By: Ashley Gardini JSTOR Daily February 7, 2023
https://daily.jstor.org/exploring-the-architectural-manifesto/
An example of the fruition of this historical period is the “Manifesto of Futurist Architecture” by Antonio Sant’Elia. The Italian Futurists comprised an avant-garde group that today is best known for its manifestos on everything, from art to cooking to love. Sant’Elia published the group’s first manifesto on architecture in 1914.
“The decorative must be abolished,” he declared.
Part of the series La Città Nuova, 1914, by Antonio Sant'Elia
Another reason the architectural manifesto experienced such notable fertility in the first quarter of the twentieth century was that certain elements of society were already primed to explore fresh ideas. As urban historian Thérèse Tierney writes, “When World War I resulted in a social and cultural break with aristocratic aesthetic privilege, the efforts of the avant-garde…provided the means for early-20th-century architects to break with history
As urban historian Thérèse Tierney writes, “When World War I resulted in a social and cultural break with aristocratic aesthetic privilege, the efforts of the avant-garde…provided the means for early-20th-century architects to break with history.
The problem of Futurist architecture must not be solved by pilfering from photographs of China, Persia and Japan, or by mindlessly aping the rules of Vitruvius, but with flashes of genius, reinforced by scientific and technological experience. Everything must be revolutionized. Roofs and underground spaces must be taken full advantage of, the importance of the façade must be diminished, questions of good taste must be taken from the choice of busy little mouldings, pretty little capitals and darling doorways and given over to richer, more rewarding questions of massing and the vast disposition of planes. Let us call a halt to monumental, funereal, commemorative architecture. Let us blow up monuments, pavements, porticoes, stairways and sink the streets and piazzas, elevating the level of the cities.
Keeping in line with the expectations of Futurist aesthetics, Sant’Elia’s statement was bombastic and nationalistic. Like many architects of the time, he was exploring architecture’s potential, even if some of his ideas wouldn’t have been feasible at that moment. He rejected the Classical tradition and argued for an architecture that represented the modern world. It was time to disregard traditional building methods and embrace new technologies.
More than a century later, the manifesto continues to hold our attention, exemplifying a charged moment in architectural history, when architects were breaking with the past and using manifestos en masse to define the architecture of the future.
Tierney argues that the unique circumstances that produced compelling architectural manifestos in the early twentieth century didn’t continue after World War II.
“[B]y mid-century, with few exceptions, architectural discourse lagged behind the internal art debate because of the demands of a post-World War II building expansion,” she notes. “While isolated moments of critique and experimentation existed…the majority of architects were preoccupied with the demands of a rapidly expanding economy.”
Lise van der Knaap: 2023.
New: Dreamlike Architecture by AI.
on Crast.Net, by Vincent Ledbette, October 23, 2022 in News
Artificial intelligence (AI) image-generating programs are being used more frequently and not without controversy. Programs like MidJourney are blurring the lines between human and computer-generated art. But, for architecture student Qasim Iqbal, MidJourney has been a useful tool in helping him visualize his ideas. Iqbal is fascinated by classical architecture, and his love for the Renaissance is evident in his AI series Sculptural allegorical renaissance aspect.
The dream-like façade is filled with sculptural details and exhibits a familiarity that any lover of the Renaissance would recognize, but the design went 100 with the dial. Iqbal appreciates Renaissance architecture for its “slow, steady, virtuoso and balanced compositions”. Using MidJourney, which translates text cues into images, he was able to bring his vision to life over several iterations. For him, AI software is just a tool to quickly visualize concepts, and its use has forced him to really think about articulating his vision.
see also:
https://crast.net/258539/soon-you-will-be-able-to-watch-any-youtube-video-in-4k-thanks-to-artificial-intelligence/ and:
