Charles Earnes' bo use, Paeifie Palisad es, SantaMónica.

-

.~ ,.Mies van der Roh e bui ldings on Lake Sxore Orive , Chicagc, ríght no. 860, bu ilt in 195 1, cen tre no. 900built in 1960.

1 !!• , ., • • • f J' 1":-- -C- - "'C- - oC'- - 'I:'r

The ideal house Is that which ene can makeone's own without alte ring anvthing.

Make one's own in the usual way, that iswithin the limit s of the fashion of the t ime,and with out feeling any pressure either 10comm unicate one's trivial uniqueness oc toabsurdly confo rmo

Th at this ís possible scarcely needsdem onstrating in England. The most casualwalk in Kensington oc Bath ... a lookth rough open doors in to an elegant hall oc alaocoan of rusting prams . . . the soundsfloa ting OUl of up per windows . .. lightsanta lined curtains oc the old 40 wan bulbover a pensione rs' tea .. . the smell offlower s, oc old fat , occats . The richness ofthe mix within en appa ren tly sta tic forma l isincredible .

The search for a style which can match thísideal has been the floating cent re of ourdesign effort - cer tainly since themíd-Economíst years and expl ains themulling-over of the Eames House and ourclose-watchíng of the gradually evolvingsub tly mod ulate d facades c fl ate Mies.

What we woul d seem to be lookíng for is thegentle st of styles , which whilst still giving anad umbration of (he measures of internalevent s and structures (roo ms. activit ies,servicing arrangements, SUPPOTts), leavesitself ope n to - even suggests ­inter pretation, without irsetf beíng changed.

That style should be a prob lem fc r us meansthat we have accepted at anot her level that

Alison a nd Peter Sm ith son : Born 1928 Sheff ieldand 1923Stockton on Tees . Bo th studied atDu rhem Unlversit v, set up in privat e practiee whent hey won t be com pet it ion for a schoct atHunstanto n. Innu merable arttctes and bUlldlngs byt hem have been featured In A O. Steel house designed by Mies van der Roh e on thc '860 ' mod ule.

SIC.NS C)I~ C)(~(~(Jl)l' N(~YA & P Smithson

1

9 1 ADI2f7 2

AUphctographs, unless o thcrwise cred ited , by P. smuhson. .

( Provencal) engages a pleasant nostalgia .

In bot h Disneyland and Port Grimaud,stree ts widen al sho ps or levees, views areindi ca ted by op eni ngs between buildings.The fc rrn-language spr ings fro m an acce pte dno tion of pleasurable use , th e sty le from areal past - they are not past iche.

Tod ay there are many now-seen-di fferentl yold -usages (for 10 delibera tely exclude trameis no t the same as not havíng any). and th ereis also a whole mass of new usages for whichobvíousty no tradi tio nal fc rrn-language exis tsllar any previou s styles. Fcr example, whatare the pleasu res and the approp riate formarfor the jo urn ey fra m car-park to superma rt?the journey fro m garage ro house or office?th e jo urney fro m ca r-silo to terminal bu ilding 'the journey fro m und erg round rai lway sta tionto office in the intensely used old cit ycentres? Do'Po rt G rímaud is th e refound bond bctw ee n houseand boat , s tonc and wate r. As of old, (he ancien troof tites are ren ec rcd in Ihe smoo th waters of rhecanats. Each nouse is opcn lO both Iand and water- on one stdc, a garden: on the otner. yo ur privarequay on a canal or on Ihe central lake where yourmoo red boa r awa its you, cx tend mg th c house andccmptcting it, the pror nisc 01' cndíess escape andadventure.'-A t Pon Gri maud, as in ventee, wate r is al! aroundyou. Thc cana ls roach int o thc heart of Ihc city.Movem ent is largely by boa t, but clectric mororshavc rcplaced the fcrrymen 01' otd, sending lheboats gliding noiselessly aero s." tbe lagoo n.'S evcra! windmills. similar to Ihose whose saiL"once IUrAcd on lhe hills 01' Grimaud, pump Ihewal ers t hrough the I:lgoon kccping Ihcm clcar andlimpid.'A real Pro\'en cal village await s YOII,with il" shadysquarcs, playing founlains and flowering gnrde ns.Ceol, nanow slrcc ls lit by old gas lamps invileleislIrcly strolls. thci r pcaec and calm safeguardedby t hc absence of mol or \'C hicles which musl beIcft in Ihc CM park at the. cntfance lO thl:' "illagc.'

