Prominent Architects Research Articles

Review: Baldassare Longhena and Venetian Baroque Architecture, by Andrew Hopkins

Andrew Hopkins Baldassare Longhena and Venetian Baroque Architecture New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2012, 356 pp., 62 color and 305 b/w illus. $85, ISBN 9780300181098 Rising from the waters of the lagoon like a gleaming crown, the votive church of S. Maria della Salute has long provided the point of departure for historical accounts of Venetian baroque architecture. Yet, the church has represented a coda of sorts as well. Begun in 1630 by the architect Baldassare Longhena and brought to completion only a year after his death in 1681, the construction of the Salute spans five decades that witnessed the construction of a host of important projects throughout the city. Nevertheless, the Salute has come to overshadow all else that was built in seventeenth-century Venice, including the numerous projects that Longhena designed and constructed as the spectacular church slowly took shape. In this manner, the Salute has come to define the epoch in which it was built as well as the career of the period’s most prolific architect. Andrew Hopkins’s book Baldassare Longhena and Venetian Baroque Architecture seeks to correct this distortion by providing a more balanced and nuanced discussion of the variegated work for which Longhena was responsible over the course of his long and illustrious career. Drawing from a wealth of graphic and documentary material, this book reevaluates Longhena’s work and legacy while also shedding light on the patrons, collaborators, and social conditions that facilitated his rise and long reign as Venice’s most prominent architect for much of the seventeenth century. As a revised edition of Hopkins’s monograph Baldassare Longhena , published in Italian by Electa in 2006, the book incorporates the most recent scholarship on Longhena’s work, including many of the author’s own significant contributions to the subject, as well as a rich collection of color and black-and-white illustrations that are new to this edition.1 The revisions are most significant in chapters 4 and 5, which focus on Longhena’s ecclesiastical works …

Town Planning in Regional Australia: The Case of Launceston 1915–45

Historians of town planning in Australia have focused too much attention on capital cities and largely ignored developments in regional cities between 1915 and 1945. This article seeks to redress the balance by directing attention to the regional city of Launceston in northern Tasmania, Australia where a town planning consciousness developed in the 1930s not least due to the work of organisations like the Northern Tasmanian Town Planning Association and prominent architects seeking to preserve and extend Launceston's reputation as a beautiful garden city. The City Council created tensions with the town planning movement because of its reluctance to spend large amounts on town planning projects. From 1943, in the euphoria of a new society promised in the post-war world, town planning assumed greater importance to meet heightened public expectations. The State Government supported town planning and passed the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, the first major planning legislation in Tasmania. At last the interests of the City Council, the State Government and citizens' groups converged. This article examines what was achieved in the assertive regional city of Launceston between 1915 and 1945.

Zaha Hadid’s Techniques of Architectural Form-Making

The dramatic changes in today's architecture are inevitable consequences of the sweeping technological advances of the 21st century. Zaha Hadid is one of the prominent architects who have contributed on conceiving unprecedented, innovative architecture. Generations eager for creativity from among architectural students, architects and products? designers who admire her designs find it difficult to determine the underlying reason for the uniqueness of her works. Although, there is a notable interest in different media for her works, there is no equivalent reaction in the academic field on the systematic analysis for her techniques in designing architectural form. Therefore, this study?s aims are to find out these techniques and to investigate the underlying cause for her works distinctiveness from her other colleagues in architecture. A content analysis is conducted on Hadid?s words in texts and videos of her accessible interviews in internet, books and magazine to accomplish study?s aims as well as to find out how these techniques were applied in regard to the general conception of her projects. The study resulted in exposing the six techniques she uses to design the architectural form which are abstraction and fragmentation; idea of the ground and gravity; landscaping project and the surrounding context; Layering; play of light; seamlessness and fluidity. Moreover, the authors refer her works' uniqueness to employing contradiction principle through these techniques.

Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, 1919-2013. Requiem for Pedro

The news of his death was instantly dispersed, displacing all other issues of national or international interest. When I read the message that Louise Noelle sent to all docomomo Mexico members, I accepted it as a plain and sad confirmation of what had happened: “Dear colleagues, this tragic note is to inform about the death of architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez today, April 16. He was one of the most prominent architects of the Modern Movement and his work has been part of our writings”.

