Modernity, Tradition and Identity in the developing Worldmedia.dropr.com/pdf/D7uOYxNKU85SO50bfSkFB7U5EJKvRRM6.pdf · Modernity, Tradition and Identity in ... mansion in Jaisalmer

Modernity, Tradition and Identity in

the developing World

ASSIGNMENT 1

KAMRAN SINGH SATHAR

Z3419935

G041: ANNA FIELD

Modernity

Modernity is derived from the English word contemporary relating to the current period, but as Raymond notes shifted towards co-temporary, meaning, “of the same period, including periods in the past.”1 Modern architecture was subsequently the representation of ideas within the volatile period immediately after the industrial revolution, and was affected by both World Wars. It was established within the Western Industrialized countries, where technological progression and rapid information exchange drove a form of expression matching the evolving socio-economic conditions of the 19th century2. The spread of modern architecture towards the developing nations between 1960’s to 1970’s imposed many issues, particularly the lack of depth associated with modern architectural applications within the local region, and thoughtless imitations from the West.

Curtis suggests that modern architecture failed to function initially within the developing nations, for there were too many gaps between the process of conceptualization and physical construction.3 Hassan Fathy reiterated this by stating that, “modern solutions were often [dysfunctional] and ill-fitted to a developing [Egypt].”4 Fathy attempts to justify the necessary preservation of local traditional construction methods and forms, as a means of holding onto national roots. However, by stating that, “change is not always for the better,”5 Fathy failed to acknowledge that the world was seeing a period of continuous change, and “modern regionalism”6 would lead developing nations, particularly seen in India, in seamless transition through this volatile period. Le Corbusier provided a major stimulus to works within India, such as Charles Correa’s Gandhi Ashram Memorial Museum in Ahmadabad, which displayed interlocking spaces alluding to the “outdoor rooms”7 of a typical village. The successful representation of the Indian concept of interconnectivity of spaces and people (Fig. 1), combined with the modest simplicity of the design, gave significant architectural depth to the structure honoring Gandhi’s humble search for truth and journey towards national independence.8

1 Raymond Williams, Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society, 2nd ed., New York: Oxford University

Press, 1983, p. 208. 2 William J. R. Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, 3rd ed., New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2013, p. 567. 3 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 568. 4 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 569. 5 Hassan Fathy, ‘Tradition’s Role,’ Architecture for the Poor, an experiment in Rural Egypt, Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 2000, p. 12, accessed September 4, 2014, http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/fathy.pdf

6 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 568. 7 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 572. 8 Jon T. Lang, ‘The first Generation of Modernist Architecture: 1945 to 1970,’ A Concise History of Modern

Architecture in India, Telangana: Orient Blackswan, 2002, p. 55.

Figure 1: Interconnectivity of spaces via an open grid plan, Gandhi Ashram Memorial Museum,

Ahmadabad, India, 1958-63.

India consequently experienced an architectural reflection towards the past, in an attempt to reinvent historical examples, such as the city mansion in Jaisalmer (Fig. 2) within the new modern era.

Figure 2 Section and plan of City Mansion, Jaisalmer, displaying the intricate awnings and labyrinth

of interconnecting spaces

Architect Balkrishna Doshi was one such architect who successfully translated many aspects of traditional Indian architecture in a new modern interpretation. His design of the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (Fig. 3) epitomized his understanding of interconnectivity between spaces, variations of light and shade and fusion of cultures to establish a, “certain Indian spirit,” within a modern context.9 In the Trade Exhibition Halls in New Delhi (Fig. 4), Raj Rewal’s use of concrete, for the structural lattices instead of steel addressed the

9 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 573.

problem of steel shortage and provided a project, which was unique to India due to her cheap labor cost.10 The use of concrete also reflected the Indian jali sunscreen from brickwork.11 Both architects demonstrate the adaptation of modern architecture to relate culturally and technologically to India.

Figure 3 Corridor in the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India, 1977 – 85, with modern

adaptation of traditional Indian built forms.

Lang noted the works of Doshi to have had, “creative responses to the problems at hand using Le Corbusier’s formal vocabulary.”12 It is without doubt that these architects expanded the modern reference point from the west, and used it as a framework to develop a form of regional modernism unique to India.

