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Three recent events triggered
my removal from inertia , un-digging from the past a beloved subject in
which I had immersed myself way back , in the late sixties, when in
London, at the PLACE, back to back around the corner to the Flaxman House
at Flaxman Terrace, and the association
with its dancers, particularly one from my own homeland...To this
one, the various 8mm films, the Videos, and all the other items in my
archives, books on Dance and Music, along with the particular piece below,
are dedicated !
 A letter I received recently from the Architect
Leland Decker, a former student of mine, now among the
sensitive practitioners in Austin-Texas, who has been coaching for
several years the son of one of his clients , a young man now seventeen,
an accomplished musician since a few years back, a person who is not only
devoted and in love with his art, but who also wants to apply it in a
unique way , one I had never heard off before: as his mentor put it in his
letter to me "...he
is thinking about playing concerts for blind people so it is only the
music that is on performance. He also wants to play in natural,
outdoor settings and caves, just to see how it changes both the sound and
experience of the music. He is also trying to find a way to bring
classical music out of the confines of concert halls and churches and into
venues accessible to a broader demographic. ..."
...Caves, which brought to mind Le Corbusier's Ronchamp , inspired by them
as per Arata Isozaki and the "Sea Caves" by Seferis in
Mikis Theodorakis music..."Mesa stis Thalassines spilies"(Μέσα
στις θαλασσινές σπηλιές").......
My next stimulation , was a book I
just read, by five teacher/architects, all teachers
of Architecture at the Athens Polytechnic, entitled "Music and
Architecture parallel routes: Countepoint as a tool of Music and
architectural composition" (Mousikes kai Arxitektonikes symporefsis"/ "Μουσικες
και αρχιτεκτονικες συμπορεύσεις:
η αντίστιξη ως εργαλείο μουσικής και αρχιτεκτονικής
σύνθεσης" , Πατακης , Αθήνα 2011
. I had
spent quite some time reading the book, putting all my power together, to
offer as best as I could criticism, on a number of different
levels; My "Open partitoure" as I had called it, could have been a piece of
their book in length, consisting of three different "acts": a piece called
"to the Public", a piece called "Person to Person" , in which I was
offering my most sincere suggestions on each and everyone's piece, and finally, a piece, called "for the Publisher", in which I gave to myself
the role of a publisher's reader, had the publisher offered me the
opportunity to read the manuscript before hand. There is no point to go
any further here, other than say, Had I been you , and reading Greek, I'd
buy and read this book, immediately ! The authors' names
: Tasos Biris, Konstantina Demiri, Sophia Tsiraki, Giannis Athanasopoulos,
Agellos Agellou, all architects, some of them musicians as well.
 Finally I was inspired by some
recent e-mail exchanges with a
young structural engineer - lover of architecture and music, musician as well,
who happened to write to me on another subject as I was immersed in
the reading of the book of the five colleagues I mentioned above; I
thought it fortunate to drug him into music/architecture discussion . It
turned out to be a very fruitful summer dialogue, filling me with hope , that there is something really positive around
there, younger people genuingly carring and searching in the
midst of anonimity and the flaws of the
digital era we have been going through....still , men and women, man in
love with a woman, in holiday together, enjoying the company
and the thoughts of one another, in the same island beeches and
Seferian "Sea Caves"....while myself, photographing the moon 7 o'clock in
the morning, on the Virgin Mary's name day 2011....
These were the reasons and how the
moon worked on me to come up with what
follows, from the "Poetics" of my past to those to the present... and there is no reason to go any further with this introduction.
One of the most significant factors in the stimulation of your imagination
and creativity, are the people and the friends you associate with;
and if some happen to be artists, especially dancers and musicians,
the benefit for all of you will be mutually enormous....Lucky
are those who may have such friends and cross-fertilizational
"poetic upbringing" ..even luckier the very few who may actually dance
and can play music. Architecture in the future will become more "orthopedically" sound
in the first place, while the spaces that will come about , will "breath"
and "sing", the Rhythm and tone of music, the joy and happiness of life ....
Using my "poetic license", I
enhance the pieces with visuals from my personal slide collection,
mostly symbolic and through my own work- "beefing up the pieces on on "DANCE", while
leaving the piece
on "MUSIC" that follows ,exactly as I had it in my book,
although the serinity, quality of the diagrams and focus to be experienced
through the reading of the book, of any book, can not be in any way
surpassed by anything through the internet and the "Kindle", no matter how
"sketchy" one tries to make it, no matter how hard one may work to inspire
through it, spirit and life.... All that follows comes from the Chapter
13 "Creativity through Association with Other Arts
and Artists", pp. 255-279 of my "Poetics of Architecture: Theory of Design".
As I don't want to disturb this original and historic by now text , I add by means of narrative comments at the end, editorial
additions I would be making had this text been intended for an updated
edition of my book.....
Other Arts and
Artists
It is a most difficult task to rid oneself of the usual mental blocks
and
preconceptions regarding generally accepted ideas. The word "skyscraper"
may evoke the image of the Empire State Building in New Υork, while "office building" and "ancient temple" may evoke iinages of glass boxes
(New Υork's Seagram Building) and the Parthenon of Athens. If one al-
ready has strong preconceptions regarding a certain ideal structure or ap-
proach, the problem is compounded. Emilio Ambasz, an original, poetic,
and very disciplined creator himself, has suggested: "Every architect has
an
ideal house in mind when a client walks into his office. " Ambasz does not
question the validity or the possible problems with this attitude; on the
contrary , he endorses it by suggesting: "The client is going to get the
coat
whether it fits him or not. If it doesn't fit himvery well, then a couple
of
pins or a couple of stitches here and there will correct it. "
But such an attitude, highly individualistic and frequently idosyncratic,
may be dangerous in the hands of a novice who may not yet have a strong
grasp of what it means to produce really personal and original work. Hold-
ing tight to preconceptions and early convictions may eventually produce
tailors (and there is nothing wrong with good tailors) rather than
architects
(but it is bad to find a "tailor" when you are looking for an
architect).
Architectural projects, student or professional, face the great risk of
becoming encumbered by preconceptions in the mind of the creator from
past experience, history , and imitation of admired models. Many original
creators seeking to liberate themselves from the handicaps of creative
men-
tal blocks even go to the point of an intentional break with what is conven-.jpg)
tionally accepted, at the risk of becoming totally incomprehensible. One
typical case in the 1980s was Peter Eisenman.
Original creativity can be greatly enhanced through efforts to work in
other creative arts, such as painting, sculpture, photography , set
design,
dance, theater , movie makiήg, and most important of all, music. Αη
artists
need this, be they architects or not; and many significant innovators in
art
dllring this century did this cross-fertilization on their own. The
musician
Edgar V arese, the poet Jean Cocteau, the architects Frederick Kiesler and
certainly Le Corbusier are among the more notable examples. Ιη the 1920s,
the Bauhaus institutionalized this process for its students. The entire curric-
ulum was based on the simultaneous involvement of its students in most,
or in as many as possible, of the other creative arts. The roles of the
painters.jpg)
Klee and Kandinsky, Johannes Itten, Laszlό Moholy Nagy, Oskar Schel-
mer, and Joseph Albers were perhaps more important that those of Mies
and Gropius, as far as the creative process was concerned. The music and
the theatrical events at the Taliesin were as important for the
development
of students' creativity as watching Frank Lloyd Wright at work.
