Western Architecture Research Articles

Transplantation to Localisation: The Importation of Western Structural Technologies in Modern Shanghai Architecture Based on a Study of the Bund Buildings, 1843\u20131943

Shanghai’s modern architectural heritage in the 19th and early 20th centuries is an essential aspect of modern Chinese architectural history because of its outstanding characteristics and well-preserved conditions. Modern Shanghai architecture was transformed by the importation of Western structural technologies and materials in addition to their forms and institutions. After 100 years of development since 1843, there were over 100 important buildings in the Bund area by 1943. These buildings were built in different periods using the best available structural technologies. This study focuses on the technological dimension of modern Shanghai architecture. Based on an architectural survey and a literature investigation of the Bund buildings, this study explores the evolution of modern structural technologies in Shanghai by analysing the Bund buildings’ key structural factors. The influences of the localisation and implementation of Western architecture’s building technologies in Shanghai were also analysed, including time of importation, characteristics and integration of local craftsmanship and materials. This study focuses on the method and analyses of architectural technology history from not only technological and historical perspectives, but also a social sciences perspective.

Through the eyes of a deaf architect: reconsidering conventional critiques of vision-centered architecture

ABSTRACTCritics point to an excessive visual emphasis in Western architecture bringing about a weakened sense of belonging, and a disconnection from places and from other people. Architects’ visual way of knowing and working is further criticized for contributing to an alienating “architecture of the eye.” This article seeks to challenge this critique by offering a more nuanced understanding of vision and its connecting potential. To this end, it engages with how a d/Deaf architect, George Balsley, uses and attaches meaning to vision, partially prompted by the highly visual and spatial dynamics inherent to sign language. It relies on several interviews, observations, and a guided tour through a building he helped design, the Sorenson Language and Communication Center (SLCC) in Washington, DC. The article looks specifically into the building’s vision-centered features in relation to George’s d/Deaf ways of being. His way of seeing is reflected in distinct characteristics of the SLCC that sustain (sign) language, mediate interpersonal communication, and facilitate connection to and understanding of spaces – features that are relevant for but also beyond the d/Deaf community. The architecture that issues from George’s d/Deaf ways of seeing thus challenges the critique that vision-centered architecture by definition disconnects.

CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC DWELLING IN EGYPT BETWEEN FORM AND CONTENT

The Egyptian architecture has ceased to develop, even became impassable, andhas been stymied by the expatriate Western architecture that has spread throughout theEgyptian society since the early 19th century, either Because of colonialism or the desirefor change and imitation. Therefore, the Egyptian architect stopped the original productionand innovation, and became driven by the the West, grabbing from them all the modernand innovative ideas and principles of technology, which led to the absence of our heritageand the acquisition of authentic architecture, as if the possibility of local link to Islamicarchitecture can’t happen without returning to that old image, which has already lost muchof its brilliance, as a result of the careless indiscriminate practices by many architects. Inlight of this civilized situation, to which the contemporary Egyptian architecture hasreached, and the Islamic Egyptian architecture that has been stagnant for nearly twocenturies, the issue of survival and development has become a real dilemma. Although thisheritage architecture has lived for hundreds of years, it still has the bear ability in thecontemporary environment. Therefore, this research aims to find a new approach that canintegrate the originality of our Islamic heritage and its development. Islamic architecturealone can not be the driving force of creativity and innovation, but it involves theinfluences and potentials to stimulate creativity. Thus, formal structures of heritagearchitecture can be translated in a new, innovative and contemporary way to cope with themodern development of architecture, and then go beyond the mere formal understandingof that architecture. لقد أصاب العمارة المصرية التراثية الجمود وتوقفت عن التطور، بل وتراجعت بشکل ملحوظ أمام تلک العمارة الغربيةالوافدة، حيث أخذت تنتشر في جميع أنحاء المجتمع المصري في أوائل القرن التاسع عشر، بدافع الرغبة في التقليدوالتغيير، وبالتالي توقف المعماري المصري عن الإنتاج المعماري المرتبط بالتراثکما توقف عن الابتکار، وأصبحيتلقف من عجلة الغرب کل ما ھو مبتکر وجديد من أفکار ومبادئ التکنولوجيا، ونتيجة لذلک فقد فقدت عمارتناالإسلامية التراثية بريقھا، وکأن القدرة علي الارتباط المحلي بالعمارة الإسلامية التراثية لا يمکن أن يحدث إلا عنطريق العودة لتلک الھيئة القديمة التي کانت عليھا، والتي فقدت فعليا الکثير من وھجھا نتيجة للممارسات الغير مدروسةالتي يقوم بھا الکثير من المعماريين.وفي ظل ھذا الوضع الذي آلت إليھ العمارة المصرية المعاصرة، فإن قضية البقاء والتطور لعمارة المساکن التراثيةالإسلامية أصبحت معضلة حقيقية، وبالرغم من أن تلک العمارة استطاعت أن تعيش لمئات السنين إلا أنھا تحمل فيطياتھا القابلية علي البقاء في العمارة المعاصرة.لذا تھدف الدراسة البحثية إلي البحث عن توجھ جديد يمکنھ الدمج بين أصالة تراثنا الإسلامي وتطوره، فالعمارةالإسلامية وحدھا لا تستطيع أن تقوم مقام القوة الدافعة للإبداع والابتکار، ولکنھا تنطوي ضمنا علي المؤثراتوالإمکانيات المطلوبة لإثارة الإبداع، لذلک فإن الترکيبات الشکلية للعمارة التراثية يمکن ترجمتھا بصورة جديدة مبتکرةومعاصرة لتستطيع مواجھة التطور الحديث للعمارة، ومن ثم تجاوز الفھم الشکلي فقط لتلک العمارة.

