arch-tour: Architecture Style

Showing posts with label Architecture Style. Show all posts

Friday, March 27, 2009

Deconstructivist Architecture

Deconstructivism can be considered as a group of independent stylistic developments within the post-modern period (Norris and Benjamin, 1988, Papadakis et al., 1989, Jencks and Kropf, 1997). Its origin can be traced back to the Russian avantgarde of the 1920s as manifested in the work of Malevich and Tchernikov and the Suprematism of El Lissitzky and Swetin. In Europe it had its roots in the Dada movement. In the USA one of its birthplaces was the East (primarily New York), the other being California. It discontinued the historical architectural language, the autocracy of horizontal and vertical elements and deconstructed the tectonic and orthogonal system (Bonta, 2001).

The partnership Coop Himmelblau designed the first actual deconstructivist realizations in Europe: the lawyers’ practice in Vienna, Falkenstrasse (1983–85) and the Funder factory building in St Veit Glan, Austria (1988–89). Zaha Hadid’s Vitra fire-fighting station in Weil am Rein (1993) went on to world fame.

Funder Factory Works 3, in St Veit/Glan, Austria, architects: Coop Himmelblau, Wolf D. Prix

and Helmut Swiczinsky. Deconstructivist architecture, with ‘red comb’, a power station with ‘dancing chimney stocks’. © Taschen.

In the USA Peter Eisenman, one of the group New York Five, designed buildings with crossing frames and distorted building grids. A special innovation was the use of folding applied by Eisenman at Colombus University (1989) but also by Daniel Libeskind at the Berlin Jewish Museum (1988–95).

The theoretical impact of deconstructivist architecture, however, only emerged after the Second World War when the French philosopher Jacques Derrida defined its principles in art and literature. During preparations for the design of the Paris La Villette complex, Bernard Tschumi contacted Jacques Derrida and invited him to participate in a discussion about deconstructivism in architecture (Wigley, 1993). As Tschumi reported: ‘When I first met Jacques Derrida, in order to convince him to confront his own work with architecture, he asked me, “But how could an architect be interested in deconstruction? After all, deconstruction is antiform, anti-hierarchy, anti-structure, the opposite of all that architecture stands for”. “Precisely for this reason,” I replied!’ (Tschumi, 1994). Deconstructivist architects, after analysing the project brief and the site conditions, usually reach quite unconventional design solutions. The main initiator of the style in the USA was Frank O. Gehry in California who often applies the techniques of scenography, movie making and theatre, using inexpensive, stage-set materials. In Japan, Hiromi Fuji followed the style. His buildings have been described as having a grid-based light framework, shaken out of order by an earthquake.

The 1988 Exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art curated by Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley promoted the deconstructivist architecture of Frank O. Gehry, Peter Eisenman, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Bernard Tschumi and the group Coop Himmelblau (Johnson and Wigley, 1988). Mark Wigley wrote in the prospectus: ‘In each project, the traditional structure of parallel planes – stacked up horizontally from the ground plane within a regular form – is twisted. The frame is warped. Even the ground plane is warped.’Whilst deconstructivism never attained dominance amongst architectural styles, it continually attracts adherents. Undoubtedly, the most spectacular example of the style hitherto is Frank O. Gehry’s titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum at Bilbao, Spain. Considering the high cost of titanium, only the use of thin sheets made the application possible. Consequently, the individual cladding sheets move and distort, due to thermal and mechanical stresses, thus displaying a range of colour variations and reflections according to lighting conditions (Jodidio, 1998, van Bruggen, 1997). Also titanium cladding was proposed in the winning competition project for the Beijing Opera by the Frenchman Andreu. It equally based its façade design on thin titanium sheet.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain, 1993–98, architect: F.O. Gehry. Following other realizations, this is a masterpiece of deconstructivist architecture. © Van Bruggen: Frank O. Gehry: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

Philip Johnson hailed the Bilbao museum building as the century’s greatest work and Gehry declared: ‘Poor Frank. He will never top Bilbao, you only get to build one miracle in a lifetime!’ However, Gehry’s Los Angeles Disney Concert Hall (2275 seats), completed after a halt and several design revisions, is also a (deconstructivist) masterpiece.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, USA, architect Frank O. Gehry. Deconstructivist architecture, a typical F.O. Gehry design, thin titan sheet cladding (as also at the Bilbao museum, Spain), a technological innovation in construction and also with new aesthetic effect.

