DAYANAD SAGAR ACADAMY OF TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

Bangalore 560082

Theory of Architecture
09 ARC 6.8 6 TH S E M , B.ARCH. VTU SYLLABUS
1

While theory of design is intended to help design, it does not necessarily precede design. On the contrary, the first building where a new architectural style is exposed, is usually created
intuitively, without the help of any theory, just by the skill of a brilliant architect. The design theory comes a little later, and even less brilliant architects can then base their work on it.
Thematic or "analytic" theories are treatises which aim at the fulfilment of one principal goal of architecture
Theories of architectural synthesis are examples of theories which aim at fulfilling simultaneously several goals,
usually all the goals that are known.
Some of the theories are now certainly outdated and have little interest to a modern builder, but some contain still valid information about important goals of building, notably on the questions
of functionality, construction, economy and ecology.
theories can be seen as building-specific branches of the general goal-specific theories which pertain to all types of products and are listed in Paradigms Of Design Theory.

In present day, the design theory of architecture includes all that is presented in the handbooks of architects: legislation, norms and standards of building. All of them are intended to aid the
work of the architect and improve its product -- the quality of buildings technology and production in general: proven theory helps designers to do their work better and more effectively. It
occasionally even helps to do things that were believed to be impossible earlier on. As an old saying goes, there is nothing more practical than a good theory. The aesthetization of utilitarian
ideas is the primacy of architecture as a vessel of life, accommodating the needs of human beings

“Geometrical fundamentalism” aims to impose simple geometrical solids such as cubes, pyramids, and rectangular slabs on the built environment. This defines a characteristic of twentieth-
century architecture . A philosophy about geometrical shapes thus has an enormous socio-economic impact, by generating forces against globalization.
The modernist movement promised a radical new utopian society based on a fundamentalist belief in pure abstractions.
“ In art/architecture , like in any other work professional skills are needed and that is the same as knowing what you should do,

By Ar. K.S.Mukunda Prof Emirates.

DSATM Bangalore
THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE II
VTU. SYLLABUS
2
 Theory is an interpretation of Design ideas. It gives a tangiable understanding of an otherwise
ambigious architectural thought process for Designing new things in Architecture
 THEORY PRACTICE of what is new to be adopted
3
Time period Theorists
Antiquity Vitruvious
Middle age Abbot suger
Renaissance Alberty , Andre Palladio
Nineteenth Cent John Ruskin, Violet le duc,
20th cent Adolf loos, Erro Sarinen , Eric
Mendalson, Richard Neutra
Post modern Robert ventury , Charls Jencks
Deconstruction Frank gehry, Jacques Derida

Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, or most importantly writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in most
architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the
treatise or book, and the paper project or competition entry. Architectural theory is often didactic, and theorists tend to stay close to or work from
within schools. It has existed in some form since antiquity, and as publishing became more common, architectural theory gained an increased
richness. Books, magazines, and journals published an unprecedented amount of works by architects and critics in the Twentieth century. As a
result, styles and movements formed and dissolved much more quickly than the relatively enduring modes in earlier history. It is to be expected that
the use of the internet will further the discourse on architecture in the Twenty first century.
 "Because I saw that you [Caesar] have built and are now building extensively, I have drawn-up definite
rules to enable you to have personal knowledge of the quality both of existing buildings and of those which
are yet to be constructed." (Vitruve, Book I, )

 "Architects everywhere have recognized the need of

... a tool which may be put in the hands of creators
of form, with the simple aim ... of making the bad
difficult and the good easy" .
(Le Corbusier, The Modulor, Foreword of 2nd ed. 1951)

