Constantine a doxiadis architecture in transition pptx

4 Architecture moves fromlocal tointernational 325 Bad housing conditions for the millions 35 6 Gap between population and architectural 7 Architectural needs and architectural demand 46

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DATE DU&

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architecture

First published by Hutchinson&Co (Publishers) Ltd., London, and OxfordUniversityPress,NewYork, 1963

First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1968 Printed in the United States of America

Particular acknowledgements are due to mycollaborators for help inmakingthisbookpossible:

MissS.Zarambouka,for putting the illustrations

in their finalform;Mr G.Drachman,forcheck

ing the English; Mrs.J.Zachariou and MissP Gregoriadis, whose skilled typing gave concrete

formto theseideas;andMr.N.Avronidakis, forthe overallsupervisionofthiswork

contents

4 Architecture moves fromlocal tointernational 32

5 Bad housing conditions for the millions 35

6 Gap between population and architectural

7 Architectural needs and architectural demand 46

8 The car changes thescaleof dimensions 47

9 Two-thirds of the central part of Los Angeles

10 Positiveand negative syntheses 49

11 The human scale of cities has now been re

15 The need for architecturalcreationincreases 56

17 A rational housing programme for a tran

sitional phase of the development ofIraq 59

18 Thefamilyand thehouse 61

19 Architectureina changing world 64

21 Theinfluenceofthearchitectonthetotalarchi

22 Architects inrelation to nationalincomes 72

23 Distributionof world population accordingto

per capitaincome andarchitectsper100,000

24 Architectural creation intheworld today 75

26 Architecturalcreation 80

27 Architectural creation inspace inthe past 81

28 Architecturalcreation inspacein thefuture 83

29 Hierarchical architectural co-ordination 89

30 Local and spatial architectural co-ordination 91

32 The knowledge ofarchitecturetoday has tobe

complemented bytheknowledge ofekistics:

a regionalplan for Greater Mussayib 98

33 The static city of the past has now burst its

35 Fromstatictodynamiccities 102

36 The parabolic dynapolis will take rectilinear

39 Thefutureextensionof Washington, D.C 107

41 The modulus in the new city should be thesector insteadoftheblock 110

42 Bridgesbetweensectors inTema, Ghana 112

43 Sector in Baghdad, Iraq 113

44 Sector in Eastwick, Philadelphia, Pa 114

45 Detailof one ofthesectors in Eastwick 1 16

47 A growing urban housein Iraq 1 18

48 A growing urban housein theUnitedStates 119

49 A growingruralhouseinGreece 119

50 School buildings in Iraq built with standard

51 Pierce College inAthens 122

52 Central courtyard of Doxiadis Associates

53 A market-placeinWestern Baghdad 124

54 The University of Panjab as a human com

57 The Universityof Panjab: themainaxisofthe

synthesis is notabstractand symmetrical 128

58 One ofthe centres of Korangi, Pakistan 129

60 Prefabricated marbleslabs 130

66 Houses designed for Eastwick, Philadelphia,

67 TheAcropolis of Athens 138

70 The PiazzadiCampidogUo inRome 140

71 The Erechtheum ontheAcropolis of Athens 140

72 The unfinishedwalls ofthe Propylaea on the

Acropolisof Athens 141

73 A normal changingarchitectural synthesis 142

74 The inner structure of the regional plan for

76 Thedouble-skinelevation 150

78 The formation ofbuildings:fromthespherical

to therectilinearform 153

79 The formation of urban landscape 153

81 Theelements of alogicalurbansynthesis 156

83 Protectionofbuildingsfromthe raysofthesun 158

84 Protection ofbuildingsinIslamabad 159

85 Human architecture inIslamabad 160

86 Architect's activity throughout the world 163

87 Architectural creation inrelation totime, space

91 creationofarchitecture in our time 171

92 Totalelastic activity 177

95 Architectural evolution in isolated societies 182

96 Architectural evolution inmergingsocieties 183

97 Localandecumenicarchitectural creation 185

98 Traditionalandnewarchitectural creation 188

99 Thespectrum ofarchitectural creation inour

onarchitecture inlectures and articles, as well as in reports ofallkinds It was in 1960 that I was given the honour of delivering

the annual discourse of the Royal Institute ofBritish Architects(R.I.B.A.) under the title 'Architecture in Evolution' During thesame year I had the opportunity of speaking on various occasions

to the architects and planners of the United States, Norway and

Sweden, Pakistan, Ghana, Egypt andGreece

Insomeoftheselectures Ispoke ofthedilemmaofthe architect

inourtime; inothers,althoughmysubjectconcernedtheproblems

ofphysicalplansand humansettlements,and myaudiences includedexperienced architects and students, administrators and artists,

economists and engineers, sociologists and geographers, I was

always asked questions about architecture and the problems thatarchitectureis facing today