PERSONAL INVOLVΕΜΕΝΤ WITH OTHER ARTS
Simultaneous involvement with arts that use other media helps create a
distance between the constraints of the real world and the frame of mind
in
which one should operate if one is to become creative and produce unique,
meaningful work. This involvement with other arts should be in an '.ama-
teur" way, a way in which the architect does not feel obliged to produce.jpg)
professional-quality results. This kind of involvement helps the mind
rest,
while it subconsciously sharpens it and brings about the relaxed concentra-
tion that is a prerequisite for an '.idea" to be born. So it is not
surprising
that great architects such as Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto also
distinguished
themselves as painters, although painting was not the focus of their
profes-
sional endeavors. The same is true for many other creative architects.
Feel-
ing unobligated to the other art, but equipped with the technical skills
and
an eye for painting, they offered a good deal to painting, which paid them
back with relaxation that subsequently resulted in successful creative
activ-
ity in their own discipline. So to use leisure time-that is, unobligated
time
-to peripheral artistic activities is of extraordinary value to the
architect.
SOME ACTUAL CASES OF CROSS-FERTILIZAΤΙΟΝ
There is ηο doubt that a general involvement with other fine arts can be
stimulating. But it is possible to utilize the arts and the artists in a
more
immediate way , on a project-by-project basis, for the sole purpose of
faster
From the Author's life-long efforts to break with
and better results in liberating an architect from predictability and
precon-
Preconceptural "Archetypes"...works by ACA
ception..JPG)
One strategy to creativity from the very beginning pairs architects
with artists, be they painters, sculptors, or poets. It has proved most
suc-
cessfu1. Taller de Arquitetura initiated this strategy by including among
its
members people of diverse interests and artistic backgrounds, notably ar-
chitects and poets. Juan Goytisolo, considered by some as the most impor-
Juan Goytisolo
tant contemporary poet of Spain, has been an indispensable member of the
and the Muralla Roja
team, playing devil's advocate and asking questions that trained
architects
in Calpe-Spain,
may never ask. The Granbrοοk Academy of Design, a unique school with
by Taller de Arquiteutura
a one-person faculty architecture program, founded by Eliel Saarinen, has
..."Island of women"...
a curriculum that seeks to develop creativity through simultaneous and
"Seaside cemetery"...
rigοrοus involvement with other arts and with philosophical and aesthetic
"Young assassins"....
thinking. The occasional directors of the program were people whose cre-
ative personality had developed as a result of multiple involvement in
such
arts and thinking (Daniel Libeskind, mathematics, architecture, painting,
music; Dan Hoffmann, architecture, poetry, philosophy). Many prominent
architects of our day have sought to see their problems from other perspec-
tives in the literature of art. Giorgio De Chirico's belief, '.What shall
Ι love
unless it be the enigma?" (Pikionis, 1968) has prompted many architects to
look at creative results as if they were the solutions to incomprehensible
enigmas.
Practicing architects are generally more advanced in this respect than
students, and the best among them seek the company , the intellectual and professional collaboration of other artists. Schools cannot catch up
in
this
respect with the profession; the teaching of architecture has spread geo-
graphica1ly away from artistic centers like Paris and New Υork. Further,
most schools in the United States are preoccupied with fo1lowing fashions
or trends rather than creating them. It would be of great creative signifi-
cance to run an architectural studio in which the participating students
would be architects and poets, architects and painters, or architects and
musicians, and where both would be part of the brainstorming team during
the conceptual stages of a design.
This involvement should not be confused with the inclusion of art in
the built environment, which is another and very fundamental issue arid
which, at least in the United States, has been substantia1ly confronted.
The
role of the artist in the case under discussion should be one of the
cha1lenger ,
of the layperson (as far as the discipline goes), but one who speaks a
similar
language and who has similar creative goals.
Ιη cases where architects have co1laborated with artists as their clients,
the results have been extraordinary. Music composer Harry Nilsson's
house done by architect Eugene Kupper in California is an excellent exam-
House of Harry Nilsson in Beverly
hills. Olive tree
ple. Nilsson, who knew instinctively what he wanted, suggested to his
gift by Ringo Starr. Architect: Eugene Kupper
architect that he produce a house like the hut Nilsson's child had drawn
on
(Photos by ACA Nov.1990)
a piece of paper and which he had been using as the trademark for his
record company .Kupper managed to create an extraordinary interpretation
of this primordial archetype. Another example is the
Spear house in Miami,
a co1laboration between architects and a writer (the mother of Laurinda
Spear). It is a unique statement of what one might ca1l a "writer's
paradise."
Projects that go beyond predictable triviality-that is, that go beyond
what most people understand as "real, " have their origins in the surreal.
They bring to the surface what has never surfaced before. Other arts are
not "real" as far as one's own discipline and livelihood are concerned.
And
this is why close involvement with them wi1l almost certainly prove bene-
ficial. The Greek architect
Dimitrios Pikionis, for example, used to take
country walks and paint the landscape and the olive trees of his favorite
sites in Attica. One day , as he was searching for a spot to place his
easel, he
Giorgio De Chirico's belief, 'what shall I love, unless it be
saw in the middle of the countryside a musician playing violincello. He
did
the enigma" and Pikionis Poems with stones in
not move but remained on the spot, fascinated by the vision. He did not
Philopappou (Photo ACA)
paint that day , but returned home ready to continue work on his own
architectural projects, refreshed and restored by the experience.
Incentive
toward creativity through observation of other artists at work is another
great benefit of association with creative people.
ΤΗΕ SOCIABILITY TEST
One way to test an architect's creativity would be to prepare a list of
the
people he or she associates with most frequently , to see who the best
friends
are, and who are occasiona1ly included on the invitation list for parties.
Sociability is considered a personality trait of creative people. Υ et it
is the
type and composition of the sociability network that is important for crea-
tive purposes.
Creative architects have not ranked high in sociability , something that
has also been found to be true for many other creative professionals. One
often hears about artists' colonies, "closed circles," and so on. Many
archi-
tects tend to cluster in such "ghettoes" with other architects or their
close
associates. Their parties and public activities, often reported in popular
magazines, are not necessarily the social framework that wi1l enhance hon-
est cross-fertilization among the arts. "Inte1lectual, " "artistic, " or
"elite"
ghettoes are usua1ly greenhouses for the growth of a sha1low inte1lectual
infrastructure, the exclusion of critical cha1lenge, the alienation of the
mem- bers of the circle from the rest of the population, and in the worst
cases,
the development of "cults. "
One must associate with every creative person, from alll evels of soci-
ety . Pikionis gave us an example in this respect as well; he used to take
his
students to the local carpenter's workshop, to the local shipyard, to the
local marble carver .They had drinks and discussions with them in the
artisan's familiar surroundings first. Then Pikionis would invite them to
the university to talk about their art and skills, thus breaking the wal1s
of
the ivory tower, that other mental handicap of intellectual and artistic
cross-
fertilization, often perpetuated by the closed doors of academia.
Individual
creative architects must seek such associations constantly , on their own.
Le
Corbusier almost missed his chance to address the group at the CIAM
meeting in Athens in 1933 because he had talks with a local shipbuilder in
Piraeus about the way he applied colors on the boats, and with a baker in
Plaka who was asked to explain his particular method of making bread. It
was the local cook at a countryside restaurant in Palaeochora-Aegina, who
proved to be my best challenger and art critic when, with a group of
classmates, I was struggling to make copies of the frescoes that adorned
the
wal1s of the smal1 Byzantine churches of the island, to complete the
require-
ments for an art history course.
Creativity knows ηο titles or social distinctions. It resides in the heart
of every creative person-al1, that is, who are in love with what they are
doing, who are wholly devoted to it, who see it as a vocation, be it a
good
meal, weaving blankets, or making music. The really creative architect,
the
one who wants to reach beyond the narrow confines of being a "profes-
sional" (which often has the negative connotations of mediocrity and com-
promise), should work hard to escape the chains of snobbery and elitism.
