Author: Alex S. 

Summary of What Is Modern Architecture? Mark Crinson

Defining modern architecture is a difficult and potentially divisive task that has evolved over time. Early 20th century writings helped solidify generalizations about modern architecture, but must be contextualized in the time and place they were written. The studies of this era highlighted the function of design over romanticism – eventually leading to the common axioms “form follows function” and/or “function above form.” Uniformity in design has been argued to be a fundamental aspect of modern architecture during this period, as what is functional may be functional across many spectrums. Arguments can easily be made against this, in that functionality is relative, as is modernity. Modern architecture saw a loss of function in the post WW2 era with generalized aesthetics that were (and are) economic to replicate per neoliberal globalism. The unification of modern architecture can be considered proof of its functionality. However, in a larger context of globalization, modernism may be seen as erasure of locality and suppression of individual, regional ideals of modernity. To generalize, definitions of modern architecture change with time and are imperfect.

Summary of Non West Modernist Past: Rethinking Modernisms And Modernities Beyond The West Jiat-Hwee Chang and William S.W. Lim

The study of modernism in architecture suffers from a lack of diverse worldviews, specifically those outside of the northwestern hemisphere or the “non-West”. Explorations of modern architecture tend to place non-Western works in a separate category of passive application instead of independent discovery. Within the last two decades the study of modern architecture has grown to include non-West works and ideas. However, this may be virtue signaling instead of meaningful incorporation or equal attention. Modernism, in its never-ending march through time and space, is not untouched by the long and often brutal relationship between colonial empires, modern neoliberal empires (which are not as obviously cruel but are more insidious) and the non-West. Modern architecture built by western architects without context in the non-West can suffer from the ignorance of this complex relationship, implicit or otherwise. This argument must be weighed with the understanding that the non-West is not a monolith, nor are the regions, people, and localities passive in their development of modernism. Architecture is not immune to heteronomy, and outside of the profession, few would argue against this. The author’s propose “hetero-modernisms” as a term to describe modernization considering these complexities.

Summary of Crafting Architecture Criticism David Leatherbarrow

Architecture criticism plays an important role in the long-term development of architecture practice. Careful observation of architecture, re-evaluation of intent, and placing the work within its greater context are tools that the critic uses to build their argument. The built environment alone can also be critical of the surrounding context – political, cultural, and spatial. Architects make critical design decisions to solve the “problem” of what to build, where, and how. There are arguments that architecture criticism Is antithetical to pursuits of creativity because it can be constraining. Criticism from worldviews outside of the culture in which a work is built may face issues of implicit and non-implicit bias on behalf of the critic. By incorporating known biases and outside context, critics improve the accessibility and deepness of their work. Well-crafted criticism can, and should, promote new solutions not only within architecture but in society as a whole, although not to the skilled/professional extent of the above-mentioned pieces.

Response

The terms used to describe regions outside of the Northwestern hemisphere have always been difficult to use at best and deeply problematic at worst. Within the study of globalization, terms like “periphery nation” and “third world” still linger in works considered relevant to the field. Nation states continue to be categorized as either core, semiperipheral, or peripheral, almost entirely based on geopolitical and neoliberal capitalist power. The study of modernism in architecture does not escape this trend either. While this type of thought, of othering non-euro-centric cultures, expands well beyond architecture, it is important that these biases are examined and discussed in all fields. It should be noted that while all these texts briefly touched upon the inaccessibility of academic architectural writing, none provided a section without it – something that I find myself doing as well.

Application and Interpretation

Spomenik (Monument), Jasenovac or “Stone Flower”, Jasenovac, Croatia, 1966, Bogdan Bogdanović

Located in former-Yugoslavia, monuments to the victims of WW2 atrocities rise above and below the horizon with auras of utopian futurism. Bogdan Bogdanović (the architect, not the basketball player) was a prolific achitect, writer, cultural figure, and former mayor of Belgrade, Serbia. Bogdanović designed many spomenik (“monuments”), across the region, all with a style that could be described as modern but are described by Bogdanović as tributes to ancient regional cultures and symbols. The Stone Flower is located at the former Jasenovac concentration camp in what is now known as Croatia. To construct the monument and the surrounding landscape architecture, any remnants of the Jasenovac concentration camp were completely cleared. Bogdanović’s intent was on rebirth and leaving the war and hate of past generations behind, which comes across evidentially in the flower rising from the ground. Bogdanović’s anti-fascist community-based optimism shines in this work in a way that promotes the feeling of progress towards a non-violent future free from the hatred of the past. Perhaps today considered overly optimistic, but at the time of post-war construction, very understandable.

I highly recommend anyone with further interest in Spomeniks to visit the Spomenik Database by Donald Niebyl located here: https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/photo-directory

Take-Aways

• Modernism is not a monolith and is difficult to define, and some scholars hesitate to define it at all.
• Implicit and non-implicit biases impact the understanding of modernism.
• Criticism of architecture can better the field as a whole, if done well.