The text presented here is not precisely as published by OUP, but modifications are minor. Illustrations are another matter. Where images used in the original book were not my copyright, I have in most cases been able to substitute links to coloured images on the web. The sources are listed under Image Acknowledgements.

When this text was submitted as part of a PhD thesis in 1996, the Notes were greatly extended. Most readers may prefer to ignore them. They have been collected at the end of each chapter, with internal links leading to them and back to the text. They are a mixture of: simple page references; additional examples or quotations to justify generalisations; and some afterthoughts.

Introduction.

It is obvious even from the brief account just given, that certain themes recur consistently throughout architectural history. In many ways it is more useful for an engineer wishing to understand architecture and to work with architects to be aware of these different ways of looking at architecture than to concentrate on the various styles in which they have been clothed.

Many of the major themes such as moralism, purism and mannerism, reflect the personality of their protagonists. Since human nature remains constant, all of them will be expressed in debate in any given era, though some will be more in evidence than others owing to the prevailing social conditions and the vagaries of fashion. The attitudes reviewed here have been selected either because they are quite foreign to the conventional engineering mind, or because they may misleadingly appear very familiar. Words such as 'rational' and 'functional' are commonly used in engineering, but they have a number of quite different meanings for the architect. It is important to remember that several of these ideals may contribute simultaneously to the work of a given architect, and that most architects change their attitudes during their lifetimes.

The Vitruvian ideal.

Almost every text on architecture has, somewhere near the beginning, a quotation from the Roman architect Vitruvius who is generally thought to have lived in the first century B.C. The Latin version (Book One, Chapter Three) is: "Haec autem ita fieri debent, ut habeatur ratio firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis". [Note 1.]

Sir Henry Wotton in 1624 in his Elements of Architecture expressed this as: "Well building hath three Conditions, Commoditie, Firmenes, and Delight", and the idea is usually quoted in this form. [Wotton (1970), start of text.] It has been borrowed many times in the succeeding centuries and as a result is often wrongly attributed to later authors such as Palladio and Pugin.

Until recently all such texts overlooked another definition which occurs earlier, in Chapter 2 of Vitruvius. This says that "Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety and Economy." [Morgan 1914, p.16, Vituvii 1964, p.36.] The quotation may have been discarded by Modern Movement writers because of its prescriptive approach to visual aesthetics but it is significant that an important definition of 'Economy' went with it.

Vitruvius says "Economy denotes the proper management of materials and of site, as well as a thrifty balancing of cost and common sense in the construction of works. This will be observed if, in the first place, the Architect does not demand things which cannot be found or made ready without great expense". [Note 2.]

He gives as an example the insistence on the use of fir when other locally available timbers would be equally suitable. It must be remembered of course that the term 'Architect' referred in those days to a person who looked after his own engineering and was responsible for the construction of defence works and harbours as well as habitable buildings.

Collins considered that all theory is obliged to include Vitrivius' three basics; "utilitas, firmitas et venustas". (Note that economy is again omitted.) [Collins 1965, p.22.] Architects can only ring the changes in three ways:

• by addition to these three (e.g., as in twentieth-century architecture by treating the manipulation of space as a fourth parameter).
• by giving unusual prominence to one (e.g., emphasizing honesty or virtuosity of structure).
• by inventing a new definition of 'beauty' (e.g., Mannerism).

This is an excellent explanation of the continuity of architectural thought throughout the ages.

Rationalism and functionalism.

The term 'rational' is used in engineering in a manner fairly consistent with its meaning in philosophy. New theories are often described as 'rational' because they start from a given set of premises as to which parameters are of importance and work logically through known relationships in the field of mechanics to obtain a formula predicting future behaviour. The word 'rational' is also employed by engineers in its more common usage as a term of approval meaning 'sensible' or 'practical' as opposed to 'emotional' or 'artistic'.

In philosophy the modern use of the word goes back to the idea that there are absolute truths which exist independently of the phenomena through which we experience them. In contrast the empirical view holds that ideas are abstractions constructed from the evidence of our senses. As rationalism is applied in fields such as architecture it is only a short step to the belief that the absolute ideas (e.g. the concept of 'table' or 'cube') are 'pure' while individual manifestations of them are merely crude approximations. This is one reason why the comparative exactitude and uniformity of machine production held such a fascination for some architects, as bringing them a step closer to the pure ideal.