He or she should try to develop an honest network of associations with
creative people of al1 kinds, people who are "artists of life and of their
art, "
ηο matter what this art or vocation may be; only through them wil1 the
architect manage eventually to become truly a member of society , a better
person and a more creative architect.
The design teacher should know this and keep the lines open to the
most creative and the best among fine arts col1eagues as wel1 as among
the creative people of the community .He or she should invite them to the
studio as frequently as possible and let them talk to students. The design
studio can become the laboratory for wel1-conceived
architect-artist-artisan
socialization, with at least one semester devoted to teaming the teacher-
architect with invited col1eagues and social friends as critics for the
student
group. It is obvious that this is extremely difficult to coordinate, but
it can
be an extraordinary experience for the students who may be lucky enough
"Kiss in Black and White" ,ACA
to participate. Organized efforts have already been made by Gyorgy Kepes.
Over the years he has brought together at MIT a good many artists from the
liberal
arts who created col1aboratively and who produced experimental projects.
The series of books published by Kepes are basic references for the instruc-
tor who seeks precedents for a discussion of aspects of creativity ,
percep-
tion, and imagination through the perspective of a variety of creative
artists.
CROSS-FERTILIZAΤΙΟΝ INCLUSIVITY THROUGH ΤΙΜΕ
Ιn the Renaissance, the architect was in most instances a painter , a
sculptor ,
an engineer, and an inventor. Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci were
the most prominent examples. The advent of modern times brought about
specialization and the separation of disciplines. Υ et architecture, as if
be-
cause of the nature of its art, could not exist in isolation. The best
architects of the twentieth century felt the need for association with other arts and
artists, sometimes in the most direct and co1laborative ways. Ιn terms of
actual innovative architectural practice, we could find a score of
significant
examples, some of them legendary .Le Corbusier might never have for-
mulated his ideas were it not for Braque and Picasso, who exerted enor-
mous influence on the architect, both forma1ly as we1l as in life style.
Nor
would he have gained an understanding of cubism were it not for his
association and friendship with the painter Amadeus Ozenfant. One could
argue that we would never have had the Barcelona Pavilion and the whole
compositional vocabulary of Mies van der Rohe if we had not had the
paintings of Piet Mondrian (Broadway series, Boogie Woogie series) and
his association with the Bauhaus. Eliel Saarinen owed similar debts to his
association with the painters and musicians of Finland with whom he
shared experiences in art in a communal spirit, both in Finland and later
in
America. One could perhaps say the same for the effect the poet
Carl
Sandburg had on his cousin, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the indisputable
effect exerted by the Mexican painter Jesus Reyes, who inspired Luis Bar-
ragan to search for his roots, the masses, the wa1l, the color, and the
earth
of Mexican architecture.
Ιη the late sixties Robert Slutzky , a painter and theoretician
on percep-
tion, exerted a co1laborative influence on Colin Rowe, whose theories
influ-
enced a great number of students and architects in the United States and
abroad. Ιη more recent times it was Claes Oldenburg whose art and ideas
on the environment, along with his personal association with Robert V en-%20(36).jpg)
tuή, produced the initial stimulation for the break from the Modern move-
ment and the development of Venturi as the pioneer , theoretician, and
creator of original American architecture (Ρορ, Las V egas, etc. ) .It was
the
same artist, Oldenburg, who in the mid-eighties exerted a similarly ex-
traordinary influence on Frank Gehry and became his co1laborator in an
effort to attempt a further step in the refinement of Postmodernism through
the Dr. Colte1lo project in Venice.
Gehry , fo1lowing his association with Oldenburg, spoke of "the
street" again, just as V enturi had done in the mid-sixties; Claes
Oldenburg
was the "common denominator" for both architects as he was the first one
to see the "poetry" of the street and to have produced works on the theme
of streets and the urban environment. Frank Gehry has said that with his
recent work, he has been trying to make us "think about what we think."
Perhaps that could not have happened were it not for the painter having
exerted an influence on the shaping and the thinking of the architect.
The cross-fertilization effect of the arts has been a fact throughout
history .Υ et despite the very tangible and easy to comprehend affinity
between the visual arts, such as painting, sculpture, and architecture,
there
.is an even stronger affinity between the arts of "time," dance and music,
and architecture. Despite the fact that hardly any architects are dancers
and
that there are extremely few architects who are musicians, there is a need
for a deeper focus on the concepts of these arts because the issue of
discipline
in architecture is paramount and because the aspect of harmony is equa1ly
significant. This focus at this time in history wi1l perhaps help
eliminate
Art works above all by the author . "Sophie" below
some recent confusions and help clarify anxieties and misconceptions re-
One of the 730 sketches from the 8mm animated
garding the discipline of architecture, its relationship to the past, and
its
film "The punishment of Heartless Dorothy" (shown
proper place in today's world.
in the School of Fine Arts-the film Dept. UTA, and
Of the two, music is considered to be more fundamental for the pur-
in elementary schools in Texas ) .
poses of architectural creativity (and instruction), yet we should look
briefly
through the "gate" of dance. It wi1l help clarify concepts such as the
clas-
sical and the contemporary , while it wi1l also prepare us for entry into
the
realm of music.
Multidirectional fire exit of the Loyola Law
School in Los Angeles by Frank Gehry,whose architectural work in the
1980's challenged preconceived notions or composition, use of materials ,
and geometry, and who has been greatly influenced by his association and
collaboration with the artist Claes Oldenburg. (photo ACA)
ΟΝ
DANCE
AND ARCHITECTURE
The attention of architects to dance has not been as direct as that of
painters.jpg)
and musicians; studies on dance from a spatial and architectural
standpoint
have been extremely rare. Υ et there have been studies on the dance forma-
tions of the primitive peoples and on square dance, medieval dances, and
Renaissance patterns.
Curt Sachs, one of the world's noted authorities on ethnomusicology
and the history of the dance, in an article written for an ethnography
exhibit
at the Trocadero in Paris in the 1930s, provided a diagram depicting in
abstract form the various dance formations that bear close resemblance to
architectural plans and architectural patterns and forms. According to
Sachs, it was dance that gave birth to the arts, because dance exists both
in
time and in space; although his comments may sound outdated today , as
we are beyond the concepts of separation of the arts on the time-space
issue
(we believe today that a1l the arts have a time-space dimension; some em-
phasize the one and others the other), we are still attracted by his
argument
on the communication dynamics of the various time-experience situations
depicted in his diagrams. The movements of a dance suggest characteristics
and the temperament of the people, while the ultimate conclusion of the
writer, based on purely ethnographic evidence, proves the overlapping of
the two basic shapes of choreography: the cyclical and the linear. Sachs
argues that "the whole dialectic between circle and straight line is to be
found again in the two basic shapes of human habitation-the round hut
and the hut of right angles-the megaron. Anthropological evidence sug-
gests that the whole of humankind could be classified by the choreographic
diagram of their primordial dances: "There are ηο dances of linear choreog-
raphy in countries that do not know the hut with the right angles." Sachs'
essay on ritualistic dance is a treasure for anyone who might want a taste
of
the relationship between attitudes for expression through movement and
his spatial conceptions.
Perhaps the best thoughts thus far on the relationship between archi-
tecture and dance have been expressed by the late Frederick Kiesler , the
architect perhaps most appreciated by musicians and dancers as well as by
artists of the avant-garde from the 1930s until his death. Ιη the section
called "Dance Script" ofhis inspiring book Inside the Endless House, a
work
published after his unexpected death in the 1960s, Kiesler worked through
the relatio.nships among the time-experiential arts and addressed the
differ-
ences between the various types ofspaces, the "pictorial space" addressed
by painting and "time space" addressed by dance. Ιη his words, this
differ-
ence lies in the fact that "in painting, space is entirely iUusionary ,
and in
the dance it's real. " He suggests it is only through dance that we manage
to experience the fluidity and the endlessness of space, the space that
has
become "coagulated into solid form," what was initial1y associated with
the meaning of the outer cosmos. The space created by dance " ...ex-
pands from the nucleus of an idea to such vast dimensions that you can
'live with it. ' " Kiesler finds in dance a unique art form that involves
the elements of movement, time, pictorial and thematic representation, and
the fundamental element of life, a metaphoric "dance" from point Α to
point Β.
