Puzzle Pieces
What really is Architecture? [09/27/13]
Author/s: Beatrice
Ann A. Dolores
Mapua Institute of Technology, Manila,
Philippines
Abstract: A word is an expression of meaning independently formed as a basic element of speech (Oxford,
1995). That means, a word’s interpretation varies
in every single person.
“Architecture”, for example, has a different meaning
to each and every one, most especially
to the architects who practice their own “architecture”. But of course, people influence each other. Their conclusion was honed from a combination of other people’s ideas together with their own experiences. Young and
aspiring architects look up to the world-famous architects
and eventually realize their “own style” and definition of architecture by picking up fragments of influences from those prominent people,
their environment, and their
experiences. Those
fragments of influences are then connected to each other to create his/her very own conclusion about Architecture, just like how puzzle pieces connect to create
a whole picture.
Keywords: architecture, building, convenience, kitsch, sustainable, user
In the essay “The Tall Building Artistically Considered” by Louis Sullivan in 1896, he stated that “Form ever
follows function”. ( Fischer, 2008) The same ideology is carried by the first Bauhaus director Walter Gropius, (All Bauhaus, n.d.) but the former did not took the phrase into its most literal definition and designed buildings
with ornamentations that aren’t similar to classical ornamentations. Sullivan’s
approach is to create a new architectural style that will not use any of the previous styles. Gropius however, designed buildings into its simplest forms: glass windows, clean façade, and with no ornamentations. His movement was then followed by Mies van der Rohe with his popular dictum “Less is more.”
Le Corbusier, even with the gaining popularity of Gropius’ Modernist movement, made
his own mark in architecture and stated that “A house is a machine for living in.” with his book “Vers Une Architecture”or Towards a New Architecture (Le Corbusier, 1923). His architectural style is somehow like
Gropius’ and van der Rohe’s; his designs are also modernistic, clean (with no ornamentations) and
functional.
Architecture students of the 21st century admire the buildings by these 3 prominent
architects (Gropius, Le Corbusier, and van der Rohe). They are considered as the big three of International
style (Architecture/Blog,
2005). The
problem is that, the modernist movement
is taking out the moral values
of humans and turning them into machines
just like the buildings they use. According to a person named Danny
Krause: “Old-fashioned values and traditional fundamentalism was openly mocked and disregarded by
the modernists, who wanted to recreate the art of life for the 20th century.” (Krause, 2012) So these
architects eradicated values on purpose. Le Corbusier was stated as an atheist, by a documentary of one of
the buildings he designed. Ironically, it was a church (cxlab, 2012). He did well with La Tourette’s design though and did not sacrifice
the holiness of the church – in terms of the interior aspect though. With the church’s exterior,
a passerby will be surprised if
he finds out that it was a church.
Going back to the “losing morality”, one can notice the individuality brought by the built-environment. People living in private subdivisions (a built-environment) don’t
even know their neighbours, or maybe they know, but they do not interact. They are too busy with their lives and have
everything they need in their own houses that they do not bother going out and socializing with their neighbours. Elderly people complain that in their early lives, those who lived in humble provinces, everyone knows their “neighbours” from even from kilometres away. That was how friendly people were
back then. Built-environment
changed that. Modern technology
changed that.
Just like what Frank Lloyd Wright said: “I know that architecture is life; or at least it is life itself taking form and therefore it is the truest record of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived.” (Craven J., n.d.) Buildings hold human activities. Buildings hold the life of the people, both with its structural stability and its functionality. They also have the capability to influence the people’s daily lives – either make them better/productive or make them feeble and static. Renzo Piano once said, ‘My profession, as an architect is to create places for people. Places are where experiences meet and differences disappear.’ ” (Putman, 2008, p.147) Architects should meet the needs of
his clients because, just like what was stated earlier, buildings hold human activities. Buildings cost a large amount of money and materials so if a building is built, and a client or a user doesn’t like it, he cannot just
simply ask for it to be demolished. Well he can but, it is not just right. So architects should do their job for
the sake of their clients and not just merely for self-expression. Buildings are meant to be used by others, and
clients hire architects to design buildings.
Architects cannot simply put up structures here and there for his “self-expression” with no guarantee that the buildings will be usable. It is impractical.
Speaking of cost and materials: “Louis Kahn had a steadfast belief that all materials had their
own destiny
and wouldn’t tolerate
any attempt to deviate from that. During the age of clean modernism and the
use of cutting edge materials, his architecture was often dismissed for being overly symbolic and heavily
venerating buildings of the past. Influenced
by the arid nature of many
of his sites, Kahn’s buildings often took the form of cavernous brick shells with large geometrical
cut outs, which he would like to
describe them – in his bizarre Kahn-way -
as ruins in reverse.” (Rackard, 2013) His belief is quite difficult to comprehend, but it is impressive for an architect to be that unique and original. Kahn has his own style
and he is acknowledged for it. However, his designs were not completely understood by people using it. When his son documented his works, he asked the people using a building designed by Kahn of what they think about that building (Kahn N., 2003). There are those who were inconvenient with the design, saying that
there are faults with the window design, etc; and that they weren’t
flattered at all. Even his son agreed for the dislike of the building.
