GraduateSchoolofArchitecture,PlanningandPreservation

ColumbiaUniversity

JosAragez
FredLevratStudio_Summer2008

06/09/2008

NotesonArchitectureandDisjunction

ThisbookbyBernardTschumiisactuallyacollectionofessayswrittenbetween1975and1991.Theyaregroupedintothree
categorieswhosetitlesareextremelygraphic:Space,ProgramandDisjunction.

Someofthetopicsthispresentationwillbedealingwithdifferinsomewaysfromthosepreviouslydiscussedinclass,while
othersmightbestemmedfromorrelatedtothem.Theinevitableinterestinwideningthewayweareapproachingarchitecturewill
remainasthedrivingthreadofallthoseissues.

In order to do so, two essays have been deemed the most adequate. Curiously, the first and the last one, namely, The
ArchitecturalParadox(September1975)andSixconcepts(February1991).

Theformerseekstoultimatelyreflectapersonalviewonthestrugglebetweenthepossibleinteractionsbetweenhuman
perceptionandspace.

On the one hand, what it is cited as The Pyramid is derived from the way in which sciences such as philosophy,
mathematicsandphysicshaveattemptedthroughouthistorytostatetheprecisenatureofspace.Afterchronologicallyexamininga
numberofintriguingviewsonthetopic(i.e.thedematerializationofspaceintotherealmofconcepts,ortheviewofarchitectureasan
autonomousplayoflanguage),Tschumi,strivingtocomeupwithanarchitectureorientedsortofdefinition,eventuallyclaimsthat
theessenceofspaceismental,andthatitisthearchitectwhoprovidestheultimatemodelofreason(thepyramid)bywhichthe
conceptionofabuildingcomestobeing.Thisway,Architectureisacosamentaleandtheformsconceivedbythearchitectensurethe
dominationoftheideaoverthematter.

Secondly,thesocalledLabyrinthalludestothephysical,sensoryexperienceofspace.Whatisfirst?Isitthefactofyour
eyes receiving partial information of the place you are in? Or is it an operation of reason involved that allows you to construct an
overallideaofthespaceeventhoughyouonlyperceiveglimpsesofit?Howthesetwoprocessesinteract?Howdotheytakeplacein
time? In contrast with the pyramid of reason that operates from the total, Tschumi highlights in this case the lack of general
perspective, just as a labyrinth where all sensations, all feelings are enhanced, but where no overview is present to provide a clue
abouthowtogetout.

So the paradox mainly lies on the impossibility of questioning the nature of space and at the same time making or
experiencingarealspace.Yetthesubjectiseventuallygivenagreaterimportance,whenitisstatedthatthesensualarchitecture
reality is not experienced as an abstract object already transformed by consciousness but as an immediate and concrete human
activity. This idea of immediacy that comes up by the end of the text is definitely an exciting one. Along with the very process of
reflection,theybotharousemuchmoreinterestthantheconclusion,beingthisthesolutionoftheparadoxpresentedasablendingof
thearchitectureruleandtheexperienceofpleasure.

Thesecond essay, Six concepts, whichwas in fact a lecture given atColumbia University, appears tobe astatement of
intent.Itmightbesaidthatdealsprimarilywiththequestionofimageinallitsmanifestationsandreadings.Justasanacupuncture
operation,somequestionshavebeenextractedfromthetextandconfrontedwiththerealitythatthearchitecturediscourseingeneral
(andthe scenario in Dubai in particular) is goingthrough today. Itisprecisely their surprisingly current validity whatchallengesthe
actualcontributionsthatarchitecturehasbeenabletodeliverduringthelastseventeenyears...

REACTIONMuchofarchitecturalpostmodernismwasdevelopedatatimeofgeneralreactionagainstwhatweperceived
as the abstraction of modernism: abstraction because modernisms glass office buildings were imageless and cold like abstract
paintingsSowhatisourreactionagainstwhatweseetoday,thisunclassifiableproliferationofdifferentlanguagesamongstwhich
eventheattemptofstandingoutthroughsimplicityhasbeenbroughtintoplay?

SUPERFICIALITY(...)theyallreferredtoaverynarrowsectorofarchitecturalculture:theydealtonlywiththeappearance
ofarchitecture(...)Isitnotthewaymuchcontemporaryarchitecturetendstobeproduced?Couldbethinkthestoryofourprojects
tobetoldinseveralpossiblewaysratherthanbeingtiedtoasinglesequencethatcanonlygothroughimage?Couldwethenpursuea
certaindegreeofcompleteness?

PERCEPTION(...)whatwemightcallrealityissuchthatasingle,objectiverealityisincreasinglydifficulttoconceive.(...)
Inevitably, architecture and its perception will become like another object of contemporary reality. This is the input the studio is
meant to provide the playground to research. How do we work with architecture and perception when thinking of a physical
construction?Howdoweintegratethemintothekindofrealitywearecurrentlyexperience?Howdotheyaffectandinteractwith
therestofparametersthatareintendedtoconstitutethebodyofarchitecturalandurbanprojects?

