Note. When the text of Aesthetics of built form was submitted as part of a PhD thesis in 1996, the Notes were greatly extended. As the reader may prefer to ignore them, they have been collected into separate web pages of which this is one. They are a mixture of: simple page references; additional examples or quotations to justify generalisations; and some afterthoughts.
[6.1] Socialist housing schemes. Risebero (1982, p.199) lists: Quarry Hills, Leeds, 1935-30; Karl Marx Hof, Vienna, 1929-30; schemes in Frankfurt by Ernst May; Kiefhoek, Rotterdam by Oud; Siemensstadt, Berlin, by Gropius and Scharoun; a scheme in Stockholm by Sven Markelius; the Cité Universitaire, Paris, including Le Corbusier's 'Pavillon Suisse' 1930-2.
[6.2] Confusion over the religious affiliations of Gothic and Renaissance architecture: This is discussed in Collins (1965), p.100. See also the notes below concerning attributions of styles to certain political outlooks (p.168 of AOBF).
[6.3] Reference to Thoreau's Walden. The quotation came from de Zurko (1957), p.216. The relevant passages by Thoreau may be found in Stern, P. van D. (ed.) (1970). The annotated Walden. Clarkson Potter, New York, pp.183-5.
[6.4] Portrayal of Ruskinian views on craftwork, the machine, and the manner of building the Gothic cathedrals. Here I repeated the opinion of many contemporary architectural critics, that Ruskin and like-minded Victorian commentators thought Gothic cathedrals were built without the general guidance of an architect.
In preparing my PhD submission (1994/5) I was unable to find justification for such a simplistic conclusion concerning Ruskin. Relevant passages occur in The Stones of Venice Vol.II, Ch.VI, 'The nature of Gothic'. They may be found also in Ruskin,J. (1851-3), pp.161-5 and in Ruskin,J. (1959). The lamp of beauty: writings on art by John Ruskin, selected and edited by Joan Evans, Phaidon Press, London, 231-4. Ruskin argued that in ancient and classical times uniform details were mass-produced by slaves to specific directions from an overseer whereas in Gothic architecture they were produced individually by free men and are thus rich in idiosyncrasy and attractive imperfections. However, Ruskin tended to equate 'architecture' with ornament. (See e.g. Pevsner,N. Ruskin and Viollet-le-Duc, Thames and Hudson, London 1969, p.22.) He thus concentrated his discussion at the level of the craftsman rather than the architect, as though the overall conception and planning of the building could be taken for granted. In advising how to recognise good architecture, he did write "… observe if it be irregular, its different parts fitting themselves to different purposes, no one caring what becomes of them, so that they do their work. If one part always answers accurately to another part, it is sure to be a bad building." However he finished by noting, of the irregularities in the facade of the Doge's Palace at Venice (Fig. 3.22, p.73 AOBF), that "… none but a master of his craft would have ventured to do this" (1851-3, pp. 189-90) implying that some overall control was usual.
Writing 60 years later, Lethaby may have reflected Victorian perceptions in suggesting there was a large measure of evolution in the design of the cathedral: "… a Gothic cathedral may be compared to a great cargo-ship which has to attain a balance between speed and safety. The church and the ship were both designed in the same way by a slow perfecting of parts … Nothing great or true in building seems to have been invented in the sense of wilfully designed … A noble building, indeed any work of art, is not the product of an act of design by some individual genius, it is the outcome of ages of experiment … Thus it was that a cathedral was not designed, but discovered, or 'revealed'. Indeed building has been found out - like speech, writing, the use of metals - hence a noble architecture is not a thing of will, of design, of scholarship. A true architecture is the discovery of the nature of things in building." (Lethaby,W.R. Architecture, an introduction to the history and theory of the art of building, 1911, p.205-7. Cited in Watkin 1977, pp.33-4.) This does not necessarily exclude the presence of what we would now call a designer in either the ship or the cathedral. A present-day engineer designs in accordance with practices long established by the profession as a whole.
Lane (1968) points out how Gropius somewhat later demonstrated yet another facet of the Romantic perception of the cathedral builders. "Each of Gropius' writings of 1919 summoned contemporary artists to join in the 'cooperative work' of 'new craftsmen's guilds, without the class divisions which attempt to erect a barrier between artists and craftsmen'." (Lane 1968 pp.51-2.)
In the other camp may be found the equally famous Victorian critic Pugin and, in this century, the medieval specialist John Harvey. In his Contrasts, Pugin describes the devotion which inspired the builders, and continues "It was this feeling that operated alike on the master-mind that planned the edifice, and on the patient sculptor whose chisel wrought each varied and beautiful detail." (Pugin,A.W.N. Contrasts. 2edn., 1841, p.5. Reprinted by Leicester Univ. Press, New York, 1969.)
