HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

BERNALD TSHUMI
WRITER, CRITIC , ARCHITECT AND EDUCATOR RELATED TO DECONSTRUCTIVISM
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

BERNALD TSHUMI
Famous works on Tschumi’s credit are:
1979. Architecturalmanifestals, London, Architectural Association.
1985. a Case Vide: la Villette.
1996. Architecture and Disjuctions: Collected Essays 1975–1990, MIT Press,
London.
1994. Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge, MIT Press
1994. The Manhattan Transcripts, London, Academy Editions.
2003. Universe, New York.
2004. Veronique Descharrieres, Luca Merlini, Bernard Tschumi Architects:
Virtuael, Actar.
2005. Event-Cities 3 : Concept vs. Context vs. Content, MIT Press.
2006. Bernard Tschumi: Conversations with Enrique Walker, Monacelli Press
.
After graduation, Tschumi boosted his rst in uential project in 1983. It was a landscape design competition project with the name Parc de La Villette which gathered 460
teams from 41 countries, and Tschumi beat them all. But before this practical adventure, Tschumi had already won recognition in academic world as a theorist through his
notable writings and drawings. 1983 was the year when he set his of cial architectural practice in Paris and in 1988 he inaugurated Bernard Tschumi Architects (BTA), whose
headquarters are located in New York City. In 2002 he further expanded his practice through another of ce under the name Bernard Tschumi urbanistes Architectes (BtuA), in
Paris.

Tschumi has adopted a very unique approach regarding architecture throughout his career. He negates the necessity of chemistry between user and the building for
a feasible and successful design. He states this notion in a most genuine way possible as, “Any relationship between a building and its users is one of violence, for
any use means the intrusion of a human body into a given space, the intrusion of one order into another.” He is of opinion that the architectural form should not be
supporting the programs and events taking place in it but instead it should be questioning and challenging the potential of that peculiar building and cultivate possibilities
for it to function in an even better way.

To explain architecture in a more comprehensive way Tschumi mixed his architectural teachings with other media like lm and literary theory. His demonstrations became
more elaborated by 1970s when he taught at the Architectural Association and adopted montage technique to clarify programs, systems of space, event, and
movement, as well as visual and formal qualities of an architectural piece. His work is quite often regarded as Deconstructive and is blamed to focus more on
intellectual part than the human requirements associated with his buildings.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

PHILOSOPHY
1. ‘ FORM FOLLOWS FICTION ‘ is one example of Bernald Tschumi’s rules
of architectonic notation that have made him an internationally
in uential theorist.

2. He has applied his theories to the problems of cultural and

educational institutions,with his approach evident in his successful
proposal for the project that catapulted him to prominence, the PARC
`DE LA VILLETTE, PARIS in 1998.

3. Theory of timelessness

4. RED IS NOT A COLOUR

5.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

INFLUENCE
The big in uence on this work were the theories and structural diagramming by the RUSSIAN
CINEMATOGRAPHER SERGEI EISENSTEIN produced for his own lms. Tschumi adapted Eisentein’s
diagrammatic methodology in his investigations to exploit the interstitial condition between the elements
of which a system is made of : space , event , and movement .

This approach unfolded along the two lines in his architectural practice: rst , by exposing the
conventionally de ned connections between architectural sequences and the spaces, programs, and
movement which produce and reiterate these sequences ; and second , by inventing new associations
between space and the events that ‘take place’ within it through processes of defamiliarization, de-
structuring , superimposition, and cross programming.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

SCREENPLAYS,1978
“The Screenplays are investigations of concepts as well as techniques, proposing simple hypotheses and then testing them out. They explore the relation
between events (“the program”) and architectural spaces, on one hand, and transformational devices of a sequential nature, on the other.”

