By : Marco Fedrigo - Architect

The etymology of the word “Architecture” has Greek origins: ἀρχιτέκτων [architéktōn] and it is composed of two roots: ἀρχή [árche] and τέκτων [técton]. The prefix arché (chief) covers a multitude of ethical principles which must be the foundation and the aim of the Architect’s way of thinking. The second root: técton (creator) is a term oriented towards the field of technique and linked to the practical aspects of “building”.

It is clear that, since ancient times, Architects have had to deal with several conflicting forces, arising from both socio-political contexts and technical issues. Architects have always been asked to put a lot of effort so as to have a holistic view which includes both the aspects that characterise the “discipline of building” without losing sight from the ethical vision which remains immutable over time.

Architecture is the result of the culture and the tensions of its time. The highest aim for an Architect is to incorporate the contemporary wisdom to find a clear direction for a society which is continuously changing. From this perspective, Architecture and Urban planning are important tools for studying the technological/digital revolution, which has a huge impact on our lives. It may be compared to the industrial revolution which started during the 18th century. Both these events are based on the redefinitions of the sources of energy and on the use of new materials as well as ground-breaking (innovative) technologies, with the aim of informing the next steps to bring a radical change in human life.

The role of Architects across the 20th century, was to pursue these transformations, keeping track of the changes of the socio-political organisation seeking a personal interpretation to imagine a brand-new way of shaping the cities.

During the 20th century, reinforced concrete revolutionised the work of Architecture and consequently of construction. This new technology combined the compressive strength of stone with the tensile strength of steel, blurring the border between feasible and unfeasible. From that moment, Architects started a real challenge against nature by involving their technique.

For this reason, we are still interested in 20th century architecture. We still find great examples of Architects who took Architecture of the past as a model so as to find interesting ways of interpreting this new material (reinforced concrete). By doing so, developing a new architectural language. Since then, reinforced concrete has become the representative of the movement and with such a role, there is no need to hide or mitigate it. There are brilliant examples of Architecture that emphasize the power of the material through its extreme use in the structures and in an endless series of experiments of casting in the various formworks.[1]

There has been in fact a deep interest in studying the shape of Architecture since the 20th century, as at that time it was undergoing a radical change and research for a new identity was needed.

The same research of identity is essential today, once again. Contemporary Architects are called to face challenges that are extremely complex like global warming, the continuous increase of the world’s population, the sprawling of the suburbs and a number of other topics that require an enormous effort to re-invent the building sector through a sustainable and more efficient way of building.

This process is already taking place through the integration of advanced manufacturing along with digital technologies to adapt the potentials of the Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).

Both the MMC and the DfMA are powerful approaches needed to put modern tools such as data analysis, computer processing, parametric design, and environmental analysis effectively into practice. These help to understand the interconnections between the involved topics which were completely undetectable before.

As in the past, the role of Architects is to experiment these new tools to provide more clever solutions referring to contemporary issues, defining the limits of these tools with the aim of emphasizing them without hiding their essence.

Nowadays, more than ever, we need to dominate our tools which are mainly oriented towards the technical-scientific horizon (tékton) necessary to continue our research on the architectural identity (arché) of our time.

[1] A great example is the Unité d’habitation, one of the masterpieces of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier), which is easily recognisable for its colourful façade. Perhaps not everyone knows that, initially the facade was designed to be completely monochromatic “fair faced” / rough concrete wall, naturally decorated during casting by different texture in relief of the formworks. Le Corbusier spent months designing the modularity of the bespoke formworks, but the contractor to reduce costs used the same formwork type across all the building. This choice sapped the design concept of the Architect, who at that point decided to use the colours to emphasize the façade.

journal

The Digital/Environmental Revolution