From ideals of 'purity' it is only another small step to a moralistic view which holds that that which is closer to the abstract ideal (a city planned on a regular grid; a building in the shape of a cube or cylinder; a building without ornament) is necessarily 'better' than a rambling, medieval town, or a complex or ornamented building. In this way a term which basically means 'reasoned' has come to have strong moral and emotional overtones.

The term 'Rationalism' has been applied by architectural historians to a school of thought which holds that structural efficiency should be a prime determinant of the form of buildings. This outlook was particularly strong in France during the 18th and 19th Centuries, its best-known proponent being Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. [Viollet-le-Duc 1877-1881.] Loads were required to be transmitted to the ground by the shortest possible route consistent with requirements for space and reasonable architectural effect. This particular aspect of the philosophy is often termed 'Structural Rationalism'.

The term 'functional' has fared no better. Engineers would apply it to an artifact which has been designed to achieve maximum effectiveness, with minimum use of resources. Other factors such as ease of maintenance would be given a high priority and appearance little or none. The motorcycle, the steam locomotive, the lunar landing module and most industrial structures would fit into this category. Architects for their part look for an extra rationale for the determination of form and note the aesthetic merit of many structures and machines designed by engineers without conscious regard for appearance.

Fig. 11.1. The lunar lander (NASA): designed under the strictest disciplines of efficiency, reliability, and weight limitation. Is the result aesthetically pleasing? NASM.

'Functionalism' in Architecture is thus the movement most likely to appeal to the engineer, because of its overtones of practicality and the implication that an aesthetic result can be achieved unselfconsciously. Unfortunately, as we have already seen, the word means different things to different people and in some cases the result is no more than an 'artist's impression' of the real thing.

Handler (1970) distinguishes six common architectural interpretations of the term 'Functionalism'. The first he calls the utilitarian. Form is supposed to follow function but in two different senses: the parts of the building are differentiated according to their purpose; and the structure and the space within it must be adapted to the needs of the users (Fig. 10.15). The second interpretation he calls 'constructivism'; elevating the structure of the building and, to some extent, the mechanical properties of the materials to a position of primacy in the determination of form (Fig. 10.24). This includes the idea that form should be consistent with the 'natural' flow of forces to the ground and the inherent capabilities and modes of fabrication of the materials.

The third category Handler calls "the functional as the expressive". According to this approach the form should show clearly the purpose of the building, if only symbolically, recalling Corbusier's dictum: "the exterior is the result of an interior". [Le Corbusier 1923, p.164. See also Fig. 10.16.] To this end structure, materials and mechanical equipment may be exposed. The fourth class is "the functional as the geometric". Here simplicity is essential, buildings are reduced to geometric fundamentals, and the uses must fit into the building. This was Mies' idea of being 'functional' (Fig. 10.21 c.f. Fig. 10.30). [Note 3.] The fifth interpretation is "the functional as the organic". The central theme is to work with Nature not against her. Natural systems and structures should be studied as an inspiration for architecture and "natural" materials should be used.

Fig. 11.2. Structure in nature; a possible source of inspiration for structures needed by man. The internal structure of the bone of the upper arm of a bird.

Finally, Handler includes "the functional as the efficacious", preferring this to the term "mechanistic". This is characterized by rational analysis of the needs of the situation, and an orderly choice of the most appropriate means to the desired end, completely free from arbitrary rules, and thus corresponds most closely to the engineers' conception of 'functionalism' (Fig. 11.1).

Handler then argues that all these concepts of Functionalism are lacking because they concentrate on only one part of the whole system and elevate this to pre-eminence. In claiming to discard obsolete rules and attitudes, many designers replace them with a new formalism and all the above interpretations are contaminated by remnants of ideologies. In Handler's view, the reason is that we do not yet have all the facts and the techniques of synthesis necessary to design any project in an entirely logical manner. Much intuition is still required and because of this, designers use ideologies to guide them through the grey areas. (As we shall see in later chapters many designers consider that intuition is an essential part of design which can therefore never be 'entirely logical'.)

Pye (1978) provides an interesting analysis pointing out the difficulty of defining 'function' even in engineering terms, and quotes some of Sullivan's writings to show that if he did coin the phrase 'Form Follows Function' he had a rather mystical understanding of the word. [Note 4.]

