Third Year Dissertation

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Introduction

As decades, styles and

laws continue to pass our per-

ception of what a perfect form

in architecture constitutes per-

sistently varies. There are threemain eras when we seemed to

think perfection was within our

grasp: the vernacular, classical

architecture and the modernist

style. The transition from one

to the next can be seen to have

both circumstance and require-

ment in common but the results

of these circumstances and re-

quirements yield three of the

most vastly differing styles in

the history of architectural de-sign. Just as each comes within

scope of what may be described

as perfection, the next comes

along putting new, opposing

laws in place. The natural, free-

owing vernacular style gives

way to the highly controlled,

ordered and ornamental style of

the classical era which, in turn,

gives way to the simplistic, min-

imalistic style of the modernist

age. Each could be describedas being globular in magni-

tude. These are the three styles

that reached every corner of

the globe and leave evidence of

their presence that stand to this

day. We began with the vernac-

ular style that embodied perfec-

tion in its naturalistic harmony

with the earth. It was not about

aesthetics but focused on need:

the need for shelter; protection;warmth; shade. This was then

overcome by the classical that

showed perfection in its intri-

cate proportioning and calcula-

tion. In terms of geometry, ratio

and mathematics, classicism is

the closest thing to perfection

we have seen. The next big style

to envelope the globe was the

modernist style, contrasting

with the classical in its simplistic

nature with a focus on technolo-gies rather than ornamentation.

The geometric shapes remain

but now have no meaning oth-

er than aesthetical. As we near

the exhaustion of the modern-

ist style we have to ask, is there

a further level of perfection to

yet be reached or are these the

closest we will ever achieve?



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The Vernacular

The traditional ideal of

the vernacular style refers to

the literature of local place andlanguage and the architecture of

local materials and methods. It

sprung from the rich and varied

history of diverse settlements

around the world as a purely na-

tive reaction to the situation andconditions of the people. It was a

means of recording events, leg-

ends and stories, of battling and

overcoming regional weather

conditions and of preserving a

native way of life. A truly ver-

nacular piece of work gives the

outsider a glimpse of life within

this other world in a way thatwould not be had through any

other medium. It provides theexperience of witnessing gen-

erations of learning, modi ca-

tion and improvement and tells

a story of the growth of an entirecommunity. With travel beyond

your country border unheard of

in most cases in the vernacular

The Irish vernacular thatched cottage



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era, outside in uences did not

manipulate the style and so the

globe was littered with unique,

almost incestual, inward-look-

ing cultures that were set in their

ways and reluctant to change.

Was this un-tainted feat one that

merited the title of perfection or

was it merely the beginning of

something that had yet to fuseand link with the surrounding

world to be deemed successful?

The argument is strong for both

sides. It cannot be considered a

perfect form if it only relates to

a small number of people as per-

fection is a universal quality, but

it also becomes contaminated

when allowed to mingle with

alternate, con icting methods.

A perfect form in anymedium is considered to be

something whole, something

complete. It is undeniably true

to itself and its intentions. It is

something which is seen as be-

ing universally beautiful. This

being the case, the traditional

vernacular does not t with-

in these criteria. It relates to a

speci c culture with speci c

requirements and an internal

ideal of beauty. The trespasser

within this culture, without the

background of its history and

people, may not understand

or accept the words and forms

put before him. Although to the

trained eye the beauty may be

clear this does not yield a pure

vision as preconceptions havebeen formed through knowl-

edge of the culture. The purest

experience can only be had by

the untutored eye that embarks

on a journey of discovery as it

explores the realms of a new

world. If this eye fails to under-

stand what is put before it, it has

not succeeded perfection. To be

considered perfect it must be

comprehensible and unambigu-

ous which relies on a link witha global language and under-

standing. Does tting into these

criteria compromise the de ni-

tion of vernacular or does it vali-

date it? Can the vernacular sur-

vive if it is contained within tiny

pockets of society but on the

other hand can it exist at all if it

relates to the global population?



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The term vernacular acts

as a blanket term under which

every individual native style of

every country around the world

is covered. These styles, though

categorized beneath the same

title bare no relation to each oth-

er. They range from the thatched

cottage to the mud hut, possibly

the two most prominent im-ages associated with the term

vernacular as we look back on

it today. The vernacular of each

individual country grew from

the basic human requirement

of shelter against the elements.