We can push the arguments of Sachs and Kiesler further; we can try to
explain architectural concepts and attitudes as applied to the twentieth
cen-
tury , which has added to the straight line and the circle of earlier
peoples
and civilizations the possibility of another "infinite" group of choreo-
graphic formations. This new third element may be any combination of
the first two, while the final result of the choreography ( or the work of
art)
wil1 depend on the relationship of these three types and the discipline of
the
artist. With regard to the attitudes suggested by Kiesler , we wil1 use
the
concepts of individuality , freedom, democracy , and col1ective good, and
see how various forms of dance can provide lessons for the architect for
his
own encounters with spatial and life issues such as these.
Diagram above: The basic forms of team
dancing (square dancing) are also symbolic: (1) circle mistical society ; (2) criss-crossing ; (3)_ frontal; (4); chain; (5)
fence, symbol of the moon; (6)bridge, symbol of rebirth; (7) leading to form: (8) double
circle, symbol of the moon. (After Curt Sachs in 3o Mati,
Dances of Pueblo Indians Below : (source: "The American Arts"
magazine, July 1930 (Courtesy Mitch Stepanovitch, UTA library).
Classical and Contemporary
Ιη order to understand where we are today , we should try to conceive of
our civilization through the 1ens of c1assica1 versus modern choreography
,
or ballet and modern dance. Let us assume that we look at a dance perfor-
mance from above and that we freeze with a camera the sequence of the
movement formations. Ιη the case of c1assica1 ballet, we come out with a
series of photographs depicting straight 1ines, alone or in groups,
circ1es,
grids, perhaps other curves, geometrical rotations. We'll have a series of
pictures that show geometric patterns simi1ar to snowflakes or other well-
known molecular organisms. Only the soloists will perform the "spira1s"
and move in more complicated orbits. If we go back to take another set of
pictures of the same classical choreography (say Swan Lake), we will end
up with an almost identical set of patterns. The dancers the corps de
ballet
and the soloists, will move along the same paths, forming the sa:me
circles
and lines the choreographer designed. There is consistency and predictabil-
ity in c1assica1 ballet. The differences, if any , will be
subtle-differences of
microscale, not concept. They can be observed through detailed photogra-
phy that focuses on the particu1ar interpretation of the dancers, their
mus-
cles and facial expressions. Such differences will depend on the
personality ,
the training, and the ta1ent of individua1 dancers.
Υ et classical ballet is above all a time-space expression of a
predictable
whole and a subordination of the individua1 toa predetermined whole; the
score of the particu1ar choreography .It requires extraordinary
discipline-
total subordination of the individual to the will of the choreographer
.The
same is found in folk dance-in this case the discipline of the individual
performers is an indication of abiding by communal covenants: to dance
the same way as generations of members of the particu1ar community had
done. Further evidence of discipline is the custom of folk dancers to
unpack
from family trunks the costumes of their ancestors. Folk dancing is a
time-
space expressive ritual of a group totally tied to the past.
Modern dance is the time-space expressive experience of the free indi-
vidua11iving in a group. It is an expression of freedom, individuality ,
and
improvisation according to each individua1's understanding of the broad
context of the ru1es (the play), the loosely yet c1early established
score, and
the choreographic framework as conceived by the modern choreographer .
The score may suggest broad constraints, such as that the dancers should
move for a particu1ar period of time to a particular part of the stage,
whi1e
a forklift truck crosses another part of the stage; what they will do, how
they will move their hands and bodies, will depend on them, on their
feelings and reactions upon viewing a colleague's body lifted by a
forklift
truck and slowly removed from the stage into the reality of the street
through the backstage service door. The score might suggest other broad
movements and assign tasks to the dancers, a1ways telling them broadly
what is expected from them, yet leaving it up to them to interpret the
details. Modern choreography is usually a participatory affair, the score
being frequently discussed with the dancers or other people re1ated to the
performance. The choreography is a generally accepted covenant fot the
participation and the expression of the many; all those who have contrib-
ute4 to the formation and who have accepted the particular covenants, the
"ru1es of the game, " or the communal ritua1. Gone is the role of the cho-
reographer as dictator , whi1e the dancers are free to perform movements
more fitting to the physical structure of the body , as opposed to the
abso-
1utely prescribed and unnatura1 movements that are expected of the dancer
of c1assical ballet.
Postmodem Inclusivity and Modem Choreography
This discussion is intended to stress the element of broad covenants,
and
individual freedom, along with the element of training along the lines of
nature that represent the acceptable attitude in modern dance; these two
conditions are equal1y applicable to attitudes regarding architecture and
urban design. Αn analysis of either of the two, classical or modern
choreog-
raphy , and attendance at representative performances and application of
the
lessons in design exercises may leave a lasting effect. Lawrence Halprin,
influenced by his wife, Anna Halprin, a modern dancer, helped by his own
natural affinity to nature, had developed thus far the best case of
"scoring"
and the applicability of modern dance choreography to architecture. His
Ghirardel1i Square complex in San Francisco
was the first and perhaps
among the most successful (to date)evidences of the possibility. The ex-
ample of the mid-eighties was Horton Plaza in San Diego. in my judgment,
this equal1y successful example of architecture as modern choreography
made it possible to synthesize conceptions of individual expression from
the most historicist twentieth-century derivative to pop, punk, and the
"sensual1y stimulating" (Claudia's bakery, Tom Grondona). Ιη Horton
Plaza, there is the larger connector of a straight line gently opposed by
two
gentle curves, the strategical1y distributed parking garages, respectful1y
re-
tained existing buildings of merit and a financial1y imaginative strategy
for
a mixture of compatible and complementary uses, al1 geared to pleasing the
senses, to the sensual satisfaction of users. Jon Jerde, the architect of
the
total work, can be thought of as the "choreographer" of this piece of
"modern architectural dance." Architects such as Tom Grondona, who
were cal1ed to do individual parts of the whole, can be perceived as the
"modern architectural dancers
 
.
Details from Horton Plaza in San Diego. John
Jerde , architect/graphic desinger, with entrances to Lussie Eats, and
particularly Claudia's Donnuts by Architect/Sculpton Tom Grondona (see
plan of Donnut shop to the right). The whole shopping center by Jerde is
an example of architectonic correography, while the Grondona little Donnut
shop, is the epitome of contemporary music spirit, evoking all the senses,
even the "olvatory", with the exausts bathing in "cinnamon" and other
parfumes the customers upon entry...(Phtos ACA, Plan: courtesy Tom
Grondona/ see also ACA, "A+U" Tom Grondona of San Diego).
ON
MUSIC AND
ARCHITECTURE
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Goethe once said " ..Α distinguished philosopher spoke of architecture as
frozen music, and his assertion caused many to shake their heads. We
believe this really beautiful idea could not be better reintroduced than
by
calling architecture silent music. " The relationship between architecture
and music has been referred to repeatedly, and various students of both
arts
have occasionally dwelled οn the point in depth, addressing common
grounds, similarities, characteristics, even their occasional identities.
Such
instances begin during classical Greek times; Pythagoras and Plato, among
the first to have formulated theories on beauty , who concerned themselves
with concepts regarding the creation of the universe, were also the first
to
lay the foundations as well as to develop systems of proof interweaving
mathematics, geometry , music, and eventually architecture.