Publicit)' J¡o/ldout

For exam ple , the need for forms of buildingtha t can keep out noise and cars fro m livingplaces tha t are bet ter off withou t th em.

In Disney land, or Por t G rimau d, they haveno problems with rhis . Al Port Grim aud, aca ntinuo us building face with only twoarched gateways (w ith policemen ) in it . Thatwall o f buil ding says prívat e, peacefu l inside.T he arched gat es say too small forar ti cu lated truc k, traffic not encouraged.T he idea of closed and galed town is easilyread. The past form-language used ís an .instanl commu nicato r. Tite past sty le

,

PaUadio 's Villa Rotunda, ou tside v icenza.

particula r person bu t of who le periodo

In our peri od we ca n recognise certa in ncedsthat have been with us for years. and ca nreasonably be assumed to be a permanentaspect of ou r life, for wh ích no appro p riateforms have been invenred.

lnn er co urt of the palace al Split (Yugoslavia) ,

an ad equate general formar fo r 'house' or'offfce ' has bee n evolved , that there is as itwer e a wo rd in th e form-language ofarchit ecture th at can serve.

For style Is a special flavour ofform -Ianguage, and it ls form-Ianguage that isfun dame ntal to architecture , A wo rd whi chis solid ly established in form language canhelp one to recognise self - and , a t apractical level , it can tell on e what a thi ng ísand how it is lo be used.

For the Roman, for example , th e port tco,helped him to recognise tite Romanness andal the same time it was a sign fo rdoor-through-whic h-rnany-people (or a fewimport ant personages) -are-expec ted-to-pass- it helped him lo Find hi s way aro und.Tite words o f a form language, in thi s casethe wo rd 'p onteo'. are inventions ; theevolu tio n of the langu age not the work of a

92

(In similar situaticns in the past ­colonnades, arcades. part covered st reets) .

What are the pleasures and the form forpicnic-place off a motorway? ( In the past ­the tenace or the hanging woods).

In the old farms around Florence or Pnrma,one can see from what base thc arch itectureof the Renaissance sprang. From wellthought ou t, solidly built farms.

***

whar are the pleasures and the forrn ofsecluded plaees in blg cities? Rememberthere are now jets overhead. (In the past ­water gardens, cloisters).

what are the pleasures and the form of thezone between the road and the existingbuildings 011 an urban motorway? (In thcpast - the tree lined boulevard orRingstrasse).

Farrns whosc inhabitants liad just thatamount of leisure so that rural occupationscould be separated from brute labour andseen as capable of perfectio n - of bccomlngpleasures and ideas. Thc countr y villabecarne a fundamental word in theform-Ianguage 01' threc centu ries, arouudwhich succcssive styles gathcred othermeanings, helped te make othcr sons 01'meno

93 AD /2f72

Detaib of Mies va nder Rohe's ColonnadeAp:a rtmenls, New Jersey, 1959.

That lhe degree of finish could teUus thingswas already spelJ ed out in lhe early '50s byLe Corbusier's Unité at MarseiUes with its'con tainer' (rough - the urban framework) ,and lhe 'contained' (well-finished - thehouse-cell); and in Chicago by Mies van derRohe's 86 0 Lake Shore Orive with ilsunderslated public face, and with places onecan make one's own inside. t>

I'P~"

ur .:.:.::

Today no intellectual case forstandardisatian as such can be made. andwhat it usually communicates is indifference- a kind of indolence. For machineprocesses can now make to tlle profiles andto the degree of srnoothness or hardness lhatuse requires. ralher Ihan needing to matchproduclion processes.