Essays and notes for lectures and articles by architects and architectural historians
may provide relevant information on architectural theory. Architectural theory
encompasses all the principles and concepts underlying the practice of architecture,
from the fundamental theories of classical proportions to theories about the social
or cultural role of architecture. It is therefore a wide-ranging subject upon which
many architects and architectural historians produce essays, articles and reports.
Some architects come to prominence as theorists as well as practitioners. One such
is C.R. Cockerell (1788-1863), whose buildings are now widely admired but whose
commitment to the principles of Greek Classical architecture in the Victorian Gothic
era won him many commissions
 The Antiquity era
 1. Sumerian
5
 2.Assyrian
 3.Egyptian Beginning of Architectural evolution
ORIGINALITY & INVENTION
 4. Greek
Architectural theory----1st cent B>C
 5.Roman VITRUVIOUS
 6. Byzentine

Not all industrial products are modern inventions. There are several types of artifacts that have been produced during generations.
Accordingly, these artifacts have also been the object of many studies and theories. The most notable example of these is the
building. The art and science of architecture has been studied almost continuously during two millennia, and a great number of
these treatises have been preserved until our day.
Informative studies aim at reporting the present (or past) state of the object which in architectural studies can be either one
building or any defined class or series of buildings, as well as people related to these buildings.
Explanatory studies try to find out why each building has taken the shape that they have. The reasons can be taken either from the
past (causal explanation), from the concurrent context, or alternatively from the future (i.e. from the intentions of the builders).
Normative studies attempt to point out in which respects the object of study could be improved, and the method of doing it. When
the outcome of normative studies is generalizable to later similar objects, we can call it theory of design
Recent studies about architecture and buildings can usually be classified into one or the other of the above three genres of research
(if not being combinations of them). However, when looking at earlier writings it turns out that practically all papers published before 18
century belong exclusively to the third group, i.e. to design theory
6
7
 Vitruve's
10 Books of Architecture

8 The theory of antiquity & renaisance

begins with VITRUVIOUS written in
his 10 books on Architecture
composd by him in Roman
Architecture.
It has become an Architecture
trestise to servive from antiquity.
Hence Vitruvious is considered as
the primary authority in
Architectural thinking for almost
1800 years now. His 10 books of
Vitruve's book consists almost only of normative theory of design. His Architecture are the oldest surviving
rules are usually based on practical points or reasoning; sometimes he
also motivates them by saying that this has always been done, i.e., works & cover a wide variety of
with historical tradition. subjects relating to Architecture such
Vitruve discusses not only one theme but several practical goals of
building, each one of these in a separate chapter of the book. The as, Engineering, Sanitation Practical
treatise can be seen as a collection of parallel thematic theories of hydralics, Acoustics etc,. Its in
design. Vitruve gives no method for combining these into a synthesis,
he only presents a classification (I:3:2) of all the requirements set for vitruvious study we see the Classical
buildings: Orders of Architecture like
durability (firmitas)
practicality or "convenience" (utilitas) DORIC, IONIC,
pleasantness (venustas). TUSCAN & CORINTHIAN
9
 10

Vitruvious , in the introduction of book VII; most of them described a

temple. Two of the writings were about proportions, and as many as nine
writers spoke about the "laws of symmetry", which in modern terminology
mostly mean the systems of module measuring. Vitruve's book consists
almost only of normative theory of design. His rules are usually based on
practical points or reasoning;
 “Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement,
Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety(decorum), and Economy “

11

Vitruve discusses not only one theme but several practical

goals of building, he only presents a classification (I:3:2) of all
the requirements set for buildings:
durability (firmitas)
practicality or "convenience" (utilitas)
pleasantness (venustas).
Word “Eurythmy” refers to"harmonious movement "Eurythmy is beauty and fitness in the adjustments of the members
The important role of Eurythmy in Vitruvius's architectural theory is, well established.

