architecture began at the turn of the 20th century with efforts to reconcile the principles underlying architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society
• it would take the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification.
• the concept of modernism would be a central theme in these efforts.
Modernism
• The term describes the modernist movement,
its set of cultural tendencies and array of
associated cultural movements, originally arising
from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to
Western society in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
Modernism
• Modernism was a revolt against the conservative
values of realism.
• The most paradigmatic motive (motif) of modernism • The most paradigmatic motive (motif) of modernism
is the rejection of tradition and its reprise,
incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision
and parody in new forms.
Modernism
• Modernism rejected the lingering certainty of
Enlightenment thinking and also rejected the existence
of a compassionate, all-powerful Creator God in favor
of the abstract, unconventional, largely uncertain ethic of the abstract, unconventional, largely uncertain ethic
brought on by modernity, initiated around the turn of
century by rapidly changing technology and further
catalyzed by the horrific consequences of World War I
on the cultural psyche of artists.
Characteristics
• a rejection of historical styles as a source of architectural form (historicism)
• an adoption of the principle that the materials and functional requirements determine the resultfunctional requirements determine the result
• use of industrially-produced materials, an adoption of the machine aesthetic
Characteristics
• a rejection of ornament
• a simplification of form and elimination of "unnecessary detail“
• particularly in International Style modernism, a visual • particularly in International Style modernism, a visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines
• the related concept of "Truth to materials", meaning that the true nature or natural appearance of a material ought to be seen rather than concealed or altered to represent something else
Modern Architecture
As Characterized by the Masters of Modern Architecture
Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe,
Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Alvar Aalto,
Walter Gropius and Louis I Kahn.
“A house is a
machine for
living in.
Le Corbusier
“living in.
“Form follows function - that has
been misunderstood. Form and
function should be one, joined in “
Frank Lloyd Wright
function should be one, joined in
a spiritual union.
“Our guiding principle was that
design is neither an intellectual
nor a material affair, but simply
an integral part of the stuff of
Walter Gropius
an integral part of the stuff of
life, necessary for everyone in a
civilized society.
Gropius House, 1938
Embassy of the United States in Athens, 1959-1961
“Less is more.
Mies van der Rohe
“Less is more.
Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
International Congress of Modern Architecture
CIAM
Founded in 1928 in
Switzerland, dissolved in 1959
due to the differing
perceptions of the members.
It is an organization with
conferences and meetings conferences and meetings
which are held in collective
works, discussions, resolutions
and publications marking the
beginning of the academic
period of modern architecture.
The New World
“Ford” and “Rolls Royce” have burst open the core of the town, obliterating distance and
effacing the boundaries between town and country. Aircraft slip through the air: “Fokker”
and “Farman” widen our range of movement and the distance between us and the earth;
they disregard national frontiers and bring nation closer to nation. Illuminated signs
twinkle, loud-speakers screech, posters advertise, display windows shine forth. The
simultaneity of events enormously extends our concept of “space and time,” it enriches our simultaneity of events enormously extends our concept of “space and time,” it enriches our
life. We live faster and therefore longer… The precise division into hours of the time we
spend working in office and factory and the split-minute timing of railway timetables make
us live more consciously… Radio, marconigram, and phototelegraphy liberate us from our
national seclusion and make us part of a world community. The gramophone, microphone,
orchestrion, and pianola accustom our ears to the sound of impersonal-mechanized
rhythms… Large blocks of flats, sleeping cars, house yachts, and transatlantic liners
undermine the local concept of the “homeland.” The fatherland goes into decline. We
learn Esperanto. We become cosmopolitan. [Hannes Meyer, in his 1926 essay, “The New World”]
CIAM: Rethinking Architecture
Its foundation marks the
determination of Modernist
architects to promote and
finesse their theories. For nearly
thirty years the great questions
of urban living, space, and of urban living, space, and
belonging were discussed by
CIAM members. The documents
they produced, and the
conclusions they reached, had a
tremendous influence on the
shape of cities and towns the
world over.
Il'ia Golosov's Zuev House of Culture — Workers' Club (1928)
CIAM: Rethinking Architecture
The organisation's founding
declaration was signed by twenty-
four architects at La Sarraz,
Switzerland, in 1928. None of the
signatories was British.
The La Sarraz Declaration asserted The La Sarraz Declaration asserted
that architecture could no longer
exist in an isolated state separate
from governments and politics, but
that economic and social conditions
would fundamentally affect the
buildings of the future.