Music was a handy reference for Renaissance theoreticians of architec-
ture; they used to refer to it in order to make clear their architectural
concepts. Alberti used the example of music to make his point regarding
the achievement of beauty through variety .The architect should join and
bring together in a regular manner, things different, but
proportional to
each other; ...similarly as happens with music, ...when the bass an-
swers the treble, and the tenor agrees with both, then arises from that
variety of sounds an harmonious and wonderful union of proportions
which delights and enchants our senses."
Υ et the eternal affinities of music and architecture have been deempha-
sized recently, to the point where many people (architects included), absorbed by the recent environment of sound, visual, and value pollution, :
have come to possess only certain vague notions of the relationship, let
alone have any creative use for the relationship between music and
architec-
ture and the use of the former for the benefit of the latter .
Cross-Fertilization through Music
Until very recently one could point to comments in popular treatises on
aesthetics, or to introductory books on music or architecture, for
assurances that both arts share similarities, such as tone, beat,
proportion, and rhythm.
There have been several well-known works in the popular literature of
architecture (Steen Eiler Rasmussen and his Experiencing Architecture)
that addressed architecture in terms of music and pointed out the
similarity of their compositional concepts. More sophisticated studies on
the subject
were scarce, and most of the architectural public remained unaware of the
connection. The attitude that prevailed was one of a mystique; some held
that if you knew music, or performed on an instrument, you would become
a better architect. This public perception was reinforced by the example
of
several prominent architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Eliel Saari-
nen; both played the piano and both had integrated musical activities into
the educational processes they promoted. Eliel Saaήηeη, luckier than
Wright in this respect, enjoyed the benefit of a friendship and personal
relationship with Sibelius and Gustav Mahler, who even played his piano
at Hvitträsk.
Musical education has been generally regarded as a cultural differential,
a sign of the "gentleman" architect. Yet it is astonishing how very few
architects are seriously involved with music today.
Within the overall negative picture of architecture with regard to music
and within the broader context of the architectural predicament of the
1980s, several extremely serious efforts of scholarly researchers on the
music-architecture reciprocity undertaken earlier in the century remained
generally unknown. There is the barely known case of Georgiades, a Greek
architect of the 1930s who took up the task of correlating cannons of
The Myirmäki Church by Juha Leiviskä. This
extraordinary
musical harmony with the placement of the columns of ancient Greek
architect , master in light and emotion, is also
temples. His studies and measurements added up to a revealing conclusion
an accomplished pianist. (Photo by ACA)
which he summarized into a visual chart known as "The Architectural
Canon of Georgiades"; a proof that the delight of harmony experienced by
the eye when looking at Greek temples was caused not by arbitrary acts of
column placement, but because the placement of these columns had a rela-
tionship of column-void succession corresponding to specific musical har-
monies. Georgiades proved, at least through his specialized focus, that
harmony , visua1ly or acoustica1ly perceived, is a guarantee of aesthetic
delight. Of course, the debate as to whether these ancient Greek "frozen
harmonies" were products of conscious or arbitrary and coincidental acts,
as Georgiades claimed, was ended long ago, when scholars such as Ghyka
gave their answers with regard to similar findings by Hambidge, Caskey ,
and Moessel, archeologists who looked at the harmonic rules of ancient and
Gothic buildings from a geometric and proportional perspective.
Composers of Particular Significance
Equally destructive perhaps would be an attitude that would object to
explorations and scholarly studies of music done on the basis of architec-
tural, geometric, and proportional canons of harmony .Musicians, like
other creative artists, may have preferred not to talk about their work,
yet
scholars and students must study and try to analyze it. Both Sibelius and
Bela Bartόk were legendary for their silence; yet Bela Bartόk, a compas-
sionate, tolerant and caring teacher, was tota1ly aligned with "silence"
when it came to explanations regarding his own work.
It is Bartόk we would like to focus on, because he among a1l the others
has been found by scholars to have created compositions that reveal the
extraordinary affinity of music and architecture. His work comes across
today as the masterful blend of eternal as we1l as contemporary principles
of composition and inclusivity .Erno Lendvai, one of the top scholars on
the composer, has found that Bartόk's compositions integrate principles of
ancient Greek architecture, such as the golden section and the Pythagorean
pentanomy , along with principles of acoustic harmony derived from W est-
ern European thinking (use of the straight line and the circle). Bartόk's
use
of the golden section was found in the structure of whole movements, as
well as in the structure of their details. Υ et the melody steps of these
musical golden sections (time-space intervals of varying scales) fo1lowed
the rules of the Pythagorean pentanomy, ". ..the most ancient human
sound system, which may be regarded as the purest musical conception of
the principle of golden sections. "
Υet if one were to conceive the movements of Bartόk's works as
individual buildings, obeying the discipline mentioned above, the totality
of his compositions can be conceived of as urban design, with its own
overall concept, its own intervals and intersections (the plazas, streets,
and
open spaces). Ιnthis respect, in the articulation of the whole and the im-
portant junctures of the parts, the beginning (s), or the end (s), the
composer
accepted the attitudes of his contemporaries, what Lendvai ca1led "the wide
European horizon. "
Knowledge of music is necessary for the specific explanations provided
by Lendvai with regard to the acοustic system and the Western harmonic
thinking followed by Bartόk. Υet it does not require musical knowledge to
stress that Bartόk has been found to have achieved a dualism in his com-
positions based on polarization. Ιn this sense he has achieved an element
of complexity and contradiction, yet within the overall structure of sim-
ply perceived (and organized) wholes, with parts that adhere to we1l-
established and tested paths of harmony and aesthetic appea1. Bartόk's
symphonies are therefore addressed to varying points of view , to
varying conditions of scale, like those sought through the architectural
advocacy of Robert Venturi. Although one could call Lendvai's analysis of
Bartόk scientific, the student of the composer wi1l find a lot more
in the
essence, content, emotionality , and feeling of an otherwise work of con-
sciously meticulous composition, because most of his compositions were
motivated by his personal perception of the world, his love for freedom,
for his country , for humanity , and for those whose music he studied and
tried to understand.
Νο Bartόk project is more exemplary than his Dance Suite, the work
that came to be known as the Eastern European Symphony .This was a
work composed to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of
the towns of Buda and Pest; the birth of a great world city requires its
coexistence with the rest of the world. The national and ethnic music
themes integrated and transformed into this coherent whole express the
composer's ideological desire for openness, understanding, toleration, and
co-existence. He filters them through his own rigorous compositional
discipline. Υet it is the feeling and the concept of the whole work, not
only
the mechanics, the rules and composition of its form, that represent the
totality , the glory of the composer .One need not be a musician or an
architect to get the feeling of the multilayered comprehensivity of Bela
Bartόk. Υ et one needs to be wi1ling to concentrate, to be attentive and
to
think. Only then wi1l the union of aesthetic delights occur.
The Music-Architecture Analogue
The prose of Lionel Salter , quoted below , although it utilizes
musical lan-
guage, wi1l best express Bartόk's feelings, strategy, and inclusivist
disci-
pline. The reading of this quotation should occur before, during and after
contemplative listening sessions of the composer's Dance Suite. Salter
summed up:
"...the first section, which is full of tempo variations, is largely con-
cerned with derivatives from the introverted, Oriental-sounding theme
first stated by the bassoon (first cousin to the fugue subject at the
climax
of the miraculous mandarin) and is followed by the ritornello, dreamily
pastoral on muted violins and then on clarinet. Α change of key and a
quickening of pace announce the excitable, heavily-accented second sec-
tion: it is rhythmically very irregular. but melodically it is obsessed by
the interval of the minor third (whose appearance on sliding trombones
immediately recalls the ballet). Α sharp glissando brings back the ritor-
nello (starting on the clarinet this time) after which the bassoon intro-
duces a high-spirited allegro vivace rondo with two subsidiary themes:
this section is brilliantly scored, with a great diversity of instrumental
color and suggestions of bagpipe drones. There is a sudden pause, and
(without the intervention of the ritornello) the mood changes for a mys-
terious night-picture of strongly Arabic character, its sinuous unison me-
lodic lines on woodwind, alternating with waνeing chords on muted
strings, swelling and thinning out again. Α brief violin reference to the
ritornello precedes the short fifth section. which is little more than a
persistent rhythmic figure built up in fourths; this leads straight into
the
finale, in the course of whose enormously energetic progress themes from
all the previous sections, except the fourth, are tossed hither and
thither,
the ritornello returns, and the work ends in high glee."