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI

(1404-72) belonged to universal geniuses of Renaissance
 12

To give structure and decoration to facades, Alberti developed a clever

system of classical pilasters and architraves which could be
superimposed on any earlier smooth surface. Alberti used the name
"ornamentum" ('equipment', 'decoration') for these architectural
elements.
13

Giacomo (Jacopo) Barozzi da Vignola is another distinguished

author. In his book Regola delle cinque ordini (1562) he wanted to
present the "concise, fast and easily applicable rules of the five
column systems.
" Vignola based his design instructions on four things, which were:
the idea of Pythagoras that the proportions of small integers meant
harmony
the proportions and other instructions provided by Vitruve
the example set by earlier buildings and
general good taste, whatever that meant when interpreted by each
writer
 True Palladianism" in Villa Godi by Palladio from
the Quattro Libri dell'Architettura. The extending wings
are agricultural buildings and are not part of the villa. In
the 18th century they became an important part of
Palladianism—

14

A villa with a superimposed

Palladian portico
Palladian motif

A door or window opening in three parts, divided by posts, with a lintel flat over each side but arched
over the center. the motif was first described in the work L'architettura (1537), by the Italian architect
Sebastiano Serlio, it is also known as the Serlian motif, or Serliana, and the window derived from
it may be called a Serlian window. It is also sometimes called a Venetian window
The Middle Ages
15
 The Middle Ages; Most documents remaining from the Middle Ages have to do
with the monastery institution. The convents erected a great number of buildings.
there was little interest in mundane values like the qualities of architecture,
Fortunately, the libraries of the monasteries preserved at least some fragments of the
architectural theory of antiquity for a long time, While much of the surviving
medieval architecture is either religious or military, examples of civic and even
domestic architecture can be found throughout Europe. Examples include manor
houses, town halls, almshouses and bridges
 The classical system of the "orders" (on the right) became the most visible contents
of architectural theory, although it also emphasized the composition of building
masses and rooms and the concepts of proportion and harmony. The classical style is
aptly called 'mannerism' in some countries.
 craftsmen in the building trade started forming guilds (German: Bauhütte). These
guilds probably gathered a great deal of traditional information related to
construction, but it seems to have remained a professional secret of the guilds and
the masters,
 In antiquity and in the Middle Ages, architects designed not only the layout and
decoration but also the construction and stability of the buildings
 Central figures in developing the mathematical construction theory were Robert
Hooke (1635-1703), Jakob Bernoulli (1654-1705) and Leonhard Euler (1707-1783).
All of them published several books. From Euler onwards, the theory of elasticity of
structures developed side by side with mathematical theory.
 The great architecture of medieval Europe was predominantly sacred.
Nonetheless, serveral styles of buildings devloped like Romanesque & gothic
etc,.the Byzantines developed a unique architectural decorative style. Which was
very grand.
 The best architectural development for most people was the invention of the
chimney in the Early Middle Ages, which made people's houses less smoky
Thematic Theories of Architecture
Paradigm (=style) of
architecture:
Doric, Ionian and Corinthian style and their
varieties in ancient Greece and Rome
Romanesque and Gothic styles.
Renaissance, baroque, rococo, neo-classical
style
Large constructions: bridges and halls.
"Structuralist" styling (=which emphasizes the
structure).
l'Art Nouveau. Personal styles of architectural
geniuses:
Functionalism.
Postmodernism and Deconstruction
16
Basic presentation of its theory:
Vitruv De Architectura libridecem.
It was mainly documention of earlier architectural traditions.
Medieval anonymous tradition of trade guilds has not survived
to us; minor fragments are the following: Villard de
Honnecourt and Schmuttermayer.
Alberti: De re Aedificatoria. Serlio, Vignola, Palladio..
Hooke, Bernoulli,
Euler...
Gaudi, Viollet-le-Duc, Le coorbusier etc,.
The teaching of Gropius and Bauhaus. Adolf Loos. Neufert
(1936): Bauentwurfslehre led to the Modernism in
Architecture
Robert Venturi opposed to the simple "matchbox (Modern)
architecture“ and he embraced everything from decorative art
to abstract art for façade treetment.
 Skill without knowledge is nothing.
Paradigms Of Design Theory.
Paradigm (=style) of architecture: Basic presentation of its theory:
17
 While theory of design is intended to help design, it does not necessarily precede design. On the contrary, the first
building where a new architectural style is exposed, is usually created intuitively, without the help of any theory,
just by the skill of a brilliant architect. The design theory comes a little later, and even less brilliant architects can
then base their work on it.
 In the following are examples of traditions of theory, in other words, paradigms that architects have applied at
different times. They are classified in two groups in the following:
 Thematic theories
 Theories of synthesis
 Thematic theories are treatises which aim at the fulfilment of one principal goal, usually at the cost of other
customary goals of building. Theories which aim at fulfilling simultaneously several goals, perhaps all the goals
that are known, are discussed on the page Theories of architectural synthesis.
 Thematic or "analytic" theories are treatises which aim at the fulfilment of one principal goal of architecture. They
are often based on profound analyses of this goal, often made at the cost of other customary goals of building. This
adds to the clarity of the theory, and also of the buildings that are designed on its basis. They are often admirable
works of art and can be used as exemplars in the education of younger architects.
 On the other hand, over stressing just one goal of building has often made these edifices impractical and
inadequate in other respects. Indeed, many of them are today no more used for their originally intended purposes
but are instead serving as tourist attractions or museums.
 Theories of architectural synthesis are examples of theories which aim at fulfilling simultaneously several goals,
usually all the goals that are known. These paradigms are commonly applied in conventional construction projects
which then produce practical but customary looking buildings which will probably never be included in the books
on architectural history.
 Some of the theories in the table are now certainly outdated and have little interest to a modern builder, but some
contain still valid information about important goals of building, notably on the questions of functionality,
construction, economy and ecology.
 A building was beautiful if its appearance was pleasant, it was in accordance with good taste, and its parts follow
proportions (lat. proportio) and the "symmetry" of measures (the unusual definition of symmetryAlongside with
listing classical "orders" of columns, the writers analysed other formal characteristics of architecture, such as the
