Can Critical Regionalism counteract the impact of Globalisation on our cities?
In the era of constant networking and relaying of information, the world has become a much smaller place. The shrinking world has somewhat become a familiar spectacle of identical fads and lifestyles. At least in the developed countries, globalisation has given birth to homogenous consumer culture. Demonstrated not only by the expansion of multi-national cooperations such as Apple and Starbucks but also by the indistinct architecture. It is a common sighting in urban cities today to see the identical steel, concrete and glass structures. This occurrence might be innate due to the easy exportation of concepts and architects, however not obligatory. Whilst advancing towards a modern society, architects have adapted this “universal style” of architecture that fails to represent the unique topography of different cities. Architects have the choice to either “repeat the same building everywhere or to push ourselves forward, to create an encounter between ourselves and the local culture” (Koolhaas, 2012). If the notion of Critical Regionalism were to be practiced by architects through the integration of the local culture with modern techniques, it could potentially return the missing identities of these cities.
Critical Regionalism was devised during the early 20th century, as an attempt to reject the monotony developed by the International Style and the purposeless ornamentation utilised by
While many practical issues interrupted due to Modernist language, Robert Venturi wrote a book of “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture” and published in 1966. Book expresses the postmodernism and its rebellion to the purism of architecture. He respond to the quote of Mies van der Rohe “Less is more” as “Less is Bore” and discuss the architecture which should bow down to the complexities and contradictions. Architecture should be in touch with it in the creation of cities. After Modernisation, public spaces introduced into society and in the book of "The Society of the Spectacle” which is written by Guy Debord in 1967, criticize contemporary consumer culture and product fetishism which bring up the alienation of classes, mass media and homogenization of culture which
Architecture is a physical manifestation of the needs and aspirations of a society and is determined by few factors – context, climate, environment, and socio-cultural aspects of a place or a region. It includes not only monumental and professionally designed monuments but also quaint residential structures built by craftsmen and lay people for their own use. It includes the interrelationships of the built and open spaces within the larger landscape. (Tipnis, 2012)
The return to Brutalism may just be mute and passing fad, as we stumble through history searching for examples which might offer quick and immediate solutions to our contemporary situation. The political and economical situations in advanced western countries discussed by Koolhaas & Self has reached a point of crisis. Calling into question the cultural production and institutions which architecture works within and constructs. By understanding the situation through the Hegelian dialectic, literature and architectural examples which look back to Brutalism highlight that architects and academics are searching for a language which can develop an antithetical position to our current neoliberal discourse and architectural production. The antithesis which contemporary brutalist’s are promoting can
“I seek to explore the ways that a variety of national regimes have used architecture and urban designs to express political power and control and to investigate how designers have manipulated the urban built environment to promote a version of identity that would support and help legitimize this rule” (Vale 6). In America, the White House is the capital of a democratic government which represents the ideology of the people working together as one. The pillars of the White House symbolize the citizens of the country who uphold the government while the color of the White House represents a fresh new beginning. While some countries choose to make their architecture represent their type of government, others choose to represent their country with its aura. Around the world, Paris is known as the capital of love and romance. Located in Paris, the Eiffel Tower signifies the capital's beauty. The Eiffel Tower reaches high to the heavens as the designs on it intertwine with one another to show strength of the bonded. The tower's beauty was made to capture the city's constant aura of love while its structure was made to hold firm in the toughest conditions like any
In a multicultural society like Levenshulme it is important to observe the behaviour of people from different community having different proxemics to avoid conflicts and disputes within the society. As an architect it is our duty to fulfil the needs of people from every social group in a multicultural society therefore it is important for us to keep multiculturalism in mind while making a society. In this essay we’ll also discuss the influence of culture into architecture and multiculturalism in building a society.
