Architecture as a Social Art: Evidence from Modern Architect Works - Case Study Example

Introduction Architecture is, by definition, the process of designing building and its resulting products. Architects strive to come up with building designs that must seamlessly weave the need to satisfy its intended use with the need for technical soundness and conveyance of aesthetic meaning. Yet for all its identified purposes, society tends to consider and give importance to architectural work that has cultural value. Almost every construction that has aesthetic significance is said to have undergone architectural design but there are those buildings that outlast their original use that is often considered to be architecturally significant. They are those that survive not only as beautiful objects but as testaments of the history of cultures, achievements that testify to the nature of society that produced them. In effect, these achievements are never wholly the work of individuals but of society. This paper seeks to explore the validity of the conjecture that architecture is a social art as it is said to design and integrates product that represent the cultural milieu during its application. Up to the 18th century and well into the 19th century, architectural works reflected the deeply religious culture of human society. The noblest works were temples, mosques and chapels. Architecture also helped to underscore and define the hierarchy prevalent in those times through the palaces and gardens created for people of ‘royal’ blood. By the turn of the 19th century, however, society began to transform because of Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought forth a multitude of advances. Guilds were replaced with factories. Wooden craft became almost obsolete as machines provided more efficiency. Developments with technology and materials were fast-paced. Modern architecture sought to reflect these developments as they felt that the 18th and early 19th century architecture borrowed too heavily from the past or were too picturesque and eclectic. As the 20th century began, architects sought to invent architecture that would reflect the power of the machines and capture and convey its sleekness and energy. In this paper, we will see how architects came to envision a society where machines play an integral part of daily living in an urban city. Architects also sought to experiment new ideas involving two materials- iron and concrete. Developments in these two materials actually formed the technological basis of modern architecture. Iron and concrete enabled construction previously unheard of one of which is the modular, detachable rooms forming a residential building in Japan to be shown and illustrated in the paper. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution also came large-scale changes in patterns of working and living. Population became concentrated in then industrializing cities. Paris, London and New York became host to more than a million people. With it came also the need for new roads, subways, bridges and a wide range of buildings such as department stores, public markets, offices, factories and consequently shopping malls. The need for urban planning was realized. Whereas before architecture mainly consisted of singular or isolated construction, the social changes made it necessary for designing whole city spaces. For sure, architecture helped in the development of urban zonings but it made more than that. Architectural plans became the basis for the development of cities. Many plans were visionary, revolutionary and often based on technology. Yet, the common thread that runs through them is that they try to capture the essence of the society which produces them. In this paper, we will see how an architectural plan tried to reflect the modernization of space and the integration of mobility into architectural design. In here we will see a Plug-in City where architects tried to design a highly mechanized but mobile urban space. Some of these revolutionary architectural plans have been partially undertaken while some of them are not realized. What do they provide, however, are evidences showing how architecture tries to reflect the society’s dreams, hopes, aspirations and achievements. Le Corbusier Algiers Plan Figure 1: The Highway City “A great epoch has begun. There exists a new spirit”. Le Corbusier (1887-1965) Le Corbusier, considered to have a major effect on modern architecture, sought to break away with historic styles as he states that the ‘styles of Louis XIV, XV, XVI or Gothic are to architecture what a feather is on a woman’s head; it is sometimes pretty, though not always and never anything more.’. He based his style on modern engineering achievements in bridge building and steamship construction and was particularly fond of the use of iron, concrete, sheet glass and synthetics (Banham, 1976). The plan for Algiers, a north African city, was one that occupied Le Corbusier the most but what is truly remarkable is how his idea of what a modern city should look as it tried to capture the changing social milieu of the time. Algiers Plan essentially called for highway cities with concrete elevated highway containing houses, walkways and businesses below it. It was envisioned to provide mobility and a scenic and beautiful dwelling for people as it ran along the coast. Its concept for urban design emphasized the connection of residential, business and civic functions using land and water transportation networks. In 1931, cities were bustling due to the industrial growth. The