Το read passages such as this, to listen to musical works like those
described, to extract the structural, conceptual, tactile , and textural
essen-
tials and to attempt to design buildings or urban design sequences on
these
principles, would be a very rewarding and most creative exercise.
John Williams wrote: "Ιn every era, composers have demanded the
very latest instruments and techniques. Think of Mozart who championed
the clarinet and the glass harmonica. " Robert Moog, introducing one of his
digital recordings in 1982 (an assembly of works appropriately ca1led "
Αn-
gels in Architecture"), wrote about his work: " ...when we hear this new
music, we have to stop and think. " Considering the concerns of the com-
posers of the late 1980s, we have to appreciate the significance of Bela
Bartόk and to recognize his key role in the realm of creativity through
music as applied to the state of civilization, to the notions, the
materials,
the techniques, and the potential of the late twentieth century .If one
con-
ceives of him as the "gate" to this twentieth century through music, then
the composers using the electronic musical technology of the time are the
beautifu1ly proportioned "windows" of our musical edifice, oriented to
different directions, bringing different breezes and aesthetic delights.
These are extremely sensitive and yet highly disciplined people. They
have been the first among the creators of the late twentieth century to
have
achieved "poetry" and "emotional humanity" without denying the poten-
tial and the usefulness of computers and electronics. These people speak
of
"landscape, " "space, " and "materials" almost
in purely architectonic
terms. Brian Eno tried the synthesizer, learned it we1l, used it, and yet
went
beyond it because of "its limited usefulness ...its sound tended towards
a diagrammatic rather than an organic quality." Εηο, along with others,
sought liberation from the confines of the machine; they searched for
human expression as opposed to diagrammatic possibilities. Εηο, unlike
Bartόk and Sibelius, was very articulate; he opened up about his creative
process and revealed that it shifted from "the diagrammatic" constraints
of
the synthesizer "towards non-instruments like pieces of chain and sticks
and stones. "
The quality of sound "as a completely plastic and ma1leable material"
sought by Brian Eno can be best experienced in the closing Eternal Spring
(of the Silk Road ΙΙ) ofthe Japanese composer Kitaro. The crysta1line sound
of water running pure and clear above creek pebbles, pierced by the
shining
rays of a forest-filtered sun, could very we1l have been in the mind
of Frank
Lloyd Wright when he designed the Kaufmann house. " Α forest seen from
the air is complex and interesting. Α single tree is equa1ly yomplex. One
leaf, even one molecule is endlessly fascinating. That's how music should
be. " This statement by Eno sounds incredibly similar to the architectonic
concept of Le Corbusier , who believed that the design of the doorknob is
as difficult (and important) as the design of a whole town.
Music's Direct Input to Architecture
Among the first ones to open the horizons and guide musicians to discover
their "leafs" in the unexplored forests of the late twentieth century were
people relatively unknown to the great masses but ascetics and pioneers in
their own way .Foremost among them was the organist composer Olivier
Messiaen, a musician appreciated and admired by Le Corbusier .He became
the teacher of Iannis Xenakis, who while working at the office of Le Cor-
busier and being wholly responsible for several Le Corbusier projects,
offered his knowledge of. music and his personal system of notation (for-
malized music) in the service of the development of twentieth-century
architecture. During his years with Le Corbusier, he gave evidence of his
ability with numbers, geometry , and proportions and helped introduce high degrees of rhythmic order to several Le Corbusier projects. Iannis
Xenakis was largely responsible (along with another Greek architect,
Sta-
mos Papadakis) for working out the mathematics of Le Corbusier's Mod-
ulor, a modular series of proportions. As Le Corbusier "had no idea of
mathematics, " contrary to what he professed, and as George Candilis has
testified to the author, Xenakis and Papadakis (then working in his office
and trained in math and geometry through their studies at the School of
Architecture in Athens) got the assignment to "come up with something
along these lines." And they did.
Ιη an essay on architecture that perhaps casts the most revealing light
regarding the creative, col1aborative, open-minded and innovative genius
of. Le Corbusier , Xenakis has told the story of the design of the
Monastery
of La Tourette, a design for which he was largely responsible. Ιη his
biog-
raphy he has told the story of the tensions with Corbu regarding the au-
thorship of the Philips Pavilion, which was total1y designed by the
musician on the basis of the geometry and the score of one of the musical
compositions he had prepared for this particular building. Even if Xenakis
had not told us, any serious scholar of the evolution of contemporary
music
would perhaps have traced the origin of the rhythmic articulation of the
various parts of La Tourette, especial1y its three faςades with the four
elements a, b, c, d, of the golden section and their twenty-four permuta-
tions in the "Metastasis, " one of the Xenakis's early musical
compositions.
Walking down the interior walk of the monastery with
views to the interior courts of La Tourette,
along the rhythmic stochatics of Xenakis Metastasis.(Photos by ACA)
Le Corbusier, by accepting the young musician's suggestions (in fact, he
honored him by publishing the first score of the "Metastasis" in the 1955
edition of Modulor 2), was the first to give legitimacy to the actual
col1ab-
oration of kindred spirits from different arts, in this case music and
archi-
tecture. Xenakis subsequently abandoned architecture to devote himself
completely to music, to become the proponent of electronic music and to I
have France honor him with a National Pavilion at the Montreal Expo,
which had an architectonic form that was perfect for the composer's elec-
tronic music.
Severa1 other musicians reached music through architecture. Paul
Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel ) is the best known case
in the United
States. The opposite trend, for musicians to become architects, or just
simp1y be interested in architecture, is not as marked. With the exception
of Daniel Libeskind, who came to architecture via music and subsequent
studies in mathematics and painting, the decades of the 1960s and 1970s
were stagnant in terms of reciprocal cross-fertilization. Furthermore, the
1iterature of architecture, not yet prepared for pioneering experimenta1
ef-
forts in architectura1 poetics, was a difficult outlet for the
communication
of personal or idiosyncratic concerns on the subject.
Recent Design Lessons Based on Departures from Music
It took approximately twenty years of si1ence (the 1ast important writings
were summarized through the editorial efforts of Gyorgy Kepes in 1966)
unti1 Radoslav Zuk's artic1e in the Journal of Architectural Education. It
was
basic and introductory on a subject that had to be treated as a forgotten
one, yet it was inspiring and we11 received. Using 1ay terms, Zuk pointed
out a whole series of music-architecture commonalities. If nothing e1se,
he
attracted the attention and stimulated the chords of creativity of
students
and instructors who had been brought up with the music of the Beat1es,
Bob Dy1an, jazz, and rock 'n roll. He did not provide evidence of samp1es
of his student projects to demonstrate the app1icabi1ity and the potential
of
his advocacy as a channe1 to design.
This was 1eft to the efforts of few experimenta1ly inc1ined design in-
structors who were conversant with and cognizant of music. Susan Ubbe-
lohde from the University of Minnesota and Bennett Neiman from the
University of Colorado at Denver were the pioneers of the 1980s in using
music as the externa1 reference for architectura1 design purposes.
