Is a Global History of Architecture Displayable? A Historiographical Perspective on the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and Louvre Abu Dhabi

ARTMargins ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-101
Author(s):  
Esra Akcan
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Architectural History ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Global History ◽  
Design Practices ◽  
Museum Design ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture ◽  
Ongoing Project

This article comparatively discusses the 14th International Architecture Biennale of Venice, directed by Rem Koolhaas, and the pilot exhibit and architectural design of Louvre Abu Dhabi undertaken by Jean Nouvel, in the context of recent big art events and world museums. Curatorial, historiographical, and installation strategies in these venues are differentiated in order to think through the question of displaying a global history of architecture. I make a distinction between the curatorial practices carried out in the Fundamentals and Absorbing Modernity sections of Venice's Central and National Pavilions as curator-as-author and curators-as-chorus, which I map onto recent historiographical and museum design practices, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, to discuss the geopolitical implications of its installation strategies. I also argue that six methodological perspectives for displaying architectural history emerge from the curator-chorus of Absorbing Modernity, which can be identified as survey, nationalist history, case study, thematic history, archive metaphor, and deferment, all of which contribute to and raise questions about the ongoing project towards a global architectural history. After suggesting a difference between “world” and “global” history of architecture, I call for a more geopolitically conscious and cosmopolitan global history of architecture, by exposing the intactive bonds between the history of modernism and of colonization, as well as the continuing legacy of geopolitical and economic inequalities that operate in such venues.

scholarly journals Architecture and Steel. Reflection and Analysis on the Use of Steel Structures (in Sight) as a Concept in the History of Architecture

Designs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Inês D. D. Campos ◽  
Luís F. A. Bernardo
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Architectural History ◽  
Steel Structures ◽  
Structural Systems ◽  
Housing Projects ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Huge Variety ◽  
Modern Movement

This is the first of two companion articles which aim to address the research on Architecture and Steel. In this article, some architectural projects are analyzed to show the potentiality to conjugate architectural conception and steel structures, as well as to show the contribution and influence from architectural history. This article also aims to contribute to the reflection of the knowledge and legacy left to us by several architects throughout the history of architecture in using aesthetic, visual and structurally safe profiled steel structures in architectural conception. The presented analysis and reflection are based on the characteristics and influences of the Industrial Revolution and, mainly, the Modern Movement, where the first housing projects came up with this constructive system, combined with the “simplistic” ways of living in architecture, highlighting the relationship with the place, cultural, spatial and typological references, the structural systems and associated materiality. In view of the diversity of alternatives allowed by the use of steel “Skeletons”, modular and standardized, combined with a huge variety of existing materials and constructive complexity, well combined and interconnected, it is possible to obtain a final product whose characteristics seduce by their beauty and elegance. Moreover, the practical and functional comfort which allows the safeguarding of the architectural integration of such product, with the necessary serenity in space and nature, in full environmental integration, is also emphasized.

The Role of Building Materials in Architectural Design

2014 ◽  
Vol 679 ◽  
pp. 6-13
Author(s):  
Hafedh Abed Yahya ◽  
Muna Hanim Abdul Samad
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
Core Element ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
The Way

The argumentation of previous studies demonstrated the historical evolution of the materials in architecture and the position of the materials in the design process. The purpose is to recognize the role of materials in architectural design, and the materials are a core element of the design process. This paper is about the way materials can be used to create personality and character of the design. The research finds two overlapping roles for materials which are providing technical functionality and building personality. Thus building materials were one of the major factors for new innovation forms through the history of architecture. Keywords: Building Materials, Architectural Design, Technical Functionality, Aesthetic Attributes.

scholarly journals A N-D VIRTUAL NOTEBOOK ABOUT THE BASILICA OF S. AMBROGIO IN MILAN: INFORMATION MODELING FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF HISTORICAL PHASES SUBTRACTION PROCESS

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W5 ◽  
pp. 653-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Stanga ◽  
C. Spinelli ◽  
R. Brumana ◽  
D. Oreni ◽  
R. Valente ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
3D Model ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture ◽  
Digital Documentation ◽  
The City

