Appeal to Reason

Autonomous architecture, as I understand it, is architecture that exists purely for the sake of existing, rather than to exist as a product of functionality. It satisfies the minimum amount of function in order for it not to slip into the realm of "sculpture", yet is formed by its own rules.

Architecture needs to be grounded in reality for it to be successful. Otherwise it IS art. Something that can exist anywhere and be mass produced. And mass production, while efficient, is lazy. The field of architecture does not exist on its own, so neither should its product. Eisenman's numbered houses shouldn't even be considered houses at all. What are they housing? Certainly not people. They are devoid of function. His goal might have been to create his own language of self-generating possibilities, but it's a study that is effectively "sculpture". There is no reason except for creating something autonomous. It completely ignores the surrounding environment and the spaces it creates outside of the building. It is ignorant to think that architecture does not contribute to the street or the site it is located on, and simply exists in itself. It's as if he rejected modernism's rationale of "form follows function" and then rejected it even further by creating selfish and lifeless sculptures.