SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION TO DECONSTRUCTIVISM

Deconstructivism in architecture, also called deconstruction, is a development of postmodern

architecture that began in the late 1980s. It is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, an
interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or skin, non-rectilinear shapes which
serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of architecture, such as structure and
envelope. The finished visual appearance of buildings that exhibit the many deconstructivist
"styles" is characterized by a stimulating unpredictability and a controlled chaos.

Originally, some of the architects known as Deconstructivists were influenced by the ideas of
the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Eisenman developed a personal relationship with
Derrida, but even so his approach to architectural design was developed long before he became
a Deconstructivist. For him Deconstructivism should be considered an extension of his interest
in radical formalism. Some practitioners of deconstructivism were also influenced by the formal
experimentation and geometric imbalances of Russian constructivism. There are additional
references in deconstructivism to 20th-century movements: the modernism/postmodernism
interplay, expressionism, cubism, minimalism and contemporary art. The attempt in
deconstructivism throughout is to move architecture away from what its practitioners see as
the constricting 'rules' of modernism such as "form follows function," "purity of form," and
"truth to materials."

Important events in the history of the deconstructivist movement include the 1982 Parc de la
Villette architectural design competition (especially the entry from Jacques Derrida and Peter
Eisenman and Bernard Tschumi's winning entry), the Museum of Modern Art’s 1988
Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition in New York, organized by Philip Johnson and Mark
Wigley, and the 1989 opening of the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, designed by
Peter Eisenman. The New York exhibition featured works by Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Rem
Koolhaas, Peter Eisenman, Zaha Hadid, Coop Himmelb(l)au, and Bernard Tschumi. Since the
exhibition, many of the architects who were associated with Deconstructivism have distanced
themselves from the term. Nonetheless, the term has stuck and has now, in fact, come to
embrace a general trend within contemporary architecture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructivism
So soon they realised, that this is not the path to go. We can't built Greek temples for ever... If
we send man on the moon, read DNA, drive cars, use internet (etc) we have to make similar
step forwart in architecture and design as well.

Two directions were formed. First is minimalism, which is theoreticly based upon Mies van der
Rohe's quote "less is more". That is somehow correct, but rare are those who master design so
well, that can achieve high level of expression and aesthetics with such minimum. Not everyone
is Mies.

The other direction is much more interesting to me. It is called deconstructivism and was
founded by Bernard Tschumi. They deny completly everything... Even the orthogonal geometry
that was so obvious for the whole history now breakes down and is completly irrelavant (see
the picture below). Every "roule" falls under doubt and suspicion. The term de-construct-ivism
describes what happens in someones head; the basic idea of an object (like house, for example)
is smashed [=deconstructed] into smallest possible pieces, each of them is carefully thaught
over and then re-constructed back with new logic. A deconstrictivistic arist will ask himself; is
this neccecary or can it be done differently. If it can, then how?

The first deconstructivistc poject was made by Bernard Tschumi as entry for Parc de la Villette
contest. After that many followed. One that is considered to be very important was The Jewish
Museum in Berlin by Daniel Libeskind .

Deconstructivism searches it's theoretical background in achievements of modern day science,

such as psyhology, biology, mechanichal engeneering etc... They tend to use high-tech materials
that enable them new forms and shapes.
So here we are today with many great architects and designers trying to redefine our way of
thinking. Many of those projects are experimental, but they might lead to new ways of
designing, housing and even living. A house for today's living must include all paradigms and
paradigm shifts we are facing today, incliding electronic comunications, high level of
individualism and rapid social and environmental changes. Constant rethinking of every
possible idea might be a right answer to that.

http://my.opera.com/Nikio/blog/2007/05/23/deconstructivism
 SECTION 2 – DEFINING AN ARCHITECTURAL STYLE AND IDENTIFING ITS CHARACTERSTICS

Insufficient data available online

style of architecture - architecture as a kind of art form

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/style+of+architecture

A specialization of element and relation types, together with a set of constraints on how they
can be used. See architectural pattern

www.sei.cmu.edu/architecture/start/glossary/

a family of architectures constrained bycomponent/connector vocabulary, topology, semantic

constraints. (Source: Garland and Shaw tutorial)

www.cc.gatech.edu/reverse/glossary.html

The notion of style in the arts was not developed until the 16th century, with the writing of
Vasari.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture

Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of form, techniques, materials, time period,
region, etc. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of
architecture. In architectural history, the study of Gothic architecture, for instance, would
include all aspects of the cultural context that went into the design and construction of these
structures. Architectural style is a way of classifying architecture that gives emphasis to
characteristic features of design, leading to a terminology such as Gothic "style".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_style
 SECTION 3 – BRIEF DISCRIPTIONS OF MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

ART NOVEAU

Art Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—
especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century (1890–
1905). The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art". It is also known as Jugendstil, German
for "youth style", named after the magazine Jugend, which promoted it, and in Italy, Stile
Liberty from the department store in London, Liberty & Co., which popularised the style. A
reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it is characterized by organic, especially floral and
other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly stylized, flowing curvilinear forms. Art Nouveau is
an approach to design according to which artists should work on everything from architecture
to furniture, making art part of everyday life.

The movement was strongly influenced by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha.

Art Nouveau is now considered a 'total' style, meaning that it encompasses a hierarchy of scales
in design — architecture; interior design; decorative arts including jewellery, furniture, textiles,
household silver and other utensils and lighting; and the range of visual arts. In the philosophy
of the movement, art should be a way of life. For many Europeans, it was possible to live in an
art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware, crockery, jewellery,
cigarette cases, etc. Artists desired to break all connections to classical times and bring down
the barriers between the fine arts and applied arts. Art Nouveau was underlined by a particular
way of thinking about modern society and new production methods, attempting to redefine the
meaning and nature of the work of art so that art would not overlook any everyday object, no
matter how utilitarian. Hence the name Art Nouveau - "New Art".

In architecture, hyperbolas and parabolas in windows, arches and doors are common, and
decorative mouldings 'grow' into plant-derived forms. Like most design styles, Art Nouveau
sought to harmonise its forms. The text above the Paris Metro entrance follows the qualities of
the rest of the iron work in the structure.
(http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/west/paris/metro_sign2983.jpg)

Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design eschewed the eclectic revival styles of the
Victorian era. Though Art Nouveau designers selected and 'modernized' some of the more
abstract elements of Rococo style, such as flame and shell textures, they also advocated the use
of highly stylized organic forms as a source of inspiration, expanding the 'natural' repertoire to
embrace seaweed, grasses, and insects.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau) (Staircase of the Maison

& Atelier of Victor Horta)

Although Art Nouveau fell out of favour with the arrival of 20th-century modernist styles, it is
seen today as an important bridge between the historicism of Neoclassicism and modernism.
Furthermore, Art Nouveau monuments are now recognized by UNESCO on their World Heritage
List as significant contributions to cultural heritage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau
During the late 1800s, many European artists, graphic designers, and architects rebelled against
formal, classical approaches to design. They believed that the greatest beauty could be found in
nature.

