Travels in Architectural History (original) (raw)
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IDEAS IN MOTION Architectural Pilgrimage
2015
Architectural pilgrimage is implicitly appreciated in architecture and design circles, especially by students who are encouraged to “travel to architecture,” with the focus on the Grand Tour as a means of architectural exploration. However, the expression has not been made explicit in the fi elds of architectural history, pilgrimage studies, tourism research, and mobility studies. I explore how pilgrimage to locations of modern architectural interest aff ects and informs pilgrims’ and architects’ conceptions of buildings and the pilgrimage journey itself. Drawing initially on a European architectural pilgrimage, the personal narrative highlights the importance of self-refl ection and introspection when observing the built environment and the role of language in mediating processes of movement through and creation of architectural place-space.
Architecture Through My Eyes, a travel journal on architecture
Reflections on the architectural world are often quite teasing, for in every first visit to a city there are a multitude of interesting questions that arise. In the end, the same basic values are rediscovered in the experience of the architecture and in the unique genius of a given place. ARCHITECTURE THROUGH MY EYES is a record of an architectural journey recorded by the author in countries that are relatively advanced in maintaining historical architecture: Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan. In contrast to the collection of writings commonly published on architecture, the author shares first-hand experiences of the architectural objects and cities of interest in this discussion. Traveling in Europe entails short expeditions. The author addresses a few subjects, including the cities, the architecture, the architects, and the uniqueness of their works, influences, and historical styles. In this book, the photographs of architectural works are displayed in a unique manner that addresses a critique of the architectural works and the cities themselves. In arranging this work, the author applied the method that is usually used by architectural historians, including the “architectural pilgrimage method,” by running an expedition from city to city and documenting everything related to the subjects of the observations made by a lover of architecture. The author believes that through in situ research, which includes the experience of space and time as well as dimensions and distances, a unique spirit is contributed to these writings. This work is also expected to encourage young architectural historians to become more active in an expanded discussion of the history and criticism of architectural works in different parts of the world. This book starts by discussing Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an artist who became an architect through collaboration with Joseph Krawina. Hundertwasser’s works, such as the Kuntshaus and the Spittelau, became emblematic of an alternative design style, one that was freer and more natural than the geometric style it displaced. The next topic of discussion is functionalist style proponent Otto Wagner, who successfully created an alternative design that is now known as Jugendstil style. The influence of this movement is quite widespread throughout the world. Wagner felt that Art Nouveau and Art Deco were at odds with the more traditional historicism. Next we discuss the Emperor’s greenhouse in Vienna, particularly the history and style of the Schmetterlinghaus (Butterfly House), a structure that was used to invoke a fantastical atmosphere in the Emperor’s Tropical Garden. From Austria we shift to the Netherlands and explore the Delft City Canal, discussing the history of the city and the canals that cut through it, which is one of most significant characteristics of the city landscape found in the Netherlands. After this we discuss the riverside village of Overschie, a small village not far from Rotterdam, comparing the face of the past and the present as found there. The next topic is the architectural icon of the Cube Houses of Rotterdam and the concept of “Living under an urban roof” applied by architect Piet Blom, along with a discussion of the history of the Kubus Woning (cube houses). Still in the Netherlands, we examine the famous Kinderdijk windmill, which is located not far from the city of Rotterdam. Photographs of unique windmills can be seen in this section. From the southern part of the Netherlands we go to Dutch Friesland in the section “The Small Houses of Hindeloopen,” which discusses the small fishermen’s houses in the region. This area was one of the consumers of the VOC’s (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie—Dutch East India Company) merchandise. From the Netherlands we go to Germany to examine the image of Weisis-Ossis (West- East) architecture of Berlin, which gives a lot of information about the flavor of this once-divided city. We also examine how the two halves of the city maintained their monuments (denkmal). After the Berlin Wall collapsed, the contrast between the styles of the two parts of the city could more easily be seen. This section also discusses the enchanting structure of the Frankfurt am Main station, which was an enormous project when it was built. The station was designed by Schwedler, an engineer, and has a long, Satteldäch-style roof. The station represents a philosophical stance, which is symbolized through its exterior. This chapter also discusses this station’s past and present. From Europe we travel to Japan in Asia, to an ancient village from the Edo period. In Tsumago village there are attractive ancient houses; if we compare them to the villages in Europe from the same time, we will learn many architectural lessons about the similarities and differences. The illustrations of this ancient village aim to show the contrast between the growth of the villages in Western Europe and those in Asia. The book closes with a discussion of the Japanese concept of Machizukuri, in which city planning involves input from the general public. This concept is valuable to study and to apply to the construction of a historic city district.
Do Not Try This At Home: Architectural Tourisms of the Modern Age
The Berlage Cahiers #4: Reflexivity, 1995
This paper argues that modern and contemporary architecture's ideal subject is the tourist --that architecture today is designed primarily to be "visited" more than used-- analyzing various examples of architecture from Hannes Meyer and Le Corbusier to David Chipperfield and Rem Koolhaas.