Gropius traces the growth of the New Architecture and the work of the now well-known Bauhaus, with accuracy, calls for a new artist and architect educated to new materials and approaches as well as meeting the requirements of the age. It is also mentioned in The New Architecture and the Bauhaus that the intention of the Bauhaus was not to reproduce any “style”, system or belief, but simply to exert a revitalizing impact on design. Even though the outward forms of the New Architecture differ primarily in an organic sense from the old, it is the inevitable logical product of the intellectual, social and technical conditions of our age. A gap has been made with the past, allowing us to face a new aspect of architecture corresponding to the technical civilization of the age we live in. The analysis of the dead styles has been destroyed. Furthermore, the new building throws open the walls like curtains to allow an abundance of fresh air, daylight and sunshine. Instead of securing the building ponderously into the ground, it poises them lightly, yet firmly at the same
The greatest challenge for both India and Japan in the modern world of architecture is to define what is regional and what is modern and make it fit in a global architectural vision, without framing a loss of national identity as a natural outgrowth. In both India and Japan the architectural industry including not just university trained architects relying heavily on theory and international trends but on lay designers who often make up the bulk of national designers and builders, struggle with the marriage of international views and standards in
This essay will explore the ambiguity of the Iconic, what does it stand for in the modern world of architecture and how does it originate. The obsession of architecture with this term is slowly taking over; architects strive towards creating Iconic buildings as a way to gain fame. How does one design an Iconic building and what does it imply when placed within a particular context? We will explore this through a particular architectural project of the church of San Giovanni Battista under Florence, an icon which never really succeeded in achieving its purpose and yet contains some of the very fundamental and curcial ideas about the Iconic which I want to express in this essay. Why does one building (such as the Eiffel tower or London Gherkin)become symbolic for a city while other attempt to replicate this phenomenon fail? And most importantly what role does the context (as a city morphology or natural habitat) play
The term Critical Regionalism was first used by architectural theorists such as Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre, and has been given a slightly different meaning by the historian and theorist, Kenneth Frampton. Critical Regionalism can be briefly defined and understood as an approach to architecture which attempts to oppose placelessness or the lack of identity in today’s modern architecture (Linda, 2012). Kenneth Frampton states that: “Critical regionalism is not regionalism in the sense of vernacular architecture, but is, on the contrary, an avant-gardist, modernist approach, but one that starts from the premises of local or regional architecture.“
“Modernism” defines the art and architecture that emerged between (roughly) 1750 and 1850: a period of rapid, extensive development in science, technology, government, and cultural values that began with the Enlightenment and transcended the Industrial Era. However, the term “modern,” derived from the Latin word modo meaning “just now,” describes a wide variety of buildings dating from the medieval period to the present day. A modern building is not ‘modern’ solely because it emerged during the ‘modern era’; rather, these buildings embody the term because they emerged during this time period within a specific social, cultural, political, and economic context. Periods of destruction and development endow cultures with new architectural motives that echo these changes. Modern architects respond to the needs of the present by creating a new architectural language that reflects the aspirations of the client and/or society as a whole. While not always progressive, modern architecture is of the moment in that it serves a certain culture’s needs at a certain point in time and functions as an active agent in transforming those who experience it.
The cacophony of car horns blare like a trumpet section gone rogue. The fast pace makes even the firmest people grow dizzy and exhausted. The public transport mimics that of an elaborate labyrinth. The hectic and deafening avenues are lined with haphazard people. But, in the glistening shine of the sun, the crispness the sky, the serenity of the clouds, the freshness of the air, lies the wonder and accomplishment of the city: its architecture. Before, it was just simple and quaint land. The people of long-ago farmed upon these lands. They even named the territory after their word for onion, which was grown there. As the white men travelled west, spreading their ideologies, claiming more territory, the “Onion City” evolved from a tiny hamlet to a bustling town. Through more efforts and new technologies, concrete and steel trees became the norm. The singular architecture flavour the city like a well-chosen and aromatic spice from the earth of a far-away nation. These vast, omnipotent: awesome feats of engineering strike the heart with pure awe and motivation. They motivate the souls of men who aspire to be free like the birds that fly near them. They amaze the gawkers, mothers, fathers, workers, squatters‒ everyone. Despite the wonderful and epic landscape of concrete and steel, trash rules the streets like an unsightly tyrant. Open bags of trash are left open on the street as an invitation to a 5-star restaurant for raucous raccoons! The nauseating, putrid, macabre scent of
What is an architect? Throughout the years, the architecture profession has been seen to be questioned. Many theorists have debated the functionality and point of views of different forms in regards to this question. These perceptions of the architect are still being written at the present moment. These statements refer to a meaning that is perceived and read on a global scale. It is still unclear who has the correct solution or whether it might appear. This paper will look into two contemporary writers that examine the form of the architect within their point of view. These writers were chosen due to their recent works on the matter at hand. First, Peggy Deamer, a Professor of Architecture and Assistant Dean at Yale University, examines the architecture in the essence of the profession. She looks into the contributions of the architect and their work and the utopia of the profession. On the other hand, Alicia Carrio, an Argentinian architect and active member of a cultural and social organization in Malaga, Spain. Her writing examines the social role of the architect and the need to provide to the social aspect of the profession. This paper will look into this two point of view and comprehend their meaning of the architect.
Political factors are associated to development of regionalism; its main points are internal or external threats, domestic politics and leadership.
Modernism and Postmodernism dominated the whole Twentieth Century, but Ruskin’s theory still exist on the back side. I try to find some architects who care about the local material, local technic and residents memory separately and relate with Ruskin’s theory by different parts.
As the medium of architecture design must be “informed by the world around it” .Architecture is a language close to graphic design .