Art Nouveau (French for "New Style") was popularized by the famous Maison de l'Art Nouveau,
a Paris art gallery operated by Siegfried Bing. Art Nouveau art and architecture flourished in
major European cities between 1890 and 1914.

In the United States, Art Nouveau ideas were expressed in the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany,
Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

( Art Nouveau detail on the Wainwright Building by Louis Sullivan)

(http://architecture.about.com/od/artnouveau/g/artnouveau.htm)

Art Nouveau buildings have many of these features:

 Asymmetrical shapes
 Extensive use of arches and curved forms
 Curved glass
 Curving, plant-like embellishments
 Mosaics
 Stained glass
 Japanese motifs

Other Names for Art Nouveau:

As it moved through Europe, Art Nouveau went through several phases and took on a variety of
names.

 Style Moderne, in France

 Style Nouille (Noodle Style), in France
 Jugendstil, in Germany
 Sezession, in Austria
 Stile Liberty, in Italy
 Arte Noven, in Spain

Examples:

 The Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri, by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler
 Parque Güell in Barcelona, Spain by Antoni Gaudí
 Majolika Haus in Vienna, Austria by Otto Wagner
 The Marquette Building in Chicago, Illinois, by William Holabird and Martin Roche with
Coydon T. Purdy
 The Municipal House in Prague, Czech Republic

Art Nouveau Architects

 Charles Rennie Mackintosh

 Louis Sullivan

http://architecture.about.com/od/artnouveau/g/artnouveau.htm

Art Nouveau, which developed in the 1890s in architecture, graphic arts and interior
decoration, is regarded by some as the first truly modern form of modern architectural art. It
was characterized by curving lines and asymmetrical organization, often with writhing plants
constituting a principle design motif. The movement got its name from the, an interior

decoration gallery in Paris, France

(Edward Colonna, salon in the Maison de L'Art Nouveau pavilion, Paris World's Fair, 1900)

(http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/summer_05/articles/gr/eide_14b.jpg)

http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/aesthetics/bldef_artnouveau.htm

MODERNISM

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More

specifically, the term describes both a set of cultural tendencies and an array of associated
cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western
society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The term encompasses the
activities and output of those who felt the "traditional" forms of art, architecture, literature,
religious faith, social organization and daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic,
social and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialized world.

Modernism rejected the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking, and also that of the
existence of a compassionate, all-powerful Creator. This is not to say that all modernists or
modernist movements rejected either religion or all aspects of Enlightenment thought, rather
that modernism can be viewed as a questioning of the axioms of the previous age.
A salient characteristic of modernism is self-consciousness. This often led to experiments with
form, and work that draws attention to the processes and materials used (and to the further
tendency of abstraction). The poet Ezra Pound's paradigmatic injunction was to "Make it new!"
Whether or not the "making new" of the modernists constituted a new historical epoch is up
for debate. Philosopher and composer Theodor Adorno warns us:

"Modernity is a qualitative, not a chronological, category. Just as it cannot be reduced to

abstract form, with equal necessity it must turn its back on conventional surface coherence, the
appearance of harmony, the order corroborated merely by replication." ( Adorno, Theodor.
Minima Moralia. Verso 2005, p. 218.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism

Modernist architecture emphasizes function. It attempts to provide for specific needs rather
than imitate nature. The roots of Modernism may be found in the work of Berthold Luberkin
(1901-1990), a Russian architect who settled in London and founded a group called Tecton. The
Tecton architects believed in applying scientific, analytical methods to design. Their stark
buildings ran counter to expectations and often seemed to defy gravity.

Modernist architecture can express a number of stylistic ideas, including:

 Structuralism
 Formalism
 Bauhaus
 The International Style
 Desert Modernism
 Mid-Century, or Mid-Twentieth Century, Modernism
 Brutalism
 Minimalism

Modernist architecture has these features:

 Little or no ornamentation
 Factory-made parts
 Man-made materials such as metal and concrete
 Emphasis on function
 Rebellion against traditional styles
http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-Architecture/Modernism.htm

INTERNATIONAL STYLE

The International style was a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s,
the formative decades of Modernist architecture. The focus was more on the stylistic aspects of
Modernism. Hitchcock's and Johnson's aims were to define a style of the time, which would
encapsulate this modern architecture. They identified three different principles: the expression
of volume rather than mass, balance rather than preconceived symmetry and the expulsion of
applied ornament.

The international style as such blossomed in 1920s Western Europe. The big three are
commonly recognized as Le Corbusier in France, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter
Gropius in Germany. The common characteristics of the International style include radical
simplification of form, rejection of ornament, and adoption of glass, steel and concrete as
preferred materials. Further, the transparency of buildings, construction (called the honest
expression of structure), and acceptance of industrialized mass-production techniques
contributed to the international style's design philosophy. Finally, the machine aesthetic, and
logical design decisions leading to support building function were used by the International
architect to create buildings reaching beyond historicism. The ideals of the style are commonly
summed up in four slogans:

 ornament is a crime,
 truth to materials,
 form follows function,
 and Le Corbusier's description of houses as "machines for living".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_style_(architecture)

BRUTALISM

Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid
1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement. Brutalist buildings usually are
formed with striking repetitive angular geometries, and, where concrete is used, often revealing
the texture of the wooden forms used for the in-situ casting Instead o concrete, a building may
achieve its Brutalist quality through a rough, blocky appearance, and the expression of its
structural materials, forms, and (in some cases) services on its exterior. Conversely, not all
buildings exhibiting an exposed concrete exterior can be considered Brutalist, and may belong
to one of a range of architectural styles including Constructivism, International Style,
Expressionism, Postmodernism, and Deconstructivism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalism

Heavy and angular, Brutalist buildings can be constructed quickly and economically. Common
features include:

 Precast concrete slabs

 Rough, unfinished surfaces
 Exposed steel beams
 Massive, sculptural shapes

http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-
Architecture/Brutalism.htm

STRUCTURALISM

Structuralism is based on the idea that all things are built from a system of signs and these signs
are made up of opposites: male/female, hot/cold, old/young, etc. For Structuralists, design is a
process of searching for the relationship between elements. Structuralists are also interested in
the social structures and mental processes that contributed to the design.