That is why I decided to publish this book on Architecture in

Transitionevenbefore thebookI reallywantedto printfirst,thatonEkistics This bookattempts toprovide a systematicanswerto thequestionswhich have beenaskedby myaudiences,especiallyduring

thelastfewyears ofmylectures Whilebasingitprincipallyon my

discourse to the R.LB.A., Ihave also expanded my treatment ofat

fewofthe questionswith whichitdeals, and added severalnotions

which I feel are indispensable to a general understanding ofthesubject asIseeit.

18 PREFACE

This bookisintendedto standsidebysidewithmynext books,

theone onekistics, sinceit is there thatIpresent the framework ofideaswhichisnecessary forabetterunderstanding ofthe problems

ofarchitecturetoday,andthatonecumenopolis,sinceit is there that

Ipresent the physical framework ofthe architecture whichis now

created Architecture in Transition is a book with which many may

disagree It is not a textbook but the statement ofa creed, not acollection ofstatistics but one man's personal point ofview Any

valueitmayhaveliessimplyinthis:thatit istheproduct ofyearsoftravel,yearsoffirst-handobservation, yearsofthinkingandtalking.

Assuch, it iswritten 'outofmylife', andas suchit isdedicated toallthosearchitects, theyoungin heart, whoaretoday askingthemselves difficult questions about theirrole and abouttheirroadintothefuture

architectural confusion

I CAN FIND no betterway to describe ourcities thanas an urban

nightmare Ifwe wantto speak about architecturewe cannot thinkmerely ofbuildings isolated in the countryside; such buildings are

seldom erected nowadays, but evenwhen they do occur they aregradually taken overby the expandingcities. In any case, to think

ofisolatedbuildings is really to evade themainquestion related toarchitecture, for architecturedoesinfactleadtowardstheformation

ofcities.

It does not matter whether we look at our cities from the airwhen we see their irrational plan, from a car on a highway or a

congested street, as pedestrians on a busy sidewalk or from the

insideor outside ofablock ofbuildings; we alwayshavethe same

impression oflivingin anightmare.

With veryfew exceptions, this is true ofall cities It is true ofpracticallyeverything thatisbeingbuilttoday.Butit isalso trueof

the cities ofthe past, most of which, even iftheywere once satisfactory,have now beenturnedinto hybrids wherethe oldshellhas

to servenewneeds, and where the quietcity ofthe past, built for

thatVenice is a remarkableexception, andit is not a coincidencethat Venice has no cars and has not expanded to any importantdegree from the moment at which it took a certain architectural

form Venice isacity ofthe pastpreserveddownto ourdays. It is

notaconfusedcity andthatiswhy welikeit

20 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITION

Iknowofno city builtinour epochofwhich we can beproud,andcertainlynocity builtin the pastandinhabitedaccording toour contemporary wayoflivingwithwhich wecan be happy.Ifthere are

still parts of cities which we enjoy visiting, they are those partswhich are no longer inhabited, such as the archaeological sites, or

those sectionsnot takenoverbythenew way ofliving. Theadvent

ofmotor-boats, for example, has not yet been able to change thestructureofthecityofVenice;fortunately,nobodyhassofarthought

of widening its canals to allow formoremotor-boattraffic, thoughthisisno moreabsurd thanallowingaproliferation ofcars toforce

usto alast-minute readjustmentofourmajorcitiesandevenminor towns byroadwidening.

To live in almost any of our cities today is to live in a night

mare, an urbannightmare symbolic ofso many oftheproblems of

ourepoch, forit isintheurbanareas that theseproblemstaketheirmost obvious outwardexpression.