John Harvey, in The medieval architect (1972, pp. 9-10) considers the concept of the architect-less team of inspired builders to be an aberration of English-language art history. He counters: "All this [the cathedral building] was due to individual artists of genius, even though we may in many cases be ignorant of their names. It is a fallacy to regard the art and architecture of the Middle Ages as mysteriously different from the comparable products of other periods. This would hardly need emphasis outside the English-speaking world, yet since the mid-nineteenth century there has grown up, both in Britain and in the United States of America, a vastly misleading mythos. According to this, medieval artists of western Christendom differed in kind from those of earlier and later times, and from those met with in the Islamic world and in the East. It has even become a fashionable article of faith to deny the title of 'architect' to the designers of medieval buildings, who at times are alleged to be non-existent on the fantastic grounds that medieval men had an innate instinct for cooperative design. That such an instinct could conceivably have produced the multiplicity of varying designs of the highest complexity, for tracery and vaults, for towers and spires, for mouldings and details, is a fantastic absurdity. That it ever gained credence among the educated is testimony not merely to a strange lack of common sense, but to an almost total ignorance of the process of design and building in architecture - whether ancient, medieval or modern." On reflection, I am not sure that Ruskin intended to foster such a viewpoint.
[6.5] Others saw the machine as offering the hope of a new, better society … An example is the quotation from van Doesburg in the next paragraph of AOBF. See also the De Stijl proclamation quoted by Banham: "… the proper tendency for the machine (in the sense of cultural development) is as the unique medium for … social liberation" (Banham 1960, p.151). The work of carving the highly repetitive details of neo-Classical and neo-Gothic buildings was seen as a brutal imposition of the will of the designer upon the craft worker. (See the quotation from Ruskin in the Note immediately above.) These beliefs took on a more specific political direction when they were associated with concepts of class. Class appears as an issue in Morris (1936) and in the quotation from Gropius in the Note immediately above.
[6.6] Théo van Doesburg quotations. All cited by Jencks (1973), p.33. The last comes from Doesburg, Théo van, 'Vers un style Collectif', Bulletin de l'effort moderne, Vol.1 (4), (1924), p.16.
[6.7] Modern attempts to diminish the power of the professionals … Rudofsky, in his book Architecture without architects (1964), complains that conventional architectural history "amounts to little more than a Who's who of architects who commemorated power and wealth; an anthology of buildings of, by, and for the privileged". Rudofsky (1964), first page of Preface (not numbered).
[6.8] Kroll's building at the University of Louvain was covered in Jencks (1987), pp.105-6.
Ralph Erskine's design at Newcastle (Fig. 6.1) was discussed in Collymore (1982). Erskine's commitment to participatory design is noted in pp.11-17 and the Byker project is discussed on p.15. Photographs and plans of the Byker 'Wall' are shown on pp.117-21.
[6.9] Many designers and planners … feel that even the most experienced clients need to be 'educated' by the professional …
This concept is common to most professions including engineering and law. Examples include Fry (1969), pp.28-9 and Allsopp,B. 'Educating the client' in Mikellides (1980), pp.41-43. Interesting comments on the architect-client relationship are made by Lord Olivier, Architectural Review, January 1977, p.16.
[6.10] Artist-designers who insist that they be left entirely to their own devices …
Arup (1966), pp.357-8: "A sculptor or painter would not dream of letting a partner share his work. And the more 'artistic' an architect is, the more the same applies to him. He feels he must control every inch of the job if he is to be responsible for its artistic quality. Perhaps he tries to communicate a vision which he cannot share with others before it is perfected, so he shuts himself in and on the basis of the data available to him produces his sketch-design for a work of art. You know what artists are - or perhaps I should say you never know, because they are all different. Personally, I like them, even architects, [this is tongue-in-cheek - the occasion is an address to the RIBA] but this art business is troublesome. Perfectionists are a menace to their surroundings. Perhaps he is highly imaginative, highly emotional, has his ups and downs, needs to believe in himself, needs to be understood, wants to be praised. He is dedicated to his art - it is something higher, better, more important to him than the petty doings of philistines. He is vain, perhaps, not necessarily in proportion to his greatness. He may be generous, lovable, with insight into the predicament of man, without necessarily being a realist. Living in a world of fantasy, he does not like to be brought down to earth by mere facts. He produces sketches which fascinate him as works of art, and pins them on his walls or publishes them. They become almost as important to him as the reality which they are supposed to represent, and which may be unattainable … I have of course tried to describe an extreme case of what I may call an A-architect - or artitect … all I am saying is, that some of them do not make a good member of a team. It is still worse if he is of the now fairly rare arrogant type who thinks that as the arbiter of taste with a mission to fulfil he has the right to dictate to the client what he is allowed to have. Such arrogance may well produce works or art which are praised in the technical papers and excite architectural students all over the world."
[6.11] Influence of affluent people on art. My note in the 1992 hard copy read: "Robert Hughes, a prominent critic, has recently lamented the growing influence of this factor in the world of art. He fears that the impartial critic will be completely displaced in the evaluation of art by the affluent collector." In preparing the PhD submission I was unable to trace the source of this statement.
[6.12] References and quotations regarding Paranesi. Tzonis and Lefaivre (1986), p.261.
[6.13] Billington suggests that as government became less aristocratic … (1983), p.5.
[Billington] sees a direct connection between political ideals and the philosophy of engineering design: (1983), p.37.
[Billington] reference to Thomas Paine: (1983), 37-8.
[6.14] Davey quotations: "Classical architecture is, and has ever been …" (1980), p.75. (His quotation of Scott comes from Scott 1924, pp.191-2.)