Another deconstructivist building, Gehry’s Nationale Nederlanden Building in Prague, Czech Republic (1992–96) has a curved glass façade, in striking contrast to the historic ambience of its surroundings.

Nationale Nederlanden Head Office, Prague, Czech Republic, 1996, architect: F.O. Gehry. Deconstructivist design ignoring usual functional requirements (nicknamed ‘Fred and Ginger’ because its two towers seem to be dancing). © Van Bruggen: Frank O. Gehry: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Guggenheim Foundation New York.

Sebestyen, Gyula. 2003. New Architecture and Technology.

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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Late-modern, Neo-modern, Super-modern Architecture

In spite of the popularity and success of the neo-classical and historicizing architecture, the modernist style has never been abandoned, as many architects continued to be led by its principles. Following the 1960s, these architects were sometimes labelled ‘late-modernists’ and, later, as ‘neo-modernists’ and ‘super-modernists’. However, in time and under new influences, modernism acquired new characteristics and therefore the modernist design began to differ more and more from the pre-1960s’ architecture.

Other labels, such as neo-minimalism, also appeared (Jodidio, 1998), in which the clear and simple lines of early modernism were evoked.

‘High-tech’ is recognized (by some) as having a style of its own. However, its elements can be present in all categories of new architecture.High-tech features are common in neo-modernism and deconstructivism, as for example at the Paris Pompidou Centre by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano mentioned above. The use of high-tech elements is even more characteristic of the British Norman Foster and the Japanese Fumihiko Maki. Indeed, the conspicuous use of these elements may impart the appearance of an industrial product to a building. The buildings as industrial products become apparent in the aggressive, metallic coated ‘Dead Tech’ buildings of the Japanese Shin Takamatsu or Kazuo Shinohara’s more peaceful ‘zeromachines’ with a pure graphic architecture.

Georges Pompidou National Centre for Art and Culture, Paris, France, 1971–77, architects: Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. A first realization of the idea of a ‘high-tech’, ‘cultural machine’ building; the external pipes painted in vivid colours, a staircase with a cylindrical plexiglas envelope, the overall boiler-house impression, open up a new approach in postmodernist architecture.

Modernism was characterized by an elimination of decoration and ornamentation. This resulted in the idea of ‘minimalism’ or ‘plainness’ (Zabalbeascoa and Marcos, 2000). This trend was preserved only to some extent in neo-modernism, which combined modernism with post-modernism, i.e. it did not altogether reject decoration and ornamentation although it did reject the historical forms.

Sebestyen, Gyula. 2003. New Architecture and Technology.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Neo-classicist Architecture. Traditionalism. Historicism

In theory at least modernism negated all forms of the historical styles, while at the same time cultivating the idea of the building as a machine. It was this line of thought that later led to the idea of hightech architecture, an early example of which is the Pompidou Centre in Paris, designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. By contrast, post-modernism took another route, by returning to the use of ornamentation and decoration, although usually not by simply copying historical details, but rather by applying the spirit and essence of historical styles.

Neo-classicist architecture used classical themes, principles and forms in loose associations, reminiscent of but not identical to historical patterns. Consequently, the style is quite diversified and its variants have been labelled as freestyle, canonic, metaphysical, narrative, allegoric, nostalgic, realist, revivalist, urbanist, eclectic, etc. (Jencks, 1987). The buildings of Ricardo Bofill in Montpellier, Marne-la-Vallée and Saint Quentin en Yvelines, seem nearest to classicism in detail and composition (d’Huart, 1989). Although his designs reflect historical architecture, he prescribed construction by using prefabricated concrete components. The oeuvre of several other architects also belongs to this trend, even if the respective approaches may differ greatly. Robert A.M. Stern, Allan Greenberg, Demetri Porphyrios, James Stirling and Leon Krier and Robert Krier may be mentioned as outstanding representatives of the style. A questionable application of historical models, in the form of ‘gated communities’, appears in some countries, imitating the castle concept with a fence, moat and controlled entrance but applying the concept for the purpose of elitist dwellings.