Figure 4 Jali like concrete lattice-based sunscreen of the Main Trade Exhibition Halls in New Delhi,

India, 1971.

10 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 574. 11 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 574. 12 Lang, A Concise History of Modern Architecture in India, p. 74.

Tradition

In Alejandro Savio’s Tradition and Modernity in Modern Architecture, tradition is defined as – “That which is thus handed down; a statement, belief, or practice transmitted … from generation to generation.” 13 He notes that in an anthropological sense, tradition is the, “continuation of culture throughout time,”14 which is essentially what Curtis refers to be observed as a reaction to modernization within the developing countries, particularly in South America and Mexico. The different ways tradition is applied to modern architecture within the developing nations establishes a sense of connectivity between the past and present.

Figure 5 Eladio Dieste’s Iglesia del Cristo Obrero, interior relationships between ceilings and walls.

Uruguayan architect Eladio Dieste believed that modern solutions in the developing nations needed to be based on local technology, maintaining an architectural technique unique to the nation.15 He had a strong respect for local materials and sought an, “architectural expression that would counter the perception in the use of brick as a ‘poor man’s’ substitute for concrete.”16 Dieste’s structures bear notable plasticity, with wafer thin brick walls and ceilings rested together through undulating structures (Fig. 5), which disregarded the need for costly beams and columns.17 By adapting an architectural form to elevate the

13 Alejandro M. Savio, ‘Tradition and Modernity in Modern Architecture: as exemplified in some of the works

of Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies Van Der Rohe,’ The Spirit of the New, Roskilde University, 2006, p. 9, accessed September 3, 2014, http://rudar.ruc.dk/bitstream/1800/2309/1/The%20Spirit%20of%20the%20New.pdf

14 Savio, The Spirit of the New, p. 9, accessed September 3, 2014, http://rudar.ruc.dk/bitstream/1800/2309/1/The%20Spirit%20of%20the%20New.pdf

15 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 575. 16 R., Pedreschi & Theodossopoulos, 'The double-curvature masonry vaults of Eladio Dieste,' Proceedings of

the ICE - Structures and Buildings, Vol 160, No. 1, p. 3, DOI: 10.1680/stbu.2007.160.1.3, accessed on September 2, 2014, http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/4959198/Pedreschi_Theodossopoulos_ICE_stbu160_003.pdf

17 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 575.

traditional construction in his developing nation, Dieste successfully reinterpreted tradition within modernity. Mexico, like India, had an extended history drawing back to the Aztec Empire, which Architect Teodoro Gonzalez drew inspiration from its traditional monumentalism. His works involved a vocabulary using, “large portals, screens and pergolas in rough, bush-hammered concrete.”18 In Colegio de Mexico (Fig. 6), Gonzalez integrated, “hovering beams, wide platforms and the processional stair,”19 in an attempt to layer various ‘patios’. The resulting effect was a subliminal tone towards the Aztec pyramidal history, elevated by the patios constant throughout Mexican architecture. 20 Gonzalez’s reinterpretation of Mexican monumental architecture provides the seamless connection between modernity within the local context, while maintaining a constant architectural tradition.

Figure 6 Patios and Monumental hovering beams of the Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City, 1974-6

Ricardo Legorreta believed that the traditional link between the vernacular and monumental architecture in Mexico lay in the single element of the wall.21 He compared pre-Hispanic and colonial walls as colorless compared to the, “glorious vernacular wall … decidedly Mexican.”22 The Hotel Camino Real in Mexico City exemplified his sophisticated manipulation of vibrant colors, and shadow play along the various internal, and monumental external walls.23 The continuous shifts between large and small interior and external spaces, gave the immense structure a feeling of the vernacular. In establishing a traditional link between

18 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 577. 19 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 577. 20 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 577. 21 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 577. 22 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 577. 23 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 576.

the two forms, Legorreta instilled traditional Mexican geometry and forms within the new modern climate.24

Figure 7 Vibrant walls and difference in light effects based on wall color, geometry and texture, Hotel Camino Real, Mexico City, 1968.

