ARCHITECTURE ARTICLES |
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A vision of Architecture
So we beat on, Francis Scott Fritzgerald, The great Gatsby. The development of architecture has been much more influenced by the printed page than by the knowledge of buildings themselves. It is nothing new that photography presents works in their best light: I am looking at an original picture of Mies van der Rohe's pavilion at the exhibition of Barcelona in 1929-30. This picture has been touched up: the towers and the plastered walls of the Pueblo espaol on Montjuich in the background have been dimmed to better emphasize the building in its timeless aspects and its abstract purity. In magazines and books of architecture, virtually absolute images, sensations and beauties are conveyed by the use of a telescopic lens which enlargens and softens planes, the wide angle lens, the grand format camera that allows vanishing lines to be sharpened and perspectives to be deformed, the perspective correcting lens, the panoramic camera, the general use of four-color process, the shot and the original page format. The squared rectangle of the overhead projector is where all the mise-en-scenes, all the photographic make-ups, take place, where one can provide some beautiful, strong, overwhelming, harmonic images of any architectural object. Photography has become the Sesame of architecture, the absolutely needed press-book to obtain commissions. The diffusion of architecture through mass-media effectively helps modernist architecture(1). This is especially true when the greater part of the published works are stored in places which are forbidden and inaccessible to visitors. Once photographers have passed by, the building is left to the users who rapidly withdraw and make it proper to its daily use. Indeed, the relationship between client and architect has been changed into that of an impersonal commission given to an artist who is expected to astonish with an original work; the quality of which is to be judged in relation more to the media response than to its comfort and solidity. Everything is swallowed up when the wave of photographers arrives, the cleverest critics are overwhelmed and swept away by the resulting images. Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame in Paris in the novel Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo begins one of the most beautiful pages that a novelist has ever written on architecture, and he begins with a prophecy which has now been really fulfilled: "the book will kill the building". The only little difference is that the illustration book, rather than the printed thought, takes advantage of the crime. Looking at the baroque facades of the building of the Grand Place in Brussels, Baudelaire noticed that they look like small pieces of furniture and that these small pieces of furniture are usually like small monuments(2) - could one suppose therefore that by the second half of the twentieth century that architecture had shifted so much towards design and the production of particular objects? At the beginning of the century, the Masters of the Art Nouveau, Horta, Guimard, Van de Velde, Behrens... rapidly diverged from the style they had created and forged for such a great part, when fashion took advantage of it and slipped into excess and vulgarity. Today, in turn, the Masters of Modernist Architecture are trying to take every opportunity to leave the circles of fashion; most of all, they are searching for solutions which will enable their works to be inserted within an architectural town planning context, and which will likewise increase their value. There are numerous cases: Buren and his columns in Palais Royal, Pei and the Pyramid of the Louvre, Mario Botta at Chambˇry, Gwatnhey and the enlargement of the Guggenheim museum in New York, etc. All these artists want to compare themselves with other masters of the past, more so than with their imitators and followers. In this way, they establish a new kind of relationship with History, though they may be false and funerary as in the Louvre or elegant and refined as in the Guggenheim. Time which ultimately defeats ideology, also gets the upper hand of the aesthetic antagonisms which dissolve, spray as more rapidly as one thought them eternal. Problems are not revealed in terms of supremacy, of schools, of movements anymore, but still in terms of architectural and urban quality. Oscar Wilde used to say: "My taste is simple: I love the best". Foster or Krier, just to take into account two of the best known artists once rival trend-setters, but joined by mutual esteem, would refuse to acknowledge a derivation generated by themselves in the imitation products and they would gladly get rid of doubtful allies and over-keen supporters. "The best causes" writes Jacques Chardonne, "were ruined by their apostles; countries by their patriots; and those always speaking about justice, make it seem foolish. We must keep our feet partly on the ground"(3). The soul of a country is created, mainly, by the souls of its towns, by the air of freedom one can breathe on its streets, in its squares, in all those places where the character of men and societies has been printed, transmitted. The buildings which characterize our everyday-life create and give shape to urban and natural