DECONSTRUCTION

Omnibus Volume

 Omnibus Volume

Ed ited by
Andreas Papadakis

Catherine Cooke & Andrew Benjamin

ACADEMY EDITIONS LONDON

 CONTENTS

Forcword 7

Il \RT I

COIl~trllcl i\' i;-,l Ori~in~ l)

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PA RT II
Theory and Philosophy 65

. PA In III
Deconstruction and Art l) I

Pt\RT IV
Decon,lruClion and ArchileclLire 11 6

SeleclCd Publicali on.s 26 1

Acknowledgcmenls 262
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Incle x 263
6
 Foreword
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dea ... in architecture ha\'c cre:lled \uch a stir 'I~ DccunMruction
e relatively ... hon lime '1I1(l' II gained currency and public
inencc. E,cn Jal:quc, Derrida. the mam detineT of Decon-
.Ion, wa .... urprt-.ed 011 Ihe alacrity and cnthtl',>l;\~m wllh which
Tlstruclivc think mg. previously the private n.!<;cr\c of phi lo..oph)'
tern!) criticism. hOI, been applied in these ficld~. Thank<. to the
~ of lheorclic;Jlly-milldcd archileCI~ '>uch as Bernard T ~huml
cler Ei~cr\fmUl. u direct cOrlnection v.uh architectural theory h:.b
made.
con~lruction :lddrc,~c ...
nOllon ... in [hlnt-ing to ... huw how these
'" deeply-elllrcnchcd blllary opposition~ and It operate ... by
nding the corrc . . ~ndencc between the two. A~cnrding to Peter
man, 3rchiliCCiurc ' mu ..! move away from the ngJ(luy and value
ure ollhe dialectic 0Ppo\ltion\. For eX!ll1lple the IT!lditiona l op-
on btl"ccn ",lruCturc and decor.ll ion. ab.... r.aclion and figuration.
! and ground. Architecturc could begin an explorallon of Ihe
..een" within thc<,\! c:ucgorie!). '
sodoing. DcCOT\\lrUClion create!) a di'lurbancc althe ~igllifier'l,
elllplo} Ing the ,\rmegy of tliffcruIICl' (the Icrm being;1 word-play
Ihe verb~ 'to differ' :md '10 defer') whereby Il1c"ming diffcr~ and
'erred trom :H1 expected de fin ilion . II might appe'lr thut Dccon-
jon defer~ and even evade'!: a definition of it!)Clf, never wi~hing
Iv,. whlltlt i .... It will nOl!oC1 down ... triel parilllleicrs but con\t:lnlly
ion~ and expand\ through a critiqUe', operating by di~localing
ing. ArchlleCb have thu~ appropriated thc.llclho<h of DL"'Con-
ion in order 10 call into llucslion Ibe nOlions of hou~ing. Bernard
Jill! Ihmh Ihat Deconslruction h. 'nOl onty the an:lly~i .. ef con-
in IhciT mO~1 rigorOU'i and !11lcnmlhcd manner. but al\O their
sis from wllhmH, to que\lion what these concept' and their
"y hide, a, rcprcs!)ion or dissimulation.'
the beginning oflhc cemury a con~ciou~ themellclll deve!opmcllI
n architeclure tOolo. pl:lce in Russia. and Dccon ... lrUCI ivi~llheorie:.
1 debt to Ihe Cons t ruClivi~h of thm timc. Indccd. much of Ihe
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pre ...elll "orlo. ~Ienh from earlier. often IIllulti ... e, move~ iUlhis dITCC'
tion, But 19RR "a<; a milc!)tone }eur in 11 \ :lcceplunce III architedure,
bcgllllllllg "I th the Academy Forum ..II London'., TUle Gallery with
Ihe pubhcatloTl of an i... ~ue of AnlJill'( IlIraJ Di's/gll devoled to II,
to be follo"cd by Ihe /)l'nllUlm('(il'i,\'t An/lilt'( flirt' exhibition at Nc"
York's M u~cum of Moc.Iem An, which gave ri..e \() much contrOvcT.\IY
and debate over Ihe ~c1cClion of work and even the temt'J)ccon-
~truCllv"t . ,
The appl icalion of Decon~tru~tion in the vi~u:tl aTl~ leads lOa funher
rca!.;,c'~n)cnt of valuc ~truclure .... In Valerio Adami', worlo.. for ex-
ample, the C"I'lf/tllle' lie .. in a high 11 con~iow~ Juxtaposillon of vio;-uat
and IClltual e1cmcnl.tDcco?,lnLCliOlll\t art ... limulales Ihe vle\\er 10
la"c pan in tho analysis oflhe 'between' :utd ellplore~h as does the
worlo. of Anselm Kiefer - the possibili tie'i of the frame. Jacques
, Derrid:l. in hi .. book Tile Trwh til Pmmill.-:, ha~ commented on the
importance Ollhi' concept: 'One space nced~ 10 be broached in order
10 gi\e pillce 10 the \Tulh in paiTlling, NCllher inside nor oUI~ide, it
,pace~ II;,elf wilhout telling Itself be framed but il does nO! ~1(U1d
OUl\idc Ihe frante. 1\ work\ the fT:Jmc,ll1alo.e~ II work, give~ i1 work to
do ... '
DccOlNnICll011. 1>I)th in an:hlleCture and the vbual arts. may ~IIII be
in it, early Iagc~ bUI il doe" exist, (md Ihe Imagery II usc~ i~ frc~h and
appeaJ.. 10 aile" !!cncratlon. Ilowcver, a'> Derrida polll1cd OUI regard-
ing. arch itecture in hl~ di~us\lon wllh Chn.,lopher Norris: 'you can 'I
(or you .. houldn 'I) 'imply di!;mi<;\ lho\e value, or dwelling, runction-
ality, beauly and \oon. You ltaH" tocon::.lrUCI, '>0 to ~peak, a new ~p;tce
and a ncw furm, to ~hape a new way of bUIlding 111 which Ihc-.e mOllfs
or v:Ilue\ arc retn~cribed, having mennwhile Ie;", their external
hegemony. '
Decoll\lruCtlOn doc ... nOI ~Iriclly demarcme a frmnework. It ~
critique I~ continual and il would be u,cfuJ to rcmernber that Decon-
~tnJctlon i'> above all 3n aCllvity. an open-ended practice. rather Ihan
a methoc.l convinccd of iL'> own corn."Ct rca~oning. AP
 PART [

CONSTRUCTIVIST ORIGINS
Catherine Cooke

Russian Precursors II

The Development of the Constructivist

Architects' Design Method 21

Survey of Constructivist Work 38

lakov Chemikhov 48
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Ivan Leonidov 60

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DFCO~STR l'CT101\

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 CATHERINE COOKE
Russian Precursors

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The development of physics this cent ury has rc\olutioni.o.ed communica tio ns. a nd information systems and tcrhnology.
Former Cartesian di,h, ions ha ve had to be rejected to make wl.Iy for l.t new thinking. Here the ex periments and
achie \'cmenls of the Russian " ,'unl -gard e are sun c)ed. s ho\\ing the ir endeam urs to com e to term s with not only th e
physical. bUI the I11claphysicl.lI and phiiosOIJhica l iml>lica lio ns of a world thai is subj ect to continuous change.
SO WI' Imgui'lic "c.m'c. A~ a rc,ult Decon~truction. wilich "essentially about
url'/l",' III II/I' {f1/l('I'{JlifJlI ,11m CI gfl'CI/ til'of of Illo/flg/('ol (l1If1
hllllltm brlll/fiour i ,~ lH'rOlI.J Iht' "riIlClp/t's of Ilflli/\ . h()ml'OlW~I ,~ IIml
the I-'.ay tll.Il infonnation i!, undcr~tood or exchanged In the latc 2Oth-
century \ocicty. tend~ 10 be identified with building' that loo~ m~
Slimlllo!l.~- 11'.1'1'1111$(', (llId I !WIII i l' pI'ecl.I('/I' litis 11'11 jdJ is l'iwf{I('/Ni iii it'
oflwlIIlllllllld f "ltllrul l/<lil'l/ies , SIIlI, (/ lIel,.loo~ opell _ \Ivcly 'COfl'lructed ' or ' dCCOIl\lruclcd' in a physiclil rc~pccl.
1 Ill'" Pl'I"SPl'I --
tin'.I' 1101 (Jill; 1I11/11'orr bill //I pnulicu/ applilul/(II/~ . ' Ilcrc we [ouch [he vcry C~'iCncc ofConMructivism and. con.-.ciousl)
Ludwig Ion Bcnal.tnffy, Gn/era' Snll'm TheOl). 1968. I or unconsciously, the ren-.oll for Ihe pre~nt allcntionlo thiS Russian
work. A~ I have !>tre~sed In my own writings about thc Conqructivisl.'>.
My funcllon hCfe, a... I <,CC II, is 10 I.IY a ghost Thc gho<;t i~ thai of Ihe one of the mm,t interesting a'i'pecl\ of Iheir thoughl ir.. Ihe clanty with
RU~M:m avanl-gardc. Peler Ei"'cnman ha, shown u'> a scheme by lakov which they po~itcd a number of i~ ... ues, thcoretical a~ well as foml;.ll.
ChemlLhov . From Zah:1 Hadid wc havc ~een image!> from IWO people which .,Iill concern archllccture today. ! In re'i'pccl of thc panicular
of qUlIe dIfferenT philmophie, Malcvich. ,,---~upremali'; l , and Le- confu~ion 10 which I'ctef has rcferred. the Ru~sian languagc gave thcm
onidov.3 r31her db!>enling :md non-Iypical Con ... truclivi!>t - :md ~hc an immedialc ad\'anlagc over us. They I hcrn~lve!> took advantage of
has given u~ somc sen~c oflhc role Ihc~e people., 'Work ha~ playcd In [he fact thcy had two word~ for construclion'. and Ihey madc abso-
in~pirinl1- and infonning her own . ' . IUlcly cleaT\~hall hc dlffercncc was betwecn thclT\. In fac i. Russi:m has
There lire Iw\} thing,> Ihal I wall! to do. One i~ 10 dcal with Ihe a 101 of o[lter word~ that can also only he translated into Enl1-lish as
question of why "ome oflhc ..c image!> l11ight be beUlg u'iCd today al all. conqruclion. some being funhcr noun". \DIllC bcmg vcrb~. butthe~
oot only by Hadid bUI by olher people in the pre~entI110Velllen[. :llld IIltroduce nuance, thai are nOI relcvant hcrc.
whe[her~uch a use of [h i", work i" legi timate, The Olher is:1mther l110re Thc Ru.-.,ians hu\c one "ord for con<,Jruclion mlhe bc.I ilding sen~c
fund~men[;11 que~llOn relating [0 the n'll ure of Con~tructlvislll l1 .. clf. which is s/I'O//d s/\'o. from j./Ioir'. 10 bl!ild: 1I11~ il, what you do in
which in Ihi!> context ha<, too often becn u,cd a\ a gencral ternl 10 .. Illud<!y boot .. on a bUlldmg \ ilc. II demands Ihal you understand about
include much that properly belongs to Ihe vcry differcnt movement of matcrials: that you arc. III their period in particular. concerned with the
Suprematlsm. material realityof lhe phY'iical world. Then there iloquite another I-'. oTd.
I shall deal wllh Ihl\ <;ccond I~~UC fir~t. a, it relate, to something thc one from which Ihe term Com(ructivism eomc:.. which is kOIl -
Peter EI~nman ~Id earlier thi\ moming :tOOU! delicienclc'i or Ihe !itlII~lSiu. Thb is construction in the sen~ of structural organi!>ation.
Engh~h language. and fiTld~ ih ITlO~1 li tera l usc in the gramm:lticul senM!. Km/j.lrll~rsiu
Ebenrn.tn obl>Crved thai we havc a problem in looLing 3t Oceon- hu!> todo with the \ truclurc of idea:.. with theconSiruction of argument~
!>Iruclion bccau~ wedo nOI know whcn we arc talking about construc- Ihrough as~cmbling ~cquenee!) of idcas. It is. as [he ConmuCltviSls
tion as building. and whcn wc are talking :Ibout cOlll>lruction in a !ouid. an intel lcctual category. It is through uucntion [0 Ih i ~ di<'lInclion.

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IlhmK. that we can 1110,t usefully uddrc;;!o and ill u1l1 ln:Lte the rel.ltion- bUilding de~ign. IS certainly not any longer an appropriate par
\hip between hl ..torical Comlructlvi,rn, and Decon\tructioll. for thinking about how we design building~ or thinl.. of
K(lI1~I/"JI~fSJ;rI denotes a mode of thinking, a certain ordering of the f"unctiOlluJ operation in socie ty. We no longer M!C a buildin
procc,~s of thought. And in comiderinl! thi~ a<;pc!;t of it. we are nece,-.arily having a one-la-one rclalion'l-hip, and a delermi
brought up again'>l the very imporl:lnt fact which we lend to forget rcJmiomhip. \0 a paniculur funcllon. Our greater underslandi
when thc<;c Ullage\ are so po .....erful. and in a ~ n ..e timc l c~s: the fact how bui ldlllg.'> are u'iCd over lime and perceived. qUlle apan from
Ihl1ltl1;\ Rm.)ian material ..... , arc lool..ing al derivc\ hom ,ixty, and in larger ~h lft " in phl lo-.ophical po.. illon deriving from outside an:
some ca~ ... \evenly. year.. ago. Th;l! i,lO'kIY, it Ix>long. .. in a world- lure It\elf, have been enough to indicate that a building has 3
and we thml.. here otlhe I~sue~ Bcrnard '\chu1l11 wa .. 1311..111 about Illore probabilistiC relation,hlp both 10 what cau<,es it to happen.
carl ier - which wa, not at all today', mformation-ba...ed world , but one to the way it wi ll be U\ctl Hnd a.. a re<,ul1. 10 Ihe wily il b under.;1
where mechanical engineering wa .. the basic logical paradigm of 'p;tce. So the Constructivi"l nOl ion of what ~f}/w,.dls;;a meanl
th inking. A\ RC),llcr Hanham taught u,IO think of il. Ihi .. wa\lhe 'Fi~1 us 10 undersl:lnd why Dccomlruction is a natural phcnome
\iac.:hine Agc' We an.' no", in thc Second, the ag.e of infonnation would almost say.of an informal lon-based <;oCit ty which ust l\}~
t echnolo~y, where .. pacc. ~ TM:humi 'ald. i .. mea .. ured by lime. and analy," to redefine the boundarie~ of almmt every territory il e
ther.e IWO concepts ha'-e an enurely diflerenl idnd of rcl1l1iomh ip. me". and where science al ready h;ts quile different concepts of
What i.. imen... ting. a~ I ... hall brieny ..how, is that lit the end of the .maner, if it can still be ca lled thai , ill actually wuctured.
Iwemie... Ihe COlNruClivi.sl!; nlre:!.dy unden.tood tlml 111L~ "hift was [t i.'i part of the poverty of our cultural eXI>crience today that
coming. and Hllked aboul its implication>; in prcci~ely the 'l-ame lIhir" :It the frontier~ of knowledge are not mediated conceptUllU
I.mguage. the IIllclligenhia al large In any general or lIy ..temalk way, at''''
In Ihi!; "lIual ion. therefore. the I..lI1d of linear. delemllni!;[ic logic artiticjn1 boundaries of 'd i<;c iphne ~' Ih<ll .....e inherited from lhe
wh ich the Con'l-Iruc!lvi<,t.., saw as the very e .."encc of their approach 10 rc!;L\ lv iIY age when e\'erylhll1g c(luld be brol..en down into ""xii

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Illy connected or unconnected 'cmllle!>' Throu~h the impact of
:roelectronic~. in par!icular. and the 1Ilformalion and cOllllllunica-
h revolution" it ha" brought. a .. wcll :1!. deeper que .. tioning~ of lhe
ure of cognition and IllIelligcnce. the world 3t large i~ directly
JOsed 10 the consequenl-"C~ oflhc'\C lolruuur.11 ~hlfh. Without under-
,ding. howcver. II is at their mercy. A.. could be predicted. it resisi!.
'advenlUre into Ihe unknown' of whlth ill" alrcady an aClUal. but
oJullIary and non-cognl!>l'cll1 JXlrticlpanL
'erhap!> no-()ne h~ recently bener de<.eribcd the nalure of lhe "hi ft
e Ihan Ihe theoretical phY"ici!>1 FrilJof Capra, in panicular in hb
lk -Jilt' Tllr/l/ll~ Puillt, in 1982. IIi .. lucid account of thc dral>lic
dificallonl> 10 cJa~"lcal concep... of .,pace and lillle imroduced by
ISlein's General Theory. (lnd of the cOlllplcte di~inlcgration of
'>sical atomic phy"'ic~ produced by the works of Niel" Bohr, Max
nck and their generation, make .. very clear the ('ssenlial parallch
ween thi~ mClUphy~ic and Ihlll of Dcrnde:m Decon ..truction. Capra
lle .. thus Werner Hebenbcrg:
I remember di ..cu"sions with Bohr which wenl on Ihmugh many
lours [ill Yery la[e al nighl and ended alnlo,t in de .. pair: and when
11 the end of Ihe dl~C\J\\10n I went alone for a walk in Ihe
1eighbouring park I repealed to my\Clf again and again the
CATIIER]'l"F COOKI~
quc .. uon: Can n:llure po, .. ibly be ..o ab~urd as it 'iCcmcd to u~ in
these atomic expcrunenh')'
Capr.ts, ow n COn\llle1\l1' ~ prolXl' here:
It look t hc~ phy .. icl,t~ a long I1me 10 a.:cept the fact thilt the
paradoxc, they encountered arc an essential a'pcct of atomic
physics. and to realise that they arise whenever one uies to
descnbe atOl1l1C phenomena to tenns of clas:.ical concepts.
There il; a dlrcci parallel here with the Deconstruclive programme,
whether in ..trchitecturc or el\Cwhcre, of locating the mhercnl dilem-
ma,> within Ihe cOl1\ellllooal ins.titution of a bui lding'. and wilh Ihe
view of siructure which follow:.. ill which the naw .. arc the intrinsic
mdicatof\ of ib ordering at another and deeper leve Iof Structure. rather
than nnw!>. In both ca-.es there arc problems of accepting the concep-
tual framework.
The new physics lof quantum theory1 necessitated profound
changes in conccpb of "pace, time. maller, objcct. and cause and
effect: ;uld because Ihe"c concept!. arc so fundamen ta1to our way
of experiencing the world. their truIIsronnation came as a great
.. hock.
In thl~ conneC[lon C:lpra quote~ IIci\Cnbcrg again:
TIle violent reaction 10 Ihe recent development!> of modem
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phy~iC!> can only be undero.tood )"hen one reali\\!, thai here the
foundal ion' 01 modern phy!.icli have 'Ianed movmg: and {hal
tlt;li motion Ita .. cau..cd the feeling thai the ground would be CUI
frolll ~iencc.
Even Ein')tein adnllued Ihe ~me:
All my allcmpt<,to adaplthe theoretical foundatmn., 01 phy.,icli
to this Inew type of! knowledge failed cmnpletcly. [t ..... a'> a~ If the
ground h3d becn pullcd oul frolll under onl!. with no riml
I'otlndalion 10 be '\een Jny ..... herc. III>on which one could have
huilt.
Capra'~ o ..... n very .,Iralghtlorward de,cnplion 01 the e,.,ential'> (lIthe
new vic ..... can hardly be bcuered in Ih" context
In comra,t to the mcchalll,tic. Carle~ian vie\~ 01 the world. the
\~orld ViC .... emerging lrom modem phy';c, can be charactcfl'i..'d
hy . . . ord' ll~c organic, holiMic. and ecological. II 1111ght al<,(l be
called a ,y,[em~ vie ...... in Ihe M!n\c 01 g.eneral 'y,tem!. theory_
The UniVCN! j, 110 longer "Ceo a~ a machine, made up of a
multitude of ObJCCllo. but h:i' 10 be plclured ;I' one IIldivi'lble,
d) namic whole who.')C pi!n, are c,-.cntlally IOter-rel:lIed and can
he undero.tood only as pallem~ of a co!'>mic procc,!> ...
In quanlum theory YOll never end up wilh '[hillg' '; you alway'
dc.11 wilh inti..'rconnccliOll'> ., II ,how, thaI we cannOl dec
TXI,e Ihe "orld 111\0 independently e;o;i'tlllg ,malic\! unll~. A~
pcnclr..tle illln mailer. nature doe .. nol ~how u, any isola
blUldillg blocb. but rather appear, '" :t complicated web
relation, bet" cell variou, part., of a unified whole:
In Ilc i'>Cnbcrg ', dc\criplion ..... hich hequote,: 'The ~\orld Ihusa~
:I' a complic:lled 1I,~ue of C~CIII'. III which connection!> of dill
J..ind, ;Jllematc or overlap or combillc :lIId thereby dctennlll
tC)(lurc of the whole.' And in the word, oflhe phy"ci'>l Henry ~
,HI elementary pan icle i, not an IOdependelllly exiqlng unanalj
eilluy. It i<;. 11\ c~ ..encc. a ,cl 01rchttiomh ip.. that reach oulward III
th1lll:!"'\
Thi, mailer of connection' lead~ to Ihe '1gnific:lIlce of Ihc,cd
of probabilil). Jnt! Capra" aho panicularly good 10 hI!> de<;cnp~
Ihe differcn! application, 01 the conccpt of probability in cl~1C
quantum phy~I". nlu, III d~..,~ical phy~ics probability I!> u5e!
predictIve \(101 'whcnever the mechanical dewi b involved in a~
arc unJ..nowl\ .lIlhe level of local mech:lni'lm. In qU;ln!um pIi
on the OIhcr hand. lhe concept i ~ u<ocd to handle uncertaint
mcchani'll1~ Ihat arc non-loell!. Here the mechanism., concem
Iho'>C 'instal1lan cou~ connection, to the Ulll vcr~c a~ a whole' ....,1

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the Ic~cf ot c\cryd:l) cxpencm;e have no direct impaci on a gwen case.
In deti~iorHheorClic tern" Ihc\c would be called the ',tate' v:!riab\c~.
81,11 a-.. v.c move In either dm.."'ClI(lIl away from the 1l1acrn~copic
Icrreslrml world of our cwryd:l)' \cn.,uaJ perception, 'Ihe innucncc of
non~local conditIOn, becomes ~lron!!C r: the laws of phy\ic,> c:m be
tormulalcd only HI \cnm of probahilitic" lind il become", more ami
more drflicult to '>Cparatc any pari of the univcr-.e [rom Ihe whole:
Indeed more than that: . Whcrca~ 111 cla,~ical mechaniC .. the prollCnlC\
and beh3viour of the pan .. dClcnninc 111O\C of the whole. Ule \IIU<lIIOll
\\ rc\ier.ed In quantum mechanic.. : it .'> Ihe .... hole Ih::'1 dcteml ll1c!> the
bch3\'iour of il\ p;lm. o What DecOtl\[fUC!lOn i~ trying 10 do. it '\Cern..
to me ...... ith (ill the CI1()nnou .. difficulti!.! .. of thought thm are in vol ved,
i\ 10 corne to gnl)' ",uh the rhilo~()phical and metaphy,icalllnpl!{'a-
lions orlhat ~hlfllllthe realm' of our own cultural activilY.
The ncces~l1y lor a General Sy~tcm Theory aro<;e over the same
prnod. in the ,,"()rd~ of one of I" planee ..... blolog,,1 Ludwig. von
Bcnalanffy. 'as .llhCfullOOI providmg mOOeh Ihat can be lI'>Cd in. and
tr.msrerrcd to. dllferent lield,' in a proce\\ ,uch as Ihl:-. Where Ihere
i~ Ddang.er of merely ag.gregating numerou ... 'vague analog.!es bc-
t.",cen the panicular bch:lvlouml JXllterns ob'>Cned in differenl field ..
(3 tendency 10 which architecture, having .. we:l" theorel1cal basis
Ihelf, 1:- very prone), 'y"lem .. Ihlll"l11g -.cd~ I() provide a ngorous
mcta-theory for the U1H.!cN:.mding or what hllheno ;tppcared 'unor-
gani\ed' complcXllie\,' In II, Tuth!c\!<o pUNlit of the 'real reahlic~'
ocneath conventional accoum, 01 Ihe l'onIlC("IlVltIC!> bct",ccn 'events'
inlhc \illlallon" il" <lddrc"e,: in jJl. idcntillcallon of Ihe boundary ar-
e.h. Ihe peripheries, a\ thc tcm[(lry of real and defining revelatIon,,: in
Ih I'lrc;lJ"ing open of convenllonal \urface\ to redcf1l1c the tem\~ and
paramelcr~, 10 relol,:;t\e the a)(e~ of:1 ... ilu<lIIOI1 111 relalion to Ihe human
cu llura l imentlon ... explicitly or covertly pre~l'nt. Decon~lruction is an
e.,\Cntially .,imil;lr tacllC 10 "y,tcfll\ anal)"" and ha, "milar a~plnl
tion .. , Bolh equally in .....,t on that ~amc relativity in relatiOn 10 the
prc--cm:c or Olhcrwl~e of a j;lven human intelligence which i\ e~~ntial
to modern phy"c,. In Ihl' concepl ion. in Capra'~ ",ord .. ,
The eleclron doc ~ nOI hun' obJeclive propenic~ independent of
my n1md. (n llIomic phy~ic, Ihe ,harp Cartesian divi~ion be-
tv.-cen mind and malleT, bc!1v.-ecn the ub~erver and the ob'>ClVed,
can no longer he maintained. We can never .. peak aOOm nature
wllhout. 111 Ihe ~<1mc tillie, \pca"lng aboul our<>elvc .... '~
The CUII\trucllvi~1 archTlcch were already of cour~ exposed to the
beginning or thi ... cognit ive and intellectual revolution. Alrelldy in
19.10, 1m example, Jall1 e~ Jean .. wa~ able to ma"e hi~ celebrated

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,[atcmcn[ Ihal 'Today therc i~:.l wide rnca~urc of agreemcnt. , , Ihm Ihe
,[ream 01 knowkdge I' he,lding toward!! a non-mcchan ieal rcal ity; Ihc
unlver\C bcgll1~ to look more like ;l g..rCllt thought than a great
machme.'~Th i ), was Ihe 'ame year in which Ihe Con ~ t rucli, i 'l\ gave
architectural foml 10 the perception 1I1rendy voiced in the prc\'iou~ year
by their !>ocioiogisl colleague MIkhail Okllltovich when he wrole in
their jounltll on 'the pmhlelll of Ihe Cit)' 111 Ihe age of 'elect rical
transml),),lon at a dl\1ancc', and explored the 1Il1phcal1on\ for urhan
form of 'the revolution in trJ.n\pon:uion ' brought about by 'unlvcr.al
aUlOmob, ll\ation' .
. Distance i.. now mCil~ured by lime' wrole Okhitovit:h. Jnd 'thc age
of mdu\lrwl revolutions i' not yet ended.' Therefore
ill' necc~..ary 10 rea;"c~' Ihe nature of Ihc I>o,'ihie in accordance
wllh the condItion, of the epoch. Und ... r pre,,",nl condi[run,. wllh
utilitic), O\crhcads proporllonill to the Ironlage of Ihe pial etc.
bUIlding ... hJve had It) be bUIll upward, and b;ld.. ward,. ,md mu,t
be con\tructed of ~trong and dumble material, on ~ohd founda-
li on, ...
Doc, II emerg,e however. Ihatlilc den,e Clly l' Ihe II1cvilable
resul t of the lechlllcal and econom iC PCI"lblli[iC)', that all olher
,0IuII0li' ;Ire impo~"ble')
....
f'i( III \11 "AliI
01- I .A Vll..UTIl'. MlSK' AL '01 A
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Ccrlilinly nOI :
The rapid growth 111 the nle:1I1\ 0 1 comrllUI1lCallOn and mechani-
cal Irampon " evcry d:l) dlllHni,llIng the cx lel1l 10 which a
man', lile i .. rooled and centred ill a fixed d~cllillg . SimultlllK'-
oll ... ly, Ihe ullll 0/ hJbllalion il-.clf l'i becoming ever more and
more shaped by Ihe nalure and lomls of communal productIOn
alld tran~porl . Tfllllspon may evell call for the total collapse of
Ihe dwelling :1\ we Io..now it. Although we may nOi notice 11
happening, lhl' will take placc , irnuhancou)'ly wilh the collapse
of the ci ty. lor e:>; l... t1l1 building form' .. _ only ha~e any
lIlevit:lbllity ill~ide the ci ty whll~1 1\ COllllllUl!' to eXI')l In I!~
pre-.elll form .
ThaI would no! be for long. ~im;e
Thc exceptional growth III the , trength. quality, quanllly and
' peed of the mC;IIl, of mechanical transponation now permlb
o;cparatioll from centre),: .. pace i~ now measured by lime. And
thallirnc i, I!,cll con~ talllly tx:ing 'hortencd.
'The CllY'. wrol ... Olo..h Ilovich .. i, no! ,orne J.,1I1d of .. urn of people I
111 "on(' .. place. The Cll)' i":1 ,ocially, nOI lernlorially. I
human e llllly ... It i.. an economi(' and c ullUral comp1e'(.' MoreOh'1
The 4ue'liol1 I() be elucidated now is, I1I1I't the different fune-
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lion~ of the 'city' c .~i,t in one rhy~ical body: wililhey become
e~lrJnged by ~epJn!1ion. a, the part., of a biological orgtlni\m
would be? In (lther word~. is the ever increa'>ing crowding of
people. buiJding~ etc on aile spot lIlevitilble or not"! Lei U!>
examine by whal mean, arc people fa!>lenetilo one place: from
whm doc,> Ihi\ :ll1racIlO!l to une another derive. this mighty
centripetal force'?
Wh3t happen .. when 'In place of territorial contiguity come~ the
question of tTan~portation and communication., I>o!>sibi litie~ "? The~
factors 'revcr~e all the u~ual aTgurnent~ aOOUi Ihe inevil.lbility of
congestion and the crowding together of buildl11g.s: The 'orglll1ism'
becomes a M!t of 'Iinked function'> making up a ~ing!c organisational
complex. . Hut' a~ he continues .. the I.:ity wa, al~o a complex. If you
like an ar!:'!llrncm (lvcrtenninology. let Ihe new complex also be called
a city.' Prefigurlllg Mar~hal McLuhan s conception of Ihe 'Global
Village' he say,: . Let U\, call it. ~h.dl we ~ay. The Red CilY of the Planet
ofComTl1uni~rn . And with ~il11ilar appo\,itcness to Ihe prc,>ent context
he continues:
If one lUlk~ about Ihe es~ence. then this new complex will be
called not 3 I>oinl. not a place nor a cit)'. but a proces~, and this
proce\~ will be called Disurbanbatlon. Disurhanisati on j<; Ihe
proce~sof cenlrifugal force und repulsion. II is based on just ,>uch
a centrifugal tendency in tcchnology. ' . whidl rever~s all Ihe
ronner aNJl1lptioll~ . Proximit)' j" hencdorth <I function of
distance, and community II function of ~epar:tleness.
' Milchine technology'. a~ Okhiwvich ulrelldy forcsec~ it. can Tcudily
org.mise disper~ed M!rvice~ for food. laundrie,. shop.... libraries, and
can replace 'family concern'> ' and 'the needs of meetlTlg which tic us
together in shared accommodations.' In thil! future.
The whole worid i~ til OliT ~ervke, and first and foremost. tr:lns-
ponatioll and comlllunic.Hions ... We ask ourselves. how shall
we re<;eule all the urban popul:ltions and economic activities?
An~wer: nOt according to Ihe pnncipJe of crowding, butllccord-
ing to the prlllciple of I11lnimul11 freedom. e3SC and speed of
COI11I11 un ica t ion, 10)
Cena inly here Wil~ already iI perfect undeJ'st:lTlding of the essence of
the Second Machine Age as u sputiul system. Okhilovich's Con-
wuctivist architectural colleagues u\ed '>everal planning competi
lion, of Ihat year to explore the po~sible ph)'~ic<ll nature of ,;ueh:tn a-
l1o(kll. di~urb:tniscd ,ettlement form .' I The fC!>ult wa~ a 'ribbon' of
p.lrallc1 'funcllonal zones which combined peTl11Ut:llionally different
p<lvilions of standard clements. i\J1d rhythmically' spaced servicing

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17
DFCOf\STRLCTION

eV('nt~. in:1 manner irlllHcdiat('ly r...->Jolcnl offorlll\ w(' find in T..chumi' \ {'rete c'(ploralion ... of ' re:ll materiah. III real ~P'ICC. The ',upreme
\\orl... Elen the P,my aulhorille .. \1 ho ~:IW the propo~:II:1<; sub\erslve ab~traclion' of Ka/imir Malev ich' s Suprem,l1 ism. on the olher hand.
of the "atc' s eflorlto build allew ,ocial conM:iou~ncs .. rccogni<;ed that i... concerned wilh a four-dimen~ion:11 ~p.lce in which the ... pintual
'C(lmradl' Ol..hiwvich may wcll be right about the future.' ' dlmen~ion 01 perccption, meaning and lime )'; inlegral. [I I~ :, ~pace
AI"o IIIteresting III relation to the ~patl:LI dwracteri~tics 11ltoduy's wilhoul re<ll dimen,ional mea!>ure, and programmalically elinunale~
Decon"truclive architectural work arc Ol..hllovich\ commenh III a 'real malerial ' in favQurof pure fornl. Here Ihe fourth dimen'lon of an
paper of early 1930, on how 'the revolutionary di\pcr~al will free experiel1lialtimc se rvl' ~ a' the demaleriali ... cr, a~ Ihe dimcn~ion which
building con<.truction for a techn ical revolution for which il is alre:ldy explodes Ihe material mlO the '>pi rilual.
bcgmning to prepare.' In the IIl"toric city of the age or 'I uel', he said, TIle Suprelllati,1 'field' IS Ihu~ a ~P"cc of collr...ion\ ;lIld 'events'
'the e~tenlal foml'" of building~ wcrc generated not by intcmal rather than of obJech \\ ilh preci\C rncawre. Any Suprernaiisl worl.. i~
rcquiremenb. not even by m:lIcri:lb, but by extern,11 ~patia' requlre- manrfc,lly ,c:rlde~~ and lllcasurekS\. 1\, vcry othcme~ .... III relation!O
ment~ and Ihe geomctricallxl~sibllilies of maximum den~iIY ,' Hence the lactile ,0lidilY and 1llL"\.-hanically interconnected 'ObJCCh' of
the rcclangular. box -lil..e fonn... durable huildrng nHu('riah.. and anl- Modenri~1T1. provide~ ;r p;lradlgrn of:r '(pace-lime univer~ which i'l
,an technologies needed to Iii every new ~Iru('turc into the confined 10gicOl II y appropriale 10 the new perceptiolh of how Ihe cognitive and
'p;.ice a\:Lllablc for il. When 'fuel', ie maleriallump" of po\ler, has phcnomenal world of Ihe line 20th {'cmury 1\ operaling,
been replaced by energy. ie denratcri<lli~cd, lran~!tli~~iblc power. The wor).. of Ihc~e three '<;ymhe~i!>Crs. El Lis<.,il7.l..y, lal..ov Cher-
II~ IgeOl!ral1hlt:;III} I unher\al avai1:lbililY will dc ... lroy urban nl lo..hol and Ivan Leonldov. rccogni..cd Ihe pO~I'ive diffcrence~ be-
land \ :Ihh: .... The technic<ll rcvolulion will com\! to Ihc a~~I~UI1lCC rween the two movcrncnb and phrlo\ophies " ... a po!>ilive \('1 of
of the \tll:i,rl rcvolwlOll, and Ihe rc ... ull will be the end of heavy. IXll:mtie, again\ t which to cslabli ... h Ihe appropriate po~ltlOn in any
"Ialic Inng -lived form'> of hUlldlng. The new raltcm~ of local IOn given anl'lic ordc .. ign i>llumion. A~ I ,ce il.the problem addre~,cd by
will reka~c (;On~truclioll 'p:Hiall~, mal..ing po~ .. ibk both Ihe Iho'>C archllecl\ whom we looM!ly clas, a\ 'decon\lrucliomt' I~ the
II..'(;hn i(:al re\ol UI i()n in bu iIdi ng con't rUCIIOn ,und Ihat !lcx ibi IiI) cogn ilil'e and expcricnlHlI COnniel between 'bUilding' a~ a phy~!cal
whl{:h \Iur rapid ..ocial change~ demand, Only prefabri~'atccl. (,1IIiIY. ;!I1d 'tlllle' a~ a demoli ... her of entlly. 'memory' being p;ln 01 the
demountable, changeable bUllding~ will an,>wer the ncC{h of hroadc:rtegory 01 tl1ne. In Ihlsconlexlll i, hardly ... urpri~)1)g Ihat some
de\'elopcd ImH1.1.l formal resonances ... hould be observ:Lble octween their worl.. and Ihat
Earlier til Ihe twemie .. , before Ol..hilo\lich'~ pcr\u;l~i\'(' ob-.crva- ('If precuT\or~ in Ihe same ae'lhelic and ieonographu,' culture who
1I0n~ hud lead Ginzburg (me! olher rnain'treanr C()n~truCllvi~t~ 10 pur,ucli thc ..e IW\l \Cpawte propositinns of 'bui Iding' and 'Iimc' \\ ilh
examine ,I lui urI.' of "palla] dl..contlguitle~, only one of Ihe group had UlHque nguur
~Iood out agam .. t their conviction Ihm ~pati<ll compaclnc~~ wa~. " ... Glven the complex. non-linear manner in whidl fonn i.. gcneraled
Bar... hch pUI il in In7. 'lllercilev;ly diclllied 10 lh by uxlay ... in de\ign, and the numerou .. way ... in .... hich fonnal parJIlc1, ma), an!!/!,
tethnologle~' , I would be Ihe I",t to asscrt the cxi~lencc of 'borr()wing~' where none
Thl~ l'XCCpllon wa .. I\lan Leunido ... [t i...... ignifkant that of the Con- ur~ explicitly ilcknowledgcd b) Ihe work', author, Ihemsdves. In
strutllvi" worl.. which has bt."'Cn gencrally well Io.nown (:md Ihe thc-.c c:t~e ... , a JUltlllpo.!tition of image ... read ,lgain ..1 the background I
Di~urbani ... 1 theory. a~ oppo~ed to Ihe projccl~. has nOl heen well have dr<lwn i~ a~ far as one may legitimately go, The illu~.tration ... here
J..nol'"n), Lconrdov ... w:.... thal whIch offered Ihe 1110... 1JX)h:nl and u-.cful :.re \Clecled on Ihat principle.
formal paradigm ... for Dccon ... trucl iOIH ... t arch ileclural W()flo.. In particu- Therc arc of cour~e case, where the innuencc h:r~ been a mailer of
1:lr, II ha, been:1 cemr:11 and acknowledged <;OUTCe for O\1A and \u{'h open homage and pilgrimage. Thu .. Rem Koolhaas. for example,
former pupil~ of Relll Koolhaas a~ Zaha Had Ill. travelled to the Soviel Umon 10 ~ee Ihe drawn ,md painted prOJecl5 of
At the ..amI! time when Leonrdov produced hi\ \cnllllal Lenin Ivan Leonidov , in the ne ... h :rod Ul quantity. when very lillie ofhi~ ....ork
hl\lilute III 19'27, Ih technological 'unrealily')I\ relallon 10 the po~ .. i- had prevlou ... ly been expo~ed to publIC view. Indeed I recall fir .. t ..eein!
bi! illes olthe SovIet buildi ng indu,try forced Ginzburg 10 defend hi'; ,"-Ime worl..' no .... publi~hed in our ne....... tudy of' Leonidovll' I'<hen
young culleague III face of growrng public <i1l,ICI.. . and a wave of Koolha!l\ r('lum('d to London talo.cn 11\ Lconldov', ,0n'Ji nal In
~tudcll1 proJecl .. aplllg hi, I!xcitrng form<.. (A familiar ... Iory. ) Moscow'. Lil..cwi,e Zaha Iladld, a~ K(){)lhaa~' pupIl, acknowledges D
Ginburg' .. defence of Leonldo\i~ prOJcct focu\Cd prcci ...ely upon II ... direct and powerful debl. In her ... ympo'ium pre<;cntlltinn here. 'he has
~patlal a~rx-"t:I\ . '[1 i... mn~t 01 all valuabk for u~' he declared 10 hi~ ,Il~() :Icl.nowlcdged the ...... minal role of ~tude!ll e,'(ercio;e~ on Mulevich\
collcagul'''' al their Conferem;e III 1927. Ihrcc-d imen .. ional artlllfC'J..roni( i .
'" a catcgorical brcal.. With that ... y ..tem ofvQllllne ... :lnd clemenl' A not her oeuvre undoubledly renected in lile worl.. or Koolhaa<. and
which i, incvil<lbly becoming general alllon~'t U\_ AI il\ be~t, OMA i~ Ihal of Li~'>ilZky. He 100 expliCi tly PO~lled the notion of
Ilhl~ common ~p:lliallangu<lge I i... the rc,u1t uf a unny of worl..mg Interchange Oclween ,call'S. and bel ween the m:llerial and ~pintuaJ
method; al it ... wnN. It i, being u-.ed :I~ a qyl i... tic cliche_ univCN" in hi~ nOlion of the IIHJIIII Thi!> . project affimllng the nel'l'
L.:unidov h'I'" mo,"cd 10\\ 'Ir(!.. a purely ~patial ~o luli on. which wa~ conceived a, ':J Imlf-way 'ltllion between p<llnting and archllrc-
i, wholly different from the tradil ionul apprll:l<:h. and mU'llcad ture'. llerc the language i, Suprernati~l: pure and prrmary geometrical
to <I reorgan i.... lion (lfthe i!ttua[ armngelllenl of the \I h!~ in ,Ituwn figure .. of the circle, rcrlangle, line and pillne, scalclclis in a Suprema.
Into whk-h ~uch a dc~ign "light be pUi . 1\ ti" ... pace bUI interrelallng in a manner Ihal CQuid be a modcllorreal
This work 01 Lconidov', i.. of particular interc~ t in connc(tlon \\ Ith "pati<ll relatlon .. hip~.
the di'iCu .... lon of ,ouree, with w!ilth I began. for Ihe ongl", of that Where Li~"ILky occupicd :J middle po"lIion in hi~ pcr\onal role
'purely 'pallai' vocabulary lay III Supremali~rn. Leunidov i... one of belween Con"'lruclivisl\ and Supremali\ls. worl..ing al dlfferenllimes
Ihree fi!!Urc.. the otlier IWO. oolh more dl~lam from Ihe Con"ullclivisl wilh Ixllh. a~ he did between EaSI and We'I,lhcrc i.. similar work by
archilectural group proper. herng EI Li ..... ill.l..y and lal..ov Chemikhov more direci 10110w e r~ of Malcvich. such a~ Nil..olai Suclin and It)'a
- \\ho pcr.. ul..'<.l a synthe.. i... of these two <le~thellc I:mgu:rge~ lind Chll<;hnik. which find~ frcquent cchoc~ in Ihe paintcrly rcprcsenlalion~
ph llosoph le~. of architecture which :Lre another fea tureo]' today' ~ Deconslructiom\l
The IIllere.. 1:rmllxlwer of Ihe allempl.!. at <;ynthe'ii, derive frolllthe ~ene. Perhap.;, the best cltamplc\ here are the painting~ of lot
fact that the COlllern, (llthe,l' IWO !llovernelH~ were actually entirely Zcngheli~. who ha ... worked clo<;ely with the architects of OMA.
oppo~ed. The nature 01 the difference i~ clear if we compare IwO In ~o!lle of Bernard Tschuml's work. too, we find a hlngullge akin
exact I) cOnTemporary work~ hy Ihelr founder~, frol11 the prc-rcvulu- 10 Ihal of Li .... iI7ky. Ag:Lin Ihe way of ordering fopace which wa,\
tioll<lr) period, VI<ldilmr Tmlm', co n~lnrc t ion' arc absolutcly con- explored in Ihe !>C,llc-Ie", ,,1'0/1/1 ha.. found u.!.Clul applicat Ion 10 real

18

work of broadly .,inHlar plulo"Oplllcal a... plT:.lIiom. Ehe .... here in
Tschumj ' ~ .... ork thecloscr parallel j" with the Lel1lngro.l.d teacher and
theorist Chemlkhov. who'>C mo~t iml>onant book on the form.11
language of Modcmi~m pmitcd the fonmlllo~lc or thc FiN Machine
Age in the very JU~ lapo ... ilion of architecture to the mechanical
principle in it~ tille. Till' COllstrllctill1! oj Anllifl'f"/lIl"lI/ {illd M{/('hilil'
f(lrlll".11 A hyper-con\tructive language. ah~ollitcly artK~uhllC in the
relJlion~hip~ between it ... parh, I~ u... ed by T~chull1i nOt to make
~Ultement.\ aboU! Illeeh:mistic relat ion~hip~ in three-dimensional spacc
but a\ the mo~t powerful 1:l.IIguage for making. negative. di ..<;()Ciative
or prohabll I\t ie \Iatement~. for dCtllml'>lr,lt ing non -,tructure ,md q uc~
tiooing conventional cOllncclivitie .... Al,o pamllchng the logic of
Chemikho\ ' .. approach i, Ihe \Of! of clear combin:norial and pcnl1u-
utiOl1al principle .... hich T\,('humi U'>l;'. for c"ample aI Pare de 101
Villette. to genel'.lte \Cl'I or ....."(jwncc... of fom,.,. and likewi-.e the \ cry
c1cardi,ttnction\ between 'poin!, line and pl;me ' which he u-.e, a~ the
~lrucluri ng pri ne ipic of di ffere 111 di nlcn~ ion ~ of t he Part <.ehcme.
Uere we have parallel .. with the [)1~LJrh;ll1i,t planning projecI~ done
b)'lhcC'onmut;livi~1 urcll itectural group proper. in MO~l'ow.;I'> explo-
rJlion\ofOkhitovich', theory Illat 'di,lanl'e i\ now rne,Nlred by time'
In the nbbon of '>CHlement. wilh il ... horiLonlal b,mding of f unC\1(lnal
lone,. there ;\ a par.tl1el \\ ilh the plunning. principle de\>'eloped \()
dearl} by T'-Chumi in his prOject forthe Tu" yo Nmional Theatre The
u.~r i, oflcred band .. of cel1.Jm type ... (If act ivity, .lIld the {Xllh taken
~twten them", not detenmni'IICally pre,cril)l..'d On a democratic and
pluraiisl prinCiple each u...-r combine' the option .. and order... them
aa:ording to hi .. ta~te .. and intcnliOlh. Li\..cw i\e in Ihe Con.,tructivi .. t,
'nel ....'ork ~y'tern of 'ervicing' e:lCh network of'l given (ueiltly-type
would be '\p,ltlully ,tnd organi\dti(}llally independent. and f(lr that
n:a\llfl free to find il\ I)Wn optimal form. the 1110\1 favourable "ILC~ of
ibelernent\. :lOdthcir mo\t appropri,ne 'paCIng among'l the COlhUIll-
ers" wllhout comtr.1I11I from Ihe need, of other type .. offacilily. Ollce
,my plven ~uellce (If lacililie~ 1\ 1{)C.lled 111 rl!al 'pace it acquire ... '*
char.ll:teri\tic rhythm. and that experientIal concept of II i.. another
common dlmelhlon .. hared by T'>l'hullli', .... orl-. in the Pare de la
Villette. Jnd the DI~urbani,,1 planning. \(."hcl11e ....I~ tlI.)th of Ihem
ffilbrace the dUllen\lon of lillie 10 their handlinllllf 'pace.
Many of thc'>C p3r.tllcl .. unque'tionably rc,ult from independent
re\pon~s tn t he inn\! r lug Ie of ~i TIll Iar Inlere,!'> and Inte III Ion '. pur,ued
quite separately 10 different dec;lde~. Common fonn, re .. ult from
~hJred origin\ wilhin the Mlllle bro:ld cuhur:11 tradition :Jlld the ':lIne
I Lyon B.m:,lanfr) .Gj'It'nll SI \//'II/ nlt'on Fi .... 1Jlu"h~hed 'cw Yorl. 1%1(
n.-ftrm.::e 1\ m;Klo: here 10 the London edll ion. 197 I. pit ~
2 Set lor e\amplc. C C(}("Ike. ' 1\ ikol,.i Kra\. Imko\ ' .. tjuanll flcd appro,l(h 10
an:hlrl'l.1ural d~~i!!n: an e"rI) e~;lmplc ., 1./1 I'Jro/J/I/I'1I/ & IJ1,/lUI/I.">: R. 1975. vol
~,pp .120: 'f'orm i, ~ funcrion. ~. lh~ develuprncl11 uf lh(' (,on,ln.u,:IIVi,1
archltt'(t\' dc'l!!n mC1IHXJ". Arr"iIlI"{II/I'(l1 I h',11 1\11. I\)I{\' no i/6. pp 14-4 IJ. oi
whkh ~ ~e!'>llIn Jppea!'> III Ih<' pre"enl volulllc:" 'The Developmcnl of Ihc
CUM1I"l1l;tlVl,1 An:hueet,' !)c,ign \1clhod. al,o: (' Couke. Fanw\1 WI.I
(/II.,llrllllil./lI III~/ll' (,llf"rni~ 1101" ,\ A,'pmw II III '\ rr 1111,'( fIIl,,1 Onigll.
Profile no 55, London I<)~
3 fm.tDfCapl'il. TIIr TurnllJg "(1111(. \le .... Y()rl. 19M:!: referenl'c j, madc hen:
tl.ll~ London alilion. 19ltl "hi~ and sub-;etlUCnl 4I1olalll)JI' fmm pp6-1-66
~ Carr. Tllrnill~ Pllill/. ppM. 71l
5 Thi~ and \ub-.l.'tjUCnI 4110taliOIl' from i/ml. pp 70-7 1
8ihldp16
7 Voo Ikn,llanff). Gem'wl S\,,{f,'n/ Th.tw.... p B
~ Citro, TJj/mll~ Pmlll. r 77
\I ilJid. P76, quot Ilig from Jamc' Je;lII~, Till' \11 "laimll U m I ','r.1 c, :'>lew Yorl.
& London, 1930
10 M m..hltovll;h. 'K prolJlf'III1' XI/rot/,/' (On lhe prohicl1l (If lhe ciIY).
SIII'mlll.'mlllia Ar41!ill"~1II1"<1 (SA J. 1929. no 4. I'll I ~O- I ~4
II The rno'l ,,"purtant <,~amrle~ were Ihe entne, of Ba .... hch and Ginlburg
CATHI::RI\lE COOKE
pcrccphon of a threc-<limcnloional 'pace Other p;1rallel~, on the other
hand. re .. ult from direct o~e of the earlier .... ork a~ lIl!opinlllOn and
Icarnlllg \ource. producing;1 conlillui ty of thought acro~" the fifty year
divide between a fiN perception of certain Imminent cultural ,hift...
andtlleir becoming. the reality of ma~~ cultural experience. The I;llter
ca,e rai,e .. the i~~uc of the legllHnacy of ~uch 'bo rrowing~ '. Here the
ailltude of the originalor .. would have been unequivocal.
It wa, an explicil and cemr"l principle of fomlal re~earch through-
oUlthc Ru,~ian avant-garde thaI il h:ld a role a, what the Clln~lructivi~t
architect\ c,lllcd . laboratory work'. or what thClr designer collcague
Ale\ander Rodchenko referred 10 a.. a '~pati31 inventory' .. " 11 ..... ;1' a
hody of rc-.earched m:uerial aVllllablc for future use in relevant de,ign
problem,. On one lch'l it repre,cllled 'tored experience for each
<.Ic\i ~ lIer hllll'>elf, "" hc nlme<.l on from tra IIllllg exerci ses in a teachi ng.
prog ramme like Chemikhov ' , to:t lifetime of real design t:"k,; or
pur,ucd the logic of Li"ltAy', 1"'OIllJ pnnciple as an interfJce
between non-functional and functiomll area, of the 'Iesthetic territory,
On anolher level. it fonneu a eolleclive rc~ource and cenainly one
(thuugh their time hori7on!> .... ere not Ihen ~o broad) for U\C by future
gencr:ttion\. Without doubtlhey 'Would h.. ve been gralified 10 sec how
clemen" of Iheir thinking have ~uh,e(IUcnt1y been u-;cd, for they ~w
it precl\i!ly :!\ a \C ttl ng up of .. }~!em ... of ,I ,CI of con~i~lent langutlges.
III be available when a problem of 'imi lar structure presenlL'd lI\ClflO
the dC' igner.
In one crUCial ..... :!y. perhap'. Ihe p"~'''f!e of cul tural change ha ... lcft
11\ mark Thl~ I' in Ihe atlllude to material\. T'\Chuml ha~ ,aid here th'l\
he doc'JI't care whether one of hi .. 'CflJ"tructlvl~I' obJCct~ i, built OUI
ot cOllcrete or nut of 'Ieel. To tho'>C for whom foml wa ... genefmed by
the n,l\ure of rhe material ,uch:1 ~1:neIl1Cnt would have been heretical.
Bliitha l ~tatcmcnl 01 T'chullll' \ 'peak~ pcrhJp' more dearly than any
other of IIII.' extent 10 which a new \ynthe~i' ha, been created in work
,uch a\ hi,. between the philo\ophical undert>inlllng~ of Con~tnlcllv
i,m on the one hand. and $oprematl'rn on the other. To me that i~
pcrhap' the be,t way of uudcNundUlg .... h:11 Deconstruction actually
lIlean' in archneeturc. In ,uch" model we can ....'C it as a re .... orl-ing of
the Newtonian concep" of .. pace INC inhen ted. to re neel Ihe ne....
rclaIlOI1,hlp' of 'pace and time thru,t upon u~ b) the Icchnologic~ of
late 20th-century commUniC:I\IO,I'. tmd \\o.th them.lhe new 3warcne,s
ofth(he locational faclOr, which we carr)' with LL~ as we move. ill the
form 01 memory.
torthe Green ('U) tOIll(lo!111l01l, [lllhh~hcd III .~/t. 1t) :lO. 1\0 12. PJl 17 ~7 and
of B.. r,h(h. Vladlllllrov . Olhl"l' i~ h <'I :,1 lor Ma!!J1Ilngo .... l.. publi~hed 11",1. pp
~K~1
12 1Chem ya.. Na : r",hu r (Ol1iU t he 1,IfId '1.lhl"O/mfIl /CI 1 ~ ,,/rlllll. 11)1{), VII.
]lJl ~5-1~
J1 M Ol.h!l(Jvll'h. 'ZIlIlIf'I~1 po f,'oril fII.I,\Iil'/lJW (NOles 011 Ihe theory of
\CnIClllcn1). SA. ll)~O. nll 1-2. pp 7-16
14 M B.Ir'h~h. 'fo..1.\1l'1/1I1'1I<1I/1 Iii 1111/'11111/1<1111 :"'II"III~/1 . \EJ(I~n"lve or
A IJ IIIleli'lVe devclopment '!). SA. 1927. nu .1. JlP IX)95
l.~ \1 GUlIhUlg. 'l/fIgl I pa.'fN.1 11\ I" (Aehlc\emenb and pm'pt...... I\). S-\.
1'J:!7. nt) 4-5. pp 112 I IM
16 I'WJ I.('mm/lil Tilt' ("mlll,Il'lI' 1\1/,.4.1 . II) An(b'ei GOI;lI. :lIId Andrei
l.ellniduv. edlled II) Calhcrine Cool.e. A(:ldcm)- Edillon,. London . l'nlM
17 lakov Ch<,mikoo, . K (J1JI"tr1l~/l"JJ/I IIr~hl/t'~ /Jll"llIth i l/I,nillln'lI iilmJ.
l..cnlllttrad 19~1 The full le'l of lhi' hook ap(Io!:lr-. III English 111 Cool.e.
(11/1/(1.\\' 11/,,/ Con,lnl. liml, pp 4 t MK
IM M G In/burg. . S()n/{/li~lIdl<'s'{//{/ rt'~II/I.\ Ifllk./\'/W .HI I'h{ hI'Jtll,iu l/rduAIJ
I:llm<./III' (The ~OCillh~l rCel1n~lJlICII\lII (If e~i~ling citic:.). RI'I'flhJlII/W I
~"'lIIru. 193U. nil I. pp 50-51
19 Sec Cnoke. '1111.' Development of rhe Con\lrucllvi~t Arthilecl~' Dr~lgn
\1~lhud' 10 the pfe"Cll1 \'olume
19
DEC'O"lSTH L ("flOI\

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 CATHERINE COOKE
The Development of the Constructi vist Architects' Des ign Method

n[paAR

KDH.EPEH4MR 06l1-'ECTBA COBPEMEHHblX

APXMTEKTOPOB. ER5TE KO.FERENZ DER OSA

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7

Conslructirism in archit eclure has been subj ect to ma ny \aried inlcrprctalions. By admirers and denigrators aUke. it has
betn presenl ed as a j>hilosophy predominantly concerned with the fun ction of architecture as a social catalyst, with what
Smiet termin o l o~v c .. Il Ii literally 'social construction ', II has been present ed as:tn obsession with the spaceforming role
ofstructunt l tec hnologies. with ' building construction' and with ' constructing possib le shape., ," that is as an overwhelm-
ing coneem for lamull (;O!l\lrUCli()n: at woP,t. "" ronllali~!1l. No but al~o a crucial difference from mOSI o1'whal ha)o passed ror'iy~tem ..
wonder the literature . anu :tum Irl'r~ of the re~ultlng architecture. arc think1Tlg aboul environmcntal problcm .. thereafter. The Con~tnJc l iv -
confu\Cd. How C'1n II ~f1lall co rpu~ 01 w(lrk have aCljuired dogmatic 1,1\ were not nihi li,t in Ihe face of architecture's trlldi tional concerns
labc l ~ or,uch dlver~ity '! With Ihc delineation and organi~ati()n of real space. or wilh the
Thc an~wer i, ~lmJlle. Like any ~erious profes~ional architect. the nece~'lly 1'01' c'prel,l,lOll in (IT('hitecturc through we1t -un der~lood
ConstrUl:tivi,t group were ()b~e"lvely concemcd with all the~e di~ language .. of form. Compared to the ac)othclic concem~ (lfthe 193Qs,
mcn~ions of the IIrehiteetural problem. They v.-ere practitioner, par or or recent ycar~. their', W1I)o distinctly a poelry of the concrete rather
IXrellel1n'. cTippled though Ihey v. ere by poverty of rc,ourcelo. lead- than Ihe rhetorical. but men of Ginzburg's ~ophis t ication were tOO
ing member') of the }!roup were unque~tiol1ahly among .. ! the fine't deeply rooted in what Ru"ian" call 'architeclural culture' lodeny !hat
prlIcli~ing archllec t ~ of UK'lr period anywherc . NOl fo r nothing did their objective rnu~t be poetry,
e~ery one of them remain. through changi ng tllllC". al the cenl re of A recent Soviet theori .. t M R Savchenlo hal, desl'Tibcd 'urehitet'-
Soviet architectural practice ~lI1d education right through till his death tural re...earch a .. havi ng properly ':1 duel orientation. l oward~ both
or old age. Unlil e mo~t othe r ~ hov.-cver. they were not prepared to 'pal ial and societal a!. pcc t ~ of architecture'. th31 'dual oricntation-
le3\c quc~lIons 01 the interre lallonshi ps betv.-een the-.c differe nt being 'repeated In :l. di~ l incl l on betwecn a bU lldlllg 's IJllramners and
dimcn!oions of the ,lrt'hlllXtural problem to chance. or to . intui lion'. its l,mpC'r/it'.I'. 1
In Ule Wordlo of Lcnm quoted in their journal. they bel icved that 'In SYl>temallc Soviet :l.naly .. il, of thesc two diT1le n~iom, of Ihe design
orderrcaJly 10 J..now:in object. It I.) nece..... ary to t'ornprehend. lo 'tudy, problcm. and their infin ite interrelationl>hip", ",retches back directly to
all aspccl ~ of ;1: all 11\ mtcm:lllIl1d ex tema I connectivitie)o. I Their' .. v.- a~ Con ~ truCliv l st thinking in the 1920s. 'Po/"{/mf'ler.~' saYlo Savchcnko
.... hat today ....ould be called 1I "Y"item,,' approat'h. or in the older and -fire direct rnea~ureme nt ~ of:l building and its spaces, ofthecon~umcrs
more gencral Ru~,iaJ1lenn, a ~(Jmph'~s/l\"/ approach. It addrcs.;ed the involved :md of Ihe activ ll ie ... II accommodate\;. Pmperlie$ arc mea,-
desi~n problem a, :in integmlcd t'omplex: it v.-ll.S conccmed with urClllcnb of con'Ulllcr~ ' reactIon, 10 that same building ... They arc
!>01I'ing thc problem a, :I whole. ' Form is a function. x.' said their therefore 1Ilea .. ure1llenh through an "inlcnncdiary". meas u rernent~ of
leader M oi~i Ginl.burg .. which ha, 1I lway .. to be cvaluated afrc"h by deci~ i on~ m(lde. of t.yrnbolic l>itul1lion<, overlaid. as the user "cnter;
Ihe archaeCl in rc\ I}(Jl1~C to Ihe changmg p recondition~ of the foml - into" Ihe actua l build ing ... Propenie'i. liJ.. e parameters reneet the
mn k ing:~ In modern j .. rgon, which i~ nol "0 far from their own al objec t n~ 11 whole. bUl thl'y do ~o th rough the pr i ~ m of social att iwdcs
times, Ihey :t~pircd 10 mode l lite en tire d eci~i() n ~pace .,u IToundi ng th11t \0 the architecture in Ihe contex t or ~ome corpus of archi tectur:tl
fonn. v.l1 ues. '., In l! textbook for \ tudents. :lIlother recent Soviet comlllenta-
There is 3. dirct't generic relation,hi p to much modem thinking here, lOr has accurate ly dc\cribcd Moisei Ginzburg as the principal Soviet
DEC'ONSTRlICnOI\
pIOneer uf ~}"'tel11alic :I11cmph 10 dcvelop a Iheoretic;11 txl\[" for
dC .. lg11 H' a field of hUJJl;11l lH.:livily.1 Whether winingly or not, ~he
~pcak \ correctly of Soviet plOneer\, not Ru,>,.ian: although hefore the
Re\olulion, a>; I havc de\Cribcd c1-.cwhere,~ there had alrcady ~cn
\igtlilic:ull lhinking in Ihl\ field, l1 0wever thc~c were the area!> the
dl<lraCICri\tic .. of the object and the m:l1lncr of 11\ inter!lction With
po:'ople ill which the C(ln~lrUCllvi~lS bellcved Ihere must be principle.
1 hey \:1 w II :IS their pro[e"ion:tl obi ig:lI ion 10 thei r Marx i\l-m:lteria list
\OI.:ict) 10 dcvelop organl\Cd txxli~\ or le .. l:lb1c kno\\lcdge in lhc<;c
lie!lh - wh:ll Ru .. ,ian call, IIml~i: lilerally ',cience~' - OUI of which
"Olulioll' could in Ihe bmade'l \Ctl\C be 'con<,tructcd'.
Somc I\)oUC)o 0 1 vocabulary have to be elaborated herc, III a.. rJr a)o
Ellgli~h .. llow~ il. Whether we ,>!:leak of 'dc,igning', 'crem ll1g', 'bu 11d-
mg' or 'con'lruclion', the Rus~ian language h:" numerou\ word,
:lvailablc, and each h:t<, a dio;tinct meaning which on ly context Clm
,H1ach to lhelr \ynonym~ in EJ1gli~h.
/I",c rctum 10 the foml\ of 'C01l\lrUCl ion ' I memionL'<i earlier, Voe
;llreaJy encounler Ihl! di~linclion which i~ crucial 10 undcr'landmg the
allm of C()n~lruc!lvi\m. In '~ocial con'ITUclion' :lnd 'nuilding con-
..'rut.:! 1011 ' Ihe Ru "Ian noun" .ffrolll.'i' lll'(J. S//'oi/er 1/1 '(} tilke~ phlcc in
n.';ll \p<1CC Jntllime : the .I'll'f)ilt'/i~ lhe builder on a real ~itc wilh muddy
I
I IKYPHAAOB I
I
boo!\. 'Social con .. truClion in thi~ 'iCn~e m:ly be a strange COtlCepltO
u\, but Ihl __ undeNHl1din!! of the phra~e illuminate., the way Sov ie t
IhUlking envisagc~ po\\Lbtltlle... in thb arc:!. In Ihe phrase 'fonmll
con<,truclion', by C(JIlIr:L~1. we arc u)oing the word kOIl,I'II'IIl.WIII, ll ~
meaning i\ indicated by the faCtlhal :I major Ru, .. ian dictionary lIke
Sl11lrnil .. ky willlllclicale Ihat Ihl \ word often h:l!> linguistic connota-
tion ... A grammatical eonslrUcliOIl is a l.(J/I,I/ml.lsliu, It .. Imuld nO! be
forgollcn heTP thaI the Con\tructiviM movement had -.ome root~
among .. t Iho~ prccur,of\ of hngui~lic Struclur.Jho;m, the Ru~ ~i:m
F(lnn:tII~", and :11 .. 0 :Im(jng~t Ihe Iilerary cirde .. around O~ip Brik,
Vladimir MaY:lknv\ky ;lnd Ihe journal LEE 7 Thu~ 111 the final analysis
llmirrl' 1"/1'0 i ~ a material proce'" Vo here l.IIIHI ml./ ,Ii ia i ~ an 1l11cl1cCI u;ll
one_
When Ihe early Con<,lruclivisl anio;l' like Ale'l(ci Gan and Ale'l:lndr
Rodchenko fornlulatcd the profile of Ih;11 'arlisl-con .. lruclur' wh()m
they a~pired to produce through their curricula wlhc VKhUTEMAS,
he.: wa~ not ,. l.hlff/o:/IIIIl.-\/mitef - an afl i'il-hlflhlc'r, !.omc Icg:llee o r
lite AfI\-and-Craft~ Imdillon, He Wtl~:L VWdO;!tllil.-k!III,I/ndIOl' an
ar\i;;I-(/('slgnn. And here arc further innucndos. The /.;.oIlS/I'IIl.lo/' io; a
"pcei:lli\1. highly qualilicd deSigner in indu:>try: III engmcering, for
cX:tll1ple, or loday in clectronu::~. Only in the In .. t couple ofycar~, wilh
21
Ihe t'orm;llion of a Soviet Union or Dc,!gner~, has the RU""I:lrt
di:WIII'1 acqu ired the ....une neutr;tlity 01 mcanlllg it has i
1111h('00, the engineer in particular Voould ha\oc con\idercd
descripllOn di: (lIII('f 10 Imply, in~ultingly, Ihat hc W;t~ a mere
Already 191h--c('nlury Rationali'h in Ru .... ia u~d the
,\Inll./il"/ll'l a\ high pml-.c , fora I built-
Sminuhky rcrre~enl~ the acllve verb '~;~:~:":~'~::':,
wilh the alternative tr.Jnslmiom 'to con"ruct: 10
orgam-.c', lind Corbtruclivi\h were KOI/Slml.III'ISIY
ccrncd with how an Hrch itecI organi\c .. or .. Iructurc, his
he orgmu'oC' the aClual Vo ork of de!>igrung_ and how he "c<,"".';",,;.
-..cl of appropn;Jte fom, .. ,
They were :11'0 very 1I11ere'>ted in s/roi/t'/'J'/I'I! in aliI
A~ loyal SoviCh, ",oc ial conSlrUCllon, and panrcul:lrly ' Ihe
..ociali .. m' weft: Ihe unquestioned ral ,WIII d' hl'l' of their work,
con"lrUcl10n i, Ihe phy,ical means whereby architeclure exi~\s at all
the maleriali''- in paOlcul:u-, mU~1 have the comlrainh and po., .. ibi '
lie~ 01 all ils media Ht hi~ finger lip ... , 111 problem' of
howcver, the choice .. Hre roolcd m philm.ophic or :lc\lhellc
rmher than phYMCS. Ae~lhellc pnnciple define!> choice ...
pm ~ibre .. ystellh of formHI C()I\~tructi()n, The overall approach 10
I
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npOCnEK T "I
HAY'IHbIX
1:I,k ofde .. igning: the orde.:f1l1g of datil :lIld priorill~ing of
Ihe mclhod~ of synlhc~i" and the criteri:l of evaluation: '"''''''
pllllo<,ophic problems of l.om:frukrsiia
MOI)oCi Girwburg, Il!ader of the! Con~lruc tivi ~1 archilecls, i I
'Therc c;m be no quc,tion of any son of ani\1 losing crealivilY
becau'iC he know~ clearly what he w:ml\, what he I~ aiming for,
whal con~islo; lhe meaning of hi, work , BUI .. ubconsciou~,
creativi lYmust be replaced by a de:u
which l~ cconomical 01 Ihe archlle,I' ~ energy
Mlrplu~ of il into Inventivene~\ and thc forcc of Ihe 'n,",
In !he word .. of anolher, younger. rounder-member of the
Nikolai KrdS~il'nikov : ' Imuiliol1 is nOI elimin:lled t
come~ 10 occupy il~ proper placc, '"Con~ truclivi'rn was i ' t
by ito; refusal to leave the')e melllmJulogiwl problems 10 Ihe
'intuitIon',
In thc light of thi~, whal follow s i<; pcrhap.. Ie" unexpeclcd.
T he pu rs uit of ~l Illon i!tlic method
Con::.lructivi.,,,, helievcd thallhe Sovicl architcct's
mo\t exhlhillhc .. :lllIe hol"l11 3\ the material and cognitive
which he was 'eOlNrucling', Preci)oCly in o rder 10 'guaranlec't

monistic integrJ.tion of the m:l!erial <lnd the cognitive 3"peCts of the
lliorld wa~ preserved in dc,ign .... or"- they formali-.cd their' method of
functional creativity' , or in Imer ,honh:md, their 'functiona l method', III
Thi ~ was a SCI of proccdure~ whereby Ihe tot<llity of factor~ they ,aw
I01plIIging upon a de~ign would be t<lken into account objectively,
'moving from the fil'\l priority to the ..econd', in generating;1 'b.L~ic
-.p.iItlaJ organi~m' and In il\ technical and fonnal n:finemenl , Bod i..:... of
b;J(kground knowledge .... cre the ),ubJect of 'i abomHlry work', A,
Gil1lburgexpl3inl.'d in 11)27: 'Methodologica lly, Ll1 order to subject
the .... 11011.' productivc proce~' of the archito.:ct to eva luation, Con-
~tructivism has n.'Cour,e W many ot her sc ienti fie di~cipline~, and u,c ...
thl! labonnory melh()(j, M ~cpar'lI!ng out one reaction, that i~ of laJ...ing
OIle inlegral proce~f in today'., jargon, one ~uh,y .. tel1l 'illlo
k'mpor'o1ry iSQtalion from the other" m order to gel the mo't f"vt)ur.lble
conditiOlls for analysmg it.' 11 Comldemble ..... ork W'I' done by Ihe-.c
Coo~t""tlvist architcch in generallng nev. 'cla"e., of '>palial orgilll-
1\01' ,or building type .. and in exact anaJysi~ of what Savchenko would
call their 'paramcter,' (a~ well as ~ome ofthl!lr 'properties', though
thl\ ficld gcnel".llly belonged \(l the Rationah,ts under Ladov~J...y,
Knll~ky and othe~), Given the ... ery ~hort I~r iod - hardly four year'
O\'Cr . . . hich they .... erc worklllg. a, an organ i--cd group, their ccuvrc
TeHTOHI1 Ka
v.a, Imprc'~I\'e alo a demon~tration of the ~1and'l rd~ they believed 1It.'C
~SlIry, Some e,,,a!T1ple~ afC illu~tr:ued here,
How doc\ :ll lthi .. rela te to the familiar f{xm of COIl'tru!;"ivi,m: to
Tathn'sTower of 19 19-20: to the geometric:l 1 ',[ ructure,' of Rodch -
cnlo and the First WorJ...lIlg Group of Con .. tructi vi,t, :lround 1920: to
the Ideas of Aiel(ei Gan, revered:lS:I founder theorl'! of Con~ tfuct l \J
i"m but J...nown to us profe"ionally on ly a'lO a gmphu," and ex hiblt!on-
desigllCr'?
Ifv,.e examine what the~e art"" ..aid, in the tex" with which they
illumll1:1h:d their intention .. , we find <I development of idea~ thm !..
directly continued into the !hin J...lng of Ginzburg and lhe other Con-
~tructivi~t architects through the middle and later twentie~, There i,
:llso II di<;lInct contlllUity w!lhm architecture It-.clf. between 19th and
early 20Ih,cemury-theori,t ami Con "truc t ivi~ t :Irchitectural theory, l,
Thc\.!! TOOts arc undoubtedly real: among ... t leadtng member" of the
profe~~ioll Ihere IS :I continuity of personal biogrtlphie~ 'lero~s the
divide of the Revolulion a, there j, of building technologies and
much che - which conventional read mg, ofthi, pe riexl wholly ignore,
Bul given the politic:11 ohhg:lt lon, to 'forgel Ihe old waylo', these
contmuitcs v. ere not (X1rI of the logicill argument which the ' new men'
....ere trying to construe\. I .. hall therefore examine the thinking of the
C'ATIIERINE COOKE
'new', Soviet. generation in it, own lenn"
The central fl)o.!U' of Con,truC\!\Ji,1 iln:hiteClurol theory WI" iL'
machine-impircd, ew~ntially llllear' working method' for cJe,ign, The
fll ll (:~t cxpo~i t ion 01 th iS wa, publl,hcd at the peak of their activity. in
kLte 1927, :h a paper by Gln.lburg in their Journal CO/Ul'III/JOmn
An/ll(('Cflm' (SA) , Entitled 'Con'lruct lvi,m as a melhod of laboratory
,lIul leilehing work ' . Ihe article .... a, ''01 ..chemat lc plan of the cour<;c in
Ihe theory ol .uchltecture being given by Ihe aUlhor in the urchltcclumJ
dep~lrtl11ent .. of YKhUTEMAS and MVTU IMOM:oW HigherTechnL-
cal School)"I'
Thi s functional method W<l .. how Con'truc l ivi"~ t:lught de~ign, It
wa' how Ihey thel11~elve, operated In de~igl1Lng, and It w,," the
framework whereby different 'Iaboratllry in\'estigation~' by them,
-.clvc' :lIld othen. . in building -.eLence, in "ocial aspecb of their brief~,
in vi'>ua l p'ychology, in development ofform:ll ianguagc\ and the re ..t
were org:mi-.cd into the proce .... of dC'lgning new budding!> to
c:II:L ly<;c the proce" nt 'buildll1g Ihe ncw way of life',
That five-part ',chematic plan' ha~ becn furt her edited into Dia,
gmm 2, Diagram I trace' the development of the ideas in tlmt schema
through Ginzburg', earlier wrilingi>, Thc'iC ,tretch back over the IWO
preceding )'eaT\ of SA'!. publication, 1927 and 1926, beyond the
KOHCT PY HLJ,liHl
formallon 01 the COIl ..truc\iv'ist arch!!!.:ct ural group OSA millte 1925,
to G i11I:burg " ~cmi nal 'lI1:1n LfeslO' of a con"truct i\Je OITch iICCI urc, Ihe
!xx1k S,"'!' (llId Epoch of 1924, and curlier anic les,
Thi, con~ecuti 'Ie enrichment and incre'L!>in dctail of his thinJ...mg is
:t fe:Lturc of Gill/burg's won.. in this period: throug.h the writings one
grow~ in undcN;mding of the group', a'piralion, a~ thcy ure further
artlt'ulated, A, a Lllun of broad, largely European educalLon, of wide
reading and already ~Ignifiean t profe~'ional expenence,tht... <.,()urces of
his thmking ..ire complex, In re,pt:c\ of the Ihree main idca~ conccmmg
us here, namcly: the catalyti c role of architecture and the built
environment IlL effecting ~oci al challge: the need for an orgunbed
method of working whereby Ihe de,igncr can re~pond logically. and
Ihe proper rangc of fuctorlo to be embraced by Ihat 'method', there are
al<.,() direct ~o u rce\ wilhin the thinking of Constructivi't :Irti )t~ LLl the
three yean. following the RevolutIOn, when Gin7burg himsclf was far
lLway from the Mo,cowPetrograd avant-garde a'l;i'>, working and
writmg down in thc Crimca ,
T'll1in and G.m : Ihe essential progr;lmme
Much later. in 192ft Gin/burg wai> to di\mi" Tatlin's Tow..:r to his
colleagues as ' ideali, tic ~y mbol i Mn ': a!> m:lnifest ing only ' Ihe acute
 NSTRLiCTrOt>-

)f [\ lalenlcd Illan 10 commun ic:ue emol1onalty.''' In il .. mne. of 'orgam"alion' embraced by a ..ciencc 01 ko/lIll'lIkll;/(/, Con-
"er .that grand and original ~hcme had been lIcmina llO thciro .... n ,tr\lclivist~ wi!! effcci 'an organic linh. belween poillical \aluc,.
"g. indu"'nal lechnique, and the .. pecific po.... iblhllc, 01 manipulated
II} putative '~un:c~' and 'meanlng ~. have been aHnhuled to thi~ l11a\el'iah. J't'~/(J/ld<l !~ <1 ,ynthe" .. of the firl>ltwo:ffl~ 111/(/ i, the latter.
men! to lhe Third Inlcm:uiorml. A Iypically rich array can be . Ko//stnd 1.I'i/o I' fonnu 1:11 IIlg ael i\ It y tah.en 10 lhe ex trellle. '
in John Milne ..... monograph on Talhn.l ~ An hi~lOrian~ may find Alexei Gan v. a~ "Qon 10 develup Ihe,,! Ihemc, more fully in 1m boo~
IClion ill ~uch vague "peculation: for .Irchileel' il i<; 1I1Ore frullful COllrfmU;";sm of 192~, and wilh Ihem Ihe Firsl Worl..ing g.roup\
Imme the de'lgner .. own expl:tn:uory ,"lIemenl'>. Ru .... ian' of radical vic .... ~ on the P:I .. t and fUlure of' art .:l1 lie opened the bool.. wilh
eriod do not U"iC words 1)I)imlc'>\ly: even paper, a~ Lubetkin has punchy re\tatelllen'" of the Group', view th<1[ the lraditlonal concept
Idl('d u~. was an extraordinarily preciou .. commodity. In his niL'C of 'art' mu ..t die naJUrally with [he old culture. but here a .. throughout
c. Ihi' 'w~ a v.'ullderfulli1l1e for poetry'; I~ IC)(I~ were conci"e ,md he budd, a yel more c'l,pllcilly Marl(t"l-rn:llenalhl mllonale around
ly wrou!lhl. They dc\erve equally careful reading. their thoughls.
hen Tatlin looh. hi .. di~rnantled llIodel Tower frolll PClrograd [0 'The present puh1ic . l1ion he declared,'" 3n agil;ttional hool.. with
:ow in IA--cernbcr 192010 re-oCrect It for Ihe Eiglh Congrell.. of which the Con"'ruc[ ivi,,,, heglll the fighl agall1" ~upporlcr,> of Iradl'
!~. he :md hi .. three a"islanh publi .. hcd :1 brief ncw~paper tional art.' The cncm) arc Iho('c unablc \() gra!>Jllhe 'fact'. ",hieh thClr
men[ enllllcd 'The worh. thaI l<lce: u~', orten !r.lI1'\lated. more own Marxi!>t rationale rna"c\ logically inev ltable.thatlhere cannO! be
vel}. a~ 'The work ahead 01 u.. .' An Engli .. h tnm .. ltnion i" a pcncl'ful Cllolu[ IOnary [r:ln\iliol1 III Ru"ia', conccpt of an ifthcrc has
abh: 111 \Clleml ..ourcc,. n been a violelll Re\'olUlion in her polllic\.
~rc [he) explained Ihe role which Ta!lin'~ 'rchef.. and contre- Portiom ofthi\ book have I:lcen Inlmlmed inlo Engh'h. bUI cdiling
I,' had played ... mct 1914. a .. 'Inborawry ~calc' prcparation for II:I~ dl"lorted the empha\I .. ,!1 Much ur 11\ c""pilcil potiticahty ha~ been
'O\~-er proJCCI. and indicaled how ,uch e'l,plordtion, of malerilll .... drained by omitting long quotation, from Ihe Communi~[ Manifc~[o.
me and [hc way thc..c cornc IOgclher (komf,.,,~lsihl) could be the More "'gnifican[ here i~ omi:.:lon of Ihe climactic -.ection~ [hat direct
Ing pomt for new disclplinc;,. TIlese di\Ciplmc .. would be 'cornpa- Con'lrucllvi~t enef!!lc .. IOward, :lrchiletlurc and the whole urban
- in their \e\eriIY' 10 those of Cla~sici .. m, bUI where the Cla .... ical environmcnt . and of Ihe full definltioll' of Iheir Ihrec ne .... 'dhci-
uagc had been comlmined by the <;lrucltlr'. l1limitlltlon.. 01 marble. pllnc .. .
!.'= new language~ would be liberated by the polCl1Iial of 'modem' Arti"s who v. ark 'on tillS "deofOclober 1917' ,ny, Gan, '~hould
!rial<; lih.e iron and gla",'. 'In 1111'~ way' [hey declarcd. 'an not he renceling. deplctmg and interpreting realilY, They .. hould build
anunil)' erncrse~ of uniting purcly anisllc fonns with utilitarian practically and cxpre" the pbnned objectivC\ of the lIev. and :lclivcly
mion~, , . The resuh\ are model' whIch stimulate u~ 10 inllemion .. v. orklllg class. which i.. bUilding Ihe found:lllOll oflhe /'ulure ..otiel},
'ur \\orh. of creating a new world' and which 'call upon [u,jlo .. :1\ an org,ani'>Cd force III po~~C" .. iOl1 of 11 plan ,' Thl.! ma~ler of colour
(Cil>CCOnlrol over lhe fonn, encountered in our new everyday life.' and line,the combincrol 'palio-volumetrlc solids ... mu .. t all become
Iculing redorShckhlcl'\nux1eme-:'lylc laro.. lavl Station in Mo~ow Con~[ructivi" ,,, ,:: BUllh;n too me;ln~ organi":lIion, 'In order 10 pm-
n I[S applied aft' from Abramt;,evo.lhey p()~tulated this new path duce practitioner, and theorellcian" of ConMructivj,m v. ho are quali-
'~ynlhesisof painting ...culplurc and architecture'. Non-functional fied, in J Marxi" '>eIlSC' he warned. '11 i~ c"entiaJ to channel\ourl
'. tx: Jltwo- or three-dImensional. in modcm tcchnological m;lle- wor" 1!l10 a definlle "y<;tem: to crl!a[e di-.clplinc, through which allihe
.s. mU.'.1 now serve a~ Iabor.llory work' for the fOOllal a~pcc" of COlhlrucllvi ..,, experimental ",or" would be direclcd, '~I They all had
clional [asks. They ~3W ll\i~ as the proper parallclill 'an' to 'what teachlngjob,\. In Ihc nc\\ VKhUTEMAS particularly. and 'the produc-
!pencd from thc ..ocial point of view III 1917'. lion of qualified Con~lruclivi~I'" ~ of 'arthl-comtruclOr~' - became
)uring [hal '<lmc YC<lr of 1920 another group of arli'I". b;l!o.cd the objective of their curricula,
lllanent!y in Mo-.cow, had 'i:Hted lal"in!! In ",cf) .,imilar Icnm,11le Here III Gan'" 'ddinitc sy~ tem ' I'> our fiN hml of a 'me[hod', It~
laiC' of early 1921 in which they juxtapo!>Cd Ihc old arli"ic componcm~ would he tho<,(: new synthelic 'dlM:iplines' of 1i'~f(/lII~a,
lei pie of kO/llpo:irliia to thcir m,'w concern wllh kmwl"l//..wiCl werc [a/..lllra and km/.\lrllk/I//a. blu now. fmm Gan. we gel rullerdefinilions.
tltul()u~ly recorded al Ihe time III :.honhand. The Iyped record!> Wllh If'kwlliku a~ IheJr first di~cipline, Comltucti V1SI'> arc Irying
leh rc'\ultcd, the .1 /t'lIogmjil"he sk.\I' Oll'/wty, ha vc been publ bhcd in to chop ,Iway the i~nor.lI1cc ,lI1d lyr.lI1ny exerci-.cd by :lrchilecl~
enso in Selim Kh;IIl-Magomedov., retent monograph on Rodch- and builder, under capitali .. m, TI'/..f(lII;(u. or tectonic ~tyll! or,
<0, The samc ~Iudy doculllcnr~ Ihe formal cmergencc of a 'Fir~t gallical1y emerge\ and i~ fomled on the one hand OUI of the
)l" ing Group ofCon",rucllvis\S. in the .. pnng of 1921. within thelf charac[eriMi,~ of ComJllulli,m it~elf. and on [he othcr from the
.cussion ~ocie ly . Ihe In<;\IIule of Arlbllc Culture or InK huK. I~ The <1ppropnatc util isatlon of indu!.tnal material. The ..... ord tectofllc
Icn ani~t .. who came 109.elher a~ the Group 10 pursue the nnphca- h taken from geolo!!y .. where it signific~ violem re,uuclUnng ..
os ofthi~ newconcepl of /..IIII,I(I'lIkISiia were Ale"l:ander Rodchen h.o. coming OUi of the Eanh'~ core,
. wife Varvara Slcpanova. [he brother .. Georgii and Vladlluir Slen- TeJ../oniJ..u is a 'ynonym of organicne~~. of an crupI ion from
rg, Ka/imir Medunet.. ky. Karllogan<;cn ,md Alcl(ci G:Ul, the IIlIlCr e,,~ence,
In this worh.ing group's declat"dllon Ihe vocabulary i:. alrc:ldy more Tl'J../ofl//..a a, a di-.ciphne mll:1 lead Ihc Con"lruclivi'l in
plieitly poJilici<>elJ. 'Thc group'\ 'iOle premise' they declared. 'is practice towards a ~yl11hesis of the new COn!enl wilh nev. forms.
ienlific comll1uni~m, based on the theory or historical matenal- He mu" be a person educaled III a Marxisl way. who has
n,' ;~ lllesc phra!o.C'> were the common currency of Ihe pcrioc\; what clilllJllUICd from hi" life al1 ve .. tige, of "un" and has ~t;Jncd
al1er~ I~ their Interpre[ation of the underlying philo~ophical COIl- advancing h;" knowledge of i ndu~ lrial matcrial, 1 I'J..1OlIil.:a I ~ his
pt:.. lmponant for il:' cont inuilY with Tatlin's ..,aleinenl was thcir guiding "Iar, Ihe vel)' cerebrum of hi~ expcnmenWI nnd practical
firmn[ion of 'the neec,,",ily of ,ynthesi<;ing Ihc idcological and activity,
mlal pans loflhe irla ~k[ soa\ to directlhc I~boratory work onto the Con",ruc,ivi.-,m wilhoUl fdlOlli~(I ;.. likc pnlllllng wllhoul
lck~ of pmclical :tclivity'. Yelmore lI11ponant. they started 10 frame colour. ':1
Ime concept~ which cou ld help effect thi!. !.ynthesl" operallOnally. Of Ihe Ihrec conccpt;,. lhi~ i.. pcrhnp~ the mo~[ obscure: [he finaJ
ho'l(! 'clements of !lIe g,roup' s work' which would make an 'organic sentence, which ~eem~ to compound the ob..cunty. in fact offer. al.e),.
oh. here ..... ere three ~ymhetic con~epts which they termcd '1('/.,101111..(1. Every profcssioMI aCt of Ihe ComtructiviM I11U!>t be coloured. or
mSlm/..l,viia and[tI/..lllrtl'. The definitions a-e brief but already they infonned . by the undcr'[:tnding [hat a \' iolent rcslnJ(lUring of under-
~rnand Illastcry of enonnou~ and diver\C fields. Through principle.. lyIng relahon .. hlp~ has pro~oundly changed the way industry :houk!

4

~pe and distribute material in ~ pace.
rutlura lssimplcr. This word emphatically 'I11U~t not be under:.tood
from the painter's point of view' .. a~ jU<,t the h,l1ldl ing (If :I surface'. On
lhe cKamplc of cast iron, it implie~ 'the character of the whole
proces\ing', the mellmg, cast lllg and tUnling, ~ay. 'whereby it be-
comes an object'. As 'the appropriate U'>C of malerial' /</trl//"{I 'mean..,
the sclection nnd processing from the raw materml'. AI\o, 'more
I,pcciflcally.Jakwl'(l is the organic condition of prncc'scd matcr;al or
the tIC\\, condition of its organ i,m.' ,It 1\ material con<.eio u ~ly chosen
and appropriately used in a manner that doc~ not lim it the rl'klOmJ..tJ or
ob,tru<;tthe kon~"lrldtsii{/. ,~,
In the light of much that ha, been ..,:Iid earlier, the IllC:lning of
!.lnslnltlsiia should be clear. In Gan', words:
Kllnslrllklslia mll~t be undeNood as the .t"embling and
ordering funclton within Con~tructivi"'ll1.
While It'k/(}f/ikllt'OmpriloC~an intert'OlInection of the IdetJlogi-
cal ami the fomlal:tOO a, a rcl>ult givel> a unity of conception, .md
Jut/lira takes account of the ,t3te of the nmteri31. J..()II,\I/"II~I'\ii(/
r~\'~3!\ the !lctual proccl>!' of pUlling togethcr.
Thu~ the third diM:iplinc mvolve, giving form 10 the concept
through the use of proce\\Cd mJterial.!t,
K/lII!II'II~lsii{/" in ,horl, w.. ~ dc,ign, but the~c exp:m'ive new 'yn-
lhetit (.1I'itiplines \t iII omi tlt'd the scicncc~ of rca I 'J'}..1CC.
In thalknging 'the combmcr of spatia-volumetric <;.Qllds' :tnd 'the
ma~lerofC{)lour and linc' to become Con\tructlvil>tl" G:tn wa~ not
~ugg':'\lmg that they leave those \kills behmd them, On the contrary,
.A ~)'l>tem must alw be worked OUi III Ihe field of produc ing fOnll!>',
~nd he e'plained how th3t sy\lcm would be developed by 4uoting hl~
l'olleague 'the Con<;tructivi'l Rodchcnko', elucldating OIlC of hi,
n~rimcm~ in spatial cOtl'tructivism,' TIle work, concerned would
~ item~ from hi, '\patial in'ventory' or ,tudles of sirmlar geometrical
form\ from the period around 1920-21. which are well known,
Rodchenko had wrillcn: ., huve deviM:d the,e l:ucst 'patiul con-
\lrocllon~ as experiments" \pccifically to make the designer (J..lln-
11mb,,,) bound by the 13w of appropnateness of applied fom}" to
COll\lram him to a'iSemble the foml'i according 10 laws, and also to
oJ\ow thdr univer<.al i ~m, how from idemkal fonm he may It,,-ernble
(AOllftnlirol'at) all possible con~truc t ionl>, of dlveN! "'y,tems, "inds
andapplll:alions. ' 11 Here wa' ',lrt' already con'>Cioul>ly executed a... lab
won.. for design. Comemporaneou, photograph, indicate thai such
cxerdo;e~ were already ccntml to Rodchenko and Slepanova'~ teach-
Ing . !
Rodchenkoand hiS ImmedIate col league, did not pur,ue the..c Ideal.
into arthitecturc, Olhers were 10 c:my lhe baton forward lit that
du-rction, and Gan thrust it 3t them unequivocally.
'The planned wor~tng out of the whole area of the urban territory ,
of Its utdi"'ldual dl-'>tnct!, and al~o il~ proper l>olution in the vert ical
dimension, in the Irk/fill/kit of ih ma.~~e~ and volumes. ltI the fakturu
of it~ mateflab and Ihe J..o"slI'IIkt,\iia of its ~lructures - theo;e' he
tiI,'dared "are the Dasic task of our ConMructivi.sm, which aro,e III the
fWih comfield~ of the prolctarian revolutIOn and i.., actively and
ton~iou~ly lighting for comrnlH1i~ m. '!'f In deve loping their 'deJ'inile
~y~tem',their 'primary objective" must be ' (0 cl>lablish a M: ientific
foundation forthe approach to c()n ~truc t l ng bu iIding, and scrvice.. that
would fulfil the demands of C(}nl[nunt~t cuhure in i l~ tr<msielll state,
through all stages of it~ fu ture dcvelopmcnt Out of Ihis period of
.
ru"
' ..
Already here, if ... aguely, i ~ the idea later cenl...... 1 to 3TChiteclomi
('on~truclivism, that fonn mu~t accommodate or re"IX)f1d to !>odal
eVo(utlon, Vet more importantly, however, Gan Illtroduces the notion
that architecture, by It~ spatial organisation. itself actively innucnces
thai c\olutlon.
He rail;C~ Ihe que~tion ncg:.Itlvcly:
A~ the nl.:lteria1.tcchnological orga n ~' of society, the capillliist
towns that we mherited 3re \launch 311ies of counler-revolution.
SovIet communism has alrendy discovered that the c3pjtali st
CATIIERI'lE COOKE
town not o nly cannot accommodate even the mo~ttimid meas-
ures of Revolutionary reorganisation, but more (han th:!l! It
JIII/Jhol'l/ I.... ohs/nuI.I' lire patlr u/ tlral reOl'J,fclllisl/lioll. I b SIllU II
3nd awkward buildings have been toudly unable 10 accommo-
date the oper.ttional reqUIrements of the various new Soviet
organi~atinns, They are tOO cramped, JII'\' a.. the streelS and
sqllare~ which we inherited have not <lfforded the ~pati31 condi-
tion' that we need for ma~<, parade, :md V3~t assemblies. II
'We mu ~t gel human con<.eiousnesl> organi-.ed' he declare~. 'We
IlIU,t force the active revnlulional)' group, lind the workmg mas!oC~ to
sec this disformily, thi s mi~fit, to 'ee it Just a~ c1eurly as they <;ee a
misfit when ~ome reorgan il>ation bnngs disorder inro their own
home.' I! The logical implication i) present here, Ihough Gun dO(", nOI
deve lop it: if a 'mi..,fining' C!\VIromnent can obstruct social change, a
'fining' onc can ro~ter it. If spati31 orgaf\i~alion can be a negative
cataIYl>t, It can also be a posit ive one, (h er the next few years,that view
of architecture W3~ 10 become the central mouvation of the Con-
~tructivi,t architect'. a~ they pur~ucd in greater detaillhe implications
of Gan '!o, other injunction, '10 develop a ~y, t (,'nt of fonning objects in
gener.tl' .l1
Muisei Ginzbur~: toward archilectur:11 Constructh'ism
Gan's book COI/.\//"JIUillsm came off the prc,ses in 1922, During the
previous year there h:!d relUnled to Moscow a young archltcct who
pre viou~ly ~pent three wartime years there, from 1914-17, at the
Polytechnicalln~lllllte. Son of:tn architect in Minsk, this twenty-nine
year old Moisei Gin/burg had had a head-\lart to early profel>slonal
maturity. He had been among~t thc I:h\ young Rus~lans to complete a
IlniveT\!ty education ubroad before the FirM World War. Three yeaN
3tthe Mil3n Academy had left him experienced in both the beneJ'icial
diStiplinc ... :md the III hI biti ng Ii rni tat ion ... of the dal>l>ical archi tecturnl
educallon, ~ His ,lay had coincided with Marineui"'. most 3ctive and
noisy yellr~, but bchllld the venty and appeal of thut vision he pluinly
jX!fceivcd all too clearly the lack of any practical 'ignposts for the
profe'l>ional. Returl1mg to RUl>l>ia ill 19 14. he balanced his education
with the engmeering-oncnted COllhe~ at the MoS(.;ow Polytcchnleal
School. After four years down in the Crimea during the Revolution and
Civil War, HI practice uod studying the regional vernacular, he was an
exceptIonally travelled young. architect amongSt the genemllon fO
which he returned in the decimated and J!;olatcd Mo),Cow of 1921, '
Ginzburg'~ student year, in Moscow, during the War, had been the
period of Tat lin "s fir,{ experimenh into thn.'c dllnensional construc-
tions' and the culture of materlill .. '. IIi, four year!; ab..cnce had ~n
lho~ e bcgmnlllg~ evo lve into politically committed programmes and
educational curricula. Architect friend, of Tathn like the Vesnin
brothe r~, all a decade older than Ginzburg, ","cre already engrossed in
cl;.ploring the conscq\lence~ of thi~ commitlmcnt for architecture: but
at :I time when words ;lnracted morc attention than designs for which
there were no materi:lls, they were more at home at the drawing board
than the typewriter. (i in/burg, llke Alex:mdr Velonm, was altmclCd by
ide .. " belllg expres,cd by Mayakovsky, OSIP Srik und other~ in the
journaJ LEF, and during 1922 the two bccmne Ihe nucleus of a ,mall
architectural group amongl>1 these literary Constructivists. Already
having <;cveral 3nlcles to hi~ name III the jounlal Amollgsl Ille
ColIl'clOI'.I' 1lGi nzburg :tho moved quickly to the cent re or revivmg
profe~ 5ional cirele~ in the old-e5tabli 'hed Moscow Architectural
Society, MAO, and a year later became ch ief editor of its new joumal
I\rchill'ctlll"l,.16 OUTIng the next fe w yean-, talking, wTltlng and leach-
ing were lhe active architect' .. most rewarding media, and Gin;tburg
used them all.
MAO wa, the mam forum ror progre,<;ives of the pre-ReVOlution-
ary generation, Ginzburg's two editorial col le3gues on Arcllill'CfIll"e
werc Leonid Vesn in. eldest brotlter of tile successful pre- War trio, aud
Edgar Norvert, an c"tablished expert on building rntionali ..ation,
Amongst their largcrcditori:11 commillce were twO leading pioneers of
ncw building Icchniques Ivan Rerbcrg and Alexander K u;tnctsov, and
"
DECONST~UCT [ ON
' ..... 0 IC.ldlllg archltCct'HUrni..'d-pl:mner, Aid -.ci Shchu),Cv and Vladi-
mir Semionov. The new po\IIJOn III wh ich the whole profc~s Lon found
ilo;clf "as e~ pre\\cd by thc laner in the firs! i),),ue of Ar('hil('('turr.
under the litle ' PTIonty ta,b', in tem}\ wh ich ),how Ihe young avanl-
garde was far from alone in ibconcem <;. , It " -ill \OOn ~ len )ears ), in~e
anyor u~ buill anything' began Scmionov. 'Our very approa~ h 10 work
ha, 10 change. Where previml\l) "C convened reliably provcn [ech-
meal knowledge inloconcrele fae [\. " 'c now have 10 bl3Lccnlircly new
trails nm JUSIIIl archit(X'turc. 111 the narrow "ell\C of that word, hut al\o
in Ihe brffildc\t \Cn,e 01 architecture, a\ crealive eonJootruclLon
(~froi!('r ~r\'O). where log.lC. the \~a) of life. communi t) alll tud(', and
e\ery .,ide 01 civi l life :III make Iheir dcnKtTld .. equ:llly. lkforc The
Rcvolution "'C I..l1ew neITher Ihl' complcxiTY. nor this rel.pon .. ibi1ity.
Profe~~i(lnally. il wtll be 'Ihe I:I\J.. of the future public archileclure to
under\tand the ..e nc<.l.' condilion ... tht!\e new req uiremcnt!'o of the
prc "Crll IIIlle, ;Uld 1{l Ii nd 10T!11\ :In, weri ng the real s iIuat ion' . B UI 'The
bJlllc rt!quire~ organ"alion, and ihe changed circum .. tance .. call for
new Ll1eihod~,' ,;
A~ edilorial writer for thi~ i .. ~ue. GlIlzburg 1001.. The opportunity \u
offer ~onll.' jXliIllers from other circle!., 'Colltcmporary re!.c:lrche, ill
the field III ani,til' fonn' he wrote, 'art! 'JlCakin,g of a IlL;W pha ..e of
l
I 10 If ('UlklH I ("..oLI"S. l: ~)(~ll"'''. \ ' bMFl MlllO\ . I I, 1l1R11i
creative activi ty' <.I. hich musl take account 01 'lh:Li new element o t our
lives ... p,yeho logy and ... ae\thetic,,: Ihe machine: . Architecture
looay mU\1 fi nd ~ource, 01 in'pirJlIon III Ihe besl achlevemenl~ of
eng ineer... 8n~1 of ind ustrial archit.ccture' hc declared, and III a four-
page article, a ll .. i"( .l1u<,lr:llion), were 'Grain elevalor, In Buffa lo, Ne<.l.
yorJ.. .. Wilh ' Ihe ([e\cent of an .,,, from Olympia' 10 become ' ma\tcr-
e raft ~nlC n .. , III Ihe reOl I world' \aid Gin/burg, they h;l\-'e brought a
' healthy, .. coar\ening of our concept of the creat ive proce~ ... '. ~
The other Mo"cow forum where Ginl.burg wa:. ;lc!lve wa:. o ne fully
-.en\ttl\C to Ihe tmditlonal refinc ments he invoked in Ihat remark ,
RAKhN , the Ru"iall Academy of Arti~lic Sciencc!'o, was form ed in
1921 a, a talking ,hop on a modemi"Cd model of eighteenth-century
European academic,. It wa\ dedicated '10 diM.:overing the inner,
po\itive la w, on who<,(' ba~b u C~l heli c worl..~ are produced in each
branch of arl, Olnd to deriving from thaI Ihe principl e~ of <;ynthet ic
artl'llC c xprc~'JOn', 'Q Ginzburg read numcrou .. paper~ in the archlTcc-
tum! ';Celion lead by Iv:1O Zholtovsky. In February 1924 hc prc~cnled
Iht! argu11lc11I of (I book he had already completed entit led Sty le (lml
pu('lI. It wa, Iyplcn l of the apprO:lch observed by one recent Soviet
wriler 10 be c haracteri ~ Tic of RAKhN , thaI 'theory and hi\tory are
bound together a~ a .. ingle topic of investigation' .-lIl
26
Style and Epoch: ttlcor} IILcel~ histor}'
StY/p IImi f pOf.'" wa .. -.emillal to the whole development or
~ tructI Yi\t thi nking about architecture. It al~o provIde, an I ~n~
poUlI of (:om par i ~on with We\lcrn th inkmg , III panLcular thaI
Corbu\ier. who to SoviCb alway' occupied the forl!g.round of il.
With Ih lunher illu,tr.Jliom of Buffa lo !lrain )'ilo,. and now"
aeroplane ... the boo~ 1001.. .. \uffic le1ll1y liJ..e \ '"rs 1111(' urehitellllrt
Curbu'lt!r 10 have lel t nodoubt Inlllleno;e ly natlercd when hi\ 1m'"
copy arnv(.'d 111 the Inail.~' (It 1\ .. till held in the Fondation
One can only 'r>Ccu late a\ 10 ho", it might have mnuenced hi~appro;d
11 he h;.d heen able 10 read the tex\. PrecI-.cly how and <.I.hen
mc"age 01 1-'/:1/,,il NOIII'('WI arrlVcd IIlthc Sovict Union I
be di-.covercd. but :I!'o far:l' Iri n:l KoJ..J... inaki ha~ :1<;certainL-d, the
copie\ to arrive wen.: Iho\(' which' Le Corbu~ier ~ent 10 Ihe'
L.lf Enlightenment A V Lunachar~ ~ y ... in 1922. long before
e\ I :l b ll ~hl11ent 01 (\iplorn;tlic rel:ulon, tx:lwCt!n the Sovit!1 State
Franc('. q~ [n early 192) MAO ',Al'chil(,c/II/'j' refe rred in iI "
jlIuma].. 'wlherc beIng '" few cop ie, in Mos~ow i i ,""d,~ <
more expt!ctt!d hy the 'ulllver"ity and lIeo-phi lologicall i braric~ soon'
T he 'trenglh and authorilY of Ginzburg''' ideas already
J1olNl."Vcr. from the very wide range of \ timuli nn which he drew.
~II II ~ "I) I;I~//Il 1(; I .~II ~h Mlll~1 I (;l~/IIIIlC
archLleclUr;11 philo"'rlphy expounded here can be ..cen 11' a
mdecd logLcal ,ynt hesi .. of Ihe variou, innuencc' III hl\ I
early prole,,,on;lllife. and the Mo\Co<.l. circles around him.
wLlh which Anmolc SenJ..evilch has inlroduced his translation
book provide!> J rich commentary on these sources."'"'
While L' E.ll'ri! NOlllwl/I wu;, nol Ihe only innuence
Glll/burg'\ book, Ihe e nd product was plainly modelled
il. Sf.\,!t all(/ pO/'h .. how ~ U\ Ihat Ih i~ material which the
alway" found to be an Indlge"uble lump had already ~n
digeqed 111 the Sov ie l UllIon , Yel more signil1cantly. il had .1.,
been u!>Cd :1 \ Ihe first \Ic pping \tone to an operatLonal method
would bring [0 ardlllCClure the qualiti e~ ~o lauded in
rather than jU!'o t Ihe fonm,
Out of tho~ in itiol ob:.ervot io n~ about Ihe honeqy of rOml i
~ il o\, car .. ami Heropllllles, Ginl.burg had builL a con'listcnt
Marxi~t - theore l ical work (though he did not call il thaI),
\ 'c'n /111(, (I/"('h;I('('I1II"(' look more Ihan ever like a 1(X}'\e
journal i"Ill. A II hough then. a ud later,
upon hi storical architeclure, he never ancmpled to pull
into :Lny theory of thc general development of an: hiteeturc~. Gan
in~i~ted that 'The theory of hi storical matcrialism through .h<

COfL~lructlvists arc a~~imil::ul11g hi~lory in gener-II and the b:lsic laws
... or society mu~t ~e rvc lhem equally :IS a method of sludying thl!
history of art' 10 develop 'a \Cience of Ihe hi~ l ory of it.'> fornlal
lIc~eloprncnl,,~j Here Gilllburg produced a first stK'h :Ina lysi s of
Ilrduteclurc.
For all Corbu~ie(~ eulo~ics on Ihe logical and prcci~ Illclhod..,
""hereby cngineer~ creatc forms. nowhcrc did he :tl1empt to build :I
bridge mto the pr.lctlCC of an:hilc(;turc. All too dearly he hall no
aptitude for the son of calculation.., involvc{i. Gill7burg by contrJ..,t,
wilh the engineenng cmph"~ i~ of his polYler.:llllic degree, W:l.., :1
prototype of his own vision of Ihe archilcl:t. Hi.., mentor Alexander
Ku/nelsov had addl\'!<I;.cd the la..,t pre-War CongTe..,.., of Ru~,ian
A1ttUtecl~ adecade before on the theme thai 'The architect. according
tothe definillOn of the London congre ~~, "is tIIlarl/.W wllh 1I .f ( j(//ttjk
cJunJ/io/J...... ln si~\lng a,!. Ginzburg did that arcllltOClUml creation is
arnoni~tic process and a di"tlnct activilY (though clement" from many
(l11le~ aR ltymhes i~ into II). he "aW however Ihat onl> Iho'-C who~e
ctnlrnl concern wa, architecture (;Quld bui Id a bridge from cngineer.
in, that wa~ useful 10 it. While cin;um"tanccs made Corbu,ier':.
lundarnemally romanlic book a major in"'piration to an:hllectural
thmking world-y,ide, there I~ no doubt thnt Ginzburg's I~ Ihe morc
-.-
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lI'1tful and thoughtful work, which would have served the practice of
m:hitecturc better in that rolc, To those exploring Constructivism',
Impli<'alions for archllcclure. It provided both hl\loricallegllimucy,
and an oper.ttional ~tarting poilll for their approach to buildi ng design.
To Corbo~icr. '~I) Ie' was never Illuch more than an attribute of
anefaclS. To Ginzburg it WOl.'\ -.o01e l.ind of regUlarity, a .. unilarity
through conrormity to tile ~(!me Ittw~ (:aJ.m1{)III('I"1I0(! I'riillst\'O)'H
II hlch telentle~ly characteri!>Cs every branch and product of the life
of a human, historical period. II can only be identified through tt !o
)ntln\:lte un understanding of the period' s '~ocia l , economic, climatic
and I13lional panicul:mllcs' as of ih 'anistic environment' .411 Wolnln '10
Rl'nlJlssallf/.' ami Humqll(' had innuenced him here, and he quote~ il
Widely. Crudely .'Iummarised, it Wll~ Gin/burg's observation from
e'ten~ive historical study thai whal one nugh.t c:lll the 'health' of
nn:hitecture follows that of cu lture and their relopective We/tall -
sritwlIIl1gs. as Ihey p:!ss through pha'iC~ of frc~h, creative' nowering',
'01Ianic' maturity and decline Into 'decomlive' rhelone:'" It was to
iliuMrale thi s lheory of a cyc lical proce~s thai he u~cd the hhtorical
mmples IIhich Corbusier would have found f:lmiliar. With hi ~
mncem for histoncal objectivity. as well as dynamic procc!."es,
Ginzburg also paid considerable allemioll to the Gothic, which had
CATIIERIr\ E COOKE
never filled Corbu"er'~ fnmml predilcctlon, .
GinLburg. called the fiN pha'-C of a typical architectural cycle
J..OI/.f1rul..tl\ /I,\/: con!olruclivc'. Neatly he .. pan ~ the gap here belween
Ihe hmited 19th-century nrchitect's undcr~t:Uldlllg ofthalteml, and the
broader me:.11llng. already establi~hed amongst Soviet ani'I:'. In a
con,truCllve ph3'-C, :.ays GlIlzburg, unprejudiced re-'>ponscs are being
made 10 the rna" of whal are, axiomatically, new ,ocial and technical
problem~. In these period ... the chiefta!.k in every field of design i) that
of 'devising the c har.lctcri,tic pt["'tic types for the epoch', and the
present cOll1cidencc of social and technical revolution, made their
own period unque,"onably one of them.'Ill In mesc perio(h, ' the ney,
~tylc witl alw:1Y-,> he aesthetic<llly strong and org.mically logical' .'1 In
V io llet -le-Du(;'~ tenn:..lhe 'pril/Cllws' will be pure, for 'Ihc arch.itcct
is fac ing the very ba!.ic l)foblem of the dehmiling of "pace with
material form~, and thi~ require .. the creation of elemel1lS working
constructi ve Iy .. \~
In their own, carlySoviet period however. Ginzburg perceived
factors mrlking it 'doubly constructive'. Exceptional economic strin
gency reqUired the maximum posMble economy of materinl in that
'delimiting' and therefore a maximi<;ing of the constructive work done
by the building c1clllelll~. But it al,o happened thatlhe principJc~ on
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which every branch of their contemporary life wa.., organised, or more
accurately a!>pired to be organi~, were prcci~ly those cmbodicdpur
(!U'('lfl'1f("t' in Ihe machine: Ihe principle:. of honesty, ~lruc tural sun
plici ty. objectivity , precise organisation and thu, cconomy of all the
mcans. Retuming to themes we have :llready observed in hi ~ wrillngs
he declared: 'TIle e,~ence of this m'lchinc, which i" beginning to play
such an exception:11 psychological role in our lives, consists in the
nakcd constructiveness of ils component organisms, ' ~3 'The machine
i~creativity at its most organised, the greate~t clarity and power in the
fonnulation of the creative idea.'"14 ' In the machine thcre can re
nothing sUperOUOUlo, accidcntal. "decorallvc.. . and never forgening
architectur:ll history : 'In eS~Cllce we find in the mrlchine. before all. the
clearest expression of th:!t ideal of hamlonious creativity long ago
fonnulatcd by the first Italian theoretician, Albeni .'~s It was in this
sen.~e Ihatlhe machine was the symbol ofthcirprescnt epoch. and these
characlerislics of the style of every 'constructive' period thus hap--
pencd, in thi~ one, to be also the ctmractefl!.tics of its own panicul:lr
WI' IWIIS("/UIUIIIIR. How then could Ihe correct architectural sty1eofthe
young Soviel Union be anyth ing but 'constructive'?
nlis argumcnt was to be the primary source of the Constructivist
architects' "trong 'Ielfo{:ontideTlce. It gave them a conviction that their
27
DECONSTRucn ON

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,>Iance was historic'llly 'correct':'1 convictIOn quitc as <;!rong as thm comprise~ form .. Ihat h,lve been generated organically and quite
which rnol1va!cd their polilicalleadcrs, The particular char;lcteristics independcntly. while reflecll!lg Ihe ~:Ulle contemporaneit)
;llld protYl>es of modern' org.misedness gave them the start ins point through whmever ;.lrc their own unique characteristics, so herein
for their lIlethOd or de~ign , preci<;ely the same way is il a que~tion of building.m ;.lnalogy,/il
A~ rorm~ ~aid Gin/.burg in Sryle (I11d Epof'h. 'neitherlhe engineering Styli> (tml Epol'/I did not pas~ un:lppreciated by the 't t
Wuclure nor the machine gives us an expressiYelpmial <;olution. profes~ion, 'In the excellent bool-. of M l;.l GinLburg' ~aid the
which is what cOll~tilules the dlstingul~hmg marl-. of Mchitecturc', :ih li~hed Leningmd architect and planner Professor
. How' he a~ked. 'are we to bui Id a bridgc bctweellihesc cOlltemporary ing it for Ihc city 's main environment joun1:.l1
cn~el1lble~ and the archilectural monuments. once we real i'ie thaI thi<; Commllnal Ecollomy. 'the rcader will find not only
i~ po~~ible on Iy through the principles of creatiyity and not through the sions on style in architecillre. but also absolutely
m,: tual forms'! We will try to continue our ;.maly~i<;.' \'1 His 'continued to the creative prob l ell1~ of cOl1tcrnpomry I
analysis' .. howed Ihe machine \0 be potentially an appropri:J!e model demonstrate", said Karpovich. that 'the study of the i
for the org'lI1ismion of lilly functionally interconnected agglomerlltion a new "timulus to the creation of new architectural fomls. I
of ~pcciali~d and divcr~c activities , dynamic and ~tatIC. Here wa~ ~hows u" how f;.lf today's Conslructivist~ arc from the ioe"
already :1 quitc sophi~tlca tcd mcthodologlcal concept that left new foml,,', M Karpovich wa<; <i relevant commentator on the
Corbu~icr'~ mere image of the hou~e as a 'machine 11 habitcr' in the origin;.ll ilY. when nothing el'>C emerging in MOM:Ow. from
realm of aphori~ms, RAKhN or INKhUK. was comparable. Its main competitor In
From this gcner;.ll ide3 of (he 1l13chine 3S nil org3nis;nional proTO- lication at this date. in the pursuit of an approach 10 the
type. Gini"burg developed a two-stage analogy. The first stage W;.lS.1ll architcctural problem, wa~ the work of his younger
analogy !xtween the machine and the factory. which le:lgue ,\ E ROlellburg. a ho~pital dc~ign spccia l i~t before
i~:1 co llectiye of rna thine": . , . all linked TOgether by desimble IlJIioll. who~c book orthc preYiou~ year.A
nece~"ily ju~t ;.l" the pan .. of an in<li vidual machi ne are. ' . , and wa . . more synoptic. but les~ pregnant. h2
at the ~all1e time it i~ 11 1~o:.l dwelling. no( for ]1COp!e primarily
but for machine.. , but lin a way lhatmakes itl;.ln architectuml Gcner:J ting Ihe new pl:Jstic Iypes
objcct none the less. with all the spatial connotations of Ihat. .... From the hasic analogy established in Style IIlId Epoch. i
'Indu~tria l ;.IT('hitcClUre therefore '~e rve~ as the connecting link . . , , hi, colleagues developed the centml concepts and procedures
but factorie .. llnd silos cannot be the sole contents of modem architec- de~igl1 'method', Firsl howeyer they formed them~e lve s i"," a
turc." ~" So. ~ecundly, and ~la ncd a journal.
Prcci~ly a~ we estab li ~hcd Ihe ana logy between the 11la~'hinc The Moscow Arch ilectural Society. MAO. had proyed i
and the indu"trial building. an analogy [1l;ly be cstabl ished quate as a platfnnn for advanci ng gen uinely new ac~thClic
between the industrial building and the architecture of Ihe Anathema to the young and engOJges wa~ the pas>:i ve 'pm
dwell ing or the communi ty building. Just precisely as the indus- of Edgar Noryert's view thaI ' the posing of general social
trial building is not Ihe conscious imitation of a mach inc. but and questions aboul the new way "flife is outside the
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DECO'STRUCTIOI\'
arc hitect " Too dom in <In t w,I, hI, Opl nion, c:-; prc\..cd 111 A I't'hi 1('('lurl' in
19:!J, that architecture could nOI "ervc \ocicly until di)..linct '1OCial
ronn~ h,Ld crptalli\ed out of the pre<;cnt tramitional period,~'
The tiN new, po-;t-RcvolutlOnaf) archltcctural ,ocicty, tlLe A,~o
tiatiOrl or Ncw Architect-; or ASNOVA, had been formed HI 1921
under the Ic:ulcf',hlp of Nikolai Ltdov, 1-y and Vladimir K rin .. ky,
To the Construcll vi't).., ho .... ever, the p'ycho-I'ormal worl- of Ihc\C '0-
ca lled Rationali"t" 'could only acquire a !,!enuinely "dentific materi-
jll~lIc ba~i .. if It W!lS alway~ made clear what rCill problem" the
theoretical worl- wa, directed at', and' if the methods being appl ied in
..olullon of thc<;c 1:1:-.1-, \~ere fund.unenta Jl y Iho<>e of the architect, \0
Ihat Ihey could be put 10 real and praclIGII U"-C in Ihe present-day
archilecr~ \~or~ a\ .ltl organi\er of building,~ In laIC 1925, Ginlburg
and the Ve~nin brother:. fonm:d a COlhlruCli vi~t archl tcctura l gnwp to
fill the g:lP, and c.llled II USA: the Union of Comcmporary Archi-
IC(.'I\,'
Gin/hllfg and the three Ve .. nin~, Leonid, Vil..tor and Alexander,
repre,ented a bridge octwecn progre~sive~ of the older generation and
the youngera\,alll-garde, AlexeI Gan w:t:-. a central parlll:ipant from the
1t,...,1. in launching Ihelr Journal during Ihe neXI year. in ~taglllg their
exhlhlllon, and in developing Iheor}. He and AIc>;ant\er Ve .. nm
brought a direcl 11111.. 10 the :LC,thetic deb;I1C~ of the FiN Worl..mg
Group and the a!lllu(le to material, ofT:ttIIll, whom Ve,nllll..new wel l.
The Vc'nin~, with their Palace 01 Labour compelition proJecl of 19H,
had provided whm Gin7burg ..... ould later call ' a l,mdmarl- for Con-
~tructivi'm in 11, fif'lt concrete nrchilcclUral auion', In Ihe conte>;\ of
di,cu~sion~ over Decon~lructiun, thut paper of Ginzburg', from 1927
1\ Hllere\lIng for it~ empha!>i .. on Ihi' proJeu , the Illodel of a new
Jppro;Kh 10 building design 'for our hi!)lOric;11 epoch', r.uher than:1
model for 'a new 'lyle'.'''' BOlh Gin7burg :111<1 Leonid Ve .. nin aho
brought to thi .. new Con,lructlvisl group the experience of pre-
Revolutionary R1MliUl pl(JIleer .. ot "techno log ically and lle~[hetlc<llly
'Illodem' archllecture, lXIr1icularly through their connections wilh
""or.'en, Anur Lolell and AJcunder Kuznel\o ... _\\ ho hild founded Ihe
architcctur.tl department where Ihey laught .It MVfU , Much of Ihe
group's authority derived from the facllI wa, a .. ynthe,,, Of1hi, broad
thinking Jnd cxpcricIK'c, Their method ,"JUght 10 fonnali\e 'correct'
rdatlon .. hip'lo OCI"Ccn Ihe\(' very diveN: componenl.:.,
Ahl.'r the denlt\(' of olher new m:JgulIlc\, OSA ', Joumal ,\ A
( C(1II11'lIIfJlU'uIT It ,.1'I1I1f'C!rtI'I') wa ~ R u\si a " on Iy pure Iy :Lrc h itectura I
juuntal during thc four pre-Five- Year-Plan yt:ars I 926-,m, On pag.e I
ofnumbcr I, il wa:.launched wilh an article byGillzburgemilled 'New
Method~ 01 Arehiteclilral Thinl..mg.' ,I>' Here a~ in hi!> nC'(1 t ..... o major
artlcll." on tl1l\ thcme (~ee Diagram I ),N a~:llready in Stllt' lIlIIl EflOlh,
he "{Idre~~cd both theoretical and oper:lIiul1ul quc .. lion" These 110W
becilmc t" 0 di,tinct catcgorie, of 'vari:lble\ ': the 'general unknown.,'
and the 'p:lrticul.lr' one .. ,
'General unl-no ..... n\' ""ere thn-.e IdentIfying 'dmr.lcten,tles of the
epoeh;t~ a Wh{l le' who-;e inOucllce mu~t permeale the entlt\! de,ign
and con'ttruclion proce~s, In S/lII- (Iud l~p(){h he had di,cu,\ed thesc
',ocial, cconomic and niliional pccuhanlic,' of OJ culture '" inevitahl)
II1llucnclng building loml,t'I From furthcr analy .. i).. ofthcir (lwn emerg-
ing tulture GinLburg now idemified four ,uch 'pcculiantle~' of the
Soviet ~ituali()n, The,e were Ihc fact of a collecti ve, rather thiln an
individual. client, which Wil' trying to build 'a new way oj life': Ihe
concoml lant \hi l t In archLlecture '" po:'llion, to OC'l'ome onc pari uf a
l:l.rger ~ocial and economic pl:lIl; Ihe conjunction of thc'>C factor~ 10
produce a new, Ideological and tcchnical ,t<ltu~ for nonm and Mandard
Iype ~, ,md the overriding, mcthodological obligation under the ncw
Idcology, 10 '\oh'e thc architectural \.a.,k, like any OIher, on ly Ihrough
preci\e eVJlu.uion of ih 'unl..nowns" and the pur~ull (If a Correci
method of .,0Iution' ,711 111e dcductions were nOl all novcl, but the
codified ~I:IIemCIII wa-; new,
In SNfe Will Epo('/r Gin/burg illustrated Tatlin's Tower a" an
example or lhe new approach, So complex and unreah\!lblc in the
decimated stale of Russia, it had been reduccd loa piece ofleehnologi-
.'0
c:lI ~ymboli'l11 in the public mind, lien: therefore he condemned 115
' merely naive, , ,any attempt to replace the cQmpleXllle, of the
archi teclure hy form).., however 'parkling' denv~d as 'symooli\m"
from other a'pccts of technology' Archlh::clUre wa, 'inventIon j'
any other', a ta,t. of 'organi~lIIg and giving form I'
:I concrcle practical prohlem nOI only ror the dictatcs of loday,
fillhe nced,oflOmorrow' , ' Fromlhe lIl\entorlhe contemporJry
lec\ mu,1 lal..e on I) hi, creative melhod. A l:ttcr ,,>sue of SA
home the difference from Corbu\lcr here, wllh a reature on
1iOIl!> underlying the de'lgn of t ho\C 'iCductivc biplane .. ,or.
11le condition" thai had produced Ihe JrChlleCI'!!i 'ne" "fIeial """
,urner' h:td abo ' freed thc archilcCI from being a peacemaker
Irreconcilable conn iCI>; of intere\I', orlCTat ing (if only in .
behind c l o~ed door\, By the 'method of functional cre~tivIlY' [
Con"trucllvi,t~ a"'pired 10 mal..c de~ign 'a unified organic
l-Ia vinga"lIlgleclearalm', lheta ~l-couldbc I I I
, , . rrom fir,1 priorille\ to \t.'Cond , , , from skelelon to
imide to out, a, a con,ciou-; proc~" frol11 to end'.
orHsdat:;~:~~~~~:~;~'~~;~;:
proce",
thu!> wouldaccounl:tbk,
puhllcly be open to .;cruliny
II would I
a, the public and <;pcclah'b cOlllributed I m'~
of SA', c;lInpaigning. wa\ directed al ,til11ul:llll1g thilt
The architcct'~ !!ipccillli\1l1 however, wa~ the 'yl1lhc,i~:
s/rrdt.'>lIa
The main rule" lor Ihal proce" o t J.ulUtrllJ.Hlia h:ld :llrl.':ldy
worl..ed (lut, They are only outlincd:tt thi\.
but the C()I\\trucllvlst\' vic ..... 01 what ~holJ!d pnmary In d",
whal ,econdary, i-; clearly indica led by thc ordering of ~lUgC~
their 'logical proce\\' In lhi~ ~ond IXIpcr of 19:!6, Gmzburg iin'"
teed Ihal "palial p:lramelen.,lheirdimemion, .md'
are the fir,t funcllon of Ihe brief': and 'the .. patial organi,ation I
... tarltng point of the de\ign :tnd the pl:tce to which I I. t
bedirected' , I ' , I
.lle building materia" and method of con~truction I
ba,ic 'p.ltial \olulion', ThLrdly, he mu~1 order the 't:'xtt:'m31 i
tlon,hip\ of ~palial elernel1h', '-111C }!roupmg. 01' the
ma~~e" their rhythm, and proponion\ wiB derive naturally
firo;;l half of hi, 3Clivity: thcy 3rc a funclion of Ihe malenal
and inner volume~ he h..d ..comlructcd",' Finally,l . I """
II1dividual component' :tnd eleml.'nt~: to aperturc~, oVi.'fhanl:!~ eK'
on the ba,l, of calculation, or othl.'r type~ o( COT1~ldcration
brief' , In thi\ line,lr pr(K:e,,", 'one ta,k lead, logically from
The ~rchilect 'I~ freed from the handcd-down Imxlch oflhe
" 'forced to ,cd an "tic cl{pre,,,vcnc\\ in that which IS mO~1
lant :md nece~sary' , II the result1l1g architecture i~ currently
thilt is not the rC!!iult of the procc\~, merdy of 'youth'
huilders and the new life they ~re bu ilding, New
Iional principle, .... III develop from Ihe Iyplcal \p;tti:ll
ne .... problem, them~elve~, 7~
Gin/hurg', categoric, of 'general' and 'particular
rc,pond 10 today' ... '\tate' and 'dechion vanahle\', G:m and
Worl..ing Group had e.,tahlished a role for Ihe fomler
the de'ig.n proce.. ~, but the m:lppmg 01 '
Iheir c()nc('p t ~ of Id/linrAa .jllk/llra and
not ion of klll/,l /ruJ.w ia had been ,",'",,,be< "" he
approach: Ihat b clear. The concept o f juJ.tlll'U lay benealh
cnce~ to materiah :tnd 'appropriate' building methods I
',econd 'tage', and HI hi~ fourth, but more as an as-;umed
analy~b than :l!!i all explicil opemllOIl. Notion, of an",;:~,~:~
relatioll,hip bet .... een materia'" and Iheir sp:ulal po",
bad 10 Tatllll, The comple>; 'geological' concepl of
~ynthe~i~ of deep pol itk:!1 and lechnolog.ic.1!
.. ub~umed within Gilllburg'~ clllegory of 'general n~::~
technological clement .. of Iheconcepl. in particular, al'm P
rc~ I , Gan').. ' three new dl~ipl i n('\' had COl1\litulcd a fir'l
oflhe 'whole' de-;i~n problem in their I
 CATHERIM ('ooKE

conlt'XI. bUI il was crude. In moving from Gall" 'geneT>!1 'y..I('111 c han~e. III the hahl" an,1 .1II 'IUd nl thc ma .. ~ populalion , Th is
1O\\1lrd, a' me thod' . the archI tects had aniculatcd the inlulll\ c c:.tlcgo- cont~ l hut I 0 ~ l ti) the act of ' \Olial lil lI UltUII\ ' was OSA's ml\MOn as
rie<, imo someth ing. approach l1lg rC:lll00h. arthllect,\: It wa, Ihe lr rncthndnl n~ l r.jl ""l\'ulve thai identifll'd Ihem
In hi~ nex t two papcr~ Ginzburg elaborated certain idea'l and as COII,tructi vi ..." .
introduced mher... In ' The funct ional method and foml', pubti,hcd
WeT in 1926, he c"la bli ~ h cd a role wi thin hi!> four-stage proccs~ for ConSlructi\ ism us a mel hod of laboriU llr ' lllri II.Kltin)!. \\ork
liKlse t~\ue$ of vl~ual p ~yc h()logy and of 'ecunomy of pcrccplUu! The la"t column of Diagram I , h ow~ ho\\o dl L', it '" .1\ IIment:;
cnrrg.y being c\plorcd by ASNOV A under L adovsky and Krinsky ," developed HlIO the fuller procccil1re~ ofthl.' COll ~\' :\h,... lof
From ""!lhm carl icr COIl:;lrucli vbl lhink ing he look up the queM ion of laboralOry and tcaching work', de::.cnbcd m Gin/hll' 11\ \'l::?'"
110\\ form should relate 10 un evol ving conten t. 0:111 had spoken in 3nd detuiled in Diagram 2.
Itlleraltcrms; Gill/burg wus now explic it. The COIl')lruclivis\ mu" In it!> Ingic the process j., unch:mged: under ne\.\. numbcl ill .\\\,
'ukul~le correctly' the complex overlapping relat ion .. between old object' reassert!> thefaklllrtl conce pt In ,I concern ""I\h 1I\du'
IDd new within ' the dialectical dc\'elopmcnI of life' al any givcn lImc. produclion processe~.
Then 'the functiona! method of thm~illg. rHU'>t :llway, take as the M o~ t importantly. Ihough, il ha ~ finally re-cmbrncecl th:tt fir\1
~ondilion of lh t1llllcrial fonm nOlthe area, of bac ~ wllrdness. but category of ' laborOllory wor~' pioneered and developed in Icaching by
landmark~ of the new \.\o<ly of life and :ldv:Ulced technology'. ," Ilow Rodche n~ o 10 be. in Gan's words. 'a sY'ICOl for producmg (omls'.
,b(luld take the new way,of-life a... hl\ 't;Jrl ing point. and why. wcre Rodchenko believed that the designer must be 'conslra illed 10 a!>-
mo~t lmpommltoplC\ of hI' next p:lper. 'l\ill1~ in cOll1cmporary ..emole fo rms accord ing to 1 1Iw~': mU~I be 3ble to ma~e 'all pos~jb!e
hitc(ture, publ i'hed early Ihe followi ng year. combinatio n ~. of diverse sy~lems, ~inds and applicat iom ' through
Here I\\oofthe mosl powerful idea~ in carl icrCon ... trutllvi ... t \.\orillllg uIH.k'r...t<1ndmg the fu ndament:!ls of formal 'con~ truction'''1 In
orne lO~elher, Dcvelopin~ his own 'two-stage analogy' with the Gmlhurg'~ n~'w '1rd obJcct' Rodehenko'<; 'ntle .. have been aggre-
hme. and hllrnc\sing it to Gan., vi~iol1 of ~patlal organi~a ti o n a .. gatc(l lnw 'tyJX" nftran~fornl:llions. whose logic\.\. ill ensure thaI the
ut31}'tic forcc m ,{)Cial change, Gin/burg fonnulatcd the conccpt dant)'. o.::o ll ~i~lency and Ile>;ibility of re~pon~ 10 he achieved through
llich hencefonh became central 10:111 hi'" colleaguc\' prop'lgandising the re,t uf the mcthod. arc matched m the logIC 01 an ;In:hitect ... formal
de'lgn work. the concept of 'the \uci:ll condcn~r. vocabulary,
Out of the b:l'IC analogy he idcntificciln Sll'le fill/I EJI(1(h, G il1"/burg The~e g r;Jm l11ar ... and di~clpll1le' 01 forlilai cOII\tructiilll wcr~ the
\'CIQps thc twO r.:oncept .. of the 'M:hemc (If equipment' .ll1ll the ' now c,..ent ial prcreqUt ... lte if Ihe architcli "":1.\ In re\f\')m.l ""1111 perfl..'1.:t
ram', \\hich wi ll be the tooh for c'tabli\hmg the 'fi r\ I ~pat ial nuency to ncw \(l(;i;11 bnef\. 10 handle the logical evolutIOn of hi\ own
:tgrnn1 of the building mthe first 't:!ge of the method, lIere we .,CC de,ign ,01I1 ti on~. and 10 refine tho~c ~nILltion' wtlle point of perfect
fiN ,ign~of lhat focu~ upon the fonn-f!eneruting rolc of movemcni fonn:ll :tlld ~tyli,tic cohercnce . 'Col1'truelivi .. m never adnllt~ Ihe
hlCh ",ould l~ad tu the ir argunlt'nt ... for cOmp;ICInC'\, in the middle fi>;ing of ronm' writelo Gin/burg, III a remar~ Ihal re1l1 11uh u... or Ihe
tnlie~. ,md then conver\Cly for a complete d i ~pcn-ion of \Clllcment, continUIty repre..en.ed oy Dccon ... t ru(, li on.~~
tile end of the deeade. 11 The' -.chcllIe of e(luipmcnt' i, concdved a~ Form i, an unknown. 'x', which ha, al way' to be eva luated ,mew
dcscnption of the hardw:!rc i~lvolved in each of the myri:ld ~pecial by the architect. We have thereforc to ~tudy !lot JU\t the clements
and ldentifi:lblc event' wl1h m a building, In nuchinc lerm",thc..c of arduteclure, but Ihe melhl.xh 0 1 Iran ~formal1on of tho~c
the componenh of itl> ~peci:!li\Cd wb-a.,~mblie ... The 'now elc111cnb. 10 undcn-tand hnw changc~ HI the brief mu ... t affl'Ctlhe..
1i3grum' de~cr i bc, the multiple human movemcnt:; between thelll, form.
hich corrc~pond to the conveyor be lt., of the factory or the drive .. 01 'Three point' arc vi tal here'. he ~I re "c ... :
!complex mach me. Ilcnry Ford in hl\ aUlobiogmplty had dC'>lTibed that till" method of foml ,l ltra n ~lom\:l t ion\ be unde"tood a... an
thie\'ing great ~pOltial economic .. in hi ... production hnc~ through essential component of the architecl'\ working tool'!: lhal this
.tlonall~IlOn\ of til is kind: pi ui nIy, he reason ..... 'wch econoll1 ie~ rnu.,t tran~lonnation proce" il, never Ju~t an ae~thetie one but involve~
fe(jlJally accessible \0 the arch ile(I ... (If a building, . For Pulludio in the reurgani...allon 0 1 the ""or~ing, con ... truct,vc clemenh of Ihe
lilla Rotundu' or the prc-RevolutionUT) p,llacc ',u..-commodat lng only bUIlding; and that \\hal we are changing i... Ihe matcri;11 object
1lfnmurka or the polonaise'. functIOn" were not di,tlngul\hablc !l31d i l~c lf. bu t that thi' i~ done in the context of ih c"emi;11 purpose
linlburg. alway~ cnjoying the hi,torical example. ' With bui!dinf! in and of it~ perception by Ihe building u...cr."'
<.(l('lah\t country' however. ' the dilfercnce i.. b:!sic. and one of 11li... i\ the pomt at which Ihe panicular conccm~ of the Lenmgrad
nn(lple'" archllect lak ov ('hernikhov engage wl lh the larger programme of Ihe
The innucnce of RU"' ~la', Tayloristlll(Jvernellt for the Scienti fic Moscow-ba'>Cd COiN rUCl1 vi'l architcct~ group. OSA, QSA had iL'
fgani'ialion of Work' (NOT) i\ certainly lI l ~o "tron!,! here. II i, nOI own local brunch III Leningrad, a~ il did in scvcr.ll other m"Jor Soviet
Colr II.hen the Constructlvi.,t.. fir ... t learnt orthc German~' U\C of louch cit ic~. The Lell1ngrad group w:t" leild by Alexander Nikohky. and
tao, Ifl bui!dmg de~ign: probably no' by 1925,6 whclIthcy <;tarled Contnbulcd actively to the journal SA and \(J II , e"hibn ioll In 1927. a,
l1TIali"ng their mcthod, but in 11)27 they used material from Bruno we ll a~ exccuting ,ollle good building', but it wa\ nOi particularly
IUt and othe r~ a~ i llus trati on~ to their article\, ""They aho nOled th,lt ~ign ifi can t for theoretical cOnlribulion" Chernikhuv had not lung lodo
an~ Lloyd Wrigh.\ hOIl\{!'" \.\ocre modd~ of economic movcmcnt. <0 with thl~ group, Profe\\innally he '" ,[\ a n,:lauvc loner, Ihough alw:!}'s
:Itctlc or not in 11\ orig in ,. Ihc \ IJtu , [llId role which OSA accorded surrounded by nUll1cr()u~ pa~\ionatcJy dev{)led studcnb who were al,o
the re~ulting ba~ic \pal1a! di:!gram' W3'> uniquely defined by hi~ a~\I~lant~ in prepuration and execution ofhi\ ab,lract and an:hitec
IIlburg'~ conccpllon of their penod a~ doubly COlNntctivc, It turdl 'comtructlOn\' on paper, Il i\ theory of the role of the machine a,
mlllutcd an cmplT1cal \olullOn of a ,>ocia lly and Icch11lcully new the proper iTl!>plratlOll and logical paradigm of C(llltcmporary architec-
ef. in the fre~h. creatjv\! ' Ilowenng' .. tage of a ncw era. Within ture w:l\ Independen.ly deri ved. Inl1ucllced though 1\ m3Y hal'c heen
nzbllrg', hi ,torical M:hcma ~ uch a '~ patial diagram' already out- by contcmporaneou!> work. il is a M' lf-.. ufficlen l argument. and whlht
cd one of Ihe 'characteri,tlc pla,tlC type!. for the cpoch', Wilh the hi!. numerOllS boo~ \ gcncmlly presuppo<oc some I:lrgcr' nuxlcI' of lhe
tcnali ... t ... view (If thc IXlwer of organised matter. the\C embodi- <le,igll proces~ oUI~i d e hi;; own ~peci a llopi c. hcdoc~ nOi rcterto it vcry
ntsofadvanced ' 1:lmlmar!.. ... in ~Qt:i:tl evol utioll werc Ihe architect' ~ often or ve ry explici lly. On the otlier hand. Chernikhov ' , whole
\'il importallt contribution 10 Sovici revolutionary ObJective" Low- train ing programme wa\ premised upon the val ue of what the
I3.ge :tClivity .md a wca~ consciou\nelo:; would be focu\Cd through Mo\Cov1\cS called ' laOOmtory work '. and he pur,ued th i ~ problem of
(I!"luits of Ihc,>e ... ucial condenser'" inlo lugh-voltage catalyst\ of 'thc mel hod of form a l lTan ~fo rmat iO Il'> ' and Ihe po,sible 'organ i!>a-