Role of Traveling in Architectural Education: Visual Impact and Experiential Learning
American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, 2022
Architecture and traveling always have a close and meaningful relationship. As architecture is a part of our ordinary environment it is difficult to overlook it, particularly assuming that it has recorded historical, social, cultural and artistic values. Traveling plays an important role in the architectural education. Early travelers appreciated marvels of their antiquated world, Grand Tour travelers ventured to the far corners of the planet to get well versed with architectural masterpieces. Recently traveling confronted with another peculiarity where traveling in education for the students is not only as a part of destination but also as a part of education. It helps to know about relation between environments, architecture, its principles and philosophies which will help in understanding that how traveling impacts the architecture student's experience. The aim of this paper is to study role that traveling has in architecture education and how educational excursions contribute to the growth of student's learning experience. In this paper, empirical data collected from four architectural institutions have been analyzed. The study proves that traveling has an important role in the architectural education and it should be considered as part of the architectural curriculum and professional experience, which can make a significant contribution to the visual learning of an architect's field exposure depending on the needs, expectations and preferences.
This paper aims to shed light on the status of travel-photography and is based on the hypothesis that the automobile revolutionized the way architects perceive the city. It focuses on a close examination of the photographs taken by architects John Lautner, Alison and Peter Smithson and Aldo Rossi during their travels, with special emphasis on those taken from the automobile and while encountering places for the first time. The main hypothesis that it explores is that the view from the car changes the architecture of the city, as well as the relationship between architecture and the city. It explores this hypothesis through the investigation of the above-mentioned case studies, contributing to a broader understanding of what is happening in cases of photography taken from the car. Regarding the theoretical framework on which my interpretation is based, I could refer to Rosalind Krauss’s understanding of photography in “Photography's Discursive Spaces: Landscape/View”. Besides from the photos they thematised in their book entitled AS in DS: An Eye on the Road, depicting landscape views of the British countryside, Alison and Peter Smithson also took many photos during their summer vacations. The main interest of these photos lies in the fact that they employed them in their teaching process and reasoning. The way they treated these photos in order to illustrate their arguments in their teaching, their publications and their projects is an aspect that is scrutinized here. Rossi started taking polaroid photographs during his journeys in the late 1970s, nearly a decade after noting his first impressions in his 47 quaderni azzuri (1968-1986), which are strongly reminiscent of travels diaries, both in form and content. His polaroids, which documented journeys and his whereabouts, include images of boats crossing a river in Bangkok, a Shaker village in Massachussets, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and constitute a visual diary of the Italian architect and an important source for understanding his use of travel-photography in order to organise his “visual memory”. In John Lautner’s archives, tens of thousands of slides can be found, illustrating trips throughout the United States, Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, and Egypt. One of my objectives is to show how these photographs of landscapes can inform us on the specific vision that his buildings introduced and vice-versa. Lautner’s travel slides constitute a precious resource since they represent a visual record equivalent to the more usual sketchbook used by many architects to record their study notes. His buildings trigger an ocular-centric vision which cannot but be related to the pre-eminence of landscape views in his conceptual edifice, as emerges not only through his architecture but also through the views captured on his camera when confronted with various landscapes.
Architects in Exile. Stories of New Spatial Experiences
Architects in Exile. Stories of New Spatial Experiences, 2023
The international conference Architects in Exile: Stories of New Spatial Experiences (Milan, May 29-30, 2023) aims to explore a research field that has gained attention in recent years within cultural studies but remains unexplored from an architectural perspective: the exiles and migrations that have characterized the 20th century. The valuable studies conducted so far on this topic have mainly focused on the biographical aspects of the individuals involved in these processes and their production, interpreted in a rather narrative sense. Architecture offers new keys for understanding and interpreting the complex phenomenon of ’exile’, taking into account its heterogeneous nature. Through the engagement of scholars whose research has focused on the examined themes from different disciplinary perspectives, the international conference Architects in Exile. Stories of New Spatial Experiences seeks to open new perspectives on the relationship between Exile and Architecture. The conference gathered the contributions of 48 scholars who proposed declinations and interpretations of the phenomena of exiles and exoduses, both collective and individual, imposed and voluntary, defining a new historical atlas for this complex phenomenon. Such topics will be discussed in 10 thematic panels. The opening day of the conference, inaugurated by a lecture by Caroline Maniaque, includes the following sessions: Architecture in Exile: Models and Typologies; Architecture in Exile: Before and in the Era of Nations; Architecture in Exile: the in-Between; Pre-Exile, Exile, Post-Exile, Nomadism. The second day, opened by Alexis Nouss’ talk, discusses the following topics: Exilic Trajectories of the BBPR; Exilic Ramifications of the Bauhaus; Exile and Architectural Hybridations; Exile and Cultural Transfers; Exile and Homeland; Exile and Utopia.