The Paradox of deconstruction in architecture: To locate that which it dislocates “Thus, architecture faces a difficult task: to dislocate that which it locates. This is the paradox of architecture.”1 - Peter Eisenman, “Blue Line Text” In this essay, the consequences of Jacques Derrida’s ‘method2’of ‘deconstruction’3 on architecture and the term ‘deconstructivist architecture’4 are considered. Notably, there is already a distinction made between those two word groups (‘deconstruction on architecture’ and ‘deconstructivist architecture’), which dichotomy is to be discussed. First, the reading of architecture as written language is examined. Further, Jacques Derrida’s operations of deconstruction and its implications for written space (architecture) are introduced. This translation of deconstruction from literature to architecture opens up a discussion on whether there can be ‘deconstructivist architecture’ or even a spatialization of deconstruction itself. Derrida himself was engaged in an architectural project, documented in “Chora L Works”5. It paradoxically aimed for building the process of deconstruction in space, which arguably was destined to never be constructed. Thinking about deconstruction of space raises the question of whether there is still radicality missing in Derrida’s deconstructive reading and opens up an opportunity to re-evaluate the impact of deconstruction on design. Moreover, it provides insights on whether there is a space, or rather place, for deconstruction or if it must remain the unreachable non-place of Khôra6 (or perhaps both). In this essay, the impact and possibilities for deconstruction in architectural academia and practice will be discussed, arguing for deconstruction “as a stimulating provocation with utility for designers”7 and the potential utility beyond academic design philosophy, while exploring its risk of being a ‘style’. Architecture is one of the oldest human crafts. Ever since architecture accompanied the human throughout its development and mirrored its changes. Therefore, architecture, as well as mankind is influenced by traditions, society, politics, and other values. Any new idea or meaning is reflected by architecture physically and figuratively. In that sense, architectural design is similar to writing. It is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Eisenman, Peter, “Blue Line Text”. Architectural Design, vol. 58, no. 7/8, 1988, pp. 6-9. Authors Note: Which, arguably, is not a ‘method’. See: Derrida, Jacques, and Gayatri C. Spivak, Of Grammatology. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Originally, 1976. First mention of the term ‘deconstruction’. Johnson, Philip, Wigley, Mark, Deconstructivist Architecture. New York, N.Y.: The Museum of Modern Art, published on the occasion of the exhibition “Deconstructivist Architecture”, 1988. First mention of the term ‘deconstructivist architecture’. See: Derrida, Jacques., Eisenman, Peter, Kipnis, Jeffrey and Leeser, Thomas, Chora L Works: Jacques Derrida and Peter Eisenman. New York: Monacelli, 1997. See: Derrida, Jacques., and Dutoit, Thomas, On the Name. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford UP, 1995. Translation of Derrida, Jacques, Khôra. Paris: Galilée, 1993. Cruickshank, Leon, “The Case for a Re-Evaluation of Deconstruction and Design: Against Derrida, Eisenman and their Choral Works”. The Radical Designist, No.3, 2009. p. 1.