That with standardísa tíon a cer taininarticulateness. imprecision, and cvcninconveníence could be involved theyaccepted for the greater good and because,more imporl antly to them then,standardisalion really spoke of I'espritnouveau.

For exarnple LIle Modern Movement wascornmitted ro solving LIle problems of themany, it accepted the idea of standardisatlonto the produce the numbers thatmass-production demanded: for thern onlymass-production - titen also in its heroicphase - could solve the problems of themany.

Of course it is difficult for us to allowourselves to think like this, for the ModernMcvement as a mOI'emelJl was puritanical ­equating the hard with the good - and itwas committed to alt itudes which becauscof the force of the founders we find difficultand unnatural and shake off.

handle should be warrn. and things we wouldIike people to keep off cold. The reverse in awarm climale. And of course with thecontrol of air-temperature and air-movementa whole new source of possibilities forstatement and indicatíon are offe red.

..

DelaiJ or the limber saeen enasing Ihe hostel alSI. Hi.Ida·s College . Oxford, designed by Alison :andPe<er Smiltuon, 1967-70.Thal we should accepl that the things we arelikely lo touch should be pre-smoothed bylhe human hand as 11 were, that things nearto us should be llawless and undlSturbing,even prelt)". that aH malerials and theirhandhng should indícate and enhance useseems reasonable. For example, in a coldc1imale lhe things we intend people to

cam plr.'tI.ty, W! th judgme nt and sensibility ruulinga free satl5b c bon e n lile hyper -pra cti caJ plane.

" ":; Th IS gnded approach 15 visu:ally penelnble Crom~ lhe scee r and provides II tnnsition wncse dl.anget c r dírecnon and dUlici Cr o r vo tume 1Irt'cspable oC~ inducing . h~ degree o sensible experie nce. The

"'-~cl=:i;:::r:=:t¡¡:~ :- gatewa y oC wu e mesh endoses but does ncr;;; ;5 obscu rt' :l small foIttOUJI [10m which a Shor l Oigtu

c r s teps ca.rri~ e ne ro a lofly. partWly open porc hoCs tric tJ) cubic in te ntion, wn ence a change indirtttion brings e ne, :u a h.ighe.r jevet, scross :11

bridg eway to the circular ve:sQbule.

One ot the telA lo talk 10 terms of Iheforrn-langu.1ge 01" the heroie period ofmodern art.:hlle..:tu re. bolh as IOdicator andas enhan..::er of e..ef)da} use. was Rex:\ larlJenssen Of Le COfbusler"s ah:auonAml} butld.lOg lLa Cité de Rcfuge}10 Panshe dj-rhe purposed a 'Rduge' ln\ oI"e$ a conbnuouslychan;ga ng ' popub hon'; il i:s al one and dte samtbine a mo numenl, a rocal poinl and an hOlel. Wearenol concemed al present \o\oi lJt dte generaJ'Working arrangemcnl. bul in Iheapprox helemenll (gale\lo"'2Y. po«:h. bridge, "n tibule), merei:s a gradedJuccessíon of endoslJlgor hmiLings~es Chal may be categorised a$ Con .lTUc llViJt.The 'tlo hde scheme. entrance. dl3trlbul lOfl .dorm ilones,diniJll rooms. work.shop5 ta nds 00 1hom its dnb surTOundlllgs "lIh cry.sUlline pu nlyand lJte 'monumental" aUrlbute t:s esu blUhed in apo\udul yel elemenlaJ geomdry. By lJte ...erynalurt of Its tleaunenL....11.h the broadsouth·rXln.g rxadc of lighc and lJte v1gorOUSpoIyduomy or the WI enlnince porch. cheCitéde Rdu bKomes a roa poinl for IhOK 'A hom jI.. ekomes.. The mu llJple requirementsarenxdyadJusted lOan Qtnrr1ltly unpronsina sile. Thcbulkxcommocbuonsunds ou l boldJ) anddearlyin sunple(omu.. bul me approsc:h - lhe adequaleliuson bel.... cen lhe inhospiu ble streec andultimale protecoon - u sdI~d .. ilt1pater

Cde de Rduge. Puis. as buiJl by LeCortuUH:rbecween 1929and 1933.