Davey quotation: "classical architecture not only imposes the outward image of authority on society …" (1980), p.77.
Another political analysis, critical of 'authoritarian' architecture, appears in Hellman, L. Architecture: for beginners. Writers & Readers/Unwin, London 1987, cited by Risebero (1982).
See also Ruskin's The stones of Venice (1851-3), in which he wrote that while Renaissance construction was absurd in its irrationality, "it is not the form of this architecture against which I would plead … it is the moral nature of it which is corrupt … [p.235]. It is base, unnatural, unfruitful, unenjoyable and impious. Pagan in its origin, proud and unholy in its revival …, [the] intellect is idle … all luxury is gratified and all insolence fortified …" [p.244-5]. (Cited in Scott, 1924, p.121.)
[6.15] Condit reference and quotation. Condit,C. Chicago: 1930-1970. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1974, pp. 112-13. Cited in Billington (1983), p.261 in his section 'Democracy and Design'.
[6.16] Billington quotation: "Khan asserted the freedom given to designers who accept the disciplines of efficiency and economy …" (1983), p.264.
[6.17] Reference to Jullian (1984), in the region of p.71.
The attitude of the French government and bureaucracy towards modern art in the 1920s - Jullian writes of the 1920s: "La classe politique est dans son ensemble fermée a l'art moderne et … les édifices administratifs restent generalement fidèles aux formes et aux materiaux traditionels" (1984, p.71).
[6.18] Chaslin quotation. Chaslin, F. (1986). Progress on the Grands Projets. Architectural Review, Vol. 180, (December), pp.27-30.
[6.19] Influence of the French President and bureaucracy. See for example, NCE (New Civil Engineer) 27 March 1975, 3 February 1977, and Architectural Review May 1977.
[6.20] … this was by no means the intention when the building was conceived: Architectural Design, February, 1977, pp.87-133.
[6.21] … Renzo Piano claims that the design team succeeded in destroying this conventional image: Renzo Piano speaking at the Conference on Lightweight Structures in Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1986.
[6.22] Beaubourg Centre seen as an affront. "As if they were of no importance, those unfortunate enough to live in the area of the plateau Beaubourg have succumbed, powerless, to a brutal violation of their existence. What future Balzac will tell the tale of their miserable fate? … While millions have been wasted on this act of vandalism, the local traders have watched their businesses take a dizzy plunge." (Jean Paris, Le Monde, 21 January 1977, reported with conflicting opinions in Architectural Review, May 77, p.287-8.)
[6.23] Collins references to A.W.N.Pugin, Ruskin, and Viollet-le-Duc. Collins (1965), p.100.
[6.24] Quotations: "a barbarous and uncouth people …" and "in an idealised light …"
These could not be traced in 1994/5 and may be my words, placed in quotation marks because they owe much to Collins and Scott. There is something similar on p.38 of Collins (1965) but the wording is different. See also the Note above referring to Scott and Goethe (Chapter 4, pp.120-1 of AOBF).
[6.25] Tzonis and Lefaivre quotation: "Classical buildings have been mentioned …" (1986), p.274.
[6.26] Reference to Lewis Mumford. Cited in Tzonis and Lefaivre (1986), p.274 without details.
[6.27] Tzonis and Lefaivre on "diachronic impartiality" and "shifts in meaning". (1986), p.274.
Fascist and Soviet governments' partiality for a kind of classicism: Hitler's architect Speer has confirmed in writing that the idea of his architecture was to express power.
"As I specified in 1936, my buildings had to express more than the nature of the Movement. My expectation went further: they should be a real part of the Movement itself … Hitler … had to define the meaning, and with it the inner content, of his buildings as National Socialist. For the popes of the Renaissance or the Princes of the Baroque, building had become a noble pastime: for Hitler it had to be a part of the political will of the National Socialist Movement … Karl Arndt quite correctly sees in my buildings Hitler's will to power and conquest, to which their overwhelming quality exactly corresponds. That my architecture bears the marks of a pretension to absolute power and an intimidating representation of power - as Georg Friedrich Kock maintains in his essay - is exactly how I saw myself at that time. For me also, the National Socialist Movement was more than a mere incarnation of political might; it was the consummation of a claim to absolute power over a people."
"Meine Bauten sollten, so definierte ich 1936, nicht nur das Wesen der Bewegung ausdrücken. Mein Anspruch ging weiter: sie seien geradezu ein Teil der Bewegung selber … Hitler … müsse als Nationalsozialist den Sinn und damit den inneren Gehalt seiner Bauwerke bestimmen. Für die Päpste der Renaissance oder für die Herrscher des Barock sei das Bauen eine Art von noblem Zeitvertreib gewesen; für Hitler sei es ein Teil des politischen wollens der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung … So sieht Karl Arndt in meinem Bauten völlig richtig Hitlers Macht- und Unterwerfungswillen, dem der überwältigungscharakter meiner Architektur genau entspreche. Das meine Architektur Züge eines absoluten Herrschaftsanspruchs trug und eine einschüchternde Machtrepräsentation darstellte - wie Georg Friedrich Koch in seinem Aufsatz feststellt - entspricht ziemlich genau meinem Selbstverständnis jener Jahre. Auch für mich war die nationalsozialistische Bewegung mehr als bloße Inkarnation politischer Macht; sie war der Vollzug eines absoluten Herrschaftsanspruchs über ein Volk." Speer (1978) p.7.
