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On the typology of architecture <...,.J
Giulio Carlo Argan
Translated by Joseph Rykwert
Thnl anicl• :app-.rN flrsc in a volume of eua)'I (edited by Klirf
Oeuin1•r and Mohammed Rusem) off•Ad to Prof'euor Hans
h
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t
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i•ct which·is cencnil to sp«:ulation about archit«tural theory both
in this country and in AnMria-but to do 10 from a rather
unfamiliar standpoint and so contribute a new element to current
dhcusaion. JR
Most modern critics who depend ultimately on some
form of Idealistic philosophy would deny that an
architectural typology could In any way be valid.
They are right In so far as It would be absurd to
maintain that the formal value of a circular temple
is increased as it approaches an Ideal 'type' of
circular temple. Such an Ideal 'type' Is on!Y an
abstraction; so It is Inconceivable that an archltec•
tural 'type" could be proposed as a standard by which
the individual work of art could be valued. On the
other hand It cannot be denied that architectural
typologies have been formulated and passed down
in theoretical treatises and the work of famous
architects. It Is therefore legitimate to postulate the
questlon'of typology as a function both of the
hlstorlcai process of architecture and also of the
thinking and working processes of Individual
architecfs.
There Iii an obvious analogy between architectural
typology and Iconography: typology may not be a
determining factor of the creative process, but It ls
always In evidence much as Iconography ls In
figurative arts, though its presence la not always
obvious. How does an architectural 'type' appear?'
Those critics who would admit that 'typea' have a
certain Importance are those who explain architec­
tural forms In relation to a symbolism or to a ritual
pattern connected with them. This kind of crltlclom
has not resolved (and cannot resolve) a crucial
problO/!I: does symbolic content exist "'ore the
creation of the 'type' and detennlne It-or ·1 s It Just a
subsequent deduction? This question of precedence • :change of the whole 'type',
ls, however, not decisive where It Is considered In
the context of an historical procesa; when symbolic
content precedes the 'type' and determines It, J1Q
content Is �nly transmitted In connec6on with certain
archltectuml forms; In the same way when the
rever-98 happens, the succession of forms transmits
the symbolic content in a more or less conacloua
maoner. T.here are cases in which symbolic content
is 11ought for consciously as a link to an ancient
formal tra�ltlon; such a procedure may become an
impv,�,nt consideration by virtue of Its historical
and m�.netlc function. Two test cases of a conscious ·
linking of architectural form with ldeologlcel content
are those of the symbolism of centralized religlous
building of the Renaissance studied by Wlttkowar;
and that of a Baroque architectural allegory studied
by Sedlmayr,
Quatremlire de Quincy gives a precise definition of
an architectural 'type' in his historical dictionary.
The. word 'type', he says, does not present so ·much
an Image of something to be copied or Imitated
exactly as the idea of an element which should Itself
serve as a rule for the model ••• 'the model under•
stood as part of the practical execution of art ls an
object which should be Imitated for what It Is; the
"type" on the other hand ls something In relation to
whl�h different people may conceit• works of art
having no obvious resemblance to each other. All ls
exiict and defined In th.e model; In the ''type" every•
thing Is more or less vague. The Imitation of "types"
therefore has nothing about It which defies the
operation of sentiment and intelligence••• .' ·
The notion of the vagueness or generality of the
'type'-whlch cannot therefore direc6y affect the
design of buildings or their formal quality, also
explain, ltl generation, the way In which a 'type' la
. formed. It I• nevet formulated • pr/orl but always
· cioduced·from a series of lnstancea, So the 'type' of
• circular temple.la never Identifiable with this or
·· that.circular temple (even If one deflnlte building, In
thla case the Pantheon, may have had and continues
-lc(f,ave a particular Importance) but ls always the
result of the confrontation and fusion of all circular
femplas. The birth of a 'type' ls.therefore-dependent
on the existence of a aeries of bulldlnga having
between them an obvious formal and functional
· analqgy. In other words, when a 'type' la determined
,.In the practice or theory of arcbltecture, It already
· has an existence as an answar to a complex of
Ideological, rellglou1t or pr11ct1cel demando which
arl1p In a given historical condition of whatever
. cultjire.
