ARCH Lecture Series
p04
Regionalism
Professor R. Cole, School of Architecture,
SPSU
From Michael Aeschliman, "A Cold,
Gray Glow," Harper’s (December 1985).
Writing about the Tuscan hills of Italy.
"Up, down and across hills covered with olives and
vines, through oak and pine and often along paths lined by cypresses,
we took our way. Strong seasonal winds, sharp[ and cold and hard
on the vineyards, provided a continual undertone, punctuated occasionally
by the barking of a dog or. Less frequently, by the strongly foreign
sound of an approaching automobile or small truck.
Smoke always rose from the stone chimneys, and after being
noisily and ambiguously welcomed by dogs and children we were
then always greeted with open arms and faces and loud salutations
by the peasants who lived within, with whom we were on friendly
but also gravel polite terms; they had that touchingly formal
gentility which the Italian language encourages and which traditional
Italian people so love. The invitation to enter, to warm ourselves,
and to drink a glass of wine and perhaps eat a piece of bread
was impossible to decline without being rude…
The hearth was the center of life in the noble old casa
colonica, even if the fireplace was no longer used to cook. Occasionally
one sat in chairs or on benches that were actually in the larger
periphery of the fireplace; sometimes one sat on a pillow on the
elevated edge of a hearth twelve to fourteen feet across. But
always the fire, the camino, the fuoco, the immemorial focal point
of decently domestic life.
And as the years went by it was this architectural and emotional
focus that came more and more to touch and haunt us….Roof
and hearth: from remote antiquity , one felt, these were the bases
of civilization
- The Soul of Regionalism
- Taken from reading: It is in the
rich beauty of remembrance that the soul of regionalism lies
— the confluence of landscape, weather, language, food,
social customs, ways of building and living — these are
the influences on the ways mankind creates place — a culture
- Regionalism reveres making of a place — it views architecture
as a means to the end of cultural vitality and expression
- In America, regionalism is both the extension of the valid
character of a place as well as the creation of place
- The Challenge to American
"Place-Making"
- Can architects, out of varied and
particular conditions — political perspectives, social customs,
economic forces, natural world phenomenon, and particular landscapes/cityscapes
create rich and vital architectural expressions comparable to
those we so admire in other parts of the world?
- Is it possible for architects to make tradition as
well as extend and expand tradition
- Can architects capture what is real and poignant about
our society and our surroundings and express it in built form
both (for ourselves and also for future generations)
- Consciousness-Raising
- Creating truly extraordinary places
like the architecture of the Tuscan hills doesn’t come quickly
— yet it was an architecture in which culture and building
worked hand-in-hand to produce a truly memorable synthesis
- Three Definitions of Regionalism
- Kenneth Frampton: Describes "Critical
Regionalism" as "a position dedicated to place creation
and to the sustenance of an intimate and continuous relationship
between architecture and the local society it serves.
- William Curtis: Describes "Authentic Regionalism"
at its best as design which "penetrates to the generating
principles and symbolic substructures of the past, then transforms
these into forms that are right for the changing social order
of the present…The hope is to produce buildings of a certain
timeless character which fuse old and new, regional and universal".
- Curtis has also commented on the timely aspect of Regionalism:
Curtis notes, "The momentum is right for the assertion of
an architectural value system that eschews the aridity of off-hand
utilitarianism and the bogus ‘remedy’ of phony historicism."
- Perhaps regionalism is, as Curtis suggests, a means by
which we might "penetrate to what is of lasting worth in
the present culture and in tradition."
- Curtis has recently noted: "There is certainly a
mood gathering momentum which rejects the glib reproductions
of international formulae and which seeks out continuity with
local traditions."
- Paul Ricoeur: Describes "Critical Regionalism"
in terms of "schools." Schools as in the context of
constituencies in which they are grounded (i.e. styles that are
localized).
- Ricoeur argues that "Critical Regionalism" is not
intended to denote merely the vernacular (generally a reaction
to natural world phenomenon, utility, and economics) or the contextural
(generally just a secondary reaction to the vernacular)
- Critical Regionalism is rather concerned with the symbols
(conscious or subconscious that our built forms convey —
Critical Regionalism deals far more with the intellectual and
cultural content of a place or a form — what is the message
conveyed — or the translation of symbol(s) from architect
to patron
- When the symbols are significant/critical
to a region or a particular culture — Critical Regionalism
is worthy of discussion
- Authentic Culture
- If culture is "place-based"
as Ricoeur has suggested, it may be true that sustaining any
kind of authentic culture in the future will depend ultimately
upon our capacity to generate vital forms of regional culture,
while appropriating (adopting) diverse influences at the level
of both culture and civilization
- Global modernization may in fact undermine local tradition
and culture — it may be for the first time that regional
culture may have to be regarded as something to be self-consciously
cultivated
- Previously, from the point of critical theory, culture
was regarded as something given and relatively immutable
- To maintain and promote diversity and yet design with
sensitivity to Regionalism (Critical or New) is a formidable
challenge to place-making