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47

Architectural Theory: A Construction Site


Akos Morav6nszky

Territory and problems - theoria is an observer, an envoy sent by a polis to a place


Like ail young academic disciplines, the theory of of oracle like Delphi, to be present at the oracle
architecture is still in search of its identity, as its and report it to his principals with authority, that
representatives strive to define the boundaries of is, without altering it, 'for neither adding anything
their territory. But what is this territory? Obviously, would you find a cure, nor subtracting anything
there must be specific problems waiting to be solved would you avoid erring in the eyes of gods' - as
by architectural theorists if taxpayers' money is to the poet Theognis of Megara (6th Century BC)
be invested in the creation of new chairs, professor- had warned the theoros.l The meaning of theory,
ships, and design-based academic grades, which is therefore, indicates a particular way of observing:
a completely new and somewhat puzzling phenom- the way of the detached and uncommitted specta-
enen. Undoubtedly, even mathematics would no to1 rather than the participant. lt seems, therefore,
longer be on the university agenda today if it did not that the original meaning of theoria leaves no space
contribute substantially to the development of new for a pro-'projective' interpretation, with its interest
technologies, what then can we expect of architec- in performance and production.
tural theory?
However, important questions remain. The deci-
The field of architectural theory should be defined sion of the Athenians whether to start a war against
on the basis of the problems the discipline is intended the Persians or to take a defensive stance depended
to solve. But disciplines for architectural problem on the report and interpretation of the oracle,s
solving, from the design of a doorknob to regional utterances by the theoro
planning, already exist. What kind of specific tasks
ll" theoros created a
narrative in order to bridge the gap between human
does architectural theory have to tackle, what kind intelligence and divine interaction. The narrative
of inquiries does it intend to pursue? The future oI the theoros, however, had to be negotiated: in
standing of architectural theory indeed perhaps cases where the Athenian ambassadors declined
its survival depends on the answers to these and to accept an oracle, they refused to confer author-
similar questions. ity to the theoros. We have to ask, therefore,
whether detachment will give us a more profound
We can debate the value of etymology in under- insight than participation, or whether observation
standing the usage of terms, but its capacity to itself is a kind of intellectual participation. Accord-
qqgstleiJ.ere'?lLy:-"_S$*r_Fgg__r.e.*n"q:r"." ing to Hans-Georg Gadamer, the fheoros becomes
beyond any doubt. The Greek origin of the word part of the festive celebration by attending it; via
theory theoria, is illuminating. Thea is an occur- his attendance, the theoros acquires a qualifica-
rence which wants to be understood, and theoros tion and certain privileges. Being a spectator is an
I

