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The crisis of representation in contemporary architecture

The crisis of representation in contemporary architecture CLAUS DREYER Critical modernism Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the crisis of representation could be taken as the leitmotif for the development of modern architecture. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, when the use of historical styles and forms was being questioned more and more and was proving itself to be increasingly unsuitable for new building projects and new methods of construction, the departure into modernity had already begun with a vehement rejection of historical building shapes and ornaments by the architectural avant-garde (cf. Loos 1964 [1908]; Le Corbusier 1964 [1920]). Such features were condemned not only because of their wastage of material, capital, and labor, but also because of their lack of content and meaning relevant to the social and spiritual reality of the time. A manifesto typical of this period puts it as follows: The sharp contrast between the modern and the ancient world originates in the fact that today, things exist that did not exist then. Elements have surfaced in our lives that people in those days could not dream of; there are material possibilities and spiritual directions with enormous consequences: a new ideal of beauty, still vague and only partially http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Semiotica - Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies / Revue de l'Association Internationale de Sémiotique de Gruyter

The crisis of representation in contemporary architecture

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
ISSN
0037-1998
eISSN
1613-3692
DOI
10.1515/semi.2003.004
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

CLAUS DREYER Critical modernism Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the crisis of representation could be taken as the leitmotif for the development of modern architecture. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, when the use of historical styles and forms was being questioned more and more and was proving itself to be increasingly unsuitable for new building projects and new methods of construction, the departure into modernity had already begun with a vehement rejection of historical building shapes and ornaments by the architectural avant-garde (cf. Loos 1964 [1908]; Le Corbusier 1964 [1920]). Such features were condemned not only because of their wastage of material, capital, and labor, but also because of their lack of content and meaning relevant to the social and spiritual reality of the time. A manifesto typical of this period puts it as follows: The sharp contrast between the modern and the ancient world originates in the fact that today, things exist that did not exist then. Elements have surfaced in our lives that people in those days could not dream of; there are material possibilities and spiritual directions with enormous consequences: a new ideal of beauty, still vague and only partially

Journal

Semiotica - Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies / Revue de l'Association Internationale de Sémiotique – de Gruyter

Published: Jan 30, 2003

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