Just Another Brick in the Wall (2010) by Luka Kreze

7/22/2019 Just Another Brick in the Wall (2010) by Luka Kreze

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contents

00 introduction: welcome to the jungle

01 whats the story morning glory?

message

02 one

uniqueness

03 seven nation army

vernacu lar id entity

04 take a look around

reason

05 conclusion: house of the rising sun?


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a great epoch has begun

there exists a new spirit

le corbusier, 1927


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Yet architecture, although built of matter, need not be dead: it can be life-filled. Its constit-

uent elements and relationships can sing and the human heart can resonate with them

Christopher Day, Places of the Soul

Architecture is a man-made extension of the nature. Most of us spend more time in this artificial world of

buildings than in nature itself. Nature communicates with a person on a spiritual level, addresses his emotions

and makes him feel alive. It has sheltered people for thousands of years. Times have changed now. Instead of

living in forests, we live in concrete jungles now. Our world has changed so rapidly in last decades that some

things have escaped out of control.

Architect is an employee of the society, of the individuals and their needs, including emotional ones. However,

very of ten th is is not the case. A perso n cann ot communicat e spiri tually with anything that i s dead. There are

many architects and theorists that in the same way as Christopher Day above believe that architecture does

not need to be dead and soulless, just because it is created out of dead and soulless materials. Peter Zumthor,

Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate for 2009 is one of the strongest advocates of this notion, and his seminal

work Thinking Archit ecture was an important st arting poin t for this dis sertat ion.

Architecture has a strong bond to life and hence should have a soul.

(Zumthor, 2006, 12)

Soul is a spiritual or immaterial part of human

the only acceptable kind. Soul gives architectu

tecture is unique and meaningful and in teracts

Juhani Pallasmaa in The Eyes of The Skin sees

and integrates physical and mental structures, g

ence and significance. (Pallasmaa, 2005, 12) A

intensifies the spiritual experience in people.

However, in several cases the exact opposite ha

ways forgo tten that the person is t he mo st imp

taken into account, architecture is dead. In man

istics such as individuality and meaningfulness

intentionally or unintentionally. This resulted i

and fuelled by several factors, such as social, ec

in architecture but also in art, music and other


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The aim of this dissertation is to identify what is soulful architecture, what is depersonalized architecture and

find reason and motives for both. Story is split in four chapters and each of those chapters examines archi-

tecture from a different point of view, by taking a look at characteristics of soulful architecture. First chapter

about message in architecture takes a look at communication between a building and its dweller and tries to

find a reason for emotional connection between them. Second chapter deals with issue of uniqueness in archi-

tecture, since individuality is one of the most important characteristics of soul, and loss of uniqueness one of

the most common reasons for depersonalization. Third chapter is a continuation of the chapter about unique-

ness, but takes a look at local consequences of global way of thinking. It focuses on importance of vernacular

identity and its disappearance. Last chapter is about reason in architecture and reasons for architecture. It

discusses the ifluence of social, economical and technological factors on message, uniqueness and vernacular

architecture, since it seems that those factors are becoming tru e reasons for architecture instead of people.

This is a dissertation on architecture, however in several places, where needed, we will borrow knowledge from

music, not only to explain principles of beauty, but also to show that architecture is not the only discipline of

art that suffers depersonalization.


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imperfect balance of complexity and order, where order slightly outweighs the complexity. The human brain

will misread a mes sage t oo complex, but a mes sage t oo uniform will be p erceived as bo ring. In both cases no

emotional response will be triggered by the message.

Smith explains that:

If they had realised (modern architects) what harmony means in musical terms, things

might have been much better. For example, in the tonic chord of G-major, there is a sig-

nificant level of clash between the wave profiles of the notes, but the rate of overlap or

synchronisation exceeds the rate of clash, so order succeeds in outweighing complexity.

(Smith, 2003, 21)

A few examples will help to illustrate the ideas about complexity and order.

Frank Gehrys Guggenheim museum is a building that has, whether we like it or not, challenged perspectives

on architecture and aesthetics in t he same way as perhaps Villa Savoy in the 1920s or Pompidou Centre did in

1970s. In terms of aesthetical delight Smith seems confused whether Gehry takes randomness in his buildings

beyond boundary in which there c ould be said to be any underlying lawfulness(Smith, 2003, 115)

In musical terms this building is a case where no laws of tonality are respected: we have randomness and

therefore no chance of perceiving a pattern or order. And so: when a work of art defies all efforts to uncover

any underlying orderliness, the result for most people is ugliness and rejection. (Smith, 2003, 21)

But if architecture is the art of creating places for people, is it fair that the human is excluded from architec-

ture and all focus is devoted to the randomness

ture at Georgia Tech identified this particul ar p

Owens Architecture, Ethics and Globalization:

When it focuses only on the form it is not look

building has to inspire faith (Dunham-Jones

moral obligation of the architect to comply with

a positive emotional response from the people.

