AUD 5222 - Contemporary Architectural Discourse BSc in Built Environment Studies University of Malta
Daniel Xuereb
a brief negotiation of the
S UP ER F L U O U S
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
preface
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a tale of heterotopian twins
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the kingdom of ku the kingdom of ru 8
an inconclusive debate a society of function a society of pleasure
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a cosmetic perversion utilising the experiential a study of the local
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conclusions references
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in response to the selected title: 2. ‘We are not against beauty but against useless things’ Nikita Khrushchev, 1954: Functionality vs aesthetical pleasure in the contemporary consumerist era.
Modern man’s long expedition towards the search of a unified architectural manifesto which could regulate the idealistic utopia of the futuristic city may be described as a delusion of unreachable perfection. Contradictions to this perfection may be termed superfluous, an addition void of essentiality, redundant under the strict adherence to the utopian manifesto. How can uselessness be defined within the framework of an opposing intellectual debate? In the effort of responding without an impartial accordance, this text shall occasionally phase into a paradoxical narrative describing a fictional world which does not exist yet could very much have been, which comically portrays idealistic utopian features yet concurrently exposes the consequences of their very purity. In allusion to the fictional, the discourse will go on to describe the double faced nature of the debate, appropriately referenced to theory and practice along its course.
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A tale of heterotopian twins Following the ‘Great War’ of long ago, the comics were exiled on account of their rebellion against the monotonites and the anchored laws with which they ruled over the proletariat. At last the world was separated into two realms, each defined by a unified belief and hence a unified army of craftsmen. Both set out to build the illustrious city of the fantastical, the utopia of pure concurrence to manifesto which was prior hindered by the rebellion of the other. Separated by baron wasteland, the incompatible twin cities lay just close enough for the eye to see, to get a glimpse of the other side which they have now come to loathe from afar.
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the kingdom of ku A place of indescribable adherence to perfection, of respect to function and maximisation of mechanical potential. The realm of the monotonites has become a symbol of excellence. It is said that Ku seems to float above the terrain, a vast yet simplistic system of pillars separates the human from the machine that transits along the grid beneath. This elevation allows the mechanical to perform to the utmost efficiency of its required function, not distracted by the unfocused pettiness of human nature. Above lies a forest of boxes, some wide and long, others narrow and tall, each perfect in the function it was desired to hold. In ridicule of the sentimental comics and their obsession with the irrational, the box faces are now void of decoration, simply slit open to light up the spaces where necessary. And above all, rooftops painted with grass, so perfectly mowed and watered that it never shifts off the emerald green pigment it was desired to depict. I still recall my visit to this immaculate urban monster. As I arrived, encapsulated in my machine, I shifted around the grid of pillars at such a speed that they seemed to merge into a blur. I got off right under the office block and shot up into the reception, up until this point I was cradled by the comfort of the cushioned seat of my mechanical transit. Within the office box, I seemed to recall a distinct similarity to the hotel I left from this morning, the library I visited prior and the cafeteria I stopped by on my way. It was all boxed, it was all white, it was all pure, but in the end I felt enslaved to perfection.
the kingdom of ru In their exile, the comics were liberated from the shackles of accordance and logic which they had come to despise. The new city went against the monotonites’ preconceived idea of the future, to rather become more advanced through the return to the origins of human experience. I recall my journey through the city of Ru, and the bizarre yet delightful series of unfolding events which presented themselves before me. I find it difficult to explain the urban structure of the city, void of any forms of logic and function almost as if purposely planned to seem without any plan at all. There are no streets only winding passages, cutting right through an abundance of asymmetrical forms of a perverted perfection. Through churches, nightclubs and brothels, whose preaching, techno and grunting seemed to give the pathway its very function. Contrary to the dictated functionality of their past, the comics now swayed their attention to the pleasure which the spaces in Ru could arouse and inaugurated the idea that pleasure itself could act as the very function of a space. The rebellious nature of the city, if it can even be called so, lives within the nightmares of the mathematician and the fantasies of the poet, a strange perfection which cannot be described, only in its very experience may it be understood.
