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Architecture manifests as an expression of creativity and culture. It provides a map on the earth of artistic styles which have arisen and how they have evolved over time. Permanent structures serve as reminders of historical events, allowing us to reflect on the past and make connections with a culture that we may have never experienced. From appreciating architecture we can gain insights into the needs and ideals of a society and how the equilibrium between aesthetics and economics is shifted. An analysis of historical architecture can tell us about the evolution of humanity, including understanding today's culture as well as making predictions about the future for our culture. In addition to responding to the requirements of a society, architecture could also have the potential to influence the direction of cultural progression. Therefore the choice of architectural style today may have consequences for the identity we choose and what type of focus society will adopt for the future. Designers and architects have a responsibility to inspire artistic productivity in human beings who are essentially creative even in business. Living and working environments need not only to provide a practical function but also the psychological motivation for those who inhabit the constructions to perform optimally. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret's (Le Corbusier) now famous comment that "a house is a machine for living in" has been criticised for its disconnection with humanity, although his main concerns were for the health and comfort of humans. Perhaps it is the creativity of humanity that received insufficient focus. Unfortunately aesthetics of many buildings that followed on from his purist designs were not in line with cultural and aesthetic ideals. French architecture went into aesthetic decline, depending on one's point of view, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Other notable architects of the day such as Francois Hennebique, Auguste Perret and Tony Garnier left behind the artisanal creativity of Gothic, Renaissance and Classic art with their use of concrete in the beginnings of modern construction. Le Corbusier's vision to create radiant cities led to new cleaner forms and airy and bright interiors throughout the twentieth century. Principle's of his purist classic designs are evident in today's modern architecture. Cities comprised of the rectilinear International Style may be perceived by some as clean, bright and healthy, or stark, sterile and empty by others. While council estates such as those at Roehampton in Surrey solved post-war accommodation problems, they created a sense of packaging away humans as if from a need to tidy up the population in storage-like facilities. Subsequently this led to the buildings from the 1960's onwards appearing to exist despite nature and environment rather than in harmony. This style expanded globally without any regional reference or cultural connection. Individuality, uniqueness and expression had disappeared. By contrast twentieth century architecture has not been confined to purely modern construction. We've seen a Gothic revival in the nineteenth century which continued to influence early twentieth century architecture with neo-gothic examples including Raymond Hood and John Howell's Chicago Tribune Tower in 1924 and Cass Gilbert's Woolworth building in New York in 1913 (Craven 2008). Apart from revivals we have seen new decorative styles such as the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements which borrowed design from nature, and art designs and exotic icons from a variety of cultures respectively. These movements have given us the early twentieth century Glasgow School of Art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1909, and the Radio City Music Hall in New York by Edward Durell Stone in 1932. As the world economy declined so did the artistic design in architecture, and the Streamline Moderne rose to dominance during the 1930's and 1940's. This follow-on style from Art Deco is noted for its curved lines and diminishing decorative detail represented in examples such as Oliver Hill's new Midland Hotel in Morcambe, England in 1932, the Victoria Coach Station in London, the 1937 Bather's Building, now the San Francisco Maritime Museum, and the Sydney Metro Theatre. Fascination with the machine age led to transport, notably marine, being a common theme in this architectural form. After the war this style evolved to International Style as the precursor to Modern architecture. Is this artistic decline simply a function of economic hardship and requirement for rapid expansion, or is it more a sign of the associated spiritual and moral decline? Our valuing of art has given way to the greater value that we now place on finance and economics. We can hardly blame all this on the war since the world wars of the twentieth century were certainly not the first in history. Difficult times have been experienced throughout the centuries; it is perhaps our priorities and response to difficulties that has changed. Modern buildings are cheaper to design and build, and faster to erect leading to greater profits and higher turnover; but at a high cost to humanity. Would we, for example, put a value on the Louvre then lament that we could have built three hundred modern apartments for less cost and in a shorter time period? The most economical way isn't necessarily the preferred way. What mark do today's artists, including architects, hope to leave behind as their legacy for future generations? Modernists claim to pursue timelessness and perfection. However the constructions almost seem to have been created as disposable items, with the kind of nothingness in the design that will limit society's attention and appreciation. Lines so perfect, it is devoid of art. So timeless, it reflects nothing about our culture or epoch, except our loss of interest in detail and pragmatic approach to progress. Everything changes over time therefore design should be encouraged to reflect change over time. There is little point in creating something 'timeless', unless the assumption is that it will be demolished before time changes again. Planning to avoid time is a futile exercise. It demonstrates a lack of connectivity to nature and the world in which we live. A reaction to the blandness of modernism occurred with the rising of postmodernism. The new age inclinations of our culture to indulge in navel-gazing and symbolism resulted in a diverse array of architectural styles. Making a statement suddenly became more important than aesthetics, and this is evident in the populist works of Venturi and Scott Brown. While wanting to put individuality back into architecture it was as if they disregarded the decorative arts, which they viewed as superficial, in favour of banal design that seeks interpretation in what is not present, or hidden, rather than what is visually evident. Perceiving decorative architecture as superficial could be seen as somewhat of a contradiction since decorative design requires a creative soul. It is curious that this movement was unable or unwilling to appreciate the possibility of interpretation using decorative designs or even the potential for reinterpretation, instead focusing on the 'ugly and ordinary'. After all, from the 1960's we have had this awareness of reinterpretation from the writings of Roland Barthes and others. Perhaps we have been interpreting humanity from a mundane and negative perspective. Society has reacted to the lack of aesthetic appeal of postmodern construction by reverting to the principles of