On the other hand could it be argued that com

another road to labelling and uniformity? In fac

consequently refusing progress?

Another extreme can be well presented with eit

his Linked Hybrid in Beijing. Both pieces of arc

though rhythm is a natural phenomenon (heart

Whitehead agreed that: A mere recurrence kil

(Whitehead, 1919)

Daniel Day in Places of the Soul also turns to m

Repetition is the basis of rhythm. It ca

zation by repetition is organization by t

(Day, 1990, 90)


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the point where the main theme disappears, but then in the end intr oduces it again, closing a perfect circle of

harmony, filled with variety and similarity. And according to architectural theorists mentioned above, all these

principles should be used in design process in order to create alive buildings that speak to us.

Examples and opinions might suggest that contemporary architecture in many cases fails to address the very

crucial member of the design process the dweller. Instead of filling the dweller with life, many of todays

buildings leave him cold or confused. Do we really want to run towards uniformity, meaninglessness and soul-

lessness, to run away from what makes us human?

But as said before, there is more to message than just the visual aspect. In fact Pallasmaa argues that t he very

visual fixation , which we suffer from, is the reason for archi tecture beco ming d etached from emotions.

The world becomes a hedonistic, but meaningless visual journey

(Pallasmaa, 2005, 22)

Pallasma sees reasons for emotional detachment in architecture in advent of computers. He claims that: Com-

puter imaging tends to flatten our magnificent, multi sensory, simultaneous and synchronic capacities of

imagination by turning the design process into a passive visual manipulation, a retinal journey. The computer

creates a distance between the maker and the object (Pallasma, 2005, 12)

As a consequence of a dishonest relationship between the maker and the object the connection between a

building and its dweller can hardly be genuine and spiritual. Sensory reductivism to strictly visual, which is

clear in case of the Ghost House, but was prese

However, Le Corbusier as the voice of the moder

by stating, Architecture is a plastic thing. I me

(Le Corbusier, 1959, 164)

If we take a step back from visual communicati

have seen some rules might be applied in terms

influences on comprehension of the message, su

We can speak about nostalgia and memory in ter

this case an emotional response is elicited after

tion arises whether a strong emotional response

of a time factor and idolized past.

Pallasmas opinion is that Buildings and cities

2005, 52) Buildings and songs in a way become

Nevertheless is sentimental longing for the past a

seen as blasphemy, backwardness. Le Corbusie

principle. He sees memories that cannot remain

If we feel inclined to converse with bei

lively and accurate than memory rouse

(Le Corbusier, 1925, 189)


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Jean Baudrillard, a renowned French philosopher in his architectural writings agrees that we should not seek

message in the past:

We are looking for a lost object we have to confront what we have lost and anticipate

what is ahead of us.

(Baudrillard in Proto, 2006, 26)

However architects such as Peter Zumthor find memory as a crucial part of experiencing a building. As archi-

tect he is very interested in objects that have meaning and that evoke memories in dwellers of his buildings.

He achieves this with materiality and detailing. When I think about architecture, images come into my mind

I can almost feel a particular door handle in my hand I can hear the heavy front door closing (Zumthor,

2006, 7) Zumthor opposes sensory reductivism, since he finds all senses equally important for understanding

the message a building conveys to the dweller.

All these subjective biases may contribute t o the full understanding of a message. Together with visual aspect

they might be the reason for a complete emotional experience of architecture.

In the first part of the chapter we have seen that message is understood as a relationship of signs. Is it possible

that same signs could have a different meaning to different people and so evoke different memories? After all

we don t all share the same past, or do we ?

Is it possible to talk about universal message or

in the same way exactly as the artist predicted?

This is difficult to predict because it

meaning of something in the end the

who receives it that creates her/his ow

impersonal, and will not succeed in cre

(Baudrillard in Proto, 2006, 179)

These words put into question not only the above

architecture and possibility of a universal messa

for discussions about uniqueness and mass cul

the third chapter.