Zaha Hadid’s Techniques of Architectural Form-Making

The dramatic changes in today's architecture are inevitable consequences of the sweeping technological advances of the 21st century. Zaha Hadid is one of the prominent architects who have contributed on conceiving unprecedented, innovative architecture. Generations eager for creativity from among architectural students, architects and products? designers who admire her designs find it difficult to determine the underlying reason for the uniqueness of her works. Although, there is a notable interest in different media for her works, there is no equivalent reaction in the academic field on the systematic analysis for her techniques in designing architectural form. Therefore, this study?s aims are to find out these techniques and to investigate the underlying cause for her works distinctiveness from her other colleagues in architecture. A content analysis is conducted on Hadid?s words in texts and videos of her accessible interviews in internet, books and magazine to accomplish study?s aims as well as to find out how these techniques were applied in regard to the general conception of her projects. The study resulted in exposing the six techniques she uses to design the architectural form which are abstraction and fragmentation; idea of the ground and gravity; landscaping project and the surrounding context; Layering; play of light; seamlessness and fluidity. Moreover, the authors refer her works' uniqueness to employing contradiction principle through these techniques.

Exchanging Architecture and Urban Planning Practices during the Cold War: Between Political Ideology, Architectural Ambition, and Economic Opportunity

In 1985 the German architecture critic and historian Udo Kultermann composed one of the first surveys of architecture in postwar Eastern Europe. The second chapter of that groundbreaking collection deals in particular with architecture production in Poland in the 20th century. In the short introduction to that chapter, which discusses some of the avant-garde realizations, Kultermann cites Polish designers' involvement in the conferences of the Congres International d'Architecture Moderne, an association of architects and planners that was founded in 1928 and which assembled the world's most prominent architects of that time to discuss and spread the principles of the Modern Movement. Furthermore, Kultermann mentions Polish architects' employment at the office of the 'grand master' of modernism, Le Corbusier, and their appointment at American universities. The author thus conceptualizes the Polish architectural production of the interwar period as an offspring of the 'International Style'. However, Kultermann also highlights the contributions of Polish designers to international competitions and commissions after the Second World War, organized not only in Dublin, Paris, and Madrid, but also in more 'exotic' places such as Iraq, the Congo, and Syria. The author even catalogs these projects in a subchapter entitled Polnische Architekten im Ausland (1985, pages 119-120), emphasizing that Poland became an active player on the international architecture and urban planning scene after 1945. Although it is remarkable that Kultermann includes these projects in a discussion of Polish architecture as early as 1985, he does not elaborate on any of these realizations in countries beyond Europe, let alone their raison d'etre. Twenty-five years later, Lukasz Stanek finally addresses the work of Polish architects in the so-called 'Third World' (1) through the research, education, and exhibition project South of East-West, initiated in 2009. Through interviews and various kinds of archival research including historic documents, drawings, and photographs, Stanek maps the transfers of building and planning expertise between the 'Second World' and the Third World. Design became an increasingly global profession after the Second World War, with architecture and urban planning practices traveling extensively between the Northern and Southern hemispheres through development aid, imperialism, capitalism, geopolitical alliances, and other routes. In 2005 Eric Verdeil addressed some of the key issues in the debate about this topic through a mapping of the actors, organizations, networks, and mechanisms involved in the transfers of design practices after the Second World War, particularly between developing countries and the rest of the world. The work of Stanek contributes to this new domain by closely analyzing the means and mechanisms of the export of architecture, urbanism, and building technology from Poland (and by extension 'socialist countries') to Africa and the Middle East during the Cold War (see http://www.south-of-eastwest.net), thus critically repositioning traditional 'center-periphery' narratives (eg, Culot and Thievaud, 1992). Stanek explains these transfers of building and (urban) design practices by arguing that, for Poland, the export of knowledge and expertise was a valued tool to foster and underline geopolitical alliances with 'developing countries'. Such countries, in the early years of the Cold War, became important players in the confrontation between the socialist and the capitalist West (Stanek, 2011, page 4). However, while the specificity of Stanek's work lies in the focus on the architecture and urban design practices exported from Poland, the following question remains: how does the Polish case speak 'beyond itself'? In this review essay I show how the Polish case allows Stanek to develop more general arguments and issues that contribute fundamentally to our understanding of the transnational transfers of architecture and urban planning expertise to the Third World during the Cold War era. …