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1. ‘KU - trapped in perfection’ (watercolour on paper - a conceptual representation)
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2. ‘RU - liberated from redemption’ (distortion of Brannigan’s ‘Marozia’ - a conceptual representation)
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An inconclusive debate The narrative acts as a metaphorical contradiction of the opposing arms of the popular dispute depicting an alternative reality to a Post-Cold War civilisation. . Further than that, the kingdoms are to act as a humorous reflection of pure heterotopian modernist and postmodernist societies, void of any criticism to their dictatorial intent. The discourse in this chapter shall make references to the idealistic societies in complete adherence to manifesto with the hope that in their utopian form, ramifications may become increasingly apparent.
a society of function Concerning the kingdom of ku, it should firstly be made clear that its metaphorical representation is not that of modernism at its outset but rather of functionalism (inspired by the 1927 film ‘Metropolis’). It may further be argued that the backbone of the kingdom’s structure may not entirely comply with functionalism as a philosophy, but only that of a formalist approach to functionality and modernism itself. Bearing in mind the formalist mind-set of what can only be described as a twisted modernism, it seems appropriate to refer to the USSR Industrialised Building Speech of 1954 delivered by the Soviet statesman Nikita Khrushchev: “I believe these comrades now realise themselves that the position they adopted was wrong. Now, though, it’s clear to everyone, it seems, that we must proceed along the more progressive path – the path of using prefabricated reinforced-concrete structures and parts. (Applause.) ... ...And this is what comrade Mordvinov and many of his colleagues have been criticised for forgetting about the main thing, the cost of a square meter of floor area... ...We are not against beauty but we are against superfluity.”
(Khrushchev, 1954)
The speech which aimed at improving the way architects work, Khrushchev talking from an economic standpoint, criticises the apparent uselessness in the design of the architects who attempted to rebel against functionalism and its communist implications. This subjective definition of superfluity and hence that of function itself, is where the inhumane approach of an architecture limited by the “Khruschoba” may be brought to inspire an army of rebels, better known as the postmodernists. (Taubman, 2003) Based on the worn out slogan ‘less is more’, used to associate to the work of Mies van der Rohe, functionalism and in some instances modernist practice itself, became obsessed with the limitation of function to the physical needs of the human in disregard of the remainder of the composition of the human psyche. The words of Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier (note the reflection of ‘Vers une architecture’ in the description of the kingdom of Ku), went on to inspire a prototypical architecture, restricted by the adherence to the compositional rules of geometric purity. (Griffin, 1966) In attempt to further explain the problem with this form of prototypical thinking still present today, it seems appropriate to understand the application of the modernist formula towards a piece of architecture whose function stems beyond that of the physical. The church in Foligno, Italy by Doriana e Massimiliano Fuksas (Figure 3) came under much criticism by the Vatican, once again dividing the architectural community through the application of the box-style to something as neurotic as the image of Catholicism. In spite of the beautifully proportioned monolith of pure geometry, what is the function of the church past a mere meditation space? There must be present the aura of the Church within the church itself, not necessarily relying on the superfluous but stripped down to its bare elements should hold an experiential quality of creed which supersedes the rationality of its geometric composition.
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3. Church in Foligno - Doriana e Massimiliano Fuksas (image source: www.archdaily.com/385013/the-traditional-versus-themodern-in-church-design)
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4. Casa Gilardi - Luis Barragan (extracted from the short film: ‘In Residence: Luis Barragan’ directed by César Pesquera)
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a society of pleasure Concerning the kingdom of Ru, the fictional narration speaks of the rebellious nature of postmodern thinking. Its extravagant and illogical structure does not define postmodern intellect, rather it acts as a microcosm of the imaginative (inspired by Italo Calvino’s fictional city of Marozia), a dimension which had become oppressed in the kingdom of Ku. The definition of the society of pleasure should not be tied to a superfluous style, it acts as an intellectual movement which attempts to humanize what had become inhumane. Charged by Robert Venturi’s statement ‘less is a bore’, a rebellios collection of contradictory work acted as a window to the forgotten dimensions of humour, imagination and exploration. The enslavement to a defined perfection is what inspired the postmodern as a reaction to the negation of the liberating potential of architecture. (Rogers, 1959) Therefore rather than an analysis of the stylistic, which can easily be strayed from its original intent, pleasure would more appropriately be associated with the link to consciousness and the philosophy of phenomenology. The counter argument to functionalism restricted to the physical, is the exploration of an experiential function which had become impoverished by the Industrial revolution and the over emphasis on a logic which mimicked the machine. An experiential foundation for the achievement of a comprehensively humanistic environment, liberated from the dogmatic limitation of what architecture was