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Everything merges into everything else, and mass communication creates an artificial

world of signs

(Zumthor 2006)

Thoughts of Peter Zumthor describe the world we live in today. They put into words our state of mind and epoch

of our time. Unification that we experience today on all fronts is for some people a terrible side effect of the

global life that we live and a beautiful symbol of development for the others. In architecture is the presence of

universal aesthetic values very strong. A question is whether there is a difference between styles that existed

in the past and the mass identity architecture of the last decade or two. Is unification and sampling really a

sign and necessary side effect of our technological and mental evolution or does the reason lie somewhere else,

perhaps in economics, politics, or just pure disappearance of ideas?

Are unification and sampling just outcomes of some yet unknown reason that might be identified later in this

chapter or is unification in architecture actually a consequence of sampling itself? Because it just might be that

copying has brought us to the point where the original is unrecognizable. But if everything actually merges into

everything else, where is beauty then when everything looks t he same? Where is identity in mass architecture?

Where is soul in cities and buildings without identity? There are many questions that dont always lead to the

same answers. But they must be answered, because global merging of moral and aesthetic values might just

become something that will distinguish our generation from previous ones.

There are several aspects of this issue that we will examine, but since last chapter already started to talk about

diversity and beauty lets see how unification in architecture can be explained in aesthetic terms.

Nature is again a perfect place to l ook for answer

rule of similarity and novelty was applied to si

and rhythm were used in relationship to pattern

at relationships between buildings.

Lets imagine a forest where all the trees are n

meadow of only flowers of the same kind. Even t

the same when it gets lost in the bunch? Nichol

Thus while the flowers of one species

added poignancy by the contrasting rhy

(Humphrey in Mikellides, 1980, 68)

In architectural terms a forest of the same trees

hood such as Rainbow Neighbourhood in Neth

units all of the same shape and colour. Except of

and the architecture used. There is no diversit

even though architects claim that in ternal spac

side does not make the dweller feel special at all


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Another way we can use trees to find out whether there is a connection between mass production and experi-

ence of beauty is if we imagine that trees were mass-produced in the same way as cars or nowadays houses,

that same trees would grow in all the forests in the world. How would this affect our perception of their beauty

and uniqueness? One of the few things that I remember from my trip to Africa , when I was still a child, were

enormous baobab trees and ebony trees that I have seen for the first and only time in my life. Is it possible

that if I had a chance to see those trees every day, they would not stay in my memory for almost 15 years?

Wicham van Eyck, who is the architect of the Rainbow Neighbourhood that we have mentioned before, says The

aesthetic can be and is independent of the method of construction if one chooses it to be. (Van Eyck cited in

Arief, 2002, 63)

But French philosopher Ricoeur has a different view on universalization and uniformity in architecture: The

phenomenon of universalization, while being an advancement of mankind, at the same time constitutes a sort

of subtle destruction, not only to traditional cultures, which might not be irreparable wrong, but also what I

shall call for the time being the c reative nucleus of great cultures He then goes even further when saying:

This threat is expressed among other disturbing effects by spreading before our eyes of a

mediocre civilization

(Ricoeur, 1961, 276)

Many supporters of mass architecture would agree that we are not the first copycat generation. To be honest,

styles have existed almost since the beginning o

around the world, Gothic Cathedrals in Cologne,

that even Hanseatic houses of Belgian, Dutch or

of Mies van der Rohe, Walter Groupious or Le C

in today. However Peter Smith explains the diffe

The so called international style cr

Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Dallas a re a

this collapse we can refer to an earlier i

of the medieval transnational trading o

is immediately identifiable, but each c

(Smith 2005, 39)

Words of Peter Smith in a way suggest that ther

sees style more as a guideline, a brief that can b

to force a global identity into the cities and into

sense that mass identity is much more dangero

dangerous than mass production?


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Many would agree that in several cases a well designed pre-fabricated house is a better place to live than a bad

original, but in a moment when mass identity comes into the picture pre-fab and non-prefab houses start to look

the same, as well as museums, schools, shops and churches.

But what is then the reason for the g lobal identity in architecture of today? Is it education of architects?

Architectural schools in the past such as Beaux Arts would teach a style, not giving much space to the imagi-

nation. Nowadays an architectural student is merely guided trough the design process, but still has a lot of

freedom. Also, many of todays most influential architects were in t heir youth inspired by modernists, however

their architecture rarely resembles any aesthetic qualities of modernism. Even though some might argue that

Norman Foster, who was a great admirer of Mies and Le Corbusier in his youth, now thinks globally because of

these lessons from the past.

According to Jean Nouvel the greatest danger to the future architecture and also to music as we will see later

comes from relying solely on computer design. He sees an enemy in computer tools that have made architecture

much easier in recent years.