Ubbelohde used the relationship between music and architecture in
two ways in teaching. She described the first as relatively
straightforward,
in that it addressed the relationship between the acoustics of a room and
the
visua1 experience of that room through a one-hour s1ide 1ecture synchro-
nized with musica1 recordings. This effort, which addresses the
experientia1
nature of room acoustics in a profound way , is perhaps the stimulating
channe1 through which students 1earn not only the difficult tasks of acous-
tics, but are motivated for what should fo1low in the design studio.
Ubbelohde expands her efforts with a studio project entitled "The
Sound Machine. " The students are introduced to the project through a
s1ide
1ecture synchronized to recordings (a carefu1ly se1ected 1ist, including
music
from ancient Greece, covering the evolution of music down to V arese's
Poemme Electronique (performed in the Le Corbusier-Xenakis Phi1ips
Pavilion at the Brusse1s World's Fair 1958) before they se1ect a historic
period. Upon se1ecting a period of their choice, they are asked to survey
the 1iterature of the time, both on music and on architecture. The goal is
to
identify the rules and canons of the time. The findings of these canons
are
summarized graphica1ly , whi1e the programming stage takes a scoring di-
rection, based on examp1es from Anna and Lawrence Halprin's concepts of
choreography. The project concludes with a "design by doing it" event,
where the students construct their projects. "The entire school watches
the
process and approximately 500 are on hand for the fina1 jury to 1isten to
the
machines" (From Ubbelohde's 1etter to the author and course sy1labuses).
Ubbelohde rea1izes that the students gain and 1earn more about team-
work and construction than about the nature of the arts. Υ et one may
speculate about the va1uab1e effects such exercises and experiences may
have
on the very few who might see the immense1y greater potential music can
exert on their design efforts. It is during the very early introductory
exercises and introductory lectures that the student hears for the first
time about
the ideas and attributes of architecture that bear a similarity to music.
Bennett Neiman goes beyond these goals; he intermarries the refer-
ences in music to architecture with the discipline and capabilities of the
computer. Neiman begins with jazz scores by his favorite musicians. He
encourages his students to go through the listening sessions with the goal
of analyzing and depicting graphically the structure and the rhythmic se-
quences of the piece performed. Ιn subsequent steps, students are asked to
perform "spatial improvisations" and "spontaneous spatial moves" analo-
gous to the structure and rhythm of the analyzed jazz piece. These impro-
visations are then drawn with the computer, while the computer program
permits the development of many variations. The designer's mind and poetic license are used to make the final selection, which is then
transformed
into the desired building. Through the reference to jazz, the students are
introduced to concepts and habits of discipline (for the overal1 structure
of
jazz is highly structured and disciplined), and at the same time the
attitude of permissiveness and improvisation (also characteristic ingredients of
jazz)
leaves the field open and free for the achievement of the unique. Jazz as
a
departure for architecture can be very wel1 argued as the desirable music
prototype for an eventual "democratic" architecture-where everyone is
playing his own instrument and compositions-within a mutual1y accepted
structured whole.
Pictures to the right above : Projects from
the classes of Suzan Ubbelohde, on of the pioneering instructors in the
United Stages in the 80's who taught introduction to architecture and
concepts of design along with discussion on styles and architectural
periods and movements ( i.e Classical, Romantic, Modern, Post-modern,
Expressionist, )through "hands on" approaches, the construction of "Sound
Machines" and using music as a metaphor". To the Right column, Bottom:
The Temple of the Winds in Jaipur, one of the largest "RED" buildings
in history, A "Sound Machine" measuring the wind.. (These visuals,
courtesy to ACA by Ubbelohde and Oliver Whindam)
Architecture generated by music (jazz) and
computers. Project by Terry Kemp from the studio of Bennett Neiman,
University of Colorado at Denver. (Courtesy by Bennett Neiman)
Toward a Model for Music-Architecture Inclusivity
Don Fedorko, one of my architectural students, has developed the most
direct music-architecture working theory , and has consistently been using
music as a source of inspiration and synthetic guide in his own designs.
He
was inspired by a comment by one of his instructors during the early years
of his studies; the instructor suggested that architecturehas "rhythm,"
like
music. Fedorko, a young musician, songwriter, and vocalist, and a highly
independent student of architecture, devoted his free time to developing a
theory of the music-architecture relationship, the best developed and most
promising thus far for actual design application. His student designs are
evidence of the promise as wel1 as the liabilities of "architecture as
music"
if it is not resolved in an inclusivist manner. Fedorko believes that "you
can get ideas from many sources, " and he encourages his col1eagues to
keep
their eyes and ears open: "Υ ου get ideas from smal1 instances, not when
you force it ...take an everyday symbol and exploit it. "
The young composer-architect derives joy from explaining his efforts
to his col1eagues. It was the first time some of them real1y understood
the
music they were enjoying. Music has an extraordinary power as a tool of
instruction, because if one selects musical compositions that have already
had general emotional appeal to a certain audience, then the audience is
sympathetic, attentive, and assimilates the analytical comments on the se-
crets of a composition. It is much easier to find a piece of music that
has
been experienced and has universal appeal to a student audience than it is
to
find a building that arouses such a sympathetic response.
Perhaps the most remarkable lesson I derived froni students was the
ambition of one to reach a point where he might be able to get a commis-
sion from a client in which he would
write song for the client
then design the house
deriving form and spatial
quality from the music of
the song.
One could perhaps find no more inclusivist definition of architectural
creativity and design as an inclusivist act than the one stated above;
when
the lyrics wil1 be given life through music to be eventual1y frozen for
Precedents at random for further
eternity as edifice.
discussion in the Studio.
"The spirit doesn 't descend upon you without some help from music. "
Perhaps this statement by Dr. Bil1y King, in his effort to explain the
signif-
icance and the communal power of Gospel music, is equal1y applicable to
architecture: Music could help the spiήt come down again.
Conceptual relationships between architecture and
music, according to Don Fedorko. (Diagram courtesy Don Fedorko)
Integration of Music score and Architecture, with the
help of painting as a means of conceptual expression during the creative
process. A: music score,
B: final architectural model, C: conceptual painting . Project
designed b Don Dedorko and inspired by the song "Niagara Falls" from album
Chicago 18, the band Chicago .( Drawing and photos courtesy of Don Fedorko )
ΤΗΕ CONCEPT ΟΡ ΤΗΕ SYMPHONIC AND ΤΗΕ SCALES
ΟΡ ARCHITECTURE
The "spirit," however, has a more complicated role to perform, as the
architects of the 1990s deal with more complicated issues than before. Ar-
chitecture is much larger, moire complicated, exponential1y more complex
in scale, both physical1y and-more important-social1y .Thoughts re-
garding the state of individuality , freedom, and the plurality of society
pose
additional dimensions for the music-architecture relationship. Today we
face a dilemma in the applicability of the analogue between music and
architecture. The argument can go like this: Υou cannot hear two pieces
of
music simultaneously. The result wil1 be a blare. Υou can, however, look
at two buildings simultaneously .It is possible that they may be
different
and yet they may complement each other. It is also possible that they may
not help each other, that one may perhaps be "fighting" the other; final1y
it is possible that they may be unobjectionable, making ηο commentary
on
each other, while they may appear to be concerned about something else, a
broader whole, idiom, or a tradition (perhaps the esoteric whim and
desires
of client or architect).
Αη these possibilities may be perceived through one visual glance.