EEIBM Tmns-disciptinary, Autumn 2007, pp.4t -56


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49

ln his 1951 essay, Paul Zucker described archi- unworthy of attention, since the real significance
tectural theorists as 'those who deal preponderantly did not lie in the visual appearance of a building but
with problems of architectural aesthetics'.e The in its socio-economic existence. The problem with
equation of architectural theory with aesthetics was this line of argumentation is that the elimination of
a general phenomenon during the first half of the aesthetics as a means of evaluating architecture
twentieth century. 'This is certainly not a theory of as a product of human labour radically limits the
building technology but of building-art lBaukunsfl, means of making a critical judgment vis-d-vis the
therefore an aesthetics', Herman Sdrgel already product (which is a pity, since the real differences
wrote in 1918 in the introduction to his important between the proposals of Rem Koolhaas and the
handbook 'Theorie der Baukunst', which consists architects of New Urbanism lie in their respective
of a historical-critical part (from Semper to Hilde- aesthetics, rather than in their social programs).
brand), a theoretical-methodical part (aesthetics Still, the reconfiguration of architectural theory
of perception) and a practical-applied part (ranging was, in retrospect, successful in the sense that its
from material and technology to style and truth).10 representatives could gain the necessary attention
Sorgel saw the task as the._mediation between by establishing an international network of intellec-
the architect and the philosophically or historically tuals from in- and outside the discipline, forming a
educated theorist, using aesthetics as a 'rational' 'critical'mass and acting as a resonating board. The
antidote against similarly'rational' functionalism. Any conferences, held each year between 1991 and
Many important theorists trained in art history, 2000, were a case in point, even though the interest
such as Rudolf Wittkower, Rudolf Arnheim, Ernst in a real exchange of ideas had declined during the
Gombrich and Paul Frankl, developed analytical final meetings.
methods that became important tools for archi-
tects, often mediated by architectural critics like Manfredo Tafuri's thesis regarding the impos-
Colin Rowe. lt is puzzling that Hanno-Walter Kruft sibility of a critical architecture contributed to the
disregarded practically all of them in his voluminous institutionalisation of a critical theory of architec-
'History of Architectural Theory' (1985). His chap- ture.12 After 1973, 'Oppositions', the journal of
ters on twentieth-century architecture exclusively the lnstitute for Architecture and Urban Studies,
discussed the statements of practicing architects.ll founded by Peter Eisenman, Kenneth Frampton,
The fact that the authors who for Zucker repre- and Mario Gandelsonas, played a major role in
sented architectural theory were now replaced by this respect. The editors of 'Oppositions' wanted
Van de Velde, Gropius, van Doesburg and Mies van to create a committed critical voice, outside of
der Rohe, indicates a major shift in the definition of academia or the architectural profession, although
architectural theory: not the aesthetics of architec- university journals such as Yale's 'Perspecta', with
ture, but architecture itself in its structural relations its characteristic mixture of historical analysis and
with social life is now the focus of attention. new projects, certainly served as a point of orienta-
tion. Still, the effect of the long-lasting hegemony
We can locate the origin of this paradigm change of Clement Greenberg's formalist aesthetics in the
in the situation of around 1968. lndeed, we can United States should not be underestimated. Just
speak of the birth of a new architectural theory, as like 'October', the journal for theoretical inquiry in
the conjunction of architectural history and politically art which announces its rebellious spirit already in
engaged architectural criticism. The term'aesthetics' its title, 'Oppositions' became the forum for opinions
was now carefully avoided by the representatives calling the traditional foundations of architectural
of this new theory as something superficial and culture into question.
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'illustrations'. recent years we have seen that architectural theory


makes a rather deliberate use of complex theories
We should not underestimate the liberating effect of natural sciences, such as genetics. lt seems that
of these and similar ideas on architecture; the many universities only bestow recognition, and
attention to developments in other disciplines and therefore support, on disciplines that can be labelled
]-"*--*
in other fields of culture was a significant change. 'sciences'. The results are clearly visible in the
Butthisnewtheorysogt!-g_gg-tl--!9..y" jllr_ef __as".,itfr.aO
-%*** attempts of universities to have architectural design
increasingly lost touch with design practice. The recognised as scientific research - arguing that
mo"1ffi $i6nrwa;ntiigtffni"weieirtitio'inirintre science itself lacks the solid basis and methodologi-
discounted theory books in the sales' bins of book- cal rigor with which it is normally associated. Facing
stores, but the grant applications showing no interest the consequences, architectural theoreticians today
whatsoever in discovering anything new, yet b-gl*er- are either happy to grrelpjtirioG-en;;ii"".n-psif
ing a refined jargon which identified the authors as the fheoros and jump on the bandwa_gon
"i
pf. e"!:qhi;
.
followers of intellectual fashions. This situation has teciure miif<irtiiig, or'Iij withdraw to their studios to
ffiffi;dTiiih;$&"iiiiog r"n""s both for dedicate themselves to the recherche patiente in
"on".q
scholarship, which can only decline without practi- prrsuit of the precisiol and delusion of tle maste-r;
cal knowledge, and for practice, which expects W9.|f,
some theoretical basis at least in order to establish
the qualitative differences between possible results. Design as research
It was in the catalogue of Peter Eisenman's exhibi- A similar development can be observed in art,
tion Cities of Artificial Excavation, notaPly, that the where a growing number of artists use methods
art critic Yve-Alain Bois rang the alarm bell, stating taken from natural sciences such as biology, genet-
that the symbiosis of architecture and philosophy is ics or geography. During the 1990s we have seen a
turning into a mutually exploitative relationship: new strategy emerging, moving rapidly away from
the traditional concept of art and replacing it with
During the last ten years or so we have seen archi- notions borrowed from natural sciences. Catherine
tectural theory achieve its level of incompetence. David, curator of 'Documenta X' in 1997, was inter-
It is simply not the case that architects write such ested in the responses of artists to phenomena such
good books or that philosophers have such inter- as global migrations and the transformation of cities
esting ideas about architecture, and rn a sense and landscapes under such pressures. Artists such
Eisenman's recent exchange with Jacques Denida as OIaf Nicolai and Rosemarie Trockel exhibited
marks a recognition, on both sides, that perhaps their biological crossover-experiments, and Rem
it is now time to put an end to the reciprocal trivi- Koolhaas presented the results of his 'field work' in
alization of their own discourses and the flood of China, introducing 'a number of new, copyrighted
gobbledygook that poured out of their sycophants' concepts, that [...] represent a new conceptual
word processors.ls framework to describe and interpret the contempo-
rary urban condition'.16 Satellite imagery became
Bois accused architects like Eisenman of translat- particularly important for presenting the urban
ing certain key concepts of the latest philosophical condition of Europe, as in the work of Stefano Boeri
thinking into architectural form, rather than trying to and the Multiplicity group, or in Switzerland, in the
understand its deeper significance - an accusation work of Studio Basel. Artists such as Peter Fend and
which could be directed against other architec- lngo GUnter also use satellite photography of crisis
tural trends with theoretical implications as well. ln regions to create the utopia of a 'Refugee Repub-
52