_ A d ñptio n 15 necessariJy inadeq ua te lO co nveyViIb 11 Cardles. de:signed by Le Corb usier in 1927. .. 'hal are essenrW ly experíences oC movement and

~ percepucn. but ic 15 uggeslive lO compare such a~ moduíated jenecanon wi th lile more common=- blun t e n try in tc 110 ¡robled vot ume without5 tn nsit ion in our 0 ...."0 time. The Egyp tians.. Greeks~ and Rc rr uns .... ere-me ticul o us in pecvi d ing ter smal l~ wor ja an ampl e tone of adjustme nt.";;; (Co nst rucrlvlsmand Arch ite crure, Sou tn AfricanO An:hirtctu nJl Record , July 1941. p.26J).

~ ~

! To talk of wire mesh in this way as one would~ of a 17th Century bronze screen in a Cairo

~ 4 ~ Masque might seem ludierous, bUI in fact

ViIb < - " P " b -, b ; . e b . ... - what is deseribed is what it really did..,... VOle. owy , cut y 0..0: or U5lef eerween Le e b " " ibill ised ¡ f1929and 1931. or usrer s sensr . ry raise u romaThe hou e (Ir Le Corbusrer al Oarches. or his necessiry into architecture, into one of thetruly named MaESon des Heures Ctatres at pleasures of use.POlSS)' , Mies' ~l aggerirWY opulent Barcelona In any real architeclure a visual deseriptionPavilion. oro rus Tugendhal House at Bmo: such as lhat rnade by Martienssen for thewere the Villa Rotundas of then time Cité de Refuge of a sequence of

'preparatlons fo r entry' could be matched bya description of the same sequence by theguided hand , or by a description of the

1~~~~~E~~~t~1!'1~¡:~" ~ experience of Ihe way tradd en by the fool.~ Far the whole body is involved.

'_.::.......IL~..L.:;~.....~::...¡.:i~ ~ Architects generally have allowed their~ sensibiLi ties to become so far decayed that~ even a 'Recreation Centre for the blind' is a

(;) conventional building, convenlionally., detailed, when even lhe stupidest person one] would suppose could imagine that for Iheo blinds' except ionally developed sensory~ facult ies a building specially pleasurable to...l those faculties could have been offered, even

if it was a üttl e shocking to thern at flIst, aslhe impact of the interior of a great barn isto the sighled.

gout hcorPlace.Baui.

To pursue Port Grimaud . . .

Much of the form -Ianguage used at PortGrimaud ís not available ro us becau se theunderlying uses canno t survive ou tside thevery artificial circumstances o f a rieh rnan'splay tow n. For example , the art iculatio n ofthe street pa tte rn, its shaping and enliveningwit h small shops and cafés with appropriatewíden ings of the largely vehicle lesswall-to-wall streets cannot be transposed .Those shops and cafés serve the manytour ists. an d the reside nt population ís alsothere to enjoy itself - and to buy at smar tshops and eat in expe nsive cafés is part ofsummer enjoymen t. Those th ings are specialto the sit uat ion . Those sho ps Ilou rtsh .

Not that we thought abo ut tho se build ingsin this way when they were new - it isthr ough Disneyland and lately Po n Grimaudwhich are so unashamedl y pleasu reíndicating fo rms that one suddenly begins tothink of the language of presen t dayarchitect u re as a pretty inar ticulate affair ..

But th is shou ld no t frigh ten US. There arefew 'corn er-shops' in 8 a th , but man yhundreds of ya rds of 'just -houses' as livableand relaxed as anywhe re and thi s is ach ieved South Parade, Bath.thtough a rich and flexible fo rm-Ianguageentirely based on the use 'house' ­houses{stre et {service street {serviceyards{service buildings{gardens{hou ses'ground.

