thinking about architecture,
doing research, writing essays, monographs, reviews and other sorts of texts,
and knowing why; a guide for all students of architecture.
By:
Jacob Voorthuis
INTRODUCTION
Purpose:
What is this thing?
The purpose of this collection of notes is twofold. Firstly, I hope to explain
in what way the history and theory of architecture is useful to the designer.
Secondly, I hope to provide students who want to “read” and understand
buildings, or who want to investigate particular themes in architecture, with a
systematic approach to their task.
It is not a full guide to writing scholarly
dissertations. For that I would recommend Umberto Eco’s guide to writing
dissertations. Nor is it simply about using the English language effectively.
For that I would strongly recommend Alain Hamilton’s witty book on Writing Matters.[1]
The first, though eminently accessible, is focused on scholarship and the
second, although written for architects, is primarily concerned with their use
of language. Both are extremely useful. This book takes another approach, its
goal is to find the link between looking and communicating what we see. It is a
guide to help you set the scene for making the right decisions. For students in
architecture, where the link between theory and practice is serviced by the
ability to look and see, such a guide would, I hope, be found useful.
Why do I need this?
Let’s
begin with a cliché. You are not at a school of architecture to get a diploma
or a degree, you are at a school of architecture to get an education. We must
not confuse teaching with learning, achieving grades with education and a
diploma with competence.[2]
A diploma might get you a job but an education will let you keep it and enjoy
it.
There is no one truth in architecture, no single
right or wrong. On top of that there is so much good architecture. That
architecture has overcome the complex problems of functionality, structure and
delight. The exciting thing is that this thing called quality is both rare and
inexhaustible. It is rare when you look around you, but inexhaustible in it
potential. Because of this wealth in possibilities it is doubly important for
the architect to be articulate, even if only in his own mind. The architect
must be able to question his task effectively and with some sophistication.
Having found his solution, he must be able to argue and work out each step of
the design to its successful completion. And when the design is finished he
must convince the client.
Contrary to popular belief, designs do not speak for
themselves, certainly not to people who have never learnt to read them
properly. Images present too much information at once. Images have an
extraordinary depth, a depth that affects everyone, but is articulated and used
only by a few. It is the job of the architect to draw the mind of his audience
to focus on those qualities of his design that matter.
How are we going to go
about this?
We
will begin by asking two questions: What
is theory? and What is history?
Funnily enough, that is relevant. We will find that the answers to those two
questions share some interesting characteristics. Then we will discuss
description, what it means, how it helps, and how to do it. Then there is a
short and necessarily sketchy look at thinking, just to shake up “the little
grey cells”.[3] After that I
will discuss the building of arguments and doing research. I will look at the
more formal aspects of setting up and structuring essays, monographs, book
reviews and manifestos. I will discuss style and the use of English in a
general way, with a short list of practical hints. A useful bit on plagiarism
precedes a chapter on the documentation and notation of sources in
bibliographies and footnotes. I am proud of that bit. As an experienced marker
of essays, I would recommend it to you, it might surprise you. Towards the end
I have added a thing on presentations.
This
collection is a practical guide. I have made it as short and as schematic as
possible. The text is arranged in short blocks, almost like aphorisms. I have
left out introductory rambles and edifying quotes and I have been sparing with
examples. This last I have done for a good reason. Examples of a particular
issue can set the mind to the model
and thereby allow the student to bypass the understanding of the principle of which the model is only
one instance. Any issue can be resolved successfully in many ways. I want you
to explore what I have said and find out for yourself what I mean by it. If
that is slightly harder, it is also more rewarding in the end. There is no
short cut to learning. It has to be done by the student. I have only provided
examples where the model is sufficiently generic and where the possible
variants of what is being explained is minimal, such as for example in the
notation of sources. Here we go.