L’Abbaye de Thélème : une enclave soustraite au réel ou le paroxysme d’une société élitiste

Cet article se donne pour ambition de questionner l’Abbaye de Thélème imaginée par François Rabelais afin d’en saisir le programme utopique initial tout en en observant les contours et les limites. Il s’agira alors de situer cette œuvre à un carrefour où se croisent les valeurs humanistes, les apports de More, les crises spirituelles mais aussi et surtout un besoin nécessaire de renouveau et d’inédit qui résulte d’une critique sociale et politique. C’est à partir de ce constat liminaire que nous tenterons ensuite d’approcher la structure, le projet et les lois qui règlementent et organisent cette société utopique avant d’en saisir les limites. Nous pourrons alors en apprécier la construction, tant physique que théorique, en dressant un parallèle révélateur avec l’architecture du couvent Sainte-Marie de la Tourette imaginé par Le Corbusier. Nous verrons enfin comment le jeu de la langue chez Rabelais outrepasse le projet idéologique au profit d’une écriture novatrice, complexe et protéiforme. Il faudra dès lors en entendre les paradoxes qui permettent de comprendre et saisir l’importance littéraire qui au final se détache progressivement de l’utopie initiale.

MONTAGE AS SPATIAL RECONSTRUCTION OPERATION METHOD IN DESIGNING CINEMATIC ARCHITECTURE

This article investigated montage to understand and arrange cinematic architecture through operations of spatial reconstruction to present a sequence of spatial experiences. Montage is a part of discourses related to cinematic, film, and architecture. This article explored the montage approach as the primary basis in the architectural design process through spatial experience. The discussion is based on the idea that montage is emphasized in three things, i.e., sequence, multiple layers of meaning, and movement. These three aspects were further observed through the montage precedent comprising various cinematic precedents based on montage in architecture, i.e., Manhattan Transcripts and Parc de La Villette from Bernard Tschumi, Villa Savoye from Le Corbusier, and Maison Bordeaux from Rem Koolhaas. The finding of this study is a synthesis of some of these precedents that resulted in an understanding of space reconstruction operations, i.e., dismantlement, disappearance, and reassembly, all three of which exist as strategies that will be part of the production process to develop montage-based cinematic architectural design, creating new spatial sequence that provide alternative spatial experience. This article expands the knowledge regarding montages that cinematics and films can be a development in architectural design.

The Tall Building and Urban Space

If public spaces in the urban environment are seen as extensions of one’s home, then what role do tall buildings play in this setting? In terms of space, they can have various roles. They are visible from afar and often act as landmarks, but at the same time they give one a possibility to see the urban whole in its entirety, from above. One of most iconic images of modern urban planning and modern urban space – Le Corbusier’s plan for Paris – is shown from such a vantage point, depicting an urban area dotted with individual buildings set within a continuous spatial field. This modern space has often been described as open and homogeneous. The simplified general interpretation has further been complemented by the concept of heterogeneous space, paving the way for a more diverse spatial theory. Heterogeneous space has brought much needed complexity to interpretations of architectural space. Modernist space is revisited in this article, explored through two particular cases. In addition to Le Corbusier, the study includes the work of another architect and urban planner of the early 20th century, Eliel Saarinen. The role of tall buildings in the designs and writings of the two architects is compared, with a specific focus on the spatial implications of these buildings in the cityscape. The comparison illustrates the fact that modern architects were not unanimous in their visions of urban space, although they shared the knowledge of a contemporary spatial theory.

¿Fenêtre en longueur, hueco rasgado de suelo a techo o muro cortina? Una revisión crítica de la sintaxis del hueco en la modernidad

Le Corbusier planteó durante los años 20 del siglo pasado una gramática para el nuevo lenguaje de la arquitectura de hormigón armado y acero, la arquitectura moderna. Sus míticas viviendas realizadas durante esa década en colaboración con Pierre Jeanneret constituirían un elenco extraordinariamente influyente en los años posteriores y servirían de modelos para ilustrar una teoría que vería la luz en forma de texto en 1926 a modo de manifiesto fundacional, “Los 5 puntos de la arquitectura”. Su fenêtre en longueur –ventana rasgada horizontalmente– ponía de manifiesto la condición no portante de la fachada al tiempo que se apropiaba del horizonte y de una visión continua desde el interior. La arquitectura neoplasticista, sin embargo, directamente influenciada por la “destrucción orgánica de la caja” de Wright, planteaba rasgar huecos de suelo a techo. Ambas negaban la idea de perforar la fachada recortando los huecos sobre ella. Mies van der Rohe, el más riguroso en el detalle arquitectónico y la construcción de los arquitectos modernos, plantearía ya desde su proyecto para el rascacielos de la Friedrichstrasse de 1919 la incipiente idea del muro cortina que años después llegaría a materializar. En las siguientes líneas planteamos una discusión crítica acerca de la gramática de la modernidad y en particular respecto de la sintaxis del hueco.

VILLA SAVOYE: SÍNTESE DO PENSAMENTO CORBUSIANO

A Segunda Revolução Industrial proporcionou avanços tecnológicos em diversos campos do conhecimento, entre eles a arquitetura, onde o surgimento de novos materiais – a exemplo do concreto, do aço e do vidro – possibilitaram a criação de novas formas a partir das concepções dos principais arquitetos do período. Nesta direção, este artigo propõe algumas reflexões sobre o pensamento do arquiteto Le Corbusier (1887-1965), expressos em suas ideias e conceitos perpetuados como: “a casa é uma máquina de morar” e “promenade architecturale”. Utilizando como metodologia de investigação a pesquisa bibliográfica apoiada nas referências encontradas sobre a Villa Savoye, projetada por este arquiteto e construída em Poissy na França, entre 1929-31. Considerando-se que, a residência se tornou um dos principais símbolos da arquitetura moderna por representar a síntese das premissas corbusianas apresentadas nos “cinco pontos” da arquitetura moderna, concebidos em 1926, entendemos que, a partir de uma análise detalhada sobre a edificação – de sua história à sua concepção e execução, possamos estar contribuindo com futuros estudos que promovam desdobramentos ao tema.