It is easy to copy just by changing a single parameter, without giving any thought to inser-

tion and without there being any invention in the poetic sense. The big danger is cloned or

genetically modified architecture.

(Nouvel cited in Rambert, 2005, 114)

But dont be mislead by this statement. Computers are the worst and the greatest thing that has happened to

architecture. Some of the most unique and cont

wasnt for state of the ar t software tool s. Proj ect

Gehrys Guggenheim Bilbao that we have alread

of software manipulation. But why is it then th

Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles or Bar

in Architecture of the Absurd sees all recent G

Evidently there were not enough scraps left fro

No matter how original and iconic his Bilbao G

after Bilbao, which in a way drowns the original

very problem:

Bilbao in many regards is a fabulous b

so I am watching for Bilbao 2. The pr

15. Gehry is now reproducing the same

franchise. How does this building contr

has put Bilbao on the map.

(Dunham-Jones cited in Owen, 2009, 30)

Will Bilbao 15 have the same power to inspire? P


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Jean Baudrilllard questions himself wherther architecture might now be in a situation where it can only repeat

itself to infinity, or work its way through all the possible variations of the pre-programmed code, that code trot-

ting out its generic stock of of conventional forms in some pale imitation of the generic code? (Baudrillard,

2006, 170)

A very obvious question presents itself: If we have more powerful tools and building technology, if there are

almost no boundaries in terms of material limitations and if we now have software that can create any possible

shape that a human mind could imagine; why are we stuck repeating ourselves and each other?

There is an enormous amount of buil dings that are obvious examples of, as Jean Nouvel called it, genetically

modified architecture. If in biological terms genetic modification means alteration of genes in architectural

terms it means almost the same. It means taking the essence, soul, identity of a building and then slightly

modifying the characteristics.

Birds Nest Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is probably one of the g reatest achievements of this

decade in technological terms. In terms of design it can be considered as an original building, designed most

probably with the help of software manipulation. It became a trademark of Beijing and architectural icon. In

2014 Socchi in Russia will host the Winter Olympics and the stadium designed for this occasion by Populous is

according to latest presentations going to look as a genetically modified Birds Nest, with slightly altered shape

and patterns, so that similarity is slightly camouf laged.

Austrian architect Frederick Kiesler in Francis Ramberts Future Architecture confides that: There are three

kinds of architects. Those who have ideas a long time in advance, so that the second lot can adapt them; and

the third lot who are just reactionaries. Rambert then continues by saying:

Today with the new tools that are ava

more easily. But the important thing is

allowed others to convert their touchdo

(Rambert, 2005, 57)

Sampling and remix are just musical terms for

haps in music even stronger than in architecture

problems or challenges as architecture. Comput

last decade. In the last chapter we have compar

cluded that the computer-generated sound is pe

tion. Computers can now generate any sound th

this suggests that music of the new millennium

with thousands of st yles, rhythms, and mean ing

Music is becoming genetically modified. After c

butes a little so that repetition is not obvious.

But even when repetition is obvious no one seem

vanguard music is very much fas cinate d by how

calls this phenomenon in music, has become som


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Th ld d f l d h f l H h b l l


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The old idea of originality in production gives way to another of originality in consump-

tion which means that we now measure originality of sampling the precedents. Selec-

tions sampled may be traceable or untraceable, it need not matt er. Reference is not the aim

so much as a kind of creative consumerism.

(Cutler 2004, 153)

Brian Eno one of the most important and inf luential figures in modern music agrees with Cutlers opinion that

talent and originality have been replaced by the skill of sampling. But bad judgement can lead to uniformity in

music and architecture, which kills their human characteristics.

The great benefit of tools like Cubase is that they remove the issue of skill, and replace it with the issue of

judgemen t. With Cubase and Phot oshop anybody can do actually anything, and you can make stuff that so unds

very much like stuff you d hear on the radi o, or l ooks much like anyth ing you d see in magazines . (Bri an Eno,

1995)

If we take a look at US iTunes chart of singles for October 2009 and compare top ten songs on the chart, we

notice that all ten songs use the Auto-Tune voice-modifying tool. Auto Tune has first been used in rap and rnb

music but has now spread to the extent where there is very hard to find an Auto Tune free song.

Architects of popular music have, instead of using the powers they were given to create diverse, beautiful and

soul-filling music, in many cases turned it into a cheap mass product. In the same way that a prefabricated

house is built like a car, a song is now a mass-produced prefabricated house that does not need a context.