Using what materials could be

found, and taking into account

the regional weather conditions,

styles began to emerge. Where

the sun scorched the earth they

designed for shade, wherestorms and downpours of rain

were frequent a waterproof cov-

er was essential and where the

winters brought a deadly cold

insulation and warmth were

top priority. The best materials

around were found to suit each

requirement and were manipu-

lated over time to reach their full

potential. Beginning with the

very basic and bare minimum

the designs developed and be-

came more sophisticated with

time but all the while remained

focused on the initial necessity.

The African mud hut is

the best example of a "perfect"

form. As a vernacular style,

mud huts can be subdividedonce more into north, south,

east and west based on region-

ally found materials. One nds

structures in thatch, stick/

wood, adobe, mud, mud brick,

rammed earth and stone with a

preference for material based on

district: North Africa uses stone

and rammed earth, west Africa

uses mud/adobe, central Africa

uses thatch/wood and more

perishable materials whilst eastAfrica uses a mix of each ma-

terial. Many may believe that

Africa boasts no architectural

conquests south of the Egyptian

pyramids but these mud huts

are most de nitely not as acci-

dental nor as simplistic as they

may seem. These huts alone al-

low an insight into an entire way

of life and experience of a world



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along the equator also means

that Africa gets equal amounts

of sunlight and darkness each

day and there is no prolonged

winter period. As such, most

of life in Africa is lived outsidewith shelter needed only from

the cold at night and from wild

animals. There has never been a

vastly different to our own. The

African climate remains warm

throughout the year with the

most uncomfortable climatic

period being the long rains

which are quick and volumi-nous periods of precipitation,

unlike the continuous light

rains of Europe. Lying mainly

Vernacular African mud huts





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many cases destroyed the natu-

ral, existing order of the land.

Though this is possibly

the longest surviving genuine

vernacular way of life and archi-

tecture, the pure, simplistic and

harmonious lifestyle of the na-

tive Africans is being stomped

out due to our failure to under-stand the natural beauty of the

order and a belief that these

living conditions cannot be sat-

isfactory as they do not reach

the comfort levels of our own

homes. A failure to imagine liv-

ing in them ourselves results in

a decision that nobody could be

happy inhabiting them. This is

the case with any truly vernacu-

lar style. A standard of comfort

and aesthetic quality was setin modern times and anything

that doesn't reach this standard

is eradicated. Where these stan-

dards were set, the vernacular

became something boring and

uninteresting. These areas then

enforce their ideas of what is

beautiful on those around them.

The demise of the vernacular

here was brought about by a

total ignorance and unwilling-

ness to accept what we did not

understand. The vernacular

died out as a fashionable style

as it became too ordinary and

lacking in an ability to refresh

or redesign itself. The building

methods used by the locals for

generations were believed to

have been pushed to their limitsand exhausted. No more could

be accomplished within the

con nes of indigenous meth-

ods and materials. As is the case

with any trend the subsequent

trend is the inverse. Rather than

have something completely

native and cultural it seemed

much more exotic to adopt the

styles of distant lands as a sign

of wealth and being well trav-

elled.. Indications that you werewell-travelled were amongst

the most esteemed design fea-

tures and so we began to look

away from home for inspiration.

Elaborate decoration depicting

exotic fruits, plants and animals

became a symbol of wealth. The

upper class would bring plants

back from their travels to be

grown in their exotic garden,



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which became a feature of every

well-to-do country home. Voy-

ages overseas were sponsored

on the promise of returning with

foreign spices, jewels and cloths

to increase ones stature within

society. This would be the down-

fall of the traditional vernacu-

lar. Having something differ-

ent to everyone around us willalways make us feel as though

we possess something special

and unique, in this case the anti-

vernacular, styles experienced

around the world and applied at

home. This unique quality was

absent in conventional designs

where each building was under

the same restrictions of material

usage and construction method.

The beauty in these construc-

tions faded within the communi-ties as it remained monotonous

and tedious leaving a gap to be

lled by the next "perfect" style.

Classicism

To ll the hole left by the de-

mise of the traditional vernacu-

lar came the strictly cloned style

that spread around the world

in the age of classicism. The Re-

naissance period saw renewed

interest in the ruins left by the

ancient cultures of Greece and

Rome, and the fertile devel-

opment of a new architecture

based on classical principles.

Rooted in the Greek traditions

the classical manner was ap-pointed the most perfect and

pleasing style. Beginning in

the artistic capital of the world,

Italian scholars and philoso-

phers deemed the highly calcu-

lated and proportioned style to

be the perfect form. Rigorous

laws were put in place based

on what was considered to be

most pleasing to God, beginning

with the design of temples and

spreading into the residentialdomain. It became accepted that

the circle was the purest form as

it was most used throughout na-

ture by God himself. There are

just three ancient and original

orders of classical architecture,

the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian,

which were invented by the

Greeks. To these the Romans

added the Tuscan, which they



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made simpler than the Doric,

and the Composite, which was

more ornamental than the Co-

rinthian. The height of a column

is calculated in terms of a ratio

between the diameter of the

shaft at its base and the height of

the column. A Doric column can

be described as seven diameters

high, an Ionic column as eightdiameters high and a Corinthian

column nine diameters high.

The concept of proportion be-

came a more humanist idea with

the study of the work of Vitru-

vius and the belief that propor-

tion in building should adhere

to those of the human body in

which all proportions come back

to the golden section number

Phi( 1.681). The proportions in

building were now directly re-lated to the human proportions

of the perfectly built man for

"As man is the image of God and

the proportions of his body are

produced by divine will, so the

proportions in architecture have

to embrace and express the cos-

mic order" 1. These theories were

1 Wittkower, Rudolph. ArchiteturalPrinciples in the Age ofHumanism.

brought through the fteenth

Century by Alberti and then the

sixteenth Century by Palladio,

each adding to them and adapt-

ing them but sticking rigidly to

the same basic principles. Pal-

ladio moved away from eccle-

siastical buildings and worked

more on palazzos and villas but

still brought the man-inspiredrules of architecture to his work.

These Classical ideals

for architecture were born in

the height of the Renaissance.

As a result of this they spread

quickly around the world as this

was a time for the spreading of

ideas with the development of

the printing press and an in-

crease of interest in worldwide

travel. The ideas of classicismas "perfect"architecture became

universal and each individual

vernacular style was replaced

by these new laws. Design Pat-

terns for construction prolifer-

ated the globe and images were

simply chosen from their pages

and reproduced on vacant sites

by anyone who could afford to

build them. Books such as Pal-



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ladio's own "I Quattro Libri

dell'Architetture", Vitruvius'

"Ten Books on Architecture" and

more recently, James Gibbs' "A

Book of Architecture, containing

designs of buildings and orna-

ments" (London, 1728) spread

the ideals of classicism. Palladi-

anism became brie y popular in

Britain in the mid-seventeenthcentury. In the early eighteenth

century it returned to fashion,

not only in England but also in

many northern European coun-

tries. Later it had a surge in

popularity throughout the Brit-

ish colonies in North America,

highlighted by examples such as

Drayton Hall in South Carolina,

the Redwood Library in New-

port, Rhode Island, the Morris-

Jumel Mansion in New YorkCity and Thomas Jefferson's

Monticello and Poplar Forest

in Virginia. To show the Italian

connection, Drayton Hall, for

example, bears remarkable re-

semblance to Villa Cornaro, near

Venice which was designed by

Palladio. The spread of Classi-

cism is also clearly evident here

in Ireland. Some of our great-

est architectural feats could

have easily been taken straight

from these classical guidebooks.

Castletown House in County

Kildare is the rst house inIreland to follow the rules of

Classicism directly. It was built

between 1722 and 1729 and con-

sists of two wings connected by

Drayton Hall, South Carolina

Villa Cornaro, near Venice



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ionic colonnades anking the

Renaissance inspired central

block of the house. The wings,

in true classical fashion, con-

tained the kitchens on one side

and the stables on the other.

