Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, and writing aboutarchitecture. Architectural theory is taught in all architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leadingarchitects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are thelecture or dialogue, the treatise or book, and the paper project orcompetition entry. Architectural theory is often didactic, and theorists tend to stay close to or work from within schools. It has existed in some form sinceantiquity, and as publishing became more common, architectural theory gained an increased richness. Books, magazines, and journals published an unprecedented number of works by architects and critics in the 20th century. As a result, styles and movements formed and dissolved much more quickly than the relatively enduring modes in earlier history. It is to be expected that the use of the internet will further the discourse on architecture in the 21st century.
There is little information or evidence about major architectural theory in antiquity, until the 1st century BC, with the work ofVitruvius. This does not mean, however, that such works did not exist, given that many works never survived antiquity.Vitruvius was a Romanwriter,architect, andengineer active in the 1st century BC. He was the most prominent architectural theorist in the Roman Empire known today, having writtenDe architectura (known today asThe Ten Books of Architecture), a treatise written inLatin andGreek on architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus. Probably written between 27 and 23 BC,[1] it is the only major contemporary source on classical architecture to have survived. Divided into ten sections or "books", it covers almost every aspect of Roman architecture, from town planning, materials, decorations, temples, water supplies, etc. It rigorously defines the classicalorders of architecture. It also proposes the three fundamental laws thatarchitecture must obey, in order to be so considered:firmitas, utilitas, venustas, translated in the 17th century bySir Henry Wotton into the English sloganfirmness, commodity, and delight (meaning structural adequacy, functional adequacy, and beauty).
The rediscovery of Vitruvius' work in 1414 had a profound influence on architects of theRenaissance, adding archaeological underpinnings to the rise of theRenaissance style, which was already under way. Renaissance architects such asBrunelleschi andLeon Battista Alberti found inDe architectura their rationale for raising their branch of knowledge to a scientific discipline.
Vastu shastra (vāstu śāstra - literally "science of architecture" are texts on the traditional Indian system of architecture.[2] These texts describe principles of design, layout, measurements, ground preparation, space arrangement, and spatial geometry. The designs aim to integrate architecture with nature, the relative functions of various parts of the structure, and ancient beliefs utilising geometric patterns (yantra), symmetry, and directional alignments.[3]
Vastu Shastra are the textual part ofVastu Vidya - the broader knowledge about architecture and design theories from ancient India.Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita dated to about the sixth century CE is among the earliest known Indian texts with dedicated chapters with principles of architecture. For example, Chapter 53 of the Brihat Samhita is titled "On architecture", and there and elsewhere it discusses elements of vastu sastra such as "planning cities and buildings" and "house structures, orientation, storeys, building balconies" along with other topics.[4] Other ancient Vastu shastra works includesManasara etc.[5]
Following the tradition ofVastu shastra, several scholars wrote architectural texts during medieval times which includesManushyalaya Chandrika, dealing with domestic architecture authored by Thirumangalath Neelakanthan Musath,Samrangana Sutradhara written byBhoja of Dhar, a poetic treatise onclassical Indian architecture among others.[6][7]
Throughout the Middle Ages, architectural knowledge was passed by transcription, word of mouth and technically in master builders' lodges.[8] Due to the laborious nature of transcription, few examples of architectural theory were penned during this time. Most written works during this period were theological, and were transcriptions of the Bible. Since the architectural theories were on structures, fewer of them were transcribed. TheAbbot Suger'sLiber de rebus in administratione sua gestis was an architectural document that emerged withGothic architecture. Another wasVillard de Honnecourt's portfolio of drawings from about the 1230s.
InSong dynasty China, Li Jie published theYingzao Fashi in 1103, which was an architectural treatise that codified elements ofChinese architecture.[9][10]
The first great work of architectural theory of this period belongs to sabona,De re aedificatoria, which placed Vitruvius at the core of the most profound theoretical tradition of the modern ages. From Alberti, good architecture is validated through theVitruvian triad, which defines its purpose. This triplet conserved all its validity until the 19th century. A major transition into the 17th century and ultimately to theAge of Enlightenment was secured through the advanced mathematical and optical research of the celebrated architect and geometerGirard Desargues, with an emphasis on his studies on conics, perspective and projective geometry.
The Age of the Enlightenment witnessed considerable development in architectural theory on the European continent. New archaeological discoveries (such as those ofPompeii andHerculaneum) drove new interest in Classical art and architecture. Thus, the termneoclassicism, exemplified by the writings of Prussian art criticJohann Joachim Winckelmann, arose to designate 18th-century architecture, which looked to these new classical precedents for inspiration in building design.[11]
Major architectural theorists of the Enlightenment includeJulien-David Le Roy, AbbéMarc-Antoine Laugier,Giovanni Battista Piranesi,Robert Adam, James Stuart,Georg Friedrich Hegel[12]andNicholas Revett.