Architects within the developing South American countries were able to extrude traditional elements of built form to ensure the continuation of their culture through Modern architecture.

24 Josephine Minutillo, Ricardo Legorreta’s Legacy, Architectural Digest, accessed September 2, 2014,

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2012-02/architect-ricardo-legorreta-tribute-article

Identity

Identity has its origins from the Latin word, idem, meaning ‘same’.25 This general definition is narrowed down by Christian Norberg-Schulz’s reference to Heidegger’s definition of, “individual identity result[ing] from belonging to a place.”26 However, Curtis seems to suggest that the identity of architecture in developing nations stem from the connection of the built form with the local environment, culture and people. It is the lack of identity within forms of modern architecture that result in its superficial application in the Middle East, unlike those seen in India or South America. In 1973, the Oil Crisis led by the Arab nations in response to the Yom Kippur war with Israel shifted economic power away from the West and towards the Middle East.27 Curtis suggests that this caused many architects to be driven by the pursuit of immediate wealth and were, “ignorant of local customs and traditions.”28 This was driven by the lack of urban or monumental examples in the region, which was predominantly nomadic. Architects ran the risk of producing designs lacking in depth and identity to the Middle Eastern region. He argued that Minoru Yamasaki’s Dharan Airport (Fig. 8) was an example of this superficiality, with concrete pillars emulating palm trees and horseshoe arches.29 Friedrich Ragette draws our attention back to the fact that, “there was no purely ‘Arab’ architecture.”30 The architectural identity of the developing Middle East would have to be developed within this introduction of modernity, in an attempt to counter new buildings looking, “as if they could have stood anywhere.”31

25 Identity, Oxford Dictionaries, accessed September 3, 2014,

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/identity 26 Vladimir Czumalo, Architecture and Identity, accessed September 3, 2014, http://autoportret.pl/wp-

content/uploads/2012/02/17.-Czumalo.pdf 27 1973- 1974 Oil Crisis, California: University of California, Berkeley, accessed September 3, 2014,

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/debt/oilcrisis.html 28 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 584. 29 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 582. 30 Friedrich Ragette, ‘Building on Tradition,’ Saudi Aramco World Magazine, May/June 1971, Vol. 22, No. 3,

accessed on September 3, 2014, https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197103/building.on.tradition.htm

31 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 584.

Figure 8 Palm tree-like resemblance of precast concrete columns, Dharan Airport, Saudi Arabia,

1961.

The development of Arab architecture began to mature with projects such as the Intercontinental Hotel in Mecca (Fig. 9), where Frei Otto’s uncanny interpretation of, “the Bedouin tent … using steel cables and wooden slats instead of rope and cloth,”32 allowed for the transfer of a specific cultural element into the built form. This idea was further developed in a grander scale in the Hajj Terminal in Saudi Arabia (Fig. 10), where architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill employed the use of Teflon fabric, bearing durability and insulation against solar radiation, held up by rigid steel masts. 33 Technological advancements associated with modernity allowed the transition of a temporary nomadic shelter to be transformed into an architectural form, “provid[ing] symbolic power pertinent to the Haj,”34 and the arrival of its guests.

Figure 9 Bedouin tent like structure of the Intercontinental Hotel in Mecca of 1974.

32 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 584. 33 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 584. 34 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill & Fazlur Rahman Khan, ‘Hajj Terminal,’ Aga Khan Award for Architecture,

AKAA 1983 Cycle, accessed September 3, 2014, http://www.akdn.org/architecture/pdf/0274_Sau.pdf

Figure 10 Exposure and openness of structure with predominance on tent- roof structure and no walls to promote circulation both visually and via movement, Hajj Terminal, Saudi Arabia, 1980.

The desire to produce more Arab monumental architecture was witnessed in the National Assembly building in Kuwait (Fig. 11), which Curtis notes as a success from, “combining local references, generic traditional types and a modern sense of space.”35 The building resembled a bazaar with a central passage stemming cube-like units in a grid form, covered by a spread roof resembling the interior forms of a tent.36 The association with a dhow, the national symbol of Kuwait, along with the articulation of the built form, gives the structure its monumental identity. The maturity of identity within the developing Middle East was driven by the presence of architects, who inquired upon the climate, people and culture of the region. The attempts to create built form that identified itself specially within the Middle East, allowed for determination of tradition and modernity within the region.