Tradición moderna e identidad. La arquitectura uruguaya en la segunda mitad del siglo XX

<p>América Latina es la región en la cual, por primera vez en la historia de la arquitectura occidental, un sistema normativo de ordenación del medio físico —de máxima trascendencia como el moderno— tiene una segunda oportunidad de desarrollo, una vez agotado su recorrido dentro de su lugar de origen.</p><p>Esta constatación nos conduce a intentar comprender el proceso de síntesis transcultural que se produce mediante la adaptación de ciertas bases filosóficas, organizativas y estéticas a una realidad sustancialmente diferente a la que existía en donde fueron concebidos.</p><p>Dentro de algunas circunstancias más generales, que se intentan fundamentar de forma sucinta en el texto, se pueden observar ciertas constantes que van pautando el desarrollo de la práctica del proyecto y la producción de arquitectura moderna en el Uruguay de la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Evitando la pretensión de hacer un inventario cerrado o definitivo, parece pertinente intentar definir y sistematizar algunos principios que se reiteran, aunque en sus más diversas expresiones, tanto en la práctica arquitectónica como en los discursos de quienes han definido el perfil de los mejores ámbitos urbanos del país</p>

El cimborrio de la catedral de Zamora revisitado

<p>El cimborrio de la catedral de Zamora es una obra singularísima en la historia de la arquitectura occidental. En ella se combinan influencias muy diversas, como la bizantina, la islámica y la románica francesa, unidas en un todo unitario y coherente, donde cada parte mantiene su singularidad. Destaca su construcción sobre pechinas, su tambor circular calado por ventanas, los nervios que dan forma a la cúpula, los gallones que cierran los espacios entre ellos, las torretas de las esquinas y los gabletes centrales. Sin embargo, no ha sido un monumento muy dibujado, pues apenas existen dibujos de ella fuera de los que han hecho sus propios arquitectos restauradores. En este trabajo se realiza un análisis pormenorizado de su composición arquitectónica y se muestran algunos de los dibujos que el autor le ha dedicado monográficamente a ella; junto a diversas panorámicas de la ciudad de Zamora, donde se puede observar claramente que el cimborrio es una referencia visual de la ciudad.</p>

Las salas Cinéac de Adrienne Gorska y Pierre de Montaut: adaptar un “tipo”

