Yale University, School of Architecture

Typology and Design Method

Author(s): Alan Colquhoun
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Perspecta, Vol. 12 (1969), pp. 71-74
Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1566960 .
Accessed: 28/02/2013 05:54
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Yale University, School of Architecture and The MIT Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve
and extend access to Perspecta.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:54:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

AlanColquhoun

andDesignMethod
Typology

AlanColquhounis an architectinpracticein
London.He has been a tutorat theAASchool,
and
London;as wellas teachingat Princeton
Atpresenthe is a
CambridgeUniversities.
Professorat Cornell.Thisarticlefirst
Visiting
appeared inArena,June1967.

Duringthelastfewyearsa greatdeal of
has been givento theproblemof
attention
and to theprocessof
designmethodology,
designas a branchofthewiderprocess
ofproblemsolving.
reason,that
Manypeople believe,notwithout
methodsofdesigntraditionally
theintuitive
used byarchitectsare incapableofdealing
oftheproblemsto be
withthecomplexity
solved,and thatwithout
sharpertoolsof
thedesignertends
analysisand classification,
to fallback on previousexamplesforthe
solutionofnewproblems- on typesolutions.
One ofthedesignersand educatorswhohas
been consistently
preoccupiedbythis
problemis Tomas Maldonado.Ata recent
Maldonado
seminarat PrincetonUniversity,
admitted
that,incases whereitwas not
possibleto classifyeveryobservableactivity
itmightbe
in an architectural
programme,
ofarchitectural
necessaryto use a typology
formsinorderto arriveat a solution.Buthe
added thattheseformswerelikea cancerin
thebodyofthesolution,and thatas our
become more
techniquesofclassification
itshouldbe possibleto eliminate
systematic
themaltogether.
Nowitis mybeliefthatbeneaththeapparent
oftheseideas therelies an
objectivity
aestheticdoctrine.Itwillbe thepurposeof
thispaperto showthisto be thecase, and,
to tryand showthatitis untenable
further,
considerablemodification.
without
used
One ofthemostfrequent
arguments
againsttypologicalproceduresinarchitecture
has been thattheyare a vestigeofan age of
craft.Itis heldthattheuse ofmodelsby
became less necessaryas the
craftsmen
ofscientific
techniquesenabled
development
manto discoverthegenerallaws underlying
thetechnicalsolutionsofthepre-industrial
age.

ofnaturalscience,butcontinuedto be based
on tradition
and theidea ofthefinalformof
theworkas a fixedideal.
Butthisdistinction
ignorestheextentto
have notonlya "use" value in
whichartifacts
thecrudestsense, butalso an "exchange"
value.
had an imageoftheobject in
The craftsman
to makeit.
hismind'seye whenstarting
thisobjectwas a cultimage(say a
Whether
sculpture)or a kitchenutensil,itwas an
objectofculturalexchange,and itformed
within
partofa systemofcommunications
society.Its"message" valuewas embodied
preciselyintheimageofthefinalformwhich
heldinhismind'seye as he was
thecraftsman
makingitand to whichhisartifact
correspondedas nearlyas possible.Inspite
ofthescientific
method
ofthedevelopment
such social or iconic
we muststillattribute
and
valuesto theproductsoftechnology,
recognisethattheyplayan essentialrolein
ofthe
thegenerationand development
Itis easy to
physicaltoolsofourenvironment.
whichcontinue
see thattheclass ofartifacts
to be made accordingto thetraditional
methods(forexamplepaintingsor musical
iconic
compositions)have a predominantly
purpose,butsuch a purposeis notso often
recognisedinthecreationoftheenvironment
as a whole.Thisfactis concealed fromus
ofthedesignprocess
because theintentions
are "hidden"intheovertdetailsof
performance
specification.