balance, scale and rhythm of building blocks, rooms and components.
 Construction Theory
18
 The name "engineer", which comes form the Latin word ingenium =
"genius" or "a product of genius", "invention", had already been used in
the Middle Ages for skilful architects
 From times immemorial, available building materials and tools have
determined or at least modified building forms, as can be seen in many
surviving examples of vernacular architecture which have been created
without the help of architects or theory.
 The era before written construction theory produced some admirable
buildings. For example in Mesopotamia a stone vault with a span of over
20m has been standing well over two millennia and exists still to day.
Because its shape exactly duplicates that of a catenary curve, we can
assume that its design was based on the invention This means that the
Building Ensuing shape can be copied to stone masonry which is well able to resist pure
material architectural compression but not stretching tension. It thus seems probable that the
builders used a mechanical analogous model instead of those
form: mathematical algorithms that we use in modern construction. Central
Amorphic Spherical vaulted figures in developing the mathematical construction theory were Robert
material construction: the Hooke (1635-1703), Jakob Bernoulli (1654-1705) and Leonhard Euler
:softstone,snow igloo,trulli (South (1707-1783). All of them published several books
Italy), nuraghi  The most consequent applications of construction theory are today large
(Sardinia)
edifices like bridges and industrial halls Examples of lofty constructions
which also are great architecture created by engineers are the bridges of
Maillart (fig) and many exhibition or athletics halls.( Fig), a restaurant
Sheets of skin Cone shaped tent- building with a span of 30m, constructed by Weidlinger and Salvadori.
or textile, and like constructions.
poles.
 The situation is slightly different in the design of modern office or
residential buildings. Their architecture is not as much dictated by
constructional principles. The reason is that modern building materials,
Logs of wood Box shaped notably steel and reinforced concrete, are so strong that almost any
construction architectural form is equally feasible. Anyway, many architects have
wanted to create distinctively structural or "constructivist" forms
Personal Styles; ‘form language" of new
buildings, ( 18th to 20th cent)
19
 Since the times of Renaissance, all the renowned architects and theorists in Europe had taken it for
granted that the "form language" of new buildings, i.e., the systems of columns and decorations had to
be copied from antiquity, where they had already been brought to perfection. The only thing designers of
new buildings then had to do was to combine and modify these elements in order to fit them to the
practical requirements and resources of each commissioner. Some sporadic protests had been heard. But
they did not affect the mainstream of design.
 The first theorist who set out to create a totally new system of architectural forms independent of
antiquity was Eugène Viollet-le-Duc(1863). In his book he states that "what we call taste is but an
involuntary process of reasoning whose steps elude our observation". "Authority has no value if its
grounds are not explained" . Given the fact that the foundations of modern architecture cannot possibly
be the same as those prevalent in Greece 2000 years ago, Viollet-le-Duc saw as his mission to develop a
new architecture which would be based, in the same way as Descartes' philosophy, only on facts and
reasonable conclusions reached on the basis of them.
 "A door ought to be made for the purpose of going into a building or going out of it; the width of such
door ought therefore be accommodated to the ... number of persons who have occasion to go in or out;
but however dense a crowd may be, the persons are always under seven feet in height; ... To make a door
five yards wide and ten high is therefore absurd."
 "A column is a support, not a decoration, like a frieze or an arabesque; if then you have no occasion for
columns, I cannot understand why you furnish your facades with them."
 "A cornice is intended to keep the water from the face of the wall: if therefore you put a projecting
cornice in an interior, I cannot but say that it is unmeaning."Viollet-le-Duc tried to put his theories to
practice in his own design as well. In it, he was carried on to bring the theoretical logic of the
constructions so far that few people would consider the product beautiful. The decoration has thus a
rational foundation, as Viollet's theory dictates.
 Although Viollet-le-Duc could not create a timeless architectural style himself, he showed others the
philosophical foundation and method that they could use to develop even radically new form languages.
 Owen Jones was another important writer that inspired young architects to create new formal styles. He
studied the methods of exploiting an eternal source of architectural forms: nature and especially the
forms of plants. The result of his studies became the first design instruction on the use of ornaments
originating in nature: Grammar of Ornament (1856). One of its 37 rules (no 13) states that "flowers or
other natural objects should not be used as ornaments", instead acceptable are "conventional
representations founded upon them sufficiently suggestive to convey the intended image to the mind,
without destroying the unity of the object they are employed to decorate." And rule 35 says that
"imitations, such as the graining of woods, and of the curious coloured marbles [are] allowable only
when the employment of the thing imitated would not have been inconsistent."
l'Art Nouveau --- Le Corbusier
20
 After the Gothic style, the first architectural style independent of the tradition of antiquity in Europe was l'Art
Nouveau. Its origins included the philosophy of Viollet-le-Duc and the rules and examples of Owen Jones but
no considerable theoretical research was done by the creators of this style. It may even be that, because of the
world war, the hegemony of "Jugendstil" became so short that people never got as far as to do research. In art,
it is often so that the works of a new style first come about without any explicit theory, guided by the intuition,
and only after a few years do their principles become clear to such an extent that they may be worded
 The example set by l'Art Nouveau encouraged some of the most skilful architects of our century to create their
private form languages. The first of these was Le Corbusier, who also presented a short written foundation to
his system of proportions (based on the Golden Section) in the book Modulor (1951). Its fundamental
perceptive psychology base was presented already 1923 in the book Vers une architecture:
 "Architecture is a brilliant, orthodox and original jigsaw puzzle of masses combined in light. Our eyes were
created to see the forms in light; light and shadow reveal the forms. Cube s, cones, balls, cylinders and
pyramids are primary shapes that light so excellently reveals; the picture they give to us is clear and
perspicuous without indecision. That is why they are beautiful forms.“
 Alongside with l'Art Nouveau, Le Corbusier based his style on the study of natural forms of plants.
Characteristic of Le Corbusier is that buildings are understood as giant sculptures (see e.g. the Ronchamp
chapel, on the right).