modernism. Perhaps it is a reactionary response to the hideous architecture of the 1970's that seems to have already passed its use-by date. However, the absence of ugliness is still seen as preferable to the presence of beauty. Such a reversion to a formula lacking in artistic creativity is perhaps a sign of creative exhaustion in our culture, an uncertainty of our identity and apprehension of the future. Whatever we create will in some way be a reflection of our time and will therefore 'date', so we would do better to create something worth looking at with pride. Gothic, Renaissance, Classic, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles are all dated yet they are still admired because they include beautiful art forms each with their own unique form of expression. Externalising creativity and culture was such a great formula in the past so the desire to break away is curious. Possible motivations include laziness, greed, depression, disconnectivity, or open disregard for or lack of understanding of our modern culture. It seems we are focusing on the superficial whims of our culture rather than on those that confer meaning and identity. Modern designers often leave the impression that the motivation is purely an ego driven desire to be seen as different, rather than to create something to which people can relate. Western culture encourages individuality through our capitalist ideology. In a way this has been to the detriment of a shared cultural identity. Religion has diminished in importance but that does not necessarily mean that we have lost our spirituality, merely that it has become less defined. Our values have altered to favour non-discrimination and support of other cultures and this has been reflected in postmodern architecture with its use of diverse cultural motifs and symbolism. However western culture may be becoming so homogenised that we are losing sight of our history and its links to our present identity to an extent where we need to redefine ourselves. To regain a unique sense of ourselves as a cultural group we could identify themes present in today's society. Capitalism has produced a global economy and a global culture to a certain extent. We could also view this as a new solidarity of humanity with shared aspirations. Innovation and science are two major themes in contemporary western culture. As a result of advances in these areas we have developed an external awareness of our environment and an inner need to reconnect with nature. A connection to the inner spirit may also be lacking in modern society. Modern life seems to have made humanity less spontaneous in expression, everything has to be analysed carefully before we externalise our reactions to living. Lack of expression in architecture is reflecting back at us our emptiness of spirit. The humanity of history was better equipped to appreciate life at a less complex level. Our lesson in studying historical art and architecture is not to reproduce that which has already been created in the form of a 'revival' but to regain the understanding of the human processes that led the old masters to produce their inspiring works. First we need a way of penetrating through the layers of modern logic and superficiality that have accumulated. Generally, to achieve this type of 'wind down' we engage with other arts such as music, literature and painting, in a way similar that the renaissance artists gained their inspiration for new inventiveness. Finding the time in our work and career driven lives to reconnect with our creativity and place more importance on aesthetics is a major problem in today's society. However there has always been more inspiration derived from the arts and humanities than from technology. Our current concerns regarding environmental issues for example could lead us to develop a greater appreciation for the beauty of the nature that we wish to preserve rather than focus solely on the damage humans are inflicting upon the earth and the technology we need to limit the problems. Contemporary architecture is showing some signs of recovery of human creativity and connectivity to our culture and environment. French architect Jean Nouvel engages in dialogue with his surroundings to create visual compositions that reflect the people, culture and environment and could be classified as Critical Regionalism with regards to his focus on context. In a quote from the New York Times he says "I need analysis," noting that every person "is a product of a civilization, of a culture (Pogrebin 2008)." A major influence in his work is the architecture of light. His creativity is evident and reflected in the contracts he wins in designing buildings dedicated to the arts such as the Musee du Quai Branly, Concert Halls in Paris and Copenhagen, a Louvre in Abu Dhabi, the Arab World Institute in Paris, a National Museum in Qatar and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. If today's contemporary architecture is truly relevant to its time by definition, then we would expect to see our most important cultural themes represented in design and construction. In western society we are developing a heightened awareness of the value in human rights and equality, ecological conservation and a desire to regain a connection between the physical and the spiritual. It is the role of the artist and designer to determine how these themes may be expressed in architecture in a way that reflects the essence of the people. Only then can we fill our cultural and artistic void, validate our time in history and set a meaningful direction for the future. Bibliography Art Deco Buildings: London Examples n.d., viewed 16 July 2008, http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/artdecobldgs.htm CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - Metro Theatre, Kings Cross NSW modified 14 January 2006, Vision Entertainment Services, viewed 16 July 2008, http://www.cinematour.com/tour/au/392.html Maritime Museum San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park modified 14 September 2006, National Park Service US Department of the Interior, viewed 16 July 2008, http://www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/maritime-museum.htm From Here to Modernity Architects - Le Corbusier: L'Esprit Nouveau modified 17 July 2008, Open2.net, viewed 16 July 2008, http://www.open2.net/modernity/4_1.htm Glasgow School of Art - Charles Rennie Mackintosh modified 8 March 2008, Great Buildings Online, viewed 14 July 2008, http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Glasgow_School_of_Art.html Craven, J 2008, Periods & Styles in Architecture: Neo-Gothic, or Gothic Revival', About.com: Architecture, viewed 12 July 2008, http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/Historic-Styles/Neo-Gothic---Gothic-Revival.htm Mayernik, D & Paik, T 2000, Humanist Art Review, viewed 16 July 2008, http://www.humanistart.net/articles.htm Pogrebin, R 2008, 'Jean Nouvel of France wins Pritzker architecture prize', International Herald Tribune, viewed 15 July 2008, http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/30/style/30pritzker.php?page=1 Midland Hotel, Morecambe modified 8 March 2008, Art Deco - Art Nouveau on Waymarking.com, viewed 15 July 2008, http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3Y7K Radio City Music Hall modified 18 July 2008, New York Architecture Images, viewed 14 July 2008, http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID061.htm Who We Are modified 18 July 2008, VSBA : Venturi Scott Brown and Associates Architecture, viewed 16 July 2008, http://www.vsba.com/whoweare/opener.html |
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