GraduateSchoolofArchitecture,PlanningandPreservation
ColumbiaUniversity

JosAragez
FredLevratStudio_Summer2008

LANGUAGE(...)allofthemcoexistandincreasinglyprovokeinusaprofoundindifference:indifferencetodifference.This
isagainthesameperceptionwehavetoday,onegenerationlater.Hasthatmomenttoraisewhatsnextarrivedyet?Doesitmake
senseatalltotrytothinkofanewlanguage?

PURPOSE Indeed, if most ofarchitecture has become surface, applied decoration, superficiality, paperarchitecture (...),
what distinguishes architecture from other forms of billboard design: or, more ambitiously, what distinguishes architecture from
editions,layouts,graphics?(...)howarchitectureremainsameansbywhichsocietyexploresnewterritories,developsnewknowledge?
(selfexplanatory)

STRATEGY (...) one should take advantage of such dismantling, celebrate fragmentation by celebrating the culture of
differences, by accelerating and intensifying the loss of certainty, of center, of history. This has been already put in practice many
times,ashasbeenmorerecentlytheconstructionofthesocalledtopographicalanddeterritorializedspace.Again,whatsnext?What
othersvariablesanoperationscouldweinvolveinourapproachtothearchitecturalfact?Howwouldtheyrelatetocoreconceptssuch
asspace,geometry,programandrepresentation?

TECHNOLOGY (...) to say that society is now about media and mediation makes us aware that the direction taken by
technologyislessthedominationofnaturethroughtechnologythanthedevelopmentofinformationandtheconstructionoftheworld
as a set of images. (...) in the words of Paul Virilio, we are not dealing anymore with the technology of construction, but with the
constructionoftechnology.Sothatlongago,wewerealreadythinkingofconstructingtheworldasasetofimages.Whatisthat
nextstepwhichgoes beyond the image? How dowewant to constructthe world?If, as commonlyaccepted today,technology no
longerholdshandswithspatialinvestigation,asitusedtobetenyearsago,yetitgoeswayfurther,howcanwebridgethatgap?How
dowetake technological change into consideration in our architecturalprojects not onlyby usingthe tools it provides, but also by
addressingitseffectonourlivesandthewayitaltersouruseofspace?

ORNAMENT When metaphors and catachreses are turned into buildings, they generally turn into plywood or papier
machestagesets:theornamentagain.Areweusingthemetaphorasameanstoresearchonotherissuesthatmayberelevanttoour
architecturalprojectsorisitjustrelatedtorepresentation?Isitanaprioriordoesitcomesafterwards?Whatistheroleofornament
inarchitecturetoday?Isitseenjustasanattachment?

FORM/FUNCTION(...)thecompleteinterchangeabilityofformandfunction,thelossoftraditional,canoniccauseand
effectrelationshipsassanctifiedbymodernism.Functiondoesnotfollowform,formdoesnotfollowfunctionorfictionforthatmatter
however,theycertainlyinteract.Whatarethentheimplicationsbetweenthetwo?Inwhichdirectionshouldtheyaffecteachother?
Shouldbeheadtowardstheproductionofinfrastructures,ratherthanbuildings?Wouldtheynotbemoreadequatetothepacemany
constructionschangetheirprogramsandthecharacteristicspontaneityofthecontemporaryevent?Towhatextentcanwegetridof
thespecificityinarchitecture?

CROSSPROGRAMMINGIfarchitectureisbothconceptandexperience,spaceanduse,structureandsuperficialimage
non hierarchically then architecture should cease to separate these categories and instead merge them into unprecedented
combinationsofprogramsandspaces.Haveweactuallyfacedtheseissuesoftenenough?Doesitnotstillseemtobeanunexplored
field,especiallyifwerefertocertainscales?

EVENT For Foucault, an event is not simply a logical sequence of words of actions but rather the moment of erosion,
collapsequestioning,orproblematizationoftheveryassumptionsofthesettingwithinwhichadramamaytakeplaceoccasioning
the chance or possibility of another, different settting. The event is seen here as a turning point. Do our projects allow for these
turningpoints?Inotherwords,dotheycountontherightbalancebetweenspecificityandindefinition?Howdowespatializethat?
Whatkindoftopologydoesthisdemand?

REPRESENTATIONIwouldliketoassociateitwiththenotionofshock,ashockthatinordertobeeffectiveinourmediated
culture,inourcultureofimages,mustgobeyondWalterBenjaminsdefinitionandcombinetheideaoffunctionoractionwiththatof
image. How does the image of our projects relate to their spatial organization? What is the depth of influence of the skins we
imagine?Woulditnotbechallengingtothinkofthatdepthasthatofthewholebuilding,thereforerenderingtherepresentational
characterandthespaceitselfindistinguishable?

TRANSLATION I do not believe it is possible, nor does it make sense, to design buildings that formally attempt to blur
traditional structures, that is, that display forms that lie somewhere between abstraction and figuration (...). Architecture is not an
illustrative art; it does not illustrate theories. Are we sometimes literally attempting to transfer concepts an ideas from other
disciplines such as art or philosophy? How do we construct the filters between the source and the outcome? In this sense, how
reliableisourprocessofproducingarchitecture?Howautonomous?

Contributionsonanyfieldareverywelcome.