[6.28] The 'stripped classicism' of the fascists. Sources included Whittick (1974), Part IV 'Political determinism and classical monumentality', which contains chapters on Italy, Germany, and Russia. Examples of Italian Fascist stripped classicism include Terragni's Casa del Fascio, Como, Italy (Sharp 1972, p.139 and Etlin 1991, Chap. 12). Ciucci (1987) includes photographs of Moretti's 'Casa della GIL' (Italian Fascist Youth) in Rome, and Guerrini's 'Building E42', Palazzo della Civiltà, Rome. More on Italian architecture of the period may be found in Doordan (1988) and Etlin (1991), Chapters 11-14. Examples of Nazi stripped classicism include the Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg (TAISD, Fig 10.20, p.133, and Curtis 1987, p.213) and the House of German Art, Munich (photograph in Curtis 1987, p.213). Further examples appear in Speer (1978) pp.17, 28, 29, 78, 116, 161.
[6.29] The Futurist movement. Sources included Curtis (1987), pp.71-4 (this does not mention the fascination with death); Banham (1960), 127ff; Apollonio (1973); and Martin (1968). The last contains the statement: "They glorified war and encouraged belligerence, but that was above all an aspect of their desire for a courageous and active creative life" (p. xxix).
[6.30] Risebero on Gruppo Sette: (1982), p.186.
Other sources included: Ciucci (1987), Whittick (1974) Part IV, Gargus (1981), and Conrads (1970).
Ciucci (1987), p.77: "To eliminate any possible misunderstanding of a political nature, let me begin by remarking that all the architects discussed here - with the single exception of Persico - [that is, all Gruppo Sette] were fascists." Later (p.77) Ciucci lists the Gruppo Sette architects as Figini, Pollini, Frette, Larco, Rava, Catagnoli, and Terragni. See also the references on pp.79 and 80 to "… the myth that the buildings mean to evoke (like the structural forces that converge in the person of Mussolini …) …"
[6.31] Suggestion that Mussolini abandoned futurism and modernism … to win over the bourgeoisie. This view was expressed in a television documentary I saw in the UK (BBC or ITV). No record was taken of the authors, title, or date of transmission. It concerned Futurism and/or Marinette, and was transmitted within the period December 1987 to January 1988.
[6.32] This assertion was based on impressions gained from general reading. On reconsideration, it appears to overstate the case. Constructivist architects in the USSR did design buildings for the state from the time of the revolution to the early 1930s. However, the famous Constructivist 'Monument to the Third International' was criticised by both Lenin and Trotsky. Constructivism was suppressed under Stalin to be replaced by Social Realism. (Lampugnani 1986, pp.71-74 and Jencks 1973, pp.81-9.)
[6.33] Constructivist view of load-bearing structure as the "starting point for architectural expression". Risebero (1982), p.171.
[6.34] The 'international style' seen in the pre-war West as socialist or communist. This comment was based on general reading. An example is Curtis (1987), Chapter 16 'Totalitarian critiques of the modern movement'. Lane (1968) writing of pre-war Germany, discusses the association of modern architecture (especially the flat roof) with racial characteristics (pp.134-40) and its association with Bolshevism (pp.140-5). Risebero (1982) writing of the USSR states: "The extent to which the educated, generally middle-class intelligentsia of the constructivist movement identified with the workers and peasants and tried to share their lives was itself unique in European experience … Over the next few years, to most architects and commentators in the west, modern architecture became associated with socialism" (p.172). Blake (1960b) recounts that "… as late as 1953 … the editor of a women's magazine hysterically attacked [Mies van der Rohe] as 'a threat to America' and hinted, darkly, that Mies was in league with Communists, Fascists and other nihilists" (p.13).
[6.35] This statement was based on general reading concerning Pugin, Ruskin, and William Morris. An example is Weingarden (1985), p.8. "August Welby Pugin argued for a renewal of medieval piety by way of a return to medieval building and artistic practices. For Pugin, medievalism provided a corrective for 19th-century moral and religious corruption initiated by the Reformation and its attendant "paganisms", aberrations represented by 19th-century classical revival styles and industrialisation … John Ruskin castigated the classical styles as mechanistic and later in his career directed his aesthetic arguments against industrial capitalism". The main specific sources were Ruskin (1851-3), Pugin (1841), and the popular text by Bradley (1978) on Morris, with a glance at Morris (1936).
[6.36] Le Corbusier also saw modernism as a force for social change: Risebero (1982), p.172.
[6.37] Socialist and Marxist sources .. expressed a deterministic view of history, in which the individual was of little importance: Watkin (1977), pp.5-8, 37, 74 et seq.
[6.38] The considerable progress of the modern style before the war was due as much to the support of rich individual patrons as that of socialist municipalities.
This is evident from an inspection of any book about the more famous architects concerned.
[6.39] Gruppo Sette acknowledged borrowing some of their ideas from the constructivists. Risebero (1982), pp.184-5.