landscapes, and they evoke moments of love or delusion, of justice or injustice. The air is so full of it, choking, almost bubbling, thin. When this dimension of the daily life is not taken into account anymore, production becomes kitsch and architecture is covered with local 'signs', like those who have not got anything to wear anymore. During the period 1920-1930, some professionals linked to a country or a region shared the same ideal: to be faithful to to the beauty of a town, or a landscape. In France, the seaside resort of Hossegor in the Landes, the winter resorts of Arcachon or of Touquet are evident examples of this results, as well as in the United States, the Coral Gable or the Rockefeller Center; in Spain, the Spanish-American exhibition at Seville in 1929-1930 and the Pueblo espa–ol in Barcelona (1929-30), as well as the villages reconstructed after the Civil war; in England, Potmerion, etc.... These are only a few examples of the works based upon tradition (the one of the builders of the old country-farms, or of the skyscraper's builders) upon myths, upon habits and family tastes: works which make one stand above the kitsch and turn rather than to the sum of its many details to that feeling of eternity which comes from all the architectural structures capable of expressing a conception and a style of composition,. In this respect, regional and cosmopolitan aspects absolutely do not clash. The main peculiarities of the former are a love and curiosity for the genius loci. The 'regionalists' who have developed the theme of the recovery and evolution of tradition are, rightly, strangers, foreigners, those who look at the everyday things innocently: the tender glance which enlivens tradition, which forbids it to harden and acquire a defensive position. According to Nietzsche's aphorism, the real original essence consists in mentioning and pointing to things which are under everybody's eyes, but which no-one notices. If this quality is combined with an artistic talent, it can produce strong and unique works, and if these works are based on a regional tradition, they can really become universal. Nowadays, some politicians, some mayors think that if their electors and the people that they govern want to have flat roofs and detached houses, they should permit the blunders which everybody can see and which ruin the best natural landscapes. Professionals are absolutely incapable to react to such situation. They themselves deplore it, but cannot point to any possible solution to follow, in that a curious and sensitive approach to towns and nature are no longer themes of didactic interest(4). It is useful to learn how to read towns, since one gets to know their history and appreciate them better: but, most of all, it needs to be done, if one wants to preserve them correctly, restore them when they are ruined, broaden them and always respecting their character and characteristics. Towns always originate from the same questions: the sense of life, the primordial mystery of sex, the disturbing presence of death and of the hereafter, the awareness of the past and of the future. Later, as soon as towns have taken shape, other elements were called into action, such as the agora. In the VI cen. BC, the agora defines the town-center and the relationship between buildings and streets and the way to orderly locate them. The town is not simply a human agglomeration: it represents the new order which enables the development of civilization. It is the materialization of a cosmos on a human scale. Essentially, it is the natural environment of Man ('ecology' derives from the Greek oikos, the house). Ecology is the theme on the house and its environment. The town is also a matter of will-power. It is the greatest work of politics, in its widest sense, politics seen as an expression of human efforts striving toward an unselfish human work, because it pertains to the common welfare: that of the town itself. The town is still a mathematical construction, since it cannot be made without abstractions. As the highest expression of human genius, it was there when philosophy was born and it is synonym of civilization and humanity. Today more than ever, cities give the Man a reason to hope. The collapse of ideologies involves a return to the city as a reference point of political and democratic organization: the construction called Europe is more solidly based on contacts among cities, more so than among regions. Each one of us identifies oneself with a city. A city which has often gone through many political governments, sometimes worse sometime simply bad, and which is always there, faithful to its date with the Man. More and more people among us, inhabitants, sociologists, politicians, architects, engineers,... think that the traditional city is an organization and a reality superior to the modern suburbs and that one must inspire to it in order to reconstruct the suburbia. Nowadays, when one speaks of towns, writes Jean Chesneaux, one cannot forget that the real town is its suburbia: a hybrid without memories of the town and of the country, a hybrid has the charm and the wealth of a town, besides the natural virtues of the countryside. When the inhabitants of the suburbs want to get some fresh air, they go to the countryside and, when they want to 'do something' they go towards the traditional city, provided that some fragments still exist. Never do the inhabitants of the countryside nor those of the traditional city go to the suburbs, if they have not got an urgent reason to do so. We must look at things the way they are: the suburbs represent a form of natural regressive evolution of our cities - physical as well as mental regression.