Structuralist architecture will have a great deal of complexity within a highly structured
framework. For example, a Structuralist design may consist of cell-like honeycomb shapes,
intersecting planes, cubed grids, or densely clustered spaces with connecting courtyards.

http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-
Architecture/Structuralism.htm

FORMALISM

As the name suggests, Formalism emphasizes form. The architect is interested in visual
relationships between the building parts and the work as a whole. Shape, often on a
monumental scale, is the focus of attention. Lines and rigid geometric shapes predominate in
Formalist architecture.

http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-Architecture/Formalism.htm
Bauhaus is a German expression meaning house for building. In 1919, the economy in Germany
was collapsing after a crushing war. Architect Walter Gropius was appointed to head a new
institution that would help rebuild the country and form a new social order. Called the Bauhaus,
the Institution called for a new "rational" social housing for the workers. Bauhaus architects
rejected "bourgeois" details such as cornices, eaves, and decorative details. They wanted to use
principles of Classical architecture in their most pure form: without ornamentation of any kind.

Bauhaus buildings have flat roofs, smooth facades, and cubic shapes. Colors are white, gray,
beige, or black. Floor plans are open and furniture is functional.

The Bauhaus school disbanded when the Nazis rose to power. Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe, and other Bauhaus leaders migrated to the United States. The term International
Style was applied to the American form of Bauhaus architecture.

http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-Architecture/Bauhaus.htm

MINIMALISM

One important trend in Modernist architecture is the movement toward minimalist or

reductivist design. Hallmarks of Minimalism include:

 Buildings are stripped of all but the most essential elements

 Emphasis is placed on the outline, or frame, of the struture
 Interior walls are eliminated
 Floor plans are open
 Lighting is used to dramatize lines and planes
 The negative spaces around the structure are part of the overall design

Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe paved the way for Minimalism when he said,
"Less is more." Minimalist architects drew much of their inspiration from the elegant simplicity
of traditional Japanese architecture. Minimalists were also inspired by a movement of early
twentieth century Dutch artists known as De Stijl. Valuing simplicity and abstraction, De Stijl
artists used only straight lines and rectangular shapes

http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-Architecture/Minimalism.htm
 RUSSIAN CONSTRUCTIVISM

During the 1920s and early 1930s, a group of avant-garde architects in Russia launched a
movement to design buildings for the new socialist regime. Calling themselves constructivists,
they believed that design began with construction. Their buildings emphasized abstract
geometric shapes and functional machine parts.

Constructivist architecture combined engineering and technology with political ideology.

Constructivist architects tried to suggest the idea of humanity's collectivism through the
harmonious arrangement of diverse structural elements.

The most famous work of constructivist architecture was never actually built. In 1920, Russian
architect Vladimir Tatlin proposed a futuristic monument to the 3rd International in the city of
St. Petersburg (then known as Petergrado). The unbuilt project, called Tatlin's Tower, used
spiral forms to symbolize revolution and human interaction. Inside the spirals, three glass-
walled building units - a cube, a pyramid, and a cylinder - would rotate at different speeds.

Soaring 400 meters (about 1,300 feet), Tatlin's Tower would have been taller than the Eiffel
Tower in Paris. The cost to erect such a building would have been enormous. But, even though
Tatlin's Tower wasn't built, the plan helped launch the Constructivist movement. By the late
1920s, Constructivism had spread outside the USSR. Many European architects called
themselves constructivists. However, within a few years Constructivism faded from popularity
and was eclipsed by the Bauhaus movement in Germany.

http://architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends/ig/Modern-
Architecture/Constructivism.htm

Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet
Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an
avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions,
the movement produced many pioneering projects and finished buildings, before falling out of
favour around 1932. Its effects have been marked on later developments in architecture.

Constructivist architecture emerged from the wider constructivist art movement, which grew
out of Russian Futurism. Constructivist art had attempted to apply a three-dimensional cubist
vision to wholly abstract non-objective 'constructions' with a kinetic element.
The first and most famous Constructivist architectural project was the 1919 proposal for the
headquarters of the Comintern in St Petersburg by the Futurist Vladimir Tatlin, often called
Tatlin's Tower. Though it remained unbuilt, the materials—glass and steel—and its futuristic
ethos and political slant (the movements of its internal volumes were meant to symbolise
revolution and the dialectic) set the tone for the projects of the 1920s.

Another famous early Constructivist project was the Lenin Tribune by El Lissitzky (1920), a
moving speaker's podium. During the Russian Civil War the UNOVIS group centred around
Kasimir Malevich and Lissitzky designed various projects that forced together the 'non-
objective' abstraction of Suprematism with more utilitarian aims, creating ideal Constructivist
cities— see also El Lissitzky's Prounen-Raum or the 'Dynamic City' (1919) of Gustav Klutsis. In
this and Tatlin's work the components of Constructivism could be seen to be an adaptation of
various high-tech Western forms, such as the engineering feats of Gustave Eiffel and New York
or Chicago's skyscrapers, for a new collective society.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructivism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_theory

http://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=9fc3d92e-6e04-471c-926e-
c153fa39e2dd

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-Deconstructivism.html

http://my.opera.com/Nikio/blog/2007/05/23/deconstructivism

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deconstructivism

http://books.google.co.in/books?
id=w0eRGJghmpkC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=deconstructivist+philosophers&source=bl&ots=uJ
bc0-
2wZH&sig=A7RL57uTe2lnJAiPnUCOZ26t3Qw&hl=en&ei=QqNMTIG8A8qRrAep4ti5Dg&sa=X&oi=
book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=deconstructivist
%20philosophers&f=false

SECTION 4 – DECONSTRUCTION AS A LITERARY MOVEMENT

DECONSTRUCTION

What is it?

Deconstruction: A school of philosophy that originated in France in the late 1960s, has had an
enormous impact on Anglo-American criticism. Largely the creation of its chief proponent
Jacques Derrida, deconstruction upends the Western metaphysical tradition. It represents a
complex response to a variety of theoretical and philosophical movements of the 20th century,
most notably Husserlian phenomenology, Saussurean and French structuralism, and Freudian
and Lacanian psychoanalysis.

[First paragraph of a seven-page explanation in the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary

Theory (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993).]

Deconstruction: The term denotes a particular kind of practice in reading and, thereby, a
method of criticism and mode of analytical inquiry. In her book The Critical Difference (1981),
Barbara Johnson clarifies the term:

"Deconstruction is not synonymous with "destruction", however. It is in fact much closer to the
original meaning of the word 'analysis' itself, which etymologically means "to undo" -- a virtual
synonym for "to de-construct." ... If anything is destroyed in a deconstructive reading, it is not
the text, but the claim to unequivocal domination of one mode of signifying over another. A
deconstructive reading is a reading which analyses the specificity of a text's critical difference
from itself."

[First paragraph of a four-page definition of the term deconstruction in J.A. Cuddon, A

Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, third ed. (London: Blackwell, 1991)].