predicated to be. (Frampton, 1973) Void of a strictly defined manifesto, the seemingly unchecked hand of the architect may easily be brought to question as anti-theoretical. However, is it not this anti-prototypical approach which may be defined as a theory in itself, where the primacy of human experience preceeds the standardisation of ‘proper’ composition. Formalistic conduct replaced by the search of what came to be described as poetic images of archetypical psychological experience. (Moore, 1977) This society of pleasure is therefore not necessarily distinct from the aesthetics of the modernist style or even that of functionalism itself, it is a contradiction to the intellectual. It therefore seems appropriate to refer not to the arguably superfluous designs which marked the postmodernist rebellion, but to the experiential intellectual approach which expands the notion of function beyond the physical and towards the peak of the imaginative. (Casey, 2001) Flowing through Luis Barragan’s Casa Gilardi (Figure 4), a fluctuation experienced from one space to the next gives the subject the sense of non-uniformity within the house, and awareness that specific ‘auras’ attempt to evoke different emotions and senses. He employed color to create an atmosphere that would produce an aesthetic response. Surfaces of the walls are textured never smooth, interacting with color and light to intensify a function which does not blindly follow the physical, but composes an experiential setting which explores a humane functionality beyond its basic definition. (Ambasz, 1976) Phenomenological intellect does not necessarily detach itself from functionalism, nor does it disregard imagination, it redefines the very notion of function in relation to man’s physical, intellectual and spiritual needs. (Griffin, 1966) As argued in ‘The Architecture of Humanism’: “The scientific perception of the world is forced upon us; the humanist perception of it is ours by right. .”
(Scott, 1965)
At this point it seems that the scope of this text is no longer concerned with the inconclusive debate between the modern and postmodern, rather it aims to outline the widened spectrum of the functional and consequently the subjectivity of superfluity.
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5. Villaggio Mall, Doha - Gondolania Entertainment (image source: www.villaggioqatar.com/)
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A cosmetic perversion The previous chapter has been evaluated within a timeless platform for the sake of discourse. What is the application of a liberated functionalism within the contemporary consumerist era? Detached from the communist ideals preached by Khrushchev, the superfluous now feeds the brand and fuels the consumption by the ignorant masses. (Debord, 1967) A cosmetic perversion shall go on to describe the intertwined relationship between the experiential function of architecture and the consumerist society. utilising the experiential Functionality for the needs of a cohesive human psyche takes the assumption that the sole purpose of architecture is that of the nutrition of human life itself. Within the contemporary context, the physical, spiritual and intellectual have in some instances become utilised in the creation of an attraction towards the retail. The search for poetic images of archetypical psychological experience is occasionally replaced by the extraction of such images which are plugged into the realm of the commercial, creating what is known as the ‘shopping experience’. In his ‘Junkspace’, Rem Koolhaas describes this as the soulless, mollified typology that is currently spreading virus-like across the planet: “overripe and undernourishing at the same time, a colossal security blanket that covers the earth in a stranglehold of seduction ... Junkspace is like being condemned to a perpetual Jacuzzi with millions of your best friends ... A fuzzy empire of blur.”
(Koolhaas, 2001)
This ‘Disneyfication’ as a microcosm of external experiences may be appropriately related to the Villaggio Mall in Qatar, or more specifically the battery-operated gondola ride through it. A few years back I had the fortunate adversity of ‘visiting’ this mall, and in this experience I was humorously reminiscent not of Venice itself, but of the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. It seems therefore that the attraction of the consumer has become a result of the appropriation of an appropriation, the retail can now refer to itself in its search for an experience of attraction. Therefore the painted sky, ‘renaissance’ retail outlets and irrational lamp posts cannot be described as superfluous, they provide the very function of attraction through the injection of appropriated pleasure. (Taschen, 2002) a study of the local A phenomenon of the global is also heavily present within the local, because the two can no longer be considered in isolation within the context of contemporary consumerist culture. The purpose of this final sub-chapter is to relate the idea within a context of familiarity. The following series of photographs (Figures 6-9) act as documentation of ‘retail experience’ within the newly refurbished ‘is-Suq tal-Belt’, a relatable representation of the power of image in the fuelling of consumption. A double-edged sword, requiring the financial backing of the ‘Arcadia Group’, the Victorian structure and the cultural image that came with it, were sold as an excessive representation of all that is Maltese with the function of attracting the consumption of everything foreign. The promise of a food market betrayed by a series of airport lounge shops and an extended glamorised supermarket. Through the exploitation of poorly lit references to a somewhat local aesthetic, there lies a showcase of the intertwined relationship between an architectural ‘experience’ and consumerism – which destroys the preconceived idea of the superfluous. The potential for physical, intellectual and spiritual function lost somewhere in between polyester plates and faux Asian noodles.
