Modernist Architecture: Architecture Without Architects

Architecture without Architects

Throughout time, the Roma settlements were perceived as 'the unknown' that might put at risk 'the known'. Therefore they are shoved to the edges of cities, as well as of society we live in. They become the slums we want to get rid of, by reshaping them according to our own expression of living. The examples of designs for Roma settlements were carried out using our techniques and regulations, without recognizing an imminent need for 'different'.

The 'different' within a formal Modernist architecture was challenged through the means of various movements that were searching for alternative architectural practices. A relevant example is of the artist-architect Constant Nieuwenhuys, that took an interest in the organization of a Gypsy camp - that later became his first models in a series of maquettes of an utopian city prototype called 'New Babylon' - one shared residence, with moveable elements that allow for an-ever changing layout to respond to the inhabitants' needs; a symbol of temporality and an architecture that would instigate a transformation of daily reality. In this way, the Gypsy camps and the nomadism itself encouraged to explore new extents of architectural practice. Another example is of the architect Georges Candilis who designed a Gypsy settlement at the periphery of the French town of Avignon: "It was a very hard problem. The notion of ownership is entirely different in these people. The houses are inhabited in turn by different families. My design comprised four rings of 20 apartments each, a school and a social/cultural center. In the end, after 20 years without maintenance, these buildings fell to ruins and were torn down." His last statement appeared to reveal the temporality of mo...

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...ovide a more pleasing atmosphere for the whole community. The installation at the Venice Biennale, and its later award of the Golden Lion, unveils that the architecture community is ready to contemplate the experience of Torre David, as an opportunity to learn and apply the acquired knowledge into daily practice and understanding.

Coming back to the topic of Roma, we are facing the paradox - to focus not on how to reshape Roma habitation according to our way of living, but rather how to learn from them and even apply some of their practices to our formal living. What did seem repulsive or disturbing might turn into positive practical lessons of temporality and change, flexible habitation, recycling and community life.

1 Rory Stott, www.archdaily.com, 07.02.2013

2 Installation by Urban Think Tank, Justin McGuirk and Iwan Baan, Venice Biennale of Architecture 2011/2012