The vicissitudesofthewords"art"and
indicatethatthereis a
"science" certainly
to be drawnbetweenartifacts
validdistinction
thatare theresultoftheapplicationofthe
laws ofnaturalscience and thosewhichare
Before
theresultofmimesis'and intuition.
habit
theriseofmodernscience,tradition,
werethemethodsbywhichall
and imitation
thesewere
weremade,whether
artifacts
or mainlyreligious.The
mainlyutilitarian
word"art"was used to describetheskill
With
necessaryto produceall such artifacts.
the development of modernscience, the word
"art" was progressivelyrestrictedto the case
of artifactswhich did not depend on the laws

ofa tradition
'Thewordis used heretomeantheimitation
ofnature.
sense oftheimitation
and notintheAristotelian

71

This content downloaded on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:54:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The idolizationof"primitive"
man,and the
attitude
whichthisgenerated
fundamentalist
has discouragedtheacceptanceofsuch
iconicvalues.Therehas been a tendency
since theeighteenth
to lookon the
century
manas a sortofgoldenage
age ofprimitive
inwhichmanlivedclose to nature.Formany
hutorone of
years,forinstance,theprimitive
has been takenas thestarting
itsderivatives
and has been
evolution,
pointforarchitectural
thesubjectoffirst-year
designprogrammes,
and itwouldnotbe an exaggeration
tosay
thatfrequently
a directlineofdescentis
presumedto existfromthenoblesavage,
theutilitarian
craftsto modern
through
science and technology.
The wholeedificeof
since theend ofthemediaeval
art,certainly
to be corrupt
and
period,is oftenthought
and based on some sophisticated
unnatural,
"horrorvacui"ortheneed to aggrandizea
rulingclass. Inso faras itis based on the
idea of the noble savage, this notion is quite
baseless. The cosmological systems of
primitiveman were veryintellectualand very
artificial.To take only kinshipsystems, the
followingquotation fromClaude Levi-Strauss
will make the pointclear: "Certainly",he

is presentand
says, "thebiologicalfamily
persistsinhumansociety.Butwhatgivesto
kinshipitscharacteras a social factis not
whatitmustconserveofnature;itis the
essentialstepbywhichitseparatesitself
fromnature.A systemofkinshipdoes not
consistofobjectivebloodties; itexistsonly
intheconsciousnessofmen;itis an arbitrary
notthe
systemof representations,
ofa situationof
spontaneousdevelopment
fact."2
Thereseems to be a close parallelbetween
such systemsand thewaymodernmanstill
approachestheworld,and whatwas trueof
maninall theramifications
ofhis
primitive
practicaland emotionallife- namely,the
need to representthephenomenalworldin
such a waythatitbecomes a coherentand
logicalsystem- persistsinourown
and moreparticularly
inour
organisations,
attitudetowardstheman-madeobjectsofour
environment.
Anexampleofthewaythisappliesto
manis inthecreationofwhat
contemporary
are called socio-spatialschemata.Oursense
ofplace and relationship
in,say,an urban
are not
or ina building,
environment,
dependenton anyobjectivefactthatis
measurable;theyare phenomenal.The
ofour
purposeoftheaestheticorganisation
is to capitaliseon thissubjective
environment
and makeitsocially
schematization,
does not
available.The resulting
organisation
with
correspondina one-to-onerelationship
theobjectivefacts,butis an artificial
whichrepresentsthesefactsina
construct
sociallyrecognisableway.
Itfollowsthattherepresentational
systems
whichare developedare,ina realsense,
factsofthe
ofthequantifiable
independent
environment.
no metaNo systemofrepresentation,
of
language,however,is totallyindependent
theobjectiveworld.
thefactswhichconstitute
was an
inarchitecture
The modernmovement
therepresentational
to modify
attempt
fromthe
systemswhichhad been inherited
past,and whichno longer
pre-industrial
thecontextofa
seemed operablewithin
One ofthemain
rapidlychangingtechnology.
doctrinesat therootofthistransformation
was based essentially on a returnto nature,
derivingfromthe romanticmovement,but
changed froma desire to imitatethe surface
of naturalformsor to operate at a craftlevel,
to a belief in the abilityof science to reveal
the essence of nature's mode of operation.