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6.
Lost behind an extravaganza of attraction, I enter the notorious market.
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7.
A Maltese promise, comforted through an elaborate dressing in the local.
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8.
Yet beneath its glamorised skin, lies the familiar mediocrity of the uprooted retail.
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9.
Eros Ramazzotti blasting out of the speakers, Niagra Falls shining through the bright screen, Scuffling through a sea of strangers, I gulf down my Turkish cuisine.
The illusion of the local, a functional superfluity feeding the commercial machine.
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The argument was curated through the transition of explanatory media. Fictional at its outset, timelessly unrooted throughout its discourse and critically local in its conclusion – the text attempts to showcase the circumstantial relationship between function and pleasure. It seems that the words of Khrushchev which sparked this very debate can no longer stand within the cosmetic context which now feeds off the image. The superfluous is immeasurable, and hence so is the functional. At the least, this text aims to detach the definition of function from the impoverished realm of the physical and towards the potential of so much more. In this detachment lies the danger of misappropriation, an exploitation of our longing for a ‘wholeness‘ in scope of capitalist greed. In a society where aesthetical pleasure has become undeniably functional, the dangers of beauty are not restricted to its superfluous nature. The criticism of the modern architect is in the sensitivity with which the aesthetic itself is painted. In spite of the highly critical description of the commercially appropriated experience, its social potential cannot be understated. The masses are not troubled by the inauthenticity which fuels their consumerism, in the end this is a reserved debate at its best. The ‘Industrialized Building Speech‘ from which the quotation emerged, was directed towards a heavily proletariat audience whose sensitivity cannot be related to this argument. Similarly, to paraphrase the commonly stated counterargument to it all - ‘is-Suq tal-Belt dejjem mifqugh bin-nies ikun’... The superfluous is indeed subjective.
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References Lang, F. (Director). (1927). ‘Metropolis’. Calvino, Italo. (1978). ‘Invisible cities’. (pp. 154-155) New York :Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Khrushchev, N. (1954). ‘Industrialised Building Speech’. Speech presented at National Conference of Builders, Architects, Workers in the Construction Materials and Manufacture of Construction, USSR. Taubman, W. (2003). ‘Khrushchev: The man and his era’. London: Simon & Schuster. Le Corbusier (1986). ‘Towards a New Architecture’. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc Griffin, D. M. (1966). ‘A study of functionalist theories in architecture’ (Unpublished master’s thesis). Rice University, Houstan, Texas. Otero-Pailos, J. (2013). ‘Architectural Phenomenology and the Rise of the Postmodern’. In The SAGE handbook of architectural theory (pp. 136-151). London: SAGE Publications. Rogers, E. N. (1959) ‘L’evoluzione dell’architettura: Risposta al custode di frigidaires’, Casabella Continuità 228(June): 2–4. Frampton, K. (1973) ‘Industrialization and the Crises in Architecture’, Oppositions 1: 57–82. Moore, C. W., Bloomer, K. (1977) ‘Body, Memory and Architecture’. New Haven: Yale University Press. Casey, E. S. (2001) ‘Imagining: A Phenomenological Study’. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Ambasz, E, (1967) ‘The Architecture of Luis Barragán’. The Museum of Modern Art. Pesquera, C. (Director). (2016). In Residence [Motion picture]. Story MX. as part of the film series ‘Nowness in architecture’. Scott, G. (1965). ‘The Architecture of Humanism’. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith. Debord, G. (1994) [1967]. The society of the spectacle. New York: Zone Books. Koolhaas, R. (2001). ‘Junkspace’. Quodlibet. Chung, C. J., Inaba, J., Koolhaas, R., Leong, S. T., & Cha, T. (2002). ‘Harvard Design School guide to shopping’. Köln: Taschen.
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