35 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 585. 36 Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900, p. 586.

Figure 11 The sail like qualities of the National Assembly Building, Kuwait, 1972, symbolizing the

Dhow; the national symbol of Kuwait.

Bibliography

1973- 1974 Oil Crisis, California: University of California, Berkeley, accessed September 3, 2014, http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/debt/oilcrisis.html

Curtis, William J. R., Modern Architecture since 1900, 3rd ed., New York: Phaidon

Press Inc., 2013, p. 567- 588. Czumalo, Vladimir, Architecture and Identity, accessed September 3, 2014,

http://autoportret.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/17.-Czumalo.pdf Fathy, Hassan, ‘Tradition’s Role,’ Architecture for the Poor, an experiment in Rural

Egypt, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, accessed September 4, 2014, http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/fathy.pdf

Identity, Oxford Dictionaries, accessed September 3, 2014,

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/identity Lang, Jon T., ‘The first Generation of Modernist Architecture: 1945 to 1970,’ A

Concise History of Modern Architecture in India, Telangana: Orient Blackswan, 2002.

Minutillo, Josephine, Ricardo Legorreta’s Legacy, Architectural Digest, accessed

September 2, 2014, http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2012-02/architect-ricardo-legorreta-tribute-article

Pedreschi, R., & Theodossopoulos, 'The double-curvature masonry vaults of

Eladio Dieste,' Proceedings of the ICE - Structures and Buildings, Vol 160, No. 1, p. 3-11, DOI: 10.1680/stbu.2007.160.1.3, accessed on September 2, 2014, http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/4959198/Pedreschi_Theodossopoulos_ICE_stbu160_003.pdf

Ragette, Friedrich, ‘Building on Tradition,’ ARAMCO World Magazine, May/June

1971, Vol. 22, No. 3, accessed on September 3, 2014, https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197103/building.on.tradition.htm

Savio, Alejandro M., ‘Tradition and Modernity in Modern Architecture: as

exemplified in some of the works of Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies Van Der Rohe,’ The Spirit of the New, Roskilde University, 2006, p. 9, accessed September 3, 2014, http://rudar.ruc.dk/bitstream/1800/2309/1/The%20Spirit%20of%20the%20New.pdf

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill & Fazlur Rahman Khan, ‘Hajj Terminal,’ Aga Khan Award for Architecture, AKAA 1983 Cycle, accessed September 3, 2014, http://www.akdn.org/architecture/pdf/0274_Sau.pdf

Williams, Raymond, Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society, 2nd ed., New

York: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Image Credits

Figure 1: http://dynamic.architecture.com.au/i-cms?page=1.19.10608.11369.12076.12702 Figure 2: Herdeg, Klaus, Pref, Doshi, Balkrishna V., Formal Structure in Indian Architecture, New York: Rizzoli, 1991, p. 19. Figure 3: http://www.iceg.net/2010/gallery/full/DSC_0439.jpg Figure 4: http://www.rajrewal.in/projects/exhibition-hall-nations.htm Figure 5: http://gruporender.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/iglesia-del-cristo-obrero-eladio-dieste/ Figure 6: http://img1.adsttc.com/media/images/52dd/841e/e8e4/4ebd/0800/0002/large_jpg/Aq_110-arquitectura-mexico-fernanda-canales_10.jpg?1390248983 Figure 7: http://kiodigital.com/kiodigital/contenidos/revistas/mercadodeconvenciones/no88/final/files/assets/seo/page49_images/0004.jpg Figure 8: http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lk6nspSGJZ1qilr35o1_500.jpg Figure 9: http://www.akdn.org/architecture/pdf/0048_Sau.pdf Figure 10: http://www.akdn.org/architecture/pdf/0274_Sau.pdf Figure 11: http://indicainq8.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/dsc070285.jpg