From the 1930’s on, a variant in the western architecture of movie theatres built in previous decades came to light. This variant, smaller and more unassuming in its decoration and size, was the result of another economic context and, above all, of a novel programming of newscasts and documentaries in short sessions and continuous slideshows called, depending on the country of your projection, ‘newsreels’, ‘cinegiornali’, ‘actualités filmées’, or ‘wochenschauen’. The establishment of the chain of movie theatres ‘Cinéac -cinéma et actualités’ in French-speaking countries, mainly by the entrepreneur Reginald Ford, gave rise to the proposal of spatial and technical answers to the demands of aspects such as acoustics, optics, a continuous flow of people, safety or ventilation, from the sector of architecture which was most functionalist. In this article the Cinéac built by the architects Adrienne Gorska and Pierre de Montaut, pioneers in projects for this program of leisure, will be analysed. The aim is to demonstrate the technical rigor on which constructiveness, as the leitmotiv of longed for perception, was based. The critical re-reading of layouts and sections will reveal that, behind the prominence of bright facades, there were hidden spatial criteria different from those of the previous cinemas, leading to, as a whole, what was to be a typological adaptation to a function that had already been established

Comfort, Class and Climate Change: The Rise of Glass in Late Medieval and Early Modern Domestic Architecture

ABSTRACTIn the modern world, glass windows are considered an indispensable element of the built environment. Throughout premodern times, however, glass was not universally used in European architecture. This article argues that the rise of glass in Western architecture was neither an inevitable nor a linear process, but rather a response to certain social, cultural and environmental factors that gained increasing relevance from the late medieval period onwards. In other words, glass windows are a cultural convention, reflecting some of the wide-ranging and transformative challenges that Europeans faced in the late medieval and early modern period.

...To Remember Everything

The article is devoted to the problems of mutual influence of Russian and Western architecture. The study covers the period from the XVIII century to the present day. The following stages are considered: the end of the XVII century - the first half of the XIX century; in the XX century - from the 1919 to the 30-ies; further from the 30's to the 50's, from the 50's to the 60's, from the 60's to the 80's and, finally, the period of the beginning of the XXI century. The article is considered by the author not so much as a full-fledged research, but rather as a call to collect new data and publications relating to this topic.

영화 속 공간에 나타난 선사시대와 고대 이집트 건축의 특성 비교분석

This study set out to catalogue, compare, and analyze the architectural styles of prehistoric and Egyptian architecture and their related sets and location places in movies, thus identifying the characteristics of spaces in movies that could be utilized in the education of the history of architecture. The study thus adopted the following methods: first, it categorized movies with ancient Western architecture in the background based on the examination results and analyzed the style characteristics of each trend in the space of movies; and second, the study selected representative movies to allow the audience to experience ancient Western architecture effectively in their space and, at the same time, analyzed how the characteristics in the history of architecture were reflected in the movies. The findings were as follows: first, `Quest for Fire` and `10,000 BC` present the best expression of characteristics of prehistoric architecture. Second, `300: Rise of an Empire` contains scenes in which the heritage of Mesopotamia architecture before the Persian times can be checked even though the movie itself covers the Persian times. Third, `The Mummy` and `Exodus: Gods and Kings` are two movies that have Egyptian architecture in the background and produced after the introduction of CG(Computer Graphic) can be evaluated as the most complete works. Fourth, `Cleopatra`, which was produced before the introduction of CG, made active use of the mise-en-scene to highlight the Egyptian background. Fifth, movies set in the Egyptian period and combined with the SF or horror genre tend to emphasize only certain elements of Egyptian architecture and omit the overall background. Finally, the introduction of CG has made it possible to express the external spaces of architecture during the ancient times according to the historical research of architecture in each period, but elements of architectural history have not been reflected on the expression of internal spaces.

Thomas Waters and the Paper Money Factory Project of Meiji Japan

This paper deals with the plans of a paper money factory built in Tokyo in 1876, and considers the development of the architectural practice of one of the prominent Oyatoi engineers, Thomas Waters. The project of the paper money factory, which highlights the prominent brick-made western architecture in the early Meiji period, was thought to have originally been designed by T. Waters and then succeeded by Charles Boinville, although the detail of this has until now remained unclear. Other than the floor plans and elevation with the signature of T. Waters, the author has found some plans of the paper money factory, and as a result can clarify the detailed process of the project. In addition, the author makes use of the various plans of the paper money factory and has made a restored CAD copy of the factory in order to analyze the particulars of T. Waters′ plans. Further to this, it is compared with the plans of another project connected to him, thus T. Waters′ significant influence is considered as to the secure control of goods and labor circulation.