The use of lm images in these works originated in Tschumi’s interest in sequences and programmatic concerns. (“There is no architecture without action, no
architecture without event, no architecture without program.”) Rather than composing ctional events or sequences, it seemed more informative to act upon
existing ones.The cinema thus was an obvious source. At the same time, the rich formal and narrative inventions of the only genuine 20th-century art inevitably
encouraged parallels with current architectural thought. Flashbacks, crosscutting, jumpcuts, dissolves and other editing devices provided a rich set of
analogies to the time and space nature of architecture.
Yet the concerns of the Screenplays were essentially architectural. They dealt with issues of:
material (generators of form: reality, abstraction, movement, events, etc.)
device (disjunction, distortion, repetition, and superimposition)
counterpoint (between movement and space, events and spaces, etc.) The Screenplays aimed at developing a contemporary set of architectural tools.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

SCREENPLAYS,1978
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

The Manhattan Transcripts, 1976 - 81.

““Architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event, action, and what
happens in space.”
The Manhattan Transcripts differ from most architectural drawings insofar as they are neither real
projects nor mere fantasies.

Developed in the late 1970s, they proposed to transcribe an architectural interpretation of

reality. To this aim, they employed a particular structure involving photographs that either directed
or witnessed events (some would call them “functions” others “programs”).

At the same time, plans, sections, and diagrams outlined spaces and indicated the movements of
the different protagonists intruding into the architectural “stage set”.

The Transcripts explicit purpose was to transcribe things normally removed from conventional
architectural representation, namely the complex relationship between spaces and their use,
between the set and the script, between “type” and “program”, between objects and events.

The dominant theme of the Transcripts is a set of disjunctions among use, form, and social values,
the non-coincidence between meaning and being, movement and space, man and object was the
starting condition of the work.

Yet the inevitable confrontation of these terms produced effects of far ranging consequence.
The Transcripts tried to offer a different reading of architecture in which space, movement and
events were independent, yet stood in a new relation to one another, so that the conventional
components of architecture were broken down and rebuilt along different axes.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

The competition for the Parc de la Villette was organized by the French Government in 1982 as a part of “Les Grands Projets de L’Etat à Paris” commissioned by
President Francois Mitterand.
Its objectives were both to mark the vision of an era and to act upon the future economic and cultural development of a key area in Paris.
Tschumi wanted to test his ideas in competitions with other architects, and he entered the competition for the design of the Parc de le Villette against 470 other
designers. Up to this point, he believed his architecture would be purely theoretical. However, he surprised himself and won the competition, the rst he ever
entered.
Despite its name, the park as designated in the competition was not to be a simple landscape replica. On the contrary, the brief for this “Urban Park for the
21st Century” developed a complex program of cultural and entertainment facilities, encompassing, open-air theatres, restaurants and cafes, art galleries,
music and video workshops, playgrounds and computer displays, as well as the obligatory gardens where cultural invention, rather than natural recreation was
encouraged.
The object of the competition was to select a chief architect who would oversee the master
plan and build the “structuring elements” of the park. Artists, landscape designers, and other
architects were to contribute a variety of gardens or buildings for the project.
History of the site :
First, it was the former site of a slaughter house that employed more than 3,000 people.
Second, two canals run through the site. The Ourcq canal supplied water to the city of Paris
and the St. Denis canal was used to transport cargo and freight.
Design Requirements :
Parc de la Villette’s design is the opposite of the 19th century “park in the city” that Frederick
Law Olmstead championed, because the residents of a modern 21st century city are different
from their 19th century counterparts, their parks should also be different. The idea of a city
park as a naturalistic representation in the heart of the city does not necessarily satisfy the
various needs of current city dwellers. Parisian city parks no longer serve as communal areas. Instead, they are used mostly by children and the elderly, and
function as the meeting place the town square once provided. Paris is no longer organized around a traditional center but spreads out into the suburbs,
causing the central focus to be diffused.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

Our starting point is ideas or concepts, and
the ways in which concepts relate to other disciplines and to different modes of thought. Architecture
is not knowledge of form, but rather a form of knowledge. In other words, whenever we start to do
something as architects we need to ask ourselves what architecture is. Architecture is not a pre-given
thing. We architects always think that we de ne spaces by using walls, but “to de ne” also means
to provide a de nition or meaning. As architects, we need to constantly de ne and rede ne what
architecture is.

The park is located on one of the last remaining large sites in Paris, a 125 acre expanse situated in
the north-east corner of the city, between the Metro stations Porte de Pantin and Porte de la Villette.