In ti\s proces• of comparing and superimposing
lndltklusl forms so as to determine the 'type',
particular characteristics of each Individual building
are eliminated and only those remain which are
common to every unit of the series. The 'type'
therefore, I• formed through a proceos of roduclng a
complex of formal variants to a common root form.
If the 'typo' 11 produced through auch a "prOC<tH of
regro11lon, the root form whi_c:h la then found
cannot be taken as an analogue to something ae
neutral as a structural grid. It has to be understood
as the Interior structure of a form or as a principle
which contains the po■slbllity of Infinite formal
· variation and further structural modlflcatlon of the
' 'type' Itself. It la not, In fact, neceaaary to demon•
strate that If the final form of a building ls a variant
of a 'type' deduced from • preceding formal 11rle1,
the addition of another variant to the aeries will
neceaNrlly determine a more or lesa consldorablo
.
· T- salient facts ahow that the formative process of
· a iypology la not Just a classifying or statlstlcal
Pl"OC"S but one carried out for definite formal ends.
Flrstty: typological series do not arise only In
Nldon to the physical function• of buildings but are
,· tied .to their configuration. The fundamental 'type' of
tho drcular ahrlne for Instance, la lndopondont of
tho functions, sometimes complex, which ouch
buildings muat fulfil, It was only In the oecond half
of the nineteenth century that an -mpt waa made
to ,et up a typology based on the order of physical
function, (lyplcal plans for hospitals, hotels, schools,
banks, etc.) which, however, h11 not produced any
Important formal reaults. Historical 'types', ouch as
centrally planned or longltudlnal templaa, or thoH
resulting from a combination of the two plans, are
not Intended to satisfy contingent, practical require­
ment■; they are meant to deal with more profound
pi'oblems which-at least within the limits of any
given 1<1clety-are thought fundamental and constant;
It 11, therefore, eaaentlal to lay claim to all the
experience matured In the past In order to be able
to conceive forms In such a way that they will
continue to be thought valld In the future. However ·
much a 'type' may allow of variation, the Ideological
content of forma haa a constant base, though this
ma,-..lndeed ehould-essume a particular accent or
character at any particular time. Secondly, although
·an-Infinite number of classes and sub-claHes of
· 'in,ei' may be formulated,_ formal architectural
typologlH will always fall Into three main categorlea;
tht first concerned with a complete configuration of
bulldlriga, .the second with major structural element,
and.th• third with decorative element,. Examples of
the first category are centrany or longltudlnally
planned buildings; of the second, flat or domed
roofs, travlated or arcuated ayatems; and of the
third, orders of columns, ornamental details, etc.
Now, It la clear that a clasalftcatlon so constituted
follows the succession of the architect'• working
process (plan, structural system, surface treatment)
and that It ls Intended to provide a typological
guide for the architect to follow In the procesa of
conceiving a building. So that the worldng out of
every architectural project has this typological
aspect; whether It ls that the architect consciously
follows the 'type' or wants to depart from It; or even
In the sense that every building It an attempt to
produce another 'type'.
But If the 'type' la a achema or grid and the schema
lnevttably embodies a moment of rigidity or Inertia,
the presence of such a schema needs to be explained
In the context of an artist's creative proce1s. This
leads one back naturally to the general problem of
the relation between artistic creation and hlstorlcal
experience, since It ls from historlcal experience
that the 'type' ls always deduced. What requires
further explanatlon, however, la the proposition that
at least a part of that historical experience presents
Itself to an architect who ls designing a building In
the form of a typological grid. The 'type', so
Quatremire de Quincy has said, I• an 'object' but
'vague or indistinct'; it la not definite form but a
schema or the outline of a form; It also carries a
residue of the experience of form• already accom­
pllahed In projects or bulldlngs, but all that makes
for their specific formal and artlotlc value lo dlocarded.
More precisely In the 'type' they are d1prlved of
their character and of their true quality aa forms; by
sublimation Into a 'type' they assumo tho Indefinite
value of an Image or a sign. Through this reduction
of preceding worka of art to a 'type', tho artist frees
himself from being conditioned by a definite hlstorlcal
form, and neutralizes the past. He a11umes that
what ls past ls absolute and therefore no longer
capable of developing. Accepting Quatremtre de
Quincy's deflnltlon, one might say that the 'type'
arlsea at the moment at which the art of the pest no
longer appears to a worldng artist aa a conditioning
model.