As the buil ders of Bath decided that theterrace house fo rm would wor k fo r them , wethink that for city ho using the stree t-de ckIor ma t will serve uso lt is. we feel, a solidlyestablished form capa ble of being articulatedthrou gh its sub-fo rms to wards a Iiveable andrelaxed 'Ideal -house' .

Larger and fewer means bíg-vehícle servedand acres of customer ca r-pa rking. Theaverage superrnart is as enjoyable as th eaverage trac tor-parts fac to ry , the refo rewhere there ís real afflue nce the small shopre-inventa it self as a de lica tesscn or specialityshop , bu t as far as England ís concerned thisdegree of af flue nce affec ts very few. Fo r theman y the re are inevitab ly ya rds and ya rds 01''just houses' with no ready-ma de easy meanswith which to ar ticula re , to enliven, ít.

ln the circumsta nces of ordina ry urbanhousing the number of small shops is few,cafés fewer. In fac t, the whole ma rket ingtre nd of the indust rialised cou nt ries istowards larger and fewer sho ps, fo r ease ofdelivery and so on - for marke ting reasons.

What we have tr ied ro do in the developmentof the basic ide a (connec ted stre et -dec ksglving choice of approach, choice ofcompa nions; c1 early stated grou ps ofdwellings for mut ual soc ial sup po rt;adequate 'door-steps' to protect and identi fydwellings wit hin the group) is to evolve theform and sub -forrns so as to indicare clea rlyhow th e plaee is ro be used. So that its lnner court, Gray's Inn, London.

95 AD/2 n2

Con crete fu rt.her fro m the eye is coarser - itis concrete to be passed by not lived with.

Conc rete near the eye is smooth andmoulded to be self-c leaning and neat - ablete be touched .

\Ve have tried to evolve the form-language toind icate and to enhance use.

And so on.

The dweUings are sta ted as encl oswes butthe exact in ternal use left open tointerpret at íon to reflect the lnterchangeableuse of rooms th at ord inary dwellings require

VehicIe movement is ke pt in a mear , visiblyand obviously be low ground level. A moatwhic h conta ins th e noise, and holds theheavier-than-air vehicle fumes below theIevel of the dwellings and thepeo ple-occupied open spaces.

French-windows are seen to open only onthe quiet síde.

At Rob in Hood Gardens the street-deck isclearly fo r horizontal movement ; lif ts areshafts of vert ical movement; whe re deck endshaft meet is a definite place.

The st reet -deck itself is articulate d so thatthe part by the individual front door s offersitself for being-taken possession of by thehou seholde r.

occupiers are lcft in no doubt , ye t beunaware of having been ' told', which 15in tended to be thc quie t pan and which th enoisy, whc re o ne is ex pected to walk andwhere te drive, where ro play , wher e tedelíve r or bring the ambulance. Theform-language of the build ing to indícat eand enhance use.

In bis repon to the Govemmenr of Ind ia . e­

96

wrtu en dcwn all this seems so banal thatone wonde rs quite why it is worth saying ,But in spite 01' it having been normal to allEurop e sinee tite rtse of the Burgher culturesin the 1400 s - for a form-la nguage to bebased on common use and the pleasures ofco rumon use is resisted tcday.

And so o n.

Where mu eh wear or weaLher is expeetedtimber is proteeted by pain t , glossy ­suggesting wip ing down, re-paintlng.

Jo inery to be to uched has smoothly roundededges and is made of excellent timber ofst raigh t knot-free grain - inviting fu rLherwaxing and polishing.

ata rles Eames' Ford Fou ndati on repc rt on'what to do about design in India"said thatdesign co uJd on ly toueh Ind ia if í t could becarried Into every village th rough somethinguniversaliy used.

Axorometnc of Robin Hood Gard ens, London, by A & P Srmuecn , now oomp leted.

House o n the ce rner of Cromwe Uand Exhibitic nRoads, Sou t ll Kensírgtc n, Londo n. C>

Eames says:

Of 3011 th e o bjec ts "1: have secn and admi red duringour visit te Ind ia, the Lota, thc simple vc ssct oteve ry dey use. stan ds ou t as pcrha ps the grcatcst,the most beau tlful - me village womcn havo aprocess which , wtth thc use 01' ramarind and ash.each day tums this brass in tc gold.