A vibrant strain ofNeoclassicism, inherited fromMarc-Antoine Laugier's seminal Essai, provided the foundation for two generations of international activity around the core themes of classicism,primitivism and a "return to Nature."
Reaction against the dominance ofneoclassical architecture came to the fore in the 1820s withAugustus Pugin providing a moral and theoretical basis forGothic Revival architecture, and in the 1840sJohn Ruskin developed this ethos.
The American sculptorHoratio Greenough published the essay "'American Architecture" in August 1843, in which he rejected the imitation of old styles of buildings and outlined the functional relationship between architecture and decoration. These theories anticipated the development ofFunctionalism inmodern architecture.
Towards the end of the century, there occurred a blossoming of theoretical activity. In England, Ruskin's ideals underpinned the emergence of theArts and Crafts movement exemplified by the writings ofWilliam Morris. This in turn formed the basis forArt Nouveau in theUK, exemplified by the work ofCharles Rennie Mackintosh, and influenced theVienna Secession. On the Continent, the theories ofViollet-le-Duc andGottfried Semper provided the springboard for enormous vitality of thought dedicated to architectural innovation and the renovation of the notion of style.
Semper in particular developed an international following, inGermany,England,Switzerland,Austria,Bohemia,France,Italy and theUnited States. The generation born during the middle-third of the 19th century was largely enthralled with the opportunities presented by Semper's combination of a breathtaking historical scope and a methodological granularity. In contrast to more recent, and thus "modern", thematically self-organized theoretical activities, this generation did not coalesce into a "movement." They did, however, seem to converge on Semper's use of the concept ofRealismus, and they are thus labelled proponents of architectural realism. Among the most active Architectural Realists were: Georg Heuser, Rudolf Redtenbacher,Constantin Lipsius,Hans Auer,Paul Sédille, Lawrence Harvey (architect)|Lawrence Harvey,Otto Wagner and Richard Streiter.
In 1889Camillo Sitte publishedDer Städtebau nach seinem künstlerischen Grundsätzen (translated asCity Planning According to Artistic Principles) which was not exactly a criticism of architectural form but an aesthetic criticism (inspired by medieval andBaroque town planning) of 19th-century urbanism. Mainly a theoretical work, it had an immediate impact on architecture, as the two disciplines of architecture and planning intertwined. Demand for it was so high that five editions appeared in German between 1889 and 1922 and a French translation came out in 1902. (No English edition came out until 1945.) For Sitte, the most important issue was not the architectural shape or form of a building but the quality of the urban spaces that buildings collectively enclose, the whole being more than the sum of its parts. The Modern Movement rejected these thoughts andLe Corbusier energetically dismissed the work. Nevertheless, Sitte's work was revisited bypost-modern architects and theorists from the 1970s, especially following its republication in 1986 by Rizzoli, in an edition edited by Collins and Collins (now published byDover). The book is often cited anachronistically today as a vehicle for the criticism of theModern Movement.
Also on the topic of artistic notions with regard to urbanism wasLouis Sullivan'sThe Tall Office Building Artistically Considered of 1896.[13] In this essay, Sullivan penned his famous alliterative adage "form ever follows function"; a phrase that was to be later adopted as a central tenet of Modern architectural theory. While later architects adopted the abbreviated phrase "form follows function" as a polemic in service of functionalist doctrine, Sullivan wrote of function with regard to biological functions of the natural order. Another influential planning theorist of this time wasEbenezer Howard, who founded thegarden city movement. This movement aimed to form communities with architecture in theArts and Crafts style atLetchworth andWelwyn Garden City and popularised the style as domestic architecture.
InVienna, the idea of a radically newmodern architecture had many theorists and proponents. An early use of the termmodern architecture in print occurred in the title of a book byOtto Wagner,[14][15] who gave examples of his own work representative of theVienna Secession withArt Nouveau illustrations, and didactic teachings to his students. Soon thereafter,Adolf Loos wroteOrnament and Crime, and while his own style is usually seen in the context of theJugendstil, his demand for "the elimination of ornament" joined the slogan "form follows function" as a principle of the architectural so-calledModern Movement that came to dominate the mid-20th century.Walter Gropius,Ludwig Mies van der Rohe andLe Corbusier provided the theoretical basis for theInternational Style with aims of using industrialised architecture to reshape society.Frank Lloyd Wright, while modern in rejecting historic revivalism, was idiosyncratic in his theory, which he conveyed in copious writing. Wright did not subscribe to the tenets of the International Style, but evolved what he hoped would be an American, in contrast to a European, progressive course. Wright's style, however, was highly personal, involving his particular views of man and nature. Wright was more poetic and firmly maintained the 19th-century view of the creative artist as unique genius. This limited the relevance of his theoretical propositions. Towards the end of the centurypostmodern architecture reacted against the austerity of High Modern (International Style) principles, viewed as narrowly normative and doctrinaire.