JI
DECONSTRucnO:-J
tions of the building's working, co n ~ tructive elements', lLt a level of
detail. energy and rigour far greater than was achieved. amidst their
other concerns, by the nlembers of OSA.!14
Symhe~ising formal and theoretical principles derived variously
from Supremalbm and from mechanical engineering. Chemikhov
produced an analysis and programme ain1l,"'<I even more exclusivcly
than the Moscovites' work. at architecturaltrlLlnillg. In this fonnal
are:I, in particular. the two progr:Hllme~ match vcryc loscly. Gi nzburg's
list of the types of transformation' 10 be ma"ered is :llmost ident ical
to Chernikhov's li~t of 'the fundamentals of constructi vbm' in the
second part of The Con.I/mc/ion of Archill'c/ura/ and Machine Forms.
where he says:
The fundamen tal ekmellls of constructivhm consist of all the
various possible unions of elemell!s which go to make up a
~tructure. The following fonnal relationships of elements must
therefore be recogni!>Cd as the basic principles ofcomtructivism:
a) Insertion b) Clampmg c) Twistlllg d) Embr..tcing e) Mounting
f) Bending g) Coupling h) Piercing. and \0 on. Allthe~e funda -
mental relationships are ill e~scllce ~imple. but they can create
complex combinations which arn:l7e us by the refinement and
richness of the ... hapcs they produce. As a supplement 10 thel>C
. ,.
.' " '
" ,.
I .' " .'
e"!;Cntially ~lalic relationships there is the pos~ibility of a dy-
n:Jmic element. Knowledge of these fundamemal s of formal
construction greally helps in the elucidation of the essence of
constructivi,tll, buIlt is nOlenough 10 be ramiliar with the fonns
themselves. Complete familiarity with the principles underlying
them i~ essential. One must study the in'oCrtion of one element
Into another with all the possible individual varillt;ons and
combinations. Training, practice and innate flair play no ~Illall
part in th is, ,md exactly the same approach must be applied to
~lUdy of a1lthe other fundamental elements.~'
The theory lind programlTle which Chcmikhov expound~ in thai
book, and in the preceding FUII(/(lmef//li/s ofColllemporary Ardll/"l'-
/lIr(', prcl.ent this 'approach ' in exh:.u~tive det:ul. from its st.ming
point in the ..implest exercises of linear corhlruction through 10 Ihe
fully developed fictional building complexes which fonn the' fanta-
sics'. 'This approach requires thaI there be spec ific, clearly defined
tasks:.ct a... examples' he says. 'which cI:uify III detail the essence of
the ~pccific fornlal conslructive problem we are studying Ihereby.1t.
The illustrations to all his books are just t.h:ll: solUlion~ to clearly
delincd tasks of fomlul construction or composition.
Chemikhov was as dediealed as the Constructivist group proper to
12
the pur... uit of a 'new' architecture lIl"'plred by the machme. A... he
wrote 111 Fllm/ami' lIIa/s. 'We must ..... k the general question as 10 which
factors in contemporary t(..'(;hnology and our modem way of life have
the power to dctennine Ihe character of the new architecture?' The
answer lay III 'the multiple principles and properties of enginl'er-
ing:'" Though he docs not deploy the mathematical vocabulary. hl~
approach to llchleving this llim i~ the same. '111e repll.lcemem of
outdated forms in architecture e:m only be achieved' says Chemikhov,
'through II radical reconstruc tion of Ihe b.."lsic architectural means and
devices. The clements oflhal new architecture will emerge as a result
of the limi tless varying orthe abstr..tct (non-objective) fonll s which arc
at archi tecture's di . . po~I .!UI Though he does not usc the phrase ' labo-
ratory work', Ih..: function of abslraction in this proce .." IS perfectly
clear, and again the concep, is idenlical to that which emerges in lhe
Moscow Constructivists' teaching via Rodchcnko.
With the help of so-c:llled non-objl'Ctive clements we have the
pos...ibllity for creating a ~ries of the mO'>t fan tastic formal con-
. . tructions which arc nOI initially comtrained by any direct
practical application, bUI in return po"scss properties which
make them available for real and direct application in the future .
I-Iaving been tmined through Ihe development of multiple seTles
"
of construellvc loIructures and through designing mUl tiple di-
ver..e combinations, we \hall be fully equipped for Ihe moment
when a complelely new and origin,ll formal ~olu t ion is required
of u~ in the fUlUre.!W
As he wrole here in Til" ConSfI"/ICf/Ofl of Arcili/(!t"I/lr(Ji (111(/ Madunt
F orm,\'. by this rigorous training in the genenHion of architectuflll
fiction~'. or /allfo:ii, 'our inventive capacities will be developed to
their full potential.' Or as he put it in An'hiU("fllral F(IIlfosits. the
aspiration is to develop 'the ability of the Ifldividual in que!otlon to
imagine differen, form s in all their possible interrelatiom and combi'
nations'. ~
Ilerein of coursc lics the vulue of his analyses and his gr.J.rnmm Ln
un age that can now gener..tle 'al l possible intcrrelations and combma-
tion . . of it~ selected formal vocabularies aUlomatic:.lly, with ne . .
teChnology, and can exploit the rulhlessly clear logic of relation
which he codified to make different. but equally lUCid. relational
"talCments.
for Ihe sake of hi~tory, however. il should be recorded thaI this
complementarity ofChernikhov 's work to t.heir own wa~ nOi admitted
(even ifil wa!o perceived), by the Construc ti vists. The ",-,ork's reception
manifestly suffered from the delay which scparJ.ted lhe development
 CATI IERIKECOOKE

of hi .~ idea:. from rheir puhlication. fly 1930 when his fir~r major
arclutcclUral trcati-.e came out. the m(Klernist groups in Sovict archi+
tecture were already embattled :Igain~t the growing oppo.. ition. More+
over that fil"Ol hook. FlIndall/enlu/.f of C(JIITemporm:1' Archi/c'<'/ I1"',
being as lI1uch concerned with architectural expre~sion as wilh pure
formal construction. W:I S not the best exenlplar of the complcmentary
rclalion .. hip (nOi Ihal the-.e were ye:lr. for vaulllmg the 'machme'
mspirarion of architecture cither). TllU' the review of CherllIkhov's
F1Wd(1I/1l'11I1I/1 in SA was di~mis~ive. 'Our archileclllre has long ago
outlived Ihe "~ymbolic" rornlali~11I of [akov Chemikhov'. wrote
KhlgCr. '1 1' Ihi~ book had appeared in 1921 +1922. when ~YTllbo li ~ m
.... a~ flowering here. :lnd we I\>ere concerned wi th Ihe 'dynamic ' III all
II.'. form ... and diversity . . . il might perhaps have played :1 cerwin
role. '~I In the hi\lOricaJ pcr~]Jcctive. however. Chernikhov's work on
the fOml;)1 prindple~ of a Constructive :trchitecture rcpre\Cnts an imp-
onant elaboration of the general theory in area~ where the Con~trucllv,
ISI\ themsclve .. have not left u'" record~ of anYlhing "0 exhau ... ti ve.
'The applic'llion of m:l th elll.llica l met hods'
In the paper preceding hi~ full e>;po,ition of 'ConslmctiviSI1l as a
method'. Ginzburg had recognised thai 'Ihe whole Soviet commun ity
ll1ulac. So 100 did the 'Iransrationa l' poet Khlebnikov. dO!>e colleaguc
at olle stage ofTatli n. who cxpounded the idea of a complex periodiC-
ity in Russian revolutionary evenl~ Ihal was capable of precise
l1l:llhematical fonnul:ttion.~\ Mosl advanced for its time In Ihe archLCC+
lural world. however. wa~ the Con<;tructivist group's work on optiml~ +
ing the parameters of their '\patial protoIYpc~' by quamitati ... e mcth+
ods.
All Iheir deSign work involved I11mimi .. ing the lenglhs of now
diagrams. Underlying the well-known ap:lftrnent types' A-F", which
Gi Il/burg and othcr~ developed for the RUS'I'Ul Building Committee.
STRO IKOM . lay very interesting work on the static parametcri of
spal ia l organi\ation:. produced when the apartment uni ts nrc hnked by
circui!ni(lIl system .. to form whole buildings. Mort:: complex 1I1tcrac
tions of' now' factors were thc focus of their malhcmatical argument"
with Garden City adhcrent~. on the rclativc cconomic and hurn:m
menh of 'exten~ il' e or intcn,i\'c' re!>idenl ia l development.However.
asone young foundcr-membt-rofOSA pointed out in hi, VKhtrrEMAS
final diploma thesis. whde Ihe,e lirmtc\l :Hld es~entially technical
.. tudies gave 'undeniably u!>Clul resuILS. they were sltll 'considering
requiremeLll~ too much in isolatlon.'U They did not tac~Jc the problem
of ..ynthcsi .... Gin7burg.s consp icuou ~ ~ilcnce on the nature of the

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174 I

mUSt be drawn into solving the ta<;k' which that 'functional method'
outlined. The ta , ~ which il defined W:I\ 'not with 111 the po"cr~ of lite
~tnglc architect or even a collective of ;)rchitects' .q~ The exhau ... uve
prt'ci<;lon 10 which Ihey :l\pirco aho oemanded bodic~ of data and
research thaI were decade, beyond the Soviet U lIion'~ horizon at thaI
lime. Alllhc same. ~ome TCmarkable work wa, done in broaching the:.e
topk~. and in panlcular in mathematici\ing them.
Working wilh leading structural cnginecT1i, for example, they thcrn-
!.l'lve~ explored Ihe relative econo mic~ of variO\I' new ~tnlctuT:L 1
~y~tem~. Using the late~1 foreign data and research they advanced
building sciencc aspect .... On lighting I~ .. ue~. they made pioneering
stu(he~ of the re1:Llionship .. belween ('olour and working efficicncy:
between fenc~lr:lIlon and ilIum in:'IIion pattern .... Thi~ work i~ publ i~heo
to their journal and elsewhere.
llte passion for numtx:r ha~ to be ~cen in the context of injunction!>
loqoantified precision which rang through all the Soviet state carn-
paign~ of thai 1ime for r.uionaJi'kLlioll and efficiency, 1I1 social a:. well
aseconontie and mOllstrial fields. Althc \arne time. however. there are
intcrcMing echoes here of early Constructivism'S links with avant-
gardc liter.If)' circle,. Form:lh"t critics \uch:ls Sh~lov:'lk.)' delighted to
e~rrcs~ scmamic and structural relalion" in quasi+l1ulIhematical for-
. rea~\cmbl y' procc\... in the' 5th ohJect' orthe function:11 melhod. made
il al l too clcar Ih:\ ttllJ~ Nikol .. LKr.t,i l'mi.;ov wa~ right. Here m the \'cry
heart of the arc hitec t '~ province. any 4ue~tlon of':\ -.cientific .
replacement for rhe habJlual II1tuilive+gruphic method of de~igrl1ng
[h:!d[ hardly Ix:en broached' ."" In hi~ diploma .md a JOIl1I paper with
fellow-'lUdent Lldiia Komarova. Kra ,irnt~ov 'tried to open up thl~
que ~ ti on . . . to creep IOw'lrd" ... a mathcmallcal-gro.lphlc method' of
.\>01 v II1g It."""
Kra,il'n ikov bel ieved Ihal . A ,cicnlific theory of the de~lgn offonn
is po~,ible through the di:Llecticul method of Ihmking by the applica-
tion of mathematical me thod\ of anaIY'i': lhal is. by anal),,,\s which
u-.e~ the mfinite'Llllal concepl ~ undcrlying an .. lytical geometry and the
differential and integral ca!culu,". and the theorie~ of prohability and
mathematical ~talistics'-97 IIi", thesis W:L" devoted to demon:llr.lIl1lg
how these tcchniqul!!> could be u-.cd 10 optimi\C 'Ihe actual foml or the
buildll1g' in term ... of ' the material re!.ourcc~ for con~tmctmg and
running il': 'amortisatlOn :md repairs'; 'the lime ~pcnl bypcople in all
kind ~ of movement': 'amorti"atlon of the health of the individual":
which wa~ a func tion of ''>Unitary-technical and p:.ychological fac+
t or~': the extcnllO which 'conditions in particular parts of it favour Ihe
ma1tJnlUm "productivJ\y" of 111ental or phy~ical work. and of leisure' .

:\1
 DECOr-:ST RUCTION

I.
3 4

I
I
I

,
: I

',n" .. _1, .. 1___ _
'_... -- .... 'r-= ., .......

. .

H.oW t:JIM;I/AM A .... I>S('!II,"I, 01 EQUII,\l r,,'T DI'llIVl:l 1'1/0,'1 GI __ lOlNO'S AN,\I.OOY "I:TWEEN II~ 11.D1"G FOI< ' MM'11 1M >S' A:'IIU IIU1LDI:'IIG l'UJt I'S:{)I~., ~1I.0.'1 .I N~J ,,0 1

34

-,.;-or,< -
H1I parlicular objective w:t~ 'Ihe building form which divergc~ le;I,1
from the maxllna or minima 01 e:.lch of the"-l! faclor,,' whihl :11\0
achie~ing 'the maximum cubic volume of huildmg on a given 'lie
atC3'. At Ihe plannmg '>Calc" he then opumi\Cd "conduiom of dilyhghl-
inp, exO'url! to wind" and vcnulalion of lhe whole admmi,trallvc
complex, and linb oclween lhi~ buildmg and olher part, of the
lo\\'n'iOj The detailed mathcrllilliD arc inappropriate here: I have
tran . .13tcd lhe whole paper cI ..ewhcrc.'i<I Some illu .. lration~ indi(';ne the
113\'our. It l~clear thm the group al\ a .... hole were u.. rng theirm:llhemat-
ic~ to lhe linul. as SA pubh,hed one graph who'>C 'tr.l.nge change of
gradient Immediatel) anraCI, the mathematical eye - and III fact
rtwl1, from a mi..,lal..c v. hen KrJ.'II" n il..ov ev.11uated hi .. q ui Ie comple,\
formulae,
A~ archllecture, hi, circular lown of ,ky~cT;lper ofllce-blocks Wa\
!iOmewhatlradllionally cOllcclVed, hut hi~ concern wa~ wilh method.
1l1,aucrnpttu include fac tor, which S:.... chenko would can 'proper-
tICS'" a~ well a" 'pilr:llnCICP;, was imponal1l, lIi ~ procedure for
optiml~lOg_ howc\ocr. remained Imear. He e,lablhhed the best ,pillial
ronfi~uT'Jt ion~ 'in relation to each of these faclC)p, II1dividulIl1y", He
~111I started from lhe optimal now diagram albeit one now defined m
greater detail. and pfobabill'>llcally and compared that to other
Optima by in'l)cclion, in a pre-e,labl i~hed order of priori tie" Thu~ far
he had nO! moved beyond the linear ~IIIIJll"ldtsii(/ of Ihe functiona l
method under which he hlld tX:CIl taught.
Krnsil"ml..ov recognised that, as he did Ihe prinlllivenes<; of hh
technlque~ by Ihe ~tand:lnh of" higher ll1alhematlc~ -" c\ en then. In the
wb...equelll paper with Komarova he recognhcd Ih.1I thi~ W3' ~till
~Ililally the age-old proce<;~ whereby Ihe architecI examines a \Crie~
ofdi'ICreet. a\temallve fon11>; 'and divines cmpl riclI lly", the most
~uc:ee~,flll combination>; ()flho,e variallt~ he hac, PUIIO the le,t'. Under
the: lit Ie 'A method of inve'l igating the generation of building form'
they li1an.--d 'Our aim mmt oc 10 ildvance th i-. proces~ in order 10
make O'\lblc an objective scientific asses~mc l1l of (Iff Ihe po"'lble
CATHER1J\b COOKE
- , , -- -
varitllih available to the de\igner.'II.l
11 wa ... the concepluJI ~Iep emlxxlied III thai '1111 " II hich wa~
hi,torical1y import;11l1. Since Rodchenl..o fiT'>1 ~poke of "~ho\lomg the
dC'Ig.ner how hc may .I ..semble all po"lblecon~tru(tiC)n" "the idea had
remained a chimer.llo them,
From the prem i..c Ihat 'the f()nn of any body is a funclion of nwny
va ria ble, ". Kra ~i I" nil.. (}V and Komarova argued Ihm II d ia lect lcal proc-
1:" lal..e~ pl'lce in which even purely 4uanlltlilive changt' III the brief
lead to a qualitatively differell1 form, and the 'correct' form emerges
from a re,olutlon of compcllng orconflicting demands, 'A conlinuou<,
'-l."'quence of varian!" therefore e)li'ts. Thl"> concepti' qU ite different
from the <;ene, of dl'>Crcel, altemmive fonm, With IWO example~. the)
oUllined a rnalhcmalicalpTOCedurc 'for finding the mo~t :j(lvantngcou~
po~siblc dilTlen~ion~' 01 a given ~p:llial organi~ation in tcrm~ of "CO~I,
for a given form of cOT1~truction'. It involved 'drawing up c(juations"
de,cribing 'CO~I~ ur a specific form of anyone part of Ihe building in
relation 10 all different forms of each OIher pan. 11le'\(' equations
would produce '" 'eric, of CO~ I curve,. The~e y.,e can bui ld up into a
,urface. or 1>y,tem of curve, in ,pace. wh ich will give u, the poMtion
of minimum co~t:11l 1 [n Iheir list of ':III the requirement,' for which
they would establish were included ulilhe oq~anbation:tl. material,
environmenta l lind ~ocial ractor~ contained in Kru~il'nil..ov'~ earlier
list of building', five mca,urc, of 'co'lcffeclivelle~~, 111 the very
broadest sen~e', The'\(' in tum embraced Ihe whole 'fiN object' ofthc
functional method, from siructural que~tion, through to "the flov.'
diagram~ and '>Chelllc, of equipment. alway .. remembering ~ani t ary
and hygiene faclOr, such as dayhghling", This clear mathelll'llical
fonnulallon of the concept of a nm1ti-dill1en~iOT1al solution ">;urface'
~CIll~ to be unique in Ihe <1rchiteclural contexl for ilS time, lt wa~ to be
aboul four decade" before automated dutil-processing techniques
emerged, and .lIlY architects o;larted handling (he enomlOU'> comput:l-
lional operations involved in an inlegrated , multi-variate optimi..ation
of this kind.
[)E(,O\l$TR UCT [O\l

Wllh hi!> reali"tic umkr~tanding of engineering. Ginzburg'~ 'func- !>y~lcm' Ihenry, and 10 lah!r technique!> for ,nlving ~uch l1Iulti-\ ariale
tional method' W;l~ an a lmO!>l li tem l n.:spon~e to the ob~ervati()l1 prob l em~ . T he ...unc twO, canonIcal, llll:a~ had lain bchllId the carly
,
(

I
InJunclion in B u~harin 3nd Prcob r:Llhen, ~ ii'~ Af)C (ljrommlllli.ml. of ConslrucllVI'I~' redefinitIon of de~ign a, :I fu nc tion of 'rJ.IOIIIJ.o, I
[IJI9. Ihal ' M ar't ' ~ ch id im lruclion lo hb followeh was Ihat lhey !lIJ.tUn/ and /...OllltruJ.'.I;io'. bUI whiht the content ;lnd interrelation

,h(luld study li fe :1' il 3clually i, ... preci'>e[Y afte r Ihe ma nne r in which ~hip~ of t he~e Ihree 'd l,\Cipllnes' remaUled ill-detincd. thclr's W3 ~ a
we Illlght study a 1I1ac h me: "'~ In II'> J.OIIYlrllJ.fll/(l. hi" whole, e,-.cn- vcry ~encrJI model.

ti'llly linc:Jr process was aho rooled in a medl:lIl1cal ana logy, With A~ a gmup. the COlNr\JCtlvi~1 archilccl~ refu ted charge~ of trying
their gm"p of mulhenlat i(.;s, K nI~I I 'nikov and Komarov;J ,ough t to '10 eliminate the :!c,thelic clll(Jlion', They were merely ,eeking 10
indicale the ultimale IInplicaliom for arc hitC(.;lurc of:J remark from reconi,e that 'the charaCler of il ha~ ch;lIlged under the innuence of
Engeb' Diafr('ti(.f lIlIll Natllral Sdt'IICl'. :Jnd Ihe almo .. t idcntil':ll one ch:lI1ged condition, of hfe. new eeononuc priorities .lI1d new technol
from Lenin wh ich headed their papers,lhal ' In order 10 rcally ~ nllv. :In ogy' .111' Nor. Ginzburg 1I1,... led. did 'the funClionalmcthod of thin~
object. il 1!> necc~ .. ary 10col1lprchend. to study, all a'J>CCt' of it : all it!> ing in any way elimmil1e the extremely comple't t a~k., of architectural
inl(:(1Ial :Jnd c.\t~flwl conncclivillC'. W it h Ihi, concept they broughl fonn-making'; 'ill11ercly e~t:LhJi'hc!>" fran1ewQr~ ofproceduTI!\ fOl'
Ihe fUllt'llolla! melhod 'iCveral ~t;lgC" cio<.Cr 10 laler COllCCpl~ of that procc~ .. :II)1

I \'11'1'1'111<'1111<1/(/ ur~ Iilld,lJlra (~,\ I. I X2!!, nil 6 p 170, .\3 i"lIl, I> 64.
2 M Gl1l1bllrg,KQII~lrul.. l ivilm )"(1),, melod t.Jhor.tIUn10i I pi.'dago~lehc'~()i J4 I ll' di""-'lI'~c~ Ihi, III M Glll/hurg. Sill' I l'IHIHul, Mu"m~, 1924. pp 9. 10,
raboty', SA. 1927. no 6 pp 1606, 35 Srt'lh Aj)IlI'~fli/JllcrfJI. Mtu,;1c, in IIJ11 . no\ 11 - 12; 1922. no~ 1,3. 78,
-' \1 R Savchcnlw. 'The \lallJrc :lOd \1t lhotl~ 01 Apphed R c~eJn-h m .'\6 f\ "Ulllr~lIlTfl. monthl) uf \1AO: only 2 i~\ue\ publl\hcd: 1923.110\
An.:hlll..'UUfC. EIlWOIIIIII'1I/ /JIlJ PI{llIIlfIl~ 8, 1980, \01 7 no I Pll 3 1~6. 1-2; 3-4.
1 11J1,I, P ]9. ]7 VI Sellll(llWV, .Ochercdnyc adJt"h I .. ;\ rHIII('~t,.r,l. 11}2J n(l 12 IlP 2Ik'll.
~ Y S Nat!m~),,3i a,A \WIllUlI :aw//l arthill'l.,lIIrtlO11 mll.-{' I!(J~O fJrOl'~I/ro"IIII/W, ~ ~ 0 1 Rct!Ahl1, . E."cl i),,11 '\IV rcmennO\1 i ' , II rhlll'~ 111m, t 'n.l no 1-2. I'P ,.
Mo'>Cuw.1979. p6J . 6.
6 C Coole, . Foml 1~ a t UOCllOfl, ",," . Iht devel0llmcnt tit th,.. Ct)!I~lrut IIvi\t W N 1 SJ\cl'e\a. 'Or~anl/al\lla nall~ Ilh .JT~hlldaurc v ~O'UdaN\enro
olrthl1C1:ls' d~ign method' . Arc/lllfl IIIml DClH:II. 5/6. IWB , I'P 34-49. cspe :'I~ade lll n ~htldo/hc'l venn) ~ h nall~. in A t\ SlngaJcIi . cd. Pmhlt'/l/I i""rtI
Ci311y pp 4741t .mn'f.~{f1f ",-MII/,'IIIfT ~h.mIlC \1O'1CO~ 1'.l In. PP ~K-56: a'~t) Bo~ It , RIIHI,m
7 1lle-.e conne\:llOlh lire funhcr dl'>Cu!>~d In Ihe -'<:cooo half 01 Ill)' ~rl1l'1t' An, pp I%-I(
' ll1lJgc~ or Intelligcnce-r IJllhl~ ~olunu,', 40 Sal']'cv". 'Organll,ll,il:I', p .~3.
M M G 1Il/.buTg. 'r:.clevma US I ~n\lv),,:I v ~ovrCI11C111101 ,lr~h IIC~ lure' . SA, 11)27. 41 Gill/hurt!. SuI' II'/}(}~hil.
110 I IlP 410, -t:2 I V K(l),,~ lfl'l)"i. 'K ~opro~u tl I l.ailllowiM;I~h \oVt't~~Ogll i / J.rube/h}n~b
9 N Kru~i l'III~()v. ' Prohlemy ~ov lt!mCnnOl ark h nc~tury. SA. 1928. no 6 l>il Jrl..h I t e~t\lro\ v 1920- 193IJe god) '. Ifl I rJl'fIIH }I/' ('/I~j/S:(/ 1;;(lIInI;lfd'II(1~,
1706, 1I{IIHfI'(1 / <lrV"'I'{fII/,\". Mo!lf,:ow 1976 IlP :\50M2. She aho mentions lhat
10 In SA 1926 no [ he ,pca~,ofa 'melod fun),,11'o101l,11' nOt!o 1\'on.:hc'I\',I' . m LUJHut'har")"IIIlUllli\hl't! a Ir;Jml,I(IQl1 \If '[.1." yCU\ qui nl! \UlCIll pa,,' 1I11ht
no 4 he ~pca~, of ' l11elod f unt..l\ 11)n<l[' l1(.go m y~h lell1!.I' Ihough Ihe ar1lCk I" Journal hI!' ediled, Klmt!o:hj'I/I'('/11llllrllll, 11)23, nn 2, pp 25-K.
el1mled 'FunkhHllhll'nyi l11elod', :lIld through 1927 onwanh Ihal phrn."c 41 Edgar \I "rver\. 'OhllJr /hu ma tov ' , II IHIII"~ 111111. I\}2) 11I1 1-2 I'P 4 2-44,
apPC;lr, genernll). 44 M Ill"':: I G Iluburg ,\Il'It /111.1 f' /10/11 II. mlruuueed and Iran"l.ul!'d \'1) A 1l0l1l1~
II Gill/burg,' Kon .. ITlll..uvi/1lI I..J)" lIK.'lo<I, 1l60. Scn~e\ lIlh. Jf. MIT, Camhndge. 19M2.
I:!: A~ mite 6. 45 Gan. A. ()lI\lrlf~'ill;l/I. p 54
D A" nOle II. ~6 A V KU/t\CI~O\ . Ar~hlll:~1Ura i ~hcle/ubel()n'. Zmlt Jill. 1915. nil 1920:
14 M Gin/burt!, KOll'lrut..livirm v ar~hl\{"l..lurc',S.-\, 19211, no.'i pp I,n-~. Vel).lQIl 111:\ ~pe:cch 10 Ihe 51h Cont!rc~~ of RU"lun Archllccl~, Mno;cow. II} 13-
IS Juhn ~ i Incr, \ /lIdllll;1 T(IIIiII ,111/111,1' H /11'.'.1(111 A \'(/IIIGmd,". Yale, I 'J!!J, 47 OUlItJllrg, Srii'I f'{lo~h<l, p U.
PI> 151110. 48 Ihltl. PI} 11 20.
16 LecluTC. I \\,1) 1%9. CJmbndgc;;1 vcr-Ion pubh"h(d Ill: P Coc & 'vI ~I} 1/}lf/. pp I 1920; Oil Ihe "U IlUral dmlel1"1t1n he refcn. 10 RII"I:1I1 cd 1I1011~ u/
Rt.KiIll t! 1.1l/1t/~ ill 1/1/11 Tj'j HlII. LOIKlon & Ilr"'IOI, 19R I , PP 19 [ 9 " l)all\lc\' \ ~ y' " Nu HI,l(lIItf I:.llmflj'. H~K~, and 0 Spt'nt!ler' ~ Ocr L IIIt'r~jJM
17 T Andcr.;on. \ t.lflllll/rTa/lm. Stoc~holm. 19M: S Banll,oo. Till' Tnull//f/II I/f'l 1111('11111<11"/(>1,192.',
IJ[Crl/ltlflll'/il'IIIII, London. 1974. ppll 14 J Bowl1.l'tI, HUS,IIWII\rI (lJ OW ~O Gln/hurg, Stir I ,'!/{IUm, I1P 7X, 7]K9, I:!:!
II wl/uGarde TllI'ol'.I' IIIIlI C 1'1111 IJIII 1902 1932. \lew Yort... 1976, pp 20~b, ~I illlll." 12 1.
IX S 0 Kh;ll1.MagulI1cdcv, ROiIi/wllklJ. Lundon. 19l56. On fumlallun of Ihe 52 I/JIII. 1'111.
i'lr'l Wor~l!lg Gruup of Con~l rU"I\oI~h, 'cc pp 9O. C)4, On debale aboul 53Ihlll.1l 12 !.
~(JJII/J{J:ilIlI(l and ~OI/JImlwi",. 'OCC IIp 8389: attumpan),lllg vi,ual mJterhil S4 Ilii,l. P 94.
~ ill be found in A Z Rlldem.liue. ed, RlIllum AmmGlm/e Arl: ', he Gl'or.':(' 55 /llid,1l 9.',
CO.\I<ftll COIlt'cllllll, London. I'JIII. PI" 110-127: 'TIle I\lKht.;K Ponfoho' , 56 1/1II/.p 111 .
I'J Thcre I~ eOlllu\HJ!l rclmivc 10 arch ivil l ,ourcC\ ht're, hllllhc e\,ellllalle~1 S7 il,id, pp 128-9,
I" Ihal It, hich ,Ippear\ li' 'The propall1l11C uf Ihe Prodll~11 v iq Group' III IJann, 5K //)I(J, P 132,
I
'\lll! Tmdlllun, pp 18-20, ;11<;0 111 ~ Gnbu, Cu/Ja. Lundon 1957. :'\9 lind, p 113,
20 A lek~el G;m. KIIIlIfru~il'I:III. T~er, 1922. ft() 1/ ... /. P 134.
21 Bann, The Trachtinll, pp .l2-42: Ilow!!. RIIH/jl/l ,\ n, pp 2 1 ~ 225. 61 Prof V K Karpovlch. review of Ginl bur~ . ,Sill' i ('IH/Ukl, III KO/llII/IllIf/1' /lilt
22 GJn, KOIJI/ndl/\'i; m, pp 20: 53. UIO:/ml/l 'o, 1925, nn 2. pp t61-8,
2~ Ihll/, P 5~. 62 A h ROltnhu rg, FiIO\lljill (/rVlltf'~fII/'I, Lenlll,k;md, 192].
24 Ihl/I, P 6t. 63 Edgilr Norven. ' l'ricl11 y plamrovt.. i '. III V N SemlOnm'. cu, Ul/e sill'l'Il'nlr
25111111,p612, Mroill'i'lfl'll, Mo),(ow. 192:;. pp 15:!6.
26 liIill, 1l62. 6-1 'SA pnVebWtlel \'})" hucl"ASNOYA", S\' 1926. no 2. p 59.
27 Ihill. P 65. The he,t o,(lurce on Ihe R:I IIOllah~b theone,. AS1\OVA'" "or" and rcscan:h
2R cf D Elliot, cd, AI(,\{Imh'r R(1tkh('II~II, O.\ford 1971), p 46. I~: A natolc Senkc\' Ilch Jr . A"fl<.'C!:> of ~p;I1!a1 fonn and percep1 U~ I p}cholog)
29 Gan, KIIIIJlm4I1n:III, p 64. III Suvlel l!rchllCClllTC ol lhe 1920s'.
~O /hul, P 53, VIAfl, MIT, Camhri<4!e. 1983. pp 79115,
3 I IlmJ, p 63, 65 Onlhe f\)lmding urOSA ...:e: Y E KhManova. comp,l: Il/IInl sm't'ldm
12 Ilmi. p 63. jlrHII/('~lIIr\' 1926- J:!. t/OA/IIIIl'I//I' i IIId/I'ri(lII, ,\ i o,cow 1970, PP 658.

1(,
 CATHERiNE COOKE

66 MGinzburg, 'ltog j j pcrspckl j\'y' ,SA, 4-5, pp I 12-1 I 8: Ihi s :mic Ie appears
in English trnnslalion in: T & CF Bemon, cd s, Form ami FUllclion : A Source
8()()~ for I/u' II i~/Ory of Madall ;\ rchilerlllfe (I/Id 01' six!! 18901930, London,
1975, pp 156- 160, On the J)c(;\)(1struct ion disc uss ion. "CC my article ' Images
or Imclligeacc?' in the present volume,
67 1'.1 Gi nzburg, 'Novye metody (Irkhitcktunlvgo mY'hleniia' , SA 19::!6 no I
pp 1-4,
68 MGinzburg, 'Funkhional'llyi melod i form~', SA. 1926, no 4 p89, and
GmJ.bu rg, 'Tse lev :Ii:! u~t~novb ..
69 Gin/,burg, SIil' i epoklw , later pan~ ofChapler I,
70 Gin/.burg, ' Novye melody', p i ,
71 Ibiel, P 2,
n K " ka ~hcv, 'Fonw.l !,;lmoli::ta I metlxl y ego proc kIirnv:ln jia ' , SA, 1926, no
J. pp (156,
73 Ginzburg, ' Novye 111(,lody', pp I. 3,
74 ibid, pp l4,
7~ Ginlhurg, 'Funl,Nonal'nyi metod ', p R9,
76 IlIld, P 89,
77 So.'C latter pan of my article 'Thc Ru, ~i an prccursor~ !!1 Ihe prcSC!1l
volume, and for more detail: C Cooke, 'A R\L~s i a n Con\ truellvbm ~nd the
ellY', UIA }(lIfrlla/ of Ard""{'I,'IU/'al TlIf.'(/I) 01111 C rilid,I''''' I,Ol1don, Vol I, nl)
I {19~, pp 10-25, or' RLl s~i:ln re.'ipon,es to Ihe Gardell CilYIde3', Ar('hlll'"
/llral Hrl'irl<, JUlle 1978, pp J53-36J,
7~ GinJburg, 'T~e l evaia u'lanuvl a', p 6,
79 11111/, p6.
80 ill/(/, p7,
81 Gan, KlIlI.llrllklll'l::m, p 65,
82 See laner part of my art tcle ' 1111~ gc, or lmclltgcncc?' H1 the prc,c llt
,'olumc.
s.; Ginzburg, ' Kon,lrukllvi l lll ).;uk ll1elod' , p 165,
84 Ou Chcrnikh o\ :\IId hiS work >;cc: C Cooke, CIII'I'/IIAhlH" F(lm(/~y (md
C()nslnlt'li(1Il lI,km' C ''''/'/Iikllf!\'' S Appr(X/( II 10 ;\1'/'11111'('1111'(11 Dc.\'igll, Archl'
lr:clural [k,ign Profile no 55, Londun, !984, ~bo ~elected materia l on
C1lemj lh(lv'~ thcorie.\ in the pre!;C111 volume,
85 lakov Chernlkhov, KOIwrllbsriu arUwcklu/'/I)Aa /IIWsillllyklr!orll/ , Len
Ingrad, 193 I, pp 93%,
86 Ja\..ov Chemikh ov, OSI/{!\ '.I' ,l(II'1'l'melllll)i (/l'klllll'kllll'l, Len Ingrad, 193 I
(Second edition ), p 49; Ihi.'> book was fiN publt~hcd in 1930111 a slightl)'
different fomlat.
87 Olemikhov, OIIIOl ' \' ( 193 1 edit ion), pp 58-59,
8Sihid,p51.
89 Chcmikhov, K(Jl/l'lmAI,\'iill . p 139,
90 lakov Chemi khov , A rkhilckwl'llyr j alll(ISil; 101 kmllpO::lIsii I' kmskaH/,
Leningrad, 1913, p 43,
91 R Kh igcr, revicw in SA 1930 no 3, inside bae\.. cover.
92 Ginzburg, 'Tsclc"'aia ustanovka', p 10,
93 Th~ crilkal usage derives from the ob,.crvmions in Shklov~ky' ~ !,eminal
paper ' Art as a Device' , of 1917, o n the manner in which conventional
l~ngUllge U'c ~ I ready opcr~lc~ lhrough such s jmpllfic~ljon and ab~lraclitln,
lIe dist u'~el> how ' habi tua1ion ' in Ihe use of language leads 10 'Ihe proces.~ of
"algebri\alion", the over aUlOrnisation of an object IwhIC hl pcr111t1S the
grea le~1 economy of pcrceplive effon ' and how 'lhb c har"c t e ri~lj c of thought
not on ly sugges ts the method of algebra but even prompl~ lhc choice of
sym 001 ~ ie, ICl1crs, espec i~1l y in it ia 1letlers', The fu Il paper appears in Eng Itsh
under lhc ttlle 'A n as Technique' in: L T Le mon & M J R ci~, cds, Russian
Fortl/ali,I'1 Crilici:l'IIl FOIl/' EJwys, Ncbra~k~Lolltlon, 1%5, pp 3-24,
Khkbll1k ov'~ lheorics of 1he penooicilY of evenl!> appeared m his lWO
Iilhngraphed bmadsheel~ \' rMllik I ' I'lilllira K "'/'Imikom (Ifdimir K "'dmik{)l' $
H em/d), Moscow 1922, 1923,
94 Kra ~iI'ni \" ov, ' Problemy',
95 illid, P 170.
\)6 ibul, and N KI!lsil'nil ov and L Komarova. 'Melod Issledovaniia
romlobr:tl.ovunii~', SA 1929 no 55 pp 1834-4,
97 Kn~Il'nikov, ' Problemy' , p 170.
9R iNd, pp 1745,
99 C;llherinc Coo\..e, ':-Ji\..olai Km~il'ni k o","QuantI1~ l t veApproach toArchi-
lectll nt 1 DeSI gil: An Earl y E,\ ample " [III'irolllll/?lIIlllld P[ulillilill B, 1975, vol
2 no 1 pp )20.
100 Kra ~iJ'1I1 k ov ;lnd Komarovii. 'Metod', p IRJ,
l UI illid, pp 183-4,
I02 N B II\.. harln and E Preobralhensk Ii. II :/mk(1 ~vIIIII/I/I/i SllIII, 191 9: Pcngo in
1%9.pp66-7,
103 Ginzburg, .IIiI' i /?/JOlIlII, P 122,
104 Gi n/burg, 'Funktsiona l'nyi metod ', p 89,

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Thl' pll',l'lIn:~ of Ihe uld I~ lliual hou~cholli cornpan:li willi IJ01TOM : -Ille flIllOn~1
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, "0 hou~wg coopcmtlvc, clc.1101I1 thl' munlclp,ll affair< pcTl<xhcal Stroud'm'o Moskn'.

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A80V I, Three \Iud,,:, III lhe as'o(:mblagt' or nll."lhdnl~m ~ m machmc~. and RIGIIT
.. 41)\1\ 01 lhc pnn.: Iplc, dClllOtISIr.lh...d by vanoo, machllK" CtllnpolIC:f1I~. J (()lUlllcA ~
rorm ... ,lh mhcremly con~lruclJVC chanu:u:n ~u~... and 'uB IIIllk or lhe scre w as a
ctlllllrulCtllC (lfIIIC,ple. all 0)' la~ov Chenll~hov. (1Hd ' ... c:nul.... n:prod~{'c:d rrom ,.lIr
C"f!$lrlld"", III Anilll,,'lIIrul ,md \1<J chITll' ' WIII.'

CO,\ S'IIH tT l \'J.; I'RI '\( ' II'I ,ES AS II I\ SIS OF IIU 11.0 IN t; DES H; '\:
BELOW RIGHT: Ah'lr.t(:1 Sluthc< or Ih~ I ...0 'Cj)lNructl~C prmclplcs' of . L:mlmmng'
IIld 'Mnunllnl!'. "llh Il [LOW: desIgn for' a f uncllO!1al buddIng' lACorp urutin g thc'iC:
pnntlpJes (Cl\cmi~hov: C'mU/rUOWlllJ[ Auhllrdl<ru/ U1J{/ M m hmt F nTms),

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Art as laboratory work for design: 1

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40
 CAHIERIN ECOO

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LAKCH(ATORY WORK I
VladimirTatlin W;\.S the fir-Ito propound Ih~ idl.'3thill pUl1.'ly ani'lI~ 'in\l~"igaliuns
I~J(I the usc 01 matenal It'>Clf and .... ,hal tins lead~ 10 m nll)Vl'mcnt, len'lon and Ihe
~lal"m octw1:cn tl,cm could servr as 'Iaboratory scale' r<<;I.arrh for 'ercat mg a new
w!\rld and, .. OUT new w~y 1)1" life' (Tailin. 'The won. ahead of u~ . IIJIQ).
AKOVE CEr>. Til. E: TaUm. CQun leT -rehef: mew I bnr. sheel and tlTnhcT. c1 <} 14, and
LEFT: One oftllC jj N Con<truOlvts t bu Ildlng projCCIS, by Tatlill 's {-arly col k'agucs Ihe
V~\nin brOl hr~: ~Ircl frnm{'d buildmg for the paper Ll'mll~nlll Prln'da

LAUORATORY WORK 2; F R ,\M~; STRUC"!URES

Art l~lk rt"Cllrch I;
FAR LEfT: LlUbov Popova. 'fonnov~riaIOry' ['fonn-vanHnl~-I. 11)21 11)12, 'Planar
li!'.Llrc,' (lUp) ~l1d 'spatial hgure" (below) from sl:mdard rod~. u<t:d as 'd~vice, lor
&tcmllning Ih{' cupadlle~ of ~lUdcnlS (or wurl,. un _pJ II ;,1 wn'trucllon~.
}\rti~t if rt',~prch 2;
ABOVE RIGHT: E;lrly "patlal con~l ructiuns' hy Roddltnlo, Slcnb<.'rgs :unl nthcr
rncmt!crs of the emergmg ConSlrul- ll vi~1 group. ~howil at an c~h Ibll iOIl of Ihe Young
An I~ts group Obmokhu. l\1 oo;cow, April 19~ I.
T",'hll ical studit'~:
LEfT- Self-as>~mbty 'y)!cm of bool ~hclvtng In glJ" am! mel,,1 ~l1gle. 'by CUll'
>lI\!O'~ I" GalaktiOllov, >luden! lof Rodch~nkol III Ihe to.lct::tI-..... orlang Facully or the
.."'....,. "._, C __ I . .. _ . _ .... p ...
Vkhul,'ma~ '-Chou]" ~1<}25. .01 """. . .. . . . . ......... . , ......... _ _ _ _
....... _ r .............. _ ,,,,. .,...,....
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RIGHT: Siand for a ,tTC\:! ~el1dor of clgnre!lc> and .... rlilng n:'lu"l1e~ dc,igncd fur . . .. . no ........................ ,. .~, . . , ... w ...
... . ....... m ... , ~ t . ....... . ..... n :/I' -
MusscJprom by A"' ~ ei Gan. 19~2 . Published in SA. wllh th.: Cll!l11'1lCnl III~I '~lr('Ct~
need functIOnal c'lu lpmem JUSt u, people' ~ h(ln"::~ dn. Con,1 ru,'tlvis11l must illso devOIe
II' ~ttcntl!!l1 In Iden tifYing ,m<! fu lmhng needs here:
D ECON ~IR UCTr O N

Art as laboratory work for design: 2

Funcl iona l applica tiun s 2: Rooms

A BOVE: D.:"gll fur a complele 11)0111: worl~rs' club Interior by Rodchcnko :lnd
~tudc n[ s ~ how li In Mcl nikov ' s Sovie t I-'avillofl at the P:ms In ternational cxhlbl li on
1925; BELOW- che,s table ( r~'Con.~ l I1.lCI; (II1' . Moscl)" 1980. photo Cookel.

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CO!lSlnlcl l~I SI archl1cCl" dc"gns for pr~rab rl\;al~'(1 hot"lnS buildmg S)'~ICHl~ usmll
locall y a"ailablc tnalcna\-. 1929JO. TOP for Ih~ new soci aii sl IIIdUSlf!al CII)' of
M agn IlogOr.l ~ . by 13af~hch. VI :ldinli rov 31\d OIhcrI. 3nd BELOW for Green Cil)' near
M(JSCOw. by Ginzburg and Banhch .

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 STRUCT10J\

LA II O R,\ TO Rl' \t O RK J: \lO L u \n~...

A BO\lr; \I"h'111('1nc C(>rIlP'N 1,on (If (I rClJlllr ;11111 rcClnllllu Iilr ('on ' hy a " udelll of Ihe
V~lnJl~rna, Ba,,~ Cuur,c tln.jer Bilb,,'hev, c;u l} 211-;, ~lId ABOVE RI(iljl" Ik,ign tor
alley, Iypc of ",:hool. by 1.1'11 lI1j::rJd Cun.1 ruell' ''>l le,mer Alc~arnlcr N ,~ul.~ I
KIGI IT d,,'I11UINrill,lIn of lhe [lflllL.pk lit 'J'IC ,k:lri1UUII 01 1<)nll\ y, nh l'yt II1dnl'~1 and
It'l-';rn~ular vut".J\C'" Iruill ('hcm,Ukll' Imu,JcI Co.... c. 191111. ~nd C'El\'l'RI' KIGHT
Ih ~ (0010\01. de~'l!n for the Elcrlmban~ btuldlllil. \ 1lN.'1J"'. 1916
HELO\\ Slu.km 31 ... " rl dIU .... 1[111 .1Ie Ihree dllncn'"l11al model of ;I 1'II1.trmIllMl
... hu: h he ha, l1laoc From Cheml~IM)I" 0",,11111'111,

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 CATHERINEC(

\ ,,\\\1.)\\ ,, ', OR" \\ OR" -': \\)\.\,. Ml'.':-t

ABOVE, Chenll~hllv: an c.~crcl'c In 'p,:nclmhon ' wah re<::langulur "plul'l)
ClMlh'. 19~'), ,lIltl BELOW G Vcgll1~n, 1'121. dC\lgn lur ~ th<'all'l' 11\ 51
a~OIl"m~lr1C VI~W. frlln1 SA
D['CQ'JSTRUCTIO;.l

Art as laboratory work for design: 4

LMH)Ki\TOKY WOKK 5: 1't.,''\hS

AIJOVEc ('hcnIlLhQ~ cxeIT'IW III 'pcnClr~II"'" of n'uul\);ul~r plane' (model n'oLc.
19~3). und HI:.LOW pro)C':1 f(JI new 'U~""lllonat' (half<:olIt'CII~'~) hou~Ulj!: by G
Vegman. cnll)' fur Ihe Cor"lrucll\' I~I group' ~ IJllemal eurnpe"!;"'''. 1921. from SA.
 CATlIERIt\E COOKE

1.,\ IIOK ATO ln \\ (IRK 6; SI \tlLAK KECrII.lN.; AK EI.DU. ' rs

A BOVF.: R()ddl('nl.o, IQ24, 'sl';uI~1 cUll~l rocl.on dcmon~trJI Illg multlplc u<;(1)( the
pmwheel pnne.pi<: rccon,;rucllon by h" grul1dson A Lavrcnllt'V. M'I"CO~ 1980
IphnlO Coo~eL
('L:1\'TRE LF.Fr ~ , .. k<:t!(ln of Ro<1dICIII.O'" '~par.al cOllsrruer ,,~\~ '. 19 14, C~ plonng
!he rombmlHOrutl pll,,,b. II! 'e, of dl frcrcn! 1.1Ild, (If JUln! betv.t:en reclall1!ular ~olumc:$
\If "arlou~ prop;tn 1<'"' ~u,h cn"'lrm'll<tn' tlcl.1I11C a <:cnlr~ 1 pan uill" de\llIll lea,lling.
BELOW LEFT J ,r m.I.1I gromClry u""d III lhe VC~llm brolhcl'o' ,ompelilion deSign
lor Illc Lcmn L.bmry ,omplc.:t. Mu-.co ..... 1'>'27; a~ono)lIl('ln~ ~IC"
TOP LEFT &: BI:LO\\ \lol...:i Gmlburll', CUlr)' for Ihc Con'InK'IIV"I" hnusmg
compellliou. l'ln.