 Corbusier published in 1926 a paper Les 5 points d'une architecture nouvelle where he declared the cardinal
rules of "new architecture". They were (as explained by Kenneth Frampton, 1980, p. 157):
 "Pilotis" or columns elevating the building body off the ground,
 The free plan, achieved through the separation of the load-bearing columns from the walls subdividing the
space,
 The free façade, the corollary of free plan in the vertical plane,
 The long horizontal sliding window or fenêtre en longeur,
 The roof garden, restoring, supposedly, the area of garden used up by the house.
 Le Corbusier illustrated his "5 points" by pairs of sketches (above) where the traditional model was shown on
the right and the new style on the left.
 The theoretical proposals of Le Corbusier, and also his sculptural buildings, received at first much attention
among Functionalist architects, but fresh theories were soon put forward by other authors. Some of these
pronounced an exactly opposite notion: the core and crux of architecture is not the sculptural pattern, but
instead the building interiors. These can be seen as "negative solids", as voids which the artist divides,
combines, repeats and emphasizes in the same way as the sculptor treats his "positive" lumps of substance.
The most notable treatise on this topic is Architecture as space by Bruno Zevi (1974).
Functionalism way to humanize architecture
21
 The intended uses of new buildings have certainly influenced their architecture long before the emergence of
first architects or theories. Examples of this can be seen in ancient vernacular buildings:
 The usability of buildings is one of the three cornerstones of Vitruve's theory, and he writes tens of pages about
it. From Renaissance onwards it did not receive as much attention from researchers; At the beginning of the
20th century, some more extensive studies on it appeared, e.g. the following:
 Louis Sullivan (1856 - 1924): Ornament in architecture (1892)
 Otto Wagner (1841 - 1918): Moderne Architektur (1895) among others
 F.L. Wright (1869 - 1959), several short writings.
 Despite of the influential slogan of Sullivan, "Form follows function" no coherent theory of functionalism was
created before the 1920s when it started to unfold in the Bauhaus school headed by Walter Gropius (1883-
1969). The results are well presented in the book Bauentwurfslehre (1936) by Ernst Neufert who worked as an
assistant to Gropius. On the right is an illustration from it, showing functional space needs in a hospital.
 "Function" of the building meant to the first developers and supporters of the Functionalist theory mostly the
physical requirements (primarily dimensions) that were necessary to carry out the practical corporeal activities
in the building. Psychological needs of the great public were largely ignored. When it thus became necessary to
refer, for example, to the concept of "beauty" it was usually defined on the basis of the functionalist doctrine,
for example as being equal to good functionality or to high quality of fabrication.
 Gropius defined: 'Beauty' is based on the perfect mastery of all the scientific, technological and formal
prerequisites of the task ... The approach of Functionalism means to design the objects organically on the basis
of their own contemporary postulates, without any romantic embellishment or jesting

