to my son
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Presentation
If one were to describe the architecture of the 20th century in one word, the first thing that comes to mind is the concept of “modernity.” It is with “modernity” that it has imposed itself on the attention of the masses, very quickly forming their most intimate desires, promising and experimenting with solutions, discussing possible futures, and progressively expanding its influence on the flow of daily life. But in what terms has “modernity” actually unfolded in the design field and in what way? This is a question that must take into consideration the variety of interpretations with which its character has been identified over time, through intense debates, absolutizations, and sensational misunderstandings (particularly in reference to the experiences of the Modern Movement which consecrated its rise and to the so-called “post-modernity” which ineptly celebrated its unlikely disappearance). Above all, what were the significant stages and how, in some cases, was the initial effervescence undermined, gradually leading to forms of closure rather than opening to the world? Furthermore, how can we frame the idea of modernity with respect to our present? To do answer these questions, the book highlights the interpretations of scholars such as Octavio Paz and Marshall Berman who, in not-so-distant times, first of all touched on key aspects of the theme (modernity as tradition, search, criticism, place of contradictions . . .) contributing—after having translated thinking in the design field—to the outline of a sort of identikit of what happened to architecture in relation to the concept of “modernity.” In fact, the same considerations intersect with those of wellknown architects in the field of design and are closely linked to the theses of a historian and critic of architecture such as John Summerson.
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FIRST PART
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ARCHITECTURE AND MODERNITY/MODERNITY: A MIRAGE, A BUNDLE OF REFLECTIONS We pursue modernity in its incessant metamorphoses, yet we never manage to trap her. -Octavio PazThere is no finality in architecture—only continuous change. -Walter Gropius-
“Modernity” 1 is a recurring theme in the architectural field and, from the mid-19th century, when cities changed their faces whether one liked it or not, it became a sort of obsession and encouraged the most diverse manifestations that have marked the history of architecture until today. Not surprisingly, in 2014, one of the sharpest and most cynical minds of contemporaneity, Rem Koolhaas (1944), entitled one of the sections of the Architecture Biennale Absorbing Modernity: 1914–2014. 2 Here he let us glimpse the repercussions over time, like a red thread that courageously unravels everywhere, changing, taking on new meanings, or more simply camouflaging itself in the bizarre scenario of contemporary urban stratifications. The city, in fact, was—and still is—the mechanism, the hero of modernity, which designed its features to the point of exploding the most intimate reasons for its far-sighted survival; the more the nature of the collective grows through diversification, the more modernity is articulated and developed, leaving the past behind. A cumbersome past that you soon realize you can do without. In a brilliant essay from 1941,3 John Summerson (1904–1992) stated that 1
Bear in mind that the Latin root of the word “modern” is linked to the adverb “manner” (‘now; recently’), and it is in this broad sense that I will refer to it throughout the text.
2
Fundamentals is the title of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, directed by Koolhaas (Venice, June 7–November 23, 2014), consisting of three main sections: Absorbing Modernity: 1914–2014/National Participations; Monditalia/Arsenale (a scan of Italy consisting of 82 films, 41 research projects, characterized by the fusion of architecture with the Dance, Music, Theatre and Cinema sectors of the Biennale); Elements of Architecture/Central Pavilion (ancient, past, present, and future examples of the main architectural elements compared in rooms each dedicated to a single element). See AA.VV., Fundamentals, catalog of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition (Venice: Marsilio, 2014).
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John Summerson, “The Mischievous Analogy,” (1941), Domus, no. 702, (February 1989): 17–28.