28 European architects organized by Le Corbusier, Helene and Siegfried
Giedion Mandrot. Karl Moser, Hendrik Berlage, Victor Bourgeois, Pierre
Chareau, Josef Frank, Gabriel Guevrekian, Max Ernst Haefeli, Hugo Häring,
Arnold Hochel, Huib Hoste, Pierre Jeanneret, André Lurçat, Ernst May,
Fernando Garcia Mercadal, Hannes Meyer, Werner Moser, Carlo Enrico Rava,
Gerrit Rietveld, Alberto Sartoris, Hans Schmidt, Mart Stam, Rudolf Steiger,
Szymon Syrkus, Henri-Robert Von der Mühll and Juan de Zavala. Then join
Alvar Aalto, Uno Ahren, Louis Herman De Koninck, Fred Forbat, and Harwell
Hamilton Harris.
CIAM: Rethinking Architecture
"The main goal and purpose that has
brought us here is to assemble the
different elements of contemporary
architecture in a harmonious whole,
and give a real sense of architecture,
social, and economic." Helene of social, and economic." Helene of
Mandrot, Switzerland, 1 Congress.
Le Corbusier and other members of CIAM having some fun at the
La Sarraz Conference (1928)
CIAM: Rethinking Architecture
The Declaration also asserted that as
society became more industrialised,
it was vital that architects and the
construction industry rationalise
their methods, embrace new
technologies and strive for greater technologies and strive for greater
efficiency.
(Le Corbusier, one of the
movement's founders, often liked to
compare the standardised efficiency
of the motor industry with the
inefficiency of the building trade.)Antonio Sant'Elia, sketch of a building and
roadway from La Citta Nuova (1914)
CIAM: Rethinking Architecture
CIAM's early attitudes towards town-planning
were stark: "Urbanisation cannot be conditioned
by the claims of a pre-existent aestheticism; its
essence is of a functional order… the chaotic
division of land, resulting from sales,
speculations, inheritances, must be abolished by speculations, inheritances, must be abolished by
a collective and methodical land policy.“
At this early stage the desire to re-shape cities
and towns is clear. Out is the "chaotic" jumble of
streets, shops, and houses which existed in
European cities at the time; in is a zoned city,
comprising of standardised dwellings and
different areas for work, home, and leisure.
The Athens Charter
The fourth CIAM Congress in 1933 (theme: "The
Functional City") consisted of an analysis of thirty-four
cities and proposed solutions to urban problems. The
conclusions were published as "The Athens Charter" (so-
called because the Congress was held on board the SS
Patris en route from Marseilles to Athens). Patris en route from Marseilles to Athens).
This document remains one of the most controversial
ever produced by CIAM. The charter effectively
committed CIAM to rigid functional cities, with citizens to
be housed in high, widely-spaced apartment blocs. Green
belts would separate each zone of the city. The Charter
was not actually published until 1943, and its influence
would be profound on public authorities in post-war
Europe.
Participants at the international CIAM-4 conference
in Athens (1933)
The End of CIAM
It didn't take long for
architects to question the
conclusions reached at
Athens, and to worry publicly
about the sterility of the city
envisioned by CIAM. envisioned by CIAM.
Geometric, Sunken Roadways between Columns of
Buildings in Le Corbusier's "Ville Radieuse" (1930
The End of CIAM
Chief among these doubters were young
British architects Alison and Peter
Smithson, who led a breakaway from
CIAM in 1956. Three years previously they
had outlined their concerns: "Man may
readily identify himself with his own readily identify himself with his own
hearth, but not easily with the town
within which it is placed. 'Belonging' is a
basic emotional need- its associations are
of the simplest order. From 'belonging'-
identity- comes the enriching sense of
neighbourliness. The short narrow street
of the slum succeeds where spacious
redevelopment frequently fails.”
"International Style" Exhibition organized at MoMA in New York by
Philip Johnson & others (1932)
The End of CIAM
The Smithsons worried that CIAM's
ideal city would lead to isolation and
community breakdown, just as
European governments were
preparing to build tower blocks in
their ruined cities.their ruined cities.
Cartesian towers from Le Corbusier's Ville Radieuse
(1930)
The End of CIAM
The last CIAM meeting was held in
1956. By the mid-1950s it was clear
that the official acceptance of
Modernism was stronger than ever,
and yet the concerns voiced by the
Smithsons and their allies that the Smithsons and their allies that the
movement was in danger of creating
an urban landscape which was
hostile to social harmony, would rise
to a crescendo in the decades to
come. J.J.P. Oud, Industrialized Housing in Rotterdam
The Legacy of CIAM
The CIAM is a revolutionary movement in
contemporary architecture since it arises from
a socio-economic need of change. We think it's
admirable that a group of architects to come
together to try to compose new ideas
emerging from its disagreement with the emerging from its disagreement with the
architecture at that time. Several theories
raised are still being used today and were great
contributions to architecture and urbanism in
general. In conclusion we believe that the
CIAM was an event that marked the destiny of
architecture both economically and socially
and provided the first ideas of planning for the
design of cities.Ad for Mercedes-Benz, 1927, outside Le Corbusier's
Weißenhof house
"For twenty years, many as their existence,
convinced I was a member of CIAM. Now I think it
is time to express how much this has meant to me
international town of architects and planners
during the long struggle of modern architecture.