Underlyingthis doctrine was an implied belief

in biotechnical determinism.And it is from
this theorythatthe currentbelief in the
supreme importance of scientificmethods of
analysis and classification is derived. The
essence of the functionalistdoctrine of the
modern movementwas not thatbeauty of
order or meaning was unnecessary, but that it
could no longer be found in the deliberate
search forfinalforms.The path by which the
artifactaffectedthe observer aesthetically
was seen as short-circuitingthe process of
formalization.Form was merelythe resultof a
logical process by which the operational
needs and the operational techniques were
broughttogether.Ultimatelythese would fuse
in a kindof biological extension of life,and
functionand technology would become totally
transparent.The theoryof BuckminsterFuller
is an extreme example of this doctrine.
Basic Books,
Structural
2ClaudeLevi-Strauss,
Anthropology,
NewYork1963.

The relationofthisnotionto Spencerian

evolutionary
theoryis verystriking.
According
to thistheorythepurposeofprolonging
life
and thespecies mustbe attributed
to the
processas a whole,butat no particular
momentintheprocess is itpossibleto see
thispurposeas a consciousone. The process
is therefore
teleological.Inthesame way,the
biotechnicaldeterminism
ofthemodern
movement
was teleological,because itsaw
theaestheticofarchitectural
formas
whichwas achievedwithout
the
something
consciousinterference
ofthedesigner,but
whichnonetheless was
something
postulatedas hisultimate
purpose.
Itis clearthatthisdoctrinecontradicts
any
to an
theorywhichwouldgivepriority
intentional
iconicform,
and itattempts
to
absorbtheprocessbywhichmantriesto
makea representation
oftheworldof
phenomenaback intoa processof
unconsciousevolution.To whatextenthas it
been successful,and to whatextentcan itbe
shownto be possible?
Itseems evident,inthefirstplace,thatthe
theorybegs thewholequestionoftheiconic
offorms.Those inthefieldof
significance
design who were - and are - preaching

and so-calledobjective
puretechnology
and necessary
designmethodas a sufficient
meansofproducingenvironmental
devices,
attribute
iconicpowerto the
persistently
creationsoftechnology,
whichtheyworship
to a degreeinconceivableto a scientist.I
said earlierthatitwas inthepowerofall
artifacts
to become icons,no matterwhether
or nottheywerespecifically
createdforthis
certain
purpose.PerhapsI mightmention
worldof
objectsofthenineteenth-century
whichhad powerofthiskindtechnology
to giveonlytwo
steamshipsand locomotives,
examples.Eventhoughtheseobjectswere
made ostensiblywithutilitarian
purposesin
mind,theyquicklybecamegestaltentities,
whichweredifficult
to disassembleinthe
mind'seye intotheircomponentparts.The
same is trueoflatertechnicaldevicessuch as
cars and aeroplanes.
The factthattheseobjects havebeen imbued
withaestheticunityand havebecome carriers
ofso muchmeaningindicatesthata process
ofselectionand isolationhas takenplace
whichis quiteredundant
fromthepointof
viewoftheirparticular
functions.
We must
thereforelook upon the aesthetic and iconic
qualities of artifactsas being due, not so
much to an inherentproperty,but to a sort of
availabilityor redundancy in them in relation
to human feeling.

The literatureof modern architectureis fullof

statements which indicate thatafterall the
new operational needs have been satisfied,
there is still a wide area of choice in the final
configuration.I would like to quote two
designers who have used mathematical
methods to arriveat architecturalsolutions.
The firstis Yona Friedmann,who uses these
methods to arriveat a hierarchyof
organisation in the programme.In a recent
lecture, in which he was describing methods
of computingthe relativepositions of
functionswitha three-dimensionalcitygrid,
Friedmannacknowledged thatthe designer is
always, aftercomputation,faced witha choice
of alternatives,all of which are equally good
froman operational point of view.
Mysecond example is Yannis Xenakis, who,
in designing the Philips Pavilion while he was
in the officeof Le Corbusier, used
mathematical procedures to determinethe
formof the enclosing structure.Xenakis says

