THE CONCEPT OF "MEGASTRUCTURE" IN MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

In the 1960s, the theoretical concept of a megastructure - an extremely large structure - arose in architecture, which predicted the further development of architecture in practice. The concept of megastructure became more complicated and gained depth, combining progressive architectural concepts and theories of the second half of the 20th century ("open form", "indeterminacy", structuralism, architectural metabolism, etc.). But deepening the individual provisions of the concept introduced by F. Maki, one of the defining characteristics of a megastructure – its multifunctionality – did not receive further development among theorists of the middle of the 20th century. Also, in our opinion, it is important to emphasize that the excessive size of the building is accompanied by the extreme complexity of the project program and the construction of the architectural form.
 We traced the evolution of the concept, which began with the design of cities as a single structure, and spread to the design of buildings and the organization of city fragments.
 The border of the 20th and 21st centuries is filled with the practice of building super-large buildings and complexes, the construction of which requires enormous economic efforts of the country, the introduction of technical innovations and the attraction of particularly large investments. We practically witnessed the emergence of a new typology of buildings that combines architecture and urban planning, and for which in most cases the term F. Maki - megastructure is used.
 Architectural theory responds to the problem of super-large structures with the concepts of Groβform, Bigness architecture and megaform. Each of the concepts considered in the study offers its own strategy for solving the problem of gigantism (beyond the boundaries of classical architectural methods) - a megastructural approach (F. Maki), an approach based on a large-scale architectural theme (O. Ungers), a topographic approach (K. Frampton).
 All presented concepts combine the determination of the city-forming role of super-large buildings, their consideration as an effective means of solving the problems of the modern city.