论西方文学与建筑的关系

论西方文学与建筑的关系

Modern Architecture as an Agency of Political Competition: The Case of Iran and Pakistan

Economically, from the late fifties Pakistan and Iran aligned themselves with America to vied for its support. Increasing the oil revenue from the seventies, however, changed the circumstance for Iran. Among the different strategies of control, it was the time for the Pahlavi regime to reveal its control over the region, politically and architecturally. However, those creative interventions rooted in previous decades, both in local and in international levels of competition with Pakistan. While Iran was pioneer in the political transformation, Pakistan replicated all the same policies architecturally, via American support and architects like Louis Kahn. In fact, what happened in the region was part of the U.S. plan for the Middle East for maintaining the stability of traditional regimes through encouraging them toward moderate reforms. However, these architectures were symptoms of a larger cultural condition, caused by the rapid introduction of modern institutions into traditional societies. Inevitably, not only modern Western architecture had been imported, but also the forms and formalities of modern Western democratic institutions. As a consequence, such pseudo-democratic ideology and practice effected on local architects to act as an antidote to both regimes. This paper studies Pakistan Iran relations, politically and architecturally, in regard to these policies.

La máscara arquitectónica en Andalucía.

La máscara o mascarón, constituye un recurso usual en la arquitectura occidental desde el Mundo Antiguo, que resucita con especial énfasis a partir del Renacimiento, en virtud de la cultura del Humanismo, y que en el campo de la arquitectura se convierte en piedra de toque para confrontar el valor de la naturaleza con la artificiosidad de la arquitectura. Tema central de la teoría y práctica arquitectónica en Italia, Andalucía será, dentro de España, región privilegiada en su utilización por los estrechos contactos con la península itálica a través de la temprana importación de obras, la presencia de artistas italianos y de españoles que visitaron el país vecino, además de la circulación de estampas, en un uso continuado desde el siglo XVI al XVIII.

East and West Cross Cultural Semiotics. On Taman Ujung Bali Architecture

East and West Cross Cultural Semiotics. On Taman Ujung Bali Architecture I Gede Mugi RAHARJA Interior Design Department, Faculty of Visual Art and Design, Indonesia Institute of the Arts Denpasar mugi5763@yahoo.co.id Abstract: Indonesia had absorbed various cultures since ancient times, caused the local cultures were enriched with sign language. However, signs on the traditional culture in Indonesia are more symbolic in nature. Interestingly, East and West cross- cultural sign was encountered in Bali, on Sukasada Park design, in Ujung Village, Karangasem regency. The park which was known as Taman Ujung was a legacy of Karangasem Kingdom. This article was compiled from the results of research conducted in 1999, 2012 and 2016. The latest study was specifically conducted to examine the signs on the design of Taman Ujung. Therefore, this study used a semiotic approach, which deals with the science of signs. Such signs could be seen in the form of design, material’s quality and decoration of the building. The pavilion, placed in the middle of the pond caused Taman Ujung was different from the traditional Balinese garden in general. The Pavilion, called Gili, became a sign of the influence of modern western architecture. The use of concrete construction and decorative concrete mold were signs of the influence of western technology. Their decorative Karang Bentala and a lion with a crown were related to the Royal Dutch symbol mark. This sign implies the meaning of good relations between Karangasem Kingdom and Netherlands’ Kingdom in the past. Keywords: Symbolic, Cross-cultural, Pavilion, Gili, Lion

Rebuilding Palmyra virtually: recreation of its former glory in digital space

<p class="VARAbstract">This paper addresses the role of the digital tools and methods in the preservation of cultural heritage. As the destruction of Palmyra made international headlines, digital tools emerged as a key tool to fight back against the total deletion of the heritage site from memories. Palmyra in Syria had been, with its Corinthian colonnades, theatre and splendidly built temples to ancient gods, source of inspiration and imagination for Western architecture. In this paper, the aim is reviving the lost reality of Palmyra by digitally reconstructing its “ghost images” from rubbles. The paper offers a glimpse of the grandeur and beauty of the ruins of Palmyra, none of which any longer remains in its entirety. 3D models of the most significant structures of Palmyra, including Temple of Bel and Temple of Baalshamin which have been levelled as a result of conflict based vandalism, as well as the Grand Colonnaded Street and the theatre are presented as “ghost images” through reconstructed 3D models. The focus has been in maintaining the accuracy and validity of the visualised data of the relics and environment of Palmyra, as they were once extant. Following the trauma caused by the destruction of Palmyra, these reconstructions revive in our memory the splendour of the city in the Greco-Roman Period.</p>