flow of goods and people became an important issue. Mobility in society, in terms of transportation, became a very important matter. Previously, society was dependent on horses and horse-drawn carriages as its chief primary mode of transport. Industrialization enabled the technological development of the internal combustion engine which enabled cars to run long distances and at greater loads. With the mass production carried out by Henry Ford, cities began to accommodate the automobile as a necessary means of transport. Highways and roads were built not only inside cities but also between cities and provinces. Large spaces and tracts of lands were allocated for the development of concrete and asphalt roads. Indeed, all urban plans prominently featured highways and roads. The Algiers Plan portrayed the phenomenon of large scale social upheaval that was occurring during that time. Its ‘highway concept’ indicated that society was on the move which indeed it was. It also brought into the consciousness of people the mechanized mobilization happening in society through the mass production and use of automobiles. The Algiers Plan was able to capture this ‘mobilization’ phenomenon. The plan for the North African city also reflected the fact that mobilization was affecting all areas of society and effectively defining them. Homes and business shops contained within the highway structure symbolized the fact that society as a whole was on the move and every people from all walks of life is included in the journey. Indeed, automobiles and highways greatly changed society as it enabled not only transportation of goods and people but also dissemination of ideas. The Plug in City Figure 2: The Plug-in City Peter Cook’s Plug-In city (1964) envisioned a mega structure of infrastructure connecting and operating towering structures made up of moveable units called ‘capsules’. The concept basically called for a fully mechanized society where businesses and families can move at whim. There were basically no buildings, just a massive framework where dwellings can be slotted into place and detached when desired. The capsules would be provided power, water and means of communications through a grid established within the infrastructure (Cook, 1969). From Figure 2, we can see the massive structure where capsules are located. Massive cranes provide the means for lifting and transferring capsules. The concept behind the Plug-In city is said to be the desire to return to a nomadic lifestyle where people are free to move wherever and whenever they like. Yet, in spite of this ‘return to the past’, the Plug-In city was actually a reflection of the enormous technological developments occurring in the world especially in industrialized cities. Peter Cook, the architect behind the Plug-in City, was a member of Archigram. According to Sadler (2005), this avant-garde group is rather popular for embracing technology in its conceptualization of the urban setting. Architecture for them was supposed to be true ‘machines for living in’, a concept espoused by Le Corbusier. What was exactly happening in society during the development of this idea? Essentially, the 1950s and the 1960s saw the ‘plugging in’ of refrigerators, washing machines, televisions and even scooters and automobiles into American and European households. This was also the period of technological milestones such as sending men into the moon which underscored the message that everything was possible because of technology. The Plug-In city, therefore, reflects these technological upheavals in society as technology is heavily relied upon on its operations. In fact, it was described by Cook as a ‘City within Existing Technology’. As with the Algiers Plan, the Plug-in City also represented the massive mobilization happening in society. The consumer society was then established and Cook’s architecture tried to provide a means for facilitating the circulation of traffic, goods, services and information through the use of technology. The multilevel mega structure was actually Cook’s means of working out a way of stacking traffic which was becoming a problem at that time. In many ways, Cook’s plan was both futuristic and representative of present society. The plan combined technology and artistry as it sought to provide a development plan, a direction, to the construction of modern cities. What is remarkable, however, is the fact that the design completely captured the spirit of the times that Le Corbusier considered architecture was all about. Kenzo Tange’s Tokyo Bay Project Seeking to expand the Tokyo Metropolis, Kenzo Tange together his metabolist colleagues (of which will be discussed later) unveiled a plan that would impose a new physical order on Tokyo that would accommodate the city’s continued expansion and internal regeneration. The plan called for a liner series of interlocking loops, a cyclical transportation system, expanding from Tokyo to the bay and arriving at the prefecture of Chiba. Tange claimed that the highway system was so designed such that there was no limit to the number of lanes at the interchange meaning it is possible to continually add another unit (Lin, 2007). Kenzo Tange is the most prominent modern architect of Japan who joined ranks with the movement called metabolism. This group was fascinated by technology and mass production like the Archigram previously described. As such, their drawings seemed of cities seemed to come from science fiction. The Tokyo Bay project is one such work because of the complexity involved in undertaking such an undertaking like the Plug-In city of Archigram. Nonetheless, the Tokyo Bay project reflected society then as it was in the Plug-In City. Both architectural designs were influenced by the developments in technology which made it seem that everything was possible. The Tokyo Bay project depicted the society in motion and was planned particularly to address the burgeoning automobile use in Tokyo. Le Corbusier’s work had a significant impact on Tange’s work for. The architect of the Algiers plan long recognized the notion that automobiles would soon be fundamental consideration in the infrastructure of the city and implied that it would transcend it role as a simple means of transportation to becoming a communication symbol that unified open society into an organic unit. He made the need for separating the pedestrian from the automobile as a basic element in urban design. Tange recognized the transportation system as the physical foundation of the city’s operation and that the flowing movement of Tokyo’s then population of ten million created its organic life. Thus, he sought to reflect the growing importance of automobiles in society into the Tokyo Bay project. Again, architecture became a canvas that reflected the current social milieu. Nakagin Capsule The Nakagin capsule, built in Tokyo, was designed to be a capsule hotel where capsule units serving as economical housing were attached to a concrete mega structure with the use of 4 high tension bolts making it detachable and replaceable (Kisho, 1992). Figure 4 shows the Nakagin capsule building: Figure 4: Nakagin Capsule Tower Nakagin is a prime example of Metabolism architecture which, aside from being enamoured with technology, seeks to focus on adaptable, growing and interchangeable building design systems. The capsules were designed to be removable from the tower’s central beam and the room space inside can be enlarge by connecting other capsules with it. Nakagin’s Capsule tower was certainly similar to the Plug-In city of the Archigram and embodied the concepts of mobility as the rooms can be moved with special equipments – cranes that Cook envisioned. In a way, one can surmise that it also drew inspirations from Le Corbusier’s idea of integrating mobility with daily living. Constructed in 1972, the Nakagin Capsule tower fully embodied the technological ingenuity Japan’s society. The Nakagin Capsule tower also reflected another social phenomenon that occurred in Japan which was the transformation of a formerly agricultural society into a salesman-business driven one. The tower was built for the accommodation of salesman who was travelling from one place to the other. It provided a temporary abode for the people and also serves as a witness of how Japan came to be such an economic power. Conclusion The conjecture was that architecture was social art architecture is a social art as it is said to design and integrates product that represent the cultural milieu pervading during its application. Human society up to the early part of the 19th century was deeply pious and aristocratic. Architecture was able to capture this with the design and construction of palaces, chapels and domes. Christians had their basilicas while Muslims had their richly-adorned mosques. The United Kingdom had its Buckingham Place while China had its Forbidden City for its imperial family. These structures produced by architecture are now considered testaments to the culture and history of the society that produced them. 19th and 20th century was marked by industrialization which gave way to mass production and technological developments. It is in this period where we saw man reach the moon and travel to far-flung places in a short period of time through the use of automobiles. Through the Algiers work of Le Corbusier, people began to realize that society was in a rapid flow. Automobiles and highways were becoming prominent in the use of space. Kange’s Tokyo Bay project further highlighted the development of society into modernity where automobiles played an integral part. The Plug-In City was able to portray the technological possibilities of the modern society. Nakagin Capsule was a statement to that regard. A common recurring theme in the architectural projects discussed is mobility. Le Corbusier went as far as placing the highway above dwellings to signify the impact and importance of mobility. Peter Cook dreamed not only of horizontal transportation but movement in any space. Kenzo Tange stressed the importance of managing traffic as it provides the basis for the organic unity of the city population. The Nakagin Capsule Tower partly realized the free movement in space envisioned by the Archigram. Indeed, modern society was on the fast track in almost all aspects. There were rapid technological developments here and there. The make-up of the social fabric itself was rapidly changing as society became entrepreneurial in spirit and mass-production transformed society into a consumer-driven economy. By the start of the 20th century, society was on the road to modernity. This was all captured in architecture and embodied in architecture. Reference: Banham R (1976) Mega structure: Urban futures of the recent past. New York: Harper and Row. Cook, P. (1999). Archigram., Princeton Architectural Press. Kurokawa, Kisho (1992). From Metabolism to Symbiosis. New YorK: John Wiley & Sons. Lin, Z (2007). Urban Structure for the Expanding Metropolis: Kenzo Tange’s 1960 Plan for Tokyo. J Archit Plann 24, (2). Sadler, Simon (2005). Archigram: architecture without architecture. MIT Press. Read More