lie'. Architecture, urbanism and art appropriate the


terminology, concepts and visualisation methods of
________
historic consciousness to collective and individual
,....,.

�� While Hayden White speaks of a total


__..,_.....___,__
science: 'a world of numbers turns into diagrams. discontinuity between the messy, chaotic past and
These diagrams work as emblems for operations, its 'preparation', its ordering for consciousness,
agendas and tasks. A "datatown" that resists the Paul Ricoeur sees a connection based on narrativ­
objective of style', MVRDV write in the introduc­ ity. Everyday life and action have a narrativity based
tion to their book 'Metacity Datatown'.17 Diagrams on the experience of the past, present and future;
as emblems: the groundwork is laid here for a new memory has a temporal structure, which makes
iconography which is staged as a 'reality show'. memory and history parts of a continuum - even
if there are breaks in this continuity. The process
Nobody seems to mind whether an artwork of collecting and selecting information introduces
masquerading as 'research' fulfils the criteria of a a �t �reak between the heterogeneous historical
research work in natural science - the possibility material and the envisioned homogeneity of what is
of verification, for example - as long as the work seen as the 'representative' body of work, followed
has an aesthetic value. But the problem is difficult:
art has an almost nostalgic longing for regain­
'-'----.---· -· - -
by additional breaks of intf]_rprefation: the interpreter
has to identify causes and construct convincing
ing 'usefulness' and for a 'task', though ties to the narrative structures. If architectural theory criticises 1
market and the production conditions of art prevent these constructs as such, should it propose alterna-
}
artists to consider themselves 'free'. However, tive explanations?
design and architecture show art a to be mirror
image of itself, a mirror image of which art is horri­ All these doubts are connected with the central
fied: a mere aesthetic shell for the social world. If an issue: should every school of architecture define the
artwork is planned, generated or executed using the channelling of young people toward the 'profession'
latest computer-controlled machinery, it is not the as their most important task? And if the 'profession'
precision of CAD that will be appreciated, nor the itself is diversified today, should theory not try to
sophistication of a cutting-edge processing package act as a mediator between the different actors who

--
that will make a work of art out of CAM programs - shape the identity of the school? The problem with

------------------- i

�-------
not even when these programs are used in order to 'criticality', or rather, the possibility of a critical self-
drive a milling machine to create a sculpture. reflection, posits theory within the framework of an
architectural school with specific problems.
While for art the 'void' of a blank sheet of paper or
a video screen without theoretical or technological MoMA's 'Deconstructivist Architecture' show in
certainties is essential, architecture and architecture 1988 clearly exhibited the early signs of exhaustion
schools tend to fear any such void and fill it with solid
knowledge from the very beginning of a curriculum.
1..---- ------------- -
- critical theory
---- giving way to the theoretical ack-
aging of the latest-. design propositions. The strong

- --
,.__:__--;=------- - - -- -·_.. --..
The task of theory_ to demonstrate the proyisional oedipal desire of 'projective' theory (albeit this term
character of �u�� 'fillings' is not a rewarding Q-[le, was not around yet) for a satisfying relationship with
not even regarding its closest ally, architectural the market or even the willingness to deliver brand­
history, since the separation between the past ing services for design practice are understandable
and its representation is . frequently pasted__ ov_e--....r. after the long abstinence in the post-1968 era.

