The Intertwinement of Modernism and Colonialism: a Theoretical Perspective

Post–colonial theory, following the lead of Edward Said’s Orientalism, holds that the discourse that justified colonialism was not marginal to European culture, but that it formed a core ingredient of European thinking about Modernity and Modernism. This thought–provoking argument has not yet been thoroughly processed in architectural history and theory. This article explores these issues by introducing some of Said’s thoughts and by discussing how they might be relevant for an interpretation of Modernism in architecture. It looks at primitivism in architecture as encountered in the work of Loos, Le Corbusier and Rudofsky, arguing that its colonialist bias is undeniable. The conclusion stresses how much Said’s analyses still give rise to difficult questions about our ideas and attitudes

Questioning Authenticity

Authenticity is an important category in cultural debates, which has emerged in parallel with the notion of modernity. Authenticity refers to the idea that something is “real” or “true,” that its outer appearance is in correspondence with its inner being, in contrast with things that are “fake” or “false” or “dissimulating.” Although the term thus seems to have a rather unequivocal meaning, its usage evokes quite some paradoxes. This paper focuses on one of these paradoxes: the different notions of authenticity that are at stake within practices of conservation on the one hand and within the modernist discourse of the Modern movement on the other. It shows through a discussion of two different case studies—the Lever House in New York and the hotel La Concha in San Juan, Puerto Rico—that both forms of authenticity are often at odds when it comes to the restoration of modernist buildings

Tracing the Avant-Texte of Architectural Theory: The Paul Felix Case

This article attempts to dissect the production and use of architectural theory in its formative stage. Instead of reproducing the fixed canons of architectural theory, based upon the publications of celebrated authors, it tries to unravel the coming-into-being of architectural theory as a field. Specifically, this article will concentrate on the theoretical ideas of Paul Felix (1919–1982): a Catholic, Belgian modernist architect, and a professor of architectural theory at the Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven from 1952 to 1978. Felix will be studied not through his pioneering modernist architectural designs or through his limited published work, but by looking at his day-to-day work — archiving, reading, and teaching — which remains a relatively untapped and yet relevant context in intellectual history. By developing a textual exegesis of a well-thumbed key text of Felix’ course, the 1968 text La fonction et le signe by the Italian thinker Umberto Eco (1932–2016), this article will redirect the predominant focus on canonical texts of architectural theory to the work of those actors who were foremost not in producing but consuming theory

Displacement & domesticity since 1945 : refugees, migrants and expats making homes : following the EAHN's sixth thematic conference (Brussels, 27-28 march 2019)

In the recent history of globalisation and mass human displacement, the practical and epistemological tools of architecture play a role in revealing the multi-faceted relationship between migration and home. The goal of the European Architectural History Network's sixth thematic conference was to illuminate and critically reflect on the conceptual role and socio-material expressions of domesticity employed in response to displacement in contemporary history, beginning with the year 1945. Many of the papers reflected a deep interest in the processes involved in thinking, building and preserving home as well as the growing importance of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations. Inspired by this, we seek to prompt ways, especially from within the architectural discipline and community, to conceive of alternative epistemological and heuristic frameworks for integrating interdisciplinary knowledge

Emptiness as Potential. Different Conceptions of the Sober Interior

Abstract Emptiness in a contemporary interior design is often sought by architects and designers in order to achieve order, frugality and purity as a counterpoint to the stressful, busy and noisy outside world. A point of reference for this ideal is the Japanese architectural tradition of quietness, sobriety and harmony of mind, spirit and nature. It is our intention with this article, to focus on the meaning of emptiness from a critical perspective clarifying its potential within home interiors. We differentiate between three visions on emptiness, which each offer a different interpretation of the experience of home and its relation to nature, time and beauty: the ascetic emptiness identified with the Japanese tradition and wabi-sabi philosophy, the constructivist emptiness defended by the Russian Constructivism and by philosophers such as Walter Benjamin and the minimalist emptiness as a response to postmodernist aesthetics. We present two case studies, which both can be seen as contemporary variants of sobriety and emptiness: the formal minimalist emptiness of John Pawson's house versus the more organic emptiness of Marie-José Van Hee's house. We conclude by highlighting the difference between the different theoretical frameworks, and their potential bearing upon contemporary interior architecture

