Modern Architecture: a critical history - Kenneth Frampton

Today I would like to introduce a handbook of modern architecture, like some kind of critical reviewing, for students of both Architecture and Art History. Maybe it should be not so extensive for students of a postgraduate degree of Architectural History, but it's a great previous step for beginners in the subject.

Frampton's work uses a very communicative language with b/w pictures everywhere, illustrating every single architectural history highlight, from mid XIX century till present times. Anyway, being not strictly up-to-dated, it's better a handbook for ''classical'' subject's history.

I like so much the fact that the book is divided by regional schools, or also, by different parts of an architect's work (such as Le Corbusier), thus, reading is quite easy and organized. What's more, each single chapter is relatively short, so it can be red in some minutes and give a perfect overview of a concrete theme, maybe before some lesson at the university!

As far as I know, the book has been translated into Spanish and Italian by the same editing house. Anyway, the price changes a lot from the original version in English to the translated ones. I let a link if you're interested, the book is available in major sites of online purchasing.

http://www.thamesandhudson.com/9780500203958.html

Architecture and a chancy context.

Today, I would like to show you a pair of examples of how can impact an architectural structure on today's city image. Architect's role nowadays is not only designing lines and building houses, but must have into account several issues such as ecological impact or urban integration.

The first example is that of Libeskind's Royal Museum at Ontario. Finished and opened in 2007 as the new main entrance for the museum, has the typical Libeskind's deconstructivist triangular forms, similar to those of the London Metropolitan University Graduate Center.

Here anyway, we find this structure added to a neo-romanesque building, the ancient part of the museum, hosting the collections. The work was controversial for the modern canadian city inhabitants, mainly because of its invading triangular structures seeming to fall over the street. But honestly, we need to acknowledge that urban canadian landscape is so plenty of styles, such revivals, and also a great part of its architectures, being state-of-art designs with cement and glass as major components, so Libeskind's work is clearly a contrast against the added building, but not totally comparing it with the city of Ontario.

The situation is totally the contrary in Oviedo, Spain. Santiago Calatrava built one of his typical pharaonic white structures as congress hall and commercial centre on a residential area of the city. The construction is surrounded by several brick-made flat buildings, some of them, being even taller than Calatrava's one. This context makes Calatrava's work appear strange over the city's landscape. Too much big and too much white. Local people made fun of it, saying that the Buenavista Palace, as it was named, looks like a huge UFO landing. Moreover, taking a glance from neighbor hills, the white and tall building makes a great impact within the evergreen and mountainous asturian landscape.

We will devote a further post to Meier's Ara Pacis Museum at Rome, a very critical case.

Organicism for housing spaces, a comparison.

Today I would like to introduce you a pair of the best examples of XX century's organicist architecture. First of all, we need to think that they're are quite different each other, not only geographically but also conceptually. The work of Moshe Safdie in the outskirts of Montreal, Habitat 67, shows a totally different idea from that of Hundertwasser in Vienna. Of course, there's a considerable chronological period between their projects, but apart from forms, similarities could be more than expected.

Hundertwasser's House is a highlight of Vienna's city profile. Against all classical conceptions such as the Austrian parliament, or Jugendstil's works, with that typical white façade and an apparent simplicity, Hundertwasserhaus arises as an alien within all this white urban jungle. The building, finished as late as 1985 (almost contemporary to the Safdie's work), looks like a clown's house, but it's just a very irregular and colorful façade, the interiors are well organized, and it's must be looked on as an artistic work, not as a serious architectonical attempt. Anyway, the trees over the roof contribute to show a very natural image.

As for Safdie's work the discourse is the country. Habitat 67 is a top of architectural engineering. The housing cubics, on a high independently way from each other, marking out the forms from outside, build an structure with a clear organic heritage, surrounded by private communal gardens, and in front of the city's lake's shore. The work was conceived for his degree thesis, and presented later as a proposal for a pavilion for the Expo 67. And again, plants and little trees over the roof. Le Corbusier never dies.

CCTV Headquarters (2009) - Rem Koolhaas

As I wrote on one for my earlier posts, we can see as a debate is taking place, involving both architects and societies. I remember that, the day before of my undergraduate's exam of Contemporary Architecture, I watched a documentary about one of the most influential architects today, the dutch Rem Koolhaas.

It has been said then, that he complained about the state of the public investments in architecture's projects in the Western World, mainly Europe, but also United Stated over the last years. And not maybe related to current economic crisis, but an ever-growing number of restrictions for high-scale buildings. He then, talk about China as the solution. A rich country with strong wishes of modern public structures.