The choice of a model Implies a value Judgment: a
recognition that a certain definite work of art la
perfect and has to be Imitated. When such a work
of art re-assum,! the schematic and Indistinct
nature of a 'type', the Individual action of the artist
ls no longer bound to a velue Judgment; the 'type'
Is accepted but not 'imitated' which mean• that the
repetition of the 'type' excludes the operation of
that kind of creative process which ls known as
mimesis. In fa� the acceptance of the 'type'
Implies the suspension of historical judgment and
la therefore negative; although also 'Intentioned',
directed to the formulatlon of a new kind of value In
as much as It demands of the artist-In 111 very
negativity-a new formal determination.
It ls true that the aasumptlon of a 'type' as a starting
point for the architect's working proce11 does not
exhaust his involvement with historical data: It does
not stop him from aHumlng or rejecting definite
buildings as models.
Bramante'• tempietto of Sa� Plotro In Montorlo la a
classic lnotance of auch a proc111; It obvloualy
depends on a 'type': the perlpteral etrculartemplo
described by Vitruvlua (Book IV, Chapter 8) which
Integrates the abstraction of the 'type' through
(
hlstorlcer' 'model•' (for lnitance, the temple of the
Sybil at Tivoli), and ao appears to clalm.fpr .Itself
the'fllittii of�oth model and 'type'. Indeed it seem,
characteristic of Bramantesque classicism to aspl11
to a ayncretlc union of !deal antiquity (which Is
essentially 'typical') and of historical antiquity whlct,
has a status of a formal model. An instance of a
diametrically opposed attitude Is that of neo­
classical architects who assume classical architec­
tural typology. not classlcal architectures,. as a modal;
so that the movement produces works which are
1
merely three-dimensional transcriptions of 'types',
If the concept of typology could In aome ,way be
brought back to that of 'techtonlcs' as recently
deflned by c,sare Brandi (Eliante ode/la -11/telbna,
11156), one might say that typology Is a notional balO
on which formal developmont of the arllst must
Inevitably rest.
It will, therefore, be clear that the position of the
artist rls-+rls history has two aspects, the aspect al
typology and that of formal definition. That of
typology la not problematic: the artist assumes
certain data, ta!<lng as a premise of all his work a
group of common notions, or a heritage of Images.
with all their more or less explicit content and their
Ideological overtones. Thia aspect may be compered
to the iconographic and compositional tr-ent of
themes In figurative art. The aspect of formal·
definition, on the other hand, Implies a reference to
definite formal values of the pH! on which the artist
expllcltly arrives at a Judgment. This Judgment,
however, must Itself Imply a typology since, when­
ever a velue judgment on given works of art la
passed, a judgment must also be passed about the
way In which the artist, In creating them, had .dealt
with the relevant typologlcal scheme.
;-\
t
The question of the value of architectural typology
has recently been examined by Sergio Bettini
(Zodiac, No. 5) and by G. K. K6nig (Lezlonl de/
Corso di Plasllca; Editrlce Unlversitarla, Aorence,
1961). In these writings the opinion prevails that an
architectural 'type' must be treated as a schema of
spatial articulation which has been formed In
response to a totality of practical and ideological
demands. From this one might deduce that the formal
ft
invention which overcomes the 'type' ls a response
to Immediate demands In reference to which the
'type' had lost any real value. A recourse to the
'type' would therefore occur when the Immediate
demand which the artist ls called to answer has its
roots In the pasL A algnlflcant Instance ls provided
by the comparison between modem religious and
Industrial architecture. Industrial architecture which �ti"
....s:
deals with altogether new demands has created
1
new 'typea' which have, In many ca1es, great
Importance for the later development of architecture.
Rellgioua architecture which answers demands
rooted In the past has resulted In typological repeti­
tion (artistically valueleos) or In attempts at freeing
the artist of all typological precedent (as, for Instance.
Le Corbusler at Ronchamp). These have led to the·
proposing of counter-types, mostly ephemeral or �
unacceptable-there are few Instances of modern
developments of historical 'types'.
The conclusion must be that the typological and
the Inventive aspect of the creative process ire
continuous and Interlaced-the Inventive aspect
being merely that of dsallng with the domsnd• of·
tho actual hl1torlcaJ altuatlon ,by criticizing· and
overcoming putlcillltlona depo1lted and synthe-
1lzed schematically :In th•. 'type'.,