Author: Adrian Gee

SUMMARIES:

The Israeli ‘Place’ in East Jerusalem

This article describes the Israeli approach to architecture both before and after the 1967 war. Before the war, Israeli architecture largely followed the simplicity of design found throughout the modernist movement. After the war, when Israeli architects were tasked with “Israelizing” Jerusalem, the focus shifted away from simplicity and toward adopting the locality of the land, primarily by mimicking the Arab architecture that had inhabited the land prior. Though Israeli architects did modernize the methods and technology used in their construction of buildings, they tried to create an Israeli place by inhabiting the styles native to the land. This is noted to be in contrast to what a “conquerer” typically does when it acquires new territory: completely tearing down old styles and replacing the any trace of the “conquered” by replacing their structures and style with their own.

Toward a Critical Regionalism

This article calls into question whether or not culture must be forgone in order to make progress. It notes that with the universalization that modernism typically brings, culture is often destroyed or forgotten. It takes a critical approach to the idea that utility, and nothing more, is the only meaning in architecture. It makes the argument for “critical regionalism”, which advocates for finding a balance between universalization and incorporating elements from the place of which it is located. These elements should take into account the environment and the history of the location. Furthermore, critical regionalism as a whole should adhere to a “place-form”, or clearly defined boundary of a building, and also incorporate all of the human senses, and not just sight.

Global Modernism and the Postcolonial

This article challenges the idea that modernism has linearly evolved naturally from the history of the western region of the world. It argues that modernism does not belong to the west and is instead a “global inheritance”. It was globally used, and integral to, colonialism. It also makes the point that the entire world is postcolonial, and offers the idea that the term “the west” and “westernized” were created by those of the western regions that saw themselves as better than others, and thus needed to distinguish themselves with an arrogance of being “more modern” or futuristic than other regions of the world.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

While I do mainly agree with the main point of critical regionalism in that architecture is more than just its utility and should incorporate the environment and the history of the location into itself, there is definitely a point where this can be taken too far. Take Israel in “The Israeli Place in East Jerusalem”, for example. Though the style the sabra architects designed for the new Israeli Jerusalem did incorporate the land’s history into it, this seems more of an insult to the prior inhabitants in my eyes than anything else. After having gained usage to the area by means of force, Israel essentially adopted the Arab styles natively found there. From another perspective, it could seem as though Israel not only took Arab land, but also claimed its style as its own, which is definitely an infringement on the Arab identity and adding insult to injury. There is a delicate balance to be found in paying homage to a land’s history, especially when usage is won through war.

APPLICATION

Colors exterior

Colors interior, showcasing traditional shoji walls and internal courtyard

A relevant example of place-making in modern architecture is the 2014 “Colors” project by CUBO Design Architects in Nagoya, Japan. Though irrefutably modern in both form and use of colors, the project exhibits characteristics that elude back to the traditional Japanese culture of the area: it utilizes shoji (the traditional Japanese paper walls or doors) throughout the house, it incorporates a courtyard space that is surrounded by the interior areas of the house, and exhibits the traditional Japanese grid-like geometry on walls, floors, and ceilings, to name a few. These elements all serve as tasteful callbacks to the culture and history of the area, and give the project a sense of cultural identity without hampering its modernism. Furthermore, the project does not over-step its cultural reach and remains appropriate.

TAKEAWAYS

• Perhaps modernism’s largest shortfall is its ignoring of cultural identity, or the homogenization of cultural traits
• Though it is important to communicate culture through representation of the environment’s history, this can be overdone to the point of offensiveness
• “Modern” and “Western” should not be used interchangeably