Photographs of silos

This article explores the dissemination of the photographs and photo-reproductions of the now-canonical North and South American grain elevators, published and disseminated in the early twentieth century in publications such as the 1913 Werkbund Yearbook where Walter Gropius included them as illustrations to his article, and later by Le Corbusier in Vers une architecture, amongst many others. It emphasises that while within architecture discourse the idea of a canon made up of buildings is widely accepted, this article identifies and stresses the role of ‘photographic canons’ as a means to further challenge these constructions. To do so, the article focuses on the moment where these photo-reproductions were consolidated as canonical and the mechanisms that such a construct implied. It investigates the photo-reproductions’ history as objects of trade and exchange, as well as their mobilisation in relation to photographic media and different dissemination platforms to argue that, on the one hand, that this informed their reading as architectural, and thus singular, objects. And on the other, that the materiality of the photo-reproductions’ different instances testifies to their nature as commodities and objects of trade, and therefore to the consolidation of their canonical status.

Arquitetura moderna em madeira: a casa do arquiteto e escultor Abrão Assad

Abrão Assad (1940-), arquiteto e escultor, contribuiu para o desenvolvimento da arquitetura e da arte moderna em Curitiba. Este trabalho tem como objetivo a documentação historiográfica e a realização de análise descritiva do projeto arquitetônico da residência de seu uso próprio. Concebida em 1979 por Assad, a casa está situada em um grande terreno circundado por um bosque nativo e se caracteriza pelo uso de componentes estruturais em madeira. Além da materialidade, a obra também se destaca pelo partido arquitetônico adotado, solução que remete ao sistema Dom-ino de Le Corbusier e as “casas apartamento” da Escola Paulista. O artigo se estrutura inicialmente com uma breve descrição sobre o processo de inserção dos conceitos modernos na arquitetura de Curitiba, a biografia do arquiteto, suas referências e outros projetos realizados. Para a documentação da obra, os procedimentos adotados se apoiaram na bibliografia existente e posteriormente na elaboração do redesenho do projeto original por meio de plantas, cortes e pelo uso de isométricas/diagramas para análises. Em uma segunda parte, são apresentadas imagens ainda não publicadas e que foram cedidas pelo acervo do arquiteto.

Prospective and Retrospective: Le Corbusier’s Twofold Voyage d’Orient

In 1911, a twenty-three-year-old Le Corbusier embarked on a six-month journey from Dresden to Istanbul, and back to his native Switzerland through Greece and Italy. Upon his return, the young architect unsuccessfully attempted to publish his travel notes as a book in 1912 and again in 1914. Only in 1965, forty days before his death, did Le Corbusier conduct the final revision of his 1914 typescript for publication. The next year, Le Voyage d’Orient was published posthumously. Previous scholarship on this book has overlooked the importance of Le Corbusier’s 1965 edits, consequently approaching the work as an authentic testament of the author’s youthful spirit. Based on a new and contextualized reading of the 1914 typescript hand-annotated by Le Corbusier in 1965, this article demonstrates how the late edits constitute a re-writing of a segment of Le Corbusier’s own history, especially in relation to his ideas of modernity, tradition, inspiration, and attachment to Mediterranean architecture.

Conversando con... Balkrishna Doshi

El arquitecto indio Balkrishna Doshi, Premio Pritzker 2018, ha cumplido recientemente noventa y dos años en plena y entusiasta dedicación a su vocación arquitectónica y a su familia. El catedrático de proyectos arquitectónicos de la UPV, José María Lozano Velasco, ha tenido la oportunidad de encontrarse con él en Sangath -su estudio en Ahmedabad- el pasado mes de agosto, para compartir preocupaciones comunes y aprender de este maestro de la arquitectura que no desea ser llamado así.Cuando apenas acaba de clausurarse la segunda oportunidad –esta vez en el Architekmuseum der TUM de la Pinacoteca Moderna de Munich- para conocer de manera cuidadosa su obra, a través de la espléndida exposición denominada Architecture for the people que produjera el VITRA museum de Weil an Rhein, las reflexiones de primera mano y de viva -muy viva- voz de su autor resultan esclarecedoras para su mejor compresión.Es conocida la inestimable colaboración que Doshi prestó al gran maestro Le Corbusier en la concepción y ejecución de Chandigarh. También la imprescindible participación de nuestro arquitecto en el Campus del Indian Institute of Management de Ahmedabad de Louis Khan. E interesante estudiar la influencia de uno y otro en su obra primera. Como observar su evolución hacia la magia de Amdavad ni Gufa o su profunda atención por el Low cost housing, que en el distrito construido de Aranya, Indore, cobra realidad.No han faltado los estudios de colegas y amigos como William Curtis o Kenneth Frampton que, con más autoridad que nosotros, se han pronunciado al respecto.Este artículo es el resultado del conocimiento de todo ello y de las visitas realizadas a gran parte de la obra, más la enriquecedora conversación sostenida con su autor. Y su enfoque es otro. Hemos querido indagar en aquellas razones que hicieron denominar la primera época de Doshi como “Tradition and modernity”, en las más mágicas (o míticas, como él mismo las denomina) y en la principal herramienta para transmitirlas: el dibujo (y el dibujo de color).El artículo incluye transcripciones literales o adaptadas de algunos pasajes del encuentro, contextualizadas oportunamente.