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Livingincitiesdoes nothelpusclear ourminds aboutarchitecture

Whatis especiallybadforusarchitects, whoaresupposedto be theleadersinthefieldofarchitectural creation,isthatourrole,whether

as laymen orexperts, is confused in many ways So confused is it

that big questions andbigdilemmas are constantlybeingcreated

Isthearchitectadesignerofbuildings?We mustreallyexamine

bothpartsofthisquestion, buildingsanddesigners.

Can an architect be limited to buildings? And how about thecities?Evenifwecreate the properbuildings, are weto leaveit tosomebody elseto providefor their synthesis within the city, within

theurbanarea?Are weto leavethisto thetraffic engineeror to thetownplanner? Then,whatkindoftownplanner,atownplannerwho

is anarchitect ornot?I think thatwe musthonestlyadmit thatwe

have not answered this question We do not know whether the

architect is supposed to create buildings or neighbourhoods or

cities.

Wealsospoke ofdesigners.Arethearchitects reallythe designers

of buildings? Are they entitled to remain designers or planners?

ARCHITECTURAL CONFUSION 21

architects entitledtolimitthemselvesto designing,and to blamethe

builders,theclientsorsocietyatlarge fornotfollowingtheirdesigns?

Can the design be an end in itself, and can the architect bejustified in limitinghimselfto design, instead of proceeding to theactual buildingorconstruction?Idon't believe thatwe have managed

toanswereventhisbigqueryinourepoch.

Ourgenerationisluckier thanthelast oneinthis respect: while

the last one was represented by narrow-minded architects who

thought themselves only designers of academic styles, we of the

present generationhave witnessed a revolutionstarted by men like

Le Corbusier, Gropius and Mies vanderRohe,as aresultofwhicharchitectsarenolongersupposedtobedesignersofacademicstyles.Theyhaveremaineddesignersnonetheless,and most ofthe schoolsare in fact no more than schools of architectural design, whose

purposeisto createnewstyles.

But we have not managedto becomebuilders Mostarchitectswould consider themselves insulted if they were called on to par

ticipate in an effort to build instead of designing and supervisingothers, and wouldevenrebel atthe suggestion that theymightjoin

an industrialfirmwhich produced architecturalelements

To be frank, we have to state clearly that as architects we areconfused,becausewehavedefined neitherthecontentandsizeof oursubjectnorourownrole in dealingwithit.

Personally Ioften feellike anitinerant master builder ofthe past,

travelling aroundtheworld and offeringmy services ButI do nottrudgethe roadswithmytools on myback; onthe contrary, Iuse

theaeroplane tomake mylongflights all overtheworld On these

flights I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and find

myselfinadarkened circus inthe heart of a city,with bent peoplehurryingindifferentdirections in thedarkall around me.

I look down one streetandsee abuilding illuminated fora few moments before the darkness blots it outagain, only to lift overadifferent street, another illuminated spot, and then another andanother Sometimesit is a skyscraper thatI see, or in the opposite

22 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITIONradiantcity. Atother timesitmaybegeodeticdomes,prefabricatedhouses or a series ofshells. I see monumental architecture, monu

ments ofthe pastand monumentsofthe present:nowthe Acropolis,the Gothic cathedrals, the Taj Mahal, the squares of Florence;

and now the sprawling nomadic suburbs of the American, theCanadian or the Australian city. Looming over all is the city of

motor-cars; houses, factories and buildings ofall kinds, highwayscrossing thecities,but,aboveall,cars, cars, cars;carsdrivingaround

inthedarkandpassingthroughthe architectureofthe pastandthe

ThereI stand,frightened as a child lostin the dark, wondering

which roadI shouldtake, whichway Imust go. And thenI tryto

find my way, to avoid the nightmare, to face my dilemma as anarchitectbyusing the experienceIhave gainedasanitinerantmaster

I realizethen that our problemis aproblemofconfusion. Onegenerationbackwetried tobreak our bondswiththepast.We didindeedbreak the bonds but only ofarchitectural design and now

weare confused about ourfuture One generationback we had to

breakthe shackles ofacademism andfreeourselves to createmodernarchitecture.Wehave doneit,butwe nowfindourselveslivinginan

urban nightmare whichspreads more and more andimprisons

us^at

itscentre.In confusionwelookaroundto find outwhatto do withourhard-wonliberty.