72

This content downloaded on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:54:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

thatcalculationprovidedthecharacteristic
formofthestructure,
butthatafterthis,logic
no longeroperated,and thecompositional
had to be decided on thebasis
arrangement
ofintuition.'
Fromthesestatements
itwouldappearthata
purelyteleologicaldoctrineoftechnicoaestheticformsis nottenable.Atwhatever
stage inthedesignprocess itmayoccur,it
seems thatthedesigneris alwaysfacedwith
decisions,and thatthe
makingvoluntary
whichhe arrivesat mustbe the
configurations
resultofan intention,
and notmerelythe
resultofa deterministic
process.The
ofLe Corbusiertendsto
statement
following
reinforce
thispointofview."Myintellect",
he
says,"does notaccept theadoptionofthe
modulesofVignolainthematter
ofbuilding.
I claimthatharmony
existsbetweenthe
objectsone is dealingwith.The chapel at
Ronchampperhapsshowsthatarchitecture
is notan affair
ofcolumnsbutan affair
of
plasticevents.Plasticeventsare not
regulatedbyscholasticor academic
formulae,
theyare freeand innumerable."
is a defenseofthe
thisstatement
Although
newarchitecture
againsttheacademic
it
ofpastformsand thedeterminism
imitation
it
denies is academic ratherthanscientific,
nonetheless stressestherelease thatfollows
ratherthan
fromfunctional
considerations,
thesolution.
theirpowerofdetermining
ofthis
statements
One ofthemostuninhibited
Inhis
kindcomes fromMoholy-Nagy.
ofthedesigncourse at the
description
ofDesigninChicago,he makesthe
Institute
defenseofthefreeoperationof
following
he says, "is directed
"The training",
intuition.
a
and inventiveness,
towardsimagination
basic conditionfortheever-changing
industrial
scene, fortechnologyinflux.The
laststep inthistechniqueis theemphasison
theconscioussearchfor
through
integration
methods
The intuitive
working
relationships.
ofgeniusgivea clue to thisprocess.The
uniqueabilityofthegeniuscan be
ifone ofits
byeverybody
approximated
essentialfeaturesbe apprehended:theflashlikeact ofconnectingelementsnotobviously
belongingtogether.Ifthesame methodology
wereused generallyinall fieldswe could
have thekeyto theage - seeingeverything
inrelationship."'4
We can now begin to build up a pictureof the
general body of doctrine embedded in the
modern movement.It consists of a tension of
two apparentlycontradictoryideas biotechnical determinismon the one hand,
and freeexpression on the other.What seems
to have happened is that,in the act of giving a
new validityto the demands of functionas an
extension of nature's mode of operation, it
has lefta vacuum where previouslythere was
a body of traditionalvalues. The whole field
of aesthetics, withits ideological foundations
and its belief in ideal beauty, has been swept
aside. All that is leftin its place is permissive
expression, the total freedomof the genius
which, ifwe but knew it,resides in us all.
What appears on the surface as a hard,
rationaldiscipline of design, turnsout rather
paradoxically to be a mysticalbelief in the
intuitionalprocess.
I would like now to turnback to the statement
by Maldonado which I mentioned at the
beginning of this paper. He said thatso long
3"La Poeme Electronique de Le Corbusier", fromLe Collection
Force Vivre,Editions du Minuit,Jean Petit.
4L. Moholy-Nagy,Vision in Motion,Paul Theobald and
Company, Chicago.

