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Development of Thinking and Theory in Architecture
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> Süha Özkan

Tarih: 21 Mayıs 2002
Yer: Arkitera Forum

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Development of Thinking and Theory in Architecture

An essay on a presentation made by Suha Ozkan to Diwan al-Mimar on October 21, 2001

Support for the publication of this essay has been made possible by a grant from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development. Additional support has been provided by Darat al-Funun - The Khalid Shoman Foundation.

In this presentation to Diwan al-Mimar, Suha Ozkan (1) presented his explorations of the development of thinking and theory in architecture that he has carried out over the past thirty years. The exploration was prompted by his appointment as an instructor in architecture at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara upon completing his master's degree there in urban design in 1969. As he undertook the challenges of teaching, Ozkan felt a strong need to develop a comprehensive understanding of architectural theory that would aid him as a teacher and researcher. He also studied at the Architectural Association where he produced a thesis entitled "General Conceptual Framework for Methodology of Design." He finished his Ph.D. at METU in 1980, which was entitled "A Categoric Structure for Theory of Design."

Ozkan emphasized that he very much was influenced by the overall developments that were taking place at the time when he began teaching. It was just before the jumbo jet was invented; a number of satellites already were in orbit, and important achievements generally were being realized in science and technology. Also, new social values were coming into being. The social consciousness movement was being formed, and it was the period just prior to the 1968 student revolts in Paris, with which Ozkan sympathized. It generally was a period of anticipation and energy. As for his own intellectual background, he was brought up in the spirit of positivism, as opposed to speculation and artistry. Consequently, his academic and intellectual upbringing emphasized the belief that theology and metaphysics are earlier imperfect modes of knowledge, and that positive knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations as verified by the empirical sciences. For Ozkan, positivism meant that theory should inform practice. He explained that in architecture, all speculations, writings, and essays are considered theory, and he noted that every architect who wrote seems to have a theory - a situation that does not apply to the natural sciences. He gave physics as an example. Not every physicist has a theory; instead many make contributions to the development of a theory. The same is true of mathematics and other sciences.Ozkan started his exploration of the theory of architecture with the premise that whatever does not belong to a building, whatever is externalized in the form of literature - to explain the point of view of an architect, philosopher, or theorist, thus informing the practice of architecture - should belong to the realm of theory. Ozkan then began compiling these writings, starting with the earliest available examples, which are the writings of Marcus Pollio Vitruvius from the 1st century BC, up to contemporary theories such as Deconstruction.

Ozkan added that during this period he also started to take courses in the philosophy of science. In 1969, he went to London to study at the Architectural Association. In London, he was fortunate enough to study with Karl Popper (1902 - 94), considered one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century. (2) At the Architectural Association, Ozkan worked on structuring the various literary contributions to architecture. In the scope of the theory of the philosophy of science, Ozkan came to the conclusion that everything in the universe is structured. At one extreme, there is logic as the basis of knowledge. Logic is transcribed and defined in the form of mathematics, which informs physics and chemistry as applied sciences, which in turn inform engineering. In these cases, theories are physically explicable, and have an axiomatic structure. A basic axiom such as 1+1=2 or true/false might be a basis that develops a whole body of science and reaches the most sophisticated engineering levels, where one deals with systems analysis, operations, and research. Solving complex problems in molecular biology - or any other science - would be through the basic values in mathematics and logic. In other words, the abstract basis of this axiomatic structure leads to engineering sciences in an inductive way, with one informing the other.On the other hand, Ozkan states that there are fields of knowledge, the most extreme of which is theology, where one does not question the validity of a point through logic. One simply believes in it. One can be Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist, and when one believes in the existence of God or in an explanation of the existence of God or Gods, one does not question it. This is a deductive mode of logic that also is meant to inform. Theology and beliefs are then transformed into ethics, which provide codes of behavior.

The same applies to the theory of arts. It is a speculative form of knowledge. They are not scientifically and objectively explicable for they fall within the realm of belief and conviction. Ozkan believes that when exploring architecture, on the one hand there is the part pertaining to what makes the building stand, and this is informed by the basic sciences. On the other hand, one faces the psycho-perceptual entity of what is called beauty or relevance, which belongs to the normative aspect of the sciences. Ozkan noted that this is the reason why architecture has been deprived of an objective theory. It never belonged singly to one or the other of these modes of logic. Painting and the plastic arts in general belong to the more speculative form of logic, and architecture also belongs to them in certain values. However, this does not apply to issues relating to the physical existence of architecture.