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in the 19th century it was still legitimate to ask whether there was an architecture of one’s time, since at the time the Greek, Roman or Gothic style was still copied. In the 20th century, however, it would no longer make sense as, since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been a number of projects in the world related to “modernity” that allow us to affirm that it is “Modern Architecture,” that is, belonging to its own era exclusively, even starting from generalizations known as an accurate analysis of needs, the affirmation of mechanization, the exploitation of new materials, etc. which closely involve the architect. All these considerations were already evident towards the end of the 19th century, as in the case of Otto Wagner (1841–1918) who dedicated an intense essay to the theme of “modern architecture,” stating that: All modern creations must correspond to the new materials and demands of the present if they are to suit modern man; they must illustrate our own better, democratic, self-confident, ideal nature and take into account man’s colossal technical and scientific achievements, as well as his thoroughly practical tendency—that is surely self-evident, 4 to the point of declaring that if architecture is not rooted in the life and needs of man, the risk is the loss of immediacy, of the ability to animate, of freshness, to the point of lowering itself to the level of tired reasoning, even ceasing to be art because: “The artist must always bear in mind that art’s calling is to serve man; the public does not live for the sake of art,” 5 but it must be just enough to pave the way for the architect of the future and the increasingly important role assumed within society, far from sterile stylistic diatribes since “we find ourselves in the midst of this movement. This frequent departure from the broad path of imitation and custom.” 6 At a certain point, in addition to being useless, the analogy with the past was harmful since the needs of common living and new functions to be satisfied were now in the foreground, which is why the “Modern Architect” left his or her role and instead became obsessed with the importance not of architecture but of the relationship between architecture 4 5 6
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Otto Wagner, Modern Architecture. A Guidebook for His Students to This Field of Art (1895) (Santa Monica: The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1988), 78. Ibid. 122. Ibid. 79.
and other things. This is how the path of what Summerson defined “architecture tout court” emerged, where monumental architecture would gradually give way to houses, condominiums, schools, libraries, hospitals, offices, ultimately to everything that did not lend itself “in appearance modern” to that grandiose increase in scale which is the essence of monumentality. Summerson notes, The fact is that the whole idea of formal assembly in public has withered; and with it has gone the need for an architecture reflecting that collective sentiment which goes with the love of formal assembly. Today wherever we go and whatever we do, we go and act as individuals. . . . It is in this direction that we must look for the fruitful development of modern architecture. . . . Architecture is no longer required to give a symbolic cohesion to society. Cohesion is now maintained by new methods of communication. The chief function of architecture now is to bring a sense of dignity, refinement, subtlety, gaiety, to all the places where we live and work—to bring out the values which are latent everywhere in the measured enclosure of space. A beginning has been made in the creation of such an architecture, but only a beginning. 7 So let us take a closer look at why the concept of modernity can be left as a characteristic background of both our era and Summerson’s, navigating on sight, between misunderstandings and opacity, while the architects themselves ended up dissipating its fundamental aspects that the Anglo-Saxon historian went on to outline so well. These aspects were to be resumed later when the debate among experts in the sector became increasingly heated, fraught with doubts, torn between new theses and proposals, with the advancement of pseudo theories, and repeated about turns. This occurred to such an extent that it actually created a cloud of false problems that have marked the history of 20th-century architecture and that continue to subtly shape its destinies. Modernity, in fact, is an extremely broad and easily declinable concept, so much so that it either risked being inflated or confusing the souls of its most ardent detractors. 7
ORO Editions Summerson, “The Mischievous Analogy,” (1941), cit., 22–23.
