ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM s (1).pdf

ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM •Definition, •Sources, •Types of Criticism according to Wayne Attoe. •Jon Lang – Positive and Normative Theories in Architecture

ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM SOME TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

CRITICISM • The word criticism is itself neutral • Derived from Greek ‘kritikos’ (decisive) &‘krinein’ ( to judge or discern) • Together it means the art of judgment- to make positive or negative judgments or decisions based on particular criteria.

In every day usage it the word has become synonymous with negativity, with pulling things apart, fault finding.

ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM

WHAT’S THE NEED????

PURPOSE Habitual situations are taken for granted. They don’t develop our knowledge. • Criticism in Architectural education helps by questioning ‘habitual situations and conditions’ • Focus on ability to observe and generate reflections.(opinions) • It develops skill of coping with uncertainity. • Process of receiving crits hones one’s judgement • Helps to manage the complexity that is inherent in architecture and creative profession.

PRIMARY PURPOSE

• Criticism has the potential to be a powerful pedagogical tool in architecture education. (pedagogy= study of the methods of teaching)

• Criticism is a behavior in which individuals express their own perceptions of a physical place, an object, or ideas in the hope of communicating their ideas to others. • However, criticism is sometimes perceived to have a negative connotation because of its sense of passing a judgment upon a physical place or object.

TYPES OF CRITICISM

ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM •Types of Criticism according to Wayne Attoe.

Wayne Attoe

The most comprehensive and significant text on architectural criticism remains Wayne Attoe’s (published in 1978)

Architecture and Critical Imagination

WAYNE ATTOE

Wayne Attoe • Retired Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, has written a book about architectural criticism intended both for students and his professional colleagues. • It is also a book that should be of considerable interest to philosophers of art. • It is Attoe’s contention that Architectural criticism has not been as significant as it might in the practice of architecture nor has there been any systematic study of either the history or methods of architectural criticism. • In this work he undertakes the study of the methods but not the history of architectural criticism with the intention of illuminating the significance that such criticism can have.

• Attoe also reiterates the behavior of criticism includes the three categories of description (to say or write about), interpretation (explaination), and evaluation (judge or value). He also identifies that criticism falls under three basic groups: descriptive criticism, interpretative criticism, and normative criticism,.

Doctrinal criticism Systematic criticism NORMATIVE CRITICISM Typal criticism

Measured criticism

TYPES OF CRITICISM

Advocacy criticism

INTERPRETIVE CRITICISM

Evocative criticism Impressionistic criticism

Depictive criticism

DESCRIPTIVE CRITICISM

Biological criticism Contextual criticism

TYPES OF CRITICISM NORMATIVE CRITICISM

INTERPRETIVE CRITICISM

DESCRIPTIVE CRITICISM

•Based on a standard on which the critic bases his criticism.

•Does not make use of any standard at all.

•As the name suggests, it is more concerned with description of factual things related to the design and the various people involved with the design as also the events which influenced the design.

•The critic will compare the given design with the standard.

•It depends entirely on the interpretation of the critic and therefore is highly personal and prejudiced.

•It is for the critic to decide what standard to choose and it could be objective or subjective.

•The critic would like to persuade reader to look at the design in the same way the critic is looking it.

NORMATIVE CRITICISM DOCTRINAL CRITICISM (a set of beliefs accepted by a particular group)

Doctrinal criticism has as its basis on a doctrine, such as; form follows function, and tends towards “the belief that there is a single approach for accomplishing our purposes and a single standard for measuring our achievements”.

SYSTEMATIC CRITICISM Systematic criticism is an “alternative to the single doctrine…it is an interwoven assemblage of principles or factors, a system for judging.

TYPAL CRITICISM is based upon structural, functional, and form types.

MEASURED CRITICISM measured criticism assigns numerical standards to provide the norms against which something is judged. For example, criticism of a public square may take into consideration the proportion of the size of the square in comparison to the height of the buildings surrounding it.

INTERPRETIVE CRITICISM ADVOCACY CRITICISM(defensive )

IMPRESSIONISTIC CRITICISM

EVOCATIVE CRITICISM(Associative)

Advocatory criticism is employed by a critic who is an advocate of a building or place and is, “concerned primarily with engendering appreciation, not with passing judgment”

“uses the work of art or building as a foundation on which the critic then constructs his own work of art”

Evocative criticism “uses whatever means are needed to arouse similar feelings in the reader/viewer. The evocative critique is not right or wrong, but a surrogate experience”

DESCRIPTIVE CRITICISM DEPICTIVE CRITICISM (Figurative)

BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM

CONTEXTUAL CRITICISM

Depictive criticism does not judge, but merely depicts what exists; such as, how people move through a space.

Biographical criticism provides others with and understanding of the architect in order to allow a better understanding of their intentions.

Contextual criticism provides information about the social, political, and economic context in which something was designed.