But how would one go abo u t designing a Lot a?

Firs t one would have to shut ou t aH precc nceive dideas on the subjec t and the n begin lO conside rrect or af'ter fac tor :

The optimum amount of liq uid lO be fetch ed ,car ried, poured, and stored in a prescribed ser ofcirc umstances.

The size or strenth and gender of the han ds (if"han ds] th al woul d manipulare it,

Th e wa y it is lO be transpor te<!. - head, hip, han d ,basket, or car t.

The balance, th e centre of gravit y, whe n empty,when full, tts balance wn en rora ted for po uring.The fluid dyn ami cs of the probl em no l only whenpou ring, but wh en filling an d clean ing, and underth e corn plicated motions of head carryi ng - stowand faat,

j ~.Housing. Kiefh oe k, Ro tt erd am, designed and built in 192 5 by J . J . P. Oud.

rts sculp ture as it fits the palm of the han d, thecurve of the hipo

Its sculp tu re as co mplcme nt lo the ryt hm ic mon onof wal king or a static pose a l the well.

Th e relation of opening lOvorurne in temu ofstorege uses - and o bjects o thcr tha n liqu id,

The me or the opening and inner con tour in rermsof cleaning ,

The texture inside and out in terms of clean ing andfce ling.

Heat transfer - can n be grasped if the liquid Ishct?

How pleasanl does it feel, eyes cíosec, eyes o pen?

How pleasant does it scund wh en it stn kes anot hervesset, is set down en ground 0 1 stone, cmpty 0 1

full - cr be ing poured into?

What is the possib le ma terial?

What is its cos t in temu of wOIking?

What is its COSI in temu of ult ima te se rvice?

What kind of an investm ent does th e mat erialprovide, as prcduc t, as salvage?

How wíü th e material aí fect th e cc nrents , etc. etc?

How will i t loo k as th e sun refl ec lS of f iu surface?

How do es it fee l to possess il, to seUil, to give il?

• • nb one man designcd me Lot:l, bu t many menover many genera tion s. Many individualsIep resen ted in their own way thlOugh some lhingthey may have adde d Ol may have Iemoved, 0 1

thr ough some qual ity of u'h ich they areparticularly aware .*

Interpreting Eames - fonn-Ianguage sets·upa dialogue between object and user. Theobject suggests how ir can be used, the userresponds by using it well - the objec timproves; or it is used badly - the object isdegraded. the dialogue ceases.

· Pan of an ex t raet pubJi she d in Architec rurafDesign, ~pl e mber 1966.

97 ADI2(72

\Ent13nce to house a l Kie fhoe k, by J. J. P. Oud.

It can of course revive for there is a secretand permanenl life in things inlensely madelhal can come a1ive for other uses, othergenerati ons - even when the damage isextre mely severe; even when only a ruin or afragment is left. But in its firsl period of lifeif it is to eslablish what il has in it, theobject mUS I have love, or at least , regard.

* * *To evolve a form·language for thearchitec ture of an industriaJised socity on abasis of the pleasures of common use is ofcou rse perfectly possible. In lhe heroicperio<! J . J . P. Oud's 'De Kielhoek' inRolterdam, an ordinary municipal housingestate, was built from the bottoro up with alove that is still shiningly obvious.

Every bit of wood and length of lube is asdeliberately shaped and placed as any in theold houses of Leyden or Gouda. Eachchange of road width , every set·bac k is madeto speak of use. Yel, in our tcrms, 'DeKiefuoek' is mass-housing on the smallestbudget.

Oud built wilhin the common technology ofhis time, for lhe social elhos of h is time.

- surely the facing up to the invemion of aform.language of common use and thepleasures of common use for our periodcannot be any more difficult than it was forOud. O

SeptembeI 1969 : revise<! February / M:ll'Ch 19 70