Built Intervention in Historic Core.*

Introduction

“Tradition by no means consists merely of following, it is a matter of much wider significance. It can not be inherited and if you want it, you must obtain it by great labour. It involves in the first place the historical sense, nearly indispensable to anyone who would continue to be a poet beyond his twenty-fifth year; and the historical sense involves perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.” - T.S.Eliot

From ages, architects, painters, musicians, poets and designers, had zeal to un-belong. This zeal, many times in the history confronted the idea of non historical creations so was the idea of modernism. The great masters of ‘Modernism’ were sensitive about the buildings and expressions they generated but mass cheap-imitations put question marks on the Soule of thought. Inappropriateness of ‘Modernism’ in historical cores is much higher in countries like India where place making is synonymous to celebration of spaces. These celebrations serve as translator of meaning underlying a larger configuration and relate to the significance of the place wherein they are staged. Today, almost all Indian historic cities need urban regeneration as ‘Modern’ movement in heritage has ruptured the historical tissues drastically and feel of spaces in city cores in turn the celebration of those spaces.

For effective urban regeneration we must be sensitive about new buildings being erected in cores. These new built forms act as glue to the fabric and behave as the channel for flow of spaces and if not designed properly these new installations can counter the effect of the whole regeneration programme. This essay is an attempt to understand the sensitivity required for inserting new built form in historic city core. Here this essay focuses manly in few theoretical constructs on this debate. Here essay will analyse ‘Modernism’, as this was the period which marked the remarkable transformation of urban tissues and tries to cover need, rise and fall of modernism. A small emphasis on agenda of postmodernism with attitude of critical regionalism will try to conclude these theories.

Need of ‘Modernism’

Architecture of any time reflects its time, place, culture, social, political, organization system and technology. 19th Century witnessed changes which transformed almost all known dimensions and perimeters of all above factors. Hence there was a need of new expression of technology culture and organization system. The need for development of ‘Modernism’ can be understood by three important factors which are

1. Cultural Transformations: ‘Modernism’ was reaction to styles of architecture or phases, rejecting the past and ‘architecture of exclusion’ which resulted in simplification of form and elimination of ornaments. It was Architecture that expressed the spirit of a new age and would surpass the styles, materials, and technologies of earlier architecture. It embarked the avant-grade with the production of architecture and urban spaces having their own expression and critical esteem.

2. Territorial Transformations: The Industrial Revolution was responsible for large-scale changes in patterns of living and working and for the rapid growth of cities. Population concentrations created demand for new roads, railroads, bridges, and subways, and for a wide range of new buildings. Two world wars added to the need of the fast development by mass destruction.

3. Technical Transformations: Availability of new building material such as iron, steel, concrete and glass drove the invention of new building techniques. This advancement in building materials resulted change in approach of architects which was much more engineered and technical in nature.

Rise and fall of ‘Modernism’

‘Modernism’ had emphasis on volume, not mass; on regularity, not symmetry; on proportions and sleek, technical perfection rather than ornament; and a preference for elegant materials. Universal civilization projected whole world on one stage and modern buildings cited no context consideration. This broke barriers for spread of any architectural style in confined area hence termed International Style. Modern architects abandoned historical references, only few used careful references of the past to enhance the modernity. Print and e-media played its role in projecting the idea of un-belonging and united the world’s rebellion architects under one title called modernists.

‘Architecture of exclusion’ resulted in unornamented building boxes. The expressions of buildings were boxed, suitability of the building form and expressions of the spaces were soulless. Churches were boxes, institutions were boxes, offices were boxes, housings were boxes, and public buildings were boxes so were private buildings. No-historical references in buildings caused in lack of historical knowledge in new age architects. Architectural history lost its significance in architecture education and so the basics behind this mutiny against the classical architecture started failing. ‘Modernism’ stagnated in the time frame of its initial years and failed to develop chronologically. The situation was much more poignant for the countries which had strong culture and rooted system of living. These questions were posed by the postmodernism and challenged long-held modernist principles.

