Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, By Robert Venturi

[Folks, this is, in my opinion, a wacky and convoluted piece about theory and
architecture two things that I know nothing about. Im doing my best with a synopsis
here, but if you are interested in these things you might want to read this one yourself. It
is short.
I think the professors included the article as an example of thinking outside the box! and
of the deep "drug#influenced$% perspective shift of the &'s.(
)enture likes complexity and contradiction, based on the richness and ambiguity of
modern experience, in architecture. *e is for compromising, distorted and perverse
themes rather than clean, straightforward, or impersonal ones.
+n architecture of complexity and contradiction has a special obligation toward the
whole, its truth must be in its totality or its implication of totality. It must embody the
difficult unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion.!
-he movement from a view of life as essentially simple and orderly to a view of life as
complex and ironic is what every individual passes through in becoming mature.! -hat
suggests that a mature structure should include elements of complexity and irony.
.ess is not more. /latant simplification means bland architecture. .ess is a bore.
+lvar +alto and .e 0orbusier are examples of architects who have re1ected
simplification, but the complexity in their work is often overlooked or misinterpreted.
-he interdependence of form and function should be blended in a structure, instead of
looking at them as one#follows#the#other.
-he medium of architecture should be increased in scope allowing for the variety
inherent in the ambiguity of visual perception must once more be acknowledged and
exploited.
-he growing complexities of our society and problems should be recogni2ed and
expressed in our architecture.