Gropius’ idealistic Bauhaus at Dessau did not also receive good remarks from the actual users of the building (Thangavelu S., 2011). Gropius wanted to create a built-environment that will have
everything the occupants’ need that they won’t need to get out of his design. The students of the institution complained about the glass windows.
Gropius did not consider how the sun’s heat would direct to the
people inside the building because of his glass windows. Sure, it would be very nice to have a good view of
the outside but he forgot that people don’t only feel
with their sight,
people get cold, hot,
annoyed and etc.
Their view of architecture also did not consider the natural environment. They built structures for their ideal built-environment and took too much from Mother Nature. Most resources took a very long time to restore. Trees need to grow for almost a century to be tall and sturdy, people cannot grow trees
overnight
and expect a fully-grown tree the next day. Buildings,
other than consuming too much of the
available resources, also contribute to environmental pollution and carbon emissions. Thank goodness there
are architects like Richard Neutra who are sensitive with the environment. “Neutra coined the term biorealism, which means ‘the inherent and inseparable relationship between man and nature.’” (North
Carolina Modernist Houses, n.d.) Hopefully, green building would be the leading movement in the years to
come.
CONCLUSION
With all of those being said, Architecture is a whole puzzle with pieces interlocking together
making it whole. Architecture should
apply to every building – its science, its standards. It’s not just an artistic piece which will have no function, that’ll only be considered as a mere sculpture. Architecture’s artistry includes the incorporation of science, strength, function and safety. It should serve the users’ needs
because they will of course, use the building. Take note that a building is a container of activities that is why it has to serve its purpose and function. Building structures are also one of the most resource-
consuming activities; architecture has to stop being one of the top contributors of unsustainability(epa.gov, 2009) and lead the way to environmental concern. Everyone
is simply doing their own business without
minimal concern with the environment. Buildings are a huge role model of the people. What are designed nowadays depict how we are now
as humans. Most are kitsch. Modernistic kitsch. So, if the buildings made a difference, unconsciously, people will follow too. Green building should take over. All of these puzzle pieces
complete the proponent’s conclusion in Architecture. This student still have a lot to learn about Architecture though, but
she
hopes that these
are what she is going
to hold on to up until her
working days.
“Throughout my writings I have made it clear that my method imitates that of the architect.
When an architect wants to build a house which is stable on ground where there is a sandy topsoil over underlying rock, or clay, or some other firm base, he begins by digging out a set of trenches from which he removes the sand, and anything resting on or mixed in with the sand, so that he can lay his foundations on firm soil. In the same way, I began by taking everything that was doubtful and throwing it out, like sand; and
then, when I noticed that it is impossible to doubt that a doubting or thinking substance exists, I took this as the bedrock on
which I could lay the
foundations of my philosophy.” (Descartes, 1637)
REFERENCES
All Bauhaus, Walter
Gropius- art, design, bauhaus
[online] Available at:
<https://sites.google.com/a/allbauhaus.com/www/people-1/Walter-Gropius>
Architecture/Blog. 2005. Compare/Contrast: International Style v.s. Organicism [online] Available at:
Craven, J. What is Architecture? [online] Available
at:
cxlab, 2012. Le Corbusier – The
Cloister La Tourette 2012 [video] Available
at:
Descartes, R., 1637, Discourse on the
Method Available at:
Epa.gov, 2009 Buildings and Their Impact on the Environment: A Statistical Summary
[pdf] Available at:
Fischer F., 2008. Origin and Meaning of Form Follows Function
[pdf] Available at:
Krause D.,
2012. What were the traditional moral values versus
modernists
in the 1920's n.d.
[chacha.com] Available at: <http://www.chacha.com/question/what-were-the-traditional-moral-values-versus-modernists- in-the-1920's#sthash.oML6wmOV.dpuf>
Le Corbusier, 1923. Vers Une Architecture
North Carolina Modernist
Houses, n.d. Richard Josef Neutra
Available at:
Oxford, 1995. The Oxford Popular
Dictionary & Thesaurus Oxford: Robinson Publishing Ltd.
Pfeiffer B. B. & Nordland G.,
1988, Frank Lloyd Wright: In the Realm
of Ideas
Putman, D., 2008.
Breaking the Discipleship Code:
Becoming a Missional Follower
of Jesus Tennessee:
B&H Publishing Group
Available at:
<http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=VVGoUsbQG5sC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=renzo+piano+cre ate+places+for+people.+Places+are+where+experiences+meet+and+differences+disappear.\>
Rackard
N., 2013. Video: Louis
Kahn Talks to a Brick. Brick|ArchDaily [blog], March
2 Available at: <http://www.archdaily.com/tag/brick/>
Thangavelu S., 2011.
Architecture 01of23
The Dessau Bauhaus.avi. 2011
[video] Available at:
No comments:
Post a Comment