Deconstruction: School of philosophy and literary criticism forged in the writings of the French
philosopher Jacques Derrida and the Belgium/North American literary critic Paul De Man.
Deconstruction can perhaps best be described as a theory of reading which aims to undermine
the logic of opposition within texts.

[Start of a four-page definition of deconstruction in A Dictionary of Critical Theory (London:

Blackwell, 1996).]

http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/derrida/deconstruction.html
Deconstruction made its first inroads in the United States through departments of literary
criticism, which sought new strategies for interpreting literary texts. (pg. 1)

Many deconstructive arguments revolve around the analysis of conceptual oppositions. (pg 2)

Deconstruction does not show that all texts are meaningless, but rather that they are
overflowing with multiple and often conflicting meanings. Similarly, deconstruction does not
claim that concepts have no boundaries, but that their boundaries can be parsed in many
different ways as they are inserted into new contexts of judgment. Although people use
deconstructive analyses to show that particular distinctions and arguments lack normative
coherence, deconstruction does not show that all legal distinctions are incoherent.
Deconstructive arguments do not necessarily destroy conceptual oppositions or conceptual
distinctions. Rather, they tend to show that conceptual oppositions can be reinterpreted as a
form of nested opposition (Balkin 1990a). A nested opposition is an opposition in which the
two terms bear a relationship of conceptual dependence or similarity as well as conceptual
difference or distinction. Deconstructive analysis attempts to explore how this similarity or this
difference is suppressed or overlooked. Hence deconstructive analysis often emphasizes the
importance of context in judgment, and the many changes in meaning that accompany changes
in contexts of judgment.

(pg 3)

Deconstruction's emphasis on the proliferation of meaningsis related to the deconstructive

concept of iterability. Iterability is the capacity of signs (and texts) to be repeated in new
situations and grafted onto new contexts. Derrida's aphorism "iterability alters" (Derrida 1977)
means that the insertion of texts into new contexts continually produces new meanings that
are both partly different from and partly similar to previous understandings. (Thus, there is a
nested opposition between them.). The term "play" is sometimes used to describe the
resulting instability in meaning produced by iterability.

Although deconstructive arguments show that conceptual oppositions are not fully stable, they
do not and cannot show that all such oppositions can be jettisoned or abolished, for the
principle of nested opposition suggests that a suppressed conceptual opposition will usually
reappear in a new guise. Moreover, although all conceptual oppositions are potentially
deconstructible in theory, not all are equally incoherent or unhelpful in practice. (pg 4)

www.yale.edu/lawweb/jbalkin/articles/deconessay.pdf
Deconstruction is an approach, introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, which
rigorously pursues the meaning of a text to the point of exposing the contradictions and
internal oppositions upon which it is apparently founded and showing that those foundations
are irreducibly complex, unstable, or impossible. It is an approach that may be deployed in
philosophy, literary analysis, or other fields.

Deconstruction generally tries to demonstrate that any text is not a discrete whole but contains
several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings; that any text therefore has more than one
interpretation; that the text itself links these interpretations inextricably; that the
incompatibility of these interpretations is irreducible; and thus that an interpretative reading
cannot go beyond a certain point. Derrida refers to this point as an aporia in the text, and terms
deconstructive reading "aporetic." J. Hillis Miller has described deconstruction this way:
“Deconstruction is not a dismantling of the structure of a text, but a demonstration that it has
already dismantled itself. Its apparently-solid ground is no rock, but thin air."

Theory

Derrida began speaking and writing publicly at a time when the French intellectual scene was
experiencing an increasing rift between what could broadly be called "phenomenological" and
"structural" approaches to understanding individual and collective life. For those with a more
phenomenological bent the goal was to understand experience by comprehending and
describing its genesis, the process of its emergence from an origin or event. For the
structuralists, this problematic was a very misleading avenue of interrogation, and the "depth"
and originality of experience could in fact only be an effect of structures which are not
themselves experiential. It is in this context that in 1959 Derrida asks the question: Must not
structure have a genesis, and must not the origin, the point of genesis, be already structured, in
order to be the genesis of something?

In other words, every structural or "synchronic" phenomenon has a history, and the structure
cannot be understood without understanding its genesis. At the same time, in order that there
be movement, or potential, the origin cannot be some pure unity or simplicity, but must
already be articulated—complex—such that from it a "diachronic" process can emerge. This
originary complexity must not be understood as an original positing, but more like a default of
origin, which Derrida refers to as iterability, inscription, or textuality. It is this thought of
originary complexity, rather than original purity, which destabilises the thought of both genesis
and structure, that sets Derrida's work in motion, and from which derive all of its terms,
including deconstruction.

Derrida's method consisted in demonstrating all the forms and varieties of this originary
complexity, and their multiple consequences in many fields. His way of achieving this was by
conducting thorough, careful, sensitive, and yet transformational readings of philosophical and
literary texts, with an ear to what in those texts runs counter to their apparent systematicity
(structural unity) or intended sense (authorial genesis). By demonstrating the aporias and
ellipses of thought, Derrida hoped to show the infinitely subtle ways that this originary
complexity, which by definition cannot ever be completely known, works its structuring and
destructuring effects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction

SECTION 5 - DECONSTRUCTION APPLIED IN ARCHITECTURE

Late-20TH century tendencies in architecture having certain formal similarities to some aspects
of Russian Constructivism, such as diagonal overlappings of rectangular or trapezoidal
elements, and the use of warped planes, as in the works of Lissitzky, Malevich, and Tatlin,
although many critics and protagonists have denied those similarities, and the connections are
only tentative in the case of some claimed to be Deconstructivists. Deconstructivist architecture
has been held to embrace the works of Coop Himmelblau, Eisenman, Gehry, Hadid, Koolhaas,
Libeskind, and Tschumi, among others. (though not all might wish to be associated with the
label). Deconstructivism tends to produce a sense of dislocation both within the forms of
projects and between the forms and their contexts. By breaking continuity, disturbing
relationships between interior and exterior, fracturing connections between exterior and
context, Deconstructivism undermines conventional notions of harmony, unity, and apparent
stability. However, Deconstructivism is hardly a new movement, nor is it a coherent stylistic
development agreed upon by some independent architects: rather it perhaps exposes the
unfamiliar and the disturbing by means of deformity, distortion, fragmentation, and the
awkward superimposition of jarring, disparate grids.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-Deconstructivism.html

SECTION 6 - CASE STUDIES

 PROJECT 1 – PARC DE LA VILLETTE, 19th Err, Paris. Ar. Bernard Tschumi

First and the most famous eg. of deconstructive architecture. Role Model for adapting the
theory on a philosophical basis. Typical eg. – deconstruction applied to Landscape Architecture.