. to

"
DECONSTRCCTION

ne" a t aa".
on a plane 6~OKf.~ Ll~~:ll 'or~

I TO C<Mo;l,I" (ron """ken I'nn

~ ~._coIOYre~ ornaen t .
t.hO

1 Linear elements
n... lUte O<:"-upl u.. -*1.ol .. t.l, GcaI .... Ullll.
') T" """"II ..
r ......
I.n.... b,_
"...,~.,., ~,
_In"" In all ............. t.Iotl .... or fora. I t ,a col""'ro<l

~~~
tlll!"~for .. u.~ aUrU.,. point o f .11 r.", ...
" ....... itl ...... 1 ...,",. " ...... ,J\lI6
tines .m,be "I alfled In the f"ll<>wllll!. va,.:

jOcc"rd,,,, to th.
o f tn .. POint 'r. Th. third .U~ Ji\ b" """'"tnoc:tlvr
\.noII M ~~Itlon. of CURVED L'N~5.
~""" ..n
eu ...... ~ Th .... have p.rtlcular Lnterft&t ,.esult ~r
alxed th~ "b~ndone .. of """'VO".l.",,al s>o .. ,b.liU . .
and l~ .. Infln.te dive .... ty or po bl~ curVft&,
BCCQrdinll t o dire<:tL .... , n: p.yin, att~nt'<>n al .. sy. to th ........ t~e of
c..
v.,rt.c.l Mn .. I l'O curve , which I. tto. '""reo of ,ta
horl~""1.\01 ",,...1(: propertl.... n,elr ." Ide u..ful"" . .
- dlaa ..... 1 o.L' .... IC .......... tIM
" .. r,.u f .... the W1IJ' u...ae
'"""""". the! C"".t......,UV"""M. of our
accord.". '0 : "".,.truct ,ono.
i I .... ""
_ In .poe4O

- .... ,
IL~ Curved I'n ... nay be ,,1 ... lflo<l ,nto tne
foll .... 'n. t".... ,
accord.". to dear .... of ,. ..""I ... " y .e:
rlallt ep'r,,1
_ nan_r ."t Ur<:ul.r
.I~ed ,, 'th eao<>th tran.ltlona
"eol'lhn, to relo"OlIfth.p with o tl>r l'nn; eCftJOlu curv ...
Int ......... ctLn'
non_lnteraeetln~ ~ch hao ,ta own charaot"r'o t 'c. and ,ta
Interh"'nln, IPectr,c a .U Ulc val"". The .plrol. fQr
H""'Il I .. , 10 ...""c'oll, 100""1 .... f or ,to
They ~y al." e r eat. ent,"1 tenoion.
or Z kln~: el .... d ~
Th""""" _t.hl,. conJu;lat<l'l line na "O!IPI
All ~ ... pOaa'bl .. "..-b'nalion. "f lin ... a ... " ....... "" CM .,...,.t......, t the _ t Intrlcato
av.,'able for ... pr.... I'" our .~.. 'n eriea , , _ . \ U"". ""I"b co ,.,.cate ""'r uro..,nt4O
or e<>nLI true:: t! on. . with .nt"",.... ' .... 1 """.. lctlon.7
D.rferen t t~nn'~~; d.. v,e . ~h "h-"II'" of , ... ,..,1 . . . . I.ht be,
lh.,,~ .... of tha I'ne., ar~ av.ll.bl. fo,.

ThP rhythm of lllasses, the rhythm r.lnfore,n,. " ........ IU",, ........ tnoc:U"rnu .
of ~eparate treatments of plane and Construct,ve " so.,tlon. of STRAIGHT l'nea ar.
~urr!'lce, are cOlllprehended by us and
t.ru. hr.t .~.
flml their expressi.on to the extent ~ ..""'Y tI'IuOI ... , .. ure ..... of tlla fell""ln,
kl nob: I TO eabla froe curvea
that we train our eyes to feel the r Ina... dy""",. e o ..........M.
reait ionshipe o f all these elements
onf! t o another .' I To aa.~I ... harROn."",.
e~.na t.on of .t .. al,ht I'n
thiS queotion 1IIUSt. be approached of dlrf......"t thl" ........... ,n
methodically and stated In a clearly 0"",",. t.O lIet a linear "<>1""' .....
o ......... nt.
forllltJlated sys tem."
Studying the fundamentals of
archItecture In sequential o rder of 2 To coap.l ounch of
coloured .~4O'allt l,n ... w.un 2 TO _ _ I" r .... .,.......00<1
Increasing complexi ty, we must so
dy ....'" .Iope. 11 . . . . . . taUe " .......... .
arrange all the material th!'lt the
IItudent. of architecture can under-
Btand tne real harmonies of a 1 r,..,.,.
u d u of
building as he gradually develops '~rtlc~l .t~.'aht I,n ..
through the planar and spat i al taska , Ii""" to uuoob le an
''''''~ ..t"c~ ""~Id
ThiS approach requires that there be s>roduee tto . ...pr .... I""
specifiC , defined tasks which are o f . ","Idlng.

problems and examples clari fying III . '
r"t'rr...' 3 To {roe curv.d lin ...
~ulld

detail the ess~nce o f each type In '1 , "-t e<>lou .... d .... tI.l c.......,.l tlon.

turn~ III""""""""""""";'''''111
Before ellaminlng the prinCiples of Th~ . _ . out or
the organisat ion o f space, we examine horU.o<IUl I' ....
~ I "" . ... ..,. do un. _ .. \ th
the elem#!nta whi ch are necessary In "l Ull Ll nn.8
non-objective s truc tures.' (ach of
theae baSIC, very Simple elements
requ i re thorough study of the i r o wn ~ The oaae . out of .ertlc.l 2 Planar elements
end ~~rl.onhl line . A eOftpoaL t lon I. plRnar ~en III It I .l.~nt.
cha racte r'ut i ca , and If one ... iahes t o
ftr .. diltrlbutU on on .. pl.no .u~r.e ... PI.""r
unite them , onc must also (lcquire "''''I",.ltlon. orrar .Wdy ... terlal ror.an,
appropriate kno ... ledge o f 'he essential .&~I". o f . . .. rei..... Th... ,apleat flnplor tho
methods of construct.ve deslgn,~ _ ........ 110<1 r1."t' figure., un. reel_I",
.qu..... , trl_11 .nd "'rel . 9

 IAKOV CIIERN IKIIOV

n.. ~ bl~lOlU""" or ~EYDlAt.

.a.-daht Ttl" ......... e ,nf'n,tel". n_""".
_ pount'''U, c.-p l .... In con.t.noeUon. '""'"
1101 be cl .... ed b, tenwol con f i guration ...
A
1fI.,........
c_l!;:i"" f ............ of
Bye .....
d..
Sl'ATU L COICIII NAflONS
- . . u....
lopl .,.
I.A.V
_ t y.l ...... t>I roc.I."" h ..
. p I U.I ,""Inklna Slid r... ,llant,
S~ A l(iHf !.I NE
(011_: wlUl CQn.t~tlv ~ prlnclpl... 7n. b~lle
f1 .guru .
- ~ t L1Lne.r figure. ~ont.ln l nl rlah t ang l e. p r lnc l pl _ or e_truetty, ....... nco"" ... ,'"
- rectilinoar f'gur~ w tt~ no right an,les 81KlKt N \.III.:S. h. r.. The 'nt. .... ctlon of one plant ~ IUI
- ........ , II...,.... f'l"ret! CURVW !.IIIES. anotllor pr"*'C_ c .....It.n>CUw. JOInt.
- fLII'rM .. r ou~ DUtlln .. ~. """rtlonal ... I.tI ..... lllpo "'""' .... 1.Uv. &l\IJoa
"n.. '"""
de '"" .... ..,...114" or oY.nll eonotrue""
~ ... tUin .. ar coongu.".t"". tLave ~he Ir~nt"" t lpatlol cgeb'Mtlo"". Th. c:#\naurulon of tho
Lnter t rOJ" U", 01"". U,., Il~v. tho! wtd t c_on~nt pi..., '"" b4l .. (911_,
ranae or p.ac t lo.1 Rppllc.tlona. but tho " .th
""v. ,
"=~:::"::;::::.
..,.,t. and Dbt"... _ I " . I ..... pot""U.1 to ~~-
..... e",""lnat,,,,,a .
- . t t l ..... """'Pldt~L , ..,...ht
coob'n~ t 'on. We ~anno t wl tll til.... fo..... In tho .....
COIlll.rootlv.l, link 2 ~\rclu, thou&h curvllln_ l>u!ld1~ ... ~ "cllin... rIM> Mtehl". of one
.or pi,.".,. .,.. ."""U.... c"Pohl" of conatr"Uct_ r",tanauJ.,. plane to anotaer require. II ttl'
,... 1, e.t>t"a<:'n& each o'./l~r. force. ""d tn. , , _ I tiona..". "" _ .. till
dynaalcI of horlOClntal . y.rtlCII, .n Incll~
Or .Iu~ .ype.
6 COMPLEJ.
NOM_IIIC1fl"
eon.tructlv. cgeb.na t tonl or PLAHES ON ~ PLAHti I'OLYOOHAL
.... u,. ~Id or ....y p ..actical ta.u. f1 ~ . wlUl
n.. p~L ,., .......,. aoluU"" or .. wlldtna pi"" dlfr .ren\
'""'lui,"" conlt'"""'tl"". or U,la 0<"<1. ... PI""" .. "ol.""r.Uon
n ......n, belnl dlveMl" In th.lr c""f l""rat'<>n
""ve lqu.o.ll, dly ....... rol In ddl&n."
b.re',.,... ..". Indude:

I A colour.. d II ....,."" co<ob,na t ion of horizontal

01111 'ert,ell pIQn.l.

7 S rKMETRICAL COMPOSIT I ~ ,~
A SERJES OF R2CTAIIGLlS proouel.,.
an I~pr~a.lon of bull d l",.

THE s ....U . bu~ ASVIIJIY.TN I CA!..

,
r.,....,.'t'on
r va. "'....
........ :>;>"""\
n ..........

.., .... Ittr"",!"e, but

1 f~.l<><!nt or the plane :;'conrlaurlu_ 110U
'"" "''-\.1"10.1 """MI. pao.lblltll .. av.llabl .

A 0_1 .." colour<r<l """""",It,,,,, or r'&IIt~

~t<I ~)"l>O with iln.!lJ" cl....,nu and elrel"

Elements in space
1 Planes

U N"!' SJNGLf. ~LANtS !"-~
A ..... u" flut .up towardll
a r orall aoluUon ot th... lap-
l.,.t .patl.1 eoncept Artl.tlc
ft"P..... 1w__ ""pend. on '"""

""11I".r '. part lcul ... oelu t lcn

4 Indet.~ln"te fo~ oon be . . .eebled

c ...... trucU". l y . but th. y tLav. no !nte.... t ror
.. tHrina " .. , r_11 . . . . - tered In p ...ctte .'3

DE('O~S'J RuenON

ntE STUOY Of' IIO\.UIlES II\IST "EGJN _ _ _ _ _ __

2 Surfaces 1;1:1,
r~l"t\QNOhlp
th~h La
of .... y
.h. luna
1,0,,;",.
pl~.e, wIth ~
~ Ith t~. ~1 ... t'OI'. of u.....~ "".pt... t ,-"..-.n
0,""" .. to jl.I'IIdu_lly <\tovclop In Uuo U<I<loont _
w, th ~"""tnocll." "r
th....., bod'~11
COOIbI ..... l ...... '. reellnll of _ . and ..el&hl In ... 01 ....... lie ~'ll
~ ~"r~h ~efit ... 1 quell"ona d ' .~ field . ~ _~ on 10 """,b."",U"". or ;Z Or ] 1',.,,1
bo'U ....
.,~ , . r" .. ,n,nll.. Wh. tL,. .he ,,,,,ertlon of """ and th.n f,nally to atat.c voLuaet~lc .sak. ,n
.~,,~ <,.n 1M' d"".,(, ..d '''::'''''''''11. to ""~ tMy b"<'T Inlo """th, ... ,,0'
lI,,. _r<K"1ljI, of one _ 1 ~on.tru("'V~ ~~poIIl t' on.
,,,.~ ;:_rHcd. ,nto: ~ ".,;;u;;:c. W ~ k~v~ (M ,,11 ~ ... r d"'.ctl~
,'yl""dr'"~l ('''''~~'''~I'.e ( .... ,,,,,,10",
~"I'''bL" "I' .... ,.."IJ,'. M
,'<"""~I ~ PNtotYP<' of ~c",j ",,,I
''''l~.'1 ~,'h'\!""~ '
R,)h.''''DI
~_,I"" _ t " K,,,,I ne the ~h., ... ,,,~,,,; al Ie eOqlo,,, t, Om!
11 ~

oM < n~ by cOIIb, n<"1I ~Irfe .. enl clue ...... of

T"<n~ a"rf..., . . ""'" U ..", """,lIr~ ...... ~ ","*,,1., I."""" 1>0<1,,",, ~. foIL.,.,...:
1'.".. t/lf'OUlIt\ th~ ~rrrcU of e.t"M'I~l To,..,,, ... I <'","",OSlll""'" of PUTES
t" 1><000...", ~ ,.....,o,,, l .onll of !M1I'l
.pLr"l J c""",,,,,a,,,,,,, of CI.I~~.:'I
..,""_ U<",,~~d ~ e0.f><>8It."". or 1'~~_LI.r.LIPIrt:ns
_I_" , -,~ ! . _~ed pr .... )
~o.pl .. _ly ~urY~ '. c ... '*'l' ..... of va .. '''''' ~FrTILI/li.AM
_ Mlf".trT lIOOl!:S 5 POL.Y<ll1HAL 1'1115/t;>
All th ..........y 1M! d'v,<II!d Int.o rl&ht .urf"'~.
or ...,LoUon ... h,ch a~e 0.0... f onoed f . -
.... t.u"" ...,....d _ .!n&I@ ~.a, and th
.I""h ..,... obtained ~ ith<>ul rot .. tlo"
.,,<:h ..u . P.AHS

S~'h'~. "f rotall"" are tn l"<Po~t,..,t We B~~ll define all ~ pla.('

""".'ru<:,lve e","p""Lt'''''~ and upeclally ~ H .l e >ten ,led 1'9,... llel.plped
v~l .... ble "h "" 'hey h~lp """,lf~a' dy"""'c ,n wh'ch the .... I.tlon.~Lp o'
pl'<'perU.... C _ " n ' pS"h of .my """'PIn 11.8 .I<Io! .. 1" larKer 'h""
aurra.. of ...,""l'on _y boI, I,S,I? COltlPU: ~ HECTi LI~&AR lIOO!1:S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
~r l""ntlc,,1 direction In both ~r on'~l nnd
... r"~ol Th ..... Ore of 1 kInde .
,n"" 'nt .......:ti ... condition. Ln b<>lh a
..... i"'tl'n~ _ . c u h _led ~oabl""t.on
,f aL_ad cOIOb .... Uon
"r pan<1I .. 1 d ....... U""
"r .." ... 1 f _
PI" t". ~ be eOAO'ned ~,'Iru~t'v"ly ...
foil .... ,
In one v e r""a l d'~et.on. ,, 'Ih .u'y,,1
_1
'y . . . . Lt.bly "'''Iad
.elected parte ond the .'7""~~~'
th_ . we DblaLn til" ",,1"'1 ..... d
pre".,venaa . ... de re.

~'l'endlc"l.r C"'. . _.bCtlon

."rf...,... of ",Lollon fo ... co ........... "
M 'n "ne horhonl.lol dl"",llo.. . ,t.h a c - , n
CO'""'''''tL""" ~ f'h 1'1""... . ex.~ ly dh."octl ... ~rpendlcular era-._obCllon
,,,lull,,,,,,, of M&h .rt . . U~ value "'1 ..... uH. !n a . "rt,c.l and hOr!.ontAl coab'Ha t lon
~;""Il Int<o .... cU"". could b., In an Inclined ""t""l In . .. n ...... I l""
. ~t r'jl.M ~n,;le, U an obt<", ",,~le , Or ,,, 'n a .. !xed eo.b, ... tLon
u.... 'I!r~"~I"" of ...,.... ~n~ of t~ . ~rfft e@.
eon.truct'~ of t~i. type can prov~ ~I",cult
fo .. bell"" ..... '

aa ... cQn ~. Cl .... 'fi ed

Surf"" of ..... laUon eM be acccrdll\jl. to t.h.lr <'''' ... _
~I""ed .... non-clOlll!<!. to'~ ar~ ...,,,on 'nto. ')'pea:
f~ ... ~ .o.t part ~'n& .qua.. ~ , ~teniUlar
IIODlES or IIOTATtON _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
,yi.M<ir'c.1 aurf"" ......... to /I
1..... 1' df' .... e .p""r'".1 .... ..
.- ""elll "'oc s..cc.... ruLl y
....... bl." ",I'"~"''''''I .u"fI.,,~.
'n An 0.~ ...11 co-poaltlon .Iv~
t_. u_ or ~ ... nd to jl.ar .... pro<tucte
of .. \.atU,,<,d ""d f .. _enl"d ,,1Iar..,1,,", """
are "~.e,."... for .h,,'r a""rp d.H"".. tion.
The _ t ... . doe..,,....d or th ...... la u... c,I,"""-r;
I .... <"" "' ..... the ~on" and the .1''''''....
fO ...... ..,. be e_lex 1.0 dee' II'" ,n ..... ll1y.
""=h

h' ""~ "aN the 1.,...... lon o f nnd Ihe'r oon.tructl .... coabln.t.on requIre.
_n I _ I ,.. III"""""". In 1 tURS tho"""." _Iedjo of tIIelr own 1m... and ,..,1 .. ,
"~Nhe .. c ...... t""! of profound All are '""at c'" 'nly encoun te red In ... cMn
~.""!I Iy. ",,<1 ,,, ~ th'rd. TIwI cu~e Ie one of the _ t building. but wldeopr .. ad al ... In architecture.
'hilt of ',e .. utlf .. 1 l"''''I>''~llv~. d l rr!ouH bOdl . . r~ .. fo""lnli wher. Ut. _ I fant ... tic of our e""",, epta clm
o_b"",tton. . A. the aI_pint nn~ Ite "". wftr In """".ruct\vo: coeM .... t\"".,
r ..... the el~pl . . l "OOOPO/l.l1""" or .u"faeu "r of .11 jl.~tr\cel bod'e. It '
..... tatlon can .ov@ b1 .. ana of f .. ag . . nl~tlon th. ""at c"",,,le t .. of f",.... bul
to ft " " .... c _ l . . """ . wh"r~ Ibot c ...blnat1o.. "f only dull to Ih. non-Inqul _
"I"..... to I ....... "r.... 'v..
and I".,.",,,,,,,. LVe, In I . . ~ct""l fo .... ,..,.Ide
f .... t.a.I<y.2 C.. rt.,n .Jaballe pr.nc. " l . .
QP@rot,njl. on our p.yehOloar.
aecoroJln& to tho< CUbe ' . pl""'n&
and ..,.1<,.
but the cube _ t
.Iway. be ".e<'Ulrd t h
&baDlut. p,...,lalon and
,""cur.." to pre ... ,....e I tII nl~.

4 rou~-!DGEO P~ISN

3Volumes The pr ... . In diatinct lon froa

the cube, I,... . . . . U n eeptl<",al
S! ""u: R!CTI~IHU/l IIOIlns _________ ~ Ilar" e t.r i. t lc. ~o-blnLn&
0 . . 11, with o~r prl..atlc
We &.ners.e th .. d!fr.... e~l ~ 1 ~"6 o f bOdle. In bodl... Stu", of .h.
th,. e.lciory thTOuah _Jl" .. ln, th .. relatlonsh.p eon.tructlv. rund 'a~ t"l. I.
cf th" three Ol.an.lone o f p&rallel'p'ped, beat ..,hed I~ t:M buLl ...
Lt. helt)l, ~ Ldth ..,., drpth, In chanjl.ln& the In& up of "oapl o f pr ..... COMPU~ CURVILI JtU~ IIODI~ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
... I.t'on.hlp., ~ obl.alM a11 pot<alble .... ' .. ll . . , Prl ...... e coablnat'ona are
.",,,UI\jl. r....
the ,,""e.
" Ith the ...,l"tlonahlp f"""" In . . . t . . lupllC1t," Dr Ttl .... too find thel . . . . In _lIcat.lon I n ...:1<1 ...
pl'OduC:'. o f - . . e .... c . ... lty. bulld'n&.t pr ....... t, ,"",a tr...njl.ly d;tnaaIe
Thall' '''oapallbili ty ' ~e. _ I 1'. dlfOcull t.o c l _ i f r 1>6<:..... _ 1
U- ~ent", 1 to eonet"""t"'. hav" . . It.pl. and dl ........ ~harac .... I.tlc.
aduc" tl "". dependLnjl. upon chi< POint o f . Ie w,

5 HOH_~lr~ ~!CTILI "EA R HaOlES Coapl eurvad bOdl"a hav" a .pa"lal placa In
AltO POLYGONAL PRISItl the genoral ay.t .. o f ~on. tructlve d lan.
N''l'fS f~r !"..... :8: I. C-pr. Deco".e they ~ .. I t poa.ibl" to dlop.na. with
.t. ['rl. I 'J-~~, ,.,CU~[S Of Th .. . e do not hnve grllBI Ll."etratl"" o f OM bOd1 by tlnct.hftr. E..br. cina,
,,',',,'1 1~ ... t1,~, .... d"<Wi"" .r~r Int.<,,'ot for .tudy .... d ".,.itn. oI"""'''g and o_11 l1,li by t h ..... c"~ v .d bOdl ...
";"'. 1>1.'. f. r-",.p , J~, Only ...... Iy do tMr produce "" can produco nlghly ~a.pl .x In t .. rconnectlona.
_'-rf'.!I'J-~, FIlii/fit' fNl'l C-. Lnt ...... tlf\& c""nNcli v" fo",.3 un.f,lng " ..... tructlv. """ dy ..... lc prLnt: lpl ...
 IAKOV CIIERNIKHOV

Types of constructive joint

ThE fUNDAMENTALS OF CONSTRUCTIV I S M
consis t of alJ th e ven ous possible
kinds of uni o ns by wh ich elements
can be combined in t o a stru ctu re.

Each kind of union is in essence

aUllple , but espeCIally wh en s upple-
aen te d by dynami cs , they can crea t e
complel\ combinat io ns which amaze us
wJth the re f inement and ric hness of
theIr f orms .'
lVon-right
soLids
CO MPLETE F.c..MILiARITY WI n; THESE
PRI NC IPLES is essential. One mu s t
study th o r oughl y t he inse rti on o f
one element in t o ano ther wi th ALL
THE POSSIBLE IND IVIDUAL VARIATI ONS .
Euctly th is approach must be
applied to all the other fund ament -
als. Training , s kil l and flair
play no small part i n th is . 1

Penetration
lIl'. I. the .l "",i u t ~ aJ' or c","bl "lnll bodj,,~
..... re one !. inBel"1;"d !n ~g "''''~her.3
,

Cy~indricat
f01'rT1B

CurlJi~i n ear
forms

Right
sotids

IIO'lE.9 fa" "'"VA' t7: f. C-p .9S a. C-p . H J . C~p.

fZ . FTWI'IE:S an f""" 1:-.

"
DECONSTR ucn ON

Embracing Clamping Integration

Thlw I. ~r~ cu.p)jc&t~d . ~au.~ the re IB n Cl_inll h when ona _y .".... to ha .... hed '!'hI. ""cll,", when lrIIIl .
,,'>Ole rnnjJ~ of ""u'ble tyP'O''' Of ",""rac.. , fr(>lO bI _ lhe r ><h lch grIp. It. '!'he (:lllllj> h Int.llr~1 body I. ilven ft fth~pe
u...t In""hlng GIII"I~ n.o;tli,,,,,,.,. fo .......... tlult e. tre-.1y cn.r.ct~r l.tle of ~hlne. an4 " hlch In Ita"lf d~ntrA t ee
~,th ~l , curvIlinear one ' ..et..tica! ..,.,lnee r l"11, .nd bI I~ v"ry naW .... &r*Phl c ally con.~tlv. prlnc_
c~ In a yarl"" of fOr.B. 2 lpl , !hi. III ,..Iatlvel,
....... p~""",,non, ."., I n all
Inatan<: ... of '"" Intellral
con. ' ruetlve f o... .." ar~
da.ll"" .. I th ""lUI" ...".
we .ght I .....@'IItI.1 to IU
c"",,,"'*<:Uve pf'OI>Irb .....4

Mounting
Thl_ ia where _ ... rle . or vol~. coaea ~1I.ther
l),.
. I t h ~ ftin jJh crownlnll body ><hieh WIlt"" .. 11
rnt. '!'hla """,UrIII c." be d .... lan .. d t o t;Q~e
pi...,,, r,.". above. r,.". below _ ev"n no- the!
."s" or th" Ilraup.3

Interlacing
Intorlaclng I ynthe. l. of
dynaDlc and con.truet,."
"roperU.".. and I t hM partic_
ularly atrona vl .... \ and
P.lcholoillcal "rf.cU. Intar_
I...,." fo.- d;vlda Into 2
ca t"lIOr l the nNt ~rl . . .
UIIC.-elicUed _ I , .. her. 110\11
can_tnacUve and ~c
propertl . . are Int,.rent In t~e
very aoveaent of tha body ' . own
_ ....S

52
 IAKOV CIIERNIKHOV

Coupling
mllPLlI lHT1'~LAClltC, th~ ""eMU " "le/l:<"7
4 Force
~I"". _
"-I~ ,ol ...
obJ.., t . .... 'eh ~!re.eol a
tor _ , "IMftnW.
Couplil\ll dlff ...... r ...... the o1her
c"".true t, ,,,, J'Hnta In t""t
..11",." rDr fr-e<o """1""l,_
it in constructions
... ,thout ..... , t1~t.,.. d~rllCt
I inl<itljJ o f ~t., ....... ""''' _ , ",~ '-0 <O"'''Pta of Force
r~in. .. ""~te ... I~ t
~nll"t partlelpatl"ll In the and Construction
eomot"""UYe un1ty. ",..
u _ l e of coupl.". I. l""
chll1n.
CONIln><; l''''' I. ,nc:on,,,,, ...
abl,, .. 'thOut ,-,,~
p ......"nc. of (o.-ce. TtM.y """"I_"l
.,a<ot.ou.....
I'Unc;tl""elly. but 1n ".,.' 0<.10 d,rr"rent w.,~.1

1 for~.. "'pen""" In the J01 nuna Pr""".. _

C.r~.ln fanno of cons Lruct lve Join t cannal

OCCur ~ It,houl the ""plluli on o f . _""clfle
hvel o f fo....,.. !>el"ll applied. n.~~, In t~~
COVPLINC Of parte we e . e r t the LOWlST lftvel
o r fo....,.. The PENURA'l"fON of one ~l .... en t
jnt.Q Mather raquu" . . . S!:CQNU LV~L o r f o . '~
to "" """lIed. In ! NHRACI II(; and th CI.,l,MPUtt,
or on. pert by another we see th" THIRD LtVf~
of rorco

.. t r... ."tian or ..., Ight

70"" 0 I. pntunt In "O<UIUU:ll "_IUon.

whom we _ ..... the ..:llan of _!&lIt o r
~av ln e In op*clrlc ~rt o f tn. whol
~~led ObJ. . t.
Another kInd o f Coupli ... ' .
(<>WId wh.., t .... .,l-.,too are
~~ ,.,.,dly c on.tno'n~ ' nt o
.. .,.,.,. tan l ..., 1 U ,<>n8h I P 1'11, ..
3 ""0 r"n:~ of Inr" ",''''r
I f "rten .een In ....,hlnel')' Th,. fo~ ;. _ ........... by !.he n~tI1 of the
conn"""uon. - . . "oupl .... loopr_lon ,,!>ler. ~ """"trvc:tlVe P~l ..........
part. are ... "",,_. _ _ d _ ltI> ..
t"'" IIopr .... 'un
,,1 . .0 or plerc .... .. It II .. bOl l .

4 n.. ro,",,~
The dyne-I e. -an.f .. eted ae .av~t In
eOttll t MIC Uv.. , , _ , lion rll!P .... aenlll _tie blot
po .... ,.rul union of .,..l~ ~-'Ftne, _".U ....
In n coor<hnet .. d .. ~y upon ... r p.y""- _ .,v\nv
.. e tne ~.LbLlllY t o feel hl~r fono of
e.atl ...... l ._atlon.

A third type occur .. ..,..., . 1 _ U C" ' . . .

con"'"'' whole ~.".Ina .. ~Irle functional
r.tlon.ll~ typical I, In .. "chlne.S

NO'lF;S fo r~ . t8,U; I.Cp.O f . Cp . l~ 3.

Cp. ~' I. CPp ,lf-f6 ~. r:-.Pf>. I S-I~ ~. Cpp.lr
61 ,
f~
"n n(;{fJ1tS ~Q'"
C pp./J$-/Jt
fNJfO C . 1. 1'/1., ~,i""
 DECONSTRUCTIO:-l
constructiveness
as a high level
of creative energy
Th.~ ..... _ _~'ntll uf ~_lnocll"e
" .. plrulon. _n n.... ao'uti_ """ . - 1<1....
flOw e'l~ly r~ldly In our ~r"ll_. The
fo...,. of U\II e .... ru i.n. t.I>tI. . ".I""bl. _ n l .
Can IN _ u ..... only by the .....1 ..... u lta t.I>tIt
foll ......
In eont ..... t ......,.., ..... cie""","h. _ n t a . _
w. l""'k My f ... 111\II f er c_trucUon. and wh.n
tn. de.lr. lO re-olve probl . . c"".tnoctlvely
h trophl.d. Then we dG.lr. t o cre.te -o.e
PUCI,UL ~~.It1"". _ e I c.ltlon. ltuIt are
I d"'ndll\ll to for.ul.te. ~ con.truetl
c_eHI"". In .uelt ca.e...... nter Int.o u...
tra.. of ... _It- w.,.., '.1"1_ ooon.UlI>tlon' of
conetructlv. prlnelpl .nd we t~r. t.I>tI
con.lnocll". poa.lbllltl ...
'I'tIh colneldGa .. Ith a I.OWi!:IIUIG 0' CRU1'I'o'Z DfI'!!I!lY
but It can &1010 "'" an ~prop.IRt. c .... U".
r pone. In c.rt.l n .ttuatJon..
It I. nece_....,.
............ 1. fact _t
the .... r o .... to .ec .... l . . the
the eet or COIIS1'IIUC'I'IDfI
_ t "'" .-.pr<Sad . . . . ~Iu """ _rl'll1
uperl....,
On tho! b . .l. of whn hal ""'an 101 above. we
Can propoae the roll .... I'" hierarchy of feelll\lla
for the eon.tructlve:
l l1laMr _ntll of Indl ..I_1
VItti Ita ..... 1 _ "-,on.
2 ...,COl
. .. 'CIlee., ...... ry.,.,. .>tperle""... '"
~ ...ittl the Ih .......... I . _ t a
3 n.. ",""..-10'. cond.tion . . . . . . . ."ll of
""Ie" oUMr _ _ " to _'1"1'1& _ a
object .. Ill be .,......""d.
4 lin Ind.lff.ren t .tUtude t" the <IU tI ..... "r
conetru<:t1v:1 .. ,,"d . . . . ,..,_.. It "" .trophyl ...
of the t.e1lna for conetructlven .
5 .. _I"te non c. 1'",,_lon "t the ury
~l" ot c ..... truetl ... prlnetpl and . . .
....... It _ l e t e I.".....ln& " t thh .pprl'ch
to _Ian In all .Itu.atl ..... "". .",II.a. ot their
c~t.rl.t l ea.
JIot ...ry t..k can 1M eol"...! ~:!~
anol we _ t f\eV I,R"I'U'ICULLY
c ..... tructlv. tonee In our e .... tlv.
Kt:Y 7'0 SOIJRC:l:S IN CHEJiNIrIJ()Jl'S BOO/CS: A-"". Are or
GNpI:ie .... p"".eneatw.. (JUlI; F-Pw...tmro:e.aL, or
CooIot...,.,Mrv Ar<:hie""u...., (/930 4 Jill C-'1'Io.
COMe"",,~::o.. or A,."hie...,e ....... t <md ..,.,"hi.... 1'0""_
IIUII: Ap-Ar<:);':t_"t ....... Pa"to.iu (/9~3J.
S(]/JRC1;S pOR PRJ;Cf:DII1C PACf;S.' 1, ,-po fg; 2. '-p.22;
.1. I'-".f9; 4. '-p.8a; h. C-p.98; ~.F-p.J3 ; 7. c-
Pl'. 16()-t; 8. r-p.3J; 10. C-pp. )U-~I 11. C-pp. U2-
3; 11. P-pp.JJ-4; at! rlGURES i~ t~t .ctiofl
P- a ... C-. 13. C-pp. l~b-9; 'fOVRES ~ C-.
Classes of
constructive
solution
~,~ w e.l~h o r ronee In ~n.r.l and tlt~ dlver.lly
of po lbl. c... blnetlona of dirr~r.nt eleaent.
-ake 1.1'0. . . . ., . o t PQa ble constructive
olutl ..... Inflnlt.ely IIr ... t . Thh _ . not U
!.toil _ I . I ...... _v... _
.11 ....... the t.ek ot c l . . . lf,lne conel..nlCtiona
by t,P"'. Ilh ... the bek o f p""",I.,OOI ""rv.dlne
can c l ... lt,
c ..... trueth. _lutl ..... accord1ne t.o their
, .. _r.Il, _ I ... U .... prop<Ortl.... On thi. b.-I
.... Can dlatlnaul ..... UM toll .... lne ,eneral typo. :
, Am.I......tlon
Db-.dl ... nl.
_Ia_tl .... " f ( 0 . - c"" ""'cur by brl .... l ...
l u,.the .. elth.r ldan Ucel eleaent Or
dlfterent "ar l ant_ o f the . . . . "I...,nt
..ae.lv.
_Ill_lion .lao Incl\ldoe. the c .... ""'.n ...
the 1"'..... 1.... ot COfIat.t'UCtive
.ol"tlon al",I, bl akilitully puttl ...
topttl c' " ' '''ente .. IU-t aal<t.,. an,
r_l """.t.l'UCtJv ..........,\1_.
, Combln.tlon
" eo-I:ol""t.lon uauaHl "_1"1 .... eI_nte
" ItICh can c .... tolleth.r ,,'tltout vlol.tln,
each oth... In a_I "I ... one body ..Ith
another we at"", the parUc:u.lar
"harecterhtlc. of aeelt. and If ~ .... are
tacto. . 1-"11... their _ I .... tl_. the . .
..ac.
" Ill r.fO ...... t ..... 1_ _ tacl. to
tI". the _1~Uon .t al t . n.. f _
...., ccatl'1 ...... U ... of tile . l _ t a ttl I ... tv..
..., proYlde _teel.. 50 1.00 ..., u..l.
_ltI ..... I" .. t .tlon to the .".....",..,,,lIna
."""'.. I" c_Inl ... _ . I _ t to ..... u...
_ .,.. pu..I1.,...........,.. n.. vary .... It,. at
ttl. n i .IU"" ""po _ _ u.. feet u..t
no anUpethaUa al_te are P...... t.
'Coo!bl ... tlon ott... ..-quI .... 'third parU . .
I_ntll t/'IAt .. rv. to unlf) the .... t.
~
, Assemblage
" .....,1.,.. by u..
c,," "'" " .... ract.erl ... 01
~onatru<:tlve look which tlnoM parll=iar
r.flectlon In the . .chine. TIle .I .... to
... Inta.n the' r _ ... r.~. I"""tiliae ..... Ilal
b.ln, ,1"OUp"'d int o on...hoi... n..
pr.~clpla of a ~lea Iao IMPII .. thot
onl, " carlaln C<4.binllUon ot .paclflc
P"'1.a I. c",p.bl .. of c .... th" the requl ....
aolutlon: tit. aMene. of ...,. """ pert
prevent the taak bOll\11 OIOlve<l. o\e.
tit. . .tructw-e " r the "' .... _Itt"" I.
wl .... Il' evld ... t . KoCh ...... _,., .... perlla
.""h ............1"C.. ~I ... a ...... nll
.ttenU ..... Inc. only l .... _ I ..... tit cr
pe.U I. "....... 1. Dr P'" .",1.,. _ "'""" .....
.. rr.ct. n.. deallP1.r _ to
cohe ...."". t.o the part. of an . . _ h
,I".
tor.!
... 11 f'ImI:tlonal ~Ion.
ConJug.tlon
ConJ"&fIU"", I. the ph. _ _ non ""'Ich -::::;
tranalU .... f __ one .""dltlon or ~
anotl\er; ". f __ ..... vary.nt "r r......
anottle WIt"" the fo .... are I,n ...
I. f.irl, .1",,1 U>ou&h atill
WIt .. n ... conJua-te c08OI
i . both ric ...... and _ ..
Inte.-ltJ and conalruct.va
C _ , l I o n _ t 1M p .......... d
t ..... ltlon.
C.... juaetlon of .. I ... nt. I ...... of tho
_ . r u l tooh U,. dee II/I po....... .
.t perelU hla lo echl.v. thoee 0,,",,1..
tr.".ro.-tlon. which It Inv.nth. '"~
dIClate.. 6, conjugation _ c .... _ .
r ...... c .... O,UJ'.Uon ot on. kind to _
con r ll"" I"" " f quite _ t h tJIM.
not onl,. Delnl ly. but .1010 ... tIO"aI~
and ..,anlnarully. n.. conj_Uon ot
.. I_nu occ.qll I .... plac. In tho
lit. of ......, IndividUal In hh yarl_
fa .... o r c .... U"It,. and ... _ t peJ' n
.... 1 _ or .tt... t1on.
A ~' . . _IUonauec... n.II,
.""Juaatlon -.qul ... dl'''le
the tl"*",,y or th<o
 IAKOV CIIERNIKIIOV

Functionality Harmony:
and legitimacy new anti-classical
principles Tob~ol
1110 thlnp u..t~ ... bot unlrled on the _ I " L.w ....&arde" .rl .. u..t ..,lhlty
ot .-tno/:Uv" prlndpl ... _ , be both _tad,,1 U.1'O\.I&h whi c h ..... p .. ....,.. eonae lou.I7 tr...-J t
..., _I./"Ial , but ttl.)' are _.".,. aubj..:t throuah e .. rU.n et.rnA l .Iene. the f ... l l"..
to u.. reeonIl ... ""Uon of our brai n bl _ 1M . . . . . .".1'1....,.... ...., ol.!wr _ I .......
..tSl(J!f, IIIWUfIICland t'OUCtt.1 I nfect.d b7 u-e r I1".. ....... Ich I n r l _ .
th.lr II..... In thl" "",nnlti_ u...... I
1-,. ..... """"'tnietion ." .. '!.~~' of .. - . . i .... acl7 ' "I ............... Uon o r the are-t .oct.1
""UI&'. UfVESTIG.\TIO!oS. and .. ,h.lon of ... t. ... .. t ~i.lI_ " ' - ' r.. l1 ..... ,
.... trl .. tI>e waet . . ltl......s. or cone...... or I t
bO "" !Q.... U ........
on u.. boo.I, o r ooll.bo .... Uv. U .. lna
..P4r1....,. . on ttl. be.h <>r the
lnr..,U ...... _ , or t.h. be.uUf'Ul.
Functionality ....... Uwot ew'7 uct
I_tal,...\ ... " of tile .... 1 f o..- ..." IQUell7 I_rtant to cor.-.ct ....de ... t.ndlna or
HI" I,. InUreonnoctl""a o r ttl.... tv.r. or ... t _ the ............. or the
.... 3th~~'~
K:':':~
::::';.:":':":OM
:.;':':'~';.:':"':":';" :'": be.uttt\&1 .... the wl..- d .... loped b7 Mere, . .
'""- t ......
III that to the rlret to . . . . . .t . . pou"t or the
.up.... t.ruc:t.ur. or t.h ... a .... I" baec, end U-.
oth.... wi><> .ndo...... the _terlalht .11.0.17.1,
I~ COftatructlve .olutton .uat hove .. MOTIVr.
.. tI>o bul. ot rillell the conet.:-u.:tlon ..... de 4
or t"" M.tol'7 or .rt.lO
"'''1 .,.,.,.t.ructlv. c""P"" Ltlon _ I fIll!!ll ita the .. onc:eptlon or be.ut7 In our t i. . I. II<>t
_ !.Om' Md .... fl""t t:M TOTALITY or the l <lell d.t .... ln." b7 the coet or . .t.rlal., not by
.....11111& 1\.5 their rlehn end v.rl.t7. but b7 the
eooopoelU ..... 1 ...., "on.tn><:U ... _roprl.~
I...,. COMtl'l><tlon I" .. coneU'UC tion ONLY when 01' b,. the ."" ..... t ...ena... I ....t or ......1.. Uon
tho ... l t lcaU"" of _
_ bot ... tI"","II, JUSTIFIED.
-tru
In t .... t ...,. - ro---I C_I.u..c,. wittl ..,,10.1> the rt....t
obJec:t - . t r te lte f'UneUon end ..... 1.1
P"" PllU "
ftIo _ t . r t:M I!ATIONALIn I n .. conat",,,t l.,.,,
UW ~ yalu.ble It I,,: In othe .. wo~, the hen ." In<luetrl.1 buHoi! ... _ t .t~t to be
~lflltlc.lC<l or ....... tnoethl_ II . . I n I t" be.~tlfUl . . . ",,11 . . pI" .nt. convenient.
IinOllAUTT ,J, lIatrt NId JoyfUl.
"'" .... rk.r elll! work betr..r _tdort the .....,.
be.t eor:::blnett_ or ......... dl ... .tall. -.d
C.llI..... eo.tne to the 1'ectc.'J. or I .... tr:c
I t. the WOrk.r _ t P4re.h.... InteraeUon
or '''Wrlor r~ _t helP4 ... t _ M. _ .
- aU . .I.te hi. to l i t - " : _ c: ..... Uwlt;r.
The enJ<>,.....t or ... ..,~,. wlU ~'M , ...
lnallenebl. prope .. ~ _ eondltlon or ."I.t,ne.
or the Indl .. ldUal.t2

a.1I _I.,. "" rae, u.. nee lt, o r ,lv l n. :rhu. the' ...."lUtect I ........ Ir.d to c: .... te ...
...... u""" to ....d U..,reI>l" It we re ol>Ject tnet _"" ...... thetlc _ ......... d
.ltlaj ... "" t.I'MI .,..,.t.rw:tlon Ulat ~ line th. requl ...... nte o r corrvenl.".,.. to ... lder:tlce.l
-111 '""""ted. de..... ~ and . 1...... c t. ...... hue.! _ r lO
....
,
!lull tlMr conn"""tion "" Ich ........ troth.' "

Cla le.l thetle hl.torl e.111 de ... eloped

... r. b . .ed "pon:

1 enfon:.d 'r-tr7 o r .t.-..c:tur. : : : : ::

2 lh. rhytn. o r .l~l. rep.tltlon
l c:~ln.tlon ar dlrr.rent COBponent ll~nta
on unl~ ..... 111 'beautlfUt' prlnelpl ..

'MI. n ... t t .... or th... C_IUc:nal

prlncl pl are too pertl.l to "rY, ..
baele (or:.re. II. "..... to lOOk to ou.. ..
..... re . . or ro .... 1 haMIon1. 1lan7 auch
prlnclpl .. _ ... p ....ent In cl_Ical .... rk.
but IUddan. 'ft>elr lluc l dootlon I. -wet
the _ t Int ..... una or OW' PI dant taorke.
tto.. _In ...... "'Ina:
I rr.. .._ .... 1 In the . . _ 1 7
I _ t e on I\Jnc:U ..... 1 prlnclpl.. .
0:'.;....
..;
2 The aln l _ uee o r .Iapl. ~tltlye
I"IIJ'~ _ thalr ... plec_t by the
....7tha or d,...-Ie dl ....... ltl ... co.bl_tl_
l
.1_1. _tl.
the haMIonle Int.t't'lI. ll anehlp of the
cOJ4l<>r .... t by u..

ho.-I....,tel
I" "p"rU ..... d'->ool .....
or th.lr :':~~':<:':'~_
~::::~
ldj ... t.ent or the t.on.al fore. or ....",.._t
. I _ t e In ecoo"","""",, w\ th the lap ..... I .....
-.aht o r ttl. vl ....r

n:s FOR FAC11iC PAGE, I: T~i ad"" 11VO C- $ to ....

_d . .117 pr~:Wt't'j'~~~'fO~':Z~~'~~<
Ir...t . the e_tructl ...
charecterl.tle. or tha
- ~'~'~~
U-lIZ. !: 1'1,,: ",,,t.:o.. tr- C-pp.JO'-IIS. b.lna " " " _ .
~lClmS """" Co .

ctS FOIl THIS PAGE .. I, r:-(>.'II 2. C-P.'~I J. Th ........ ttl. Mll . . ""Ich _ t b. ttl. bUIa
2ll ('-p . Wfl 6. C- p.I04 ; 6. C-p.81 ; 1. C- or the "'w i'>aMIonl ...
Ii 6. C-p. 8.5-,!; 9. C-p.81 : 10. '-p.IIJ; II.
9&; l!. P-p.181 13. F-p.17; H. I'~":"t" II'O'Pf Throuah 'l'proprl.te tr.ln1 na In thae.
.J/I-aj IJith d _"tI "1 AP-pp. 68 . 61. e.-po.ltt ..... 1 f'Unda.entel . ... _ t nPll"tUrol
tts: I.cu 'I'al"tai; /(arL HaN:; Bot.hoi 1'hUtN , In our.. lv th. _ t precl .. 17 t ...... d r.el1na'
Ii" F~"t~'JI Ifa.U I,..". 14 1"-. ror ....blnlna .11 the C"'4..-_t e l _ u
or ro ....14
DECO:-.lSTRUCTION
The harmony of colours
The' co lour 1 ..., 1011 p..........,ed by al"e ..
""1l~1". ..., be Infly....,ed 'D)r'
1 the rocty~al tr toent of natural . .t" .. I.l
"""eo dl" ...lty can be fUrth.r enrlclled by
klll""l Hlectlon of ..... foc. t ..... t.enU,
2 _lied 0101 ........... cll . . point., """re an
Inflnlt. dlv.,.it)' of eolou~ co-bin_tiona
ar. pooel ble f or ,t...,nath .. nlna the
.""bluet'. conc..,t,
I,
'ill
3 ."Iected e~ln.tlgna of technolollc.lly ."".. Itecture In tlla ~.at, the Ancient World
produce(! .... terl.l. o"c~ u conc .... t ... 11 ....
ot"ol. Theu are ~i"lna the eon u...,.,r.ry
de.I~ .. r ,..W tool. for fo ....1 coopool tlon
and o""...,.. lon .... _ .. e..-ttna ..no ..
n .... typn of rtltt. and h""""'J'.
Oirf .... ent colour ca.blnatlon. produce ra4lcally
dlfr.rl na efrect... ! _.-pl . . . . how tn.t dark
II,..,...,.,. dark....t. dark VOIY and IIlack will
Coloured ""perl.",,""1 co-poai.tlon f.--
Ch.ernlkhov '. "'1'1... Pri rIC Ip I . . o f .""lIllecturo':
rant"'y on tile 0 . _ 'Cl ty of o.e l.n.
p!"O<luc e an ' ....... 1_ o f bulld,"I tllat
dirty and heav,. Th.y alve ' weiCht ' and
~u.ent.llt)'. whe .... ar~. "llow, ,k1-blue.
lla)'ot Ve, and wh.le all alve a buildln~.
ch rful, lI&ht _ In" llIIO... t l"l look. 8y
fr . ._nt.Uon of eol ........... _,..,..,11 Ulat
pol,cll~ decer.ttven . . . cn.r.cte .. lat,c of
and tile "Jddla A&.... 1
...a .... 11 not live "'1 recip .. for !>ow to
e~lne col .... r " It II co lour, tone " lUI tone,
Or d'rr ....... t .1I1Od.. a or colour " lUI eacllo~.
Thle WOUld lead to cliched for.ulae and
would devalue th .. ooork at Ite ooat Interaat-
Ina I>Olnt.
su.ttt_ ........ 11 ao ,. for . . to '"1,
fo .. ".eapla, ~t oouch-and-.ucll ~OMPO&lt.an
.... t be coloured "lUI tooo buce. or that th .... e
&hQuld ba applied In anoUler. ~tu.e. w.
-.y Indeed ..,ec1ry !.hea. colou ....."""tll' In
ord .. r 1V~lIl' to tr.ln t.he pLIJIIl In colour
~IUon. "".... appropriate we NY lI..d 14
.... one a,,..le paint. I .. ""a .Inala colour.
In different atrcnatn. ....d therefo .. e ahadea,
In orde .. to c - v u our I...... WIl"" ...
requi .... col .... r to ... p ..... a '-.ed' wtll cll u..
I_a .... t cOll~ey to t.he ~Iawer. we ..... U
propo. . . . . ... ei .... ooapoolna tha (0110,,1,.. ,
I ae.1e or I"l' ton. . , Ie paint colou,.;
2 lOCale of l1aht col",,",;
3 a 1OC,la or _ .... col ....... :
,ronee of plQfUl OIOlou .... '
5 ranga of dull. arayl8" eolour.;
II ran.e of pale co loura;
1 ronea or de.r. ac ... _lna' col ....... ;
e nana.. or ..... col""",,
9 ran". of cold eO loure. and ... on.
,. c entral book, t o re r oO' 1Iou of Tcclwlol<>&l'.
,. cOlll> lneUon o r ....., .1""la vol ..... Into ..,
Intalr.ted end coopact bulldlnc of .anoltthlc
C''"'' with .pplled colour lna In ...... Lonea.
 IAKOV CIIERNIKIIOV

ThroIIftIout !;hil proc.... _ ah.1I colOOJr OOJr

ran. in dlrf....... ' " ajla,
I OYlrrJl col.,...,.,
~ . ....tid off t __ !;h, ""nIfI .... ,
C, _ off t __ t". Id,. . ,
d I ~""-P......,t "aah:
I. _11 _ ~.IOd:

r, \lahtlr:
joLclir. 07Id 110 "". 2

1IJIIICtS. I,

'rl........ I, oOt\& t"'OtiU and 0""'ll..:t c""',nIUon

01 ""U,,_""'"1 el~ooenu of lh~ .,,,,,,Ien
<o1_trlo type. r.,...l.,. on In<luatl'Lilli bulldlna,
CDI_ pi ..... by 1>1_ '1\ t"" _ " WlI.,. t~
.rtoct of .~I", of( t.o n"Uun.,

I loctl, ec::on.tt'Uttlve bull!!lna of """,,,llthle

' ...... ur, A CQOOObLnoUon of dhe .... ei,,"d _
....,111.1. YQI_ .. nh tile'" ... In ...... u clurl,
.tl ... l.tod.
D [CO ~ STR L1(" r 10 '>1

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t_
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-
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58
 IA KOV CltFR \iIKII(W

--
DECONSTRucnON

LEONIDOV
II an 1.{'(lnitlO' ... hij!hl,\ indi\iclilal
Ii ... iull allr;tt' h:d IlIl1fh \ilriol from
Sell il"l an'hi!('l'llIralnilk ... ill hi ... 1illlt-.
IIml !lul'ullwnll,d in I;o/al;. "lid
l.l'oniduI ', hUlIl.t'lIIl idm : Tlu' (fIIll-
" h'ff Uorl.\ tl.undem. II'XXI . .\, tlt'-
wrillt'd here nn ,)al:(' 16 hi ... h 'lIlI\l
(ulI,lrUl'1 hi . . "" t'rt' II dl all art' ul'hi ...
'\'<lh'j!orit'al hrt-al;. II ilh Iht, ''.,,It'lIl of
I {) III lilt'''' ' t'O 1Il11lU n to tilt' ft',t uf tlll'III,
lht, r:III't' of Ihi, dil'h'n'IIl'l'. Hnd
Ollt' III' Iht, IIIml ... ij!nilkillli a"'pt't'" of
I.t'onidm', Ilor h. IIiI' hi ~ Pl'ft'l'pliun
of IIIl' l,nlt'l \lhidl t'UIIIIllIlIlit'alilln ...
Il'rhnllillgit" 1I01iid hall' un Illl' 'p ...
lia l flu",ihilit i," for hUlI1an ..ori .. 1
or;.:', mi ..aliHn. and 1It'IIlT 1111 Iht' rllrlll
and rt'laliH' lot'aTinn ... 01 hIlHdin;.: ....
FiH' "fhi-. I11I"t imporlanl prujl'\'"
an' .. llIo\\IIIHrt:.l'\,'mplil~inl! hi . . llw
III ""pn'milli,1 "Pilli,,1 tlt'l in' .. 10 n'
Ilo:d that .. hilt. \\ilh ,'\trill't ... fnlllJ hi ..
ml n ""lIlIlll'lItari"... ( '('
-

Lenin Institute, 1927

AIM: To anSwer the needs of contemporary

life through maximal use or the possibilities
of teChnology.
TI t~E: The Lcninlnstitute is to be a collec-
tive centre or knowlcdge for the l,.lSSR, lo-
cated wherc the new city isdc"cloping, on the
Lenin Hills or Moscow.
COMPONENTS: A library of 15 mIllion
volumcs and 5 reading rooms of 500 1000
scat capaCIty: large auditoria. a planetarium.
research institutes for indiv idual acudcmic
work,
MECHAN ISATION: '" The aUlom:llcd re-
que~1 rrom thc 'Catll logue room Iran~fer~ the
rcquired book onto the conveyor system and
into the appropriate reading room, . , The
research imtilutes. links with the auditoria
and readmg rooms are provided with a whole
serics ordevices: telcphones. radios. and radio
repre!toClllational and rcflCCI ing equi plllcn!. By
tbis the entire acadcmic stafr or tbe inSlitute
can wort.. togethcr simultaneously 011 a sing le
prOJect,
Thcconnection with MoScow ilselris made
by an ueriallramway with a central uerodrorne
ror the suspended roadwuy, The connection
with the world is through a powerful radio
Slat ion,
MATERIALS: Glass, loteel. reinforced con-
crete.
,
Monument to Columbus,
Santo Domingo, 1929
AIM: Pcople or the nation .. in thcir milli
must be told :tbotlt the great mun of acllon a
his hISToric role in the development orm
culture,
The monument mUSt uct Ib a condem.n
all the achievements or world progres'l.
MEANS: This aim CUllom be reduced to
'monument' which is bounded by its meaM
logical impact and ils small sphere of in
ence.
Thc present day, with ib unlimited
tine and tcchnological progress. makes
possible \0 expand both the aim'lIld the me
ror realising it at a world scllie.
Radio and radio-pictures transmitted
disttlllCe. an air- and sea-porI. become
denser!> or world culture ....
DESCRwnONOFTHEMONU M ENT:The House of Industry, 1929
mUJ,Cum fonnnhc centre of Ihe monument,
.. nl! menlombilia ... and Columbm 's body
In ourCQnditlOn, every new building ... mU~1
["nl/maion' Th~ large arcaof.he mu;,eulll is
(()\crcd In amloured gl:t~s. Bcaring. in mind re\pond to the ncw condition ... Of. I.ire ..An
archItect who disrcgard~ these conchllons IS a
!be ~ondilions of the tropical c limate. and Ihe
con~c rv:l.\i vc.
rurpo~ of the museum. :l powerful jet of ~ir
Work i~ not a regre tHlble nece~~ ity but a
il released In place of wa ll ~. thereby provld-
se nse of pLlqXl~C in life. Wor" a\ a phy.,ical
mg the requisite lIl'iUiallon . On hot da y~. an
and p,ychological CQmhlion must be tOlally
,lI1inciai Slrcam of alT ,11 ~o pa.s~" over Ihe
organi,cd. .
roof. The chapel is covered by a glass dom~
\IlrrourKIed by a \piml mtnp which en:lb lc~ II
Features oflheold wayof organl"lIIg bUlld-
i n g~: confined counYilrds. lack of vi ... ual es-
to I:\' ....'Cn from every angle.
C:.l pc . pokey rooms. I:lck of adequatc venti la-
R'ldll)has/': The baM! is org:mised around
lion and light. barrack-li ke corr id or~. Ab-
\\\0 JOO-Oletre masts. On the one facing Ihe
sence of any planned o rgalli~ulioll . Nervous-
~a 1~ II hghlhou~ wilh II high-voltage arc of
ne~\. pile".lowcred vi t;llily, lowered produc-
I)Il( mllhon candle-power. The Jighthoul,C i ..

Op:r3.led from below. bUI it h.connecled 10 Ihe tivity. ..

Feature, of the new way of org:IIH~mg
ground by a lift. ,
Th.:re area <,enc\ of rad i o-Iaboratonc~ and building,: Organi'\Cd work. work an~ phy~i
cal trainin g.e>:erctse~.lig hl. air. orgalll,ed rc~[
110010<;. The base ha~ a two-way link wi th the
and food. heightened vi t:llily.
world. In open squan:\ an(1 hi~loric:.11 rnu"c-
Organi.wTiol1 oj 1111' /lollse of II/(~I/sl/".\': the
um~ I!verywh<!TC. ~pcCial \creen~ will ~ ;.,ct
department, are groulX'd :Iccordlllg In the
up. tlnto which the "tory of Columbus Will be
IrlIR~mllled by mdio picture, ....
characlerhtics of theIr wor". E.1ch group
(U/t/IJIJ.fI airport A ir Ilnb wi II connect the
occupies one fioor. Ccmncction<; lIrc made ~y
l'Iorld ... Plane~ wili lil"e off from surfacc~
telephone and by conveyors. Each ~oor I"
divided into the relev:lnt number 01 work
I!\JI ri~ up and eJescend, and there arc moor-
~ pacc~ of fi>'(c \quare metres each. excluding
Ing mast~ for dirigibles.
Tu handle the regular -.crvicc of Columbus
the pas~agcway~ between them. ThC~C :Ire no
pllrti tion:.. Between the work .. pace~ JsgrcclI-
Oiltht., bo:tween Europe and America, a fioat-
Illg illf ba.\e will be creatcd in mid-Atlantic
ery. 11le nOllr ,urfnoc i~ soft. to ab~~rb <;Qulld.
I'Ilth all fII."'Ce'klry facilitie~ \u<:h a.... hangar,.
and <;0 is the cei ling. On one ' Jelc of thc
hutel,. electricity generrlllng ,lations. r:ulio work ing areal> is created a lone for re,t and
r,1atl on~ etc.
phyMcal-cuhure C)(Crc l \e~. With cabin~ for
lying down; with library. place~ to get food,
The Columbu~ mCleorologlcal "\:.1tiol1 wi 11
which i~ sent up from below; with shower~,
be lhe barometer for the world't( aerial and
swi mm ing pool.liltlc wal"ing rm:as ;md rUIl -
maritiOle (.'Ommu nicallon, 'y,lem"....
l1J11g trllck~, and area .. for receiving visitor~.
The brnin of the rnonumenl wi ll be the
There i, every opponunily for regular half-
",icntific la bor.lIorie~ where its opcmu ng plam
hour and ten-minute break~. for e\erci'le. a
l'Iill be wor"cd OUI. II Wi ll compriM'" I ) radio.
,hower. 10 cat elc.
1) film. 3) observatory .... ) Institute for Intcr-
Light comc, from both sides. :md in the
rlanl'tJry Communication" ..... ho~ ill)''' i\ to
\(,he the problem~ of interplanetary comnl ll-
summer thc wa l l~ open up. The open VICWS
and vista, :III contribute 10 rai~ lIl g the
llicatlon~ by means of the I(ne~t ac hievcl11cll!~
illdiv idua l' ~ energy and vitality: a healthy
III "icnce and technology. , .. 5) a hall for
lei,ure and he:llthy work ....
"Ienufic and technological congressc~ or-
On the roof j, a lr.msfomlllbic <,wimmmg
pm\Cd b) means or mdio.
pool (a ~tcc l frallle covered in rc~m-co;lIed
Oll"fil/l plan: ... The :nrpon is locilted on Ihe
fabric). a gymna,tlCS fiel d. a runlllng trac" fbr
highe\1 prominence or Ihc ~i tc. Below i l l ~ the
ll1il ~S exerc ising before and after work ....
parland Govemmelll building [with [ airport,
An intenllcdiary floor is used for a rc<;tau-
l11u\Cum ~nd park Iinked by a ~u~ l;H:nded rO:ld-
rant and for walking in the fresh air. The roof
v.ay. In conclusion I con"der that onl y a
is used for sponmg gamc, and Ic isure. Sup-
C"lumbu\ Monument "y<,tem such as I have
Iluthned hen: can be adequate as a cultum l
plementary accommodation. garagcs, .,tore,
ctc are located in the basement. AS:I rcsult of
conlriDullon to the history of man"ind.
this organi'>Ution we howe:
I) raised labour producti vity:
2) grealcr ph)"~ical health:
J) gTealer energy and vitality. for lifc; .
4) a building ofgre:u economic ... :Jnd "pallal
... efficiency.

61


DECONSTRucn ON

.2
 I VA!\ LEO:-"IOOV

Workers ' Club of New Social Type, 1928

Scheme of sp:lliaJ o rg !lni ~:1t l o n of cullum l -.c rvi cc~
Itlltn'j"" "('r: How b one 10 accoul11 for your U'>C of idem ie:! i foml " [or
dilTerent fu nctions. e.'(ccpl by fonnal!..1 ac" hclic consider:lliol1!.?
/..(omdm' ... We :lfC concerned with roml a~ a product of the
organisational and functional interdependence of workcn; activi tie..
lI1ld Structural factors. It i ~ not the fontl one shou ld co n ~ idcr and
critICise. but the rnc lhod ~ of I.:u[ lura l organisatiun .
In/em'l'lI'e/': [f you aTe against mu ~ j c. what arc Ihey to 11 .. len 10 on the
radio'.'
u!J/llllol', Life.

Commi ssariat of Heavy Industry, 1934

T he (oun(\.IIiOl1s of the COl1llxhi l ion lie ... III \ lIn phcIIY. seventy.
harmoniou.. dy namism and a p l l hll1 e!>~ o f coruem.

/p

(, .'
 " --~-~ \! ,..

...

Ie ' 11 ~

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,
, ,
,
_ "W h

D""-IEI UII!:..'iKI'iO,' "'EVIJl IS Till, ('lvnu" . \ \111''''' ",\ 'i DElI HOIIIi Io1F"\lOiU'\ll. OIlT... IL
 P \In II

THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY

JACQUES DERRIDA
Fifty-Two Aphorisms for a Forewo rd 67

Jacque, Den-ida Interview by Christopher Norris 71

Discu"ion and Comments 76

ANDREW BE JAMIN
Den-ida_ Architecture and Philosophy 80

GEOFF BENN INGTON

Deconstruction i, not what you think 8+

GEOFF BE NINGTO
Deconstruction anel Postmoderni sm 85

DAV ID LODGE
Deconstruction: A Review of the Tate Gallery SymposiulIl 88
DECONSTRUCTION

I
I
I
I

I
I

I
t
I
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L
VAII'IIO AUAMI SH 'm '(HI A ""'A M .r; AITUI GLAS. 197'

 JACQUES DERRIDA
Fifty-Two Aphori sms for a Foreword
I. The aphoril>1n decide.. , bulas much by its :.ub)'(;lI1cC as by il~ [onn.
uden:mllIlC\ by WOrd play. EH~n if it :.pcaks of archi tecture 1\ doc .. not
belong to II. ThaI goc~ wlthoul ~;tying and Ihe aphori\1ll which
l1I!ighh!lI\ d i~coll rloC' onen gives 10 Ihe I ri \' i:111 y obv iou .. I he aut hOfl ty of
J'lCnlencc.
2. One e\pecis the llphonsm 10 pronounce lhe truth. 1\ prophc' l w~.
\OInellme\ vnticinate,>,prolTer" Ihal which will be, 'Itopo;; it In udvancc
in a monument:!1 rOml, certainly, but an:m:hitcclural ly: di~,oci:Hcd
IlfliI a-~Y:;lcmic .
3. Iflht'n:: is;} truth of architecture. il appears doubly allergic 10 the
~phori~m: cs"Cntially II j, produced :1\ ,uch. OUhldc 01 dbcour,e. II
(oncems un aniculatcd oT1Flnisallon. but a loilerlt articulation.
4. S~akin& here of aphori:'l1ls. and in an 3rhon~l1l. one t,lke" a
po-.ition withm the an:llog)' bel ween rhctonc and archilecture. It I" [hu,
\upposed thaI the problem I" resol\'oo and Ihis is onc of the problem.\.
1Illhe fxeof which all the tC'(IS assembled hcre.each In Iheirov. n W:I)'.
~\pose thl!Olselvcs \0 a ri~l(. The allulo,I(v belween logo.\' (logy) und
IlrChileclurc is not all :lllalogy among~1 other:.. Moreover it i~ nOI
rNociblctoa ~ingle fi!lure of rhetoric. II mighl be !.aId thattilel'ro/)/em
ofanalogy will define therefore Ihe 'IXIce of Ihi, book. Ihe opcnlllg
~Iven 10 HS projl'Cf.
5. A p'(lblrm, Ihe :.ubJect of .. di!.Cus,ioll or the theme of a rc~earch
projecl. alv.ay~ outhnl!" it .. kelche~ the outline of a construcllon, 11 i1>
oflen a protcclive archit,,:clure. Proh/i'll/lI: Ihal which i, an[iciJXIII.'<i or
proposttl, the ob~taclc. the clothlllg, Ihe r:ullpart. [hc ledge, Ihe
promon[ory, Ihe barrier. One alway~ ~t:Ulds both he/on' :,"d hl'hi"dthe
problt'm.
, What i~al,rojerl in gcneral? And whal is Ihe 'projecl' in archItec-
ture'! How i\ its gcncalogy. its authori ty. 11~ polhi" - in ,um Its
philosophy at "ork, 10 be interpreted? If [he tC'(I, collecled III thi~
\'lllume Onen intersect around these que~tions. tho question will be
a\ketl, "hat tan this ' project' "ignify here. Ih:ll which is expo-.ed or
3,,\Cmhlcd in.a preface. the foreword. the initial OUlllne [taWil/f'
projc/j of a book on :trchilccture and philosophy.
7. A [CII which i~ prc~nted a~ the ~imu la crum of a foreword. a
di-.oonunlloll~ ~rie~, an arChipelago of :lphorism~. That would be an
into1ernble compo:.ition in Ihis place. a rhetorical and archi tectural
mon~[er. Dcmon~tra[e it . Then re:ld this ... You wi ll begin perhap:. to
doubt II.
H. Thl~ IS a word. a ~entence, therefore thi~ i, nOi llrchitecture. But
prow II, ~how your a.~ioms. definitions and po1>tulatc1>.
9, Here LS archilecture: an unreadable and future [el n'nil'l project, a
-..:hool \ull unknown. a ,lyle [0 be delined, an uninhabilable ~pacc,the
Invenlion of new paradigms.
to. Parudl'if,:lI1C1 mean ... architectural plan', for example. But p:lr-
iIlIeigma' i~3lso lhec'<ample. II rcmallls to be seen what happens v. hen
one speah of an archllCClUrnl JXlr:.Idigm for olher space,. olher
tl!l.hnolo~Les, oms. and wmings. The p:m.ldigrn as paradigm for any
paradIgm. On Ihe play on words 111 :lrcilileclure and if [he lVi,; i~
ro"'lble [here.
II. Architecture does not lolerale the ~lph OriSlll. II is even sai~! hal
ardllli!CIUre has alway' exiSled as :.uch in the We:.\. Pcrhap~ lite
~vncllJsion to be drawn from thi'1 would be [hat. being rigorou,. an
aphorism doc .. nOI eX!:.I. It docs not :Ippcar. it does nOI make il-.elf
vi,lble in:.pace, nor travcr,e nor inhabll II. II is not. even if some e~ i~1.
Iluw does it allow II"elflo be read? On..: never enter:. nor Icave~ 1I. 1t
ha ~ I hcreforc neither bcglnn ing nor end, ndther foundalion nor final-
ily. ncither base nor hcighl, ncilherinside lloroubidc. Thc~ a~scnions
onl) makc M!nsc on lhe coudit lon of an ;lI1alogy betwccn di~our,e and
all the socalled :lib of ~JXlce,
12. Th i" i~ an nphori"m, he S<lys. I'eople will be content simply to
tile il.
u . or the ci[alion : evcn Ihough it i~ engaged herc according [0 a
,ingular modalily. even Ihough it doc .. not imila[e llllhe manner of a
painting or a o,cul pture which come 10 n::pre~nt a model, Ihe architec-
[ure of the 'tradition' belong:. 10 Ihe :.I)acc of lIIimrsi.~. It i~ traditional.
II co n stilute~ the lradillon by il.,clf. Dc'PIIC :lppcaranccs the' prescnce'
of (Ill edifice doc:. nOl refer on ly 10 il..e lf. II also repeals, slgmfies.
evok c~. convoke'. reproduce, and cIte,. It lurl'l('.1 lowards the other
lind rt'fi-' I'S 10 il'elf, it dividc~ even in Ih rr/ert'IIef'. Of the lI\vcrted
comma.. in arc!utccture.
14, There hll!> [lever been an architecturc without 'preface'. The quo-
lation marb signal here the risk of th..: analogy. An architectural
' prefacc' includc~, among:.1 other pre1imin.. rie ~. [he projecl or its
analogucs. the methodology which defines the W:Ly~ and the proce-
dures. the principle or found;llion. axiollwtic prcamble~, the exposi-
tion of end:.. then [he model .. for the e:\ecutlon of the work, and finally.
in the work II<,elf, al1thc modc.\. of acccss, the thrc~hold, the door, thr-
clltrance hall . 8U1 the pref:lcc (without quotation marks Ihis lime, the
preface of (l book) mu~t announce the 'archilccture' of a work to which
it i, really difficult to ~ay if. whethcr or not. it belong!..
15. I[ i~ c'<pccted of a preface that il de<>cnbes and Justifies Ihe book's
compos ition : why and how it was thus constructed. No prefacel
prcf:l1ory ~Icp [pus de {ll'lj(II'C] 10 a dccoll~lruclion. Unless it is an
upside down [(II' r/ll'enj preface.
16. All prefae..::. lire bac k to fronl lei /'f'III'ers l. II presents IIself the
righl way round, as is reqUIred, but in liS constructIon . II proceeds bad,
10 fronl . It i~ processed, a~ i~ ~aid of photography and il:. negal!ve:..
from Ihc point of the l>UPiXIscd cnd or finality: this i~ a certain
conception of the architccturJI 'project'.
17. Analogy ha~ always proceeded in Ihco;;e two :.cn'>Cs. thiS bool..
demon S lfale~ It: onc speaks of the areh Itectufe of a book but con\lruc-
lion~ in stone IKIV\! often becn cmnp:lTed 10 vol urncs 10 be deciphered.
18. The pref:lce is nOI an llbli lutiona[ phenomenon amongst Olher~. II
preo;cll1S itself as an institution through lind through: the in~titution par
excellence.
[9. To ask for a pre race is to rely on lin idCl! in which [he signature :mu
architecture are conjoined: the law of the threshold. the law on the
Ihreshold or raUler the law as the thre,hold ilself, and Ihe door (an
immen:.e Imdilion, Ihe door 'bt' fore the law', the door in the pl:lce of
[hc law. Ihe door making, Ihc law what I[ i~). the right of entry. the
introductiom. lhe tItle. the Icgilimati<;;!1101l which from Ihe opening
of Ihe edifice gl\<c' the name,. announcc~. anliclpate:.. introduces.
draw~ a per~pcctive on Ihe whole. siles. foundation:.. recall" the order
of the beginnlllg lind the end. from the ~ tart 10 [he end, from the anile
wi th the re{os in view.
07
DECONSTRU('TIOl\
20. A prefJce rea ... ~cmblc,.lin~ .... Jniculat~s. Jnticipille" Ihe pa... <;age ...
denIes Ihe aphomllc di-.cont inuilies. There is a genre forbidden to Ihe
prelace. II i\ Ihe aphori\m.
21. Thi~ i~ nOI an aphori .. rn.
22. Le Co lI~gc Inlernal10nal de Ptulo.'>ophic i" duty-bound 10 give a
place til an eIlCOllllft'!". a Ihinking enCOUlller. between phi lo<,()phy und
archih!ttut"e. NOI 10 put them face to f:lce. but in order to thUlk that
"hich ha, al.... :ly~ m:l1ntilLllcd them together In the mO~ 1 e"-.cnti:ll of
cohabll:llion .... They Imply each olher accordmg 10 necessitie, which
arc not onl) attributed to or derived from mctaphor or rhetoric in
general. (Archllcctonlc. "'y.,tcm. foundation. project. ctc)
23. Lc Collcge Intenwtional de Philo<,ophie is the true preface. the
truth of the preface 10 thi, encounter and to Ih i~ bo()~. [t .. preface i.. on
the right ~idc .. ince in a certain way it doc\ nOl yet e"(i~t. This College
hJ~ been working for the P:l . . t four year .. on whJt it i\. it .. earched fur
the form ofil'> community. ih poillical modcl. which perhap" will 110
longer be political. and 1herefore it~ archi1ectural design. which
perh;)p" wI!lno longer be all Jfchitecture. Bulto do thi~, giving a placc
to Ihi ... encoun1er and to Ihi, book. 11 i., .. uppoT1ed by the forces of a
Mllid. open. friendly. imlltution: Ie CClllre de Creation Indu<"triclle
(CCI). Thi, facl is II !'roll/e/ll. ie thc 1l10~1 gcnerou~ of 'protection' (~e
aphori"nl 5): centre. creation. illdu ... tfY.
24. An authentIC aphori~m O1u ...' never refer to another. II i1'> 1'>uffkient
unto Itsclf. world or monad. But whether one w:'1111:-. II or not. whether
one ~"'Cs il or nOI. aphori"'01~ I11lerhnk here (IS aphorism". and in
number. numbered. Their .,erie .. Yield .. 10 an I/Tel'rrsih!e order. in Ihal
It i... without being archi lectural. Reader. vi~lIor to work!
25. An aphori~11l1lcvcrenJolO", It doe~ nOI exclaim. il nCllher ordcTh
norproml~"' . On Ihecolllrary II propoM!'!>. "op.'> and sayl> .... hal i... A ful1
SlOp 'Which I') not an exclamallon Tllar~.
26. Le Collcge Intcrnat lon:.!1 de Philosoph ic IOO~ on the ta.,K of I hln~
ing the lIl"tllUtionalilY or the lIl ... tilutlon. And from the Man it~ own.
nOiably in titut which connects arctlllecturc. the ~ignature and thc
preface (quc ...llon of names, tilles, proJccI. legitimJtion. right of
accts~. hierarchies etc). BUlthe .,trang.::: thing is that il hil~ been Jble to
urate II Spllr-/' jiu/dolllle/"/i('III.,ucll encounters and to a boo~ li~e tlli ....
it i~ perh:.!p .. insofar a, it.,tl11 doc., not have :.!ny space or architectunll
form of il~ OWn. Th;ttl~ duc no doubt to thc inherited limib of the "Id
politico+ill\titutional ~p;lce. and to ih mo~tlcnacious and Ica .. t avoid-
able con,trainl'.
27. From ih illLllal OUlhne the College Intemational dc Philosophic
was obliged to tll1nk it~ own :m.:hitccturc. or at leasl il~ relation to
architecture. It had to be prepared to Invcnt. l.md not only for its own
~akc, J configuration ofplacc)' which do nOI reproduce the philosophi+
callopo~ 11OI'iq/ll'1 which. qUlle rightly. wa), itl>elfbcing interrogated
or decon.,truclcd . This topo~ reflect" the models or reflect), it~clf in
Ihem. Thc -.ocio-acadcm ic ...1mcture. pol itico-pcd;tgogical hierarch ic ...
foml)' of C011lmU111ty Ihat prc\lde over thc org:.m i.\oJtion of placcl> or in
any CilSC nc\-er lei IhcnN~ I ... c\ be scpamtcd from them.
28. Dccon<'(fUcling Ihe U,-I(,/U("I callcd archilecturc is perhaps 10 begin
to thlOk it a~ arl(1m I . to reth i n~ Ihe anefaclure from the ~tarting point.
and the lechnology. therefore. :11 Ihe very pomt at ..... hich It relllam ...
uninhabllablc.
29. To ...a) Ihat nrchitC"Clure mU~1 he wi lhdmwn from Iheends that itre
J\sit;ned to II and fiN of all from Ihe value of habitation. is not 10
pre';Cflbc unlllhabililble COINructIOIl\. but 10 take an imere.,t in the
genealogy 01 an agdc\s contract between architecture and habitalion.
[~i(1)O"iblc to undertake a wor~ without fining it out to be habil:lble?
Everything here 1l1U~t take i11l0 con~idcr:'lllOn thme 'que~tion~ to
Ikid.:::gger" on what he belle ... ed he could say Jbout wh:ll we lran~I:IIc
in LllIin by 'inhtlbit' I/wiJirl'l"j.
30. The arehllccture of an inqillltion - for example. of a phiIosophi+
c:ll in,titul ion I' neither it.. es~ence. nor it~ allnbute. nor Ib propriely.
nor it~ accidence. nor its sub .. lance. nor its phenomenon. nor ils in,jde.
nor II .. OU1:-.ldc. Thllt whIch follows. which is not nothing. perhap:. no
longer depend, ll"e!tl,,(, 1on philosophic;)1 con"l'quences: architecture
will not exbt.
3J. In comlructlon - de-con,tnlctmg ilsclf in Ih is way. Le Col1cgt
IntcmJtiorml dc Philosophic WJ.'> oblig:ued. from i\.l, inili:!1oUlline.to
open phi lo-.ophy to other d i..cipline ... (or fa lher to other quc\lion, on
the po)')'ibilit)" 01 dl-.ciplinc. on the \pace of tcaching). 10 other
theoretical ,utd pracllcal expenence,. Not only 111 the name of a
.,acro'iiUlct il11erdl\clplllwTi ty which ),uppo')C~ atte,ted cOlllpctencts
and :llreJdy legltimme objccts. bUI in view of new 'JCCh' (projects.
object~. ~ubjCeh) of new and still unqualified ge"1Ure~. What i~
'throwing' 1J('I(,,.1 tor thoughl'! And for archlh..'C"ture? What does
'Iaying the foundations' VNe/" des [mu/allll'lII.I] mean'! What
. ~tarti ng ' .. referri ng ' .. SOli ri ng", . crecl iII g ' .. iml illit in!! .. mean here?
32. The dceon'trut"tion of the project in all it, .. tale .... Architecture is
lI'irlu}lf1 1l1'III,f.!. Illtlte pl"OJect in the technical ~en~e or not orthi\ tcm1-
-"n. A quc.,tion unalogoll~ 10 that of the .mbjl'(flil' (for cXlllllplc in
p:linting. 111 thc graphic or "culplliral ans) mLLst be posed to Iht'
archlhxl. A 4UC\t IOll of thc ~lIpport or the sub~\Jnce. of the SIIIIJ(,("/ of
what i .. rhrown {j('/r/llllllt>r. I1ll1 :11"0 of what is thrown in front or in
adv,Hlee in the proj('t I (projcction. progralllme. prc,cription. P""
proposition) of e ... erything Ihm belong ... in the archite<.:tuml
the movement of ,tuning/launching Il(lilcer] or of being "art.
launched Ir hu' -/ulldl. of throwing or being thrown II" (,,/"('jl',I/ Ja
l'e/"(: . jill iuljw '('0. Horllontally or vertically: from the foundation. for
the ercctlon of an edlfi<.:c wh ich <;Qar.. toward ... the hC:lvcns. Whcrt
there i" an apP:lrcnl .. U\pcnsion of 1II/II1l'.~is.thcrc wa .. l1oth11lg. A thesl~
PO\Cs .,olllelhlllg in the place 01 nothing or of lack. II i... lhc project as
pro:.thc"i\. Another value of the 11m: nOI in front or in advance. neither
the prOblem nor Ihe protection. bul what <:omes in the pl:lce of on
arch ltectur:ll ,upplemcntantY"
34. Le College International de Phllosophie is obliged ;tnd thaI "3\
.,tated 111 the l1l itJaI (Iut!Jne - to give a place to researche~ whIch for
convenicnce's .,ake Jrc c:tlled pe1fnrmmir('s. We understand b) {hal
the!>C moment~ ..... here knowledge becomes work, whenlhe Ihcoreltcal
statement no longer :Il1ow' ItM!rf to he dl~~ocialed from the e"ent
c:llled . cre:.!t ion' .. com 1)(),j t ion' .. comt ruct ion'. It i~ not !ou me ientto
~y that ardlltecturc i~ Olle of it~ best paradigms. Evcllthe word and
the concept of p;lradigrn hu,"c In exemplary architccllLral vulue.
35. Lc College Inlenlational de Philosophic announced in It~ 11l11\aJ
outline Ihat il would 1101 neglect anything at stake in what i~ CJ1Jed
teuching. and without limitmg it~elf 10 Ihe philosopll1cal disciplllK'.
A II dltl:lclic .. admll of;t phllo~ophy. a relation to philosophy. even if
it WJ, dcnied. What. in thi~ counlry. is the phi1o~ophy practir.eu or
ignorL'd by ,he pedagogy of architccture. the leaching of il'!> historY'. itl
technology. it~ thcory. il.'> relation .. to the other arb. other tcxt~. other
in .. tilutioll". the other politico-economic in.,lances? In thi~ countl)' and
in Ihe olher...?The \iWalion of France i... in thi .. regard. very panicu!ar
and thi:. boo~. 111 auaching il~ l f to cenalll philol>ophical prenllSe~,
could contnbUle 10 :1 ..on of general moving of boundarie~ and to
anothcr expenencc of intcmationali<,m. It is without doubt an
underl:l~ing for archi tecture :l11d in any case an cS"l'ntial project
College Inlem:ttional.
36. Taking account of what 1<' taught of Ihe archilccturnl . project" I
thi~ boo~. one he,it,\Ic", to .. pe,,~ of Le College International dt'
Philo\ophie having n proJcct' . To .\oJy thaI it doc ... not have n project
doc\ 110\ amount 10 denouncing ils empiricism or Itl> adventurism. 10
the ~ame wayan architeclure wi thout a projeCT i!;: engagcd perhaps m
:1 more thoughtful. more inventive. more propitious work than CI'et'
came from the event.
J7. To ~ay of architecture that il is not is perhaps to under~tand Ihatlt
Iwppcn .... [t givcl> plJc('" to ilself without relurning to It. there IS t~
event.
3~ . Therc is no deconstructive projcct. no projecl/projective ~Iep Ipm
(/(0 f1l"ojN I for deconslrucllon.
39. The project: IllS and it is notlhe e~s.cnce of architecture. Perha~
it will have been the hl~tory of architecture, it" order in Jlly ca...e.
40. Leaving the uphorism on the threshold. There is no inhabitable
,

pl.ll:t for the aphori'l1I. The dl~Junctive forct.: can only be put Hl tht!
Mthltcttllral WOTt.. at the moment where. by ~ome -.cerel or delllcd
>lncr~y, it can be integr:ttcd into the orderot;J narrative Iredl l. what
(Ielthe dimension. in:1I1 unintcrrupled hl~\Ory between the bcglnllll1g
I1Id lhe ('nd, the foundi ng !oub-foundat ion and the top of the hou!o(', tht!
cellar and the roof. the ground .lI1d the point of Ihe pyramid ...
lI. \0 habitat for the aphmi'm/inhabiling ,tep for the :lphori'>l11 [pal
ihtlhUul filII/I" /"lIphO/'i.I/IIf'1 but one doc, not IlIhabit;1n aph ori~m.
neither m:1n nor god. The aphoTl!>m is neither a h()u~e nor a te111plo.:. nor
! !)Chool. nOT a pari i,l1l1en I. nor an (lI!.{)ra. nor:1 10m b. Nell he T:I py r:lllIld
IlOI' above alt a SlrulWIII. Whal cI~c?
~! Wht'ther .... e II~c il or not the aphori'lll i~ ilTCTllediably ed ify ing.
U Thl.'rt.' i ~ nOlhlllg more .tn:hl lectur:tlthan:l purt! aphorism. '>")' Ihe
l)IiIcr/:.o il i~ '>aid [Ilil r {II/Irl' I. Archi leciure in the 1I10'>t ph iIOl>ophlc:1 1
form of ih concepl I'> neuht!r a pure interruption. nor:1 di!>~oc i ated
IragOlcm, but :IIOlal ity whIch claims !O be -..clf~ufficlent. the figure of
~~}'\rell1 (according to Kant rhe archirecton lc i~ the an of~y .. rems). It
hal it~ rno~1 al!lhoritative, peremptory. dogmmic and complacently
'\I:Jf!egirimallsmg eloquence when it doc~ everything to ]c,l\e out.1
i1IUctural dernonstr.l1ion.
~. The arhorbrn re"ulllt! ... rt:a,~mble~ t!verything III I...elf.li~e :1"-
IOlute Lnowledge. II nu longer po-..c.. :111) que,tion,. No IIHerrog.:llion/
PJlnt of Inlerrog<l1 ion [I'm 1/1 d' i 1111'1'101.:(1/ ill// I: iIi, tl1U" impm~ ibl e 10
punc\U,1l1.' ~ di~Our ..c wh ich i~ or which produce'> mown melhod ,nul
im:ludeswilhm ir,elf all II'> preambles <lnd vestibnles. If archllccture
i~domlnalctl by the logos. then thc character of Ihe aphorism which i"
t the larne lime pro.!-.cripllve and entire .JHow .. thl'> logocentnc
P1lkhoph) of <In:hileclul1..' 10 tnumph. The aphori~m command!>. II
\lan\anJ fini\he,,: Jrchuc{"tllllic. an:hi-e,chalOlogy and aTchlteleol
CIg} It rC3,>~rnblc'> in it:-elf. arrange~ Ihe forcword. Ihe projo.!ct. the
ma\tcryofrhe work and the putling 10 work. It den ie, the rC~I~tance of
materiah (here ,til the wont.. ending with the !>ound R: the earth 1111
Irrrd. the maner 110 IIltIlihf' I, the ,,;\One Iia pll'l'l't' I. the gl",s [1(1 \'{'}'I'/' I.
tilt Imn IIIIJerl. Wllhout which. it i'> thought. there i<; no architecture
1hot1 hold~ up. only '1II<llor.:IC/lI d i'-CouN.'s on archllceture ). To vcn fy 11
<kil'l not mean that one ~hould bt:'!>ar"fied wilh 1\ hal Ilege l !>ay' aboul
;a\'Chlil'(lure itself. but lak,' al'counl of the fact Ih;lt architeclure I'
~\thing once JI j, wilhdrawn fWIll rhe teleology of ab"olute ~nowl
Mge. Inthe lame \\ a),." plwri ~m~ C<lIl on Iy III II It iply or Ix: pu tin :I '>e ric ..
if lhey Cllhl!r confinll or contntdkt each other.
~S , There IS alw:lY, 1ll0rl' than one aphon,rn,
46. J)e\PIIC their fragnK.'nt;lry appcar.llI{"C. they mal..c a "'gn 10 .... ard~
JAt:QI1ES 1)FRRIDA
the memory 01 a rowllt). at the ~allle \l!ne ruin and monumcnt.
"7. In lheir cOl\lrad ictory mulliplicllY Ihey r.;:Jn al way~ once more be
C\1I1lC dialectical momcnb. rhe ab~(l lu\(' knowledge held in re,erve in
a the,i~ or .lIIrilhe,i ... Preface 10 a '>horr rrcati,e on negativity in
architecture. Il ow.m architectural interruprlon re!!:tlher. a me:lIllng. a
func tion. a finality. (wor~ of the neg:ltl\'e) 111 :lllew edification.
48. COIltr.lry to appearances dCI.:OIhtrUClion is not an archlieClUral
meraphor. The word Ollght and will have to name a thought of
architecture. il mu~t be a thoughl ,11 wor~. From the ~13n il is nOI u
metaphor. It I'> no longer IXl,,>iblc to rely on iSI' fil' l the concepl of
me1:lphor. Next.:I deconMruction, a'> it, name indicates. mu~t from the
';Ian decomtruct the c\1Il~rruCI101l 1l'>Clf. the ~tructur.J.1 orcon\trucliviq
mOlif. its '\Chcme\. Its mtuilions :llId 11'> concepts. it<, rhetonc. But il
deconstrucl\ a'> well the striclly architeCluml con~lruC\lon. the philo-
,ophi('"l comtruct ion of the concept of :lrchllccture. The concept b
govented by the moocl both in the illea of the ~ystem m philo\ophy 3~
well a.,> in the theory. practice .mllteaching of areh\tecture.
"I). Supcr!>lruclure, are nOt decon,>tructed in order finally 10 reach the
b.1sl~ . the ori~inal ~oil. Ihe ullIInarc foundarion of an archirccl\lre oror
a thought of ar{"hitcclurc. l"hert! i, no relurn 10 Ihe purity or ro Ihe
propriely/property Ipl"lll'riilfi. 10 the e,o;cnce of archl1CclUre Ils('/f
One bcgm~ wilh the !>cheme ofthe foundatIOn and with the 0pPOMtlO1h
Ihm it induce~: oo'>C/'>urface .. ,ub,tlll1cc/tllmlny', essence/accidence.
'im ide/ouhide' amI e~pccially 'found:tllonal re~earehlfinali<;cd re
~earc h': thi'> Ja\l opJXl,ition is of gretll cOlhequenct! here.
50. The cngagement. the .... ager: t:l~ing account of the architectuml or
illlarchilectur<ll nece">ny Without de'tro)mg il. without drawing only
neg.nive cOll\C4uence,\ from it. "'''he 1x1'>Cless ground Ill' ,wm.fjfl/ldl of
11 'decon<;truclive' and aflimlati\'e archnl'Clure can cau,e vertigo. but
1I1~ 1101l he VOId III' \/dl'!. it i, not the gaplllg and chuol1c remainder,
the himu ... of de'truction. Inver,>ely it i~ no longer the Ileideggerian
f)(',lll'IIklirll/ evcn if it~ project musl be ~lIpposcd. Slill Ic~~ i, it rhe
improbable elesohSlruClion which ha~ recently been dre"ed up in our
language.
51. Neither Babel. nor Nimrod. nor the Flood. Bet .... een ~ora and
/II'( Ill' pcrh.Jps. if there Wl1S illl an::hitcctufc which was. mthe hn'tt eel!
neither Greek nor Judaic. A slill unnameable fillal1on. anolher '>Cries
of aphorislIh.
52. Ma il1lainmg IlIIallll('lIirl. de~plte the temptal1om. de~plle the pos
'>ible reapproprialion. the chance of the :tphorism, is 10 ~eep within Ihe
interruption. withuulthe interruption. the promlM! of giving place. if
il i, neces";:try/ if il i, rnb~ing I,~'il II' filiI/I. But it j., ne\icr given.
h'J
DECONSTR L:CTIOJ'\

70
 ,

JACQUES DERRIDA \

In Discussion with Christopher Norris

or cirrurmlanlial dclail il i~ pcrhap, enough \0 record ut1I'i Ihi~ nl~o hal, e""y, on V:llerio Adami and Titu~-Carmcl. In their work -
interview W~~ conducted at Derrida' s horn~ ncar Pari' dUTlng a Iwo- a~ in Derrida', recent texb one can m,Lke out the sign, ofa clo'\C and
m \e~\ion In March. 1988. 110.: had wanted 10 :lIIcnd the T:llc reqprocal e\.change bet..... ecn o..."'(:Ol1\lrUCllon and a certam proble-
S~mposium!lnd p.lnicip:uc in a panel diSl:U1>1>ion wilh BcmardT-.churni. matic!> of wn ting and graphit rcprc\CnHlIion. But nities have abo
litter Ei~mmm. Ch:irlc~ Jcnd..s and mher'S. In Ihe even! he wa .. unable applied the tenn Dccon,tTuction 10 other arti~b like Ducharnp.
10 mJke lhe Irip and in1>\cud arranged wilh SYlllpo,iulll org:mi1>cr J :L ~I)Cr Johns and Franci~ Bacon. Derrida hirn~elf nwkes mention of
Andrca~ Papada~i:> 10 du :, video IIltervic" .... rrc..:ned a.., pan of the Magrine in the contex l of 'c il:Jtion:lllt) . and the dccon'lTuctlon of
S)mpo'lium proceeding .. , TIlcrc WiI' nOlime 10 \ubmil quc.')lron .. ordo mimctic illU'"ion through e ffec l ~ of juxtaposed Image and text. And
much In the way of advance planning. but a<; 11 !Urned out 1111' WII" no again there l ' hl\ c,~ay ' Rc,ti lution s' rni~ing the quc:.tion of pamterly
probl~m: Ihe IIllcrvicw cOllered all the mam pointl> I had hoped to rai~c. ' truth ' by W;LY of Meyer Sch:lpiro'lol quarrel with Heidegger over the
Iiong with varioul> rci;Hcd topics. Dcrrida kindly agreed 10 'peak in true ~ignific:lt1cc of Van Gogh's OM Shfll's lIilh UI("/'l. the que~tion
Engli~h. v.hich helped a grem deill when it came 10 the '-Creening and ,eclllingly !.O \ 1101110 eilch ofthcm - a~ to whether they ",ere pea!.:II1I'
~bo;equenl audience di'>Cu!>!>ioSl. In editing the traSlscripl I hOlve ,hoc~ or tho\C of 01 11Iil1l-aoout-lOwn.
Ihghlly expanded ~ome of my quc~linn~ to impwve continu ity and 10 So the IlIIerview as\.., wh.1I relation might CXl\t betYoccn these
Dffer \Onle signposts or cOlllextual cue~ for rC:lder, lInfamilial with various forllls of decon'tructive activilY: that i.. 10 \ay - for wanl of
Derrnla\ work. [have \:Iken Ihi, opponunily 10 rcc()n~t ruct one or twO bener term, 'creative' Deconstruclion on the one h'lI1d. and diagnos-
pao&le\ where the mcaning. w""n"1 altogether clCM. but I Il:Ive ke pt lic or critical c011lmentary on Ihc olher. To po~e the question IIkc thIS
tditorial inlru\ions (Q a minimum and tTUslth.n tho\\! who Imvc seen is of c()ur~ to fall back into jUq the kind of value-laden bInary thinking
the tUlX'd illtcrv iew wi II j lIdge 1h" a fa iIh fill pre "ental ion of i1\ content. Ihat Dccon,truction set~ out to challenge. But it b C(ju.Llly mbwken to
believe that. having once \ccn through their delu~ory appearance. one
can fina lly come out on Ihe rar "'Ide of all 'L1ch 'metaphy~ ica]'
catcgor;clol. What i" required L' a vigilanT ;Iwa rcnc~~ofthe way that they
In \() far a~ onc can delinc. expl:lin or ~ullln13ri,c the Dccon~truction inhabit all our thinking about art. abOUI cntici ... m, phllol>ophy and the
i\l project. onc ... account might go very briefly as foliow,. Dccon- human scicncc~. while abo giving ri ...c 10 problematLc tension' wLthin
~uuction locate:. certain crucial opposilions or binary struclUre<; of and between tho'>C dl'-Cipline\.
meaning and Yalue that con'titUlc the di'iCollr..e of 'Westem meta- In Til{' "-,.,,111 ;11 Paillfi/l,~ Derrid:1 Write,: 'We mu", ,harpcn the
ph),ic~. These include (among many others) the di,tlnction, between pUlln \, the bJ:,dc!\ or the edge\ of a certa in ("/Ilf/lmll .f . ' This figure thc
form anti con tcnt, nature and culture. thought and pcrception. elol,ence trope of tf{)~~ing or exchanged al\rib\ltc~ ~ L~ one that plays un
~nd accident. mind and body. theory and practice. male and female. i1l11>Ortani rolc in hL' reading of Kant and the ']Xlrergonal' di~ourse
roncept and melaphor, :.peech OInd writing etc, A Deconlollructive that fmllle>; KlInt 's thmkll1g 011 que'tion~ of aesthetiC Judgemenl. II I)
~III! then goes on to \lIow how thc~ teml~ :Irc m~cribcd wi thin a ul~o illlportullttO Ei!>Cl1man, thiS :lnd other tropes (Iikecat:lchrcsi~) thai
~)'Itematlc structure of hierarchical privilege. "uch tlmt onc of clIeh pu,h beyond the bound ... or reason or rcpre"ent:moll by radicali~ing
pm will alway~ appear to occupy tht! \overcign or govcming fXl,i tion. language in it, figural aspect. Thus Ei-.cnlllan; 'Ihe way to catachrc~i!>
The aim is then [0 deTllon~trate by way of clo'>C read mg how thi'> i, nOl to supprc" metaphor hul 10 find Ihe calachreSls reprc\o;ed III
~)'tem i\ undone. \0 to speak, from within; ho\'. the :.ccoml or metaphor, and the wa) to anothcr arcJHtccture I~ not 10 ~uppress the
~bordinmc term in cach p:m ha~ an equal (maybe a prior) daim to be Cl:t"ical but in fact tocut in . . . to ... urgically open up the Clas~ica l and
treated a~ a Ioll//i lirJ/J rifp(Hsi hi! ily for the en tire ~ y~tem. Th u~ writ ing the Modem \0 lind what i, repre'~IJ'. Thi~ interview m.IY be re:ld a~
1\ regularly marginah"Cd. denounced or put in it!> place - a Wictly an Improv ised commentary on the way that Dccon,truclion has
sa:ol'lilary. '\upplcTIlcT1I:lry' place by a long line of thinker, in the opened lip "L1ch questions for philo-..ophy and the yi,ual art'> alike.
W~tm1 tr.Khtion. from PI;lIo and An,tOI\c to Rou \\cau. I-Iu ~serl. C/II"i.ffOl'hel" Norris
Saussurc, Ltvi-Strau~~ and the laller-day ~truclUmli,t human ~ci
eoccs. But JUM as often - as Dcrriull show~ in OJ Gmlllll/llwlo:.:y -
IlITitan! re\urfaces to :.,!>Crt ib clal1l1 :15 thc rcpre~scd othcr of thi~
IlIhole togocenlric lr.tdllion. the 'wandering outcast. scnpcgO:1I or PI'll/apl I (01/111"0'" I,., (Jv~il1,1; (llwrlwP.I ral/wr 11(1/1'1' qlll'.wiow ("all
nile who\C off-stage rok is a precondition of the system. And this ,herl' he slICh a 111111.1: (I.\" /Jl'comll"llf"lnisl (/I"( 01" indeed OrcolI
curiou') 'Iogic of supplementarity' operates wherever thinking i" s'I"//("fi I'i.fl (/1"("/1/11'("/111"(" ? Th(ll i.f /0 .1"(1.11. do I h('s(' II'I"IIU nfer f() (I gi Ltl1
mOIl~atcd by a cenam corhtilUt ive need to exclude or deny IhOlt which MY/(' . projecI or IXldy oj I\()"~ ' Or do lill'Y flO' ,",aha .fi,l;l1iJr u urtam
m3l.e) it possible from the outset. IiU)" oj 1(J{)~illJ.: (II l'lIl"iOlll \\orh (llId projl' ('IS. (ll'ercel'lloII ,"m WOIlIt/
t\ow it is not hard to c;ce how ~uch a DecomlnH:tive reading might Im:(lJ.. wilh (0/' (If Il'usl ll'el /() fhall(,II}:I' J e.w(lhlish('(/ uleas ojJOl"m,
after! Iht' discourse of currem (Po\t-Modem ) architectura l thought. Iwille (/lid (I('SI 111'1 ir repr('SI!III(JTI(IfI?
Thu~ Peter EiscnnKIIl ~uggests that: ' the traditional opposition be- Well. I don't know .. I must say, when I fir~t mel. I won'\ .)3y
tlloeen \trutlUre and decor.ttion. abMr.lction and figuration. figure and -DcconSlructive architecture'. but Ihc Decon~l ru cti\'e di~urse on
ground. form and function could be dissolved. Architecture cou ld archi tecture. I was rathe r pUl.lled and ~u!>p lc iou .... I thought at fir~t that
begltl an exploration of the "between" within these ~ategorics.' And l)Crhups thi ~ wu~ an :lnalogy. a displaced diSCOUrM!. and something
DernJa ha\ likewise wrinen of an architeclUTU I . ~up plel1lentar ity'. :I more analogical than rigorolls. And then - as I have explained some-
movement of diffirm/C'(' hctween :lIId within concepts that would open where -then I reali~d that on the cOntr,uy. the Illost effic ient way of
up hitheno unthoughl-of in\'entive pos!)ibi litie<;, Thc intervicw has a pUlling Deconstruction 10 work wa~ by going through un and architec-
good deal to s.ay about this in relation 10 Derrida's collaborative ture. As you know. Dt..--con slTUction b not simply a muner of dlJo,Course
\cnture With Eisenm;m :l11d Tschumi. His book TlIi' T,.,lIh ill Ptllllfillg or n matter of di splacing the scmuntic content or the discourse. its

71
DECONSTRUCTION
conceptual strUClure or whatever. DccOlNruction goes Ihrough ccr-
1;lin ~oci<llllild politic;!1 ~tructurcs, meeting wilh re ... isl:mcc and di ...-
placing in~lilulion ... as it doe ... ~O. [think Ihm in Ihesc fonll~ of art, and
in any architecturL'.to dccon ... truct tr:Jdition:!1 sallction~ - theoretic:!l.
philo~Qphical, cultural dTcctivd)" you have 10 di~place ... I would
,ay '~olid' ~truClUrc~, nol only in Ihe ~cn~e of tl1:1lerial ~mtClure .... but
'~olid' in the ~en~c of cultur:t1. pedagogical. political. economic
'[ructure .... And aillhe concepl~ which are, leI u... ~ay .the wrget i if I 1lI;IY
usc Ihh term) of DccolNruclIon, such :IS theology, the ,ubordin;ltion
of the ~ensiblc to the intelligible and ~o forlh - lhe~e cOnCepl!) are
effccl1vc ly di~pla('ed in order for them to become 'DcconSlructive
architecture'. Th<ll ... why I <1m 1I10rc and more intere~led in iI, desptte
the f:ltlth<lt I <1111 technically incompetent.
- Could you ,1(/.1' (I/illie IIwn' (lholll YOllr wor/., willi Bl'rllard TSI'flllfili
{!lid P I'f('r t::i,\I'IlIII,11I , 111/(/.1'/111/1' ofI}/(' ('01 lofll 11"(1/ i \'I' pruj('(" 1.1' IIlldt'r way
III Pllri,I' (lllhl' IIIOlllelll ?
Well. wh:lI I could do is ju ... t ;) n:lrration uf lile way lhing~ happened.
Once I had a phonecall from Beman! Tschumi, who I didn'l know at
the tirn~, except by reputation. Tschumi !Old me: 'Some architeCl~
today are imen;!,ted in your wort.. and would you be interested in
working with ~OJlle of them, or one of them. on a project in La
Villette'!' A~ you know, Tschumi i>. fe~pon~ible for aH tlte architecture
;\1 L.I Villcnc. Of l,;ouri\C I was "Llrpfi~l!d. hUI my a11~wer wa~ 'Why
110t:' And ~o I had my fir~te1lcountl!r with T-;chumi and I began to loot..
altho~e projecl.!> and to TCad ~om" le'\l~. by T~chlL1l1i and Ei~en1l1:'H1.
1 hen I mel Eisenman Jllany tl1ne~ in New York. We worked togelher.
we cn-ordinated everythmg in disclLssion, and now there is ;) book
which i~ soon 10 be published on the~e collaboratiom. My propo~a l
I ... as thai we .slart with a te"t that I had TCcently wrillen on Plato'~
Tjfllllf.'/1.~ bccau-.c it had \0 do wilh "'pace, with Decon~lruction, ~o to
speak, 'in the universe' , It abo had to do wilh:'1 prob le1111hat I wa ...
iOI ... re . . led io and that concerned, lei us say. the ('cO/lollli(" dctemlina-
tion of Ihe way we u'lmlly read Plato. Thi ...... tr:lIcgic level wa~
e,.,tremely important for me, So I gave thi!! text to Peter Eisenman and
111 his own way he Maned a projecllh:tl was correlaled wilh but at thc
~:nne time independent of my text. That wa~ true collabor:llio11 - nOi
. u~ ing' the other' ~ work. not ju ,t iII ust rat ing or -.elecl ing from it ... and
"'0 lhcrc i.. <I t..ind of di~t'repanc) or, I woul!1 ~ay. <I proouctive dialog.u~
bctw~en the concern,. the !)ty le .. , lhe per~ons too. And "'0, <lftcr about
18 l11()rHh~' or two ye.trs' work. Ihe project i.. now ready to Ill:
'con"tfucted', you might say ... 1() be reall~ed ...
So il 1I'01ild fll' Ihis (1.1 (IIII'll' '1111'11' ill YOIII" 111I1I/"lIIg. a
1\'/"(llIg IOSe('
smt./f' lI rt','oglliliO/1 of {"O/lIIe{ lioIlS. o!]illili( S VI" COIJ!IIWII poillls of
IlI/en'SI h('fI1'('ell DI'('(I/I.'>Irl/('1iOIl Wid I he \i.l'lIal o/"I.I'? } II faC! Ihe /'(, II H '
IIlWI I' /l(I~,WI ge ,\ i" yow' {'arl i t1' lIT iIi IIg ~ al1d I 11/1 rJJ i /I /"i II g hen' of 1/'.\1 ,\
li/"{- Force and Sig.n ification 01" Genc~i" and StrUt'lure II'lIff(' III('
lIr~ 1/111('1/1 1111"11.1' 0/1 /'/,1'111 i II cl'llcial (Ie'/ 11.1 .my J 1II/'I(lJ1h(JI",~ of OIl IIIT}II'
1('("//11'<11 pHI I '1'11 111/1'1' The ("(1 111 {i \'I h('1'1' \l'lI.1 yoltl" jOill1 n'mli /I g of I he
sll"//("/urali.H {ll/d ph(,IIf/II//,llologlcal pfOjn 'IS - II/Or/, sp/'I'ijil"lIlIy. of
Salis .\'11 n' alld IIIH.H'ri as 1\1'0, ('qualli' ngon!ll.l" /)111 ji 1/<llIy IIICOIII{JlI/-
;hle refleCTioll S 1111 !he dWl"(JcllT o/I(IIII:'lIag(' lIlId m('(1/l i /IX . TIllis yflu
II'ri 1/': IIII' H' I hi alld dc sign oj .'>lfIlelliff'S appears mor(' dl'ul'ly when
("(1111('111, whi('h i,1 I}I/' lil 'illt: (,l/l'l'gl' Oflllt'lIlIillt:, i~ IIt'll/l"alisl'd. SO/IIi-
whm Ii/.,/, Ihe (l1"('hiU'cIiO'I' oj (IIllIlIill/whiled ()I dl'~('I'I('d clly, I'('(II/("ed
fIJ il.l' s/"e/ewlI hy JOllie ('vw.I'll'Uplie of IUlIII/'(' Of al"l. A C'ily 110 IOl/8l'1"
in}whlfl'd, 11O! simply hj; hl'hillil. hll/ III/ullled Ily 1I/(,(lIIill,l.: lIlId {/(/~
IlIrt'. AmI flf ('Ollrs(' Ihe~'I' ardllledlll'al figllre.1 alld lIIllIlog/t'J V(TI/I"
11111/"1' ofII' II III Y(JW' /(lIi:' I' It'd I i 11.1:. S011 K (JIll alld I fI(, I/'(u/i lioll ojC hHsit'al
(/I'.I"llu'lin' (for ill ,wJIlce, The Parergllll' i/l The Truth III Painting)
Thlls JOI" Kalil. an:hitectonic h dl'fi1l('(i (/.1' Ihe 'an 0/ sY~"Il'III,~'. 111m
which arl i(,lIllIIl! S 'he I'ariOIl sortie f,\' of Inllil cla i III IIlId I'mw'c ~ "/C' i I'
pI"Up"" rlIi('l"(/rcll ical ) fe/III irm ship om' wil h CllIOI hl'l'. So i 1111 H'II Of' 0111'
. .
("(11/ ftl {/r~ 1/(' 111(11 VOI/f lI'or~ hlls (I{VI'{/\',I'
. ht'ell (Tllciall\'. COIICl'I'/I('d lI'i I h
'/JIThi'I'CI/lflll' /IIodel.\ and 1/I/!/(/pllOl's. Do ,vIm fJl'fail'e {J clf'W' ("{J/1
11111(11)' (h"rt" n/" am I jll.l'l imagining al/lliis?
No, not al alL Bul l would like to say somelhing aooutlhe concept of
analogy or 11lctaphm you rightl)' used a ll1mnent ago, Of COllr!.C there
isa lot ofarchitcctuml metaphor. nOI only in111Y le"t" but inlhe wholt
philo~ophical traditJOn. And DcCOll~lruction ~ the word Deconstruction
sound!> very much like ~uch a metaphor. an architectural metaphOr.
BUll thint.. that it'~ more complex than th;l\. since the word
or was underlined in a certain situation where SlructUT:.\lism wa!> domi'
n3111 on Ihe scene. $0 DeCol1~tructiOIl ~hared certain motif, with
~tructur<Jli~t projecl while >lIthe ~ame time 'l1!ilcking that pmjecl. ...
Bul Dccollstru~li{J1l doc<,n ' t mean Ih;lt we have to fltay within
<lrchitectura l mctaphor~. II docsn'l mean. for e"amplc. Ihat wo
destroy something which is built - phy~ically built or culturally
ur theorelically buill - jU~1 in order to reveal a naked ground 011 which
~omething new could be built. DccoI1~lruction i~ perhaJ>~ a way
questioning thi~ architccturalmodel ihelf - tile :lrchitectural model
which is 11 general qut: ... tion. even within philosophy.
foundalions, of sUJ>erstruCllJr~~, wh;tt Kil1lt calls :"oh
well as the concepl of lhe !/IT/II) . . $0 Decon ... truction .
putting into que~tion of architecture in phi losophy and perhaps archl'
tecture itself.
When I discovered what we now call' Deconslrucllve ",hi,
I wa" interc~tcd III the facl thaI Ihe~e archilech were in fael
~tructing the c""cntial, of tradition. and were cri licbing
that ~ubordinated architeclllre to somelhing el~c ~ the value
~ay. u\efltlnes~ or beauty or living - 'huhiwli()/!' -etc -1101 in
to build ~olllething else th<Jt w(luld be u~le ... ~or ugly or
bUI to free architccture from all tho~e external fina1ilie!l,
guals. And not in order to recOl1~titu l e "ome pure and origiml
tecture ~ on the l'ClI1tr<lry. jusl 10 put architecture in
with olhcr mcdia. othcr art~. 10 cOlIlWllill{/{(' :Ifchilecture
notice that in Ill) way of dealing with Dccon~tructi()l1 I ~u\pcel
("OII1't'11I of mctaphor itself. in ~o far a:. it involve~ a co,",
net wort.. of phi lo ... ophcl1le~. lI11elwork that would al way~ I
n ,ome point into an.:hitel'lure ...
~ Ye,\", Ihi.\' il (I ({J/)ic .\,/)/1 rai,I'(' III \'(!/I1' Fifty-Two Aphori"ms for
Foreword . The Fe YOIf l' xplinlly (Iisoll'n I hl' idj'{j
ill 011\' sense' UII orchirl'l"Ili/"allll'llIpho{'. a fi~II/"(, Ihm would .
ohlil/lll'ly /{J naml' OJ" /() specify SOIllI' ollgOlng proji'Cf in Ihl'
Iwildillg and t/I',ligll. AI/{IIhi.~fl'/' Ihl' /"('a,IO/I. as .\(111 say. Illat il is'
101/ gel' pO.H ihll' 10 IIIO/"t' /I Sl' of 11/(' ('O/l('I'pl of II/('wplml" . Bill , /"','
/111/ .I'<ly lI'ilh ('qual forr'l' (a.1 you did SOli/I' y('al',1 ago in .
My 11,01i) IiY' ) Ilwll flf' re i.1 1/11 IIOSI I f)i I i'.1' of(Ii ling II 'j I hOIll "."",,' ""';,/".
'("(JIlu'(n of !III'WI'}/Or': Ihlll iJ inrl('ed all CI)IWl'pts (,-ollle d01l'1!
mel<lphors - (/,1' Ni{'l:S('ilc argu('{1 1111'11 il i~ a/so Ihe ('{lI'f' Ihm
(JOJSess only rn/wepl.'>' of lI1elaphor. ideas Iltal IIm'I' ul\\yl.\'s
/)('('1/ 1\'lIf/"('1I owr lIy rlt(' C/iS('O/I/".'>I' oj' philo,wpJtic reuson,
Ari.l'TOIif' on? Ilcdt' Ihis argllll1(,111 II.'> 0111' 1II0rt' I'XlUlip/i, of IIII'
i IIfi.\ It'IICf'. 01/ you I' Jlarl, Ihut 'DeC(IIIS1 I"m'l iou' i.'> 1101 lJe "..'."", " "
h/"('a~' wilh '\VI'Hem f1/('I(lpitysin'. (/ h'op rJllfsit/e llie
fmC/ilirlll l1Ial 1/!iIlA-I' 10 If/lid 01/ J())Ile altemaril,t,. radimll,\'
groll/ul . 1s /I lIor lhis {/cCl'pt(//we oJlhe lIf'ed /(IlI'o,,~ {)(Ilil'lIIly
and agai l1~t lhe .W'III'II//"{'.\" oj i 11/11'1"11('(11 lIolI~ III IIul/ h{ls t'hifj1y
g 1/ is}/f'd Df'(,oll.w 1"11('1 iOIl fr(llll 01 her. }e ss e IOcri Ill: a lid .
(lJ P (I,wM 0(/1'1'11 Ihollg hI ? I tlS~ I his qll('SI iO/l - as 1'11/1
g11('.1.ITd - in Ih(' hopi' Thai .1'011 will hi' dralt'll i lifO ofJl'l'i II g .
nJ 11'111/1 SJ1('{'I'ji (,lilly set,\' 01'1 '011 SIT"/U'lirll/ <I(JOI'/ from tilt'
M odern projeci
A... you know, I nevcruse the word 'post'. the prefix 'post'; and Ih".,
man)' rcasons for Ihl~ . One of lhose reu~on~ i, thatthi~ use of the
impl ies. a periodi~atioT1 or an cpochali~ation which j., 11Ihl),
mil.' for me. Then again, the word 'po~t' implies that something'
fini~hed ~ tl1(lt we can gel rid of what WCl\I bljol"e DcconSlruClion.
I don'lthink anything of the sort, For in ... tance, to go back 10 the I
point of your que~tion. I don't believe that the opposition
concept and metaphor ~<ln evcr be era~cd. I have never :;uggc~ted t
all concep!" were ~irnp'y mClaphor~, orthat we couldn't r .-
thai distinction, becau~c in fael :t\ thc end of Ihat essay [. 11

M}'lhology'l [dcco n ~ truc tthi~ argument al~o, and 1:':1y Ihat we need,
for ~ic ntltk rca~on " and many reasons , to keep this di~tillc li oJ1 at
\ll'oli, So this I!> a very COll1l)li c~lIcd gesture.
Now a\ for architecture, I Ihillh. thallJt'j"(III.~I '1f("1I0" come" ;looUl -
let U~ C:lrry on using. Ihi<; word to S:l VC lime when you h:.vc
decon\tructed <;()Ille :lrchiteclUral philosophy . .'.OIllC :uchiteclur;ll a~
SIlIIIptions- for in.')lancc. the hegemony orthe ae ... thetic. ofbcauty.the
hegemony of usefuille ... ~. of functionality. of living. of dwd I ing. Aut
!hell you havc to 1"/' i II sf'I"il'I' Ih e~e motif, wi t h in the work. Y QU C;II\ 'I (or
yeu ,hau ld n.t) ~i111pl Yd i"'111 i~, Iho,e v<ll u e~ of d we Iii ng, fu net i()]1 a III y ,
beaut)' and ~oon. You have to construct. ~() to 'l)Ca\.;. a new .. pace :llId
anew form. to shape :lIICW way of building in which lhO', e 111otifq)r
~alue~ arc rcin'\Cri bed, havi ng meanwhile h ) ...1 their external hegem
ony, The invemivenc" of powerful an::hi lecl\ (;OIhi.. ts Ithillh. in th l"
rcinscription. the economy of this rein~ription, which involvc.') :11,0
'oOrlle rc~pect for tradi tion, for mcmory. Dcc{)n~\ruclion i, not ,imply
forgeuing the p:l~l, What hll ~ dominated theology or ;Jrchitectu t"e ur
anything ebe is slill1here, in ,ollle W:lY, and the in~criptions. the. let' ~
\Ol~,tlrc1tI,"I'oflhe~ dccon,truCled ~lrucl u rc'. lh e archive should be a.')
It3dJblea~po'!>i blc, a\ Icglble as \\occan make il. That is the \\.oay I try
10 ..... rite or 10 teaeh. And I thinh. the same i, true. to ..orne eXlelll, In
lIthlleclurc,
YOII 1U/1"/' SIre :I.I'f'l1 ifillI' .1'II.lp lt"iOIl of 'flll,\(-' 11/(1\ '('/111'111 ~ ill phi 10,\11-
r"-I (1I1d IIrt, w/1I'rher P IIslM odl'l'II is I. P0.\ I -Sf /'IIr"IIII'IIIi,I'I. or 1'0,1 I hll -
/lIIlI1l.ll(U~ III .\(1111' 1'111"1\' I'ssal' . rht' E/I(/.I oj M all'). Alld IliilIo/" Ihl'
ItdSml (IS IIllJ.t.' II Ihm all JIt'I'.~ !>c)-ond 11I111f' lIalllt' oft/ll.l or Ihm
I<JJ'fdlllt.'1I II'''.' 0/ ,lmd,lII g arl' liah/e 10 ji IIlI , hl,tII fl''''I' S IlIIwi /I illK/\
rtilnrriMI/lI"uhilllhl' /1'''111.\"(1111,,1S"IIIt' oPl'mlliolial on/('1" 11,'uIIIK"1
~'hllh thl'.I' hOII(' ,hue/n' /(! l'l lllP(' Do yOU/lUI 1'(' 1' a ri~'J. 0/ :lOIIII'/lI lIIg
IImi/ar 1I<IIJPt.'ItIIIM 1I';lh ("111'1'1'1" (II/e"'p/~ 10 hrNIJ. 1I';lh Ihe SINa I/I'd
'Modemisr' I'a/"(ldl!~m and 11.1' ,H'.I'ociall'11 .111"11/'/1/1 '(' of ('(llIn'fI'l allil
willt.'s? Thllii PI' II'r f _i,II'/!/IIIIII : ' F or (lrchilt'("III/'(' 10 ('Il/f'l " 110.11 -
IIrxrlillll (,{Hldiliml. il 1111111 11101'1' (1\1'(1\"/1"01111111' ri.r.:.idily lIlid I'ollll'-
,uru(/url.' o/IIlI'sl' dllllnlini l oppmliiolls' (/1' figure tlllti gl"OlIIlfl .
IInraml.'lIf Ulld sin/( 1111"1', forlll WIt! /111/( 110/1 ('If"). Or wOll/d /I 1)I.. rh(//)~
/It Ifill' iii Sin (IS SOIllt.' IiJ.(' (;/"{..I;OI .... U11IIl'/" hlll'l' till/IIII'll r/lllll/llllg .~
tkJl"r mml',1 fI/i dlll"lllg Ihi' plIl'I l/eUU/t' or JO}/'I Jill . O('f"Ollslrll("floll' a.I'
U.I/Itrlr,f oj mt'lil"lllllll.I' II.' \ Illal el"i liqlll' 10 'UPI'I ii'll g rllfllmal olo 0.:1" tI \
ol ffl/c/in' of l"J"('lIIi\'r rl'illsl"I"ipliOIl Ihm g01',1 IWIYHld SII("II "miL
rrtlilllill/lf\' worJ. :1 II IIlIld rhis ht' hrll'lW 0111 !," I'I'IIal \"(1/1 11(11'1' 1"I,(t'1il II'
ufhl('I'rd In YO llr ('/llIaIIl Jl"{llil'(' ('/l/I'I'I'I"i5(, willt af"tlHJ liJ.e E/MllllliII'
!ll1dTSdl/lllli , or w(luld WIIIIJI'I"hlll1S CO/I viti!'rllti.) a I\'/"OIIK II//(It'o/al/(/-
lilt, u falSI! 0P/lOS/lUII/:'
Iwouldn'\ 'kly 'falsc' OpptNt ion. It i ~ an OpptNlion which, I would
..:ty,ls pertinent for wme form:. of appropri,Ulon in ~() far as it amou/1h
loacritical mcthod wi thin tcxts. withIn lil('r;lry t C XI ~ or l'vcn philO
>ophlc311extS, But I insi,'ed from the beginning th at DccOll\truction
w;bnot simph a method , wa.'> not a crit iqul!. or nOt .. implycritical . The
tlloct'Pt of crili(IUe or ("rilici'l1I i.'> decOlI.'>tnlcl ivc -.om(;whcre ... It i~ not
negatlH'- it W3.') linh.cd from the beginning wi lh :Iffi nnat ion. wllh the
")"C\' ,an affimmlion whidl i, not a 'post llOn' in th('" Ilegcl ian 'iCn<.e. So
toomol'c ",hich i, de~l"fibed by Greg Ulmer i... not so much a move ill
[X'(on~truction. It i~ ;J movc we can identify in some plllcc, - I
wouldn'l ~y 'in' lI1y work, fromt hm point of view at least, And of
cour'll! the varicty (If fic Id.'), of di ~ci pi ine!.. of text!., of pu bl ;!>her.'> - thi ~
lanet)' wa~ nece ..lklry from the ou\.set. philo...ophical and literary texl.'>
~nd r:untlOg and now afehileclure and some olhcr~ too. legal lexts and
marty other thing,.
So Ithinl;. it i~ imponanl, this way of opening up the boundarie~. and
mainly the acadcmic boundaric~ betwcen tCXh and disciplines: and
whcn I say aeadcmic ooulldarie:; I'm thinking not only ofth:! hUlmHl-
I ~ticdi.~ip!ines and philosophy, but als.o of architecture - the Icaching
flf IlfChitccturc. Thi~ cro~~lIIg, thl.') going through the bound:lrie~ of
dl'>Ctphnes, is one of the main - not ju ~t stnltagetn') bUl lle('('ssillt.'.f of
1kcoo~lrucl\olI . Thc grahlll of one an on to another, the conlamina
t~m of codes. lhe di\')Cllll na\lon of COnlexl .. , lire somel jme'> ' me lhod ~'
JACQUE.':o Dl:RR IOA
or 'str:lli1gern ,' of Deeo ll~lru c ti (ln, bill mosl imponantly they arc
moment;; of what we call hi ~tory. And Ihal I ~ why I don'l think
Dccon~tructioll belongs \0 an CI)()(;h or a pcn<xL cven a modeOl one.
I don't Ihink Dccon ~ truction ... ...omething specifically modem.
TIlere :Ire sollle 'modem ' fC:lllt/e .. of ",hat we idenlify a, Dccon-
.. truction III ",me academic contex l" but'" hat makc .. Dccon~t mC lion
IlI/OmillIlMI' ha .. been :It worl.. ;l long Il/llC, even wl lh Plato or
Dc~ ca rtcs . So " c have to di~t i l\ gu i ~h between , leI U~ ~y, some
phcnoll1enn which arc not the entirely of Deconstruction and which
gi ve ri ~c H) met hod s. to teach ing. to thc III II lic treat men! , and somctillng
morc hidden. more pcrsisten1. le~!> amenable to l>y~lem Of method
which mah.e ~ thb Ihematic DeconMruclioll po~~ible ill d i~ourse lind
III lcaching :tnd Ihe arh.
- ISII 'I il pm"'I'1II Iflm Ilu' I/!rlll 'M ()(/t' nI;slI/' (In alolle 'Past
(I
M O(it,,'lIi,lm ' JfII(,OIl.~ I"/Idl \'I'ry "iffert'lIl Ilti IIg S for pllllll.lopllt'rs ollll/e
f) 1I1' h(ll/d, ami lilerary l'rilin or orl-II'.I(orio//.1 011 lilt' mller? AIIII
rI(I('~II '1 /J ('l'Olll ll"l ll'liOIl I/ced to I/Iiopi l/IOIIIf'II'IUfI llifji' f('111 stanc('
lI"i," ,.t'M(lnlto llil' .Ie 111'0 flht'IiO/l/I'1I11.1 I 11111 Ilzi llki 11.1: here o/YOIlr rt'CI'1II
t' .uay.~ 011 K lIlIt, Oil lilt' . P rirfCiIJ/t' of R('asoll' . lI lIll 011 Ih(' Enlighlen-
111('111 IfYllllfioll ill g('lIeral 'J Ilt'rI' YOII //lake il plfllll Ihm 1I't' Imlnm
simp/.1 h"l'lIJ. lI 'il/, Iha l Irodilifm, Ilwl (1111 ("rttil"iWlIlIIlIll ('Olllf' (so 10
spe(l/.. J from in, Ide (1/1<10 I"lIilllll'1j ofIhl' COfll'f'pIS lIlIll f(llt'g(lril'l (if pn-
lighlnll'll C/'II illll (' 11"111/(' qflr ,\"I/(III i IIg 11i('''' I -{{lilll S /(Illltinwl" mlllt AmI
I IhinJ. Illis pllln' l .I()/lle eO/IJii/i'm/1/(' II',I"{(III("(' 1)('II\'('eli yOIlf" 0 11'11
IIti IIkill,~ (l1If1 /Ill' /..i lids (lfpmjl'l"l /Jllr.l"IIl'(/ bl' {fOf" i 11.1111111"1'1 Lvo/al"d or
B{///{lril/(ll'll . J..V ht'I"I'(lS Ihl' Po.~I-M(}d('m '/UI"II' iIlIiU'I"lIWI"(', lIr' allti
nflluI"lIl Ih('(WI' l/ll ~ (I dif[erellf ,1'('1 of IIISlOri1'01 ((lon/illllll.',1 alld a
("fft'rem n'ltltioll w is.f/l('s of 11'11111. rt.'aS(llIlIlIll illt'olll~inil ('nliqlll!.
1/(/\'('/1 ' , I", 'ft.' lIll'IIII(' I iOl/s In.-nil//(' r(llhl'r hlllrrl'l/lll I't'('('f/I l iebl/Ie ?
I wouldn't want 10 c;J ll Dccon,truet ion a cn lique of mooert1I1Y. BUI
ncil her i~ iI ' modem' or in :In y ,en ..c :1g lorifi Cllt ion of Il!o(\enllty. It i~
vcry prcnl:lturc to V('lIlure Ihc,c ~e llcr:I !i~ati on ', th l!~c concepl!. of
period. I would ~;)y lhall ju,t d01l'1 h.now wh:l1thc\C (',Il egonc~ mcan,
except Ihm of course I can tell more or le~~ what other people mean
Ihem 10 \l1:\nify ... BUI fo r me they are not rigorous concept.'>. Nor is
Dccon'lruelion:1 unilary l"Ol/{C'pl . Illho ugh it is often deplo)ed in thaI
way. a u,agc lhatl find vcry di,coneerllng ... Sometimes I prefer to ..ay
decomtructiom mthe piural,ju'l 10 be careful about the hcterogcneilY
:'lIId the Il!ultiplicity. the ntXe~"lry multiplicity ofge~turc~, offi~ld~,
of~lylc~. S IIlCC it I ~ 1I(11;J ~ys terll, 1101 a lIIethod, il C:lllnot be htll1logeni-
'>Cd. Since II t:.h.e, the <;ingul:.nty of t'very COIlle'!:l il110 account.
Decon"lrUClIOIi i, differel11 from olle conlextlo another. So I .'>hould
I:enmn ly want to reject the idea that ' Decon~lruction' de not e~ any
Iheory. IIIclhod or univocal concept . N('venhelc,~ It 1I1U.')\ denote
mll1('lhill~, sOll1eth lng lhal can :u lea,1he recogni'>Cd in ils worh.ing or
ils dTec l ~ .. .
or C()u r~l' thi , doc,n ' tmcan that Dce\)lI~lrUClion i,l thai '~oll1elhll1g',
or that you C;1Il find DcCOIl,trtl('tioll el'erywhere, So Oil the Oile hand
we hal C 10 de finc "Oll\e " orking. nOlion, <;OIlle regulati\-c concept of
Dcco n ~truCl i on. But 1\ i, ICry dirlicul1 to gather Ihb in a ~ lIn pl c
fonnula. I h.now Ihat Ihc c n crnlC~ of Decon~truCllOn ...a>: ' Well. ~jnce
you cannot offer a definition then it n1U~ 1 be an ob-.cure concept and
you mU ~ 1 be:1I1 ob'>Curanti~lthinkcr' . To whi ch I wou ld respond that
Deconstructi()1l i ~ fir~1 and foremo,t a ~ u~pl <.: i on directed a g:lIl1'lju~1
I1mt kind of lhinh.ing -' wh:lt i, ... ?' '" hat i~ the c~~cncc of ... '!' and
-.0 Oil ,
-Could wt' p,'rlw!,1 raJ.l' Ihlll l H.JllIIlIlm fimhcr 1 SOIlll' II/t'(lrisl.f a/lhe
Po,w-M ndl'l"II (elwrlt'S Je"ck~ /lm()u~ 1111'111 j hlll't' rl')l'('ll'lJ" hllt Ihe.\'
51'(' as 1111' /It.'KlliI It.' , ('\'ell '1I/1ti1iSI' illllJli("(ltiolls of Ihl' /)t'("om /melioll
1II00'I'mt'1If ill {'OIf(('lIIporlll:I' aI" . A c("(}rdlll,~ 10 J l'IIds, 'A,., 11111'( 1111'1' i,~
l'ss('lIIiafly ("OII.I'foWI;It' , II /milt!.1 "I' S(I'II("/ Il res, d{'/Il'l/tis Oil joim
l!lId l!l/I'O IIl'S 0/"wllI(l1 (o /t/idem't.', I hI' ('olllhill(l/ iOIl (1JiJlt' sighl. good
lI"i /I (111(1 illl'l'JllIWI/I - (III of 11'/,,'1, IJ t't"om Iructiol/ w lllI'mll lle 1, if //01
towfly dl'sl m.n. I IlInt/glil 1'0/1 IIl1gll1 me
to l'(1rmm'lI/ (/1/ Ihis allli
simi/ar l"el7)(m~es. t'tpl!I;ally ill I'i,'" l1( IIrrell/ (/l'/>elf('l" Wki'IIIIP ill
Ihe Amt.'l"iulli (lml Brltlslt prl.'Sl" - ahol/I 'he 'Iw/iril's of Deco/l
7.~
DECONSTRl,C"nON
Sfrt/cfltlll alld 1f.I. IlIfJ{HJ.II'cl "illlliH lc'a"ill,~.~. 1"1II.11lrt' yOu \l"Ollltlwy
flim Ow.'" lim'c' 1I11.I/lIIt!,'I'SfoOII
Ab\OIUlcly. ab"oIUlely ... There ha.. bel'n much crittci .. lll. man)
nbJcctiom. tilat we lind in the new~paper .... in the bad ncw~papcn...
Which doesnt jU ~1 l1lt!an Ihat Ihe people who write '>uch Ihltlg~ arc
Jcalou\. Often Ihey ;lre acadell1k~ who dOIlt read the many ICXI'- in
which nol only I bUI many people ill\I<'1 on the f:lellhal o...--con,lruction
i""01 neg:l1ive. is nOi nihili'lic. Of cour~e it goc, through thc eXp.!ri-
ence and the que'tioning orwhal nihili,m i,. Of COLLf<.C. of cour...c. And
who know~ whal mhill"'1ll1'>Of i~n1 ? Even Ihe people whoobJecl don'l
ra I,,;: the q ue ~ lioll . What i, nih ili"'I11?' Ncvenhc Ie..,..,. DcClJnslruct ion i...
or '>hould be .In aflimlation linked I\) promise .... 10 involvemcnl. II)
rC'ptlll,ibility. A~ you know, It ha.;; beeomc more and more cOI1l:enled
wilh thc'>C concept.. even Classical concept.;; of re'>pon,ibilit).
affirmallon :lnd CmTImllment ... So when peoplc ,ay It~ negativc.
nihill,tic and ...0 forth. e ilher Ihey don t re:ld or Ihey are arguing in bad
faith . BUI tht~ can arut ... houtd be anaty~e(t ...
- III IIII' Aphori!>I11 ... I'(}// refn 10 1111 IIW'I4.'l.1 cllml'm'" Ihm has UhfUI'S
I',lislc'd IU'/lI'c'l'II U/"{ Ilil(,('/lII"t' 1I11l111 al"lalil idell of dwellillg or/wlli
Imioll, A 1111 of {"/III rsl' III I ,I' po; /lIS IOWI/I"tI Il eitlt' XXt'l" (l1If1 II Irllolt, III('
mali/',\ of hll i!dlll g. II" e/llllg. lIlI,I,HINi,' 1/1111/..;"g _ Y01/ atso r('lIIar/..
11/ asliglil/." dijJert'lIllml rdml'd {"Villi' rl - IJim 'Ihl'n' i 1110 ill/wlll'wllli'
p/(1/efortl/l' (l1,hfll'i~m' . IlwIIS 10 so\". 110 Illau' \I /I hili IIII' /../ I/fl o[lal",r,:I'
.I"C(I It, (Y/I/( t'pfllllll'Cfijice IlIlII p/IlIrHol'/II' has I nllli liollall \' /(//..('1/ fOl" i H
home, Thill"" 'fhc' 1I11ho,-ilm i,1 IlC'illin a /IOII.H'. 1101' a lell/ph'. lIor II
lduH 1/. !lUI" a P(/// ial/WIII. 1I0r WI :lgora. III II" (I lomll. N I'; IIIl' r a I'rramid
1I0r, 1I1)()I'l' IIII. /J slm/slllll. \\<11(// I'Ise"" Could I (IS/.. YOIIIII purSlI1' '''i,~
pllrlie ilIaI' It Ill' of II!OIl,r,:ltllllll lI(1/e1'('I" di r('( 'Imll YOII 11'/.111. 1/1111 pl'l"lwps
SlIggI'.tl a/so what IOIII/I'I,tiuIIS il llll gll/ltal t' \1';111 wmrlllll'sl\I'rilillgs
Ol! Ilt'icleg,~('r_?
Ah,that"~ a lIery difficult (IUC~lion ...
- YC'.I, rill sor,-y. . ~eenography, the orgalll,alion of Ihe cla~srooJll. the way we appoim
No, no. nOl at all. Difficult que~tion~ ;Ire nccc"ary. Thc raet that
~ rc h ilC'CIUrc ha" alway" bt'en inlerpreted all dwel ling. or Ihe clement of
dwelling dwelllllg for hum:m i)clllgs or dwelling for Ihc gods Ihe
place wherc god~ or people are present or g:tlhering or living and soon.
or cour>.c !hi~ i~ a very profound and slrong il11crprclation. but onc
which fir't ~ubJllib architeclure. whal we call archilecture or the art of
build il1g.tO J value which can be quc~liol1cd. In HCldegger ... udl lIalllc~
are linked with the 4ue'tl0I1 of building. wilh the themc of. l('t~ ....ay.
t-cepmg. con.;ervin!!. watchmg Ol-er. ctc. And I wall mtcreSloo in
que ... tioning those a~~unll)tlOns in I-Iclde~er. a!>king whallhi~ mighl
amounllO,:In architecture Ilml Voouldn 1 be simply ,>ubordillalcd to
t ho~c V:l lue, of habi I:It JOIl. d 'We II iIlg ... he lteri ng Ihe prc~cnce 0 f god ~
and human being'. Would il be pos,iblc! Would 11 'Iill be an architec
lurc.1 Ithint-Ihat what people like Ei~cllnwn and Twhutlli have ... hown
mc people who c"lltho.!rn...ctve~ Dceomtruclivi" archllett... i... thal
thl' i~ indeed po..... tblc: nOI pnssible as a fllcl. ;J' it maHer of ~implc
demon ... tration, becau ..c of cour::.c you can alway~ l>ercCI\'c their
architecture as ag:tln glvmg pl;Jce to dVocllin!!. shel tering. elc: becausc
the quc~lion I am a~king now h nOl only thc question or what thcy
build, bUI of hm.. I\'e Interprel whal Ihey build. or cour'iC Voe can
mt('rprCI In it very Iraditional way viewing th;"'." ,illlply a 'modcrn'
traJl~ rOnllat lon of lhe same old !..ind .. of archih.!cture. So Decon
SlruCllon i.. not \Illlply an aClivity or commilment on the part of the
architect: 1\ i, aho on the part of people Voho read, who look atlhe\(!
building'. who enter the 'pace. who move III lhe ~pace, who expcri
ence the space Ill:t different way. From this point of view I lhink that
the llrchltectural cXJX!ricllee (let's e:lll lllh:ll, ralher Ihan Hll!..lI1g about
buitLli ng~ a~ ~uch) . .. what they offer h prccisely the chance of
e\JX!riencing thc 1>O'Slbll lty oflhcsc inventions or:t difrercnl architcc-
lure, one that wouldnt be, ~o to speak. Heideggerian ...
Till' Aphorism, hmi' (I WI(){I dl!(llw say (loom thl! IlIIl!nlllliO/wl
Culle!:l' of Philosophy (llId i/.\ work ill prO/II01ill!: illu'rtliJciplillory
exdwl/Xe_ T/ieYlll.wllla/..e(ll1ClII11 o/notlol/..mg 1I1H)1I1 ,lroj(,(,I.I' millis
or 111mfit'ld. (IS if I hI' work 11Il(I('r/(/k('1l COl/ld IJl' .~llI ki'd 011/ i /I adl'(lI1r1'
74
01 ill 11l'1 'O rC/tIIlCl' \l1/1l SOIII(' g(lwTnill,1!. . , ,,/u',,,,,,,,,,/<
""'/" ,<
II 'rill' . ill Aphori~m .16: 'TO .nll' ' '(If
ir (l(1('s IIVI hUI"I' '" ,d,,,
{lfllllll/Illo l/(JltJltlllil1g if.\ ('/11I,irillslII or lU ad\"l!lIlllrl.l"1II In
11'(/\' (II/ (/1'I"1I'11'I"IUI"I' wiliJOlIl1I pro;"ef I/J t'lIgagl'lll't'rhtlI'J ill u mOft
111t1flr,:hl/lIl. more II/re' II//H'. mort' prOlllltOlI.\' work .
COll/d rOll .1"11.\' SOIllI'I/Ullg IIIOrt' 111111111 1/11' /.. illd.I' of 1lI'11
lilY 1.1 ,
[rom hillll'riO .II'ptll"(/ff' diSilplil/('~? }II.I! 1I'Il(ll go/'lOil wllt'li
'l' Ie/mugt' idl'IIS' - III 1)If/ i I rl'l:r tTlfdell' ~ 11'/1II lIrll.{I.~ /i/..e
/II" ilt'nll/I'd T If /Wllli .. 1111 t'IIII'I"jJli .\'(' In I 110111 ('I('or-nt/aim.\ "m
liollS. 1I'III1I1/1I\oll/c' u'II-lIlogical r,:oul?
I I":LS rcfcrnng to the Frcnch meaning ofthc word projcct i
of architccturc. I dont kno" whether il ha) the ..allle
Engli,>h. A proJCCII" \omclhing ..... hich i~ prior 10 the \>oork.
ih own economy. a governing role. which can then be applied
developed ... And )'ou hiwe the "ame. kind of relallon ~t'Wccn
projcct, or thc concept, and ih carrying-oUl in praclice a~
the t.r..lIIM:cndcntal 'Ignifil.'(l :1111 lho IIlcamation in the body. in "riMB
ctc. So there i~ a nil ical n.:t1eclion on th i~ cOllcept of the proJect' ,
on among a number of French archl teel'>. When I ..ilY Ihere ;",op"
inlhe College. I don't nlellil 10 'ily Ih:11 we stan wilhoul ;my idea
whcre wcre going. but thaI the relation bct"ccn the project j II,
cxperience. Ihe aCI. has no Ch"'IClll or philo-.ophic:tl Ctlu ivalcnl.
ill,tance. the Collegc could be ...cen from onc a,pect a~ having tM
charaCler or a new foundat ion . And of course a foundation I
~orncthing with Mrollg philmophical. ll~ wcll :I~ archilecturallink~. II
h:!) il\ building. it). foom. Ih 'hapc. ils place ... But 111 facl.
Collcge wc :i,k que~110n... <;omClimc .... not :ilway~. in
W:ly ~ about whal grounding IllClm~. wh:lllhe roundation
the ~paee of lite commul1Ily mean,. what hier:lrc:hy rnean~,;;" "
only 01 academic :tuthority bUI al~o in leom or the
people. elcct pcop1e.thc way Ihe hicrarchies arc I
i~e.d. and . . o rorlh. A TIll al1lhe~e thing .. have Ihelr archItectural
So .. inee our modcl wa~ not thc Weslcnl univcr~ity as it j,
110". or Ihe pllllolloph) that lies behind thi~ modcrn univer"'IY.
10 mYelll a)..,n the ~yll1bolic llnd phy~ical arChitecture of thi~ nelJ.
commullity without rererring 10 any preyiou~, ghen model.
Of cour~c illllhc tillle we have to l1egotime, we have 10 cumproml't
with prc\ious. given 1Il0deis -Ih;lt', the political \Irategy. and I think
th:1\ archilcCI~ abo hJve to negoliale with noml~ :lIld praclical con
'tr.llnt' and so on. Nel'erthcles~. thc'\C tactiC' arc orienlcd
~omelillng that 'Would be new. or Ihal would bring Jbout a
alteration in Ihe old 'truclUre. And I think Ihat from Ihe
had. my friend " and I. thi' cerlainty Ihal firsl II w:1\ ,omelhing nell
...omething ncw to be built in the architeclural ~n<.e, new
mcnl'>. a nc" ~pacc, a nc" field or knowledge ... But also, m(,.'
~pccific;l tl)'. thc ~cn~e th:!! we had /0 wor!.. wilh architccl.... thaI
lcach,ng and expenence of arehitC'Cture wou ld be an IIllportant a.\peQ
or our work at the College. So cven though my collaboration witll
Ei"enman and Tschumi 'W<I.\ not officially a p:lrt of the programme.
had 10 do with the Colleg~' LInd indl."Cd gavc risc 10 vaf/OUS conferences.
meeting' and communications ... evenlll thai led on to a clost
involvement betwccn philo.'>Ophcr~ illld archllecb. The one ror which
I wrotc Illy AphorislllJ' wa.~ an cxample of it.
YOII fllII'e tal/..n/ abolll tltt' rl'lmiolls!tII' m!I\\t'en fllfx/erlliIY 11/ lin,
W'('/III/'CI11I"C' . phi fWOIJlly t're {Jill/ (/ n~rtai 1/ itI('(1 uf Ihe 11I(I(/l'rn IlIIil'er
.~I(\', (lilt' IlwI IOO/.. !tolt! il/ Gt'rtlWIIY (I c'oupl" of t eWllric'.f bac/.. and
\l'/lIclt .I'ldl t'lerlS 1I .qrl'll/ illfllll'llCC> Oil Ihe \l'ay \1'(' Ihlilk tI/)OU/
cli.l'('II'IIIII'.I'. 1/l1I)(,(r-arcCI_f. ({IIC'.mOIl.l' o[ i 1111'11('('11/(/1 COIIIl'c>lelln'. IllJiI
.I'll Jorth Alld IlIiJ lI'oll/d IJulla!,s f(f~/' /1.1 /J(lck fU what .1'0// said
pre I'im/.f/I ClIHJII( Kalil' s .Clrchi f(,( '/Onic' , fill clocrrwt' of Iht' [uculllts.
I/Iar II'hieh elljo/'cl'S (I propl'l' SI'l'lII"/II iOIl ofrt'lIlms herwet'J/ !mrt' cmd
{J1'(lClh '01 I't'asol/. Illl'orelim/llll(/t' rswndillg . (Jl'slllelir j/ld,lft'nll'fII Q/ld
flldr \"(/riOl/s /I/(J(/allf ies ur 1}()11t'rs . . To SOllie e tum 1'0111 \I 'ork illlht
11IIt'I'I/(/I/m/(/1 Collt'XI' is (/ W{fll oj (/('conslrm'lillg IlIm'j' relar/(J/Is,
 JACQUES DERRIl)A

Jllil'Jlo'il1g hnll' Iill'r g l\'l' r h l' I/J l'lIdlen Ii tI,I:(I(/OIl or hOllllllw :r-di ,lpllle.I", Il"IlIh II,\" I"irrll(' of IIit'il 011'11 '11I1Il'1" fight', 11"1//111111 w imlltllll,~ OWI/"
rfi(1I pl(llwl 0111 ill " j'I"Y fJl"I,,-'i("(11 fl'l"lI/'" liS U //I{/I/t'r of in.Hifllliollal I/all/If 10 III(' (it'l1Il!(rllli(" l'(/rliflllll' llI oj Iil l' fandli l's, h lse ll'herp you
fJI~i'ij'J , " adof!t WIUI OWII , '('r~iUIi of litt' ' oprxalyp{l(' 10111" (I "1'(' rit',I' of

Ohyt's. l agree with your defin it ion of wh.u i. . gt)]nS Oil" Dccon:.lruCI- illjlll/(lim /s , apolfropllt,s, SIIl'f'lhflca or {H'rforll/{I/lI'es oj \'w "iO/l j
iDg not only Ihc(lrClically, not only giv ing ... ignah of the I}roces~ at km ds - as If fo dt'JNu/ llre righl IIftill' "fl' dUll'{/( "I t'l"l " 1/01 fO llO UIUII,t: ""illl
ilion" 001 Irylllg 10 de(;Omlrucl 1Il ;1 practical r:"hiull , th:ll is. 10 ...el Kalll' "\ mIt':; for rill' l'roPI'I", .\I'lf It',t:ultllill,f: ("mIlIIlU oj ,lhihISOI}hij"
lIJIand build new "'I ruc t u re~ impl ying I hi ~ work of Deco n ~l rUC Il O II " tIi51"(llIl'!>e " I f dl!(':; IN'III /0 /I/l' II proJmmtlly (llI/h ira it'lII es.ftly " 011 Ihl'
Ir~noleasy, and II i\ ne \ erdone III or through <I ... ingle ge1>l llre. Illake\ 01/(' lUll/if /I i "I' (' ~III'" i slim.t: If (ltJlallt"l' - 1"'('11 till IlIIlar;:OllixlII - b('(I\'I'I'"
lloog lime and inyolye!> ... ollle vcry complicated geSlLlres" It is :11- l)eI"OIl"\1 nWI/OII (/1/(1 I II(' (11:>0"11 Sl' IIf E " II gllll'lIfllelif Criliqllt' 01/ IlIl'
"..a}~ unfinl!>hed, hClerogcneoll!'>, :lnd l lhink Ihere i... no ~ lIc h thing a~ mlll'l" II is "wnillg Illal Ihl' KlIlllimlllmjl't I i"~ .mlllellOl\' imJlsfX!n\Llble,
'"pure' Dt'Coll\lmctiOIi or a decoll!>lrucliyc project thai b fini shed or t llm /I /:; !mumlu{, w ith l i lt' I'Ny {/r:;tillv oj "wug/IIIII 0 111" lillie . llIllI ll"e
romplelcd. {"lIll IIOf ,II If1I}/I" "1"('(/411';111 il f/\ ('I' rlll ;1I PO~I M l!dem isl t ill/den wOllld
-/sll'"h('rt' 1I risk Ilral f)t'nm,I/I"l/(" / iOIl 1II i.~ '" "I'("mll t' mi w'd /II' lI'i I" lI'i.11I - or hm 'l' IlI/ i~/,I'(I1/ l'OUI" ('.1".11I.\' ill :;"Ofllt' f uirly hasic way?
II
lilal $tf(llll of /,(lj'{ "M odefll or IICf)-pra,~ /lWI I .1 houg h I lI'h ich SlIy.1 1" 0 1 No, no, you read it very well. I agree with cveryth ing you ..aid" It h:l
p/lilOJopiJv ;s j U ~1 (I 'Vllr/ oj 11'''' I;IIg , , 01/ II It' I'e! II'IIIr pOl'!ry, tTi, iei,lm very. very ambivale nt e'''ay. l lTied :\\ I (lne11 do - to ac hi cv~ and ~a y
lIT the ' mill/ral f'OIn"I'I",Wlfiflll of /J1(11 I~ /Ill/" ? Th m I ht'st' d;~ 1;/1('1 iOIl:; art' many lhings:1I once, Of cour-.c I .un ' in fav our' of the En !ighlcnment:
mlft/.\" ',.ht'l()ril"al' or impo.I"I'."I hy lIIIO /ISI/It' l t' 'l'lI lig htel1m el/( r/fW - I tilink wcs ilo uldn ' l ,i mply leavc II beh Ind U\, so 1 wam to keep 1111.'.
lrill{' of Iill' 1m /11 II I'S, .I(! 111(11 11'1' had !J('.I I ge l /"Id oj ,hf'!II lind fI/!(IlIdoll lradi tion a live, BUI al lhe ~iI1ll e timc I know that there are cerwin
"'1.1 nmion of philosoph \' (1,1" hm'ili g 11.1" 0 11'11 ,1/1I'I'i{/! ill/ I'/"{!SIS, di sti11('- hh lOri cal fnnm of Enlightenment . certain thin g~ in th is tradilion that
lil'r jrJ/lh,r!aillll, l'om'I'{" /1 01 hi.1lOry or I1'hall' I'I'/" ? /)(1 you sel' /1/(/1 us we nced 10 critlci ..e or 10 decon!>lfuct. So it is ~0 I1lc t i 1l1{,s In lhe namc
aronSIlII1I ris~ :' of, lei us ~ay, a II(' \\' Enll!! htenmc nt thaI I decon.. truct 3 giVl'1l Enlight-
There nre mnny r i ~h and Ihi. . h olle 1)1' thclll. Somelimes il i ~ an enment "And thi !> relj uire\ ~() m{' Yery complex ~ trat egies: rcqu lrC!i.lhat
intcresllng ri~k, sometimcs it ope n... d oor~ and Sp:lcc", in the ncl d~ we ~ h o uld let m:my voicc . . "'PC il~ , , , There i.. noth ing monological. no
. hich are tl)"mg to protect thel1l<>c1yc~ from Deconstruction. l3ut once monolog ue Ihm'~ why the re~ ]>o n sibllity for Deconstrucllon i.. never
the door i\ open. then you h;lve to make th ing:. morc \ I>edric. and I individu<ll or <I mailer of the . . inglc. self-privi leged authoria l voice. It
""oold sa)'. following your ~ u ggc!'>t i()n , thai no indeed, ph ilosophy i~ is al\\ ays a multipl icity of voices. of gesilires. ". And you can t.lke th"
IlOl simp/v it ' I..ind of writIng'; philo\ophy ha~ a very rigorous \peci- <I~ a rule: Ihat each Ilmc IA --comtruction SlXaks through a !'> mglc voice,
&11)" which ha~ to be rc\pcctcd. and it h a very hard diSCipl ine wi lh it".. II.rong. il " not . Occom truct ion' any more" So in I h i~ particu lar
i~ov.n rcquiremenh, it... OW1I autonomy,!\O that you cannot <;i ll1ply es!>ay, a ~ you rightly ~ai d a moment ago. nOI only do I lel many V Olce~
mixphilosophy wuh li terature. with p:ulliing. wi lh architecturc. There \pe<l ~ ill Ihe ...an)(' lillie, bUI thc problem i ... preci<;ely Ihat mulliplicity
iu pClInI ~ou can rccogn l~. ,>ome opening of the \lariou... conlext... (i n- orvoice .... lhal varic ty of lone!>. wllhin the ~"{lf/Il' ullerance or indeed the
cluding the phi lo...oph ical COIlICKt) thai makes De<:ol\struclion po\- ":II11C word or "yll.lhlc. :U1d <;0 on. So that" .. the q uestion. Thai' s one of
~lhIe. BUI lt )tlll rc4U1 re~ a rigoro u~ approach, one Ihal would sit uate the question ... "
lhisoPfning III a ~lnCl lI.aY, lhat would organi se, so to speak, Ihiscon- BUI of COLIN! tOday the polit icaL ideological con<,equcncc!'> of Ihe
tamin:ltlOn or Ihi .. groftlOg withoul lo~i n g ... ighl of Ihose ~ pcc ifk re- Enlightenment arc .. Iil l vcry much with u:. - and very mu.:h in ncetl of
quirement .. " So I am very \ u ~plc i o u \ and this is 1101 j u.. t a malter of ljueslioning, So a 'new' enlightenmem. to be !>ure, which may mean
idiO'lynrrncy or ~ l1l~lIer of lnti ni ng I am \lcry .. u\plcio us of the over Dcco n~lru clioll in it... mO.. 1 ,1.:live or IIltem ive fonn , and not what we
easy mixing of di<.Co ur~es to which your quc<;ti on referred, On Ihe in heri Icd in Ihe namc of Auj1.lii rullg, ~ I'll i k, .I'if'clt, d/, ~ '11111 ihe~" l.lIld ~
contrary. I)ccon.. truclion pay!> the greatC\1Ullen Iion 10 mu It ipi ici Iy, 10 fo rth , And 'IS you know, th e~e are a lready very different th i n g~, So we
lleterogcllcity. to Ihese sharp and irrcduci hle d iffc re n cc~. If we d0\1 '1 h'lve 10 rcmcmber thl "',
\I1Int to homot!cll!se cveythi ng the n we have to re~ i>ecl Ihe \ pecifi ci lY I SUP/WSf' I ' I/I!ollki /I g fOl' SWill' ~i lid I if 1'l[1I i \"II{e lice {}l' lln'I'1I w i lli/ II'I'
ofdi5COurse .. , e~ pecwl l y that or ph ilosoph iC:l1di ~c oursc" ("(II/ 'M ode l"l/ i:; /II ' III plll/(lJ( 'I'hy, IN' ,I' :; lIY K tIIlt iall pllli osop ll", (Il1d Ihe

- Thrrt'i~ 0111' ptll'lil"ll{tI/' ('oUay ()fy/llll',~ II'h ich II hi IIJ.. !/l ay III'!p toJm /1 s
wfllr 01'''t'st' qllt'stirms {I iI' ("(111('(1 'Of (111 Apol'llirpfic TOIl/' R l'l'I' I/I!Y
MIlJlud III Phllrl,w p/n ' , (l titll' 111(1( \'011 /mr mlf (or 'ill') {lImos'
Il'rOOllllllrom Kmll, 111/(1 ;1 ,flnkl' ,\ 1111' 1{1II1 1111'1"1' ore 111'0 wry diffi'I'I'1II
litll1"~S gOIn,~ mlllll"ll/l,~I"1/11 Ihll lell 11/ Ju('/ /I is ofIt' ll Iw/'(/ to kllol\'
helher JOII art' \1"1"/1111 g, (IS It Il"i're, ' i ll your 0 11"11 ,'oll(,' or I1'lIe' IIII'I' 1/11'
pi1wgl' ill qllf'stlflll is ~o u ~ rature (lr to bl' r('(ld (IS if placed II'/lil m
qlUI/iJllon-lIwrks " SOlllell llll'$ Will Hriff' of the lIeed to ma ill/oill 'E,,
/ightrnmrlU' m{I/t'$, 10 1"e"\('I"I'(, II'hlil \'0/1 call Ihe 'I//lul l'iF:il' oj
f.1I/1.~hll'lIl11efll. a tliqlle lIlId Il"IIfh . 11/ I h is ,W'IISt' t ill.' t'"~say al)"t'(lr~" to
Silk Ifilll KflJlIlI,~arllst till' fIl /PIIIS, lilt' myS/fl goglles, t ire f akt' illllmi-
/WI', Ihmt' .... 1,0 II'II/lfll dtlllll till Im/llf'llillle O/' .felIprf'sem (u"('l'ss I()
/I'rIIl 'M odernillll' (/.1 1'0m'l'lI/ iolla/l.l" (1(ll l li l'd ill arc/ll te/"llIrl' (llltll/ll'
I"is/w l ar/.L YOII IIlIgllI cO/Ilf1an ' Ih l' affi llllie I II(I{ Den}llS lrm: lIl"iSI
lI/'cllilt'IU /a~ t' fOll'ol'd M ot/t' rI/i.ml - 1/0( simply (}lIP of l"I'jl'fllOIl or
sUJ)t'I"( "('S"IIOII. bill a ("I"ifi("al lI!(iIlUit' IIiI"l'('If'd 11II1'lIrt! Ihm plIniculul"
form oj ,." 'odt' I"IIIW ("ril iqll(' .
Of coun-e. That's why I'm rel uctant to ~ay that Dc<:onMruction is
Modem or PO,>I-Mode m, 8 ut l ~ ho u l d ab o be reluctant 10 say thai il'\
not Modern . or th<ll it'!,> a mi-Modern "or anti-Posi-Modem. I wouldn 't
wall! 10 !<>LIy Ih:l! what i!'> Deco n ~ t rucllve. If there is such a thmg, I ~
~ peci fic;lll y Modem or POM-Modern " So we have to be. very careful
with Ihe u<>c or theM: e pilheb,

"
DECONSTRl:enOl\'
f);l'f.'II!),~iQII amI CQl1tml'I1I,~
'/ hI' {1I1f(JIlllIl: til frl. 1',11/111 /OtI}. Jllm I' It/lIT /IWIII'm /IIf[ (lJ III,' Chrt.llilpl/{'r
NUn'!\', Jm NIIl'I I)rrndu 'I/If'n '/,'1,' 1111111' 11"",1111"11111111/11/1' TIIII' ( ;,lI/frl' (JIll hI'
11111 tUUI', 198..'1 Till' l>lIfli.if"lIIlr W 'I' Sr"I""'" Bmlll, Cftmm/fIllISUI wI/II
Amit'l'w fll'IIjmlllil /11 11/, G "(Jff U"II/III1,~II!II / G IJ /' ('lIr;'I'II'I'11I' /' NOrl'lI / eN J
",,,I MI, 11111'1 PmJI"{/ IMPI
SI): I ~h:dl , Ian w.th a very I'o ricf caU !lonary ~lOry, l1h~re h:I' been recent ly In
l\ew Yorl. nn an i.'"e movcment ('lllkd 'Neo-Geo', A fcw lIIomh, a~o a
""'lI ng pfulo'oOphcr l.nd ,(lciolol!I~t. Jc;m Bautln llan l. 1\.,1' called 10 accollm
fur the 'III' of Ihe 'I\"eo-Oco' mOVCllu::m at 11 dread lul oc\ " ,ion m Ihe
l'nl~cn.I I ) ofColumh.a, lie dl>.t:l"irned any cnnnCClwn wllh II and ':IId Ihlll
(heir 'l"enmn w U\C his c{)nccJlI~ W:I.' 10tall) ulI'pJ.iced. Ilhml. Ihal whm
I\.C-"C -;e('n of Ihi, mlcrview ,0 f;lr 1\ qUlle :111 ImeI"C,,,ng ant! lX'rh;tp~
"ginfiCll/II in'I"IlCe of Derrida " mlc lIec!Ual genero~"), P.1l1 icul;lrl y m re la-
lion 10 archllet:t nre. lie ,aill In Ihe i!llCrvic" very IIIIIL' :Ihollt ,Irl, bUI perhap..
Ihm i, ~olltelhU\g Ihal mig htl'{lme up:u II I:lle r .. Ia!!.. ,
SOUle' 01 )'OU 1Il3) nm I; Illl"" the ,0nlC \ I In wh ieh Ihe origi!1:I1 'III lahmalHJIl
helweC'n LXmda ,lilt! Iii", arrhitt..'C t .. (T ,chu nH . md Ihc OIhC'r~ Ilool pl;.ce'. '1'1",
'lln1pcIl110n rut La Ville"e 011 the ()u h l;lrh of Pan, hrullght logeth<'f :m
IInmeno;e nlllll ocr 0 1 'Ir.: hucch, phtlOMlpher-, '>()C.ologi,,,, inle1k(llIal .... to
11Ile part m Icalll". Dcmda', cuunlrrp:lf(l> were: pr<' '-\!nllll nearly alilhe olher
ICillll" produt:mg one of the nl.ljor arc hll('clural cllmptll" on .. 01 Ihc recelll
period 111 "rancc.
1\"0111' whal l I\. ould lile 10 hcJ!1I1 bydomg, ,Ind p(l~"lbl) I "Ill a,l Chn'>loplwr
l\orri~ th,,,, I~ 10 ("oll~'entr:ue on one of Ihc c~'>Cnllu l a'lX'n .. (If Dcrrid.l',
d'!>COUI"l>e, Arch. leclUre for him i.. nOI merel) ,lflnloJ!I(.:al. !1\ nO I .. imply
Iran .. fem ns a concepl ou t of hi ~ 01\. 11 dhmur~.: /I1 ln urch Ite.:1Ur.11 h:mh. Wh)
I~ archlle\;lure 'pecial for Demela!
eN: I \ll PI){)~ heeau>;c he hlh hl;,en u~mg an:hileeillral :malo{! ie\ (I doo' ll. now
whal teon you I,;ould II'-\! there npart from a nalo!!) or melaphur or e{lIl,epl) In
h,.. lIoorl; from Ihe early IWIt}.., Wilholll ~om<' nOll"n of ,nucture, arrhill'C-
tonic . build mg or eon,lruCtlOn It'l> virtually lin pCll>S ible 10 Ih II1 k 111 :1 ~eq ll cnulIl
way. Obvlou)ly Ihere arc analogie, a~ ,Irchl l ecl ~ ~uch as Ei<>en man li nd
T..chum i .Ire convinced th;tt DcCOIl l>t ruel ion h:1' :I re levancc 10 ardl Ile,'uf'e,
Butl went ",ilo II cen:.in (kl!rcc of '>CcIJliel, m. p;lrll) oc'C:llI'oC I felt Ih,1I
[kcon,IrUCIUJ!1 ha~ ill'cn e\IXlr!ed, or IIn ponell J)\!r hap'. HUO too m:my
r onlll!.UOU\ di"Clpline<,. Very often /I d(l\',n' l prc'erve much of /105 ongin;11
ngour or ,pceil iCily: Ih~tl' parlly ",11 y I wal> tf} i ng Itllurn Ihe que\ lion, around
[[)wurds Ihe ~pecl fic nalu re 01 Occol",rucllon and Ihe difference he lween
phllo,oph)' li nd Ulho.::rdN"ollr\e~. But Derrid~ w:hl:On\lalilly nudging me M 1.
to archi' cclu re, ~o I lhinl. lhcre I\.a\ J degn..'t' 01 len"on Ill('re,
SB: It 'eenl'> Ihm Dcrrida IIUp!IC\ Ih;I'1 ,Irchucel' ,Ire Ihe real Dcconslluellon
1''' and lhal he I' lal.mg 3 h;1l1. -eal a\ IlI1gUI\II( .. are, 111 a ..en,e . !oCcond,lry.
eN ; Charles lencl.~ made" vcry good point "'hen he ;l,I.L-a ",hal II I\. (Iuld he
lor an arrhltC('1to mal.e a nll,'al;e, !n a 1)c,,;\)n,tru,1I0m,1 reading of a lexi )OU
CJn make" nll'wl.c. [){>('OIhlruellon dcpend~ on Ihe lellslon belween 10l!i, and
rhetoriC, or the ten ~lon bel" cen I\. h'lt arc v i"hl} an a ulhor', 'lillenuoll" :tnd
.... hat aCluall) lum, \1\11 10 be hi, or her ' meaning' 11\ Ihe lex!. '\low ) '0\.1 can ' I
have a m"lal.e In Ih,'1 scn..e in ,I oUIldi ng, You mil!hl h:I\'C a l!ro,~ error of
juugemcnI, you might h:....(' a Illlall} dhfuncliona l windo"" , bul not thol
I; md of m 1'lUle, (Ir "Ig'" fic;1I11 error thai Dceon~1 rurtu)I1 la Ik ' a!"iOuI , Thh " 11
peculiarl y IllIgu"lIe Ihtn}!.
Now II may he yOIl ,an '1 have! h:1t in fici I(]n. A 1,!0IX1 dea IofDeI:On,truclmll-
"Icrillcism of fu;: hon 'Iall" Itwl I\.halloob hl.e a reah~l te\1 on lhe "urf1lCe I".
ill faCI,:I h\Mle ofll1ct:lphur~. There '" no ,uc h Ill/ng.l\ rcali\lll, no such Ihm.!;
DO;; a t r,IlI~p.lfent :lcce" 10 Ihe I\.llrld Ihrough lanl!ulgc. Well. I\. e a III. nnw th.1l
.iln:mly.
PO\I-Mudcml,m mAc, " lilt of 'oC'f1.'>C 111 eonnL'Cliol1 I\.llh :m,.- Iuteclure
Oet:au'-C wh:u ynu have Ihere are I';IrlO U' coll:tgc, and 4uotall011~ , l' ilallOI". Ihe
mlxlure of ,,)"It", 8Ul 11 OccllfhlrUCIIOI1l" idiom in . Irchllcr1llrc gives me
pn1hlctn" Dcrmln, hllWC\er. deafly Ix:lieve~ III II allu ~o doc, T 'rhumi . 0..0
.... ho ,UI1 I to 'ay thcre'\ no 'ouch thin!.!"
AD: i'nrt (If thc {h lt1cul[y wit h Ihi~ i, Irymg 10 IOI.:;lIe [)(>'(ll",rUClIon tn an
ooje(.:1. In other I\.urd~, \0 \t. ) of;. 'peCI f Ie wo rl of an or a ,pec ific ;/f{'h IICCIIi rJ I
fonnt halth" I' ,/11 m,lancc of DccOll'lruclilin. l\{l'" Ihe .... arc I", re:l.\(m~ '" h)
that " dilll(.:ul!. The fi r..t " Ihe o ld phIlosoph I(:a I pmhlelll (If n:tml ng, WhM 1\
1'.I,,\:malmg "boU! Ihl' "'ptCI of Dcrrida . .. I\. (Irk '" that he refu"t', 10 an, I\. er Ihc
quc'"(ln: what " IA'CltnSIruct ion 'I 1\ ow the II"e,,,on '"., hm ,,' :'111 ylh Ill!! i\ Ihe
quc'l lun thai COIlICi> .nlO phllo\ophy frum Plalo, II', a I.IIlC\III)I1 Iha l tlellmnd~
