Trial and error
The design for the future metropolis in the movie Blade Runner
(1984) was inspired by Antonio Sant'Elia’s Manifesto of Futurist Architecture
(1914). I find intriguing how the utopian vision of one single architect was easily
twisted into a dystopia. It is also easy and fun to draw parallels between this
and the way 2-3 dozen architects created manifestos that decided the direction that
architecture should take across the globe.
CIAM’s ideas where obviously incomplete and when these were
implemented on a macro scale, they had many unintended consequences that
negatively impacted the way we live. Maybe not to a dystopian level, but I
think it still demonstrates that the best way to move forward is to collect ideas
from a large pool of people and develop them over time. Maybe not as slow as it
used to be the case prior to the 20th century, but at least learning
from outcomes rather than someone’s ideas.
I can at least be thankful that now it is an uncountable number
of architects doing small scale experiments that the entire globe can analyze
or draw inspiration from.
Great point Roberto! I think it is interesting as well that the CIAM wanted to create strict rules about Modern Architecture that they did not want to change as architecture theory advanced. They believed the International Style was applicable worldwide whereas others believed architecture should change based on a region's climate,community, culture, and history. This inability to be critical of their own ideas ultimately led to their downfall.
ReplyDeleteIf you were at liberty to study an aspect of architecture, and conduct 'experiments' to advance the profession, (without constraints like financing) what would you be interested in?
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