In contemporary architectural discourse, the concept of space is ubiquitous, yet its historical genesis and theoretical underpinnings in Gottfried Semper's seminal theoretical work remain under explored. This study investigates the reception and integration of Semper’s architectural theory into modern discourse, tracing its trajectory from August Schmarsow, to Nikolaus Pevsner, to Sigfried Giedion. While Semper’s “cladding theory” had initially been understood in terms of both its relation to physical properties and structural and functional values, leading to an expansion of cladding as a new genre of art, i.e. arts and crafts, Semper’s “architectural theory” instead explained cladding theory in terms of space. In disseminating Semper’s theoretical work, Schmarsow was especially important as he himself played an increasingly prominent role in expanding the boundaries of modernist architectural theory and practice from the beginning of the 20th century on.
Fen(分°) is the proportional dimension unit of the standard timber section on Yingzaofashi(營造法式), and there is a phrase that not only structural members but the whole structural design of a building also use Fen as the dimension unit on the book. But in fact only the section dimensions of structural members are recorded by Fen, but the design dimensions are recorded by Chi(尺) on the book. Other historical records also described the building size by Chi. So there has been long-standing debate on the phase in Chinese architectural history society, including the recent confrontation on the analysis of survey figures of the east great hall of Foguangsi temple(佛光寺東大殿). This paper analyzes all the records about the size of structural members and section planning on the book to make various calculation and evaluation. And it makes a survey of Cai(材) as the dimension and design unit between Chi and Fen through geometric analysis. Cai might be a rough unit of measurement in terms of structural and proportional scheming on Yingzaofashi, and the full size Cai(足材) had been a building scheming module before the Song dynasty.
Historically, rhythm has played a key role not only in musical composition, but also in architectural design. In 1893, architectural theorist and art scholar August Schmarsow, in "The Essence of Architectural Creation,” created a new definition of architecture as space-creation and characterized rhythm as a design principle. However, this new idea was confronted by Heinrich Wölfflin. While Schmarsow’s theory represents a dynamic world-view based on anthropomorphism, the architectural theory of Wölfflin is based on the notion of harmony, displaying a kind of conservative stasis. These two main streams have greatly influenced the development of modern architecture. The concept of space has prevailed in the discourse of modern architecture, but the principle of rhythm has seldom received any positive recognition. This article introduces and develops the concept of rhythm and disputes whether Behrens and Frankl in particular, two who dispute Schmarsow’s theories, have used the concept of rhythm in terms of space. I conclude that they could not overcome the notion of the physical—the body —, thus their use of the term rhythm is incongruous with the notion of space. The idea of rhythm in architectural creation remains an up and coming idea.
This study aims to establish a seismic resistance performance evaluation method that makes sure to secure the seismic resistance performance of the existing mid-low story reinforced concrete structures. This study focuses on the development of the seismic resistance performance evaluation method for the overall seismic resistance performance evaluation on the buildings by applying fuzzy theory. This seismic resistance performance evaluation method considers the mutual relations among the type of force, the type of member, the type of story, and the states of deterioration of the buildings. The total seismic resistance performance index from this method was calculated by the intensity weight of each evaluation item, fuzzy measure, fuzzy integration. Moreover, the evaluation methodology was established in this study to identify the performance level of the Immediate Occupancy, Life Safe, Collapse Prevention by applying the fuzzy theory.
The purpose of this study is to critically investigate the ways in which scholars and architects in Korea have theorised the tradition in Korean architecture from the early 20th century to the present. After opening the door to foreign powers, the most important issue to be resolved in Korea architecture has been the modernization of the traditional architecture. The successful modernization of Korean traditional architecture depends on successful theorization of the tradition. However, many attempts to theorise the uniqueness of tradition in Korean architecture had not been instrumental to the modernization of Korean traditional architecture. The reason why they were not successful lies in the lack of philosophical and methodological reflection upon how to approach the tradition. They were either trapped in ambiguous essentialism without systematic methods and theories, or simply inventing the tradition from the vantage point of the present. This paper argues that in order to theorise the tradition, one need to translate the tradition into contemporary architectural vocabularies. What is important in translating the tradition is not to directly apply contemporary concepts and perceptual frame of architecture to traditional architecture but to find the gaps and differences between the two. This will open hermeneutic spaces to translate the tradition into useful principles and vocabularies of comtemporary architecture.