COLOR Y ESPACIO, PRÁCTICA Y TEORÍA. Reflexiones con Matthias Sauerbruch y Mark Wigley

This text is the result of some reflections raised in individual interviews both with architect Matthias Sauerbruch and Mark Wigley. Matthias Sauerbruch, together with Louisa Hutton, has developed an architectural career in which color has played an outstanding role and a consistent implementation. Mark Wigley, dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, is a prominent architect with numerous studies on leading matters related to architecture. With regard to color in architecture, it highlights his writing “White walls, designer dresses.” Both interviews were carried out during the congress “More for less”, held in Pamplona from 9th to 11th of June of 2010. We express our most sincere thanks to both Matthias and Mark for their generous contribution, and of course to the congress’ organization.

The limits of collaboration: Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren and the designing of the monument to the great fire of London

This article showcases my recent research into the professional relationship between Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, two of the early Royal Society's most prominent scientists and architects. There has been a recent tendency in architectural history to see Wren and Hooke as informal architectural collaborators, the co-designers of several important works in post-fire London. These include Greenwich Royal Observatory, the rebuilt parish churches in the City of London and, most prominently, the recently restored Monument to the Great Fire of London. In this article I argue that this reading of their relationship is a problematic one, ultimately dependent on an equally problematic account of their friendship. To do so I explore Wren and Hooke's professional relationship with regard to the Monument. I show, using new evidence, that their roles in the designing of the column have been misunderstood and that the final design can now be attributed to Hooke alone. Rather than being informal collaborators, Wren and Hooke did not stray from their duties as Royal Surveyor and City Surveyor, respectively, and Wren's contribution to the commissioning and designing of the Monument was as a consultant and ratifier only. In this respect their professional relationship as architects differed from their work as Royal Society scientists, in which informal collaboration was not only permissible but also encouraged. Overall, this conclusion has significant implications for our understanding of Wren and Hooke's careers as architects and sheds new light on one of early modern England's most important buildings.

Textile architecture=textile architektur

Textiles are among the materials with the most promising future in architecture. Even though they are frequently reduced to mere decorations in an everyday context, their enormous versatility coupled with their inherent sensual quality gives textiles tremendous architectural potential. Presenting projects by prominent architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Herzog and de Meuron, Kengo Kuma, and Graft Architects, this book provides a richly illustrated overview of the wide scope and versatility of textile architecture.

The Law Presidential Power and Foreign Affairs in the Bush Administration: The Use and Abuse of Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton's writings, virtually alone among the framers, were invoked by President George W. Bush and his legal advisors as the cornerstone of the administration's assertions of sweeping executive powers in the areas of war and peace and national security. The Bush administration's conscription of Hamilton to justify its soaring claims of presidential power, however, represents a distortion and abuse of his views of the latter president's views, particularly those expressed in The Federalist Papers. With the loss of Hamilton as an intellectual pillar, President Bush's theory of a plenary executive power finds no support among the framers. Analysis of Hamilton's writings will repair his undeserved reputation as an apologist for expansive executive powers.

The Architectural Development of Blagdon Hall, Northumberland

Among the country houses of Northumberland several have remained in the hands of the same families for many generations, including Blagdon Hall, 15 km north of Newcastle upon Tyne, the home of Viscount Ridley’s family (Fig. 1). There are good documentary records for the estate, some dating from the thirteenth century, and detailed accounts from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, reflecting the continuity of ownership since that time. Examination of these documents and of eighteenth-century illustrations suggested that previously accepted dating of the house needed to be reassessed, and raised questions about sources of designs and the involvement of prominent architects and craftsmen in the evolution of the house. Further investigation revealed that the family and commercial networks of Blagdon’s eighteenth-century owners and their builders led to the adoption of the Blagdon design elsewhere in northeast England. This article will examine the remodelling of Blagdon Hall as an example of the history of English élite architecture in the provinces.