as ourclassification
techniqueswereunable
ofa problem,
to establishall theparameters
of
itmightbe necessaryto use a typology
formsto fillthegap. Fromtheexamplesofthe
statements
made bymoderndesignersit
wouldseem thatitis indeedneverpossible
to stateall theparametersofa problem.Truly
criteriaalwaysleave a choice for
quantifiable
thedesignerto make.Inmodernarchitectural
theorythischoice has been generally
in
conceivedofas based on intuition
working
a culturalvacuum.Inmentioning
typology,
Maldonadois suggestingsomething
quite
whichhas been rejected
new,and something
He is
again and again bymoderntheorists.
must
suggestingthatthearea ofpureintuition
be based on a knowledgeofpastsolutionsto
relatedproblems,and thatcreationis a
processofadaptingformsderivedeitherfrom
past needs oron past aestheticideologiesto
theneed ofthepresent.Although
he regards
thisas a provisional
solution- "a cancer in
thebodyofthesolution"- he nonetheless
recognisesthatthisis theactual procedure
whichdesignersfollow.
I suggestthatthisis true,and moreoverthat
itis trueinall fieldsofdesignand notonly
I have referred
thatofarchitecture.
to the
thatthemorerigorously
the
argument
laws are
generalphysicalor mathematical
appliedto thesolutionofdesignproblems,
theless itis necessaryto have a mental
pictureofthefinalform.But,althoughwe
maypostulatean ideal stateinwhichthese
laws correspondexactlyto theobjective
world,infactthisis notthecase. Laws are
notfoundinnature.Theyare constructs
of
thehumanmind;theyare modelswhichare
validso longas eventsdo notprovethemto
be wrong.Notonlythis.Technologyis
facedwithdifferent
frequently
problems
whichare notlogicallyconsistent.
Allthe
for
problemsofaircraft
configuration,
example,could notbe solvedunlessthere
intheapplicationof
was give-and-take
physicallaws.The positionofthepowerunit
ofthe
is a variable,so is theconfiguration
wingsand tailplane.The positionofone may
affecttheshape oftheother.The application
ofgenerallaws is a necessaryingredient
of
one for
theform.Butitis nota sufficient
theactualconfiguration.
Andina
determining
worldofpuretechnology
thisarea offree
choice is invariably
dealtwithbyadapting
previoussolutions.

Wherethedesignerdecides to
arrangement.
be governedbyoperationalfactors,he tends
nineteenthto workintermsofa thoroughly
forexampleinthecase
rationalism,
century
oftheofficebuildingsofMies and SOM,
wherepragmaticplanningand cost
considerations
convergeon a receivedneoclassic aestheticto createsimplecubes,
regularframesand cores.
thatinmostoftheavant-garde
Itis interesting
are heldto
projectswhereformdeterminants
be purelytechnicaloroperational,rationalism
and cost are discardedforformsofa fantastic
as inthe
kind.Frequently,
orexpressionist
formsare borrowed
case of"Archigram",
fromotherdisciplines,such as space
or pop art.Validas these
engineering
iconographicproceduresmaybe - and
beforedismissingthemone wouldhaveto
theminrelationto theworkof
investigate
Le Corbusierand theRussianconstructivists
whoborrowedtheformsofshipsand
- theycan hardlybe
structures
engineering
if
compatiblewitha doctrineofdeterminism,
we are to regardthisas a modusoperandi,
ratherthana remoteand utopianideal.

In the world of architecturethis problem

becomes more critical because here the
general laws of physics and the empirical
facts are even less capable of fixinga final
configurationthan is so in the case of an
airplane or a bridge. Recourse to some kindof
typological model is more likelyto be
necessary. It may be argued that,in spite of
the fact thatthere is an area of freechoice
beyond thatof operation, this freedom lies in
the details (where, forinstance, personal
"taste" ought legitimatelyto operate). This
could probably be shown to be true of such
technically complex objects as airplanes,
where the topological relationshipsare largely
determinedby the application of physical
laws. But itdoes not necessarily apply to
architecture.Here, on the contrary,because
of the comparativelysimple environmental
pressures thatoperate on buildings,the
topological relationshipsare seldom
rigorouslydetermined. In the case of the
Philips Pavilion, forexample, itwas not only
acoustic requirementswhich established the
basic configuration,but also the need fora
buildingwhich would convey a certain
impression of vertigoand fantasy.It is in the
details of plan or equipment that naturallaws
become stringent,and not in the general