PROJECT 2 – JEWISH MUSEUM, BERLIN, Ar Daniel Libeskind

Eg. of deconstruction as a emotional healer. Most famous eg of deconstructive building where

the philosophy is invited bringing out the traumatic history, instead of a tool for iconicity of
structure.

PROJECT 3 – SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY, Ar. Rem Koolhas and Joshua Prince Ramus

Ex. of a building where deconstruction was a result of the architects interpretation and
rearrangement of the area program. Decon as a outcome of Hyperrationality in Architecture.

PARC DE LA VILLETTE, 19th Err, Paris. Ar. Bernard Tschumi

One of the most renowned architectural projects of the 1990s must be Bernard Tschumi's
design for the Parc de la Villette in Paris. In 1982, the French government offered a prize to fill
up an empty spot in the Parisian landscape. The year after, Bernard Tschumi's design was
selected from the contributions. Agreeing to an invitation by the architect himself, Derrida in
1985 commented on the project in his article "Points de Folie - Maintenant Architecture", thus
guaranteeing Tschumi's success.

Tschumi destroyed the nineteenth-century notion of a park as a place where one forgets the
city. Instead, he produced an "urban park" for the twenty-first century. This park meant a
radical break with tradition as the architect moved drastically away from modernist
functionalism. Yet, Tschumi's "folies" and "cases vides", red cubicles standing at a regular
distance from each other throughout the park, often formally remind us of Melnikov's or
Tatlin's Russian Constructivism. On the level of contents, however, Tschumi's designs couldn't
be further away from modernist utopian thought that saw geometry as a means to adapt the
world we live in to new technological evolutions. Russian Constructivists believed that
geometry could function as an idealistic therapy, that it would guarantee happiness, harmony
and health among the people. The formal references to constructivism in the Parc de la Villette
should therefore be understood as a subversion of that philosophy by its very repetition. The
idea of repetition as a means of differentiation echoes Derrida's concept of iterability.

Superimposition

In a 1987 article, Tschumi formulated his revealing idea of pleasure in architecture: "[m]y
pleasure has never surfaced in looking at buildings, at the 'great works' of the history or present
of architecture, but rather in dismantling them" (Tschumi 1987: 116). The Parc de la Villette
design thus leaves behind all functionalist and therapeutic nostalgia and is governed only by the
"pleasure principle" (Vidler 1992: 103) of the architect himself. In this particular project, that
principle manifests itself in the superimposition of three different ordering systems.

A first layer consists of a system of points. A grid is drawn over the whole site. Every 120
metres, the horizontal and vertical lines cross. Tschumi calls those crossings "points". On each
point, a "folie" or folly is built, a three-storey red cube measuring 10 x 10 x 10 metres that can
be used for any activity. These buildings have no pre-programmed function and may be used as
an exposition hall, as a café or as any other public space. Therefore, the cubes are also referred
to as "cases vides", empty huts. But although every single folie is conceived of as a cube of 10
by 10 by 10, no single cubicle is exactly the same as any other in the park. Some folies have
cylindrical or triangular forms attached to them; others lack walls or are turned on their sides.
In that way, Tschumi wants to investigate the often-ambiguous relationship between norm and
deviation. Here again the idea is taken up that repetition may function as a means to establish
contrast and difference. This first layer of points should allocate space to what Tschumi calls
"point-like activities" (http://www.tschumi.com), specific activities that take place within the
concentrated space of a folie.
The second layer, the layer of lines, is superimposed on the grid and establishes a space for
"linear activities". "Linear activities" describes the pedestrian traffic that crosses the park in
several possible ways. The centre of this linear layer is formed by two axes, the North-South
coordinate and the East-West coordinate, which link up the four entrances to the park. Apart
from straight axes, the layer consists of erratic, undulating lines meandering through the
landscape. At this point, Vidler says, Tschumi remains indebted to traditional park design. For
the straight axis was a common feature of Classicist park design (think of the Versailles gardens)
and the undulating line that leads flaneurs past most charming sights was characteristic of
Romantic parks and gardens. But again the reference to tradition is merely formal. One should
not forget that Tschumi found pleasure in dismantling tradition. Tschumi's axes and pathways
do not possess the same controlling, authoritarian function they did possess in traditional
parks. They no longer limit a certain domain, they no longer link up a series of meaningful
sights, they are no more and no less than what they are: alternative tracks through the park.
Whoever is looking for monuments or historical significance on his walk, for narrative
coherence, in short, will have to leave the park unsatisfied. The "unbalancing of expectations"
has become reality. The passer-by is forced to abandon his search for meaning and to surrender
to the game of arbitrariness and chance in which the architect puts him.

(http://pgoh13.free.fr/onrightparcdelavillette.jpg)
The third ordering system that is put on top of the previous two is the layer of surfaces. These
surfaces provide room for all activities that need large horizontal strips of land, like sports,
games, and markets.

The superimposition of these three layers allows for some form of interaction between three
autonomous systems. Principles of chance and juxtaposition generate interference and clashes
between the systems. The result of this "superimposition", as Tschumi calls it, is, according to
Mark Wigley, a "series of ambiguous intersections between systems […] in which the status of
ideal forms and traditional composition is challenged. Ideas of purity, perfection, and order,
become sources of impurity, imperfection, and disorder" (Wigley in Broadbent 1991: 17). It is at
this point that we can return to Schelling's statements on the uncanny as that which "ought to
have remained secret and hidden but has come to light" (Freud 1955: 225). The inherent purity
of the geometrical system evokes a feeling of rational control and stability. If things turn out
differently, then, and the juxtaposition of several "pure" systems gives way to impurity, the
geometric system's rational control over that which "ought to have remained secret", weakens.
The repressed leaves its enclosed habitat and thus provokes in us an uncanny feeling. In the
case of Tschumi's Parc de la Villette, the uncanny does not function as a physical motif that
threatens the bodily integrity of passers-by, but rather as a theoretical concept that helps to
undermine and - indeed - deconstruct traditional humanist and functionalist architectural
discourses.

http://www.imageandnarrative.be/inarchive/uncanny/bartvanderstraeten.htm

The Parc de la Villette is a park in Paris at the outer edge of the 19th arrondissement, bordering
the Boulevard Périphérique, which is a ring road around Paris, and the suburban department of
Seine-Saint-Denis. At 55 hectares (of which 35 hectares are green space), these grounds
constitute the largest fully-landscaped park in the city of Paris and a green space second in size
to only the Père-Lachaise cemetery.

The park was designed by Bernard Tschumi, a French architect of Swiss origin, who built it from
1984 to 1987 on the site of the huge Parisian abattoirs (slaughterhouses) and the national
wholesale meat market, as part of an urban redevelopment project. The slaughterhouses, built
in 1867 on the instructions of Napoléon III, had been cleared away and relocated in 1974.
Tschumi won a major design competition in 1982/83 for the park, and he sought the opinions of
the deconstructionist philosopher, Jacques Derrida, in the preparation of his design proposal.

