After Blogging

The texts have been poignant in relating architecture to political ideology, and society as a whole.

Blogging is a powerful tool allowing freedom of speech. There is no class system in the blogging world. Through writing one can develop and convey ideas, and it allows a platform to record those ideas and allow others to interact with them. Writing to express a theory is all about the reader, just as the final product of a building is all about the user. The different writing styles of the texts leads one to question who the audience is, and therefore the best way to express our ideas.

The power of the word should not be undermined. We began by discussing jargon in our every day society, and the social exclusion that this causes. The press also use words as an apparatus; spinning stories moneymaking stories as the unelected party with a commercial bias. Politicians, like buildings, have become superficial symbols of a country, mad into good and evil, selected for their charisma and spin stories – being photogenic, rather than for their integrity. The press and the consumer are attracted to the ease of black and white, the hero and the devil, incriminating victims before they have been proven innocent or guilty. But our world is not simple.

Hadid calls London a ‘city of lost opportunities’, whilst Hickey complains of the lack of any significant theorists. We need to seize opportunities and not wait for others to tell us what to do. The global crisis is very real, and we are a part of it.

Humans are susceptible to a kind of brainwashing through laziness and pressure – whether it be from religion, culture or politics. The pouring of mass hysteria at the death of Kim Jong Il was not so different from that when Princess Diana died. But we all have minds, which we should challenge in order to develop solutions and ideas.

There is no such thing as the Genius Architect working alone on a project for the greater good of mankind. Architecture and urbanism are about collaboration with the people and communities we are building in. An architectural education is not just limited to the time spent in Architectural School; it is all around us, in the politics and social agenda of the everyday.  

We must learn from past mistakes to inform the future. It is vital to understand the ideals the systems, the problems that have arisen and how this has worked. Every generation has issues to face up to, and ours is the financial crisis and the impact of technology – good and bad. And no one can resolve this except us.  

The Architect as God

This week focuses on Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall. Both look at the perception of The Architect, as a mythical God like figure, a recluse, detached from society. Yet both Roark and Silenus are crucial to the story. Perhaps the fact that we are comparing two stories set in such different contexts – Rand in the USA, and Waugh in class-driven Britain – is significant of the globalized society we live in.

Silenus is a remote mysterious character, appearing only at brief intervals. He is supremely confident in his ideas and mannerisms, yet unconcerned with society. His appearance at the end of the book in the chapter Resurrection, where he meets Paul who is about to go and study theology, boarders on the biblical. Silenus explains the meaning of life, insisting that he has found peace, and that Paul never will, embodying the stereotypical arrogant architect too important to even be able to sleep.[1]

Roark is just as aloof as Silenus, but whilst Silenus is all talk, Roark has some kind of integrity. He believes so much in himself that he won’t compromise on his style. In The Fountainhead everything is black and white, Roark is the clear hero, building for a better future, whilst the press is the enemy, corrupting the minds of the citizens.

We can also see this in our society, where the press hold a great deal of power, particularly over politicians – whoever The Sun backs will win the general election. It can still be hard to convince those in charge to build modern ideas – for example The Chelsea Barracks Scheme. And the architect is proved right at the end when of course everyone loves Roarke’s building, and he has become the creator of these fabulous modern appartments.

A running theme in these course texts is that of fame - making a name for yourself, to be remembered. Hadid, Faust, and Roark are all guilty of this. And it is perhaps Roark’s insult to Toohey that sums this up best:

Toohey: Why don’t you tell me what you think of me?

Roark: But I don’t think of you

Roark can be further compared to Goethe’s Faust. Like Faust he goes through a series of transformations from The Dreamer (at architecture school), to The Lover (Dominique who he loses to society), and The Developer (insisting that he knows best and believing so strongly that he can redesign the cityscape).

The architect as a God-like figure can be seen throughout history. In building churches and cathedrals, the architect was showing god’s work. As previously discussed, Le Corbusier certainly had a Faust like instinct, aspiring to leave his mark on the world. Hadid’s irritation at being asked to explain how she arrives at a concept can be interpreted as a subconscious desire to appear as a Goddess of Architecture who can instantly invent a new design. All these aloof figures who want to be remembered as The Genius, but in being so driven perhaps they have forgotten the bigger picture.

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[1] Waugh E Decline and Fall page 194