(5) The tragedy of ignorance is that it strengthens further ignorance and rapidly degenerates into intolerance. Since they do not understand it, educated, polite people condemn and reject the greater part of architectural culture, throwing at it such definite and hurried epithets as: pastiche!, copy!, imitation, time-serving, banal! ... without even knowing that these terms stand for wise concepts which are the basis of the most attractive cities, of the best architectural complexes, the most meaningful monuments which they themselves should be the first ones to discover again. Fortunately, not everybody is interested in these subjects and the public is generally indifferent to this knock out competition for fame and professional commissions. As a matter of fact, Port Grimaud, lake city built by Fran¨ois Spoerry in the south of France starting from the 60's, has been for a long time, and maybe still is, the third most visited monument of France. In the 70's and 80's, it has been transformed into the scapegoat of pastiche, kitsch, and petit-bourgeois bad taste. Anyway, this building complex represents the first attempt of renewal according to the French urban tradition and its very fundamental stylistic essence. If today the useless battle waged on the ruins of suburbs and zoning policy drives the best architects away from polemical positions, in order to sublimate themselves in their artistic task, freely and stoutly, thereby resulting in a unique and inimitable work, it must also be said that the everyday problems of architecture and town planning are still there to be solved(6). And when in fact traditional modernist architecture does face them, it remains however silent. Architecture has been left without media support, without relevance to the present day; at best, it has been put into the category of restoration projects, most often considered a dead end street, an ethic which, though pleasant, mirrors elitist and obsolete schemes; if the worst comes to the worst, it has been considered utterly reactionary. Now, the opposite situation prevails: what were once the goals and solutions of traditional architecture and town planning are no longer pursued or proposed. Those who practice them today are nourished by ecological principles, by respect for nature and the environment, they preach about energy and space saving, the right proportion of public space(7), the civil ties between the city and its quarters, they encourage walking and using the car for pleasure and not as a daily obligation. An abundance of original and modern ideas which can seduce the new generations, whose concerns deal increasingly with the quality of life and solidarity. Therefore, it is the world's youth that invites the press to promote and enhance these ideas, as well as the projects and their actual construction. A stimulating challenge. A number of initiatives have already been undertaken and they tend to multiply themselves as did the Prix Aga Khan pour L'Architecture, the Prix de la Fondation Philippe Rotthier pour L'Architecture, the publication of the Green Book on the urban environment by the Commission of the European Communities(8), exhibitions and expositions following the example of this one which accompanies this initiative 'A vision of Europe', the foundation of the Institute of Architecture by Prince Charles. This institute clearly does not aim at training an ˇlite which can monopolize the best traditional, classical and vernacular professional commissions, but it is conceived as a workshop which spreads its research and results on a large scale. In fact, what is of primary importance, and yet lacking is the exchange of information, the connection between those who share the same ideas, the communication with the public. One of the aspects about which it is best to be particularly careful is the increase in value of regional architecture, vernacular and ecological architecture. They are concerned with a major part of the territory and condition villages, suburbs, countryside, landscapes.... The lake cities by Francois Spoerry, the village by Grangesises reconstructed by Pompeo Trisciuoglio, the reconstruction of Fuenterrabia by Manzano Monis, these are only three of the examples which deserve to be mentioned and which aim at re-establishing a dialogue with the regional tradition and bravely face the problem of both kitsch and absurd, yet deep-rooted equation: regionalism equals 'pastism'. These works open the cage to the birds, as the song goes, they free the aspirations and the feelings that until yesterday were neglected and offended by functionalism: love, beauty, charm, tenderness, freshness, nostalgia, sensuality, delight, elegance, chic... and, why not, even the term pretty, in reference either to a pretty woman, a pretty building, a pretty boy, or pretty legs. When I had the chance to direct a collection of books on regional architecture in France, in the first half on the 20th century, I noticed that there