Follies
Probably the most iconic pieces of the park, the follies act as architectural representations of
deconstruction. Thirty-five follies are placed on a grid and offer a distinct organization to the
park. Architecturally, the follies are meant to act as points of reference that help visitors gain a
sense of direction in the park and navigate throughout the space. While the follies are meant to
exist in a deconstructive vacuum without historical relation, many have found connections
between the steel structures and the previous buildings that were part of the old industrial
fabric of the area. Today, the follies remain as cues to organization and direction for park
visitors. Recently, some of the follies have been renovated to house restaurants, information
centers, and other functions associated with the park’s needs that were not envisioned in the
original design.

The origins of the park and its roots lie within the architectural theories of deconstruction.
Bernard Tschumi designed the Parc de la Villette with the intention of creating a space that
exists in a vacuum, something without historical precedent. The park strives to strip down the
signage and conventional representations that have infiltrated architectural design and allows
for the existence of a “non-place.” This non-place, envisioned by Tschumi, is the most
appropriate example of space and provides a truly honest relationship between the subject and
the object. Visitors view and react to the plan, landscaping, and sculptural pieces without the
ability to cross-reference them with previous works of historical architecture. The design of the
park capitalizes on the innate qualities that are illustrated within architectural
deconstructivism. By allowing visitors to experience the architecture of the park within this
constructed vacuum, the time, recognitions, and activities that take place in that space begin to
acquire a more vivid and authentic nature. The park is not acting as a spectacle. The Parc de la
Villette acts as a frame for culture and interaction. The park embodies anti-tourism, not
allowing visitors to breeze through the site and pick and choose the sites they want to see.
Upon arrival and the park, visitors are thrust into a world that is defined by exact architectural
relationships and languages. The frame of the park, due to its roots in deconstructivism, has the
ability to change and react to the functions that it holds within. The relationships between the
park and the cultural interactions that are found in the park are dynamic in nature and have the
ability to change. The true deconstructive-ness of the Parc de la Villette is apparent in its ability
to host these interactions in an environment that is built on the platform of cyclical change and
reaction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parc_de_la_Villette
 JEWISH MUSEUM, BERLIN, Ar Daniel Libeskind

The Jewish Museum Berlin (Jüdisches Museum Berlin), in Berlin, Germany, covers two millennia
of German Jewish history. It consists of two buildings. One is the old Kollegienhaus, a former
courthouse, built in the 18th century. The other, a new addition specifically built for the
museum, designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. This was one of the first
buildings in Berlin designed after German reunification. The museum opened to the public in
2001.

(concierge.comimagesdestinationsdestinationguideeuropegermanyberlinberlin_026p.jpg)

The museum adjoins the old Berlin Museum and sits on land that was West Berlin before the
Berlin Wall fell. The Museum itself, consisting of about 161,000 square feet (15,000 square
meters), is a twisted zig-zag and is accessible only via an underground passage from the Berlin
Museum's baroque wing. Its shape is reminiscent of a warped Star of David.[6] A "Void," an
empty space about 66 feet (20 m) tall, slices linearly through the entire building. Menashe
Kadishman's Shalechet (Fallen leaves) installation fills the void with 10,000 coarse iron faces. An
irregular matrix of windows cuts in all orientations across the building's facade. A thin layer of
zinc coats the building's exterior, which will oxidize and turn bluish as it weather.
A second underground tunnel connects the Museum proper to the E.T.A. Hoffmann Garden, or
The Garden of Exile, whose foundation is tilted. The Garden's oleaster grows out of reach, atop
49 tall pillars.

The final underground tunnel leads from the Museum to the Holocaust Tower, a 79 foot (24 m)
tall empty silo. The bare concrete Tower is neither heated nor cooled, and its only light comes
from a small slit in its roof.

The museum consists of three spaces. All three of the underground tunnels, or "axes," intersect
and may represent the connection between the three realities of Jewish life in Germany, as
symbolized by each of the three spaces: Continuity with German history, Emigration from
Germany, and the Holocaust.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Museum_Berlin
 SECTION 7 – ARCHITECTURAL PHILOSOPHIES OF DECONSTRUCTIVIST

DANIEL LIBESKIND

“I believe that design and architecture are the foremost communicators of all—they tell a story.
Without them, there would be no history, no reference about where we are, where we’ve been
and where we are going; not only as individuals but as a society,” said Daniel Libeskind. “For
me, architecture tells a story about the world, our desires and dreams. Architecture, and the
buildings I create, are much more than a place, they are destinations meant to evoke emotion
and to make you think about the world we all live in.”

The event is the result of a partnership between the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and
Corporex, and sponsorship from Frost Brown Todd and Voltage. It gave spectators an
opportunity to see many of the projects Libeskind is currently developing in Singapore, Milan,
Toronto, Warsaw and New York, as well as listen to his thoughts behind the design for The
Ascent.

“When I design a building, I take into account the surroundings of the site, the people who will
live and work in the building, the people who will pass by it everyday, the way the light and sky
will complement the structure. The Ascent is modern in design and rooted in the history,
traditions and landscape of greater Cincinnati. The crescent-shaped tower was designed to
maximize views, and with a blue tint, the building will reflect the shades of the sky and the
Roebling Suspension Bridge. This building is not only a living, breathing work that stirs the soul,
but it lifts the spirit and calls to mind all the possibilities that lie ahead,” added Daniel Libeskind.

“Daniel’s vision was embraced by the region,” said Debbie Vicchiarelli, Vice President and Chief
Marketing Officer for Corporex. “In fact, more than 70% of the homes sold before anyone even
set foot in the building. We are proud of all of the visionaries who support The Ascent as a
symbol of collaboration, acceleration and implementation.”

“The Ascent at Roebling’s Bridge puts an exclamation point on Cincinnati USA’s rich legacy of
architectural masterpieces,” said Ellen van der Horst, President of the Cincinnati USA Regional
Chamber. “The Ascent’s contribution to our skyline enhances our world-class appeal and will
help bring international recognition and commerce to our region. With the Ascent, Cincinnati
USA is rising to a new level of sophistication.”

About Daniel Libeskind:

Daniel Libeskind, B.Arch. M.A. BDA AIA is an international figure in architectural practice and
urban design. He is well known for introducing a new critical discourse into architecture and for
his multidisciplinary approach. His practice extends from building major cultural and public
institutions--museums, concert halls and universities, to commercial work--conference centers,
hotels, shopping centers; as well as residential work. He also designs opera sets and maintains
an object design studio.