In Jll,l\.er !hal ha'o nn el>),Cntml I1;Itllre, Wh:1t [krrida Il> rcfu\ing " Ihe
I){)~"hilily .h:ll DecO!Nruclion ha .. an c~~en \lal n;nure, That paim ., only
76
ImpUr!:lI1t lX'call!oC r'(,lbl I,h ing a 11 e~,em 1:111 I
TI1C rl.."flls;111O :1I1~1\. er the (lue, IIon ' I\. h;11 " T m U,I be
hislOrical dimen.,iol1 . Whal Dcrrida I ' domg III I hl~ IINilll(e i<,
fund;nnent:ll challengc 10 Ihe domina n{"e of a cal:l in Iheor)
phi lo,uphy: lhi, ha., plltthe tjuC\lIon ofl hc ObJClt 10 (Inc "Uc.
Ihe ohjCCt rctum, !II anolher ",IY :lIld It g(le, b,11:1. 10 Ihe pOUlI pUll
;1' 10 wh('(h<~r or not DCCOn\lrUCIiOn ",>(1l11clllI ng Ih,1I comes 10 be on",
w"hin an obJa>t or ";/ ".,ay 01 featlmg ohJecl" Ofa way of rcadll1g t~\[!o..
i, all\. ;I)~ the ca'-\! " ilh 11ll' ..... 1h "I~~, II ',clC;lrI) q'''"",,,,, ''''''
."
" problematic.
In Ihc interView .and 111 hIS '" fl llI1g' ~In l \chunlt and Ei-.cnmnn, [)<.'rnlb
th e word 'affinnall on'. Wh~1 l)ernda mean, fmm my n I'
" ~Hllln ,lhlm'" lhal ll i~ Ihe ron~ llencc of thaI ',pitce of I " I
hold, Iho! derOlI\lruL'uon uf a omary OPPO\il iUn and Ihe pnvllegll1g
\ubt,lnlmJlc lenll I\./lh I n the 0P!XI\l1 Ion .Inu !he pn vi Icgmg of '>\I1I1.:thi ng e
'111..11 pri v Ileg Ing doc, nm Inl.e pla{"c I\. /lhm [he OppaMI ion the! f.
" IIh 111 ""h.11 hc call, I hl~ " P;ICC of int('rru pI ion " II 1'0 1hm 1
' aft1rmall\e'. Thi ... " 11 moue of thwl.ing Ihal', nOI emlcled, I
:mal y'ol~ 111 proJIX:lIun" II1lhe project .I, the p1"IlJIXIi(1n and Ihe
111.'1 of interprel!llion. r he re i~ a de;lr Iml. here hel .... een ",Iml Sll)'\
T!o.Chumi, ;l rch/l~'Clllr..l1 wurl; and "'Iml he sa)', aboliltht.' novc]., of
upone. [ mean. L:lptln c 1l0Vcl, :Ife one\ which he argue.. dll>Jllo ....
IX'"'' hili I) (If the Ir bcmg eIKapl>ul:1led WIIh III :In) mctalang uage,
Ih.. nlM'lyc<, OUI'Jdc of lhal and In '0 1 :lr:t~ Ihey dl) Ih:.. Ihey are
The danger amI Ihe 'Cl"pllcL,m, I\.hl\'h Ilah':I' helng a vcI) n
of I hJ~ , can be l'almt.'d b) rceoglll'mg Ihal '" hal '" al ' lal.l.' here 1\ II
Ihll1l.lI1g. '11](.' que,uon " hll w Ihul mode uf thm l.ing hccomcs '"~",
enaCIl!lcni lI ~elrlx:c\JIne.. hoth:t phl lu,ollhll'al :md ;t/l :trclnteelural
ThaI gOt.:, hack 10 what Dcrrida ',IIU about ,heltermg and Ihe need 10
, heltering, In ot hl~ r "ord' Ihe Iluel>llon of enaument I' Ihe pCl",bilil)
arch /le(lU TC Ih:u t:I ~e, plaL'c I\. 1111 111 thai \ I'al'e 01 m lerrupllon Ihal ho",h ."
II ,hdlcri ng bUI, at Ihe .. ame lillie. (lcl'Un\ITUC" ,heltermg,
SIl: Onc of the poml\ Ih:lI olle coulu .... ) "held in el)I111110n "'..," '''
archIlL"t:1Ur:11 rroJecl Jnd Ihe CI.lII~gt.' Imcm:1l1onalo! de PhdOl>nph lc, J
mi ghl .I1~1l oclhe word 'interdl,>(;Iplinanty' , T'>(;hunll ' l> I I
P"'Jcc" IT1vo]vmg ,. IlJIw}!IIII' \ 1\ "(c ,
",.d.
1\8: Imerdl'>ClpllT1ant) i-. pmhlel11,llIc. Let', c'lJ bil,h
Iween phil(l~oph) ,1111.1 archucrlUre, phllo'oph) and Ii II ,
wha tever, !lIe lIlIe'" 0n i,: from where arc yuu C">lJblt~hlllg Ihal
0" I\hal lem" " Ih;Il rci:Ullm,llIp belll g e' l~ bli, hed '! l)eCUII"UUCI/(In.
<,en,c, pul'> IhI: ()IIU \ I>;ICI. nn philosophy 10 an ~wer Ih" que~lIon of
~lllp", Whm Derrid:I" ,aylng is, '" !'"m not an :lrChilecl, I'm nO! a I
1'111 mlere"l<,d '" wh;11 archllCCI\ and IlIer.lry cnllC\ do I\. hen I
Ii!er.lluf': UT I\. I!hm arch iteclure, ] am tryll1g 10 thml. ;thoul Ihe
bell\. een pllIlo~(lph) ,md arcl1tletlurc from'" Ilhm phllo,ophy, lind
lIlle,"nn pll1lo,ophy.
\ 1P: Ilal.e Andrew !icnj1llllm' ~ 1,1,1 1'1Imi hut. pcrhalh, nOI ,,',' ""'h",, h>1'
,aid before Ihal. rill not clear . however, how far we diverge. TIm..'\' I
.. Iril.e me a, coming IllIt of Ih" dt<;{'\I'~IOl1 re la" \ .. ly e leurl y. The fiN :
:I W;Iy . Ihe must nbv lOU~. " Iht.' re lalll e 'JlCc ific il) , Ihe aU lonomy of phil
phy, Wh:ue"crcl,c . I\.hme\'erlll"giv1llg' wc ma) h:lve, hCll\.e\'er I .""~
II IS 10 be ' u n I'1(11,;" I", W I.ce p in"de Dcmd;l' s moUc there . I
he, even I\. h.. n '" e are dOl ng phJlo~oph), vo ice, I\. h Il"h Ie II u, thm
u f pro..:edure hllve gllllc rigid and h,lI'e Ix:come alie na led, " ' "
recogm~e Ihal "'hal ..... e do, I\. hen we I'llgagc In plll lol>(Iphy, I'
di')(:u\\lon Ihal gOt" b.."K.'1. 10 lIegel, Kall1, Ihe Enlighlen ment,
An'llllle .
The im porlant point I' Ih,1I line dOC'lI ' t idenllf) ",h:1I one 1\ dolll~
an' ..... ermg the que' lion '", hal ... .1 . - by offenng a defilllli.m Onc idelllifi
I\. ha l one I~ domg by ("'Illpl Ific;1I Ion: Ihere IS a ' Imng phllo,ophl{"al trollll1 '
in ta l.mg 111I ~ VIC" 'doll 'l lonl fur Ihe mea nm{!, 10(11. for Ihe """,,,k
Ihe ' Imp!.> modi,'rn :In,.logy, The l'lo.'>(':ne,~ here of Oerrida 10 WillgenMeiP
:Ipparem lit Ihe cunct.'pt lnu of Inngu,lgc a, c~pllcablc 10 a degree by'" aId!
how "'c hcha\'e "'lIh II.
('I\": Wiltgen'lelli 1~;1 nm~J1i,uull) ab,cnee in Dcmda ', w,,"'" ",:,'~~,;::
Ku'..cll :md A u\1 m and " af/Oll" OIher ;1!1~ 1)'1 leal ph Ilo~ophe .... , hU11II
\Ie Ill, "'any pc!op Ic ha \~' made 11 ca~ for reath ..!,' Derrida 11\ a I.l11d of cry!*-
Wil1gcn~l c mi an , [)<.mda " ~ IC~h, Ihe) \3), h(1l1 down 10 humely lUld reel/gila.
ahle \Villgen~lclT1ian dOClrine,. In Wmgcn,lelll'l> (':1<,(' Ih('re .Irt' \CI') C
conn<.'Ctionl> "lIh :l rchil et.~ lU re .1' he Wit' him,elf an archllecl. BUI I
ptrhap\ Ihcc Ile l<icg!!e n all connecl ~on ' III ig hl be more fI:~ "rdlll!; 10 II
Oil: Il hll1 l. Ihe Iml. wllh Wl!1gell~lem I' uHcrc'ling III the -.cll'e Ihal I

\lk'h~el Podro I' IIldt'i.'d wrung. ]\'(lilceabi y
D\'rrida I r~ ll'>l:rI\x>s W i II gen'I (,1 n ' ..
Iwemcnt Ih31 . whereof one ..:.1111101 .. peak. thereuf one IllU,1 be ~Ilem' i nh) 111:1 I
.. herrof Orle {'annul ' lleJk. thereof out' mU!>1 "HI II,'. I lh ink Ihe ba .. 1C Ilwh1cm
fl. WIltE-",n,lem In Tht' PJlllm0l'hil"IIIIII't',I/lglI/;fII!1 I' Ihal languJge h ,\
lII.1ltefofho .... v.e behave "11h II. "hlch pre~uPI>O-.c' Ihal ..... e are dumg Ill<:
'bdullng' .... Hh it. \Vepla} langu.lgc g:mlc\. 11 )OUhke, DI:rnd.;lccnamlydOl:\
101 pmouJ"POSi;' lh~' hUman],1 nOUU!1 of u .. a., Ihe pla)CT\ who then play Ihe
~Mnr, Thep!a)c'" an: inlhc galll!;: 111 a wa) in which Ihe g;lme melilphurcllll',.
In facl. hJndlc.
'Thtre are MIme mlher m 1~lcadU1g Iran~l;lt Iun, 01' Dcrnd" thai have u -.cd Ihe
1Ic~IOO of game when Ihc} 'hould ha\e u\ed Ihe notion of pia)'. Thl". lthmk ,
~ r.uh.er dliti!fo:nt AI,u, '0 I;\r ..I, I remember ..II Ihe beginning of Till:
Phi/owplli! u//Illt'ui!w/!tmJ., Ihe eUllnple o f ,1..111, " Wiugensleul', anal(.!,!:y
tb.nguJge ;/)01.1 IOUI. on Ihe Ir:.dilional phllo'0l'lnc<l1 view of II. Tin, W:I,
.. ~ni'fl\pllO\ho .... JU~I hol,\ Inlwoo thai vicw wa,: "'C n~d many more thmg'
btfllR' IIrcall begin 10 ha\'c an account of !:mgllllge, So Ilk: connection .... ith
.l1\hile\:lure I' a lillie hll odd,
If}1JlI have a rndkal 1100011 of cxel11pllficntlOll wl1hf1l11 Ihe 11OI10n of lin
f'\'>tllI:~ of .... hid'lT~ e\:u11plc I' :111 e~ ample, Ihen, ,lricll) 'peal. mg. Ihe 1101lon
III e\amp~ i~ in~urr.l' .enl ,lnd 111 ..I Ir.adlllon:rl dccon~truci ive .... ay .... lluld need
III bt cro-...ed ou\. And po"llIly [tk.' '.lIl1e wllh :tnllogy ..... hlch I Ihml. 1\ 1111
cn:">Img lern. [0 I'ld. ull 111 Dernd:ls e!>.'hI). An.llug) for OcrndJ ha, Ihe
Mllon oflot;ic and 10!!I', lurl. IIlg III there. n'l! II /1,/ prd I\ , .... h It'll 150 M.lrnethl ng
1M DmiIL ha, 'p"ifkJlly wrillcil abou l J.td Lhe' " gr{';lt de;ll, prohably
nlu(b or ,ugge~h Ihe Iype uf am blv" lence [hal M I.. hacl Podro .... [I' watiling
10 Frl JI, nil' could nnp I) LL more or le s~ 'agai n,1 ne~, ' w II h respecllo Ihe Iog(l~
\'l1,li not a ~Impk amllogo" Ilhlnk Iherc i, much "orl. 111:11 nced' to be dune
prtC I~I) 0\1 the u'>C~ of l.:rm, "I.e' e,cmpl Ifk<luon ' ;md . analogy ' a~ Ihe'>C can
U\l1~ Ir~d IIlIn tTOubJc. Fin:IUy I .... ant to cndor,e Andre .... when he ~Y' Ihal
IkI:OlhII'\l(IIORI, Rutin ObJI.>cI', I want to add Ihe corullJr) tha t obJC(;" arc In
I),:rlln,tl'lk.'IIOR.
\1P: I dl-agree lI'ilh Ihe .... J) )'uu lake the '11Ilplc !lI(l(kl uf languagc "' "/rl'
l'h,lml/ph,rolllm'('Hig(l//IIIII. CJcarly Wiltgeil'lein i, nut ,aying: 'Ye' ho ....
mar.cllou~ tht' ~lm{"lurc, \::111 1)I;'<:UlllC, how pla~IIC human life I" but he',
II)m~ 10 \ll.y: ' Luol., don't 1001. for the naturc tlf the [hmg 111 ,omc ft!mOle
n-~Im; kJoI,;: for il as part of,} W.I)' III .... III('h human II fc. communal hUIIIJ.11 IIfc.
\k1(1opo. It-df: Now. il 11M} he the l::L<.C Ihallhi,., tll'Cply antl-i.k::m ame: "
lilal lliul you .... ould be ~a) Ing"
lift I don't thml. ..0. It , 0111' lou,1 y lal 11)' PO" ihle and pre,umably una Iold
'(If
IIIIc Ihat Iype of C \ClIIllhfiC,l1 Hili tu I:I"C place ped,tgogical Iy .... IIh re,peel
f('Il)econmucllon. Bul thai ... ()U l(in' t neee"an Iy hOi\'(' <;8 iel an) thl ng pJr1leu lur
~!IoUlth~ pl3ce of t'1 am pic, ill D"cun 'truer lon, Th.1I could e;.lsi Iy he a que,t iun
01 approJl:h and Mr:Llegy ... II h ;.I ... hllie '>('t /If pedagugical 1111 perat i\'e~. wli ieh
l'IOIIk]nt nL'Ces-.;Lril) preJLldge 'he qllC\tlUn uf Ihe example :b such. For
u ">t.ulo.:e. II ma~ .... ell be neee""r) 10 re i) on CUlM.CP" and Oppo~ illon5 WhKh
ikn"lfl'trocllon .... ould . perhal}' lJlcron IIllhe pedagO~lCal procesl> - cllil 11110
~'4I011, ' Ilwl') .... h) [)enid .. lIIighl be Int~re~IL-d In Ihe TrQ(/QfII.f whLc h h:l~
"'.lIelhlng (If 1h.11 mo\cmem ~hoUI II.
kt'nJlIll) wouldn ' t want In ~a) IhallheTc', :Il1 yth IlIg deeply :l.11UDcrTIdeLln
Jooutihe loiter Wil1gcn,lein, I'm n!)I"urc I've gOl an opm lon (lboul lhat. Bul
J!.Il~ !llhal Wittgenslem', pOLtIl i, 10 ~ay: 'Sure, donllool.: somewhere el~e
Illhe mY~ll.'riou~ Tt!JIII1 for the e~ ...... nce of language', bUI. on Ihe other hand,
I'u:natnl) IlOl .... ymg: . Lool.:II the lJ.ngu:rgc game played by the txnldeN
tIIlhe ,laM... [ha[\ [he e"em:e of lJnguage. I t"~ ~a) Ins [hal m no fon11 of life
,
JACQUES DERRIDA
or modern 1:III~uage IS Ihe e~">Cnce of hlllgu:lge Il pparcnt, Itillc thilito he lhe
mdkal pOUlt uf view of Tit.' PhilolfJpim ,11//1Inti/tmiml,l. To Ih:Lt c.\lem I
cannot <.ee lhal th:LI'~ :lIIli-Derride:m at all.
SH: Could I r:t1 '>C :llIothe r qlle ~[ 10I1 . lind thJII~ [he qUCSllOlI 01 an. If onc were
to re Ihe de,,!', :lliluc:IIC. Ilhmi. line could .... y Ihat many pusl war French
thllll.:ers have had a really c.ltnlordillarily po"li\e feeling for an. I could
mention SanTe, Foucault, Krbleva. 1 m)'~lf ,Ilwa)'~ ftelthal Dcmd3 Icnds 10
treat tlle,c ~ubJech al ann'~ Icngth: bUlll1ltLy be wrong.
OB: No, I [hinl. probably your inlu!llOIl " rig h!. It would be maccurate 10
'ugge.~llha, Dcrrida has the type (If imuilive feel for pamllng Utal \Ollie of [he
pcople you've mcnlloned have, and J Ihllli. Ihe re:L~n~ for Ihal aren'l
ncct'~sari Iy (Il'ddenlul or per-.onal or p,},chological. One of lile reaM)f1l> IS Ihal
m [ho!oe peoplc', thmJ..mgaboul art thcft! wuuld al ..orne 1'01111 he (and perhaJ1S
1110..1 cornpllt;[ledly worked OUIIII ~omc (If Lyotan!, recent wrill ngs aboul
IlILI nting), ho .... ever !>ILblle the analy"i" hOllever comphl'atcd Ihe mediations
lind -.0 on, a relillllce 0[1 'Olllclhmg hl.e :t 1II0melli of :.e1l'OI)' or perceptual
pre~em:e. And III" i, indeed ~olllc tlllllg (1);11 L)lllUrd h<1ppliy ~lre<i~S and
w~nt\ in a ~cn .. e to .. alvilge - which i, to 'J)' that when you .. lUnd in fronl of
:I,p-linting, 1001. alit, Iherc i.. somelhing .... hirh he Want' 1II11 provocallve way
10 call pre,cncc, Thi~ i, extremely difficult to lall. aboul u,mit IradUlon31
phI tosophlcal dl'oCoLlr..e. Dermia of rOIiNC .~ "1I~pK 10U~ III all h., .... ork of Ihal
Iype o f appeal. ho ... e~er modcst or hlJ'Aocvcr ~rn ndiose. 10 ~mcthll.g like ..
foundlllg IIlOlllcnl of present'< of any type, I ,u,pccllhal wha l we !>ay aboul
ha\'LIIg a fechllg fur an presuPI)(J~e~ the very thlllg.s thn! Ikrrida " bu~ll)'
undoing in nnc .... ay (IT :mother. Now. II may he Ihal [hal ,uggcM\ dlffereIH
.... ays nf talkin~ :thout p:llnting which lIlay ml he end. I ~IIPPOse, Occomc in
,omo: way inlUlIl\C III" f;.llllilmT, rm not at:tll ,uro;: that The Trllf/t III PUllllm~
pruvides (I VC I)' cJcar ..elhC of Ihal. bUI thai ..... ould be proolctable if il rea lly
"ere new, The c<'!>a)' ()n Adami I Ihml. I' a gellulIlC' IT)' and ma ybe the fOKt it
I' Adami" \olllclhmg that one can 1311. ubout. 1\1O'>t of the essa) I' e~phcitl)'
wnuen .... lIhoul rekrcnl:e It) I:oloor. And yel colo.ur i .. cen:tl nly the mOM
,urpn .. mg and ~lrIkll1g !lung aboUI Adami"., worl, and 1\ Ihal .... hlch would
IIlllllcdintciy hn vc Ihe 'prc.'tCnce' huill inlo II,
SB: Perhnp ~ Andrc .... lknjanun would IIle to "onllnent on that.
AB: II ~ecm, 10 nle th.Ll pan ofwhJt, at 'tal.e here i~ a~ I mentioned before.
trying [0 tiltd Ik'C()n~lrucl jon III an OhJl'Ct Wh.1I Derrida i, domg in writing
about Adanll. Tuu,C;lrmc! and so on i, III ctJocenlrate on IWO particular
poinls. On Ihe 01lC hand ..In ancmpllo dC\:on,trucl a (enain preTenlion, on lhe
o[hera recognUI{II. th,U Ihe palnllng orlhe .... {Irl. ofan affimh Ihe Im po..~ i bilil)
of thm prelclllion. If .... e could assume JII'I for l mlllllcni thai the id~a of self
rcpr~'iCnt3' 1011 i ~ marl.ed by the i III po:.,il1ll ilY of pre\Cncc. II WOII Id prov id~ II.
way of re3ding autobiographical. or ralher, \elf.ponraLh;lt bUlh Ihc level of
photography 3nd uf painting. 1"01 parlll:ul"rly intere\lea In pholOgmphy.
therefore I"IlJu~[ nul.e II few commcnl' :Lhout that.
In one of lI ..e Bmg, self-ponr.a ll\ there 1\ lhe standard gC~lu re of Ihe
pholographerphol ographmg he~lf. Yel [here :Ire Iwohead, within the frame.
One is Ihe head of Ihe acl of photograpillng Jnd Ihe olher head I~ the
photographed hcad. Bel.... ecn theM: IWO IIc,td~ Ihere i, a llCCe~~ary non
co~pondcnce. The)' are differenl al.d yl1 uf ~'nul">C Ihe~ arc Ihe ':lllle, The
fralllc Iherefore contains smnenes~ und difference inscnbcd wllhin the ~ame.
Now WhOlI I .... ou ld argue following Derrida "Ihat [his particular photogrJph
by lise Bing. C(ill be 'imerprcled as affinlllng Ihe 11II1'O"~ibllilY of <;elr~
prc..\cllCe. That. for me. would be! the opening move 11\ any diM:u .. ~ ion of thiS
work. On IheOlher hand then: i~ a phologr:lph of Agile, BonnOl pholographing
77
DI ('O~STRU(""II O'l
her'l' ll It \h()....... ' 11\: r '\,Inding uver ,I mirror, A remlltlg of thb plltl!01,!raph
10. Oil III Il<:g III hy arglllt1g that It worl-., WI thl II Ihe im po ...... 1hi It IYident ilied hy tx-
eOJl\tflKIlIIti Ihc phl)logrdph <;o.'C11l S 10 accepllhc Ideol of :1pure .,.;::1 f pre,cnce,
of JIl:t1-. mg one .... lf pre-.c nt to oneself. The :lct of sel f-repn:.... ntallon h tn'cnbed
Ydl hltl the frume II.-.elf. Howeyer. you could Ihen 1,lluK:h:t Decon ... tnlCtlYC
rC;ldlllg oflhm ph01ogr.l ph!() ~how in whal \\ ay Ihl ~ ~(;I of pure ~C)f-pre,eLlce,
the I'll n.' \lde [ha lone reprcsell1, Hlo nc,c) f. hcc;lInc impu,si tile. Wh:u I wou Id
lil~ e from Dcrrida', writi ngs i~ an il11erp rcI;t! IYC framc .... orl-. In whll'h 10 tall-.
ahuut afl1nn:ttlv c IlIerulU re or ,lrrinnallYC ;if1 or :lffiflll:ll Ive phOIOl! r.lphy. lind
that .... hlch worl-.~ wulu n [he '\CdUCIiOIl of uui ly.
There I' [hercforl.' "cntic:tl thtJIl.'l1' lon. l1mt I ~. otIC C:tLl Idcntlfy "h;u he
l~lI' Ihe "mnnaIlYe. Ithmk thaI (; \1'" m an and m luenlture.
c\: rhere i, a pmblem wuh thaI. th ough. III th aI Ihe IWO phmogrnph, you
oflert'CI3~ eAample\ arc. ina 'Irong 'ell ..... e ~cmpl ifical iOlh of [)ccon~ [ruC I Ion:
IhCl wouldn't bi.' 3nalogle~. Ml they an,", cr Ihat d ifficulty. 1A."t.:on'lrucllou a~
a phtlo,oph) of language I ~ not t' nuc l~ m of interprel.ulon. 11 i~ not merel y
~lIntlllg outo,clf-rdle, I\'C clemcnh III hter;rry t C\ '~. Dc 1\1.111 on Prou,t rnal-.e'
J Plum ;100111 all cl.lonc ~ of rt:"ading. lie choo~e ,,, <cene from A Lil /(1( hrn/w
1111 f 1'1/1/'.1 P/:I'i/II where Pmu~1 .... rtt Cs :11'01111 he aCI of read IlIg mul note, a .... IUlle
..ene~ 01 oppo"!ll()n~ between mdO()I' and OL\tdoor~ heltlg indoor, wllh .1
hool-.. and outdOL)r>, pl:tying. or wh.lteye r. melaphor \e"u~ metonymy. '1111, I ~
Ihe uppthu Ion bel wcen Ihe v i rllle~ of nnagin:uhe ~e lt'-:th-."rpuon arkl lre;lI lv-
II) .lI1d lhe conlmlt:mce of c\'cr)lby hfe.
Dc Man <;tnle,: . Bu I ) rill ",111lIo Ih I~ "II h an y p:l ....... lge o f I~Olhl . you {":In do
th l\ wnh nny pIece officuonallangu:lgc. The fa ct Ihm thl' de,cTlbe . . :t ,cene
of re:uh ng " nCIIhe r he re nurthere. II , mercl y forlllllou ~. re;lIl y" \10" I don' I
heheve tha i. I thlllK one l"ICed~ lo call hI' hluff. and I thml-. Ihl ..amc appl ies 10
Demda. l ie I ~ \"I.'T)' good al passmg off aUlhol'" or l);lrllcul;)r leus Ih;)t o tten
Ihematl ...... the pan icul:.r df.."CIl). o f I:mguagc on Ihe hl'[ory of ~ n. Th" " '1.1 In
Rou,'>Call. Demda nOle~. "hen he" wntlllg abouII:IIlg.U:II.'. rnll,i c. hl,wry.
polulea 1eCQ nOtll y ,1111.1 ~(l OIl. II th crdort:: mu .. t be ,umet h L11); more t h:l1I a LIlac
Ihemc. [I i, an cffe"t of lungu,lge hul II I, al \u to II liq:ree thcm:ltbcd.
'ow II ~In l-. cs me thaI lhe <'\:Imph.. of Iho"l: pholul!raph, ",ould he an
e\Jtnple of '-ell-reflc ~ lye. Ihematlc readmg. It . ~ an e \;ullplc ofo..'Con,[rucllon
IIItll;11 \Cn<;c. bUI m ;1 \lrong M'n~," and a "c<ll-.l>Cn .... : ~Irong m Ihalll ~ nillJII"1
an :lnJ 1000y. II' \ more Ih:ll1 a melap hor: I[. \ "eak in Ih~ ,en-.c t hat II , e\ pi it II.
1l1e ph01ugnph prc,Cllt' 1[!tC!f tl) I'C.' r(';ld m Iho~e tenn,.
All: But 11 :1 [.,0 prC\enh IlI,CIIIO be !'c.ld 111 other Icnn~.1 would rC\I,t Ihe 1;ltl
lli:tt !he'>C I"hou.~ r.lpt" ure Dc~lllhtru~tivc m ally ,e n~c. The LlIle re~ lI n!!
qllC,II(1Il hel'l.' I, Ihe \\ ;1) :111 oh)et:1 'U ~IJln, CUll n lcllllg 1lIler[lreliJl ion~. B111 1h:1I
i\ J -.eparalc is,ue.
\1emher of ;ludi em:e: I (;.lnnnt find !)\I1lhe rda1l\lJl het ..... O;::cLllhc hulldl nl:!~ m
Ihc Parc de I.. Villellc .md [xcull'trun IOL1.
AB: c.lu ld I r\!ply to Ilwt'! rtte \[ILC'tiOLl i~ what l:uuld co unt a~ an nn,wer to
)OUU[UCStlOIl! And U\ ,I ,enloe II !oCt'1ti \ 10 lIle t hat II'," till h " .... c IImg. If1 eLlU I"
u...: that "onl. on wll;lt \\ oold count :t\ an alh"er. II goc' h;lcl-. [0 Ihe ptlltllihat
\11l:hJCI Pedro ral ....d of c\empl.lril) orewmpl ific:ll ion. Do yOIl "'antlo gOlo
the PaR de la V ill ell~ and \:Iy: 'therc i, an e,:unple !If Dccon'trul:lI\e
archlle<:turc. II [h1l11' Ihe ~on 01 re lation fur which you 're looklll g. you'rc n01
guing to find n. A hnd gc b provided hy l)elTida :Itld Ei~ennwn', own wriung
Oil an.: hn ccturc.
It, prl'i:i\Cl} Ihe ...... wnlmg' [h,t[ provldc lhe ..... ay o f umkr\ landl ng ho ....
In:hl h.... lura l Ihmkmg tJn be cwmp hfied We mlt,1 J lIo .... Ihe \luc'tlon 01
e\emphfil':ttion III be helcrogenoo u, and rccogmM." [h:1I e~emphlt lallun
" IIhlll Mchl Lettu re I' nnt purel) " qu c,llon til' :lppll..>J theory in pracllce. 'Illere
1\ a dllfcrent Iml-. he lween:t phllo\uphieill dwelllt1g Ott architecture ami an
.trdlLllI:lUrc [hal l;tl-.e, up und '11'1:1111' Ih,1I phtlOMl plllC;tlthlllklllg.
1\11': r 'lhullll Ii,.... ,puken III a \i mi lar ~e ill OIlCof Ihe Ihm!):, Ih;11 ,trut I-. me .... ;1,
Ihe p;irll,ular .... :Iy of proceed",g With the d('\ elopmcnt ufbu Ildmg' a, Ihe Parc
lie 1<1 Villett e ~Il'" IlfOgre\.,ro. A, Ihe projeel dlJngetlll ~ o"'n OOJCllI\C\. II
IlULltilng whlth ' tarled off <I' !lne Ihmg IILrned Into" fll'l fnod place at Ihe n~~t
' Iagc of th e deye luplIll1l1. <!lIe :I,'C idetl1' uf CO Llt I g unu ~ ,I rU CIUTCSthen hcCl)m('
Ihmg\ that T,~ hun lL trie" 10 ullli ...., Wh;1t wa\ ,[ril-.lIIg III <I 1;lyman III-.e m)'l' Ir
.... ;1' thai an attem pt apllCar, 10 ha l c bt.~11 m:ttlc 10 ullli;,e Iht:: penod of blll ldmg.
In a eLl ), Iluildlng. [he lh.tngc, of U'I'.lhe (kpI}'.'''. Ihe t.lnom IC :tnt.! '-(l(Lal
prc''>lIr~' "hlch hrlng abou l Cllnlple\ JI ) and dll'cr'IIy make Ihem-.elye, felt
lind gll'(' u, Ihl' 1l'1I'e. Oflhc rich li""'lIe of hum~1l <lctivltiel.
111UUgh T . . ,humi wu\ Irying 10 mctudc thl~ conlmgelll:y and reYi'I(JLl anti
uull,m lon of Ihl' changes dunn};. Ihe butldmg proc~~. 11 h a~ Ito,clf ;1 mmi-
h"h)T). 1'0". ),011 1Il1I)' !kIy: Well [hm ha<.n1 ~huwn us an} eon neul on wl lh
[)c1:tlINrUulon or. all~m:llI\' cl Y_lOU migh l ~a)': Ye,. [har ha~ ,ho..... n \I~:t
flO"lble I-.md of tOll nCClion "lIh Occom[rUCllon~ own nr Dcrnd;I ~ own.
7X
curiou, ,cI f-eons.ciou\1Ie,",. ,cll-rey,slntmry. ,e If- m[emlptL 'Ie. ~e If-adaptl\e
procedurc.
Membcro f :wdlence: !'here were \ ugge~u\)n' Ih:u Ihere arc [",0 different WU} S
of lookmg al ana logy. and II, grlllify mg 10 he:t r Demda ~:ly '!Imclhmg lr~e
if [herc, only tine yoice. II, wrong. Pcrh.ll'~ one e:m)l!(! analogy a~ a Yn}
of look Ing lIll wo Ihm!;.'; al once and thercfnrc 'l'Cing [hc lell~IOtl bet ween them.
'I11ut ~et11~ tLl me til he combining analogy with metaphor. Aflinnallon can
then be ,Iud 10 be an addcd feature.
GR: Thcre hce naml) a .... hole Llllagmcd cunle11l lon 111 Dcrrid;I:I' to Ihe notion
of Ihe 1k'1 ..... ccn. One of the be~1 ped;lgogical :rppru:tdl..... 10 h l ~ "on.:. III
precL.,>cl) 10 IT)' ;tud Ilunl-. Ic .. ~ III [enn, of Ihe . IhI' :tIl(! t h~t" [hiUl III l enll ~ of lhe
tcrt'lun bet" I.'C rt '. Whal I)e rrlda h:l;... 1 1)() ~ cd at mosl e~ p IIClt lY.~ metaphor In
phtlo,ophinll leAl'. ;ll!hough metaphor i, tflldlllOlllLlly lool-.ed for in lIterary
te\lS, l1I e r<, ~ nl) ... imple ,md alltomatlC e~porl:ttion oflhat "orl-. Into fiellon
:l\1d p()Cl ry. rherefore:t ecrl:un .Ilnount of CdUl lon l~ llt'Cdt"<i.
The pllLl1I Ihm Demd;1 I11.Ike, i, Ihal a Imdll!On:tl plul n<;ollh.eal II:ie of
nlewphor and Ihls wl)uld corre~ro nd loone oflhc ..... Ylcw,ofan.llog) - "Ihat
mClilphr'r.~ ul>Cd to illumllHlte .111 unfamiliar Ihl ... .... Llh:t illl)re f,ll1liliar Ihat'.
The [radll inlla l philo,ophlcnl VICW I~ th:1I language h a rathcr diffi cult Iltld
cOll1ple~ Ihmg to gCI to grip~ wuh. Thc hou ..... melaphor i ~ much 11101\'
immedi:u.: lll1d f;ull ilmf .Itld "I II help U ~ undcf',!:tnd [he concc pl more full}_
Derr ida ... ho"' .. Ihallhc .... ay Ih"" dcplo~cd III Ilcldc~er 1\ nOllh~ way lhe
metaphor "MI-. ... that h 1\ doc," '1 .... orl-. the olher way rt)lmd And I[ '~ not
"mpl y Ihm yO Il ean ll-.mm whal a hOUM! I ' eyen [hough yllll mI ght [htnl;)OO
dU.The 1<'l'm, 1'lIluage and hUIIM! :Irc held HI 'lith il WJ y Ih:tl nei ther ha, thaI
,un pic pflomy o\'er Lhe mher. nl'lIher tlln help you unlicr'Iand lhe ~\
fami liJ r.
Member of :Iud.cnee: It ,cem, 10 me Iha[ Ihe Im pllcil ~ uble'l of .ltt th i ~ IS1h2t
DelTid:t doc<;n1 h ~\'e Ycry much 10 ,ay III :rrtlltld :rn:hilttlUre. All he i~ dnlfll:
I~ qllc~lInnlllg ,,,,U1llp1l0Ih :lI\d J~llng II' 10 be ~u'plcioLl\ a~ nOlhltlg can he
definltiye. cverylhing c han ge\. D..'Con,truelloLl invol\'e ...... n poinl made b}'
Dcrrida an endle." ,truggle belween Ihe cn llgh[cned on Ihe une hund. and the
re, 1on Ihe olhtr. De'plle Dcrrida ' S pragmlllic caution and e;lring. the enhJ!bt-
enet.! Mde ;llw:I)' Wlll ~ III Ihe ~t fUgg le. An e \Cmllil fie llllOtl of Ih.1I i\ the pin-
ent~lIon lod:!y. 'lolhmg can be more Iradltlon,II lim n ha\tng fj\c pcopieSIlHIl!
3tthe frunttcllillj! evcryb!.ldy cI-.e wh!l1 lhey Ihinl-.. then l11vllmg l.[ue~lIom.
You dou 't '~y Whal duc .. evcryhody ct),C thllll-.'!" but. lla, uuyllody got an)
1[lIe\liOl1\"': you ,let as ,I)uree~ of :lulhorllY III re., idencc.
(iB ~ 'r1lc nlltltlllilf Dccon~ lrue lton h:lvttlg lI11 ng~ toolTer Ohyiousl)' "Ch Up:lll
e~ l remely f;muhar and comforlinj! Ylew whereby II OflCh lI ~clf as a l1\'li
IIl1cllcc[ual proouet on Ihe market placc. [T)'mg tl)" III oyer Cl"IOtne().. II~ lal~
IIltcmpl. n ~ late!,[ lll:tfl-.CI re~arch . takc~ L1 out loward, dft :md anhlleeMe.
Irying :1~:lLn'l re,i,tance tn ,ell Ih product. 1 thinl-. thaI til no ~en~e. howelcr.
as Derrid.1 YeT)' clearly SIJle,. ~'un Detl)n.. ln,,tio n be eo n,idered a new nnel
IL'CllI.1I movement of Ih:11 type. As for en lig hlenment al",,,),, WI nnm8 ou[,1
"ould ...ay Ih;lllhe oppo'IICoccur'-enhghlen menl nevcr " m... OUl: [here !Still
winni ng 0111 III o..'Con"'lructrlln. There" a nccc,s.:JT)' :tnd emile" Icn.ion.
Saying thai" nOi a pr..'<IIcllon about Ihe future. 11 1\ a ~Iatement ofncre'i"l).
The bal,J ~ of Ihe que~Ii Qn . "Ilich i~ e~lreme l ) (;ummOI\ :tnd winch Ilhillk I~
probably ut the root of a lot ofmbundef\.landlng,. I' to \ uggesl Ih:ll Dcron
, truel 10111 pre'>Cl)t~ ihelf a' ,\ ruthc:II break, ' IlIL' 1\ utn' 10u~ l y 01a pU'ce wllh lilt'
I.mguage of markcung and -.e lhng. wllh [he prod UCI and", ou. wnh II brand
new langll.lge. Dernd"~ eomme nb on th l ~ are ab:.olulcly c lear - Dt.'C(IIIo
~lruClIon occun. III Plait) :I ~ .... e ll as 111 Derritta.
The hl~llhing I want [o ~a)' I~ th:lt proo:lhly III lea,[ fiye ofu, up hereontM
q :lge regrel the arn.cnce of uny :tn:hnecI among 11'>, And a~ for Ihe position of
:tmhorll). ;1J1 ~wc nlbl h[ y. and MJ on. I 'U'IICcllhal mo~[ of thc pl.'flple heft .
mcl uding m )~el f. fccl rallter uncomfonable ab!.)uI Ihal. On Ihc other IIJnd.
ag:ti n \0, Ilh m Ihe raLhe r " mple noti OI1 of u rad ieal break. ' hift elc.lhc idea tlla!
Ihl' Iype 01 ~true ill re C:tll ~i mpl) be gol away from.lh~t for e)mmple (which 1
lal-.e 10 IIC thc lonc of Ihe quel llonJ. !f \)cCOIl\lrtlctlOll "ere ri.':t lly so rad ical ib
tl prelcnd,. we ",,oul{\n t ne e~1 any weh 'trtlClure of aU lhorit) . any '>ucb
~lrU(; IU re 0/ pcdagollY :llld '0 on. is ob\ tOU\!y I.[IIIle unt~nJhlc.
BUI [he re if:t re lal iOlhh Ip of Icn~ion bel" cen "hal ~ Ic:tl hablc. and .... hal "
nOI . "hal I~ e ~empllfiJ blc . and " h,L1 L' not. There are 31,o degree, or alllhonl)'
lhal anyhod). includLllg Dcmd:r. ean ha\'e "lIh rC~JX'(:II O o.."Comlruction.o/
which he' , cenainly nm a 'UbJCCl or aUlhor in any Iradil10na! ~cn\C. T~ are
all Jlmih and t e n\ion ~ "hleh nced 10 Ix: negolllucd. And 1 :lg rcc ..... ith IhI:
l.[ue,1 ioncr on one [hi ng. and II h ml onc Ih Ing Oftly. which I~ Ihat IhlSpan!culll
formal neg olla[e, lhem rdther badl). BUll Mhpccl Ihat \\-ere :1' ' OITY abolt
[hal:" lOU arc.
JACQUES I)I' RRIDA
 ANDREW BENJAMIN
Derrida, Architecture and Philosophy

,

I

T he history of philosophy has always demonstrated a (",o-fold con cern with architecture. Th e first is by philosoph y either
addressing a rchitecture as a n aesthetic form (eg in Hegel's AestlJt lics), or depl!Jying archil edural examples in a more
genera l discussion of aesth etics or art (eg Heidegger's discussion of th e Greek temple in Tlte Origin of Ille Work of A rt~
T he second is the presence of architectural form s (eg Kanl 's architectonic) or archit ectural metaphors in th e d e \'l~ lo p

men! orcon'>ITUClion of a phi losophical argument. The second oflhe!>C
is. in thi~ in~lal1cc. the more relev.m!. To delimit u specific ternlin of
discu~sion 111\0 which Dcrrid<l's writings 011 architecture can be
articulated. I will conce ntrate on the justly famous architectural
mctllphor developed by Descartes in thc second part of the Di'\Course
on Mcthod. Despite the length of thi~ pa~sagc I wi 11 quote it in full in
order th:u liS force may be made clear:
... there is not u ~ua lly so much perfection in works compoM!d
of '>evcr:tl parts and produced by different craflsmen as in the
works of onc man. Thus we see that buildings undenaken and
completed by a sing le architoct arc u.,ually more atlractive and
better planncd than those which sevcral h3ve tried 10 patch up by
adllpl1l1g old walls buill fo r differc11l purposcs. Again. ancient
citics which have gradually grown up frorn mere villages into
largc towns arc usually ill-pml>orlioned. compared with Ihol>C
orderly towns which planners layout as they fancy on level
ground. Looking at buildings of the fornler individually. you
will often lind as much art in them if not more Ihan in tho!>e of
the latter; bUi in view of their arrangement - a lall one here. a
small one there - and the wily they make the "tTech crooked and
irregular you would say iI is chance rJther than the will of men
u'ing rea!oon. thaI placed them so. And whIm you con~ider that
there have ulway~ been certain offici,lls whose job it is to )oec that
private buildings embellish public place~ you will under)otund
how difficult il is to make ~omethmg perfect by working on ly on
what others have produced .l
Thi, pa'lSage refers. if only inilli.llly. to Dcscane~' utlempt to ju~tify
both his own philosophiclIl project as well as establishing the necessity
of i t~ being undertaken by a single phi losopher working alone.
Oc<;eartes is attempting ncithcr a reworking nor a refurbi shing of paS!.
philosophy but a mdical departurc that thereby establishes a new and
originul philosophical system. J)c<;c,tr\es ' aim therefore is two-fold.
On the one hand he wants to establish a IOtal and unified system. and
on the other. onc that breaks fundamentally with past ptlLlosophlcaJ
~}'stems (in particular. of course. Ihc Scholastics) and is thu ~ not
tainted by earlier mistakes and prejudices. It is this two-fold aim th3t
i~ expressed in his metaphor of the activity of architects and buildcn.
The elaborJte metaphor opens with a juxtaposition of the one and
the many. Works produced by one craftsman have a grcatcrdegrceof
pcrfl.'Ction than those produced by a number. Buildings designed and
built by a single architect are. as II consequence. far more altractl~e
than buildings whose refurbishing hns involved the panicipatlOn ofa
collection of architects working ovcr a number of years and inevitably
with different inlcntions. Having made this point Descanes then
extends the range of the mctaphor. moving from a single con!otructlon
to a city. Here the contra~t b between a city which has developed
through timc. through con-recutiveand perhaps overlapping stages and
which therefore contain~ ill-proponioned and irregular componcnb.
nnd a city or town conceived and built within an extended singlr
moment. The force of this opposition IS then reinforced by the further
opposition betwccn chance and rcaomn. If there is anything Ilnracli~e
about the buildings. or even the quaners of an ancient city .then it is the
rel>ult of chance. The beauty of a city designed and buill during thr
single extended moment is the result of the application of rcason.
Before taking up the impo~tant opposition between reason and ehmKe,
1\ is essential 10 dwell on this single extended momcnt.
Thc moment is the enactment of that which reason dictates. The
regulation of reason extends through the conception. the enactment

on

and it~ completion. Re:l~on 1m" wh:1I cou ld amounI to a universal and
to that e:<telll an ,nemporal extcn~ion. The ~tngu ' arity (If the con~ t ruc~
110n (a ~ingularity excluding plur:l!ity). Ihe singu!:H1ty of the architect
(excluding pluralbm and thereby erecting the architect as God one
replacing Ihe other within ~imilar hierarchic prin( lplc,) i~ rcin-.cnbed
~ilhln lhe singulari ty of t hl~ moment.
The IlIck of order in the ancienl city i~ marked by as well a' being
the mark of the lack of re'l;.on. I t11:l~ the (on~eqllcnce thm not only
il the cily in ~ot1le -.ensc lIIad.! it call al-.o be Ihou~hl wilhin Ihc
lotali~mg purview of rea,on. e;(cept 01 cour'-C a... lI1i1d. Therefore when
t3ken 10 ib logIcal eureme the archllL'eturJI metaphor indicale, Ix)th
the IXMlbllity of a unIfied totality - to be provided by the appl icatl(ln
ofr~asun - as wdl a, that which ,tanch opposed to thi~ ro',lbihty.
namely. m:ldne~~: pre!>Cnted here <1;' the untotali~able pluralily of the
3/lCienl cilY. The oppo... ition bel\\;een rea ...on :lI1d m:ldne!>s I., imro-
doct'd by. and within.:lI1 architL"Cturalmel:lphor.
The triumph of re:hon over madne ..... J)c~e<lrtc, i, irN ,ling. i., thc
path to be followed by the phllo,ophcr a' ;Lrdrite!:t and the archile(\ :1'
pbil~hc:r. The activity of each i.. dclimJlcd not by rea...on a;. .,uch.
but b) the oppo~itlons bel ween rt'LI-.on LInd chance. :lnd rCLl,(lIl :lnd
m3dnc~s. There i" of cour'e an imperative within De~carte" rnet:t-
iJhor. It indic:rte, his liIukNanding of the philo,ophical t:I~". For
Descanes the totality and necc,-.nry unity' engendeR'" by rea,on can be
,dlallled. Withm the metaphor the old city can be ralcd \0 the gmund.
The nev. cuy Will emerge v.llhout be:mng the tra('l!~ of the old. There
"'It! beno tmce, of tile old to be rcmar"cd. A" will t>c seen it i!> precisely
thr po~sibi Iity of the a!hem;e of an y remark. or r;L1 her Ihe imlXI'>' ibi Iity
of Its ab:.cnce that is tal..en up. :lI1lOng't other thing!>.. when Dcrmla
..mrs of 'mallltallllng. The chance of architecture I" mamtalned by
the 'imerruption' between the tradition:!i und the arrirmative. Thi~
point will be pur,ued.
There arc two imponmll component ... of Descartes' architectural
me1aphor and theem,uing phIlosophical pr.lclice to which il give, me.
The fir~1 is the functional oppo,itioll between r('a~on :lIld chance
(reason and nmdncss). The ,ct:ond. f:IT Il\ore difficult to di'l'Cnt.
in\'ohe, the OPI)()sition betwcen the in~jde and the outSIde. The
metaphor of the cuy. in order that it further De-,carte<;' phllo.,ophical
end. mU~1 be under'IOO<i a~ a 'tnl(\ured !<Ipace. and therefore as a plnce
tobcre-deployed in the con~tructioll of the city orrea~on. Funhcfmorc
II must be con,truetcd to :tllow the phil()~opher or arcilltect the
~ibihty of a placc out'lde It,uwn w;lll. Re~ul:uion and conlrollllU;.1
tale pl:K'c rrom the outSIde. The metaphor of the ci lY .., therefore 011<.0
ttl'marcd wl1hin thc further 0pPO~lt ion of inside and (lubide ta., well
a\lhe one octwecn theory and practice). I wanllO develop Ihc~e IWO
elements_
The intrigulIIg element th:l1 C:1I1 be ~een to emerge from wllhlllthe
metaphor of the l'ity i~ Ihe implicit recognition Ihm If the city 01 rea~on
l\i6an out,ide. then it i~ ll1adllc~s. The 11:Ipha.lard chance of dh{/isll/I
I\COlhlrdlOed to take place out~ldc Ihe city wall,. The consequence of
thIS isthallhe arclulC(:11llu"'l be "Tll\en into the cilY in order 10 avoid
madne.\sand ~et the philo-.opheror architcct1llu..:t be out<;idc the gates
In order to e~en control. The architectOIlLC need~ to be regulated frOI11
Ol1tside. Pn.~"cnt here i~ Ihe problem of the before :!nd 111 front of. The
~ilosophcr (or architecl) would -.cCII1 therefore 10 be placed and 10
hm_placed them-.ehe\ within a double-bind. Ihal C:I11. in hi,toriql
Itrnl~. perhap\ only be rc'Olved by God.
The imponllllce of the de~cflption ofl he opposition between re:!,on
.tnd chance (rea~on and madne~s) :I!>. functjonallie~ in the fact th:lI it
indicates that the 0ppo~llIon l'i neither arbitrJry nor <;imply a re~ult or
"lIIClusion. but plaYl> :1 '>lructuring role III the text. Ilo\\;'ever in Ihe
preo,emcontext it l~ the ~econd component that i~ the more relevant. In
o;paliaJ term~ the di,tincli()n belween the inside ,lI1d the outside i~
perhaps bc~t underl>tood in relation to the labyrinth. The labyrinth b
'lb\l{)u~ly the l>i~n of the city. h is al..a the .,ign of wriling. J Both the
,myrimh and wrillll, arc concerned with . ir only bccauo;c they give risc
to. fihlly the problem of the place, and ~condly an epi ... temology of
.=.
A1\DREW BE"IJAMI'
Ihe place. A philo<;ophy of IOlahlY and unity ]l(hllionl> it<;clf. 01
nece,sily. outside the place out<;ide the labyrinlh and writing - and
:I;' "lIch. ~Jlowledge i~ invariably linked to the tran,cendent:lI. In
Carte,i:ln tenll~ th i... di~! inction find ... Its 1l10,t adequate fonllulal1on in
teml" of the dl"lIlCl10n between the under'tanding and the imagina-
tIon. Only the underslan(.hng working wilh tran...cendelllal rule'i can
delerntine and yie ld cenainty. The umkN:mding i~ always positioned
outside and then come!> to be appl ied in the world. 111i)o i~ not to ~ugge~t
that tor Dc"Cartc' knowledge i~ empiric:!l: rather knowledge is of the
emjJlri(al. The I.:Ondi liol1s for the po!>~ibility of knowk><lge - the
method 10 be ,lpplied and thc rulel> governing clear and di<;tll1cl
I>crception, etc arc thelll~elvc~ tr:tnl>Cendel1t.tl. The Imagination on
the other hand i, trapped in the I:lbyrilllh. l11e problem of the imagi-
nation i, that in lhelr 11 lacl..s a limit. The imagin:ltion i~ essential for
J..nowledge bUI on ly when Ih rewlb can be ('ontrolled by the under-
~til1lding. For DeM:arte~ the tYl>ology of con<,eiou!>ne .... nece~l>itates a
di vide bet ween the domain of the under~tilnding ilnd the dOI11:lin ot the
imagination. It is clear that thi, di~tinctlon - onc th:tt i, repeated and
relllrorced in other of his writings lfl lenlll> of the disllnction belween
the undeNandl1lg and the will - ha~ l>pccilic ontologicul and lentJX.lral
cOll'lderation,.
In tr:tcing the implication!> of the architectural rnecaphor in Descar-
tes' Diwolll'.H' 1111 MI'III(I(I wltat ha ... emcrgl.><I is a -.eric' of oppo,itlon...
thm play .. ,tructunng role withllllhe prcl>Cntnllon ofhl~ phllOl>ophical
p()~ it ion. It is lJ u ite Ii terall y con ,trucled in tem,,- 01 them. II i. . of cour-.c
preci,ely in relatIOn 10 the~e opposition, thaI Ihe force of Dccon-
,tru(tiofl can be located. It i~ by tracing through their implicatIons
allowing Iheir un'table lo!!ic to unfold Ihal Ihe work or Dccon-
,trtlction begins to take place. Derrida det:tils thi, a'iJCct of DeCOII-
. . Ir,-,ction in the following term,:
Dc-conslruclinn . , . llnnly"C" and cOll1pare~ cOII(eptual paih
which are currently accepted ..... \ell-cvid(!nt and natUrJl. a;. ir
they had flOi been in<;lilutionaliscd al ,Ollle preci!>c moment. a.,
if lhey had 110 hi~tory. Becnu'e of being taken for granted they
re,trict thinking. I
DccolI~truction. in thi, in,(ance. is therefore :I bcglllning. However
Dccon,lruclion i~ not Ihe ~imple reve!";al of the dOnlmanl term within
an oppmition. Tlli, bc<:onle!o. increa.,ingly clear in Derrida'~ writing on
the work of Bernard T"'humi.' A fundamental Watcgy of that paper
r
(Poi f/( de folie M (llIIfl'II1111/ lIIThlll'Clfl/'(') i~ the r(!lent ion of both
madness and chance and )'cllhey arc nOI part of a ~lIl1ple opposillon.
TheY;ITe not merely the other ~Ide of re:I~OIl.
Thc work otT,chumi undercon,idcralion by Dcrrida il> his plan of
the Pare (/1' 1(1 \ 'illt'III'. and in particular a scrie~ of con~truction ... Within
the par" "nown a, Le:. Falij'~. Of thi, title. name. signature. Derrida
Illake, the mlport.lIlt point Ihal Ihe~ arc not '1l1adnel>' (10 folie). the
allegorical hyposta!>i., of Unrc.. "on. non-"en-.c. but the 11ladneSM!~ (II'S
folll'.I)'. In sum what make, l)erri{i:J', wnting~ on architecture of
particular interc,t is the way he tries to indicate in what sense n
philoo..ophical argument or positIon can be 1I1corpomled into adifferent
activity. Two elements need 10 be st:llcd III advance. The first is thill
Dcrrida .., emphati( that de~plte appearance\ Decon~truction i~ nOI
it,elf an architectural mCI:!phor. Not only i, he 'lI'picious of meta-
phor.,: 11 is al,o Ihe ca'>C that \)ccon,lruction doe~ nOI amounl to a
simple dismallliing. It i~ m the ':lIlle tlllle - and in the Niell'>Chean
'>Cn..c affiml:uivc.
The second IXlint is thallogocelllrism bcvide!lllil the way in which
architecture. h:lbitation. dwelling, living. etc arc underMood wilhlll
bOlh philo"Dphical and architeetuml thmking. It i~ the evidenl pre.,-
ence and ~lruclUral force oflogoccntrbm Ihal providel>:1 po~sible entry
for Deconstruction. It enters: via the rearticulation of meul physic~. It i~
of course a reaniculation Ihat i, housed architecturally lind yet extends
beyond ar(hileclure. II is at home in the hi":lOry of WC!;tern rnetaphy~ -
1cl>. A!> Dcrrid:a suggeSIS, the 'architectonic!> of invarlllble point!> ...
regul:ates all of wh:1I i~ called Western culture, far beyond its an:hi!ec-
ture.' However it Il lso I:Ikc~ place - and find~ a place - in it~
" .
l)E(,ONSTRUCTIO'l

architccture. II i~ thi~ that rnake~ a Decoll,truction Qf architectural al,o excmplificd. ),tyli!otical ly, in thc aphorislT1~ which Derrida chose
thm~ing pos~ible. It h funhcrmorc what ma~e~ an lIffimlativc ardl1- to prcface a collection of recent p(lpcr~ on philosophy and architecture.
leet ure pos~ ible. Demda ~il y' ofT M: h Llln i .!.fill il',1 Ihal Ihey: ' , , . a ffi rm. The uniqueness and ,clf-refernng nOlturc of the aphori~m is dccon-
and engage their affimJation beyond Ihi, ultimately :ulTIihilating, structed via that aphon,m itself. Se lf-reference is an impossibihty.
'>Ccretly nihilistic repetition of l11etaphy~l(.al archltecture.~ Perhaps cvcn the act of ciung the following aphorism (its citation
There i, OIn jntere~ting parallel here betwecn Derrida', d i~lI!.sioll of r:lther than it~ con tellls. c'l>ccially as it is incomplete) b ),ufficient to
architecture and his discussion of litemturc . Withoul relUming 10 the ll1a~e this point:
question - whOlt is li ler:llure"! - it i~ eSloemiOlI to poim OUI that in An :lulhentic aphori~m l1lu),t never refer 10 another. It i~ suffi-
DcrriLla 's work Ihere h no priv ileging of the literary a~ oppo,ed to the dent unlO itsclf; world or monad. But whether it is ..... anted or not,
philosophical. Both can be and u,ually arc logocentric. They are both whether one ~e~ it or not. thc aphonl>ms intcrlink here as
site,. mhllbitated and constructed by the repetition of metaphy~ics, For aphori~nK and in number, numbered. Their ~crics yields to an
Derrid:1 lito.!rature is ~omething to-corne. II is thi, clement thOlt he irrel'l'rsihfe order.. I !
IOC:lte~ in tho.! work of the French writer Roger Laponc, J.>e rrida wn te, Dcrricla locates thc wor~ ofTschumi within a p:lmdo:( :\IId also ..... ithiu
of his work FIIM/f(' that ' ... in il1Kribing ihelf in an his((lrically, Ihe I/1UII/fI'/1(11I1. The presence of what could be dC'Icribed :I~:I
libidinally, economically. politically detemlined field ... no l11et<l- paradox within Derrida'~ work is too large a theme to
language i~ l)Qwcrful enough uxl:iy to dominate the progres~ 1/(1 It i~, ho'Wcver, al work in his di!\Cu,,,ion of Tschullli. When, for
marcil(' 1or rat her Ihe un-fold IIlg 1/11 (hl-man'hl'l of this wn tin g .'1 I-Ie cxample, he argues thallhe 'red points' (deployed by Tschumi as part
goc, on 10 add: '/; /lXa(' .. . takes away in advance alt mClalinguistic of his projl.'Ct) both disJlC"e and gather. they become and articulatc thl{
reM)urce~ and makelo of th l!> quasi-opcmtion an unheard mu)'il' outside logic, However thc di~pcr),al and gathering il. held together 31ld IS
of genre.~ maintained: 'Thc red point" space. maintaining architeclUre in 1M
Q
Thking into considerat ion Dcrnd,l's own writings on gcnre hi, dil>sociation of spacing. Bu t this /lUlI/llr1WIII d oc~ not only maintain I
DL'(:onstruction of the po),sibility of genres as all-illelusive further pasl and u tradition: it doc~ 110t ell"ure a :-.ynthesis. II maintains 1M
serve~ 10 indicate Ih:1t in the plOlce of texts dominated by 10gocel1tri sm interruption. in oUler word, the relation [0 Ihe other /l1'r .\('. '1' lt is of
and which therefore count 11' II rcarticulation of mctaphy'ic~. a.s well course prccisely III tenn" of ' maintaining' Ihat an affinllative concep-
as themselvc~ being 1I1scribe<! withm 'conceptual pai"', Lapone'~ lion of ardllll'Clurc b :llIowed to take pl:tce, Furthermore i[ i, one that
tCXI Fl/gIII' I~, in Ihe ~cnse alluded to above. affirmative. II is(lI' a work invoh'es and depluys chance and madness in the ' interruption'
- and ill its work - the literature-Io-come, There i<, therefore, within the 'conccplual pair~' within", tHeh the hbtory of phllo'>Ophy
Dcrrida's own phdo,ophlcill undert;lking. :tn important cOllno.!ction placed Ihelll. CluJneo.! becoJlle:.lhe wager. And nwdncss, thai which bl
belween the works/writings of TschullIi and Laporte. Their futural a fascinating ctymologic111 g.amble is freed from one madnes!>. lit
dimcII~ion, their being wor~'-to-come. is Ior.::lled III their conneCl1on comes. among.),t othcr Ihings, the 'madness of an asem:lntics', The
10 thai which proceeded. TIle hinge connecl1ng thelll mark!> a tYI>C of im l}()rtance of cilan("c lics in it~ breaking of:1 conceptual closun:.
sublation. 'Di,associ:nion' tal..es place - yCt it ta~e~ place in the '''pace
What has 10 be traced 111 Dcrrida', undcrst:lI1ding ofTschumi i~ Ihis re:l'i.Cl11bly'. Mainta ined, it could be argued. within :1 logic of paradox.
affirmative dimension. The point of departure is pmvided by the Thc opposition, within which Descartes' architectuml metaphor
oppositions between reason and chance. and reason lind madne)'s. It is too~ placc are no longer Cl ther authoritative or central. Madness and
already clear in what sen~ these 'conceptual pair\' arc operative ill chance have becn freed nOI ju!>t from their ,ubordinme place wilhin
Dc~carte~' :lrchiteclUral metaphor. The question i, how arc madnc~, tho),c opJXIsitions, they h:l'lc also cmerged as affinn:ttive 'concepti'
and chancc t:l~en over by Dcrrida? within which to think the po-.sibility of a I)ccon~tructjve architecture.
The fir~! POint to note is that Tschumi 'sfo/lrs arc nOI. a~ ha~ already The nature - and, i IIllU~[ be added, a nature beyund essentialism - of
becn mentIoned, sunpJy tho.! other ~ide of reason. They arc marked by ~udl an architc~'(Ure I)' (\eM;ribed by Peter Eisenman in the foll ov<m~
the OPpoSliion reason/m:j(lnc~s and yet nOi anicuillted in tenns of it. w:.y:
Connected to the act of affinlla!ion i, the equally imponant procc,s of Whal i~ being propo~cd i~ al\ expamion beyond the IImitallon
what could be called a fonn of displacement ordistancing. The proce'~ presented by th eda,~ ical mode to the realisation of architecture
of di)'lancing i~ found III Dcrrida's de,cripllon of thefollt.'s: as an independent discourse, free from ex ternal valucl'; Ihal is,
T~chull1i', 'fir~t' concern will no longer be to orgllnisc "p:tce liS Ihe intcrsection of the mealllngf ul. the arbitrary and the timeless
a function or in view of ' economic. aesthetic, epiphan ic. or in the anificial. l ~
techno-utilitarian nonns. Thesc norms will be ta~cn il1lo consid- The ch:llleng.e pre!t.Cnted by Deconstnlction 10 :lrchitecture is the
cration, but they wil1 find thetmclves ~ubordina led and rein- ',ame' as the cha ll enge it presents to all the arts, and of course 10
\Cnbcd III one placc ill a \e:<t and in a space that they no longer phIlosophy, literary criticism, etc. It is a cha llenge that, initially, takl:$
commOlnd III the final imtancc. By pushing architecture IOward~ place on Ihe level of thinking: hl!re in the example of archilectun:
il~ limib, a place will be made fo r 'pleasure'; each/otil' will be thinking m:li11laining. Thinking that comes to be enacted - or can bt
dc~tllled for a given 'use', wi th its own cultural. ludic ,pedagogi- S(.-Ctl to be enacted - in Ihe architectural work of Eisenman and
cal. scientific and phil(hOphical finalltie),.111 Tschumi :unongst others.
The dbl:ltlcing or displaccment - and indeed the hinge marking or !laving come this far it is wonh p..1using to try and place o...--COll-
retl\:tr~ IIlg their connection to 10gor.:entrism/metaphysicS/ 'conceptlIal ' Iruct ion before architecture. or architectural thll1~ing before Decon
pair~' i~ c:lpturcd by Dcrrida when he writes of'l\orlll~' being 'taken struction. In either case the 'before' docs not mark the presenccofl
into consideration'; being 'rei nM:ribed'; present but no longer in ullIversal and tran\Cendentallaw - eg the work of the understanding
'command' . Nonns bt."'Come, in Nict7,che'~ \Cose. 'fiction~ 'II - thereby with1l1thc Carte-.ian texts, or lIegelinn ',Ibsolutc knowledge' - th31
opening up, though :llways 111 a w:ly to be detennined, thc possibility would regul:uc architecture or Deconstruction as philosophy, Dots
gestured at in what Dcrridll calls 'tr:lIlsarchitccture', Deconstruction allow for what within tr.Jditional 3CMhetics is Ii
DI~tancing is still connective. There i, no pure beyond. In any fundamenw I philosophical import:tnce: namcly, cvaluation? Demda
adventure there i~ still the remilrk. The Cartesian de~ire for thc has tricd todelimi tthe relationship between Deconstruction and archi
:llhOlu!cly IlI.'W. for the completely unique, is. for Derrida. an impos- tectural thinking: . Archilectuml thinking can only be Deconstructl\e
.\lhrlH}. II I"onm pMt of togocentrism's desire for a self-enclose(! in the follow ing sense: a~ 11ll a\tempt to vi.~U11Iise that which eS tab!l sh~
tol ..!!I!Y The rcmarh. clln alw:IY~ be rell1ar~ed upon, It is in tenns of the authority of the archi tectural concatenation in philosophy. ' j )
'm:llntailllng' tha t thl' interplay i" de\Cribed. In addition however it is The -archilectural concatenation' is iLSClf repemed wilhin the hi~

tory of metaphysics. A repetition that i~ found throughout the texts
and in part structurc~ the tCXb- that arc included within the hi~!Ory of
philosophy. (It 11:1 ~ been ob~erved in Descartc~ . D i.I"("1I1I roW' 1111 Afl 'l hod.
thougll it could just have ea~ily been traced in :1 diver,c range of te;tt~.
mcilKling. Ari~tolle, Kant. Hegel and Heidegger.) It ~ au th ority i ..
prcci!\C\y the Object of Decoll'truc tioll. Dccon~truclcd authority i~
rclUined but without it~ aUlhority. although when it c{)me~ 10 the
~ue$tinn of eva IllaTion. Ihe cri teria arc Ihem!\cl ves :1 rt ic ulUTed in te rill ~
of that aUlhority. In Tilt' Critique of Judgemelll Kant sub.\umes the
el'aluation of architecTUre under the rubric of de~ign which i~ Ihell
joined to Ill~tc. Ta\te be(;ome~ Ihe ul1ll"ersal and se lf-referential foml
ofkgitill1ation wor k in before. during and after the con~lnn.:tion: In
p:linting,sculplUre. and in fact in all the forma tive art~, in architecture
and horticulture. ~o fa r as fine an,. the design i ~ wh:lI is e~~ellli:l\. Here
nisnOl wlwtgratJlie, in ~n~mion bUl merely what plca<;e~ by it~ form.
NOles
I R De~anes . '1)I\COllr~ on .\1crhcI'.r. in 7111' Phi/mop/uml \hlfilj~~ of
DI'KtlflI'S. Vol I, Cambridge UnlVCl"'ily Prc,s, 1'l85. p 116.
2 Demda lIa, WTlI1en II number of texts 011 madne\s. Incil/dlll!; cTlllque, of
Foucault \ '\/,ldlll'oI") IIwl Ci \ifi.\U/u)II tll\d Blal1c hOI .S ttl fotil' <lII1'illl"
3 Dt>rrida make~ mnilar poilU in an inleTVle"" .. Arehltl!ttllre ove II dc,iderio
puo abitare' , DUll/I/:). K 0 67 I . Apri I 1986. Wh ik It i~ [>erhaps n rran~grc,~ ion.
IhJ\e rewrll1cn ,ome Of llH. llrgul11enl~ he pre~ent~ ~o a~ 1111 in I.. them wirh Illore
g~ner~1. if nO! convl'ntlOn~1. philosoplilcal conccm,. Perhaps. agalll. rhi, i~
tIalllbliOll as lr:lI1~grlsslon.
~ A pointllladc by Dcrnda III the :Ibovc-mcmioned in lerview.
S Pomt!k folie'. Iruns Kate LlIlkcr. All Filn, 1\"0 12. 1986.
6 ibid. P69.
i J Dcrrida. C~ qUI rc'le 11. turee de l11u~lqUC. P.\I"("/re. Galilee. 19~7. p 96.
\my trJn~). For un amplification of the poil11 made about literature ~ce R
GascM. Till' T/Jill of 1//1' M i no/". II aT\" !lrd Univcr~i Iy Prl'~'. 1986. pp 255-3 18.
Ihove discussed Ihe illl portance ofGasche' s book In . Nal11l!1g DeconSlfl(ct ion .
1/IJIOI)' (if III. If 111111111 SriCI1("('.I. V(J I I. :'>In 2. ll)Sf;.
8 r/ll(1. p %.
9 J Delli(\.:]. The Law ofGenrc. G/I"ph. 7. l\)Im
AKDREW BE~JA \1IN
Ihat i ~ the fundamcn tal prerelJui~ite for t:l!'tC.' 11>
In other words the vocabulary of evaluation - the language of
:te~the\ic~ docs itself form part of the philo~ophical architectonic.
The COl1\equcnce of thi~ is that if there i~ 10 be a language of evaluation
't~mming from Dccon!'truc\lon then it will neccs~itate what Nicti'~che
de'cribed a, a 'reva luat ion of all v<Jlue'i. Even though Dcrrida may
appear \0 privi lege Ih~ uniqueness of a specific work. thi s is not a
recourse to it fundamcntal pragl1lati~lll. In far.:t tile thing/evem can
never be unique and sel-freferentt:ll: hence galhering and di'peNlI:
hence lIIailll('II(/II(/lIIailll('lJil: hence the alway~ alread)'-pre~cnl re-
marl... A Dcconstructi ve 3e~lhetic and the plurality of a Deconwut'tivc
criteria for evaluation are yet to be wrinen. Dt.:rrida\ v.riling .. on
:m:hitecture. whi le 011 architecture. are alsO an ;Jcslhclic~-to-come .
The potential for a Dcconstructive aesthetic" is to that ex tenl :!lwuy~
a lready wrillen.
10 Dermla. III' nl, p 69.
II St!e F Nit!tL~chc . Bnw/(I Good ollef ,d. tr.II1S by W Kaufman. Vantage
Book,. New Yor"-. 1966. Sectiun 21 .
12 J Dcrrid:1. CinqulInte-dcux aphonsme<, pour un JVlll1t-propoS'. PSIchi! .
Galilee. 19S7. p 5 IJ {my tmn~}. Thi .. text fonned the preface 10 Mnrm' f)(lIIr
IIII'JI'I"~': Al"lirllf'("/III" "II,/rilo.I(/I,hlc . Cahler\ dtl eCI (Cenlre Georges Pom-
pidou). 1987. ~ book emerging from a meeting between philosophers and
ilrt'hnect' orguni~ed hy the Centre IrH~m:l\ionnl de Phil o~opille.
IJ Dernda. OJ) til. p 75.
14 P Ei,enrnan. nle End ofth~ CI:1~~lt:II . I)/"I"\I'{'( lfI. t\o 21. 19M. Dcrnda
ha~ "" ri t1en on Ei~en Illan in .. PourqllOI PeleT Ei~nnull1 eCflI de si bons Ii vrcs .
P~ yche. pp 491i - 5()~ . For an inlrod tlCI iOIl w Eisenman s work ,cc ImI'MiJ~(j
I;,m~ ill Arc/lil/nlll"I': ;."' /111/(/11 SII/d't'.\" fli Ihl" GS/): 19l'13-85. H~TVard
Uni ver~it y. I 9H6. and P El.SenllUln. Fill d 0" T IIOf( S. Arch itcctuml A,~OCla
rion.19S5.
15 Sec the interview wilh DClTiciu mentioned :Ibovc.
16 I K:lIll. "1"11,' Cri(iqllt' of JiI,lg1'lIWIII. tr.tn~ J Meredith. Oxford t..:nlvCNII)
PI1:~s. 19S6. P 67.
 GEOFF BENNINGTON
Deconstruction is not what you think
I. DCCOn~lruClion i~ 110\ wlwt y{IU think.
11
1.3. DcconQrul'tillll j, nOl whm you thi nk . If what you think i~ a
C011lem. present 10 Illlnd. 111 'the mind ... prc'\Cl1ce-room' (Locke). Bul
lh:n you thin!.. might :llready be Dccomlfw':lion .
2. Dccon ... lfuction l' not (what you 1hink if YOu think il j"'l c,sclllia1!y
10 do wi1h language.
2.1 . Nothing more C0l111110n than 10 hear Deco""ruc\ion dc...cribcd:l\
dcpcndmg on 'an cl(tcn'iion of the 1in!;ui~lic par.tdigm', 'T here j"
nothmg Dublde the \e'( \ ' (lxrrida): pro\'c;, iI, obviously.
1 .1. 1. Everybody 31"0 know~ thi" is nOI quite righl. 'Text' .:. 110\ quite
an ~x lc n !>ion of II fal1llliarCollccpl. but a di'placcmenl or rein!>Criplion
ofi1. Text III gcner.l.ll\ any :-.y~h=m of mark ... trace ... refe rf:ll <; (don '\ ':ly
reference. have a lillie more ..,en-.e tlmn thai). Perception is a tex l.
2.2. Think of recogni tion Two requirements: th:lIthe object ofrecog-
flItion be in pnnciple repeatable a~ the ..arne object in a different
context; that in the given context it be Identifiable as differenl frollllhc
other element.., of Ihal cOlllcXI. (If it hclp~. Ihllll.. of the firsl a~ a
lemporal requirement. the '>Ccond as sp:uial: but sp..1ce and lime do not
determine the text. Ihey are milde 1)O~~ib l e by il.l
2.2.1. Pre~en ee would be thaI there be 110 difference. nor referral. no
lrace. Which is impo~ .. ible. So prc ..ence would 1101 be were there no
difference. or refcrr:il, ortflU.:e. Prc ...ence is m:lde possible by Ihe lrace.
which Illal..e~ pure prc"l'ncc ll11po..siblc: each p re~c11l 1ll0lllCnl I~
eS'>Cllllally con,tltUlcd by it, retention of a trace of a pastl11omenl. This
i .. JlI't a~ true of the '!iN' pre<.C11I m011lelll ;10;; of any other. which
thereby ha .. a rehllion with a piht thalnc\,cr was pre~ent: ab"olUle pa"l.
2.3. . Referral' i~ nOI reference in the Iingui~lic sense. Decon ..lruction
doc .. not have a place for languagl' over hl!rc. and a world over there
10 \\hlch it refer ... Elel1lenl\ in the language refer to onc another for
Iheir identity. and refer 10 non -l ingui ~li c mar\..s wlllch refer in turn for
Iheir identllY and difference. There i.. no eSloCllIial difference between
language and the world. Ihe one as subJcct. Ihe olher as objecl. There
are Ir.lce ...
2.3.1. Thin\.. of IA"'Ct)i1strucllon it!> extending the world paradigm if
)"ou II\..e. lt make!> nodlfterence. sO long as you don '1 thin\.. of the world
\Ct up out there over agalll"t.
2.-1 . Of co ur~c text doc .. not mean di-.courM!. Perception i~ nOI a
di!>Cour ..e, II i~ a lexl . Di'-Cour-.c i" a texi . tBul nobody thinks you can
"l'par:lle Decon~truction from language. Nor from the world. Texl i'\
not iL mediatIOn between language and world. bUlthe milieu in which
any \uch di~tinction mighl be drawn.)
). OcCOIl ..lruction b not a Iheory or:l project. It doc.~ not prescribe n
prilClice more or les!> faithful to iI, nor project an image of a de .. irable
sLate t{) be brought about.
3.1. Dccon .. truction i.. necessary.
I. I
4. Painting. NO! jusl thul pamtlng h probably unthir,kable withoul
languilge. Certainly lIot thaI painling i~ 'like a langungc . But there' ..
no trouble th1llking aboul painting II" difference and Irilee. The 'event
of pre ..el1cc (Lyotard) which a painting pre!\Cnt~ would be
unprescntable otherwl,e.
-I.!. A p:tinling i~ a tex i. of courl>e. The problem is that of
wh:1\ ..ort of lext. l)econ\lructiOI1 i~ not at all 10 do wilh I
painting like a 'wrillen' lext. 'reading' il elc. (Un Ie .... 'reading'
di ~placed II1lhe l>al1le way as lex!.)
-1 .1.1. Readmg i\ nOl II .. imple proce".. of deciphering. I
ing. for Dccon .. truction. 11 IS nellhcr entirely respt..'Ctful nor ",mp
\'iolenl. 'Sccure production of in..ccurity (Derrida ). Reading I ~
perfonned by a subject set agam,t lhe tex t tl~ Object: reading
imbricated in the texi II rc:lds. Leave a trace In the text if you can.
4.2. Write about Ihe way painting has been wTl lIen about
"lIppo~d I 1,.e,I",,'
on the allemptl> to .. pca\.. itl> t . one thing to do.
4.3. BlIt be very careful before writing on p:!intillg.
4.3.1. Writing Oil paiming i~ easy if you think wri ting and 1''''"''
don '1111 ix. So long a, painting's 1I0t .... ril ing and writing' s 110t
e:t~y enough to \..eep writing (or p.ainllng). But iI' s ju~t a~
I hat wri Iing and p:ti III ing arc .. i rnpl y the same sorl of Ih iIIg "" , ''''',,:
1)fI1'i~)
4.3.2. But In lhe referrals of the lext. the security of t
way and wilh itlhe "ecurtly ofthc :.
nOI great dr,una to cro.. , a frontier so long as you know where it I
4 .3 ..1. Writ ing C:.IIl no doubt do th 11IgS painting can 'I, and vicc ,o~
Bul dOll'l make too much of iterability and idealilY on Ule ~ide
wriung ... ingularity i_nd materiality on the side of painling.
there arc differencc~ bt:twcen a literary text and a painting :
11I11er I~ abo c....ell! mIl y rcproduci ble. The age of mcchan ical
tion (Benjamlll) doc, nOI befall painting like a catastrophe:
a lway~ already bemg 10~1.
I... 1
5. Colour. Where I ~ the colour in [)ccon"trucllon"!
5. 1. Colour b a quc'lion of differential values, and therefore
Th i.. i~ nOI a point about colour \'ocabu lary. bUI about "'"
struclion i~ not lingui<'lIc re laliv ism. Colour is. III Dccon~tructiOlL
I... I
6. . DccOIl .. truclioni,' paintIng' could not be the re'\ult .
' applicatlon' of Dcrnda ' .. Iheory (sce 3.).
6. 1. Deconstruction III painting has alway~ already begun .
6.2. Of course painting can bt: . innucnccd' by Derrida's writing.
docs not ipso /0("(0 ma\..e it . Dccon~tructive.
6.2. 1. It i\ quite pos~ible Ihat Ihe most 'Decon~lructive' ".,",.
shou ld (have) happcn{ed) ill ignorance of Dcrrida 's work ,
knowledge of Dcrrida 's work mighl help U~ 10 talk aboul
llnd olher!> .
I... I
7. A painting could try 10 be .. 'reading' oflt::xts by Derrida. Ads
Leave IIlnK'C in Ihe teXI if you can.

GEOFF BENNINGTON
Deconstruction and Postmodemism
Ileconstruclion just might. I supflose. become the Illimc for;'1n artistic "movement', It is re:'ISlmuble enough to suppose
Ihal behind Ihe organisation of the s.vmposiulll, for examp le. lies ~I suspicion Ihal Ihe time for such a naming and
rerognilion has come, or alleast a desire that the lime lUIS come. We have by now.1 sense of 'd econstruction' at work nol
only in philosophy and literary st udies, but also in architecture :md .architectural criticism , so why not in painting too'!
Bynammg arti~t~ and critics who wou ld claim or accept the lahel 'dc-
con~lruc(ion. Olnd proceeding to pin thatlabc l on others in ... pili.' of their
prole~tS; by seeking OUI an tecedents' lhought e ither 10 forc .. tmdow
(~nd con~qlJcntJy deny the apparent novel ty 01) thi' decon~lruclion
nf, morc subtly, a... in Borges' essay on Kafkll, anTecedenls recogni ~cd
as having been created as pfecursor~ Ihrough Ihis process or nanting
deconMruclion; by qU:.lrreliing. over dates al which the movelHl:nl
might be ~aid to have )'(Urled, over ' the lir~t decon~lructivc pai nting'
300 50 on, we can gel going quile h,lppily gcncf<l ting di"cour~c and
argument, ~taging (or ~t:.lgc-Illanaging) what are called 'deb:.lte,',
eventually publi"hin~ manifcslOC~, organising exhibllions, writing
catalogues, engaging in polemic, and generally enjoying ourse lv e~
iftha,'s what we enjoy,
These aClivilic~, which are I inwgine in ~OlT1e way nece~~ary 10 thl'
institutions of art, thrive nn confu.')ion" of variou~ ioOns, if Ihe recent
and I ~upPOM! stil! current example of the so-called 'deb,ne' around
'poslmodeml~rn', 'postmodcmity' and 'the po~ t modem' is anYlhing
10 go by, Clearly ~olT1ething i~ going on here, but there is a perh,rps
unusual dcgree of disagreemen t a~ 10 what it i\, and even a~ to whether
It i~ 'really' going on, or ~omch(lw 'mallut'<lctured' by those who find
U~ir nth an tag!! in ~<l yi ng thaI it is, Perha p~ the disagreement is all that
i~oing on, And if di~agrcement (or di~~ensuio) be w~ell a~ a sign of
thepostmooern, then it would indeed ~celT1 rC:.l,onable not ~o much to
look for a 'true st:lte of aff<lirs' hdli"d thai disagreement as to take the
dlsagn.'emcnt a~ th.: true st:lte of affairs, In thi~ ...ense, di~agreement
about the mc:ming or e~islence of lhe po~ tm odem would il.w:!fbc the::
po~trnodcm, and we would h:lVC enforced at lea~t the conscn~u, that
there is a di:.scnsus, And if a corollary of the conception of the
poslmodem:ls disagrecmcnt i~ thai the disagreement (which becomcs
uiliffemul in Lyotard'~ seme) cannot be dominated and re,oived by
OIle()fthe panic~ to the d i~agrecmcnt (and Dcrrida, who has in general
bl'en extremely pnrdenl about the tcnn, hi.l~ Iinked p0~ tm odernism to
the end of u project of domini.ll ion), then il fo llows Ihat it wou ld be
naIVe 10 I1l1ernpt all 'overview' of the ~(}-callcd 'debate', (A ~u[J[J l c
menlary complicallon would arise from the suspicion that the major
item~ in the 'debatc' art' nevertheless attempb al uverviews,) The
~ituation is complicated further ~ t i ll by <l rccenl tendency, in my own
field at I ~a~t, to connate po~ trn odcmism with so-(:alled p0:.t-structu-
ralism and even deconSinlction, Some. people try to put some order
mto this by ~aying th at deconstruction lmd posl-~tructuralism are
merely part of a more pervasive postmooemism tand Stephen Me lville
has suggested that one of the effect~ of Ihe translal ion of The 'I'mlll III
P/Jllllill,~ is that it will bring deCOnSinlClion more obviously into the
fitld of the visua l artS, thus connccting with poslmodemism), but the
ener.tl aim of such cont1ation is usually to lump a lot of things
together tile bcW:r to celebrate or get rid of them wi thout in either (.:il.',C
having to think vcry harl!.
Rather piously, pcrhap~, I'd like to hope that ioOnle of the. more
fren etic fea ture'> of the f>O'tmodern debale might be. avoided in the
case of decorNruclion, There are a number of reason, why thi" hope
1I1i ghl1101 be ao,olulely piou", For example, unh~e 'deconstruction',
Ihl! very rcrm 'postmodernism' implies a fair ly ,imple linear or at be~t
dialectica l conception uf hislory which is difficult to avoid. A caution-
ary talc of some of Ihe difficulties Ihis Cill1 lead 10 i~ provided by
Charlc, Jcnck~' pamphlet. What is PoslModl',."WI// In Ihe course of
his remarks, lenck, ),ugges ts that the reaction of committed Modern
i~t ~ to post-moderni~rn (a reaction he call~ 'The Prote~ta11l lnquhi
lion') i~ as 'par<lnOic, reaclionary and repres~jve as their Be.lUx-At1s
per~eculOrs were before Ihem' (I' 14), On the one hand, Jenck" rather
welcomes thi,,: ' I do !xl ievc Ihat these characterisations h3ve not done
wh3t Ihey were ~uppo),ed to du - slem the tide of Po~t-M()derni~m
bIll rather have helped to blow it up into a Illedi.t event' (ihid), andBoes
on: ' My nigh tmare i~ thai ~udden Iy the rcactionarit:s wi II become nice
and civi l' (Before !1lorali,tically condemning J enck~ for what seems
to be a complacenl welcoming of 'media hype', we might pau~ 10
wonder wh~lt sort of 'cven t' loday ~ includIng todilY'~ 'event' - (and
indeed what ~or t of event in gent'ral) would 1101 be in some sense a
'media even t', and 10 wonder ,1 1,0 if thl~ might in addition be a
componenl of a 'p()~tmodern condilion', and an object of decon-
~Iructive negotiation), In any case, hi.lving apparently welcomed Ihi~
violence of reaction and the cunsequent 'media event', Jenck~ goes on
to deplore it too, l>cc<luSC it h:.l~ hidden wlHll he calls 'the root cause of
Ihc movcmenl',
Jcnck~ then proceeds to offer the reader the 'true ~tory' of the
movemenl called po,tmodertllSIll, De~pile the c1arl11~ made on the
pamphlet':. cover-note about' typical PostModem devices of exposi
lion' (irony, p:.lrody and so on), thi~ story is In fac t academic and
clas~ic;r l enough, may~ ju~t becau~e iI" a ~tory. Jencks in facl defines
Posl Mod emi~Jl1 in the mOSI tradition:.lll), dialectic31 way imaginable,
as 'the continu3lion of Moderni,m and it:. transcendence' (p 7):
canccllaTion and preservation in a nice Hegelian AI/flu'lml//?, In view
of tim, il pcrhap~ comes a... no ~urprisc to find Jen(.:ks at the end of his
text endor,ing and approprial ing Peter Fullcr'" call for the equivalent
of a new spirillla lity based on an "imaginatIve, yet secular, response
to nature herself', ~ecking "'a shilrcd ~ymbo l ic order of the kind lha\
a religion provides"'. but without Ihe religion' (p 4RJ, Jcncks explicitly
setS th is .rgainst the 'relati vism' he :.ugge~t .. mu~t inevitably result
from Lyotard's argument~ : but the re~ult i~ that the 'dbagrccmenl' 1
wa,> suggesting might beCOIl'>tilulivc of the po~tmodcm i~ here rapidly
defused an t ab~orbcd into the piou~ projection of a hOri,lOn of
consensus and even redemption, beyond current row" and media
even ts, Nothing cou ld be less postmodem Ihan this type. ofschcma of
argument, and nothing cou ld more inv ile dccon~truction than the
unqueslioned value of 'nalure herself'. which i~ of a picce wilh the
simple view of hislory I havc de~cribed: let me quote from Tilt, TI'I/Ih
ill Paimill.': to i llu ~ trat e th i~ dillicuJty:
DECOI\STKUCTION
If one were 10 con'>ider Ihe pliY,I'i:.lrl'J.llIlI: OPIXl,>ilion 10 he irre-
ducible. if one "cre to :lccredit <;0 haMily ih transl:ltion all
nllfllrl'/arr or lIumr('/It'I'II/1UIIU'. olle would ea,>ily comillil ()nc-
~clf 10 thinking Ihat arl . lX!ing no longer n:Lture. i~ hi,tory. The
oppolli1ion nalurctllilltol)' .... ou ld be the analogic;LI relay of""ys/s,"
/I'J./me. OJlCCiH1lhu~ al ready ~;ly: a .. fnrhi'>lory. we ~hall have to
deal \~ illl th ... contradiction or the Oll('iliat ion betwccn two
apparent ly incompatible motif... The) both (om<.' under one and
1he ,>ail1C log iea I (orilla Ii ty: name! y. thUI if thl' ph iIosoph Yof :.HI
alwaYll hal> the greulest di lTicul ty in domlllating the history of :lrI.
a cenalll concept of Ihe hLQoricl1y of an. Ihis i,'>. paradoxical ly.
hcC:IU'>C itlooeusily think'> ofarl:l<' hi~ t oric<ll. Wh:L1 1a III pUlling
for .... ard here obviou,>ly :I'lltllnes the tr:lIl... fom lat ion of the can
('cpt of h"tor),. from onc !>tatement 10 the olher.
The probkm,> thi' wou ld rai,e for Jencks' concept10n ,>how through
mo't clearly in hi" ;lIIempll(l re-de,cribe (I' Late-Modern ' (e . . aggcr-
al1ng properly Moderni~1 tcndenci..:' wh:Lt other writer~ would ca ll
'lxhI-modern' (which Jend, '\ want .. to de~ rilx in the dialectical W:L)'
I have menlioned). I-l i~ main object of di"agr..:cment here i.s Jcan-
Fmn\oi~ Lyotard. whom he ;lppcar,> to be quite ~imply una hie to read:
I would ~ugge,>t thallhi, illi te racy i'>quitc con~ish.mtly programmed 0)
Jench' own !>imph: hi... toricismg and d1alectical arg.ument. Jencb b
qUlle unable to make an)' coherent ~ensc of the relmionslllp between
Ihc three follow ing propo!.i1ions in Lyolard:
I. Thai the 'grand narrat1Ve,>' or legitimatIOn arc in decline. leading
ttl a "tuation of gencrali,>ed 'ddegLlim<ltion.
2. Thai a '!iCIlSll1vil)' 10 d1ffe rence~' and;l 'WllT on IOtalily' might be
called for III this 'ltu:ltion,
3. That. iT/ (j n'rwiIIl'j'T/Sf', the po\tlllodern Illig ht be ~aid to I'l'et'I'i/t'
Ihe modern (ju"t ;IS I would wanl 10 !.ay Ihat ill (J eN/llIII Jl'I/W'
dt.'Con,\lructlOn is prior to con~!nlc t ion).
Ido nOi proPO\C todwell (In Jenck!. failure todbtinguish in Lyotard
belween a descnptlon of a ",ate of affair;. (I' ' .. tackening (of which the
work of Charles Jenck" might be w[..en as <In ex;unple - Lyolard link ...
kncb' notion of the po... lrnodern to an eclectIcism alluned to the
demand~ of c;lpital)' and a prescription as 10 the appropriate (affirma-
tive) W:ly 10 Ihink ahOUIthal si tuation. The problem" Ihat ad"e from Ihc
third propo'lILon I ha~e i<,ol(1ted arc more diffic ult and thereby morc
II1tere~ting. :lI1d closerlO \\ h:!t we mighl underMand bydecon~truc l ion.
Jellc[.. <, tinds the id..:a of Ihe pO~111lodcm somehow coming' before' the
modem 'ama/Ln~' and Cr.lzy' (although origina!' ). and ... uggc!.ts thaI
it lead, Lyotard to 'confu\C' po~ t tlloc.lerm"1l1 with 'the laic'" av:ull-
g:trdi~m': he goc~ on 10 admit Ihal 'it'~ ernbarr;l\~ing thm PO~I
Modemi!>l1l ... firs t philo,ophcr llhoulp be so fundamen l:llly wrong',
and 10 sugge~1 rather conde~cending l y thill because Lyo[;lrd is a phl-
lo..opher (which indeed he i~) and )'ociologbl of [..nowledgc (wh ich he
cert:lLnly illn't), he b simpl), not ~umc ic tll ly :l11Uned 10 cul tural
d1lTerenee" to ma[..c sense of what i'> going on.
Lyolard i~, happily, philo..opher enough to be ~usplciou ... of thc!.Ort
of \ 1eW Ih,l1 would reduce what he i~ Irying to Ihin\( (provisionally and,
11hin[.. he would agree. imprudent ly) under Ihe nU1l1C of tile 'IXl'\tmoo-
ern' to Ihe '>L mple lenns of much of the debate. If Lyotard i~ right to
in~i'l on the tcmpor<ll compleXIties of what he calls Ihe event of
prc~entatlun or cven uf pre,cncc. whic h c:m be ~id to make the po .. t-
come fiN,' then we can be quite certai n that :"tandard ;,aciologising
:md hi~tori('i'>LIlg ilecounb of what he is doing must be red uctivc at the
'vcr)' least. Our problem is and will be that what I would call joumalilllll
(with no pcjor..ulvc intent), III its conlllilut ive preoccupation to identify
new... 11011'. will almost necessarily reinforce th,1I ...ort uf red uclion,
The same 'Ort of point can be made of Derrida and dcconlliruclion.
Thc tenn (teconstruclion does not carry the immcdimely unfonunate
penodi~ing connotal1on!> of the tenn 'postmoderni~m. :Ilthough il is
in ,>ome way'> an unfortuna tc and m i .~ lead i ng label (as Dcrrida hUl1\C lf
h;L\ often said) for the wor\( he and Ihose L1I~pired by him have done.
Even accepting the I:lbe l 'dcco n ~truc l ion', it would, forexatnple, be
qUIte inaccurale to suppose Ihat Ihis simply names ,omcth ing !i[..e "
86
method or a technique or a theory or evcn a philollOph)' itl\ented
Dcrrida in I)ari, at ,ome tdeally d;Ll able moment III the 1960.....
!Ire imponan, :IL1d ~pcc i Jiab!e rca,ons wh)' it i, wrong to thin[..
deCOll!.lruction a,> l>omething Dcrrida or anyone el,e doe .. or
10 ;I texl or an argument or even:1p:uLlIing. Let me quote brielly
Dcrrida'~ ~hon text. 'LC!ler to a Japanc,..: Friend'. which <11,,,,",,,,,-
wilh U view to i l~ trJ.n~lation into Jap.mellC. Ihe <,laIU" of the Icmr
'decon,>lruction' :
In spi tc of appe;lnl.tlcc'. deC01l\tructil1l1 i~ neither an IIIwlysj:.' nor
a ('I"iliqllt', .. It i~ 110t .11l ,m:llpi,>, in parl 1cular becau!iC Ihc dt . .-
mantling of a 'truCIUrc i~ nOI a regre~'lon loward,> thel'iml,l,
t'/f'l1ll'/U, toward, an illdl'(OlllpO.llIh!I' fir/gill . .. No more i~ LI a
nil ique, whelhcr III :1 general or:l K;llliian <;en-.e. , , 1"11 \ay the
~al1lC tIling for lI1elhod. Dccon~trucllon i~ nOI <I me thod and
can nut he trJn,!'onned into ,I method.
Our hislorici,1 and ,ubjeclivi'l orohJ(''Cl ivi'>t impul...cll are <;0 i 'C"",
Ihat it i\ (hfficuh 10 think thi", bu t we have to try to under!>tand
dccon...lrucllon IS neIther ,>omething done:1I a given date by'"",,,,,
and willful or even heroic subJccl 10 a more or leo;, rcsi ..tant
complicit object. nor qu Ite ,\omething Lh:u that !>ubjeci i, 'hown 10
to il\Clf anyw:I), whether we like it or no\. Here'" Derrida ag.ain,,, II.
,>atTIe te:.:!:
11 '" not enough to ..ay that decotl'truction c<lnnot be reduced to
"ome methodological imtrumcmality. to a llet of ru le" and
transpo,able procedure" [t i, not enough to ~ay Ihal each "event"
of decon"trucl10n rem:lLt1!> ~inglllar, or in :Lny ca-.e a!> close b
pollsible 10 somelhmg ]j[..e an idiom or a llignature. We ,hould
:tI~o make clear thai deconslruction i, 1101 cven an (11'1 or an
ol'(,l'a/iol1 . Dccomlruction t:l[..C\ place. 1t i~ an event wluch
tloe' not " ail on Ihe deliber;lt ioll, con\Ciou'ne~,> or organi~alion
of the subject. nOT even ofmOtlenJi ly.lr 39 1(5) 1.
In I Ill' Til/tit ill Pllilllill~, for e:o;ample, Dcrrida doc:" nOI Illore or It'll
perver<iely decOlNrucl K:ltll'!i Crilique of JIIII.~I'mell/, but nor
Kant's Critiqut' Of.llldgl'III1'IIf deCOllslnlct itself. The point ;"" <'"
locate in K ant'~ lext clements which Ihe OVl'Tall argUlllent ha~
cul t)' in cOJ1laining satisfactorily and which have unscl1linl,! effect~ on
that :lrgUlllcnt in il'> entirety: what Kant call .. Ihe fJ"rt'I):ml ,"nn.'
adequately be de<.Cribed a~ ei ther in.. ide or oubide the wor[..
although witholLllJ(trf'rga the work of :trt would have no in~ide and
out,ide, (MIIIU/i~' /llIITOIUJi\, this queslioning of the framc III the lIlO!.!
general sense oflhe word i~ also what intcrCllt, Lyotard III the woB
of D:lnie l Buren. which i" why Buren', 'in'>tallat lon<.' L
locate a!> ei tJler inside or OUl~idc the in"lilution of ;lrt: and one c:tn ~
sure th:1I if we were 10 Ir)' 10 fr:ll11c Buren by dcciding to call him.
deL"ol\~truc t LOni~ I , he would respond by Slicking hi'> ... Inpcd pieces 01
p:lper all over Ihat fr..lJlle too,)
If decomtruclLOll is nOI, sirictly spe:1\( ing. :I tht..'Ory (given ... hat
Dc rrida call, the' '> ing u lari ty' of it~ cvent ~: I !>u pJXhe this i, what gl\t'~
<;ome obscure motivation to Merquior'\ rather crallll charactcmal101l
of 11 as a 'dL,>mal unscience'). then it cannOl be wken 10 prc.;crtbea
pwclice. It i~ hard 10 imagine:l painter "C"ouring Tile '1'1"11111 ill Plljl1T1n~
for instruclion!>:!!> 10 how to proceed. The t..-. occntrJ.l es~ay'>. on Adami
:lI1d Titu,-Camlel. which can indeed be laken to exprc~~ ,ome ;!dnll'
ration for the work disc:u~l>Cd. hardly amount to a mamfe'toof whalan
llhould be up 10 now. But if dccomlructioTl Ita, effect!> on cel1am
phi losophical de termina tions of an. and if an hal> alway~ been morc Of
less complicil wilh ill> ph ilosophical dctermin;lI ion. never separable
fro m bu'\y dLscuf'LVC activitic~ of all SOrlS. Ihen of course dccon
'>truclion mig ht ~pve risc 10 anbtic evetll~ of various lypcS, 10 be
invented. BUI inllOfur:l'" dcco n ~ truct i o n does nOI ~impl y question tho!
philollophical detcmlination of the work of :lft from wilhm. sa}.
acs thetics, bUI que~ l iol1l> the coherence Of lhc sY~ l cma l ic philosoph1cal
organisation in which Ihe domai n of the ' aesthetic' i ... locatcd. theliJust
as Demda is no longer strictly speaking writi ng phi l o~ophy. so
deconstructive art would no longer strictly speaking be (trt. and ju,t Ill>
deconstruclive literary criticism i.. no longer Slftcll), speaking litcr.uy

critici~m. so deconstructive an CTilICI Sm would no longer ~tric l1y
-;peaking be arl cri ticism. even if its object was work which appears to
fall happily within the traditional determination of art. Thc.-.c conse-
quences follow quite rigorously from the argument I quoted above
fmm The 1'1"11111 ill Painrillg. where they are linked to the form of the
question 'Wh:lt is ArtT Whence the comments in the cssay on Adami
on the 'silliness' of di~course on pn inting in sofar as it is compe lled by
adrive to philosophical or poetical' mastery ', and the effort made in
thattcxtto respond to Adami's work differently. answering the lrail
of Adami's line with a proliferation of words beginning in II', produc-
ing 3 text which escapes our famil iar sense of assessment. academic
\'alueand translation. The claim would be that something is happening
in Adami's work: the academic rcsponse to that CVCIll is to bind it light
inthe stricturc~ of commen tary and explicm ion and hiSlOricallocation
(including the stricture~ of the label 'deconstruction '). Derrida tries TO
tctsomething happen in hi~ teXT which is cenainly not purely inde-
pendent of Adami's event. but which bears a relat ionship to that event
... hich i'i not ~imply servile and therefore masterful. nOI trying to
\ublaTe the sensuousness of paint into the truth of the concept. Despite
appearances, this is not essentially different from what Lyotard is
3Ufmpting to do when he writes about attempting to respect or bear
witness to the event of presence given in painting, the 'that it happens'
of thee vent which is what he is attempting 10 write in the 'post-' of lhe
pGlilmooern: such an event is 'priOr' (and in this sense perhaps art is
indeed 'u thmg of the paM') to the Temporal organisation of history as
anamllive which Jencks ha~ to presuppose.
According to the genera lised sense of 'tex!' with which Derrida
works. this Iype of approach also blurs Ihe fmllle between work and
commentary. Adami reads Dcrrida as much as Dcrrida reads Adami-
na established criteria arc going to decide which or these two ' textS'
tleservc~ priority in any "en~c. And Titus-Cannel's work il> alrcody as
'philOliophical ' a~ Derrida 'sdiscussion. There is no claim here thaI this
,i\uation is radically new or unprecendented: the most traditional
Notcs
I Charlt'S Jencks. IVlulI i.l Pfw-M udal/ism?, Aeadern y Ed ilion~. London, 51
/ttmm's Pres~, !\ew Yor\.:. 1986. page references arc gIVen in Ihe tell\.
~ hcques Derrida, 1.(/ I'fmf I'll (leilllllfl' , Flammarion, Paris, 11)78, p25: 1r;!Il~
l1i~ TrUlh III Paill/ili/!, Un Iversi tYof Chicago Press, 1988, p21 ,
3 lean-Fra~oi~ Lyotard. 'I{~ponse ~ la question: qu'cst.ce que Ie piHtmod
tfIle~' , in Le f/OSlmOl/rmr 1'.11}liqllc 1111.1" til/alliS. Galilee. Pari~, 1986. pp 13-
3-1 !p 22): tr'Jns in TIll' Poslmlldl'l"I! CIIII/lilioll. Manchester Universit y Pre~~.
1934, pp 71 82 (p 76).
~ I hl\'ellrgu~'<l for lhlS ullderstalldlflg oflhe po~l. which is aho unplied by
V~Ulil0 ~1M~1I. CIoMMIIIH 1.1;170. 1970. !leI/vue
GEOFF BENNlNGTON
phi IO~(Jphical views of art as mimesis. and its most academic practice.
have always necessarily left unea'iily open a sense of an as a dangerous
even t in which something happens to disturb the imegrity of 'nature
herself (and not just respond \0 her), somewhere resisting the grasp of
concept and commcm:u)" and through the insurriciency of attempted
explanations of this evelll in tenns of talent. inspiration or genius
something of th is deconstrucTive edge or 'point', as Derridu says, has
always been at work. To this extent. art has always already been in
excess of its concepts. already deconstructive, and deconstruction the
motor or movement or elernem of aTl, whether in the rcl:llively and
historically variably unstable domain of painting or in the equally
unstable domain of criticism, just as much as in philosophy. If there
were ever to be a deconstructive movement in an. it would be a
movemelll already dissolving its detcmlination and resisting thc
rest ituti on of its events to anything so stable as a namcable movemenT:
Derrida again:' Of GrammGlOlogy places in question the uniTY of t.he
'word' and all the privilege~ with which it is in genera! credited,
especially in its /lomillal fonn' (p 392 [6-7]) - the messy and tense area
left between determination and indeterm inacy, where odd things
happen. is where deconstruction is at work.
Nothing whatsoever guaralllee:. that a p<tinting which explicitly
translated or udapted or thcmat iscd Derridean ideas or operators
would be in the l ea~ t succcs~ful in lcll ing something happen. and that
lack of guarantee (which also explains why deconstruction could
never prevent Ihe fo rmation of a historically identifiable' movement'
or school inVOking it in manifestoes and maybe spawning iTS own
academicism). which is not an unfortunate insuffkicncy but The
rigorous conscquence of an irreducible rJdical chancc. is where ilS
interest lics. 'Deconstruction' might just. [ suppose. by an innection
of tha! <.:hance. becomc the name for an anistic movement: but it is in
any case a provi~ional and necessarily improper name for the move-
ment one of whose traditional names has been an'.
Ocrricla's La Cal"ll.' PO.Hale. Aubler-Flamrnarion. Paris, 1980 [trans Univer-
sity of Chicago Pre.~s, 1988J, in 'Postall'olitics and the InSlilution of lhe
N.llion'. forthcoming in Homi K Bhadda, edNmirw (wd Narration. Melhuen,
London. 1989.
5 'Lenrc a UII ami j:lpollab', in P)yr/u; ImI?IJ//ml.f dl' rOll/re, Gali16:-, Pari~.
1987. pp 387-393 (p 390): cmlls in Wood and Bernasconi, eds, Dcrrida mid
DljferrUle!', Parousi,1 Press. Warwick, (1)85, pp I-g [pp 4-5 J: page references
wi 11 be g ivcn in Ihe lex I (I have modified the tra ns la tion a Iittle here anclthere).
\
87
 DAVID LODGE
Deconstruction: A Review of the Tate Gallery Symposium

n.v fllr I he bl'st and 1I10si cOJIII>rchcnsive r eview or I he T~l l c G~lllcry Sym posium . t his uri iet e.tirst publ ish cd in I he Revic" .
sect ion or the Guardian. Frid:'IY. April8l h. 1988, is included here bee.lUsc or both th e context it gil'cs to the event itself,
and Ih e cl ear and general overview or th e subject as a whole. Ucginning wilh th e Ocrride'lIl notion or Deconstruction in
philosophy amlliterCllure. if goes all to question th e wider :'IPlllication of'such ideas in the lie Ids 01' art and archil l'Cture.

The onl} .... ay you I:oukl gel inlo [he iluJiltJriulll for Ihe Tale Gallery', Peter Ei~nl1lall indeed complained Iha! it would be the tir~t lime in
oneda) ,ymplhium on O\..'Con ... lmclion In Art .md ArchileclUrc W:I' hi\tory thai :1Il exhibition Wil' being conullent('(\ on before II had
through a ... wing door clearly mar~cd .... IIh the 1t1lcrnalIOnai . No Entry' hapllCned. What he W:l\ rcgi'\lering wa!o the crut'i,,1 placc of lilt
\}'mbol. Whelher IhlS wa'\ planned or :Iccidenlal. it -.cemed approprime illlcrmilional conference a\:ln mqilutlon in modem intellectual hft
Ih!!, .... c ~holJld be tran"re",,ing the convelll ional meaning of Ihis New trend~ now "tan nOl from e'lhibition~ or public:llion, but from
f;mlili;lr ~Ign all d!!y long (and it wa~ a long. day). as we ,hufllcd conference~. 11 W;I';;. ;\fler nil. [he 1966 conference :It Johll Il opkin)
b:lckw:lrd .. and forw!!rd!<o octlH!Cn the !!udiloriuln :md the lobbic!.: for Unl\'er~ity. Ba ltimore. ' The L:lI1guage~ of Crit icism ;tnd Ihe SCLences
une u1 lhe axiom" of Dccun"truction i.. that the b0nd between lhe of M;Jn .' attended by Dernd:l and other Parisian savanh, Ih;LI fir,1 PUt
. \lgmllcr and the .. ignilied i\ nOl;l\ ,,[able a\ i\genemHy ~UPPo"C(l. but the id ea~ of pos t -~ tructur:Lli,m into ci rcul;J[ion in America, where the")
on the contrary 'always already' ~ubjcl.:1 \l1 "Jippage <lnd the pl<ly of were developed. in"titulionali..ed, and ullimately rc-eXIXlrled 10 Eu-
llijfh"f//I{(' . rOI)C :md Ihc re't of the :tcadcmic world,
Some who pmhcd their ..... ay through Ihe No Entry sign were hoping
10 find out ..... hOl' Deconstruction wa\. Other" of u'\ were curiou'\ 10
dl~o\er whal it could pos,ibly have to do wnh An and ArchitcclUrc,
Dccomtruction i.,the br:linclllh.l of the Frent'h philo...ophcr beque, Not \urpri'ingly. therefore, the T:IIc Sympo'lulll {JOIn' I} );ponsoredb)
Dcrrid!!. Over Ihe 1:.\. :20 year, i[ h!!" been :In IlllpClnanl - .,OIllC would the Ac:tdemy publi~hll1g group, who arc publishmg Iwo useful ~pec l:r1
\ay the dominant clement in thaI gcncralmo\emcnt in Ihe hurn;1ll l"ues of Iheir h:lI1d!.OLIlcly IlIu~lr:tted journal" Art (.Ii f)C'Si,~11 and
\l"I~'ncc" kilO .... n a\ po"t-\lructur:llislIl, It'" nul '0 much:l method, more Architt'{'tllrul Dt'sigll in conjunction with the even!) W;J' over-\ubo
01 j'ranK' (If nllnd one that ha" lirelc".. ly qlle~llOned Ihe nalure alld ,(.Titled long before the day. c~pecially :I" Derrida him,clf W;t~ adver
IXlS,lbiIIIY of meaning [hrough {/lIuir.l'i,\" uf and commentary upon ICxt' II "cd ;t" ;1 part ic ipa n t. Cy n iea I ve Ie r:II1" of Ihe inte rniLt iOlla Icon fcrence
origm;llly philo~ophical texl'.lhen lilerary lexts. CirCUli were equally un~urpriscd when Derrid:1 didn'[ ~how up.
T'lking Iheir cut' from Dcrrida'" :h!.Crtion [hat 'language bcar~ In,tead we were "hown an edited videolapc of an rnterview wLlh him
v.ilhin il\elf Ihe nece~,ily of its own critique', Dccon~truclioniM recorded a few days carlier by Chri~lopher Norri~. Profe"or or
liler<lr} cntic,. e'pl'Ci:llly at y .. lc. have delllon~lr..IIed. 10 Iheir own Engli~h 31 Cardiff and Ihe leadin!! Brili~h expen on Dccon,lruction.
,:IIi,faction and in the teelh of tradilion:11 ,cholar<,h ip. th.11 ally le.'lt Perhap~ aft~r all 11 W;J\ fi lling thai Ihe relcntle~s erillc of the idea of
inevil.lbly undermine" it, 0 .... n cl:ll1ll to have a detenninalC l11eanlllg.. prc-.cnce' in We,tem melaphy~ic~ .. hould be a palpilble :lb-.el1ce at tht
StIlee thi' procedure opens up the le'l 10 Illultiple interprelallOn,. Ih gillhenng he had indireci ly provoked.
:lppcallO litemry critics i~ pcrh:lp' obvlOu". On thi.~ fua)" jerky bl! of video (DeconMruction, as I di\Co\cred
Bul hoI.\, could a mo\emcnt \(J dceply IIwesled III Ihe analy~i, of liI"t year in the pnx::c,,~ of rnaJ..ing .. film forChilll11el4 aboul u \unilaJ
\crb;tll;lI1guage be rdevanllo art ;md architecture? My firsl reaclion (.;(l11fercnce. ~eems to have a bad effect on Ihe focal propcnie~ ofT\'
10 Ihe ;l1l1lOUnCe11lenl of Ihe Tate Symposi Itnl wa~ incredul ity, c;ul1eras) Dcrrida. se:Lled in a glazed .sludy surrounded by lu~h green-
W!.'!!. I.\, c Ii YC !lnd learn. I "o(JtHli ,cnvered Ihat Derrida hilll\elf had ery, admilled that he had lurmelf once been doubtful about the
publl"hed a whok book aboullhe ae'thelic" or rhe yi,ual :In,. recelltly appliciliion of Decon~trucl1on 10 architeclure, bul the pcr~I'ten ce of
Iran,l:lIcd IIItO English a~ Tilt, Trufh III PWllfillg, and Ihat he h:I" taken architeclural mCI'.phors in philo),ophical and Iheorelical di~our'i(
a keen inieresl III ,lrchiteClure. 10 the poml of coll abormrng .... l1h (. found:llion'. 'supcr,lruclure', 'ordtiu'( (tIItill" etc) had encoumged
Bt'm:lrd T,chU1lli and Petcr Ei\Cnman on project.. for the Pare de I.. hun 10 inve~ti.a l e funher. Architech. he ),uggc),led. u-.ed DecOfl-
Villcllc. a kind of post-!otruclur:JIi'1 Iheme p<lrk now LImier conslruc- ' Iruet lon lochallenge the hegemony of archi lecturJ.1principle ~uch3.'
lion tor ,hou ld one !.:Iy. undcrdecomtruction'!) on a cleared Illdustrial 'funelion' and' beiLuty' I'Cm,cribing thi" challenge 11\ their work ,
'I'e 11I1he nonhern .,ubllrb~ of Pa ri~. Whal doc~ this mcan 111 prac\lce? Well, it mean .. warped plallC,
T~chumi and Ei..enman arc among -.even archilects whme work b "J..e","cd lines, exploded corner~, nying bcam~ and what Dr Johmoo,
10 ~ exhihil\!d at the MU\elllll of Modern Art In New York Ihi~ describing metaphysical ver~c, called 'heterogcneou~ ideas yoked by
"L1llllller under the heading or Decoll$lruClion or DccOI1~lructivi);1l1 violence toge[her' .
jlhere is ,ome my~lery and contro\'el'~y aboullhc CX;K'llitle), an even I TaJ..c. for instance. Frank Gehry'); Ilou.se in Los Angeles, nti~ iS3l1
aW;JIil'd wilh keen illlere~t and Ihe audible !.harpcning of kniyes in the ordinary 'uhurban shing le hou'\C. pain led pink by Ihe previou\ ()wner\.
;.rchnectural fr~lIenIllY. The T:lIc Sympo,iulll wa~ in !.ome M'n!.C a 10 wh ich Gchry added a vi~ually disoriema[ing eX ICI1,iol1 made of
prelimin:lry !.kirmish in the controyer!.y Ihi!; !ohow i, bound to prmoke. corrugated stee l. glass. cha in link. bl:lck asphal [ and cheap timber

po~t~, full of ,,~cwed a n gle~ and unexpected ga lh. and generally
~u!!gl.'~tive of a ~cho{)l playground or the ha('k of a film <,et.
h i\ unpopular" ilh GdJrY', ne ighbour!o.. onc of whom ha ... de-
o,crib...'1i it a,'a dirty thing to do in \Omeone chc'" I rom y:mJ', hut a
'l()UTCI,' of irllcrhc rrllcre!o.[ among archilech and de~ig.ner\ indeed it
I~ po~,ibly th(' tl10~ t writtcn-ahOll! hou~c 10 have been bui lt in the la~t
decarlc.
Gl.'hry him-.clf i... cheerfully untheor('II(:al about h i ~ work hi~
an~\f,er 10 Ihe quc ... ILon. \\ hat i., Ihe differencc het\\ een an and archi-
tecture. bemg tl1.11 '1 he .m:h itCCI r, " ill ing to PUllilOL let in hi., '>, rue, ure .
bill his exploilat ion of di~c{ml. di~eontinui t y and dL . . tortion, to break
down accepted an.:hitce\ural di ... tinetions octwecn form and rum::tinn.
~aut} and ugline ...... , in ... ide and out,ide, have made him willy-nLlly:L
\001'1 of figureheOid in Ihe Dccon ... tmclion i... t movement, and hi ... worl..
\\.111 femure in the MOMA e'(hi1)llion.
Peter Ei-.cmnan r, :\ morc ,clf-con'\Ciou,ly theorelLcal architect,
.... ho has ba\ed hi~ worl.. (e~pccially a ,eril!" of hou~e, known au,tcrely
II Hou'>C I. 1I0u<"c 11. 1I0u...c 111 ctc) on lingui\tie rnodel~. 111\ early
IHlfk \\.a, In\pired b) Chom,l..i:m gl!lIenttlvc gr.unmar, C'ntailmg. a
\tnes of trJn .. formallon ... of a geometrical decp-:,.tfucture wllh IOtal
indifference 10 the com forI and conveniencc of \11\ client ....
Hi, Hou'>C VI. for 1n\lanCe, ha, Llon -fum:tLonal columLl~ which
,><'pJrate people ~lt!lL1g at the dining table. and a ,lit in the !lOOf oflh('
maIler bcdrOOrl1that mat..es twin bcd, rnandawry. When climbing. the
!d3JI3 }OU mu~ttal..c care not \0 bang your head (lfl:1 ,ccond imened
-t:lLrcasc ~1Uct.. on the cl'ihng. The architccI', conversion 10 Decon-
'llruclLon ~J' marked by II()u~e X, which ha, a canTilevered tran'par-
en! glass tloor and no identifiable centre.
Ei<,;enm:tn W;I' the fiN ora panel of ... peat..er~ on ;lr<.'hileclure mlhe
morning SC\\lon of the Symp<hium, introduced by ChariI,'''' Jencl.. '. an
,o\mcrican;tr\nitlc re,ident III England, with a ',lecial. \Ollle would .... Ly
proprielonal. imerc\t in PO\l-Modemi\lll. TIli ... he define!) not merely
J\ lin arChLh!l.'turJI reactlOl1 IIg"in,t the '>Cverely funclional c ubLc
,hares ofCorhu,icr and Gropw" hut as a wider cultural phenomenon
of 'double cWlng' to oc found acro~!o. the board of cont('!1lIXlrary
Inno~alhe an.
Whether Dcron... tructlon is pari of or the ...ame .1\ l~o,t-ModcrlH"'lIl
\\3) one of the recurrent i~~u!!, of the day', debate ... Jem:I.. . . vic"
'iCl'med to he that m,ofar 3, Decon,truclioni . . t arch ileclure wa, di,tlll-
~ui\hable from P{)~t-Mo(krni'm 11 wa~ probahly not ard! Ltecturc, but
a kind of ae\thetic jol..e. I h~ inlroduclol)' di~eouro:,e wa ... entitled
!Nt:onstruclion: Ihe sound of one mind lauglung.'
Ei..cnm:m "a, n01 :ullu~ed .. I'm lluite fond of Charle~: thi ... fe l\lY
t-iell Yorker dru\.\.led inlo the nllcrophonc. 'but enough'., enough.
N~xt tnne (1ll11d we hu~e an introdLlcer who t..now~ what he'~ tall..ing
about'!' To have blood on the c;Lrpct ..0 early in Ihe proceeding' wa,
agoodsLII. The ,lUdience clapped :lI1d . .al upexpecI:lIltl). Jencl.. ... , who
\ u.~ 10 bemg the man other p'-"'Ople in the art world love to hate,
didn't ~m unduly disturbed.
Though Ei~rnllan' ~ building' ~ound fairly loony in descnption, hi . .
ilk'a~ are il11erc,ting. Hi~ vcr . . ion of Deconstruction has a psychoana-
I~'til'al slam: 11 breat.. . . down dialel.'tlca( oppo.,itiom 10 reveal whal they
b.1~e repTC\-.cd. ln the [Xl\t, vi,ual an i<;[!)' told u!> tmth, about archih..'C
tUI~ Illat alt:hitect~ preferred to (onceal. Munch' \ painting!. reveal lhe
f~3f and lo,uhml? entombed within Ihe bourgeois house. Pirone:.i
decon,lructed per"'l>cctlVe and point of view hy the in<:.oluble riddlc~
Ilfhi~ \'3ult~-d \tULlt:3O;C,. Thl.' medieval cathedrals acknowledged what
Ibey reprc~\Cd in the foml 01' decorative gargoyle.. .. We wanlto make
W repre~~tJ \truclUrJ.t: \!lid Eisenman 10 'I,;UI into the area" of
~3K"q re . . i\!:mce:
Then Bemard T'"-'humi (Swi, .. in origin, American-ba~dl, . . 0111-
brely tJre~~ed in ~had" of hillcl.. lind dark grey. ~howcd slide, of hi!,
prue-winning plan for the Parc de la Villette. It\chLeffeaturc i~ a <,eric')
Iif ro:emricloot..mg red bui lding ... vaguely rem iniscent of Ru~~ i an
forhtructivi,m in shape, sc:ll1cred over the nat .,ile al 120 metre
Dc\ VtD LODGE
interval, according 10 a IXlint grid. and calledj(/!i/'l' a Dcrridean pun
on the Engli,h ardmeclural folly and Ihe French word for mad
ne,,!)C ... ' .
Derrida him-.clfha ... givcllthc enlerpri ...e an appr<l\'in!! comnlel1l<lT)':
'lhe[ofil'l put imo operalion a gtllcral d ",IOClltion: ... they decomtruct
fiN 01 all, but not on ly, Ihe sell1antic, of arl'hitccture:
The functiom of Ihe fil/ll's ;Lrc nl!xiblc and ambLguous, ant.
T...chunll told us, originally eaml.uled a~ a children')o cenlre. IS now a
I ideo ",Iudio. Another ha ... been de'oign:ltcd al different ~l4tge' a
re'laurant. a garden I,;cnlrc :lIld mo,t recently an art gallery. Another
wa~ de'lgncd with no 'iipecific fUIll'tlOn 111 mind.
T,chunlL's approach \0 archilecture i... fiercely hl\torici~t in the
POPI>crian ~n-.e. The ~pced of modern cOlTImUniC;lllorh. he a...sureJ
U... , h:! ... m..de traditional measure redundant. II LS no u-.c try,"!, 10
di'gui...c the abolition of permanence, We live in a period of de-
rcgulation . of airline~, of the Stock Exchlntgc and the luws of ('Ia'sical
phY'Lc~. The PlIre de la Villettc L"ed l>crmul:Ltion and ~ub,titulion \0
:IliacI.. Ihc oh~olele logic or cau ...e and cffe('\. Thi" l\dlUmi claimed.
wa~ a truly I)o~t-Moderni~ t archLteclure ~ the (.'('letlLc rcvivafl~m
which claim" Ihat n.. me being merely regre",inc'. 01 desperdte allem\>!
to n.'Cullerate a dbcrcdited nOlion of meaning,
There i... a bleat.., fanaticil con ... i<,tency about T~l.'humis vi "on
which ~eel1l'" all 100 lit..cly to qc realised in the Pare de la Villelle,
Loot..mg:lt the <,lide ... I kcpt im:lgining lillie group~ 01 di!>Col1'>Olate
people w;mdcring through the Pare on a weI Sunday. , 1:lOng numbly
:It the meaning Ie"" red building' a ... the min dripped frotllthe function -
less J1ym be'lm, onto theLr umbrella,. wondering whal wa, ex.pecled
of them.
ACl'ordin~ to 7':lha lIadid. a L(ltldon-b;:lscd architect of Per ... ian
ex lmellon. who ~pot..e nex!. the new architecture affiml ... lhat 'much
about the 10th cenlury i, very enJoyable.' and for mc Iter Munnlllg
archi tectural paintLng~. drawn a!o. if vie~ed from Ihe cocl..l)it of:l low
I1YLllg Jctp1:l!Ie, expre~~ed thi~ hedoni~til.' principlc more <,ucce~srully
than T,chul11i'sfi!/il'_I,
Hadid', archileclure h:t~ hcen de'>Cribcd as .anjJ -~ nl\'ltalional . The
prilewlnningde'ign for a club on lOp of a mountain overlooking Hong
Kong i... m her own word ... , 'a honzontal 'I..y~craper. bUI the cunnmg
arrangement of it ...... lah~ and ramps mal..e, Ltlook as if it is about to ~Iide
duwnlh!! ~idc or the mount:Lin. It', a pily the client ha, su~pcnded the
project becau ..e of ~ome unspt.."Cified trouble with the Hong Kong
authoritl!!': it would he interesting 10 ,ce if It could be built.
Marl.. Wlgky, the young eo-organi'>Cr of the impending MOM A
show, MTC,scd th.lt the exhibit!o. (Ihey include Hadid's) "er(' nOI
utopi:m fanta'iiies. Willi . . might be 'tonllented', structure and materia!,
broughl to the vcry limLts oflokrablc ~trc . . ~. but Ihey could all bebuih.
Contrary to T!>Chum i. Wigley claimed Ihal architectural o...--construction
wa ... n01 a new 'i,m' or av'Lnt-glirde, but an etlon 10 uncover Ih('
problemalic'> of all archlleeture. It adminiMered 'the ,hock of the old' .
On that nOlI,' we adjourned to a buffct lunch.
Latcr in Ihe afternoon. the se"sion de~O\cd 10 art and ~culpture "":1\
rJ.lher more subdued. perhap'> becau..c the ~peakers were all "Cholar...
and critic:. rather thun practitioner\, JX!rhaps becau~e the quiche
lorruitle und chocolate gateaux they were digesting ~Iowed them
down, but mainly. Ilhint.., because thl! rctation~hip of Dccon~truclion
to Ihe visual arls is Ie ..... ~pccilic Ihall III the ca~ of drehitccture.
'nlcre arc a few uni"I". such ;15 Franci!o. Bacon, who claim 10 hale
been influenced by Dcnida, and !lOle, hl..e Valerio Adami and Gerard
Titu~-C:lTlnel. on whom he has commented ~YlllpathclL!,;"lIy and at
length. BUI ~o much modem art isconec!1led with the IIllerrogation of
it" own processes and thc l.jue~ l ioning of 0 prion a ... ~umplion~ .. bout
perceplion and the world. thai the lemllA"ConslrucllOn can be applied
loosely tonlmost anything. and precisely to almosillollting. from POM-
,.
DECONSTRucnON
Impressioni ~ 1Il onwards.
GeoffBenn inglon of Sussex Univcrsi ty. the co-translator of Dcrrida 's
Truth //I Paillll1lN (a task comparablc in difficully to serving spaghelll
with a knitting needle) ;askcd rhetorically whethe r to name a move-
ment in an ' Occon!>tntctionisl'. ,Old gave the impression that on ly
politeness restraincd him from giv ing a negat ive answer.
The fact is thai the tem} Deconstruction is in danger of being
appropriated indiscriminately by ani~ts and an critics searching for
impressive-sounding theorctical concepts with which to explain and
Justify the varied assaults of modem an upon common sense. Derrid<J
is on record as l\ayi ng that ' Decon struction is a word whose fortune ..
havc disagreeably surpri sed mc', and one SU~ pcCIS th<JI he would gel
some unpleasant shock .. brow\ing through thc special issue of An &
Oe,ligl1 on ' Occonstructivc Tend encie~ in Art ',
Argu<Jbly thc :lpplicmion of the term to archilecture i ~ ju:,t :IS
SpeCIOUS. bUI Ihe cxbtel1ce of a number of pnlctising architects wi th
some understanding of the theory behind it makes a focused dcb:tte
possible. This was perhaps onc rcason why thc aud icncc ilt the
symposium rebe lled against thc org,lIIi 'iCrs' prov ision for two discus-
sion p'LIlcls. one on pain ting, one on :Irc hitecture. to close the day. and
insisted on a singlc panel of all the ~ I>caker~. (Anothe r rea!>on was that
because Ihe programme was running laIC, they would have had 10 miss
thcir tea 10 11!1end both paneh. Of cour\C, Ihe audience alway~ objects
10 the way thing~ have been arranged towards Ihe cnd of such c vents:
enforced silence for hours on end whilc being lectured al gencrates a
kind of collectivc Te"l:ntmcnl which has to be discharged somehow.)
II became clear in Ihe la"l sc<.sion th:llthe key to the whole symposi um
was anotherevell1that, a.!> Ei!>Cnl1l;l!I pointed 0 111, had not yet happened:
Ihe MOMA exhibition. What makes thi<.show potcntially so imponam
is that il has been ' instigated ' and co-organised by Philip John!>On. the
doyen of Americ;tn architects.
When he was a young man. in 1932 to be precise. Johl1<>on eo-
organi'\Cd another exhibition al MOM A callcd 'The Internmional
Slyle.' which launched the work of CorbU'>ier and thc Bauhaus in
America, and thus in duecoursc changed the face of the modern world.
In the latc 1970~ Johnloon was lopectacularly convened to POSI-
Modernism (he is the arch itect of the nOlori ous 'Chippendalc' sky-
!>Craper for AT&T in New Yor~ ), ,Hid now it '>eems he is pUlling hi s
enormous <Juthority behind a group of architects prcviously thought of
a~ marginal :md eccentri c. Is it conceivablc Ihat J)cconstntction could
become the new International Style'!
A lady of mature ycar~ in Ihe audience obviously exprcssed the
misgivings of lll:I11Y when she observed that the arc hitecture diplayed
90
in the cOllr<,e of the day had seemed to her both ' cliti ~t and sprawl lIlg'
- what relevance dId It have to today's overcrowded world?
In reply, T<;ehuml said his architecture was expressing a revolullOD
that had already happencd (hc mcant an information revolution).
Eisenman ~id hb architecture wal\ a c ritique of architecture. Hadid
said architec ts could injec t new ideas into socicty by rewriting the
architectur.l.1 brief. In ~ hon . they retreated behind a shicld of profes
sionaliMn.
It was intercl>ling. and perhaPl\ predictable. that the allack 011
Decomtruetioni\t architccture ~ hould have had a polit ical slnnt. be-
cause tlte same th ing has been happening in the field of li terary ~tudiet
Decon structionist criticism is in retreat. especially in America, from
!>omelhing c:tlled the Ncw Hi !>lOricism. a quasi-Marxist. quasiFou
cauldian '>il ual ing of Iitcml ure in its socio-economic context-<;o mud
~o thaI J lIilli ~ Miller, one of the luminaries of the Yale School or
Decon~tructioni~ts. felt impelll.'d to rally the troops in a remarkable
prcsident i;ll addres~ to t he Modem Language Assoc iation of Amcrica
in December I986,'1'he Triumph of Theory. the Resistance 10 Read
ing. ilnd the Question of the Mllteri;ll Base' . in whic h he ;lffimlcd that
'the future of Iiterilry stud ies depends on maintaining and deve lopIng
Ihat rhclOrica l re:lding which today is called 'Occonstruction.'
In the scholarly journ:ll ~, however. there is an increasing scnloC that
Occonstruc tion is nn the wanc. Derrida's own late wor~ has become
increllsingly whiml\ical. ficlive and difric ultto methodisc (he hnmelf
always denied that it wa~ :1 method).
Morc recently. the prestige of Deconstruction has ~ uS l aincd a blollr
from which it may never recover III American academic.: Circles: Iht
discovcry (noted recently IIl the!>C columns by Desmond Christy) 11131
PlIu l de Man, the mo:.t revered lind lluthoratlllive memberof lhe Yale
School of critici ... m, whodicd. much mourned. in 1983. had.ll ... a young
mom in occupied Belgium. pUbli<;hed II great many newspllper anicles
symp:lI het ic to the Nali causc.
Imagine thaI F R Lcavh wa~ diM:overcd, shortly after his dcath.1D
havc once been a member of Mo..,ley' s blackshirts ilnd you will have
..ome idea of Ihe imp,\cI of Ih, .. revcl:tt ion on American ilcademics.
It has been a gi ft to thol\e on the intellectual left who have alwK)"'
s ll ~ pec ted Ihat Dl.'con~lru c t io n is dangerous 10 mornl health. that its
crititille or rea ~on is a pretexI for cvading social and politiCil1 rcspon
.,iblilics.
Architec ts. in ~ hof1 . llppear 10 be scrillllbling onlO the Dccon-
~truc t ioni ~ t bandwagon j u ~ t:Lt Ihe mome nt when litcrary intdlectuah
arc jum ping orr. It remain" to be seen whether Ihis will save thc eauiIC
of Deconstruction or con~ i g n the architecture to limbo.
 PARr ill

DECONSTRUCTION AND ART

JOHN GRIFFITHS
Deconstructi on Deconstructed 93

PA UL CROWT HER
Beyond Art and Philosophy
Deconstruction and the Po,,- Modern Sublime 98

ANDREW BENJAMI N
Present Remembrance: Anselm Kiefer', /crllloc/asr;c COl1rrol"ersr 103
,

VALERIO ADAMI
The Rul es of Montage 107

ZOE ZENG HELIS

The Elegance of Balance I I I
~

91
DECONSTRucnON

92
 JOHN GRIFFITHS
Deconstruction Deconstructed

OAVIDSMJ-E. S/IO"EI! OFCOUflACE. 199~.ACR YL IC. WOOOCtIAII!S A~OI'AB K1 C

John Gr irfiths t races the origins of Decon struction , lookin g at th e impa ct it has mad e on trend s in co nt empor ary
culture. He sur veys the rundam e ntal conn ecti ons between Heideggerian and Ocrrid ean philosoph ical notio ns of
human existence and examines Decon struction 's counle rparts in current art , desc ribing th e variou s ways in
which artists as di ve rse as Francis Bacon and Dan Graham hav e r elat ed to this mod ern th eo retica l idiom .
'DecollSlruction' is above all a term drawn from and conditioned that 'Ippealing way. with out the impetus and somctimes vaguely
by changes in the philosophy of Jacques Dcrrid;). (born Algeria correct but usually mistaken quotat ion of the ideological system '
(930). Since the 'early 1970s. his talk.s and publications. those of wh ic h is thei r apport'1I1 structuring principle.
bis contemporary, the nOHJissimilar philoso pher and c ul tural Thi s is all thc morc difficult when. as with Deconstruction. the
~naly st Miche l Fouc<lult (born roitiers 1926), and those of philosophic method or system itse lf h;lppcns to be ~pli t in tQ
various disciples and associates. s uch as Jean-Franr;oi s Lyotard numerous. sometimes warring. schoo ls or factions.
and Daniel Buren, have influenced practitioners of the human The main problem. however, is that orthodox Deconstruction.
!.Ciences, especially literary critics and social-psyc hiatric pun - even more than the 20th -cenlury philosophies from which it
dits. in various ways. deriv es by a kind of abreaction, is a highly refined system of
Over two decades thi s influence ha s spread from thinkers to doub le- takes. [ t is to the Cheshire ca t's ~ mile as lhe smile is to
makers; fro m critic s to poets, noveli sts, architects. p'linlers and the Chcshire cat. It suspccts not only thc dcclared aims. apparent
sculptOrs. As always h<lppen s, such cultural effects. founded narrative structurc. obvious ethos. and 1.0 on, of th e phe nomena it
miously (on various persons. times, places: on followers loyal is used 0 11, but al so whateve r anything, even its ow n ongoing
rod disloyal, with the rise or fall of politica l interests, or Deconstruction. may suggcst is thc actual substratc of thc objcct
alongside and in disparate c ultures ), have been wholly. hardly, or of analysis. To rcvcal an innermost or fundamental concrete
not at all affected by orthodox Deconstruction . blunder whi ch Decon struction . ah initio. would avoid.
Since some crit ics. many writers and most arti sts thu s influ - Deconstructi on derives from a con tc);t of ideas and idea
enced. even those hinting at or flaunting thei T adherence to the system s, including psyc hoanal ys is and Structuralism. all of
movement'. are very wide of the Derridean mark. ;llmost every which hHve grand aims. They W:l!1t to say SOmething momentou s
Interested party will find fault with any acco unt of lhe concept about big issues: about the really big issucs concealed by the
and its history with special refere nce to the visual arts. iss ues we think arc big. They arc intcrested above all in human
That, in a way. is as it should be. Works of art often have the being. lind in the uni ty of human expcriencc. Wishing to uni fy.
oddest relations to the ideas which they cite. manipulate, and they put asunder. Freudiani sm break s through the apparcnt and
even proclaim as their origin and goal. Measured by the yard- rationa l to find rea l significa nce. Nco-Marxi sm looks not for a
stick of loyalty to the su pposed originating ph ilosophic. theo- psychic but for an economic infra -structure, lind for associatcd
]ngical or political system. artwork s wh ich a number of people intere sts which condition the meaning of social cvent s and
3greeare very worthwhile are usually c heap heresies. Strange to produc ts. including an.
say. however. thcy oft e n would not exi st, or exist in preci sely I.n a great Western tradi t iOIl t he foreg oing, and s imilar 111cth od-
DECONSTRucnON
ologies. claim to be able to say what is re:l lly going on . They
ex press their interest in unified human experience :lbove all by
making distinctiom about specific aspectS of a supposed or
desired whole. They try 10 interpret creations of the human mind :
whether language, dream or myth: whether works of art or even
socia l systems. Often the objects examined are not instances of
factual di scourse or even of 'unconscious ' dreamwork, but
highly refined, labyrinthine and unpredic table aesthetic con-
structs.
The inte rpretative methodologies in question agree Ih:ll the
most fruitful way to understand such phe nomena is to study their
relationship 10 reality, yet not by the out-dated and unlru stworthy
method of discovering a history to which they belong and then
uncovering their traces in it.
They also reject 'logica]'.approachcs in:ll> Illuch as they refuse
both the assumption that (linguistic) forms straigh tforwardly
reflect factual reality, and the assumption that logic can be
straightforwardly applied to such forms (of language) so as to
reveal that underlying reality.
The best thing to do instead is (0 isolate and decipher the
relevant code or set of conventions which the phenomenon as
part of an IIlstitution (philosophic, literary or artistic, but a lways
loocial) appears to use and actually uses: or actually uses while
pretending to use another; or Ilctually ibelf is. even while
representing itself as another. If the object is embedded in many
sets of interactive and overlapping convention s, most of which
the observer ignores while one of them is accepted as an il lusory
contexi for originator and recipient. then deciphering the code
will be a fom} of demystification of the text or image and so on.
Once th:1I code or set of codes is deciphered. we begin to uncover
the human perception of reality : then the relation ship between
that perception and the structure of the human mind; and finally ,
perhaps, our mental structure itsel f.
In the case of a literary work. the writer and the reader, and in
the case of a painting, the painter and the viewer. arc examined
not as independent selves over and above the sign-system of the
work. but as entities jointly subject to the authority of thai
system and of ils meaningful sub-syslems and connOlations,
Their freedom is the knowledge of the necessity of the signs that
join them, The de sire and pursuit of the whole have found a
temporary hori.wn. Of course. there can be no question of any
other 'precedent', lei alone ordaining reality . Yel precedence
there must be, for the phenomenon examincd can never be seen
'in itself' but always in relation to the unified experience of the
originator of the phenomenon, the phenomenon itse lf. and the
examiner.
Naturally, all these system s of analysis pay more or less
attention to their own status and standpoint, to their own codes
and their reliltion to those of the phenomena studied. and 10 the
perennial question of the privileged observer: 'For we are
ourselves the entities to be ana lysed' , And Deconstruction is
possibly the most conscientiously self-conscious of these ana-
lytical syste ms. It owes its self-consciousness mainly to its
refinement and rejection of the idcas of two forerunners : those of
L~vi -S trauss and Heidegger.
LCvi-$traussian Structuraii::.m requirelo a set of presumably
neurOlogically conditioned human universa ls somehow in the
unconscious and in the psyche. These arc said to be precedent to
Ilnd const itutive of languages and cul l ural phenomena. Such
menlill universals determine our unified experience. All lan-
guages, all codes, all classifying systems, ull myths and al l works
of art whatsoever derive frolll them. Perhaps we cun work
through rules, systems, codes, myths 10 the structural laws of
euch type or group. Then we can look not only to the pas t but to
the (uture of that group's development , By examining the
struclural laws of structural laws we may discover the nature of
94
human nature. The p:lrticu lar ~t ru ct ure and integrity of u
painting will be like othcrs in other specific paintings
becau:.e they are superfici ally. pcrhups 'figuratively' loyal
some mundane or 'natural' phenomenon, but because ultinllltcl)
they obey the same unifying principle : the innate laws of the
human mind. The way in which cultural products are structured,
not thei r evident mean ing, dec lares their hidden, common human
meaning . Different phenomena can be compared not by pickin!
out observable sim ilarities, but by discerning the differences
between them and showing how those differences enable phe.
nomena to interac t meaningfully in an organised whole. whichi,
no mere monotonous pattern or regu lar repetition of the salm
c lements.
The relation of Derridean Deconstruc tion and its key nOII;o,,,
di/jenlflcl' to Ihe emphasis on significant differences in
Slruussian Structuralism is complic:Hed. Even more c hequcred
the path from I-icidegger to Derrida, though an important link is
Heidcgger's reminder that we cnler into uny form of meaningftll
discourse only by learning and obey in?, a sel of convcntioos
which udopts us and controls us and which we can neither
nor COntrol. The meaning of our meaningful text or
s ubjcct to the predetermined meanings of the codes
constitute it as we ll as to the new connotations and onl,ens
meaning which that text or image teases from the
weave.
Another si milarity between Heidegger and Derrida is
looming conviction of their impressionable common reader
Ihe human condition is merely to be there, having to be there,
being there, never having been there. Certain painters - espe'
cia lly Franci s Bacon, or Francis Gruber, or Lucian Freud - lite
certain writers ~ especially Beckett, or Ccline, or Malcolll
Lowry , who seem 10 favour obviously blOody, angst-riddtlt
dusty. cynica l or solitary topics - have been superficially
identified as Heideggerian-Exi stentialist or Dcrridean-DeCOD-
struClivisl. Pictures which seem to demonstrate the no<'-
human Being. or to erode vesliges of human imagery, have
seen as 'Deconstructions' in thi s very crude sense, The actua!as-
sociation is somewhat more complex and has to do with tbe
creative process.
A basic theme in both He idegger and Derrida , con~idered ~
philosophcrs, is the importance of experiencing Being 'as prej'
ence': that is. perhaps as meaning: perhaps as oneself: and so 011.
For Derrida (in hi s earliest. still most inOuential works ortbc
1960s, at leasl), the history of philosophy is the hislory rI
philosophers fruilless ly trying to offer in writing (that is, II
rational discourse) their experience of the presence of Being, BlI
the wrong medium has been used for this essential task. Only tW
living, nOI the written, word can convey that presence.
discourse obfuscate s the real presence of Being. The living
indicates Being by showing the 'difference' or distance betwru
the 'nHional' self. o r object, or meaning, and the 'unthinkable'
thought or self. Not rationnl discourse but literary, creahW
discourse or psychoanaly sis may disclose this pre-rational.
conceplUal. original. radical, extreme though!. This '
ture'. or aboriginal writlllg. is unlike us and ours in its fretdOll
from the fini te condit ion, from death - the pathoS, the even
note, of Dcrridean phi losophy cornel> in with its stress on
human finitude which inevitably depri ves us of the full prc5ell
of Being. We sense full Being as somehow present to us (for ..c
do sense it), but as obscure, as neutral. as different from OllrO'*l
incomplete. conditionun to-clealh. We are condemned always to
see through a glllss darkly, enigma tically - per spf'clilum i.
ael1igmare.
The echoes of biblical and religious discourse are not accidell,
tal. The 'irralional' tendency or Deconstruclion and Derrideu
talk in general. has cerlain affinities wi th C hrist ian and aboved

Jewish cabbali stic analyses that rcfuse or even break the conven-
tions to reach back before the ass imilation of Ari stotelian logic .
Thty rely on quasi-magical , narrative and lyrical discourse,
arrangements of signs and emotive affinities to apprehend what
tbe laller kills , In esoteric Luriani c cubbalism, for example, the
wk of man is 'the re storation of his primordial spiritual
Ittocture or Gestall , That is the task of eve ry one of us, for every
lOui contains thc potent ialities of thi s spiritual appearance,
outraged and degraded by the fall of Adam , whose soul con-
limed all souls. From this soul of nil souls. sparks h:lve scullered
in all directions and beco me diffu sed into mailer. The problem i<;
to rtassemble them, to lift them to their proper place and to
ltStore the spiritual nature of Illan in its original splendour as
God conceived it ' (Scholcm). For radical cabbal ists of all times
lIId all persuasions. however. the offensive conventions of our
present conlext mus t be shallered before Ihal devout recovery
C1n begin.
The vatic tone of Derrida 's Of Grammotology. with its encap-
lulated critiques of Western thought from Plato to the heirs of
Hegel, through the rise and fall of book c ulture, and on to the
truayal of Ihe livi ng word wh ich 'writ ing' repre se nt~, is chaTac-
ttri~tic of much Decon structioni st di scourse : ' P:lt ient medi tat ion
on and a strict inquiry into what is still provisionally known as
.'riting ... may be the odyssey of a way of thinking which is
loyal and attentive to the world which is to come, and whieh
proclaims itself in the present, beyond the closure or knowledge.
Tht futuTe can be anti ci pated only as radical danger. It break ~
mb!>Olulcly with normality as it is constituted ; thererore it c;ln
make itself known. presenl itsel f, only in a monstrous form.
TbtTt is as yet no epigraph for thi s future world. for those
bptcts of it which make the values of s ign , word and writ ing
quake, or for what guides our antecedent future here and now' .
The anti-idealistic idealism and apocalyptic tone of thi s way of
lalking can be very congenial for pundits as we ll as arti sts who
:tie tempted to equate the mere de piction of a vile or imperfect
rondition with following a philosophic programme of some
complexity.
The sense of elici ting a style from a despair afforded not only
11)' Dcrrida bUI by other French Post -S tructurulists whose criti -
film has approac hed the condition of art (for in stance, Barthes
111 the pleasure of the text. or on the peculiar fonn s of unease
n'oked by photography) has see med appropriate to the work o f
ani~ts whose VIsual stuff includes the distress or nastiness of
being human. Fmncis B3con, for exalllple , ha s s:tid that he find s
"'ht mighl be ca lled Derrida ' s ' uncongenial ity' congenial. This
criticism's awarene~s of beauty and simultaneous wrestling with