DIGITAL ARCHITECTURAL PRAXIS AND IT’S STATUS IN PAKISTAN

Some frequently asked questions (FAQ) amongst the local architects of Pakistan is that what is Digital Architecture? What we need to know? Can we practice it? Why should we practice it? This article aims to answer these FAQs. The methodology adopted to answer these questions is through Desk Research, including case studies of projects of two prominent architects viz. “Frank Gehri” and “Peter Eisenman” who are pioneers of Digital Architecture, and interviews with some relevant local practitioners and academia, personal observation and experience of working in the architectural profession locally. The objective of this study is to present various dimensions of Digital Architecture to the local architects, also highlighting the issues of local praxis and some suggestions for their consideration for the future. Keywords: Digital Architecture – Pakistan – Architectural Praxis

Doe Library, University of California Berkeley (A History)

The Doe Library (and the first 12 buildings on the Berkeley campus) is work that would never have been built without the support of powerful interests in both the public and private sector, and there is a clear historical association between Beaux-Arts classicism and social elites of the eastern seaboard, some of whom made their way west to California replicating the social fabric of cities like Boston, Philadelphia and New York. The ability of a professional elite to use its connections with key social groups to command the most visible and prestigious commissions (in this case, the Phoebe A. Hearst Architectural Plan) is perhaps the most obvious reason the Doe Library was constructed. The Beaux-Arts design was made available to the public and the profession by an alliance between certain prominent architects and commercial interests with cultural pretensions. Although this paper intentionally limits itself to the period starting with the initial design competition (in 1896) to the opening of the facility (in 1911); perhaps the most remarkable chapter in the creation of the Doe Library is the fact that its high-brow design considerations have forced the creation of the Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF) a cooperative library storage facility, also the first of its kind in California. The NRLF is a utilitarian, and thoroughly 'modern' facility incorporating exactly the design elements that were intentionally avoided in building the original Doe Library.

On Fredric Jameson

Fredric Jameson (1934-), a critical theorist and Marxist philosopher who has written numerous books and articles on critical theory, is recognized as the first thinker who brought postmodernism's critical theory into architectural discourse. In Jameson's own words, “it was the representation of architecture that sparked dynamic dialogues of postmodernism as a cultural logic.” Architecture thus plays a most significant role in the formulation of his postmodernist theory. Jameson's contribution has become one of the major areas of research for several prominent architectural theorists and architects. This paper reviews Jameson's shift in his approach from Marxist theory to postmodernism. The investigation into this shift not only sheds light on the early theorizing of architecture, but also begins to add a historical dimension to various strands of interdisciplinary thinking on architecture and its philosophical undergirdings. Following a historical introduction to Jameson's theories and criticisms of architecture, the paper then covers his life and theories; clarifies his concepts of Marxism, postmodernism, and architecture, with particular attention to his interest in historicism and the role of built forms in cultural construction; and, lastly, delivers a thorough criticism of his works that have influenced architectural disciplines.

Railway terminals: Accessibility for persons with reduced mobility

In the era of integration of all means of transport, there is revived interest in railway transport, which cannot any long exist as a transport system on its own or as an independent part within the growing cities. This renaissance of railway transport, and its integration with other means of transportation, led to a great production of exclusive terminals in recent days. High demands and investments related to these objects gathered together the most prominent architects and constructors, and as result offered a diversity of modern terminals, which integrate the static and dynamic character of the building into a unified whole, and celebrate new technologies and speed. Removal of barriers for customers, abundance of daylight, space filled with views, easy orientation and safe passage through space are some of the most important imperatives for modern railway terminals. Among other things this includes accessibility of railway infrastructure for persons with reduced mobility. The paper explores conditions for implementation of ?Technical Specification for Interoperability - People with Reduced Mobility? on Serbian Railways.

