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| 40 Logements - LAN Architectes |
To create
architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and
objects.- Le Corbusier
The dawn of
modernity and it's technological revolution meant that new methods of
production were going to transform our lives. These methods of
production impacted, not only, how we build but also how and where we
live. The urban discourse in the latter half of the nineteenth
century was consequently dominated by a dialectic exchange between
the ideal and the practical, a debate played out in the formation of
the modern metropolis. The Modernist city yearns to be functional and
organized as Corbusier demonstrates, To create architecture is to
put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects.
Similarly Auguste Perret stated that architecture is « structuring
the chaos within the plot ». Both of these architects used the
modernist material by excellence, Concrete.
Modernist
Architecture in France marked urban landscapes especially after the
war where full cities like Le Havre were rebuilt. But unlike Perret,
most of Post-War modernism emphasized the functionalist approach of
architecture that was the order of the day, however this modernist
approach had lost it's flair, Aldo Van Eyck criticizes it claiming
that Post-War modernism had lost the engagement and hope of earlier
design in favor of mechanistic designs. In 1947, the architect Aldo
van Eyck built his first playground in Amsterdam, on the
Bertelmanplein. These playgrounds represent one of the most
emblematic of architectural interventions in a pivotal time: the
shift from the top down organization of space by modernist
functionalist architects, towards a bottom up architecture that
literally aimed to give space to the imagination. (1)
Further
to this the dissolution of the CIAM's and the rise of new conceptions
meant architecture had shifted into Post-Modernity in April 1972.
(2). This period meant new experimentations were possible, and that
the question of the relation architecture holds towards the city was
open again. In France Bernard Huet wrote in 1986 L'architecture
contre la ville,
an
article which proposed a new view of architecture in France, this
vision was historicist, and aimed at recreating the diversity of old
cities in new districts of Paris. Water Towers became landmarks (3)
and Agoras were mimicked. In hindsight such a concept failed. Even
Ricardo Bofill who designed Espaces
d'Abraxas in
Noisy-Le-Grand admits that his utopian heterotropia had failed.
(4)
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| Montigny, near Paris, and "Espace Abraxas" from Ricardo Bofill |
Architecture
is not against the city, The view embodied by Bernard Huet, and what
we call now “Architecture Urbaine” in France is a period where
architects said “no” to architecture, in fear, and in sceptisism
of what late modernism had produced, architecture was rather
something to fill in the gaps of the historic city, mimic them, and
adapt itself too modestly to ever become anything in itself, by the
end of the 90's this strategy had become as systematic and lazy as
Post-War modernism they strongly criticized. What they had created
was the city against architecture, standstill.
But
this dichotomy is not suited to describe the complexity of
contemporary cities and architecture, these poles exist aswell as a
myriad of inbetween's (5) I would like to advance here an idea in
which the city and architect converse. How does architecture answer
the city, and vice versa? A concept where in knowledge of it's
context architecture is capable of adapting itself and oscillating
between the latter pôles and where is simultaneously say “yes”
to architecture and urbanism. The following study will examine three
conditions, first of all buildings must affirm their presence, thus
being able to answer it's context, but also create a new context on
which the city can further develop.
PRESENCE
We
know that heroic architecture is risky, but also that all too modest
and constrained architecture fails. Modernists found truth in
hygienism and function, Post-Modernists in reserve, skepticism and
simulacrum. We could admit that there is no truth, and really, in
architecture there is no truth to be expected, the architect of today
must move forward, for the sake of it, he is searching a truth
without expecting to find it (6). Similarly we can't admit the Modern
Tabula Rasa, nor the Post-Modern mimics.
Metamodern
Architecture must say “yes” and must affirm it's presence, in the
way Kahn develops his theory buildings that “want to be something”
in, and need aspiration, this aspiration transforms their existence
into presence. However we must be aware that presence is not a form
of Bilbaoism (7), buildings can be present without stealing the
focus, or entering in competition with one another.
Roger
Diener is one of these architects who is able to give a real presence
to his buildings without undermining the context, his buildings
appear timeless, as if they had stood there (8). In Basel along the
Heuwaage weg. we can find two buildings by the same architect that
both have these characteristics, but are able to stay modest and do
not conflict with each-other. Not far away we can find the
Picassoplatz, an urban plaza with a project by Diener+Diener and
Peter Markli, both these buildings compliment each-other, yet they
can also be understood independently.
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| Two projects by Diener+Diener |
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| Picassoplatz in Basel - Left : Diener+Diener, Right : Peter Märkli |
The
force of presence of German-Swiss architecture, lies in the concept
of Stimmung. It is a fairly complex concept to grasp, as it extremly
personnal, Georg Simmel describes as an unity that constantly colors
our landscape, this unity exists in the totality of psychics
contents, he further describes it as something that penetrates all
the details of a landscape without focusing on one element.