wnan pol','erlessness and finitude, its :tbandonment of self-will
1I!d couning of the happenstance. has much to do with the
!IIOdern way of things for certain painters: ., .. you don ' t know
how the hopcl ess nes~ in one 's working will muke one just take
paint and just do almost anything ... to try to brea~ the willed
lf1iculation of the image. so that the image will grow. as it were,
~taneously. within its own st ructure and not my structure. Af-
Itrwards ... you begin to work on the hazard that ha s been leCtto
~ou on the canvas ... Certainly one is more relaxed when the
Image Ihat one ha ~ within one's sells:ltions - you see. there is a
kiDd of sensational image within the very, you could say,
\lnlCture of your being. which is not to do wilh a mental image -
... hen that image, through accident, begins to form , (FB in
David Sylvester. llI/en'iew! willi Francis Bacoll . 1980) .
The apparent concept of Ihe human condition in Bacon' s
works seems admirably summarised by PoSt Structuralist pro-
, uncemenls on the Status of the human being as a disappearing
rtgUTt in a transient conceptual system: 'The archaeology of our
dunking demonstrates clearly thaI man is a recenl invention.
Perhaps also hi s approaching end' (Foucault, Les mOts tr res
JOHN GRlfFlTIlS
choses). It would be odd indeed if a sens itIve arti st and a
sensitive aesthetici sing philosopher in the Continental European
sense did not respond appropriately. that is formally . to the
cu lmination of a scientific tradition thaI has treated the human
being as an object among objects: one that has paused only to
sig h with its supreme works of art at the poignancy of that image
of humanity (itself) as determined by mechani sms unknown in a
process of beginning and end unknown , for reasons unknown ,
Then. but only then. a concern with formal relations unites the
supremely ' Deconstructioni st" arti st and thinker: ' ... intention
involves ~ u c h a small fra gment of our consciousness and of our
mind and of our life. I think a painting should include more
ex perience than s imply intended statemenl. I personally would
like to kee p the painting in a state of "shunning statement', so
that one is left with the fact that one can experience individually
as one pleases; that is, nOI to focu s the attention in one way, but
to leave the s ituation as a kind of actual thing , so that the
experience of it is vari able' (Jasper johns in 1965 BBC interview
with Dav id Sylvester).
Post-Structuralist Deconstruction , like the StruClUralist
method before iI, has always been especially interested in
conlemporuneous and avunt -garde art. The Structurali st linguist
Roman Jakobson. whose studi es of form and structure were
among the earl iest ins piration s of Structuralism pure and si mple,
took as a watchword Braque 's 1 do not believe in things but in
relations between things'. Among the most profound influences
on his thoughl was Braque 's and Pica sso's Cubisl wrestling with
form 10 the point where it so predominates that the illusion of
artist's and observer's existence is all but cancelled. and the
work itself seems sel f-sufficient as an interaclivity of clements
whose kinship to anything real has long been systematica lly
eroded.
Derridean Decon struction has directly affected artists' de-
clared prllctice - that is, ha ~' been 'adopted as the structuring
principle of the works themselves - most recently in architec-
ture . In art" this has happened for the most part in similar
instances, such as Dan Grahams critiques of American suburban
tract hou sing development s.
Thi s trend accords with the politico-philosophical implica-
tions of Deconstruction first associated with the left-wing awak-
ening throughout Europe in the late 1960s. They were openly
declared during the heady events of May 1968 in Paris, and
during the student debates which often invoked the wholly novel
Post-Structurali sts as the avant -g arde of morally committed
sc rutiny .
Before looking briefly at art and related architectural practice
directly affected by Post-Structuralism. and by Deconstruction
in particular, I shall try to describe those aspects of Derrida 's
general critique of Structuralism as weak-kneed which took him
out of the ranks of Structuralism. prOclaimed him a latter-day
PhenomenOlog ist and even Existentiali st. and made him most
allfacti ve as an inspiring and provocat ive force for applied
artists. for socio--critical minimalists, and for architects.
Derridu saw that the ' within -without' , or word-as against
wriling dualism advanced by Slructurali sts from Sllussure to
Levi -Strauss (and by philosophers from PlalO through Rousseau
to Hegel and Husserl - but not Nietzsc he or Heidegger).
concealed a light-dark opposition with strong religious over-
IOnes.
Writing had been thought of as the dress in whi ch speech was
clad. But it has its own presence. Within and without, soul and
body, spirit and form , word and leller; 'Western tradition has
always conceived writing , the letter, and so forth . as the body
and matter located somehow outs ide the spirit, the breath. the
word and the logos' (Of GrammatoloKY). One side of the
opposition was pure spirit; but the outer form was sinful and
DECONS'ffiUCfION
contaminatcd . Westcrn tradition has long conceived truth as
what is sig nificd - content - apart from how it is significd -form .
The result is an inauthcnt ic mctaphysics of what Derrida calls
' presence': one w.hich supposes that we can directly know a
defi nite, concrete reality without. There would then be an
ultimate signified to which we could undoubtedly aspirc. But
that world-picture, says Derrida , is obsole te. Our suspicions
a b09t.a fixed ultimate arc so strong that wc reali sc that fo rms of
'writing' are nOI s ign-systems which rcncct and poim out
anything spi fi c or concrete. They do not !>Iand for 'Ihe rc al
thing'.
The e~sence of a sign has been its own di sappearance in favour
of what it signifies, Paradoxi cally , thc sign can be saved only by
destroying it as understood in our Obfuscating tradition , Instead
we mu st ins ist that the organisation of thought is its very
conditio n; lind that a sign -system is a formal play not of
simi larities but of ' differenccs'.
' Differentiation' or 'differing' (di/fhel/('e ), which Illay also
and simultaneously be understood a ~ 'defcr-ment' or ' postpone -
ment' (diffe raf/ ('('), is the authent ic condition of an on-going
structural process. The e leme nts of such a process are in terre-
lated by their distinctions, by their ' removes', 'distances' or
'in lervals' from the reali ty thcy 'represen t', and by previ ous acts
of representation whose ' traces' lhey bear. These interaction s,
differences, defer-ments and traces de pri ve all texts of an
ultimate 'external' and immutable me an ing,
In the new world-v ie w, then. a text may be liberated from
slavery to an inev itable significance. Now it is free to offer a new
reality. to be creative, T ex t or artwork can creatc the new.
Deconstruction exam Illes the peculiar logic of this intrinsic
beauty. showing what is ' fram ed ' or 'intrin sic'. rathe r than what
i~ merely inside not o utside: ' When we ask " What is a frame'!",
Kant replies, " It is a parergon, a composi te of within and
without, but a composite which is no mere amalgam or half-and -
half - an oUlside which is summoned within the inside in order 10
constitute it as insidc'" (Derrida, Thl! Tmlh ill Paimin!:). ' :tnce int ere~ts, provide~ the best link with the mullllude
Here Deconstruction becomes fincly tun ed practice. The De-
constructor scrutin ises the paradoxes of 'parergonal log ic'. He or
shl.' deleC ls 'frame slippage ': those mome nts when aspcct~ of the
signifi ed move over to become parts of the s ignifier: when
content fragments into fo rm : and so on.
Creating and usi ng a sign-system (inc lud ing a visual artwork)
means manipulating a 'transformative apparatus', or s ign-sys-
tem, a set of interactive elements defined by its own internal
distinclions. The play of differences which make up the sign-
system is 'i nscribed ' in each of its c lemen ts: ' Each element is
constituted by virtue of Ihe trace in it o f the other clements of the
chain or system ' (Slmi%gil! tI GrammaloJoxic). Moreo ver, any
meaningfu l syste m is a ne twork or 'texture ' of intervals and
delays. The system and it s inward play are organised by a
'centre ' which paradoxica lly is both wi thin and without the
SlrUClUre, There is none of the reassuring immobility and certi -
tude of the outdated notion o f a centre. Moreover, the tracc o f
each d ifferencc appear,\; in every other difference. There is no
absolute general 'origin' of meaning. Eac h trace exists by virtue
of another.
In architecture some of th e foregoing basic Derridean ideas
have been used critically and creutivcly. Bernard T schum i's
project for the development of the vast Parc dc la Villettc si te in
Pari s (competiti on announced 1982; initial phase, representing
approxirmHely h:llf the project. under construction) is directly
indebted to Derrida's ideas. He re they nrc applied in a conjunc-
tion of aeslhe tic, moral and philosophic energies that provi sion-
ally reali ses what seemcd mere uplift and al beSI wi shful
think.ing in th e 1960s-70s.
The communally fun c ti onal and the creative aspects of class;-
96
ca l Deco n ~ truc t ion arc no longer cont1ncd to the will to
struct an existing (literary) text but are given creative rein
utopian differe ntiation. De rnda has con tributed an article, ' Point
de Folie: Mninle nant I' Arc hitecture' , to Tschumi ' s book (ilselr.
utopia) on the project (La Cast' Vidt" Pari s, 1986).
The project manipu lntcs nUlllerou!> e lemenls, from an art
gallery to a science museum , from a rock concert hall to
performance work ~ ho l) '" which reciprocatc by creatively sllruc'-:
lUring the whole. Its e longated yet varied layout and visible
discontinuity are designed fl exibly to exploit
' di sj unct ion ~ and di ssociati ons'. Revisions. combinations
replacements of the arc hitect ural and socia l element s, the
ings, within and athwart the main conceptual framework,
only possible but c ulled for, :-0 Ihat the differences of futult
co ntribution s by arc hitects, olher profes sional s and the actual
u ser ~ , would dccide individual cont ributions and interact without
harm to the democra ti c, un cenlred, structural princip le. II IS U
attempt to make plann ing usefully unplanned . It is a '"f".,
example of :1 socio-creativ e philosophy of the future in action.
art as open-cnded !>oc ial planning .
A regular point g rid i ~ used so a.~ to re fu se precedence
prog ramme over urchiteclure and vice versa. and so as It
erad ic.lle the architec t a~ the eternally priv ileged director
building func tion . C lassical rules of composition , hierarchy
order have been refused . The compet ition programme. even
archi tec t's prog ramme, has been ' deco nstructed ', and fruitfal
'i ntertex tuality' and ' an ticontextuality' have replaced an e~et'
immane nt directive' meaning'. Each o b!<.erve r and user will, it it
hoped , add to the neve r-fix ed meaning of the whole ..... what
que ~ t ion ed is the notion of unity ". The ide a of order
con!>tanlly que!>tloned , c ha llenged. pushed to Ihe ed ge'
Tschumi. ' Disjunctions' in Yall' Arc/rifft/ llral JOll rna l , 1987).
Moving from Deconstruc tioni st architccture to
structionist Conceptua l Art, the work of Dan Graham, because
its obvious architectural -environme nt and unscripted ",.
supposed and actual Decons tru c tion ~ in painting and sculpture.
Graham'!> work is 'Deconstruct io nist ' in a less orthodox senlt
It deliberately prescnh then complicales and fmcture ~ a meani"
or set of meanings. It docs thi s to di sc lose Ihe possibil ity of
desirable basic mean ing, but o ne whi ch is nev er reached in tit
creation or ' acti ve co ntem plati on' of the work, because_
remain s to be created by ob~ervers and artiSh in Ihe posited~.
conlext and society. Graham rearranges elemen ts of one
of several familiar styles. and thu!. 'defamili ari ses' or I
the m so thai the ob~erver begins to perceive Ihe PO'"
if not actually ' the ', very different reality 'unde rlying'
~ee llling ly secure conve ntion,\; by which we arc said/s hown I
cnslaved. By superimposit ion , the work may go on to
other conve nllons. more appropriatc to ou r condi tion. In "'"
ca!>cs it i.. content to c arry out the first step of de fami liarisatiOll
Graham'!> pieces have ranged from art magazine contribullOll
s ubverting thc art magazine as a form of commodity fe lishiSil.
through film and video, to performance and installation
ull in thei r way~ allacking the con vent iom. of context (the
gall ery i.. a ravourite target). Thc observer is to
cxperience typical enclosures stripped down to a set
which revcal their unsatisfactory location in an
society, yet one replcte with promi sing buildings and
intended for thc case of living and human fulfilment which
society preaches in its self-publicity.
Grah:1ll1 derives from a vaguely M inimali st, definitely
Marxist bllekground (more explicitly Marxist than Derrida
some time has allowed himse lr 10 be). He also o wes much
19605 criti cal -Pop ventures such as the Ric hard Hamilton
Wh i' echapcl show, He shares interests with M inimalists

Claes Oldenburg, John Knight , Kawara, and the early Dan
Flavin, but morc recently with John Chamberlain and his
washed automobiles and with Robert Venturi and hi s revelatory
coLIChes and interiors. I"terior Desig" jor Space Showillg Ville
Ofap~s. 1986. involves the observer with mirrors and glass wa ll s.
tushions. couches and )00 on. and in the consequcnI ongoing.
shifting creat ion of the work and its crit ique or contemporary an
galleries as pan -showroom part -business office.
Graham was much take n by ac hieve ments like Venturi' s
ihowroom design ror Knoll in New York in 1982. which alienate
while attracting the observer by casting an unholy sheen on the
sacred chairs themselves; or Venturi's games with Chippendale.
An Deco and modern office furniture in order to create a shifting
critique of the corporate modern style. then the theory and
practice of capital manage ment in a redesigned offi ce s uite for
Capital Management. Graham's own gla~shouse in stallati ons
(eg. TI','o AtJjaCf! l1f P(ll'iJiom. 1982) mimic and cri ti cise through
viewer participati<in the slick US back-to-nature illusion of the
coul1lry house who!>e owner is closeted from, yet con stantly
I'iews, a saniti sed nature without ; nature becomes part of the
furnishings.
Other projects extended the ' gla... s critique of Philip John son -
style houses to the Mie!> van der Rohe Manhattan glass tower and
il~ negative aloofness. The links with 'purisl' Paris ian Decon-
struction should be clear: with c rit iques of lhe work as a
sumptuous aTlefact. wholly subject to the sober rules of
beauty. pleasing thus. Yet it is by that very perfecl ion Ihal it
deceives us. It makes itse lr allrac ti ve to the architect lusting
for the absol ute who has slumbered in the European and
possibly the inlernational an palron since Palladio.
Bramanle. Mies van der Rohe and Gropius. It awakens in
hLm the old and alway s ready dream of absolute impetial
rule over space and time. tracing as it docs the line ~.
surfaces and volumes or tha t domination (Jean-Franrrois
Lyotard. Qllt Pt!intlrt! ? Pari s. 1987. p 76).
Various artists labelled ' DeconStructioni st' are merely so
tleC3Use they conjoin fashionable forms provoking and sifting
dangerous dreams. The artist so rearranges them as to evoke
profound irony , distru st. nostal gia. a diaym(lking sense of
randomnes.. or nullity. and possibly an unsati sfied longing for
umeless form and content . Such works seek to ' de nude' (dblU -
do/IOn) the observer of illu s ion ~, ,,"d in advanced instances
inVIte him or her to create the longed-for new order. Such work s
asLto be deciphered not as s ubstitute structures corres ponding to
t!le formal structure of the external world. but as experiences in
"itich gaps. puns. difrerences.. ~ I ip ... '. des troy any immutable
L rQ 11 " ...11.11,0,11,0, t:1I00FJoI.. Yo/H' F"cr 15 SUN/OU
JOHN GRIFFITHS
appearance and meaning.
It is nOltoo (iincifullO see the ~e. the whole De c on s tructioni ~1
projec t. and its Construc ti visi. Cubist and Dada as well as
Min imalist forebears. as part or Ihe same complex or uncertain-
ties as our late 20th-cen tury mathematics and phys ics of indeter-
minacy and uncertainty. Even 'populist' Deconstruction looks
back with Ic.lrned yet ironic nostal gia to the age of linear order; it
rejects all certainty and privilege . yet operates as if '1Il over-
whelming certaimy werc in Ihe offing.
In Ihis ex tr3 -Derridean sense, Deconstruclioni!>t work s are diS-
concerting, iconoc la sti c. irreverent. subvers ive of complacency.
eclectic. pretend an interest in the ruling order, face several
ways . are streetwise. apolitically 1>olilical, trust' no one, nothing.
not even them se lve s. declare all multinational erforts criminal
while decrying the solipsistic individual. use only to explode II
the imagery of ehe electronic and prev ious technological dec-
ades.
The Decon structioni st (1\'0111 1(1 lelTl'e is therefore Marcel
Duc harnp . whose Tht! 8/"idl' Sm"'IJed Ban' by her Hachelor.f
EI'f'1I ( 1915 -23 ) and some of its mechan ico-efotic avO).tars (see
Mic hcl Cl.Irrouges. ' How to identify bachelor mac hines' in Lt
macchin t! Celihi, by va rious hands. Milan . 1975, pp 23-38).
I>crfec tly reveal ... the dangers of Decon~truetion's subversion of
all ca l egoric~ . Here reason and emotion erode one another to the
poin l where all ambiguous forms arc suspended in nullity. 3nd
painted and lran!>parent ~ urfac e areas are perreclly balanced.
l.Isking an overwhelnung question wh ich they answer neither
with humanity nor wi th the 11l3c hine but with incomprehensibil-
ity. In the Largt! Gla.u .. II legends the observer recogni ses are
stripped bare; they are dc-construc ted unto death: ' ... every-
where the mark or sharp-edged negation . this reversal of a proof
c3rried \0 abs urdity . !>incc the absurd is. on the contrary.
reinstated here' (Michel Leiri s).
Duchamp 's enigma tic retirement from an has been vaslly dan-
gerous to all clean-cut Modernism. Few of the great artistic
questioners of th is century who involve spectators in their ever-
rresh processes arc without debt to him . Rene Magritle's lind
Doukapil's pun s on vi sual illusion s; Dc Chirico' s and Picabia 's
'metaphysica l' und physical disconcertmellls; Haac ke 's unti -
icon s of the cOllllllcrci31 world ; Joseph Beuy s' uninstructional
blackbo.. rds. no-possi bl e-where: menaci ng tablets of no law C<.Ist
down as soon as di splayed .
All may be "aid to exemplify the understanding of an artwork
as an assemblage of instructively engaging ruses that is the LCD
of Deconstruction.
r"",," FiCtION. 1911l. I'lIOTOORAl'Il. 0,0,VIC 'lACH IIMlD 1Q51ONJ.OW. 19l!7. MI)(W MEOlA
97
 PAUL CROWTHER
Beyond Art and Phil osophy
Deconstruction and the Post-Modern Sublime
To understand recent fundamental changes in the practices of
'art' and 'philosophy', and their common sublimicist character,!
it is first necessary to trace parallel patterns of development in
both spheres. during thc Modemist epoch. Beginning with urt.
Clement Greenberg has argucd Z that M odcrni~m was a response
[0 a crisis. To resist being absorbed by entertainment. each art
fonn adopted a kind of self-critique whe rein it auempted \0
ground itself on those features which produce effecls unique \0
ilself. Now thc basic impetus of this argument is correc!. in so far
a~ sin,c Ihc time of M anet, artists have seemed preoccupied with
features and effects taken to be unique to the visual arts. and this
has led, in the case of painting, to the production of fiatter-
looking works. Howeve r, what is more prOblematic is the
question of w hich of these features and effects are in faci
actually unique or essential to arl. There are two broad ap-
proaches here. First, from a formalist direction, crit ics such as
Fry and Bell, and Greenbe rg himself. hold th:lt through the
possession of significam form or declared fiatness (respec-
tively), aTl gives rise to a unique mode of experience - the
aesthetic. Second, a substantial number of both artists and critics
have suggested that the visual arls' distinctiveness lies in the
way they give expression to what, in the broadest sense, might be
termed states of 'spiritual' reality, Cubism's early theoreticians
and Mondrinn, for example, see their art as exemplifying visual
reality as t.'ol1ce;l"etJ, ie, in its essence, rather than as given in the
particularity of direct sense-perception. Others, such as Malevich
and the Surrealists, see the uniqueness of their work as consist-
ing in its privileged access to deep-seated subjective states -
'pure feeling' in the case of the forfner, and the 'unconscious' in
the case of the laller. Yet ot hers - such as Duchamp, the
Dadaists, certain Pop and Minimal anists, and the protagonists
of Conceptual Art - see the disti nctive feature of the art-Object as
consisting in the creative 'idea' which underpins it.
There are several things to note about these points. First, we
find that through striving to achieve self-presence, Modernist art
divides imo two brolldly opposed tendencies (formalist and
'spiritual') which themselves contain diverse and confiicting
approaches, When art explicit ly orientates itself towards some
assumed unique or privileged features or effects, it 'deconstru-
ctS': its historical development differentiates a variety of puta-
tively 'essential' art featu res and effects. Now if it should still be
claimed that one of these putative essential and unique features
should be pri vileged above all the others (ie, that one artist,
critic, or 'school' has got it right and the others have got it
wrong) then this requires theoret ical or better still philosophical
justification in order to establish the claim and to orientate the
audience \Owards it. But surely if Ihe feature or effec t supposedly
unique to art requires this Sort of philosophical back-up (in
Derrida's terms a 'supplement") in order to be recognised llS
such, then art's clllim to uniqueness becomes a mere formality. It
becomes dependent on the interventions of theoretical di scourse,
98
It is this contlict, of course, which Joseph Kosuth's
Art paper 'An after Philosophy' (Sl lidio Imemal;ollal,
makes manifest and consummates. The end of Modern ism I
marked by arl'S characterisation of its own definitive fealUresia
term s of those of the supplement - philosophy.
This trend is paralleled (with the protagonists reversed) in tltt
deve lopment of 20th-cen tury philosophy. Existential phenome,
nology, as exemp lified by its th ree major figures - Heideggel,
Sarlre and Merleau-Ponty - defines itself as the search for
method that will differentiate philosophy from scientific a~
technological understanding, Broadly speakin g , modern QS
phy from Descartes onwards has tended to interpret i
basis of mechanistic models derived from Ihe scientific
However, whilst such mechllnistic models have proven valuei
the scientific context llS a means for contrOlling and .
reality, they result on ly in distortions when applied 10 philoso-
phy. In general terms, the world is construed as a kind
intellectual construction - a fun c ti on of the mind's organjsatiQl
of sense-data. Indeed the human subject itself is reduced to I
pure subject - the disembodied organiser of such sense-dBII.
Now against these abstractions Heidegger, Sllrtre and MerlU1!-
Ponty all assert (llibeil wit h different emphases) the primacy
'bcing-in-the-world '. The human subject does not organilC
sense-data through mere intcllectual acts of mind as such,
our knowledge of thc world (and of ou r own i
constituted from the LOtality of our practiclll, emotional,
and linguistic intefllclions with it. This complexity of
sensuous and the intellectual underpins llll knowledge, but
difficult to articulate because thc trad iti onal philosophical
guage of abstfllct concepts and systematic llrgumcnts ."",;,.
plify and, thereby, distort. How . then, can this sustaining
plexity bc adcquatcly cxpressed? In this respect. it is interestillJ
that having poscd this problem in their ea rly work , the existential
phenomenologists all o ffer , in effect, the same answer
thcir subseq uelll development. Sartre 's ex istential phase,
cxample, is followed by that which contai ns the bulk of
literary production. In their later works: Heideggcr and ,,100>
Pon ty move towllrds an increasing ly idiosyncrlltic and
phorical mode of expression. Thi s mode, it should be
not merely ac t as an accompanying illustration to morc i~.
sive structu re s of argument, rathcr it embodics thc very
stance of He idegger's and Mer leau-Ponty 's tcxts. By '
an artistic dimension of style and mctaphor into their work
llre able to fuse the sensuous and the inte ll cctual in a play
llln gullge which shows rathe r than si mpl y slatcs the '11'''~
of our 'being-i n-the- world ', As Merleau -Ponty puts it
sophica l expression assumes the same ambiguities as I
expression, if the world is such that it can not be expressed ".~
in "stories" and, as it were, pointed at. 3
Surprisingly, cven two of thc major co ntemporary
the Anglo-Amcrican tradition of 'analytic' philosophy h"i

(.] bei! by a father more circuitou s roule) reccnlly arrived al some
similar conclusion s. In hi s book Pllilosopliy ami the Mirror of
Naw f'. for example. Robert ROTty rejects traditional epi ste mol -
ogy and ils idea of truth as a corres pondence with the essence of
reality. hlSlead he demands an 'cdify ing hermeneut ic' where 'as
opposed 10 the epistemological point of view , the way things are
said is more imponant than the posse ssion of truth s. ' 4 Even morc
emphatic is Robert Nozi ck in hi s Philosophical Explmwl io //:>.
The last section of lhis work is e ntitled 'Philosophy as an Art
Form', and in Ihe very final paragraph . we arc laid Ihal . We c an
tDV(sion a human istic philosophy. a self-con sc iou sl y arti stic
one. SCUlpting ideas, value. and meaning into new conste lla-
tions.'~
[am suggesting, then , that philosophy' s search for its own dis-
tinctive method has led thinkers in both its major traditions to
ldenu fy wilh the methods of an . Those clement s of styli sati on
tnd metaphor whi ch were once regarded a s supplemental , as
mere accompaniments to, or illustrations o f. di sc urs ive arg u-
IIII:nt, are no w shown 10 e mbody fundame ntal traits of ph ilo-
sophical 'method ' itself. We find, in othcr wo rd !>, a parallel 10
1M self- Deconstruction whi ch is re vealed through Ihe hi sto ri cal
de~e l op m e nt of Modc rniSI an in it s striving to wards se lf-
presence.
The moral to be drawn from these mutual conve rge nccs o f an
II'Id phi losophy is thai forms of di sco urse arc not independ ent of
Qne another, They must conflic t, displace , converge, and over-
lip, because our engage menl with the world is hi storical - a
~Illflmg complex - a perpetually de ve loping inte r:lc tion . Now I
"'ould suggest that the moment of Post-Moderni sm in ' art ' and
'philoso phy' occurs whcn their practitioncrs turn back and ask
whal conditi ons enable thc myth of autonomy in their re specti ve
modes of discourse to come about , ie , (in a sense ) ho w is
\{odemism ilself poss ible? To ex plo re this momenl . I will
Ieversc the order of exposi tion adopted in th e first pan of thi s
may, and will consider ' philosophy' fir st - s ince it is in thi s
domain (broadl y defined) that the Post-Modern ist queM ion is
IIIOSt insistently asked . In the work of Miche l Foucau!! and
l1cques Derrida, fo r example. we find it approached fro m two
diffe rent di recti ons, Foucault makcs it hi s task to reve al the
closures and concealme nts which have determincd the hi storical
forma tion of d ifferent inte llec lUal di sci plines and soc ial institu-
uons, He insists. indeed, that all discourse is a func tion o f the
play between desire and power, and that the reificati on of
discourse into supposedl y autonomou s modes is determincd by
!he exercise of the latter, In the case of Dcrrida. a sim ilar
dlsclosive strategy is unde rtaken . bUI in re lat ion 10 the trulh-
claims embodied in speci fi c 'philosophical ' texts. Hc asserts that
lILt 'o bj ec ti~ e' truth s supposedly rc vcaled by the impersonal
lIOn-fi gurative ' philosophical ' use of language in volve an unac-
tMwledged ' mctaphysics of presence', ie, suc h truths are
&rounded on metaphors of speech - in so far as it is construed as
tmbodying a perfec t coincidence of meaning and signifi cati on
..!th thought. Thi s sel f-presence, however. itself concea ls (wh i 1st
ali the while presupposing) what Derrida terms ' differaIlCf'. As
lie puts it, .. , , the signified conce pt is never pre sent in and of
ILielf, in a sufficient presence that wo uld refer o nly t.o it ~elf.
Euentially nnd lawfully , e very conccpt is inscribed in a c hain or
lDasyste m within wh ic h it refers to the other, to o ther concepts,
by means of the syste matic play o f di ffere nces. S uc h a play,
il.f!lranc~, is no longe r simply a concept , but ruthe r the pos.\.i bil -
ity of conceptuality. of a conceptual process lind system in
~ rleral.'b
We fi nd, then , that no tcxtual mcaning or truth can ac hieve
nl coincidence with the ' Ihoughts' it e xpresses, Me anings in
Ilnguage arc onl y present in so far as they are definable in
,
PAUL CROWnlER
rclat ion to a background ne twork o f o the r elemcnts which ore
impl ici t, but not present. It I ~ thi s wh ic h con stitutcl> t/iffi!ranc'"
Now suc h a denial of the poss ibility of encl osed self-presence is
carri ed over by both Derrida and Foucault as a c haructerisat ion
o f the scl f. T heir J U ~ lifi c al ion for thi s consisLS in the fac t Ihat we
can o nly have c xperie nce in so fa r us we are the subject of
lang uage and it s play of differal1("(' . Hence , Derrida says, 'S ub-
jecti~ity - like Objectivity - is an effect o f di!!er(lll('t' , an effect
inscribed in a sy,tem of (Jlffh allre . Th is is why the a of
(Ji//fralla also records that spacing i!> tcmpori salion , the de tour
and postponeme nt by means of whi ch intu ition , perce ption,
con summation - in a word , the rclution ship to a pre~ent reality,
to it heill/: - arc always defe rred . De fe rred by virtuc of the very
princ ip le o f d ifference wh ic h holds that an element fun ctions and
signifie s, takcs on or con ve ys meaning, only by re ferrin g to
anothe r pa st or future elemclll in an cconomy of traces. '7
On these term s, then, wh:tte ve r individual emphases and uses
the human subject g ives to lang uage , he o r she is a t the mercy of
it as an acquired and inhe rited syste m and tradition that ell:ceeds
the partic u lar s ubjec t - wilh al1 the te nsions, parado xes, and
concealment s lhat thi s entail s. Such ling uisticality cannot be
transcended . Thcre is no meta-discourse whic h will fully de-
scribe how. throug h lang uage, the human subjec t artic ulates se lf
and world . Rathe r we arc le ft with thc writings of Derrida ond
Foucault. whose play of My le, e llipsc s and displ acement s (char-
acterisable neither in term s of phil osophy nor IitCnlture) di sc lose
those foundat ional closurcs and concealme nts whic h have s u ~
ta ined the illu sory claim s to aut onom y made by philosophy and
o thcr modes of d iscourse. This Decon structive interroga tion of
hi story and it s tc xts is thc Post-Modern app roac h. It would see m,
at first sig ht . that it s j ustificat ion is simpl y negati ve - as an o n-
going vig ilancc against unj ustified clai ms to autonom y. Indeed
in thIS respec t lurge n Habennas ha s observed that ' Noth ing
remoin s from 0 des ublimatcd mean ing or a destructured foml : on
cmancipatory c ffect docs not follow'"
Ho wever. contra Habcrmas , the re I S a lso a posit ive dimension.
To Decon struc t history or texts in the ~ ty le of Derrid a or
Foucault is to make evident that play of (IIlffral/ce - that
ung raspable nc twork of re lat ion s, whi ch sustains but is con-
cealed by claims to self-prescnce. It is, in o ther words, to offer an
insight into, or partial prese ntat ion o f, a tota lity wh ich (IS "
fOw fity is unprese ntabJe . Thi s, as Derrida re marks, 'gi ves great
p1cal>ure ' ,9 But what sort of pleasure could thi s be? The an swer, [
would suggest, is that of the sublime:!!) Jean-Fram;oi s Lyotard
has explicitly attempted to link Post-Modernity w ith the experi-
e nce of the )'ublime - defined as the ' presentatio n o f the
unpresentabl e'. Ho wever in hi s writings it is not only somet imes
un clear what is mca nt by the unpresenta b le (and its synon yms,
the ' invisible' and the ' undemo nstrablc') but, more importantly,
Lyotard is unable to offe r an adequate e xplanation o f why Ihe
presentation of Ihe unpresentabl e sho uld be a ple asurablc e xperi-
ence at all. The so urce of hi s diffi c ulty here a ri sc~ from a very
partial utili satio n of Kant '~ theory of the sublimc , and one wh ich
ove rlooks the ae!>the Lico- moral sig ni ficance of the ex perience - a
1)ignific ance which remain.\., even if we remove the more philo-
soph ically dubiou s aspec ts of Kan t'S ex pl anati on (such as lhe
noti on of the su[)crsensible' ).l1 Suc h a reconstructed version of
Kant 's theory mig ht (brie n y) re ad as foll ows: if an Obj ect
cxcced s or thrcatcns our perceptual and imag inativc capacities,
through its totality of sizc or complexi!..", or pOient iull y destruc-
tive c haracter, thi s can neverthe less still cause us pleasure, in so
far us we are able to prest!1It it as excessive or threateni ng - in
tho ug ht, writing , or visua l representation . The facl. in other
words, that what t ran ~ce nd s us c an be rt!prt'senled as trOllsct'n ,
de/lf , serves to make viv id the scope of our cog niti ve and c re<lt ive
DECONSTRUCTION

power),. We inscribe the digni ty of our ratio nal being even o n Simi lar d isruption s ca n be found in the work of Georg
that which overwhelms or which threatens 10 destroy. Applying Base l ill.. ' Expressionist' is here the ready-to-hand-term , Ihe
this theory, then , one might say that by making th:ll ungraspable instrument of familiarisation and c losure. Do nOI his upsi de
totality of dlfferana (which s'usttlin s yet exceeds any discourse) down paintings reI ale 10 thi s Inldition ? Are they not justifiably
visible in their texts, Derrida and Foucault strikingly affi rm the labelled 'nco-Expressioni st '? Here the pre fix 'neo-' at once
dignity of the rational project through a sy mbolic presentation of signifies and neutrali ses time. Wh:l1, in effect, separates Ba seli !z
the unpresentable. To fully engage with the Deconstructive surge from full ' Expressioni sm' is a pa ssage of time - which mu st be
of their writing, therefore, is 10 experience the sublime. Indeed noted. but is nevertheless insignifica nt if we pick out the
we are thus made aware of a hitherto repressed aspect of affini ties. Hes German ; he use s a lot of paint ; he 's a bit ex treme
philosophy - namely it s justification in terms of pleasure. - angst-ridden even. But Base litz is post-Dresde n. post-
This leads us to a crucial point. The tendencies I have just Auschwitz, post- Berli n Wall , post-'Ost Polit ik'. The term neo-'
described in re lation to theoretical discourse, are, I think . e rases this matrix and makes Baselin styli stically safe . His
paralleled in muc h recent artistic product ion. A major figure here inversions do not connote a potential discourse with Ihese
is Malcol m Morley - an in stigator of thaL photorealism which ul timate invers ion s of moral values and security, ra the r they are
inaugurates Ihe ex plicit critique of Moderni sm from within art continuations of ou r stereotype of the style ' Expressionist ' - th~
practice. Morley, however. soon goes beyond even this with angst-ridden c reative genius, on the road to profound se lf
Ro('e Track (1970) a painting whi ch repliclltes u poster lldverti s- expression. Suppose, however, that we eT!lse lhe neo- and let
ing a South African race course, but whic h is crossed out by two the conjunction of Baselitz, Express ionism , Germany, hi story,
diagonal lines in red . The work invites bolh a polilical and a and inversion. engage in a serious play. What the n? Perhaps
DeconslTuctive reading. The polit ica l one is too obvious to Basel itz now reads as a disruplOr of the stereotype. He presents.
require comment. and it is perhaps this obviousness which has sense o f the futilit y of Expressionism construed as a project for
led Morley himse lf to stress the work's significa nce as a moving the deepening or tOlalisation of indiv idual scl fhood . It becomes.
beyond photorealism. The diagonals e rase Ihe clos ures and ralher, a dissemination of the self in so far as. through m
pressures inhere nt in working within a genre tha i has become IlrIiculation in paint. the world is d isrupted and inverted in the
over-determi ned by critical discourse and mllrke l approval. For lig ht of hislory, rather than possessed.
(he audience, matters arc more complex . The two alternative The final works I want to discuss in relat ion to Ihi s brief sketch
readi ngs open up ,I space of indete rminacy whi ch is experienced of the Deconstructive trend (though there are a great many
.as a di splacement and a threal. It docs not si mply presenl a others)12 arc David Mach' s assemblages. The threat to good taste I
borderline case - a style ' in Iransition' . ruther the violence of Ihe is c lear. Not only does a frustra ted artist inc inerate him s~lf '1
erasure ch allenges ex isling categorie s of meaning and pleasure. whil st attempting to burn Po la ris (19R3) (the submarine as
Itrefuses to repeat the cool aeslhetic surface of Late-Moderni sm. se mbled from tyres) but the Doily M irror features lhe arliSi 2
yet at the same time refu ses 10 re place it with a homage 10 radical standing by his spherical shoe assemblage Foxtrot (1984) and
c hic. Morley's subsequent works achieve similar d isplacements sums up its reac lion in one word - ' Salls'. Thi s latter attack is
on the grand sca le. Pictures suc h as School of All/ens (1972) or the mo re s iniste r and s ign ifi cant of the two. The very fac t that the
A.ri:onac ( 198 1) decentre our notions of 'fin ish, history paint - Daily M irror should even mention a contemporary artist signl
ing, Surrealism, and (even) Expressionism . We c ustomarily fies an e xtreme d isplacement. There arc two re lated aspt.'Cts to
conceive art history in terms of an encl osed syslematic to talilY - thi s. First, an assemblage such a s Polari.f is one which i~
a success ion of definable sc hools and genres, with corresponding co nfined to its original sit e, although Ihi s comforting interset
,
individuals' made present to themselves and their audience tion with the point of physi ca l origin iss ues in no aura of self
Ihrough di sti nct)ve styles - eac h with its own definable 'phases presence. Asse mblage s usullil y di sg ui se their assembled charac
of development. Morley, however, di srupts our sense of the ter under Ihe label installation '. Thi s te rm connotes selllcdnw
enclosed and intelligible nature of Ihis totality. His rapid transi- - a fixit y, even though we may know from the exhibitioo
lions from lyricism to violence, broken brushstrokes to stable catalogue that Ihis fixity is of limited tcmporal duration . Mach's
masses. fantasy to rea lity, make il impossi ble 10 locale him. work s, however, have transience inscribed in Ihe very spaces of
Familiar categories are loosened and made Slrange; the horizon their structure, and in the untoward elemen ts - be it tyres.
of diffiranct appears. magazines, o r liquid-filled boltle!> - which are the stuff of that
Wh:n Morley achleves on the large scale is manife st in a more structure. A second and more rad ical displacement arises from
local ised form in many other works of Ihe late J 970s and 1980s. the fact thai s uc h untoward clements are used as a means of
EspeCially interesting in thi s respect is th e late Philip Guston. representati on. Thi s di srupts one of our most deep-seated yet
For mosl. Guston is an important figure in the lyrical phase of lazy attitudes toward s representati on, namely lhat through it we
American abstraction during the 1950s. However his more recent possess and preserve the world , ie. we tmns late a transient
works open up an entirely differenl prospectus; not simply a subject-matter into a permanent and enduring form . This iss~
return to pictorial representation, but an extreme of it - grotesque in an aura of timeless ness - the more so if the representat ion i,
exaggerations, cigarette butts and the like, gummy co lours, e ncounle red in a secure contex t suc h a ~ a gallery or a bank vauh.
forms which are things - but of an unrecognisable sorl. To mark The sense of timelessness gradually di storts our sense of anifice
this displacement of lyrical abstraction more partic ularly, to The work was not c reated in a dirty studio from mundanr
signify our shock at it coming from 'Guston', the term realism' material s. It ' happened - as a mysterious emanation from the
is introduced. But c an these parodies of "bad painting' really be unfathomable depths of genius. Gradually the myth of ' art ' au
realist? ' Really be reali st". The phrase stic ks. We are caught in privileged realm apart takes shape. We are drugged wilh false
the play of possible realisms. 'Goofy' realism? 'Neo'-reali sm? ontol ogy. It is, o( course, delusions such as lhcse which Mac~
Perhaps ' Iumpen ' realism? More realist than ... ' ' Realist as di srupts. His assemblages not only manifest the fact thai to
compared to ... ' With his insistence on the caricature. the represent is to lransform the subject-matter, but also di sclose lbe
incide ntal , and the minisc ule made gargan tuan , Guston not only customarily concealed faclS of art 's finite and mundane origins
dislocates our customary sca lar readings of the world. but also and destinations, ie . that it was put together, and will ultimately
displaces any tidy sense of reali sm. Its rational character be- come apart. Arlistic representation is lhus restored to the real
comes manifest ... world . To PUI all this in Derridean terms, in Mach s work lilt

100
 PAUL CROWTHER

again have a 'supplement' - something which the conventi on al
mind (eg Daily Mirror ) would regard as :J. marginal and ridicu -
lous Form of representation , but one which disclose s both the
repressed dimensions of representation as suc h, and some of the
assumptions about 'art istic' representation wh ich are implicated
in Ihis repression.
I am suggesting. the n. that much recent IITI is c haracterised by
a Deconstructive approac h which parallel s the di scourses of
Denida and Fouca ult and the exper ience whic h arises froll1 them .
Not only do all the arti sts I have mentioned radically 'dislocatc'
their subject-mailer in a way that questions the nature of
representation and vision's correspondence with Ihe world but
more fun damentally, they Deconstruct those assumptions about
personal styles and genres which are reified in labels suc h as
Reahsl, Expressionist and the like. The esscntialising allitude
which makes Modernism possible, ill oth er words, is subjected \0
aremorseless critique.' Art ' is recogni sed as a play of di/prtl!we.
II is a sense of this complexily. thi s immense ' aTi' totality, its
past and its possi ble fUlUre. its overlap wilh other discourses,
whic h is thru st upon us by the works I have discussed. But whilst
such a total ity is ungraspabl c from the viewpoint of II finite
imag ination, the arti sl al leaSI prese nt s il as suc h. II is he or she
who. in dc-constructing the sublim inal closures and con-
cealments of 'art' and its history, inscribes this overwhelming
complexi ty upon our senSibility. We are thus tran sformed. The
pain of that which exceeds us gives way to the pleasure of
achieved understanding. It is this common transition from the
subliminal to the sublime whic h w;trrant s the term 'sublimicist'
in relation to both contemporary 'a rt" and ' philosophy'. Indeed,
this term lIlay have a rather more ge neral sign ific;ltIce, for (as
Lyotard 's recent Pompidou Centre exhi bition U .\' Jmmureriuux
strikingly shows). the availabilil Yof techno-scieOl ific eq uipment
and data is so pervasive in cOOlemporary life Ihal 'reali ly' itself
is readily Decon slTucted illlo an overwhelming nelwork of macro
and microscopic proce sses <lnd relations, which <Ire customarily
concealcd, but whic h make ' re<llily ' as we know it. possi ble . This
suggests. in o ther words. that sublimic ism may be a definitive
feature of POSi- Modem culture os $ 11 ("11 .

Noles
I To my knowledge J F Lyotard was the fir~1 person 10 make a link Oxford. 198 1.p647.
belween PostModemi~111 and Ihe sublime. in his essay ' What is 6 J ac qu e~ Derrida. Margills of Ph!l()~'()f!h)", tra ns Alan Bass. The
Poslmodemism. included in J F Lyotard , Tile PO$tmOllern Condition: A Harvester Press, Brighton, 1982.
RrporrQtI Kl1owledge, Irutl~ G Bennington and B Massumi . Manchesler 7 Jacques Derrida, Positiolls. Irans Alan Bass. The Athlone Press.
UUlvel'llit)' Press, 1984. However I have a number of strong disagrel!- London. 198 1, pp 28-9.
IIItnlS wilh Lyolard. not leasl of which is Ihalthe subhmicisl art ists who 8 Jurgen l-IabcrmHs, ' Modcm ilY- An Incomplete Projecl'. included in
lconsider In this essay. would nOI. in so far as Ihey work in represeOla- POSlmooer" Culture, ed Ual FOSler, Plu lo Press, London, 1984, pp 3-
!IOIIal modes. COUOl:l1> arti Sls of Ihe sublime III Lyolard's sc n ~e of Ihe 15. This reference, p I I.
Imn. 9 Derrida . Positifln$ , op dr, p 7.
2 In his essay ' Modernist PaiOling. mcl uded in M odem Art (111(1 Mod 10 See. fo r exam ple. Ihe essay 'Answering the QUtslion " What Is
tr~iM!, cd Francis Frascina and Charles lIarri son, Harper and Row. POSllnodern ism'" included in Lyomrd oJ} cit. pp 71 -82. Also 'Presenting
LGlKlon, 1984, p510. the Unpresenlable: The Sublime ', Art Porum. April 1982, pp 64-9.
) \lurice Merlnu-Ponly, Sj'lI~e olld Non -St'/IU. trans Hubert and II See for exam ple . Immanuel Kan t. The Critiqll e III jllli!(cmcm, trans J
PaulCi~ Dreyfus. North .... estern Univc rsity Press, 1984. p 28. C Meredith. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1973. espeCially pp 259.
CRobert Rotty, Philosophy al1d the Mirror oj NUlllre. Basil Blackwell, 12 I wou ld mention in parlicular Ihe paintings of Anselm Kiefer,
<hford, 1978. p 359. Theresa Oulton and Julian Schnabel .
S Robert NOlie!.. . Philosopilical Explana/ions. Oxford University Press

rnElUiSB OULTON .5O.\'G OF DU:ur. 1981. OIL

1n1
[)ECONSTRUCrlON

I
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102

ANDREW BENJAMIN
Anselm Kiefer's Iconoclastic Controversy
The question of memory. Ihe prc.')cnce or a pas t - il.~ reality and
possibility - cnnnOI be posed outside of tradition . And yel far
fromgiYing Ihe question a fixity. such a iocation. while acc urate.
only serves \0 compound thc question's problem'llie nature.
Tradition lacks it specific determination . Tradition can be incor-
porated within his tory - it may even be ' hi s tory' - nonetheless
nenher tradition nor his tory ate thereby finally determined a nd
111\Xated a semantic and heuristic structure . There aTC funher
difficulties si nce memory . tradition, hi story all encounter the
problem of lime. Each is unthinkable w it hout time. (This will be
II\Ie even in the weak sense in th:u their being thought will
always cOnlain within ii, either implicitly or explicitly. a tempo-
fil dimension). Rather than attempting to gi ve greater specificity
10 these complex interrelationships in advance, they will be
IHowed to emerge within a consideration of the interpretati ve
problems posed by Anselm Kiefer's work !c(J/Jodtlstit CO/uru
I'my,'
Kiefer's title names the painting. It is a title which is thought
lOe~hibll Kiefer's concern with history. Within hi s own hi story
tilt title has been repeated and thus ha ~ been thought to name a
preoccupation. In addition. of course. the title al so names the
dilemma :ltthe heart of titles: the arguments within and over the
image. The difficully for interpretation - pe rhaps al so as an
interpretation - lhat emerges even wi thin these opening and
Lenlative deliberations is twofold. The first is the problematiC
nature of the naming rel.lIion. (The relations hip between name
IJId named). The second is connected to the firSI ~i nce it stems
from thaI eleme nt within any representation. (and therefore
IIrlthin mimesis) thai yields Ihe possi bility of representat ion at
\he same time as calling into question the viability of represe nt:l -
lion: ie of permanently establishing and fixing the relation ~ hip
bet.....een the representation and the represented . It takes place. of
course, within the terms - the conditions of possibility -
rtpresent3tion sets for itself. Thi s element is succinctly captured
In the following question : Can the painting./conoc/(lSric Contro-
lusy be viewed as a representation of Ihe Iconoclast con tro-
msy? If it were to be asked - what is the Iconoclast con tro-
versy? (What is named by the term ' IconOClasm'?) - then the
t'/rofold problem, already identified above, would have been
merely repeatcd.
The factual co-ordinates of Iconoclasm are relat ively straight-
fOf\lo'ard.: The ban on the produclion of religious images was
brought into existence by Emperor Leo III in 726. It was
challenged and altered at the Second Council of Nicaea and
fll1allyoverturned in 843 . The latter part of the period coincided
llIith a struggle for power between Empress Irene and her son
Constantine . The ban concerned religious images rather than
o,ttular ones. During the period in question painting , engraving
and the il1ustT:lIing of manuscripts were practised: as was the
construction of mosaics. Indeed abstraction nourished. While il
I$llways possi ble to fill out the factual detail of Iconoclasm this
lI'ould neither address nor answer the question of whether or not
II was this 'detail' that was named by the painting's title and
=
therefore wh ic h W:IS represented within the frame. If this stalc of
affairs is the ease then the simple recitation of the factual. while
providing an adumbration of elements. will. of necessity fail to
allow for a significant interpretative :lpproach to the frame. The
~ hadow of images endure,. It is possible to go funher and
suggest th at what seems to eme rge here is a rift for which there is
no obvious bridge insofar as regardless of the quan tity of
information that was ama~sed conce rnin g I co no c I3 ~ m , it wou ld
always fail \0 form the interpretation. In fact. though perhups
ironically, it is precisely this problem that already informs
illle rpretation s ince it brings to the fore the question of history,
of access 10 the past and therefore of memory . It is for these
reasons Ihat it is e<;sential to return to the diffi c ulti e~ posed by
naming and representati on. Hi story ~ understood in Ihb instance
as the ' detail' of the past - does not provide any direct acce~s to
hi story as a probl em withlll interpre tation and thu~ as figure
within the fram e. ' The emergence of naming and representation
us problems does not take place in i ~o lal ion. They arc brought
into play by the frame and moreover by its name. However it IS,
as always. more comp lex. In order to trace thi s complex ity it will
be necessary to approach the<;e probl ems under two different
headings. The fir~1 is 'Represe ntation Till es' and the second
. Memory H iSlOry '.
Representa tion Ti lles
The (juestion of titles is an element of the larger problem of
naming .' However what i~ demanded and expected of a title is
different from the demands and expectations made of name.
Nonetheless while the n:lming. relation is more rigorous than the
one al work within the title , it is still the case that the litl e in
some sen se names. The painting is en titled to a nalTle which then
comes to be its title. (The legal and lIloral aspect of titles and
enli tlemenl should not be overlooked). The title designates the
frame in at lea~t twO senses. First ly it allows it to be named
within .IIlY di sc uss ion: be lhat di~c u ss i o n legal. aesthetic. refer-
ential or even the opening moves within an interpretation . In Ihi~
sense the title names the frame: the tableau. It is not . as yet,
intended to name what is framed. Thh will be the second
designation . The first is exact. It exemplifies the accuracy
demanded by th e conventi ons of ci tation. (The viability and
possibility of the fulfilme nt of this demand is a separate issue).
The question Ihat must be an~wered is, what take~ place in the
move from the titl e as design:1I111g the tableau - the painting qua
material objec t - to its des ignating the painting qua object of
interpretation? This shift in regi~ter is not a simple redescription
of the 'same ' entity. The painting as mate rial object involves
fixity . li S being is exilauMed in and by its objeClivity: its
everydayness'. The object of inte rpretation will lack. ex hauSllon
as it is continua lly open to reinterpretation . Thi s i~ why il is
preferable to speak of lhe continual becoming-Object of the
Objec t of interpretation. It is within this shift - this fundamental
change in the nature of the object - th:1I the title as designating
the content of the fmme needs to be approached.
103
DECONSTRUCTION
It is however in relation 10 the becoming-object that the
question of representation and titles becomes more complicated.
The reason for thi s is st raightforward. What is at stake here is
that if the object of interpretation is the si te of interpretatio n as
well as the si te of the conti nual possibility of reinterpretation,
then it follows that the titl e - any title - can always be read as
designating the actuality of interpreta ti on in addition to this
inherent pos,sibility withi n any ac tual interpretation. (Where the
aClUal is defined as the present; ie the locus of the task of
interpretation and from which it comes to be enacted).
Now it is clear that the title cannOt be thus interpreted within
the field of intention - ie in relation both to what is intended for
lhe title as well as to what the title itself intends - it is rather that
the interpretation of the title, the 'interpretation of the frame and
the interpretation.of the relationship between title and frame. all
sanction this reworking of the title's function . The intriguing
clement here is that while this is a general claim about tilles it is
also possible to argue that the title lconodlHlic COlllrol'l'rsy. the
co ntent of the frame and the relation between them. inscribe
these considerations within the frame of Icolloclastic COn/ro -
rf!rSy. In sum therefore beginning 10 interpret the frame. the
painting, lconoc/astic COn/rOl'ersy, involves recogni sing that
part of its content is this enacted rethinking of tit les. Thi s does
not occur in addition to the painting 's content but as part of its
content; as if. (It goes without saying that. at this stage, it is its
content thus interpreted). There are important implications of
this inscription for an understanding of memory and history.
However prior to taking up this task it is vital to plot the way this
inscription lakes place.
The ostensib le issue within Iconoclasm was the worship of
images. There is a sense therefore in which thi s historical
moment, even though it is coupled with the division between the
Eastern and Western church, and the mQre general question of
power within the Byzantine empire. is also an integral moment
within the history of mimesis. (These two moments are not
mutually exclusive). The problem raised by Ihe worship of
images refers on the one hand to the Judaic and Islamic traditions
in which God could not be made present.. while on the other it
invokes the PlalOnic argument that a mimetic presentation within
both the visual artS and literature, by definition. is always going
to be unable to present the 'rea lity', or 'essential being' of the (to
VII. ollsia) of the represented. When the argument to do with the
limits of mimesis concerned a trivial example - the 'brid le' in
the Repllhlie (Book X) - then the significance of the limits lay
within mimesis itself and not the example. In the case of God
however it is different. Now the example is of central impor-
tance.
The problem of the presentation of God has both its origins as
well as its conditions of existence in PlatoniSITl. When for
example Augustine in Tlli' Confessiolls (Book XI, VII ) poses the
question of how God's word can be represented because it takes
place at one time and therefore cannot be articulated within the
temporality proper to human speec h, he is drawing on the
distinction establis hed by PlaLO between the ontology and tempo~
rality proper to the 'Forms' and that proper to the domain in
which tllings corne into existence and pass away. The problem
generated by the Platonic conception of mimesis is that it may
lead to the tran sgression of God. This ri sk is hoth sustained and
generated by mimesis. Understood as a moment within the
history of mimesis, Iconoclasm therefore involves, at the very
minimum, two significant elements.
The firs t is that it has to be assumed that what is 110t present has
a fixed reality which by definition cannot be represented as
itself, ie presented in itself. and secondly that purported repre-
sen tal ions of God led the 'faithful' 10 conflate the image with
reality. Once again this is precisely the problem Plato identified
within mimesis. (it informs, for example, the careful <0''' d"rn:
tion in Repuhlic Book II and Ill, of which stories should be
to childre n). The important clement is not God as such but t
non-prese nt. For once the presence of Ico noclasm comes to
inscribed with the frame titled fconodastic Controversy it is then
possible to interpret the non-present as hi story. In addition tbe
presentation of history - the coming 10 presence of the non
present - would seem to involve a painting thai wus enacted as
memory; ie us an act of remembrance. As wi th any beginning the
specificity of these terms is far from c lear. What mu st be pursued
therefore is not sim ply the relationship between history and
memory, but rather a reworking of memory and remembranct
such that they could in the end be si tuated beyond presence. 1ft
other words reinscribed in order that they be maintained but nOi
as purveyors of presence.
Memory History
The inscription of the problem of non-presence within the frame
indicates that the question at hand concerns how the presence
that non-presence is to be understood. Th is problem is na!
reducible to establishing the possibility of a remembrance
wh ich the non-present becomes present. (However, as shall be
seen, remembrance brings with it the questions of what
remembered and for whom?) Iconoclasm was a movement
resisted this possibility though it Wll S a resi stance
within mimesis. The /col1oda.l'li{' COn l rO\ICTsy as a title does
name a problem within mimesis. Rather the past docs not om"
out of mimesis, but on the contrary as a problem for mimesis.
Therefore the criteria of interpretation cannot themselves
articulated within mimesis. There are wider implications as
painting does, in addition, pose the question of the I
history - the coming to presence of the non-present - even
history as the narrative of contin uity given the nature of
history .
The frame itself contai ns a number of imporlant <om~'o",""
that can be seen as enacting these considerations. The first is
combination of media. ie photography and paint. It is
assumed that it is the presence of mixed media within the fra~
that is referred to by the painting's title, or at least that the
questions the 'reliability ' of the photograph. On their own iT
extremely unlikely that these possibilities cou ld aCCount for~
relationship between title and co ntent s, let alone the . i '
of the title's dilemma (the dilemma of th e title) into the
itself. The way towards an understanding of the
both photography and painting is provided firstly by presenct
of the palette outlined in black and secondly by the words written
in the bottom right corner, Bilder-Sm'it.
The palene figures in a number [)( Kiefer's paintings. There
are at times slight variations. In Icarus - Ma n-I! Sand.
e)l;ample, the paielle has a wing. This painting al so
combination of media. Morcover, its title is written within !be
field of the painting. Invariably within his work the palette e~jsa
in outline only. The palctte is at the same time empty and full.
This is especia lly the casc in IconoelllStie COn/rol'('fsy. It is
empty of its spec ific content and yet is filled by what it outlint4.
The paradoxical pale lie is both a part and yet apart. The paleltt
opens a rift within the frame lhatthe painting does not try
It is preCisely the presence of the 'a part/apart' that indicates the
impossibility of a retrieval or recovery of a past which is no
longer present. The present within this paradox becomes the sitt
- the witness - to a conti nual remembrance. It is however Ollt
where remcmberjng demands neilher the continuity of narratiH
nor of tradition. (The temporal dimension thaI is displaced ~
well as the one that emerges in its place, pose interpretative
questions of considerab le importance), The rift, the I
apart, that signifies without mimesis - apart from mimesis

lIlerefore without a fixed and determined ~ignified (the repre-
ented) - is the possibility which while not being contain ed
within Iconoclas m, is nonetheless the ri s k within mimes is that
mimesis itself attcmpt s either to restric t via the introduction of
truth or circumvent via what could be called a ~eneralised
Iconoclasm. It is in this sense that the palette is connected to the
words that also s tage the arg ument over images: HihluSlre;t ,
The frame . the painting Icollochulic COII/rorers)' has there-
fore inscribcd within it - 'within it' becomes of co urse 'as it' - ll
questioning. if not a reworking of titles and of rcpresellt:ltioll .
The presence of thi s ac ti vity within the frame works JO reinforce
tht rift opened by the palelle. Since both suggest that. on one
Inti at least, neither re presentat ion, nor mimesis are adequ,ltc to
tlletasL of providing an inte rpretation of the painting. Indeed thi s
trntrges, in part. as an interpretation of the p"inling. In OIher
words the problem s of interpretation. mimesis etc. are 110t
lnterior to the painting but take pl:1ce within the framc. They do
have a specificity . The point is that hi s lory, memory, reme m -
brance. etc, do not j ust happen . they form pan of:1 tradition: a
dommant tradition . Con l e~ l s, even a controversy. th:l1 ta kc place
withm the tradition concern dominance. II is Ihe way in which
the: tradition has come to dominate. taken in conjunction wi lh the
consequences of that dominance. that it become", e",sent1:11 to
ho~se tradition but not within the house of tradition.
In /folloc/aSll'c COllll'OWrsy the presence of the tanks and the
wall gathered within the paradoxi ca l palette form a part of
I This paper IS pari or a work.tn . progr~s on the paiOlings of An\clm
KJrfer. II tal.:es up, but does no t I:omplete. (Ill imerpre tation of Klefe r's
worL that was begun in Whm is Decol/slrutw'W' pages 5054. The
~tlCh offered here IS. as was the earlier one. connected to the
pllllQsophy of Deconstruction withou t being reducible to il. I ha~ e
~tlined Ihe ambiguit y suggesled by Ihe co pre ~e n ce Ill' the Engl ish :Iud
Cittmln litles: IrVlwc/u.vlk Co ntro,'cr,vyI8 i1der.StrI'I/ . Scc the
WJlague. Anselm Ki('jer. published by The Art [nsili ute of ChicJ.go :lIld
!lit Philadelph ia Museum of Arl, t987.
2 Evtn th l~ claim. wilhout of course being mis leadi ng. is problemalll:
WlCe Ihe pnmary sources arc Ihemsclves split between the o ppo ~mg
fiICllons. Even conven ll()nal hhlories are lOrn between Ihe East and Ihe
Wesl. For an overview see E J Marlin, A lIislOf)' of Ih" 1{'()!Joe/aSlif
ComrlJl'trsy, SPCK. London . 1930. A general discussion of Ihe arts of
tbt ptriod is provided by David Talbot Rice in 8Y:(JIllil1c An. Pelican
Books. London. t9S4.
3 IhIve discussed the problem of naming in Trellls/mion ~lId the Nut"r~
1PI,,/osophy' Q Nt'" Theory (If Words. ROUiledge. London 1989. See in
ANDREW BENJAMt\'
hi storical continuity and yet arc allhe ~ame time held apa rt from
it. They thereby s ignal the necessi ty that emerges when hislory.
memory anti tradition can no longer be thought within represen-
tation and mime si~. ie within the very terms that tradition
de m:1ntls that t hey be thought. In addition wh:1t a lso emerges is
time. s ince the te mpor:1lity proper to me m ory and continuity is
the temporality of the ordered ~cq uence . A break within that
sequence - a rift - can alwayo; be tl ealed by memory. Memory is
understood :tS creating a narrative within the temporality of
sequential continuity . It is thi s conception of memo ry thm the
painting s u ggcs l~ is no longer possible. Memory is not to be
linked to the pa,l. The paint ing gestures tow:1rdo; a present
re membr.ance::1 wl1ness to the rift.
Undenaking thi s t:ls k - present re membrance - is done for the
most part within Kiefer'\!. work by deploying figure, and events
from history' . However each one works in:1 particular way such
that it c all~ int o question the po~ ~ ibility of its own usc as the
c reator of u Irue hi story in whi c h the pas t comes to be either
ret rieved or re~tored. Present remembrance thu s o l>cns up the
possibility o f thinking the te mporality of the rift and also of
developing " conception of tradi tion :1S rift. Tradition a nd lime
(Ihough only the time of lradition ) now have a determination. It
b, of course. one thai iJ. nOI hand ed down within and as tradition.
The delermination is the rift. It i~ in sum the ,actualisation of the
ris k within rnimcsi<;.
partIcular Chapter 6.
4 I am not de nying the Importance of eVidence a nd the fal:tua l I:Olllenl
of hislory. Indeed il is allimes e~sc nhat \(l have access to suc h malcnal.
A clear example concerns the po!cnl1(: uround Ihe 'exi~te nce' of Ihe
death camps. The IWO points fhm emerge here arc differenl . On Ihe one
hand it inv o lv e~ Ihc recognition thai evidence can ne ver ubti/J mC/w
bUI is de ployed and rede ployed and thus ordered within Ihe different,
:lIld at time~. connrcling narr:uivcs In wh ic h n appears. On the olher
hand it is siglllficant ly more complex. It refers 10 Ihe problem of
re prcsellIalion (and hence mimes is) III Ihe sense Ihal 11 refcrs 10 the
I)roblem of unders tanding what il i:" Ihal is presented in Ihe present :u.
hi ~l or). The question IS: whal form doc, Ihe pre~ence of the p:lst Hike?
Moreover is it constrained to take a parllcu lar form1 The quesllon
therefore does not concern the 'that ' of hi story - its content bUI history
itself. The point lrt issue here is whether or IIOt Kicfcr '~ painting falf;CS
these ques tions from withi n its content or. more radicall y. are the!oe
questio ns ils content. It is precisely the tens IOn betwttn these two
possibilities th3 t will be explored HI this paper.
105
DECONSTRUCTION

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106
 ,

VALERIO ADAMI
The Rules of Montage

Itt

Valerio Adami 's work has ret:ently attracted much critical attention from deconstructionist philosophers. In his pai nt -
ings and drawings, Cubism and Pop Art rival each other in a fra gmented syste m wher e different sections a f C j uxtaposed
~et by their intrinsic shape allude back to their origins. and result in an almost nostalgic (Iuality being bestowed upon
the subject. The following text con sists of a series of extracts taken from the arlisl 's book: Les regles dll mOl/tage.
The discrepancy between our daily life as we see it and the pi cture as a self-determined. autonom ous object i.. false, for it i,
Ilories thlllihe mediu make about it where it i~ only a mailer of involved in an infinitely open time, a globality ctc.
war. misery. riots. CIC. To give evidence of this reality's experi We are far from being able to make il psychological anal ysb of
ence wilhaUi givi ng free rein 10 ils subjectivity. or even 10 th e Objec t-course to find the origin of our 'deed,,' in their
confused my~ticism. To fini sh thu s wi th a quasi-neuroti c paint- intimate project ion. J am thinking about an obJec l iv~lIi on of ltS
ing produced by sex ual drives or by the will of tak ing ol1cs own mechan isms in its relaliolis wi th the inside and the OUI!!oide.
deSIre for po~er for rca lity. etc. We musl look for methods to The ma!!o tery of form . in this sense. ought to lead u!!o 10 the
establish an order. A picture is the recording of a very precise phenomenon of Ihe real. Toilct!>. hotels. private ! o Jaughter:<o are
reality, even in the succession of his contradic tory actions: man wa y!) of life, another nervou " loy 'lem like mine, when I go out
lI'ho, at every moment. would question his existence. with my camera . 'Hey painter, don ' t cut your ear off! shouts a
No reality is separate. each thing is conditioned and co ndition ~ taxi -driver to me.
in tum. As I see il. thi s dynamic is co nstitutive of fa("t~, in th e
Wiugensteinian sense. Every faci result s from actions and
objects in a symbolic union - the fa ct pluces itself in the
succession of time etc. II is the process of life. Thus it~ Arona. My lac ustrian lovc. Place marked with questions and
"presentation obeys ils own language. An open struc ture . as rich answer .... Drawing i!) a li terary occupation, reading is a mailer of
In potenlial as human life. the eyes. A drawing mu~t give all the information abou l Itself.
In its materiality. the rea l dissolves into figure s in constant The hand follow s 115 subject which detaches Itself from us.
e~ol u tion. It relinquishes its place to new . autonomous ~t ruc Impelled by an energy which i.. contained in the sign itse lf and
tures. but which take their form from the firs t reality . These will return s at the end of the routc aga inst the au thor. We IIbandon II
~ the precipitated chemi ca l of the real, it s definition even. Let drnwing when we are ready to add the fina l work, the finish ing
U~ rid ourselves of every pre-existing schema and open up 10 thi~ line being the point of louspension. I would like to be able 10 use
new dimension of narrative . the term s 'prose' and 'poetry' and defi ne my work 1I~ II pro ~e
New objects appear. which claim llllothcr spnce and ano ther pain ting. The narrat ive departure point is c!)sCllIi;11. etc. BUI the
llem nnd their form will result from their SUppO rl . from which we fOfm alters my conviction and my doubt s. JU S! as a cu rved li ne
/u;ve a system composed of inexhaustibly detailed elcmeills. and a broken line inOuence the sig nified . Following thai it is
open to infinite variations. to the limits of the irrational. Because drawn with a continual or broken line . the S:lllle object is
of this tcmpoml characteristic any proposit ion that de fines a differenl. Chance inte rvenes in all composition. even in the most

107
DECONSTRUCfION

rigorous. The fortuitous cleme nt hides behind every movement painting can only come out of the belly of the painter.
of the hand. A painter goes from one su rpri se to another. If,
while painting, a drop of paint drips onto 11is paper, nothing 2.015077. III apl'l1(Jic:e al/(J l'iI/a dei mi.Uf'ri (sit/apia) Cabaret
prevents him from using it. In any case, he must settle his Voltaire. Post-scriptum. Two invented portraits. Flagellating
accounts with it, whether he effaces il or paints il in again. The demon found in Ihe guide. Exlasies. Voltaire leaning against
unexpecled changes represen lation and shifls il (0 a metaphysi- met:!physic (winged figure at the bollom right of Ihe painting).
cal register. The order of a picture is different to that of nature , it We find ourselves facing the theme like the audience at the
corresponds 10 another type of logic: I would say that the picture cll1cma: in the dark. we arc always ready to identify with the
is emancipa led. A drawing is. neither more nor less. sketc hed hero.
lines: Ihe spectalOr must nol comp lete it by referring 10 what it
represenlS. Fixin g a form is something Iha\ occurs in the mind.
The picture is :1 plural representalion. E:lch line defines two
arenas. a concave space and a convex space. We often find The imperfections of the table beneath the pencil alter a sign.
ourse lves in the convex space. We first see the drawing in ilS then someone enters Ihe room and the drawing changes again,1
entirety,i t is nOI until after the event Ihal we discove r its details. leave it for a few moments, I go back to where I had left off, bUI
We do nOI read a picture like a book or a film. Each shape is part something has now stepped in. anti-figuration.
of a whole, which after all includes its negative.


giusrdE.
Art for art'.5 sake . The arl of war. NOli ci SOfiO gllcrre
Rudyard Kipling with carly morning fea bags. How do you Pound ) There are subjec ts into which bluc cannot enter. Colow
invent a text'l A celllripetal aClion that follows a centrifugal is within what one thinks about and not in what one sees. Thisi!
movement. The whole is the text. The hand. while moving, al so why acrylic is the IllOSt adaptabl e medium. To think yellow i~
explains something about itself. To draw with the metronome. urine is a symptom of illness. Seagulls are !l ying over Brooklya
etc. Prolegomena of a journey to Indi:!. bridge in the evening. a primate of art, domimllion exe rcised b)'
21 .04.77. I dra w: Back to Bombay. power over nature.

When the area of a surface found itself covered by colour, Ihe

idea of art was tlorn, etc.
23.04.77. I draw: M Olllullelll Ii la pOlhie immorteJle. The
figure in profile is wearing a hearing-aid.
Erude pOllr /a (/i.fsidel1ce. M odldes {JOllr 1111 dei t. Artistl' qlli
t/'(J\'uil/e tI son G/lloportrail. Sphinx. Chaises et hal/OIlS ,-oIlRes.
24.04.77. r recall a nOle by Leonardo wriling on the subject of
the work of art, Ihat il must not base itself on nature but on
natural laws. The school of th e nude teaches us how to lay bare.
To draw from memory. Memory is a Illodel to look at as one
regards a landscape. The unity of a dr:!wing is the infinite
number of parts which make it up. J have proof thai my drawing
does not have tota l confidence in ils maker and that it w:!nts al all
cost 10 submi t me to its will. The idea changes going through the
drawing. Questions in blunk hypnosis. etc.
Schifanoia's ritual shape. Emotions dating from the Renais-
sance. Objectivity. virtue of preciSion. There is a wasteland
between the signified and the Signifier, the painter must appro-
priate it. P<lint without too m<lny <ldjcctivcs. But how do you
represent the whiStling of the wind in lhe c himney? Co lour.
drawing's phoneme. Conjunction. fixing of a system, passage
from one line 10 another through involuntary confessions, police
dogs and searches, etc. The arbitr:!riness of the hand thm takes
hold of the pencil. System ca n become theory . Reuniting.
assimi l<lting, effacing, confron ting, receiving, finding, refuting.
.. (identity papers) and painting begins in identity. But what is
theory and practice? The vices of definitions. Images as Ihings.
To invent a new body for these things, etc. Things as angels, in
the equation angels-objects. Poeti c manufacture. Where can we
st:lT1? Painting interests me when it ceases to be sensitive ... to
draw a muscular body. The sign has its own, charac teristic.
muscular system which tak.es the place of tile model"s analOmy.
In contrast with Italian Renaissance painting the an:!1 side of all
Flemish painting seems to me to be clearly evident. Precious
faecal acts, excrement of an incurable nervous system. (I tell
Damisch this about the catalogue . . . )
Every day painters announce the death of painling and yet
Atr(,lIwlO secondo (sillopia). A policeman on horseback goo
through the 41st decuman gate. A golden sky over New York's
agor(l, perfect sign of a religious art. The balance of the painter
between personal and impersonal with the coming and going ct
the view. Facts deprived of apparent relationships betWet1l
themselves, but rcally composed like a film sequence. 111
movements of a picture that correspond 10 a myth and the m)th
that corresponds 10 the totality of its movements.
How do we look a t a picture? To understand the beauty ofit
whatever it may be. To pass through painted figures and Stop 10
live II moment with th em. A series of tasks must be carriedOUI
before taking a photograph: focusing, exposure time, apenure
This is how we must proceed so as to look in an effective way I~
short we search. we se:trch in all the corners of the piclure as d
we have lost somelhing: there is an image to find. there is !lit
indication of a symbo lic body. the hypothesis of an angel. elC.
There are figures who live in he:!ven. e tc. In many painting~
space is not a description of a place. but a mental aura. [n
speaking in the first person. we cre<l te metaphors. At
lived among Piero's charac ters, elC. The lrue interpreter or~
drama is the plaslic value of the painting. The eross in
mouth (Arezzo) half-way between knowing and seeing.
Reflections on classica l virtues. elc. Painting which considefl
man. man and his nude body. the relief of the body in drawing.
etc. Past and future equidistant. Exploded drawings etc. I dream
of the Ponlormo nudes, etc. Aphorisms on Ihe body: [earn"
k.now yourself but to represent your neighbour. Look inw
yourself if you wish to find the other. etc. 'Recherche de
putemitc' in the Appiani CMtoon s (at the Louvre). the illusional
being impregnated, the imitator of classics with us, the min.:!
painted. Without 'style' we tum. sweep round and lose ow
balance. Images that are never composed in advance, they invea\
them selves. we manipulate them in lhe course of work; a piclun:
is finished when the process is finally recomposed. Harmon)
exists in the connection between detail and Ihe whole. There is,
physical seeing and a political seei ng. We must ask ourselves:
what do we see? A window, a radiator. a dog. Is that the whok

108

scene'? BUI is il aUlUmn or spring? (We know that the angle
betl'rcen the walls of a room and the Ooor is a right angle, but we
40 not sec it as s uch ... )
From where do we choose loubjects? 110011. bctwccnthc lines. I
SIln from literature, then inventi on will begin . . . Beatrice.
Fidelio, Loreley. etc, are fem<lle nudes. A great billl with the past
.. But Don Juan didn ' t like hi s time either. III the lake of
memory (Mllemo.fY"c, HBlderlin)
il someone is watChing me) ,
AnlJgrammi is possibly my beSI painting. but it is al so th e one
"'hich consoles me the leasl; the liberal ing knock-out has nOI
llappened. And yet the method of a drawing. the cha in-reac tion
betl'reen Ihe images and the thcmes which adapt and combinc the
"orking lime Ihat repeills lived experience, etc, should have a
calming effect, put order illlo disorder ilnd etellr aWily pllin, elc.
What attracts me nowadays is a painting of metamorphoses .
that of cubism and of perspective . Firstly the drawing. genital
OIlan of my picture, elc. Whal is the n Ihe fin ish and what is it ~
opposite? - for the form is nOI the 'chiaroscuro'; when dea ling
wIth chiaroscuro we only ever seck to fill il elc. The image whi ch
is not closed by the borders of the painting is in <lny C<l~e
mfluenced by their horizontal or venical parall e li sm. By remov -
ing all the unnecessary and superfluou s line .. we reac h the
perfect form. etc: the eyes' work consists of eXilmining and
correcting Ihe hand , finding slraighl lines , curved angle s. etc. I
draw the outline of a mountain with a single line . The modern
bas concemrated on 'expression', unknown ex pre ss ion of the
~lassics, expression of life. etc . But the mome nt does not lend
1~lrto nostalgia ...
M~('" /'HI)A.,4IF. 1'76, AC.l lYl.IC
VALERIO ADAMI
19.02.87, T('ma delfai('(l . If I makc many palntmgs from the
same drawing it is Ixcause its theme contains the ob..ession of
memory and. by repetil ion. I ex pel and exorci~e it. Form and
progress: this is Ihe cover beneath which the young arti st will
find himse lf. and thi s against di~orde r . Thi s notebook is only the
diary of di 'iorder which goes from one group of drawings to
anothe r, it is only the c onfessional g rille (as I am unable to draw
AI Ihe end of each painting you always lose something but you
also grow richer. you ~ee the past through different eyes and,
rediscovering you rse lf. you become liberated. you fo llow expec-
tat ions. remorse. sadnes!, nosta lgia. etc . You search for expres-
sion Ixcausc. without il . a drawing i~ merely a piece of paper that
can easily Oy away , Pa ssion is created within ex pression . but
passion s arc multifariou~ and one is never expressed in l\t1other.
And what if one want, to represent it? - For my part. I do not
think that passion can express passion . More tha n e motion. what
coun ts when faced wilh a painting, b the idea Ihal it is bom
In side us, the conslruction of states of mind. etc .. Language
pre~enl s prefigured fe el ing~, painting has given fa ces to heros
and images to myth s, but if we face the pa~1 we have our backs tu
the future. In myoid paintings Ihe object made its way towards
man and a nude stretched out on the sofa made a body from the
sofa: Ihe ..e days. the o pposite occu rs: a nude, 111 a landscape
becomes the li ne ~ of hills or merge ~ with II lale ~o as 10 affirm
itself as a pari of the whole. The sly Ie comes forward again and
again. it is repeated from painting to painting. but it i~ alway ~
more or less rich in vaned in lentions etc.
109
I)[COI\5"1 KUC1'IO/\

p
-

II

.
I.

10

"
110
 ZOE ZENGHELIS:
The Elegance of Balance: An Art and D esign Interview

( 111 m rill. t- 11'1/\ t. (;/ OHI.. 1~1~_ 'II 'ill "EDIA

Zoe Zengheli s cstaIJlis hcd herself a s n painter durin g the 70s wilh a se ries of vi sioll'lry archit ectural funta sies for
lhe Offi('(' for Metro politan Archih.'cturc. Her work is dHtr<lC.:teri sed by :J dual sen se of pure visual and arch-
ilecl ural for m. In an int ervi ew wilh Art & De.\";g" s he discusses her work. which ranges from pur e abstraction to
represe ntati ons of project s. in the light of its unique combination of formal anal ysis. balun ce und mys ter y.
willi .\01I1l' of 1111' piC/llfl'S .1'0/1 did for OMA
..fllllid II{' ,1/11,., ()th~r word~ there ]~ a continuou~ need to tadle ~omething
'Ollin' Jrlf M('/l'IJpo/il(l1l Archill'Clllrt')? If .WU/ tll/..(, III!' City of ctifferl.'nl all the time .
IhI' Capllve Globe [or Jill/Win'. 1\'(/11ld YOII say {IWI piClllfl' is a -/IIIII' do Y"u go alwlIl d/JIII~ {I 1/(JIllllIlg wilh OMA? 00 Ihey Stl.l
1!'prCJ'l'IIWIIIIII IIJ {II/ wThilcl'llrlll 1"1.\/01/ 01" doe.> II .>IIII/elils II /(I you Wl' \\'(JIII Illis plIl"lini/al" l"i('1I" IIJ" 1IIIIIdillg?
{!if/III"(' III 11.1 OWll ri~hl' We IIsu:dly think about the paiTHing togcther. We discu~s
TIi~CiII()flht' Cllillire GIl/iiI' painting i\ both a rcpre,entation of diffl.'rcnt idca~. I TII,lkc ~OTIIC rough \ketchc~ and together wc take
~urarchitecll!ral \li~ion ilnd in my opinion II painting in ih own thl.' final dCl:i~ion on the type of drawing. the angle. wh~lhcr it
right. P~intinp.~ arc done ,lI all ~t:lge~ of OMA', de~ign~. will be a day or a night "cene elc .
.....lmetimc\ on an c\ploratofY basi:., other, 011 a purely rcpre~en -Til whal exlt'llI iJ w("lIill'IIIII"t' all illlj1orwl/I ill/ll1/'lll"t' /III yOl/r
tJll0llal1elcl. Be ~i dc ~ tcchniquc~. my joh i, to cr(':Jte Ih(' l'orrcCI JI(/illlil1~?
mood ~nd cftel:1. for example 10 prove Ihe "cductivcne'" of a To a great extcnt. although my work deah with whal architecture
boJllul!1g ("Ir Ihe polemiC, 01 It~ archilecture. iI' blending. ih I.'vokcs rathcr than what it i".
t~ntraSletc . Somelime\. looking al a drawing. I get in"pired for a -5" yVlI (Ire C{/IICl'I"II('d willi IIII' tllIl1l1Sfl'u'll' ill"/"l'lIle., (/.~ \1"t'lIaJ
!t.Iinling and II is then tl1:1! my OMA work b al ir; f1\O~1 abwact. il.1 formal ifUl/lilit's. II .S/'l'IIIS 10 lilt' 111111 \"0// h(ll"(' ~"fJ/1/1' "i("/II1"1'.1
/.IIJu> lI"or( l"illiI/' dOlle }'o O(l,1A (III impfJrwlH {Ian of y(lII,. Ihm are almOSI cIoSl' 1"t'/JI"('Sl'lIIltlioll.1 (!f 1}llIldill~s ill (I.I"l'Ilillg
.'IT!,"' lIlId ()fllt'''~ IhOl (fl"{' 1I1{1l"t' (II/S'NU', drawing OIIl'lellll'llIl" tifJol"m,\
It lIa~ a 'cry impurwnl Pilrt of my work. Painting for OMA III That's rig.ht. I never know how Ihe painting. will end. what it will
tJ("lpve me the co nfidence ,lnd drive 10 become fI p:linier in my finally look likc. T he beginning of a painting Itself i~ different
IllIn right. Lately I have 100 many com1l1b~ion~. exhibitions elc every 1HllC. [ could s t<lrt from an image (hat for certain rea'on ~
'0 I pJtnt le\~forOMA. l likc altenwing from p:linting forOMA ha~ an im pac1 on me ::ll1d try to recreate it in painting. bu! 1 could
l~ tcaching. to painting my own pictures.. sometime~ ill oil. ju~ t :l~ well StuTl by doodling on 3n already used paper and from
IIIme!imc\ in acrylic. ab~lract one moment. reali~tic the nex t. In thell on by adding and subtmcting. crC<lte a new .\Cl of rclation-

II I
DECOl\"STR L:CTIOl\"
~hlP~ of l inc~, shapes and cololln,
-III/WI kind of rlling,1 do .1'011 \1'11111 {O SlIggf'SI?
Mcl:mcholy, longing, rny"tcry, vagllcne:,>~, No coherent
s age~, no symbo lic meanings,
-So II'S {/ \'tll'iNy of style tllI,{ IIIflO( II/WI (I/lI'(I('ts \'(III ?
y c ~,mdced, I thrive on the po~~jbilily of different choices, The
c holce lead~ to the media and vice ver~a, My 11I0"t a t mo~phcric
and dreamy work i~ done 111 oi l. Wh cn I lI\e llcry l ic~, becau~e of
the perfect surface a nd te}l turc that this mcdium offe r ~ I get
ob~e~'ed wi th preCision a nd my pa i ntillg~ hecorne a game of
geometry, Architecture i, the perfect ~ubjctt for both airm,
-lIIlral illll'l'l'JIS rOil pOr/illllllrly wlll'lI you lI'od, \"illl shope,\ or
.
IJI/ fill (I/).~I"lICI ? IIIlIm ~fI\'el'lIS "\'(J/(I' 1lII(I~ill(l/iO/r wlrl'1I ,\'(111 work
ill t/wl I/Imh- ? Is iT ill .WillI' hl'lId rlwl .VO/l (II' { ' de(,fII/SlI'II( ' lill~ (I
111'1/('1111'(' 01' a r(llll' l'lI fll' (I 11"1'111011.1' , or i s III(' ('OIlIlIllItllioll
flit lUII'd lIy l'OIl!' illl(/:~II/(/ii/)/l wliell yOIl (Tt'(lIe il ?
I :. uppo~e I deconstruct a paHern o r a ha rmony ~tep by slep,
~ o1l1etiJl1c~ I 30d or ~upc r impo~e, a lw:lYs bal:H1cing and contrast-
wg lines with ~h:lpe!>, ~hap('~ with co lour, II is intuition rather
than intention and ideology,
-IVIII' II YIII/' I ' e (leh it' I '('(I I hi' fi 11111 i 11111g(', d 1/ yOIl ,11'(' ,l'fIIl/rlll i /I ~ ill
I IIIR P.III/ /JI /..I\III/TiT 1 9~ 1
illhell ?
I ~ce !>omething in it all the way but the final imagl! a~ you call il
i, the I'ir ~ 11l1n1l1ent in the rr()ccs~ tha t I can ~t()p and lei il be ,
-D o \'Ol//' /110/'(' uh.\I/'U{,/ lI '(ll'ks dra\\' ill (11/\' . (II/II/(' Irodilioll
. 11'01'
II/ (11M IraI'I UI'I , say llie RII Jsiflll C(lIlSI/'llf'li1'i~/S ?
Ye~, t hcre i, a 101 of influence from them in theIr preoccupation,
WIth geometry and the elrmination of the llnnecC<;~:lry , AI~o
CLlbr~m I would say, but mostly the Rus~ian" , I ('an add to Ihi"
tlwt m} le~\ ab~tract war", the war" th;rt contaim 1110re yearning
un(1 drama, ha~ an affinity with ,>omt: modern R u~~ian ,rrchitcc -
tUf:!1 picture, of the l:t~t decade,
-1\'/1(11 4i lid of I Ii i II,~\ II /'(' 1101 /I I"'t' 1'5tI n ' ?
Mo<,\ Ihlllg .. ,
- Sri 1'1111 (1/'/ ' (I O"Ul/Is/I'II{'liollill ?
Ithll1" there \, some connection , I hope pcople wil l not trarhlalC
l)ccon~lTuClioll as dhmantling ,
-1) 0 YOII Ii~t' l ' i~IIt11 pllrilY (jilt! lllllpli"iIY."
Ye~, vay much '0 - und balance, I'm alll1o~t neurotic about
gelling the right pT<lportion<; :lI1d rdation~hip~, Ihe righ t colou r
on the right ma teri;11 with no wa!>te,
-1)/1 ,1'(111 /lIill~ III(I{ /'ollle,I' jl'oll/ yOllr ill/en'sl ill urdll'leelllre ?
112
Yc~, I am a pain ter of the built lanchcape althougl1 I could never
be an architect. 1 ,taTted "tudying inlerior de~ign a,:t concession
lI1e~ 10 Elia'~ in~istence Ihat I ,hould ,tudy architecture as he did . I
.. oon changed to ~tage de~ign for my lrHerllledi:lle ,tnd did JUSt
painling for my NDD - all thIS HI the Regent Street Poly in the
:.ix tic<" We did not wor!.; togetl1er al that :.wge, Anyway hardl)'
anyone was u~ing ~'o l (lur in architec ture then, I think tl1a! OMA
introd uced architcr.:luf:J1 painting~ in the e:lrly scventre~, Madd)'
IMadelon Vric~endorp l and I arc the only painters, I thinL who
are partners in an architectural group,
-It's il1tt'rt'Hing Ihat YOII 11IIk ahllllTlikillg halllllf'l', parllCu/Ilr/V
ill {{II 08(' iii I1'hil'h 8il'f'1I lIf1/iO/l.\- of hollillri' hm'/' In'/'ll l"f'jt'(,leil,1
~lIpr(J.\'/' IIwl IIIlIsl pal'lly /'01111' jrml/ \\'11(11 you ~1/{)\1' a/}oul
. II i I ('{"III /'{' .'
({I 'C
Ye<;, I glle~~ so, I elljoy wor"ing wilh and lcachinl architect~
arch itectural ~lUdenh, t\, you know, Maddy and I run the colour
workshop a t the Architectural j\~';oCla1l0n , I think that it is tlte
only Schoo l of Architc(' ture in England that teache~ paintin~.
Funct ion , u~c of mate rials, choke of drawing' and techniques,
precis ion etc, in othcr words the. plurality of problem~, demand!
careful balancing, The 111MC you ;th:.trar.:1 the greater the impof'
,\ ( R\IIC 1I\ (,lE 7011\//UL '"" I. \\" n' R (OLO L ~
tance of balancing bc(' urne~ ,
-Do YOII Ihlllk rhal ahSTl'al'lioll hl' lps ill (lIIV \ral'fur Ihe Jllldfil/l'
1111 ill' I'~-' a lid i IIg of an' Ii i II' ("{ 11/'1 ' ?
Ye s, to ,tart from a given image and 10 ~ucl'e~~fully ,ubtr:tcl and
ub~tract in different ~tagc~ till you r~a,h the fina l abstr;lClinnllll!
l1everlhele~~ s till holds the intnn:.i{' I1lc~sagc' of the origiJl1
image j<; a very important di~eiJ1lil\:lry l'XCrCl~e for th.: ~Iudcn t
-II Ilris II pI'Of't'n IIwl ,1'011 II,\'{' yOllrsd("
Simplifying :lnd controlling e}lce~" ,urd}, hl' lps the arti\1 not!D
lo~e hold of what i~ important in ,I dc~igrl,
-1'111(' 'J(lI(lI/('l' yOIl 11'.1' 10 {I( hii'I'/' III lite IIIOI'l' allslron 11(11l11lnf
simil(ll' III Iltt' /)olill/I'(' \'011 wullf To (1I'h;l'1,/, ;11 llit, 1'1'(l1;.I'li(" Ollfj
Of couf:.e! Balancing is a manife~tation of your ability toch~
and u~e only tho~e e1ement~, ide.l s etc tlHl1 will be\! cxpre .. s )'0111
intention, Ah~ t raction or realbm in this ca,c are the ~Hm c,
-0/1 \ '0/1 ('omIJlIl{, Ihl' 111'0 ele!/le/IlS, /'f'(II,sli{' alld (/h~II'''' I, til all ,
Ye~, I u,c rea l i~tic figuralivc ill1age~ in an :!bstract \\lay,
-Do YOII IlIill~ Ifllli l'l'IIIOl'('S yO/fr l!'o/,{!rmll till' strici dlSliIi CliQII
,10111(' I'('op/(' {Te(ll" heTw/'('1I Ihl! tlhSlrael (Illd fhl' I't'tllislic ?
Po~~ibly! To tell you the truth I don'[ mind what my p:lintingl
arc labelled a~, It just hurpens that they arc real ly complmr,

abstraCI (I am Greek after all). As for myse lf, I like all forms of
MI.
-DotS tile li se of architectllral forms gire ),011 a .ffnIClI/rl! which
}'OU can break away from alld call play willi imaginatively'!
Over and over I am inspired by the architectural form, You
cQuldn', hllve described it beller. I like to take 1I structure and le t
my imagination pllly around with it.
- Art Ihue any !)arlinliar thillgl' dl'ril'ed from YOllr assodalio n
'A'uh archill'l'lII rallJrojecls Ihal )'011 IWI'e go ne 0 11 to lise in OIher
'A'Q)'S in ),ollr own work ?
Yes. many of my paintings derive from architectural projec ts we
hl\c done in the office. These be l:mg 10 the Iype of pain tings that
I mentio ned earlier. the ones that start on an already used paper
and develop from there usually to something totally differenl
from the origi nal pict ure.
-llow did )'Ollr ill\'o/l'em elll willi Pare de III Villelle .for example,
inj/ul'I1(,(, )'0111' work ?
There are four paintings Ihat I ca ll PlIrc de la Villette, In IwO of
them you can still recognise some elements of the origin:11
drsign.
-So Iht I'islwl forms ),011 ('orne across in ),ollr work for somethin):
litt Ihul appeal to you mon' thall the I)(lfticillar ideology or
IlItory u/fnling a projecl ?
\todemism is the on ly ideology I would su bscribe 10 and thi s I
ha\'e in common with OMA . Otherwise . I use form s as a starting
point rrom which to develop my paintings.
-Wilh La Vilfl'lll' did any of Ihl' ,alk ol)Ollt the philosophical
Iduu i/l$pirill8 arChiteCl ural pal'licipallu inspire YOII ?
They interested me bul they certainly did nOI inspire me !
-Do projtcis like La Villette e.ri,~1 w, "imal imusel,/or ),011 ralher
IhQI/buildings , I l'lIPPOU port of a buildillS's nltlure is Ihal il is a
11SIIIJ/,mU81' as well as a concrete SII'llClllre?
The La Villette projects exist for me as v isual images rather than
buildings or ideologies,
-DQ,YOU tl'tr 0/)S11'(1('1from a plan ?
Yn,l have done once or twice, The painting thai comes to mind
II the one from the Antiparos housing plan that looks like a
ZOEZENGl tELI S
question mark.
-Did you consciously abstract fro m the plan ?
Yes. I shaded the background of the painting so that there is a
di stinct concentration of colour and movemen t in the centre. I
placed the plan s of the hou se s that surrounded the centre tn form
the curved top of the question mark then I arranged the next 101
of houses to describe the straight line of lhe question mark and
the single plan disappearing in the sea is the s ign of the full StOp.
- So what appealed 10 YOIl inilioily, was it the image of III(' plan ?
It was the hurricane- like movement of the houses in conlnst to
Ihe geometry of the roads ' black lines.
-It' s interesting tlllll Ihe kind of balance ),011 talk abolll is a
bolana that someone else. say someone who likes traditional
per l'IJt!!'li 1'1:'. would say isn't balollcl' ,
Traditionalists would say that . wouldn ' t they!
-Do changes ill contemporary art ami criticism affecl yO Il at all?
For instanc;e . does it mallcr 10 yOIl when IJeople say Modemism
is dt'ad?
Yes i, does , I am a Moderni st and consider modern archilecture
and art ali ve now just as much as in the 20s, 305 or 60s, It might
shock people lhal some of the so muc h hated ' high rise blocks ' of
-- ,
'::I
, I
thc 60s I find visually stimulating. dram3lic and haunting! Their
appalling built quality and inability to fun ction properly socially
was political and economic,
- Wo uld yOIl agrn with some definilions 0/ Post-Modernism tlu/I
by laking some elements fmm tile pasl and combilli"g Ihem willi
MO(lel'llisl styles yOIl a(' lIil'I'e a model'll slyle Ihat is cO/llempo
f(lry ?
Post-Modernism is nOI a modern conte mporary style . It is retro-
gressive and very alive. like a privatc joke between friends, It is
nOI only Modernism gone wrong but also even like elit ism gOlle
wrong ... if Ihat is possible!
- Som e people 'Wo llid say Ihe inflllence 0/ Decoi/s/rlll'lion 'Was (I
nt'w shot in Iht' arm /or Modernism or Ihat il M'a.~ a de l'eioplllt'llf:
would ),011 so)' so?
It will take lime. I think . until il becomes clear whnl Decon-
stru ct ion is,
DECOI\STR l CHON

\\4
 ZOE Zi:'GltFLlS

II"" I rIJI IfIJ). ;"l'~ \fIlU.K /I'U~' 'III \1 V I. I~,q 011

t 15
 PART IV

DECONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES JENCKS
Deconstruction: The Pleasures of Absence I 19

MARK WIGLEY
Deconstructivi st Architecture 132

JAMES WINES
The Slippery Floor 135

PETER EISENMAN
An Architectllral Design Interview 141 . Blue Line Text 150
En Terror Fimla: In Trails of Grotextes 152 Wexner Center for the Visual Arts 155 Bio-
Centrum , Frankfurt 159 Guardiola Hou se 163 . Carnegie-Mellon Research Institute 169

BERNARD TSCHUMI
Parc de la Villette 175 Tokyo Opera 185 County Hall , Strasbourg 189

116


DANIEL L1BESKIND
Still Life with Red Predicti ons 192 The Surface Mu st Di e. A Proof 193
The Four Texts 194 Berlin City Edge 197

ZAHA HADID
The Peak Club. Hong Kong 207 ' Kurfiirstendamm 70 211 . IBA Housing. Block 2.
West Berlin 2 15 West Hollywood Civie Center 219

COOP HIMMELBLAU
Funderwerk 3 221 Alli e Conversion. Vienna 225 Ronaeher Th eatre. Vi enna 227
Hamburg Skyline 229

MORPHOSIS
Comprehensive Cance r Clinic 23 1 Kate Mantilini 's Restaurant 235

EllA ZENGHELIS
The Aestheti cs of the Present 239

BEHNIS CH & PARTNERS

Hysolar Institutc Building. University of SlUllgan 245

HIROMI FUJII
Ush imado International An s Festival Ce ntre 25 1

PETER WILSON
Berlin - The Forum of Sand 253

ARQUITECTONI CA .
Reccnt Work 255

STANLEY TIGERMAN
Const ruet ion, (Dc )Construetion. (Re )Construet ion 256

EMILIO AMBASZ
San Antonio Conservatory 260

117
DICO\lSTR{ l(TIO\l

'.1
;: .
~
"

~. .

1
I
J
I
I
f)A 'lEi. 1.1 ~f.5I:I~U. Bt.KU'I, Tn j E!JG!;. IIOOU. ,II f'll A

118


CHARLES JENCKS
Deconstruction: The Pleasures of Absence

\)\\A. ~OO\\I'JE.~ HOUSING l'ROlECT, MOTTTIIl)A \1

. i7
Irlhere really is a 'Neo-Modern' architecturc~ many archit ect s and critics have been quick to claim, then it must rest
on a new theory and practice of Mod ernism. Th e only such developm ent to have em erged in th e last 20 years - known as
Deconstruction or Post-Structuralism - takes Modernist elitis m and abstraction to an extreme and exaggerates 1t1ready
known motifs. which is why I would continue to call it 'Late'. Hut il also contains enough new aspects which r evalu e the

~upposiljonsof cultural Modernism [0 w<lrr<l111Ihe prefix' Neo'. 'New'
or'Latc' - it is:1 mailer of debate. and of whether the ernph<lsis i~ on
cOniinuilY or Change: but the fael of a Deconstructionist movement in
JfChitccture has to be accepted, Reflecting cilanges in the literature of
tbe60s (Roland Barthcs' 'death of the author" and, hiler, 'pleasures of
!be lext") and Changes in philosophy (Jacques Derrida's notions of
mtical 'deconstruction' and "'if/hlllll'f"), the. movement has been
mostcomprchensivdy developed by Peter Eisenman as a theory and
practice of negativity ('!lut-classical", '(Ie-composition', 'de-cen-
Iring', 'di.H:ontinuiIY'). Eisenman, alw:lYs on tlTe rookout for linguis-
tic and philosophical justifications for urchiteclUre, and h:lving ex-
MUSled his use for Structuralism and Chomsky in Ihe 70s, has
tirelessly moved on from one metaphysics to the next. an indef:ltigable
Uysses in ~earch of his non-soul, a wandering Modernist who h:ls
found momemary respite in Nictz~he. Freud and Lacall. before
pushmg on to further points of ennu i and alienation, The Second
World War, the Holocaust. the atom bomb. and any number of other
mrscapable horrors become for him. as they do for a hero in Woody
Allen's universe. the essc.nce of Modem life. the data to be represented
Illan::hitcclure, For somc people nothing h:ls more credibility thun Ihe
Grtal Void :mcl the seriousness with which certain New Yo rker~
!"IJffiUC this /fihi! would suggest it is located near midtown M(lnh(l\tl.ln.
Butsincc architecture is supposed 10 be a constructive an with a socia l
base. an architect who designs for emptincss and non-being is slightly
humorous, Who'~ 10 say'! A Oeeonstructive, anli-social architecture
-.b,,1sasgre3t a right 10 exisl as the same traditions in an. liler,lIure lind
philosophy (as long as one bui Ids il foronesc lf ora knowing client) and
rt should 110t comc :IS a surprise that :II! :lrc ,"qually Mandarin. The
uitim:Jtc diffhullce, Ocrrida' s coinage for the 'difference thaI esc(lpes
language', the eternal unknowable and 'otherness'. i~ the individu:J1
isol:.!ted fro111 the group .md now even removed from himself in
schizophrenia, Allhough it may seem absurd to bilse building on this
solipsism and scepticism. archi tecture always represents general cul-
lural values. and no one will dispute that these are currcnt. even
fa:.hionablc. motives in the other arts, There is (!ven an aesthetic,
plc:lsurablc side. a developed fonnal language which might be dis-
cussed prior to the theory: cCl1:1inly the style of Deconstructive
Abstraction preceded its intellectual fonnulation by Eisenman and
others.
Frank Gehry and Ihe Deconstructionist Style
Frank Gehry ha ... developed Ihe Post-Modem space of Charles Moore
:lIld others wi th a Late-Modem, ahwaCI vocabulary, This phase of his
work, consolidated in his own house conversion of 1978. has become
increasingly self.-conscious as il has become a popular genre and
professio",I I noml. With Gehry's production of cardbo:lrd furniture
and Fonnica fish lamps, his many building commissions lind an
inst:Jllations, his travelling exhibition originating al the Walker An
Gallery in 1986. his fish rest:lurant~ ill Japan or fi~h skyscraper
proposed for New York. and his acceptance as the leading American
avant-gardist by ProMressil'l! A rchitecture and NOllse and Garden! -
with all thb production and ucc laim one can speak of a widcspreud
acceptance of the Deconstructionist aesthetic, Like the clothing of
Esprit and post-Punk music, it is an infomlal style appealing to a
substantial taste for the discord'lIll and ephemera~ the. unpretentious
and 10ugh. lts a style for everyday street life and in this sense a direct

I 19
 DE('OI\' STR 1,; C'TION
heir to the Mociemt"m of Baudellttre'~ Parh, of Duchamp and Le
Corbusier.
~ Gehry's tllethud of Dl.'Con~tntction can be qUite literal at timc~,
~incc he will l-m3sh ,11\ exi~tiTlg building into parh, leave elemcnt~ of
hi~ own work unfinished and, as ttl his dt~intcgJ<tting (ardboa(d
~ furniture, nwke an aesthetic virlue of rough, crumbled ~urfat:e~, The
I root" of this ,tPI>!'oach probably ~tern, all they do with Eisenman, frorn
hl~ complex attitude to his ethnic ielent ity, a Jewi,h pa<;t at once denil.!d
and accepted as an emblematic role, Gehry changed hi, surname from
Goldberg in his 20!>, but now rl.!grct~ it and would like to recoll,lruCI
hi~ name again .Itld \\-car hi!> J ewi.\hne~, openly. : E~tcnsive psychoa-
nalysi~ ha!> helped him, as it h:v. Ei!>Cnman. to underst:ltld his double
motivel- and how they arc quite nonnal in Amenc:tn life: a youthfu l
renunciation of Judai ..m. a lurn to athei.,m and then a return 10 elhnic
identity, even the role of profe~~lOnal outca,l. the tiif!e/"elll. 'Being
accepted isn't everything', he ~ays a, the opening proverb 10 hi~ hfc '"
work, a.. long a.. one's unacceptance i.. accepted. I
The-.c ironie~ partly c:<plain his cxtensi ve use of the fish mOlif. A..
J. young boy hc suffered ,cveral humiliallon, for being a 'fish cater',
for ',melling of fish', in ~hort. for being a Jew in a tough Catholic
neighbourhood in Toronto. 50 year, lmer he wa!l. a~kcd to design
~lI.~"K /Juun . l JO R \.OYQI..A u..w SOli)!)! I O~ ""/J~U:S 1'/!11. FlSll ItF.sTAlItA'T . KOIU
obJcct, for the Formica product called Colorcore. a pri),tine pl:l~ t ic
laminate whIch alway), looks fa . . t.dlQu" no mailer how you cut it. In a
mood of in'pired desperation Gchry threw hIS uptight material ill the
noor and it decon~tructed into piece~ with flppcd or fractured edge~.
From thc~e Hllperfect/perfect part~ he made lhe M:.lles of his fish lamps
art Objects rather than reading lights, which sc ll in a ga llery for wcl l
over 10,000 do[[url;. (llllention Ihi~ inllaled price because it comra-
dicls Gehry'~ u~ual che:IP*~e aesthetic lind ~how~ his typical abi lilY
10 move acro~scategories. e breakllge, the tr:lIlsfonnation,thc pun~
(' fi~h <;cale" arc the righl scale for bUlJdlllgs') all havc thcircountcrpart
m Eisenman. who will superimpose layers of glass and then break
them to gencmle new, non-human foml)' of a lransfonnational order.'
The parallel is obviously with Duchamp's UJI"Rl' Glms. 19 15-23,
which wasn't finished until il was broh.en.
The Ihh as Gehry' ~ representational ~ign has been analy<;cd for its
ChnSlian-FrcUlhan ovcrtone~, but Ihcsc are prohably Icss im l>Ortant
than IwO more obvious meanings. II'S a friclldly image which people
will rcspond to with affection, a~ thcy do to elephant and dmosaur
bUIldings (other lInimals which have been comtrucled many limc~ a~
habitable volumes). Moreover, in il~ sheer gmtuity it bccomesGehry's
emblem for the artist and architect, hi,; version of a Corinthian capital
110
or nared ~eystone, or any mot .f which cannot be explained by funcllOll
and COl>! . In thi.. sen-.e the fi..,h ... . the pcrfcct'iymbol for Dccon~ tructiO&
i,t :trchitecturc, preciscly bccau'>C it h an absurd //0/1 seqllit/fr. If.
following Nietzsche, there i<., all arbitrary ba:.c in all cultural form, aoo
if architech ean never prove t heir choice of style and omumcnl.lhtl'l
why not fi~h? They 'decon~truct all our llssumptiom' and ~how, ifi!
needed showing,thlltthere i~ no natural and absolute base to architec,
tural ~tyle. '
I have di<;cussed this marine animal al such length becau\t Ii)
ullpllcatioO\ for design are more revealing than the abs\J"J.ct Decoo-
~ t ructiom of Eisenman. Tschumi I't {II . They force us to confrotll
'otherness' in an unambiguou~ fonn: you can sublimate fractured
gnds and :lbstractioll. but not thi' recognisable scaly friend. For Tat
Shock of the New, Gehry ~ub~lilu lc, 'The Shock of the Fish' and iii
thi, \Cn'iC, and other.. , hi, Decon~tructiOIl i~ a kind of UltJ"J-MorJem.
ism: ' ... if cvcrybody'~ going 10 ~uy that classiciMl1 i.. pctfcttKl
IGdlfY h allacking Po,t-Modert\ cla ...... ici~m here I then I'm going til
..ay fi~h i.. perfection. so why n01 copy lish? And Ihen rtl be damna! ,
if I dont find reasons to reinforce why the n"h is importam and Il10It
imcresting than elassicism, Th:II'~ intuitive . . : } Here we ha\'e Ibf I
Gchry dialectic. which like Ei!>Cnman', i" a form of 'anti-classicism.
alway" having the enemy clo'>C at hand. depending on it forOJlPO!' Ihe
tional defini tion. selle
Till, brings ~o the crux, and what is pertl'lps veiled hypocr;s)".d b,se
Dccon~tructiorf.ITf alwi1Y~ depend, for j", meaning on lila! y,hicttli a m~
I)rcviulisly constructed. It always posils an Orthodolty which It 'wi! roof,
verh', a noml which it bre:.lks, nn ,assumption and ideology wh\l:ll~ tiona
undennines. And the minute it lo~s til is critical role, or bcc()ll)e"ll funci
dominanl power it.self (as in so many academics), it becomo a don
tyr:UlllIcal bore. The samc b true of Deconstructionist architctlure.n blue!
works be .. t as an eltcept ion within a strongly defined nonn. \ide y
Gehry' .. addilions to and tmnsfomlntions of the Loyola 1...:1", ScllO.l asGo
are a case in poinL The urban context may notconstitutea strong DI"f'" classi
- it"~ a near slum close 10 downtown Los Angeles - but Gehry his el,
borrowed the adjacent morphology of lowers and industrial fabric,' Yet
as he has adapted the small-block planning and ColI(l.~f' Cir\' of til Dt.-cor
PO~I- M odem classicists whom he Olherwiscdisdains. Thc!>C nomlll8: plicito
then fmcturcd and croded to crea tean ensemble of threc (noo) temple a wink.
and onc (non) palazzo sunnounted by a central (non) aedieulaofrli.,' langu.
The client 'i,'W a dassicising typology as sui table for lhe siudy ofl1~ and thi
which has its rools in GrefCe and Rome, and it 'sGehry'~ simulbllrO. of the 1
acceptance and resistance of Ihis which gives the scheme l"(IU~ lime ar
 CI-IARLES JENCKS

tension. Col umns and colonnad~s arc built with a primitive solidilY
lacking b:J~c, capit:ll and cntasis: a free~tanding ponico i~ buil! in
aJummiurn and repeatcd on a larger SCOl lc - both versions withollt
pet!unents: a belfry ha~ nu visible bell: a . Rom:lnesque' c hapel is madc
flOm rough Finnish plywood and glass: and three gmnd stairways -
contemporary Baroque nourishc" - arc con~truc t ed without mould-
mg~ or balu~ters. The willdows of the (non) pal;lzl.O are the typical
punched voids of Adolf Loo". rcctangles thm are cla~sically propor-
uoned but missing their 'eyebrows' and other articulations. Thc~e
~bo;cIlCCS may have annoycd the Viennese, 70 ycars ago. but here,
however, critics and thc public ttdmire the plen~ure uf the<;c mi~ si ng
clements and find them \uitable for the infoml:ll1ty of Los Angelc,.
Thearchitccture brettks up and frames socia l activ ity very effcctively,
andallows many opponunities for silling down or moving through and
o\erlhe space. Altogether it's a successfully ~ ulcd and punctuated
urban place which owe~:L 101 10 the classical typology it dccon~tru c l s.
Gchry's WL)sk H ou~e :tddition~. a penthousc 'vi Ilage' placed on top
of an apartment in BcVC'rly Hill s, uses one fraclllred language to
contmst with a second. conventional one. A villttge typology subven,
thepristine pmk base in the liollywood lntem:ttional Style. Gehry has
~aLn appropriated :lIld dccon,tructed the clas,icisTll of Mk hael Gravc),.
In the Wosk penthouse the space fiow s freely between volume~.yet is
partly divided by subtle articulation,. The client's brightly co loured
paintings, tiles lind IIrtefacts arc ~yl1lpmhetlca ll y framed and SCt off by
Ihe background, yet contrasted. Indeed. since Miriam Wo,b, contrib-
uted so much of her own style to the de ~ ign . it is 'finished' and detailed
to a degree rare in Gehry's work.
Deconstruction is most effective when nomlS of con~truclion and
omament are al so there to be resbtcd . 111e dangcr forGehry, which he
hasn't altogether avoided wilh his increase in commiSSIOns tlnd
attendant poetic license. is that h i~ work Ix:comes completely arbitrary
and henlletieally sculptural. referring only to his whims of composi-
tion. Hh TllO~1 ~uccc<;sful intervent ion\. such as the attachment to the
Aerospace Museum in Los Angele~, relale dj!)XII ~ III the functIOn lind
urban - here, the celebration of night and the mixed, scrni-
Jj)C . On the exterior a Lockhead F l(}.l Starfighler
both an icon in thc ConSlTuctivisllradition lind in
I t donut building~ . The broken
suggest thl' mony'!!.ity of ,
i i IS C","" ,the cnergy of explosive
suggest Ihe contradictory aims of the defence
dollar weaponry is bui ll and destroyed for

!be Post-Modem cla~sici~t he often chides. who"-C initial Port land symbolic purpo:o.cs: it's an effective analogue of the_bar~ cacoph-
lC~me ul\o had a village of primitive temples surmounting a gianl ..ony of the Cold War. However,thc Acrospace Museum has a charac-
b.1se. Thus the temples of Graves become:1 greenhouse/dining room, teristic Gehr)' problem: it aW1UI1s the rather drab building to which il
,mule pink elevator shafl and a corrugatcd metal studio wilh bowed is p(fached. tllU ~ denying the possibility of a gentle di.o;coursc and
roof Some interior spaces arc elided - Ihus denying Ihe re presenta- continuity. 111b is Ihc classic stance 01 mO),t ueconstruction, which
tional truth of these volumes - while others do indeed hold discrete lIlakes contact with what exists by contrast and aggression.
fuocuons. For instance, and quite oddly. Gehry puts the kilchen under
adome borrowed from Nero's Golden House, and then paints it b;lby Rem Koolh:tas a nd N,-~,Constructivism
blLIC! The intentional bmltaslc-' of this gesture is repealed on the other TIle Nco-ConstrtJclivist aesthetic unites the work ofGehry with Ihut of
\i& where a ziggurat shape is pai llled wi th an industrial colour known such designers as Rem Koolhaa~. Arquitcctonica, Zuha I-""did and
a~Golden Cadillac. In effect Gehry is not only sending up Graves and Bemard Tschumi into a clearly identifiable 'school'. Whereas Gchry
classicism. but the whole neighbourhood. the pre-ellisting building, tends to revive EarlyConstructivism, especially in his exhibition
bt\clicnt. and himself. ~tructures on the Constructivists, Kool haaio and I-Iadid lean towards
Yet this is not a radical critique or subversion, but us with much Late-Constructivism (the work of Leonidov), and Tschumi towards
lleI:onstruction, somcMling closer to music hull satire - a wry, com- the most rire practitioner of the style - Chemikhov. As wilh mo~t
plicitous insinuation. ajokc made from within the SYSlem and told with revivals therc is an ideological component and here it is an allCmptto
aWlnk. Deeonstructiolllsts often assert that one must operate inside the con tinuc a Modernist tradition of the 30s and 50s which was hcading
llnguage, (or 'text' of society) in order 10 break down its ussumptions, t oward~ both mass-popularity and hedonism. Koolhaas looks to the
mil thIS iscenainly-Gehry's tactic. He usually lriCS to work with some 50s populism of Wallace Harrison and, at the samc lime, to the
~ tile assumptions and taste of his cl ient. 1(\ bring the building in on programmatic inventivenessofManh:utan, the 'culture ofcongcst ion'
and budget. and to come up with ingeniou:. functional sol utions. which produced the delirious superabundance of piled-up lifestyles

121
l)ECONSTRL;C'nON

and Drlirimu ""('I" Yo,-.4. is ~ form of Surmlionalism, a

fUllclion~. K oo lha a~painting.Aceiling~lide~downintothcwall,givingpersptt
~urreal :md rational ptJlcmic for building our t:itie~. Idcologically liv3Idislortion,whilelhe\uspcndedovoidchampagnebarand .
oppo~ed to Po~tModemi!)T11. it i!) nevcrthc1c~~ hi~lOrici~t: it~ revival~ balcony 3dd further lIc("clerations of movemcrll. Colour contrast!
are ju~t confined to the poSl-10~. increasc The ~pced and, tllkcn togcther, 1111 the moving fonll~ con~'e}
**,oolhaas lmd hi~ group ca lied OMA (Office for Metropol itan the feeling of a very ~wi nand controlled dancc. 'nle ant i-gravitutiO!l3!
Architecture) have prcxluccd many city project~ which i Ilu~lrate their architect lire of Leoniduv i ~ used here effectively a~ foml~ are held II
theorieJlandhavewonJlcveral~olllpctitions-onlYlofindlhcm,elve~ 'tcn~ion in "pace', bodies which arc fTOlcn in mid-leap. A~
placed second after political intervention." OMA's work i~ not ~o Koolham; Contra~ls ~tcrcotypcs Ihe way a Surrealist plays
much Decon~tructioni~t n~ combinatory. combining typologic~ of 'cxqui~i\(' corp\c' - thaI is, a~ a serie~ of coo! . i 1
many different M odemi~b Hilber~eimer. Mies. Cedric Price. pan eolli~iom. There i~ a built-in alienation to . method
Makvich. Leonidov - bUI doing ~o in a way which i~ discontinuou, cach language gameconfroms the next with no implied integrationnt'
with Ihe ex i ~t] ng f:lbric. 110; i n the sehc me for t he Pan; de 1:1 Vi Ilet tc. Th I~ mcan i ng., win ncr ur loscr. lin kagc or rcsol u t ion. As in Dd i,-itms Nr-
layering of oppo~ed sy~tcm!<o ~o that Ihey arc randomi o;cd ;md di!<ocon- Yo,-.4. it's a ~t;lJld-off bet ween separate. equally valid f anta"io.::~. ,ho.
Iinuou~ arnOUIlIQO a fonnal Decon~lnlclion and O MA' s work has had bias, ideologies and way!> of life . . _
a Significant effect on Hadid, Ar(IUileClOllica ,md T~chumi. who are Unlikely a<; !I may at first sec]! Arquitectonica ha~ turned Kool
!V)lrC obviously within Ihe general trend. haas' approach into a very succes~ful commercial formula in Millllll..
itFor the Pare de la Villettc Koolhaa\ propo~ed all illleresting Dew but then this Floridacity h:lse~~entiali!>ed New York trends inthcpall.
lan(bcape Watcgy to delll with an ovcrly complex and delailed bricf. most importantly for this tcamthe ~Iyle known;]~ Sky~craper Dero.
He divided the long sitl! into a series of lateral 'band~' of different Laurind;1 Spear and Bcm;lrdo Fort-Brescia. the wife-and-hu5band
activities and planting. The~e thin band~ have small clements or leader~ of Arquitectonic;!. :1~~Url1e MOdcmisttypologie~ for their woo.
confetti~prin l...1 cdrandorl1lyovcrthe~ile.Thcnl'orl1e~a la yeroflarge - such a!> the repetitive glas.. box - and then break it up with III
(dements, including the existing building~. then circulation :md con- iI.')sortrnent of graphic Illotif~: red tri3nglc. yellow balcony and bil"
necting layers. TIlliS the ~upcrimposition of five separate systems square (a void of space known a~ a ~kycourt). Thc three BauhallS.
results in n rich texture which copes with the complex programme and primaries arc thu~ used 10 decon~lruct the dumb box. in this
its uncertain growth :lIld funding. Thi~ nexibility and indeterminacy. rectangle of expensive condominiulTls di~guiscd a~ offices "
indebted to Cedric Price'~ 'non-plans' of the 60s, ha~ an elegance and slick. black mirrorpla!e. The name of these luxury I I
humour not often found in the genre, Becau~e Ihere-is nooverall figural 'The A tlnntis. is a>. much .1 nOll SI'{{JliIJl'- as a que~tion of ~tyling ml
~ hapc .the scheme isdisoriell1ing, ao; is all good Decon<;truclion, blJl th~ one is bound to question whether the motives are I
staCCato of repeated band .. does provide a m inim:tl coherence for the than arti ~tic. Arquitectonica might well protest that ~s;;t ;""
delightful 'confetti' of buildings and gardens to play against. Jt' s vel)' unfair; after all. their namboyant an is in~!>ired by commerce
much the urban garden dem.!!!.lded in the brief and ultimately a neY{ fall1asies. Hence the names. 'The Palace'. 'The Babylon', 'The MIT'
model for Deconstruction, as chnl lenging and convincing..as anythinit ade CetUer' (on Miracle Mile. Coral Gables): hence the allachmeml
T,,<:humi and Eh,enman have propo~d. No doubl somelhing Ii!..e it 30~ ~hapes such :IS kidneys and boomerang~; hence the 'codtaH'
will be built ~ome day. colours and chic surface~, the design from outside-in.
One '>theme, the Churchill Plan for Rotterdam. U~~ a Dccoli- This last method. a rever~:tl of Modcmist (toctrine, Slill relaltI