Les Espaces d’Abraxas, Marne-la-Vallée, France, 1979–83, architect: Ricardo Bofill.
Neohistoric architecture designed with pre-cast concrete components.

Paradoxically, a nostalgic form of architectural historicism happened to emerge in some of the most advanced industrialized countries, sometimes appealing to popular taste. In the United Kingdom, the style found an influential and high-profile advocate in the person of the Prince of Wales, whose intervention led to the annulment of a competition for the extension of the National Gallery, London, in which the jury’s preference for the modernist design by the firm Ahrends Burton and Koralek was set aside.

The Prince, reflecting a popular mood of the time, led his attack against modernism in defence of historicizing architecture at his 1984 Gala Address at the Royal Institute of British Architects with his question: ‘Why has everything got to be vertical, straight, unbending, only at right angles and functional?’ Under his influence, which found considerable public support in the UK, many buildings of contemporary function, such as supermarkets and shopping centres, which until then were designed to resemble barns, acquired a direct, even occasionally out of context, visual association with historical, vernacular architecture. In 1989 Prince Charles formulated the ten principles upon which we can build as follows:

the place: respect for the land
hierarchy: the size of buildings in relation to their public importance and the relative significance of the different elements which make up a building
scale: relation to human proportions and respect for the scale of the buildings aroundthem
harmony: the playing together of the parts
enclosure: the feeling of well-designed enclosure
materials: the revival and nurturing of local materials
decoration: reinstatement of the arts and crafts
art: study of nature and humans
signs and lights: effective street lighting, advertising and lettering
community: participation of people in their own surroundings.

The ideas of Prince Charles certainly encouraged traditionalists but they never became the sole inspiring force in architecture (Hutchinson, 1989). Charles’s attack on the modernist projects submitted for the expansion of the London National Gallery resulted in a new project prepared by architects Venturi, Scott and Brown. The new design contains classicist but non-functional columns and it is only the architects’ high-quality work that has saved the building from becoming pure kitsch.

In skilful hands, however, historicizing architecture could be quite subtle. For example, the new building of the Stuttgart New State Gallery, designed by James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Partners (1977–84), alludes to Schinkel’s museum designs from over a century before with considerable flair, showing that old motifs can be brought back and meaningfully transformed in harmony with modern application. In another example, the façade of the administrative building in Portland, Oregon, by Michael Graves (1980–82) makes a neo-classicist impression, without using any authentic historical detailing (Graves, 1982). Neo-classicism, therefore, may appear with different features. Some further outstanding examples in this category are the buildings designed by the American Robert A.M. Stern, the Californian Getty Museum designed by Richard Meier, the New York AT&T building designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Papadakis treats in one of his books (Papadakis, 1997) the designs of twenty architectural practices and five projects of urbanism, all inspired by ‘modern classicism’.

Sebestyen, Gyula. 2003. New Architecture and Technology.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Metabolic, Metaphoric and Anthropomorphic Architecture

A metaphor is an artistic device, aimed at evoking certain feelings by creating some analogy between two dissimilar entities. Usually, therefore, in metaphoric architecture (sometimes also categorized as symbolic architecture, Jencks, 1985) the designer’s aim is to derive some association or symbol from the function of the building or from its context, which then in some way is reflected in the appearance of the building. The use of the metaphor in architecture, in fact, is not new. For example, Gothic cathedrals often evinced mysticism and pious devotion. A similar purpose motivated Le Corbusier in the design of the Ronchamps Chapel. A notable example of metaphoric building in recent times is the Sydney Opera House, architect: Jorn Utzon; structural engineers: Ove Arup and Partners (Utzon, 1999).

Opera House, Sydney, Australia, architect: Jorn Utzon, structural design consultant: Peter Rice from Ove Arup. Metaphoric design with reinforced concrete shell roof, reminiscent of sails blown by wind.