*,poch of transition

THE MAINreason, for our confusion,isthat wefind ourselves inan epoch oftransition, the general natureofwhich is also reflected inourarchitecture

Intrying to find our way in the darkness by which we are sur

rounded,we havetounderstandfirstwhere weare inspaceandtime.Where do we stand in space? It istoo lateto speak oflocalor

national issues, too late evento speak of an Eastern ora Westernworld Onthe other hand, it istoo early, forallpracticalpurposes,

tospeak aboutthe other planets(weknowsolittleaboutthemas yetthat it is meaningless to speculate on their particular problems)

Theearthisthe spaceweare talking about; neither more nor lessthan our wholeplanet.

Itisonthisearth thatwefind ourselveslivingtodayinanage ofgreattransition,anagewherethe rateof changeisacceleratingfrom one day to the next This rate of change is the mostcharacteristicphenomenonofourage,whetherwespeak oftechnological progress

or ofeconomicdevelopment, ofpopulationgrowth or ofsocial or

culturalphenomena Ourtransitionisatransitionfromold to new,

from traditional to modern, from the concepts of the past to the

concepts ofthefuture,and sofrom the problemsofthe past to theproblems ofthefuture

Architecture simply follows the general trends ofits age It is

now in the process of evolution, as it has always been, but anevolution more intense and more rapid than ever before When

24 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITION

architecturewaspassingfromarchaicto classicalGreek andthenfromclassicalto HellenisticGreek, orfrom EarlytoLate Renaissance orBaroque, the evolutionwas a slowone It is no longerso today

Evolution is now such that architectural styles are supposed to

be created by everyone every day, and for the first time we areconfusing architectural fashion with architectural style. It is thisevolution, this transition from phase to phase, that led me to call

the architectureof ourtimes 'Architecture in Transition'

It is not enough to state that architecture, like everything else, is

insuchaphase ofevolution thatits mostimportant characteristic

istransition Weneed to clarify this change as a change from onething to somethingelse.

Thefirstandsimplestdefinitionofthechange,especially for the

architectsandthe technologicallyadvancedgroups ofpeople,isthat

it isatransitionfromacademictomodern.Thisisarealrevolution,one which started ageneration ago andhas so farbeen successful,

butwhichhasneverthelessnot yet led to asolution Were thecase

otherwise,weshould not befacedwith suchproblemstoday

Inone wayor anotherwe haveoverthrownthegods ofthepast,

but now everyone has become a god. We hear many ideas andproposals a phenomenon which is useful up to a point. Man is

everywheretryingouthisnewwings,but does not always reacheventhelowest clouds,muchlessthe sun Alltoooftenour modernIcarusfalls ignominiously; the streets of our cities are littered with thedebrisofhisbrokenwings, thesoiled andruffled feathers

We might perhaps say that such attempts at least give publicopinionthechance ofselectingfrom amongsomanyproposalsandideas But public opinion is notfree, for it is the slave ofits own

habitat, and is bowed down under the inertia created by its own

environment

Publicopinionvery oftendemandsthetraditional,butindemandingthe creationof somethingreminiscentofthe old houses,

EPOCH OF TRANSITION 25

oldhouses, asCasonasaid,are creatednotbyarchitects,butbytime

Soeverysingleoneof uslivinginahouse ofthe pastor walkingin

astreetofthe past bears theweight ofhis surroundings.Wearethus

obliged to createthenewwhilelivingin themidst oftheoldwhichis

stillin existenceandtheoldwhichisagain beingimitated.'Weshape

ourbuildings,'saidSirWinstonChurchill,'thereaftertheyshapeus.'

Thisis animportant truththatwe alwaysforget when wespeak of

public opinion, and the process ofthe selection ofthe fittest. Who

selects? The public. And how is the public educated in terms of

architecture?Mainly byitssurroundings orbypopular magazines.Let us now take an average city and study the surroundings

within which the average citizen is living at a given moment X Taking 100-120years as theaveragelife ofthe buildings inthis city,anyonereaching adulthood atmoment X opens his eyes every day

on acitycreatedbythefourprevious generations. Helivesina citywhich often does not correspond to its present needs It has out

livedevenitsowncreators,becausethepeoplewhocreatedacertaingroupofbuildingshavealreadybeen deadformorethan 100yearseven assuming they started their creation at twenty and lived an

average ofseventyyears.Duringhis lifetimethesame manwillhavetheopportunity of adding perhaps 30 or40percent to thecity,but,

even so, he willhave worked for a city two-thirds ofwhich heinherited from others In the meantime he will change his clothingseveral tens oftimes, his car several times,his industrial equipment

atleast three tofourtimes; his city, however,willremainlargelyas

heinherited it.