But why are we not even trying to move towards uniqueness, originality?

Here together are cannibalism, lazines

been originated, so that it is enough no

all.

(Cutler 2004, 153).

In music we get even a stronger feeling that ev

notable inflation of love related songs has occur

of popular songs of last decade are far from uniq

that 6 out of 10 songs in October 2009 have a s

sexual revolution, Honky Tonk Woman by the Ro

among 20 songs on the Billboard Chart.

It seems that music and architecture have both t

they were forced into doing that by some other

was not an int ention of this chapter to argue wh

was to show that we should fight not to drown in

have at our disposal to create diverse environme

identity is what makes us human. And as archit

words of Peter Zumthor from the beginning of t

Everything merges into everything else, and

signs


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Does being part of the culture impose a systematic dishonesty upon us because we are far some suggest modern and traditional should


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Does being part of the culture impose a systematic dishonesty upon us, because we are

part of a culture and not free?

(Rem Koolhaas, Architecture and Globalization, 1996)

In first two chapters we have taken a l ook at disappearance of message and uniqueness, that both contributed to

what seems t o be deperso nalizat ion in ar chitecture. Thi rd chapter focuses on c ulture and the vernacular aspect

in architecture. In a way it is a continuation of the chapter about uniqueness, but from a more locally oriented

point of view. If the previous chapter was more focused on unification as a phenomenon, this chapter will focus

on consequences that our global way of thinking has caused on a local scale.

Vernacular is the dialect, a language of ordinary people in a certain country or region. Diversity of our languag-

es is one of the crucial characteristics that makes us unique as groups of people or individuals and differenti-

ates us from other groups and individuals. Vernacular identity is an important aspect that gives architecture

soul in its environment. Some might say it gives people feeling of safeness and familiarity that comforts them,

but at the same time it also makes sure that a building blends in perfectly with existing architecture. It does

not only have a role in preserving the national or cultural identity, but it gives cities a special quality that

distinguishes them from other cities and cultures, ju st like language does. In the times when media, technology

and advances in travel almost erased borders between cultures, in times when a new global culture is emerging,

traditional cultures are fading away. The question is whether this is a problem or not? There are several dif-

ferent approaches to this issue, but what is the correct approach to vernacular architecture? Many architects

see the vernacular context as one of the crucial things to be considered in the design process, some take it too

far, some suggest modern and traditional should

architecture completely and get rid of the shack

is the right way to go?

French philosopher Paul Ricoeur in History and

In order to get on to the road toward m

old cultural past which has been the ra

(Ricoeur, 1961, 276)

This sentence raises not only the question of

whether the battl e between modern and verna

architect that builds with vernacular character

not capable of letting go of the past or is he on

Ricoeur calls culture raison dtre which in tran

that architecture made us into what we are now,

other essay. Buildings are museums of our c ultu

raison dtre a correct way?

Rem Koolhaas in the first quote of this chapter

obey the rules of your own culture takes freedom

that there is an emotional connection between a


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sciously it leads him. But Koolhaas does not want this. He is prepared to reject his raison dtre. However the Is it possible that the global architecture is becom


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y p p j

only way he can do this is to go abroad, think globally and not locally. If he goes abroad he can get rid of the

chains that did not let him be free at home. Abroad he has an excuse not to obey rules of the culture because

he is not a part of it. And so he says that:

Maybe one of the exhilarating possibilities of a leap somewhere else, where we no longer

have to posture to become members in good standing of our communities, is this uncam-

ouflaged freedom.

(Koolhaas, 96, 236)

But is it moral to build abroad when with leaving home to abandon the emotional guilt he admits that what

he builds there has no emotional and spiritual connection to him and to the people there? To be honest, not

many firms in the world can solely rely their existence on the work abroad, This could mean that the reason for

universalization lies in the local architects in the modern world who no longer feel the emotional connection to

their own culture and rather copy the soulless ic on.

This way a new international style spreads like a virus, killing the vernacular architecture. And Koolhaas sees

vernacu lar as unimpor tant. In Understa nding the New Ur ban Condit ion in his eyes th e new era and the new

condition do not allow us to rely on the past. We must move forward and address the issues such as flows of

traffic, flows of human beings, fl ows of money (Koolhaas, 96,13)

p g

and disappear?

Without a doubt the world has changed a lot in

change. And this is sort of an alibi for the uni

followed the road that we took in other aspects o

for mass production, prefabrication and global st

todays architects seem to forget that there is mu

the buildings. There is a strong emotional conne

nostalgia, feeling of warmth, feeling of safeness

questions or just ignore them?