~tru('tionisll1let~ of comt>osition where skyt'Craper volume~ are cut clo~ely to the Modernism of hoi iday architecture. to thcir love of RIO
up and inverted . nlU~ inclined planes and column~ lean in counter- d~ J:lIlciro, and ~or this.rea~on.their stylr night be c:llied. withOlT!)
pomt 10 euch other (Hadid take~ thl~ distortion 10 ;J fun her extreme). sl ight cX:lggeratlOn, 'M 1;IIllI-Nlemeycr~ cause they tum 2(}.. Mod-
Another schemc. for Chedpoinl CimrJic. takes the Berl in Wall as its ernhm on its head and sometimes literally 011 its ~ide (walls are trealtll
departure pom! and ring~ the changes on repeated clemenls: 110\ only as roofs and vice versa), they :Ire more directly subver~ive to tit
the wall, butlhc courtyard house, chimney. ~tairway, curtain wall :lnd rnovemelll Ih:m arc outsidcr~. Their comlllerci:lJ play with the ~'lllfl\o
what Koolh:1:I~ provocatively calls the limp curve ofhulllanism'. One llIar of social rcsponsibil ilY deconstructs, as it were, 'the ideologic!!
of their 11Ian y p:l i n t in g~ d ispl a y~ the k i lid of i I1t ricme, a b .. t raci pi a 11 n ing a ~SUIll pi ion" of socia Ii "Ill from with i11 Or doe~ i\'.'
that J J P Oud and other Dutch Modemi .. ts pract i-;ed in the e;]rly 20~. is more a continual ion of the Miami vernacular, all i
It ~how:. all urban t is~uc which is continuous ly varied and effectively Morris, L;Jpidu~, Modeme and marketing. The intention~ and ~Ib
parcd into mcely M::tled domeslic i"raglllem$. Koolhaas might be are deeply ambiguous, even diffused in opposition~. For pubU:
reluctant to attribute this 10 hi~ Dutch background and the tradition of buildings, such as the North Dade Courthouse, they adopt a moo
Dc Hooch, but il i~ implicitly Ill~r('., and il med iales effectively the over- ~eriou~ ver~ion of Nco-Constructivism; for shopping centres flll:f
concenlration inherent in his 'cu lture of conge~tl{ln'. Thi~ i~ no "nail marina/condo>. they proffer a mixture of the namboyant and thedum!t.
mutter since the major problem of mass-culture is its anomie: it~ lack The graphic invention of Spenr i~ evenly balanced by Ihe 9S!UII:
of divi~ible. defeno;ive space. and its absence of sma Il-\Cale identity. !>aleslll:lnship of Fort-Brescia. a rn3n who ha~ gained the confider.ctli
Koolh:Jas'~ tiro;t major completed building. the National Dance deve lopers nOI only in Florid:! and Texas. but Peru as well. 1"IuI
Theatre in The 1lague. i~ more reticen l than his painting!). partly combination allows Ihe very programmatic density and opposni{ll
because of the site and budget constraints, .lJld partly because he which OMA ~eek: al the Miracle Center a shopping mall is setoff~
advocates a 'new sobriety'. The M inimalism of Mies disciplines all the functions which Koolhaas finds e~sential for the ' culture
abstnlct ~haJ>Cs which ri~ll and fall in h;IPPY agitation n~ in Gehry's tion': the swimming pool. thealre and heallh club.
penthou"e. They arc org:lIliM!d loo~ely in it spiral of materials and opposition which Ihese functions implY,lheir ~chizoid
col(lur~ lhal run from blad.. SIlICCO to gold Ie;lf. This ~lart~ :ttthe back smOOlhed over by an accomlllodniing version of r.
with the mo~t uti.lil.ari:m fom]s, and the t~lll!>O pi~ks up as.o?e. Illo.ves .,T '>/:Zaha H,~did '.~ .Neo:ConMruelivi~m. b.y contras\' i~ . more .
,1rOTJIld the site giVing way 10 glazed 111011fs. slopIng alul11l1llllm piers f and closer III Splnt 10 liS source, lhe mys11cal Suprematlslll ofKuun~
(1":11 'cocktail stick~). a Illuml of dancing figures on the stage tower, M:l1evich and hi~ block cOlllposition~ known as Tektonics.
and then the most sensuous shupe - an inverted cone. in gold - which Arquitectonica and Tschurni. Hadid has been
marks the entrance and re~tauranl. The W;]vy roof, the interior ovoid Rem Koolhaas, who was her tutor. For several
~:IIellile ~u~pended by cables and the swilllming pool suggest a was a member orOMA and since then ~he has taught at the
counter-theme, the programminic hcdonbm which underl ies OMA 's tural AssociatiUIl in LondOn, a cen tre, iftherc. bone, ';sd",,"
theory. The foyer h:ls the dyn31llic sp.;llial quality conveyed in a movement, providing show.Ji:pacc fQLthc Deconstructionists'

122

etquislti~ dr..wingio.'
Indeed these dmwingl>. and '>Onlclimc,> paintings.
\lthich exprc~~ an cncq;clic. someti mes e xplo, I vc and u.. ua 11 y opti m; ,-
lie rOml of 'LIlli-gravitational archi tecture. arc Ihe cv"ente of the
movement. more influential than the few compl eted buildings and
\/rvcrgcnt theory.
''f= V..ahll Hadid 's winning entry for the Peak competition in Hong Kong
tlcmplifics thi~ . TIle idea of the lux urious dub is conveyed through
a dynamic painting that "i!cm.'> 10 be exploded aparl in a .. eric~ or
frktured pl:.lllcl>: act ually if s based on an 'exploded isometric' proJec-
lIOn It. hich i .. vlftuall y impossible to figure oui. 6 lue and grey facel$
~rncl lhc lIlountainou\ topography and Hadid ill1ilgincs Ihal several
iOCl..OUICIOps will be. polished so lhal her flying beams would lie in
'101m a ~hiny new nature._With thi!o.rod:.y..arcruteclLlre we are clo:-c 10
DomcllIg 's Expre"sionism and his Stone IlouioC. But Hadid 'selcmCIlI\
IreJcc:tilincaJ. the tectonic bearn~ of Malcvich made eE!a Ions,
rotated orf the grid and conmined with slight curvks and dissonant
'ingtes. The new feeling of explmive, warped dYl1<1mism CO!lle~ frolll
llie~l'ule <lngle~ she choo...es to use for luying out the perspective, <111
3ll:J.morph lc projection which give~ a dl\torted view except from one
pomt. 11li" graphic dislocation then become .. the b<lsis for her pro-
,vamme and metaphysIc.. As she \:1y". funclional clemenls of the dub
ho\-et hke space~ hip<;' or '\l1spended :.atclhlCs '.~ The club ibelf i~ a
mid 13 metr!!" high suspended between the roof of the second layer
and the underside of the penthou'>e laycr,~ In other words ' layering'.
common to bOlh Latc- and Posl-Modernl,I\, is being used as an anti-
grlYltutional device. And had il been built. the engineering to hold the
building up would have been a ~eries of box tl\l .. ~es and box be;un ..
flyin g slighllY:lI angle-.. toward, each other the 'cocktail st i ck~' of
Koolhaa~, The end rewlt re~emb l es :I Malevich Tcktonit: which ha~
~n clong.ned and .. kewed by an earthquake.
Such ' Plllnelllry Architecture'. a~ Hadid calls it. i, placed in oppo-
~itlon 10 hi~l oricism by her and critic~ such as Kennelh Framplon . For
him the work conti nues the 'unfinished project of IViQderni .. m .
IIIlplymg thai Modern i~ m was fundamentally concerned wilh '01:1-
tbineerol lci~I1l' and hedoni~m . Excepl for;l few Con"tructivi~t and
B.auhau~ dCMgner, this characteri~ation 'Iounds unM.ely. Equally
bi/.arre" the notion thatlhis 'Nco' sty le, a revival of the 20s and 5Q."
1!>II't lllstorici\t. Frampton is much clo,er to the mark when he
char,lcteri,c~ the whole oeuvre a~ a kind of 'cur~ive script' ;llld ~ay~
'This mscription i ~ ~o hermetic a~ to dcfy decoding' . This comment is
offered a\ prai,c and it'~ one thatillight be appl ied to Dccon ~truct ioni,t
an:hiteclUl"i.' III general. One thing that define, it as Nco-Modem is
ptcisely tll1~ lx:rwnal symbolism, the texi which only il\ author
tmderstand ~ and controls.
Here we touch on a paradox of iA"'ConMruclion. Having. wllh
Rnland 8anh,,>. announced the 'death of Ihe author' , 'the plcasure of
tbe tut' and the joi nt crealion by rn:l1ly teXh. or 'imenextua lity',
tieslgncrs ~uc h a~ Iladid, L ibe~kind and Eiscnmlln nevertheless create
thtmOSI individu:11 ,ymbolislIl po,~ible, one where only the author has
tbc authomy to tell you what il mC:lII~ , This ultra -poetic use of
language i~ virlu:tlly private and Iherefore authoritari::m; fully archi-
ICClurullanguage must, by definition . Ix: more pUblic,
And },etcenainly there are shared mellning" 10 the ~Iyle, Manyofthe
yuunghaveade\'clopcd tasle for dynamic abStmclion and the majority
of the profes~ion are still Lale-Modemil.t!., This archilecture may be
1IIIpO~lble to dl'Codc in specific in,tances. as Frampton aver~. bUI in
perJI it Signifies Ihe delenninalion 10 continue Modernism as an
title discour'>C and it has a very ~ lrong ideological component. I-Ience
the~'OO~tant references to Le Corbusier. Terragni and the Constructiv-
b11)1'iCd nOi so 111l1ch a.. 4uotes. but a~ the final meaning,
ilJ~d' s work jiig.niHes quite c lea rly the cont inuation of Modern ism
J\ ~ di,torted ubl>traclion ...Her office project for Berlin is ahllo~t Ihe
!lI1IUlaLslab block. but is gemly warpt..--d, ~kewcd and bent. Just ab the
Rococo slyle made very small variations on all essentially economic
lInIcIurc, ~hc twi,t~ functional clements IUld cxtends wall .. al the
Cl'lffieI'!lIO give Ihe appcaranceof a wilful exuberance. The plansoflhis
I ClIARLES JENCKS
bUi lchng !ohow a few boomerang walls and leaning piers. the c ustom-
ary 'cocktail sticks'; Ihe transparent cunain wall sho\9s genlly curving
~kin th:lltilt~ OUI as it ri~e s; and Ihe sequence of space is punctuated by
layered wedges and cantilevered beams, I n other words. a refinemenl
of dYllamic expression is made by w<lrping a no - nonsen~e Modem
block. This is u pieceme<ll heightening of an exisling :lcsthetic, nOl
~ome thin g r<ldically new. yel the subtle articulations feel entirely
fre~h : balconies 11)' aboullike half- fini~hed slices of brie; gla\s planes
are faceted by Illin, elegant cut!) which taper sodelicately they look li~e
incision~ made by a surgeon. The accumulation of many such warps
and cu l ~ results in a 10lality which feel s new.
IJeconSlruction Goes ' I'ublic'
The feeling of the new, created by combining form s of Ihe old
Modernism, is 110where so strong as in .sc,mard Ts-chumi's winning
compelition lIla~terplan for the I'arc de la Villet1e in northern Pari ~,
Combining images and ta(;tic~ frOlllthc 20s and 6Os,Jlis series of red
builcling~ called '/olh',~' arc l11eal1tto signify at once the Aritish 'folly' ,
111 tile IMlh-century gardeo and the French notion of 'madlles~' (a~
elucidaled by Foucault in hi ~ l-l iSlmrl' til' Ill/alit!), This conjunction of
irrat lonalilies, propo~ed as 1I Park of the 21 ~ t century' . ha' tl certain
mad logic 10 it since il replace~ pan of Ihe 60 million dollar meal
market that was recenlly built and then never used,,-u mega-folly on Ih~
<;(:;llc of one of ~ASA 's greater accomplishmelllS in Ihe &enr~, And
when PresidcntMil1crand, who presICicd over thi\K!'{lIIti pmjt'f :tmong
othcr~, had to announce thai the winning competition design consi~ted
of morc/fllil's, with a price in the multirnillions. French intellectual life
..uddenly woke up to the era of official. built Deconstruction, The
government naturally asked Tschumi IOchangc.lhCJ1:lme \0 somclhing
les.. embarra~sing such a~ 'fabrique' and he, equally mt1urally, refust:d.
Tscht1mi'~ plan. a .~ mentioned , nllll,es a fresh combination of
previou, fomlUlae which are aclo:.nowlcdgcd a.~ h' storical: the layering
of three syslems - ~iOb, lines and surfaces - explicitly recalls
Kandin<;ky " and Klec'~ aesllieti(.'S; the- tran .. onn:llion of fohn re-
'>tmbles Chemi~hov' s 101 archl lectural fictions' io method and slyle:
the graphic abslfaclion of the aerial perspective Qwes sOl1)elllin& to
Cedric Price, Archigram and OMA. This I'ISI i, recalled by the
di~location of ted dot~, green lines, and cinC\,..<ttic swirls which float
on an abstract grey and black background. the repre~enta1i\Jn of 'any
City'. Tll i, non-place could be the nahcapc of a parking lo\. or a
suburban sprawl lillercd wilh ~ulx:mlarkets. parkway ~, lillie hou'\('s
and garden plots. In this sense iI's an abstraction of social reahlY, an
allel11plto make high art fro1l1the helerogeneous fragmentat ions that
,urround any major ci lY. particularly I'aris, and it 's no small Irony thai
T~c hu1l1 i u ims his paint ings. of this conceptuall<;cd nowhcrcsv II Ie at I he
an 1l1ar~el . selling them:ll the M:1Ji: Prolcch Gallery in New VorL.. ThiS,
after all, is a knowing praxis which once again works wilhin lhe ~y~ IC 11l
It purports to deconstruct.
If completed as planned, the Pare de la Villelle will have over 30
[olit;s: fire-engine red constructions ofcnamclled steel, located every
120 metres on a grid. Their u~c, an ideal Koolhaa~ mix, combines
hcdoni,tic and educational aClivitie', Bath S,c inema, restaurant. health
club, mu:.ic and science cenlres arc ~CI amongst a ho~t of small
garden~, These will be connected by a three-kilometre randomly
snaking gallery which Tschumi ealb the 'cinemalic promenade '
because il is a montage of images with a layout that l ake.~ Ihe foml of
an unrolled fi lmslrip. The list of garden designers reads liKe a roll-call
of Late-Modernists and it iocludes John I-icjduk, Dan Flavin. Jean
Nouvel, Gaelaoo Pesce, Daniel Buren in association wilh Jean-
Fram.:ois Lymurd, and the long-awaited collaboration of Peter Ei-.cll-
man and Jacques Derrida, If they all do their own thing, the resull could
be one of the oddest agglonlCrltlions of the 20th century: a lype of
avant-garde Disneyworld which will be, final s urpri~, inlegrated
through ubstmclion and Ihe intCOlalised references of Ihe arl und
architectural worlds. Here Eisenman will becommenting on Libcskind's
comments on Eisenman's previous work, where nearly everyone is a
123
DECONSTRucnON
Neo-Constructivist, hannony of a kind prevails.
This, of course, contradicts basic Deconstructionist theory and the
intentionsofTschu01i which arc always concerned with diffhance nOI
unity, It is true the luyout fu vours chance and coincidence. the
incongruities and discontinuities which result when three different
systems arc luyercd randomly and at ang les to each other. The
superimposition of many more Late-Modem gardens will further the
disjunctions. But unless the designers and formulae are chosen from
a wider spectrum - and this would mean the inclusion of Post-
Modernists and tradit ionalists - the result will be unintcntional1y
monistic, recalli ng Harold Rosenberg's ironic characterisation of thc
avant-garde liberal intellectuals as ' a hcrd of independent minds'.
Such qrthodo,'(y. it goes wit hout saying, differs from Jacqucs
Derrida's rcading of the schemc. He writes specifically of lesfolil's in
the plural and emphasises throughoUl hi s text that: 'We will have to
account with this plural. '10 It is worth quoting from this text at length
since it is a rare ex ample of Ihe Deconstructionist philosopher wri ting
on archi tecture. and it illustrates the main tenorofthis philosophy. One
should note. in reading the following, that Derrida places special
emphasis on the atemporal now, maifl/enal1l. which implies the
dislocation of an event that is still occurring:
O MA. RIlS IOE.'KE Of' TIlE IR!SIII'RI.'>tE MIN!STIJI . Dl,.hUN . 191'11. AER IAl. VIEW
Thefo/ie.fput intoopcration a general dislocation; they draw into
;t everything Ihut . unti l maimenam, seems to have given archi -
tecture meaning. More prccisely, everything that seems to have
given architecture over to meaning. They deconstruct first of al l.
but not on ly. the semantics of architecture.
... An always-hiemrchising nostalgia: architecture wi IImateri-
alise the hierarchy in stone or wood (hyte); it is a hylclics of the
sacred (hieros) and the principle (arcM), an archi hierafic.f ...
These folies destabilise mean ing, the meaning of meaning. the
signifying ensemble of this powerful architectonics. They put in
question, dislocatc, dcstabilise or deconstruct the edifice of this
configuration .. , We should not avoid the issue: if Ihis configu-
ration presides ovcr what in the West is called architecture, do
these folies not Tlti'.e it? Do thcy not lead back 10 the desert of
'anarchitecture', a zcro dcgree of architectural writing where
this writing would lose itsclr, henceforth without finality, aes-
thetic aura. fundtunentals. hier.trchictll principles or symbolic
Significa tion: in short ill It prose made of abstract. neutral.
inhuman, useless, unintwbitablc and me.mingless volumes?
Precisely not. The /olit'.'. affinn ... they maintain. renew and
reinscribc archi tecture. They revive. perhaps. an energy which
124
was infi nitcly anaesthet i"Cd. walled in. buried in a comlTl(ll
grave or sepulchral nostalgia ... '"
"
These/alies do nOI destroy. Tschumi always talks about 'de- 'h
construction/reconstruction ' ... By pushing 'architecture to- g
wards its limits'. a place wi ll be made for 'pleasure'; each/alit
will be destined for a given ' use', with its own cultural. loot.
pedagogical. scientific and phi losophical fina lities ... the SU\l" I.,,
ture of the grid and of each cube - for these points are cube$-
leltves opponun ities for chance. fonnal invention. combin:lt~
tr.msfomlation. wandering. ,.,
-I
What could a deconstructive architecture be? ... Dec. OIl!
structions would be feeble if they were negative. if they did lilt
construct. and above all if they did not firs t measure thernsel\lS "
'h
against institutions in their solidarity. al IIII' place o/Ihtir
weatt'sl resiS/aIlC't': political structures. levers of econOflUl: '"'
dccision ...
One docs nOI decl are war. Another strategy weaves it~
betwecn hostilitics and negotiations ... Architcct-weaver. Hf
plots grids, twin ing the threads of a chain . his writing holdsOI
a net . A wcave always weaves in several directions. ,,'m
meani ngs, and bcyon dmcaning.
a singular dcvice ...
Thcre are strong words in Tschumi's lexicon.
points of greatest intensity. These are the i
m ills (transcript. trunsfercoce. etc) and, above all . de- or
These words speak destabilisation. deconstruction.
and. first of all . dissociation. disjunction, i
-
L oV
Ibo:
An archi tecture of heterogeneity. interruption. IIJI
But who would have built in this manner? Who eltpl'
counted on only the energies i Ven'
a simple displacement or dislocation. Thc~fore i";:~:
needed ... it gathers together the diffira"ce ... A 1 et..w
aimed at a spaci ng and at a socius of dissociation. II oolou
At momentS in this analytical panegyric to Tschurni, 111
when he asks rhetorical questions 10 answer them in the IIIsh
Derrida sounds like Nieti'_",che: at other times his thinking ""be
by alliterat ion and analogy, as if poetiC I would non-p
rationality.'2 If he film with nihili sm i I !hi>
only to rcjcct it and thereby assen a generalised
he switchcs back and forth quickJy betwcen many possiblc'
dcconstruction/ reconstruction antinomies of Nietzsche.
stalemute of oppositions it is possible to find Iw",

emphasis on Ihe plNlJwe of wandering in an unstable penncable
'weave', to use his met:tphor, a kind of in-between or liminal st:tle, 3nd
the idea that Tschumi' s Pare fonns a 'sodus of dissocia.tion' which
gathers together dljjfrtlllCC,
As :tlre:tdy mentioned I would dispute Ihat the latter constitutes a
real plur3lism, which must be founded on a wider set of public
Innguages than a restricted :tbstraction, buttherc C3n be no doubt about
the pleasure of Tschumi's constructions and layout: the tilted waJls
which recall the anamorphic projeclions of 1ladid, lhe undulating
tensilc walkways (engineered by Peter Rice). lhe nying c:mtilevcrs
:rndskewed 'cocktai l slicks', the juxwposed space frames in blood-red
Slcel, the colli sion of different plan IS and curving aJli!c~ of trcc~. I.n
shon. Nco-Constructivist aesthetics arc played with consider:Lblc
Invention and sk ill.
As for the 'point-grid' plan and the random sprawl. this is meant TO
be inTcrpreted as emptiness (whaT Tschumi calls la m~'e \'idt, or 'empTY
slot"), the kind of urban reality 31ready created by Modemislll.
industrialisation 3nd Ihe 'dispersion' of contemporary life. I J The nitic
Anthony Vicl1er juxtaposes thi s <kcentring with the work of what he
tall) the Post-Modem 'nostalgics-' and their concem for recentring
urban life. I ' The folics, or l"flSe.f rides. arc on this reading 'open
\tructures fOrlhe nomadic bal/lie/le' . elements which have no meaning
In hme and space. perfect reccpt3clcs for an uprooted. anarchic and
ctmfus.cd mass-culture. and in this ~nsc hardly a utopian prospect. BUI
lIten Tschunti intends a celebration of the ~tatus quo: '1 would say that
LaVille!!e isnot aboUlthe way things shou ld happen in the future. but
the way things lirc now today. There arc no utopias today .\J Such
argumentS sound, ironic:tlly. like the Post-Moderni st Robelt.-Venluri
explicating Las Vegas for ils lessons lS ye:lrs earlier. but now
Venturi's 'decorated sheds' have losl their decoration, or ralher had il
lDstIacted to a red hue, a colour meant . like the while and black used
elsewhere. to be a non-colour. Empty slots. non-hier-trchies and non-
,oloul"\. dethi~ and Ih3t, oh Ihe pleasures of the absences!
That we3re seeing here Ihe slyle of urban anomie raised 10 a high
l1li should come as no surprise. since it is one of Ihe most recurrent
JtChctypes of Late-Modernism and has been so since Cedric Price 's
nonplans' oflhe 60s. l1' s imponant to stress Ihe historical nature of
lh l ~ idea since it is so cenTral 10 the DeconstrucTionisl elllerprise. The
~iology of alien3tion. developed by William H WhYle (TIll' Organ
lid/ion MillI) and D3vid Rei sman (The Lonely Crowd). has led 10 the
Iptttre of a world populated by 'olher-directed' automata. what
Harold Rosenberg has sarcaslic:tlly tenned 'Orgmeo', that is, corpo-
C IIARL E.~ JENCKS
rately conditioned and extemally controlled ciphers who have lost
their identity 3nd history.1 6 And so we ha.ve the Deconstructionists'
abhorence of meaning 3nd hierarchy. sentiments shared by Tschumi.
Eisenman and Dcrrida. and their corresponding elevatioll Mtlte Empty
Man, lhe nomadic 'man without qualities' who can weave his way
Ihrough all hierarchies showing them 10 be temporary and non!>Cllsical.
EmpTy Man, or Orgman, as Rosenberg also notes ironically is. wilh
necessary additions and disguise, nOlle else than the new i11lelleclual
talking about himself l1: the nomadic intem,lIjollal lr:lveller withOUT
family attachments or long-tenn commitments or a paSTthaT he cares
to recognise. In brief it's a picture of Ihat beall-it/l'lIl of the 20th
century. the Futurist and ExistentialiST who defines his goals and
changes them wilhot1\ much scntiment or angst.
And yeT lhis ideal type. the Empty Man. has anOTher aspect 10 his
characler which may come 3S something of a surprise: he always !'>eeks
and then predicl:lbly finds. like a 13th-cen1ury pilgrim pursuing the
Hol y Grail. the empty centre at Ihe he3n of society. the self-contradic-
tion of all texts. Ihe Great Void of Extinction - and this cheers him up.
For whaT he has discovered is 3 religion without faith. a positive
nihi li sm.l~ or in Derrid:t' s terms an affinnative Deconstruction. This
certainty of rne3ninglessness is vel)' bmcing: it also leads 10 a very
coherent styl e of absence. something equivalclIlto Ihe great styles of
iconoclasm and self-renunci3lion of Cistercian ism of the 13th century
and Zcn- Buddhi ~t art.
Hirami Fujii. ill part:1 follower of Ei~enman. i:, one maSter oflhis
genre who produces many buildings which signify the beaulies of
abscnce: missing w:llls and windows. CUI planes, uncoloured surfaces,
etc. As he describes it. his method of 'metumorphology allers acquired
meanings (customary codes) for the ~ake of producing non-conform-
ing relationships .19 A set of mechanical operations, different from
Tschumi's and Eiscnman 's in operation but similar in their random
mechanism. is performed to aHer the customary codes: .tIispariTt,
gapping, opposition. rcversal' .:"!II Characteri~tically the grid marches
all over The building in black and while reversals to destroy the
conventional relation s of up/down, roof/wall and furniture! room.
Another master of Ihi s cryptic rei igious sty le is John Hejduk whose
bleak 3nd beautiful constructions ofren resemble a functional mecha-
nismlhm is deconstructed and reconstiTuted on a new sca le. For Beriin
he has designed ascenario 3nd set of67 slrucTurescaJled Viclimswhich
are intended to be placed. one each ye:tr, on the site of the romler
Gestapo Headquarters. Each one is n3med wiTh a label thai is both
funclional 3nd associative and Ihen placed on :I poinl-grid with no
125
DECQJ\'STRUCfION
discernible overall geometry of layout. A relflted ll1echani~m, The
Collapse a/Timf>, was buil! by the Architectural Associmion for a
London Squflre, an odd choice of -;ite for this structure because, as an
adjacent plaque indicated, iI too commemorated the victim<; of the
Gestapo, Passers-by could watch over a four-week period whi Ie Time,
repre~cntcd by a sct of stacked cubes (coffim?) numbered one to 13,
fell to 45 degrees and then collapsed onto their bier. T he image of
railroad track .. , five pair~ of wheels and the bleak wood containers W:l~
both l>OCtic;Llly child like and disturbing, humorous and reJJlor~eless, a
vivid memorial to those who took their la.stjourney on a wooden train.
The blocking of the '12th hour' implies that we are now POS I-
Holocau~t and the prCsem:e of the number 13 is a funny/mordant
reminder of that noor which is u~ually missing in skyscrapers. Hejduk
combines word. ~cenario and Minimali~1 image in a unique style, but
his work rekltes to that work of L ibc~kind and Eisenman in having ~ln
almost nihilistic ml!taphy~ical origin.
Pele r F.iscnnmn , t he Ilosili ve Nihilis t
No architect is more commi tted to the faith of dogmatic ~ceplicism, the
importance of the ~aps and contradictions within the text, than Peter
Eisenman. In about 1978 he bccmtlc a Dcconstrul,tioni~t and at the
same time underwent psychoana ly~is: two events that have no doub1
reinforced each other and his own dogmatic scepticism. It's illuminat-
ing to give a brief summary of his development, partly ba~ed on his
own word~. bcc(Ju~c it :.howll how much he i~ attractcd 10 currem
phil()sophie~ and thCl)ric~ of lhe ml)Ll1cnt.arut how he intentionally
'mis-rcad~' them for hi~ own purposc~ to give his work wllllt he rightly
calls a 'didactic energy' .~I His building~, writing~ and theories all h,lVC
a frantic energy and arc compLLI~i vdy mixed toge.ther a~ if thi~ might
produce a real brcakthrough, a new non-arr.::hitcctuTC which is part
wntLng, building and model. Paradoxically his aesthetic ha~ remained
much the same white-gridded abstraction a~ his first housc~. although
..ever:!1 tactics ,uch a~ the L-"hape and half-buried building have been
added 10 the repertoire.
The fiN hou,cs, numbered I and II. were carrying forward the
Modemi~t ~yntax of Le CorbLl~icr and Terragni. Houses III and VI
were L.lIe-Modem exercises in 'pure formali"Il1', int1uenccd by the
art-hi~lOrians Rosalind Kraus~ and Clement Greenberg, Structuralists
,uch as Lcvi-Stmuss and Cho1Tl~ky, and Minimalists ~uch as Donald
Judd. House X, 1918, is the "Iasl f(lrlllali~t work' and the 'first usc of
decornpo"i\ion which i~ oppo~itc to a ratiOnal transformational proc-
es~' , The building wa~ de~igncd by :.ubtracting elements and by a
126
'>Crie~ of mechaniclli processes which destroyed the centre of the house
(decellLTing), anthropomorphic scale (scaling), and customary u~age.t
.(a ~as~ wall i~ used as a floor lind is cantilevered ovcUipace). House
X itself was not built, but a ver~ion or it was, a s<luashed-dowQ
axonometric model which looked from every angle except one a$
though it had been carefully blown down by a very precise lo,n,,'ol
This violent anamorphic act ('an atULck on represeJ1(ation') was, in
~heer gratuity, just one more di:.tancing means among many
Ih;!t EiseLltmm wa~ to deploy in mder to reveal Ihe me ,'1
nat ura Imceh an i~ 111 of des! gn, ih I)()S~ i ble :.II1t i -h uman ist, ant i
bi;ls. That the abstract results were aho quite beautiful and
wa~ <Idmilled, but this unfortunate human vestige was soon to
expunged - a computer would see to th:lI. The world mu~t be
after all.~o
Fundamental to Ei~cnman', notion of al icnation is his "",de'''''''j
ing of the Modem f'pis/ellle, as outlined in a 1976 article called
Functionali~Ill'. Using Foucault'~ ide<l or <In I i
pallern or iconology for every period, he generali<.cs the'
nn anti-humanist epoch which lead-; stylistically to a ~erics of'
(,non-objective ubstract painting of Malevich <Ind Mondrian'.
narratiw, atcmporal writing of Joyce and Apollirwifl", !"
fi Ilils of Richter and Eggeling') and it leads philosoppically 10 0, "'~
of 'dis-s' (,<\ displacement of man away from the centre of
world).l.l Thus 'IManl is no longer viewed as an
Objects arc seen as ideas independent of man' and
be di,located in scale and tOtally ab~trJCI. The~c idea~ dovetail
with Roland Barthes and le:ld Eisenman to a new .,erics of t
Mr;negies to represent the loss of centre: Lsh(Jp(',~ , or el:.', w",
~ignify partness and in~tability, eX("{II'(I/ioll which signifies i
into the p:.tst and unconsciOlLs, scahill{ which reSUll., in i
increasing an clement successively to nOll-human proponlOn.
IOpv{oXicul Xcom(,IIY whIch provides an <Iltem,Hive to the
lLtithropolllorphic Euclidean geometry. We will i~""n,n",
ing >;till further methods of decelllring, with what could be .
rhetoric machine, bUl lhe important point is that cach method i~
on his mcta ph y!Sics of nih iIi Sill. the {'"i,lfl:lllt' he pres u me ~ r
Modem project. (Perhaps it should be mcntioncdat this pointt
)\'(1.\' a humanist Modernism, a truth he conveniently overlooks:
case it is his intention to subvert and deconstruct it.)
1'lou!>C I la, initially designed for his friend Kun Forster,
of the Geny Center, is based on 11 ~eries of L 's
below ground and also rotated with respect toench other.

cube, arc mean [ [0 suggesl a more LI nce rtai n cond it ion of t he lin ivc r"c.
House I 1,1 lakes lbi ~ condition of uncertainlY as its point of dcpanure
... We live in an age of partial objct:ts ... the who le h fu ll ofholc,' .~.
From this slage. according 10 Eisenman. there i~ a "hift in hi~ work
IOwards the bigger scal\,' hc :,ceb out urban project.\. - and toward,
mnsilkring the site. The Cannarcgio project for VCIHCC. 1978. indi-
l'jIles thiS shift toward~ what I wou ld call his' Non-I)osi-Modenllsm.
l~t i~'flis use of Po,t-Modem nonm in an invcrted or Decon<;lmClell
'/I'~y.
nll1~ re'IKlnding 10 ContcxlUali~m. he both denies the fab ril.' and
hiStory of Venice and a .... cn~ the (l1'-I'(,II('e of Lc Corbu!>ier's hOl-.pital
lfO.,tect forth iscilY. by usi ng II'i grid as;1I1 ordering device. The WhClllC
LU pl.bLU\'e bouquet ofnon-.\o ( non-mime[ic. non-lwrr.Jlivc and lion-
lenebrate') and illake .. Ihe decompo.\oed 1I0u~ I I a for its nOI1-"ale.
Thl~ i~ 10 be
buLit .Il. three differenlly scaled objecb. One of Ihe obJech is
nooul four feet high, it ,il\ in the ~4u:'lTe and i" the model of a
housc. You can look at it and think 'well , Ihal i.. not a house; it
L~ Ihe model of Hou\C Ila.' n len you take the .!lame Object and
PUt it III House II a; you bu ild House I Ia at a human !>Calc .lIld
)OU put [hi~ !>time model of il inl-.ide ... the larger Object
III M'nMI)TS("J11. \11. PAMC 1)1, 1" "'II I ITI. PAMIS. 1'111.>" I!M II \
minimali:<.Cs Ihe "maIler one. Once the object inside is memori-
alised. it i~ no longer the model of an object: it ha~ been
trnnsfonned ... into a real thing.. As a eO Il~e(lucnc:e. the larger
hou\C.the olle at anthropomorphic "ale. no longer function~ as
lhouse ... Then there is the third object. which I' larger than the
other two. larger than reality. larger than :lIlthropomorphic
Dtte~~ity ... [t become~ a museum of allthe...c things.~
fm! is reminded here of MO/una's houses-within-houses. hh Ami-
DM'rllllJ~ 80.\ of 1971. ba~cd on Th~ M Ol/ill/' Gou~'/' rhyme. and
ikHles' endless library of <oelf-refening book.... bolh examples of an
tIeI'lIal proceli-~ of self-referenl ia lity .
The~dcvices, l alcrca ll ed 'scaling' and ... el f-silml:lfity by Eisen-
. decrease the power of Ihe u<;cr just a.~ Ihey increase Ihar of the
IKhtlecl and it's not ~ urpn~LI1g that Eisenman later produced even
n'lCesoliJhI~tic works. such :,' ' 1louse EI Even Odd' (a pun on !lou'\C
ll aa~3rt odd one) and' Fin d 'Ou THou S' (:I deconstructed set of pun~
In'flnd out house:' 'finedoubt hou~c' and 'fin d'aoO,' - the 'end of
.~U~U~ .. 1983. when he de,igncd il). BrokcLl pUJ1~ and "'rillllblcd
'rIt'le, hL~ p~ychoanalyst mu ... 1 have assured hlll1. con ~li tulc our nor-
,psychic ~ta te.
I!i~ Eh.cnman 'sdctenn ination to representlh" madne". Tschumi 's
CIIARLI:S JE.'IICKS
jo/it's. as a pure intellcctu:11 condition which has begun !O dominate hi~
work, life aml mental ..tate. In Ihe earl y ROs the Institule for Architec-
ture and Urban Sludic~, which he hud co-founded. began to decon-
~ truc t as he tumed hi<. crfoTl:; t owar<l~ II larger practice without
ultogether extricating hllll'ielf frolll i t ~ COntrol. 1<> He bI..'Camc alienated
from some of 1m. friend~ and. for a time, hi~ wife and c hildren. Even
hi, Mudenl~ at Harvard . where he taught from 1983 to 1985. went
through lraumas of dc-stabi li ~alion and momentary withdrawal n~ he
introduced Deconstruction as a practising method.!7 After !>everal
wrillcn al\acks on Chl.\.sicism and Post- Mod cmism,~~ hc took direcl
aim l\! his former friend and ideolo!,-ical enemy, LeOIi Krier. the
exponent of cl:I "'Mci~m and defender of Alben Speer. Kricr'~ revival-
il>m was di~missed a~ no\talgic. OU I of touch with modem '-Ciellce and
equated with the anti-Semitism of Spccr and other Nal.ls. A~ Kner
apparently once confe"scd to Eisenman thaI the 'hollle le~~ J ewi~h
Lntellectual' wa~ n01 the ~t ani n g polm of hI, urbanism.lhi~ lup~eon his
p;Lrt is once again tttken as the authoritarian nature of clas~ici . . m.. Any
WOll1an', Eisenman ~aid pointing at the audience. 'who l-.ubs(;ribes \0
chl!>"'lcism is self-denying ..... LogoceniriMIl. the favoured Sill of
O(,'construct ioniM \. ;mthropocent rism. hierarc hy. anti-fern in I ~m. anti
Sel11L tism and no't:llgi<l were all rolled up to!'-ether inlo one paranoid
ball fmd hurled at Krier. Needle,s to "ay Ihi s caricature mi,!>Cd il~ mark
al1(\. since it a .. ,umed a total ising ideology. was in any C:i!>ca very non
l)ccon'truc t ionl~t act.
Ei"Cnman' ~ <;cept ici~1l1 and dislLke of the classical ha~ found expres-
sIOn IIlIl1:my n.'cent articlclo and urhan projecls.lII Primary among the
laller was hh wmning enlry for !>oc lal hou\lI1g in Berlin, an IBA
project localed ncar the Berlin Wall lind Checkpoll1t Charlic. The
tr:tumntic p;lsl of Ihi ~ city afforded Eb(,IH1l;ln, as ;t did Hejduk and
Libeskind. a good opportun ity to represe nl c:Lta,trophes and diM:onti-
nuilie<; of the pa~1 and prc"Cnt: 'German, killing Germans trying to nee
from Gemlany to Gennany' as one Circular and mordant propml1lOn
PUI il. 11 Eisenman', first scheme. produced in 1982. po~tu la!ed the
redevelopment of a wholc block with additions (a mu...culll and
walkways) and subtr.lctions (an 'artlficial excavation' down 10 IRlh-
century foundation~), but in the event only 37 apanment umll-. were
con~truc l cd on Ihe sOUlhwest comer. Hi s inlenlion here was to provide
un altemati vc to Post-Modern historici~m with its emph:l:-.i~ on cunli-
nuity. wholellC~s and patching up thc frugmcnted Modem ci ty. This
last approach i ~ dismissed as an attempt to 'cmbalm time', or ' reverse
or relive it" - 'a fonn of no!>talgi:l' .l~ Instelld Eisenm:m propose~ in a
disinterested way a ncu tr'd li~ing ' anti-memory', somcthlllg aklll 10
127
DECOl\STRUCT10i'll
-
T~hu llli 's reproduction of Ihe stalUs (Iuo:
Anti-memory doc ~ not seck or posit progress, makes no claims to a
more perfect future. or a Hew order. predicts 1l00hing. It has nothing to
do with historicist allusion or with values or functions of particular
fomls: il inste:ld involves tlu' //Iakillg of (/ plan' (It(/( dl'l'il'l!S its 01'111'1'
from ,ht, obsClII'; II g of ;fS 0 11'11 r('('(}II('l" I'{I P(lS (.
In Ihis wily memory and anti-memory work opposi tely but in
collu.')ion \0 produce a suspended object.;1 frolen fragment of no
paM and no future, a place. leI LIS ..ay It is of its own time,"
'Our time ' .judged from the completed building. is where a lighl green
wall with a white grid OIJpliqlle represents the remain ing buildings 011
the site, whi le another grid shifted from the fi r~ t one by 3.3 degrees
rcprescnt~ ISth-centu!')' foundation5 and the Mercator grid, th:lt abo
stract ordering pattern which 'ties Berlin to Ihe world'. Above ':111. it
rcprescnb the Berlin W:l llj u~t 10 the north. In cffcclthen. like Richard
Meier's 3,; degree shift s al Frankfurt. we have a Late - M odemi~t
dealing wilh a PO~ I - Modern Iheme ,t hc representation of sile require-
mcnts, The problem is. however, IhlH no one cou ld possibly know th is
without reading Eisenman's explanations several times tx--cause so
much is intentionally ob.')cure<i and Jefl abstract. wilhout any vbual
cues or convent ion .., This 'difficulty' of reading is an e~sential part of
his theo!')' of Ihe totality - writing/architecture! world/text - and II
makc~ no concessions to how the inh;lbitalll" mlghl rnis-re:ld' the
building if they JUSt look at it or live in it.
However from this Illani n-the"trcet view Ihe fragmenTation s and
destabi li "alions are very clear. ~!le L; sbnpes r,9!0!f> dighlly. Ihe tilled
block ~cc rllS to ~m a sh through the greenish block to re-emerge On thi:'
corner, only Ihen 10 'dissolve its figlr ral identi ry: This lilled block. in
fragmented grid" of white. grey and red. provide!> a welcome ~y n co
pation and identity for each fl:lI : all the window .. here vary and Ihe
double,sIQ[e), wbjtel: rid sllCCessfull y contrasts with thc..!!!Q3..(lredict-
able rhythms of the background grccn. In conventional temlSIt'S a
delightfully moving l>et of ~ulllc~/ Jln e~ coloured .r~ which
prov ide indi vidu:ll ilYand anonyllllly in mea~ure.-and the .') kew
h ",n',;o,;, 1<",1 what might have been
or womtin-in-thestreet.
what aOOUl the deeper reading for the cognoscenl i. the man-
with-the-Eiscnman-text-in-hi~-hand. the Empty Man? Here there are
problcm~ of inconsistency which cannot be deconstructed away, The
greenish grid , which represents Ihe ~ Irec t line and previous buildings.
unaccounlnbly changes its colour to the grey-Ted-white grid on the
12R
west comer. There is no semamic reil ~o n for this and it seems .')imp()
an aesthetic decision, 10 hllnnonise the colours and fomls of th~
facade . And such harmon ic), b:mal integrations for Eisenman, 3ft
precisely whal he seeks 10 deconstruct in h i~ pursuit of an hones! 'anh'
cla~~ i c i sm', A I~o, and pcrhap~ more importamly ,the 3,3 metre Ixlse~
me,mtlo refer to Ihe heighl of the Berlin Wall, but it is treated a~ a,~laJJ
wall of cheerful squares. or on the ~o uthwcsl corner, an exercise II
perky selback ... In other word, the ' memory' of Ihis. the most trau
matic wall in the We ...!. is ae.')lhetici.')ed and trivia Iised. the aCCUS.1IKl1
Ih;lt Eisenman level.. at Po,t- Modem historicism,
The confirmed sceptic might an~wer that no Deconstructionist CJI
be perfect: there's alway, incoherence in the text. So how do we J~
the difference between good and bad Deconstruct ionist bui1din~t
Again there is no CleM an~wer to thi), as Ei ~e nman has said: 'Lookm,:
allhe corrosion of fomlal c;negories, the work [of mine I suggests tI\:I!
there is no ~ u ch Ihing as Ihe good or the beautiful ,14 If the worl is thlll
nOI meant 10 be 'good', it st ill remains ' not bad', either: othcrwi!.tl
wouldn 't write at such length on the~e tortured incomislencies, Rr
Ihi . . is the l>ubject of Ei"l!Tl1llml'S art . ~ystematic doubt. and it Il!~e\
con ~i derabl e effon and courage forhirn to pursue it. On the otherhri
it wou ld be naive not 10 recognise ~uc h "Ce pt jci~m as a reigning fashiccl
of our time , with graduate schools and Parisian salons full ofJ)outtl
Thomases.
Eisenman 's winning entry for an Ans Cen ter in Columbu!>.
lakes hi s rhetorical slrategies a ~ Iage beyond Ihe Berl in ~chcme. A I
it j" b:t~ed on l,he..s,hifJ bc t ",9i!'1T1:W~ ~ , ' artificia l eXCllv8tlon'
complex , fragmented figure~ - ,ign~ of doubt. Ag:lin I
and harmony for the ab~lract layering of white and grey grids.
,
it ex hum e~ an old building - in thi!> ca.;e the fo undations of a r
armoury - and u se~ it as a ' fict ion ' to be built as a 'ghost' I
another narrative and ronnal device borrowed from Post,ModefII B
But whcrea~ a Post-Modemi.') 1 might have stitched together
present and rUlure, Eisenman builds the abSlracted fragmeruof
~OllQury as a ruin. Red masonry to'Werl> buill from a new'
material tic down it jumble of canted rectangles. one of WhICh, a '
whIte grid of galleries and the main spine, s ma ~he~ betl\l'Cn
exi~ti n g bui ldings and Ihen rises up '[ike a north arrow', andc~l'nJll('l n
like one of Hadid's skewed nying beAm s. f,
Obviou~ly Eisenman hAS been influenced here, as clscI\'hel't,
other Deconstructionists, and in this shnring of ccnain convclltlOO't
,"
arc witncl>sing the growth of a new convention and sct of
however short-lived. The long Ihm risi ng spine - Ihe skewed ,""

-decOI\ ~truc h the hier.lrchic:. .mll harmonic' of thc two r.llh..:r dull
buildings to ei ther side and, like onc of Frank Gehry's bumptiolls
,'tdges driven into a cla ..sical clicht, this aCI of contextual murder
!rings a certain life to boredom. Onc may que .... ion the frene tically
fllgmen ted confusion, but the Arts Center explicit ly a:.ked for :1
building .... hich would represent the experimental nature of conlempo-
my an and in Ih i~ sen"!! Ihey have achievL"<i their gO;II: a lilted Sol
ltWiu anchored bY:I Cubbt gho>t :tnnollry neXl10 an earthworl.. II fa
Michael Hei7.er. One m:lY aho (Itlc>tion the reference of tile tilted grid,
.",lIer all. i ~ the city grid really wurth repre"!!lHing, or i:-. it merely a
\Rtext 10 convince the client that thi .. 13 dC!~ree shi fl and its costly
rolli~inn'i are neces'>ary? A~ u>ual Eiscnm:m profrers .1 sel of para-
oo(es: We u~cc! the ,itc-'b a p;tlinm,el! : ;. pl:tee to wri te. e~ and
lellintc.lhistoryl': 'Our building I"ever~es the process of the "ite
inventing the building IPost-Moderni sml. Our building inven t ~ the
site'. TII(' rc~urrecled, ab~trac t ed armoury' affirms the signi fiC<lnce of
t m~Jor lo~t landnmrk on Ihe Ohio St:Lle C:ll1lpU~ and rercr~ the
Um\'ersity 10 a piece ofit<; own hi ~ lory .'\ But is a destroyed :tnnoury
ft31ty that imporl!lnl 10 :.I11yonc al (hc univcr"IY: wa.~ il perhaps unce
Imililary academy!
As Eisenm:m faced ~uch llue~1 ion .. of con tenl and introduced new
I'I--,-IOM EISE.'I;I.tA'. L TO /I \10~
!hetoricaltropc<; mto hi~ own amloury 'fiction'. ':mli-mcmory',
ltpreSentation. figuratlon - he b(:1::lIne mudl closer 10 the Po"t-
mists he ~pum cd. BUlto save lum!>Clffrom this unspeakable fate.
lIr invencd their prim:try mctho{h and tumed miraculously into a
-\OI-Posl-Modemi:.I' . Thu ~ for l)o~I-Modern '~i lllulalion of ruins,
instance. Eisenman propo\Cd:1 'di""illlulalion'
01 ruins, thaI is
:otmterfeit excavatIons :md f:llse foundat ions that e ither pretend 10 be
rulones, or repre~n t in !.Oll1C phoney material the fact that they'rc
"".One 'iCheme of Il1'i, the Romeo and Juliet project for the Venice
&rnnalc. 1985,take" the texts of Da Porto and Shakespeare, among
1IIbm, as its departure pamt for showing the inherenl conflicts
~\\een the two famou~ rami1ic~ of Verona. It makes this the pretext
lor Isuperpo~ition of conflicting scales and endless mi~-reading~
Im:t part of its lille, Moving Arrow~, Ero~, And Other Errors',lI!
, ., . method oC amplifying or diminishing a grid or
I t it rd:t~~ il!!!Y 10 "ilselL(' self-si milarity') is the rhetorical
!~ used :.Ind]ire ~b, for Instance, in II diminished model ofthecilY
a: Vrrona being inscned in the citadel of ROllleo's castle. So Illany
Rtb shifts and superposition<;' and 'excavations' are used here that
wnman quickly lo~es hi s privileged role as the author of this lext
In an amusing and revealing admission, says this of itS represen-
- CHARLES JENCKS
talion: 'J am the wor:.1 pcr<><m 10 ;1:-.", Ix-<:au:-.e;\ ;s a very unconscious
project forme . It 's a very interesting project formy psychoanalY'> t who
thinks it' ),;\ vcry interc~ting insigtll into my psychology. He under-
stands II much better than I do, 111 a certain scnse',J7
Since architecture i)' a public art and Romeo and Ju liet will not be
built. we'll le:tve ih ana l y~i> 10 other~ more highly JXlid for the task.
BUI it.. extension of previous ideas should be mentioned, the method
of laycrinJ:l and crackinJ:l g l a,~ plane ~ to imroduce non-anthropomor-
phic tropes - 'scaling', 'SLltX!rillll>o,ition' and 'sclf-similarity' . These,
III Ei .. enll1;LIl~ word~, creale a 'M:ale-specifity in thaI it is a recursive
sca!e: it re!:Lles to it~ OWII being, Its scale is imerna!. In this work, we
arc !:lIking about the lo~, of God, the lack of belief in the incarnation,
and the need for:1I1 inc,ITIHlIe mediator. We are talking aboutlhc loss
of ~elf as Ihe only identifying metaphor ... Kccursive, se lf-sim ilar.
diSI.:Olltinuous geometry i ~ potenti:tlly a sca lc non-spec ific to man's
geomelry'. ~
Why the 'need for:1I1 im;:amatc mcdiator' isn't another vestigial
<>elltimcllt of Pmt-Modern no~t:.llgiil' i~ not ex pJained: but the absence
of God i~, ofc(\ur~e. the uttimale reference for alt Ihis de-cenlred work .
11 brings up the point of whcther the feehng of loss - so powerfut in
Tschu mi. Hejdul.. , Libe~I..ind and Ei"Cnman - isn't a fonn ofNietl.sch-
01' IIOU5( II A . A)(O'l;O\IFl1I.l(" M()UU (If- II()I 'SI X
ean, oratleasl Exjstel11iall~t, revj valism. Whatever theca!>C . Ei-.enman
and Derrid:I'" garden forT'iChumi's ' park oflhe 21 st century' is where
all this :Ibsence comcs logclhcr and occomcs recursive, referring to
itself in a kind of ~i1ent ping-pong game of nothingness. First of all
there wa:o. a cryptic b.1ulc going on over precedent: which 'aUlhor' -
TschullIi wilh hi!. 'Joycc's Garden' of 1977, or Eisenman With hi~
Omnaregio prOject of 1978 - fi rst invented the famous Oceon-
structioniS! 'poi nt grid', a di spute rendered void in the scholar's mmd
by Archizoom's 'Non-Stop City' of 1970, or Barsch and GinLburg's
'Green Cily' for Moscow. 1930. Ei~enman no doubt wanted to take the
credit for discovering Lc Corbusicr's 'politi grid' for hi s Venice
liospital of 1964-5, and this i)' referred to in the layout of the garden
which combines both Le Corbu:-.ier's and Tschumi 's grid with his own
Canrmregio project: its eroded L-Shapes, a diagonal cut and po~ltive
and negative 'excavations'. In the garden another diagon31 is added to
pick up Tschumi' ~ :tnd then Iwo grids arc rotated at an angle 10 suggest
to the cognoscenti 1l13t Ei senman had the idea before his friend (ie
Tsehum;' s Pure is b<l~ed on Eiscnn13n 's Cannaregio). Then the ground
plane is tiltcd at an angle and (pc.rh:lps) made from Conen ~teel (a
reference 10 II:.Idid 's poli~hccl rock planes?), This incline deeonstruct~
solid ground rind di sorient ~ the viewer, who has 10 observe thi s topsy-
129
DECONSTRUCTION
,
\'
turvy miniature of the world from outside.
Again the three basic levels represenl time: Illldeq:rouud '1xc<lYa-
tions .ll!.c p:l)J.:.!.!l]ed pl:wc.-.l!le presSon!; ;.Inc! e1cvatcd. '-:.\.}tJc future.
The 'seli-Sltnilarity' of the L-shnpes further break~ down 'human scale
and reference. but a touch of comprehcn~iblc Pmt-MoJcrn rcpre~en
uilion is I>crmilled in the fragmented imagc~ of the Pari~ rampan~
(elcv;.lted) and abattoi r:. (~unk). Thc~c are . trace" . from the site and it~
history of con~t.ant destrucliOIl and recon~lruction. the 11l0~t recent
bcltlg in the ~O~ when the ~Iaughterhou~s were tramfonncd at greal
poillical and economic e."(pen~c (repre~entell by the golll colouring?).
Binary nppositions aTC ~ignified ~ Parisian aballoir/ltalian Sl:lughtcr-
hou~e (~iw of the Venicc Hospital). Tschuilli/Le Corbu~icr. hou~cl
folly. Ii fe/ctc:tth ~ a~ well a1) the si III ultanei ty of pa~t. present and ful ure.
The whole g:trden i ~ called 'Choral Works'. a Collaboration ofDerrioa
and Ei~enman. who ~ing their sacred and metriclll hymn in uni~on 10
-.n audicnce of knowing Empty Men: other Deconstructioni"I" who
will contemplate with reverence their need for an . illcamatc mediator'
they cannOt have ~ the ple-.sures of sacred absence.
Ei~emllan explains:
The ide;J of the qU;Jffy becomes a very interc~ting notion. ThaI
i<. whal we are using in La Villellc. We ;Jre using two pieces: the
,
/
quarry and Ihe pnlimpse"l ... Now YOlltake the stones and build
one projC(;1. Someone else will take the slOne~ from our project
;Jnl! bui 10 something elM! ... We start frol11 the palimpsesl whit'll
i~ the supcrpo~ition of two piece~ [Cannaregio ,md Tschumi?J
which then becomes a quarry and then you subtract from lilt
p:tlimpset leaving the tr:lce of the fonner superpo~ition. but abo
the tr.lce of the subtraction. sO in other words we arc tall.1ng.
about choTa. The combinat iOll of the superpo:.ition of pahmp-
<;e~t and quarry give" you 'chora' which is the progrJmme thai
Derrida sel for The La Villcl1e project. $u we :lTe inlo !iOml~TealI}
very (;fazy thing~ al La Villelle ... w
Eisenm:tn's rhctork machine seems to have dominated
progr<lnl me Itl ~ cxcava Iion' .. pa lim pse~t ' .. quarry'. ,
'~U perpos i tion' .. scal ing " 'tex tua I fi gu rat ion ' .. d i~sim uI:llion ..
grid' and 'ghost feprcse. nt:llion~ ~ the~e arc tlte tropes from
armoury which arc evident in the garden. His ndoption of
from rhctork may also have been infiuenced. unlikely as ;;' ;<
of LIS. by my earlier work.~ l III :.Illy ca~e. by 1987 Eisenman
adopting many more tenns which gener:ttcd II
ornamenl ~ c:u:ichresb .. fmct:lls .. arabesques' and grote.sqOl:S
and moving towards the parJdoxica l poSition of joi ning the
 - , "

CIIARLES JIlNCKS

was Ic:!"ing, :tcluaJly produci ng an omamelllal :md repre'-Clllalion:d
lIChllccture. Yet several di~po~itiono; kept him fre e of Ihio; fatc, above
all hi .. commiTment to ilb,traction ;md hermctici\m and the Decon-
ItrUctioni .. t emphasi\ on continual prore", C01Nant change. Like
\ieu'he'~ m:m of the future he is committed 10 the re,I1~\ ta<.1.. of
dtton.. tTUcting and recoll \ truelmg all calegorie\ of thoughl and bU1 ld-
,and he is becoming more ilnd more aware o f the 'giant par.ldox '
this IXN"~ for architecturc, \olllclhing that .,huuld have a little more
pmllancnce than fashion, ;LIl ll ~omelhing whi ch Iws a 'pre,ence', :IS
~tll J~ J reference to idea, ;md ab~ence.
By 1987, Ei\enman'~ defin ilion of the 'Rhctoric:!1 Figure' a,~cTlcd
dtal JrchilcclUre must convey its si multaneou, ' presence' (as all
ttlsling object) and 'absence 111 preo;ence' (lho)oC thing s which are
repre~-.cd' by build ing and dCMroyed or mi s<; in g).~! In effect. lil..e
Dmida'~ ' affinnalive DCCOIl\ truction' , hi, positi ve I1Ihllio;111 makes
il\e~prc~~ive virtue of ih own falJibilitie~ ;md de~lructions. It :tho
con\'ey~ the optimi\m and enjoymclll which al1elld any breaking of
habitual calegories, Ihe creative exuberance apparent :l1~o in the best
work of Gehry , KnoJlwa!>. Hadld :lod othcrs. If one "alue~ Dccoo~
' Iruclionists from a ~ceptical I>o,ition. as I do. then it io; for theIr
inventive rre\hne ~" their bringing of ncw ru1c~ and conventions to the
tired game of Modernism, for making it trul y 'Neo'. If one ha!. doubt!>
about the ge nerJ.lilY 01 approach. they concern the 'dogmatic M:epti~
th.rn' which 1<' alway .. ,ure of the negat ive re ~ ull o; and the anti-political
and anti-public nature o f the ilClivily, A, a Mandanll MY1c Ot..'Con,
~truction jo;, as Manfredo Tafuri wTOtCOflhc New York FIVe and olher,
111 1974, 'Clrchi/('rf/lrl' dalls Ie iWIlr/oil" .~' Uh.e a Rococo boudoir It can
bc sensual and cng"gingly complex, but ii ', fundament"lly undemo
cratic, And here hthe rc,,1 contradictio n in Dccon'truction : in ~p ite of
the claims 10 pluralism, dif/emll(,(" ' a wOIr on totOllity' and defence of
' olherneo;!., Ihis hcnncl ic "ark is ofl en monist, e lit i~ t . intolcrant and
conveys a 1.:1Il1ene.. ~'. Perhaps. in architecture. th i" i.. a resuh of
staring into the Void for too long: il ha ~ re,ulted In a priv:ne reJiglOu,
language, of ~clf-den i a l. Becau~e of ,uch s upprc$<;ion~ and contradic-
tion, one could ;Irgue Ihat a rea l [)e co INructioni ~ t arc hitecture of
v"riety :lIId humour has yet 10 exi,\.

Null'S
I S 1'hr A rdlu/,/,wrt' of fl'(IIIA GI'III),. 19frJ - I fJl)6, cs hibiuon. W al ker An 23 Peter Ei!>Cnman, . PO,I hmct ionall~11l .. 0PIHlWlmIS 6. Fall 1976, pp ii-ii i.
Ctmtr antl~, Rll."I.oli. Nc .... Yorl, 11)86: Prol!rt',.I;.'f AI'I!titnlW'(', Oclll- 24 ' A Poclic~ of the Model: Eisenman ', Doubl'. IlIlcrview With Peter Ei)Cn-
~ 1986: !lOIISt' Imd Garde" (LS cd) ;IW;lrd for archlllXlure. Augu~1 1987. m:m by David ShapIro J.nd Lilld ~;Iy SI,lInm. 1981. in /(/1'1/ (/I' M(Hlrl, IA US,
~ SeeThoola\ 5 Iline\ ' I!cayy Met:l!. The r::tluc:ll ion of I'()(;' III Till' Ardu- RillOli, .\lew Yor~ . 198 I. pp 1 2 1 -~_
flUro/Fr(II/(Gt'lin"(J/,,il, pp IO- It. 16. IS. 2~ ihid.p I::!l
) iNl. froll1l~plccc. 26 Kennelh I-mmplon w.. ~ lhi: Dm.:e'or ot the JAUS for .. c\,crJI mOlllh~ 1\1
I Set thi! (h \Cu~Slo n of the' ThrL'e G I:l~~ Inddrnt ' In f m'OI iKlI/ioll", ill A I'! hi- 19115 beforr r<!~lgllln g.
~r'IIUf: Ei (eli/mill SIi/(III.1 III IIII' GSD. J983 -5, I Jar\':1 rd G SD. Cambndge. 27 See I 11\'(' w,~lIlillll' //I Al'C'iril('IIIIf(' - 1:I.'/'ImulII SI/I(},e.1 <II Ihe C;Sf) 1983
Y..I:IIo.19116. pp 44-5 and ' MOVing AITOW,. Ef()~ and Olher Erron.. HoI' J. 8_~, Cambndgc, MJ\s. 19116. especially arllcJc~ hy Whiteman Jnd KIPIII~ ,
.VdiI'(ClUrJI A~'iOCialion. 19Sh. 2f! JlI~ allac~s on PO\I Mui.lcrni\m ~1:lIl v.ilh 'The GrJI'C\ of Modernism'.
.. Fnnl. Geluy in conlcn..llion " IIh Adele frecdm:lIl. PI'II(,I't'SSIL'(' , \ l'(/lIIl't, 1979. a l ~o see the rctcrencc, 111 the PUb1rl':11I01l clled II1lhe "rev iou ~ noiC.
r,lxlOOer 191\6, p99_ ::!<) 1l11!."-C rernarl, by b ,enlllan were made al 311 Archilcclurnl A~sociallon
\otabl) ,he P:lJ'C de la Villelle, It.!5. and lhe 1lag ue Cn) 1latl . J987. The) IIX'ture, :v1i1Y29. 1985.
.m mnoonced v. 1nI\Cr. one da y and ..cm i-final i~t" laler. J(J "1111." End of the Cia'i)ieaI'. 'The I'utllil y of OblCCh ., 'The Begllliling, the
. See Ihe large bl:ICl/'ullO boub publi,hcd for e"enl'-:U the ArchileClllral End 31111thc Ikglll rUrlg Ag,UtI ' or 111 0~1 rcccnily . Arch i,ecturc and Ihe Problem
r\)l!OCialiun ~nd ;,ce AA Ptf.,) 2- 14, 1979. 19117. for critlcal i1rll cJe ~ and nfthc Rheturic:tl I'Igllrc. IflA+U, R7:07. pp 1722.
me . . . s. 31 For thi~ quote ~cc Su,an Doubi1cl, 'The DiVIded Self. Pmkr<'f.\I\'I' ,\rdll-
KUh3 11adld. 'The Peal.. 1I0ng Kling'. AA /-"I/('s 4 . lui), 1983. P S4. tl'rfHre 3. 1987, P ~2.
.d. 32 Sec Pe,er EI!.enman. 'The City of Arlillcl,11 [\c:l"aIIOI1. Ar.-lUf<'Clllr<l1
~ues 1Xmd3. 'POIOI de l'ohc- MJlIltenam Architecture', lhid. p 7. A I ~o (Jesl.!!" . Vol 53, 7ffl, 19R3.pp2.... 7.
_ In M Fill:s 12, Summer It.!1l. P 65. 33 Ihi(l, p 26.
Ilptll. AA Fnlill. PI> 4-19, ,\1\ hit',\ 12, 65-75, tran, lal lon by Kale LlIll..er. 34 See m'ervic" in .\KAU , nO\e J7, p II .
\llacquc~ Dcmda, AA fi/I'I' t 2. P 70. 35 Ei~enman QuoH...d in GSD NI''''''\' CUIIl!:lridgc, :v1a~~. Kov!Dcc. I!Jill, P 9.
lJ 8emardTschumi. 'La Ca~c Vide', ,\A Folio R, 1986. P 3. 36 re'er Eisenrmln. ' MOV ing Arrow~. EfIl~ And Other Error~', "Ildi.
IJ Anlhony V Idler, 'Tnck-l rack' . tl}ii/. PP 20.21. 37 ' 1ntCr\'icw Peler Ei<;.cnman + L)'nn Ure~ J III . , Space D ell!:II, i\ti:03. p 65.
I! 8emJrdT~huml. 0fl I iI. p 26. 38 Quoted in 11/I'1'_Wj:fII/OIIl ill AnhiICllfr(', 01' 0'1. nme 4,1 p62.
Il.arokJ R~ nbcrg , 'The Orgalllcnean Phanta"y. Tlrt' TralJilitm oj Iht' 39 ' Peter Ei ~ nlllan + Lynn Breslin'. 01' I'll, nme 5J. " 65 .
~ \lcGrav. -1hlL 11)65, pp 269-285. 4() ' If anythlllg h~ I Derridal doe.\n' I "u~h me ~nough. ihul. p 64.
"Rlbtnberg, 0(1 ,il. P 284. 41 1 first spol c on ' Rhelone and Archucclurc' ill a conference on .,cl1l1ology
II See my "me Perennial ArchIH_'CtuTllJ Debale, A~U'lct Reprcsem:nion . in Barcelona 1972. llboal1ended by Eisenman. My 1...(1Il'-Modcm ArcJlllnlllrt'
I:rIM/tfllf({/IDesi/:lI, Vu153, No 7(8, 1983. pp 10-16. (J1l/1 Archilt't'llIrl' Tilda)" 1982. may have mfi ueneed hi s rhctoric machmc.
I~ lhrOOlI FUj ii .. Arch i'ecw ra I Metl1l11Orpho lugy : In Qlle~1 of ' he MechR- 42 Eisenman. ' Architecture and the Problem oflhe RhClOrical hgurc ' ,A+U,
'\IIIo/'Meamng'. 0PIJlI.lllirmJ 22. Fall 1980, pp 14 19. 87:7, pp 19-20.
""d. 43 Manfredo Taruri. ' L'Architccturc dans Ie Boudoir. The Langu;lgc of
Set 1l1ltl'Yle .... belween Peter Ei~ nrnan and Car~l cn Jucl-Chrhtianscn, Cril i..:i~1lI and the Criucism of Language', OPf1()JjffflIlS 3, IAUS, May 1974.
\.I\I.U': o 12, October 1987, p 10. pp 37-62.
__ iIIId,p 12,

I 3I
 MARK WIGLEY
Deconstructivist Architecture
-
.'
\
I

COOP HIMMELBLA U. TIlE OrEN I lOUSE. 1983 . MODEL

Last week, to escllpe a conference in Miami on architecture, I went into the Everglades. We went on an airboat with a big
fallltt the back in which one had the sense of floating on a plane, which completely ignored the context. We were Iiterall)
passing through the context - a Yuppie experience, no doubt, but thrilling nonetheless. We stopped in a kind of spook)
pool, which was an alligator pool, and up from the deep carne a pair of extraordinarily memlcing eyes - underneath the
water one could see a long. slippery. slimy shadow . Quite ncrvewrack- all, about traditional arti sts. It seemed to me that what I was seeingv.as
ing - we all leaned toward s the inside of the boat. a sugary sweet English mars hmallow.
The alligator was important to me because it lives so far away from First. a crass generalisation. Architecture has always been a central
culture in that completely anificial landscape of the Everglades in cultural institution , val ued for its stability and order. These qUJlities
which every plant and every animal has been imported. The animal seem to arise from the geometric purity of its formal composition, The
wa~ lhen lured up from the depths with pink marshmallows. I was architect has always dreamed of pure form , produciqSLobjecL'\ from
struck in a kind of fetishistic way with the encounter between the most which all inslability and disorder have been exclude~ uildings
trivial. insignificant Object of consumption in the twentieth century - constructed by laking simple geomerric forms and combining
Ihe nuffy. sugary. pink marshm.,lIow - and Ihis sl ippery. slimy demon into strategic ensembles following compositional rules which
of the deep, who in the moment of very delicately snatching th is pink any olle form from confl icting with any other. No form is permilledw
marshmallow, for the first time its full length and horror emerged. The distort another. All conflict is resolved; the form s contribute hanna-
reason 1 mention this story is that consumption is of issue here, except niously to a unified whole. This geomGlric structure becomes tbt
today what I've seen is the reverse: T have seen (he marshmallows physical structure of the buitding and iis rom1al purity is seen.
attempt to co nsume the alligator. guaranteeing its structural slabilily. Having produced this StruCture
I think Deconstruction deserves a seriousness with its now long the architect then e laborates it in a way that preserves its IJurity.
hi!ootory. I am very disturbed by a casual g lance upon both the stronge st Any deviation from the structural order. any impurity, is seen as
work in contemporary theory and. in my view, the strongest work in threatening the fanner values orhannony, unity and stability,
contemporary critici sm. We have constantly experienced Ithis mom- therefore insulated from the structure and regarded as mereomamenl
ingl references to a non-existent show, a show fabrica ted here in Architecture is a conservative discipline that produces pure fonn
LontIon, a show which has different players in it than the Museum of protects it from contamination. I believe the projects in the
Modern An show in New York. It' s a show which appare mly should structivist Architecture exhibition at MOMA mark a different sen\l
have included a whole lot of other people, a show apparently about a bility. one in which the dream of pure forn1 has been
movement, a show indeed with a title that T hadn't heard before - r' is no longer simply pure, it ha s become contaminated, The dream ha5
Deconstru ctirism - a show that is a sty le, a show that ha s some become a kind of nightmare. It is this ability to disturb our .
reference to so me ideas, some old ideas about a new spirit. seems to makes these projects Dcconstruclivc. It is not thaI they
me to be a show that can not be dislinguished from what I'd known of form of contemporarycrilicism known as Deconstruction,
and tried to forgive as Post-Modernism. It' s a show concemed primar- an advocation of Deconstructi ve theory. rather. they emerge
ily with a banal sense of fragmentation and explosion , a show, above within the architectural tradition and happen to exhibit some

132
.;tivc 4IJalitie~. illgty pertec! tOrlll c()nte"c~ liS Crime. liS IIllpenCCllUIl.
)econ~truction i\ often mi ~llIlderl,\ood a~ the t:l\..ing. apan of con- Thb sense of di\lueation occurs 110t only within all the projech in
C\Lon\. Con\equently. :lny provOC:luve architectural design which the MOM A e.xhibit ion. It also occur:. beLweenlho..e form" and Illeir
:ars to take a structure apart by the ~Llnp l e breaking of an object- context:.. In recent year~. the modem underl>landing of )'ociai rc:.pon
n Jame!. Wines or the comple", diM,imulmion of :Ill object into :l \ lbllilYa~ func tional progmmme has been .,upcr\C(\ed by a concern for
age of tracc!.. as In Ei~nmal11Lnd FUjii - ha ~ been called Decon- cOlltext. But contextuali.,m hU!i been u'>Cd a\:m excu'>C for mediocrit).
cti\'c. The:.c :.trategies huve produced perhaps thc mo~t fonnidable for a dUl1Ib servility 10 the familiar. Sjnce Dccomtrurljve 'IT('h iter1llre
jects of recent years. bUI relll1lln ~imuJation\ of Dccon),tructive <,Cch the unf3mjliar with in the familia(. it di~rlaq:s the cQll1e1S.j rather
'J.. In other discipline~ because they do nOi exploit the unique than acquiesce~ to it. The projects in the exhibition do not ignore the
dition of the architeclUral object. f.( ~ context, they are not anti-contcxtur:ll. Rather, each lTlake~ a \'ery
);comtmeriOiI liS Rot "&;01ol;Iiol1 ordi\simulatio!l. While it diagno- spccilie intervention 111 which elements of the context become de-
certain MruclUra l problem:. within apparently -\t<lbJc 1>Iructure~, familiarised. Each proJcct actlVoltes sollle part of the cOlltexttodl~ turb
'it Oa .... ' do not lead to the structure'" coll:lp\(:. On Ihe contrary. the rest of it, drawing up unllOljrrd dj)(Jiptive properties and making
I I them thematic.. Each a"~Ulllc::, an unc,mny presence. alien to the
I t from which it derives. strange yet familiar. a kind of .,leeping
monster which awakes in the mid"l of the ever~lay.
This estrangelTlcnl :.ct~ up a complicated rcsonllncc between thc
disrupted interior of the forms and the lrdi ~ruption of the context. Thl\
Iding, but one who locme!. Ihc inhcrel11 dilemma:. within bU llding\ anlliogy between the two fUllc tions calb into quc:.tion the statu~ of the
'lestruclUrJI naw~. The Decon\tructive architect puts the pure form:. walb Ihat define the fonn. The division between m.,jde and oUl~ide i\
the architectural tradition on the couch and idcntific, Ihe symptom:. radicall), disturbed, lI.!c form no Ion er ~il div 1
, n inSide fro;n
a repre~~ed impurity. That Impurity b drllwn to thc ~Lirface by a an outsjde as the geometry proves to milch more convolute . The
mbin:ltlon of gem Ie coaxing ,HId violell1torture. The form i<;1 ileral Iy "en:-:c of being contained, whether it be hy II building or" rooll!. i~
'elTOgatcd. But thi~ violence i~ nOI external \0 the form, it is not a dJ,rupted. but 110t by simply removing the walb: the closure of fonn
~uring, or \licing. or fragmelltation, or piercing. To di~turb a form i\ not simply replaced with opcnne!..\I. Thi~ is not freedom. liberation.
1m the nUblde in these wavs i~ not to threaten that fonn, on ly tQ but \tre.\l\ - not release but even ~rcater tension. The wall brcak\ open
milee !J or dCC09'e it in a very complex waJ'... There arc no )'inlPle windows. no regu!:lr
Thl\ damage produce:., pcrhap~, a decorative effect. :In ac,thelic of openings puncturing a solid wall. Rather. the wall;" tonnented. split

- --
nger un ahlJOS! picture,que rrpre~enta!jnn of dnn.cer - but not a and folded.so lhal it no 101ler prOVides ~ecurity by dividing faminar-t
i thrC:l1. In''tead. the kind of architecture 1'111 de~cribillg di~- frOIl) unfamiliar. inside fr0111 oul. The whole condition of enclo~ure~
figure'drom within: it i~ as if ,OiHe kind of p:lnlsile hu" mfectcd bre:lk, down.
figure ;md UJ'.toned it from the 1O'lde. The roof-top re-modelling Even though it threatens thi~ mo~1 fundamental property of arch!
Hmunelblau IS (I foml distorted by some alien organi\I1l, a tecturJI objects. Decon"tructivi\t architecture doc' not conl>lltute an
breaking through Ihe comer. Some Iwi),ted avant -garde. It i\ not :l rhetoric of the new. Rather, it expose~ the
the oct:lgOl1tl1 bo)(. It '!. a skeletal monster which unfamiliar hidden withlO the traditional. It is the sht>Ck of the old. 11
the element\ of the foml a~ i\ 'truggle~ out. ~'g:~ explOIt.. the weakne"~ in the tradition in order to disturb mther than
overthrow it. Like the modem uvant-g:lrde. it llllempts to be disturb-
distortion is pccuharly di~quieteni!1g because iIlg. alicn:!1 ing. bUI not from Ihe traditional retreat of the aVllnt-garde.
to the forni, to be pan of it. 11 ~em~ 10 havc always not fmm the margins. Rather, !I occupie~ and subvelU.the centre. Thi~
latent therc until released by the architect. TIle alien, emerging work I ~ not fundamentally different from the tradition it subven.!>.
e
~::;h;~,:;;:,:;' the wal l. :lnd the roof plan. no\ from ~ome dJrk pool. Dccon~tructivist :Irchitecture inhabits the centre of the tradition III
pit. isgi\en shape b) the very clements that define the order to demonstrate that the tr:ldit ion i, always infected. that pure
volume of the auic. TIle alien j, an outgrowth of the very foml foml ha~ alway~ been contaminated. It speculatc) that architccture has
"'0 "",. t.be form di"tons )lcl doc .. nO! de"troy itself. In a ~trange . alw,IYs been riddled With these killd~ of enigmas. that they arc the
source of its force and ib delight. that they LIfe thc vcry pos~ibtlity of
its ronnidabie presence.
Sx inhabiting the tradition fully. obeying its inner logic more rigor
ously than ever before. these archileeb di"-Cover cerla in dilemmas
with III the tr.ldltion that arc mbscd by those who sleepwa l~ through
it. Deconstructivi"t :lrchllecture.therefore. po~.\I problems to both thl'
centre and the margin' of Ihi .. discipline. Neithercan simply appropn-
atc the work. It cannot simply be imitated by the margins beC:LLI~C it
denland, such an 1Il1imatc knowledge of. and therefore comp licity
with. the inner working .. of the tradition. But neither can it simply be
appropriated by the centre: It cannot be so ea!>ily al>similated. It invitel<o
consumption by employing traditionlll architectural fomls. It tempts
the profe~ion and the critic:11 establishmcnt to \wallow it whole. BUI
because it infects those fonns. it alw<ly~ produces a J.. md ofindlgestlon.
In thl~ moment of critical resi~tance. it assumes ih full force.
Much suppo\Cdly radical architectural work of recent years has
neutralised ilY!lf by maintaining it;,clf Ull the margill~. the pOSition of
the hbtoriclll avant -garde. A tmdition of brillilllll eonceplLlal projects
has developed which look more radical than thc work which will go on
d i ~p la v In the e)(hihition. but I believe hick its force because they do
not confront the centre of the Iradiuon. They m:IT!!lnali.~ themsc l vc~
by excluding building, Theydo not engage wJlh arch,teclLlre. bUllllake

133
DECO\STRL'(,'TIOr..

a ..oph l:.ticalcd conllm~n lary upon il. They produt:c a " tnd or commen The lorce of Ihat obJC<.'[ mal.e.. the IheOT)' In-devan!. Con-.equen[1y
1:lry on building \I. Ilhout emering into bui Id ing. Such dr:lwings have the;,c proJect, C<ln be cOlhidered oUhide of their u~u::lI Iheorelical
written imo them Ihe ctelal.:hmcn, oflhe hi~!OriC:11 aV:III[.gardc. They contex!, They cml be an"ly ..ed III "Irictly rormal term~ hccause tile
ltthahlt the m:lrgin" the olles up frnllt. a[ the frontier. They arc formal condition nf each object c:lrric'> II .. full ideological force.
proJCCtiOlh of the future, brave new world .. , ulopl;ln fanla,>ie,>. In Such an analy .. " bnns logether I . archllcct~ .. ii
eOn\m,[. the \.\or" 111 Ih i:. exhibition is neil her a proJcelion in[o Ihl~ prJ.gm:ul\ls. They join lo~elher in
lulufe nor ..imply a hi'>torici~[ remembr.mce 01 the p...... Ra[her. iI which 11l1crrog:lle purc form tn"
aI1Clllp[" [0 ge[ under the ""111 ()f [he li ving Iradi [ion. Irrn:J t111g it frum of archill'cture. Thb i~ not to ':!y 111::11 they partiCipate in fl
wl[hm. 1l1ov('menl. DcCOnl,trlICli\'i~1 3rchileclurc I~ !l01 all /,IIII.I'fUI
l)ccon,lru('[[VI,1 arclllll'ClUre locale, Ihe frontie ..... Ihe limih 01 il s1l11ply ,even mdependent arch ilecl\. 1t . I
archlleclUre ('oiled up III cvcl)llay fOnlh. I [ find!. nc\\ h:rrilOry wlthm tion among" ~tri"ingly difrere11l archi[ech moving in co",
(lid (lhJec[ .... Thl\ wor].. carrie, 0111 the ]..ind of ~ub\'ersion u~U:llIy different directions, The proJCCb an.. about brief 1110rnCI11~ In
rrg;lrded:1\ po .. "hle only :11 a di .. tance from [he reality of hullt form. indel>Clldcl11 programme of the ani,h, Clearly they 1Il0uence
The projecis arc radical preci"ely becall..c they do not pi:!} in Ihe other in comple", way'. bUI thi!> i~ nOI a Icam. II i~. al be .... an ullCa!l~
:.;mcluaries of dm\.\ mg. of theory. or scu lp[ure. They inhabit the re:llm alliance. Ilh ink each of Ihe '>e,en ;!rchi[eel .. arguc~ Ih::ll le:~~:,~
ofbulldll1g. Some h::l\e been bllllt, ~ome w111 he buill. ;lIlct (}Iller)' ~ill the other architecl~ ~hould be rell1oved, Each architect
:I
Ilt'H'f be huil! Bl1I (':lch i... build~b l e: eudl aims at huilding. They differenl lune. and ,h;" ~ee11lS to me the idc,,1 combination today.
dew lop an an.:hltct:lonic cohcrcnce by confron ri ng Ihe ba .... c probklm l lhink this epl-.odc will probably be short-Ii \led. The archilOO~ Ittl
of buildillg. ~tnl('ture and fUllCIlOlL e ... en if [hey do -.0 III an uneonvcn proceed in complete!} thlTerent direclLom. Thl'ir .... 00. \1111 certatllly
\lonal way. I II 1'2 ISh pmject. ! he [nulj, jona I 'tfJIClUrc of narA! lei pi :l1lC~ nOI simply ::Iu,ltono;c a cerlaJn kllld of pmctlce ... cerlain kind of ob)tCt
Thi~ i.. 1101 :1 new ~Iyle, The projech don't e ... en sh:.ITe an :JCS[!tctlC
Wh,lt they .. hare I!> the facllha[ each produce' an un~ctt!mg obJOObJI
~In'Clurc 10 [ !. 1101 " The e~ploiling Ihe hidden potenllal of Modemi~m. Whal Ihey 'hare I~
'IruclUrc is I bUI doe .. nOI coll::lp<;c, II I'>Jml pu .. hetJlo the point -.enS/! of di-.quict thaI their obJe(;h produce by loc::llin!! II,e .
\~herc il become, un .. ellling, Tlti ... work produce), a ~cn,c of unea\{' withm pure form, 111.' ..en ..e of di"quiel i~ nOI ~irnrly a
whell nOO!". Jnd \.\all' move Lii-.conccningly, lempl11lg u~ 10 ero.... response. it j .. a cuitum] d!!>Clulet the di ..quiel Ihe cul1urc
~Ol11clhlllg clo..cr 10 the edge. Ell1l if Ihe .. c .. truclllre!. produce a ,CI1\C its a~\Ump li on'> arc being "lid ... de\.\:tys. It's a "en~ 01'
of IIl..cCllnty. I[ I" nOI bcc~u ..e of flim~inc". The'>C building.., ::ITC percephl;ll re ..pon ..e is complelely differcnl. For 010..,
extremely solid. The <,Qltdity i~ JUl'l organi~ed in an Unf;t111iliar w.. y. a feeling of there i.., a beauliful object' in the Ir.ldiltonal
~hift!1lg our tradillonal ~cnse of 'truclure, Though \lructur(,lIy ~ound. ..houl(l be unueNoQtlthalthi .. is not a di~cu .. ~ion of how I
IIllh.: ,arne lime they arc \tnJ(;turally fTightening. Tltl" di\placell1cllt ...icwer II i .. a ... remov.:d fromlhe :LUlhor :1" ill\ trorn '"''
of Il"Jd i[ional [hi nl.lIl[!. aboul ..truelurc al w d i<;place\ Iradi [ionallh III k Ie;!,,!. I [hill", :I[ [he level of cultural ::Is<;umption ...
1Il~ :Ibollt runclion, The Modcrnhts argue Ihal form follows function, And Ihc-.e cultuml " .. \Ul11pt lon .. ::Ire millcni .. 11I1 char.tc'er,
and th,l1 function mthe efficic1l1 form, llecc":lrily hOld a pure geome voluted rel'lIion .. hir~ bcIWI'CT1 ,he architcclural di~cour~e and
Iry . BlJllheir str.:amlined a("thetlc dhrcgardcd Ihe UIl[idy realilY of philo\ophical di,cour'e would, I thin]... provid.: Ihe ~uitable
uClIlllJ lunclion.. I fl.'q lllr.:ment~. In Dct:on:.lrm.:[ i\. i... ::Irchile~ lure, fon~ wor].. for di~cu!. .. ing. where lhi .. worl. aClually IInpmge~. Certamly
, 'i'lr and onl Ihen::lI'C i\len::l fu clional rogntmn' di...qulet produced by [heM! objt.'C[, b no[ some new ~plril
Th.: dl .. lorllon of pure fonn provides a comp e'oty 0 ocal cond.- It i.. not thaI an un'>Culed .... orld prO( II umeuled 'R:h,,,,,,,,,
\ion .. ,'ongruelll \\ Ilh lunCliOl1:l1 comrie " Ity, Function follows del ur- here, 01 cour:.c. I glles~ I'm di .. : reeing wilh Catherine Cooke
mali(m, Dc~pile calling into qlle"lion rrnditional idea .. abou[ "truClurc. Bernard T ..chumi. [t', n01 even the pcrsonall1llgsl orlhe
Irlc<;e projcc[ ~ ,Ire rigorou~ly "lnJctural. Dc"pilc c;,Jlling inlo que .. lion no[ a ronn of I:.xprcs.. iont~m. The archuec[ e"pre~!,e\
Ihe func lion::lli'>l rheloric of Modemi:.nl, e.lch project 1\ rigorou!>ly nOlhll1g here. llic an:hllecl only mul.es 11 ",," ". ,he
fUllcl1onul. For mo~t of the arc!lIt..:CIl', Ihi'> coml11irl11entto building il, go wrong, 10 dcform II~elr.
a recenl "hift that has completely chllnged Ih..: lonc of their work. They The nillhullare of Dccon\lrUClivist architecture i
ha\'e lcfl behind [hc.r com pie .. ,ubtr:lclion .. nnd con fronled thc male ...ciou~ne~~ of pure foml mther than the unconsciou~nes~ of
ri'lhl} of built objects. Thi,> .. hift ~Jve .. [heir ~or].. :I l:nlic::ll edgc, ::Ircllllccl or Ihe perceiver. The ;!rchileel mcrely coun[ermamh
Critical wor].. II)day C:ln only be done in Ihe realm 01 building, The lional forill::ll inhibi\ionl,to rc!c"'e [he .. upprc~~cd Illien.
ohJccl becomc,> lhe .. ilC of :L11theof(.'liclll cnquiry. Theon~h arc forced rule:"c'" differcnl inhibitions in order 10 ~ubvcrt the idca~
oul of the sanclliary of theory: pr:tclltioners art' rou\Cd from ,Ieep in radic<llly different way" Each make~ thematic Ihe
\I :11"lI1g pr.lCllce. Both meet 111 the re::lll11 of bUilding and engage wilh lemma of pure fonn. In "<l dOlllg, Ihey all produce
obJt.'C [ ~. Thi,> .. Imultl nOI be understood ::IS a rejeclion of theory bUI. 011 IUrc. ::I .. lippcry architeclure 111::11 slide .. ""':0"
the contrary. indicate~ Ihatthe tntditlonal ~ tatu ~ of lheory ha~ Changed. iar inlO Ihe unfamiliar, prompling :In uncanny
No longer i, it ~ome ab~tnu.;t realm Ill' defence th:11 ~urrou!l(h wilhin Ihe familiar', an ::Irchiteclurc, finally. in which fom}
obJecl ... prolecting them from examimuion by myslilication, Archllee- it')Clr. BUI it's nOI an ar('hitecture wilh ;!oy ~iXX'ia l ep",,:mc
tur.11 Iheor} gener.lll} pre-.:mpl<; an encounter with the ohJec!. II i~ OO!o.I<,: II ... not;!n archilcclUre which is fund::lmenlally
concemed wilh veiling ralher than e ... po.. ing ObJecl~. With Ihcl>C any of Ihe work .. of the tradillUIl, [I is merely un archileclUrt
proJcch. ,I I! the Iheury il) looded 11\10 the objen and propo~itions now makes the malic certain problematIcal condi li on, of all ,,"m
ta;"c Ihe !'onll of ohjecis r:uher than verhal ::Ib,traclioll", What counl~ objecb and sugge~t~ thallhose problems are Ihe ,m",,: 0
i.. [he conduion or th,\1 object. not Ihe ab$IT:ICI theory Ih:lt produced il . rorce.

134

JAMES WINES
The Slippery Floor
First. the good new". The Museum of Modenl ArI '~ Departmcnt of
ArchileclUre and Dc\ign. under the new and able Icadcr.. hip of Stuart
Wrede and spon<;;ored by thc generou~ patrol1nge of Gerald I-lines.
launched a ~eries of arr.:hiteclUrecxhibitions i111cndcd to ~urvcycurrent
k!ndencies and innuential designers. Although ~t ill renecling former
curator Arthur Drexler's Modemis l/fo r1llnli~1 bias. Ih e~e show s c~
plored the work of architecb a~ varied a!> Rlcurdo 80fill. Leon Krier.
and Mano BOlla. The cx hibition I shnlltalk about assc mbled a group
of cnntemporary architcct~ whose work derives from Russian Con-
~tivisnt and De Stijl ~ most specifically from the worl.. of carly
Soviet re,olutlol1aries li ke Melnikov and Chernikhov and the Dutch
" odem~ Rlelveld and Van Doc ~ burg. What dl ~ tinguis he~ thi ~ rcecnt
work b Ihe u'iC of certuin foonal deviccS - Hl\lIlcd ;I xe~, .. haltered grids.
crosS!!d beam!>. tilled w8l1s. and radical JUJoapmlloll<; of materials.-
.tIi:tr3.ppcur to viohue the more orderly and ideologic:l] tenor of the
origmal sou rce~. It is open to question whether. in fllct. these distor-
tIOns urc more extreme than those of the Pilst: but let u~ ll~SU111e that
these ad, oc:Lle\ of rev bed Con s tructivi~lll delllol"tfllte an irreverence
farllle tr:ldition~ ofpo~ t -a nd - l intcl structure :lnd convent ional equilib-
rium that .... cre not characteri!>tic of the work of Chern ikhov and
RlCt\cld.
$mce the MOMA show included practi tioner. of co n ~ ide rabl c
accomphshmen" wllh ideas in common. it would hllVC bt..--en appropri-
ate to title thi~ cvcnt 'neo-Constructivism' or 'archi tccts working in
the Constructivist trad ition'. Nary an eyebrow w(luld h;lve becn m i"!!d
in dis[ru~1.
This bri n g~ u~ to the bad news. ln ~te ad . the cx hibition was called
OCCfJIIJfI"IU'fll'ist Arrhul'Cflll'l' and ~u pportcd by some of the most
\pecious rationale~ and ~If-<;erving political ~t r:llc gie .. that New York
la climatc accu,tomed to thinly veiled hype) had witne~<;ed since the
abonive allCmptlO claim Op An 3S a major movcme nt in the 196Os.
Or!!aniscd by llrclllleCb Philip John ..on and Peter Eiscnmlln. the
\IO"-IA ~how wa .. not simply a Ihoughtfu l a.. ~e mbl y or brill iant
uthitl."Ct ... with mutua l fomlal concerns. but an event deMined to result
in . . . hat cfitit' Michael Sorkin ~o candidly ~um11l ari scd as ' the reduc-
tion of an architecture of polemic. contention. and vitality 10 the
necrophil lac realm of motif, the transmutation of re~e arc h into fash -
ion. the libenlliol1 of form from conlent ~o as \() l1Ia~ e it useful for
appropnation by hacks'.
For an explml:ltion. it is necessary to return to :trchitccturnl poli tics
on lIle local M:ene. l:tttilip John5tm. it must be remembered. made his
au:.picious debut into the world architectural arena in 1932 as the co-
curator (WIth Henry-Rus..scll HItchcock) of MOMA '~ International
Style eXhibition. Alway:.a gcnerou!> !>upportcr of youth ful innovation
in architcclUTC. an l..'CiI..'Ctic in hi .. own work.. and un an collector of
consummate taste. Johnson often helped younger profes~iona1s get
!heir first comll1 i~ sion~ or come to the allention of mU5Cum~ and the
media. It was 111 this role as catalyst that . in recent years. he embraced
the hi~t('jrical references of the Post-Modernist style and went Oil to
promote thc wor ~ of Michael Gravcs. Stanley Tigerm:HI and Roben
Stem.
Enter Peter Ei..enman as director of the In ~ ti tUie for Architecture
and Urban Studies in New York dunng the 197(h. This institu ti on ~
i
originally connL'Cted to MOM A but later separated because of cllver-
gent agendas and a reponed friction between director Ei <;enman and
the lIlUM:UIll'!) Anhur Drexler was dedicated to architectur.t! dis-
course llnd po lem ical exhibition,. For the first few years the IA US
,eemed truly ecumenical in it ~ approac h. ulbeil with a Slfong tendency
to favour idea .. that were directly lraceable to M odemi!>t/fonnali~t
Origin ... At the same time the Institute wa~ ~ha ping its philO'iOphicul
~ t r..ltcg i c~. Roben Venturi '~ Ihesi~ ~ u ppon ing 'complex and C011!r.t
dlclOry' architecture and fonn~ derived from ' the everyday world.
vulgar and disdamed' wasc:ltching fire wi th an ever-widening student
constituency. Soon it seemed lIle, hable that the Modernist thrust of
the IAUS rhked falling from grace. Loyal early members lik.e Graves.
Stem. Tigenllan. and Frank Gehry defected to more hybrid ways of
th inking. Soon the formali st nmk!> - including Eiscnman (who WU.\
then sOlllcwhatl ike an <lnxious dog trying to gaintr::lction on aslipl>Cry
fl lXW) needed to rc- e~ tabli sh <l conceptual foothold joining with
hard line Modernist .. upponer~ like crilic Kenneth Frampton and
archilect~ M;lrioG:lIldc lsonil!o and Diana Agre't. Eisenman retrenched
;lnd "hllped the Inslitute more lirmly a~ a bastion against the untidy
W:IVC of Venturiites and Po-mo hi storicbts by emphasising the bul-
w:lrks of Modcmi!>m ~ rationalism and !otruct uralism. Ei.\.Cnman left
the directorship for profc!>!>ional pmctlce. mid the inherilor~.lad.lIlg
hi~ impired guidancc. continued thc institution by cmnkl1li QUI
c ndl e~~ model\ and end les-,> dmwing~. elldles~ly reminiscent or the
Villa Siein. the Villa Savoyc and the Schroeder House. All of thIS
;Ictivity WlLS arduollsly defe nded by Op<lquc theoretical discourse
predicated on the conviction that ModenliSlll wa~ still very much alive
;l11d thai its seeming decline W:IS noth ing more than a lack of strict
enough enforccmen t. not:l fai lure of in~pimtion among the follo .....ers.
The redoubled effort proved fruitles~ against the rising popularity of
decontlive Post-Modern i ~ m and the tende ncy of the press to favour the
nt O~ \ audaciou ~ and photogen ic ~l1Id ~ of architecture for attention.
Ebenm:11I had tried 10 al ign h i~ .... or~ with conceplual an and
linguistic theory with moderate ~ ucce". Evellthough such ani~ts as
Joseph Kosuth. Lawrence Weiner and Dougla" Huebler (t hen much
<ld1l1ired by Ei~enman) tended to reject the efforts of all architt..'Cts as
traditional fOnllali"nl and uJ1~uited for incl usion within conceptualism's
ephcmeral and cerebral objeci i ve~. Eiscnlll(1n persis-ted. rati o nlLli ~ing
hi~ work in structurali st term~ a11(\ e(juating it ..... ith the thcories of
lingu ists :md philosophers like Chomsky. S<lussure. Levi-Strauss.
Foucault . and. more recently. the Dccon~ trUClivist litemry crilic
b cq ues Dcrrida_
Phi li p Johnson 's connection to IAUS wa .. as a st:lunc h e:lrly
supponerwith vague hillls that he might award a sizeable grant 10 the
in ~lilllti o n al ~ome future time. When the Institute began to decline. he
tried.in vain to help il survive. Finally. lIround 1981. when it collapsed.
both Johnson and Ei senman appeared lOconccde that ib day had come
and gone and they went on to ot her Clldc<lvours.
Several year~ passed and it bcClll11C apparent that the architectural
sccne was again in a restless state of c hangc. A great deal of new work
wa .. IlIking the foml of fragmentalion and disjunctIon. and student
drafting. ulble ~ (an architecturul trend 's truc ~ t barometer). instead of
belltg popul:lted by the entablature!>. pediments. and columns of Po~ t-
DECO~S'TRl;cnON
Modernism, had begun to sproutlllodeis of cnnnbling, disjointed, and
wllrpcd edifice.. , without a trace of hislOricislll (except for an obvious
debito Conslruclivislll),
There were nunours of a planned exhibition dcveloped by ...everal
designers in academ;;1 - Pau l Florkm, Stephen Wiertbow"ki and
Aaron Betsky - that was supposccllO deal wilh th is new phenomenon,
Entitled Viol(JlI'(J Pt'l!e('lioll : T"(' M UlllillX oflhe Archil(>(' /Ilral Frap. .
lIIelll, thi~ ~how never managed to gener-lle the nece~~ary funding or
the political clout to get off the ground, but it seemed convi ncingly lil..e
the wave of the future. Neither Johnson nor Eisenman was going 10 lei
the failures of the IAUS thwart a fresh incentive to make hi::.wry,
Ei~enrnan had been anxiously :Iwaiting Ihe filII of the Po-mo .. tar
(e'pccia lly since the movcmenl had inconveniently obscured III"
career for a timc and made hi~ cOlleague and rival. Michael Grave .. ,
mtn acelebrity), Johnson, for hi~ part , needed a calise to round OUt hl~
career a~ lin arbiTer of t:Ne and lotyle, So, with 11 lillie weeding alit of
rl()n -fo rnmli~l participants, he and Ei ~enll1an .. imply stole the ViO!(l/N/
Pl'I/eUioll show idciI and renamed il Ot'COlIslm('livisl Arcltil(>cllII'l'.
The tlllling was perfcct, With Ei,cnman' s interest in linguistIc rela-
tlon~ hlps in architecture and hi .. awarene~s of the popu larity of French
Illerary criticism and philosophy. he could identify ill this new wave
(;(}II IX) ... \H 1'" n ARI(, I 10 II (lIH(1 lI"IIOQl'1 IIl1lS~ELS. 1911; 1'(J\IP1[)(l1. \11 SU" \1 P.o\MIS, 19n
both an imereSting revision ofM(Xlernism and a conveniently e'-Oteric
conncction to Derrida. Aj..,o, Ei . .cnm,I1l' .. earlier de..cription of hh
wor" a, '"ructuralist' could, with :1 :. lighttwi~t of linguistic licen...e,
be converted to 'decomtnlellvj,t', There were enough formal ~i ll\i
lari ti e~ in hi~ an;hit..:ctufe to thm of ~uch co lleagues as Frank Gehry
,md Coop Himmclolau 10 make;l crediwble case for hi s inc.:lu~iol1 in
:1 .. how featuring pioneer~ of the new fragm entation, the new Con-
~t ruct iv i,m-e urn- Decon ~tnlCt iv ism,
Dcrrida':. vaslly intricate proj>O,ilion. . have exerted a !,lreat innu-
cnee on today's wrilers and philo..opher.... but DeconstruClivist read-
II1g t r:m~ l ates sclf.nmsciou,ly and :Iwkw:trdly into the dcscnption of
,11\ architct"tural movement ThiS is not to say Ihat Dccon'tructlOn '~
idea .. cannot be applied 10 bUildings, but that there should be some
cautionary ground rules, Dc rrida has pointed out lhll\ hb complex
reading' of lilerature are best accolllpli~hed by ,tatting out with
ceft'lin cla~sic narrative ..truclurcs becau ..e of the rcfiex idel1tifica-
ti{)n~ in the language and the conventional perceptionlo of its UM!, Whm
he ha~ called 'archetex t ~' form a malrix for hh game. of analysis and
a source of operative meanings to be altered. If words are u<;,cd to
cntique words, then iI is obvious that some starting poim i<; essential
l o~e t the ~ I agc fonhe Deconstruclivist process. It stands to reason that
136
:1 si milar methodology applied to architecture would call for
identification of an 'archclYpe', to scrve as an eqUivalent for
In
archetelCt , the ab<;ence of written words. a compamble tool m~,::,~
"uhslituted. ln architecture, Iy
from the methods and materials
other word .. , it.~ hi story of archetypal cOll1ponent~, sy,tcms,
forms.
Without detracting from the importance of all exhibition
particular group of Constructivist-i nfluenced architccts -
and deservedne,~ are unquc,tioned - the issue of greatest concern
the MOMA ~ h ow wa .. il:. premise, The polilic<; of die-hard
design notwithstanding, there was a fundamenta l problcm l4ith
IIltelleclUal side of thi .. entire endeavour, As II PhIIOSO)IP::h:'C:I';;;:~:'~::1
mine remarked when told about Ihe exh ibition, e,
architeclUre? You rnu~t be jOking!'
My friend's point wu, that Deconstruction - a fonn of I
c.: ril icism with implications in philosophy bec'lUse il
rellability of language it..elf - b not a term that can be
to an lIrt movement. In the work of
nis\, Jacques Dcrrida, the univcrsallendency 10 read lilerature i
of cullUral bias, conventional syntax, slruclUralist logic
assumptions about an :I uthor'~ intentions arc broughl imo questioo.
Inspired by the ob~rvation .. of physics, which ha) increasingly
abandoned the orderly model of Ihe universe for one conceived in
chaos, Derrida ha" taken hi .. cue~ from ~ientific research because II
no longer depends 011 a lraditional 'centre' as a poinl of deparTure fll'
ib investigations. Recogni,ing that the humHn br,un is merely ~
frag.ment of a larger ,cherne of infinite disorder (and a rather crude
imtmment for fi ltering ~peculations Hbout thc phenomena of which It
ilo made), -;cienlists and philo!.Ophers have. also corne to rcgartl
language as a rather tentative tool. Derrida took thi" to mean thatlhert
wa .. no 'absolute truth ' and ha" rclumed to !tuch dialccticiansas He~tl
and Heidegger in order to read their ide.l .. in th'" revised cOntell.lln
doing so, il became apparenlThat thc ambiguillcsoflanguage matrhtd
the ambiguities of philosophy and science and rcquirl'(l an cnurel~'
new system of reading tlUlt would el1lbmcc thc concept of universal
chaos and its a b~ell t cen tre, It has been Derrida 's purpo'iC to ,how that
literature is ju,c,1 another manifeslation or indetenllinacy, he hal
proposed that life itself i~ a te,llt and Ihatthere is no.meaning outside
of t hi~ text
Returning 10 Ihe Johnson/Eiscnman even\. one of the e,llhibi t ion'~
assumptions. according to Mark Wigley's catalogue Text, was thaI

certain formal characteristic" passed as Decollslructivist, while others
did not. For example, fragmented and dematerialisc(i elemellls in
building~ were /10/ IcgitimOltc (thereby excluding thc work of seem-
ingly appropriatecoru ributors like Gordon Mana-Clark. Nigel Coates
and SITE). t axe." disrupted slamed wall~. and
I t qualified. Inherent
mthis argumcnt i" thecardinai sin of cri tical analysis in any fornI - that
is. the readmg of "uperfici:ll appcaf'.ll1CC as the mcaning of an art
object. or. in Wiglcy'~ case. the notion th;n buildings showing
evidence of fmgmented lind dcmatcrialised sections refers specifi-
cally to demolition and ruin. On supt!rficial reading, obviously they
do: but consi"tent with :lI1y intelligent reading of an art language, the
Mface Imagery must be read not as the content but as a IIlcan:. of
\Ignification that invites interpretation. To as.,ulllc that Gordon Malla -
Oark's dls~ted buildings are about demolition is as erroneou\ a~
believmg that scu lptor Alberto Giacomelli's dematerialiscd fiure~
lire nothing more than the .mist's rendition of emaci.lled. war-torn
~ple. Referring bold: to the context of DccolNruction. the point of
tlus kmd of reading is to rc:tch beyond surface appearances; thus both
Ik:materialiS3tion and di.,junction of form might be disqualified.
Oecon~tntction is not :tbout form but about allitudc. Wigley's r.llion-
ale \la'l obviously a poorly camouflaged tactic to promote a slightly
altered version of Modcrnbt aesthetic for one more crack :H the
limelight.
Here IS where the MOM A 'Ihow'~ interpretiltion of Decon,tructlv-
I\tarchltccture bro~c down. Assuming that a Dernda-liJ...e reading can
tit adapted to build mg. the fiN hypothe~I' would seem to require
\OI1lC archetypal structure 10 serve as the subJcct of analy.,is. For
Derrida.111 literature. thi' has always been ~ome pivotal tex\, like
Rou",e:lu~ LI'SCmife.l'siolls or M.. II:mnc~ Mill/iqlll'. lie prefer~ ~uch
works OCC:lUSC tht!y arc conditioned by time with certain built-in
!lOtion, of meaning and. therefore, functiun ;I~ ideal foib for inver-
sioni,t read mg. To propO'IC that Stylbtic devices borro"ed from the
hlghl} pcrsonalt~ and kJcological work of Melnikov and Cher-
nikhov represent archetypal l>Qurces i., ab:.urd. Very few . if any,
\1oderni~t or Comtructivist-derived building images produced in thi.,
century have been ~ufficicntly integrated into the unconscious mind
of society 10 qualify a~ archetypal. Study after study of the publ ic's
refleXive ~elcction of archctypc~ has produced only Tudor and colo-
nial hou<;c~ and Greco-Roman banks and civic buildings. Occa~ion
all}. confirming Venturi's theories aboul certa in commerc ial iconog-
raphy, people will identify wi th high-rise hou~1Ilg blocks and shop-
JAMES WI~ES
ping centre~. Surely one of the justifications of Post- Modern histori-
cism h<ls been ba~ed on the conviction that certain past references
evoke popular response and 'Ire. accordingly. archetyp.ll.
If the MOMA show's view of Deconstruction proclaimed that
cenain buildings can be ~ubjected to a new foml of reilding. the
example.\ included could have been expanded. Instead. the organ-
isers massive Intsconceplion was to mistake Style for archetype. In its
final shape. the ~how became what Philip Johnson so apt Iy described
in the press as an exhi bition of architects whose work uses fOntlS that
look like Constructivi st drawings', What was passed off as Decon-
struction wa", 10 the contrary, extremely skilful abslr3ctioni~t design
based on Construcl;v ist form-making. Shape-making and space-
making. TIle ~o-ca ll ed 'violations' and 'pleasures of uneasc' were
:.imply too positivist in theirobjcctives,too rJlional from a structural-
i)t ethic. to be considered Decon"tructivist. Also. none of the work at
MOMA delllon"trated the strong clement of narnltive SO essential for
Deconstructivist reading.
To follow the Dcrrida model a lillie further in architecture. the
major ingredicnt that must change i~ perspective. The purpose of
Deconstruction i~ to alter perception. It is particularly fortui tous that,
<It the same lime the Johnson/Eiscnman show was on at MaMA, the
- -
---
Brook lyn Mu~um held a Ill:ljor retro,\pcctive of the wor~ of the late
Gordon Matta-Clark. This archllect turned-artist. if :lIly figure in the
past fifteen yetlf', deserved to be called Decon'tructivi~t, fi ts the
definition (although he probably would have rejected such a catego-
risation). His omi'~ion from the MaMA show had to be one of the
most narrow-visioned and irresponsible in cur.Horia] hi~tory.
Malt<l+Clark invariably u~d existing archetypal bui ldings as U1r-
get~ for his interventions. His 'cuttings' utilised inherent con'ltruc-
[ion/demoli t ion proce~se~ ,md nlateriill~ (or it$ unique language) as Ihe
means of critique in architecture. II i~ work, like Derrida'~ readings.
evolved into an entirely new interpretation of its ~ubject. Matta-
Clark's approach was Ihe opposi te of Cormali~t design and thu~
radically new in il\litude: he u!>ed indetcmlinacy and chancc U"i raw
ingredient .... and finally. he exerted comiderable innuence on the
MOMA show's mo..t talented participant, FrJnk Gehry. Specifically,
it i~ generally felt unlong cri tics that Gchry's personal house in S.mta
Monica. where he inv'lded a typic .. 1 1950s California bungalow with
a ~ries of Constructivi~t forms, was the close~ t parallel to Malta-
Clark's ideas lind Gehry's finest work to datc.
The 1I10S1 itllponant aSpt.."'C t of Maua-Clark's work was hi., conslant
awareness of nalT3tive in architecture and the need for II sociaV
137
DECO~STRUCTIOK

poi ll ical conscience whcn working in Ihc public domain. A, Dcrrida
has poimed OUI.lhere is 110 purpoM! m DeconqruClivist rcadmg unl c~~
the re ... ulis inform and enhance our know Icdge of the hu man cond ition.
Otherwise. the focus of reinterprctat ion can be used to ju<;tify irrc-
~ pon s ible UM!S of power and even fa ~cis lthinking . Strongly 0PIXhCd
to the Modemist-derived caricalurcs thtll pa~~cd for arc hitecture
during the I1J7{)<; - particularly those ~terile pastiches of the Il;luhaus
Matta-Clark always imcnded that hi ~ sculptural incbions in build-
ing' ~ho uld bOlh change perceptions about 'the functionaliMa\peCI of
pa~1 due Mach ine Age moralisl\. ,md respond to the ever less viable
state of privacy. private property. and iwlat ion. I-Ie wanl(.'{/ 10 let the
light pcnctmte, phi losophically, met:tphorica lly and an:hitcctur;llly.
The grealcst power of hl\ art was the aspect mo<;( relaled 10
Dccon\truction: its capacity to Chllll gC our perceptions on the mOM
ba~ic level. For example. in hi~ famous projL'C1 SplillillR in Engle-
wood. New 1 er~y . he used a small suburban dwelling ,chedu led for
dcmolition. with all of its archetyp<ll associat ions. Since thi\ house
wa\ to be removed anyway. hi, di5section of thc structu re converted
It from death 10 life - preservation by demolition. The anis t '~
intervenlion shifted the course of economic even\~. social ~ i g nifi
cance, and the culluml stmus of a bu ilding in a single gesture. Thi ~
would ..eem to be Ihe essence of DcconstTucliv ist reading in architec-
ture.
Because Malla-Clar!.. always opcrJled on exil>ling buildings (like
ex isting texlS), a good argumcllI could be made that he wa\ tl1e only
true [)econslructivist architect. Architecture is, aftcr all. sY\lclllati -
cally mude from the assembly of ponderous material s. controlled by
functional rcquirclllellls and oj>prc\sive bureauc racies. II i~ diencult.
therefore, to make a case in favour of Dcconstruct ivist meaning in
newly-buill edifi cc,. By 'trelching Ihe poilll aoom llrchetype) ..
equivalents for arChele)(b, it could be contended Ihal an archlta'l
mi ght utili-.e widely :Jccepled huilding Iypes a1> Ihe r:Jw lll:Jlcnal fll
inver... ion i ~t interprclll1 ion ~ .
There are a number of arcillleCIS whose wor!.. h,I" ullli..ed highl~
associative building archelYPc\ with fenile l1:1ITlllive ImpllC:ltiom.
and, by the insertion of illogical fragments. has introduced new arta,\
of meaning. These include Nigel Coates, Michele dc Lucchi, Ugo LI
IliClra. Giann i Pellena. Tat~uhiko KuramolO. Morphosi .... Eric 1\10\"
Gae\ano Pesce. Sian ley Sai lo,"" iv and SITE. Whelher lhelr KIta
~ h ould be cl;t<;sified a... Dcconslruct iveor narrative i ~ up fordcbatc.l'tII
as the tenn IA-con!>truction is 0.11'0 quest ionable when removcd fltd
it\ legil imalc litcmry conlext, lhc'iC architects '5CC nl wcll qualirted fir
examination in an allernalive exhibition.
Unfortunately, Ihe MOMA ex hibilion was 1I0t aboul contt1l1.
{leb3le and cri ticism. It WtlS abou t polilics. Its greatest vinuc was that
it di splayed the wurk of ~O IllC exccptionally talented prnfes~ional\,
whatever their phi lo\ophie, and the ~ how', dubious premises. Othtr
wiM!. it was a belated 311el11p\10 rc"urrecI Ihe moribund agendasofw
defunct In ... titutc for Archi tec lure alld Urban Studies and \0 re~l\'t'
Modernism (lhis tlllle 111 COI1 ~ tru c tiv i~ t guise) for its fi nal roUlld.
Whet her this stralegy y,.orkcd or nOt ..1111 remains 10 be !.Ccn.ln till:
meantime. the repul31 iom of 3 very gifled group of ind h id ual~ ...
to be left to the mercy of an omnivorous med ia thal misundl'rstood the
already \haky in tel1eelu:tl prelCnlion.<. and buried the Myle wilh o\rr
indul gence. From all Indication ... 10hllson 'md Ei ~c nnmn preser.e4
Ihat sl ippery nom at the IA US lind moved it to MOMA. The questioe
i ~ who, if au yont:, gained twction?

SITE
Frankfun Museuill of Modern Arl and Recen t Projects
FRANKFURT MUSEUM OF MODERN ART.J9ID
For pr;tclical and phi losophlc.. l reasons. SITE decided to place a rectangular building on a triangUlar sile. In order for Ihc Spccltllor to
under"and this inversion of the rcctangle. Ihe site are<l is defined by an abslrJction 111 glass which penetratcs the structure of Ihe mu-.etllll.
The convention of the rough arch itcctul"JI c utaway is used to allow the street 10 pan freely. Ihe reby heighteni ng the dommant 'insldel
outside' theme of the projcct .

COSMO WORLD WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT. YOKOHAMA , 1988

Thi ~ projeci for a public park treat s the entire si le as a metaphor for the cosmos, the archi tecture mclting into tIle site r:Hher Ih an existing
as an in trusion.

PERS HI NG SQUARE. LOS ANGELES. 1988

A ' peoples' park ' for downtown LA on the theme of a metaphorical ' magic carpet '. a visual and participatory microcosm of the Ileomerric
landscape.

138
 SITE

TOI' TO #WTlO" t. TO k ~lIA "'l(fLIIT !>t I,;S"lI~ OF 1ol0000000S AItT. 1983: COS'-'lO ""OItW, YOKOItAMA. 1l1li8: PEA5U11'oC> SQUAAIl. lOS A,'IClfJ...ES IWII
DECONSTR UCTION

I"" n-
I "II r-
I frr-
II I
",

SOCiM UOlSI"G. t.:OOISTRASSr. IliA. Brlill" 1'IIU 7

140
 PETER EISENMAN
An Architectural Design Interview by Charles Jencks

This special inlen-iew with Peter Eisenman was conducted O\'c r the telephone to New York fr ol1l the offices of Architec-
tural De~jgll in Lo ndon. spring 19S9. Eisenman discusses th e id eological background 10 his arc hit cc1urc. his early houses
attacki ng sl ruetural form a lism, his rl'Ccnl collabo ral ion wil h .Jacques Ucrrida. his belief I hal o nly now is he r cally tackling
the problem of ' the between' and his views o n the I)ec.:on slrudi ... ist exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art , New York.
Tht Modernism of AIiCll3 Iiun :lnd IJ islocat ion prt'Sl'II/'(' of rhe of co!tl/l/ll.\' 11'(/ S iI/I his f'wly work. So i /I til('
{I/JSf'IIC't'
r
fifl'l oj ul! m goi "X /0 explore .1'011" I"('(lIONY . II Sl't'IIIS10 /Ill' /lw/ YOII \ 'f'r\' ht' gi IIlIi" g you WI' r e, i" a St'I11t', l'O//('emnlll'i fit Iltm't' aIHI'II{'I'S .
brUnt' ilia Mo(If'l"IJi~1I/ of alit'llalio/l , I want to correct your phTlL!<>C ' Deconstructionist work' , [ am not
Thcre i~ no ~ uch thing as believing in 11 ' Moderni,m of alien:nion', ccnain that my work is Deconstructioni!>\. [t b po~sibl c 10 rcaQ my
M odcm l ~m Wll' a ,001l/lfioll of alienat ion lx"'Cau~ Ihe que:;tion, of early wtJrk in the way you '-Celll to be i>ayi ng. even thoug h [do nOlthink
trulh. value. origin and subslance were c:lllcd IntO quest ion in science. il wa, clear to me Ihen Ihat thai':; what I W:l' doing.
pbilO!lophy and theology. In f:lci. it is Ihi.. calling 11110 question of the VOIIC cariy hO//S('s 9"" ..l'l' /\' di.mnemills. I mean 111l' Y' rc fllIsillt':..
I,iIpposcdly natumltrUlhs and the expmi llon of disjunclions in cat'h ~
di<,o:ipline Ih.n ModemiloOTis aboul. llib produced a conduion of \()me Yc,. bUl lhal is nOI what I W3' doing consciously.
lI!l~ielY and di ~Ioca l ion and iI i~ di:; lOCal ion Ihal I' c:llied a IienallOll, - y r,~ yO/l Wl'I't". yOIl I' C(/I'uho(/rd A1','//1/(',(1/1'(' is cOllsciously ,Ii ,1'01'1 1'/11.
-811/ slIrrly yn ll (I.~rej' I/)(I/ iiiSdi/fi'I'I'1II ill tIIThi Irl'ftl1'1'from I he 01 h('1' i IIg,
,llocIl'l'IIiml$, so Ih(ll IllI'rt, ....ol/ld he (I M 0(11,1'11 i_\'1/1 ofa/iellatirll/ i" 11'1 I 111 ig h I ha vc been do ing iI bul I wa~ nOI art ieulat ing i1 Ihcoret icull y, I
KHUI'rrligioll (III/ I Iltl>,'hilosoplt.\'ofso/l/('{Inl'likt Niet:sche. }JIII/ItI'N' u~~d to ca ll il 'fonll<l[i:;m' , I belieyed Ihal I wen I frolllthe kind of
iltJJn'1 hl't'll a wlli/ar OITi1iII'Clllml M ot/{'I'lIil"lll. Mod crni ~rn of Le Corbusier ill I-I ou~e I. 10 "ay Terragni in House II , 10
In architeclure. Ihere has never been an arl icul<ltion of a Iheory of a different kind of ~ pace in H ou~e ~ III. IV and VI. where Ihere wa~ a
\tOdcml\Ill.lhat is a theory concem ing Ihc dblocation of lhe trulh Ihal more pure formalism. Then I wcn t through a Strul'lurali"l period
hal. occurred in olher discoul'l>Cs. Now for the firs l time .... e arc goi ng c hardClcriscd by l-Iou!oe X.
10 be able 10 11l1iculate Ih:1\ theory. I don' l know if it is poSSible to _\Vel/ lllat' .f really POShf)/mC/IIroliSI (111(/ yOIi/, early Chom.d,;all worA
believe 10 I\. I Ihjnk I prdcl ise il tx."C:lu-.e I think il is Ihe only thi ng Ihat i.f 1II01't' Siruclilraiis/. !illrely?
one can practise. Of (,O UN~ Ihe Mode rn ism that you speak of, a:; 1 am obviously Ihe last one !(I be IIb le to articulate truth about wh:111
Clp!Xhed 10 whOlI I pracli<;e. is re.llly a continualion of the classical do,
tmditlon. - 8111 II/f'rt' lI'{'I'e (J lot of (1II11 ',~ . YOII 1I'l'r1' \'e/l!!JllijI/IICli()f/fI/ ;/1 Ihosl'
Ri ~I!1. NilII' I'd like /0 look at S()/I1(' of yo III' ('tlrly work (lnd sec' il IS fomltlli~ 1 hOIl,te,\" (lnd ;1I (I ,rense yourlmer work is 1III1i '('/lIs~ktll. The
[lJnfi,Wo/H Wil li 1'011/' lall'l', DecOII SI/'/Il'/ ion ;,f/. lI'or~ , I, se(' IIJ.o; to IIW (1IIli s, lite dhi ' S (llid Ihi' (Ie -s, yOI/ r hlllglwge h(ls i /I (/ ,fl'flSt' J'lIifl!'d 11111
wlUrl'w'/I' TI'I'I'(IR lli- /)(lsl'd work alld Lf' Co rl}//si('l'based 1I'0r!.. II'(lS II'hm I'm fI )'illg to.vay is 111m (11l' n ' iJ' (l wear deal of ('Oll/iIlJlity a/l
M'tII 1111'11 /)t"C'()/IJtrllC/ iO llist. ifI 1ht' J-eIlU Ih(ll i ( WtlS nmcer/Jed 1\ ' illt iJll'Oligh Iht' wo/'k.
rhr 'prest/ICe of llil' uhsellce' .). IiAe Wit/gellsldfl 's house ill Viell llll- ....1would say 'anti ' is the wrong word, il W:lSaboul nOi making funclion
lilt prest'lIft' of IItt' (I/Jseflce of('apittlls Ihere is "I'/1t IIllIled, }IISI as Ille themat IC.

,.,
DECONSTRUCfION

- No, no. ('(111/(' 011. YOII know IIial ill yOllr I/ollye III. rhe swirs and rhe
jUl/lIJ11,l' kilCht'lI /able are polemically anli-fillU'riOlwl ulld .. .
No. they were against the symbolism of fun(.:lion,
-No, I/O, Ihey dOli' r work . ..
People live in them.
Bill Iht' hole t'lll ill I he hnlmom floor allil hm'; /I g I(J add rai 1.\' Oil I he
SllIIn and hal'illR a stairlt'a.\' Ihal dOl'~'I/'1 ~I'()rk. 11/1 of OWl was
(la/emimll,l' (11IIi -limN iOl/al - I III i Ilk iI's IIs('/e,B' for yOIl 10 prl'Tclld i I
iSI1' r -yoll said ii, crilin said il. You wen' e\,('/1 proud Ihar Y(Jur IIOllse
I was IIVllil'ed in hy rlie lIIalhcnwliciulI ir WlIS 'lIIili jiJr, so why Ihe
~wlt ('" (('lIwls ?
It is not a denial. I am merely trying 10 make it clear I was never ami-
functional. I believe there i" a differencc octwl.-en being anti-func-
tional. and being against making function thematic.
- Bill illere Wt/S a pari of yOIl II'Iiicl1 was proud (if lilt' /c1("1 Ihal Ihal
If/mhemmir-iau ("ollldn'l lil'i' ill Iht, house, alld often you .w'/'m /{} hI'
aMoi/ul coni/'I/I alit! (Jgaill~" Illillgs uorkillg .
Again I would arguc.thatthc work wa~ ccrtainly not anti-functiona l hut
against ~y mboli~ing function. Those hou~~ keep the r:lin out. you c<ln
sleep in them ...
-)'('s,I!!I!_lI'i~~ (Iiffiml!l". _
wanled 10 start that summer and I said' No. I w:lnlto do Cannarcgio'
and when 1C:lme back the hou\c h3d been abandoned. It is then thai I
felt J needed 10 go illlo therapy. I was really upset. having spenl so
much lime on a hou:,t! and IhcllnOI having it built, 11 wa~ whcn 1~Iar!ed
10 go inlo my unconscious in my ana l y~es thai I became less orienled
to Ihe head. This caused a shift in my architecture: it went inlO tile
grouml. I mean "Iouse lb. Hou!)c EI Even Odd. Fin d'Ou T Hou S. all
oftho~e projecls were in the ground ill a <;cnse, they werc digging imo
Ihe un con~ciou.s. as were thc project'; for Cannaregio and Berlin. They
were all grounded projects. Before, none of my houses had :my
grounding; they were all in the ai r. Yes. the ~hift came in '78. when I
!)tartcd analy~i~. It came atthc same time as the ~pl i t from the Institule,
I needed to estab lish another identity for my'>Clf. I think the idcllIity for
me as the Institute-man. as not my~elr, was something I found vel)'
problcmatic in my ana ly<'is. It l()(lk a few years. but cCTlainly by 1980
it wa~ clcar \0 mc that I would not contintlC at ~hc Instil ute,
-A /I of),ou" I ifl' has hl'e II \"ery lilli eh (I {"OI['I"('ioIlS mm'i ng Ji'om posilion
/() posirioll oml ill II Sl'lISl' (j pl'rperl/(lfiolJ of ('rises. m(lyhe UIlCOII,
scioll.l"ly, al1d I hl'l1 ("ol!,l'rioll sly nmji rllll'd al1d seen Sf raighrfvl1l'unll,v
1/1 mher words you d01l'1 shy ml"flyfrom IUII/ling Ih('m and 111('11 uCli~J
Ihl'lII 0111 ill (I ('Olllp/l'tely /rmll'sr lind srr(lightjorll'(lrti \fay , Ij w(' con

L Hi 1/ 1l0! ~F I. LX11:WIOW VlI"W. 1l0l5F Ill . !:.xTERIOR VII"\\

No. wllh diffcrenl .llI i tud~stowards what il means to function as a . shift 10 IIie crisis ill Ihe 111~'li'u/(', Ihal o("('uITed in arOllnd 1982?
house. The crish occurred before tlial. durillg thc temh anniversary of IN
-OK, I II'(W" press Ihl' point. I n~litute in '77. The high period of the In stitute was '76. '77. '78-
M)' work ,mack~ the concept of occupation a~ given. It i~ again~tthc tlull'S when Rossi, T:Jfuri. Scolari. Tschumi. Koolhaas :tnd Fujii II ere
1'ad' . 101i01 ' vou occupy a h 'e, - there. And then my practice. a~ il was then con<;titutcd. Slancd to g~
-RighI, lim/ thl' 11011'.'1 il1lhl' j7aol'(J I It' 1'00/11 ol/{/('k tilt' I/otioll o/holl' downhill and I knew by 19!<Q that I really w,mted to get out. Thecri5is
you O('(IIPY 1/1lt1 hoI!' 1'(111 SII'P (/('mS.\' Iht' Ii,'in~ room? callie in R2. First of all. nobody bel ieved Ihatl wanted 10 leave and thal
And h:lv;lI a column in the mkldle of the bedroom so you cou ld not I would walk away , I kept lelling everybody thai I was going. It was
PUt a bt.."d ill it certainly allacked the notion of how you occupy l\ very clear to me that I wa~g()ing. I do not think anybody was prepared
bedroom . for thm. It was this that nllmy people resented.
- I'uu hUlJg 011 100, Il'(~' 1/01 O1 't'/t'fllphasisc YOllr lem'ing. Yuu fr
PS~l'hoanlilysis lind E~ca\'alion mai l1('ll inNt'il' )'orJ.. to i I1jl1ft'I1{"t' Y()/II' /Uf/OIl'l'I'J like F m/llplOn, !'it/ltr
-/II//tNlrisillg ahoul YlJI"".I('/f, Pl'I('r, YOlf\'(' a/ways poilllt'd 10 Ihi~' and Slt'pllt'n Pl'It'I'S(' n alld IIIlII bl'c-ame a probll'm jor Ihem.
/97R shiji whlrh is Il J..im/ (Jf cnmpolllJd shifl 0 .1 I JOlller,I'lm/1i it. It' ,\ Pcrhap~.but what was I supposed to do? Le~lvc New Yor].. so Ihal
Irhen.wlll stancd 1I1lt/('rgoing f}sydw(ll/alysis ill (Ill f'.I/endNI way (lnd Frampton. Vid ler ('/ al could feel relieved?
iI's (1/ Ihe wile W/tl'lI yml prod/wed /l0J1S1' X (/lid ,lil' Caill/ll/"('Rio - Lei me soy Ih(l{ ,hefe tiff' many ways o/going Obolll dil'ora from an
projeci alJ(l hl'came ("011 SciOli S of Oenlfl $Imcriol/, alld deft'llI ri Ilg III instilUTe, olld (lilt! is jl/SI TO lem'l' 1011'11 and he 0/11 a/IOI/ch,
/Ulrlint!(/r , Wou ld yUII (lgfl'/' willi Ihal ? BUI why shou ld J have Icft?
I think I would ll imostllgrec. You have the sequence wrong. 1louse X -1'111 1101 p/"osc(,llling, I'm jllSf sa)'lll,~ tlrar .1'0111' ghosl was I'ery much
wa~ the end ora certain phase. I started psychoanaly~i s when I went Ihere . MlIyiJe ir was a dt'tlll /J1"t'"J.. for YOII bllT yOIl seem /(J h(1I'(
to Venice to do Cannaregio - Instead of building House X. The clients injlu('I/('t'(J l/rings behind 1111' scelles, e/lough so Ihal Frall1prol1fl'lllir

14' t
DECONSTR UCTION
the ~ho~h th:II inhabll all of our home ...
DOli' , wllIlhlld I h('ft,' .f a (/all,ll,l'r fll(l/ by t'fllJlhasisim,: aliell(lIifJIl ami
IIII' //OIIlHIIISllIlIlllhr Sec-O/IIIWorl(/ War (III/I I hl' lIIom Imtllb (llId fill
oflhl' IIIIII~S 111m (In'. ifyo/l ml', t/islm'(J(m,q ami (h.wrtel/lillg, 1'011/'
P(WIW/I ht'I,()/I1('~ {/ I..ind of 'e,.,.(!ri~1 wcri!" Ih(ll fon('s a elm'/ll'(' of
di~'I'lItsi(Jn,' Ihat in iu OWII way ix ;",1'1 (IS r('pressire (~f Ihl' //'111'
ml/al/e,l'S (If 1'!1I1'l1!i ~III as dassi('l Sill ?
Ilhm~"c oughllo be careful about plLlr:.lli .. ll1. I do not believe that
plurali .. 111 i.. :l1 i,\uc- here. Although I ccrt:lin ly be lieVe! 111 the other',
I do not believe III the dismissal of cla,>\icisl11,
- Y(/11 IIrm' 'Ilismin /'I(Hsicism? Y011' I'e (11l1ll,t:e,1 IIgaill Illel/, 11'11('11 dill
1'01/ stop h{'illl: cllllidassiml?
Where my po\lIion ha" slightly changed j .. in the fact that repressIOn
of any kind cOll1es 10 h:lUllI u~. For example. if you arc illleresled in
catachre... i, you do notlhrow aW:Jy rnctaphorbut ralher you try to find
the catachrc-.. i. . repressed in metaphor, If yOll :trc againsl c l :t~si(:i ... m
you do not throw it :lway. you try to find Ihe hidden otherthal ha .. lx-en
I"
rcprc"ed in CI;I~~Ici~rn. In other word~, it whllt I call the anacond:J
strate.!.!): you '\(juecze clas\ici~m. \uffo<."<ne it as it were unti l you
sqUCCI.C out of It whal was rcprcs"ed, I believe Ihat thi~ is :J big
dirferencc. I am no longer lalking :Jboul :Ilienatlon becau~ I believe
that politically it is a loaded \\ ord, that lind orterrorisl1l I ~cxactly what
I found in Krier"\ posilion and I :Jgrce with you thai Ihe kind of
demagogic condition th:11 I accu'>Ctl him or i .. exactly Wh:lt I had 10 be
('arerul of my!;;,:lf, The way 10 another architecture i.. nOI to '>Upprc~ ..
the clu\slc:J1 but In facl to cut Inlo II. 10 U\C the prcviou::. metaphor: to
be a surgeon III Tafuri's temlS rather than a magician. NOlto repress
bm 10 ~uf.glcally open up the cla~sic:tl.the modem. and 10 find whal is
reprel>~ed, I thinl Ih:1I is really an account of Decomtruction if you
"anI. It b anout multiv.llcncy,
111,111'('1', 1111I11~ Iltm i.I'c(Jllollie to DI'l'l'lda too,
Derrida and other.. ~"y 'Let's not throw thc'>C t hing~ away. let's fi nd
out why we want to throw Ihem lIW:l)','
Whi(/, is II 11(1) (If IUJIIgmg 011 to Ihelll f(J(I
Pu..tFunClionalis m a nd PustModefni snl
- hI y01l1' UI'III II' 'PmtFlIl1f'liml/lli,lm' of 197fJ i I II '(1,\' (I ~ i I/(J (If N (J/'
P(lSIM (/ilt-I'III.\'III, i I lI'as yOI/I' (11/.1'11'('1' If) RobI' 1'1 SII' I'll and me alld ('I'l'l'
\'inCl' 1hl'lI Will' 1'(' slid i I! (/lid mil of PImM or/nil i.l'l/I , As .1'0// k /lOll , ill
IIlIr delxJles r)I'/'I' Ille 1(151 11 .v,'al',I', f l 'e all\'{/I'j liJou-.:/1I oJ' PIISI'
rIIII('/i(//w/islIJ (/~ I.. i lid of III,ra-M ()(ll'l'lIi,\/11 OJ' Latl'M O/'lr/'IJislIJ. (/ IIlI
(I
J'm /111 '(11'(' ,WJI/ ,lrdart'{1 Post MOr/I' I'lIi~/IJ dead /llId lIppall il/~ Illree o/'
fOJlI' I illle.\'IJ(l/'flllllor/y 11/ 19X J II'lwlI I'OU I\,('n' IlIfelTil'II'nl II)' SII'I'II/'/1
Gardiller ill lilt' Observer O\'U 1/('/,(', Y rJJ/ (11//10/111( I'd If,~ ,f{'(lfll (I( /1'(1,1 I
a ."i'111' befon' 'he Bl'ilish (lid,
The death of .... hat }'ou would have called Post Modemi ... m.
- Wi'll i(~ //(lljIlSI 1I11', Perl'/'.
I mean the f'o\t -Modcrni,m or t!cleClici'lll and NeoCla,sicislll, of
people like Robert S!enl, Michael Ora\'c\, Charle~ Moore, and I ~till
beliL\'e thilithal ..... ill nOI be ~een by hi~tory It' be Po~t M odemi~m, I
thin~ that what wc are ta lking about now I" another 1)('l'lllloderni~1ll,
- Tllm ,r.:m's hml.. /{! (I IIIlI cll higgl'J' dt!h(lf(' a.l' YOII II't'll 1..11011', b{l( '~ 10 IIII'
O/'i ~Im lif PO,ltMOIII! /'IIi5m alld i 15 I'H('II/'e 01' if \'(JJ/ /il..e, i IS ifl('a, ill'
ugl'lu/a /11111 of /'(lI/I'S/' Ihl' /'(J/lrt i,l SI/I/ Oil' 1)/1 II IWI Ihal (lgrl/(/o really
is. " ..IIl'lh..,. II' .~ I.'hm 1'011 alllil he f)e/,(JI/~'/'IIII illlli~lS (10, IJy I hi' way, of
('OW'SI!, ,Will are I'I!/'\' lIInll'e Illar 'he Pos ISlrll('/lIl'ali,ws dOli ' I walll /0
m' {'(lilt'll P(lSIMot/rm b,l' alUl lal'ge .
I t'~
an occupIed tenn in ar('hitetlure, I have been for several year.;,
telling you th;J1 I thought I was a po'imodcrni~t.
- I II IIII' ,tn/I'e oll'om/'olle like JfwiJ / I a,Hall , ,vI',f, YOII ha\'1! ('OIl,liSII'lIIly
hl'l'lI III I 1I,ISlIIJillll' Posl M mil'l'IIisl all 11m :,:11 yO/I ' I 'C ~ lipp('{/ in am: 0111,
1'1 'f'/J all(lI/ I /llal .l'fJII' l'e slloll'/I greal s(,l'plici~m .
Being slippery by the way i.. the trail of a po~trnodemis l.
Not my I..i/I(/ (If Pos/Mo(/el'llisl, 11'1I11Il' COII,{islency WIl/ YOII rallll!
slif)l)(IgI' , \j'lwl gl'('fIIl'r 1I'0,.d is Ihtl'e in D ecollSll'llcl iollll/(JIJ slipP(lge,'
a
The plJ/'fISI' 'sliPfU'I'I" is uSl'd bl' M(lI'~ Wigll'.\' propos DeCOIISf/'{I{'lII"
is, al'chil/'I'II/I'r .
Thai's right. I agree that your ~1J1d of Post Modernism is nOI a1 ISSue
in Ihi~ in l~rv iew, You as~ed me 10 define Illy position and Ihat i, .... h31
I'm ~aying, For me whcn you 'ro.! \aymg there's been sliPI':tgc, I "ould
~ay thai being slippery" p:trt of Iho.! di .. course.
IV(' fI yrlll 1..111)11' I he jcllll(JJfJ l'('tIIW'l..s of K arl POPPC'I" (lnd ()/ Ilel'S ,' from
('Ollll'(ldiuiml in pllllosophy (lnything follml'J ', Ther(' are I/O f/f/l'~' if
Ihe gam(', U'yml S/(I/'f ~lJI'ping, if 1'011 ('Oil hnth Clllllll 10 bl' a POSI'
PU/1f'1 illlwlis! al/,I {/ POSI M (l(le l'IIi.1 I , aligll ,hem lIf scmll! rlmr s, IImin
glli,lh the/ll aI orhel'l (11/(1 OI)f'l'(Itl' /IIl11l ad hoc way . l fil/d IlllIr ~/IId ff
,lfll'fUlgt' fIIlll'I'hilosopllinlllllUl j l/I'IWI'(' oPI)Ommi~1 fJofJ 'f.:/1/I pol"
I/I',~
Well if that was the ('3<;(: I would :Jgrcc with you, but that', not qUite
wh:1I I' ve done,
Yrlll II/SiM all Cl'/'fm II po ~i l/on.1 (." 1)0.11101 "t/p,.,// J'm (llIe do \' /IIJ//,ltfw
()/llerJ onOlIIt'/' day (llId you al'l''''/ qUill' deal',
I I ,lintel.. IIII' II'IIl'11 In'ad yOUI' wo/'1.. Arch iIcct ure :t nelt he Problem of
thc Rhctorical Figure (1987) fhm illl'(lI'I)/'rlwp~ il/flt/I'/J/'d I,v, Goo
Iwlp II.\' Imlll, Illy Rhetoric :l11d Archllccturc (!971) (llId Current
A rellllCC t u re ( 1981 J - (I 10( of rlll'tork(lIII'/'11',~ appear, II ~(' 0 \.\I/1/'I'{II/,
(I/IUJ 11'01,111' II//(I ('lIhuIII/Il f/III c'(//CWftl'l'5 i.\' - was Ihen' OilY if/j1uflla)
Well Charlc" I TC:td a lot and I :1111 not ~:tying J do not rcad you,l don'l
thinl I dredged I he~ thmgs up from you however. I also read Dcnida
and K l p n i~ and Vidlcr and Wigley and NielZ~ he, Its not clear ro me
how much i~ con\Ciou~ly or unco n ..ciou~ly present. To me the ques-
tIon of who wrote it fir~t i~ of liltle value, It docs nOI mailer 10 ~ if
Philip John\on ~:ty" Fr:lI1~ Gehry originated the Decon~lruclionist
1ll0VeIllCIlI , bccau~e I know Ihal Fr;IIl~ Gchry did 110t 'originate' II.
- /' III I/O/ {1'.\'III,~ {() ('if/illl priol'll,\ , 1'11/ j 1I ,I f I ryi 11,11, 10 dan/y f he ()I't'rli,p'
pi ngfilll ll I ' diol"f'l it", L.'IIII(' I'ul (l1I(J/ her I (Me 10 you , 10 XO ha/'~ /() POSI'
Molil'l'IIiJII/; (III of a .I'{uk!ell i" I'OW' rl'lllillis/'t'flCts of Ihe ArllJc)un III
Ohio (111(/ Ih" mlllpt/rlS allfl /fI(' (I/mlloir illihe POIU J:lIrdelllJr(lfl'rt,
arr /hl'l' lIot my kiml of PosI Model'lll,wlI?
I thmlthat they arc nOI \I) ing to be, Your hbtorical imugery rctum~
3rchllecturc to ilself. Mine tric'> to mo\e architecture away from i~11
-to be d l ~Junc l ivc with i t~ p:l\t , It tries to movc architecture 10 .... hat
I call 'between', betwcen It~ old pa~t and 3 reprcs'OCd pre\cl1t.
- YOil C'(If/ say he III '{'('II S 1I11111m iml (j1lI1 di H ifill/ ItII 1011 , hilI fhl')' til'/, 1'(1'\'
/II//(' It m(' Iill' RhOJ,tlm i ldi /I gs (~f \ '(,/II/II';, (I/ld Jim 51 irf i 11,11, (1/ S IUllllart,
III o/II ..,/, worel~' lilt,)' a/'e I 'I ' I :\, fllIfl'h III Ihi' PustMod{,1'IJ I/'(Ii/illem,