Thisfactturns theaveragecitizenintoaslaveofthe pastinterms

ofarchitecture more than in anything else depending on him We

havetherefore to deal withapublicopinionwhichisin shackles.Thustheaveragemantends to consider asrightwhatisprevalent

This wasall very wellwhen therewas no distinct change in tech

nology and ways ofliving, butit isno longersatisfactorynowthatthemaincharacteristicoflifearound usisrapid change Becauseof

histendencytocopy whatisprevalent, theaveragemanisveryconservative He wants to buildsomething thatlooksexactly thesame

as what he knows and sees every day He istherefore in favour ofcontinuing the local traditional solutions; also, although this may

seem he infavour of importingaliensolutions because

26 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITION

he hasseen them in his travels or read about them inmagazines.Consequently,heisinfavour ofastatusquo hisownoran imported

introductionofnewideas

Yetthearchitecthimselfisalso aslaveofhis ownsurroundings.

He mustindeed be avery great manto be able to detach himself

from hishabitat andjudgeitforwhatit is worth, keepingwhat isnecessarybutrejectingwhatever canserve him no longer. Scientistsliberatethemselvesfromtheirsurroundingsbyisolatingonlythefactswhichtheyrequire, and evenartists can, atanystage oftheirlives,

avoid coming under the influence ofany particular style, whethercontemporary ortraditional The architect isthe only one who is

supposed to create something better while living in, and beingcontinuously influencedby,theworkofhispredecessors. Hecannot

help acceptingmanynotionsofthe past as the naturalfirstprinciples

ofhisowncreation.Thearchitecturebeingcreated everydayhastofollowadifficultroad loadedto breaking-pointwiththeweightofits

habitat

This fact,namely, thatboththe publicandthe architecthavetoliveinanenvironment neither created norinfluenced by them, hasbothitsgood anditsbadaspects.The goodaspectisthat the forces

of inertia created by our surroundings act as a defence againstchangeswhichhave not beenwellconceived orwellthought outand whichare thereforesimply notthemostappropriate ones. Thisisattipaes a necessary safety device. After all, even though an outrightfailureneed not be verycostly, anarchitectwhomisleads humanitywill create such an investment that large numbers of people will

have to sufferformanyyears because ofthe community'sinability

to demolish any architectural creation In this sense it is wise torespect thearchitecturalcreation ofthe pastandto draw fromitas

manyuseful lessons aspossible.

Onthe otherhand, however, the habitatwhichisthereactsas areal brake since, consciouslyor not, people tend to consider whatexistsasthe bestguidetowhatshouldexist.

In any case, we must now recognize that humanity is trappedbetween old and new Ifthe rate of change is small then there is

always timefor readjustment, since the rate of change ofneeds is

also andthe are satisfied with

Fig 1. Mies vanderRohe'sconception of the skyscraper

28 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITION

Fig 2. Thefull-shell endlesshouseas designedbyFrederick Kiesler

minoralterationstotheirownsurroundingsascantakeplace in theproper time But when the rate ofchange ofthe whole society inwhich we arelivingisas great asit is today,thenthe slow rate ofchangein ourhabitatdefinitely acts asa brakeon normalevolutionandprogress.

Thisisone ofthe bignewproblems ofthecontemporaryarchitect.Therateof changerequireshim tocreatesomethingwhichinmany

respectsshouldbenew, butatthesametimehebears the greatweight

ofhis ownhabitat Thus heisreallycaughtbetween the oldwhich

cannot be demolishedovernightandthenew whichisindispensable

to thenewtypeoflifethat thepeoplehavetolead

Here weneedto clarifywhat we mean bythenew, thatis, what we

mean by modern Do we mean the 'modern* of horizontal lineswhich was opposedatfirstto the'old'ofvertical lines?

Do we meanperhapsthe prefabricated buildingorthealuminium

watertankwhichdefinesthe skylineofourcities?Or do we meanthespherical house, or the skyscraper., or perhaps even the full-shell

endlesshouse(Figs, 1and2).We havenotyetansweredtheseques

tions,andtheyremainopen.