Louis I. Kahn is cleary one of 20th century great architects. The character of his philosophy of architecture can be condensed as simple words; Architectural Essence, because the very nature of his work based on historicity is so fundamental. Some contemporary architects and architectural critics regard it as a symbol of Post-Modern Architecture era expressing relative multiplicity or an expression of Heideggerian existentialism, but others do as the attribute of fundamentalist like absolute Plato's Idea. Comparing the former, studies of the latter theme have been executed superficially and somewhat biasedly for last decades. In the context, this paper attempt to reanalyze Kahn's idea of ‘Architectural Essence’ with the deep view of Platonist focused on the concept of binary opposition and causality.
Since he was a leading figure in nineteenth century architecture, Viollet-le-Duc's architectural theory is crucial to the foundation of modern architecture. He has been called a Gothic Revivalist, a Structural Rationalist and a Positivist. The first title was perhaps due to his vigorous restoration of Gothic works such as $N\hat{o}tre$ Dame, but he did not adore the Gothic style just for itself. Rather, he hoped to deduce some principles from the style. So how did he manage this? In his book "Entretiens sur l'Architecture (Lectures on Architecture), published between 1864 and 1872, he mentions using Descartes' four rules for reaching architectural certainty in contrast with the chaotic situation during that modernising period. Furthermore Viollet-le-Duc's theory can be seen as a serious attempt to translates Descartes' philosophical rules into systems of architectural speculation. Descartes' four rules of doubt are anchored in mathematical propositions, and without mathematical distinctions, none of these rules are valid. In other word, mathematics for Viollet is the yardstick of judgement between distinctness and indistinctness. Many architectural problems arise from this view. In this paper, the validities of applying Descartes' method of doubt to architectural discourse will be discussed in order to address the question:-Did Viollet-le-Duc clearly grasp Cartesian method by which memory was erased from the world?
This paper investigates morphological theory as an intellectual framework for research and design. The first part of the paper will review morphological studies in the fields of urban geography, urban planning and architecture, particularly in England from the 1940s to the 1980s. While urban geographers and planners were concerned primarily with town plans, building forms and land use, architectural theoreticians were more interested in the topological relationship between urban and architectural space. The underlying premises and principles of these two approaches will be reviewed. The second part of the paper will focus on typology in Europe and North America. The reinterpretation of typology by Italian architects helped to bridge the gap between individual elements of architecture and the overall form of the city. However, typological theory became less accessible in post-war England and the United States. After 1980, the debate on typology became muted by the onset of vague notions such as functionalism, bio-technical determinism, and contextualism. This paper will propose a redefinition of morphology as a heuristic device, in contrast with the dichotomic view of urban morphology and architectural typology. Morphology will be shown to combine the geometrical and topological; the intentional and accidental; the real and abstract; and a priori and a posteriori. The last part of the paper discusses the lack of comparative theories and methods surrounding the physical form of architecture and the city by Korea commentators. Empirically rooted facility planning, non-comparative historical studies, and iconographic criticism emerged as a central preoccupation of architectural culture between the 1960s and 1980s, a time when international debate on architecture and urbanism was most intense. This paper will give consideration to the built environment as a dynamic physical entity and space as an epiphenomenon of daily urban life, such that collaboration between urban designers, architects, and landscape architects is seen as both beneficial and necessary.
