The potential presence of Zoltán Szentkirályi in space theory

Tamás Meggyesi

doi:10.3311/ppar.7412

Abstract

According to the basic theorem of Prof. Zoltán Szentkirályi, the interpretation of the history of architecture should be extended to the history of organizing space. As linear space in architecture is the way subsequent space-elements develop for us in time, it may be related with the urban space composed of streets and squares. Figure-ground analysis proved to be a useful tool to describe the dichotomy of mass and space. The historical categories of Prof. Szentkirályi: the topological, the eschatological, the intellectual and the rational may be connected with the categories of Kevin Lynch: the city of faith (i.e. medieval cities), the city of the engine (i.e. the industrial city) and the polycentric city of our age. It may be related with the space-theoretical concepts of Christian Norberg-Schulz: the centre and the place, the direction and the way and the network city correspondingly. As a morphological analogy, we may speak about central, linear and even or dispersed distribution of buildings. Finally, the study introduces five qualitative categories to describe spiritual orientations of contemporary urban design: the chaotic, the organic, the rational, the emotional and the symbolic. The combination of these categories may provide a complex system of evaluation.

Highlights

According to the basic theorem of Prof
In spite of the continuity between the architectural and urban scale, the basic difference seems to be that architecture is interested in interior space, while urbanism is committed to exterior or outdoor space, which is the world of streets and squares that mainly represents the public realm
Relating to mass oriented exterior space, he underlines that “mass is dissolved in space as if it were flowing in and around interwoven with continous and mild transitions and with a rich play of positive and negative forms”. [9, p.434] For Szentkirályi, mass does not appear as an independent entity in our senses, but more as a kind of space-filling form

Summary

Introduction

According to the basic theorem of Prof. Zoltán Szentkirályi, the interpretation of the history of architecture should be extended to the history of organizing space. In spite of the continuity between the architectural and urban scale, the basic difference seems to be that architecture is interested in interior space, while urbanism is committed to exterior or outdoor space, which is the world of streets and squares that mainly represents the public realm. [9, p.434] For Szentkirályi, mass does not appear as an independent entity in our senses, but more as a kind of space-filling form.

Results

Conclusion