In wehave not agreedon what modernor new.We have

EPOCH OF TRANSITION 29

very little ofit anyhow, and are still surrounded by a few moderncreations amid a preponderance of old ones, because economicforcesandtheinertiawhichtheycreatedonot allow ustochangeourhabitat as easilyaswechange ourclothesorourcar,

Idoubtifwereallyknowtodaywhatis new.Thirty years agoit

was easier to answer this question Then, whateverwas not oldwhich meant academic whatever broke with tradition, was considerednew,useful, daringandgood.Itwastheepochofrevolutionand it was necessary to encourage every effort of revolutionaryimportance

But wearenotentitledtothink in thesame waytoday It istime

torecognizethat the revolutionhas notbeencompleted, andinthis

respectwe do need neweffortsofrevolutionaryimportance. Ontheother hand, however, we may no longer indiscriminately praise asrightwhatissimplydifferentfromtheold

It istimetobreakthe association inourminds between'new'and'right'andtoclarifythat 'new'hasno meaning whenitsimply breakswiththepast,butonlywhenitmakes apositive contribution to thefuture Ifwe lookat our problems inthis way we shall recognizethatmuchoftheactivitytaking place infactories (intheproduction

ofnewmaterials and methods of production) andin areas of

low-cost housing no matter whether created in organized, private or

governmental settlements or in a completely haphazard way isfarmoreimportant thanwhattakes place in theateliersofmanybig

architects.Achemist oraproductionmanager mayintheendprovefar more important to the architecture of the future than many

architects

Ifthis fact, that even private, non-organized, low-cost housing

effortsmaybe.moreimportant than'big architecture*,looksstrange,

we have only to remember thatit is frequently better to letmany

natural forces work in their own way than to commit ourselves

simply because someone has suggested the formulafor a solution

Inour case,ifwerecognize that weare inan eraoftransitionandare confused, it isatleastequally reasonabletohope that the truth

mayas easily come out ofhumblecreation as out ofwhat we callarchitects' architecture How often do we fail to realize that no

at betterthanbad

30 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITION

We nowrealizethat thereallynewis notnecessarilyfound onthe

architect'sdrawing-board.Butletusturntothe basicchangeswhichare occurring inarchitecture

One ofthe mostimportant ofthese is the shift ofarchitecturalcreationfromhandicraftto industry What wasin the pasta matter

oflocal production based on the skill ofthe local people and theuseoflocal materials,isnowturningmore and moreintoanactivity

based on materials which areproduced hundreds or thousands ofmilesaway and onconstructional parts whichareincorporatedinto

buildings aswholeunits.Thus,wherethearchitectwasoncethesole

masterofhis creation,heisnow becoming aco-ordinatorofarchi

tectural creation, sinceheiscompelledmore and moretousematerialsand elements inthe conception, production and form ofwhich he

mayhave playedno part whatever.

At first, this trend appeared mainly in the installations of our

buildings Then it spread to some structural parts, until graduallymore and moreof the buildingwasinvolved.Ifwethink ofthenew

skyscrapers in the U.S.A., which use prefabricated panels, pre

fabricated windows, prefabricated surface plates and ready-madecurtainwalls,thenwecanrestassured that thearchitectisbeginning

tohaveadifferent role.Thisiscertainlynotvalid everywhere, forifthesamearchitectdesignsacabinonthetop ofanisolatedmountain

hemaystillbe workinginthe same way as thearchitect, or ratherthemason,ofearlier times.However,betweenthearchitectwhohas

to work almost entirely with prefabricated materials and the one

whohastoworkonlywith naturalmaterials,thereis a wholerange

ofsolutions which provethat the modem architect is being forced

tomove from anarchitecturewhich was a product ofhandicraft toone whichhas become anindustrialproduct At the sametime thenumberof peopleparticipating directly orindirectlyin the creation

of a building becomes larger and larger and moves towards theinfinite(Fig. 3).

EPOCH OF TRANSITION 31

Fig 3. From handicraft to industry: architecture

movesatdifferentspeedsdepending oncountry,locality

andeconomic andtechnicaldevelopment

100%,

ductionalso impliesa shiftofarchitectural solutions from thelocal

towards the international level. If certain materials are produced

only in some countries, then the people designing those materials

will exercise an influence in the country where the building incorporatingthemisto stand Architecture thusmoves betweenthe localandtheinternational,andarchitectsarepermanently caughtbetweenthesetwo competinggroups offorces(Fig. 4).