Allison Arieff in Pre-Fab links question of subj

mass production should not be an excuse for rej

Ideally, prefabrication combines tradi

ics, to create innovative housing solutio

However she then realizes the reality of the si

structs-prefab and stick-built alike-cling formula

the need for energy efficiency and environmen

desired by a new generation of the home buyers


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It is imperative that the home evolves to meet those needs. (Arieff, 2002, 36) Every town and city is a unique spe


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Her opinion is that with the technology aquired we should be able t o build even prefabricated houses that would

be bespoke either to users or local cultu re. Even though current situation is not very bright, she still sees the

light at the end of a tunnel even for mass production.

Prefabrication for twenty-first century allows for repetition of the same systems without

replication of the same house, and this promise of mass customization may be the last best

hope for prefab that really works.

(Arieff, 2002, 36)

Peter Smith interprets idea of vernacular architecture a bit differently. He takes a more biological approach.

He sees the battle between contemporary and vernacular as a battle between genes and environments in our

body, where genes are the cultural identity and environment is the contemporary needs and forces. In biology

this principle is called epigenesis. C.J. Lumsden in Genes, Mind and Culture describes it as: The process of

interaction between genes and the environment that ultimately results in distinctive anatomical, physiologi-

cal, cognitive and behavioural traits of the organism. (Lumsden, 1982, 370) Which means that a successful

design is at least according to Smith the one that does not egoistically reject everything but modern view and

also does not overreact with genetic characteristics of the culture. Smith transfers this biological knowledge

into architecture:

y y q p

buildings and spaces constitutes the epi

sets the fundamental rules for the way

context.

(Smith, 2003, 50)

To explain the principle we should take a look

Mongolia is an emerging city that has been built

is divided into 100 parcels, each of them 1000

27 countries have been invited to Mongolia to en

it. Desert is clearly a perfect tabula rasa for

is it correct to say that there is no background

buildings that clearly do not in any way, spiritua

desert such as Ordos desert has some sort of ver

such as mud huts and tents, which does mean

inappropriate. However there are things such as

purpose All these factors contribute to buildi

its inhabitants, gives them more than j ust a roo

villas show ignorance of local people and use t

suggestion that local community is involved spir


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daylight that a nomad can hardly interact with a concrete vill a on a spiritual level. So to answer to Rem Koolhass, it might be that b


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But this kind of erasure of vernacular architecture and ignorance of specific local needs, values and memories

is happening all around t he world. There are millions of examples where international architects seek freedom

and high commissions and flee abroad to build in a global manner. Consequence is that cities such as Shanghai

or Beijing, cities with strong and admired vernacular architecture are slowly starting to become identical to

New York or Singapore. This plague then spreads to local architects and the vernacular slowly starts to disap-

pear.

Even though it would be expected that the star architects are to blame for disappearance of the vernacular there

are some bright exceptions that take context into account and then build around it. David Chipperfield is one

of those architects who does not reject the spirit of the place.

Whats needed is continuity, and our responsibility is to find clues to this memory in

context.

(Chipperfield cited in Rambert, 2005, 21)

Chipperfield is the author of River and Rowing Museum at Henley - on Thames, where he appreciates local,

slightly conservative values, vernacular tradition and intelligently mixes them with his characteristic minimal-

ism. The result is a building that communicates and breathes with the community.

tects, but architects are in the same way as man

themselves. Building because of money and ego

and seeking for excuse in globalization and econ

and more architects start to think differently. I

who would ident ify with almos t anything, it mig


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Reason: (n) a cause, explanation, or justification Le Corbusiers opening thoughts for his essay E


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(v) think, understand, and form judgments logically

Last chapter of this dissertation will in a way try to bring all the previous chapters together and look at reasons

and possible consequences of depersonalization. The chapter will deal with dilemma whether architecture alone

is the one responsible for this depersonalization or was it just not strong enough to cope with external forces

and pressures. We will examine the extent to which factors such as technological development, social changes,

politics and media pointed architecture in the direction it is heading now. We will take a closer look at the role

of the architect and the moral perspective of the profession. As the beginning suggests we will try to find a

reason, a cause, a context, a backg round behind this depersonalization.

Many writers who share this opinion describe contemporary architecture as inhumane. Inhumane means lack-

ing human characteristics of compassion and mercy. Word indicates insincerity in communication between

the inhumane object (architecture) and a person. Pallasmaa sees the r eason for the disregard for humanity in

technology, as the most influential force.