Stripped classicism was used in public architecture throughout the world at that time. See Kostof (1985), p.719. Kostof provides an illustration of the United States Mint of 1937 (p.717). Whittick (1974) Part IV contains chapters on stripped classicism in France and England. See also his p.152 (Götaplatsen, Gothenburg), p.177 (City Hall, Swansea), and p.183 (Town Hall, Boulogne-sur-Seine). Speer (1978) cites the Musée des Travaux Publics, by Auguste Perret, the Palais de Chaillot, and the Palais des Musées d'Art Moderne, all in Paris (pp.162-3); the Brooklyn Branch Building of the New York Times, by Albert Kahn (p.173); and the entrance hall to the crematorium, Stockholm by Gunnar Asplund (p.175).
[6.40] William Morris quotation. From a lecture entitled 'The Society of the Future' first given in 1887. See Morris, M. (1936) William Morris: Artist, Writer, Socialist. Blackwell, Oxford. Reprinted: Russell and Russell, New York, 1966. Cited in Risebero (1982), p.150.
[6.41] Bruno Taut on crystal architecture; constructivist social experiments: Jencks (1973), p.60.
[6.42] Wells Coates quotation. "As architects of the ultimate human and material scenes …" Risebero (1982), p.195.
[6.43] Risebero on Le Corbusier. Risebero (1982), p.172.
[6.44] Collins on Le Corbusier. Collins (1965), pp.230, 249. A similar point is made by Jencks (1973), p.35.
[6.45] The socialist megastructures of the post-war period … See list of examples above.
Archigram's fantasies of the 1960s. Archigram and Superstudio saw themselves as leftist in politics (Jencks 1973, p.56.)
[6.46] Prevailing view that built form cannot provide a mechanism for social change …
This statement was based on general reading. An example is Jencks (1984), pp.9-10. Risebero (1982), p.172, cites Le Corbusier as a prime example of the modernist conviction and on p.195 cites the English architect Wells Coates as "expressing the widespread view of progressive bourgeois thinkers [of the 1930s] that social transformation could come through physical change" (Risebero's italics). Caudill et al (1978) has a section headed "Buildings affect the behaviour of people" (pp.105-8). Collins (1965) on p.229 states: "There were of course theorists, even in the nineteenth century, who perceived that architects were well placed to initiate social reform, and there were even some who suggested the idea which was to become so common among avant-garde theorists after 1919, namely that the easiest way to create a new architecture was to change the public's way of life. Thus César Daly remarked in 1840 that since domestic architecture resulted from social habits, 'the way to modify the effect is to begin by modifying the cause' … a revolutionary concept which was eventually to result in the so-called 'functional' domestic architecture of the 1920s, when every workman's dwelling designed by Le Corbusier was like an artist's studio." Oscar Faber, an engineer, asserted that "noble people build beautiful buildings and bridges and beautiful bridges and buildings produce noble people" (Faber 1945, p.6). The original version of this paper was published in the Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. 16 (1940-41), pp.139-68. On p.141, Faber wrote: "In all civilised periods of history it has been appreciated that structures exert an important influence upon humanity, tending to nobility and joy in life if they are noble and beautiful, and to meanness and misery in the alternative event. It means something to live in a noble city, and a noble city is both the product of noble minds and the environment most congenial to their formation."
[6.47] It is often the same critics who claim that apartment blocks … do have significant effects on their occupants … An example is Jencks (1984), pp.9, 23.
[6.48] For Watkin's jaundiced view of the concept of Zeitgeist, see Watkin 1977, pp.5-8, 37, 74 et seq.
Watkin cites Mies van der Rohe in Watkin (1977), p.37-8, citing Johnson, P. C. Mies van der Rohe. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2nd edn. 1953, pp.188-9. The quotation by Mies reads: "We are concerned today with questions of a general nature. The individual is losing significance; his destiny is no longer what interests us. The decisive achievements in all fields are impersonal and their authors are for the most part unknown. They are part of the trend of our time towards anonymity."
Watkin's lumping together of Fabian Socialists, National Socialists, and Anarchist Socialists: Watkin (1977), p.44.
Watkin criticises Pevsner … Watkin (1977), p.95.
Watkin is careful to link beliefs of leading personalities with those of their teachers and the intellectual environment in which they moved …
Referring to Pugin, Watkin (1977) states: "However … he was sufficiently a man of the eighteenth century …" (p.19) and regarding Viollet-le-Duc "He derived this from the French tradition of rationalist architectural theory from Cordemoy to Rondelet." (p.23). Watkin's account of Pevsner's antecedents appear on pp.71-2. It could be argued that Watkin picks out traditions of thought rather than eras, but the traditions are generally of relatively short duration, for example one or two centuries.
[6.49] Hans Hollein quotation. Cited by Jencks (1973), p.55. Jencks's reference reads: Hans Hollein: Arts and Architecture, California, 1963, p.14.
[6.50] Geoffrey Scott reference and quotation "offered the privileges of cuture …" Scott (1924), p.137.
[6.51] Dickie on the range of aesthetic objects. Dickie (1971), p.58.
[6.52] Even architecture is only grudgingly given a place by some commentators on account of its utility. See the Notes re Chapter 2 of AOBF concerning Schopenhauer, Scott and Horden.
[6.53] Risebero quotation: "The post-war commercial exploitation …". Risebero (1982), p.224.
[6.54] Risebero quotation: "a group of buildings …" Risebero (1982), p.224.
[6.55] Quotation from Art in the commune. Cited in Jencks (1973), p.82.
[6.56] Vladimir Mayakovsky quotation. Gray, Camilla. The Great Experiment: Russian Art 1863-1922. Thames and Hudson, London 1962, p.216 (cited in Jencks 1973, p.82).
[6.57] Risebero quotation: "… rewrite the history of architecture …"
This is another of my paraphrases which acquired quotation marks. Risebero's actual words are: "… architectural history was re-written to contain as little reference as possible either to the movement itself or to its direct antecedents, like the Victorian engineers or William Morris". Risebero (1982), p.242.
[6.58] One reaction to these problems has been to arrange for artists, or local inhabitants, to paint friendly scenes or flowers on bare walls.
Examples are to be found in Porter and Mikellides (1976), pp.36 and 44 and Middleton (1987), pp.31 and 114. French colour consultants have prepared colour schemes and camouflage for industrial buildings (Porter and Mikellides 1976, p.41), apartments (pp.50, 67) and industrial machinery and plant (pp.70, 71).
[6.59] A large suburban power station near Frankfurt is virtually camouflaged in free-flowing pastel colours.
This was observed from a train between Frankfurt main railway station and the international airport. Attempts to identify the building prior to submission of the thesis proved fruitless.
[6.60] David Billington's suggestion for design competitions. Billington (1983), p.23.
[6.61] The impatience, felt by some designers and their supporters, with the constraints imposed by popular taste, functional requirements, or budgets.
Civil Engineering-ASCE (1976) contains excerpts from a series of articles concerning the Montreal Olympics structures, published in the Montreal Star and written by staff reporters Claude Adams and Josh Freed. One contains the following. "With the Mayor and the architect in charge, not one money-saving design change was ever effected, to the great frustration of consulting engineers, who suggested cuts that could have saved up to $146 million. 'Architectural integrity' was the blanket excuse for all kinds of costly, grandiose frills … Mr Taillibert … decried the Canadian preoccupation with money: 'That's all Canadians and North Americans talk about - money, money, money. It doesn't interest me at all.' What irks many people is Taillibert's absolute lack of modesty when discussing his contributions. 'Are you aware', he once asked a reporter, 'that the building of the stadium and velodrome constitutes a great moment in the history of architecture and technology?' " (p.52). The report states that one cost-saving proposal of the engineers was to build the stadium of steel rather than concrete for an estimated saving of $100 million. Another was to make all the arched cantilever ribs of the roof identical, rather than having 34 non-identical ones (a saving of $20 or $30 million). The mutually incompatible attitudes recounted here are of course the basis for most conflict between architects and engineers.
This outlook played a large part in the politics surrounding the design and construction of the Sydney Opera House and the resignation of its architect, Jørn Utzon.
Baume (1967, p.83) reports that following Utzon's resignation, "There were protest marches, public meetings, violent attacks on the executive of the NSW Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and remarkable demands [sic] from the more extreme sections of the profession that clients had no right to object to what an architect was doing for them once he was appointed."
A large proportion of engineers subscribe to the belief that architects are 'artists' and that the true role of the engineer is to ensure the structural integrity of whatever form the architect may propose (Civil Engineering-ASCE 1976).
Clement Vigneault, structural engineer, Montreal, who collaborated on the Montreal Olympic Stadium project with the architect Roger Taillibert said "… let us say that you have decided to buy a Picasso painting in which the artist shows a man with eyes on the back of his head. You made your choice; the work of art is to your taste; you bought the painting - you cannot change it. Similarly, the idea, the structure of the architect for the Olympic Stadium was bought and the entire world has accepted the project. I believe it was the proper role of the engineers to complete the design and construction with the use of the modern methods at our disposal." Professor I. C. Záleski, structural engineer, Paris, added "I used to assist architect Taillibert as a structural designer and therefore can relate to this subject. His creations have to be considered as works of art; they are large-scale sculptures. As a designer, I gave him structural support without ever wanting to change anything. It would be really impractical to distinguish between the structural and the artistic aspects of his works." (Both quotations: Civil Engineering-ASCE, 1976, p.52.) See also the Note regarding the reference in Chapter 8 of TAISD to the engineer Komendant who worked with architect Louis Kahn. - also the references given in TAISD, 'Sources for assignments', p.292, under the heading 'Architecture: art for art's sake?'.
[6.62] Jencks quotation: "Perhaps the greatest reason …" Jencks (1973), p.59).
[6.63] Gropius quotation. From Arbeitsrat für Kunst (1919) 'JA! Stimmen des Arbeitsrates für Kunst in Berlin'. Photographische Gesellschaft, Charlottenburg, 1919. See also Lehmann-Haupt, H. (1954) Art under a dictatorship, Oxford University Press, New York, pp.20-1.
[6.64] Reference to Hundertwasser and quotation. Jencks (1973), p.62 on the 'Fantastic Architecture' movement of the 1960s. "If there was any ideological justification it concerned the freedom of the architect's imagination …"
[6.65] David Watkin reference and quotations: "denial of the role of the architect …"; "this view that what he does …"; "the deliberate lowering of sights …" Watkin (1977), p.103.
[6.66] Internal politics discussed elsewhere: Holgate (1986a), pp.73-6 and 89-107.
[6.67] Jencks has described engineers as self-effacing and orientated to the provision of service to others. Jencks (1973), p.30. This is related to his interpretation of Buckminster Fuller's approach (see his pp.72-3.)
[6.68] Some attempts have been made to alter the traditional relationships … Some examples are discussed briefly in TAISD Chapter 8, pp.105-7.
[6.69] Geoffrey Scott on moral judgements.
Scott (124), p.127. "But, prima facie, it is not … unreasonable to condemn an architectural purpose because it offends a moral judgement; for the moral judgement claims an authority superior to the aesthetic, and applies to all purpose and action whatsoever."
[Scott] describes aesthetic values as "a luxury", which may take precedence when no "moral threat" to society is present.
Scott (1924), p.128. The inverted commas around "moral threat" appear to be mine. For Scott, the ethical fallacy had historical value in that it was a reaction to what he saw as the emptiness of the mechanical fallacy and its neglect of the aesthetic and moral conscience.
[Scott] concludes that moral "echoes" may enrich aesthetics [p.162] although "moral perception is blind to formal qualities"
Scott (1924), p.162 where, he adds, "conscience" cannot see "with its own eyes".
[6.70] Reference to Richard Hooker and quotation "Goodness unto actions …" Cited in De Zurko (1957), p.60.
[6.71] Reference to Friedrich Weinbrenner and quotation. De Zurko 1957, p.193.
[6.72] Reference to Schinkel's views on function. Cited in De Zurko (1957), p.198.
[6.73] Quotations from Ruskin (1851-3):
"It is not the form of this architecture …" p.235.
"It is base, unnatural, unfruitful …" p.244.
"[the] intellect is idle …" p.245.
[6.74] Edward Lacy Garbett. Rudimentary Treatise on the Principles of Design in Architecture as Deducible from Nature and Exemplified in the Works of Greek and Gothic Architects. John Weale, London, 1850, following a lead from De Zurko (1957), pp.140-4.
[6.75] The references to William Morris, Hendrikus Berlage, Henri van de Velde and Frank Lloyd Wright, on honesty, all come from De Zurko (1957), pp.12-14.
[6.76] Charles Jencks on Paul Valéry and Théo van Doesburg. Jencks (1973), p.32.
[6.77] David Billington on "the making of ostentatious objects …" Billington (1983), p.231.
[6.78] David Watkin's quotation of Théophile Gautier. Watkin (1977), p.72.
[6.79] Geoffrey Scott's claim that "without the architecture … of the Greeks …" (1924), pp.162-4.
[6.80] Ruskin quotation: the principal functions of art are "the enforcing of the religious sentiments of men …" (1877), p.80 and (1910), p.67.
Ruskin quotation: "the chief of our fair designs …" (1903), vol.19, pp. 214-5.
[6.81] Ruskin quotation regarding a clergyman friend: (1910), p.142.
[6.82] Roebling quotation "Public works should educate …" Billington (1983), p.80.
[6.83] Billington quotation "For Roebling …" Billington (1983), p.82.
[6.84] … the moralists of the nineteenth century expressed themselves forcefully.
Examples may be found in de Zurko (1957) Chapter 6 on 'The functionalism of Ruskin and his early contemporaries'. Collins (1965) discusses Gothic nationalism, ecclesiology, and social reform in his Chapters 9 and 10.
[6.85] Ruskin quotation "The violations of truth …" cited Collins (1965), p.107.
[6.86] Pugin's drawing of a church whose modest hall was concealed by a 'film-set' facade: sighted in Brolin (1985) p.145. The illustration and accompanying quotation are from Pugin (1841).
[6.87] Peter Collins on "French Classical doctrine …" and Boileau. Collins (1965), p.198.
[6.88] Carlo Lodoli reference and quotation. Cited De Zurko (1957), p178.
[6.89] Scott argues in defence of the Baroque … Scott (1924), p.152.
[6.90] Peter Collins on the distinction between "sincerity" and "truth", including references to Frank Lloyd Wright and Marcel Breuer. Collins (1965), pp.248-9.
[6.91] Peter Collins … cautions against over-valuing sincerity. Collins (1965), p.250-1.
[6.92] Collins on Brutalism. Collins (1965), p.252.
Other authors frequently refer to services ducts as the "guts" and "innards" of buildings. An example is Watkin's comments on the Centre Pompidou (Watkin 1986, p.571). Brolin (1985), p.250, refers to the time "…when the Pompidou Centre, with its gloriously decorated innards, exploded in Paris."
[6.93] Medwadowski on simplicity and honesty. Medwadowski (1983). p.14.
[6.94] … constant attempts to find forms of ornament which could be adopted without violating the basic tenets. Inspired by Boyd (1965), p.81.
Architects exploited the need for sun-screening, often making the screens more elaborate than was really necessary. After Boyd (1965), p.81 and Jencks (1984), p.82.
[6.95] Brolin quotation "If there has been one constant …" Brolin (1985), p.1.
[6.96] [Ornament's] defenders are at pains to emphasise the contributions it makes to our lives at various levels.
An example is Brolin (1985), especially the section on Honesty in Chapter VII.
[6.97] Arnheim on Beethoven's 5th, etc. Arnheim (1977), p.252.
[6.98] Ornament is often justified as fulfilling a role in 'expressing' load-bearing structure or the organisational 'structure' of a facade.
Frank Lloyd Wright in The Natural House (Horizon Press, New York, 1954. p.63ff) defines "integral ornament" as "the developed sense of the building as a whole … Integral ornament is simply structure-pattern made visibly articulate and seen in the building as it is seen articulate in the structure of the trees or a lily of the fields". Cited by Arnheim (1977), p.250.
[6.99] Charles Jencks quotation: "Ornament has not only symbolic functions …" Jencks (1981), p.142.
[6.100] Arnheim on ornament. Arnheim (1977), p.120.
Other sources on ornament were Gombrich (1979), Boyd Auger (1976) and the resulting controversy in succeeding issues. Gombrich covers a wide field, but there is much on decoration in traditional architecture.
[6.101] Collins quotation "they corresponded …" Collins (1977), p.40.
[6.102] An example is the first chapter of Drexler (1977) entitled 'Engineer's architecture: truth and its consequences'. When Drexler writes of modern architecture's adoption of 'the Engineering Style', he stops short of claiming that it adopted real engineering principles (p.14). However, he implies that it did when he describes this style as "the art of the real [i.e.] real structure …" and says "engineering was the purification of architecture necessary for the final solution". On page 27 he refers to "… exercises in Brutalism intended to retrieve effects of mass without seeming to abandon the rational logic of engineering …" Yet his few examples of modern buildings include Mies van der Rohe's Crown Hall, housing the Faculty of Architecture at IIT in Chicago. Drexler notes that the occupants have been obliged to install venetian blinds on the vast areas of glazing in the upper parts of the building in order to make it habitable (incidentally destroying the architectural effect of transparency which Mies sought). On a visit in 1984 I was told by a member of the academic staff that the vast unpartitioned interior made the work of the faculty extremely difficult. It ignored the principles of practical architecture as well as those of engineering. Another building included in Drexler's chapter (admittedly in relation to the use of isometric drawing) is Stirling's History Faculty Building at Cambridge (UK). The greenhouse-like roof over the library leaked and there was bitter controversy over the merits of the building as an academic facility. Thus neither of these buildings could be said to fulfil its function in the way an engineer would expect. Engineering (and architectural) function were compromised in the interests of architectural effect. Yet both buildings appear under the banner of "engineer's architecture".
A more recent example is provided by an academic building in Australia in the High-Tech style whose design was praised in architectural journals. It has academics' offices down both sides of an east-west corridor. Offices facing north became impossibly hot in summer and occupants responded by leaving their doors permanently open and placing electric fans in the doorways. Studnets wishing to consult them were obliged to jump over the fans.
[6.103] Brolin traces the origin of the Romantic concept of the artist-genius … Brolin (1985), p.126-7.
[Brolin] states that for most of history these had been seen as occupations fit only for slaves and the lower classes. Brolin (1985), pp.14-20. This is my paraphrase.
The question of status was further complicated in the nineteenth century … Brolin (1985), Chapter 5.
[6.104] Brolin quotation: "The critics' demands …" Brolin (1985), p.126.
[6.105] Davey quotation: "Krier is a man of the left …" Davey (1980), p.75.
[6.106] Krier quotation: "Mr. Davey is obviously afraid …" Krier (1980), p.78.
[6.107] Collins - more controversial receive most publicity: Collins (1965), p.40.
[6.108] [Classicists] claim that only through the 'voluntary' acceptance of discipline can the artist or designer can truly reach great heights.
Examples are Scruton (1979), p.201 and p.223 referring to music as well as architecture, and Summerson (1980), Chapter 2, especially pp.25-7. See also Billington's quotation of Fazlur Khan in the Note above.
[6.109] Pevsner quoted by Watkin. Watkin (1977), pp.107, 108.
[6.110] Risebero's comment on the Pavillon Suisse. Risebero (1982), p.199.
[6.111] The reference to the "barrida or shanty town" was picked up from another author. It may be a mis-spelling of barriada. According to the Bantam New College Spanish-English Dictionary, barriada simply means 'district' or 'quarter' (of a town), and not necessarily a shanty town.
[6.112] There is a form of architecture which Charles Jencks classifies as "ad hoc" (Jencks and Chaitkin 1982, Chapter 8) but even in this case the lack of order is self-conscious and is related to ideology. See also Jencks, C. and Silver, N. (1973). Adhocism: the case for improvisation, Anchor Press, New York. Jörg Schlaich contests my view on this matter. He maintains that untidiness in engineering design reveals an imperfect grasp of the problem and its solution: that the achievement of a tidy solution signals that one is close to the optimum.
[6.113] Defensive administrators may choose architects who produce forbidding designs.
Smith (1979) provides the example of the Sheffield Town Hall. See his discussion and photographs, pp.139-141.
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