ABSTRACTION
The
idea of stimmung exists within abstract realms, interestingly
abstraction is also a method in which we can say yes to architecture
and the city, abstraction is capable to hold the essence of what we
claim to do. Building contemporary architecture can seems extremely
hard in cities like Paris where the history and image of the city is
so strong, it seems almost impossible to build something new and
coherent, especially after the failed attempt of Bernard Huet and the
“Architecture Urbaine” movement. Yet one building in the district
of Clichy-Batignolle, a district in construction, seems to have a
whole different approach to this question. The building is named
“Hommage a Haussmann” and is a contemporary adaptation of the
typical Parisian building.
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| View from the street |
Abstraction
has been returning since 1990's with the explorations of architects
like Herzog&DeMeuron who wished to explore elements of
architecture that had been condemned by the past. This manifests
itself mainly in ornaments (see : Semper Reloaded), they are capable
of creating an architecture that is fully linked to it's context, and
so, can only be present in it's area. Such is the strategy used at
the Schaulager where the facade is made with gravel from the site.
In
Basel, the Schutzenmatt strasse transfigurates local sewer grates
into an element that composes the facade, this heritage is typically
from Duchamp, the sewer grates, are a ready made, the ready-made is
typically local; as these are the grates you'll find in Basel.
The
street façade is made completely of glass and is protected by a
cast-iron curtain construction that can be folded back piece-by-piece
at will. Wavy light slits lend the curtain construction a flowing
textile-like feeling. While the construction hides the living space
behind it, its heavy cast-iron material serves as a counterweight
protecting against the noisy street side. In both form and material
the façade components are related to sewer grates and to the
protective grilles placed around trees. Thus, emphasizing they have
their origins in the world of the street.
The
way contemporary architects have been using Abstraction is typically
linked to the concept of the Flaneur that can be itself affiliated to
the Metamodern strategy of Neoromantism. The Flâneur aims to
discover the multiple realities of the urban space he is discovering,
as such projects like the Rudin House in Leymen by Herzog&DeMeuron
seem like any old house, but it's abstraction transforms it into
something totally new. (9)
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| Rudin House in Leymen |
In
a similar, the ornamentation of the Eberswalde library designed by
Ruff aims to show what a library is supposed to be, this
ornamentation can actually be ignored if you are not interested in
it, but a flaneur (10) will want to discover the meanings and
interpret the different meanings of this building. Abstraction is
here to create a conversation with you, rather than a converting you
with “witty ornaments”
SUSTAINABILTY
Finally,
the two first strategies are here to create, these buildings are
here, and able to become the basis of further architectural creation
by setting their own rules, the building in Paris by LAN architectes
is capable of being coherent with it's context via the abstraction of
an Haussmanian building, yet also create the basis of further
creation with it's presence. For this I will talk of two other
Parisian buildings. First of all the “Rue des Suisses” where
Herzog&DeMeuron combine two typologies to respect the urban
context, and create a possible basis for newer projects, secondly a
project by Bourbouze & Graindorge proposes a newer project in the
place of an old Haussmanian building, it is as such, an Abstract
Ghost of the older project. Saying “yes” to architecture is
creating sustainability of what we construct tectonically, and the
project by Bourbouze & Graindorge allows huge flexibility in it's
space through it's structure, the construction is impeccable and
makes the project seem timeless, the architects say themselves that
“timelessness, is just another word for sustainability”
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| Bourbouze & Graindorge |
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| Bourbouze & Graindorge |
To
end this post I would like to cite a modern architect, that for many
we have forgotten, Fernand Pouillon, who wanted his architecture to
be rather of continuation than revolution
1- Ana Mendez de
Andés (red.) (2010) Urbanacción 07/09,
La Casa Encendida, Madrid, pp. 25-39.
2- Charles Jencks -
Language de l’architecture
Post-Moderne, Rizzoli, New York 1977
3- A project by
Christian De Portzamparc
4-
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2014/02/08/ricardo-bofill-je-n-ai-pas-reussi-a-changer-la-ville_4359887_3224.html
5- Aldo Van Eyck,
the Child, the City and the Artist,
Nai1 Publishers, 2008
6- Robin Van den
Akker, & Thomas Vermeulen, Notes on
Metamodernism, Journal of aestheticsand
culture,2011
7-Charles Jencks,
Maggie Toy, Ecstatic Architecture: The
Surprising Link, Wiley - Academic
Editions,London, 1999
8- Joseph Abram,
Martin Steinnman, Diener+Diener,
Phaidon, 2011
9- Jeffrey Kipnis «
A conversation with Jacques Herzog » in
: El Croquis 84, Special
10- Charles Baudelaire, Le Peintre
de la vie moderne, Paris, Fayard, 2010
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