The main house was possibly

designed by Alessandro Galilei

with the wings added later by

Sir Edward Lovett Pearse whohad just returned from a tour

of Italy, bringing with him the

classical elements he had en-

countered. The original layout

of the house also owed much to

the plans of English houses such

as Chevening in Kent which had

been recently published. Ch-

evening was designed by Inigo

Jones, the rst Englishman to

study architecture in Italy and

the rst to introduce Classical

design to England. Those linked

with the global spread of clas-

sicism, in recent publications,

are spoken of almost as heroes,

but these could also be seen as

the people responsible for the

loss of many vernacular styles.Looking once more at the Af-

rican vernacular, this was one

of few regions that the classical

style did not manage to perme-

ate. It is only in recent years that

western civilisation has begun to

in uence the African way of life.

This could be an indication that,

had the classical style failed to

travel beyond Italy, there would

be a much greater and diverse

collection of vernaculars aroundthe world, leading ultimately to

a greater universal understand-

ing of nature, the Earth and how

we t in amongst it. With classi-

cism came a classical way of life,

following the lifestyle the archi-

tecture would demand. Here,

the image of the typical classical

house will always be linked to

the upper class families of the

Chevening House, Kent

Castletown House, Co.Kildare



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Irish countryside in the eigh-

teenth century because anyone

who t the upper class criteria

and could afford to build one

had a Palladian inspired house.

As was the case with the

vernacular, the Classical style

is only recently beginning to

expire. Its meticulous detailingis being cast aside in favour of

simplistic, minimalistic forms,

showing once more that the suc-

ceeding style to any fashion is

the direct opposite, almost in an

act of rebellion. The heavy pat-

terning and textures swiftly fad-

ed and the glory days of the clas-

sical became an eerie shadow

on our landscapes. As the style

became gradually more acces-

sible to all levels of social class,it became less attractive to those

at the top who began to strive

for something to, once more,

set them apart from the rest.

Modernism

As the Renaissance was the cata-

lyst for the spread of Classicism,

the modern style was carried

around the globe on the back of

the second world war. It had its

beginnings in the decades be-

fore 1914, reaching its highest

pitch of creative vigour in the

late twenties and then ceased to

move during the war. This was

not because the war had killed it

but because it had rendered itsuniversal acceptance inevitable.

Modern architecture is charac-

terized by the simpli cation of

form and creation of ornament

from the structure and theme of

the building. Its effects spread

and spread with undiminishing

momentum to the extent that

now there is no corner of the

industrialized world in which

the thin, high, glossy blocks, the

perspectives of concrete posts,the eternally repeating rectan-

gles are not typical and familiar.

The availability of new build-

ing materials such as iron, steel,

and glass drove the invention of

new building techniques as part

of the Industrial Revolution and

they are now forms and mate-

rials common to every square

meter of the planet. Our world



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is becoming a muddle of large,

inhabited, gleaming white geo-

metric shapes. Modern architec-

ture can be characterized by an

application of the principle that

the materials and functional re-

quirements determine the result,

an adoption of the machine aes-

thetic, an emphasis of horizon-

tal and vertical lines, a creationof ornament using the structure

and theme of the building, or

a rejection of ornamentation, a

simpli cation of form and elimi-

nation of "unnecessary detail".

The buildings in the images be-

low could be anywhere around

the globe, there are no de ning

features, differences as a result

of place or connection to the

heritage of the area. This is mag-

azine architecture, eye-catching

imagery of which we construct

an exact replica for ourselves.

It has no personality, predomi-

nantly it is merely a large white

concrete box. Everything has be-

come about shapes rather than

culture and way of life. Geom-

etry has no place in architecture.People and heritage should be

at the forefront of architectural

design. A web page posted the

following question to its fol-

lowers: "What is architecture?"

Of the 34 replies they received

to the question, 33 de ned it as

the process of designing and

overseeing construction of aes-

thetically pleasing buildings,



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one replied that it was "an art

that re ects human feelings and

dreams in shapes within sci-

ence, environment and human-

ity", but for the most part, no

response mentions lifestyle, her-

itage, tradition, culture, climate,

beliefs, nature.....the things that

should be considered most im-

portant of all. The modern styleis as much about the physically

built style of architecture as it

is about how we have begun

to see architecture. The world

sees architects as pompous and

egotistical for thinking they are

making a real difference to the

planet and architects see the

rest of the world as being oblivi-

ous and ignorant for not under-

standing the self-proclaimed

importance of their work. Ar-chitecture is viewed as the act of

making pretty buildings. There

is no intellectual attachment, as

was the case in the classical era.