Accommodation of Western Modernism in Korean Architecture - A Case Study of Dong-jin Park (1899-1981)-

This research examines the adoption of Western modernism in Korean modern architecture in the early 20th century, which was a period of conflict not only between tradition and modernity, but also between the East and West. The overall research explores a representative and pioneering Korean modern architect, Dong-jin Park (1899-1981), who actively practiced his design during the Japanese colonial period. In particular, this research scrutinizes Dong-jin Park′s recognition of Western modernism through his publications, for example, in magazines and newspapers, which described his recognition of Western architecture. Through the representative architect′s ideas and writings, this research seeks to identify the characteristics and origins of Korean modern architecture.

3D VISUALIZATION AND PHOTO-REALISTIC RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT TEMPLE OF BEL

Abstract. The Great Temple of Bel in Palmyra was a unique edifice which had blended the well established lines of Greco-Roman architecture with the art and taste of the Orient. With the gilded bronze capitals of its 41 Corinthian columns it was the product of enormous effort and budget. It was the gem of a remarkable epoch of wealthy Palmyra and mighty Roma. With its splendidly decorated adyta ceilings it became a source of inspiration and imagination for Western architecture and decorative arts. While continuing to captivate the World, it was leveled and vanished as a grim result of conflict based vandalism. The aim of this work is to piece together this, the most eloquent and stupendous monument of the Roman East, from its ruins and reconstruct it as it was once extant. Its loss is irreplacable, but its photo-realistic reconstruction can offer some solace by waking the memories of the great temple as in the past. The lost reality of the Great Temple of Bel is revived here by digitally constructing its “ghost images".

Mark Wilson Jones: Origins of Classical Architecture: Temples, Orders and Gifts to the Gods in Ancient Greece

The recent work by Mark Wilson Jones addresses a fundamental topic: the explanation of the reasons of classical architecture, its legacy, its everlasting success in Western architecture, the reflections of its archetypes in contemporary culture (and not only in architecture).

Western Architecture during the First Pahlavi Dynasty and Its Effects on the Lifestyle of Iranian Women

This study investigates the effects of modern western architecture on the culture and lifestyle of Iranian women during the first Pahlavi dynasty. For this purpose, the problem is confronted with a historical look. The widespread relationship of Iran with western countries during modern times has influenced Iranian architecture as well as other cultural areas. Thus, during this period, the traditional lifestyle and the culture of Iranian women have dramatically resembled a western style. However, this change has led to some paradoxes because of incongruency of Iranian culture and the Islamic traditions with western culture in some cases in Iran. This dissonance has become more apparent during the recent decades and criticized by many intellectuals. The changes of this period shows that some places such as Tehran University, squares, schools, streets and others are not simply a place for studying, shopping, or entertainment any more, but they are a place for public movement and protests of women and men.

현상학 측면에서 본 한국 전통주거건축의 부분성에 관한 연구

Focused on developing form of Western architecture, invisible elements covering actual human life has been dealt with separately and the time was turned away and disparaged. But now the phenomenology, arranging such a meeting of space and time, gives opportunity to look at the actual life in architecture. Recently, Guille Deleuze and Merleau-Ponty tried to recover the sense of touch segregated in skin from body keeping eyes for distance. And the activity can be happened by being connected to the body rather than to eye in the space. From the phase of recognition where the human body tries to identify the object in the space considering a time, it will be changed for the subject to the phase of space-time structure. If the tactility is to erase the distance different from the visuality in dichotomy, it will be occurred to having a tension and makes new relationship to work trying to move the subjective point of view in object. Like this evidence in analysis of architecture, it can be found these in the Korean traditional architecture rather than Western architecture in terms of emphasizing the time and space. And this study will be intensive to the side of the Phenomenology how it is being connected to the movement in the space and time for the subject and object.