The inhumanity of contemporary architecture and cities can be understood as the con-sequence of the negligence of the body and the senses () The growing experiences of

alienation, detachment and solitude in the technological world today may be related with a

certain pathology of the senses.

(Pallasmaa, 2005, 17).

There exists a new spirit. (Le Corbusier, 1946

spirit. In 1926 he envisioned a change, but the

controllable. Technology not only changed our li

the disease of our senses. This detachment of em

have made our generation probably the most soc

offered us only an illusion of actually being with

words and images and v ideos, but can hardly con

hugs, pokes and presents, but are those re

fear that this disease of the senses could eventu

artificial feeling could unconsciously become a r

In architecture technology allows architects to d

people they have never met in the cultures they

find out more about those cultures. This not onl

but also between architecture and environment

tual, cultural and environmental contexts becom

when they c ould fuel the de sign and connec t it w

in many cases technology works perfectly fine a

people. We have seen that with technology we in

is certain that technology is whether we want it

in architecture. But even if technology offers infinite possibilities, we use this against us. Why? This question the reason for absurd architecture such as Burj


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is everything but new. We are not the first generation with a new acquired technology. In the same way as

computers changed our generation of architects, advances in building technology and engineering caused an

enormous change in construction methods in the first half of the previous century. Le Corbusier was thrilled

about limitless potential for construction, however modernism remained a relatively unified style. Architect

Kunyo Mayekawa wrote in Thoughts On Civilization in Architecture:

Modern architecture is and must be squarely based on solid achievements of modern sci-

ence, technology and engineering. Why then does it often tend to become something inhu-

man? () Modern architecture must recall its rudiments, its initial principles as human

architecture. Whereas science and engineering are the products of human brains, the mod-

ern architecture and the modern cities which are built by them tend to become inhuman.

He then suggests that there must be some other underlying cause for this. I believe that one of the main rea-

sons is that it is not always created merely to satisfy human requirements, but rather for some other reason,

such as t he profit motive (Mayekawa, 1965, 229-230)

And so we move to the next strong force in architecture. Monetary influence is strongly connected to ethics,

since once money enters the game, all the other reasons become unimportant or of almost no importance.

Architecture stops being an art of creating living spaces, it becomes a tool, manipulated by everyone else but

architects. Money can guide architecture in two ways. There is one direction where abundance of money is

with reality and r eason, but most importantly i

important thing. And so architects flee abroad to

ethics is then on trial. Usually money wins the

On the other side is reality, where money is bec

that monetary condition in many cases leads to

Because after all as Gary Stevens says in Archit

Architects are a lot less important as

down to whos paying you, and very few

from that.

(Stevens in Owen, 2009, 60).

Ellen Dunham-Jones in the same discussion con

artist, and I am often somewhat jealous of how

have to justify it. (Dunham-Jones in Owen, 200

certainly specific. But does it have to be a rule th

architecture? We have discussed the idea of suc

previous chapters. This certainly is one of the w

There are more and more people who can acqu

given opportunity even to people without talent. But in cases such as the one we described above, where funding this kind of architecture. On the other hand:


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is limited, skill is not enough. This is where talent is needed badly, since in cases like this talent is the factor

that draws the line between successful and depersonalized architecture. Music is facing the same problems.

Anyone can create music because anyone can learn the skills. Brian Eno explains this issue perfectly:

...the question becomes not whether you can do it or not , because any drudge can do it ()

the question then is: of a ll the things you can do now, which do you choose to do? This is a

whole issue for which there are not manuals!

(Eno cited in Cox, 2008, 363)

Question arises whether it is the architects fault for caving-in under the inf luence of money. In the case where

money is limited talent is an important factor. In cases where money is abundant it is the question of architects

ethic principles, since he has an opport unity to say no if he wants to.

Pallasma as well sees a problem in moral values of the architects. In his opinion many of the 21st century

projects, celebrated by architectural press, were designed by two sorts of architects: narcissists and nihilists.

He makes a distinction between the two by saying:

The narcissistic eye views architecture solely as a means of self expression, and as an

intellectual-artistic game detached from essential mental and societal connections.