Good architecture, in common

perception, is a term describing

the aesthetical quality of a build-

ing, not how one reacts with and

within it. There is little room for

such reaction in a concrete cube

especially one we see multi-

plied to the point of exhaustion.

The International style

was a major architectural style

that emerged in the 1920s and

1930s, the formative decades

of Modernist architecture. The

term had its origin from the

name of a book by Henry-Rus-sell Hitchcock and Philip John-

son written to record the Inter-

national Exhibition of Modern

Architecture held at the Muse-

um of Modern Art in New York

City in 1932 which identi ed,

categorized and expanded upon

characteristics common to Mod-

ernism across the world. As a re-

sult, the focus was more on the

stylistic aspects of Modernism.

Hitchcock's and Johnson's aimswere to de ne a style of the time,

which would encapsulate this

modern architecture. They iden-

ti ed three different principles:

the expression of volume rather

than mass, balance rather than

preconceived symmetry and the

expulsion of applied ornament.

The common characteristics of

the International style include: a



16

radical simpli cation of form, a

rejection of ornament, and adop-

tion of glass, steel and concrete

as preferred materials. Further,

the transparency of buildings,

construction (called the honest

expression of structure), and ac-

ceptance of industrialized mass-

production techniques contrib-

uted to the international style'sdesign philosophy. Finally, the

machine aesthetic, and logi-

cal design decisions leading to

support building function were

used by the International archi-

tect to create buildings reaching

beyond historicism. The stark,

unornamented appearance of

the International style met with

contemporaneous criticism and

continues to be criticized today

by many. Especially in largerand more public buildings, the

style is commonly subject to dis-

paragement as ugly, inhuman,

sterile, and elitist. Some of the

most important examples of this

international style exhibited in

the Museum of Modern Art in

1932 were: Alvar Aalto's Turun

Sanomat building; Le Corbusi-

er's Stein house, Villa Savoye and

Carlos de Beistegui Penthouse;

Otto Eisler's Double House;

Walter Gropius' Bauhaus School

and City Employment Of ce;

Erich Mendelsohn's Schocken

Department Store; Mies Van

Der Rohe's Apartment House,

German pavilion at the Barce-

lona Exposition and Tugendhat

House; Jacobus Oud's WorkersHouses,(Seidlung, Kiefhoek;

Karl Schneider's Kunstverein.

Conclusion

As this most recent globular

style spreads, questions of form

in architecture are tending to re-

cede, giving place to questions

of technology and industrializa-

tion, planning and mass-produc-

tion for social needs - questionsof building rather than archi-

tecture. Architecture will soon

dissolve into a close federation

of town-planning, structural en-

gineering and industrial design.

There is much to fear in this

transformation as it is, in effect,

the full arrival of a new man-

made environment that will ei-

ther end in a full loop around



17

to a restoration of the vernacu-

lar way or a mutated, complex,

"utopic" alternative. We can al-

ready see the notion of a retreat

to a simpler, traditional way

becoming the idyllic vision of a

perfect lifestyle. It has taken cen-

turies for us to realise that what

we started with was perfect in

its own right. We are graduallycoming around to an ecological

harmony with nature but the

harm that has been caused in

the process has brought irre-

versible damage to our planet.

Having experienced these three

globular styles, we now move

forward with the development

of our idea of perfection. Do

we hold on to any of the rules

of the vernacular, classicism or

modernism? Could perfectionbe born of an amalgamation of

the three? With the knowledge

of the advantages and disadvan-

tages, failures and successes of

each can we move forward with

the best points and attempt to

marry them together or is yet

another new, revolutionary style

required? "Buildings, like po-

ems and rituals, realize culture.

Their designers rationalize their

actions differently. Some say

they design and build as they

do because it is the ancient way

of their people and place. Oth-

ers claim that their practice cor-

rectly manifests the universally

valid laws of science. But all of

them create out of the small-

ness of their own experience"2.2 Glassie, Henry.

Vernacular Architecture



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Third Year Dissertation

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