Reclaiming the Poetic
Sam Ridgway in The Representation of Construction emphasizes the role of representation in architecture stating, “The world of architecture is a world of representation” (268). He continues writing, “Architects do not build buildings; they represent them, mainly through drawings, models, words and numbers. In turn, buildings are also interpretations or representation of these mediating instruments and artifacts that precede their construction” (268). It is through realizing that representational tools are “value laden” that contemporary architects may move forward from the “ideological stagnation plaguing most architectural creation” (269). Comparing the preceding eras to the contemporary era, “there is an inverse relationship
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He suggests that the use of “electronic imaging prevents imagining and promotes thinking about architecture rather than bring architects, contractors, clients and critics to think within architecture” (275). Inspired by Frascari, the strategy of technography is encouraged (278). This is a “different way of thinking about the relationship between a [working] drawing and a future building. Rather than “simply Cartesian, technical lines showing edges, corners and joints these technographic drawings reveal both the symbolic and instrumental representations of the future building.. it is to make visible what is invisible”. Ridgway remarks, “The fact that any of this could be considered contentious indicates that extent to which architects have become alienated from the heart of their profession” (279). He asserts, “Part of any technography must be an acknowledgement of the historical context of construction knowledge. This is not only so we can better understand our rich architectural ancestry, but because it re-establishes a connection with the origins of our profession in building” (279). Rather than a “miniature projected representation of an imagined building, details are drawn as poetic constructions themselves, following the logic of drawing and not building and representing the “built detail symbolically, in addition to instrumentally. The symbolic and practical are one and the same thing” (280). “What are the symbolic qualities we are trying to embody in our buildings and how would we represent them in drawings?” becomes the question (278). These drawing “may not be easy or straightforward to understand or interpret.
By giving the biographies of architects Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander, Hines does nothing to remedy his aimless writing. He writes that Neutra had a variety of experience as an archi...
“The architect’s role and their intellectual responsibility is to fight to maintain their vision and little bits get chopped off all the time, but if they’re only little bits, it’s not too bad.’’
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.
Trevor Doubek Professor Melissa Laudani English Comp 1 17 November 2014 Styx Research Paper After the 1984 breakup of the band Styx, many questioned whether the Styx legacy could continue after the bands vocalist/keyboardist/songwriter, Dennis DeYoung, was voted out of the band after the release of their theatrical album Kilroy was Here. A huge legal battle between the band and DeYoung broke out and lead to a change in naming rights, a change in the publishing rights of songs, and eventual the break up of a legendary band. Since the dismissal of Dennis, the band members have continued touring and recording hit records however, they know the importance of proper legal documents and having a well-written band-partnership agreement. Styx formed
Gowan, James ed. (1975) A Continuing Experiment: Learning and Teaching at the Architectural Association London: Architectural Press
(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.
People are made of complexities and contradictions. Venturi recognized that buildings should be complex and complicated, too. He theorized and built buildings inspired by this principle, and succeeded because of his emphasis on individual experience and the interaction between humanity and architectural forms. In pursuit of this goal, his pluralist and revolutionary style of architecture embraced difference and ambiguity and rejected the rigid rules of modernism. While undoubtedly influenced by Venturi’s ideas, later postmodern architects failed to live up to his principles by forming their own inflexible rules and not concentrating on the human experience with buildings.
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...
Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.
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.
Linder, M. (2004) Nothing less than literal: architecture after minimalism. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The notion of 'participatory architecture' is, in theory, nothing to oppose. "Nobody is against it because it is good for you" (Arnstein, 1969, p216). Participation is the calculated inclusion of the intended users of a building within some stages of its design process, a rarely contested idea. Yet how can an idea so intrinsically beneficial to society be simultaneously discriminatory to the communities in which the powerful seek to collaborate. Participation in recent years has become somewhat a token for egalitarianism through architectural development, whilst ignoring the crucial social implications
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...
Trying to define modern architecture was a problem that many architects struggled to explain. No one before had created what we now know as “modern” architecture. In the past architects were able to look into history to gain an inspiration for buildings however, this approach would not fit in this new age of the machine. Industrialization changed the way people thought. The Industrial Revolution allowed products to be produced on an industrial scale, allowing ordinary people access to goods that would have been otherwise not have been in their reach. Architecture was slow to adapt to industrialization and the industrial age brought new problems never seen before. One such of architecture’s main goals is to faithfully represent its time; this idea is known as Zeitgeist or “Spirit of the Age.” Since an age of the machine was a never before seen phenomenon, architects had to think slightly ahead of their time in order to keep up with the changes going on in society. Many architects such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies worked tirelessly to establish themselves as leaders in their field. They came up with ideas such as harmony between architecture and nature, and function over form. Ludwig Miles was one such architect who tried to cement his place in history through the creative use of concrete, steel and glass. Mies’s style was known to follow the saying “less is more.” One of his greatest known buildings is the Seagram Building. Built in New York City in 1958, it was one of the most expensive buildings built at that time. The Seagram building was built in 1958, during a time “when Park Avenue was transforming from an exclusive residential neighborhood to a prestigious business address, the Seagra...