 If a layman happened to have other ideals of beauty and he or she wanted to have more decoration on a
building, these wishes were often disregarded as "bad taste". A manifesto by Adolf Loos (1908), Ornament and
Crime, had great influence on architects. Loos declared that people who liked ornamentation (for example, if
they wore tattooing) were either immature, primitive or even antisocial. In contrast, cultivated people prefer
unadorned, plain surfaces, he said. Accordingly, functionalist architects avoided decoration of buildings and
favored simple geometric forms.
 Functionalist architects understood how essential it is to base their design on empirical research. . However,
research on the psychological needs of building users was slow to speed up, which was regretted by several of
the pioneers of Functionalism (like Sullivan, Gropius and Breuer) in their more mature age. For example, Alvar
Aalto wrote in 1940 in the journal The Technology Review: During the past decade, Modern architecture has
been functional chiefly from the technical point of view, with its emphasis mainly on the economic side of the
building activity... But, since architecture covers the entire field of human life, real functional architecture must
be functional mainly from the human point of view. ... Technic is only an aid ... Functionalism is correct only if
enlarged to cover even the psychophysical field. That is the only way to humanize architecture.
Systems Building from prefabricated components
"match-box architecture".
22
 In accord with the vigorous tradition of handicraft of Bauhaus, Functionalist
architects tried to respect not only the functional requirements of the consumers but
also those of the construction industry. They soon learned that the productivity of
building was greatly improved when as many building components as possible were
produced in permanent factories, instead of making them on the building site in
awkward places and in unpredictable weather. The economy of mass production, in
turn, advocates designing the products so that they do not vary too much. it should
be composed from identical components as far as possible. At least the components
should have uniform dimensions and if there must be variation between them it
should be of a kind that creates minimal problems for the factory. The theoretical
basis for architecture using prefabricated identical components was largely adopted
from the science of normative economics. The new prefabrication-oriented style of
architecture propagated itself not through an explicit theory or treatises, but instead
through the medium of exemplars, bold novel designs by innovative architects.
Among these perhaps the most influential was Mies van der Rohe, director of
Bauhaus from 1930 to 33 and of the department of architecture at the Illinois
Institute of Technology from 1939 to 1959. He had designed all the main buildings
of the school and had ample opportunities to profess the philosophy behind their
architecture. His catchphrases "Less is more" and "next to nothing" describe his
attitude to surface decoration.
 Most of Mies' followers were gifted with less subtle taste of detail and the
prefabricated style of building soon became known as "match-box architecture". The
design of many a suburb was largely dictated more by the radius of the crane than
by the needs of the future inhabitants.