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Rossi answers the poetics of ambiguity of a Johansen or a Venturi with the liberation of architecture from any embrace with reality, from any interruption by chance or by any empiricism in its totally structured sign system. . . . The invocation of form that it calls forth excludes all external justifications. The specific qualities of architecture are set down into a universe of carefully selected signs, within which the law of exclusion dominates. . . . In search of the Being of architecture, Rossi discovers that only the “limit” of being there can be said. 149 It was in this direction in 1979 that the Milanese architect created one of the most delicate and intense works of his career, the Teatro del Mondo in Venice, a floating building anchored at the Punta della Dogana, on the occasion of the Venice exhibition and the scenic space. 150 “The proposal to create this theatre is particularly congenial to me,” declared Rossi. “I designed an architecture that is my own, but which is at the same time an ‘analogous’ architecture for Venice which is, in turn, an analogous city, a city linked to the East and the West, a city of traffic that exports and an image of itself matters.” 151 And this is how many of Rossi’s architectures appeared, as floating images that sponsored the city-form, extolling its characters like a banner. It was certainly an additional “stylistic” side that was immortalized as a Tendenza during the XV Milan Triennale (1973), entitled Lo spazio abitabile, where Rossi curated the international architecture exhibition with the publication of the book-manifesto Architettura Razionale. 152 The heart of the exhi149 Manfredo Tafuri, “L’architecture dans le boudoir” (1980), in Le parole dell’architettura. Un’antologia di testi teorici e critici: 1945–2000 [The Words of Architecture. An Anthology of Theoretical and Critical Texts: 1945–2000], ed. Marco Biraghi and Giovanni Damiani (Turin: Einaudi, 2009), 287–290. Translation from the Italian of the writer. 150 The work was then used in 1980 by the “Theater Sector” for the first edition of the Venice Carnival and transported by sea in the summer of 1980 to the “Theater Festival” in Dubrovnik. 151 Aldo Rossi, il Teatro del Mondo, 1979–2004 (documentary, 47’) by Francesco Saverio Fera (scenographer) and Dario Zanasi (director) (https://vimeo.com/132710579). (10/2021). 152 The theme of the exhibition concerned the identification of ways of life based on a better use of living space and on new structures capable of enriching the existence of contemporary man. Rossi curated the international architecture exhibition and chose to explore the theme of the relationship between architecture and the city. The book Architettura Razionale (Milano: Franco Angeli, 1973) contains essays by Rossi, Ezio Bonfanti (1937–1973), Rosaldo Bonicalzi, Braghieri, Franco Raggi, Massimo Scolari, and Daniele Vitale (Rossi's pupil). It is divided into three sections: one dedicated to the masters, one to rational architecture, and another to urban renovation projects. The International Exhibition of Industrial Design, on the other hand, was curated by Ettore
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bition revolved around Arduino Cantafora’s painting La città analoga: a unique perspective that combined several works of architecture in a single composition providing a spectacular illustration of the concept of “analogous city” that was so close to Rossi’s heart.
Aldo Rossi, Teatro del Mondo, Venezia 1979–1980. © Eredi Aldo Rossi, courtesy Fondazione Aldo Rossi.
Rossi first approached “rationalism” and “tendenza” in 1969, on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to the relationship between the Enlightenment and 18th-century Venetian architecture. “These explanaSottsass (1917–2007) with Andrea Branzi in which audiovisual communication stood out, since no object was present. The Italian section was a review on habitat space curated by Eduardo Vittoria (1923–2009), while the setting up of the atrium and the staircase was curated by Nanda Vigo (1936–2020). The Contatto Arte-Città exhibition (that took place in Parco Sempione), curated by Giulio Macchi (1918–2009), with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan, shows diverse artistic interventions of great value, including Bagni misteriosi by Giorgio De Chirico (1888–1978), Accumulazione musicale of Arman (1928–2005), Teatro Continuo by Alberto Burri (1915–1995), Libro all’aperto by Corneille (1922–2010), in addition to the physical intervention Inquilino Albero by Freidrich Hundertwasser (1928–2000).
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SECOND PART
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CONTEMPORARY MODERNISMS. OUR PAST, OUR PRESENT But one of the distinctive virtues of modernism is that it leaves its questions echoing in the air long after the questioners themselves, and their answers, have left the scene. -Marshall Berman-
Berman’s analysis stopped in 1982, the year the book dedicated to the “experience of modernity” was published, repeatedly referred to in this context. As mentioned, the philosopher denounced the lack of critical perspective of “pop modernism,” the same that we have tried to grasp in the design field, up to the events of deconstruction that “work” as a sort of multiple entrance towards the present, also in view of the real “lack of prospects” to which they lead . . . According to Paz, criticism is the characteristic of modernity: “what is new is set over and against what is old, and it is this constant contrast that constitutes the continuity of tradition.” 1 In fact, between tradition and modernity there is a bridge. When they are mutually isolated, tradition stagnates and modernity vaporizes; when in conjunction, modernity breathes life into tradition, while the latter replies with depth and gravity. 2 The critical attitude, we could say, is constructive because it moves ground and releases new energy at the same time. “Criticism and creation live in permanent symbiosis. . . . Modernity represents the rule of criticism: not a system, but the negation and confrontation of all systems.” 3 The tools of criticism are selections and associations: to isolate and relate; in this sense “creation is criticism and criticism creation.” If modernity is “search” 4 then criticism, we could say, is its sustenance, an activity that guarantees its becoming; this, in fact, must be understood as an action capable of “enhancing” the past and, at the same time, of over1 2 3 4
ORO Editions Octavio Paz, Alternating Current (1967) (New York: Arcade Publishing, 1990), 18. See Paz, “What is Modernity?,” cit., 48
Paz, Alternating Current (1967), cit., 35–36. p. 12.