are essential teachings to recover as well as patrimonies to preserve, in that if one knows at this point that the book has the power to kill architecture, it also has the power to save it. The printed page always successfully resists and challenges the video, which can only last by means of fragmenting memories. After the first World War, the Modernists had few professional commissions; to get more of them, they forced the tone, multiplied the posters, often simplified to excess. From a lack of public approval, they managed to create a snobbism and to make architecture enter into the field of modern art; all things for which, we must admit, they deserve the credit. The Modernists were in favor of a social architecture, if not a social struggle; they announced the death of styles and the renewal of forms, the use of new materials. The others spoke about cultural specificity, about the beauty of the sites, about love for the territory and the profession, about building capacities, about climate realities, about natural materials... The first proclaimed themselves as the avant-garde, men of progress, self-confidently modern, democratic - this they really all were - whereas the second were in a defensive position and were defined as reactionaries, old eccentrics, latecomers - when instead they were none of these. In France, Pˇtain, who devoted himself to regional cuisine and his roast rabbit, never bothered to dig into their affairs... But unfortunately in this country the formula regionalism equals Pˇtain - or Le Pen in its modernized version - is still efficient. The man of the early 1900's is many light years from us, the Greek of the Pericles age or the Roman of the Hadrian's age are more familiar to us. On the contrary, the stimulated man(9) of the '20-'30's exercises a charm upon us which historical records cannot decrease because there is a concentration of the most exciting features of modern life. The motor car is still a pleasurable sensation of speed, wind, excursions, days out, long distance rallies, races, risk, mechanics... and not an ordeal for man and the environment. In the same way, one can evoke fashion, art of living, architecture, holidays, travel, night-life,... The modernity of the age totally involves the characters of novels and invades all public space, that of the city, the territory and the seaside resorts (where it becomes more noticeable). Glancing at those willingly limited years - I can only see what I want to - I cannot avoid thinking that the door to this short period where modernity has glittered brightly has been shut too rapidly. It is this breach of promise, this taste for modern life which feeds nostalgia and renews one's strength to start again. The interest that many of us have for the Art Dˇco and the literature of the period between the two wars is nothing but our own way (dare I say the correct way) of manifesting our own inclination for a civilized and exotic modernity. Exotic because it is well settled in those traditions which, sustained by communal life, are enlivened by a new sense of vision of contemporaries as well as elective attraction.
Notes 1) Modern and modernist: I am using here Leon Krier's distinction, that is: "Modern simply refers to a period of time, whereas Modernist has unmistakably ideological connotations. When historians write the "Modern Movement", they mean to say without ambiguity the "Modernist Movement" in opposition to the "Traditional Movement". Traditional and modern: Tradition and Modernity are not contradictory terms at all. Traditional (handicraft) cultures aim at producing short-term consumer goods. Modernist (industrial) cultures aim at producing long-term consumer good". 2) In: Pauvre Belgique, 1864. 3) Jacques Chardonne, L'Amour c'est beaucoup plus que l'Amour, Albin Michael Ed., Paris 1957. 4) "Any hope of a true renaissance in design and building techniques is unlikely to succeed unless the pattern of education in architectural schools is radically overhauled". HRH the Prince of Wales, A vision of Britain. 5) In: "la Revue Nouvelle", Jean Chesneaux, Insoutenable Modernitˇ, Brussels, Feb.-Mar. 1992. 6) The threats to the city and the countryside can be represented by a double-headed Indra, one head would stand for the vertical overgrowth in the city-center (concerning speculations and functional uniformity which make the complexity of urban life disappear), and the other the horizontal overgrowth which finds its expression in the indefinite extension of monotonous areas: the suburbia (forbidden places). 7) "Within a town district, the amount of streets and squares must not be more than 35% of the total surface. Beyond these figures, the space becomes difficult to manage, to control, etc. In practice, all the quarters with social housing have from 70% to 90% public space... this is a 'false luxury', Leon Krier. 8) Green Book on the urban environment published by the General Board for the Environment, Nuclear Security and Civil Protection, in 1990, supervised by Carlo Ripa di Meana, European Commissioner, European Community Commission, 200 Rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium. 9) Title of a famous novel by Paul Morand published in 1941.
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A Vision of Europe |
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