Dutch Influences in William Bruce's Architecture

This paper takes a specific look at the work of important seventeenth century Dutch architects and documentary sources which may have influenced, either directly or indirectly, one of Scotland's most prominent architects of the same period. Dutch and English classicism are noted as having an important impact on the architect's work, but also are Bruce's direct personal connections with Holland.

Carpenter, Artisan, Architect; Status In Late Nineteenth Century Wellington

The distinction between a minor professional architect and a leading builder in Wellington was considerably more blurred in the late nineteenth century than it would be today. However, busy architects could make a lot of money and the term "architect" carried status that might open more doors than would be available to a mere builder. Late nineteenth century Wellington is now apparently only represented by a handful of buildings by prominent architects. Most people automatically think of the CBD and names like Thomas Turnbull & Son, William Chatfield, Frederick de Jersey Clere, John Campbell and perhaps William Crichton. Clayton, Toxward and Tringham were dead or almost gone, and new generation architects were barely emerging. We contend, however, that this picture is an oversimplification and considerably more of 1890s Wellington remains, as does the evidence for a much longer roll-call of architects, some of whom practised on the fringes, both of the city and of their profession. The architects we discuss here did not generally design large, flamboyant buildings, nor did they cater for rich company clients. Many of the lesser-known architects were particularly susceptible to boom-bust cycles and were forced to seek other employment in lean times - hence their rapid arrivals and departures from the trade listings in the directories of these years

Bypassing the Peninsula: The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

In a feature devoted to historically significant civil engineering projects, this article describes the history and design of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which, after disruptions by wars, financing problems and lack of support, was completed in 1829. A 1834 map of its route is provided. The chief engineer on the project was the prominent architect and engineer Benjamin H. Latrobe, known for his work on the U.S. Capitol and the Baltimore Basilica. The plan to was link the Chesapeake Bay with the Atlantic Coast through a more direct route, using a canal that would take advantage of various tributaries of rivers in the region. The total length is roughly 13.6 miles. It still operates today and is a waterway at sea level that can accommodate larger vessel. Elements of its original infrastructure are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the canal has been formally recognized as historically significant by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The politics of urban beauty: New York & its Art Commission

Since its founding in 1898, the Art Commission of the City of New York (ACNY) has served as the city s aesthetic gatekeeper, evaluating all works of art intended for display on city property. And over the years, the commission s domain has expanded dramatically to include everything from parks and courthouses to trash cans and sidewalks. In ThePolitics of Urban Beauty, Michele H. Bogart argues that this unprecedented authority has made the commission host to some complex negotiations involving artists, architects, business leaders, activists, and politicians about not only the role of art in urban design, but also the shape and meaning of the city and its public spaces. A former vice president of the ACNY, Bogart tells its story here from an insider s perspective, tracing the commission s history from its origins as an outgrowth of progressive reform to its role in New York s reconstruction after 9/11. Drawing on archival correspondence, drawings, and photographs from commission collections, Bogart presents bracing examples of works ranging from New Deal murals to Louis Kahn s unbuilt Memorial to Six Million Jewish Martyrs that illuminate the ACNY s subtle yet powerful role in shaping New York s identity. The Politics of Urban Beauty is thus a fascinating history of a New York art world that paralleled and sometimes unpredictably intersected with the more familiar realm of prominent architects, painters, galleries, and museums. Bogart s fresh view adds a critical dimension to our understanding of the city beautiful and makes an important and lively contribution to the study of art history, urban design, and New York City itself.

A qualitative feature-based characterization of 2D architectural style

Architectural plans are design diagrams that describe building layout where space is planned according to design requirements. Style in architecture is generally characterized as common features appearing in a particular class of building design. This research seeks to address how to recognize architectural design style from a 2D plan diagram. We explore this question in a computational encoder-analyzer (E-A) model for 2D plans, where a characterization of 2D style is based on qualitative spatial representation and information theoretic measures. In a preliminary study of a prominent architect's plans, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. We conclude by discussing practical applications of automated plan recognition and classification in design support tools.