11'111'1111'1' WII/ il1l('lIt/ Ihl'm /(J Ill' ~ml/l'thil1g efs(' is \'Ol/I'll/fai,., /)m lilt,l'
(11'1' 1'1'/'.1' 11Ull'l1lil..r Pow Mot/('/'1I l-t iJojle.l si~l1s II'hh'h al/u(lr 10 lilt
!,(HI
They :l lludc 10 a pa"t wi thout nO~ l algia or the nete~sary contlllulll
proposed by both Venluri and St Irling.
WeI/ IIOS((lI,t: ill's l,m/kliJI." i /I ,he /' I'e of ,II(' ')('/io/dI'I',
I th i n~ that all continuity :tnd tradition deal.-. with a noslalglu for,
tmclition tllat i\ no longer po~"ble .
Wet/what'~' Ihis fe{//' (if /J(J.flalgi(f~
Not fenr, bccau~e I think n{\~t:l l gia l ead~ to what can be called 'tilt
aC~ l ho.!tlcl~;1I101l of the b:lI1;I I' which i.. wllat Post M oderni~m is ~I)Q
:lbou1.
-Nosw!g la /'(111 ht' JlI'I'jc' (,lly IfI.'(llllIy O/' pel/enl.\' mdi('(JI, IlIlhe (,Mt ~
Ihe F rellcll Rewlwioll , ROl/lull elre.\$ afl(l re('ol/illX R I'plIMu'flfl I Irtlm
w(/,~ POSIt;"l' I'(ldiCfl!noswlgUJ , III Ih" clIsr of someOl1l' I'e('(/lIin,~ JIJI
IJ(I /'('/Il~, (II' "i~ /)ocJ..grO/l!lcl, or In,l' 1'(lCe, 01' his l l'lI'u'lmess , or hiJ
IHJsilJ'ol/, or his me"/OI~I', it'~' 11l'f'ail wi al a \'1'1)' fil!lci imwltlllli rtlll
t/till g , it's IlIll..illg aOOm hal'ing a /t'el il/,~ "holll sOlllc'llljng lilli/II '11.1' and
iSI/'t I/O'll ', 11011' ('(/II /II('mOl:v I/{JI hi' Im'o/l'e(/ wilh all elemtn/lli
Iwswlgill, why repress i f?
I :1111 nOI aga inst memory as'l tiss ue of forgctting. Therc b (I d1fference
hetwecn th is kind of memory and the scnlimcntalismg of rnemol)'
whicll i~ nostalgia
- 1'he word I/ostalgio IS so CO/,I'I/pt for mit, hill a /01 of I)COp/l', t\'t~
I(IlIghmill(/ed people. 11111'1' {I plan' for 1I0s/(Ilgia, as 10/l,~ II! It's
f'1'c'oglll.wd os (I ptlrl of memor),

Well , I gue~S Ch:lrle" my new p()~i!lOn wou ld ~ (a~ 0ppo'oCd to the
v.'ay I would httve an . . wcred yOu ~ ix Jl1ol1lh~ ago) that you're ri ght:
wh:tl one must do is find OUI why one i. . ~o much again::.t nO~!:Llgi;1. Ie
10 Ihemilli~e the problem of no,lalgia which i~ whal I am Irying to do
In my work. Six month .. ago I "Qu id Iwve ~aid 'no, I'm agailhl
no"algia' - Ihat'<; a \'Cry lOughrninded al1l1ude. I tllIl1k 1"111 11I0r...
toughminded no\\ in ,aying 'I want 10 find oul why I'm agaimt
no"algia' - 'What i, il in nO~lalgia thallhrealcn . . me'! Why doc, It
make me ~o anxiou~?' If you ,aid DeC(l1l~lrllctionism il docsn 'I make
me Ilnxiou~ , but whel1 you . . ay n(J~lalgia you pU;,h a bullon, Another
bUltOn Ihat you pu::.h i~ to 'JY hanal; I wam tQ find out why I get "'0 Up,cl
about banality,
lfindl'OII had,jll,l( imll my I.illd of Po.~tM(I(lrrlll'\lII staXI' l'y-SIIIXI' (/\
Will ,~l't 11/10 Ill('m(lfl( ',\", I"I'I'I"I',\"('//furirm . .fig lIi}inll iOIl. ("(lIlIflllllliclIllI m,
mrmo", tI II'lwh' 10/ IIj rlwwI"i/'a/'I"0f'I',1 II'/rl(h PO,H-Modl'lIIi,l/\ oj
ml ~lIld {(IIIlI'I" lIlt/II Ih(' I/nutllli(m killd han' hl'l'Ii IIwl..ill~ . M O,II
'111/lorll/l/I. nfcOI/I 'll' . O/'IWI///' 1111/11/1 al"abl' ,I qll(' lIl'e prrci.~f'ly I hl' urt'as
,ha, P",\I M o{/n'/1 i.1 IS hm'e hl'I'lIl' l{Jlllri /I,!: III" Ilk you' rt' II I 10,\<" P(1.1/ ,
\flldl'm in of I//.\' I.. /ml/
Let\ talk aboul the dillcrenee; let', aecel)t Ihat all the thin\ you '\J)
have entered into my vocabu lary, into my ,",orlo.. bUll ha\'e becntrying
todi,locate Ihcm lit order 10 find OUI whallhey rcpre", not u\ill them
~lrJigh1. The dilfcrcnce I~ thaI wherca ... Kobert Stcrn u... c~ Ihem
~tralghl, I use them in a different way in an allclTlpt to di~locale .
-So til/f'.1 S, i rI in.~ , D/JII' I III{/~e l'I'l'/"vlwr/v
, .
. i 1110 110h S'l'I"lI I wOlild WI'
'hell Jim Slirling mill \ '('1I11Wi lIlId Vlllh('1'l1) to ami 'he 1..111/1 /1 PO,fI
Modrrnism Ihm f' 1'1' 1)1'1'11 drfi'I/<'I/II,~ rill /101 dl'fi' mli" g (llllIC 'I'OIll/l/O
tUll/I1.~ POfl M(/(lI'r",III/, I}III Ihe irollil'(/1/1 (/i:;,JI(I("I'(1 01" (1i1/m'afl'J
PIIS!' '1(1{lermslII - (/cl.llfIIl'Il'llgrs Ihe "il lOnt'III, .I'll rhl'I"r' 1 (I WlIl' /fI
IIhil II II/{/I'f' 1/(/ lraub/I' WITh dil-Io((moll {If a/l III/uCI I WI/11M argile
i( j mllOIl ie 10 Sri rI IIIR(111(/ \ l' muri. Wh i(", i,I' 'hI' i f(J/lY i /I )'OU r pO,H I iOIl ,
II/II'/'(' dOl')' Ih., (lihel"rllu' hold?
They:lll Mill ;b~urnc Ihe nalur:llne~, ofthc :trc1lllectumllanguage, I :un
not again't repre"cllIalion, a\ long a\ rcprc~l1 tat ion unco\'er~ wh.llthl.'
natural language of archltt,.'Clurc reprc ... sc~, You do not nced to U\C the
na1Ur.llhlllg.uag<.' of archilecture 10 repre...:!nt the ironic. There 1ll:IY be
a \'aluc to Ihe Ironic but not if it IlIl'an\ lllaUlt:lining the language of
arl'hllecture lIltac!.
OK IVrlll call Sl'(' II/(I/' ~' 1/ wi/itl di,rllllclioli/rom yOl/r IlIIgll'.
I am nOllrying 10 put forward whalilly angle i~, but rathcr whallheir
U~ of irony really I....
Oerrida and the C htlr;11 Works
-OK 11I11t(' Cllom Wml..3-, III' Chowl I\O"~ .I I ",alit /(I ("(11/ Ifll'lII
Chom! \foth },naIlSl' rl'l' l'l'l'lIlIlI'nI I'/IIII'I/,I/a/ I/al/lhr 1II11t', . Ihcm as -.cv~rallhings.
They ~rc called Chora l Works.
~I! Ihut! ' S tI I"hol"ll.l", alld 111(' ("huru.\' is yO/l 111111 Dl' I.,.id1l 1'1"1'1' II"llIhI \' :1
'S/lI.~lIIg aWlly
There are aho olher people III thc chorus. they JU~ I lTlay not be
Klenll fied - Plalo, Tc.chumi. they're all l>copic in Ihal choru~,
'\ (hom/ lI'od i5 wm/(,Ihlllx~/i~/uly n'II,~imlf, I (/maml)' alit/ r/n,II
miw/'/I'l II mll~II'(11 .'h"III.HIII,!: ill Wli,WIII,
It's al\o done with II group of people, Ihcre'" no one ... lIlgle voice; they
ling in different p:lrt~ , Derrida's conlrlbulloll Wll~ a lllu,ic;IIII1'lrU-
mcn!. a lyre. you will prohably wanllO 'I>ell it liar, butlhm would he
mil right wilh him.
-I' srl'lIIS 1111111' 111m //I ,hl' I/rsi~n Will hal'(' l'oml'//'u'l\' d omina/f'11
Dar/tid YOil errll slIid ,ftllllf'thill.r.: III tlwt l'ffi'("( ill 111/ 1/III'n'iew 11/ 5 D.
II /I Ifill' I/If/l YOII ' /I' tI/ ml'jXlilll.,d he' Jw.m'l W/..('II a greall'r parr 1
In ,omc way Ihal i.. true ,
II'h(llI',wn/v hilS IIf' I'IJ/I/rihl/INI ,?
The f~ llur~ of Ihe work in a certain way was Ihat I was not cOlllained.
t~al I W:J~ nOI played OUI of my posilion into \Ome new I)() ... ition,
beque .. contributed J/I unfin i ~ hed lext Ihat he wa.. working on from
Plalo', Tll1laCU'i. We took thi:. as the programme. We then wor~ed
",nh lhe idca of chorn it.. the programme, Jacques would cnticl'>C It
-
PETER EISENMAN
until we gOI 10 a pOll1t where he wa~ more comfonable with whal we
werc doing: r thi tlk really more comfortable wilh architccturc than any
particular p:lrt of thc work. I wa~ probably and not cOlllcidellwlly
doing chora beforc I read hl ~ text. Il hin~ il is a collabonllion that will
happen ~o t11e d:IY: It ha:. nOI happencd yel. We fina lly forced Jacques
10 draw ~ol1lcthing. He then drew the lyre which bL'Came both Ihe
figure ;lnd Ihe frame for the )<0111.'.
- I srr, II'OIlMII' I tiel' Illhr r 1110.1"1' WI'all}:(' IIIIIIJ/IS i" 1111' mlt/dlr, Iflf' I.. i"d
(If (/ W(lII/IiIll i,m'llile l'(lfIIl'(lI"I.I' , ,
That other wall comes right out of the ~ilc of my Cannaregio prOJect.
in 11;lly,
-LeI II/r 11.\'1.. 1'111/ SOll/t fC/("fl/lIl 1/1/1'.ftiollS, liJl' COriell ,w'('/, i,~ IIwl pari
of (I liIJet/lllm/('?
ThaI is;1 til ted plane.
- WII'II (/rr IIII' lilll'l':' AI"r the lilll',I' eI(/u'd illln IIII' ,1'll'l'!?
TIle linc, are acid-etched into the steel.
- And II'hl'lI will illll' Imill ?
ThaI b a good que~lion. From what I gather the DIrector of Ihc L.1
Villel1e prOJccI, a vcry dccent man by the name of Goldberg very much
wan\:. 10 bu ild il. A)<o <;oon'l!> they have thcir budget for nCXl ycarthcy
will bcglll COIl\lruction, Everyth ing i\ ready to go Ihal it 's going 10 be
open by the tnlle we have the show in London ,
- I/ O\l' hig arm,l',f if it'? Ahotll 30 fi't'I?
No, il ... about 70 by 90 feel. You reali . .e th:,l Ithc whole Ihing was this
idea of no authorilY. In olher word~.there werc IWO ~itcs,onc in Paris.
th~ abulloir site, onc in Venice which was also an ab.1ltOlf site, a
coincidence, A Swi,,~-French architect. Lc CorbU ~lcr. comes to Ven-
ice and pUlsdown a grid. an American architect picked up that grid and
elongated It to the Cannaregio (romtltc abattoir. Then anothcr Swiss-
French architect come~ 10 I)ari ~ and putS down on the abattoir ... ite
anothcr gnd like Le Corbusier's, an ab . . lraCI grid. Theil he invites thc
same American arch ilce! to put a grid 011 lOp or his grid, So mllunlily
I put my Cannaregio grid on top or La ViJleue, What thI S auempts 10
do i, 10 undercut the notion of origin.llily aod authority. in other worch
thaI no onc ..:anlal..c authori ty or credll for il or for who came first.
\\ I'll il d O('j 10 II/oS/' peoplr 11'110 IU/I'l' all Eisrl/mallle 1'1 ill II/~ir hUlif/,
or "/..r IIII' III/l't' j ll1l'l't/ (lwuy rt'at/iIlK (lmllookillK ,
Ilhill~ you will realise il'~ :ltcxllfyou 1001.. 3tthe Ihing.
- WI'II 1'1',1', '/'1'1'/"$ III,il oIrepl'e,I'C'III(lIioll,1 ("(11/ /"r!"ogllill'(jl'llmpa/'l
II'IU'" I ,11'1' II.
Can you'!
- ll1sl hart'll'.
Well thai' :. wh:l\ I mean by 'bet ween' , It is a bet"eCII image Ihal b both
ramp.ln alone moment and a piL'1:e of river in anolher. You can read
- Well you rt' ,1'1i.~ lilly miss i ",r.: my imll I', Iml . , P Net, JIlSt 11/1 I hf' al1li-
Ims 1111',1'.1' 0/ /)('( 'om'/ 1"II("liOIi - dl'1 '/'Illri IIg, fl is(lrit'lIIiflg .
lJemnstruction . Nihilism and 1...lughter
Char le~. you mi:.:. Ihe irony of your newly found II1terest in Decon-
' Iruction, You )<ohould know thaI Deconslruclion h a IJO.nr il'r aClivity,
nOl an ami-activity,
YOII 1011' I hll1'I' ro 11',1'ill' ro Ihl' 110111(' OIl V /I A /II1' I'i('{/II A 1'1; "il iI's,
I jU~ 1 w:ul1t{) e\\abli sh the ground rule"
-E I'r/l /)erritia h'l i 1'1'1'S IIIlIffirnllJlj I't.' Oef'nl/:; I /'I/I'tio l/ , lil..r S(lml' ~i lid
o//<'II/illi1I WI/I /..1/0 ..... (If/irmari I't' (1/'1/011 , (///(I so dm'J 'l'5l'hllll/i, They all
IWI'f' olll'iouslyfllcl'l1 this I/1I/,St;OIl /00 mal/y lillie'S, 50 IIIl'Y hal'r f(J gn
011 rl'corel as .mymg Ihey' re POl'ilil/' . Let' ,\'ju.w go had; 10 t/lf' 1It'~(/fi\'l'
parr of if fol' (III/mille , the lIihilwlI , hna!lse illrt'lIU' 10 ml' that tllf'
t!mphasi.~ Oil {II it'lwltlm (llId dt'CC'1I/1"I Nt( a"d (lIIIi I'{(,.u/ci,ml {Illd IIega
I ioft, diuleN iClIlllt! gar iOIl if (J il l' C(l1/S il Ihat, 01' "I,jllg (/III i ' II/('lIIory or
111/1i thillg, ilia sr li se plllli Ill( /m'f\'al"d (lml, 1"11'011 hi lJI'g lll', IIlIiI'ersal i-
W',~ the I/miOIl 0/ thl' Empty M (III, Jill' /lUlII ('OIlll'lIIpl(J{II/X tlte I'oill, lilt'
lIihil wilJill/l'aslirr (llIdlor /t'ar, I I\'olld('l" IS I hili IrIIr!
I'm talking aboul a man who i, fulfilling himself through hi .. uncon-
~ious, reali\lIlg timt theempl me<;<; IS ill man and thaI the al,enal ion lies
IA<
DECONSTRUCTION

hc\\~ccn thc con'C;ou~ ,m" uncon-.ciou'i individual, o/J/('! llraI'.~ (/ IIl'W P ('/('I' EUenlll(lll. you' I'e ll/\l'lly.~ /)('1'11 I'el'~ fm/II011.
iJlIIlI'h"l/ .\'(}/I/' Emfl'." M all U!IIfl'/l/p/afl':S ' 'c'
\'oid'/ (lhfi' , Pl'/t'I
Thai i~ nOl lhc uncnn'>Ciou,. Ke:llly"! 1 have never reah..cd thaI. I have al"'3y~ de.. peratd) w:mted
\\ ,,/I alHI ,lit' Wlltl. If WHI IiJ.e, of II ,n/pc'rior {'lisft'I/('(, 01' IIU' to Ix ra~hi(ln .. hle. but I never thought I wa<;,
/II{,lIIph\'~in oj (I/lellll/ iOIl. does Ite nll/lt'lI/pllll,' il ,lith 11/emllrt'? /)0 Com.' Oil, .lOll Ilc're 1"I"c'd 11.1' PA olle oj ,hi' mO,fl fiallifJ//jJf1J,
yo" \II/ill' to ymll"ft'/fami II 1I'1I/'/I/ .t;lrlll UlIlIl'S on'l' Hili ? 01' 11 1/"fefll'" IInllllc'al of II/(' . 70.,'
With iUlxiclY. with a lot of ,trc.. ,. thar 'i CC r\,I1I1 , Yc~. wdl that wa~ mo~t cOlllrover'lal.
h Ihal II 1/\ 1'0/1 'Ht' 11/1/1 I all I hc' (IIII t' (ol/l(!II Ih(' J.md oj hl'('oJ.(/ml 'II - /1111 (01/1 lon'I',I." 1\ I' 1.11011' I... /I fyllollym fol' f(l~/lIo/l ill O/l/" lIIedi(J
Tr,m,latc il how you will C h arle~, It is you;n the med ia" hocrcat('3OO
That kind of hu mour you know covers some kind of an"icty, When cnn~umc fa,hinn,
,01llclxxty laugh, al lho,c kind of 111m!!", I h e re'~ anxie ty there and -Now 1'0111/' 01/ ,'c'lc''', W)II' I't' lH'('1I hll IIdi IIg .1'0/11' C(/1"(/lJ(J(/1"(1 Anhil(1
II hat one i~ II)'in,!,! to do i~ uncover whm Ihal laul!hter i~ rcprc~,ing, 11I1't' [or ]()Il'al".1 (11111 1"(111 ' /'t' 1101 goi 1I,1i I/) suddelll.l 1'1;'110111111' .1'0111" (J11JI
-1.1' (har laughlN' a I. i!lll oj Iwl/v lall gil 01" /If'/'I"(l/I,I 1(/IIghtf'l"? No I "ill nOI. I do 1101 think il ha ~ re'llly been f:t'hionable ,
It '~a ncrv()u, laugh, H (,/1.1'0/1 ' n' Jill I h('I II,I: I/(/i I'(', YO/I' /"t' 'WI heillg Jalr III .1'(111 rsdJ(lr ,WJUr
/J'lt dOIl'{w!/Il'lIjoy II. Pc' IN " (//l(lil'I/( 'C' Ij WlIIl't'Cll/y Ihi II~ I h(ll \'f!ll h(l\ 'el/' I /1(,('1/ ( 'og /I i.WI1II o[ Ih/' I'm
I wouldn' t do it if I dldn'l enjOy II. /'/!III'C'lI/io/lCllisl'd ~illd o[ (/\'CIII{).;(//,dl' had /)(11' /'IIII' YOl/I'l' bern
f' III t I"WII,Ii /0 pl'lll 'C' Ihc' I. i nd of 101 ('!II hUl/lo/l1' I)('hi lUI yo uI" i 1111'1h'I'/l/al playin,t: ill IiiI' JlI"f)//'S.liUII
pOI'illnll I do nol hold wllh Ihe bad boy role. Rem Koolhaa ~ c;ll l ~ it :t GrJde B
I do nm thmk thcrc'~ anything Ime11l about it. gall g\ler I'illll, LCI mc l!O bad IQ the ljuc,!ion ahout ' lyle: DeCOft-
-No.lml.lolI/c' /1f'OPic> 1/tI1"I' /I J.lllri vjll/cul Iuughler,mher Jl!'oJ1lt, han' "Iruction ha, nothing to do wilh ~Iy le. il ha~ lodo with ideology" WlI.lI
a hell.l' IUII).;II Wid yO/u' ',1' \f'{,111 \ 10 I).' SOII/(' II'h('/"(' hClwt'c' lI {'ol/I'lrai IInl ,~ wrong wilh Po\ !-Modemi ... m i~ that 11 is ant i-ideologx. I would 11

I "' Lr--\
, -

WId mordallt /I Aiml ofll/ad 1IIII/IOlIr, to th ink that Phi li p ..... how i ... b~hic:llly an ideologic'll ... how. 1 thi~1I
No I!' ~ not blad. humour. I love pl.. ying. 1 ;1111 oneoflhe most playful WIll ~ how that .,omt: people :lre..)ly Lbt~, some people arc ldl"Olo~ua.
people yo u know, I dontlhin!. the re ... anything ebe in life bUlto play. ami I thlll!' thm that M;= paration is going to be made fairly clear in iht
What my work eI()C\ is 10 'how how pl:IY vc ry much animate\ and 5 at:llogue. 1 th in" the) arc going 10 try to make lhe point th!!l lt is Il(l
activate" for in ~la nce, the '-C r iou~ lle ..... of what we do, For me play j, a \lyle they arc ta lking about but a een mn kind o f ideology of internal
a very <'c ri ou~ activity. I do not play 10 win. ThaI is why people do not rcl at i o n ~. that i,. thaI in... ide anyth11lg lies ;In ideology. Many peorlt
understand my mac hin.. tion,. they Ihink I am a polil ical power player, may not want to facc Ihal. I don ' , believe that It "ill catalyse am""
Sut I do not love power ,h an e nd , Zah:lliadid. I would not say thaI she is the ccntrJl figure III thesho\\.
I don't lhin k Ihal ~ h e b ideological enough. I do not thi n!. lhere M
I)l'CtJnsl rucl iOIl is t SI ylc'! r.:e nlrJl figure
- Do .1'0/1 fiJi III. flu,/'(,' ,\ a O(',/IIII{III(I ;OIl;S I SI)"/(' ('l/Jl'l'g i 1I,1i '! f.\" Ihl'/"(' a I IIl'I'''/' said 111m: I alii IIIC'rely sayillg IfI(/( 0 ) IhUt' IS a DrcOf,
('('I"/(Ii 1/ J./Ild oj (())I\ 'cY,liI'I/('e a/"{/111/(1 Iht' fig ll re ojZnho fI ([dill (Illd hi'!' SI/'/lCIIOIJisl ~'Iyle (111(1 h) 111m II C'lIIergNI q ui/(' clt'arly i ll Ihl' /IISljCI44(
jl,l 1I1,t:heams mlfl N/'I)Cmll/I"jU'1iO lli ~ III ? Yl'OI'$ lIml IIIal Illl're is elllll/gll OI'(,r/liP f() del'(I'ihe il ill I'hrlOfIt~/,
If there is a Dcr.:oll'itruclionisl ~.!tlc, 130uld ce rtain ly be the fir~ 1 one jOl'l1Ial {('/'IllS "At' alllll.r:ufl~e, lIlId c) Ihal il is silly ()f \'0/1 to Iry 111
10 tum :lg,~tlSI ii, TI\;n iLwhcn 1 ber.:ome anli, I think whal will be nice (11.\"/11//('(' YOIII"SI'/f [1'011/ sly/e. })e('(/Use oll ideology IS Set'll Ihrolj~h
(lboutlhi~ Mu".;cum of Modem Art show is il will be something to be ~Iyle, so Ihere i,\ 110 JJ{'l'{1 jo/" you to geT 01/ .1'0/11" hi,f!,hhol"st JlIlit
~gainst, I have alway' !)CCII agai n.. t something thai becomes fa'ihion ~ dkIWlOm;se : 111I'in! illlt'l:ral (lml r('/(/(ed,
ab.le. - ~ I am not ccrtllin Ihat'lj true,
-Are you? - TJwI"e (Ire stylists II'ho flal'e moyl"H! underplaYl'd ideology bill f'I'U,\'
lam h;t~ieally"a_mavcrick. IJ()(~I' who Iw,f lIIl i(le%,t:y, /'('(Id,,' il Ihrougl, (I slyit'. so l'I)'!1' is shJ~
- Y(' s, weill ,lJiIlk J(m ' /'/' a 11111 l'l'I"il'k 1)111 art' .1'011 agoiIISI Ille j ashioll' I hl"Olfg!J wlTII ideology 01/(1 is Iltl' lI/ediuIII '''roll,~'' which idM/og)' IJ
 -
PETER EISENMA N

('UII/II/IiI/ II'lIIe(} "'"el'l" S 110 1'1'(1\111/ II()/ to \1'(1111 to {/('a/l1'illl SH'lt' , Nm really familiar wi lll <Ire the Peak COIllI)Ctilion and the Berlin project. [I
/0 M'UIIf /() (/c'lI/l1'i{1I ,I I I/t' II 111/1 to 1t'(I11/ /(I (/t'll/WIlIi /(III~IWltt', is ,tlw:tys you Charlc" who arc con~tructing and now d eco n~trucllng
)fthink the minute that 'Dccon\truclion becomes a "lyle a~d fashion i<; these continuol dl~u ..sions of Unca"y ~ ty l c, and origins.
't.hcn we will all be ablc..l0 attaCk it, l>riOl:JQ lhe...show:it has not been
a slyleQrJa,llIon, it ha:. been a way of ,\ork in~, Lthin" DecQrullructiQll MOM A E). ltibitioll lind Ihe ~ ew Academicis m
i~ a process which could have Illany sty l e~ Mich .... eI Gravel> could \VJllll al/olll Ihl' t' IJuI1i,,'oll at MOMA , Ihl'r(' art' Ihrt'l' rooms ami
easily be 11 Dccon' lrUClIoni'l, Ro ben Venturi could eal>ily be a 11110,\' /II IlwfII ('Hwd ),?
Ikcon\lru(:lIonl'l , '0 I wouldn'l .. rguc Ihal ii's a style"- I don' l know , from what I under:.tand there are now only twO rooms.
~ "'rlll/w!",~ gl'('(/I, 1I0U' W!II' 1'(' mm'j IIg fil II '(11'(/.1' 1'11II'alum. 111 Ihe lirst\hcre are the Con,tructivi\t precursors. I don't know who
You alway, ~:ly Ihat'l> plur.tli'lIl'! I do not l\Ce il a~ plura l,sm, I would Ihey have III that room.
ntthcrcall il multivalent bUI onc which doc~ nOI prelend, a"doc" your 'I/II',Y 111/1,11 JII' U 'o/li(lm'. M alt'\'ich. Linlt:ky allll Chel'llikhm' ,
OOllon of plurali ... m, 10 iltranscendenl value. Mar" Wig1cycan lell you all oflha!.] can tell you who I lhink j, in Ihe
- II/ral ij rllf' differancc /)1'1 11'('1'11 )'0/1 1' Del'IJI1Sll'IIclioll lIlId /',al1a :-.how - FntTlk Gehry. Bemard TschumL Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid,
Har/id's? Daniel Libc ~ k i lld , Coop Hi1l11llelblau and my ~clf, Like lII"ny other
I do nO! know if I can an~wer that. I have never really looked ilt her fX!oplc I propol\Cd namc~ to Philip. My ori gin:tl list had II names. I
worJ.. thtllthoroughly, I en n Icl1 you Ihe difference..Q!!lwe.clllllilli! and have fought for tho),c II names but have lost quite:l number.
F!.an~hrJ'\' Fralll'" w{\("_is arnllli frag menl:ttion and fragmcn - - WIIIII i,\ IIII' IWI/I(' oJ IIII' \\'()r/';ill,~ Iillt' at IlIl' 1II0/1I1'1II?
tal ion is 1101 OC(';OI1 ,t ruel ion, Fra nk Lilr.oN.'- piece, arou nd imd fract urc ~ I thin " il is ca lled Dc co ll:-.[nH,; livi~t Archilec ture,
.
the strueWre, but b"'>ie'llIy he b- ta lkinRoIDollt a nostal~a [m the 10:-.1
.~

w!!ul~ My work IS not about :I I\o~t:l lg ia fo r the lost whole, I do not

)11(/.11/ ' II/V io l:ned Pc rfect ion hljiJr('? WIlt' II di(11 hey come /() DI'('()II -
~Inl/' II\'I\ I ?
t~mJ.. Zah;(~_ work i\ either. I "now thm 7"lha is different from Frank The MUSClllll wouldn'l lei the m u~e Ihe title \ ' i/llm/'r! Pelfenioll, They

, .....
r- \

iIJld Ilhink we arc all dirferent from Daniel Libesk ind in the way that didn 'tliJ..e it. they thoug ht it wa ... an off-punin~ title,
Danle!'!> i)ccon,mlction, if Ihat', wh:tt ),ou want 10 call ii, has a[way~ - So Ol' I '(Jl/Sll'/loi\ ';:r;t lIIt'allS If'lCO/lstl'm 'l; l'ilt?
sll,l!.hlh
pu~hed ouhlue Ihe lllel;Lphy,ic~ of archilecture: that i~, [0 .. he her , 10 Well Philip bclicvc:-. firml } that al l oflhi~ work is piCking up from the
enclose, to occup)' e tc. If you do not mainl;lIn tileS(' the n there 1\ Ihe tong-{kad Con ~ lruc l iv i \I\, I would have called il I ' io/alet/ Pf'lfeClioll
destruction and not lhe decon'lructlon of architecture. I think lhal z:'lha
aho operate:. within ~ JllClaphysio;_of arc hileclllrc. allhough she ---. - and therefore I would have had John 11ejduk and Raimund Abraham
and people Ii"e that . who are nOI necessarily Constructivists at all,
mlghl not !k1y it th:ll W:IY, That would be the difference betwccn u~ and Con ... truelivi\11l j, giv ing II stylist ic ovenones. It ...eems 10 me it should
03niel and Fmn" Gehry, I-low I would deM:ribe the difference bel ..... een not be about ConMructivl:'1:.. but about Deconstruction,
Zaha and rny~elf I' more dIfficult, II'I'iII 110'01//(/ callI ,,;~ a 1'('1)' .\'iil'lwl'.\' s/ipl1i1gl' ill 111(' la't' oJ Ihl' 1I'0rd
~Yoliltilf gram 111111 (I 1(1/ oJ !,('opl(' 'lidIIdilig III y\dJ 1('1' ynlll' 11 '(J,.~ 1II 1 call i I Dn 'o/lsl rII('1 iOIll sm I'lIlhl'I' ,lIal/ J)l'( 'OIl,\'/n I l'1 insmJOl'/II't'(UI' /"
1IIj1t'flilig IOII'/Infl- Iwl.l, "lid I)lIl111y',~ /(I\1'urd{ 111'/'.\', 1'h('l'(, hlll' IH.'('1I (I (lit' rt'(I.lfIIlj' 111m Will II '(' H' w(wtillg /(/ clllI il Violated PerfectIOn.
fi)(uJim,:, liS Ojtf.'11 ill hWlI/)', all oJ ( I J II(/(/ell 111('1'1' aI"(' fl,l'i IIg-lwUfII,~ i ll Ynil' re righl . II i, nOI Dccon~l ruct loni ~t. 1\ is not llecon"lrucl mg In the
tl'tnh()(l\"s ,~cll(,III(,J, /tJl ' ins{mw(' ill Ollio \'01/ IIS(' a flying fJI'wn theoretic .. 1 \en\(! of the word.
Milich i,l- I/olluddl' ht'I'flYlllghnllllJ illlh t, PI'ak l'ompt'lilw n ami 1101 - TIII' re is a hi).: 1I'('t/[:(' V(/U call riril'l' h('lli'l'l'lI a DI'{'O/lSII'II(ti"I.I'f allli
Imllk!' Dal1lt'1 Lihl',I!..illd' Sflying h('allls fnr IIII' C /olld PmI' i 1/ Bed i II. (I DI'CotISII'UClirJII;,I{
Ilhlllk I W~l\ u~ing fl ying-he'lI"" in House Il l. Iflhat is what you wanl to do. then you can eallille a.Decon~ truct ioni SI
- Per!rllpl', Imllll' 01'1'011,1I /,///'/ ;011 iSIs my : origi/l.I' (10 11 ' IIII(II/l' r, i,' Sj ll);1 and there arc DcconSlrllctivi sts in the .. how, For mysel f I have ncver
Ihm !III oJ 1/ ,I/Il/dI'1I Illillg ,~ ('()Ill(' l/lfl) /tICl/S - YOII could !lay Emilio becn either, There i~ no question that my work is animated by Ihe ~ pirit
Ambus: has 111'1'lIllsing I'H'{/\'Ulioll,\' since 1967. of Deconstruction,
I am a great ~u pporter of Z:.lha'~ <lnd I really admire her arch itecture. - \vlly isn'lsolllt'OII(' like SITl;~ illlhe Sh Oll'?
lam eon~ iou , of the t1yin gbc~un s, The only IWO projects that I am I do not think Jim Wines' work ha~ anything to do with the show,

147
DECONSTRUCfION
- \l 'dl ill lIi,f 'Ol'-al'dll 11'1 1111't" , II 'OJtldll ' I ,\'1m ,my llial/lt' "11~ /I 1(1( II/on'
III do Irlll! O('C(IIJ,WI'IIO;OI/ Ihall II/e Nl'o-COIlSI /'IIOII'/,fl.f?
1gul:'S!>he "ould_ bul if you l oo~ al hI' worl.. you have lomakeanolher
as!IC~!>mcnl,
-tJII'OI}('OIl {'I'ilil.): han' ,\1'1'11 /Ilm (llId FI'all/.. G 1'111:1' os Vl'('Vl/s/n/l'l/( III
iSI /11'("(111.1'(' IIII'.\' lil/'I'alll It'ur (1011'11, hl'l'a/.. Ihl'Ollgh al/(I , ioillfl' .
I "ould \ay Ihal lcanng thill,' down i, one-Ii ncr ,tu ff. II i). a form of
IIIU\lrJllon 110t a thcoreltcal PO:-'Ilioll.
-lIl11l1Y Ol' 111(1 I' IWI h(' olll'-1il/l'r hl/l 1\ '(" I'(' 1/11/ wl/../11 g, al10lIl qll(llifY,
CII/t'goril'", 1,1 {llI'r(' 1101 ,W mll'IIIIIIR COIII/'(I(J/CIOIY
1"1" fl' 1lI1/../II,r.:. 1I1H)1I1
1H'llrl'(,/I (I jO;1II 1'11111)/(;01/ (/1/(1 /)('('(I/II'I/'II('1I0Ili,I'1II which should ht'
11IJ1I.IIII'ral'chy? A 1'1' yOlllltl1 ,\'I'lTill,~ "I' a /1('\\' academy? I,~ 111(11 lint (J
hl'II'IIWllllf VI'IIIII ,l'lml'l iOll i,llI/ :'
Ifit doc~ sel Up:1 new ;lcadclllY I will be Ihe lir!ool one ill be again~1 ii,
I sel', ,HiI! 1'011 11'('1'1' ;II,I/flllIIl'IIWI ill 1'('lIillg IIJllllm mller (lI'Or/('II/Y,
Ir Ihe Instilule wal, lin UGldcl1lY il did nm have a Dccon'lmCl i ol1i~t
(wertone in it.n the Illlle, evcn though Illy wOl'k 111ighl have displ;lyc(1
3 ~pin1 and Icndcncic~ in thut direclion,
--Oil ('(lilli' 1)11 liS f!laKII: II1(' ll'(lS c(llIed Oppo~i t iom . 11 certail/ly hod
(11"1'1'1'SII'/II/g lIl'ur/t'mil hi'll! film I!,{IS 111/..'11 lip hy //Ifllly of III(' //1'1
emil'! (/caliell/it's (//11/ 1111'11 I/W'l'CII'IJ, Columhia, 10 II u.'rroi" el'lt'fII
y(IfI' , UI/d al/ /11/ "1tl,~(I: i 1Il'.f Ihal C(lII/(' 11111 (H Ii /I It> OP I)Q~ il ion boo/..s ,
YOil "1'('(1111/' Ihe III'II' (J(/i(lnI/Y, I III/II/.. Ihis isjll ~I (I ('(111ft 1'/1/(1/ iOll ofIlwl
I/I'O-//("(II/t'mir' I/'enri,
l>tJilip gC!~ vcry Up\C1al anylxxly Ih1l11.. illg Ihal I alll dOlllg Ihe "how,
But in realily I was nOI the one who ~id ' Hey Philip, rcr .. hllve a
museum show', I lhll1l.. ii', a "cry c'(ciling thmg because ii's going 10
rocJr..cl lhing\ .. round a bit,
- II C(,I'lall/ly i,~, 11111 It' ,I' alWl ,~(lm~ 10 ,folull/\ 1111'1/1/11 (III (l('(u/t'mic It'll\' ,
TlII'I' ar(' 11/1111,\ ( IIS(' IIIlhllll\'OI 1/(/11' , lilt'\' {ll'e 11/1'('(/(1.1 "1'I'~'I'1If ill all
II/Os(' se/uHlls II/l' lillIe u.lhulI(/llitl~,lh(' lillIe Gd".y~ lIlId"
You have nOI '31d liule Ei)o,Cnman~ ,
- Tlu'H' hl/I '' /,,'ell 1111/1' is('/I/lulI/s /I{l1I' fol' 20 ,I'(,(II'S,
I havc ncvcr seen 1I1O~ guy" I see linle Hadids and lillk Gehry' and
lillic Libe~kind, all ovcr Ihc place and it's boring,
Well Ille/,(' O/'(' lillll' 'I'Hal'(iI(lr.~' 100,
What i~ Inlerc~lil1g i., 111:11 new I hing~ are going to open up, l think Ihere
are olher po<;,ibi iii ie, for archilcclurc, Th:H i~ whal I have alw3ys been
ill1erc,lcd in, I IllInk we arc going 10 :-.Ian to enrich arch itectura l
language,
-lIl'iI'II iI, 11(/\1' yOIl ,W)Wltll'I'('IIII/OI'f' Posl-Model'll, govd heal'l'm'!
I iUll l)O'tllloUcm bUI not in Ihc Iran~cendclHal
sense Ihal you spcaJ... of.
Enrich for me is not 10 give ~omelhing new v:llue, bUlIO uncover Whill
ha ... been repre~ ...cd by old '1aluc~, I Ihinl.. Ihe differencc belwcen my
Franl..furt projcci and Richard Melcr's worl.., for example, is that my
Bio-Cemrum project in FwnHurl i, aboul Ihe rn uhivalenl nalure of
te'(l and I do nOl lhll11.. Ridl:lrd'!oo "orl.. I~ aboul muhivalency, The dif-
fcrencc bel\l,L'Cn wh:ll I'm doing :md Ihc other peoplc in Ihe ).how i,
thai my work I" aboul Ic'(lual mult lvalencc or IH'/I\'l'l'IIIWSS,
-Or ralhl'r, ' liller-It' ll/wIll)" Bill .1011 Ilt/I'e III, lI,f YOII 11(1111111('(/111
LIJIIII(/I/, AllOW Ihe 0/1/1'1 If' III, (1,(' 1\ rill/'lIll'.1I almlll il re/alillg /0 DNA
(/Iu! 1111 flf'/IOS1' mlll'J (hilll:~ I:. \'fJ//r Iror/.:, ill ,w fi l l' a ,f if i,~ a fI' lI, a
MlIIltla/'l1l II' \I 1il'IIIWldillg (I H'adl'I' ... ,I:llitl('?
I don'llhink ~o, 1 u\Cd lobelievc that "c nCL-ded a new reader, I belic\'c
Ilml my tcx lS :Ire available not a... informalion but :l.'> lex l. They hllve
mcrely been reprc''-L'(I by Ihc Inllhlionil i lexh of architeclure,
,I'eI/ rlien:1II ill f {Jlltl I'e/ert'llfia/: .1'01/1'
- YOlllfrlll ' IIIIIII( "wll Ilt'y IIrt' ,1'0
Cho/'(/I Wor~ i,f 1'('!I',.,.;ng 10 ('0"'1//1';/'1' 1I11(110 Call/wregio (III/I 10
al}{ll/oin 111(1/ 110 IOl/g('/' 1' \ i,ll, ,
When Venturi doc~ il you do nOI ~eem 10 mind,
-811/ \ ('II/Ilri IIUS (I pop ll lar ('mit', Till' only poplllar co(/e YO II II ,fe tire
1111' r(llll{Jtlrl.l', IIItd 11/(1Y/)I' /I Ii 1I1l' hi/ vllhe alml/oi 1', Till' /'/Imparr)' are
I admit II mll'l'Slmldalll(' and f)()fW la,. - .1'011 ha 1'(' 0111' poplila/' sigll - hll/
el'l'l/ lilt' almllO/!' /1I'('{ls a ('ot/I', you are 1'(,(llIy creeping i/l/o PO,l' /-
Mm/('fllism 1/(// JIWII)i /l t-: ill ,
My code~ may be as acce~siblc tI'i Venturi's bUI they rentain repressed
148
by your ~o-ca lled I>opuiar code~,
r (I so \' \'11/1 (//'1' 1/ M IIl/1larm , .1'(1/1' n ' till I' ll 1'.1'1 (lm/ absolU(lst, II'/n. 1101
II /I'I(II/(Iari" wo .?
I'ln neilher e lil i~I, abo.,()lu l i~1 nur a Mandari n. I believe I'm a centm!.
II lal..e!> an cnonnou:. erfor! for !ooomconc comfo rtablc o n Ihe edge. on
Ihe periphery. 10 allel11pl 10 occupy Ihe eemre, In an age where lhert
arc no new frolllier'.lhc edge lIlay jU~ 1 be Ihe cenlre, the ccnUe orll~
periphcry,
rill 1/0/ /I'.\'ill g 10 /I/(//',r.:.;IIlIIt' .lOll bill you' 1'1' (11)(1/1/ 10 b(' III \'('1 (/l/mhrr
'o('mlt'", y (/f /ltl' /It' ll" ill IIII' /If1/.1/' /1111 of /11 (Hlem AI'I , Y011 oU,r.:hl f(I M
II/(' 1111 illl(l/l' ('lwl'II('/el' ill (J \VOl Idl' t\ 111'11 film, (l11I'(lY,1 Irying /(/ (1('('111')'
III(' {'('IIII'(' of (/lh('J'/I(,,\'~
I 31ll Ihat charactcr ill a Woody Allen film,
- OK .lOll I II/JIIIdII' I III' f(',I"~ 1/ IIg my illll' /'flrelmioll, (lficnaT iOIl liS lilt
,lu'l'(' 1'(lillI' ~ l' \ '('rl'/"}flr, ' M \' pr/lhll'lII , III /I pIli ral il'l , / ,1 111111 (' 1'1'1/ if 1'(lN
go /(/ yll ll l' ,~ (lrdl'/I.I ill Pan (11'1(1 \ 'ill('I/(' . Y(I/I 1001.. amI/ lid lIl/d srr ull
Ihl' {l('()pi1' whll (/1'1' gO/llg /0 hi' Ililiidillg K(//'(ll'lIs Ih/'I'/', lUI' Jolm
Illjdll /.. , Cit('I/1('/1) I', P IiI 'e , N {'/I \'1,1 tllld ,W J jiwlit , II10SI (lj I II1'111 art' LaIr ,
M ot//'I'I/ i,I'IS 1\,,,111 /I ali Ilh,l/r!1I '/I' /I'h ' IIlId IIJ(J,W of 1h/'Ill ('OIllC (JUI of Illr
SOIlll' DI'(OIlSIrIII'I;OJ/lJl ,I'la/Jfl' (J/' .I'lwl'(' (11m of,uyfislif', i(it'ologil'O/
Wid 1'(1I1I11/i \'(' 1'0,1'"imH ; IIIJI Ii('l' words, 1II'01lid (lrg/((' Ilwl ir' J' K0ln,~
to III' (/ killli of Vi ,1'm'I' II 'Or/d of lJe('(J//,I /nU' liOI1 111/(1 j /IS Il'Iul of lumn~
1'('(11 differ.mee /II' rll/lf'l'IWI'I ,,/' "Iurlliism ;(:. ,~();'I ,~ 10 I", \ '('1'1 ill/t,
g 1'11/1'(1, "l'l:\, ('(IIIOI/il, "1'1:\' 11111111 IiJ..I' (/ 1/1'1\' (t(adnll.\', \V1/(11 do wm ."1\'
to Ihat." \\ III' hm '('II 'I 1"011 ;I/I'lfn/ M lI'iltII'l GI'm'l'~ or QIIII/Iul/ Tun' or
(/1/'{/{lilltll/tll,.H .'J
They ncvcr lIl'li le me, Why ~hou l d Ihey play in m)' sandbox if I IK'~
d01l'1 Willi! me 10 play IIl lheir,'! 11'~ Ihal ~imp l c, I am a leam pla)crand
a groupic, If I \l,crc doing Ihe exhlbnion I would have a diffcrem group
of people thcre in Illy lellm, b\:cnu~e I like pl3ying in 3 'iandbox, PhIlip
hillC, Ihi, idca of :ltcam ,
lVlwl dll yOI/ Ihill/.. 111,1 II/('/I {hat m(J/i"IIII'~' Philip ? WII\' (Io('s hI' n<~
I\'alll a 1('11111, II'hlll is h..IIII/(/III~' DI'('OllSII'IIU/I 'lsm ?
Well I thinl.. I'hi il p ha" Hltcrcstlllgly enough alwilY\ becn a di,local()l
Look al Ihe illlem:lILOnal Sly le !oohow: he ha, alw 3 y~ been jumpln~
beforc illlybody else and I lhink he wants 10 go OUI , fir"tly wilh nnother
Jump, and I,cl'ondly wilh II jump Ihal pUIS him back in favour v.uh the
lefl, or what i~ Ihoughl !O be len intellectually, in OIher worth ~o he'\
nOI :.cell as ~()meonc of lhc right or the e~l:tbl i shmcnt but ha~ acntlcnm'
and intel lecillal rc'pccla bi li ly, He probably wou ld nOI articulate illhal
way, he ha .. always becn worricd aboutlhe left imd I Ihinl.. this isonr
lime whcre maybe hI:' I~ co-opling the left.
- 011 yOl/lhill/.. ,\'0 do 1'011."
Wdll f you wcrc I() lake T..chu1l11, Koolhaas, Ei..cnman and Libc~l.md
a .. reprc,cnling a certain Icft in architecture,
Til/'\' ('('1'1(//111\' (11'('11 'I lefl- willg ,
NOl poli lica\ly le Ow ing.len an.: hilcClumJly, Ihey arc Ih(' darling~of
Ihe lefl in Ihe an v.oTld,
- Wl'Il tlWt' .f 1111 i1lft're,flill,t; ~lIh~flllllt' /01' (lwlIIl-gllrr!1' SI'III(mlicalh
IJ III .1'01/ /../lOIl' P Iti iiI) 1I/II'11Y!' Jlml",~ after Iltl' .':l'OlIIul lull' hUIII)I'tportd
,WI hI' lal/(I,~ wji:ly , )'UI/ .I'll," Ii .. jllmped blion' IIlIylJluh I'lsl' hlllihall
\11111)1\' 110111'111' , Ill' jlllllpl'li jllftJ 1'0,11 -M {J(ll'r/llslII ill 1978 aftrl' "UHM
I :!wtln of ('aniul/I' Imlti IIg I hi' g/'{//llId so Ih(ll II(' II'()IIM hmll/cf' In
IIII' suml' \1'(11' lI'il h D('colI,U rI/Clioll . )' olllllul mlier... ha \'1' 111'('/1 pupar,
i IIg II/!' g rolllld .1'1/1('(' 1978 if //Ill /)eforc - J 'hi Ilk y(}// /III/Sill' I RiI'!' him
/00 1II11l'1I cr('di I IJy rite ,willii' lOki'll .1'011 /III/Sill' I Ihi II/.. Iltar' .I' ,~I!ing w
heallfl(' "re(U Ii lI'illt II'liat YOllcall rhe Itft (lilt! / cullihe 1II'(/II/ -K arJr.
1(.1' slill going 10 rf'M"rd him lI'ilh ,WSpil'iOIl (II/d IIII',\' c(llIld r('KlIl'd il
(1.1 hi~ filial 1..;,1',\' Ilf (Iemll -lift, 10 lilt' 1//oI'l!fII(' II(, Tlli ,,' C01/1t1 ttl/llff
1)1'('0/1.\'1"'11'110/1 IIII' .\'lU/I(' 11'(IY hi' /"i//l!d OD'POSf-Mod/'l'IIixm: 11'/11'/1 hI'
cmhmct'd Posl-M ot/l'mi,rf1l, Iltl' Yale sllld/'lIt~, ('((I/IC n llwinK III' 10 lilt
ill 197N (lnd ,wid, 'I s P ostM mJe l'l/ ism d('ad /)el'llllse liflhe AT& P'
I w a~ called a ' Ph il ip Johnson loya l i~ t ' by Michael Sorkin, and
Michael l'lcil.er .':laid to !lie, 'You know, Peter, yOll ouglllio be proud
of Ih:I1, bccau'oC that t:lke~ relll guts: He said 'I' m a Philip Johnwn
loyali"I, all the arli~t~ are Phil ipJohnson loyal ists, he ha, been a patron
 PETER EISENM I

to all the be,,! arti,t" in the world and we arc ill11oyali:.t .. ', So why the a JlI'I/I'1'1 .I' IlI/fIIWI iOIl oj htlll ' ;1 ('/I/IIt'.\' OCI'II,I'!>', 1/(,1'1' YO II "I'ell IIII' hOI'
hell ~hould archil<:tl~ not ri'k ocing in the centre? (if IVil/g ensll'in ill \ ' ;('111111 o[ /927? Yow' lI'(lr!.. SI'(I/IIS to //If in /1
I InlS1/'1 qllestioning wm/" lora!ly. /J'{uiiliflll IIl1d Ihe Palhlt/iml ll'm/iliOIl, Ihl' COl'h1l,1'1(lI1 Iratiilio/l, I
Some pcoplt! cannOI under:.tand why I have been Joyal w Philip. BUI TI'I'mg lIial/ lratli fiol/, "axlclIflv i /I IIU' !nlll! lioll of a l'J't'fllioll o[ I
he is one o rlhc Icw archilccb one can I;lJ~ 10 aoout idea ... Do you ... no .... IIIl11d liS II WI/SlIlI/ orgall , IVhCII do .1'011 Illili/.. of Racqul'1 Wdel
anyone else II ho prc tend,> to be :lIIllirudlcctual who read .. Niel7'.;che Slall'IIIl'1II '1111' ~'l'xit' sl Ol'gllll II[ III(' Il/IlIIal/ hCIIly is lilt' hl'ail! ' ?
111 German'? I have !>Iornc trouble with Ih:ll exclu\ivenev" there are a lot of oth
- 8 II/Wilt'lI/lf' ('m/}/'/lI 'I'.\' On'OIlSlrl/{ '/ ;01/ . if ,It(I ,. J II'/)OI Iw' ,~ dum g . {III.\' ~xy orga11s. Whal aboul the \totnach'!
nil/Iii hal'(' IIII' .1'111111' l'iJI'l'1 liS 1I'/1l'1I II(' ('II/hraced Po.\,, -/'Ifor/cl'llislIi. - /Jill ylill dOI/'1 appt'of III 11/1' Slmuacll ,
II'/ili/ do .Will SOl'
. to 111iI1:' I :U1l 1I0t certain that I do 110t , , ,
IcannOI really ,m\wcr 111m bcC:t\N! I don "think he wa~ TI':"I}(m~iblc for Bill 0111.1' rhl'O/WIi lilt' heml,
the problem, of Po"t Modemism. I alll gClii ngthcrc, Charlc\. You on I) a head man, [agree.
tlrl,~
- Bill 11/1/'1/ 1/11'1'111 pllhlie lIf film I/ak ]i)/' thlllIrgl'.f l mlll'I 'lIllllmwl ill - Yollr Ihillg.f art' I'ery (111.,'11'1/1" allll Ihl'Y l1al'I' Ihis clit/m'l;c t'flt'Q(\'
llie 11'01'1.1, I am not saying they do nOl, I can ncvcrchallgc what I do, but IthiJ
I think it i~
1I11erel>ling if Dccon<;truc[ion /,:an go public. II says if you look at Franl..rurl c1o..cly the appeal i~ nOl only to the bmin. lt w
~omc[hing about the pm~ibili[ics for theQrctical activ ity III the Ccn lre, dc,iglled to be <;tnlnge Ilnd II c:une out ... tr:Hlgc, [n the next series
- II is goi u~ "lIlJi iI ' (/1 P(/ re' d(' III \ /1/1,'11/' , M II/n/'{/ II(J ('111111' altJlIJ.I (llId bllildin g~ and the writing I am doing now :tboUI the new figur.ltlc
IUlllwiled B('/'IIlml 1\('11,111, j',~ Folic" about what I cal l t:a [ac hresi ~ and ltrabcsljuc - r [11 inJ.. you will!>Cc a Ill'
I \\'ould not agrce with you, Tha[ i\ a fmm of lXcon\truct ion. r don't ~ne-,> 01 projects. I th ink that the Edge of Between projects ~tan
thml Bernard T-.chumi io; ahout Dccmhtruction, FranJ..rurl . I thinl.. Franl..furt wa-'>the stan of '>Ol1lCthillg , You will ha
-Ill' C"'l'lalll/l Illillb Ill' 1,\ to wall and 'iCe whal I do in ))im.burgh and Cinncin:lli and other pJacf
M} "t.'n ~e i ~ th i~: I Ix! Iic \C Ih::1\ 1X>('ono;truction i ~ not uIt 1111;lIely vi .. ihle, - I lu,..e (If Sf(lPI'ill,~ (J1II/1I0f /'IUlIIglIIg, oil/1011gb I
l/('I'i'I' (I('1'1I5t',/ .1'1111
It i\aboul bui lding unbuildablc idea\, I do notthmk any multl national I ,lll id all he 1'('1'.1' "1'.I:illllllll: 1111 i II~ ,lIl'n' is mort' ('01/1; IIlIil\' l"lIlI dW1l1
corporation i~ going 10 build Dccon~TrUClionju\ll1s [hey do nOI build III y01l1' 11'1)1'1. .
~ny other idcology. Therc h continui ty, bec:tu\e I can ..ce all of thi~ ill my early work,
- YOlljllSf lra1'l' to lI'ail PI'ltT, 1 hl'f Ihar Ill/Iulli -l/aliolla/lllldclJ Il I{/I'~e - LJ' ( s pilI {/flOllIl'!' \I'lIgl'l' , II h('1/ .1'011 ~I<lrl dni,lilll/l,f!. dmuJli/..t' jll::
DI'{,OIlslnlll/()IIIII hlil/clillg, a l!I'm/quClnc'I'.\ ill [0/11' yl'(ll'f, a lIIajor 11'(11'111, S(' IISllul, plt'IISlImhll'-ffl -luIlCh-lIIlll-sif-ill [tI/II-it'S mill ,II/nl
hllildmg //I 111'/1 , ,1I011/(/\'t' II I.im/ of I";SI {'I'lIl qualilY , Ilraf i,f 11'111' 11 \'011 ,~o fIIc'lift' (1/
And do }OU one or the fX-"Oplc in the "how will do If !
'i!1} /ral" i( ' IIml .\'011 ('/II/ sil dOlI /I alii/ cart'n' ,lit, ImIMIII!: ill II I/ijJt'rt'nt M'U

. NOI iraI' s clllot/ln (Jilt' SIIIHI, /1\" 1/1 lit, K 01111 P ecll' 1',\'(,11 !-en 11'/10 IIi /I (10 I'
III hI' '~/lC'I'ifil, II'I1NI YOII 1I.I't'[a/Ilks IIlId II 'ilt'" IIIH sf/limit), ('/11'1'1'.'1 III
aPPI'(lh 11I11tt' I'II'Clwl'f'.1 flj,IJI' Jk.IIJ ill WI IIIIlI/OgO/l,\ lI'(ly,IIIt'II/"
"Pcrhap\, ,hilll. 11t1'1'I,' ,I' !W(,1I U I'ntf ('111/11,111' ,
- Phili" i.1 c//lI'lI\'1 ill 11101 COlliI' (/.\ \1'1'11, dOIl'I[org{'f Ihat III' pion ill That is [00 tradition:!1an idc:! of change,
h011r SlIml /HI \/'", I I I' 1111 gill allmi I if 111111 H'1j, hi' I1'lIlIhllI' /111/111/ "t'I'IIIISI' II i/OC'SII" hm'I' 10 bl' Iradifiol/al YOII' \'I' ,I!m 10 IIS(, Wlil'/'r,m/~, \,(11/ ',

III" S II lIihilis I, N it'l: sdw is his [(I1 'OIll'lll' dIClI'tII'II'I'. gill 10 11,11' lallgllagt' Ihlll orl'lw,l(r(l{I'S hod)' 1II/' flIplmrs,
r You have 10 be careful aboul Nietl~che , You can read him two wa}~, No wc havc got (h\IOl';I\c tho';C ~ i l:!n!o.
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pro- or con-, -OK 111,1/0(,(/1('. hili Y(l1I /1111 '(' fO ,lis/llI'illc.' /rom wi11II II, you're slill
, -Ofnmr,H' , 1'111 II gn'(ll Nit'I:SlfwfillllO(I, hen' ('ollle.\ (' \'I' I'WlI1l' , {J!..I' ,1'11111' IWild, YOII sliff 1/111'1'/1' 11'11/1'1'1'11 fire h(lI"I(' (llIrI 11r" /IIelift' ,
\\(jod\' AI/I'll , M:lylx! nol. I am moving tow;lrd!>l iI di~loctltion th:!l ,ays I am n
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wholly in [ile hcad but I (111) not totally 11tI]>tit' either,
, The S(' n ~ u a l In lellct:t - Lt'lIIII' liS!.. WJII II qllesrioll 11111 I'/.' Clskt'll Hillwl'Il ROKers for 11'11 ,H ' llr
- I 1\'(111110 1'IIIIII'IIh II I(lv!.. 1If \' 'htll wm ' n ' doillg lI.\lI !..illlillft 'I'II'II/'mioll. 11'11." (/0 Wm II/I\'0YS 1'I'('IIIt' rl'l'('rher('1I/ J{X/('I"~ ." IVIry ('1111 '1you/l'ar" J
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j \\ iflgt'1I51l'ill '\ IITi IlIIgS tllltl Iti,f IIh.,'II'tICI 'miMings. YO/t' \ '1' 9)(1/..1.'11 oj ftchril' _,
a 'llie/m'lic' I'IIt'r~I" o[ Will/, 1111'11 WI!I'f", wlrll ,It I \1'(111"1 1If!.I't'(." i.I' (lfmosl All of my recent proJect~ deal with fabric,

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 PETER EISENMAN
Til(' /1\'(1 Jill/oil 'i IIg It' \ Is IIfl' (1111111/('\' olld IIN!!.I' I)// ((
he Wk(,IIIIP 11101'1' [1I11\'!1I (Jell'l" Eil' I'III11(fIl'sfOrlli(,Olll illg
Edge of Between.
It h,h often heen argued thu t M odcl'ni'lTl derived i l ~ principles from the
philo)ophy of Hegel. In lhi~ argumenl. the fundament:!] principles
developed HI Hegel' ~ Ll'("fltrl' ,\1\ ('.I' /111'/ in' evo Ived i1ll0 Ihe ienn\ of
(111
the Modenm\ rupture with the Cla .... i(:;11 (r;tdilion. Of particular
~ignificancc was the central concept of the metaphysical dialectic
from which cvolvl.."d dialectical oppmilC\ such as form and functIon.
~Iructurc and omnrnenl. figuration :LIld ab\lraclion. The fael Ihm In
architecture I{)day thc'iC Icnm I:k:P;lst unquestioned. free from critical
scrutiny. mdicate ... that the grip of the metaphysic of the dialectic
remams powerfully in plaCI!.
Now. III rl!tro<;pecl. it I!> clc<lr that. de ... pitc the novelty of ib imagery.
and thl! radical Iml!nllCln\ of il\ ,ocial programme. Modernism ~ <oelf-
proclaimed rupture v.:l'> IlIu-.ory; ~'I oderni'm rem:tined finnly within
the cOnlllluity of the Clas ... icaltraduion. WhLle the form ... indeed did
look differenl. the tefm\ :1Ilt! manner by which the fonn ... gamed
!>ignificance. ie, how they reprc~cmed their intended meaning. were
derived from the tradition of archLlecturl!.
In other di'>Ciplinl!~. pari irularly in ,cienee and phi lo~ophy. there have
been extreme change, III the 'uh~tamive forlll.the method for produc-
ing mc:ming. ,ince the mid-19th century. Today. the cosmology that
articulate~ the rehLlLon,ll1p~ among M:ltl. Gcxl and N:Lturc has moved
far from the ~trLcture, of the I-Icgelian tlialeetie. Nietzsche. Freud.
HeLdegger. and more reccnt Iy Jacqucs Dcrridn. have contributed to the
dramatic tran,format Lon of thought and the concepllJali!>mion of man
and hi ... world. Ilowcver vcry little imp:lct of thi, tramformlllion ha ...
found it~ way min C<lntempontry :,rchitecture. While science and
philo~ophy wert! Cflt ieally que~tioning thcir own foundations. archi-
tecture did no\. Arcllltccturl! rcm:lin(.."<i "CCUTe in those vcry found:t -
tions dcrived from philll\Ophy and 'oCicnce that were lhem..clves being
rendered unten:Jble by thc intcmal quc'tlOning which characten')CcI
tholie di'>Clpline,. Tod:,y, the foundat ions or those disciplines remain
e... ~nllally ullcert:un. Therefore 11 i\ po...sible to que~t loll whether
archllecturc~ founcl:l1ion, !lfe al-.o in a stme of uncertainty. In archi-
tecture thL' que\tion ha, nt,!\cr been articulated. it... :mswer is left
unfonnul:ued.
Thi~ i, !>ccau,!! architecture ha!> never had an appropriate theory of
Mcxlemi~m understood !O be a -.et of idea~ which deals with the
II1trin,ic uncerttunly lind alicnalLon or the modem condition. Architec-
ture alway~ hclieved thaI the foundations ror its Modembm lay in the
certainty and Utopian vi,ion of IYth-cenlury ~cjence :lnd philo~ophy.
Today. thaI vi~i(ln cannot be ~u~taincd. All of the specu lative :md
arli~lIc d l ~dpline, theology. litCnLture. p:liming. film and music -
h:lvc in one way or another come to LCnn~ with thi~ di~~olution of
found:lti()n". Each has rcconceplualiscd the world ill it~ own w:ly in
what mighL be called IXl"t -l-Icgelian terms. What has been called PO~I
Modemi'm m urchitecture, II b1:lIalll nostalgia for the.1ostllum of the
150
Blue Line Text
l"uhjel"/ \l'hi, II wi 1/ :luthetHl1.:. the truc and thc origillat. hu~ ~peci Ilcally avoided 11m mo~
book. TIle imlXlrtant ta,]...
[I can be ,een thai today Ihe ][1'1 bastion of individual design is in the
commitment 10 thi~ lLIJT<1 of Ihe authentic. the origin:tl and the truc. The
re\ult of arr.:hit<.!ctura! Po~t - M(}demi'lll. howevcr, h:L~ been the ma5~
production of Objects which atlCmpll0 appear a~ though Ihey ..... ere not
11la~'-produccd. In thi' way. Po~t - Modernbm destroys ih own c\
lience. Its own '(/I\(}/l d r/I"e. by bccommg a vehicle for the acstheti
CI':UlOn of the hanal.
The quc.,tion 11111"t Ihen be ",,"ed. why does architecture havc 'uch
difficulty moving mto the po~t l-l egelian realm'! The amwer IS tlIat
architecture i..... imply the mOl>! dLfficult discipline to di~loc:l t e because:
the c'~nce of it\ :JcILvity i, 10 locate. Architecture, in the public
con'cll)u\nc\\ . \ Ihe "tructure of reality. presence and objecthood. lt
., literally brick!-. and mortar. hou ...e :md home. ~hel le r and enciowrt.
Architecture doc, not mere ly .. peculate on gravity. 1\ actually operates
with and again"t !;ravll)'. For thelie rea<;ons, its object prescnce \.\ ithlll
the tenm or rcality. it has traditionally been constmilled to ~ymboli:.t
tho<.C tem,\. to ~yLllboli\C it~ functioning as providing shelter and
enclo~LLre .
1'hu .... an:hitccturc face, :t difficult ta,k: 10 dislocate that which .t
l ocale~. Thi, i, the par:ldox of archLtecture. Becau<oe of the impcrJlive
of prc,cncc. the importance of the archi tectural Object \0 the expcn
ence of the here and now. archi tecture race~ this paradox a~ dnes no
other disciplLne.
Obviou,ly. architet' ture i~ tied to the fundamental conditions of
,hcltcr. Ilowev('r ~hcltcr mu!>t be under ... tood both phy~ically and
metaphy~ically. It ex1..t' in both the world of the real and the world of
the ideil. Thi, me:m, that architecture operates a... both a condllLon of
pre~nce and :1 condL tion of :tb')Cnce.
Ardlltccturc in it., continumg nostalgia for authenticity ha.. al\\a)~
'-Ought. without rC1Ili"ing II. to rcpress the e ...sential a!'opl..'(:t of alhenct
wh ich oper:llC~ within it. Therefore the tradition of architectural
prc\cllee and obJecthood ha!> alway!. been taken as natural. also a.1
nutur:11 the repre<.Cnt:Ltion of mom :md his origin~. Thi .. wa ... accom-
plbhed in a formal language thul was al,o taken \0 be naturn!. TItt
column and the beam. the arcade and the arch, the capitnl and tM
plinth, for example. were all thoughl to be nalural to architcctllre.
There/ore the Post-Modem nOMalgia anempted 10 effect a return in
archilecture to its truthful' .. natural heri tage. But. coumer to thLI
notion. it is I)(}~~ib l e 10 propose nn architecture thai embraces V!e
ill\t:lbi l itie~ ,Hld di~location~ that are today in fact the trUlh. not mere!)
a dream of a lo~t truth.
The idea thm architccture must be in the tradition of truth, LlIust
represcnt it:\ shc ltering function, mu~t represent the good nnd the
beautiful con~titutci>:t primili\'e nnd ulInOliced repression. In fact. it i\
thi, truth of in~tabili l y which has been represSl.--d. However if IIrchitec-

tllre is a convention. ie. not in any ~r.:nse natural'. then there :lrc other
truths that it C:lIl propo\C besides the 'natural' truth of the cI;ls:\ical
object. On ly when architecture di .. locales this idea of a nmuraltrulh ~
lifts the repression engendered by the concept of the 'natural' - will it
meaningfully enter the poq-Ilegclian project.
This reprc~sion is al~o root..:d in the persi ..tcnce or the ~uppo~edly
~3Ille-frcc nature of the typologica l categoric .. of :trchitecture and their
intrinSIC hierarchy. However there is. no equiv:llency between struc-
tllre and orn:uncnt: ornament is added to stnlcture. There is no
tqllivalcnce between figure and ground: figure is added to primordial
ground. Each of the lenm of these dialectical oppmitc~ carries 311
tntrin~ic value <;tructure is good. ornament i~ bad. For architecture to
elller a post-Hege lian condition. it must move away from the rigidi ty
and value structure of the:.!.! di:llectic opposli ions. For cx;unple the
traditiontll oppositions betwecn structure and decoration. ab'traction
and figuTlltion. figure .md ground. foml '.ll1d function. could be dis-
solved. Architecture could begin an exploration of the 'between'
\\ilhin thc\C cate!lorie~.
Such an arch ltccture .... ould no longer !o.eek a separation of cll1egoric,.
a hierarchy of value~ or Ihe trdditional cI<I"ificlllioll ~y~le1l1~ (If
functiun<ll and formallypology: it would seek instead 1() hlur the,e <lnd
other structure,. Thi~ idea of blurring is not Ie .. , rigorous. less rational.
but it adnllb the irrational 10 the rational. Today one can \ee this
blulTin~ in the paintings of David Salle. in the photograph, of Cindy
Silennan. There the blur occur) betwct.'n the beautiful and the ugly.
between the sen,ual and the inte llectual: they explore at alice the
beautiful in the ugly and the ugly in the bc:Lutiful.
What IS the 'between' m archllecture? If architecture trildllionally
locate~,thcnto'be between' means \0 be between some pl:lce and no
place, IfarchlleclUre traditionally has beell about lOpos.thal i.. all
itleaofplace.lhellto be betwecn is 10 search roran atopO~. the :ltopia
. . . ithin topo~, Many Americ:m modern citie\ :tre ex:unplc~ of :ttopia.
Yet today. architects want to deny the atopia or today's ex i"ence and
restore the topus of the 18th century . to bring bad a condition thm can
no longer be. What is there of real value m the recreation of an J Slh-
century village today in Los Angele~ or i-Iou,ton?
PETER EISE~\1AN
Eqll:llly, the les~on of Modemi \m suggc~ts thaI there i~ no topos of the
future. The new to[>O, of today has 10 be found by c'(pJormg our
incscap:lble atopi:! of the now. Tltl' ex ists not in ae~ thcticised nostal
gia or the banal. but in Ihe between of topos and atopla,
To accomplish Ihis, the way meaning is manifest today also lT1U~t be
cri tically c)(amined, A ~ in the olher disciplines of theology. philoso-
phy and science. archJ\ecture muq place it.s Iruths under .st:rutmy.
partIcu larly Ihe truth of Ihe tradition of architectural representatIOn.
Since Ari~totle. Iruth has conditioned thc metaphor. Metaphor is
underMood a~ based on relating a referent to the truth of a known. It IS
po~~ible. howevcr. to employ other rhetorical tropes and thcreby
que~tion the statu" of the metaphor. There is. in fact. a rhetorical trope
called catachrcs;\ which speak, to 'thc betwcen. Catachrcsis cuts into
truth :lnd make .. il 1)O~\ible 10 look UI wh<ltlnnh rcpressc~. Truth and
mctaphor can be reopened not by throwing thell! away. but by going
into them. critically examining their structure. Tafuri stlys thcre lire
two types of architect the magici:m and the .!>urgcon. Tod:ty there is 3
need to be surgical: to cut into met:lphor to uncoverc:ltachresi<;.to cut
into :ltopos to uncover a new topos,
There are two condition~ of catachrcs;" and atopia that exi~t in the vcry
heart of t1fchitecture: the tlmbesl-juc and the 1;!rotesquc. Arabe:.que
ex ists between liguration and abstractIon. between nature and man.
betwecn meaning and foml. Tr:td lt ionally it ha .. been re.stricted to
mcrely decorative usc, but il is po~\ible to suggcslth<lt in arabc..quc
call be found structure. or at lea,t found a condit ion bet ween .!>truClurc
and de(;oratiOI1.
Simi larly. the grote-.que. whose rOOL~ are retall.'(i to thoscof arabesque.
can be UM!d to explore the betwcen. It i~ not coincidental that the works
ofShemtan <lnd Salle tire frequently referred 10 as grotesquc.ln Edgar
Alllln Poe' ~ T{/h'~' lif ,hl' Ara/)('sqJl(' (lnd lite Gro/esqlll'. the haunted
hou<;c is a (;cntral image. This docs not sugge~t Ihtlt wc should li tcrally
mal.e haunted hOll\C\ nor that we shou ld romanllci~ thc quality of the
haunted. Rather it might outlinc a [>OCtic potentlal.;1possibility today
for the architecture of between'.
- 151
 PETER EISENMAN
En Terror Firma: In Trail s of Grotextes
11;1' (I/}/(I:/IJ~
, "nil' IO/llplt'Ii' is rIll' i/li/sinll/ilm IU'(lIII\'
. i\ t:llotlm'.{s.
Leo T o h lOY
RecentlY.l client ... au.l \0 me. PCICT. for the pa~l
nyC hundred yl!ar~ lhe
di,cour,c of M:icncc hl!' been UbOUl m:J1l overcoming nature. Man
oven:omc, nature through lhing~ which arc rational, \\hich aTC good.
\\ hich arc truthful. and ultimately lhc'>t' take on lhe charallcri ... tic~ of
the naturJI it-.elf. ie Ihe beautiful/Obviously.' hc . . :lid 10 mc .. il rol!ow~
[hat architecture h:l\ been ahout 1hi'l overcoming of Ihe natural.
bcGIU'iC :m:hitccturc ,ymboli"e, Ihc 'IrUC1I1re" co~mological atli lude~
of Ihe society: archilcelure mirror, what Ihe ~ocielY IS about.' Thus.
though no\ cKpllCilly. ,m:hile<:\urc hOI' rcpre\c1l1cd and "ymboli-.cd Ihi~
~trug.gle of man 10 overcome tl<llure/ Today. he said. 'thi~ i~ no longer
the problem which ..cience i~ addre"ing. Thi:. i\ no longer where the
discour-.c, on the forefront oflhinl-ing are: H..: 'aid Ihm Ihe prohlcm
IOOa} f<lr man is to O\ercorne I-now1edge: . You :.cc. computers have
knowledge. robot .. have knowled!,!e. th(" tcchnological clone, that we
arc developing haVt.~ "twwledge. but man hal, wl~dOm. The knowledge
revolution. artllicial inlelligence and the "y~tem .. of knowledge have
gOllen oul of hand. :md h:lve slancd to control man. rather than the
reveNC. Science today I.. trying 10 find II way IOcontrol knowledge. and
the I-nOv.lcdge revolution.' And Ill}' client then ~aid 10 111e. Pcter. you
archllecl', for too long. h:\ve been ,Diving a problem. reprc,enting and
..yrnboli,tng a problem which i.. no longer v. h..:re v.c arc.' lie !.aid. '1
walll you 10 do il bU1 ldmg whIch ,yrnboli-.c, man', capaclly 10
overcomc "nowledgc: I looked al him and thought. what I' tll;I!'! H("
~aid .. D() you "now ,oll1ething. you are ~uppo~etl to be an architect on
Ihe-edge . Yel. he added. ' Ihere i~ 1l00hing you could do IOward Ihl!>end
Ihal would UpM!1 me .11 :111 : He ,aid. ' 1 do nOI walll you 10 merely
illu~lr.lle Ihe problem. I do nOI wam you 10 d<.'Corale a facade wilh a
computer chip. CUI into the chip. nnd say.lhcrc - we h:.tve :.ymboliscd
Ihe overcoming or "nowledgc. No: he said. ' 1 aln nOll:1l"ing aboul
that. I \\Jllt somcthmg far mon: .. Ignillcanl. I walll somelh ing Ihal
challenge!. Ill:!n'" very OCCU~ll i(}11 of 'pacc. 11(11 JII't Ihe ')Urface of Ihal
!.pace.' He ~aid. 'And I do not thinl-Ihat you can do tl.
I ,.
Nov. why j, this? FiN of all. an.:hitccts Iradilionally do not ,peculatc
on Ihe here and now. on gravily. a.. ..cienl ish do. ArchilCCI<; have to
deal wilh the real condllion~ of gr.lvlly Hhcy have 10 build Ihe here and
now. They have 10 deal with phy,ical prcsence. In facl. architect,
continually nOl only ~Yll1bo1i,e thc overcoming of nalLlrc. the} mU~1
overcOtnl! nature. 11 is nOI \0 "implc ror architect ure mere Iy \0 :.h ift and
say Ihal overcoming nalUre i .. 110 longer the problem. bccau!'!c II
obviou~Jy rcmain, .. prohlcm/
Howc\l:r. it j." po!>!'!iblc to respond 10 my t"Cienlbt client and al the same
lime ,ull deal wilh the problem,. of preM!ncc and gr.lvi IY. To do this Ihe
archlteclural dlM:our'>C musl be dbplaeed. The i~,uc " nOI merely tb
it wa~ Illthc pa~l. that ardliteclure muSI with!>\;Ind lhe force .. of grav it)'.
OUI the manner in which this overcoming i .. symbolised. In other
words. It " nOI enough to sugge..- Ihal bui1dmg must be falional.
lruthful. beaUliful. good. must in its mime),i~ of Ihe nalum l SUggl'st
man'~ ovcn;oming oflhe natural. Rather. a!> Ihe architectural di,courM!
152
changes ih fol.-'u~ from nature 10 knowledgc. a far marc complex obJeC1
cme rge~. which requirc)' a more complex form of architectural reality.
Thi~ is beC;III:.c knowledge (as oppo~d to nalure) has no phy~tc.l
being. What h being reprc~entc(11II phy~ic:J1 form when knowledge is
being overcml1c'! Naturc.tf:Ldilionillly. wa!'! the lirnin:tl.lhc bounWry
definition: II mediated. lIllhe anthropocentric world of Ihe Enllghltft-
mcnt. the lost cenamly of God. The n:Hural became a valued origlll.
both useful 10 expl;lill the v. orld mctaphoricilily :lIld :.t~ :t process and
un object 10 he emulmeu. Since architecture had ~et out to symboliSt
Ihe overcoming of nature. 1\ is more titan rea~nable to think Ihat tlr
overcoming or "no\\ ledge abo could IX' 'ymboli~ed . The uncrnatnl}
th,lI i, cont"ined in \()Illclhing other 1han the lillllllal will cenalnl}, be
part of the cxprc~si()n of man overcoming "nowledge.
AI Ihe rool of the pre,cm conceptual ,tructure of architcclUre is tlr
Vi lruvian triad or commodity .lIrmne,~ and dellgllllU!'l(:. ~tructurrand
beauty). The bcautiful,l~ a di:lleltlcal category h<l~ becn under~tood~
a singular and monovalenl condilion: it h:ls Ix:Cll aboul goodne~"
about the lllllUra1. the rational :md the truthful. II IS Ihal to I'ohidl
architect), arl! 1aught\{) a~p irc inthclr archi ll!Clurc. Thus Ihey .-.earchf(l
and ma1life'l condition ... of the beautiful a~ <l fonn of delighl in lilt
Vitruvian ~cn~c. It WilS within .. uch a desire Ihlll this form oftbe
bcaUliful became :.ts if natural for architeciUrc ovcr the ]Xi~t fh~
hundred year~. There v.crc rule, for the beautiful. for example. ill
Cla..~:.ical ordination Which. although modillcd 1hrough different pm.
0(1.. of architecture. much a~ style~ eh;mge in fa:.hion. were never.e~en
in Modern ;lrchiteclUrc. e~sctllially di~plaeed.
In the I 81h century. Imn1:lnuel Kant began to dC!.1abilise lhl!> ~mgul:lf
concepl of Ocauty. He ~uggc'ted thM Iher..: could he <iOmethmg el't.
another way to conccpLUalbc beaulY olher than a' g(}OOlles~. otherth3ll
a~ n;lIural. I Ie ,ugge~tcd th:n within the l>enuliful there wa~ ~ornelh!O&
elM!. which he called Ihe Mlblime. When Ihe ... ublime was articula1l!d
before Kalil. II was in dialeclic:11 OPI)()~iti()n to OcllUiY. Wilh Kant CanY
Ihe <;uge~lion Iha! the ,ublime wa~ within Ihe beautiful, anti tile
beauliful within the ~ub l imc. Thi ... difference between Oppo~ilion!llld
being Wi thin i.. at the very hean of Ihe :.rgumenl 10 follow.
Now. inter("~tingly -' the ,ublime aho Ita ... withlll il a condilion whtchtb(
conve ntionally beaul iful reprc"e~. It i, a condil ion of the UllCerlllln.
the umpe;lkahle. Ihe unnatural. the unprescnt. (he unphy~ical; tak~
logelher Ihc'iC constitute Ihe condi 1ion which apprO<lches lhe lernf)
ing. a condition which lies wilhin Ihe !>ublimc.
The tem1.., orthe grotesque arc usually though I of us the negaliveofll1t
sublime. However. this is nOI quite Ihe case in architectuTC. where Iht
subl ime deals wilh qualilics oflhe airy. qua lilies wh ich resisl ph}'Il(ai
occupat ion. the grOiesque deals with real sub~tance. wllh Ihe manifCi-
talion of the ul1cenain in Ihe physical. Since archlteclure is thought to
de31 wilh physical presellce. then the grolesque in ~ome sen!IC 1\
already present III architecture. And th i, condition of Ihe grotesque
was acceplllble a!> long a ... it was aSdecomtion; in Ihe f0011 of g!lrgo}'l~
atld fre::.cocs. Thi~ i~ lx.'Calise the groteS<lue imroduce, the idea of tile

ugly. the ddomlcd. lhc .. upJXI\Cdly unna1tJr.11 a~ an alw:I)'!> prclllcnl III
the beautiful. It b Ihll> comlil ion of the iLlw;l)'s prescnt (lr the a lready
IIollhm Ihallhc beautiful in an;:hllCclUrc allcmph 10 rerre".
ThaI the o\'crcoming of nature. or the tkpiclion of nature ll" III her.
preoccupied the Enlighlcl1IllCU l and the technological and M.:icmific
rcvo\lllion'>. wa~ obviou~. In n.:~'XllN:. the groICS{IUC a... il wa, put
forward m the Romantic movement in
Wonbworth. Kcm'i. and
Shelle). Wil" concerned wi1h rethink ing th i ~ rel:llion"lIip between the
v:lfand nature. T hcreforc.ltXlay.lhc ',ublimc' and the 'grOll!'ljuc'
deal wllh lhis rno ... cmcnt between ~clf and the nalUr:,!. and the
R.'pre~nI:lI lon of thi ... unca-.e in ll lcrmurc :md painting. If the 'naluml
~S of naLUre is 10 tx.- di'placed in Ihe uTlea!'>y movement bel..... een
nalure and self. then our ideas oflhc sublime and Ihe grolesque mu,1
3ho be rcconceptualh.cd in tenm of overcollllng knowledge without
losl1lg thl~ fcar ll\~ociated with the nal ural, and the fe:troflhe uncertain,
Ie Ih~ fC:lr or not overcoming nalnre, 1l1U~t he pre~ervcd in any
di\placed c:ltegorie~.
Tile fe:lror uncertainty i~ now douhly pre-.cnl: the previou~ uncertainlY
of the natural. a, well a.\ the uneerl:llnty of something other Ihan Ihe
hmin:tl.th:lt is the uncertainty of ~nowlcdge thaI is \\ ilh in ~nowlcd~e .
Since the condition!. for the \ublime :md the groleM\ue evolved from
11K' e~llrc~slon of man o'<ercoming nmure, other lerms which contain
lhl\ double uncertainty will have 10 he found: the fonn of cxpn:."!'>ioTl
for man overcoming ~nowlcdge become\ far morc complex.
Whaldoc\ thl' mean for architect ure? In order 10 achieve the necc',:lry
imtrnal di'placemenl. architccture would have 10 di'place the fonner
~a}'\l)fc()nceptllalising ilself. lt would (ollow Ihen Ihallhe 1I00ion of
the hou\{'. or of any form of Ihe ot.'cupation of ~pace. re!4uire, a more
romrlcx roml of the bcauli lul. one which conlains Ihe ugly. or ;l
rationalily that comain!'> the iITalion:ll. Thi, idea of cont:lining within,
ntte\\il:lle!'> a brea~ frolllihe tr;ldi llon of an .. rchileclure of c:llegorie,.
of lyJlC' which III their es-;ence rely on Ihe separation or Ihlllg' a;-
OPp'NtcS. There seem 10 be four ;l'peCh whil'h ~g1ll 10 outline a
condition of di~placemenl. The followlIIg four a'f'CC1\ ,hould he ,een
"",ither;1\ comprehensive (there could be others) nor a\ a guarantee!
IhJt their di ~pJac ing capac itic~ wi 11 pmd uee a d i,pi acee! arch iteet urI.'.
, wi/liill. The lo~s of Ihe idea of Ilrchitccturc a~ a strong image undercuts
Amajor dhplaccment concem, Ihe rok of the archilccl/dc\igner ;111(1
lhe dc~l~n proce~~. SOJl'k:thlllg may be de,igncd which can be called
dl\placillJ1,. hut II may he only anlo:~pre\\ionism. a ll1;lnllefl\t (1I:'lortiOIl
of an e:.<.ellhall} , table language. It 1ll:IY nol di\place Ihe 'Iable
; l:mguage, bul on the contrary rurther ~l:Ib l h'>C its nOml:lIIVe condilion.
I This can be <;een in m:lny example, of current arch itectural fa~hion.
There i, II need for a proces\ other Ihan an intuilion ' 1 li~c thi,,' or
'1Iil.e that.' When the proce\\ i\ intui tive. II wi!lalready be I.nown. :11l1l
1 lhc'rdore c()lllplicil with Ihe repre,\ioll~ inhereJ1\ in architectural
knowledge.' Inlu it ivc de \ign {a II ne v('r produce a ~ t:.lle of lIncena int y .
, {mly.al bc~l. an illu,t ratmn of unccrwinty. Whi le Ihe COntepl of the
glO1C'><juC or Ihe unt,mny can be conceptuall\ed and imaged. 11 cmma1
,,
be designed. Somelhing de\lgncd i~ e~senti:.11 y non-lex!U:.I1. tx.-cau'i{.'
~Ign of ncce~loi ty IIlvolvc!> certainlY: ,ollle1hing alway!> ha~ 10 be
mn To at\empt 10 d~lgn tx.-Iwcen uncertainlY or multI valency
prOOUl'C\ only a superfit.'I,11 IlIu'lr..llion of ~uch iI condit ion. If \Ollle-
, thing can be de~igned il i, no longer uncennin.
11 lnthe traditional idea of architectural de,ign. fonn. function. \Iructure,
lite und meaning can all be \aid to be tcxt~. But they :Ire llottClllual.
Text, are ;1lway~ IhoughtlO be primllry or original sources. Textual or
o 1t~lu"liIY i~ Ihat :.Ispcct of text which i~ a condition of otherness or
e
,
e
PETER FlSh'\ \1AN
\CCondari IY. An ex:ullple of Ihl' cond ll ion of OIherncs" in archileclure
is a trace. If archi tecture i, primarily presence materiality. bric~\ and
mortar - then \lthcme~s or ~econdarity would be trace. a\ Ihc pre~nce
of abscllce. Tmce can never he original. bccau~e trace alway~ ~ugge~ts
Ihe possibil ity of something (11111'1" a, origina l, (1\ ,omethl11g priO,.to.
In any text thcre arc 1}() l clllialtrace~ of otherness. a~pe(:t~ or .... ructurcs
which have been reprcs~ed by pre~cntc. As long a\ prc,cnce rcrn:lln~
dominant. ie si lIf!lIlar, there can be no lexluality. Therefore by lis very
nature ~uch a condilion of tracc requires at least (wo teXiS.
Thu~. the -.econd a'iJ>Cc l of Ihi, m1l/,,, archilecture 1\ ,omelhing which
I1Ilghl be c alled fIl"Ofll' .U . There :Iri: many differenl twone,'>Cs whIch
exi,l in Iradilional architecture :.Ilre:lI..l y: the twone" of foml and
func lion. and the twone~\ of structure and omamcnl. Bu! Ihc'iC are
lraditionally seen a~ hierarchical categorie~: one i:. alway~ ~ccn as
d0111inal1l or original and the other as :-.ccondary (form follow, func -
li on, ornament i~ added to structure). In the sense it i~ heing u,ed here,
IW(lIl~!'>S ,uggesh a (:ondilio11 where there is no domin<l11Ce ororiginary
va lue but ralher a ,Iructure of e(lllivalcnce~ ..... here there i, uncertainty
ilNead of hierarchy. When Ihe onc le,,1 i:.loo d0111inant lhcre is no
dl'placement. Whell the olher text bctomes pre'>Cnce il'>Clf il obl rude~
and lose ... it') capaci ty ror the uncenain. Equally the "i!cond lext cannot
ohllterate the fi r" text. bul will he underSlood 10 be inlenor 10 il.lhus
'" an already present 'Irace' u\ually suppres'iCd by a ~tngle domInant
reOlding. This -.ccond lext thu~ will always be wilhm Ihe firM teu and
lilu, betwcen IraditiOnal pre,ellt.'e :.Ind ab)'clIce. betwcen being and
non-being.
The ref(Ire, Ihc th Ird cone! iIion of Ihi, 01 her arch itecl urc I' ht'/wi'fllm' n,
which sugge'l~ a condition of Ihe object a\ a weak uhage. A ~Irong
image would glvt.' a primary dominant meaning 10 one or Ihe other of
the two texts. Not only must one orthc othcrofthc two lexls nOI have
a ~ trong image: they will ioCCm to be Iwo weak image'!', wh ich !'>uggesls
a blurred third. In olher words. Ihe new condition of Ihe object IllUq be
h('fll"l't'll in an nuage;tble -.cn-.c;tlo .... cll: II i~ sometillng .... hich is almost
thi~. or almo,' Ihat. hut not qUite either. The di:.placing experience is
the uncertainty of a parllal know.ing. Therefore. the object 111U't have
:1 blurring effect. II lllu't look Ollt of focu ... : almo\t M!cn. but nOI quile
~cen. Again. lhi, belween is not a between dialectically. but a bel ween
the tradition:.l l (.;alegoriC\ of urchiteclure :Is~ociated wilh man over-
coming nalure; pl:lce. route. enclo\urc. pre..cncc. and the vertebrate.
uprighl building - !'>ymoollc of overcoming gravi lY.
To deny lr:Jdi tional place or enclosure. sugge!'>t\ another condition or
th i, dis placed archi teclUre , that i:. inlcrionty. Imeriori Iy hilS noth I1lg to
do wi th Ihe II1\ide or the IlIhabitablc ~pace of a buildtng bUI rather of
a condition ofbel11g within. Il owcvcr. as is the ca\C with Ihe grote'que,
intcriorilY deals with two factors; the unseen :ll1d the hollowed-oul.
IntcriorilY :11"0 deal, with t he condition p ropo~ed by textuality Ihat Ihe
'ymoolis11l or mean II1g of uny ~ign refers. in \uth a di~placcd archilec-
ture. not outward but inward 10 an alre:ldy pre,cnt condition.
Ultlmalely. each uf lhesc four conditions provo~e 1m uncertalilly In Ihc
objecl. by removing both Ihe archl ieci ;md the user from any nece~~ry
control o r Ihe objcci. The .. rchiteci no longer is Ihe hand and mmd,the
mythic origin .. ry figure in the design process. And thcobjcct no longer
requi res Ihc experience of thc u~r 10 be understood. No longer does
Ihe object need to look ugly or terrifying to provo~e an uncenainty; it
is now the distance between Object and subjecl Ihc IIIlIXJ~,ibilhy of
pos~es~ion which provokes thi~ 1U1xiety.
153
 DECO\"STRUCTI ON
PETER EISENMAN
Wexner Center for the Visual Arts, Ohio
I T he purpo:.c o f the Visua l A rts Cent er is
10 provid e for aV<l nl -gard ~ a nd t.~ x peri -
mcntal am: it is not mc,m t to be a rcposi-
to ry for trad itio na l art . The b ui ld ing will
('ontain perma ne nt . temporary und ex-
pc rime nta l ex hibiti o n ga ll e ries. perfor m-
ance ~pace. H ' I3l ack Box T heate r' . a fin e
art~ and gra ph ic~ lib rury. a film cenlre .
stud io ~paces. adm i ni ~ tr il t ive splice, a
clift!, boo k ~ t ore. mu ~ic practice rooms. a
chora l hull. e xh ib iti o n :;\omge a nd pre pa-
ration areas.
S ti ll un de r constructi o n and du \! for
co mp letio n in 1990. the contract was
awa rded as the result o f a Ii mited Int e rnll ~ ...
tiona l co mpe titio n .
The init ial phase o f wa rk at th e Wexne r
Center was to devc:l o p a progra mme and a
master site pla n. In the gre at 19th-century
tradition , the Cente r is ;:1 fu sio n o f land-
~cape and the la nguage o f b uilding . This
4
VIIW() I MODI' I
new bu ilding i:. a min imal interve nti o n
he twee n IW\) ex i ~ lin g a nd adje,cenl campus
bu ildings. The cen tra l circuhllio n ~ pin l! o f
the ne w bu ild ing re so l ve~ the two existing
geomct ries of th e ci ty a nd the ca mpus.
Instead of selecting a ny o f the o bvious
b uild ing sites on the campus. a new site
wa::, c rea ted. loc<llin g the build ing b e-
tween severa l pro posed sites and existing
bu ildings. It a lso re fers to past contexts
with the expOsure of th e fo undat io ns of
the a rmo ury fo rm e rly on th e site a nd the
re makin g of so me o f its e lemenls . It can
be described as 'a no n-building - an
a rdl,lcoiogical eart hwork whose essential
e le me nts arc scaffo lding and landsc;:tping'.
_ The scaffolding consists o f two in-
te r)oceti ng th ree-dimensio nal g ridded cor-
ridors wh ich link the ha ll and auditorium
a lready o n lh e site with the ne w galle ri es.
a nd arts faciliti es being cons tructed . One
,Irm o f Ihe ~cilffo l di n g al igns the stret'l
g rid of the C it y o f Co lumb us witlllhe
campus g rid . whi ch is 12112 degrcl'S
ih ke w. so thl..' p roject both physically and
~y mb () li c all y link s th e uni ve rsi ty campu)
with th e wider cont ext of the city beyond,
a rt with th e community. But it does n01
d o so in a ho listic. unifying way. because
th e b uilding itsel f is fra ctured and
incom ple te-Ioo ki ng. I nstead of symbol j~
ing its fun ctio n as shelter , o r as a shelter
fo r a rt . it acts as a symbo l o f art as proms
and idea , of the eve r-changing nature of
art and socie ty .
Archileds: EIsenman/ Robertson Tron; Part
II ~I'$ ill dwrge: Peter Ei ~n ma n , RichardTfOIl
The Wexm'" Ccm er fo r Ihe Visuul Arts wrujirJI
{ealllred il/ projeci fo ml ill AD Vol 55. Nos 111
1985 'CrossCurrems of American Archl'
tectu re', publi:./lCd ;'1 conj/fnction wilh tltt
,
Americtln Fesfilrlll ill /..ondon.
 PLrI:R 1.::l S E,"~IAN

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158
 Bio-Centrum , Fran kfurt-am-Main
TheBio-Centrum. designed for researc h labo-
ralories and support spaces, is an expansion of
nisling faciliti es althe J W Goethe Univcr-
.my. Frankfurt-am-Main.
Our analysis of the building programme
all(! the site requirementS revealed that the sci -
tnlific and educalionai goalsofthe University
Bio-Centrum could be satisfied by lhreecrilc-
1\3. first , the maximum interaction between
luocrjonal areas and belweelllhc people that
use them ; second, the accommodation of fu -
ture change and growth thaI cannot be pre-
dicted today; and third. the maintenanceofthe
sile. as fast as pos"ible. as a green preserve.
11us means thai a traditional architecture of
set spatial hierarchies which rigidly constrain
fUlure growth needed to be abandoned. To
undermine these Classical architectural
hlrrarchies, it was necessary to dissolve" the
traditional autonomy of the discipline of
archnocture. Blurring the interdisciplinary
boundaries allowed us to explore other formal
options that may fall between biology and
archileclUrc.
As biotogy today di slocates the traditions
of science, so the architecture of our Bio-
Centrum project di slocates the traditions of
architecture. While architecture 's role is lfadi-
tionally seen to be that of accommodating and
representing function. this project does nOt
simply accommodate the methods by which
research into biological processes is carried
out. Rather. it articulates those processes
themselves. ~ndced . it could be said its archi-
tecture is produced by those very processes.
To accomplish this we first departed from
the lfaditional represcnlation of biology by
maxing an architectural reading of the bio-
logical concepts of DNA processes by inter-
preting them in terms of geometrical proc-
esses. At the same lime. we departed from the
traditional representation of architecture by
abandoning the Classical Euclidean gr ome
try on which the diSCipline is based in fa vour
of a frac tal geome try . What we discovered
was that there is a similarity between the
processes of fractal geometry and the geome
try of DNA processes. This similarity was
used to propose an analogy between architec-
tural processes and biological processes. The
analogy made possible a project that is neither
simply architectural nor simply biological.
but one which is suspended between the two.
The project fonn is the result of the action
of the three most basic processes by which
DNA constructs proteins (replication, Irans-
criplion and translation) on the geometric
figures that biOlogists use to explain these
processes by us ing four geometric figures.
each with a s pecific colour. which symbolise
the DNA code.
Replication: In biological replication. the
DNA chain splits into two strands which then
159
DECO:-.lSTRUC'TION

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auract their l:omplemcntary strand~ to form

two Ilew identical cha ins. The proce~s can be
interprctcd architec!1lrally by using the code
fl)r Collagen as the base fonn :lnd the comple-

ment of that code as Ihe generating fann .
TraIlSl"ripli(lII: In biological transcriphQn,
the ON A chuin temporari ly unzips and a ne ...
I
I strand inserts itself into the re~ulting gap and
I makes:1complementary copy of only one 01
, the expo~ed DNA stmnds. COnSC(lucnlly. it i\
interpreted archi tec turally a~ a second ilern
tion of Ihe firSI process :Ipplied 10 only the
lower Wand of the original five pairs. The
fi g ure~ produced in the tirst process nOli
become the base fonn and their com plementl
become (he generating rOm1.
, Trall llmioll : The final biological processil1
,
the producti on of a I)rotei n is Ihe ImnslationDf
the DNA code into the physical structure of!
fli(l,11 'I (jl - U , ~I'LS .1 , !. -1 protein. This process is interpreted in the


arrh itectural project by Ircat Ing 1",0 group.. (If

the upper '>lr.md of the origina l figure ... '"
TRNA \tr.l11d .. ,
The project j~ coloured according 10 Ihe
bi(llQgi~t~' colour code for the figures. Wh il!.:
the value of the . .c four colour, remains COIl-
~lJnl.their illlen,i,y is v:lried in order 10 :lrI-
iculatc the (hfkrcm pnx:c"c .... The original
figure', ,m! marked by lhe lighte", ~hade while
lho>c produced by replication l1:1vc Ihe d:lrk
est shade and \ho'\C produced by tntfl'>Criplion
hm~ Ihe middle ... hade.
Ei"Cnrnan Architecl.~ warl.t'd in """oci ..
11011 \\. illt both Augu'lirll' DIG1:K'01ll0 of Jaros.
Baum & B ollc~ (Mcdwl1u.::ul Engineer) ancl
Lauric Olin of HanllajOlin (Lalllhcape Archi-
leel) [0 dC'lgn thi, project. The submission
-'3.'. !!l\'Cn top marks by the technical review
COI11llllltCt;' forprogrJ.1llmccompl ianec in sp..1ce
planning and mechanical \y~ICIllS. 1110." ml' 1.. P"U..5 1.!.1

161
DECONSTR UCT IO.\ I

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Guardiola House, Santa Maria del Mar
/-
An Idea of piner.!. or /(I//OY, has :llw:t}," been
ccntr;JllO 111HI1', rclatiun~ll1p to tll~ ellviron-
nll:l1l. nlis design for a house re'iCarchc~ the
meaning of plnce. and how it hm. been af-
, fec ted by ,I changing under~landing of the
lIorld. Since the lime of the Romans. when
the cros~i ng of the t'ordo and the (lenl!1ulI/us
m:lT~cd the 1(JIJOS of the Rom~u!.Sncampl1lenl.
m~n ha~ been lkfinmg place a... the mark
",hether a cro-.., or a S<.juar~a clearing III the
fore.~1 or a bridge over a ri'ver - of h i~ ~ Irugglc
10 overcome llalUrc. Tod:.y twO thmg !> have
h~ppcncd to bring the traditional [orrm of
place-making imoquc .., ion. Fir'it,ICChnoiOi:;l
ha\overwhclmed nature the aUloinobilc and
ifil' aIq"llanc. W'Ih the IT pole III ial for un I illl] led
J\,'l'C~' ibi 1i t Y. lla VI! made I he ration:! I !! rid sand
rudial pattern, of the 19th cenlury ohlooletc;
second. thought has found ' unrea-
.... llhin tm(ljljooal rea ~on. amI
",lX,en -.cen 10 contain the illogical. - PIOltO. tht! receptacle i~ hf..e the So."lild on thc
-
VI~\\ 01 MOl,. I
Thc'-C chal1cngc:-.lo order had been rcpre:-.,ed
bylraditioflul rl!:L~on. but in ll1t!n',ncwcondi-
tioo. thc-.c id(';l' call 110 longer be rcprl',,,cd. In
arclllteclUrc Ihi, I' '>t!cn ill the quc~llOnmg 0 1
whether man ... marking of hl<; conqllc" of
nalUre i~ still <;igllIficanl. and funher. in the
acknowledgcment that place (T(l110S) ha ... al-
way<; contained 'no place' (1I(OIJia). With Ihilo
brcahlowl1 of [he [ruditional form, of placc
has come a COnCUITCn[ bre:llo..down of the trad-
itional categoric\ of ligure/!!round and fr:m\e/
Object.
Since ClaS'I(",,1 times there ha .. been an-
other definition of place which suggested
such a \lmu hancity of two IrJ.ditional ly contra-
dictory <; 1;JIe~. Thi, is found in Phllo's Ti-
lIIaell.~ in the definition bf the receptacle
("//0/"11) a-:. o!!omcthing bctwecl1" place and ob-
.lCct. between containcr and contained. For
beach: 11 i~ 110t un object or aplace. but merely
PETER EISENMA:\
the record of Ihe movement of water. which
l eave~ [ruce' of high-tide IlIle, and -.core,
impnnh eroslOll' ..... lIh c'li..-h ~ucces~i\c
W:\\ c reCedll1!! to the II ater. Much ao!! the foot
le~lvc, It-:. lI11pnl1l 11\ the \and ;lnd the <;and
remain\;J' !I tracl.' on [he fDOl. each of the:.c
re'ldue~ ami actiolll, arc oUI"lde of any r.l ~
11011,11 or n,uural order; [hey .. ~ bolh and
nClther.
Thi, hllu'\C call be seen Ihe~a, the manifes-
tation of :i. n....cptllclc wherc the IrJCCS aflogic
ana.rmtiollahty arc IIllnn<;ic componel1l\ 01
the object/place: the arabesque. It exi~ls be-
1wccn the nalural and the rational. belwct'll
logic and chao).. It break... the notion ()ffigurc)
fF.ime:Dccau;eTt i). figure and framc simulta-
"""'''- 1[ .. tangential L-,hape~ penetr:ltc
16:
DECONSTRuc..-no:.l

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. , ..
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164
 PE'TER EISENM AN

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I

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,
ljuadram\ :lTC treaTed with a ('oral and \\ hill' 1<; 'rown ,on \.\,ho live Ul Seville. Con-
I<>\lJCCO 10 reitera te the dua lllY of the read ing. lilrucl lOtl hcg;tn in ta tc
T he hou\c j, neither an cxrrc~~iQO!~t1t' work f'Wl<lf"ll ", .('II<I,.gl': Peter Ehcnman; S"I11I1/'
1 i . II rather h a ~ A.Uoc illln -/ 1/-('Imr!!,- Grc.rgl' Ke .... tn. I"h0I113\
Lce<.er: Sf'lIm,. Pro}rll " ,-.lrlln H: Amomo San
put . 1 marin!; I'l"IIjI'(/ lin Ill/rl/J: Nuno M;ueu,. Jan
'iiii?i i :::-;= = K1clhuc\: 1I~,\'\IW!l.\: Begun;! FcrnandCI ShJIIr.
w h o~c 111lc,Irity is Ihcden,i ly of unpredicillbic
Felipe GU:lrcho la. Lise Auno: COUlUre. LUI' ROJo.
foml~. which record rnOVC1l1ClllS of the pat ~ revcrber:Jl iotl ....
~1Ic h ~el ~k hll tlrf. ""Jdl~on Spencer. Sunun
[em. are JlO lon~e r elthef frame or ohJec!. T he...~lructure of the hou"l! IS reinforced I1 l1bac"~r. Ma\lmo Victoria. FredcrH..' LCVTJI.
Finally. 1 I COnnell' poured in pl:!cc. I AnII': " ti r\. Rolx-n Cheoff. Julie ShuTt /. DagllIJT
face of twO I Sir/I! {1ff.,1 /;.'lIgml'l'r: Ger.mlo Ro-
glazed :md

1M
DECONSTRuc n ON

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166 j
 ,

- PE1T;R EI SENMA~

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,

ABU! l - EAH U . FVAT10~. BHOU ('ROSS SI'.!"TIO' II

167
DECQNSTRUcnON

1 8

-'"1 ,
,
'- I
...."
Carneg ie-Mellon Research Institute
The new complex object for lhc~c bLlildill~)'
was talcn as a Boolean cu~. or:m N . gcolllct~
nc figure . 111c Boolean cube i .. a ~lrUClurc
wilh an infinite N-number of geometric .. ; thi ..
~tructurc i~ Ihe model for compu ter dC<;lgn 111
the field of nnificial imcll igcncc. because the
Booleancubc provides the opponulluy for the
compUlcr 10 move beyond a ~imp1c informa-
tion frame. The mUltiplication of N-gcome-
tries allows multIple paths for infonnalion
movcllIcm so that. for instance. from any
point in a lOOONcube a move can be made in
lfXX)diffcrcnt directions wilhill the infomla-
\1011 matrix . llih. allows parallel movcmcm
1I,'lth multiple p(J~~ibIC inlcr~(luns 1hal are
based on 11 ~yslcJl1a[ic frame within which
rallt/om occurrcncc~ UTe generated. Thi~ aI-
)()w~chancc cyt'nt~ to be relt~ollcd wilhin Ihe
par'J.llel syMerns in a non-linear manner. ..
Because Ihe Boolean cube is ba'-"'<I on
doubling lind controlled connecllon~. il is
,
always diagonally symmclrical and alw,IY~ the other a~ o;oltd and void. nle 40' solie
rcl:.lin~ an hornogcllcou, dcmily duc In the the 40' frame 4 N cube~ nrc placed in n
c4uidislant connec t ion~ . Thus the Boolean re l ation~hip to each Olher where their po
cube is a complex structure which lie .. ~ arc 40' <lW<lY from each other in a paJ
tween the purity of a PI:uonic fonn and the orienlatlon. The 45' ~ I id and the 45 frun
inlinlle and lInlimiled foml of a non-Euclid- N cubes arc pi <Iced m a 5-N relatiomh
e,m lItruclUrc. BeC,luse Ihe foml tll ba!>Cd ell1 each other m a p;lrai lel orientation. Thill pl
Ihe infinite doubling and rcconncclion of II the project between a reading of 5-N c
sclf. itl~ an unstable and infinite N-geornelric osd llming between sohdand fr'J.ITIe and
figure. yel frozen singularly these fonns ex cube<.;. A funhcr rclldmg would includt
hibit the profX:rties. such a~ symmetry. of two pairs of 5 N cubc~ <IS a single 6-N cui
PI:ltonic forms. The Boolean cube also allows is the function of the asymptotic CUI'
for bOlh a progressive and a regres~ive read- bring the two pairs mto another or 6N
mg. For example. the divi<.ion of Ihe figure tion~hip.
within Ihe 4N cube allows twO 3N cube, 10 '1J(!<;e pairs arc continuously and Pro,
be :.cell. si vcl y spaced so Ih:ll Ihey fall out of p
E:lch building is made up of threc pairs of wL\h one anolher while remaining withi!
4N Boolean CUbell. Eaell pair contains two 5-N relaliomhip. The string of 45' solid
solid CUbcll wi th 40' and 4S members and two frame 4N cubes is pl:lced in an asYIIIP
Ir:ll n(" cllbes wilh 40 and 45' members. Each curve and the siring of ~ol i d -W'. frame 40
JXur can be secn as containing lhe inverse of framc45" 4-N cubes is placed in an expo
 DECONSTRUCTro~

1/IIIIl h\Sl'1 U \,\1111' ~UIJI\ '\IIIn1IJI~\I'IO~

170
PETER EISENMAN
Uf:.CQ'N5TRUCnON

\
I

II

lial ~"'<luenccoflil" . A loil1ccur. e isgencraltll

due 10 the pha<,ed ~ pacin g and the asymptOlic
cur.'e;, of the 4-N cube;,.
, llie overlap of t"O ...ohdl> or t\.\'o frame_
create, both impnnh and t rJCc~. Forc .~llmpk
the rOial ion of thc framcs from Ihcir IIIItJ
, position 10 a veflical rosmon and from Ihc
horizontal pmillOn lOan asymptotic ILit leave,
I imprint ... on the ')Ii<l. Where the fmme cube,
~it over the I,Qlid CUbelo Ihe frame lellve~a tme
on the skin of the ..olid. -me prescnccofa4lr
fnul1c over a 45' loolid IC:lvCS Ihe outline oftlk
40' N-cube as;\ trace on the surf:tce orlhcU
cube. In this way the fallibi lilYof man is seen
(I, undercu tting the hyper-ra tionalit} of the

172
 PE", ER EISENMAN

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foml~ofb.nowh.'dgl.' ~y~ [ c rm .
leading [0 a new
and comrie)'; condition of rhl' beautifu l.
The two bui ld ing, arc 10 oc buill in thl'
autumn of 19~9.

~"hll,'n: Ei:.cmmlll Aro:hilC'Ch: I.H(Il/(l/t' ,\ r( 1/1-

Ita: 1);111113110,> and A \'iOCi:llc,: P""/IIrr-il/-CII/l"~I':
PrIer Ei-.enman; I'm}r!1 1\,'( 1111('0: Rich:mi J\
ROIIj,jm: Pm)"rl TI'(/I/I: Kelly IlopJ..lll. Riel.. LlbolllC,
Grl'!1, L) nn. ).1(1 rl M ;lrrll ll . ~t;lrk W Wll ble: I)/"Oj!'f l
.\uil/,ml5: Wend) CO~. Simon lIuoocher. Kil n
Tanler. Sarah Whilmg. K:umJ..J Zionid.y: M fll./."
P/rllWf,:ruflh5: Drd. I"rJni..: COli 1111/<11//,\ - wml.\, /J"t'
..\r( /rlll.'(/; Ilanna Dim LId: M {'. 1l1wim/ Ell gllll'('l~
Jaro~" 11;lum & litlllc\: .'1'1'11(1111'111 EII,f.:ilJl't'r: Ove
\rup & PanncT'>,
DECf':srRU(.'TION

11'RSPlTnV OIlA Wl\(; 01 I'QUE

I
 BERNARD TSCHUMI
Pare de la Villette , Pari s
I \\-Quld chum thaI the fir,\,! dccon~truc l lonl
\uperpmllion worl,. was my Mmlim/lwi
1r//llsa/pr.f (11.)76-198 1). It :lddres<icd
Drch'Il"Clural 3~ well:ls programm:ttic dl<;-
Junctions. while combining hoth ab'lnlCI
and figurative clements. JOI'(,;"s GI/nlt'"
(1976-77) look" literary leXI a~ pro-
gramme and u\cd lhe 'poi11l grid a.') a
mc{ilalor between the archilcclunll and Ihe
hlcrary: u \upcrpo\ilion of two hClcrogc-
neou~ IC~". The Pare de 13 V Ilielle ( II)H2)
i\ 'the large', discontinuous bUilding in
the world' and the first Iwilt wor~ ~pccifi
cally exploring Ihc.'!oc com:cpb of l>upcrill1-
\"O,illon and dl, .. oci:llion.
Disjuncti"n lind C ulture
The p:lradig.m of the architect pa."ed down
to U~ through the modern period j" thaI of
foml-giwr. crealOr of hierarchical and
~yn1bohC ~t ruClUre~ char;lclen'ed. on the
one hand. by thclr unity of part .. and, on m. . -s,
ruel uring
Ihe ulher. by the Iran'parency of furm to In dLsruption~ and di~Junct ion~. their ch:lr-
me3111ng. (The modern. ralher than Mod- aClcnslic Iragmentation and dl~sociation.
emisi. subjeci ofarchltec lurc i~ Tt.'fcITcd 10 today"s cultural drcum~lallce~ ,u@gestthe
here so as 10 mdicate Ihat thi~ unified need 10 dhcard C~labli'hed c:lIl!gorie~ of
perspective far exceed~ ()ur recent pa~t.) A meaning :lnd contextua l hi~torics. [t might
number of well-I...nown corTC[:lIive~ clabu- be wonhwhilc therefore to ,Ibandon nny
r:lle the~e term~: thc fusion of form and notion of :t PO\I-Modcrn architccture in
function, programme and COntext. Slrul:;.. favour o f :J. pO~I-hum:J.nij;\ tlTchltcl.!turc.
lure and rnetlning. Underlying Ihc"e IS a one thai would slrc~s not only thc dispcr-
belief in the unified. celli red. and self- -:.ion of the .!.ubject :J.lld the force of soc ial
generative subject. whose own au tonomy regula tion. but abo the effect of \uch
h reflected in the formal autonomy of the dccentring on the enlire nOllon of unified.
work. Yel. :II a certain point. Ihi" long- cohercnt. arclll tec tural form. It abo ~eems
~Ianding pral:ticc. which an't.'ntuales s)'l1- IInporlant to thlllk. not LI1 term" of prin-
thc~i,. harmony. the cl)lnpO~1I1011 of de - ciple, 01 formal compo"tion. but {ather of
l1Ielll~ and the 'c'lrnk" IOoincidcncc of ljuc'lLoning ~Iruclllrc ... th:1I is. the ordcr.
pOlemially di~paratc paTh. becomes e~ techni4u,,:~ ;LIlLI proccdurl!\ Ihat arc eTl-
tranged from il~ external cu llUrc . from Wiled by :LLl)' urchilectural wor\..
con temporar y cultuml condilion~. Such a project is far removed from for-
mali~1l1 in Ihat it s lres ~es the hi ... torH:al
17
DECf'N"STRUCTION
motivation of the sign. emphasising its
contingency. its cull ural fragility. rather
than a-historical essence. It is one that, in
current times. can only confront the radi-
cal rift between signifier and s ignified or,
in architectural term s. space and ac tion.
form and function. That today we are
witnessing a striking dislocation of these
terms ca lls altention not on ly to the disap-
pearance of functionalist theories but per-
haps also to Ihe normative function of
architecture itself.
Order-
Any theoretical work, when 'displaced'
into the built realm. still retains it s role
wi thin a general system or open system of
though I. As in the theoretical project. The
Mallimllall Transcripts ( 1981). and the
Pare de /a Villette. now under construc-
tion. what is questioned is the notion of
. As they ure conceived. both works
no beginnings and no ends. They are
operations comprised of repetitions., dis-
tortioDs, superpositions... and so forth. Al-
though they have their own internal logic
- they are not aimlessly pluralistic - their
operations cannot be described purely in
tenns of internal or sequcnliallransfornul-
lions. The idea of order is constantly
questioned, c hallenged, pushed to the
edge.
176
St r !dteg ies of Disjunction
Although the notion of disjunction is not
to be seen as an architectural 'concept ' it
has effects which are imprcs~ed upon the
site. the building . even the programmc.
according to the dissociative logic con-
cerning the work. If one were to define
disjunc tion. moving beyond its dictionary
meaning. one wou ld insist on the idea of
limit. of interruption . Both the Trallscripts
and La Villeff(' e mploy differenlelements
of a st ralegy of disjunction. Thi s l>trategy
lakes the form of a systematic exploration
of one or more themes: for example.
frames und _-.equences in the case of the
Trall.u:riprs. and superposition and repeti -
A TJlIAL. \1" ..... . 1.... ~
lion in La Ville/fl'. Such explorations can
never be conducted in the nb'trac!. I'X
flilli/o: one works within the discipline of
architecture - though with an awareness
of other fields: literaturc. philosophy. or
even filnl theory .
Li mits
The notion of the lilllil is evident in the
practice of Joyce. Artaud and BatailJe.
who all worked at the edge of philo~ophy
and non-philosophy, of literature and non-
literature. The attention pnid today to
Derrida' s 'deconstructive' approach also
represents an interest in the work al the
limit: the analysis of concepts in the most
,[igorom and internalised manner. but also
their analysis from without. to questiOD
what these concepts and their history hide.
as repression or di ssimulation . Such e~
am pies suggest that there is a need to
consider the question of limlls in architec
ture. They ac t as reminders (to me) that
my own pleasu re has never su rfaced In
looking at buildings. at the 'great works'
of the hi story or the present of architec
ture. buL rathe r. in dismant ling them. To
paraphrase .orson We lles: ' 1 don't like
architecture. I like making architecture:
Nola tio n
The work on notation undertaken in Tilt
MOflllllffall Traflscripis was an attempt to
deconstruct the componen b of architec-
ture. The different modes of notatlOD
employed were aimed :n grasping do-
mains which. Ihough normally excluded
from moSI architeclUraltheory. are indi5'
rensable to work at the margins, or lim it~.
or architeclure. Although no mode ofno-
tation. whether mathematical or logical.
can transcribe the full com plexity of tht
architectural phenomenon. the progres of
architectuml nOlalion is linked to the It
newal of both architecture and its accom
panying concepts of culture. Once the
traditional components have been dis
mantled, reassembly is an extended prot-
/

ess: above all. what i.. ultimate ly a trans-
gression of classical and modern canons
should nOI be permilled I() regress toward
formal empiricism. Hcncc the disjunctive
-S1I3tCgy used both in thc TrtlllSCI"iptl' <lnd
at La ViI/nil', in which fac ts never quitc
connect, and rela tion s of conflict arc care-
fully main tained, rejecting sYlll hes is or
totality. The project; s ncver achieved, nor
arc the boundarie!> cvcr dcfinite.
\}isju n ct ion an d Ih e A vllIIl -Gard !.'
Architectural and philosophical concepts
do not disappear overnight. Thc onccfash-
ionable 'epistemological break.' no twi th-
stand ing, ruptu res alw;tys occu r wit hin an
old fabric which i.. constanlly disman tled
and dislocatcd in .. uch a way Ihal its
ruplures lead to new concepts or stru -
lures. In arc hi lecture such d!!jul1cti0.!l
implic~ that al no momcnt can any part
become a synthcSis or sci f -~ lIfficie11l to tal-
ity: cach part leads !O anmher ~ and every
COMtrucuruus off-bala.!.l(c, conqilUled hy
the trace~ o( another con ,I ruc tion. It cou ld
al!tO be constituted of the trace .. of an
even!. a I!rogrammc.
It can lead 10 new Concepts, as one ob-
jective here is 10 understand a new con-
cepi oflhe city, of archi tecture. If we were
to qualify an archilecture or an architec-
tural method of ' di sj unc tion', its common
denominalOr might be the following :
I Rejection of Ihe notion of 'synlhesis'
in fa vour of the idea of d issociat ion of d is-
junctive analy~h;
2 Rejection of Ihe traditional 01)pO~HIOn
be tween use and :Irchitectural form , in
favour of a superposi tion of or j ux taposi-
tion of two terms Ihat can be independ-
ently and similarly subjec ted 10 idcnticli l
methods of archileclUral analy~is:
J As ;! melhod, emphasis would be
p laced on fragmentation, superimposition
and combination, which trigger di s~ oci a ,
livc fo rces tha t expand in to the whole
architectural sy~tC Il1 exploding it~ limi ts
while suggest ing a new definition .
The concept of di~juntlion i, incomp:L\-
Iblc with a Matic , au tonomous, ,truclural
view of architecture. BUI il i\ no t anli,
autonomy or anli -~ tru c lUre: it ,imply im-
plies constanl, mec h;lIlical opeflltion~ that
systematically produce di ssoc iation (Der-
rida would call itl/if/llranee) in 'pace ;lIld
time. where an architectural clement only
func tions by coll iding with a program-
m;llic clement , with the movement of bod -
ies, or whatevcr. In this manner, disj unc-
tion becomes a systematic and theorctical
tllO! for the milking of architecture.
Deco nsl r ucl io n
Is the Parc de la Villene a built theo ry or a
BERNARDTSCHUMI
theo retical butldlllg? Can the pragmatism
of building practice be allied with the
analytiC rigour of concepls?
An ear lier series of project s, published
as Till' Manila/tali Tran script!> (Academy
Edi tions, 198 1), was aimed at achieving a
di s p lacemen t of conventional arc hitec-
tural categories through a theore tical ar-
gumen t. La Villelle was the buill exten-
sion of a comparable method : il was im-
pelled by thc desire \0 movc 'from pure
malheTllu t ic~ to applied mathernatic ~'. In
-
il! ca se, the c;.onstrain ls of the built reali sa-
lion both expanded and restricted the re-
search. It expanded il. in so far as the very
real economic, politica l and technical con-
"lralTlt~ of the opera tion demanded an
eve r'inc rea ~ lIlg !.harpcnmg of the theo-
retical argumcntation : the project became
better a~ difficulties increased. But it re.-
~Lncled It IIl .. O far as La Villellc had to be
hllilt: the IIl tention W(I S never merely 10
publish books o r 1I10U11l exhlbilion~; the
final ity of each drawing was ' building' :
except in the book e ntitled La Cast: Vide,
there were no ' theoretical drawing~' for
La Villcllc .
However the Parc dc la Vll.leue project
had a specific aim; 10 prove thai il was
possible to construct a complex architec-
tural organisntion without resort ing to tra-
di tional rules of composition, hierarc hy,
177
DEC'O\lSTR LC-I'IOt\

BERN ARD TSC IILMI

170
DECONSTRUCTION

and order. The: principle of superimposi-
tion or three nUlonornous system .. of
poin[~. lines and surfaces wa~ developed
by rejecting the totallslng ~ynthe,is of
objective con~(raiIlIS evidcm in the major-
ity of large-scale projects. [n facl. if hi .. ~
\Orically architecture lIa" always been de-
fined a~ lhe 'harmonious ~Yn1he~i~' of
coSt. structure. lise and formal constraints
rerent d{)mail1~ of thought have gradually from the selected site) coincided with a
vanbhed in the past 20 years, the s ame more general exploration of the ideas I)f
phenomenon applies to architecture. programme. ~cenario and -;equence.
which now e ntcrtaim relation~ with cin - The independence of the three super
ema. philO',ophy and p s yc hoanaly ~ i !> (to po~cd !>truclUres thus avoided allllllCmpl\
cite only a few examples) in an inlertcxtu- to homogenise the P:Jrk i11l0 u totality. !t
ality -;ubver~ive of Moderni),t autonomy . elilllin.l!ecl the pre~\l1l1ption of u prct!i-
But it is above :111 the hislOrical split t:Jblisheci c,wsality between programme,
between architeclUrc and its theory thm is archilec!Ure and signification. Moreoler,
I

(' 1'(,I)IISI05. [ifllli/lls. IIliliras'), the Pork
became HTchircclUre :illilin<q it~elr: a djsin~
tcgration.
Our aiTll~ were [0 displace the tT;Jdi-
tional oppasi! ion between programme' [fnd
architecture. and to extend que:.:tioning of
other arctlilcetural conventions through
operations of superimposition. permuta-
eroded by the principles of Decon - , Ihe Park rejected context, encouraging
stTuction . ill1ertextuality and the dispersion ofme~n-
It i~ not oy chaneI.'! th:Jt the different ing. It subverted con text: La Ville.t\e is
sy~tl'm~ of the P:Jrk neg:Jle one :Jnother a~ :Jnticolltcxtu~ . II ha~ no r~lalion to its sur
they arc wperimposed 011 the site. Much rounding~ . Its ploW subverts the very no
of my earlier theoretical work Inld ques- tion of borders 011 which 'cof1!e"(t" dc
tioned the very idea of structure, parallel - pend!>,
ing contemporary research on literary J.
leXI\. Ope ofJhe goal~t La Villette wa~

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of the c lassical oppositions and a general to pursue this investigation oUhl' conccpt Non-Se nse/No-Mean ing
displacement of the ,;yl>tem'. a~ Jacques of StrUClUre, as expres~ed in the respective The Parc de la Villcue project can Ihus be
Derrida has wrillen. in another context. in form s of the point grid, the cl)ordin;Jte seen to .rncounlgl.! connict over synthe~i~
Marges. Above all. the project directed .lrl axes Ccovs:rEd gallcric!>l and the -random fragmentation over unity, madness and
allack :Igainst cause-and-effect relation- curv.c.: (cinematic promenade). Superim- play Over carefulmanagcment. It subverts
~ hip s , whether between form and func - 'posing the'\e aU1(1nOlllOUl> and complctely a number of ideal s that were sacrosanct to
tion, .strucillre and economic.. or (of logical struclUres meant questioning their the Modern period anJ. in this manner. il
course ) form and programme, replacing conceptual ~tatus as ordering machines : can be allied to a specific vision of Po",
these opposition s by new concepts of can- 'rthe ~uperirnpo~itioll of three coherelll MOdernity. But the project talo.es h'lIt
t ig u iIYand su l:feri rn pos ition. -Dccons trUCl- strUCll1re~ can nevcr result in a ~upcrco- with a particular premise of nrchitecture.
ing' .:l given programme meant .;howing herent mega<,tructurc, but in ~omethin!l namely, its obsession with presence, witk
that the programme could challenge the undecid:lble, SOIDet.hing that is the 0Ppo- the idea of a meaning immanent in IIrchi
very ideology it implied. And del:On strucI- ).site of a tOlality, This device had been teclurul structures and forms which dl-
ing architecture involved dismantling its explored from 1976 onwllf(is in The Mal/ - recls its signifying capacity. The lalestlt-
conventions. using concepts derived both hUllan Transcripls, where the overlapping surgcnce of t:lis myth has been the rc\:U-
rrom architecture and from el ..cwhere - of abstract and figurative elements (based pcra lion. by architects, of meaning, sym-
from cinema, litcrttry criticism and other on -,Ibl>lract' arehiteclOnic transformlL- bol. coding arid 'double coding' in WI
disciplines, For if the limits between dif- lions as much :I!> 011 'figurative' extracts eeicct ic J11ovemCII\ rem iniscelll of Ihe 10",

1 0

tradition of 'revivali'llIs' and '~Yll1bol
ism~' appearing thro ughout histnry, Thi s
arch itec tural Po,t- M odcrni~rn co n travene~
Ihe readi ng evidenl in other domains,
.... here Post- Modcrni"m involve" an a,,-
~au l l on meaning or, more precisely, a re-
jection of a well -defined signified thai
guarantees the authenticity of the work of
art. To dismantle mcanil1~. ~ howin g Ihal it
i) never transparent, but !>oc ially pro-
duced. was a key objective in a new
critical approach that questioned Ihe hu-
manist ass umpt iom of ~ t yle. Instead,
3rchitectural Post-Moderni sm opposed Ihe
style of the Modern Movement, offering
as an al ternati ve anotht.'r, more palatahk
slyle. It s nostalgic pursuit of cohercnce,
which ignores today's SOCi:il. political and
cu lturOlI dis~ociations, is frequcntl y the
avalllr of a part icu larly comcrvul ive urc h i-
teetural milieu.
The La Villclle project. in contrast. at-
tempts 10 di slocate: and de-regulate me,lI\ -
ing, rejecting the 'symbolic' repertory of
an:hiteclUre as a refuge of humanist
thought. For IOday th e term 'park' ( like
'archi tectu re ', 'science '. or '[itcraturc')
has 1 0~ 1 its universal meaning; it no longer
refer~ to a fixed absolute, nor to un ideal.
Not the 11Or/IIS ("Ol1d ll .\'II$ and not the
replica of N:tture, La Villeltc is:t term in
consta nt production. in continuous
change: its meaning is never fixed but is
always deferred, differed, rendered irre~o
lute by the multiplicity of meanings it
Inscrihes.\ The project aims 10 unsettle
-
bot h memory and COlHCX L opposing many
co nt cx tuali~l and contin uali st ideal s which
imply that the architect's inle rve ntion
necessarily refer s to a typology, orig in or
de termining signified, Indeed, the Park'"
architecture rcfu se ~ 10 openLle as the cx-
pression of a pre-existing content. whether
SU bjective, formal or fl!nctional. Ju st as it
does not answer 10 Ihe demands of the se lf
(I he so vereign or 'cfe ati ve' architect) so it
negates the imm,men t di'llectic of thc
form, ~ in cc the la tt er ;) di~placed by su-
perim po~i tions and 1ran~form:1I ions of ele-
ments that a lway ~ exceed any gi ven for-
mal c,onfi gural ion. Prese nce is postponed
,md c losu re deferred as eac h permutalion
or c()mhin:.ttion of forlll ~ h ift s th e image
one ~tep Olhead. M O~I importantly, the
~
_<23Th;;;>
I"llSllIlIll t l O ~ 01' Ill. II. ,. \1 ~S S I :.s I1H!.OUOlIOI T sm
Park ca lls imo que~tiQn tne fundamental
or primary ~ignified of .tfchiteclure - it5.
tendency (as Derrida remar).. s in La Case
Vide) 10 be 'ill l l'rl1in', and (II .1en'ICe',
obeying :Ln economy of meaning prcmi"cd
on fun c ti on al use. [n COntf\lst. La Vill elte
promote~ progrOlmma tic instabi lit y.
functional Folie, Not a plenitude, but in-
stead 'empty ' form: les ("(Jses !W IIl vi(le.I.
La Vil lelle.then, aims at an afc hitecture
th:Ll 1/If'(1II~' nOllting. an arc hitec ture of the
signifier rather Ihan Ihe signified m one
that is pure trace or play of language, In a
Niet.lschean manner, La Villelle moves
towards interpretative infinity, for the ef-
fect of refu~illg fixity is not insignifi -
cance, but ~emmllic plurality. The POlrk' s
three autonomous and s uperimposed sys-
RERNAR DTSCHUMI
tem, and the cndlc~s cOll1bi nOl tory possi-
bi[itie~ of th e Fo l ie~ gives way to a multi -
plicity of impre~)ion~. Each ob~er v er will
project hi~ (l wn interpretat ion, resulting in
an account Ihat will again be interpreted
(according to psychoanalytic, ~oc i o l ogic:.tl
or other methodologies) and so on. [n con-
sequence, there is no absolute 'trulh' to
thc architectural project, for whatever
'meaning' it may have is :.t function of
intcrprcttHi on: it i~ not resident 111 the
object. o r in the objecl'~ rmlleria ls. H CJlcc ~
Ihe '\ruth' of rc.d Fvlies is not the 'lruth'
ofConstructivism,ju'" a, the 'truth' of the
system of poillL.s is not Ihe ' \TUlh ' of Ihe
syste.uvof lines . The additioll of the sys-
tCI1l~' interna l coherencc;. i~ not cohere nt.
The excess of T:.tti ona li1y h n01 rilt iona!.
7 (jiO
La Villette looks o ut on new social lind
hi storical circum~t:lIlces: a dispers.ed ,uld
different ia ted rell[itY....that mar)..s an end to_
the utopia of unity ~
r r
DECONSTf.t Un 10'1

182
H[RNARDTSCl lUMI

183
DECONSTRUen ON

,
,....,. COP
,

,
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- -
I

, I ,

,
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184

New National Theatre of Japan, Tokyo
Hypothesis
How to deconstruct opera and :Irchitccturc so
as to 'think' their concepts and simu ltane-
ously 10 observe them from an external and
detllched point of view,! How to devise :1
configuration of concepts which is systematic
and irreducible. that each concept intervene~
at ~omedecisive moment Oflhc work? How to
question Ihe unity of a building without re-
course either to a composition of articulated
and fonnalised elements or to a random accu-
mulnlion ofisoluted programmatic fragments?
To play on limib without being enc losed
wilhin limib? To relate to other operas while
referring only to one's own?
JUXIaPOSiliun
We have thercforcab,mdoncd traditional rules
of composi lion and !lannony. replacing them
with an organisation based on breaking apan
the Iradil ional components of lhcalreand oper;l
hou~c and developing ;I new 'tonality' or
sound'. No more artful articulations between
auditorium. siage. foyer. grand staircase: in-
stead. a new pl ea~ure through the paralleljux-
t"position of indetCnllinale cu ltural mean-
ings. as opposed to fixed historicist pmctices.
Functional constraints are not rransl,lIed
into il composi tion of ~ymbolic units. but are
extrapolated into a score of programm;ltic
st rips. analogous to the lines of a music:.!1
score. each containing the main activiTies and
related space~. The sequence is as follows:
A: The glass avenue provides access; its
bu<;y mezzanines (theatre lobbies) act as a
venical spectacle. while its ground floor gath-
ers crowds using the public services.
B: The vertical foyers overlook the glas.~
avenue and encompa~ s cloakrooms, box of-
fices, burs or buffets, suspended gurdeTls.
C: The auditoriums act as an acoustic Strip
accommodating each audience in a minimum
BERNARD TSCI-IUM
of volume (for acoustic quality) and a maxi
mum of visual comfort.
D: The servicing strip as a centra l anery .
E: The stages provide maximum flexibil
ity and technical possibilities.
F: The backstage area.
G: The dressing rooms and related space'
- org"nised along Ihe balconies of a four
storey anists' concourse (to avoid anony-
mous repetition of COrridors).
The inM!rtion of programmatic events i1lt[
architecture i~ a means of breaking down 01
decon ... tTUcting its traditional components. Th!
deconstructed elements can be manipulatC<
independently. according to conceptu:ll. nar
raTive or programm:ltic concerns (jUSt as th!
violin can be made independent from tht
piano in a concerto). Thus the juxtaposition 0
each band c:ln le:ld 10 in tensified operatil
effects: the layering of multiple facts;ls wei
as their in terpretation.
18:
DECONSTRuc nON

:so .=

~ 111 1
I T ~ffi~-'mi~
- - - ,-1- -1 -- - - - --- - - - - - - - - - -- - - --- - - -- - ---I

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 BERNARD TSCIIUMI

,/

F.TRIC'
DECONSTR lJ CTIO:"l

A.\O~O I.1 Entl(' 0111111 II"(;

1

New County Hall , Strasbourg
Thc proposed location is '\Outhwest of the
town. on the hank of thc river III. where his-
toric Strasbourg (k nown as ' Llll le Fr.lncc)
meets the Strasbourg of the 20th century (' thc
~IHbso fth c Medical Facul ty'). Before it siancis
a dam built by Vauban. and remains of the
fortifi c<ltion s <Ire still visible. The brief asked
fo r u rcpre,entative building. and ~eemed to
favour Ihe demolition of the disused ISth-
century bu ilding at Ihe entrance to the si te, the
large mansard roof of which acts as a visual
lml betWeen the historic town and the new
dilolrict)o.
Thcqucstion of demolit ion wa!. fundame n-
tal. To d c moli ~h an interesting building, a
major landmark of the town. !.imply to make
room for an es~n tially adrninsmnive bui ld-
ing suggests a certain cynicism. It seemed
that a more up-Io-date approach would be to
reject thi~ expedient and introduce a new
concept of urban combination .
It is imponallIto reme mber that the sit:.- lie,
exactly on lhe boundary between Iwo types of
urban planning. o ne cmphasbing the tradi-
tional perimcter block, the otherrcf1 ecting the
ideology of large po~twar developments. in
which eilch bui lding is an isotated eotity.
Rather than imitate eilher. we adopled a con-
ceptual fram ework that wou ld create a new
relation between theM! different architectural
lypeS and offer a ~tralegy Ihat could be applied
to similar sit uations.
Strasbourg ha ~ witnesseda variety of urlxlll
layouts - Roman, medieval. Neo-Cla')~ ical
composition:. of the 18th-century, 19th-cen-
luI)' German lown planning. and the counter-
compositions of Van Docsburg. Conscqucntly.
we dccided the nnlure of the competition site
as a meeting-point between old and new could
both jU~lify the rehabit italion of the old bar-
racks and suggest a new urban project thm
would clarify the role of lhe historical frag -
BERNARD TSCIIUMI
ments in relat ion to the contemponlry period.
T he rragments
TIle problem, Ihen . was to dc<;ign a complex
of offices linking the old and the new. Frag-
mentation seemed appropriate for the follow-
ing reasons: First. the fragmenl makes it pos-
~ ibl c 10 take into account the specific con-
~t raint s of each clement of lhe brief (eg the
conference hall ) without compromising the
whole (eg repetitive noo~ of offices). Sec-
ond, the fragment allows:tllthcelements to be
autonomous. whi le making it easier to per-
ceive their relative imponance, Thm1. the
varying scale of each fragment males II pos-
sible to relate the uncohesive space of Ihe
20th-century buildings wilh the cohc~ive spilce
of the hi storic town. Fourth,the frugment also
makes it possible. by suggesting free juxtapo-
sitions. to achieve a ~pa lial inven tion, a poetic
dimension and a new conception of the ~it e.
189
DECONS1 H.LCTION
DANIEL LIBESKIND
Still Life with Red Prediction s
Lelalin will Oy h..d.., withoU( Ulalumc.
Sh3rp 'lacl.:alO '>Ound~ will bypa'i'i Cc rcbru~ barking. sui j/lri.L at the
'tranger ill U'i: .... III be tl".ln,mitled by herooi,y to the abracadabra
"ioloncello pl .. ying a '010 motct III ~Iow neon wi[houlthe bow. without
the cello.
Odour~ cre:ulIlg [he illu,ion of rotaling, difficult [0 ta!<otc conven-
lion, will ripple lhc wllter already agltatcd hy a cOllllnual barrage of
ancie11ltcxt, thmwn into it. Bo[h odour and wmer will become thing ..
permanently verglllg on spinning, like the Ring. A ,jill ilar exam pic in
metal: wilful arc~ of IlO l l~hcd 1ll00ei siding fu,cd with a .. tral fibre" wi II
be u~d for making d"cu, or the ~hlcld protccling local povcny from
bemg-bcOltcn up by an alien ralio.
One .... ill acquire :1 funny hypnollc power over Oanencd mind ...
panicularl)' Iho!<oc of ~lUpid rnuseumcuralOr, who rejeci ornililolog.cill
an becau.'.C it i~ mnuenced by Chopin's OighlY "piril. One wi ll censor
the mvisiblc writmgs b)' General Petain .... hieh hide in Ihedelicale An
Nouveau orml11tcnl of thc Mctropoli1:lin provided one i~ willing to
rt..'connoi!re anal cladophyll with <l feeling of rem()r'-C.
Imldc each pIece of furniture - even lall one~ - there will be a play
rx:rfomlClJ. A dellcnte young lad in Ihe dead of winler wi II be able 10
panicip:uc It! tI ..en.,ory-ritual <[uest for lo~t bI rch, I)ine ,md Iinden tree~
now repl<lccd by ~ingle-fil smells of ion bat ion cxc1u.,ivcly de"igned 10
fumi~heach li\ing room wi lh mpid_ nali01lal bur~t., of .. ncezing. TUl ips
anyone'!
DefCI.:II\'C traclor;, old tragedi;uh, .... ill he filled into an obion!!
plannmg device, idiOl1c. '>Oft. The <;ugge'lion Ihm 'Ialely the future i..
appealmg only 10 aClors \\ ho can kililheir audience wi lhoul a licence'
will become a ~ouree of lll~piratlOn 10 1lI:lny, Fanning will he illegal.
plea~ant.
(Ibn in Amb,e, Hcn in lIebrew, ;md '0011 .) Preface thc lamen! wjlh
Beclzcbllb'~ concern for spicy Amon!ill<ld(l. a phenomenal offer, Tip.
Mme Sevigny. in nigh I a chevron. p\ummct~ wi!h greal veloci ty
192
I
,
D ,
IowaI'd /10/('/ J\;furiflo. 'vllfl'/' I/ell Lillt/t'll 17('2, IkrUII. Tip. And eH~n
mon;o:
Ii I ' .... dl kno .... n Ihal hlJalgo ....Jepl on tighlrope .. when Ihe nigh' .... :\\
cold. Ccrl:lin .. nonng ,oul1(h \\\:re labclkd ,h rcpubi\C .... hen t!1(lr
muscul:l1ure contI"Jc\i..'(\!o a ,tXlh of ii' "".' .... illt the ~ound ,lthhh .
fi(:kle l)Ower when tacitly negollallllg fCIT deep .. leep .... nh an o",P
Vishnu. called the Prc<;erver, believed Ihal popular tradillon had an
odd number of knec$ - clem,mded Ihal Ih..: ~ell1pil~rnal drip Ihrough 3
,ieve withoullying the carC;l~~ lu an incarn:l1ion on whec].., or inCrC3)
ing timidity cnonlll)u~ l y. The body'~ largc"l am,:slcd organ: ~ t..IIl .
Inulgence, an advlllllagc wilhoul !aient. The Sphinx killed hCl"'\CI(
Ihough Ih~ deceplion perpetrated WiL'> h:llf human. half Nordil' or thr
..culp[or'~ mumoo-jumbo. MU"I every faull be brought 10 ,iicncr b}
..olitudc'! MU~I ..oli tudc, in turn. bew:1I1 it, link to every plroueltmg
.. hard of the exploded amphora'! The \",calthy bllch on ly feaN tht
j.lIlilor .... hcn !he garbage collectIOn i<, in progr'-''',
The la .. lleticrorthe fin.t "lOry muM have becn Ihe fiT''' Icneroflhe
1" .. 1 ~tnry ,ince Egyptian .. "poke II llebrew dialec! whencver Ih~'}
in~cnc(\ a .. carab into thcir moulh \0 "1I11ulatc a circull1ci~iol\ be,1
performed in <;Cl.:rel. The rage for randomly ~elct'led victim, h3~
~orlencd tho..c who are "Iill lingcrlng in bcd.
Nowaday" forms have abandoned IheLr lu<;[ function - fU~lcl\,"g a
pen nib IU a pillar with a [oUl.:h or SplltlC rollmg <;Iralght into tile
slni!>ler thimbl~ held by Sinb,Ld Ihe sai lor. Who will dC9phcr .save and
enlenain purple hO!'> lillly'! POCllls .... ill be readily available if you call
Ihc righll1umbcr or pull the lip ailihe .... :1) do .... ! ) till II louche~ Uk!
c1cmelll. Fencing will become a fa!>hionable !'>orl. Dangling," a
loophole Will seem a .. inlere'lL11g:l' anlfiClal O1lLon') to allo .... a couple
of olher~ 111 without discomfort Ihu, di sproving Iha[ incamatlOn alone
i .. I.:;lpable of emptying the dC~1 in:llion of its menning. Anyone can fil
inlO an imaginary !hrcc-dilllen ~ ional envelope provided one is holluw.
ic, full y two-direc,ional.

The Surface Mu st Die. A Proof
Eve. hoHy. ivy. apple. There will be no morc cities ol1lhe surface only
whal is unfinished: ugly men , [our." of Ellis Island, the Olher. Even
one's own mother tends 10 become cruel when one has intereM in
childhood. panicularly cariy pUberty. Meanwhile Reality i~ played by
Major Leaguers us ing zero as a wall and nothing for a bal - while
pretending that Ihe Manager napping in Ihe bleachers is Ihe ball. The
baseball game of dimensions. prophetically shielded by trouble-free
membranes made out of poetic opacity. convens ambiguou s identity
into unequivoctll yes-content. Yel if you depend on the intern:!l
reserves lodged inside the dim shrine 100111C will ca ll you a pi g
deposited in prec ise manner by represent:ltion; olher~
will ~ccuse you
of beIng demented bcc:.Iuse you trust every indication - intemal or not
- which dangles like apl'rsO/w /10/1 wma from the Tree of Life. Gloss
over the geometry of silence thrown under every jog/io di carra!
The line is :llways perpendicular to a vibration emitted by Dio who
first ki ssed lriangle~, then became equilateral, circular, finally a
repo~itory of tradition in liquid. Dn.mk Castillians ~Iill consider the
Venical a foml panacea because it provides God with an old-folks'
home, ie, a mild (a llllVl . ll1is little hypothesis conlimls that re vela-
tions always belong 10 some Ann, Cathy or Eve.
If you see the crossed out I as letter K or consider dollars a fearful
code (c urve and IWO parallel lines) you are likely 10 uproot infinity
overtaking in the NO PASSING I:me. I said before that the Real is a
pigeun but wh:.ll I meant is thai ils physiognomy nestles ~oftly and
flexibly ;llong the region where verbs can di ssemble their filial
position. Naih. lor one, are part of the frame yet also appear in it
especially when a T shakes itself into postulates. (1 quote thi s from a
fine. empty piece of imported information for Ihe benefit of the mob
with a proviso it reconsider. The watch dial is an example of a figure
that al! slaves already symbolise in practice.)
Definitions originate midway bet ween the t;lil and one hundred and
twenty degree coloratura space. Wings are di:;tended round awe, not
dull house space. When the feasible expires in Iriangulation magic
highlights the congenitally three-pointed eye. y~)U aTe fountain on
right, serve premonition on left. usurp the mental. Facl'l befuddlc the
elongated person who has retumed from this hay-ride with two whys.
By allowing loosely joimed equivalence to mediate the sleeper's
indefinite extension into dreams one can bless excess, nail down logic.
execute infinitely grating nocturnes on the ti ssues.
In gold thu ~: oo = "": series peaks at nothing.
Premonition: (X) kills Coo ). The Cretan Bull killed every phantom
having realised that path. cow, girl. hen arc in serious decline,
This eq uals"" (X) "" + series of vowels =
x over Bull =X/<><- = <><-
dull tripartite validi ty.
Remember. a rectangle can become triangu lar provided one's genius
is moulJted on lauiced sonar and acce lerated into thisness without the
DANIEL L1BESKIND
heel:. moving. A sq uare call kill : an extra square guilts u),. Blessed
whywhy is not deriv:.ltive nor can it substitute for weapons i]] eq uipped
10 represel11 valour aging:
r' = JJlI +O = <D
OJ = 110 - 0 = 0
LJ-1I 0
These thoughts ri sk r:.llling into tllc breach created by rustling rhodo-
dendron~ dcfying the ying with hi/1d~ight. The calculation or angcls
litters virtue (/ lashallow:
Bei ng i!> Why (cxeclilion + Paradise) =
Nothing (Minos, Ann, C<lthy , .. i) =
Being Kill s Not, IS looted by IT .
Poor man '!> malice: (11110)
Is Charity afruid of thc gold lodged in the heart jUq becauM! il
resemblcs a mental placebo?
Corollary:
Primal fishing is rooted in th ings whir,;h are radically impossi ble,
affirms shadows, enables one to calculate unifonllity with perfection.
' , it) onc can be thrown in <o;cconds into the IIltcrsti ces o f a lucky
tradcm<lrk conwuctcd out of figure~ that will evcntually becomc
anvi I~. proxy vOles. hieroglyphs signifying 'reborn', Who else m<lkes
so many promi~e s to essential duplicity except those who are hand-
m:lde?
The roof of 7.ero hails iL~ point of tangency to antIcipation. Forerun-
11ers annihilate what is to come. Litter is primal in the sense that it
oppose~ any Allah who protes t~ again~tlossc~ with sque:ll~. which like
relativc fi ction s arc audible in each mobster' s fabri catcd suicide . The
issue vcrges on two lellers not on onc fire -black gondola too slender
to !ramport the Buddh;\ - sixty unalterable nonpersons - from a
country in which all stone towers are I)()rtllble to one where they are
rooted in what goes awry at the end. Meanwhi Ie the firstlell,f:r emergcs
from the telephone confirming dogmas of equivale nce - three persons
distoning tradition lore by spinning digression s through an opcmtor,
usually international.
If you could delay thcI'at from joining a zero l:l1erally with itself you
might be the last to dio..:. For by definition death is resistencc of
believers in ceremonies to the infinit ive 'to go', eraser of all etceteras
resounding in 't:lke your time',
All is fiecting in the jade, atmospheric in rubbish, muscular in
rhetoric, fabulous in thc whiplash: more or less removing nearness to
a di~tance dayaway from nonsense and the reverse. To <;ccure more
play milk in the shanty town imitate dizzy principles. Intcrested in
lidless roses. t'llji:mr le,./,ib/l'? A delinqucnt exhaling the lasl breath of
tum:lTound can be sued for his line has no point to go through.
Preciscly, definitely.
Try. point. tinker with dwindling reserves of marlipan in a fineto but
no maller what you do Zapata' s little twist will be enshrined by
sapiema (wisdom) like :I classir.: typhoon on <l gelatinous plate
photographers usc for duplic<lling re-explosion s.
193
-f "nC
0-

z
~

--
~

'1
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~
The Four Texts
The Surd of Architecture
The AB of Writing
- 'W

."
fle~ us see the g~lt I~act WIS Of
as_ Jo:'r~ls ~lnler '"Iro ~i l,~t "OS.fllt No Moral W15~e5 no New Cosor 8t~

N' StIlI W ig~

N'N~t

"
of a
.
"'I~:
M DO "'~SJ
~a.
!vloi.
1
It ' ~
H'" 'In l d"IU~

"~~tQn una t~.

Ofl5

"I
Slpe~~rt:~1 ~I