This essay describes the combination of 3D solutions and software techniques with traditional studies and researches in order to achieve an integrated digital documentation between performed surveys, collected data, and historical research. The approach of this study is based on the comparison of survey data with historical research, and interpretations deduced from a data cross-check between the two mentioned sources. The case study is the Basilica of S. Ambrogio in Milan, one of the greatest monuments in the city, a pillar of the Christianity and of the History of Architecture. It is characterized by a complex stratification of phases of restoration and transformation. Rediscovering the great richness of the traditional architectural notebook, which collected surveys and data, this research aims to realize a virtual notebook, based on a 3D model that supports the dissemination of the collected information. It can potentially be understandable and accessible by anyone through the development of a mobile app. The 3D model was used to explore the different historical phases, starting from the recent layers to the oldest ones, through a virtual subtraction process, following the methods of Archaeology of Architecture. Its components can be imported into parametric software and recognized both in their morphological and typological aspects. It is based on the concept of LoD and ReverseLoD in order to fit the accuracy required by each step of the research.

scholarly journals Transcultured Architecture: Mudéjar’s Epic Journey Reinterpreted

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 137-151
Author(s):  
Ila Nicole Sheren
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
New World ◽  
Architectural History ◽  
Visual Language ◽  
Architectural Style ◽  
Medieval Spain ◽  
Fernando Ortiz ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture ◽  
Art And Architecture

The Mudéjar phenomenon is unparalleled in the history of architecture. This style of architecture and ornamentation originated with Arab craftsmen living in reconquered medieval Spain. Embraced by Spanish Christians, Mudéjar traveled over the course of the next four centuries, becoming part of the architectural history of Latin America, especially present-day Mexico and Peru. The style’s transmission across different religions and cultures attests to its ability to unify disparate groups of people under a common visual language. How, then, did mudejar managto gain popularity across reconquered Spain, so much so that it spread to the New World colonies? In this article, I argue that art and architecture move more fluidly than ideologies across boundaries, physical and political. The theory of transculturation makes it possible to understand how an architectural style such as Mudéjar can be generated from a cultural clash and move to an entirely different context. Developed in 1947 by Cuban scholar and theorist Fernando Ortíz, transculturation posited means by which cultures mix to create something entirely new. This process is often violent, the result of intense conflict and persecution, and one culture is almost always defeated in the process. The contributions of both societies, however, coexist in the final product, whether technological, artistic, or even agricultural. I argue that mudejar in Latin America is a product of two separate transculturations: the adoption of Arab design and ornamentation by Spanish Christians, and the subsequent transference of these forms to the New World through the work of indigenous laborers.

‘The Professor’s Dream’: Cockerell’s Hypnerotomachia Architectura?

2009 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 117-145
Author(s):  
Anne Bordeleau
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Royal Academy ◽  
Architectural History ◽  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture

In 1849, after teaching architectural history at the Royal Academy in London for just under a decade, the architect Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863) exhibited ‘The Professor’s Dream’, a graphic synopsis of the history of architecture (Fig. 1). Produced in an era dominated by historicism, the drawing operates between the two poles of historical relativism, negotiating the line between accumulation and rationalization. Some nineteenth-century architects, indiscriminately collecting, understood each style to have emerged from the particular conditions of their times, considering them distinct and yet equally valid. Other architects, critically ordering, privileged one style over another, variously justifying themselves on religious, technical, moral or structural imperatives. Cockerell’s ‘Dream’ is ambiguously positioned as a place of showing and a means of knowing, speaking both of an homage to the past and a vision of progress, apparently flattening a thousand years of history but inherently offering the depth of historical experience. David Watkin, Peter Kohane and, more recently, in the context of an exhibition at the Royal Academy, Nick Savage, have interrogated the drawing, the first two paralleling it with Francesco Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499), the latter framing it within a tradition of systematic charting of history, and suggesting a possible link to geological charts. While all these interpretations certainly stand, it is essential to recast them within a larger discussion of Cockerell’s understanding of history. Substantiating the different readings of the drawing — against Cockerell’s earlier drawings and surveys, within his architectural theory as expounded in his Royal Academy lectures, and in the larger perspective of the interests he cultivated since the 1820s — this essay brings to the fore the tension between ordering and experiencing, revealing how the architect was interested in the latent interstices between history and time.

Geometry in the Architectural Design of Rafael Moneo

2019 ◽  
pp. 334-363
Author(s):  
José Antonio Franco Taboada
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Architectural Style ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Architecture

In the architectural work of Rafael Moneo, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1996, geometry is a fundamental element, as he has confirmed through his writings and the very reality of his work. This chapter contains an analysis of the geometric component of his work, through his writings and interviews, but also through the drawings and models of his works that are most paradigmatic or most representative of his architectural style. Also analyzed are the possible influences from other architects and important works from the history of architecture. The conclusion is that the geometric component underlying his works has its roots in Platonic thought and that for Moneo, architectural ideas have an ontological nature, transcending the imperfection inherent in nature and approaching the perfection of Platonic order.

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