Hugo Haring(1882-1952) belonged to that special generation of architects born in the 1880s which became responsible for the establishment of Modern Movement in the 1920s as W. Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, etc. Although he have been overlooked by many historian. He was a key figure of the Modern architecture and as the main theorist for Organic stream in German architecture. He is well-known for his theory of 'Neues Bauen(New Building)', the organic functionalism that is epitomized as the design process from the inside outwards, starting with the life-processes of dwelling. So he argued that the builder must become aware of the life process his building is to serve, and he should not impose a form but try to find the form. These concepts are expressed well in his key-words, the 'Organwerk(organ-work)' and 'Leistungsform(form as achievement)'s. Haring's theory can be found in the short early essay, ""Wege zur Form(approaches to form)"" of 1925. But His concept of 'function' is based on the speciality and individual identity that concerned him from the start, not purely pragmatic aspects. After 1940s his theory moved increasingly in this direction. He defined this as the transition from 'Organwerk' to 'Gesetaltwerk', from mere anatomy to essence, being, personality, life. it suggest that Hugo Haring's idea of Gestalt is a dimension of mystical of symbolic meaning. This paper is about the way in which this theoretical transition can be parallel with contemporary philosophers as E. Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms and M. Heidegger's phenomenology. And the key example of this viewpoint is <Gut Garkau>(1921-1926) near Lubeck in Germany, with its 'cowshed' of pear shaped plan devised around the requirements and rituals of farm. This study presents the symbolic conception of Hugo Haring's theory can propose the ability of a symbolic intuition as a view that re-integrate technical thinking with knowledge of other kinds beyond the immediate material.
This paper is a study of the Beaux-Arts discipline of architecture, as it was established during the late nineteenth century in America. It focuses on trio particular modes of vision and representation that were at the heart of the discipline. The paper argues that Beaux Arts vision was centered on what may be called 'planar vision'; a mode of seeing through which the multiple aspects of the architectural design imbedded in the plan were read and re-interpreted. Similarly Beaux-Arts training in drawing required its student to draw within the multiple layers of historical traces; the new design being in effect a new layer placed on often unseen traces of monumental precedent. The theoretical basis of this practice was not based on history but on the concept of composition. Composition, in the French tradition was regarded more a matter of practice than theory. The Anglo-American discourse on composition, on the other hand, formed a body of theoretical literature based on formalist assumptions. There was, however, a fundamental gap between these formalist theories of composition and the 'layered' modes of vision and drawing involved in the design process. This practice leaned more on the modern romantic notion of 'intuition' for its theoretical basis, once again forming an immanent conflict with the mimetic practice of classical and historical architecture. The paper draws a picture of a discipline centered on a 'theory of the plan,' a potentially modern discipline integrated with classical forms and details. It was clearly effective as a practice. However, structured by conflicts between theory and practice, history and form, mimesis and intuition, the Beaux-Arts was unable to defend itself at the philosophical and theoretical level the modernists engaged their attacks on this system. At the same time, the paper poses the question of how different modern architecture is from this system. Is not the 'theory of plan,' in its many transformations and guises, still the central discipline of twentieth century modern architecture, and is it not structured by basically the same kind of conflicts and paradox that were immanent to the Beaux-Arts system.
This study tries to compare the architectural thought of Michel Foucault with that of Manfredo Tafuri in order to make clear the architectural identity as a social institution. In Michel Foucault's case, the archeology of discourse and the geneology of power were central method to understand the history of occidental society since the Renaissance. Four him, architecture is assumed as a mechanism of operation which make the power effectively radiate in th space. He thinks that a new discursive space was arranged since the 18th century in Europe, the architecture played a role to coordinate divers powers. Mafredo Tafuri, architetural historian, depends on the criticism of ideology in search of the relation between the economic system of capitalism and modern architecture and urbanism. He thinks that all architecture is an institution. And any attempt to overthrow the institution, is bound to see itself turned into a positive contribution and into an ideology, So all architectural attempts to conceal the contradiction of capitalism are negated. This different perspective on architecture exposes many points of dispute: historical periodization, disciplinary limit of architecture, understanding of Enlightenment architecture, utopia and heterotopia, etc.
The purpose of this paper is to apply Stephen C. Pepper's contextualism to architecture: to interpret the former in the light of architectural theory, and ultimately to liberate architecture from the Western 'Idea' and return it to its context. The major concepts of Pepper used in the paper are quality, texture, spread, change, fusion, strand and context. Pepper's contextualism makes us realize that architecture cannot be separated from its context where human beings, history, neighborhood, and nature are all interpenetrating, and create a quality. Contextualism thus teaches us to make an effort to understand the region where we belong, and to create an architectural device that interrelates form and function of an architecture with its space-time environment, or its strand, texture and context.