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Rem Koolhaas, Très Grande Bibliothèque, Paris, France, 1989 – Competition. © Hans Werlemann.
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Critical functionalism as a form of creativity
It is no longer a matter of conceiving the classic functional superimposition of layers making up a library but its articulation in meaningful junctions, each one usable independently of the others. 18 Each junction represents a point of approach but also of passage through the fluid world of information (a series of ramps design alternative paths for access), a world surrounded by happenings, constant verification, additions, annotations, summed up by Koolhaas in an original catalog of functions, starting from the names chosen to attract visitors’ attention. Starting from the bottom, Pebbles identifies the Sound and Moving Image Library, equipped to give substance to a universe of music and film images; the Intersection is the Recent Acquisitions Library, with reading rooms, audio-visual stations, and an auditorium facing the Seine; the Spiral is the Reference Library; the Shell carefully guards all the catalogs sheltered in it; the Loop is the library for scientific research; and finally, the roof is conceived as an inviting spot for relaxation and entertainment with a garden, gym, pool, and restaurant. All this is enveloped in a thin skin of etched glass to show its volume to those viewing it from outside. There is no doubt that in both these cases, the different contexts involved are literally traversed by the functional conversational character brought into play, the same one that ends up transforming a park into a sample slice of nature made artificial and a library into a form of naturalized culture that adapts to the constantly changing times. The functions, in essence, become the text, renewing the catalog of everyday actions, to the point of defining the context, in its broader meaning of “life context.” 18 The theme of the library is again addressed by Koolhaas in 1992 with the competition for two libraries in Jussieu, home to a Parisian university where the typical layout of libraries is radically reconfigured: instead of stacking one level on top of the other, the floor plans are manipulated to connect with each other, thus forming a single trajectory—just like an internal avenue that winds through the entire building (“The visitor becomes a Baudelairean flaneur, inspecting and being seduced by a world of books and information and the urban scenario”). So it is the turn of a completed project: the Seattle Library (1999–2004), where the ambition is to redefine the library as an institution that is no longer exclusively dedicated to books, but instead is an archive of information in which all the powerful forms of media—new and old—are presented in an equal and legible way (“In an age in which information can be accessed anywhere, it is the simultaneity of media and (more importantly) the curatorship of its contents that will make the library vital”). A characteristic note is the so-called “Book Spiral,” an innovative organizational system for a constant physical accumulation of books in crescendo.
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Passage de l’Opéra, Galerie de l’Horloge, 9° arrondissement, Parigi, 1865–1868. Photo: Charles Marville. Courtesy of Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris.