 several Functionalist architects wished to have more research on the psychological

needs of customers, but the work was slow to catch on
 Ecological Architecture
Making a shelter from bad weather was certainly one of the earliest goals of building,
and it has also later affected the building forms.
23
In the Western countries room air conditioning is now so common
that we have almost forgotten the above foundations of architecture,
see e.g. Mechanisation Takes Command, by Sigfried Giedion (1950).
Nevertheless, lately the ecological imperative has again come to
surface, the natural resources of earth dwindling and the people in
developing countries starting to contend their share. It goes without
saying that the theory of ecological architecture can be based on the
findings of industrial ecology which lately has made great progress

The physical appearance of ecological architecture is often

Climatic Ensuing architectural form:
incentive:
Excessive cold Airtight, isolating outer skin.
In the centre a source of
warmth
Excessive heat Large roof to give shadow;
large openings in the walls to
allow ventilation
Too hot in daytime Thick heavy walls
and too cold during
the night
dominated by large sloping panels which gather solar energy. These
are placed on the roofs and along the southern walls. As a contrast,
the cool side of the building is characterized by the absence of large
openings, and the windows on this side can be covered for the night.,
extract from the book Energiakäsikirja [Energy Handbook] (1983).
Another approach in ecological design deals with building materials
and aims at minimizing the use of not replenishable raw materials.
This means preferring such building materials as wood, stone, earth
and recycled material like used boxes and barrels, and naturally it
necessitates a peculiar style of architectural design as well
Post-Modernism and Deconstruction
24
 In his bookComplexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966), Robert Venturi opposed to simple
"matchbox architecture". He analysed numerous esteemed historical architectural masterpieces starting
from the works of Michelangelo and noticed that Mies' motto was mistaken.
It was the other way round: "Less is a bore", said Venturi. Architects have always pursued contradictory aims
and it is this exactly tension that creates the final enjoyable, exquisite result, Venturi explained. It would be
too trivial to follow simply and logically just one goal, for example the clarity of construction, as did the
structural school of architecture. On the contrary, many famous architects have wanted to show their skill by
hinting that all the rules are there to be broken. Historical examples are the Baroque columns in the sketches
on the left and the right
 "I welcome the problems and exploit the uncertainties. By embracing contradiction as well as complexity, I aim for vitality as well as validity." "I like elements which are
hybrid rather than "pure," compromising rather than "clean," distorted rather than "straightforward," ambiguous rather than "articulated," ... redundant rather than
simple; inconsistent and equivocal rather than direct and clear." ... "I am for richness of meaning rather than clarity of meaning ... A valid architecture evokes many levels
of meaning ... its elements become readable and workable in several ways at once.“