Ozkan started his research with Vitruvius' ten-book treatise on architecture, De Architectura, from the 1st century BC. Among other things, this work dealt with the issue of professionalism. It informed us concerning the Greco-Roman practice of architecture, which established three pillars for the validity of a building: utility, firmness, and delight. Utility, notes Ozkan, falls in the socio-psychological realm. Firmness belongs to the engineering realm. Delight is the experiential value of a building. The writings of Vitruvius came to light in the 15th century, with the Renaissance. At that time, architecture began to be considered as a profession, and Vitruvius informed the reader about this profession. Prior to the Renaissance, architecture was not a profession. There were no architects, merely 'builders'. (3)

Ozkan pointed out that one of the pitfalls he faced in his research was dealing with a tradition such as that of Gothic architecture. The reason lies in that while Greco-Roman architecture has very firm values, an interpretation of which Vitruvius has related to us, Gothic architecture had no surviving theoretical evidence to accompany it. No documentary evidence survives (or probably exists) relating to the construction of the buildings of the period, which when observed from the engineering and aesthetic points of view represent tremendous accomplishment. When observing works of architecture leading up to the 15th century, one encounters many marvelous examples, which could not have been produced without basic information being exchanged between people. Here, Ozkan referred to Joseph Rykwert's explanation that the creation of Gothic works of architecture was a secretive endeavor, and that masons kept the logic behind them to themselves. (4) This knowledge was passed on verbally. It is possible that written documentary evidence also was used to pass on such information, but such evidence would have been deliberately destroyed as a way to protect the knowledge that the masons had amassed. Although the Gothic period presents to us architecture of very high quality and sophisticated structural systems, almost no supporting written documentation survives from that period to help us understand the manner in which its contemporaries viewed it.Ozkan added that in his research he tried to identify common values amongst the readings he was investigating. In his study, he noted that he did not engage himself too much in the building itself, but rather concentrated on how the ideas behind the building were expressed and passed on from generation to the other. In other words, his main concern was the books of architecture that transferred knowledge and that externalized the thinking process behind architecture. He reasoned that if one were to approach the analysis of buildings, one would synchronically push forward his own contemporaneity and his own interpretations of the buildings, and this would not be factually correct. In order to be "scientifically" correct, Ozkan concentrated on the sources of the period that explain the practice of architecture. He noted that what most art historians do is to project the values of their own society onto the past when explaining and interpreting a work of architecture. The results are genuine and very interesting, but it is not clear in whether they explain the phenomena of architecture as it was explained - if it was explained at all - in its own period. In order to avert that, Ozkan based his research completely on contemporary primary written sources.In order to explain what a theory does, Ozkan devised a set of semantic categories. He explained that the most primitive and basic form of theory is the image. An image is the icon of architecture. The building once constructed is in itself its own theory, representing a solution that informs people, and that survives from one generation to the other. As an example, Ozkan noted that vernacular architecture represents buildings that contain and express their theory and experiential values. Consequently, the viewer would decipher the building and then adapt it to his own particular social needs and uses. Ozkan explained that he therefore did not dwell on this category of buildings. However, he did make an exception with the work of Mies van der Rohe, who left little written evidence of his architectural thinking, but nonetheless made a significant impact on architecture and informed a whole new series of expression through his designs. Such contributions are iconic in nature.

Ozkan continued that other theoretical contributions could be described as pragmatic. Pragmatic contributions provide practical information on how a building should be assembled, what the values should be, and how it would stand. If an abstract level were added to this level of contribution, one would reach a canonic level of contribution. Here, canons of architecture, certain rules of proportion - or what Vitruvius refers to as delight - all would be considered - in the abstract - to inform architectural design in the form of certain principles that have come to form one of the important aspects of architectural theory.
The fourth category Ozkan tackled is analogic, in which architecture is described as something else. As an example, Ozkan relates Leon Battista Alberti's (1404 - 72) ten books on architecture, De re Aedificatoria, in which he equates the harmony of a building with the harmony of music. This harmony cannot be represented graphically or through simple arithmetic, but represents a more complex form of proportionate relationships. In Ozkan's opinion, analogies have benefited architecture throughout history, and gave as an example the Metabolism movement, which believed that living beings and buildings should bear a resemblance to each other.

The fifth category that Ozkan presented is the utopic. It is one that we cannot realize but are free to think and imagine about. Nothing can stop one from thinking and speculating about an unknown future. Ozkan adds that for an architect or a visionary, if desired conditions are not reached, one is free to imagine that they will be realized in a different time or a different place. Ozkan believes that utopic ideas are amongst the strongest driving forces behind architectural transformation and new forms of expression. He points out that Frank Lloyd Wright (1869 - 1959), Le Corbusier (1887 - 1966), and Peter Cook (b. 1936) were utopist thinkers whose writings had a profound influence on the public.

The sixth category is the descriptive. Here, the situation is described. Ozkan adds that this constitutes the most scientific part of architectural theory, and had reached overwhelming and tedious levels in the 1970s. Ozkan observed that it was very popular for everyone to carry out research on the relevance of one thing to another thing, and this was viewed as being very "scientific." The whole body of information on architecture, especially that developed and conveyed in schools of architecture, was based on these descriptive approaches because there was a strong logic behind it, and it formed a scientific backbone that would inform architectural theory. But all it did was describe what has happened and is happening.

If one takes the process a step further, one reaches an isomorphic or abstract category. Once the elements are described, symbols, and values are assigned to them, which are then manipulated as abstract entities. Ozkan believes that this led to computer-aided design. In fact, many of Ozkan's generation believed that the time would come when computers will be capable of designing anything. Of course, this did not turn out to be the case. Computers are and will remain subservient to architectural designers, merely tools that replace drafting boards, which is what they should be.