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Supra-city. Make circulation habitable
soon becoming one of the biggest problems for city dwellers. In fact, with the motorway, the 20th century created a means to keep the inhabitants separate, marking the passage between the man in the street and the man in the car. Half a century after Baudelaire and the car has completely invaded the boulevards. In the early evening twilight on the Champs Elysées it was as though the world had suddenly gone mad. After the emptiness of the summer, the traffic was more furious than ever. Day by day the fury of traffic grew. To leave your house meant that once you had crossed your threshold you were a possible sacrifice to death in the shape of innumerable motors. 58 As we have seen, Le Corbusier went on to imagine a city that was surrounded by greenery and totally free from traffic (“Today traffic is not classified—it is like dynamite flung at hazard into the street, killing pedestrians. Even so, traffic does not fulfil its function. This sacrifice of the pedestrian leads nowhere”), electing the pilotis as a further sign of the distance of the inhabitants and their own domestic privacy from the street; the latter, on the other hand, was adopted inside the Unitè d’habitation as a protective measure towards those who would cross it every day and were threatened by the fast flow of cars (“The road-corridor with two sidewalks, embedded between tall buildings, it must disappear. Cities can become much more than labyrinths of palaces”). 59 The Smithsons, 60 on the other hand, adopted a completely different approach and used the theme of the street to create “living spaces” inside residential buildings, trying wherever possible to remain connected to the flow of the city and to the workplace. The streets inside the buildings, therefore acted as a filter with the rest of the city, in search of those ancient social values that lead men to form a “street” community, face to face with daily events. If the entire building is crossed by protected internal roads, a “liveable” urban microcosm is created precisely because it is far removed from any traffic and able to put both children and adults
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58 Le Corbusier, The City of Tomorrow and its Planning (1925), cit., 3. 59 p. 111. 60 p. 45.
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has regenerated an old elevated ring road from the ‘70s, reshaping its destinies and allowing the inhabitants to walk through the city center once again but from a privileged position, to socialize along this public promenade interspersed with over 50 families of plants (trees, shrubs, and flowers), observation points, cafes, greenhouses, florists, markets, small exhibition spaces, bookstores, fountains, and terraces.
MVRDV, Seoullo 7017 Skygarden, Seoul, South Korea, 2017. Photo: Ossip van Duivenbode.
As in the case of the High Line, in the future, the flyover will evolve with the addition of new equipment so as to become an “urban nursery,” cultivating trees to be planted in the surrounding districts. Additional structures of stairs, lifts, and escalators, as well as new “satellite” gardens, can connect to the Skygarden, sprouting like branches from specific existing strategic locations such as bar and restaurant entrances. From these extensions, others can then emerge, creating a mesh of “green” links between the Skygarden and its surroundings, both physically and visually, through the different plant species linked to each of the neighborhoods. In this way it will be possible to superimpose an alternative
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Supra-city. Make circulation habitable
city on the existing city, as Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) had already noted at the time about the so-called “elevated,” indicating the possibility of differentiating the levels of urban practicability. 76
MVRDV, Seoullo 7017 Skygarden, Seoul, South Korea, 2017. Photo: Ossip van Duivenbode.
In a certain sense, today we are witnessing a metamorphosis of the street and the “modern” goal is that of re-appropriating it as a place of worship to generate all-around socialization effects. Ultimately, proof of this is I LOVE Street (Gwangju, South Korea, 2017), the intervention carried out by 76 Leonardo da Vinci writes in the Codex Atlanticus: “Per le strade alte non de’ andare carri né altre simili cose, anzi sian solamente per li gentili omini, per le basse deono andare i carri o altre some a l’uso e comodità del popolo. L’una casa de’ volgere le schiene all’altra, lasciando la strada bassa in mezzo, e da li ussi si mettino le vettovaglie, come legnie, vino e simili cose. Per le vie socterane si de’ votare destri, stalle e simili cose fetide. Dall’uno arco all’altro de’ essere braccia 300, cioè ciascuna via che riceve lume dalle fessure delle strade di sopra, e a ogni arco de’ essere una scala a lumaca tonda… Sia fatta decta terra appresso a mare o altro fiume grosso, acciò che le bructure della città, menate dall’acqua, sieno portate via. Tanto sia larga la strada quanto è la universale altezza delle case. Faccionsi fonti in ciascuna piazza.” See Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus, 1478–1518, Milano: Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
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In the case of Karen Blixens Plads (2014–2019), an artificial landscape of hills hides a parking area for 2,000 bicycles, providing an attractive and informal meeting place—a hybrid between a public square and a park—for the students of the South Campus of the University of Copenhagen. The theme of the square is, in fact, one of the more dominant ones since the Danish studio is convinced that this continues to play a central role in the contemporary city and should be promoted and reinvented beyond the digital and its icy dynamics of silent relational interchange. This is how in the redesign of Israels Plads (2008–2014), just like in a living room, an “urban carpet” is spread to cover a mega-car park (now underground) and make way for a vibrant square of life, equipped to carry out the most diverse activities (sports, free time, etc.), suitable for all ages (adults, seniors, and children), while its characteristic dark surface was made with recycled rubber soles from Nike tennis shoes. Here children play, friends meet after work, while on Saturdays it is the turn of the crowded flea market.
