In Kenneth Frampton’s Rappel a L’ordre, the Case for the Tectonic, he reinterprets modern architecture “through the lens of techne.” Techne can be traced back to its Greek origins, which embodied the ideas of art, craft and skill in the making of an object. Techne came to be tied with the materiality and construction methods used in buildings. Technology then came to refer to the making and using of tools and the methods to solve a problem. Implicit in the word “technology” is the act of construction that involves manipulation of resources.
In the text, tectonic expression means relating to construction, and defined as “building construction in general, but also formal amplification of its presence in relation to the assembly of which it is a part.” He calls for the return of the irreducible structural unit as the ideal architectural form, and the visual expression of both structural and construction elements. Frampton references Heidegger to imply that the essence of the tectonic is an act of making that is revealing. Tectonic expression should “reveal” the logics of construction, clarity of structure and the articulation of details and joints. He goes on to argue that architecture grounded on tectonic
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This was outlined as the approach to architectural design that integrates technology into the structure of the building. This marked the foundation for the development of high-tech architecture, which advocated the incorporation of elements of technology into building design and favored the exposing of technological services, material and structural frameworks of buildings. Spatial forms can be revealed in the process of integrating exposed technical utilities, simultaneously reflecting the materials and construction technology of the
Dell Upton is a historian and renowned professor of architecture and Urbanism at the University of California. He has published several books on architecture; one of them is “Architecture in the United States”, published in 1998. In this book, Upton analyzes the architecture of the United States in different aspects, such as nature, money and art, thus depicting the great variety in architectural forms, and how throughout the decades, different interests have lead communities to different ways of building, different purposes and materials, thus reflecting their way of thinking and their relationship with the environment. By exploring so many different architectural styles, Upton reveals the great diversity and richness that has always, and continues to characterize American architecture.
(Image taken from Tranchtenberg, Marvin, Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity. Second Edition. Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey: 2002.)
James F. O'Gorman, Dennis E. McGrath. ABC of Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. Document. October 2013.
Rowland, Kurt F. A History of the Modern Movement: Art Architecture Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973. 142. Print.
Temko, Allan. (1993). No Way to Build a Ballpark: and Other Irreverent Essays on Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Sometimes the best revolutions are those that are forgotten. At least in the short run. And so it is with Robert Venturi, a revolutionary and remarkable architect. While he may not be as celebrated as Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, or Louis Kahn, Venturi leaves behind a forceful intellectual legacy that is perhaps more durable than any building. By condemning the functionalism, simplicity, and orthodoxy of modernism in Contradiction and Complexity in Architecture (1966), he instigated an enduring architectural rebellion. This rebellion continues to run its course today. Notably, Venturi’s ideas sparked and profoundly influenced postmodernism, an international style whose buildings span from the beautiful to the gaudy and vulgar. Ultimately, Venturi’s alternative to modernism succeeded because he prized human experience and the interaction of individuals with architectural forms over a rigid, doctrinaire ideology.
True architects are needed to create architectural beauty and they do so by using “elements which are capable of affecting our senses, and of rewarding the desire of our eyes...the sight of them affects us immediately” (16). Le Corbusier’s says that we must standardize architecture with respect to function so that we can mass produce it until we perfect its aesthetic through competition and innovation. Le Corbusier believed that Architecture schools weren’t teaching students correctly and that engineers would be the ones who save architecture. Architecture is a thing of plastic emotion. “It should use elements capable of striking our senses, of satisfying our visual desires…arranging them in a way that the sight of them clearly affects
The essence of modern architecture lays in a remarkable strives to reconcile the core principles of architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. However, it took “the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification, to establish modernism as a distinctive architectural movement” (Robinson and Foell). Although, the narrower concept of modernism in architecture is broadly characterized by simplification of form and subtraction of ornament from the structure and theme of the building, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose; the visual expression of the structure, particularly the visual importance of the horizontal and vertical lines typical for the International Style modernism, the use of industrially-produced materials and adaptation of the machine aesthetic, as well as the truth to materials concept, meaning that the true nat...
Correspondingly, Katie Llyod Thomas shares similar views on how modernity has increasingly concealed tectonics. She conceptualizes how materiality is secondary to form with hylomorphism in her Architecture and Material Practice. “Hylomorphism, which understands materials as a subset of matter, does not provide a way of positively distinguishing materials, and underscore the architectural tendency to use materials as mere finishes,” says Katie.6 Modernity has instigated materiality and tectonics to become inferior to the architectural form; therefore, concepts and spaces are given more importance and further worked on more attentively, leaving materiality till the end. As Katie mentions, materiality in the design process of a student is in fact consider in the later stages, where it is discussed as a technical issue rather than a conceptual one.6 Materiality and tectonics is a conceptual joint, it is the structure that forms an architectural expression, represents an emotion, and it is what creates a space. Considering all factors, materiality shall not be left to discuss at the end, but worked on as the design is developing, therefore working on form alongside materiality and
Simon Unwin, the author of the book ‘Analysing Architecture’ says that the ‘the purpose of architecture is to design buildings’ is an unsatisfactory definition because the definition limits architecture to just the design of buildings. He feels that architecture involves more than just designing buildings. He also believes that the definition fails to explain the real purpose of architecture and transfers the problem of comprehending the word ‘architecture’ to the word ‘building’. This definition doesn’t go in-depth to analyze and understand the essence of architecture in our everyday lives. It fails to relate human life and needs to the buildings built.
In conclusion, although the development of modern architecture and the intervention of computer technology to advocate this development, the contemporary architectural outcomes have became more complex and complicated with potential formulation problems. As a result, the new architecture theories came to put boundary lines between being in the range of these problems and producing elegant modern built environment. The seduction of computer-produced form also enhances architects to involve in seeking for new theories to develop the discipline and work to combine formulization with materialization. Finally, some of these theories are accepted and some other still a controversial aspect in architecture.
Vidler, Anthony. The writing of the walls: Architectural theory in the late enlightenment. Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 1987.
Jencks believes “the glass-and-steel box has become the single most used form in Modern Architecture and it signifies throughout the world ‘office building’” (27). Thus, modern architecture is univalent in terms of form, in other words it is designed around one out of a few basic values using a limited number of materials and right angles. In...
In chapter one of Frampton’s writing, “Cultural Transformations,” he describes how changes in society create new architectural styles due to new cultural needs. Frampton starts by explaining the relationship between man and nature in different architectural styles. Man and nature were distinct entities; however, for the sake or ornamentation in architecture, the two were constantly combined. This idea soon changes with Baroque architecture where man and nature started to be distinctly separate, and this later leads to the Neoclassical style which shows an increased desire for man to have control over nature (Frampton 1). Neoclassicism essentially stems from a new cultural formation that grew from the life styles of declining aristocracy and the rising bourgeoisie, and this transition leads
From my opinion off what I have gathered, I came to an understanding that Critical regionalism can be seen as an approach to architecture that tries to stand up for places culture and identifies the identity of a place where Modern Architecture has failed to, by using the building's geographical context and reference of vernacular architecture. The term critical regionalism was first used by Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre and, with a somewhat different meaning, by Kenneth Frampton. Critical regionalism could be considered as a particular kind of post-modern response. This response developed as a result of the failure of Post-modernism, together with the influence of Globalization and the spread of Western culture. Critical Regionalism could also be seen as the best solution to cultural issues and the problems of architectural identity. Frampton’s argument is that critical regionalism should not only answer to context, but it should also value the progress of universal modern architecture.