Daniel Libeskind established his architectural office in Berlin, Germany in 1989. Upon winning
the World Trade Center design competition, in February 2003, Studio Daniel Libeskind moved
its headquarters to New York City. The office is now headquartered two blocks south of the
original World Trade Center Site. The European offices are based in Zürich, Switzerland and
Milan, Italy. In addition, SDL has established site offices with personnel around the world,
including San Francisco, Denver, Bern, Toronto and Hong Kong.

Since 1990, the office has been fortunate to be involved in a diverse array of urban,
architectural and cultural projects. The office has won commissions for major cultural buildings
and significant urban projects in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Canada, the United States, Japan, Spain, Israel, Mexico, Croatia, Korea,
Singapore and China, including more than two dozen towers and skyscrapers around the world.

Daniel Libeskind's architecture continues to reflect his profound interest and involvement in
philosophy, art, music, literature, theater, film and a continuing commitment to expanding the
horizons of architecture and urbanism.

It is fundamental to Daniel Libeskind's thinking and motivation that buildings and urban
projects are crafted with perceptible human energy and that they speak to the larger cultural
community in which they are built.

http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/media/single-view/browse/2/article/366/-30d260d6ca/
 ZAHA HADID

'There is still a world that for women is taboo'

The Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid is a name recognised as one of the few female players in a
big boy's game. And not just your token female - architecture is one game where noone will
take you on, unless you have enough to show for it. Her top leage London practice 'Zaha Hadid
office', which she started in 1980, shows what happens when architecture and mathematics
take a stroll together. It isn't limited to engineering. Sometimes, they dance.

"Like many women today, I am travelling a lot and I work crazy hours. Working on an
architecture project means perseverance. But no matter how much progress has been made,
there is still a world that for women is taboo." (designboom interview)

'I did something for them that they thought was extraordinary, which shocked me because I
had no idea it was extraordinary'

Was pursuing a career in architecture taboo to Zaha Hadid, who was born in Baghdad in 1950?
Not really. Her father was a leader of the Iraqi Progressive Democratic Party; her mother did
not work but encouraged her interest in drawing. Both of Hadid's older brothers went to
Cambridge, and it was assumed that she would also go to university and pursue a career
somewhere in Western Europe. When asked by the Guardian why she was drawn to Great
Britain, Hadid responds 'I feel Arab, but in Iraq I was already eccentric. Iraq, in the 1960s, was
full of odd people, whose background was Arab but who had travelled everywhere, spoke many
languages and were liberal politically. I was lucky to have all these worlds together'. As a young
child, she loved mathematics passionately. Although she studied maths at the American
University of Beirut (1968-1971) she later steered her interest towards architecture, emigrated
to London, and pursued a degree at the prestigious Architectural Association (more widely
known as the 'AA') (1972-1977). There she was fortunate enough to be taught by the likes of
Rem Koolhaas and Bernard Tschumi. She was quickly snatched up by the OMA (Office of
Metropoltican Architecture) and became a partner in the same year of her graduation. She left
to start her own office only three years later.
'I think all strong ideas don't really fail'

Hadid's early influences included the suprematists, revolutionary Russian artists trying to
reconcile ideas about abstraction, geometry and function and Constructivist art. Kasimir
Malevich, suprematism's chief theorist, wrote in 1928: 'We can only perceive space when we
break free from the earth, when the point of support disappears. Hadid is now closely
connected to the architectural style deconstructivism which some may find the be to the
Modern Style what the Baroque was to the Renaissance. Other reknowned exponents of the
movement are Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry. Sometimes known as deconstruction, it began
in the 1980s and employs fragmentation as well as an interest in distorting a structure's skin
into non-rectilinear shapes which serve to distort and dislocate some architectural volumes.
The approach stimulates malleability, unpredictability and the impression of harnessed chaos.
Hadid's expression of this emotive and sometimes decadent style is characterised by bold
explosions in space, sharp angles and dynamic volumes. For further reading, her philosophy is
available to all in her essay '89 degrees'.

Hadid's work has developed from abstracted and fragmented geometry to a clearer focus on
interior fluidity. Perhaps her fire station for the Vitra Furniture Company in Weil am Rhein was
the first to make the world of design and architecture sit up and take notice.

'So the ground became a project'

Although many of her award-winning designs were never realised other built projects include:

 the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (1998) in Cincinnati, USA;

 the Bergisel ski jump (2002) in Innsbruck, Austria;
 and the BMW building (2005) in Leipzig, Germany

A couple of notable projects in production follow: a Contemporary Art Museum in Cagliari, Italy
(2007) and the London Olympic Aquatic Centre (2012)
As a designer, she has designed everything from cutlery to chandeliers. Always basing her
geometry on precise mathematical patterns, Hadid's practice has collaborated with Swarovski,
Dupont, Sawaya & Moroni, Alessi, WMF and Established & Sons.

In its 26 years of existence, she was the first female architect to win the Pritzker architecture
prize in 2004. She has lectured across both Europe and the United States. In 2006, Hadid was
honoured by a restrospective exhibition of her entire portfolio at the Guggenheim Museum in
New York. This was the same year that she received an Honorary Degree from the American
University of Beirut.

http://everything2.com/title/Zaha+Hadid

About Zaha Hadid

Hadid studied architecture at the Architectural Association from 1972 and was awarded the
Diploma Prize in 1977. She then became a partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture,
taught at the AA with OMA collaborators Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, and later led her
own studio at the AA until 1987. Since then she held the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate
School of Design, Harvard University; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois, School of
Architecture, Chicago; guest professorships at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg;
the Knolton School of Architecture, Ohio and the Masters Studio at Columbia University, New
York.

In addition, she was made Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters,
Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and Commander of the British Empire, 2002.
She is currently Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria and is the Eero
Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design for the Spring Semester 2004 at Yale
University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Zaha Hadid was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered to be the Nobel Prize of
architecture) in 2004 and is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work.
Each of her dynamic and innovative projects builds on over thirty years of revolutionary
experimentation and research in the interrelated fields of urbanism, architecture and design.
Hadid’s work constantly tests the boundaries of architecture and design.

Working with senior office partner Patrik Schumacher, Hadid's interest is in the rigorous
interface between architecture, landscape, and geology as the practice integrates natural
topography and human-made systems that lead to experimentation with cutting-edge
technologies. Such a process often results in unexpected and dynamic architectural forms
moulded by the realities of site and building requirements.

The MAXXI, National Museum Arts of the of 21st Century in Rome, the BMW Central Building in
Leipzig and the Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany are excellent demonstrations of
the Practice’s quest for complex, dynamic and fluid spaces. Previous seminal buildings, such as
the Vitra Fire Station and the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati have also
been hailed as architecture that transforms our vision of the future with new spatial concepts
and bold, visionary forms.