After being Pekin as the host city for 2008 Olympics, the asiatic giant started a running for making the appearance of the country as the top of world's technology. Some specific structures were built ad hoc, such as the great Beijing National Stadium (by the swiss company Herzog & de Meuron).

But also the public service needed a help to modernize its appearance. Then Koolhaas made one of his masterworks, the Headquarters of the Chinese Public Television. A very simple but also physically complex structure, playing with rect's deformation. The works started in 2004.

Should be looked on anything else? Yes, the architecture is being used again for propagandistic aims by undemocratic governments. And, as it seems, the role of the architect is far from the real world, just his job matters. I'd much prefer the typical nineteen century's bourgeois custom.

Grass roofs, Iceland

Alvar Aalto was not the top of the nordic organic architecture. Some peasants from Iceland, I guess, nowadays successful rural tourism's managers, discovered the perfect union between building and nature, a bright green grass roof cover the traditional nordic rural domestic ambient. Of course, it's not just an aesthetic solution, but also a very useful tool against polar winds. Maybe this practice was already used by vikings settled over there (the rests of several early medieval farms are conserved in the same area).

These houses today are part of an icelandic national park, Skaftarell, which is visited by people looking for relaxing and nature, being the whole island plenty of that. What's better that being involved by earth while you're sleeping? And by way, enjoying great views about the breathtaking icelandic landscape.

Adolf Loos, past and future

About the Loos' works much have been said. He is known as Rationalism's forerunner, as modern reviewers have said. Of course, one thing is sure, to claim against the decoration at the end of the XIX century was so controversial, at Vienna, then flourishing capital of modernarchitecture, with people like Wagner, Hoffmann or Olbrich.

He was the contrary opinion to that stylistic trend. No decoration is needed for architecture if it's not for a functional goal. Today, his houses, mainly villas for commercial and banking austrian jet-set, appear as nude buildings, just white façades with some windows and even some ivy growing at the lower levels. They could be misunderstood even with a Le Courbusier's early works or some much more modern finnish trends for domestic architecture!

Curiously, this Loos' personal style, could be compared to a much more ancient and geographically far constructions, the typical mediterranean style houses of Greece and Andalusia, with their façades in white. There's no controversy here, just functionalism. Due to the high temperatures reached over summer times, ancient mediterranean workers decided to paint in white their houses to keep interior's temperature steady against a great heat.

Then, Loos' style was no functionalist, just theoretical, against a dominant trend in his society. He maybe studied ancient western architecture, I mean mainly greek and roman, as showing pure white façades, and claim then, against the excesses of his colleagues at a bourgeois society's service. One thing is sure, a economical saving can be done with some known tricks, but maybe, Austria or Czech Republic are not the best place to make the most of.

Burj Dubai (2010) - Adrian Smith & others

It's the tallest man-made structure ever. And nothing else here.

Its appearance on all media around the world, some months ago, when it was finally finished after six years of works, impressed to every single viewer. Well, not to all, because the people with some artistic or emotional consciousness suddenly felt themselves totally disappointed with the construction of this building. We going to try to find some explanations.

First of all, we have to think the place where this building was built on. Dubai, as you know, is the capital city of the United Arabic States, a ''new'' country from the global economic point of view.

So, we have to consider that, for them, speaking historically, it must to be a symbol of their country, a country with no icons recognized worldwide, as for example, the Barcelona's Sagrada Familia or the Moscow's Basilius Cathedral. Because of this, this state-of-art skyscraper is just a icon building, following the great example of Bilbao's Guggenheim or Sidney's Opera.

The monarchies of the Persian Gulf have enough money because of the petrol, and wishes to spend it to earn prestige around the world as a powerful and rich country. The area's landscape doesn't matter, there was nothing around, something impossible if it was in Rome, for example. It's a new country and it needs to have new buildings, the best ones, the tallest ones. Environmentally, it's a disaster. But they doesn't care because they have enough energetically resources.

It's a challenge for the modern architecture. However, one of the bad aspects of this matter is the conditions of the workers. We know that they're took in their native countries, such as India or Bangladesh, and they're paid badly and living on an inhuman conditions. But, going on this way, we have to consider the absence of human rights in this countries, ruled by autocratic monarchies as in medieval times. Is it again the architecture a tool of undemocratic rulers? Yes. Is it always a public enjoyment? No. We have to think about the actual paradise for architects, China.

We gonna go back to this point later, specially, with the relationship between this country and one of the best architects nowadays, Koolhaas.