M & L Jaargang 34/5

Lynn De Clercq en Joris Nauwelaerts Een stedelijke arena van steen en beton: de verschillende gedaanten van het Gentse wintercircus. [An urban arena of concrete and stone: different aspects of the Ghent Winter Circus.]Door sommigen opgehemeld, door anderen verguisd. Het Gentse wintercircus, nog maar pas een eeuweling geworden, laat geen Gentenaar onberoerd. Het gebouw, opgetrokken op het einde van de 19de eeuw, is één van de laatste stenen circusgebouwen in Europa maar ook één van de eerste constructies in gewapend beton. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd er een garage ondergebracht en ging het circusinterieur volledig verloren. Aan de lange leegstand komt binnenkort een einde. Het Gentse wintercircus, een gebouw met vele gedaanten, zal opnieuw in gebruik worden genomen. Lynn De Clercq en Joris Nauwelaerts reconstrueren de rijke geschiedenis van deze stedelijke arena en bieden een blik op haar toekomst.Pol Vanneste Wederopbouw van dorpskerken tussen Diksmuide en Nieuwpoort. Oorlogstrauma en kunsthistorische erfenis. [Reconstruction of parish churches between Diksmuide and Nieuwpoort. War trauma and art-historical heritage.]"Ene uitgestrekte verwarde woestijn." Zo zag de streek tussen Diksmuide en Nieuwpoort, die op de frontlinie lag, er uit na de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Hoe men in de jaren 1920 met de oorlogsruïnes en de verwoeste dorpen omging, wordt minutieus en gebaseerd op archieven, plannen en fotos beschreven door Pol Vanneste. De opties tot wederopbouw, historiserende reconstructie, heropbouw op een andere plaats of nieuwe architectuur omwille van het oorlogstrauma vaak geïnspireerd op de traditionele architectuur - waren vrij uiteenlopend en werden duidelijk gestuurd door de Koninklijke Commissie voor Monumenten, al was de stem van de plaatselijke overheden ook niet onbelangrijk.Heleen De Koster en Hilde Heynen De Aérogare 58. Theatraliteit en spektakel. [Aérogare 58. Theatricality and spectacle.]Hoe de Aérogare uit de bruisende expo 58-jaren werd geconcipieerd met onmiskenbare spektakelwaarde en theatraliteit, wordt opgeroepen door Heleen De Koster en Hilde Heynen op basis van nieuw archiefonderzoek en interviews met de betrokkenen. Interieur en meubilair waren zorgvuldig uitgekozen en evolueerden later volgens de nieuwere mode en stijlen. Omdat er buiten het karkas eigenlijk weinig concreets van bewaard bleef, is deze getuigenis des te belangrijker. Omwille van deze opeenvolgende gedaantes is het formuleren van een restauratieoptie voor deze transithal extra uitdagend.Kathleen Moermans, Maarten Van Dijck en Jef Vrelust De restauratie van de Stuckenholz-handkraan in Antwerpen. [Restauration of the Stuckenholz hand crane in Antwerp.]Technologie evolueert aan een indrukwekkende snelheid en zo geraakten de tot de verbeelding sprekende mastodonten op de kaaien in onbruik. Het Antwerpse stadsbestuur besloot om één kraan van elk type te bewaren als industrieel en technologisch archief, als onderdeel van de collectie van het MAS. De oudste maar krachtigste handbediende tientonskraan kwam als eerste aan de beurt en diende aldus als proeftuin voor de restauratie van de andere kranen, zoals door Kathleen Moermans, Jef Vrelust en Maarten Van Dijck wordt uiteengezet.Summar

De Maarten Bouwen prijs voor het eerst uitgereikt

status: publishe

Signs, Images and Life:: Researching the Mimetical Mode of Architecture

The paper gives a theoretical argument as to the specificity of architecture as a field that touches upon very different modes of signification or modalities of knowledge: scientific knowledge (signs), artistic inputs (images) and interactive processes (life). It will argue that these different aspects are inextricably entwined in any phenomenon of architecture that is studied in its full width and depth. Most research strategies in architecture legitimately focus on certain aspects – e.g. historical analysis, or technical investigations, or inquiries into design methodology. It is our intention, however, to reflect upon the possibility of an encompassing research strategy, which aims at coming to terms with the specificity of architecture. This means that we intend to develop a strategy which deals with architecture's different modalities of knowledge or modes of signification. Examples are given of themes and issues that have been studied following the proposed strategy

Wo sind all'die Frauen hin? Zur Sichtbarkeit von Frauen in der Architekturszene Flanderns

Katalogstatus: publishe