-- - -----
Implicitly or explicitly, architectural theory should
-.....
- --- Contemplating architectural theory's 'will to anthol­

---- - -
---
investigate this separateness from the persp�
-- ogy', critics like Sylvia Lavin urge architectural

-
""·--· -�--.... ,

tive of na_rratbtity
·- or by analysing the connection of theoreticians to return to their roots in architectural
,
53

-d history studies in order to achieve the 'long-awaited education has been purged of all its metaphysical
radicalization of history'.1e The important question is and teleological elements. Nobody would agree
-^!
whether this new desire will result in changes in the today (certainly not openly) with Otto Wagner,
::> discipline, or whether built architecture will be given that the 'mysterious and overwhelming power' of
short shrift once again. architecture has to do with the 'innate ability' of the
iec architect.2o But many of these discarded concepts
Bachelors, masters, and masterpieces are returning through the back door, as the celebra-
The questions regarding architectural theory take tion of the star architect or, as we have seen, in the
,3il on a new meaning and urgency in the context of myth of the masterpiece. The design studio is a ripe
architectural education, ln a school of architecture ground for such developments, since it could not
there are as many architectural 'philosophies' as exist without a consensus in terms of a so-called
design studios, since those who teach architecture 'design philosophy'. As Charles Correa wrote about
certainly could not do so without theoretical reflec- the dilemma of education: the studio of the master
tion. University presidents, in their relenfless efforts is one model, what he calls'the guru-chela system -
to turn their institutions into 'centres of competence' a wonderfully effective process which unfortunately
funded by the state and by private research grants, can all too easily result in the kind of bralnwashing
opt for'design as research'. This term suggests that from which the chela [the apprentice] never recov-
the advanced education of architects is aimed at ers. ln the other model, we have the kind of healthy
comparability and the enhancement of the quality of conlemporary scepticism which ends up with learn-
written coursework. This, in itself a positive develop- ing hardly anything at all'.21
ment, nicely fits in with the process of neo-liberal
restructuring of higher education. Such doctorates p-lil9_"""9p-ly* tends to conceal its own
{-q::l-gf
frequently consist of a curious mixture of the tradi- ideological nature as a highly personal ars poetica,
tional PhD thesis and the idea of the 'masterpiece', not leaving much sp*?c-,e,-t91. c1i!1ca! gqestions and
as required by the medieval guilds in order to be lf this 'philosophy' onty serves the
-yiiggl-q,lgn9.it.g._
admitted into their ranks. ln the announcement of a justification of a design practice, lhe use of the term
university course for a doctorate in the Liberal Arts 'theory'is unwarranted. On the other hand, an offen-
in Hungary for instance, we may read: 'Our course sive strategy to subsume design practice would
realises the old world of traditional master courses: damage theory in the long run, because the unful-
the focus of the course is the making, designing and filled aswell as unfulfillable claimfora'theory-guided
realising of the independent masterpiece'.tg While it architecture' could result in theory's self-inflicted
is easy to comment on such reanimation of the past isolation. The history of architecture, e.g. the differ-
with sarcasm, it demonstrates the need to cling on ent meanings and programs 'rationalism' has taken
to authority, and, primarily, that the mere 'presence' on during the last century demonstrates the limits
of the master facing the 'void' we discussed above of normative theory just as it demonstrates the
is a necessity in an art school. Let us now return to pi"ducliv_en.e-ss of
L*rli3l lheoreti_ca! 'ery_op- lor
some of those remarks and see how the situation architecture. lnstead 9f gondemnilg_ !-{qo!go-lgt
differs in an architectural school, and examine the asffi,;m;;i" #t-r"" consciousness, we shoutd
consequences for theory.
!!-s"r"0 !t 9[-d trre. o"i"qliir 1iy -91 tne 1111q, gapang