The location of the building at Sydney Harbour inspired the architect to choose a roof system consistin of reinforced concrete shell segments, which resemble wind-stretched sails. The Sydney Opera House inspired Renzo Piano to design the new Aurora Place Office Tower, some 800 metres from the Opera, with fins and sails extending at the top of the 200-metres-high building beyond the façade. In the Bahia temple at New Delhi, the reinforced concrete shells bring to mind the petals of a flower. The roof of the Idlewild TWA terminal at New York Airport (architect: Eero Saarinen) reminds the viewer of the wings of a bird or aeroplane, whilst the façade of the Institute of Science and Technology in Amsterdam (designed by Renzo Piano) recalls a boat. Santiago Calatrava’s Lyon- Satalas TGV railway station building (1990–94) equally imposes on the spectator the impression of a bird’s wings.

Some metaphoric examples by Japanese architects include:

Shimosuwa Lake Suwa Museum, Japan (designer: Toyo Ito, 1990–93): from the exterior elevation this evinces the image of a reversed boat but, in plan, a fish.
Museum of Fruit, Japan (designer: Itsuko Hasegawa, 1993–95): here the individual building volumes have been put under a cover of earth, which could be interpreted as representing the seeds of plants and fruits and so indirectly the power of life and productivity.
Umeda Sky City, Japan (designer: Hiroshi Hara, 1988–93): here skyscrapers have been connected at high levels thus providing an association to future space structures.

Sometimes the metaphor is related to the human body or face, in which case we speak of an anthropomorphic approach. For example, Kazamatsu Yamashita’s Face House in Kyoto, Japan, 1974, is designed to imitate a human face. Takeyama’s Hotel Beverly resembles a human phallus. Some architects do not apply recognizable metaphors directly but deduce the building’s form through metaphysical considerations. This approach also characterized the designs of some deconstructivist architects. Daniel Libeskind projected the expansion of the Jewish Museum in Berlin in the form of a Star of David. This, however, is not immediately obvious to the casual visitor.

Metabolic architecture derives its name from the Greek word metabole meaning a living organism with biochemical functions. The term is applied, and not always appropriately, to non-living organizations or systems that react or adapt to external influences and are able to change their properties in response to various influences. The concept of ‘metabolism’ was affirmed at the international level at the Tokyo World Conference held in 1960 on industrial design by the Japanese Kisho Kurokawa, Kiynori Kikutaka, Fumihiko Maki and Masato Otaka. By doing so, they wished to counteract aspects of modernism that sometimes adopted the approach of machine design in the context of architecture. At the same time this particular group of architects were also guided by the desire to diminish the impact of Western architecture on the Japanese traditions, without rejecting up-to-date technology in construction.

Subsequently, and influenced by American mobile home unit technology, Kurokawa introduced his ‘Capsule’ theory, which was published in the March 1969 issue of the periodical Space Design. A cornerstone of this theory was the replaceability, or interchangeability, of the individual capsules. Kurokawa’s first such building, which immediately succeeded in making him known worldwide, was the Nakagin Tower in Tokyo, built in 1972, in which capsules of a standard size were fixed to a reinforced concrete core. Whilst the core represented permanence, the capsules made possible functional adaptability and change. The Nakagin Tower was followed by further capsule buildings and unrealized projects of metabolic cities. Although metabolic architecture failed to gain wider acceptance, the idea of capsules was used in several forms, as for example in Moshe Safdie’s residential complex at the Montreal Expo, which consisted of modular, pre-cast concrete boxes. Also, mobile home manufacturers in the USA, from whom the idea of capsule building originated in the first place, gained further inspiration from the architectural achievements of the concept. Kurokawa’s later designs in the 1990s (the Ehme Prefectural Museum of General Science and the Osaka International Convention Centre, both in Japan, and the Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysia, the last designed in association with the Malaysian Akitek Jururancang) do not follow the capsule theory; instead they are based on abstract simple geometric shapes made complex. The Kuala Lumpur airport’s hyperbolic shell is reminiscent of traditional Islamic domes and thereby combines the modern with the traditional.