International co-operationonmatters of development is a very

recent phenomenon, and experience inthis field is limited We areall still at the experimental stage ofthis new attempt to foster abetterunderstandingamongpeopleandcreateabetterworld.Takentogetherwiththe otherelements ofourage,theacceptance ofallthe

principles we have here mentioned inevitably leadstowards asimi

larityofsolutions in differentparts oftheworld Thesesimilarities

have been causedbythreewavesofinfluences

Thefirstwave wasraisedbythe creationof mechanicalmeansof

whichareused everywhere in similar

32 ARCHITECTURE IN TRANSITION

Fig 4. Architecturemoves fromlocal to international,

andthearchitect iscaughtbetweenthesetwoforces

100/o

manner,andthesimilaritiesbegantobe apparentin particularkinds

ofbuildings,suchascertaintypes ofindustrialplantswhich haveto

house astandard typeoffunction.Amill, totakeoneexample, could

be designedin London and built in exactly the same wayinmany

parts ofthe world Thiswas true especially ifthe climates oftheseareas were all similar, although the same could also apply iftheclimatesdiffered,providedthatallowance weremadeforair-heating,air-cooling or even air-conditioning. Regardless ofregion or townthere are functions particularly in the field ofcommunications which are based on standards of a more or less universal nature.For instance, we have built the same types ofrailway stations tohousethe sametypesoflocomotives, the sametypes of garage andthe sametypes ofbuildings forharbours andairports whichare toservethe sametypesofships andaeroplanesthroughouttheworld;

furthennore, the petrolcompaniesbegansellingfrom astandard type

of petrol station which has now become ubiquitous; and so the

EPOCH OF TRANSITION

The secondwaveofsimilarsolutions began whenmaterialspro

duced in one country, such as prefabricated doors, windows andpanels, began to be sold and used in another The advent ofpre

fabricated furniturehas evenled to a similarityin types ofinterior

furnishinganddecoration Later,withthegrowthof communications,

came thespread offashions; conceivedin one country but able toinfluence other parts ofthe world through magazines, books,films,televisionand so on

Finally,thereweretheuniversitiesofthe highlydevelopedpartofthe Western world producing architects, who thereupon spread all

overthe world.Intheir turn,these representedathirdforce leading

to asimilarityofsolutions

Atthebeginning ofhumanhistory therewas notraditionofany

importance.Similar solutions occurredindifferent localitiesbecausepeoplewereperhapsthesame andequallyequippedfor architecturalcreation and because they were using similar materials in similarsurroundings Local, regional and then international radiationbegan Is thisradiationgoingtobecome sostrongas to destroy the

local growths?

Therewas, ofcourse, ajustifiable reaction to this trendtowards

similarity,for buildingscouldnotbethesameirrespectiveofclimate,

locality or local traditions The people who had learned the new approach in the Western universities were simply mimicking thesolutions worked out at their schools and were not adapting theirapproachto thenewenvironment Manymistakeswerethusmade; and we have seen,and maystill see, numerousbuildingsthroughout

theworld whichfailto serve thepeopleatallbecause theyhave beentransplantedfrom adifferentcountryandadifferentenvironment

Two movements thereuponcameinto conflict The first, arising

outofmechanizationandstandardization, led toasimilarityofsolu

tions The other opposedit, onthegroundthat these solutionswere

beingimposedwithout regardto climaticandlocalconsiderations

As conditions stand at present it is quite probable that these

movements,theoneleading toasimilarityofsolutionsandtheother

leading to localsolutions, arebothvalid formost ofthe countriesof

theworld The wisdom ofthe choice between themwilldepend ontherelative importance to be given to these two tendencies at any

34 ARCHITECTURE TRANSITION

Islamabad, the new capital ofPakistan, as anexample. During the

early sixties the economy of Pakistan will require the use of local

materials as far as physicallypossible,andin these conditionsseveral

of the universal forces will exert no influence whatsoever, sincethelocal materials will bethose whichwill influence the buildings

Ifwespeak of Islamabadintheseventies,however, thenthe situation

willbedifferent,anditwillbefarmoredifferentone ortwogenerationslater,

FACING QUANTITATIVE PROBLEMS

AU our thinking up to now has been directed to the problem ofquality and it must be confessed that, when talking about archi

tecture, architect and layman alike confine themselves almost ex

clusively to qualitativeproblems Wetalk ofwhat we like, what isbest, what is rational, and seldom think of the big quantitative

problemswehavetoface Even more seldom do wetryto combinethequalitativewiththe quantitativeproblems