Thus when architects and especially critics and art-historians discuss the concept of 'functionalism' it is most unlikely that they are talking about ensuring that a building fulfills the purposes for which an engineer would assume it was intended.

Moralism.

We have already seen how easily an idea in architecture can develop moral overtones. The Neo-Classical reaction to Baroque was justified as a rejection of 'excess' and 'extravagance'. In the formative period of the modern movement, Adolf Loos wrote a polemic text whose title lumped 'Ornament' with 'Crime'. [Note 5.]

A theme that is common to many movements is a searching after 'Truth', 'Honesty' and 'Sincerity' in architecture. This is usually expressed in an insistence on truth to the 'nature' of the materials (which may be anything from their texture or appearance, to their means of fabrication or their mechanical properties); truth to the statics of structure; and truth to functional requirements.

Off-form concrete, plain brickwork and bare steel I-sections would all fall in the first category. To hide them behind ceilings or plaster is seen to be dishonest. Honesty defined in this way is often equated with 'directness' and 'virility'.

Truth to structure lies in avoiding unnecessary structural members or material and ensuring that the disposition of the members corresponds with the 'natural flow' of forces in the structure (see also Chapter 19). This feeling was already present in 18th Century Classic- Rationalism and was brought to new heights by Viollet-le-Duc in his glorification of the Gothic church (1877-81).

Truth to function includes what engineers would call rational planning (as opposed to the Beaux-Arts concept of giving symmetry of plan a higher priority than functional convenience); articulation, which is not quite the same thing; and especially the symbolic expression of 'function' using elements of form which remind the observer of truly functional artefacts. [Note 6.]

The Classical ideal also has overtones of moralism with its concern for law and order expressed in the rules of proportion, and its desire for stability, 'repose', and harmony. (These concepts are discussed in the next Chapter.)

The early years of the Modern Movement proper represent a high- point of moralism comparable to that associated with the Gothic Revival in the middle of the 19th Century.

It is worth mentioning that to many architects the engineer's concern to achieve a minimum cost solution is just as irrationally moralistic as any of these other ideals.

Politics.

There is a strong political theme running through much architectural philosophy. The Arts and Crafts movement was inspired partly by a desire to combat the alienation and materialism of capitalist society. Much effort was devoted in the 1920s to projects for mass worker housing. Today these projects are seen by some writers as undesirably 'socialist' in that they tended to slot people into standardized mass-produced units with a paternalistic attempt to determine their life- styles which left no room for individuality. (In fact they were probably no more 'socialist' than Hitler's Volkswagen or a modern multi-storey apartment block and in any case the tenants of Corbusier's notorious houses at Pessac [see Boudon, 1972] soon imposed their own individuality on them. As usual, what the architect said he was doing seems to be more important to some critics than the actual outcome of his work.) The Modern Movement's determination to break with the past; its preoccupation with the dawning of a new machine age in which life-styles would be radically different and people would be purified of their desire for ornamentation; was obviously attractive to those who wished to make a political break with past regimes.

Movements such as Neo-Classicism or Baroque were more-or-less consciously adopted by Church or State and in recent times the International Style was gradually adopted by the corporate sector and the rich. As we have seen, this led to left-wing writers accusing Modern architects of betraying their principles. A more level-headed view is that the pioneers never possessed strong political commitments in the first place as evidenced by their willingness to accept commissions from Fascist governments before the war. [Note 7.] It is inevitable that, since commissions for large buildings are handed out by governments and business corporations and occasionally by rich individuals, no style can make its mark on a large scale unless it is adopted by these clients.

A number of Post-Modern architects are currently defending themselves against charges that they have resurrected the stripped Neo-Classicism of Fascist Italy. The architects argue that a style which has developed over centuries does not become Fascist just because one client has adopted it, while their opponents argue that designers cannot ignore the associations which this style has for the present generation. [Note 8.]

There is a political cast to the strand of thought which considers that towns and buildings fail to satisfy the needs of their users because the design of them has been appropriated from the ordinary people by the distortions of capitalism, of socialist planning or of the architectural profession. The close-knit towns of 'simple' cultures are acclaimed as ideals. Some commentators wish to do away with the role of the architect altogether. As we saw in the previous Section (Fig. 10.42), others, like Kroll and Erskine try to solve the problem by involving the eventual users in the design of the building.