“To be modern is not a fashion, it is a state; It is necessary to understand history, & he who understands history knows how to find continuity between that which was, that which is & that which will be : Le Corbusier”

Postmodernism

Architecture should be guided ‘not by habit’ but by conscious sense of the past- precedent, thoughtfully considered : Robet Venturi (Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture)

‘Postmodernism’ questioned expressionless, soulless architecture of ‘Modernism’ and advocates the diverse aesthetics. The architects who led the movement boldly used the historical references in architecture and argued that modernist aesthetic was stifling to creativity, disliked by the masses, and uninteresting to design. ‘Postmodernism’ is ‘architecture of inclusion’, tries to refer elements from history, context, climate and responds to site conditions.

Critical Regionalism

It involves basically resolving the debate between impersonal international standardized architecture, and localized vernacular architecture. But then are the two tendencies really antithetical?....... it is possible to arrive at the vision of a same architecture which will be neither old nor new but simply true....” Piacentini, Marcello,1922.

The approach of architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of meaning in ‘Modern Architecture’ by using contextual forces to give a sense of place and meaning is Critical regionalism. Critical Regionalism is an attitude of cross fertilization & reinterpretation of the local and regional features with universal civilization. It is a fact that every culture cannot sustain and absorb the shock of modern civilization. There is a paradox how to become modern and to return to sources; how to revive an old, dormant civilization and take part in universal civilization. The fundamental strategy of Critical Regionalism is to mediate the impact of universal civilization with elements derived indirectly from the peculiarities of a particular place. It is clear from the above that Critical Regionalism depends upon maintaining a high level of critical self-consciousness. It may find its governing inspiration in such things as the range and quality of the local light, or in a tectonic derived from a peculiar structural mode, or in the topography of a given site.

Critical Regionalism advocates:

· Criticism of modernism and at the same time distances from native utopianism.
· Consciously bound architecture and emphasizes on place form and physical impact territory established by building.
· Architecture’s tectonic nature.
· Responding to topography, local materials, light, shade quality and responds to specific conditions.
· Emphasis on feelings of the spaces, sensitization of heat and cold, degree of illuminations, humidity, air movement, volume and material sensations.
· Reinterpretation of the local and vernacular elements and to cultivate innovation in a contemporary place oriented culture and traditions.
· Flourishing those cultural interstices which in one way or other are able to escape the optimizing thrust of universal civilizations.

Conclusion:

The architecture of a city narrates its very evolution and the various phases of the development it faced and experiencing. The ultra modern builds might act as a medium for a city to showcase all its achievements but they certainly fall short in giving the city a character. This phenomenon becomes more important in case of places which inherit timelessness in their character and generating built form in harmonic manner which responds to context, needs addressing of large no of issues. I would like to conclude by Emphasizing that the objective of understanding of the historical process is not to recreate the architectural style and patterns of past. We can develop much better approaches to respond local issues sympathetically by rediscovering design process of unifying traditional architecture. By unifying I do not mean that buildings would be similar in appearance but should follow morphological development of the place and form making with the emerging thought of the time.

*This essay was written for paper presentation in COGNIZANCE-2008(Annual technical fest of IIT Roorkee) under the title “Inserting Builtform in a Historic Urban Fabric”. Some part of the essay has been removed and edited from the original text to make this essay concise and clear.

References:
1. "New Architecture & Urbanism: Development of Indian Traditions" paper titled ‘Introduction : Why Traditions Matters’ by Menon.A.G.K
2. Towards A Critical Regionalism 6 Points For An Architcture of Resistence : Frampton Kenneth
3. Critical History of Modern Architecture : Frampton, Kenneth
4. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture: Venturi, Robert
5. Celebration of place: Processional rituals and urban form, MS Thesis by Aarati K. Kanekar (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
6. Critical Regionalism: Architecture of its ‘time and place’ Thesis by Jigar Patel (School of Architecture, Centre of Environmental Planning and Technology, CEPT)
7. Universal civilization and National Cultures (1961 ): Paul Ricoeur
8. Towards the Authentic Regionalism: Wiillam curtis Mimar20: April-June 1986.
9. www.wikipedia.com
10. www.encarta.msn.com
11. Imageof Seagram Building is takes from
http://media.marketwire.com/attachments/200808/MOD-461093_SeagramBldg.MMiP28-08.jpg