Tor and monuments
building fabric gives an image
mntinuity, of expansivenese stretch-
nity’, the objectis a closed
tity. Objects concentrate visual
ation; they stand out against a
Kground. This concept can be
rsposed to the town where cer-
1 structures appear as objects
(object-buildings)becausethey stand
out from the urban fabric. This is
organized according to the laws of
proximity, similarity, repetition and
common orientation of elements.
‘The same phenomenon occurs in-
side buildings where certain ele-
meats - columns, doors, windows,
fiche, fireplace, altar, ete. ~ appear
as isolated elements which can then
be identified and even named, while
Figure 111 These engravings. fram an aighteenth-contury stlas
1 Swiss towns by G. Bodenehr, ara significant: gates,
‘hoeches, convents and fountains (puisic symbols per excel
ance) aveishown isametrieally, whereas the rest of the town is
dicated as fabric,
the reat of the environment is char
acterized by greater homogencity.
‘In practically all pre-industrial
societies, ordinary dwellings and
urban places of work are accommo-
dated in buildings which together
form a relatively homogeneous fab-
ric. Once this regularity has been
established, any breaks in it assume
special importance. In principle
they are reserved for monuments otpub landmarks: the templ
He, market.
In the historic centre of Berne
object-reading” is allowed only for
the cathedral, town hall. town gates
and the fountains. The other build-
ings join together to form the fabrie
and it is only when one is close to
them that one starts to recognize
new units identifiable as such. A
bierarehy is thus established (Fig-
ures 111 and 112).
‘The plan of Rome drawn up by
Giambattista Nolli in 1748 is =
remarkable typological document
which shows very clearly this com-
plementarity between toxture and
object of between town and monu-
ment (Figure 113). It makes it possi-
ble to distinguish relationships of
seal~and spatial organization be-
twa, external space, internal pub-
He space, and the mass of the urban
Figure 112
houses shail be designed in such 2 way
{as not fo.rval in any way the majesty of
the temples ...'(L. B. Albert); Mah. Mer-
fan, Zirich seen from the Lake, 1642.
"
fabric bf residential areas and work
places (shown in black). It also
shows how the buildings intended to
have the value of an object or a
monument are integrated into this
fabric of the ordinary and the every-
day, and in what way they structure
the town. Alberti says that the site
‘on which a temple is erected:must be
solemn, noble and splendid and that
it must be exempt from profane
interference, He considers the object
for « place of worship and specifies
‘that in front of its fagade a spacious
and dignified equare should be laid
out,
Forcertain sacred object-buiidings:
in Rome it is only the front fagude
which takes on this object role -
announcer of an extension of the
public space towards the interior
and vice versa, while the other three
sides are embedded in the general
Figire 113 Fateic, bject-busldings and
bjeet-tagades: plan of Rome by Giam-
battista Noll, 1748 fexcerp0
fabric. We are concerned here with
an object-fagade. Despite the de-
mands of urban density, the fabric
yields, even if only slightly, to
retain a widening of public space in
front of the buildings or object-
fagades.
In the two examples cited, Berne
and Rome, the urban object is linked
toan idea: the temple to worship, the
gate-to power, the fountain to the
ides. of a place of exchange of news
and gossip. These concepts go be-
yond the primary function of the
object and imply tradition in the
form of an allegory, expressing a
profound truth about collective lite
‘The prerequisites for a monument
are fulfilled.
In a certain sense the school, uni-
versity, museum, train station and
even the bank have acquired enough
collective importance during theFigure-114 Object on the square - fabric
‘slong the streat; Mario Botta, State Bank
‘of Fribourg, 1977-81.
twentieth century to suparsede tra-
ditional institutions. The object-
building tends to become a symbol
‘of the institution, Mario Botia's
State Bank of Fribourg (Figure 114)
shows an interesting articulation
‘between object and fabric. Tt is not
the whole of the bank which is
treated as object or monument, but
‘only the volume which faces the
square in front of the station, whe-
reas the two wings facing on to the
street mesh with the urban fabric,
‘This example reflects a new sensi-
tivity to the site and the town as
fabric. If this head office had been
built during the 1960s, on the same
site, the entire building would prob-
ably have been trested as an object
to the detriment of the urban fabric.
nce the monumental character
of buildings 4s linked te the ides of
permanence, there is a great tempta-
tion to refer to conventional codes.
We then tend to use’ codes from the
past, which leads Peter Bisenman to
say that... the monument hns been
eclectic by definition since the six-
teenth century ...." That explains
the tenacious resistance of great
public institutions to adopting the
language of modernity. The compet!-
tion for the League of Nations in
1823, won by Lé Corbusier, but
‘commissioned to other architects in
‘the purest eclectic tradition, is a
good illustration of this battle be-
‘tween the moderns and the eclectios
‘over what is appropriate for =
monument,