Visionary architecture.

Whilst engineers, as well as architects, are expected to be creative, it is conventional to expect an engineer who envisages a five-kilometre-span suspension bridge to have a fair idea of the forces involved and the size of the foundations, towers, deck and cables required.

There is a strong element in architectural thought which regards such practicalities as irrelevant. Projects range from the impossibly massive halls, pyramids and masonry spheres of Ledoux and Boullee; to the Metabolist structures in Japan and the Archigram projects for walking cities. [Note 9.]

Fig. 11.3. Impractical visions; are they too a possible source of inspiration? This project for the reconstruction of the Bibliothèque Royale (later Nationale) of Paris could not have been realised with contemporary materials. (Archt: E.-L. Boullée, 1785.) BNF.

Fig. 11.4. Metabolism: a visionary concept of adaptability and growth expressed by Kisho Kurakawa in his Takara Beautilion for Expo '70, Osaka, Japan. Kisho Kurokawa.

Such excesses should not be rejected out of hand because the projects of the 18th Century visionaries may have prepared the minds of later architects for the potentialities of the new materials and the new demands of the 19th Century. The potential value of temporarily forgetting about practical constraints is formally recognized in the 'Brain storming' technique for improving the creativity of designers (Chapter 15). As we saw in Chapter 8 a 'walking-city' of a sort did eventuate at Cape Kennedy, and factories such as those at Wallington (U.K.) have 'plug-in' features and considerable flexibility in planning.

Visionary Architecture of this sort should not be confused with its close cousin Fantastic Architecture, much of which is practicable and has been built, but whose purposes include surprise, delight and mystification. [See e.g. Conrads and Sperlich (1963) and Jencks (1979).]

Art-for-art's-sake.

This is perhaps the most difficult theme for an engineer to comprehend in a field such as architecture where there are so many practical requirements to be met and where the costs are enormous and often borne by taxpayers or customers who have little say in the matter. As we saw in Chapter 8 some engineers respond by opting to make no judgement whatsoever on the artistic merits of the structure and simply trying to provide the architect with whatever he requires (presumably trying to minimize the cost while doing so).

The subject here is not the concern of the average architect for appearance, but the concept, particularly prevalent in the 19th Century that the artist is set apart from society by a special licence to be more outrageous, egotistic and emotional than the average citizen. In other words he is expected to carry the burden and the risks of expressing those impulses which the rest of society feel obliged to suppress. Even the pioneers of the Machine-Age aesthetic are now recognized as having been to some extent 'artistic', in this sense. Examples are Mies' 'stuck-on' mullions and his disregard for everyday comfort in his box-like buildings [see Rudolph, quoted in Cook and Klotz (1973), p.121].

However there is a particular resurgence of artistry at the moment, with mannerist tendencies in evidence in the Post-Modern Movement and some architects seeing it as their duty to lead the public by presenting them with 'works of art' in advance of their current understanding.

As we saw in Chapter 10, the term 'Mannerism' was coined to describe the period in art history following the Renaissance, when there was a reaction to the ordered, disciplined and rational perfection of the previous movement at the height of its development. The concept has come to be applied to any similar process of reaction. The mainspring of Mannerism seems to be a technical virtuosity which can no longer accept the constraints of the discipline which nurtured it. There is a tendency to 'overdo' things; to communicate conflicting messages on several levels simultaneously, striving, as Venturi puts it, for complexity and contradiction. In discussing the connection between architectural symbolism and language, Jencks speaks of "calling attention to the language itself by misuse, exaggeration, repetition and all the devices of rhetorical skill" (1977, p.72) Thus the fluting, pedestal and capital which are normally associated with (to the architect 'signify') 'column' may appear on a horizontal balustrade.

An important part of Mannerism is the pleasure it provides the observer who can interpret the more subtle allusions. Shearman (1967, pp.159-60) sees this as an opportunity for the observer to participate by making his own contribution, while Jencks feels the observer is as uninvolved as when he is watching a Greek tragedy progress to its inevitable conclusion, simply marvelling at the unfolding complexities (1977, p.90).