The most important fact was that in a world filled
with confusion and partial attempts, a small with confusion and partial attempts, a small
international group of architects felt the need to
collect in full view the multitude of problems I had
in front. The decision to place this concept all over
each limited purpose determined our position, our
belief, our faith." Gropius, Walter, "CIAM :1928-
1953" in Scope of Total Architecture, Harper &
Brothers, New York, 1955
Walter Gropius D 51 Armchair
"Our jobs are meaningless
without discussion. Deliberation
is equivalent to report [...]. Our
reports are very important. I
would prefer that Congress would prefer that Congress
exposed some erroneous
discussion is lost in an analysis
without end "
Nikolai Kolli, Le Corbusier, and others in Russia (1930)
CIAM succeeded in developing new architectural
ideas into a coherent movement, but Modernists
would spend many years defending, and often
undoing, its legacy.
Colored sketch of Le Corbusier's proposal for his Ville Radieuse (1930)
Postmodern Architecture
The Death of Modernism
““At 3:32 pm, 15 July, 1972, Modernism came to an end.Charles Jencks, architectural historian
““The city of modern architecture, both as a
psychological construct and a physical model, has
been rendered tragically ridiculous... the city of Le
Corbusier, the city celebrated by CIAM and advertised
by the Athens Charter, the former city of deliverance
is everyday found increasingly inadequate.Colin Rowe, Fred Koetter (1976). Collage City.
Pruitt–Igoe, St. Louis, Missouri
Minoru Yamasaki, 1954
Pruitt–Igoe, St. Louis, Missouri
Minoru Yamasaki, 1954
Pruitt–Igoe, St. Louis, Missouri
Minoru Yamasaki, 1954
““The city of modern architecture, both as a
psychological construct and a physical model, has
been rendered tragically ridiculous... the city of Le
Corbusier, the city celebrated by CIAM and advertised
by the Athens Charter, the former city of deliverance
is everyday found increasingly inadequate.Colin Rowe, Fred Koetter (1976). Collage City.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs , 1961
Jacobs examined Modernist housing developments like Pruitt
Igoe and asked what it was like to actually live in them.
She argued that they were dehumanizing because they deny
individuality, provoke social malaise and lead to crime and
vandalism. Jacobs concluded that Modernist architecture is
mentally and socially damaging.
Postmodern Architecture
The Return of Wit, Ornament & Reference
Postmodern ArchitectureMajor Architects
Robert Venturi
Charles Moore
Hans Hollein
Phillip Johnson
James Stirling
Aldo Rossi
Modern Architecture
• Rejected the forms and values of a previous age – particularly
the revival of historic styles, ornamentation and decoration
• Offered a democratic and utopian solution to the problems of
mass production – good design for allmass production – good design for all
• Argued that aesthetic beauty would naturally arise out of
reason and “truth” – embodied in ideas such as form follows
function, truth to materials
• Evolved a simple, pure and unifying aesthetic reflected in Mies
Van Der Rohe’s dictum, “less is more”
“In its simplest form postmodernism is most
clearly understood in terms of its rejection of
the values, forms and theories associated with “
the values, forms and theories associated with
Modernism or Modernity.
“Less is a bore.
Robert Charles Venturi, Jr.
“Less is a bore.
“Architecture can no longer afford to be intimidated by the
puritanically moral language of orthodox Modern architecture. I like
elements which are hybrid rather than pure, compromising rather
than clean, distorted rather than straightforward, ambiguous rather
than articulated, perverse as well as impersonal, boring as well as than articulated, perverse as well as impersonal, boring as well as
interesting, conventional rather than designed, accommodating
rather than excluding, redundant rather than simple, vestigial as well
as innovating, inconsistent and equivocal rather than direct and
clear. I am for messy vitality over obvious unity”
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. 1966
Vanna Venturi House
Inside the Seattle Art Museum
Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, London
Chapel at the Episcopal Academy, Newtown Square, PA. (2010)
“Pick very few
objects and place
them exactly.
Philip Johnson
them exactly.
Philip Johnson at age 95 with his model of a
30' by 60' sculpture created for a Qatari
collector.
Puerta de Europa in Madrid
The postmodern AT&T Building, now the Sony Building PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2007
One Detroit Center from Jefferson Avenue in Detroit.