 Venturi's aesthetics demands a lot of the spectator: if the spectator is to read the message of architecture in
several parallel ways, he should know the conventional interpretations, i.e., the main points from the history
of architecture, in advance. Architecture becomes thus an art which can be fully appreciated only by other
artists and educated critics, not by laymen -- a deplorably usual case in modern art.
If the spectator is up to his task, he has expectations of the object of art. He relates the work to known
references: to other comparable works of art and historical styles. The "competent" observer is also able to
estimate if the work obeys these styles or if it deviates from them on purpose; and if there is such a deviation,
he knows that he is supposed to find out the purpose and the message of the deviation. Finding this kind of
clues, especially if it is not too easy, is conducive to the feeling of "eureka" which is one of the basic factors of
aesthetic pleasure.

 he applied his theory to numerous new buildings and thus became the founder of the architectural style
called postmodernism.
 Deliberate contradiction received some philosophical support in Jacques Derrida's several writings between
1967 and 1972, where he points out the inevitability of ambiguity in all human activity and especially in
written texts. When applied to architecture , Derrida's ideas were taken to mean that there is no need to
aspire to consistent and harmonious general pattern for a building. Instead, the principle of
deconstruction (or 'deconstructivism') states that it is all right if the architect lets the eventual
contradictions in the builder's goals shine through the finished design as well.
 Another usual trick was to manipulate the grid of construction which since Functionalism had become a
conventional instrument of design giving crystalline structure to modern buildings. Typical for
deconstructivists was to use simultaneously two (or even more) interlocking grids which departed from each
other by a few degrees. This created at once a multitude of clashing points, each of them then presenting to
the architect a new and unique problem to be solved ingeniously.
 Modernism vs Post modernism.
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 1. modernism (1932-1984) industrial revolution broke out by
around 1790, and became in full swing by the 1830-1840. the new
technology led to use of new materials like iron, concrete and
glass. the crystal palace by joseph paxton for the great exhibition
of 1851 was an early example of steel and glass construction. by
1890, louis sullivan built skyscrapers, and by 1900s, f.l. wright
employed concrete.(u.s) some historians regard modernism as a
battle against the lavishness of eclecticism and art nouveau. by
1920s, the three most important members of modernism
established themselves-corbusier(france), mies and
gropius(germany)-the latter two, directors of bauhaus. in 1932
came moma exhibition by philip johnson. his work as well as
henry-russel hitchcock’s, is called international style. with world
war ii, the bauhaus figures fled to u.s. modernism never became
prominent in case of houses, but for in dustrial and commercial
buildings that was the only acceptable solution from 1932 to 1984.
Example of modernism architecture
 2. crystal palace
 3. sullivan’s skyscraper- wainwright building
 4. falling water The architecture of this building
 5. corbusier’s city of tomorrow would be consider modern because
of the fact that the architecture is
 Postmodernism began to emerge in the 1960s after WWII and pure perfection, there is an equal
continues to grow today. Postmodernism embraced everything balance within the structure and
from decorative art to abstract art. It put a high emphasis on the architecture has no reference
conceptual thinking and how you go about elements of design. to anything, the only reference in
Postmodernism also paved the way for artist to think outside the this design is itself.
box in the design process. Post modernists are more concerned
with the concept of the art rather than the skill level demonstrated
in the art itself; they believe in good concepts rather the pure
perfection as in modernist

Example of Postmodernism architecture

Question bank

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Thank you
& wish you all the best
Prof Mukund