While it is necessary to have some knowledge of art history to appreciate that the courtyard of the Lincoln Center in New York is a historicist parody of Michelangelo's Campidoglio in Rome, anybody can appreciate the jokes of Site Inc. [Note 10.]

Fig. 11.5. The grouping of buildings around the courtyard of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, and the design of the paving refer back to the Campidoglio, Rome. (Archts: Abramovitz, Harrison, Johnson, Saarinen, 1966.) [It is difficult to find a photo that shows the plaza pattern and the grouping of buildings. A night-time black-and-white can be found on a Landmark West! pdf file.]

Fig. 11.6. Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome (designed in the mid-sizteenth century). Rome Guide. Vitruvio.

Fig. 11.7. An architectural joke at the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. Post-Modern mannerism? (Archt: James Stirling, 1983.)

Conclusion.

This must bring to an end our brief discussion of the 'isms' of architectural philosophy. As may be seen from the relevant shelves in any library there is no end in space or time to debate on this matter. Concise explanations of some of the terms may be obtained in Hatje (1963) or from a general encyclopaedia. There is no need for the structural engineer to have a really detailed understanding in this area, but it will be of help if he can follow the language of both Modern and Post-Modern architecture and understand the general direction in which any particular architect is liable to be heading.

Suggestions for further reading are provided under the heading 'architecture: movements and ideals' in the section Sources for Assignments.

[Contents.] [References.]
[Previous Chapter.] [Next Chapter.]

Notes.

Note 1. See e.g. Vitruvii (1964), p.44. A modern English translation is contained in Morgan (1914), p.17. [Return.]

Note 2. Morgan (1914), p.16. Vitruvii (1964), p.42. See also Book Ten (Morgan p.281, Vitruvii p.456.) [Return.]

Note 3. See Schulze (1985): references in his Index to 'Space, generalisation of', especially p.109. [Return.]

Note 4. Pye is scathing about the concept of functionalism. The difficulty of defining it is a constant theme in his book - see especially his Chapters 1 and 11. On p.88 he writes of "Louis H. Sullivan who expiated on form following function in the most entrancing manner ("... the form, wave, looks like the function, wave ...") ..." These words come from Sullivan's Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings. [Return.]

Note 5. Loos (1908). This essay appeared in 1908 in a small magazine entitled Der Sturm which was published in Berlin by Herwarth Walden. To celebrate Loos's sixtieth birthday a group of friends and admirers assembled a collection of his writings under the title Trotzdem which was published in 1930 by Brenner, Vienna. (Information obtained from Rukschcio, B. and Schachel, R. Adolf Loos: Leben und Werk. Residenz, Salzburg, 1982.) [Return.]

Note 6. Sources on the Beaux-Arts tradition included Middleton (1982) and Drexler (1977). [Return.]

Note 7. This statement was based initially on Jencks (1973), pp.40 and 47-51. He states that modern architects including Mies and Gropius, and Corbusier in Vichy France, compromised with fascist officials, tried to persuade their governments that modern architecture was not incompatible with nationalism, and tried (mostly without success) to obtain commissions. Further information appears on pp.106, 113, and 119. However, Lane (1968) simply states that the German architects received no new commissions after 1933 and eventually emigrated (p.184). For Italy, see Jencks (48-50). This theme is expanded in Aesthetics of Built Form, Chapter 6, in the section entitled 'Built form and national politics'. [Return.]

Note 8. Accusations and defences are further discussed in Aesthetics of Built Form, Chapter 6, in the section entitled 'Belief, perception, and personality'. [Return.]

Note 9. My sources for Ledoux and Boullée were Christ (1961) and Montclos (1974). Main sources for Metabolism were Bognar (1985), pp.122-49 and Kurokawa (1977). For Archigram see Cook (1972). [Return.]

Note 10. Progressive Architecture, Jan. 1976, Architectural Record, Mar. 1977, and Architecture Australia, Oct.-Nov. 1977. [Return.]

Image Acknowledgements. Linked images, Chapter 11.

Grateful thanks to the following organisations which have made it possible to provide links to full colour photographs and descriptions of buildings for this chapter.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Link.
Kisho Kurokawa. Link.
Landmark West! Link.
National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian). Link.
Rome Guide Link.
Vitruvio. Link.

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