This content downloaded on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:54:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The exclusionbymodernarchitectural
theory
and itsbeliefinthefreedomof
oftypologies,
can at anyratebe partially
theintuition,
explainedbythegeneraltheoryofexpression
at theturnofthecentury.
whichwas current
Thisthorycan be seen mostclearlyinthe
workand theoriesofcertainpaintersbothinhispaintingsand
notablyKandinsky,
inhis bookPointand Lineto Plane,which
on whichhispaintingsare
outlinesthetheory
based. Expressionist
theoryrejectedall
ofart,justas modern
historicalmanifestations
architectural
theoryrejectedall historical
To itthese
formsofarchitecture.
werean ossification
of
manifestations
whose raison
technicaland culturalattitudes
d'6trehad ceased to exist.Thetheorywas
based on thebeliefthatshapes have
orexpressiveinterest
which
physiognomic
communicates
itselfto us directly.
Thisview
has been subjectedto a greatdeal of
andone ofitsmostconvincing
criticism,
occursinE. H. Gombrich'sbook
refutations
Meditations
on a HobbyHorse.Gombrich
offorms
thatan arrangement
demonstrates
or
such as is foundina paintingbyKandinsky
byPaul Klee is infactverylowincontent,
to theseformssome
unlesswe attribute
meaningsnotinherent
systemofconventional
in the formsthemselves. His thesis is that
physiognomicformsare ambiguous, though
certainlynot withoutexpressive value, and
thattheycan only be interpretedwithina
particularcultural milieu.i

One of the ways he illustratesthis is by

referenceto the supposed affectivequalities
of colours. Gombrich points out, in the now
famous example of trafficsignals, thatwe are
dealing witha conventional and not a
physiognomicmeaning; and maintainsthat it
would be equally logical to reverse the
meaning system,so that red indicated action
and forwardmovement,and green inaction,
quietness and caution.'
Expressionist theoryprobably had a very
strong influenceon the modern movementin
architecture.Its application to architecture
would be even more obvious than to painting,
because of the absence, in architecture,of
SThese principles are similarto those formulatedforsign
systems in general by F. de Saussure, see Course in General
Linguistics,F. de Saussure, The Philosophical Library,Inc.
New York 1959.
'It is interestingthat,since his book came out, the Chinese
have, forideological reasons, reversed the meanings of their
trafficsignals.

anyformswithoverticonicmeanings.
Architecture
has always,withmusic,been
consideredan abstractart,so thatthetheory
ofphysiognomic
formscould be appliedto it
without
havingto overcomethehurdleof
directrepresentation
and anecdoteas in
painting.
Butiftheobjectionstoexpressionist
theory
are valid,thentheyapplyto architecture
as
muchas to painting.If,as Gombrich
suggests,
formsbythemselvesare relatively
emptyof
meaning,itfollowsthattheformswhichwe
intuit
will,intheunconsciousmind,tendto
attractto themselvescertainassociationsof
meaning.Thiscould meannotonlythatwe
are notfreefromtheformsofthepast,and
oftheseformsas
fromtheavailability
typologicalmodels,butthat,ifwe assumewe
are free,we have lostcontrolovera very
activesectorofourimagination,
and ofour
withothers.Itwould
powerto communicate
seem thatwe oughtto accept a valuesystem
whichtakesaccountoftheformsand
solutionsofthepast,ifwe are to retain
controloverconceptswhichwillobtrude
themselvesintothecreativeprocess,whether
we are awareofitor not.
Theredoes seem, infact,to be a close
betweenthepurefunctionalist
or
relationship
teleologicaltheorythatI havedescribed,and
as definedbyGombrich.
expressionism,
By
on theuse ofanalyticaland inductive
insisting
leaves a
methodsofdesign,functionalism
vacuumintheform-making
process.Thisit
fillswithitsownreductionist
aesthetic-the
with
theaestheticthatclaimsthat"intuition",
can arrive
no historicaldimension,
spontaneouslyat formswhichare the
operations.This
equivalentoffundamental
procedurepostulatesa kindofonomatopoeic
betweenformsand theircontent.
relationship
Inthecase ofa biotechnico/determinist
theorythecontentis theset ofrelevant
- functions
whichthemselves
functions
a reductionofall thesocially
represent
a buildingoperationswithin
meaningful
and itis assumedthatthefunctional
complex
is translatedintoformswhose iconographical
significanceis nothingmorethantherational
ofthefunctional
structure
complexitself.The
existentfactsoftheobjectivesituationin
are theequivalentofthe
functionalism
existentfactsofthesubjective
In
situationinexpressionism.
(physiognomic)
both cases the resultingformsare assumed
to obey natural laws, in the one case physical,
and in the other psychological.