Looking around, however, we do not see merely the distancebetween academic and modern We discover that the large masses

of people are not interested even in talking about the differences

betweenoldand new, nor dotheycarewhetherarchitectureismoving fromhandicraft toindustrialproduction, orwhetherweare dealing

withlocalor internationalfactors Infact,these areproblems whichthe expertsmustdiscussand whichonlyalimitednumberof personscan in fact understand The large masses of people are really in

terestedintheirwayoflife,butwhentalkingaboutarchitecturethey

confine themselves to acursoryand superficial examination ofourarchitectural production, our habitat and our cities. They look

mainly to the appearance ofarchitecture. However, ifwe proceed

tolook notat the fa$adesofourbuildingsbutinside,into the heart

ofour architecture, we shall discover that the homeless or poorly

housed millions who constitute the majority ofthe people on the

earth, liveunderverybadconditionsindeed(Fig.5).

But we must takeyetanother step and see thatit is not merely

that themajority ofmankindisill-housed,butthatmanyof our needs

arenot servedatallorarebadlyserved in thewrongkind ofbuild

orin whicharetoo smallandinadequateforourneeds

EPOCH OF TRANSITION

How do wereactto thefactthatourbuildingeffortsare smaller

thanthecorresponding needs, that they are infact not comparable

atallto the real needs of humanity?Let us befrank In our talks

about architecture we usually forget the greatest number of our

potentialclients,thatis,weusually forget the quantitative questions

relatedtoarchitecture,consideringthemtohave noinfluenceonthe

situation But whatpercentage ofthe people, in fact, havethe pri

vilege ofaproper house or a proper school building? We do not

thinkofthat,nordo werelateitto theproblems ofquality

Ifwedecide todoso,we mustrecognize thatwe havequantitative

as well as qualitative problemsto tackle, and that the quantitative

problemsshould not belefttoonesidewhilewedevote ourattention

mainlyto the qualitative ones. If this bias continues, thenwe aredoomedto remaininthe epochoftransition Wewillbeunableto

findany way out and, whatis worse, our efforts to serveour real

clients,thatis, thepopulation ofthewholeearth, willbe a complete

Fig 5. Thegreatestpartof humanitylives inconditionssimilar to

36 ARCHITECTURE TRANSITION

failure How can we believe that we create an architecture whenthe solutions given are onlygoodorpossible foracertainvery small

class of people which may existin all countries oronly insome of

them, butwhichneverthelessconstitutesa minorityin relation tothegreatmasses of peoplewehavetoserve?

It ishigh timefor us to recognize that inthis epochoftransition

our goal cannot be to create architecture in the abstract, but todedicateourarchitecturalcreation totheservice ofthe people

Ifwestudytherealdimensions of ourproblem weshalldiscoverthat,

farfrombeing exaggerated, the above remarks can more properly

be termed understatements Architects are really not influencing

architecture, but only avery small part ofthetotal activity.Whatis

worse, humanity itself is not concerned with theproblem ofarchi

tecturalcreation as awhole, but only withthatverysmallpart that

relates toits particularneeds.

How are wefacing problems of such dimensions? Through ourschools ofarchitecture But thespiritprevailing theredoes not help

architectsto face our problems.As an example I may mention thatmostofthe schools teacharchitecturalstyles,andlay greatemphasis

onthefinalachievement ofaparticularmodemstyle.But whatisof

interestisnotwhat styles have been created, but ratherhow styles

arecreated,whatthelongand difficultroad was thathumanity had

tofollow in order tocreateaparticularstyle. Theimportant thingis

the processby which astyle isborn, itsactual birthandnotthestyle

initself. Styles, likethe civilizations whichcreatethem, rise andfall

duringthe ages: what isimportant isthe study ofthe dynamics of

style-making or style-creation, not ofstyle as a form or an end in

itself.

Another example of our failure to face these problems in the

properwayis thefact thatmostofthe architectural schools teach

very little about low-cost housing, about the great numbers ofbuildings which are necessary everywhere, and concentrate mainly

on the few buildings which are exceptional, either in size or inconception