Deconstruction: Between Icon and Architectural Landmark, Two Spanish Examples

Abstract

The 20th century was a period in the history of humanity that was marked by numerous technological advances, many discoveries and achievements in terms of knowledge, science and the arts, as well as numerous changes and political restructuring. In the Human Sciences, especially in Philosophy, new concepts and thoughts that marked and conquered the opinions of the intellectuals of that time emerged. One of these new concepts was the “Deconstruction” around the 60s of that century. The term “Deconstruction” was used for the first time by the philosopher Jacques Derrida in his work “De Grammatologie” in 1967. Deconstructivist Architecture emerged in the 80s of the 20th century. Deconstruction had as the main intention the rediscovery of new values, through the contrast of concepts, and the suppression of Modernism. Architecture was no exception, because new thoughts, styles, movements and new constructive techniques arose, which produced and caused a (re)affirmation of Architecture in society, through the implementation of new configurations and modern spatial conceptions. “Deconstruction”, as an architectural movement, arose from the fusion of the Russian Constructivism and other movements related to the philosophical concept of “Deconstruction” presented by Jacques Derrida. But it is the 1988 exhibition “Deconstructivist Architecture” organized by Marc Wigley and Philip Johnson at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York, that acknowledges Deconstruction in Architecture. Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Coop Himmelb(l)au, and Bernard Tschumi were the avant-garde architects featured in this exhibition. On the 25th anniversary of the exhibition, MoMA curator Barry Bergdoll hosted “Deconstructivism: Retrospective Views and Actuality”, which traced the subsequent careers of that seven architects to examine the impact of the exhibition and the changes in architecture in those 25 years. This paper identifies the Deconstruction concepts that were the basis of deconstructivist architecture but keeping in mind that Iconic deconstructivist architects were not committed completely to all concepts of this philosophy as they produced their architectural objects. Two iconic buildings as Peter Eisenman’s City of Culture outside Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (Spain) are presented to achieve the debate.