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In contemporary architectural discourse theory has become more concerned with its position within culture generally, and thought in particular. This is why university courses on architecture theory may often spend just as much time discussing philosophy and cultural studies as buildings, and why advanced postgraduate research and doctoral dissertations focus on philosophical topics in connection with architectural humanities. Some architectural theorists aim at discussing philosophical themes, or engage in direct dialogues with philosophers, as in the case ofPeter Eisenman's andBernard Tschumi's interest inDerrida's thought, orAnthony Vidler's interest in the works ofFreud andLacan, in addition to an interest inGaston Bachelard'sPoetics of Space or texts byGilles Deleuze. This has also been the case with educators in academia likeDalibor Vesely orAlberto-Perez Gomez, and in more recent years this philosophical orientation has been reinforced through the research of a new generation of theorists (E.G.Jeffrey Kipnis orSanford Kwinter). Similarly, we can refer to contemporary architects who are interested in philosophy and cultural studies. Some are interested inphenomenology andneuroaesthetics, likeSarah Williams Goldhagen, Sarah Robinson, andChristian Norberg-Schulz, or specialize as philosophers and historians of science, such asNader El-Bizri who is also a notable phenomenologist (especially inHeidegger studies). Others, like Beatriz Colomina and Mary McLeod, expand historical understandings of architecture to include lesser or minor discourses that have influenced the development of architectural ideas over time. Studies in feminism in architecture, and in sexuality and gender as potent cultural expressions, are also considered an integral part of the latter 20th-century theoretical discourse, and are associated with such persons as Dolores Hayden, Catherine Ingraham, Jennifer Bloomer and Sylvia Lavin. The notion that theory entails critique also stemmed from post-structuralliterary studies in the work of many other theorists and architects, such as Mark Wigley and Diana Agrest, among others. In their theories, architecture is compared to a language which can be invented and re-invented every time it is used. This theory influenced the so-called deconstructivist architecture. In contrast, network society innovators, especially Silicon Valley software developers, have embracedChristopher Alexander's emphasis onThe Timeless Way of Building (1979) based on pattern languages that are optimized on-site as construction unfolds.
Since 2000, architectural theory has also had to face the rapid rise of urbanism andglobalization. By developing a new understanding of the city, many theorists developed new understandings of the urban conditions of our planet (E.G.Rem Koolhaas'sBigness). Interests in fragmentation and architecture as transient objects further affected such thinking (e.g. the concern for employing high technology), but also related to general concerns such asecology,mass media, and economism.
In the past decade, there has been the emergence of the so-called "Digital" Architecture. Several currents and design methodologies are being developed simultaneously, some of which reinforce each other, whereas others work in opposition. One of these trends isBiomimicry, which is the process of examining nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements, to emulate or take inspiration from them in order to solve human problems.[16] Architects also design organic-looking buildings in the attempt to develop a new formal language. Another trend is the exploration of those computational techniques that are influenced by algorithms relevant to biological processes and sometimes referred to asDigital morphogenesis. Trying to utilizeComputational creativity in architecture,Genetic algorithms developed in computer science are used to evolve designs on a computer, and some of these are proposed and built as actual structures. Since these new architectural tendencies emerged, many theorists and architects have been working on these issues, developing theories and ideas such as Patrick Schumacher's Parametricism.
The theoretical world of contemporary architecture is plural and multifaceted. There are different dominant schools of architectural theory, which are based on linguistic analysis, philosophy, post-structuralism, or cultural theory. For instance, there is emerging interest in the re-discovery of the post-modernist project (Sam Jacob), in the definition of new radical tendencies of architecture and its implication in the development of cities (Pier Vittorio Aureli), in the embrace of the idea of discipline and in a new formalist approach to architecture through the appropriation of concepts from the Object Oriented philosophy. Theories and ideas, such as Patrick Schumacher's Parametricism,[17] a style in contemporary architecture and design that utilizes computational design tools and algorithms to create complex, fluid, and adaptable forms, and Mohammad Habib Reza's New Contextualism,[18][19][20] which advocates a layered, justice-oriented, and regenerative approach to architectural and urban design, further reflect the diversity of perspectives. It is too early, however, to say whether any of these explorations will have a widespread or lasting impact on architecture.
In the second decade of the twenty-first century, there is the emergence of architectural theory based on the frameworks of social reproduction theory and care ethics. This approach is introduced inDoina Petrescu's and Kim Trogal's edited a volume on the Social (Re)Production of Architecture[21] and in the volume Critical Care. Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet edited by Angelika Fitz andElke Krasny.[22]
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