In carrying out his readings of primary sources, Ozkan found a point of emergence in the development of architectural theory to be Antonio Filarete di Averlino's (c. 1400 - 69) Trattato d'Architettura (Treatise on Architecture). Filarete can be viewed as a philosopher, but also as an entertainer who entertained his patron Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, with stories about his ideas. In a way, Filarete was sugarcoating his philosophical ideas. Filarete urged Sforza to build a city called Sforzinda. Sforzinda supposedly had a port that allowed it to converse and interact with the sea. It also was a hilltop town with a cathedral located at the top of the hill. Filarete clearly was more or less selling his ideas through a powerful Renaissance-period ruler. He also questions the roots of architecture. Being a Christian, he believed in the story of Adam and Eve, and based much of his ideas on Adam being expelled from paradise and his subsequent fall to earth, completely in the nude, without Eve. Adam then built a basic structure to protect himself and to ensure his survival. Ozkan explained that Filarete speculates his theory of architecture from this point onwards through giving pragmatic rules on the evolution of the first primitive shelter. However, he subsequently moves on to a completely different setup, which is Sforzinda as a utopian setting. Ozkan points out that as a result, we observe in Filarete's work three of the categories he related, the iconic, pragmatic, and utopic.Ozkan went on to Alberti, a contemporary of Filarete. Alberti was a practicing architect and a theoretician. He makes analogies between architecture and music, as well as with other endeavors of an aesthetic value, while also giving abstract information on the canons of architecture. The Renaissance was the age of humanism in which the human being played a most central role. The human being was considered the perfection of God's creation.

It followed that this perfect creation should be the basis for everything we generate. The basic Aristotelian forms of square, circle, or even the more sophisticated types of diagonal relationships were based on the human body, and have been viewed as the appropriate sources for the genesis of information. Ozkan added that this also is evident in Le Corbusier's "modulor," for Le Corbusier wanted to explain everything through the human body and the proportions derived from it.

Ozkan observed that in the 16th century, there was a continuation of the Vitruvian tradition of perpetuating Greco-Roman building traditions in the theoretical form. These traditions were never questioned, only praised.

Later in the 16th century Andrea Palladio (1508 - 80) homogenized the existing architectural discourse. To Ozkan, this constitutes the first modern movement. Palladio stripped most of the unessential aspects of a building and presented the components of the building as easily repeatable forms. Also, through his Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (Four Books on Architecture), he formalized how each and every aspect of architecture must be, can be, or should be addressed. Almost contemporary to Palladio is Philibert de l'Orme (c. 1500 - 1570), who can be viewed as his French equivalent. Ozkan presented two engravings from de l'Orme's Le premier Tome de l'Architecture (fig. 1). The engravings both can be referred to as caricatures. The first engraving shows a "bad" architect. He is blind and with no hands. The architecture behinds him is Romanesque and is presented as brutal in character. The sky is cloudy, the animals are dead, and the environment is very discouraging, all of which he relates to the Lombards. In contrast, the second engraving relates the "good" architect from Florence, which represents the sophistication of the Renaissance. The good architect is surrounded by people conversing with him; even the weather is pleasant; the trees are blossoming, and the architecture is well proportioned. Ozkan noted that although he referred to the engravings as caricatures, they are much more serious than that. They show how seriously the architectural profession was taken. He added that some influential people - like The Aga Khan, Georges Pompidou, and François Mitterand - expect architects to have the power to change the world. Through the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Aga Khan has put in a system that aims at influencing clients, decision-makers, and politicians to give more power to architecture. Ozkan emphasized that these engravings are in a way an assertion of the claim being made regularly that architects should have the power to define much of the environment in which we live.The same period saw the appearance of works on architecture in England, which were greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance, but also expressed a number of highly original concepts. John Shute (d. 1563), for instance, wrote the first book on architecture in English, The First and Chief Groundes of Architecture. This work was also the first in the history of architecture to pair semantic categories with architectural form. Consequently, Shute saw the Tuscan order as crude and the Doric order as even cruder (fig. 2). Men in the figures symbolized these orders. In contrast, his drawings of Ionic (fig. 3) and Corinthian orders, which are represented by women, are intended to express elegance, proportion, and sophistication. Shute then makes the assertion that the Composite order more or less represents perfection (fig. 4) (new addition). It is noted that Shute defines elegance as female beauty and brutalism as male crudity, a definition that is very widespread, if not almost universal.

Ozkan added that as we reach the 16th century, it is noticed that the Renaissance had reached its maturity, and somewhat more abstract thinking came into being. Ozkan gave Sebastiano Serlio (1475 - 1554) as an example. The perception of a building according to Serlio can be put into perspective and diminishing proportions due to the eye-level of the person. Serlio then projected that the way a building is seen depends on vision and eye-level (fig. 5). This approach, explained Ozkan, puts buildings into stage format, and projects them as an experiential entity.

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