But traditionally,in the world of art,the

existent natural facts, whetherobjective or
subjective, are less significantthan the values
which we attributeto these facts, or the
system of representationwhich embodies
these values. As in language, the meanings
attributedto elements which constitutethe
system cannot be derived solely fromthe
elements themselves. In a given cross section
of historyit is never possible to reduce a sign
system to one in which all the elements can be
shown to be the resultof naturalforces.
It is truethatthe analogy between a system
such as architectureand language is not
exact, because in the case of architecture
there are natural (technical and expressive)
facts which are not present in language. But
these facts are not sufficientto explain the
entire meaning system,which depends less
on the intrinsicnature of the signs than on
convention,and the series of expectations

makespossible.7It
thatsuch a convention
followsthata plasticsystemofrepresentation
has to presupposethe
such as architecture
existenceofa givensystem.No morethanin
thecase oflanguagecan theproblemofform
be reducedto some kindofessence outside
ofwhichtheformis merely
thesystemitself,
Inbothcases itis necessaryto
a reflection.
system
postulatea conventional,
arbitrary
embodiedinsolution/problem
complexes.
Mypurposeinstressingthisfactis notto
to an architecture
advocatethereversion
This
whichaccepts tradition
unthinkingly.
wouldimplythattherewas a fixedand
relationbetweenformsand
immutable
meanings,whichithas been one ofthechief
The
purposesinthispaperto refute.
ofourage is change,and itis
characteristic
preciselybecause thisis so thatitis
thepartwhichthe
necessaryto investigate
ofthestereotype
modifications
playin
relationto problemswhichare without
The
precedentinanyreceivedtradition.
processofchangemustinvolvea dialectical
betweenthosepartsofthe
relationship
to change (because
systemthatare resistant
butchangeable
theyare conventional)
and thoseparts
(because theyare arbitrary);
ofthesystemwhichdependon naturallaws
come to lightunderthe
whichprogressively
pressureoftechnologicalevolution.
boththereare undoubtedly
Underlying
certainpsycho-physical
constants;butthese
are alwaysmediatedbothbytheexistent
languageon theone handand by
on theother.
technologicaldevelopments
I havetriedtoshowthata reductionist
theory
accordingto whichtheproblem/solution
processcan be reducedto somesortof
essence is untenable.One mightpostulate
thattheprocessofchangeis carriedout,not
butratherbya
bya processofreduction,
processofexclusion,and itwouldseem that
inall the
ofthemodernmovement
thehistory
artslendssupporttothisidea. Ifwe consider
paintingand musicwe can see that,inthe
and Schbnberg,traditional
workofKandinsky
formaldeviceswerenotcompletely
and given
abandoned,butweretransformed
a newemphasisbytheexclusionof
ideologicallyrepulsiveiconicelements.Inthe
itis therepresentational
case ofKandinsky
elementwhichis excluded;inthecase of
Sch6nbergitis thesystemoftriadsbased on
the harmonicseries.

The value of what I have called the process of

exclusion is to enable us to see the
potentialityof formsas ifforthe firsttime,
and withnaivety.This is the justificationfor
the radical change in the iconic system of
representation,and it is a process which we
have to adopt ifwe are to keep and renew our
awareness of the values which can be carried
by forms.The bare bones of our culture- a
culturewithits own characteristic technology
- must become visible to us. For thisto
happen, a certain scientificdetachment
towards our problems is essential, and withit
the application of the mathematicaltools
proper to our culture. But these tools are
unable to give us a ready-made solution to
our problems. They only provide the
framework,the contextwithinwhich we
operate.
becomesorganisedas a science,the
7"whensemiology
includesmodes
ornotitproperly
questionwillarisewhether
Infact,
naturalsigns
ofexpressionbased on completely
....
everymeansofexpressionused insocietyis based,in
for
Polite
formulae,
on collectivebehaviour....
principle,
instance,thoughimbuedwitha certainnaturalexpressiveness
by
(as inthecase ofa ChinesewhogreetshisEmperor
bowingdowntothegroundninetimes)are nonetheless fixed
of
the
value
the
intrinsic
not
and
this
rule
it
is
gesture
rule;
by
thatobligesone to use them."F. de Saussure,op. cit.

74

This content downloaded on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:54:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions