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.
[8.1] Form follows function.
It is not universally agreed that Sullivan was the first to use this phrase. See note to Chapter 7 regarding this.
[8.2] Le Corbusier's dictum that the exterior should be the 'result' of the interior. Le Corbusier (1923), p.164. "The Plan proceeds from within to without: the exterior is the result of an interior."
[8.3] Benjamin Handler (1970) has expressed this as the principal that "spaces and structure should be adapted to the users' needs".
This is a paraphrase. Handler lists 24 slogans or beliefs which have appeared under the banner of Functionalism, and groups them under five headings. On his p.7, under "The functional as the utilitarian" he lists as no.3 "Adapt structure to use" and as No.4 "Spaces should be arranged to meet the needs of their users ... [but] not in accordance with some geometric canon. Symmetry, being an artificial geometric contrivance, is to be rejected."
[8.4] Leicester Engineering Faculty. See Note to Chapter 7 regarding this building.
Some visual element considered characteristic of a building type ... may be emphasised.
The Bauhaus balconies are visible in Architecture v.70 (8) (July 1981) p.57. See also the Note to Chapter 5 concerning the 'lecture theatre wedge'.
[8.5] The black-steel-and-glass curtain wall has been described as expressive of the "cold and impersonal" world of the modern business office.
This is almost certainly Jencks, but I was unable to trace the exact source in 1994/5.
[8.6] The approach of Mies van der Rohe.
Schultze (1985), p.109 records that Mies advice to Hugo Häring "who laboured earnestly over the solution of the most specific needs in his buildings" was "Make your spaces big enough, man, that you can walk around them freely and not just in one predetermined direction! Or are you all sure of how they will be used? We don't know at all whether people will do with them what we expect them to. Functions are not so clear or so constant; they change faster than the building."
[8.7] Sources concerning the Bauhaus included Wingler (1969) and brief introductions in Curtis (1987, Chapter 9), Banham (1960, Chapter 20), and Frampton (1980, Chapter 14). See also Westphal (1991).
[8.8] Rudolph Arnheim quotation: "In a well-designed building …" (1977), p.205.
[8.9] The concept may take the form of an ideological admiration for the 'perfection' of the living organism or of the machine ...
De Zurko (1957), Chapter 5.
[8.10] As de Zurko points out ... (1957), p.34.
... developments in biology which revealed the fascinating complexity of the natural world.
This is mentioned in de Zurko's discussion of Hogarth (de Zurko 1957, pp.90-2). "A large share of Hogarth's analysis of beauty consists of an analysis of a variety of natural forms. He regarded the beauty of 'nature's machines' as proof of his thesis that the utmost beauty of proportion comes from perfect fitness." It was in 1715-1722 that van Leeowenhoek published the summary of his pioneering work with the microscope.
The word 'organic'.
Zevi (1950), pp.88-102, discusses a variety of meanings.
[8.11] Handler's formulation of the pragmatic viewpoint. This is a paraphrase from Handler (1970), p.9.
[8.12] The work of Cedric Price, some current 'High-Tech' architects, and the Japanese metabolists.
Cedric Price is best known for his Camden Town Community Centre (Lyall 1980, p.108 and Jencks and Chaitkin 1988, pp.90-1). Sources for Piano and Rogers' Pompidou Centre were listed on p.297 of TAISD. Norman Foster's Renault Centre, Swindon featured in the Architectural Review, July 1983 pp.20ff. Japanese Metabolism was described in Bognar (1985, pp.122-49) and Kurokawa (1977).
[8.13] Buildings designed with great enthusiasm for adaptability rarely undergo real change in their lifetimes.
The Centre Pompidou, the Renault Centre at Swindon, and the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia were all designed to allow expansion, but none has so far occurred. The space originally provided within the skeleton of the Pompidou Centre to allow for future expansion was almost fully booked by client organisations before construction commenced, and what remains has been left only for symbolic reasons (sources used were listed on p.297 of TAISD).
[8.14] Guiding principles in the design of load-bearing structure. For an extended discussion of these questions, see Nervi (1956, 1965a) and Torroja (1958a, 1958b). See also chapters 17 to 19 of Holgate (1986a).
[8.15] Ligo's distinction between the articulation of bare structure and the 'statement' or 'treatment' of hidden structure. Ligo (1984), pp. 25, 26.
[8.16] ... when people are pressed to state the function of an object, they are usually obliged to use a verb.
As Pye (1978) has pointed out, in mechanical engineering it is very difficult to distinguish the purpose of a machine or tool from the actions by which it achieves this objective. This theme is stressed throughout the book, but see especially pp. 85 and 87-88.
[8.17] Ligo lists such extended functions under the headings of 'social', 'psychological', and 'cultural-symbolic'. Ligo (1984), Chapters 5, 6, and 7.
[8.18] An even more extended concept of functionalism mentioned by Edward de Zurko ... (1957), p.238 (includes quotation).
[8.19] Under the heading of 'psychological functions' Ligo includes the sort of responses to built form ... Ligo (1984), Chapter 5.
[8.20] Ligo quotes a critic ... (1984), p.50. He cites Jones, C. Architecture Today and Tomorrow. New York, 1961, p.78.
In AOBF, I got my wires crossed and ascribed the hostel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Saarinen. It was in fact designed by Alvar Aalto, as Ligo noted. Saarinen designed the nearby chapel and Kresge auditorium.
[8.21] Architecture has been described (by an architect) as "the design of physical structures around social structures".
This statement was made by a speaker at the Conference on Lightweight Structures in Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1986. The contributor was from McGill University and was probably Peter Skipgers.
[8.22] Ligo quotations: "providing a milieu for man as a social animal", "the institutionalisation of man, giving visible physical form to social institutions". Ligo (1984), p.61.
Ligo points out that for many critics a building 'says' something about its role in society and the activity or institution that it houses. Ligo (1984), p.61.
[8.23] Ligo's term "cultural-existential function" and quotation "the more permanent and wide-spread beliefs …" Ligo (1984), p.75.
[8.24] He [Ligo] and other critics see these values present in opposite poles of design ...
The idea and examples come from Siegfried Giedion's Space Time and Architecture (1941, p.413) and are quoted with approval by Ligo (1984, p.79). The reference to the medieval town is a paraphrase. Giedion sees the difference between Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier as "another instance of two eternally opposed responses to nature: a contemporary reflection of the differences between the Greek temple, sharply outlined against its background, and the medieval town, attached like a plant to the site on which it stands."
[8.25] p.221 Peter Collins notes that in a similar way the term functionalism has been applied ... Collins (1965), p.218.
[8.26] J. M. Richards's definition of "absolute functionalism".
Richards, J. M. An introduction to modern architecture. Penguin, Harmondsworth 1940, p.37.
[8.27] People who advance this view ...
Examples are Otto (1983) and Happold (1986). See also Nervi (1956), p.26-7: "Every improvement in the functionality and the technical efficiency of a product brings about an improvement in its esthetic quality. This is clearly shown by the evolution of those products more strictly governed by functional needs, like large ships, planes, and machines, and particularly of the governed by the laws of dynamics ... there is no doubt that any product of high efficiency is always esthetically satisfying".
[8.28] Comments on an aircraft exhibition by a painter and his companion.
These were Marcel Duchamp and Ferdinand Léger, quoted in Florman (1976) p.134.
[8.29] Nervi's claim that we all have an innate sense of appropriate technological design. Nervi (1956), p.27.
Nevertheless associations, often subconscious, must lie behind many of our aesthetic judgments. Sfaellos (1952, p.32) points out that the shape of the streamlined aircraft, which is considered beautiful by many people, would look ridiculous if transferred to the body of a car or a baby's pram. He considers this to demolish the idea that formal beauty can exist totally divorced from the utility of the object. A loose translation is as follows: "For example, the aerodynamic shaping of an aeroplane is generally adjudged 'beautiful'. The same form applied to a car appears less happy because we suspect that it is not functional but more a decoration. Its application to a baby carriage, which travels at the speed of man, makes it look ridiculous."
"Par exemple le profilage aérodynamique d'un avion se juge, à l'unanimité, come 'beau'. La même forme appliquée à une voiture commence dejà à nous paraître moins réussie, car nous soupçonnons qu'elle n'est pas un élément fonctionnel mais plutôt une parure. Son application enfin sur une voiturette d'enfant, qui marche à la vitesse de l'homme, la rend nettement ridicule."
[8.30] Stefan Medwadowski's views. Medwadowski (1983). Quotation, p.14.
[8.31] Solar power plants of Schlaich Bergermann und Partner.
The power plants are described in a dual-language brochure obtainable from Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner, Hohenzollernstraße 1, D-7000 Stuttgart 1. Photographs appear in Schlaich, J. How much desert does a car need? IABSE Proceedings P-144/90, IABSE Periodica 2/1990 (May) pp.45-64. (Figs. 6 and 7, p.63). Research leading to the concept of the reflector drum is covered in Schlaich, J and Greiner, S. Vorgespannte Flächentragwerke aus Metallmembranen. Bauingenieur 53 (1978) 77-87. See also Schlaich, S. and Schlaich, J. Eneuerbare Energien nutzen. Werner, Düsseldorf, 1991, pp.104-9 (only some pages numbered). The plants are also illustrated and described briefly in Holgate,A. Jörg Schlaich: The art of structural engineering. Menges Stuttgart. 1996.
[8.32] De Zurko quotation: "Beauty, or at least a kind of formal perfection …" (1957), p.9.
[8.33] Rationalism versus Functionalism. A section of Chapter 11 of TAISD (pp.158-62) very briefly compares Rationalism and Functionalism. Sources included Chapter 19 of Collins (1965), Chapter 5 of de Zurko (1957), Lesnikowski (1982) and Sharp (1978).
[8.34] Plato quotation: "Understand me to mean straight lines and circles …" From the Philebus, cited in Banham (1960), p.205.
[8.35] Laugier's views and quotation: "the parts of an architectural Order …"
Cited in Collins (1965), p.200. Alberti defined Beauty in the Aristotelian manner as "a harmony of all the parts ... fitted together with such proportion and connection that nothing could be added, diminished or altered, but for the worse." (Alberti 1485, II, 3, cited in de Zurko 1957, pp.48,49.)
[8.36] This idea that every structural element should be essential to the integrity of a building has been described as the cornerstone of 'classic rationalism'.
This is believed to have come from Collins but could not be traced in 1994/5.
[8.37] Laugier's proposed church with columns and glass walls. Cited Collins (1965), p.200.
Commentators such as Peter Collins see echoes of the 'rationalism' of the previous two centuries. Collins (1965), p.195.
[8.38] Critics contrast 'classic rationalism' with 'structural rationalism'.
Sources for Viollet-le-Duc and structural rationalism included Frampton (1980, Chapter 4) and Viollet-le-Duc (1877-1881). Sources concerning Classic Rationalism are listed in TAISD, p.293.
[8.39] De Zurko sums up the position ... De Zurko (1957), p.233. On the same page he suggests that the "rational view" of Art was to a large extent responsible for functionalist theory. An interesting discussion of 'rationality' in aesthetics is presented by Smith (1979) in his Chapter 15.
[8.40] When modern tent structures were initially developed, their forms were determined almost entirely on technical grounds ...
An example is the use of models by Frei Otto's institute as described in Drew (1976), pp.13-21.
Developments have made it possible for architects to 'play' with the forms of tents to achieve aesthetic effects.
The mathematical form finding of the period is described in Gründig, L. and Bahndorf, J. 'Form-finding of a roof structure for a health spa' in Sedlak (1983), Vol.1, pp. 246-53 and Barnes, M. R. 'Form-finding and analysis of prestressed nets and membranes' in Topping, B. H. V. (ed) Proc. Int. Conf. on the Design and Construction of Non-Conventional Structures Vol.1, pp.327-38.
[8.41] Design by evolution.
The cricket bat is amongst artefacts cited in Martin (1969). The farm cart is cited in the first (1970) edition of Christopher Jones's Design methods: seeds of human futures (1981, pp.16-20) and in Lawson (1980) pp.12-14.
[8.42] The multi-purpose hall.
Beranek (1962, pp.43-59) discusses the different acoustical requirements of various types of music and their audiences. There is also pressure for halls to be used for plays, lectures, meetings, etc. as well as music. A recent example of this is provided by Jofeh (1991, p.17). "Cerritos ... with a population of 60,000 could neither afford nor support three separate theatres and an exhibition area. An early study ... had identified a need for three different spaces suitable for music, drama and trade shows ... the auditorium ... offers unparalleled flexibility with five basic configurations transforming the auditorium's seating arrangement, sight lines and acoustics by the use of moveable seating towers, lifts, two proscenium lines ... a flown acoustical concert ceiling above the stage, and a device known as the flipper."
[8.43] The multi-purpose stadium with retractable roof.
A topical example at the time of writing was the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne. When the stadium is used for tennis, the roof may be closed in bad weather. At other times of the year it is used as a venue for many events, including popular concerts. (Constructional Review February 1988, pp.32-9.)
[8.44] What Robin Boyd (1965) called a 'guide vision'. Boyd (1965), p.8. Boyd also uses the terms 'guide image' and 'guide picture'.
[8.45] Hans Hollein's 1966 project for an extension to the University of Vienna. Klotz,H. (1988), p.359.
[8.46] De Zurko quotation: "To a large extent the way in which a man presents his case for a functional architecture …" De Zurko (1957), p.232.
[8.47] People's need to know the functions of an object. This was argued strongly by Evans and Houghton-Evans (1964, p.284).
[8.48] Both Viollet-le-Duc and Greenough saw beauty in the "potential for use" of an object. Viollet-le-Duc is quoted in Collins (1965), p.163. Greenough is quoted in de Zurko (1957), p.222.
[8.49] Happold on "the quality the most successful products have …" Happold (1986), p.369.
[8.50] Function loosely linked to beauty ... Nervi (1956), p.27.
[8.51] Happold on the Georgian terraces of Bath. Lecture at the Conference on Lightweight Structures in Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1986.
[8.52] Geoffrey Scott sees these opportunities as accidental. Scott (1924), p.96. He refers to "… the ingenious bridges, the workshops, the great construction of triumphant industry, proudly indifferent to form."
[8.53] Architects' continuing interest in engineering structures.
At the time of writing, recent examples were the RIBA exhibition on The art of the engineers and that by the Royal College of Art on The great engineers (see Walker (1987) and Papadakis (1987)). See also Casabella 542-543 January-February 1988 and Lotus International No. 47 1985/3 Architecture in Engineering. Architecture, the Journal of the American Institute of Architects (incorporating Architectural Technology), has frequent articles devoted to practical aspects of building technology. See especially v.77(3), 1988.
[8.54] It is almost universally accepted that there are movements and styles in art which undergo a cycle of birth, growth, and decay.
This of course applies to the wider scene. Amongst art historians there is a strong contrary opinion, partly because such a view seems to deny the significance of the individual. Scott was not particularly impressed with the concept (1924, p.172). A balanced and plausible viewpoint advanced by Banham is reported in Structural Engineer, September 1975, No.9, Vol.53, p.394 'Open discussion on the relevance of history'. Banham stated "In my own original discipline of art history, for instance, we have a grand general theory of the cyclical rise and fall of 'the styles'. In short-term applications these concepts are extremely useful, though they are subject to extreme metal-fatigue if over-used, and have to be abandoned. During their useful lives, though, they serve as guidelines to our researches and teaching. What I don't find in the history of engineering ... are equally useful and relevant generalisations that can give a secure frame of reference within which we can ... apply historical lessons in an extremely precise manner to particular problems."
[8.55] Geoffrey Scott recognises that beauty may result ... Scott (1924), p.28.
[8.56] Cooling tower at Schmehausen. Schlaich (1986), p.58.
[8.57] Stefan Medwadowski has declared himself in favour of "tickling" the mechanically-determined form of a structure to achieve visual beauty.