ARCHITECTURAL THEORY •Jon Lang – Positive and Normative Theories in Architecture

Jon Lang • He is currently Professor of Architecture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, as well as Director for Urban Design for the Environmental Research Group Philadelphia. Dr Lang has served as a consultant for UNESCO in Turkey and for the Ford Foundation in India. He is the co-editor of the pioneering book Designing for Human Behaviour: Architecture and the Behavioral Sciences,

He is the author of Creating Architectural Theory: The Role of Behavioral Sciences in Environmental Design

One way to map theory in general is to separate it into

Positive and Normative theories

Positive theory • Positive theories are descriptive and explanatory systems because they can identify causal links, can predict future behavior of the objects in question • Eg Scientific theories are of this kind.

Positive Theory: Definition: • Positive Theory is a system of statements or ideas which describe and explain a phenomenon tested using scientific methods. Characteristics: • Explanatory and predictable. • Tentative and subject to revision • Can’t be proved stands disproved. Function of Positive Theory: • make sense of what otherwise remains non meaningful. • to be value free, to avoid bias. • raise consciousness behavior in built environment having design implications • to be helpful in making design decisions that lead to predictable outcomes. Lack of Positive Theory: • Fear that systematic research will lead to challenge of cherished beliefs.

Normative Theory

• It includes a wide range of ways of doing that belong to realm of convention or rules of thumb. • Action is taken based upon such tacit factors as ‘this is how we have always done it; or this way is tried and true. • Normative theories also describe explain and even predict. However they cannot be said to have the logical rigor of positive theories and they can lead to a a great variety of empirical outcome.(based on observation or experience) • It is largely what motivates actions taken in design practice

Normative Theory • GARY MOORE has proposed that positive theories are testable according to the laws of empirical reality while normative theories (for instance those related to design practice ) are testable only by measures of professional acceptance or longevity.

In short • Normative theory is often not conducive to rigorous testing as positive theory is .

Another way to look at it is this: • Because normative theory is demonstrated by conventional practices that have withstood the test of time, it is arguable that any normative theory has already been tested- rerepeatidly and every day in the field. • For instance the standard wood frame house in US uses wood stud at 16 inches on center, is not something that needs testing it is just the way it is or else the idea would have been rejected long ago.

Normative Theory: 

Design principles used are based on personal experiences of Architect. Not based on systematic research and systematic body of shared knowledge. Intellectual development in design profession held back due to lack of explicit body of positive theory.

• • • • • •

Form follows function – Louis Sullivan Less is more – Mies Van Der Rohe Less is bore – Robert Venturi House is a machine for living in – Le Corbusier Ornament is crime – Adolf loos Organic Architecture – F L Wright



Normative Theory is a value laden statement on, what ought to be; perceptions of good or bad; right or wrong; desirable and undesirable. Perceptions for action – Design principles; standards; manifests. Ex: space standards – height of riser, size of room, width of corridor.

NATURAL ENVORONMENT THEORY Natural – nature of materials, geometry, structures, climate. Artificial – built environment SUBSTANTIVE THEORY (having a firm basis in reality)

PERSON ENVIONMENT THEORY The influence of the built environment on human behavior POSITIVE THEORY

PROCESS OF DESIGN Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation PROCEDURAL THEORY NATURE OF CREATIVITY

Professed SUBSTANTIVE THEORY Practised

NORMATIVE THEORY Professed PROCEDURAL THEORY Practised

MODEL OF NORMATIVE THEORY

DESIGNER

INTENTIONS

MEDIUM

Focus of concern

Aesthetic Principles

OBJECT

IMPACT ON USERS

MODEL OF POSITIVE THEORY

IMPACT ON USER

OBJECT

MEDIUM

Principles of environmental experience

IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN

Conclusion:

• Normative theory: theory that is a "prescription for action." Examples given: design principles, standards, manifestos, ideology on "good architecture“ • Positive theory: "a mental schema...that is believed to describe and explain a phenomenon or a group of phenomena." • The key difference between normative and positive theory is that positive theory does not make value-judgments. The reading states that this view of positive theory has been refuted, noting that researches choose to pursue positive theory in a subject of their interest (implying an intrinsic value-judgment on what is interesting). • However, when speaking comparatively, positive theory seems to offer less good vs. bad solutions.

For eg.

• It is a manifesto that implies that pursuing this theory will result in "good" architecture.

Kahn’s Exter Library On the other hand, a query into the reasons for circulation in Kahn's Exeter Library, would be a positive theory that can be extended to other designs (without judging the original or the new as "good" or "bad").

Questionnaire Q. 1. What is architectural criticism and what is its necessity and purpose (10) Q.2. Explain the role of a critic. (5) Q.3.What is the source of criticism? (5) Q.4. Elaborate the types of criticism according to Wayne Attoe. (20) Q.5. Write notes on the following: (A) Normative Criticism (10) (B) Interpretive Criticism(10) (C) Descriptive Criticism(10) Q.6. Compare and contrast normative type of criticism with descriptive type of criticism with examples (12) Q.7.Explain in detail John Lang’s Positive and Normative Theories and how are they applicable to architecture. (10)

SOME EXCERPTS FROM INTERNET FOR READING……..

Review of Jon Lang’s Book….