Since 1960, the change of architectural trend was dominated by two factors ; the one, the introduction of theory of language (including semantic, syntactic, pragmatic, linguistic, semiotic, structuralism, post-structurism) in design concept, the other, the adaption of high technology in building construction. In particular, the theory of language played an important role in the emergence of new tendency, which could be the alternative of modern architecture. Post-modernism and Typology in the 1960-70s, Deconstructivism in the 1980s and 'Folding' architecture in the 1990s, have continually borrowed a theoretical base from the thee of language. Placing the focus on the relation of contemporary architecture and theory of language with the interdisciplinary view, this study comes to the conclusion that the diverse architectural tendencies since 1960 depend on the 'champ d'enonce', which Michel Foucault, French philosopher, defined in his <Archeology du savoir>. The writings of many architects, like Robert Venturi, Micheal Graves, Aldo Rossi, Peter Eisenman, Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Gerg Lynn demonstrate our conclusion. This is an important finding which make possible consistent understanding about contemporary architecture.
The essence of Chinese landscape architecture is realization of a space that embraces nature and human integrating the openness and encloseness. The concept of landscape architecture that artificially furnishes natural elegance into urban areas coincides with the spiritual basis of Chinese literati-painting which subjectifies the scenery of objective world and entrusts personal feelings on that. In other words, the ultimate ideal of Chinese landscape architecture is embodying the Utopia of confucian intellectual in a city. This paper has tried to shed a light on inter-relationship of literati-painting theory and Chinese landscape architecture theory through comparing them. It is the identical spiritual basis they shared harmoniously that made landscape architecture, poetry and painting possible to meet.
According to Post-modernists including deconstructivists, as Modernism is changed into Post-modernism, the paradigm is shifted from consciousness to language. The paradigm of consciousness corresponds to representational language, and the paradigm of language to self-referential one. In post-modern age most of architects are wandering what kind of language architecture is. Some theorists contend that architecture is representational, and others that it is self-referential. Allan Colquhoun, who is known as one of the best architectural theorists inUnited States, accepts both the former and the latter, but fails to reveal the meaning and the limitation, of the two languages. Although he believes that the representational language of architecture ('figure') is the source of self-referential language of architecture('form'), he never clearly answers what kind of language architecture. In order to overcome the limitation and the meaning of Colquhoun's figure and form, and synthesize the two language, this essay appropriates Martin Heidegger's some concepts, 'ready-to-hand,' 'present-at-hand' and 'being-in-the-world' to make a theoretical framework for 'image' which prevails over and synthesizes 'form' and 'figure.' Since Image is based upon both 'being-in-the world' and 'ready-to-hand,' it is the source of 'form' and 'figure.' When 'image' is fragmented, the former and the latter emerge. Image is therefore both the former and the latter because it represents and self-refers a world as a reality.
Soengyo-jang has some characteristics as the most great house, the special functions, and the non-regional type of house form. And it has constructed continuously for two centuries by many owners in the different generations, It needs a special research method ; which are consist of a) comprehension of background information from documents and oral instructed materials, b) pursuit of design process through the building survey, and c) theoretical interpretation about 'collectivism'. From the results of this research, it is revealed that the architectural purpose of this house was constructing 'a great manor'. At first phase, it had been a single ordinary house, at second, it had expanded to a complex including many housing clusters, and finally became to expand its dwelling territory into whole village. Its expansion was progressed by the four collecting phases of which were building, building cluster, group of clusters, and topological setting. Main design elements operated in each of collecting phases ; they were partial element of <Ondol+Floor>, exterior spaces of <Madang>, a linear building of <Haenglang>, and a pavilion of (Hwalleajeong>. The last two elements were also powerful datum.
The language of architecture is a kind of tool which helps people to experience the environment not as the thing itself but as a meaningful one. It, gathered by place, constitutes 'genius loci', as the existential structures. It, in other words, gives a thing 'cognitive quality', and serve people to 'dwell' because 'a place is a gathering thing with concrete presence.' Our environment, only when it possesses the language, presents itself as a namable thing or an understood world. Such a meaningful identification is dwelling. The modern world is a complex melting-pot. It is 'complexities' and 'contradiction'. The language of architecture is never created, rather it is selected by needs of the time and the place. In this sense, architectural design means discovery and interpretation of the poetic order of architypal form and style, and the poetic order is a way for people to dwell in the humanistic sense. These reminds me of Martin Heidegger's statement : 'Architecture belongs to poetry, and its purpose is to help man to dwell.'