The term "tickling" (in inverted commas) comes from Drew (1972, p.117) who states of Frei Otto: "His refusal to tickle the form of a structure to achieve an architectural effect is a measure of Frei Otto's dedication to producing new forms which have great structural purity, that is, direct force structures." See also Drew (1976), p.11: "The logic and clarity of Frei Otto's forms results from his strict and systematic adherence to the rule of material economy ... He would never 'force' or attempt to pervert the intrinsic structural logic of a form to achieve an architectural effect." My statement that Medwadowski agrees with 'tickling' is based on his views as characterised in Medwadowski (1981), pp.32-5.
Tsuboi on Tokyo Olympic Stadiums: Tsuboi (1980b), p.322.
[An appendix has been added to the Japanese version of AOBF which apparently deals with this question.]
[8.58] It is ironic that [Ove Arup] ... worked with an architect, Jørn Utzon, who believed strongly that architectural form should relate "honestly" to structure.
An example appears in the paper on the design of the concourse by Arup and Jenkins (1968), p.541: "The Architect then explained that his concept demanded that the architecture should be expressed through the structure, in fact that the structure in this case was the architecture; it should be bold, simple, on an impressive scale and of a form which combined sculptural qualities with a clear expression of the forces acting on it."
[8.59] One of [Scott's] most important arguments is that if mechanical truth is beautiful, all machines should be beautiful ... Scott (1924), p.103-4.
Kestutis Zygas on mechanical truth and beauty. Zygas (1981), page xxi.
Scott does actually switch to a criterion of formal beauty ... Scott (1924), pp.115-6.
[8.60] To reverently "obey" the universal "laws" of statics and dynamics ...
The full quotation reads: "To approach the mysterious laws of nature with modest aspirations and try to interpret and command them by obeying them, is the only method to bring their majestic eternity to the service of our limited and contingent goals." Nervi, P. L. Is architecture moving towards unchanging forms? in Kepes, G. (ed.) Structure in art and science, Braziller, New York, 1965, p.101.
[8.61] Account of the design of the Zarzuela grandstand: Torroja (1958b), pp.3-18.
[8.62] Nervi and Otto careful to leave some room for the individual designer.
Examples occur in Nervi (1965a), p.187 and Otto (1983), p.153. While Otto subscribes to the ideal of the 'form-type' which should mirror the form of all completely optimised economically-functional objects of a similar nature, he states that they should blend the 'common' with the 'individual' through logical deviations (imperfections).
[8.63] Rocket testing facilities at Spadeadam. Fig. 8.2 of AOBF and Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, v.25, (May 1963), pp.1-30, particularly Fig.11.
[8.64] committed functionalists may still maintain ... [bad engineering produces inelegant structures]
This view has been expressed by the leading German engineer Jörg Schlaich (private communication).
[8.65] Such statements are often made by designers who have an innate gift for formalistic visual design ...
A good example is Nervi. (See Nervi 1956, 1965a.)
[8.66] Munce on the symbolism of the exposed winding gear: Munce (1960), p.205. "Most of the recent collieries in Britain show a tendency to house or conceal the winding gear above the shafts. The pulley wheels, formerly the hallmark of a coal mine, are increasingly being placed under cover ... it is questionable whether this policy ... produces better architectural results ... Admittedly, the exposed gear, pulley wheels, and steel scaffolding so typical of older collieries were brutal in appearance. But they stood for a brutal and inhuman industry. In their essence they spoke the truth, and their direct message was in many ways more stimulating than that of some of the more palliative versions."
[8.67] Work of the industrial photographer.
At the time of writing photographs of industrial structures and landscapes could be found in: Lowe (1987); de Maré (1961, 1973); Plowden (1985); Cox and Moore (1988); Hurley (1980); and Becher and Becher (1970, 1985, 1988). The work of the following photographers is commended by Plowden: Margaret Bourke-White, Andreas Feininger, Walker Evans, and Berenice Abbott. For drawing and painting see Stoltenberg (1980).
When submitting my thesis I added Becher and Becher (1990, 1993); Feininger (1981); and Godden (1978).
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