Architectures of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid or Daniel Libeskind would probably be most appropriate examples of

nihilistic eye deliberately advances sen

Instead of reinforcing ones bodycent

nihilistic architecture disengages and is

reconstruct cultural order, it makes a re

(Pallasmaa, 2005, 229)

Oxford dictionary describes nihilism as rejecti

meaningless. In terms of our time, nihilists wou

situation. Nihilists would be those who have acc

increase in population, technology, media and m

the people. They have accepted the fact that the

factors. Rem Koolhas identifies this new c onditi

Confronted with this mutation, this nthat we are powerless to forestall it

(Koolhaas, 1996,13)


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city of tommorow

He then goes on by trying to explain this with an example: It seems clear that somehow we should

be able hen gi en the impossibl diffic lt problem of designing in t o eeks a cit for three million


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be able, when given the impossibly difficult problem of designing in two weeks a city for three million

people, to respond with vigour and skill. (Koolhaas, 1996, 13)

Does this sound like reality or only like a bad joke?

Has the state of the world changed so drastically that this is actually our reality or is designing a cit y

for three million people in two weeks in a way violation of human rights and dignity?

If the social, economic, technological and political factors are so strong in the new millennium can

we real ly bla me arch itecture and arch itects for the deperso nalizat ion? Perhaps not, but t hey sure did

give-in very quickly, even though they had the power to fight back.

As architects we must be careful about this issue, because one day, not far from now, we might reach

the point where globalization, urbanization, increase in population, technology, media, money and

similar factors will become the only reasons behind architecture instead of people, culture and envi-

ronment.

That does not sound very reasonable does it?


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On our journey through four chapters, we tried to understand the spiritual connection and non-verbal com-

munication between a building and its dweller, as an important attribute of architecture with soul. We then

now more than ever has the power to be inspirin

no need whatsoever for architecture to comply w


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u cat o betwee a bu d g a d ts dwe e , as a po ta t att bute o a c tectu e w t sou . e t e

focused on repetition and mass identity that evolved from this repetition. We examined the impact of this global

phenomenon on local cultures and local traditional architectures. In the previous chapter we have tried to

identify a reason for loss of spiritual connection, mass identity and vanishing of the vernacular identity and

taken a look at ethical perspective of the profession. We concluded that this c onglomerate of reasons is slowly

excluding a human from design process and human characteristics from architecture.

Buildings are the pressure cookers of cultural change. This is because, as artefacts they

are large and unavoidable.

(Smith, 2003, 15)

Architects obligation is to fight back at global pressures that indirectly control our lives. Instead in many

ways h e m isunderstands these globa l signs and uses them as alibis to play god. Without taking other people

into account, an architect is in many cases no longer a decorator of our lives, but the organiser. (Ginzburg

in Rambert, 2005s, 110)

As Peter Smith stated before, buildings are unavoidable artefacts. They show our state of mind, state of de-

velopment and s tate of our emot ional i ntell igence. And especially the lat ter is of cruc ial impo rtance in th is dis-

sertation. A dissertation, which started with a reminder that even though buil dings are built out of dead things,

emotionless things, architecture does not need to be dead and depersonalized. Quite the opposite. Architecture

o eed w atsoeve o a c tectu e to co p y w

to work side by side with all those factors and e

uniformity and soullessness, to run towards ma

It is true that the new epoch has begun and it

dead thing. History has proven that periods of

are emotional beings with souls and hence we d

treats them as equals.

There are small and large, impressive

dwarf me, that oppress me, that exclu

buildings or ensembles of buildings, b

make me feel good, that make me look

freedom, that make me want to stay aw

Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture


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Abel, C. (2000) Architecture and Identity: Responses to Cultural and Technological Changes, Oxford,

Architectural Press

Mikellides, B. ed. (1980) Architectur


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Arieff, A. (2002) Pre Fab, Layton, Gibbs Smith Publisher

Broadbent, G., Bunt, R. et al ed. (1980) Architecture and Signs, Chichester, John Wiley and Sons

Bullivant, L. (2006) Responsive Environments, London, V and A Publications

Cox, C., Warner, D. ed.(2008) Audio Culture: readings in Modern Music, New York, Continuum

Day, C. (1990) Places of the Soul: Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Ar t, London,

Thorsons

Eno, B. (1995) Strategies for Making Sense: Interview With Paul Shutze, The Wire

Heathcote, E., Moffat, L. (2007) Contemporary Church, Chichester, John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Martin, E. ed. (1994) Architecture as a Translation of Music, New York, Princeton Architectural Press

Rambert, F. (20

Ricoeur, P. (1961) Universal Civilization and

Kelbley, Nor

Silber, J. (2007) Architecture of the Absu

Smith, P. (2003) Aesthetics of De

Smith, P. (1987) Architecture and the

Taylor, T. D. (1997) Global

Xenakis, I. (2008

Zumthor, P. (20


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oxford, february 2010

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