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Cobe, Karen Blixens Plads, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2014–2019. © Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST.
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If we change scale, nursery schools and residences are another strong point, all of which play on quality of spaces, integration in the context, compelling materials, in the belief—quoting Winston Churchill—that, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us,” as we read in the said catalog. This is a lesson for those who do not intend to give up thinking that architecture can change people’s lives by structuring “urban living rooms” and not just prosaic passageways for distracted and sick smartphone users (“our ambition is to create architecture that is made to outlast ourselves”).
Israels Plads, Copenhagen, Denmark. © Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST.
“Porous Cities”: A catalog of solutions for urban/human survival
The theme of survival in the contemporary city is also linked to the theme of growth in height which has always operated as a life divider between the inhabitants and the built environment, an object of great charm but at the same time a limit with respect to the degree of relationality and livability of the urban environment. What is missing, in fact, is the “connectivity” between the parts and the increase in spaces as an element of attraction and expansion of the different functions. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to intervene on the
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El Lissitzky, Wolkenbügel, Moscow, 1925—Photomontage from Nikitsky Boulevard. Indian ink and pencil on cardboard (Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow).
“Because the skyscraper is a solitary type—it solves all its problems on its own—the contemporary city has become a collection of ‘single,’ separate buildings that are connected by streets but not integrated with the city,” wrote Koolhaas in 1998. 88 This was how the “skyscraper of the future” was imagined: as a complex skyscraper that should reflect a new urban condition for the 21st century. Above all, it would be a question of integrating several buildings into a larger whole to create an urban quarter of a new kind (as was then the case in De Rotterdam, the building analyzed in the previous paragraphs). 89 Instead of separation, the skyscraper complex creates continuity, variety and programmatic richness instead of repetition. For the city, this arrangement means that the skyscraper is not merely the imposition of a huge parasite, but that it now contributes to the reinvention of a new urban condition, of a new way of receiving the public. 90
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88 Rem Koolhaas/OMA, “Study for a Skyscraper,” Domus, no. 800 (January 1998): 51. 89 p. 108.
90 Rem Koolhaas/OMA, “Study for a Skyscraper,” cit., 51.
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MVRDV and The Why Factory’s (T?F), Porous City- Exhibition, Delft, Netherlands, 2012. Photo: Frans Parthesius. A research on the design of skyscrapers and the potential of porosity as a European approach to urban density.
Recently, at The Why Factory (T?F), the global think tank and research institute, dedicated to the development of contemporary cities, led by Maas within the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology, one of the latest works is PoroCity. Opening up solidity 91 which, to counter the narrowness of pure verticality that affects many residential buildings, proposes expanding specific parts to channel new functions, increase daylight, allow communication, make room for plants and animals, in short, open the gates of life, a bit like Gordon Matta-Clark (1943–1978) did, when he intervened on existing buildings to break their acquired solidity. 92 91 AA.VV., PoroCity. Opening up Solidity (Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, 2018). “PoroCity— Opening up Solidity is a manifesto for the introduction of the public realm into the private sphere of our cities.” 92 During the ‘70s, Matta-Clark, artist and architect, created the works for which he is best known: the so-called “anachitecture.” These were temporary works created by sawing and sculpting sections of buildings, most of which had to be destroyed. In “Day's End” (1975), the artist removed part of the floor and roof of an abandoned pier in Manhattan, creating a “temple of the sun and water.” After working on the project for two months, New York City filed a lawsuit against him without going through with it. For the Paris Biennale of the same year, he created the work “Conical Intersect” by cutting a large cone-shaped hole through two 17th-century houses that had to be demolished to build the then controversial Georges Pompidou Center.
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