Over 1 kilometer long in one direction and 700 meters wide in the other La Villette appears as a multiple
programmatic eld, containing in addition to the park, the large Museum of Science and Industry, a City
of Music, a Grande Halle for exhibitions and a rock concert hall.
The park scheme was selected over 471 other entries in a two-stage competition and built over a
period of almost fteen years.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

The basis of the design is the superimposition of three independent systems, namely:
Points
Lines
Surfaces
1. Points
1. The folies are placed according to a point-grid coordinate system at 120 meter
intervals throughout the park. The form of each is a basic 10 x 10 x 10 meter cube or
three-story construction of neutral space that can
be transformed and elaborated according to
speci c programmatic needs.
2. Taken as a whole, the folies provide a common
denominator for all of the events generated by
the park program.
3. The repetition of folies is aimed at developing
a clear symbol for the park, a recognizable
identity as strong as the British public telephone
booth or the Paris Metro gates.
4. Their grid provides a comprehensive image
or shape for the otherwise ill-de ned terrain.
Similarly, the regularity of routes and positions
makes orientation simple for those unfamiliar with
the area. An advantage of the point-grid system
is that it provides for the minimum adequate
equipment of the urban park relative to the
number of its visitors.
Superimposition: lines, points, surfaces
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

The basis of the design is the superimposition of three independent systems, namely:

2. Lines

The folie grid is related to a larger coordinate structure, an orthogonal system of

high-density pedestrian movement that marks the site with a cross.
The North-South passage or Coordinate links the two Paris gates and subway
stations of Porte de la Villette and Porte de Pantin, the East-West Coordinate joins
Paris to its western suburbs.
A 5 meter wide, open, waved covered structure runs the length of both Coordinates.

Also, organised along the

Coordinates so as to facilitate
and encourage access
are folies designated for the
most frequented locations and
activities, including the
City of Music, cafes and
restaurants, children’s playgrounds,
the rst aid center,
and music performances.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1982 - 97.

The basis of the design is the superimposition of three independent systems,
namely:

3. Surfaces

The park surfaces receive all activities requiring large expanses of horizontal
space for play, sports and exercise, mass-entertainment, markets and so forth.

During summer nights, for example, the central green becomes an open air
lm theater for 3,000 viewers. The so called left over surfaces where all
aspects of the program have been ful lled, are composed of compacted
earth and gravel.
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

“To achieve architecture without resorting to design is

an ambition often in the minds of those who go through the
unbelievable effort of putting together buildings.”
HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Conclusion
• TheTschumi’s style of design is often an integration of linear and curvature forms in his architecture. An example of this integration may be found in the Parc
de la Villette in Paris, France.
• The primary basis of Tschumi’s designs is the grid, whether it be horizontal or vertical, angled or straight, it is usually a dominant part of his designs.
• The grids incorporated in his designs are usually derived from characteristics of the building site or the city.
• The linear characteristics of Tschumi’s designs are often accompanied by those of curved or organic form.
• Tschumi combines the urbanistic and naturalistic qualities of the site in his building designs to create modernist qualities in his designs.
• Another key to de ning Tschumi’s design style is that his designs strive to integrate into the environment they encompass. However, they don’t integrate in a
way that they blend in, the integrate in a way that they work functionally and visually portray Tschumi’s design intentions.
• With these projects Tschumi opposed the methods used by architects for centuries to geometrically evaluate facade and plan composition.
• In this way he suggested that habitual routines of daily life could be more effectively challenged by a full spectrum of design tactics ranging from shock to
subterfuge.
• The extreme limit-conditions of architectural program became criteria to evaluate a building’s capacity to function as a device capable of social
organization.
• Tschumi’s critical understanding of architecture remains at the core of his practice today.
• By arguing that there is no space without event, he designs conditions for a reinvention of living, rather than repeating established aesthetic or symbolic
conditions of design.
• Responding to the disjunction between use, form, and social values by which he characterizes the postmodern condition, Tschumi’s design research
encourages a wide range of narratives and ambiences to emerge and to self organize.
• By advocating re-combinations of program, space, and cultural narrative, Tschumi asks the user to critically reinvent him/herself as a subject.