"91-!!.?!Sc.9!d-i1.0 ihe determinacy oJ Klqy4eQge py'..
An architectural school is always deeply embed- g"lset,socld sj! y-A!igl:_
llg_
ded in the larger intellectual context of the time,
today, this seemingly means that architectural ln order to pave the way for new experiments
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vs
-ir
,:^3 ence our understanding of our environment, which
".. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT press, 1976).
::?
is itself organised on the level of language. Any 13.See Sylvia Lavin, 'Theory into History or, The Will to
-ls attempt to turn architectural theory into a research Anthology', Journal of the Society of Architecturat
modelled on the ideal ontological quality of the Histoians 58/3 (September 1999), pp.494_99"
:- il natural sciences, delivering permanent results for 14.See Klaus Sachs-Hombach (ed.), Bildwissenschaft:
-:- practice to build on, will necessarily fail. On the
Disziplinen, Themen, Methoden, 2.ed. (Frankfurt am
contrary, the very requirement that theory should Main: Suhrkamp,2005)_
not be directly involved in design practice, but help 15.Yve-Alain Bois, 'Surfaces,, in Clles of Artificial Exca_
; f' students to grasp the underlying problems and their vation. The Work of peter Eisenman, 1g7B_19gg, ed.
historic roots, will allow theory to exed its influence by Jean-Frangois B6clard (Montr6al; New york: Centre
ta - on design development. '- Canadien d'Architecture & Rizzoli, 1994), p. 41.
16.Rem Koolhaas, Bruce Mau, ,pearl River Delta', in Das
-l- Buch zur Documenta X: potitics_poeflcs (Ostfildern:
Cantz, 1997), pp. 590-92.
': -. Notes
17.MVRDV Metacity Datatown (Rofterdam: 010 publish_
1. Lisa Maurizio, 'Delphic Oracles as Oral performances:
ers, 1999), p. 18.
a:. Authenticity and Historical Evidence,, Classicat Antiq- 18.Sylvia Lavin, Joumat of the Society of Architectural
:: urty, 1612 (1 997), 30s-34. Historians, pp. 494-99.
2. Hans-Georg Gadamer, Wahrheit und Methode. 19.DLA k6pz6s - Doctor Liberatium Aftium, ed. by J6zsef
Grundziige einer philosophischen Hermeneutik, 6th M6csi (P6cs: p6csi Tudomdnyegyetem, 2007), unpag.
ed. (TLibingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1990), p. 126ff.
20 Otto Wagner, Modern Architecture: A Guidebookfor his
3. Martin Heidegger, 'Wissenschaft und Besinnung,, in Students to this Fietd of Art, trans. by Harry Francis
Vortrdge und Aufsdtze (pfullingen: Neske, .1954), p.
Mallgrave (Santa Monica: The Gefty Center, 19Bg), p_
52.
62.
4. tbid. 2l.Charles Conea, ,Leaming from Ekalavya', in The
5. tbid. Education of the Architect: Historiography, t)rban_
6. Paul Zucker, 'The paradox of Architectural Theories ism, and the Grovtth of Architecturat Knowledge, ed.
at the Beginning of the ,,Modern Movement,,,, Journal
by Martha Pollak (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT press,
of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. X. No. 3
1997), p. 441.
(Oct. 1951), p. 9.
7. lbid. p. 13.
Biography
B. Etienne-Louis Boull6e, 'Architecture. Essai sur l,ari,, in Akos Morav6nszky has been professor of the Theory of
L'architecte visionnaire et n6oclassique. Textes reunis
Architecture at the lnstitut gta (lnstitute for the History and
et pr6sentds par J-M. p1rouse de Montclos (paris: Theory of Architecture) of ETH Zurich since June 2005.
Hermann, 1993), p.45. Bom in Sz6kesfeh6rv6r, Hungary he studied architec_
L tbid.
ture at the TU Budapest. He received his doctorate at the
10.Herman Sorgel, Iheon'e der Baukunst: Architektur_
TU Vienna in 1980. He was a Research Associate at the
Asthetik (Munich: pitoty & Loehte, .1918), p. V.
Zentralinstitut fiir Kunstgeschichte in Munich and at the
11.Hanno-Walter Kruft, A History of Architectural Theory
Gefty Center in Santa Monica, Califomia. From 1gg1 until
from Vitruvius to the present (London: Zwemmer, 1996 he was Msiting professor at the MIT (Cambridge,
1994).
Mass.). ln 2O03|2OO4 he was Msiting professor at the
1 Z.Manfredo Ta'furi, Arch itecture and tJtopia : Design and
University of Applied Art in Budapest. The main areas of
Capitalist Development, trans. B. Luigia La penta his research are the history of East and Central European
aa.a e
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