None of this can happen with the auditory analogue; the works of two
composers must be experienced (and considered) separately, while the
Arcade
works of two (or more) architects can be experienced simultaneously. In
Barrio Picasso
this sense we can suggest a fundamental difference between music and
Manolo
architecture. Architecture can permit the simultaneous perception ( or
visual
Nunez
experience) of more than one work, so it could perhaps be considered more
dynamic. One could not speak of musical pieces performed simultaneously
and yet making sense. Is this a plus for architecture, or is it perhaps
one of
its great dilemmas? Should architects, especial1y in a plural society,
where
they may not know each other, approach individual projects as separate
pieces of music, or should they be sensitive to the total harmony of the
whole? Or should they perceive their projects like separate instruments
playing their individual scores in a "symphony" to which they are sup-
Salk Institute
posed to contribute?
La Jolla/CA.
This question brings us to the realization that every effort to equate
Louis Kahn
architecture with music and find an analogue between the two is a function
of scale. Iη urban design, one could conceive each building as equivalent
to
the music played by a particular instrument, but it is also possible to
con-
sider a building al1 by itself and equate it to a pleasing piece of music,
separately performed, experienced, and judged. Music has an inexplicable
appeal, one that grows in time and is a function of several factors, some
explicable, others not easy to understand. Of great importance is the
effort
on the part of the listener to learn to appreciate music beyond the
pleasure
derived through the ear , the airing ofharmonies, the succession of
rhythms
and the quality of the sound.
Although it is more complicated at first, it is easy to approach the
music-architecture analogue from the broader scale and speak about the
possibility of the dilemma: Υ ου cannot listen to two pieces of music
simul-
taneously , but you can perceive two (or more) works of architecture at
the Barrio
Picasso
same time. Starting from the case of a musical symphony , which we wil1
Nunez
equate here to urban design, we can see that there are lessons to be
learned
for architecture if the architect perceives urban design acts as
symphonies
of building in which each project corresponds to the role played by each
particular instrument. Because if a building is perceived as part of a
sym-
phonic performance it wil1 have to be in agreement with the covenants of
the whole. Α symphony is an agreement-an agreement of harmony that
has the goal of delighting. Α musical symphony is therefore the
togetherness of the voices of the performing instruments with the goal of
agreeing
in complementing others.
It is my strong belief that only with the concept of the symphony can
Riverside
one deήνe results from the music-architecture analogue. The Pythagorean,
Music studio by
the Platonic, the Aristotelian, and the Renaissance understandings of the
Rush-Endacott
concept of symphonic should be studied, contemplated, perhaps tried
and Bruce Goff
/ occasionally, but always put on theside in favor oftoday's values, of to day's
Tulsa-Oklahoma
complex world. The architectonic "symphony" of the late twentieth cen-
tury has to include myriad "instruments. " Its rhythm has to include plu-
rality .Its rhythm should be judged on a broader scale, its score should
leave
room for individual expression and improvisation. It is all an issue of
scale
and magnitude. This is why , with the music-architecture channel to crea-
tivity , one should pay equal attention to the basics, as to the history
and
the evolution of the subject, as opposed to jumping unprepared (and une-
quipped) into the fashions and unrelated trends of the present.
The reciprocal effect of the arts has been a fact throughout history .It
is surprising to many people today when they hear that the person respon-
sible for a11 the work on the Acropolis of Athens, including architecture,
construction process, and artistic execution, was Phedias, a sculptor by
profession, who had daily discussions on art and architecture when in the
- Same as above
house of Pericles with their mutual friend, the philosopher Anaxagoras. It
might perhaps be equa11y surprising in the future if we were to suggest
that
almost a11 the forward steps in the architecture of the twentieth century
were due largely to the influence exerted by some artists (Mondrian, Ρί-
casso, Oldenburg, De Chirico) on the architects. This should not offend
the architects. They need the artists and they need the other arts in
order to
become better architects.
Summary
Association, applied involvement, and a working relationship with other
artists and creative people should become part of the architect's
creativity
School of Music
enhancement strategy .Important architects have done so, with wonderful
Christian de
results. This chapter presents suggestions for a we11-planned
socialization
Portzamparc/Paris
process as a means to furthering chances for cross-fertilization. In
particu-
lar, the arts of dance and music have a special affinity with
architecture.
Dance enhances the architect's appreciation of cross-cultural differences
while it clarifies understanding of the concepts of the classical and the
contemporary, W e close our inquiry with an original contribution to the
music-architecture cross-fertilization relationship. We present theoreti-
cians, architects, and musicians who have been instrumental in this
respect,
and conclude with a suggestion for a music-architecture inclusivist ap-
Same as above
proach to design;
For more recent project by Christian de Portzamparc
see his City of Music (
Ciudade
da Musica) in Rio de Janeiro
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Hanslik, Eduard.. .'The Beautiful in Music. " Ιη Kennick, 1964.
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UPDATED EDITORIAL COMMENTS
Regarding my comment of the Empire State Building as
a "stereotype" for the "Skyscraper", I would add today that : "...The
stereotype of the "skyscraper" after Sept 11-2001,evokes
images of horror and terror-The World Trade Center, Burge Dubai and the
crane falling from Tapei 5(1), along with all the adverse feelings one
developes upon the idea that one might at some point be oblidged to
experience the discomfort and distress to live and work in such Horror
generating technologically mealomaniac artifacts. (For further
substantiation and strengthening on my arguments above see
here )
With regard to Frank Gehry I would
comment someplace, that none of his buildings destined for music,
eventually made it to being "musical events"; They turn instead to
"acoustic diagramms in violent arbitrary atires" , with most
prominent in this respect the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
I would like to add here as a footnote that Paul Simon attented
Victor F.Christ-Janer's general design class at Columbia, the semester prior to
mine-. Victor used to refer to him often and told us about the "Frank Lloyd Wright"
his former student had written.
In the Xenakis, Le Corbusier, Messiaen discussion
and in view of what followed in architecture, particularly toward the
closing of the twentieth century and the first decated of the 21st. I
would add without the slightest hesitation the attachment than follows
these notes from my unpublished book "ARCHILOGOS". In this
book, I argue that : had it not
been for Xenakis, we would not have what followed at the begining of the
21st.century, specifically the architecure of interactivity, the "Floatings"
and the "celestial", nor would we have the work of Libeskind , Hadid,
Grondona, Gehry, Eric Owen Moss and others of the non-modernist
inclusivist lot. I make this proposision, as a major suggestion to the
whole "anglo-saxon" approach to architecture, which has not as yet paid
attention, or discussed as such, the highly influential and pioneering for
the 21st century contribution of Xenakis.
Above comments in Red, in progress....
Anthony C.Antoniades, AIA
24August 2011
DEDICATION : All of the above is
dedicated to the Dancer from the PLACE-London 1969 , and I am sure with
her license, to all my students who participated occasionally in my Theory
classes and in studios where the Arts of Dance and Music where used as
channels to their architectural creativity.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE : All of the
above (Text, Photos, Art-works, Diagrams, etc.) are copyrighted by the author, Anthony C.Antoniades(Αντώνης
Κ.Αντωνιάδης). The text of the piece on
Dance and Architecture above comes from the author's book "Poetics of
Architecture: Theory of Design", the John
Wiley@sons Inc. paperback
edition-Chapter 13 (pp.,exactly as was written , only enriched by
additional slides by the authors personal slides, all photographed by him
after visiting and experiencing the named projects. Nobody is permitted to copy , cut and paste or do anything
academically inapropriate, with the exception of giving reference to the
book, or
electronic link to the author's site, or to the particular address of this piece,
never making the content herewith, or pars of it, part of their own
archives. The author welcomes and encourages links to the present piece by
non-profit outfits, while any profit making use of the above by
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the intellectual and visual resources necessary, the amount of approx.
Three-weeks full-time work, on media rather allien to the author and his
generation of architects.... and as the saying goes in Greek :
Ο νοών νοείτο !
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