In Italy, Zaha Hadid Architects’ projects include CityLife tower and masterplan in Milan; the
Maritime Terminal of the port of Salerno; the new High-Speed Railway Station in Naples-
Afragola; the Regium Waterfront in Reggio Calbria, the Jesolo Magica commercial centre and
the Museum of Nuragic and Contemporary Arts in Cagliari, Sardinia.

Zaha Hadid’s work of the past 30 years was the subject of a critically- acclaimed retrospective
exhibition at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2006, and was showcased last
summer at the Design Museum in London. The practice’s most recently completed projects
include the Nordpark Railway stations in Innsbruck, Mobile Art for Chanel, the Zaragoza Bridge
Pavilion in Spain and the Burnham Pavilion in Chicago. Next year, Hadid’s revolutionary design
the Guangzhou Opera House will open in China.

Philosophy

Zaha Hadid is an architect who consistently pushes the boundaries of architecture and urban
design. Her work experiments with new spatial concepts intensifying existing urban landscapes
in the pursuit of a visionary aesthetic that encompasses all fields of design, ranging from urban
scale through to products, interiors and furniture. Best known for her seminal built works (Vitra
Fire Station, Land Formation-One, Bergisel Ski Jump, Strasbourg Tram Station and Rosenthal
Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati) her central concerns involve a simultaneous
engagement in practice, teaching and research.
Competitions

Hadid has been testing the boundaries of architectural design in a series of research-based
competitions. Winning designs include:

The Peak, Hong Kong (1983); Kurfürstendamm, Berlin (1986); Düsseldorf Art and Media Centre
(1992/93); Cardiff Bay Opera House, Wales (1994); Thames Water/Royal Academy Habitable
Bridge, London (1996); Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati (1998); University of
North London Holloway Road Bridge (1998); The Centre for Contemporary Arts, Rome (1999);
Bergisel Ski-jump, Innsbruck (1999); The Wolfsburg Science Centre (2000); the Maritime Ferry
Terminal in Salerno, (2000); Placa de les Artes in Barcelona (2001); One-north Masterplan for
Singapore's Science Hub (2001); the Ordrupgaard Museum Extension in Copenhagen (2001);
the BMW Central Plant Building in Leipzig (2002); the Price Tower Art Center, Bartlesville
(2002); the Departement de l’Herault Culture Sport Building, Montpellier (2003); the new High
Speed Rail Station Napoli-Afragola, Naples (2003); the Guangzhou Opera House, China (2003);
and a masterplan for Beijing’s Soho City, China (2003).

Other competition entries include large scale urban studies for Hamburg, Madrid, Bordeaux and
Cologne; museum buildings in Bad Deutsch Altenburg, Austria, Madrid (Prado, Reina Sofia,
Royal Palace), the Victoria & Albert Museum's Boilerhouse Gallery, London and a Museum of
Islamic Arts in Doha, Qatar; concert halls for Copenhagen and Luxembourg; a theatre for the
Hackney Empire, London and large scale multi-functional buildings for 42nd street, New York as
well as for the IIT Campus in Chicago, and third prize for an event and delivery centre for BMW
in Munich

http://www.architonic.com/aiabt/zaha-hadid-architects/5204864

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

Pro- counter about the geometry as thing banding and or frees in architecture world, might not
will be ending to be studied or searched its solution, altogether that depended from our each
perception. Between the geometries ties or frees, having each the same position or position
strong. But at this opportunity, I will try studies geometry as thing freeing in architecture world.
Possibly arising question is: What the freedom look like in geometry? In presentation of what is
the freedom?
“…,because we don’t want to exclude everything in architecture that makes us uneasy. We
want architecture that has more to offer. Architecture that bleeds, exhausts, that turns and
even breaks, as far as I am concerned. Architecture that glows, that stabs, that tears and rips
when stretched. Architecture must be precipitous, fiery, smooth, hard, angular, brutal, round,
tender, colorful, obscene, randy, dreamy, en-nearing, distancing, wet, dry and heart-stopping.
Dead or alive. If it is cold, then cold as a block of ice. If it is hot, then as hot as a tongue of flame.
Architecture must burn! ” (Coop Himmelb(l)au, Covering and Exposing: The Architecture of
Coop Himmelb(l)au)

Possibly, main words or philosophy from this Coop Himmelb(l)au will start solution of geometry
as thing freeing in architecture world. To be more sharpness, I will try a few paring about
history of from Coop Himmelb(l)au. Coop Himmelb(l)au build by Wolf D Prix and Helmut
Swiczinsky in the year 1968 in Vienna ( Austrian) be one of young architecture practitioner
during the period with new ideas of which is enough is radical. Modernism with domination of
its rationality is assumed to limits architect in exploring possibility that new forms in
architecture language. Therefore, Coop Himmelb(l)au tries exploration and looks for other
possibilities in ” architectural language”. Coop Himmelb(l)au tries creates basic change at
architecture, urbanism, structure, and tectonic. Can be told Coop Himmelb(l)au to try looks for
” independence architecture”.

From opinion and idea of Coop Himmelb(l)au this is, I have a notion that geometry as thing
freeing, or more precisely geometry yields form ( form) free architecture. Although way of ideas
from geometry along with the order or method in it haves the character of ties, but result of its
is in the end will bring us into a freedom of form and expression, that is independence
architecture world. Because which we felt was form and experience in the form of dimensional
3 space and time (space and time).

Possibly things like that which is not realized by our x’self. Because basically, from education
from kindergarten until high school, we only recognize form of base geometries, cubical, box,
pyramid, log, prism, cylinder, ball, and other form. And at that moment we only have the
character of silent or passive receives as it is. So altogether would be repacked become a
doctrine or ideas, that like that geometry. Though if we traced furthermore and deeper again,
geometry is not only like that. Geometry means geometry a space. And space intended is earth,
place of us as life man and permanent. So geometry means measuring the earth. Words “earth”
( geo) this is not realized by us, though words ” earth” be thing hardly crucial in elementary
understanding about meaning of geometry especially in architecture.
Earth is nature, and nature basically is dynamic thing and not static, full of change. Nature is
thing free, unattached. From this understanding, we can conclude that geometry is thing
basically is free, full of dynamic.

Till now, our understanding about geometry only be fetched up all standing by form of
Euclidean geometry only, though understanding from geometry moreover. The same as to
understanding from word said by Coop Himmelb(l)au, ” Architecture must burn”. That ”
Architecture must burn” is not just architecture, but rather to how we see this world.
Architecture world ought to lay open a new potency ( unknown) in real world which we have
never realized.

http://archinspire.com/home-design/geometry-as-form-freedom-expression-in-architecture-design-–-
part-1.htm

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