~~~ ~~~ "':ral~r
as Lo of or,sloeohtm.s R i'i"< 0
S(tepn&~ t l~ut

of !!II! A~d ~ annell Wal k falldlslI) at a~aye CQII1e ~U 1'I<!~(stor

hn a tllH ne and W~ ,'ASI"e durisant I visIt oy 'o'hl '0' . or too

pasa I QSn~a e w !su~y 5~12antyzy ~l]lesPOtonal nastlllQ ~sldes I Cln ,I]
Tre..,'; I l~~:r"! ,". ' otll" r Loo us~appe

t~e tr~e _" ~asca~ale asus s.y

is orJe'
t~e :0 to ,n( ;rsel Tosl! Of UCI! telli"9' Tale In t h",r Onler. After to (ent LoltlngS to 02
r.,rsa-.tlen: In rl,,~gllyion l~llhot Ku t~as dr'~10r ~.nl.le

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 DANIEL LIBESKIND
Berlin ' City Edge' Competiti on, 1987
The huilding a~:! 'ci l y-cd~c' emerge\ along
the Fl{)n"cll'.tr:l~se
and give\ a view of Ihe
Jlar~ along Il~ entire edge. \\hite .. imuililllc-
ou\ly ull1fymg Bloc~ nR/HO into an urban
,[rueturc. lor dwelling. commerce and public
JCllvity.
The project ..ccb 10 dCIl1011\lrJle. terms
In
of p1:tnll1ng. the po~~ibility of utililoing the
traditional bloc!. ~lruCture of Rerlill. while :11
the \(nne lime lrarhccnding jh phY'lc;Llli1l1i-
[IUlon ... The ,lim i~ 10 crcalC;' new \calc an(\:1
new lype of livingfor the Berl in of tomorrow.
The bullding i .. organisetl around a pedestrian
boulevard which provide\ along i [\ cmire
kngt h for the \ransfom ml ion of c\pericncc
from Ihe boulevard of yc\\crd:ty 10 the clly
"tructurc or IOmOITo\o, .
Ancicnt vi,la, of cilies :Uld building~. \H..e
melTlorable plac..:~ and name ... , (:an be found
on map" the book .. of the world. Each
appear" 111 01 different colour on u difrerent
baclgroulld . though any colour cun be ex
changed for unother hy a traveller v, hose
dc~tin:.lIion i~ not found on the map.
A voyage into the 'ub~t.lIlce of:l c ity and
11\ archilecture entai l .. a rcal ignmcilt of arbi
trJry poinl~. di ~ol\Jl(.'Clcd line, and n:lll1e)'oul
of place along the :lxi, or Unlver...al lIope.
Vcry Ihin paper - lil..e th:l l or ;lfchitCClural
dr.lv,ing .... Bible,. map"', telephone books.
money can be ca ... ily cut. crumpled or rolded
around thi" lI1dc~tructiblc kernel. Then the
emire unwieldy con~ lruclion can be llomed
on W,tter like Ihe Ul.IIcred paper 1I1:I\.,ing ii'
Ody,!>ey on the Liffcy. Finally the wIner it ... elf
can be :ldhered \0 the mlild. provided that one
Three Projects
IlI'ntl '~" lll J\!)I'IItll' \IPlI\\I(lllIl
dl}e~ not rely on the glue. In thi ... wa) R.eality
a~ [he 'ub~tal1ee orlhing' hOlx:d for. becom~ ...
01 proor orinvi~lbll' JUY"' - Herlin of open ... I.. Ie ....
In exploring. thc ... hape of thi' \I..y wluch
eOlllinuatty refIN!' 10 come into idelllt ty or
equIvalence. onc dl'-Co\'et'. th:1I what hOI" been
mart..oo. Ii '(.'<1 ;md IIIc:Nlrcd nevenhetcs" l:tpse ..
in bOlh the dimelNon or the indetennin:llc
and the ~phcric al . Thi~ ~pace of non-equillb
rium. ff()m which freedom eterna l I) rJcpart ~
lIItd toward which it moves witl1l)ut home
coming. comtltutc\ a place in which ardlltec
ture comc, upon JI ...c!( a' beginning at the end.
I I'(H('(I /illl' IIJI(II1'iml Axi.~ II {llJhlh
~{la('f' : Edge. liml\. dcIU~lon. SIx:er'" ordered
djo..order. Undcmc~lI h the ~rnund Ihe citytraee~
ils own !>ChilOld memory and protects it by
m... ulliling. and co\ering. the '>I l l'. What I' un
forgou('11 Call1lot Ix: er.td icatcd. (:um:calcd.
Opcnmg unbUlI<Jable realm, whil'h ,tretch
directly into the foundatioll'. the blocl.. dis
do ..e" a publ ic ~p:lce. By CUll i ng niT the pre~
enee of fragment,. both the ~t rcet :mrJ the are:'1
or huilding i~ rccol1,ecruted. Reconstructing
th:Lt which C:1Il1l01 be fil led lip. the site abruptl)
turns i t~ OWI1 cmpti ne... , into:lll An'himcdi;m
point.
2 The 1-/l//'fulII 14 Alii K(lI'f.~hati. A IIUJIl/f
mew 11/ IIII' pmk A turning point. Cri... "
loward which posMbi hl ie~ relum in order 10
revolve :Ln invi\lblc lever. ProlXlsal for the
Fulcrum orUniver':ll l delll s. Chiasm of direc
tion whereby an X grounds it-.elf in the .. ky.
Mil'S van der Rohe hanging pieces or gillS!>
outside of hi~ window in order to ~tudy Iheir
renectlOn ~.
3 Solid lil/e: Dwellil/g ill ir.1 (maim' linus
iI/g. ojJin.l. fluhlif' (IIllIllllis(I'(IIUlIJ.' Building
a)' c ro, ~ in g Ihe ~llc. blockt ng the hl~ l onc31
(alway, read) 10 leap again ... ), ('ulling the
remaining fragmcnh. unhinglllg Ihe honlon.
Re(',[ahli<,lml('nl or a Cl I)' v, Ithoul Illusion.
an ;trch itC(ture without limil ,_ To realign the
,\"y (Ig ain~t diagonal lIIter~ecllons : the
!!round -prop in:.tead 01 a ~ky-hoo". B)' open
ing the ~pllee betwccn the fuluum lInd it<,
viJ'lual :Ire. the w lid line ground .. i!\c lrin the
,,\"y. Now the un~upp()nable ~uppOrt~ the
support: TWW ti.'chnique~ ;1\ gmund level. In-
l..:rmingJing of life ;lIld war" by retrieving
Uwpill from Ihe pit.
.J Till' F idtl: , 1lf1' I'W( -Illig IllIflJl'r , A GUI'.Jl'Il
11/ IlIl' CUI" The ~ pan."'<i prc\CI'\C' what I!> 10
come. Four q u:lne .... of the ancien! ... k~ re-
n(.'Ctcd uJlQn the Earth c~tabh ...h comnlon
poinh: l1l'Ce ..... ily in conllngency. chanec in
ax iOlm. The fmllling of variely cinem:lIically
,u~pended In :In acrona!'!> leap.
5 TIll' Tllmll' ,' Child' ,f P!tll'. Childl'l'lI's Om
, the SlIe tow:lrd" 11 ~ OVIIl
hu'ilill. : Reorient i III!
pl:'IY ofplace. A chi ld' ~ hOI>C a, a way ofkno\\,-
IIlg and ordering the site aero" line~ which
cUl lhem..el\'e!> off from Ihe web. Pa l h~ a<:rO\!>
and out or the blocl... Building' who\(,' vecto....
emerge. cris ...cros ... and roll on Ihe ground.
6 Cnmplf'.\,IJ/lK ( 111'1'('1 111111 I'(I'd1gIJl filll.'s
COIIIII/en('. Inlluslr.\': Tltl.' ... pace production.
I mplod ing lIl'urve into an li ngle honLomally_
7 A filial IlOfm ' TIi(' Il/'gillnillM 01 (I /lew
Movin,!,"! ou t of dark crevkc~ and
diogO/Jul.-
corners. W:t ller Benjamin', ul1e)(pcclcd en
counter with the locomotive in the cloud\.
197
DECO;'ll STH. UCTION

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 DAI'IEL LlBESKIND

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DECONSTRUCTION

206

The Peak Club, Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Peak Club competition proved
to be a project panicularly suiled to Zaha
Hadid's layering techniques. because of the
way Hong Kong itself operates in layers. from
the crowds in Kowloon up 10 the mountain
lOp. Situated hjgh on the mountain, above bUI
not apart from thecongcstion below, the Peak
Club is a luxurious. hedonistic merging of
nature and the man-made in its combination
of club facilities for the high-living and the
creation of a ' new geology' 10 replace the
removed earth. Rock excavated in the lev-
elling of the site is polished and incorporated
in various places as new, man-made polished
granite cliffs. whilst the lowest layer of the
club buildings on the newly levelled area arc
themselves partly buried .
Described as a 'horizontal skyscraper', the
ZAHAHADID
Four Recent Projects
. 1-;-
structure consists of a layering of three super-
imIX'sed, linear beams, each with an inde-
pendent programme, sct at different angles
and creating positive voids and spaces be-
tween, The first beam consists of 15 double-
height studios dug into the hi llside, The sec-
ond beam rests on the first and has 20 hotel
apanrncnts with a variety of plan permuta-
lions. The club itself is located in the void
between the roof of the hotel layer and the
third. penthouse, beam suspended at an angle
above it.
The club facilities are primarily open-air
and situated on various levels from"the swim-
ming pool at lower deck. to different floating
platforms and ramps with circulalion areas,
exercise platforms, snack bars and library.
that ' hover like spaceships' . A curved ramp
I
I
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leads out from thl:;; building to the main road
and lifts from the entrance deck. connect the
various residential and recreational spaces.
The third beam consists of a double deck of
luxury penthouses and the private apartment
of the promoter with superb views over Hong
Kong and the Bay.
The inventive architeclUral solution con-
nects city and site; the beams and voids pro-
vide mulliple permutalions for a new urban
condition.
Zaha Hadid. M Wolfson, J Dunn, M van der
Waals, N Ayoubi; Prestntation: M Wolfson,
A Standing, N Lee, W Galway; Enginurs:
David Thomlinson, Ove Arup and Panners.
207
DECONSTRUcrlON

StCnoN A"i1J AIUi'WAl.lIJUiV A 11<m


Kurfijrstendamm 70, Berlin
The project ischarolcterised by the conslTaims
and limiuuions of the extremely narrow site
(only 2.7m x 16m). which led to the develop-
menl of a building that is a compressed 'sand-
wich. both horizontal and venical. of a series
of planes. spaces and uses. Horizomally. the
'sandwich' of planes becomes the basis for
the organisation of the floor plan. which es-
tablishes the separation of circulation and
movemem from the office spaces. Vertically.
the sandwich of spaces establishes thedistinc-
tion of the unique floor plan al the ground for
the public emry. from the cantilevered build
ing overhead for the offices. with a large.
double-height office at the top. Theroof of tile
building is developed as an outdoor room.
The lobby and entrance are raised above the
ground and reached by a ramp. thus liberating
the plan from the ground as had Ihe Russian
Suprematisls. The building above is pulled
away from a new back. waIL. and a gap above
ElJ!VA"O~S
this ramp clearly reveals the majoremry 10 the
building. The position of the entry lobby is
repeated (though smaller) on the upper floors
around which the lift and stairs are located.
and minimises the circulation area necessary
for the buikling to function. The office spaces
arc located within the portion of the building
which cantilevers oul to the slTeet and comer.
giving the best light and views.
The offices are developed as open. flexible
spaces. allowing use as either single large
offices, or multiple smaller spaces. The loca-
lion of the necessary services (kitchen and
toilets) will allow for this flexib le office ar-
rangement. as they may be used from the floor
lobby (ifthcre are a number of small offices).
or from the office space itself (if there is one
large office on the floor).
The plan of the building is bowed and
gently curved and moves out towards the
comer. becoming slightly larger on each floor.
ZAHA HADID
The structure thus reaches itS maximum area
at the top in section. and the comer in plan.
This arrangement, though nOI maximising the
possible floor area. creates a dynamic quality
in Ihe office spaces. which consequeJltly
change slightly in sile and shape on each
floor. denying the nonna] office block repeti-
tion of idenlical floors. TIle office floor areas
are slill iarge enough to function efficiently
within the constraints of the project. and the
exceptional quality of the spaces w-ill3Jlow
for l1igher rents to offset the losses of smaller
!loor areas. The top [loor is provided with a
small mezzanine. located a1;!)vt!-the 22m ele-
valion for the maximum allowable height.
Th is penn it:. the top floor of offices to become
a special. double-height volume at the lop.of
the building,
The walls of the building are brought up
above the Toofto allow the roo. to become an
outdoor room. open 10 the sky. with con-
,no
DECONSTRUcnON
I
I
L
trolled. limited views OUI and across Ade-
nnuer Platz.
The Curtain Wall and Glass ,"' Ioor Edge
The long elevalion oflhe building fneing the
streel is treated as a transparent surface. like a
lit. glass box through which the imerioroflhe
building i). seen. The cunain wall is a smoolh.
gently curving skin which lilts OUI as it rises
and. as il approaches the corner of the Ade-
nailer PiaI/. . peels away from the edge of Ihe
concrete Ooor slabs of Ihe office, allowing a
glu.\s Ooor which reveals and extends the
concept of the transparent qualityofthe major
face of the building.
The curtain wall has five basic technical
constraints:
I II mUSt be a self-supponing system, inde-
pendent of local defom1:1.tion in the concrete
Ooor slabs. and must re~is! (ialeml) wind
loads.
2 It must have efficient thermal perfonn-
unee to minimise heat loss in winter.
3 II mu"t minimise the transmission of
ambient stn.-C! noise into Ihe offices.
4 II must be secure, and prevent people from
falling through the glass.
5 The building faces eaSI and low, early
morning sunligh t will penelmte deep into the
bui lding. causing. increased loads on the cli-
matic control systems. Consequently, some
method of solar screen is required.
A conventional structuml curtain wall is
propo!>Cd. suspended from a cominuous truss
at its tOp edge adjacent 10 the roof which is
supported by L-shaped beams that are in tum
supported althc roof by the column on the top
1100r.
The curtain wllil grid is a structural mesh of
al uminium extrusions suspended from the top
conlinuous truss in a conlinuous sheet. The
sliding connections 10 lower noor must re-
I
slrain wind loads lateml to the glass but not
vertical loads. AI the bottom of the sheet is a
small projecting balcony. A small minialure
grid will be suspended in exactly the same
manner from the concrete slab at th is level.
Structural Design Proposal
The vertical and horizontal loads are trans-
ferred 10 the fou ndations by the back. pany
wall and tlle insi<lccorridor wall which run the
full length of the building. The back wall rcMS
on the foundation structure along its full length.
The corridor wall comes to ground in one
place, 31 the Adcnauer Platz end.
The founda tion box acts as a beam 10 dis-
tribute loads along ils length. The exuctioc3-
lion of the points of support of lhe corridor
wall will be decided when the interaction
between the fo undations and the building is
better understood, The cOrQoor wall is pre-
sumed to transfer il" loads inro Ihe lift shaft

above ground level. If this proves very diffi-
cull in practice then the wall itself couid be
brought to ground somewhere along its length .
Horizontal shear is carried by the lifl shaft
walls and by the front wall of the staircase
facing Adcnauer Platz.
The cantilever section of the building fac-
ing Adenaucr Platt. is carried by a venical
vierendeel restrained horizontally by the floor
slabs. The front column fins and the back. wall
act together with the floor slab to provide
cantilever ;Lclion. Long lernt deflection can be
reduced by including structu ...... l steel elements
In strategic areas and by pre-stressing. The
horizontal shears created by this system are
carried by the lift shaft walls and by the stair
wall.
The curtain wall is suspended on the OUI-
side face. The roof is supponcd from the
highest floor. The concrete slabs have been
assumed to be 250mm though they could have
ZAHA HADI
areas of reduced thickness to facilitate light miniature Venetian blind mesh called Kool-
servicing. shade, which is stretched in an aluminium
The build-up of the cunain wall skin re- frame fixed to the structural aluminium extru-
solves the remainder of the performance cri- sions between the two skins of glass.
teria. Thermal and acoustic performance is
achieved by having two sk.ins of glass with a
neutral air space between them. The deep
space shown will in fact give greater thermal
performance than standard double-glazed
units. Glazing bar details will incorporate a
thermal break to prevent heat Joss or conden-
sation across Ihe connection details. 1be outer
sheet of glass is fixed on with the recenLly de-
veloped StruclUral Glazing'technique. This
consists of a sm;L1I aluminiu-m frame being Compel ilion Team: Zaha Hadid, Michael
bonded to the glass with high modulus sili- Wolfson, 8 Steele, P Smerin , C Crawford, N-
cone unde{ faclory conditions. This frame is Cousins. 0 Gomersall; Currtnt Work: B
then fixed 10 the structural aluminium extru MacKneson. N Cousi ns. DGomersall ; Srruc-
sion in a conventional manner. The inner rural Engineers: Peter Rice, John Thornlon of
sheet is iammaled in order to give the required Dve Arup and Panners; Glming ConsulwnI:
security. Soiarprotection is provided by a fine Hugh Dullon .
DECONSTRUcnON

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DECONSTRIJCnON

VIEW FROM TIlE EAST

214
 7.AHA HADID

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IBA Housing, Block 2, West Berlin

IBA. the international building elthibilion approach to urban design. a more explosive altemative to the actual site
being held in West Berlin, has turned out to be with plan (bollom middle dmw;,
pennancnl Hadid views

siles destroyed by war. ne-
glect Ilnd planning were targeted for
redevelopmem. infill. and repair. Of the blocks
designated for new construction, a large per-
centage have already been designed and built.
mostly as housing. by a star-studded list of
international architects selected through lim-
ited and open competitions.
I
a statement
about a new Despite her reser-
vatiolls. Hadid accepted lBA's invitation 10
Jransform 2.500 square metres into a residen- 10 the neighbouring counyard
tial block as a chance 10 formulate an innova- building (bollom left). The three. storey block
tive aJternative 10 the exhibition's ' lOYtown. '
The first obstacle confronting the architect
was lBA 's stringent . guidelines. man
o f five

Zaha Hadid. Michael Wolfson. N Cousins. 0

Gomersall. P laaskelainen . Cl Smerin. S Steri.
D Winslow.

215
DECQNSTRUCfIQN

AM)\'~ ELEVATION STUDY, ,UOIt LMI)5(;A1'Il S'TUDY OF ROOFTEJUI.ACE A:oIO cot"RTY""O AND ftOTATlOS OF TOWEll
 ZAIIA IIADID

DECONSTRUCTION ,
L

218
 COOP HIMMELSLAU

H IN!)I:!!I M ' roM 'I' 1, ISOMEll1 l(

Funderwerk 3 - A Factory, 1988-89

The Concept plain production hall, The dynamics of pro- diagonal beam.
OUT task was to create an cxpres!.ivc piece of duction is hcillhlencd by the red-ridged roof, The power house is of reinforced concrete.
architecture OUI of a fa clOry building - a which is de~igned as a fifth facade and visible and its walls are composed in ihe same way as
paper-coating works - dctcnnined purely by from the ncarby raised cx pressw:ly. those in the hall. The three slanting chimneys
the production proccs~. We believe thaI an individ ual architectural e lemenlS are IwislCd touch the power house via supporti ng up-
industrial culture can o nly arise if the prevail- and overturned lo createa distinct identity and rig.hls. while the chule is a freestanding obJcct
ing economic and funeli.onal constraints are pUI in question accepted ways of secmg. in metal and lattice. .
lranSfOnllCd imo a mulliva!enl work. The bridge runs for II third of its length
The design is based on Ihe idea of breaking I'roject Oescript ion !llong the roof of the power house and then
down the volume in which the prod uclion The f:lctory basically consi!>ts of two main twi\ls up to the hall. It iscovered half with the
takes place - the production hal1 - ima sculp- parts: the power house :lIld thc production "<line metal panels as in Ihe hall and power
tum] clements. The power hou~c chimneys, hall. the two parts being. jOined by n bridge. house. and half with acrylic planks that have
connecting bridge. soariog roof. office and Connected 10 Ihe hall arc three ~Sl1all portc- been set lengthways or at odd angles. The
laboralOry unil'> and enlrnnceways become coch~rcs and a large roof. bridge cuh through the roof. "upponed only
mdividuai archilecloniccicmcnls which work Tpe production hall i .. construc\(.'(i of !>Icc-l. by an in\ CrlOO truss and IWO columns. The
together to give Ihe complex as a whole n and its nal roof is carried by 20 lrusscs. The elements of the bridge, roof and power house
distinct head and body. lower pan of the wllll~ is of prefabricated are tied together fonn ally as well as structur-
The playful. pla~lic tr~atment of the power reinforced concrete, the upper part of nush ally by IwO large fixings to the chimney.
house, with its 'dancing' chimneys. the bridge metal panels set lengthways. Light is brought
connecting power and production. the wing- into the building by scoops on Ihe long nOllh ArchileclS: Coop Himmelblau - Wolf D.
like composition of the roof, the ~truc1Urcd side and vertical window sirips on the south. Prix , Helmut Swiczinsky; Projed Leader:
porte-coch~res and the South-facing glazed The southwest comer of the building is a Markus Pillhofcr; General Conlruclor:
comer for the offices and laboratories \til skewed volume in gIllS!> and steel which I!> AChammer-Trillhart; Landscaping: lB .
Sland in controlst to the while and deliberately pcnetraled by Ihe trusses of Ihe hall and a Koppandy.

221
DECONSTRUCTION

 COOP lilMMELBLAU

DECONSTRucn ON

224
,

Ronacher Theatre, Vienna
Concepl Description ._
The design task is described by the following
proposition: \0 convert at 19th--cen tury the-
atre Ihat does not func lion optimally into a
theatre for the 21 Sl century.
The point of departure for the concept
development was the idea of 'a multi-media
theatre in every form of pcrfonnance'. During
the design we had the image of a stage space,
or better, of a Theatre Complex with open
access for the public and in which perform-
ances could be held from basement to roof.
This design concept would form an intersec-
tion oftherequired programmatic 'constraints'
(functions. room planning) and the pre-exist-
ing 'constraints' (historic monument preser-
vation).
The Interior Functions and the Exterior
Form
The building has several layers. Simply put,
COOP HIMMELBLAU
there are four areas to be organised: the stage 'opening-up' of the main and the rehe:u5.11
and its technical requirements; the publ ic area stages. which we would accomplish through
(auditorium with foyers, restaurant. bars. etc); multi-functionality (reconstruction possibili-
the rehearsal rooms; administration and per- ties. the c<lpacity to renovate the room s). We
son nel rooms. thought of a...roof terrace with an opcn::air
The stage and the back stage area presented s!i\gr ... we thoughl of restaurdnts in the lower
the,nselves to us as a large high-tech volume. level and on the roof. of a public videoteque.
This 'black-box' is not open to the public, has and of bars in the foyers.
no exterior, no facade . Just all ideal illlerior The Ronachcr is however not just a 'The-
lhat produces the illusion of theatre. atre Complex' but through the constant pres-
In a conventiona lly conceived proscenium ence of television it becomes a giant culture
the three areas - stage, r~ehearsal room production machine.
. i - use five parts of the The exterior
so that just one part of the I
volume is available 10 the public. That means representation of all
thai one can experience only a small part of a
large building's interior, During the first step
of the design. we thought about a reversal of
this relationship. That is to say, the largest Project ieam: BurkJmrd Entrup. Stefan
possible part of the house mu~t be made open KrUger, Ma!his Barz, Manfred Hieber.
to the public. We Lhen thought about an Susanne Rath. Sylvia Burian .
227
DECONSTRlJC'TION

51{ YU~E. I'IM. )'!ooa. OPTlII! ' IIIST TO..... OI:

228

- -- ---- ----- -----
\11\\\l\IIIIIIIII IIIIIIIII\\ ' 1\\1\
]I S I'--':"':':":'~
5KYU"1'.. IffS. St1l' PI.A'l Ofo IIAMBLRG HOLS!; ASO lOfoT BRIDGE
Skyline, 1985. Silhouette for a city like Hamburg .
This project was developed in 1985 to be
included in the ' Hamburger Bauforum '. A
planning area was assigned on the b.1nks of
the Elbc along the great ElbstraJ3e in the
Hamb urg docks. Nothing else. The small and
great landmarks of the city of Hamburg were
the starting point for the bridge oflhe associa-
tive design. (Everything seen wilh h,,1 rclosed
eyes.lhal is easy for visitors of a ~ t range city.
They don, have the circumstanti al pressure
in their bones. On the contrary.) In front of us
was the dock with ils many small swimming
and ~wayi ng busy landing pontoons. On the
olher bank . dumb and motionless. the big
containerlenninal wilh its huge loadingL'nlnes.
And in the evening the noisy brighl/luminous
dry dock of the shipyard.
Seen from a boal. the banks of the Elbe-
stra& appean..-d to u ~ changeable and inler-
changeable. On the one side the residential
area and on Ihe Olher the lifeless ban k of the
COOP IIIMMF.LBLAl
,
[ I J
\J\\\ I
r":":"::"::'~~
.-
container tenninal . And, in the first de~ i gn we towers for Ihe media, which makes this ci~
actually did c hange not only Ihl: banks to- important for Europe. Vertically, diagonal!)
gether with the planning area bUI also Ihe and spatially. the editorial offices are boun_
lenns sea-town and press-town. How orten do up with the School of Journalism and il
we see Ihe docks of Hamburg (unless we stand lecture halls. with the cinemas. with the holel
in fronl of il) altho ugh every week we could and the shopping slreell>.
see - and that in Vienna as well - other parts
of the lown of H;unburg. These parts are
called Slem. Spiegel. Zeit, Art. Geo. These
are the legible bUI still invisible silhoucues of
the town of Hamburg. And these invisible
silhouelles we have made visible. we have
given il II physical shape. and II name: Skyline.
[f one wishes, one can dIvide the project
inlo three parts: Skyline. the Hamburg Houses
and the media bridge.
In a possible lown development area of ArchiteduraJ Team: Coop Himmelblau
Hamburg. in the Container Tenninal al the Wolf 0 Prix and Helmut Swiczinsky; Co.
centre of the docks, three interwoven bui Iding 'a!Jof"llrors: Friedrike BflIUIli..'Ck, Michael va
complexes Ihal are over three hundred melres Ooyen. Franz Sam. Frank Stepper. Fril
tall are buill.. They' are office and editorial Maschcr. Thanomkcat Khampe
22'
DEC'ONST RUCT1Q"

VIIi'W O~ Cll t:IIIO'ntDti\P)' 'OIEA'f\lf.NT i\TkIU\1

230
 MORPHOSIS
Two Projects for Los Angeles

Comprehensive Cancer Center

TIle Mle for lhe ne\\ building i" 011111e nonh and cxpen\LVC 10 transfer or duplicate. h .. autOllomou<, pieces mCcant to simultaneousl}
c;", corncr of Ihe Ccdar\-Sinal Medical Cell- locallon cMabli~hcd the lower level a:- a pa- reinforce one another.
ter III Lo\ Angeles. II i'\ boumkd by an exisl- lienl fioor \0 mmimi:.c pmiem movement. Oven rcferences to comtructlon aspire Ie
mg parking 101 and helipad 10 Ihe nonhcaSI Two basic dc\ign objecti ves summarise an integrated architecture rOOled in realn)
<Ind three cxi"ling Medical CCllIcr buildings ourapproilch to 1his project: first.lhe develop- (the here and now) which allow~ a ground
10 the l>oulh :,md weSL The facility will :llso me11lofadc~ign ...lralcgywhichhal>lhcc:lpac- work for thc reneetive or inlerpretalive inten
uli1i~c subterranean level ~pacc within the ilY \0 clarify and org.tniM: a difficult site tion~ of thb project. The hope is for iln archi
CXblillg mcdicallOwcr to Ihe soulh. , impaclcd between lhree existing buildings tecture that can occupy the mind and affect th!
The propo-.ed Center is'HI olil-patient facil- and requiring cont inuity between the new ~pirit and act as a foil to the patient'S curren
lIy cOlllbilllng diagnosis. treatment ;md coun- building and exi~ ti ng subterranean space: circum~tance by removing him or her frorr
selling within one ~ning. To n1:l'(;mise effi- second. an architecture which would enham..'c M!lf-occupation. The play ~t ructure mo~ t full)
ciency and eliminllte duplication of services. one's comprehen~ion of location and choice rcprc'\Cnts these objectives:t~ a con... trUClior
II i" imperative Ihat the new Center have a of movement within a complex muHi..oepan- which engages childrcn through the use 01
direct connectIOn 10 the Medical Center. A" it mental facility which is itself a microcosmic video. moving hand-operaled p.1n .... theatre
I~ u'-Cd by can('cr patients who are lI1aintain- pan of the much larger Medical Center. .
elC, or enlcrtalilS the' l11H1d
. . notIons per-
WIth
ing relatively nornlal lifestylc~ during their The architectural language with emphasis t:tllling to the building ... own construction anc
tn:atment. it's also important that the Center on the Z-axi~ :Hld the ...cClional quality of Ihe fragments of urbal\ mechanisms (the f1lcmor}
have ih own entrance and autonomy. building, light OIl\d an overt reference to con- of a Ireehouse?). It prescnt... these man-Illadl
'Ille Center utilises an eX;"ling subterra- stnJction forms the bn~is of our respon~ . A conSlrllct~ in relatiomhip to the wholeness
nean radiation therapy dep:mffient within the framework of geometrics. both similar and lind si mpl icityof nature (fish lank lind trce), all
Medical Center that would h;!ve been difficult diver..e, est;!b l i~he~ a language of di stinct pcnnemed with the folly or a Dr $cuss.

231
DECO'STRUC'TIOl'.

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\/IQI t. t/()Il A)(O'lOW "nIIC . VI!"" flf" I)Iln"K~ 0111(1 S, IIfI.f)'Io \ ' 11 '" Ot "'AI' f'Ulf Ie COIUUOOII

231
 MORPHOSIS

233
DcCO \ STR l1CT10 \.J

I.... TUIlO!! VII \Ii Of n,'I,n I'll Al ()Killin

-.

Kate Mantilini , Restaurant; Santa Monica
Thi, projeci W,I't!O con vert ,Ill t!xi~tillg 6,400
Mllmre feel commercial banI.. 11110 a 24-hour
rC,I:tura11l: 'A ro:ld,ide 'Ieakhousc for the
fUlure, with a doc!. (Man lyn L ewis).
Sel on Ihe nOrt lme~t comer of a lIlaJor
urlxm i11ler<'('"<:llon :IHal'hed to a parking ,truc-
lUre 111 a mid-ri-.c "flice complex in Be\'crly
Hith. California. :1 new building (waU) L't
elltrapped in lhe old (column ).
Building, freM:o and >;culpture. which arc
,illlu!t:lt\eou~ly"di'\(..rcte :md associated. unite
\0, ilhm .1 , ing.h! framcwor!. . The poche wall of
Ihe new building. en~u l fs Ihe columns of the
old. The waU i<; con .. trucled of a four-pen.on
illcremeill. The bU11thng i'>conce;ve<!:\\ a per-
mUllem work.
A mof-scnpe of waUs. rnechanicul-equip-
mem rooms and slill dial ,In: tlI the service of
the adjacent tower WOller...
I,\UKI()II\II"
This fllcchani\r11 - made or l he building (di~
If<. n.KIOIl Ill''' \11 \IIU" 1'\(,; I LOOIII"u
\ IQRP110S1S
A COllceplu,,1 orrery, piercing through a 14
feel d ;:II11c le r oce ul u~, summa riM'S the re nee-
tiye or intC"rpretativc inten ti on .. of the project.
li11 ing and condenSing the e~<;c nt lJ.I aeslhe tic
fabn c) is in Ihe process of making or dc+
M:ribing the building. The prickly cactus like
e:>.lerior. vacill:ning between ~urface and
volume. m:lintains:l I:lclile sen~ibili!y.
(TIll' project require':I rcading' in tem1,
ot her lhan tho'>C of sight alone.) A psychologi-
cal profile of Ihi .. bUilding re\ c:l.b aggressivc.
ob<.Cssive. aCl ive char:tctcn~l ic'\, lhough tem
pered by l c()olness and ,omewhul busmes<;-
like 1)Ol itenc,>s.
The inlerior Sp:lCC i~ \aguely C)( lCrl0r. I1.s
hal\+like quality rcncCts i t ~ public ill1cn lion.
People", i thllllhis space tcnd to be cxtremely
eonsc lou, of their po'>l1ioll.
1J.'i
DECO~ST R UCn OI\'

I
 M OR PIIOS I ~

1'11'.II.1OIt \ ' IE\I< 01' HAU ,

DECONSTRUCfl0N

j
/

OMA. unZQ" 'STMSS. 19iO 81 . CON'TEXTlJAL AXQNOMETRIC. PAINTINO IIY l.or, ;lI'~>;(l1lfL1S
 ELlA ZENGHELIS
The Aesthetics of the Present

OM"'. F.GG OF CQI.UU/Ju:r CE;NTE~. 1913. PAtNn N(; BY LOll Zl'"o.N(lHELIS

Elia Zenghelis, founder-member with Rem Koolhaas orlhe Office for Metropolitan Architeclure (OM A), reviews recent
developments and identifies the ways in which architecture has failed in its response to the spread ofWeslern cullureand
modern technology. The solution he sees as a relurn to Modernism's original project. the iconography of the programme
providing architecture with its visual aesthelic. This article is illustrated with a selection of recent OMA projects.
The most consistent reality of architectural thought in the lasI 20 years vestiges of more fami liar orders, without realising they had become
is its astonishing degree of unreality. The aftennath of May 68, was obsolete and useless. In the process, all fonns of vernacular. from
ironically marked by the return of an authoritarian system harshe r and princes to fi shing villages. entered the world of kitsch and became
more removed from the realities of a lived-in world than the bureauc- mere styles. Meanwhile the impetus was irreversible: the losses
racy it replaced. Claiming to represem historic responsibility, it irretrievable: the memories futile. BUI they persisted with humiliating
ignored the history of a whole century and sought solutions to its tenacity. These withdrawal symptoms have been the unforeseen
problems by pretending that this history was an aberration and that its human aftershock of a century of revolution. Observers in a vacuum,
effects could be reversed by wiping it off its chancr: an enterprise that an arena we cannot gmsp or control. we have become the ' sorcerer's
would have been deemed unimaginable in all other disciplines was, in apprentice' . Architecture was caught in the midst of all this. Its
architecture, considered po"sible. traditional role had been eroded. its identifiable patron had been
Historically thi s was as realistic as saying it will never rain again. eclipsed and its client had become the masses. A new syntax had to fill
It showed total disregard for the relationship of architecture to history. the void ofitsconvenlions. New ideals were needed to redefine its role.
An age of scientific revolution and social upheaval, the 201:h century Modernism was a heroic attempt to come to terms with this new
has been dominated by the globa l spread of Western culture and in reality and predict its course. It was the experiment of an emerging
particu lar itS technology. the applicalion of science to reality, In the consciousness Ihal set about to respond 10 the vicissitudes of history.
context of the maelstrom of recent history, perhaps the greatest to imagine ils field of action and capture the public imaginalion ,that
achievemcnt of the 20th century is the modem infrastructure of was eager to make sense ofilS present. The experiment was aborted.
utilities, communications and transpon, which has altered and trans- Engulfed by the violence of the approaching war it was nOI allowed the
fonned forever our previous notions of 'city' , 'work', 'leisure', time to get to grips with this reality. After the war the enterprise was
'landscape', country . ' language'. 'fronlier' - and which archilecture resumed with renewed fervour but without its spokesmen. who.
has yet to ex ploit and respond to in any meaningful way, victims of post-war political expedience, were now isolated from it.
[n the wake of the upheavullhi s lack of response is not surprising. With early Modernism's ideas still inadequately aniculated. a massive
The magnitude of the events dealt a devastating blow to our collective innux of indiscriminate construction filled the void created by the war.
unconscious; our species was faced with having to make new associa- Lost within il were some of the finest e~ampl es of architecture ever.
tions with rules of instability and perplexing abstraction. Previously This is Ihe landscape we have inherited and that we are rejecting
codified conventions lost their relevance and value, Orthodox and wholesale without bothering to examine the extent to which il corre-
even primordial associations were left unprotected. And under the sponds 10 ol4rreailly. lf we were more critical. we would endeavour to
totalising impact of this impetus. our alienated psyche clung to decipher its latent intelligence. correct its mistakes and give it retroac-

".
DECONSTRUCfIQN
tively the idealism it possesses by proxy. In fact we would treat it as
our undeniable COlllext. We would try to examine the landscape that
surrounds us. what happens in i1. in order to respond to it and make it
work. This is the unrealised ambition of Modernism. a chapter thai is
not yet closed. For in the end it alone deals with what architecture is
about: \0 make reality work.
But instead of concentrating on ideas we focus on style. Architec+
tural history is being taught as a history of styles. when from Stone:
henge to the Villa Savoye it is nothing but a history of ideals.
Architecture has always been technology harnessed to the ideals of its
time: involved with wh:ll happells and making it believable.
Meanwhile technology invades us and has become our unsuspected
ideology. Wherever we are, in our homes or our workplaces. we are
dependent on the invisible technology that surrounds us. Without it we
cannot survive, yet we separate its intelligence from ours with con-
tempI. Claiming to be connoisseurs of an apocryphal humanism. we
search for solutions in styles to problems that need ideas. The propos+
als we offer. whether in the guise of' Post+Modernism', 'New Classi+
cism' or 'New Modemism', are nothing but slyle revivals drawn from
mode ls thaI become simultaneously devalued and undecipherable. By
ignoring the reo/if)' of the world out there (the real context), these
\
\
\
/
L TO H O!'iA. MODEL FOM TIlE RECOr>:sntUcno", OFTIIH 8A '( Of- KOI"."TA'IIOS, GREECE. PARC CI11I.0E."'CEVEI>NF.1i. PARIS.
proposals mi~'i the point of architecture altogether: they do nothing to
promOle the bettemlent of this reality. Instead of ideas that relme to its
life, the public receives a lot of dogma for which il has liule use. Bul
do we offer these proposals to Ihe public or to ourselves? The
community of architects has become a se lf-congratulatory fan club,
involved in ritual rallies, inventing its own imaginary antagonisms,
prides, jealousies. and insecurities: like a bourgeois caucus isolated
within the limited horizons of a suburban enclave where the urban
landscape is oul of sight and the action OUI of mind. A caucus without
paradigm.
Unawarepfthese deal ings, the urban landscape keepson colon ising
the globe, the air space above and Ihe entrails below. Our cities have
losl their relationship to the ground. Their exhilaration lies in their
section: life tlas claimed..-its air rights. Its structures are infinite
multiplications of its plots vertically. And below its foundations
underground. Ihou~nd of lines of commun ications traverse it in all
directions. Our modem city is an infrastructure, capable of sustaining
architecture anywhere this is called for and allowing it to decay
wherever it is no longer needed. The finite city of stone no longer
exists. Our city has invaded the country and the COUnll)' is allowed to
invade the city. What has changed is the time. The principle is the
same. The modem city is technology harnessed to an idea of mobility
and global communication. The walled city was technology harnessed
to an idea of defence, appropriate to the reality of the 13th century. Or
think of Jericho? Visions thai embody the dignity of history. And the
historical European city? II is being absorbed into the infrastructure of
Europe. which is beginning to emerge as a metropolitan framework of
urban fragments.
In the context of this inescapable reality of colonisation. one can
only imagine Atlantis in Tenerife sitting in the middle of a vast parking
lot, its streets filled with overfed polyglots, in shorts and cellulite.
!:Iking photographs.
What is harder to imagine is the reason for our loss of nerve in the
face of this contex lthat has evolved despite ourselves and is malfulll:'
tioning, uncontrolled and senselessly manipulated by bureaucraticop-
p<lrtunism. It is difficult to underst:md why Ihis reality (now more
tangible than at the beginning of the century) cannot be seen as 3
conceptual framework for a corrective architeclure that would capital-
ise on its potential. An architecture thai would make sense to its
occupants.
It is still nOl an impossible ambition to restore to architecture the
popular respectability it once held in the past. To sway a disenchanted
.-
198~
and recalcitrant public from being guinea pigs to becoming patrons. To
tum our attention to the existing, Jived-in world : a world which is
simultaneously mediocre and sublime, frustrating and exciting. The
excitement of our world today is its state of perpetual instability. It is
a world of a million programmescocxisting in the same spot: program-
mes that matter, not for what they are. but for what they could be:
tangible ideals if architecture would ask its clients 'what if'r It can only
do that and SlI rl'il'e if it is undogmatic. The programme is the generator
of architecture. The plan is the plot where the. programme is reinter-
preted where il can be more than itself.
The iconography of the programme provides architecture with its
visual aesthetic. The action of its plan and section, together with the
sensuous materiality of its finish, makes architecture the most hedon-
istic of the arts. Its hedonism lies in the power of its suggestiveness. It
is the $CIting where a sequence of displacements activate the imagina-
tion (like these incomplete sentences thaI offer a large number of
conclusions) and animate the inanimate. With the economy and
simplicity of its means, it takes very little to pass from the implicit to
the explicit. When architecture achieves thi s, it becomes an intense
and pleasure-giving experience. Thisexperience, involving our minds
and our senses, is the measure of its beauty.

BeaUlY today is a taboo (not measurable objectively , it is dismissed
as prejudice), Yet we all know thai it is at theccntre of every architect's
secret ambition, We are 1lllllllderCQI'er agents of bnlllt}'. (Discrimina-
tions which are nowadays pructised under cover). Beauty is a pleasure
we experience when involved with external stimuli of primarily twO
kinds: natural and anilicial. There is a distinct quality that separates
the twO (the beauty of a thundersloml is different 10 Ihat of a musical
perfonnnnce). Whal c haracterises the latter is its symhetic nature: it is
man-made. The mind intervenes in Ihe emotion it causes.
Intelligence in us seeks intelligence in things and find s it. This
seeking enables us 10 uncover beauty: in thi s tran saction, the experi-
ence of pleasure always in vol ves the sensation of ne wness. discovery
and surprise. By the same lOken, Ihis seeking is the driving force
behind the ability to beStow upon Ihings that degree of intelligence that
gives them beauty. The business of architecture is to make visi ble to
the eye what only the mind can see. It is to make reality work. " is to
infuse the participants wilh the emhusiasm of ideas rather than the
de'>peration of dogma. Above all other transactions in architecture, the
most imponam is intt'lfigclI("r; the intelligence of seei ng what exists
and imagining what might; and that wh ich gives architecture the
power that its visual vocnbulary has to surprise.
O"M . CHIiCKPOI,,-r rn,o.RUE H0051-':0. 1'40 . VIEW OF t.IOOIiI. IN IUN ANI) FROM nnt S"IlI.Fi- r
On thi!> level archi tecture is critical. The clement of surprise,
essential in all pleasures, sustains interest, prolongs involvement and
renews re!>ponse. In danger of being lobotomised by an age in which
we are unable 10 actively tllke pan in the events [hat overtake us, we
become unable to involve ourse lves mentally with the world: we cease
to function as thinking beings; we lose our critical sense. We have
fallen the sty le victimsof this mindless consumption machine: fashion
and taste are systems of oppression that remove the capacity to think.
Everything is consumed and nothing is experienced. In this selling a
plate of poi sonous frui l would disturb the order of things. The
landscape unsettled. we would have to reflect, to think. We would then
nOt eat the frui t and give ou rselves time to see its beauty. Architecture
has 10 act like the plate of poisonous frui t if it is nOlto be consumed.
To see. 10 experience. we need the mind. Architecture is practised by
thinking architects. ror a thinking public. Critical awareness begets
critical response. To e..~ape consumption, architecture must con-
stantly renew itself. It has to make visible what has become invisible.
. ,'
EllA ZENGIiELIS
In giving sense to a reality that appears scnseless, it has the power to
;1II'l'rI it and to make even mediocrity unusual and ex hilarating. In its
ne wness. architecture is modern. Modem architecture is like a relay
between yesterday and tomorrow, via today.
For now, an architecture of no fixed theory or doctrine, with a visual
vocabulary of instability ~an architecture that cannOt be codified and
turned into a style - can escape consumption and retain hiSlorical
relevance. Its modernism is as '> imilar in its shock and as different in
its substance as the modernism of the RenaisS30ce was, or the
modernism of eras to follow will be. 11 echoes and assens its time. No
one who is disenchanted with the tangible or intangible spirit of the
pr(':'ientcan hope to be an architect unlilthis person 's ideals correspond
with that spirit. At best the pcrson can be a c ritic. a journalist, a
philosopher, an aestl'('fe; even a visionary. AI worst a practitioner of
kitsch . Bulnever an architect.
For an architect, arc hiteclUre is active propaganda in the original
sense of the word. Sometimes ostentatious. sometimes discreet. it is
always immodest in its presumptions. Like all great things, it rises
above the limited horizons of bourgeois trade-off mentality; it gives
ideas freely and believes in those to whom it gives them. And, like
science, it espouses that most aristocratic of assumplions: that the
breadth and quality of its hypotheses wilt be echoed in what it finds.
The beauty of architecture lies in its syfllhetic claims. Everything
about it is anificial. Of alt its aspirntions this is the easiest 10 justify
because i[ is universal. All that belongs to nature is by definition
doomed [0 extinction. We are born, we die, we disappcnr. Only our
ideas. our art, Ihe artificial. seem to offer a certain promise of
pennanence . The ultimate dream of mankind could well be that by
means of the artificial it might become immortal. Why live if every-
thing dies and has to begin again with every birch? The artificial resists
this absurd condemnation and gives us at least the illusion of survival
and fusion with the continuity of infinite existence. What other reason
would there be for an if it wasn 'tto risc above the momenl? This is the
hedonism of our aesthetics. And it is worth asking ourselves whether
the history of mankind is not in all logic a trajectory toward the
ultimate substitution of nature by the artificial which would carry the
definitive victory over death .
241
DECO:-lSTRUCTION

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 BEHNISCH & PARTNERS
Hysolar Institute Building, University of Stuttgart

The 1I}\olar In~[iIUiC. a jOint Gcnnan-Saudl
Ar"hl:.m rc\Carch project. i~ ;ll1cndcd [0 ill"
COlllmOOalC racililic~ for v.mo\J\ IC~h COIl-
nected with the exploitation of ~ol;\r energy.
ll1C~C (C\l~ lake place both mlhe labonHllric\
and ollf\idc the building.
II i, a \lTlall bU1lding 011 Ihe edge of the large \\or'" done til Ihe huilding l ~ rcnetted mlhe
uni\er~ily campll'. Ln StuttganVaihingcn a :m..'hitcctural dc,it!.Il.
,y
'l11all building wilh an imporl:J11l role. Thi ... 'lX=cial project h:ld to be lOmp1ctcd
1111.' \pccialn:twfc of tlli ... role detennincd quid!y and on a 10" budget IV.'O faclOT'\
Ih" architcclurn\ uc,ign: the labor:110ry build- wIlldl ill nue need the choi cc of bu lid iIIg lIlel h-
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249
I)ECONSTRucnON

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250
 HIROMI FUJII
Ushimado International Arts Festival Centre, 1985
This project began wi th an old storehou se
left from the Edo period. Archilcch gener-
ally respond to such a condi tion wilh
fu:.ion or contrast. harmoni ~i ng lhe design
with the environment or re laling the two
in some Ol he r way. I disregarded suc h
conventions however. and began by meta-
morphosing the storehouse. Th is is not the
first lime I have used the method I call
'mct3morp hology ', wherein mm sforma -
lion of formal and spatial codes of archi -
tecture. if repealed. causes form s and
spaces to lose the ir coding and to become
tracc~ o f their origina ls. Thei r previous
\ ... --
meanings aTC neilher retained nor e ntirely '~ Ilia
elimmated .
What do we feel when we encounter
Ihis building? The fragmentary differen -
tiation induced by the traces may sugge st
historic ruins or may suggest something
elsc. The mClamorpho"ing of the old storc-
house involved first of all identifying and
then rearranging its characteri stic!<o. Open-
ings and solid wall s of exposed concrete
are. for e xampl e. set L11 opposition to
geomctric walls with g ridded joints. to
di!>connecled, fragmentary surfaces. and
to walls that define interi or :md exterior
spaces. The architeClural elements of the
lounge building are all revcr..als o f the
e\cments of Ihe office building: openings
and solid wa lls in o nc become respec-
tively solid walls and openings in the
other. The repeated metamorphoses pro-
duce a 'balcony' space, yel. through Ihese
transformations we can no longer say with
certainty what this !<opace i~ . Ifour world is
built up Ihro ugh the accretion of everyday
experience and thereby becomes meaning-
ful . then lh is can be said to be a dcconslru-
c led s pace thaI has escaped the co nfi ne~ o f
ROORI'I.AN our world.
DECONSTRUCTION

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Berlin - The Forum of Sand
Pro posal for the Cultural Foru m, Berlin , 1988
T he Forum or S<lnd
i~
The first question for Berlin toda y \0 rind
strategic)) thaI can lcgitimi~ empty space.
(This city is truly contemJXlmry precise ly
because il is no longer continuous. conneclCd
or coherent. )
The Forum of Sand Cltposes Ihe um..able
eleme nt on which Ihe c ity i)o buill : a romlal-
iscd field. a pure cin:lc; a ' pace whol>c quality
i'i ilS emptinC'i.lo: a podium (al the ~me heighl
as the podium of Mic ..) of ' dog frec ' sand
which marshals Ihe prcviouloly unrcwl vable
space belween N:lIional Gallery, National
Library and the Philharmonic.
8ridge and Ship
'nlC second QUClol iol1 for Berl in is Ih;n its
drcamsl1avc become unfocused. (The exhibi-
lion' BeTI in Berlin' presented 1,000 different
cities. remembered Berlin .... fragmented Ber-
PETER WILSON
1 .,- :1
l lin s, possible Berlins.)
Cities like primitive tribes. need artefacts
to focu s their dreams. Here two new city scale
artefacts arc proposed for thc Forum of Sand
..... - a Bridge and a Ship.
The Phenning Brti~k e: a found artefact. length
85 metres; material riveted steel; original 10-
I cation. Wedding. adjacent 10 the wall: new lo-
cation . Forum of Sand: new function. a public
space with servicing adjacencies. Caft: of the
North. Cafe of the South.
The Havel und Spree: an arteract partially
reconstituted from drawings; Schnell Dam-
phcr (fa st sleamer): length 190 melres: origi-
nal func tion. transporting immigrJ.nts across
the Atlantic: new function. four mechanical
carpark towers. onc mechanical car park wall.
an extension to the National Library. a library
, for images Berlin.
AXO)<OMEnuc
253
DECONSTRUCTION

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 ARQUITECTONICA
The Atlan(is
A 96-unll, 20-slorcy condominium apart-
ment building at the edge of Biscayne Bay
in downtown Miami. The !Ower rests on a
two siorey. 200 car underground parking
garage. A 37 fool cube has been removed
from the building al Ihe 121h floor creat-
ing a sky courl for Ihe building residents.
Thi s sky court con tains a jacuzzi. palm
trce and red ci rc ular stai rcase. The Mary
Tiffany Bingham Mansion originally on
Ihe site has been rcslOred to serve as Ihe
club house for Ihe condominium The
project also includes a lap pool.lcnnis and
squash couns. and health club.
The building won a Progressive An'hi-
fecwre Citalion and a Soulh Florida Chap-
leT of The American Institute of Archi-
te(:\S Award.
MinH' le Ce nler
A mixed-use complex on :10 urban site in
the Coral Gables area of Miami . . The
Recent Work
YII WOI' TIIE BABno."
project includes 230.000 square-fcct of
retai l shops. tell movie theatres and health
club on three levels. Above the retai l.
there is parking for 1000 cars and an 18-
storey. 100.000 square-fool tower con-
taining 98 residential apartments.
The Hel msley Palace
The tallest condom inium in South Florida.
containing 255 apartmen ts in 42 sto reys.
A main tower is organised around three
eleyator cores. each with only two apart-
ments per floor, allowing views of both
city and bay from each unil while elimi
nating lOng hallways and achieving excel-
len l efficiency ralios. A second bui lding
con laining spec ial lerrace aparlmentS
intersects the lower. reappearing on the
opposite Side to form a monumental porte-
cochhe. Townhouses line a wlHerfront
promenade. concealing Ihe Iwo-level
parking garage.
North Dade Justice Center
Thi s regional courthouse is masler-
planned 10 serve as an anchor for a new
government centre complex. The court-
rOOIl1 wing hovers above two isolated
buildings. one containing the public lobby
and offices for thc Clerk of Couns. State
Anorney . and Public Defender. The sec-
ond building conta ins secure park.ing and
recelvlllg arens.
The Baby lon
5-storey. 13-unit condominium apartment
located on Bi ~c ayne Bay in downtown Mi
ami. The building is designed as a ziggu-
rat in a wedge-shaped si te 10 take maxi -
mum advantage of the buildable area al-
lowed by code. The project includes a
roof-lOp pool and an observa Tion deck: and
ground leyel covered parking.
This building won a Pr08,.ess;v~
Archiret.wre De sign Award Citalion.
 STANLEY TIGERMAN
Construction (De )Construction (Re) Construction
Architectural Antinomies and a (Re)newed Beginning
The ( prt~)'l'.l"t
of American Worgcl)fullles.~
n1t"'!Amnc~iac (pre)Text roran American Ah~cnre (exi Ie) (under)lI'rill's
(!undcrlr(~hls) repeated anempt~ at healing nn irreparable wound.
Tnosecontinuoulily failed atlernpb result from an in ilial fai lure 10 heal
the origmal contaminmion ~ceded a1 the site of Eden. The in~i~tancc
to heal the unhea!able results in perpetual attempts to deflect life' s
trajectory away from ib inevitable. (ir)ru/llcihll' end.
MEM}Jf; R "~ 1 (D!S) ~U:.\I8f;f<u 2 (RE)MM8FR'U\
CONSTRUCTiON (dl:)CONSTRUCI"ION (I\; )CO,"" STJ.:. l)rn ON
7JMZflM SIIF.WRATIlIIAKUM TIKKUN
" If lhe sLx-pointed Slar is an :tndenl symbol for heahng . why does
'ti me heal all wound''-"!
**~(!mher.f of the human race arc (dis)mcmhcrcd through their
panicip:l1ion in. observalion - or taci t acknowledgcment of - a
holocauSl. which they all (sub)f(un)wlI.w:io/l.I'-1 (re)lIIcmhn. At
Masada. in mcmory of ilS downfall. and in mcmory of 1.111 sub~cqucnl
downfalls. newly initia ted membcrs of the Israeli arlny (rc)flwmht'l"
( di~)fll eflll.1i'lT1Lcnt by swearing the oath 'l1cver again'.
The (sub)text (lr Kabhalistic interpreta tion (a )
(a) From Harold Bloom's interpretation of Lurillnic Kabbalislic
typology: A Map (Jf MisreaC/illg. p5. (paren theses <Ire my own).
lIMlUM' SIIf.\'IRATIi NAKELI.\'~ TlKKU,.,. .. ...
ZIMZUM is the Creator's wilhdrawal or conmu.:lion so as 10 nl;tke
possible a creation (memher) that is not (hirn)seif.
.... SHEV IRATH HAKELlM is the bre,lking-apan-of- th e-ve~sels
(l dislm/'ml}('r) , a vbion of crellliotHIS-cmastrophe.
***'TIKKUN is reslitution or restoration <Irel/llemh,,/") - man' s con-
trlbUlion 10 God's work.
I Member n. I A person belonging to an incorporated or organised
body .society, etc: a mernbcrofCongres~. a member of a club. 2 A limb
or other funclion:ll organ of:1ll animal body. 3 A pan or c lement of a
'Itructuml or composite whole, dislinguishable from other part" or
clements. a~ a pari of a sentence. ~yllogism, period, ordiscourse, or any
necessary part of a Slru( tural framework. as a tic rod. post or Slrut in
lhe truss of a bridge. 4 A subordinate ciassifi(atory part A species b
a member of a genus. 5 Bot. A part of a plant considered with reference
10 position and ~tructll re . but regardless of function. () Math . a Either
side of an equ<ltion. b A sct of figures or symbols fonning part of a
formul,l or number. c Anyone of the items forming a serie".
2 Dis-member v. I To cut or pull limb or part from part . 2 To divide:
sep,lrate imo part s and distribUic. as an empire.
J Rc-membcr "', I To bring back or prc!>cnl :lgnin 10 the mind or
memory; recal!; recoliect. 2 To keep in mind c.Hcfu lly. as for :1
purpose. 3 To bear in mind wilh affcelioll. resl>Cct. awe. etc. 4 To bear
in mind as wonhy of a reward. gift. etc: She remembered me in her will.
S To reward: li p: Rememberlhe steward. 6 Obs. To remind. 7 To have
or use onc's memory.
....'o,lrrmsfll (rc lPostm",{",m.,.",
(H.lpostC)
COIwrll< 1/1111 (rl,)e(m Hf"lwrirJII
Pmdl'clion I Dc<!ru,:tion (n:)/'I,~III("/io" 2
I'rc'<Cnl 1 Ab.,.n! (rcW,,'.i,.rlr .t
I Production n. I The act of proces.~ or producing. 2 In political
economy. a producing for usc. inVOlving the crc:t1ing or increa~ing of
econom ic wealth: in con tradiSl incti(JIl to consumption (by u~e). 3 Thm
whi(h is produced or made: any mngible rc!>u lt of industrial. :trti~li c or
Iitcr;iry labour.
2 Rc-produclion n. I The aCl or power of reproducing. 2 BioI. The
process by which an an lmal or plant gives rise to anolher of ilS kind:
generati on. 3 Psycho l. Till' process of/he lI/e/l1ory hy which ohjens
/hat 11m 'l' pn' l ';UII sly het' /I k11011"11 an' hrulIMIt/ bad;. i /1111 COIu(io l/SIII'.\"J
(italics arc my own). 4 That which is reproduced. <IS a revival in drama
or it copy in art.
., present adj. I Heing in ;1 pl:ice or company referred to or C01l1em-
plated: being at hand: opposed 10 absent. 2 Now going on: current: not
pas! or future . 3 AClUally in mind. 4 Immediately impending or
aClUally going on: 1I0! delayed: imtant. 5 Relating to or ~ignify in g what
i~ going on at the time being: the prc!>cnl tense. pre..;cnl participle. 6
Ready al hand; prompt in emergency; a present wit. a pre~cnt aid. n I
Present time: now: the lime being . 2 gram. The present tense; also. a
verbal fo rm denoting i1. 3 A present matter or affair; a que<;tion under
consideration. 4 pI. law Present writings: tem! for the document in
which the word occurs: Know all men by these pre"ents.
4 Rc-presen t \'1. To ~rve as the symbo l. e:(prc1'>sion or designation of:
symbolise: The letters of the alphabet represcnt the <;ounds of speech.
2 To expres~ or symboli se in Ihi ~ manner: to represent roya l power
wilh a sceptre. J To set fonh a likeness or image of: depict: pOrtray. a~
in painling or sculpture. 4 a To produce on the stage. as <In opera. b To
act the part of: i111JXrsonate. as a character in a play. 5 To serve as or
be the delegate. agent. etc. of: He represenl s the State of Maine. 6 To
describe as being of a specified character or condi tion: They rcpre-
~en ted him as a geni us. 7 To SCI forth in words: state: explain : He
represented the circumstancc~ of his case. 8 To bring before the mind:
present clearly. 9 To serve as an example, specimen. type. etc, of:
typify : His use of words rcpre~cnt~ an outmoded ~chooJ of wriling.
 ') [A~LI;Y '11<;rR \1,\ '\

(re )l'MIMmf 1111'<11, ,'11/ relains reluctantly Ihe palimp~c'l 01 the ~cah of a[1\Hhcsi~). Pla~lic
RllX"'tc SlrIlillmllllm surgery in the guise of failh rnanife,ted in ~ynthe'> L ~ remove!> the trace
In:)tlmm' of the wound of antltheM~, who),Cconilnuoo prc,ence would Olhc~i:-e
{nne1>\'(/ be (un )In'amhh' in 11\ (unj"t'svlw'd perpetuation, LIldecd LIlI" m~i~lenl
lre)N,'" . (rc )illll'/P' ('/lJ1 Inll, For liege I, no III riller in tCrprctat Ion of Ihe sacred
(rCISwrr leXI i~ requircd - failh, or belief fiN (di~)"f{/l'(,s. then (rdplar('s
excgc'l'. ~lIIce thc contravention of anllthc,i" i~ removed. Tcxtu.11ity
The (l'cm)text of the initial wound (origin:11 sin ) ('ca!>l'!o to he an irrltalion - anILlhe,i'i, and wJ\h It intcrprctallon. i\
Ad.no .... lcdgmg Ihc prc-.ence of a wound (.l1Id cxpre~~ing 111:11 adrnb- (db)l'faU'd inlo a hiatic !\I:lle of lil11bo only awaiting (re)a('/lIarlvn.
sion by pcrpc [U :III Y I re IPI"l'SI'11I illg I h;\1 wo und I cut. ('Ollf/I'I" I by I he ...C:I r .... Americllll~ inheriT a pO~I-Niclszchean world where fir~t the sacred
Ihal ~iglilfies itl. docs nOl relieve one from the recurring rc'ron~jbiJily other - God then the ~:Icred <;elf - man i, murdered. Bellcffir~tln
Ihat define~ human behaviour. ,uch thai il cOnlinuou,ly ;lIIempts 10 :J divine belllg, and then by extemion, in any bcmg, b (dis )pllll'rl/ by
heal it. Even ),0. II j!o Itter.llly illllXN.iblc to overcome the knowledge (dl,)/n'lIrj. Selfi, {re)"IIIl('(/by an equal 'otherne~~' in an (un).mf,'ubfr
that Ihe wound c:ln never. finally, be healed withoul re~ort ing 10 pla"1 ic eq ual ion (u n )hllr(/el/f't/ by elh ica I cun, ider.nions. Orig. inally, Ihe ~acretl
~urgery. which i~ here interpreted to mean Ihe sllppre'~ioll of Ihe other and the sacred ,elf were on oJlPo~i l e side, of a primary equation.
memory of the" ound (<,e lf-inllu.:ted amne,;:!) - ie. fai th - a!>!>uring L" where, b} c:lch reqUiring the olher, a fabe Male or panly wa~ artifi-
(dLS)<.ll'I,('orIJIII(,. The origi nal "ound -Ihe fal l from a 'tate uf gmcc in cial ly IndUl:I.'11, The introduction of (dl ... )hd/('{(di,)/nI'(Jf(',\' the original
paradi\C r("<luLre~ recognitIOn not suppre... ~ion. Faith rcnden [111) c4ualion, and wilh th:ll (di~)fonll;"{' inlroductlon. (dis)p/lI('('s parilY.
fun her rrllcrprelaTion of the onginal wound IInncce,~ary, thcrdore j U~1 as it (dis)p/w/!.I fiN Goo, and Ihen. as it irrevocably di'place~ man
serving 10 mute memory. Fin:llly, the same pret'i,e faith nul1 ifie~ .m) in a pi arc that j~ (no)/,/m'C',
..en-.e of re'pon'Lbility to (re)U'rt/(' - indeed to (rc)n,l:/1I that original ..... Bom of IIIher ~train,. Ihe allcmpt to produce on' better Ihan Ih'
failure, .... ithOlIl tre )/II01/"g Ihal failure frollllllemory, originallhrough c ro~~-fe rtili salton I ' called 'hybrid' or 'duM'
Ral her than mere Iy acting oUI itenn ion~ of T11 iTllc~ i~ Ihroug h repell- .
lion, All1erican~ allcmpl 10 (rC)flmdll(,f' originary evidence. \0 :1\ 10 IIrllel Hh~lH"'lI'f H1!)iJ,',
'gct it right' the ncxllime: even Ihough they know (,ubktJIIScioIlS/I' jn'l,Vr.<'t'tllkl",f
that 'it' can neither he righled'. nor that one can e\.-er 'get n right'. B ) Ve'l Idl)Ve'l IrelVc,1
}camlng for an 111terseclion with lost origin, for an ab\Cnt bcg1llTling TrJCI Itll\ITI3~1 (T1!)TroM:1
- Aillcrican~ Iry (even Ihough Ihey repeatedly f:lil) to tre )gaill IO'llimc Ton (di"T"rl ( relTon
(never Ihint...ing Ihalthey may he OUI or lime). Sohe ~dc)Sol.e (re)S"I.\'
Even Ihough behef in;1 pre..cnt lempcred by a fuwre perceIved :I' SI!'n IdclSl~n 1n:)$'i:1I
an opponu11Ity 10 rna"" thing' beller, ie, Ii) gain IO!>1 lime, A''il.''mhle (di~IScmllk UC1S('mhl('
(re )1'1'1'.\'/'1110/ lOll In rl' f' .1 be lIer t illl!.'. By \Upcrt1l1 IX)" i ng I he concepl of I'"we (dl<)Prll\\.' (rcll'ru~e

time 011 10 Ihe pre,cnl. (re)I1fl'~I'lI/lIII(J1I i~ ralional i'ed . While it i~ well Pkn"h (\I.'II' I('I1I,h (r~lI'lenl'I'
within Ihe ethic, of ,Irchilecture'" dotll:.tin 10 allempllo :tccomph,h Onenl Idl'K)rlelll (t~ IOnCllt
Ihi:.. the. recognillon tlmt failure b perpetually immlllcnt ha.' only General, (deiGcneflile ( re)('.cncflIlt
marginal acccpt:lbriity willun cOTlvenlional architeclur:.tllradillon~ . JilIOnil IdrJF""lI lrc)hmll
The very ,arne Iradltlon" IIw1 mute the mcmory of original ~in. After 11t (mi.lFiI (relFII
all. architec ture ha~ long been althe ~ervicc of perpelual value ~ystern~ Dm_'C1 jrni,)DIR.... I (re)D,n:'1
.. othcrwi ..... 1)I:lto could never have m:cu,ed it (art) ;1' bcrng in Ihe Claim (d,q('IJltu 11l.')(1 J 1111
shadow of truth. COtll(lt.1'>C Ide I<' tllIIl>("" I re )('(>I1l11()\O.'
Irc)pmlillcllol1 verifies onc', hel ler in Ihe origrnal product. C('l I ml ~lCIl'l (rC)CJ'1
(reWrot/u('/ioli i~ an implicit adllll'>sion Ihal Ihe origHl:t! product hl!' Rc"JUlI! (ml'IRcad'lI!1 1n:1 ReadU!~
... alue Ihrough 1cL1l1nalion by atlcmpting 10 make Ihm ori!linal produci Appropn,lIc 11l11$)"I'I,rr'pnalC rn: ll\ppropnale
beller by repc;L1cd l} (re )nlll~illg LI (the plLrpo~e of cro,>... -lcrlll i~lIlon. Coum h.h <jCoum I fl:lCounl
indeed Ihe purpo),C underlying Ihe conceiving of a child imp he, thai Coune Idl,J{'()UN' (rc)CnuN'
Ihe nc.x( ilera Iinn will be belief than Ihe origin ati IIg Ol1l'). (rc jPrr Idll!'/ lOll ('e lllrtll~ (tic )CellI rlll g 1re )(.'cnlrmg
ahocxploil~ the p..l"'''ge of tlllle to heilllhc wound of the enlrance Into "IomIIlJln>l) (tk) '<Otllll'n!n," In: )"IollllnJIIC)fI
rhe "orld of a (re )W'Olll/ad produ('[. Evidence 10 thecomraf)' not" ilh- LOC:I1IO<l I d'~ II..Ql"IIOIl rrell ~k:allOfl
~tandmg, Ihe concept of attempllng to Jlllpro'>e a ~l tu:lI IOn conlradlcl!> Plal'Cmelll (d" lI'!~cemenl (n: )1'1.acCIIICIlI
the cy rl1cal view Ihal {no)l/lIllg ever gets bener - it j .. only different. C" /I \ 11'11(/ I"<I (It' )(,oll.lIfI" 1ml/ I n:)C ,1It1ll'!<o(m,
Thi, j, where ero~~-fcrtili~alion inlerseCtS wilh archileClurc, Each i~ ('uH:r Idl,lCo~er In:lCo\<<
..clllmally infonlled b} Ihe opinion imrin,jc 10 both . , , I take this E~ Jluallt," 1tk'i Valu Jl l00 (rr )VaIUJlIon
opllllli,rn to ' Ignify acl" of atlempl~ al healing. ACII~ale jde)Ach\;lIe (n:1 A('I"ah:
' WhIle Hegel rnallllain" thai when love ]' Ifuly conceived, "Ihe FQm131U"1 (de jF,)flnJIIOIi I It )Fonnal 'WI
",our"!.. of ~piril heal and Icave no "ca r~". Hcidegger insi,>l~ Ihat Ihe
rcndmg of difference can ncvcr be totally hc:.tled. iI'II'M f._"I.,' . I/"mr A,...", "nom U "<I"'u,
(A/larih' 51 )
HCldeggerian ' cr. . ion of Bfl/lel/. '81Ided. 'Bilde,,',
(re}lll'r~

(Re)llr .. 'Cd Belief .... Sce Till' Anllir('('fl/I'f' ofElrlt' by S Tigenm\ll , RinoJi, New York,
1988.
Wllh lIegel, a long ontolheological tnldition comes 10 an end,
through ' .. ynlhe"I~' (or i~ ill ~II\ 1Thrsis?) - a mechanism Ihat generally .... Replacement of a displaced place.
~ubor[1~ 'Ihe~is', but more particularly !'Ilppresses '(anti)/lInt's', in
favour or (re)so/Ijll.': (and presumably amalgamating), bolh, The The (re)/'ressed Texl of Americlln Archit t'clurt'
's.cal;.' or antithCM" is pcnllilloo 10 heal (the <;ear of synthesis only Increasingly. as the 20th century neOlrs completion. if j, becoming
DE('Oi\STRl (TID,'
painfully clear that the (im)possihfe ~earch for an intrinsic American
architecture ha>; been (di'\)lof'aled in a time marked by time (marking
time), and tl1 a place signifying (no)pl(1('e, of (im)pl'O/m/lll' closure,
That clarity revea ls a (dis)juncrion symbolic of the lSite of an American
absence (re)presl'l1fing the inheritance of an empti ness learned origi-
nally just outside the easl gHte of Edell. The primary elemen t that
always expresses the constituent features of any epoch - language ~ is
currently (de)/illlilcd in despair by Ullcrence~ {dis)/oc{Jfed from both
theocentnc. a:. well as anthropocentric. val ues.
LlJIguistic codes exert power through expres~ion (the same code~
however. also exert power through suppression). They innucnce
(im)IIIf'(/Surah/y beyond the clements that they nominnlly define.
(de)Coded.like Samson :.horn. they appear to simply stnte facts even
as they inadverten tl y reveal the magic of the moment.
[n America. a land composed virtually ent irely of succc"sive
generations of exiles. the yearning to return to an original innocent
state as a failed (re)pluceme/ll of inhabiting succe~~fu ll y an alien and
re~is t ing . rooting' instincts. now has a corresponding set of linguhti c
codes that arc utilised in order to express the (dis)juIlClirl' nature of our
time. Denials now (dis)p/ace originary definition~ thaI. in the begi n-
nin!l. rooted mankind to being through dwelling to ex i~tence in a home
always at home. The cynicism of sophist ication lage) has (re)l'/aC(!lJ
the spontaneity of innocence (youth). But it wasn't always that way in
a more childlike America. new ,Hid before its frce/f:lll from grace.
The (cojim:il/l'l1ce between the guile less optimism of il young
nation, and a discipline such as architecture (whose tradition resonates
with characteristic optimism) is tacitly understood. That (co jillcidence
is powered by tbe courage to :tccept l\ belief systcm perpetually
(re)acril"(1led by 'newne~s'.
Modernism muy have actually begun in the Renaissance as a
condition of appropriation. but it was never enjoyed (nOT exploited)
more thall by a naLion of innocent exi les who. if they were to be true
to their instinctive optimism, had no choice but to (re)tiirt'("/ their
unsought condition constructively in . modern ways' . The very word
- M odernism - mlplies a condition of amnesia about the pas\, a
determined <lllachment 10 the present. even while tilting slightly
toward the future. Dialectically. however. Modemis1l1 also implies a
challenge to a (pre)M otfern condition inadvenently clarifying MOd-
ernism while appearing to stand over and against it. Modemism. after
all, found a welcoming home in a child like, youthful America free
from cunning. (un)injorllll't/ by deceit. (un)wilH('d by sophistlcat ion.
:111 America for whom the present meant everything, and where
(forgetifllll1t'ss about history seemed essential to young Americans
schizophrenically revelling in their (prc.)mimelic innocence. even as
they desperate ly desired parity with others who. they hoped. perceived
them as the newest sophisticates.
The (te.'d)ure of a nlinomy
A synthesis ([ sin !Thesis) of continuously (un)/"e.l"Oh'ed (op )p0.l"irio/ls
based on the (ir)recunl"i{ability of seeming ly necessary inferences or
conclusions (antinomy) ~eems ( un )/ikely in an age dUillly devoted to
either se lf-verification through the uses of the past. or to an
(un)t'Ol/dilio l/(ll indu lgence in the ( un)pruJicw/;i/iIY of the future .
Both stra tegie~ (dis)/oral(, equally a belief in the power of the present.
The re~ul t ing all1biv:lIance elcv:I\es (dis)jIlIlClioll to a I>ositionai pri-
macy of domination. and seems to suggest that the intrinsic quality of
presence has :Ill (u njresoh'obly slippery Janus-face that looks either
backward or forward. but i~ ~o waferlike that it cannot speak meaning-
fully of its own time. The sound emanating from the face of the present
i:. either Babel-like. or mute, giving way alternatively to the cacoph-
onyofthe past and/or to the vast silences of the future. Simultaneously,
by speak ing (dis)mrdantly of other times and other place~, the voice
of contemporaneity is strangled. We seem (un)ahfe to articulate a
preM!nt paradoxically (de)\'oid of the inspiration to 'hlow its own
hom' .
We ~ho uld know that looking backwllrds for verification only
results in the wrenching frustration of an exile huplessly yellrning. for
an (ir )relri('l'ah/l' original irll1OCcncc. allainable only in memory.
through (un)jll/fllled desire. (Op)plIsiliollal/y. we ~hould understand
that. by 'throwing the baby OUI with the bathwatcr'. a future withoUl
its pa~t is only fictively compc lli ng (a nd even that is temporary ). since
we arc also reminded that 'we (can)lIol not k.now history' . Both polar
po"itions llrc (un)promisill,r.:, since neither is possible (with)olll know-
ledge of the other. Each is conHlminated by it~ {op)posill'. thus neither
is particu larly innocent. Bookended by positions describing a condi -
tion of anti nomy. the present i>; drained of it<;elf shrftmg. ih weIght so
that it lies tilntilisingly always just OUt of reach . ' Movement' or
'mobility' (the oscillation between [op !posirioll.\). be('omes the
dominant currency of an otherwise vacuous. ~tate of contcmporaneity.
Perhaps contemporary A merita is nOl a generati ve source of indige-
nous architect ure after all. An American abselllation may be uscribed
to the fact th at this country is nei ther old enough to legitimate. nor
young enough 10 retrieve. vi~iol1s otherwise located elsewhere. On the
one hand. America' ~ ab>;ence may be inextricably tied 10 the power of
its pluralistic precedellls which. for many. are rooted to a place that i>;
multitudinously 'other" than any single one that could. in other
circumstances. be culled' home' . The power of origin:rry evidence. to
which many Americans ~till yearn (and wi th it. the (re)ill'/"lIIi\"/' power
of mimeSis). overwhelll1~ sensing possibilities tied 10 illl (other)wi.\c
{dis)illllsiolliIlK present. On the other hand. by Ihru~ting one's "elf into
the (un)kll{)\1"11 without the (re )(lSSllr(ll1tl' of precedent llO say nothing
of the comfort of convention). the (dis)j/I//I"Iil't'nt'.fs of that thinnes ~ of
time which is uniquely and solely ours i5 (re)elljol"ced. perpetuating an
ahselll presf'lII.
The con tinuous :.earcil for a point of origination in order 10 project
form metaphorised by the Edenic tree of life i~. in AmeriCll. a . Faery
Lmd' without roots. perhaps even without a native >;oil which would
otherwise nouri:.h thought~ of home. or 'dwelling' , or 'being '. It is
precisely in re~ponse to being an American in an age where absence
is characterised by removal fTOrn 'playing the game', thaI causc~ one' s
gaze to stray to places and pleasures behind. or in front of. one 's
position in time and in place. The ~u.s pen sion of bel icf in an American
prescncc di~locatc~ value as well as il1uslon in the power. indeed the
ex istence. of a perpetwll America n dream . That pan icu!ar (d is )jIlIlCIiOIl
{re)/oc(l/CS the power of the performer of presence to the selections of
the spectatOr of absence, result ing illthedominal ion of the voyeur ovcr
the player.
TI1U~ the energy (or is it enervation?) of continuous contemporary
(dis)localivll i~ bookendcd by a nevcr-to-bc-retrieved past. and a
never-to-be-fulfilled future . The inference that a (dis)jrlllclil"e present
is inevitable is seeded by the (im)possibifiIY of fulfilment by moving
either forward or backward. and (rekll}ol"("(,.I" a gripping pause that is
marked by (de)com'lrr/{:ril'f' marginalia. The death of God combines
with the death of 111;111 (fore)cflH'iIlX whatever oplimi~m that might be
otherwise intrinsic to aprl'sclllthat haspl"l.'.wllc'. The abseIlceof either
'ethiell norms or moral fonm' conveys a chimeric freedom that
exploits the loss or the power of prc~encc. That imaginary (dis)c/osllre
present~ instead a perpetually contaminated dosure ~ignirying the
illusion that (i111)pelj"l'I'lioll is its own reward - the paradox of the
absent presel1l - (de)C"OI1.1"II"IIClioll.
By elevating interpretation lOan (un)p/"('('I'deilledievel of (di:.)be/iti
(or freedom. depending on your view). not only i~ faith cXilcerbillcd.
but ethics arc excised in a country, desperately in need of values in
order to mark its maturity. The ab~ence of ethica l values(super)imposcd
on a st,lIe of incessant interpretation. projecb :1 fabe sense of
(in)(/epl'lrdelli."e (in)cOllsiSII'IIf with the development of ,Ill
individual.
or collective. se nse of self.
If Hegel's { pro)posifion of the trinity of first Greek. (dis)p/uced by
Jew, and (re)p/acI'd by Christian is modified so that the origina.1.

(un )/alllfll'I"I'd be Iie fin god( ~ 1 b (d is )p/fI('j'(J by man' ~ challenge to h i~
l1lonOlhcl,IIC God through the elevation of the <;elf in order to engage
10 dialogue wit h God (the .... uund of continuou!> IIIlerprcl:tll()n), and
when Ihal finally faih and 111.111 i~ expelled from paradise. man ',<:rforh
to make reqitutinn in order to malo..e t h~~ v. orlll beuer b) 311cI1lpting to
heal an (un)healahft, rift, thell;! Ilew (pro)pOSifUH/ ( rell'll/l"iuX 'fall h'
(plastiC ,urgery) come.. to pa". The palllllp"e:o.! of the origln:11 'Wound
i~ re vClI led an cr'l,ure ' S Iran! nlade present by the presc nee 0 I a '(::1r
.... hidl (rc)pI"I'St'1Il1 the ... ignaturc. or name. by which the aUI'lIIfll at
healing bo..'Come, eviden .. Time I~ crucial to the under'tandlllg of
healing. for wsthout the 1l:1,~ing of ti1llc. 111;!!1 I..ind'~ (in)ohiJilY to
\u,tain pain would 110\ eXI"t re'li iting in an (un)I'mlill"lIhJ('. ('ull\inu-
ous. (Xlin. The (X1";lgC of tlllie (combined with Illall' s amne,ia about
II) aUov.!> fora scab to ITlclamorpho-.e mtO:l .;car. StIlce the mindcannOI
~u~tain pain. a ,ClIr l~ a mar" lhal c;m he intcrprctcd :I~ 'lign ifying
origlll:l l pain. while atlhe ~alllC time the 'car (rejprl'.\I'III.1 the cra~ure
of that ongina l paUl.
The original v. ound can never oc healed byexei,ion. or r~ll1oval. but
an attempt al (re)('II//('ilimirm i, l1ece:o."ary to (re)[I/'('.II'11I faith in being,
exi~ting, dwelling, The ,C;lr remain~ '0 that one may not eva forget
that there w:t~ a v. nund in the fir,t lllaee. A ,>car be:lr'\ the I ra("~ of a ~c a b.
troubled by lime. A \Cab (rel/u ,'sems the mitial ~ign of the proce~, of
hea ling. W h~11 a ,cab b ripped off. the wound thai it marked i~
(r~ )O/lI'I/{'IJ, new blood I' 'hed. and the onglna I pui n i~ (re )1II1'IIIf1t!ref J.
Thc '>Car C:lllnot be (re)(lJwIlI'd wilhout the creation of a new wound
hupcr)IIII/JIIsed by new pain. l3 ut J1~ perpetual pre~e!lc", (re)"lt'lI/hers
the member that W;I" t1Tlgllwlly ruptu red through a proce,~ nominally
calkd (di~)lIIl'l1Ihl'/"IIIi'IIf. TlIllC i"lntet;ll to a sClluclice of hcaling th:1I
begin,> b) ruptllring a (pre)l'w'IIII,t! condition. and emh with the
memory of the enactment ofa fai led att~rnpl to \re)I'1l111'('1I that 10'1,
originary pain .
The (Sub)Tc\:1 ( Sllp e r) l lIlpU~d ( )n T he (ConITe.\ 1
The corro latiOIl between thc Llirianicul ly intcrpn.!led K'lbbalislical
trypllch (Lul/ : lIl1J . Shn;I"(I(1J 1/(11.1'1,,". nUl/II) alld their :lpparently
coincidenta Iarchitectural COuJllerp3rl~ (I Olll>(rlll 11011. (de )um I(nl/ lion.
(re)nIllSII"II/"fioll) can nu longer lx' ignored.
The hi~to ry of Western :lrdlitcClure i, indelibly swin('u hy an
ob'>tlnatc optimism traced ,ole ly by COll,tructiv(' alliJudes signified by
con~t ruc t io n . (in}Forme(J by 3Il1hropex:cntri,m. architect.-. ha\e obli-
gated Ihem ,e Ive' III ilIl.:t ie.!! Iy ICl repcal Ihe parad I\ll' (un }eql/al h i... ra r-
chical relationship by ,ubordinating self III that fiN perfect architec t
- God - hy who,e hand man', 1I111i:11. and only ide;11. h()me th ...
Garden of Eden - wa, concel\ed. Traditionally. the overv.helming.
desire I() 'get it right ' h:1\ b..:en (re)pI"I'I'l'lIled by buildi ng' supprC',~ ing
any trace of a . v. ound' (or. for that matter. (re)prt'.I.IllIg the (X,,,age of
lime and with it - ,upprc'~lng the only hope of he:l ling that \\ ound).
The '>ig.n of intrimk nptimhm wa': manife~t in con'tTuction, ie, that
belle1 III being. or c.xbtence. that the Bible (I;Her IrelIl'I'IIII'" by
STA'\J U ~ ' T[(WRM I\'\
I'kidcgger) addresse'>.
Wh:lIeverlhe nat ure of ("on:.tructIQn - II ' 'I) Ic. I t sconte~t. ih bias - the
Implicit (Iptimism of the human ,pint IIlllocently. If (m)mill'I/l'ml\",
,uppre~~ed 'll1i~take,' so a" to IIllllletic!I IIy expr"C~' rnan"lnd's
(un)cql/II/, and (im)p('Ij('(I. re lallOIl"hlp to a divine being.. Equ:llto
Luria '.' K'lbbal lstica l interpretation 01 'ZimLulll' (God'~ wlthdmwal,
ma"ing W;I) for mankind). anthropoccntri~m. ic, the mfcrer1ce of
l1lan kinc\", a"suilling 'centre ' lage. to beller aCt (lut till' primary
(in kqllllJUI. v. as cffec ted. Edelllcall). ZJlnzulll Call be interpreted a\
Goo':. ~'s t a b ll!>h i ng of authnnt) 1.1)' the Genesi50 dl\'ltlc denial ('do not
ca l of Ihe tree in thc centre of the gurdell') ..... hich (lhrough God's
wi thdraw.II ). leave" 'I:en tre ~I:lge' a\'lillable for Adam and Eve (0
eilher ol>l.:y, or 10 overturn, that mandate. Either wa). Adam and Eve
are given a prim:lry mes~age by God (un)flJll'm/lll' demanding a
rl" IXHlse. God'~ withdrawal makes Adam'!> and Eve', pre,cnce t>o~
~ihle . By re~ponding at :III (never mind which rcsl>onse), Adam and
Eve c,t:lhh,h their ov.n pre...cllce. v.hlch in tum, ,igmfics God 's
ah~enc(' - or H I~ withdraw'l!'
Simil1lrly. the c,tubli,hlng of u corr~\ponding architecture one
that re~pond, mimellcally to that fiN. perlect place made b} the hand
of God (Eden) - not only commit ... :lfchlleC lurc to a perrctuall}
(im)pNfi'll (onditlOn. but. ironically (re)flI(J\"t'.1 Ihe traee of Ihat
(im)pl'Ijl'I'liofl :IS it ~lIppre~ses any p()~~ibility of erring in favour of
'gell ing il righi', The I'er) nat ure of architccture ~lIlce that lime i~
couched III the (pre)/('/HlIJfI of the arehrtect trying 10 gel 1\ right b)
reducing the pa"age ()f tllne 10 a condition of ab'ence - con~iou,
removal.
A~ an ;trchitcctural analogue to Zlll1ZUm and ii' an epilogue to the
p:l"ioll play of Chri~ t lllllt l y . the architect a~~Ullle, :l po~lIlon of
pr... scllcl' a lo. il1d of divine (relpfan'flIl'lIf - ~o a, to 'l'TC;ltC' mUlletl-
cally derived ileratlon, of all Imagined innocenll<latc CqU;lted wllh per-
fec tion. For almo,t1.000 year.. archllcci'> ha\c dcnlt'd the 'trace' of
Ihat perpetual wound ..... hich Illhtalgic:llly draw~ ll13n"ind bad. 10 an
originally innocenl st,lIe. (IIn)p(}s.~ihl.' III atlain. (il)fnl!im/to con-
ceivc_archltccts nonethele~" pcr!t-I'\ tl'nt ly ~ t rive to reduce the di~ t ance
betwccn the problem, of rmmcw; as they attempt to concrellse divine
Ide:lls into:t neverlO-he-achieved state of innoccnce.
Goo', withdraw;11 :tllow~ mankind to (d is)pJan' HUll. and by their
ov. n (relpJdI elll('III, they all ... mpt to accomplish .!t-ll1ll largoah. \V,th the
corning or Chri,l1anity, fa ith or belief 111 an tdcal (re)I!lIfim rs :Irchl-
lccls' resol vc a." thc y ;lt tel11pl to (re )pllllt' a heaven Iy garde n tnhabned
by 'named' creature' wilh a mmlctkal1y conceived divine city re~ur
rt.'Cl ing l1lankind frOIll the origmal fa ll from g.race. While Chri"lian
f,llth i, the final, synthcsising clcment 111 I-Iegel 's tnp:lr1lte phllo~ophi
cal project (fiN Gred.. th ... 11 Jew and. fina lly. Chmlian). it bccomt's
the fiN in a new trip:lrt Ite <;erie~ fZiml.urn), followed b) Ihe apocolyp
tical VIC" of the 1I(lI'ld metaphorb.ed by Ihe brcalo. lIlg of thc vessels
(Shcvirath Hakclim). OInd COllCIIl(kd by cOlitinuoll,ly failed allempts
10 heal an irreparahle wound (T ilo. kun).
, I
I
I
J

EMILIO AMBASZ
San Antonio Botanical Conservatory, Texas
Thi~ I~ :l compl ex of g reenhouse~ for the
hot, dry climate of Southern Texas. The
tradit ional green house. des igned for
northern climates, l1 ~ es glazing [0 protect
the plants and maximise .. un light . How "
ever, th is is Inadequate in San Antonio.
where the plants rnu~t be protected from
an overabundance of sunlight rather than
from the cold.
The proposal involves ul- ing the earth
3'> a container and a protector of the
plants. com rolling the entry of liglll and
the he:1l level by limiting the gla7.ed Hfcas
10 the roor. a .. a cover for the can hen
'container'. raised in placei'> 10 aCCOIl1IllO-
date tall plant ... By e.-;cavating into Ihe
eanh. the conservatory preserve!> and har
moni ses with ihe gently rolling hi1t~
around it. me rging the categories of cul-
ture nnd nature . The different roof con-
figllfl.ltion s lake their c ues from co ns idera-
tions of the wind and orientation of the
VIEWS 01'111 EXillllOlt
sun . The varied forms of these peak s
permit the roOIllS 10 take 011 a hier.lIi c
presence as an arrangcmen l of secular
temples silling serenely in the landscape.
They have a technologica l il1l<lgc of <llu -
mini urn space-frame and bun-jointed
glass. opposing the naturalisti c setting and
interior mood .
The differe nt rooms arc organised
around a garden patio or co urtyard, char-
aC le ri stic of Texas. This allows for acces!>
to the different greenhouses under a
shaded <lrc:Jde, providel> for easy mainte -
nance and unifie!> the buildings of the
compol>i tion. whilst allowing each unit to
be treMed a~ <I ~e parate building with its
own special c limat ic cond ilio ns and spa -
tial con fi guration. Thi s gives a proces-
sional quality 10 the !>equence through the
con!>crvatory; first Ihe entrance pavilion
with its naked structure, then the long.
narrow orangery lined with fruit trees. the
peace ful fern room with its wate r cascade!>
and artificial mist. Ihe special environ-
menls - desert room. tropi cal rain-fore!>!.
alpine meadow - culmin<lting,in the grand
palm house wrapped lIround its rore ~ 1 of
trees.
The project is a unique arc hitectural
so luti on to Ihe problem of designing a
gree nhouse in a hOI . dry cli mate : whil st
recogni sing regional vernacular in organ-
isation of the buildings. 1he treutment of
lhe earth as a container and glazing a<;
merel y a cover with additional peak s re-
duces the amount of sunlight and allow!>
lhe complex to harmo ni se with ils sur-
roundings and <l Ithe same time en hance it
with sc ulptural Objects.
Architectural Tea m : Emilio Ambasl,
Dwig ht Ashdown . Alan Henschel. Erik
Han sell. Frank Ven ning. Mark Yoes. Suns
Hlling.
 SELECTED PUBLICATION S
'111C on ly pub li r:lrion, lbnt haw appeared III da le 0 11 Ille ~u bjecl of l)c,'on-
,Irucllon III arch ,1,:t.' ru re ,mo 111<.' IIl'ua I J rl ~ :lpan from 111 1\ IIOllUI1C a fC 111//(/( I \
fhrlll/Umrlml,') by Chn ' lOphcr I\.)rrt, anu And rew Ilc nJ.lInin, J. lucid expo-
...llon of the \\ Ofl. of J aCtl Ue~ lX,rmJJ III rel ,lIIon 10 .ir1 ;1I\t! ~rch IIl'.::l ure, and rhe
l~lJlogue of the 'le .... Yllr l. M u,cu lll nf M (l(lcm A n ', c:..tllhu ion 'Occon-
,lrUCllV1S! A rc hIlC('llIrC', by Phili p Jo hl1,(111 and Marlo. Wi gley. The reader i~
.!I'll re fe rred [0 11'.'0 ' l)Cl'ud I'~ UC' of / \ 1'/ IUlhlll f(/llJ t \i~1I m aga/i ne 011 Ihe
\uh)(.,\:I. namely' D.!ctln,rrucrion ami ' DC(;OmlHlCl lu n It . and an i ~~ue uf An
&. 0 ....,..:11 m al!!l ll rlC. ' T he ~C'" \ 1,ldcrni .. m', T he body of wri [i llg\ 011
Decon,rrucllon 1\ grn .... mg all the IlIllC. ho .... evcr. III the foml of Jrlicll'~
JPpearlng in penod llal~. and It I' to t he-.c th.u the readl'r I' d irecled for Iun h('r
I1ItUnl1:ltiOll on lhe cllIlI lIlll lng devctupmenl (I f \XocOIl';trllC ti on in theory J IHI
pr;l~ti('e. Thl' 1I10,t 11111)<>rl,IIH IU appear in Fngli, h lIrt! r\nlJilt'('/lIra/ IJ''>'I,~II.
1..11'1/,'>. An IlI/f'fIWI" ~ l'rlAlIII/1II1 :md An & Dl'li"",. Oll",'r f\la.l;al.U\c' Ihal
h~H' recef\l l~ lool ed m IkconSlnlCti Ol1 mclude I\ n III', An//IIne. lJllltIllf'l-'"
,.." (jA and Tn/m/'I'lI''' & Anhl/t'llIIn' For ~ pt...... il1c ..... orl .. ho cnll~u l l
1II.1gUJ llle rclcrcm:e~ cotllJ llled III Ihe nOle~ for cal'11 lin Ide. Th.:! lollowlIIg
-.ck":IIOll of hoo ~ '. e, Ii Ihll lOI1 callilog ue, :md 1llag:l1 ll1e lui Ide, I~ Inlendeil ll ~
;1 gliide 10 Ihe 1ll0,lllll po rl:1ll1 wn ll ng' II\:\! lla\'c :IPI}c;lred to dalC,
ScI lecl Wr i l ing~h, J aC(III t'S Dcrrida
lJ,uelllilw/IOII. IrJ n ~ IJa rh;lf:l John' 0I1. A Ihlonc Pre". L ond(JlI. 1911 I.
/,(IIJ1m;1 HI/Hf'I'" , (hi ~III (I/GI'(IIII("I/'\' -' fllllllll'(xlll/ /UIII. lrJn~ 10hn P l..e:I\cy.
D(lq\lc~ n c UIlI\'e" l1 ), Prc\~. Pm,burgh. 1978.
(;/m. lran~ 10hn P Leavey ;lIld Ri chard Rand . Uni ller' tl y 01 Ne hrask:1 Prc,~.
Lmwln :uld L(llhJIHI, 11)1)0.
0, GruII/II/(/wIO",l. !Tim, Oayalfl C Spl\<ll. John lIo pl m, UmvcI"oil) Pr.::'~,
B~l lImore. 197".
PH elil. I//I'O"lIi"", II,' /' mllr('. G lilt ICe. PJfI'. 19K 7 .
PW/liml\. I r~ n, Al an Bu,~. A lhhme Prc\~. London. II)K 1.
S/It'hh /1",1 1'/11'110/11,'11, / (1 1/'/ Ollll'f h.I'.III\'.1 OIl 1/11 11';"'/'., "I'hl'on oj SIII!/~.
lr.llI\ D:IVld lJ AIIN'II1. ~ on h ""c'lcm Unillcf' uy Pre'.... 11)73.
\'I~III'I"m!:l'. Ira n' RKh:1f(1 Rand . Colurllbia Unh er-II) PTe~." ~cw ' or~ .
19Rl
1III' 1'11111, /1/ fWIIIIII!:. I r~ '" Geon Bennmgllln and l;m \kLcod. Un I""" ") (If
Clue Jgo Pre". Chl l agn and Lo ndon. II)XI..;,
II nllli ~ (l1It1 DrI/I'n '/11,'. Ir:Uh II 1;1 n [31/". ROlli ledge alill Kegan Pau I. 1.111111011.
19711.
Sclft'lt'd \\ ril i "~~
<I +11. ' llcrn~ rd T-.chullu/Ju Coenen'. TIl~ ) 11. 11)88.
,101 "1. V\l1 1110.1 ,'.1 /'f\!: I('~ dll llllllll"~I'. 1}lnn. P:Ifj .... 19f\lt
1/11.'1111 K itfer. Ie \ 1 hy \1 ~ rl R o~e lH h:lI, The A rr In'l li ule of e h irago ~ nil 111(.'
Philadelphia [l,hl\eu!Il Ilf Mlld enr An. 1987. cx hi hrl ioll ca lJloguc.
\r(illll'lllfrill f), 'SI}!" Dccon~l ruc li on '. Vol 58 N o JfJ,. II}XK.
In 11I/"flUrlll l),'ji~" . ' !JcroIN rIllI IlJII 11". V ul 59 ' 0 I (!. 191'11).
Irl J. IJf'si~l/, 'The '\1e" \1 odcmi'11l. Vu l 4 1\'1) l/4- 1988.
III 'J AM IN. ,I '011 1 w. I ,wlll.lli""lIIullh,' N"mre "f PI,,/(m tph I'; tI NI'II TllI'ol'l
or II orr/.I , R()lli ledge. London. I'))\1).
HI .... ! HUN ...... \1 II~ . 11/1I111111(/1!{1I!1. ILumah A re ndl (eu). Iolllana. London.
11173.
BII \01) \. 1lI1~11 ... (cd ), Nu/ioll 111/(1 I\/I1'mll"". ~ Iclh ue n . London. 1 9~9.
(11'11,1, II(HJOI. 11/.' llImi",!.! fllm/. U tl/doll, 198-'.
III \1 IN, t'\l' l.. 1\ 1I1'~(l/II" 01 H"lIdill~, Y;tk Unh'cr\uy Pre". ~e" 1I:I\'ell .
ron ne'l inH. II)X~.
I I\ I 1'1 "A '. I'll I,ll. 1101/\1"1 01('<11'.1.,. 0:>. furd UII i IIcr_ i IY P rc,~. New YI)r ~ :lI1d
Oxford. 19117.
1 hI' Ell'ec /ll iJ;I''''t'lI. I'urt hcnm Ing I 989.
f 'l\f' l \ nlllh'IH t.ill'II/III/II. Grell';'". GI>'IIIIIIIICY. l/ejl/llA. AII-II'r. v. IIh conlri
hUllol1\ by I-\ ntrur Dre\lcr. Cu lm Rowe. Phllt p Jolm w n and Kcn nelh
FmmplU n. O,ford l ni Vel1> l1 ) r!'e,~. I\ ew Yurk. 11)72. f CII ed 1975.
10\11 R. If,\! (cd). }'(J'/IIIIIIIt'1'I! CU/II ..... Pluto Pn,!\s. London. 1984.
I /1,,, \\t 'I' \. He .1'lit I~. A .... 1) C li AR I 1'1 11 Mt /I, ISO N (cds). M od;'fII/l rl tll/d At mlnl/
1111' . lIarper and Rov.. LonJon. 19K4 .
/I \ It \ I , . I. /Jc rri(/a I/ml ill.' J:. rollfl /IJ \' of })lfjbwUI'. Jn dt~nll L n lVi,'r" I) PTC".
Bioomlllgwl1. J9Kfr.
IALS. ' Idea a~Model'. Rll1u h. ;.,lew York. I I)fll.
JloANS. IA'Ii'S. The M.nlf,,/tl/f.' UI/nrrw. Rldge .....:IY Boo~ ~. i\.C" Yor~ dnd
Lo nd on. I (JW.
JI N('" 'I, CII,\ /I, I I,~. ,-\ rdli /('( !Uri' TlIlla I" ~eco n d cd ilion. , ee espccmlly Cha pler
14. liP :!50-69. Academ), Etli li {1 n ~. I.ondon. I larry l\ A bra l11 ~. New York
1988.
JOIINSO\'. I' A\'1) \I .... m1l-'. Orr-tIIUlrll< lillfl A" IlIlnllln'. ~1 usc um of \ lod-
crn A ri . New YlIrk, II)XX, c:o:hiblllon cawl/)guc.
Jf/llrnal (If f h/ltl,w"l/\ ~(, 1 hI' \ HlIIII A m. Vo l I 1\ 0 I. Academy Edi llon~.
i.o ndon. St Mll rliu ', Prc~~. Ne" Y\lrl . II)X9.
KOCII /lMI~. /I, 1;1>\. LJdi I'ioll f N 1'1<' YIII'/.;. ,' A H I'II'(}<I(lil'f! M lllli!<"'11I fur M tIIllw/
lilli, O~ h )f(l Ul1 h'eNty Pre,~. f\ ew Vorl . A cadcmy Edilions. London.
197K.
I.U \Ii LI , 'I. J. DI'rrttitl till Ihe T h,.'5ho!d tlf ",'/If!'. M<lcnllllan. Luttdun. 1986.
I VIH AIIO. II-.A ,+~ \NOI1~ (w nh 'nl ierry Ch;lpllI ). L.'f hml kllen'IIf.\". Centre
:==. George\ l'umpidnu. P;trb. 1\)115.
Qw' 1'('111111'1<', Edll ion... de la Di ffe rente. Pans. 11)117.
. nil' I'm/llltlllall C()IUIUIlIfI ; a rf'lxlrf 011 tllml'if'tlg... lm l1 ' Geoff Ben
ni n{! w n :md Brian ~ ll~su m i . Univ(" ll) of Mmne<;()l;l l'rc". :-vi 111I1<'apol 1'.
11)1I.l. ~1 J nr hc.~ l cr UIlI\C""Y Pre\~. 11)84.
/<;OR /I,I'I. nl/l,l~IOI'III.R. ANO A'llll r v. III NJAM l ro.. \\' 11(1/ Is /J f"("IlIl,m; (/IIII/?
Aeadcmy Edl \ i on~, Lo ndll il. SI Mar1ll1 ', Pre,~.
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I'll >110(. /(01/ HIT. PIii 1(/~fI/l III',tll I:.'.lJl/mulliofll. 0\ fo rd L'niWN l y P!'\,'l>~. II)I! I .
RO/ITY. /l,UIII-:/I, T. Pllllo.fophl wul IIII' Aflrmr (If Na/llft". Ba\il Black\o\i.'Il.
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wn.' A" h,/I'I 1/11'1' all,1 An. e,..a) , b) Pierre Re,I:IIIY and Bruno all i. Acad
en1} Wll io n ~. London. SI Marli ll '~ Prc~,. New York, 19RO.
TIl(' A/"(1I,11'(' IIII'C of ,. mll~ (; ,'hlY. , 904-19~6. Wal ker A rl Cen leT, M InnC;lpu'
l i~. Ri o .oil. ~cw Yo rk , 1\) lI b. t':'l:h ibllion c ~(,Il l)g uc.
' VIIII \l I. II/ /I, ro.A/I,I). c,1U'gr,lIlIIlIt FuJIf'. Pun tie It, It iII.-I1r, Champ Va lion.
Pari ~. II)K7.
- -... Manh.IUJIl Tmn-.cflpl' . " nhun/llr,,1 /Jcsiwl Sperml l>rome. Arad
emy r:,(h ll(ln~. Lorulon. SI M:lflm', Pri."\. 1\'ew Yor~ . 1<)11 1.
- -.. 'f1'11t'1 f l/ftl fli!ln. ln\I I1Ul rra n~a l ~d"n: hI1 CC l ufe. l';If!'. 19K5.
Ulil Jmll'lllll, ' Vi, ion nf llie M odem'. V ol I 'l o I . A cad~ l11 )' EdIl IOr1 !i. LomJ on.
Rl fJoli. ;.,lew Yu rk o 191111.
VON lit II I ,1/ A" 1 \. I. Gf'l/t'W/ S,':;I'/11 TIII'III'I. L ondon. 1971.
.", OIJI1. I). A' J1 II 1\1 II NA ~(O", I (ed~ J. /Jf'rrir/1I 111111Dif{hflllt ;' .1r.1Il~ D Wood and
A IknJa t1l1 n. Nonhv. e\lcrn Unller~ ll y Pfi.',~. EVlIIhl(ln. 1<)111).
Scl ll'd Writ ings un ( ' un \ lrlll'lhism
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A nhlll'f Iltml O(".flgll, ' Ru \~t:ln A lIanl-G anle Arl and Arch IlL'ClUre. Cather
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/l()W I I. J. HII I'., ;011 111'1 /0( /II!' II I(IIII G III',II.' "1'111'1//'1' (/1/(/ CrJlII i WI I W):! 19.C.
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FI I lOTI . 1) (00). A/C.Wlllft'r RfNl, Ilf'lI~". Ox ford L flJ lieNIl} l'rcs\. 197/}.
Co l " II UI(G. \10 1 ~ 1 1. SI.'le mllll'I NII h. lra n~ AnJ lolc Scnkellllch Jr. "111' Pre~~.
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"" A ' \1A(;O \l1 0 01', S o. Hfl(khrll~(I. Thames & Hudsun, I.ondon. 19X6.
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L'n/llen-iIY of 1'\'cbraska. I'\ebrJska and London. 1%5.
MILN hR. JO lt '\I. I'llulrlllil' 'l lI/l", wUIIIIl' HIIHIlI/I /I , IIII/-Curtle. Y:l le Un/llcrsl1 y
Prc~~, New Il:w en. Conncclieu t. 1983.
/oll[}fN~II'IN. A I (ed ). H //x"i/lll A'/lI/IG(lI'(/' Art: TIll' GI'OI'.~;' CIJSf{J~ I .I'
CIIIIN'film. Tham c!' & I-Iu(hon. London. IlJIT)' N A hr.lrl1~. ~cw Vorl .
19I! I.
2c> I
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The puhil\her~
acknowledge the gcncfo\l~ help or artl'l~ and arct1l1C":IS who
ha~e provided work fca1Ur~d in Ihl" vulllm~. All illu\lra[ion ~ provid ..d from
olher \OllrL'C, arr a~ folil)w,:
('1\ TIIERI:-iE COOKE: THE RUSSIAI\' PRECURSORS '. I'll 10- 19
Tim parx:r I' ba~cd Ull 11 prc:.cnt:Ulon made at the D<:con~1 ruction 5)'1IIpo,> i II 111
;It the Talc Gallery In Mar~h 1988. An earlier ven;ion al~ll appeared 111
lrdll/,>, Wral DO;~I/, 'Dccun_lrul"tion'. Vo15!! No ~/.t- 1981!. pp1 2-15 under
the lit Ie 'TIle Le~sons of the RUSSI an Avam-Garde '. C'on\tnIC[1 vis! m:ltcria I i~
110m co ntcmpomry ~ourcc~ ~ (lpp\icd by the lluthnr or frnm Al'rilih'ullI"lI/
f.)1'\1~1IJ' archlvts, all ulher nullcrml ,\ ..:uurh,'"y of the archilcch.
CATlIERJ;..J~ COOKE: 'Ti lE DEVELQPMENTOFTHECONSTR UCT1V-
1ST ARCHITECTS ' DI::'SIG~ ~ETHOD' , pp 20-.n .
'1111' parer oTllll1laUy appcurcd u ,llghll) dilT.:rcnl form ;1, 'FornI I, ~I
III
r:unClIo!.1 X: The [)evel(lpmcni of Ihe COll,lrUClIvi,1 Archll.:ch Design
\I~lhod ', In \nhi'('(/"r(JIIJ('x;~JI, 'The Ru,sian Avam-Garde. Vo15] 5/6-
198). All rn~h.. ri<ll i ~ frOIlll'OIlICmporary SOllr~e, \upplted by tile author.
C IIER ~ IKHOV, pp ~8-5'l.
Sclc..:tcd page, 01('hernl kh o~" , le,<I('h mg programme In :.11 ght IY ad3ptcd form
are from A,i/lllc'( mr,// Di'~/ gil. 'C /Jcrlll~ lim': F(11/111 \ I (illil ((11/ 111"11( 1/011', VoJ
50' W1U 19X~, I'P 3~ - .19, Tr,m\1 all'd. edi tcd andl;ulll pi led hy Cat heri Ill' COilk<.'.
LEO'-J IDOV, pp ('0 6),
FI\'I.' pm)t:ch b) l..l'(lllldov. tran~lalcd, educd ;lIld prc'enled b) Calhcrmc
Cooke. lIrc frolll /\ndrci G01.ilk Jnd Andrei Leonidov, /l'IJII I l'ouidOl. Ac .. d
emy Ed il ion,. Lomioll, Ri/l.oli. Ncv. York, IlJl!8. pp -1.5, 6769, I(N I Itl,
MCQUES DERRIOA: ' FlFrY-TWOAI'HORISMS FOR A FOREWORD',
PI' 66-69
The le't Cinquante-d.:u~ aphorisfllc~ pour un avant -pr(lpo~' wa, onglnally
th<.' preface to a collecl1on of p.::p.:1". dealing with Ihe rdlltion~ hip hetween
phllosuphy and >lrch ilecture pu hh~lled In a ~pec ial ed 11 ion of Caill/T.I' fill eCI ,
Cenln: George, I'ompldou, PMI' 19A 7, Th i, lf3n~lal iOIl by AIlllrew BcnJam III
appeared a, paT1 of thl.' Pre"s 1',ld (or lhe l)ccoII,lrtlCIIOn SYlllpo~ium ;11 tile'
T;l1e GalJery in M~rch 1988, and appca~coune~) oft he author,lI1d publisher,.
Editinn, G~lilce, Pari" Pllillling hy Va\criu Adami cuurte .. y of Ihe artl"I,
DACS, Lonuan/ADAGP, Pari' and Jacque~ Dernda. Photograph by Andrea~
I'apadakir,. - CHr\RLES JENCKS: 'DECOJ\'STRUC'TIOI'\ : THE PLEASURES OF
JACQUI; S DERRII)A I:-..ITER VI EW WITII C IIR ISTOPIIER ;\/ORR IS Ar>..:D
D1SCLSSIO~, pp 70-79.
The intervlcw wuh Jacquc\ Dcrrid;1 by ChrhlOplwr Noms w;" origmalJy :1
vi(ko recording made for and fln.1 ~hown althe 1)e~'on' trucliol\ Syml)()~IUIl1
allhe TntI.' Gallery ill ;\Ilardi 19~1I . A ,econd ~howing tiXlt.. plaCl;~ althe Taw
Galle!) 111 \1ay of Ihe ,ame year , from which the followi ng discu:.~ion i~ tukcn.
Both IIIter. iew and di~cu~~ion have b..-cn edited by Chri~lOpher :-.t()rrt ~. Self-
portr.lIt<; by 1I<.c BlIlg and Agnc~ B(1nnOI councsy of Ala1l1 SayaglCcmr<.'
George .. Pumpidou. Phmogruph on I' 70 by jc;JII-,\1,lriC M01l1hicr~ (Tsdlull1i.
Pare de Iu Villel1e), Photogmph un p 79 hy J;lIl1e .. Fnedm;Jn (Ei,t"IIIlI;JII,
We\ner Cemer for the Visual Arts).
GEOFF BE'\'\I"GTOt': DECOr\STRUCTIOK IS KOT WHAT yOU
THINK, p l!4
Thl' Ilnginall) appcar~~d in Arl & Df'~il!"' 'The r\ew !\1()<kml\III ', Vol ~ 1!~ .
I\)!il( PP 0-7.
GEOFFBENNINGTON: DECONSTR UeTIQN AND POSTMODERKISM.
PI' !iH7.
p31l<.'r" b~~cd un a prC~l'lihltlon hy tho: author a1 Ihe IkC(Jn~lru(:ti(ln
'1111'
SympO~ lulll al thc TlIlc Gullery III M<Jrch l'l!ilt Valerio Adallli pUlnting
court;:\y (If th~ arti~t and DACS, London/A DAGI', I'ari~.
262
DAVID I.ODGE: DECONSTRUCTION: A REVIEW OF THE TATE
GA LLER Y S Y~'I POSIU~l , pp R!i-90,
Thi, :trtide fiN appeared IIIlhe ' Rev iew ' ~cctlon of the Gu{/rt/uw, Fnd:ly
April 8th. 1988, P 25. Reproduced counc<y of the iluthur,
JOHN GRrrrITHS: DECONSTRUcnON DECONSTRUCTED, pp92-97.
Th 1\ "rllcle origl11<J II y appeared inA 1"/ & Dnigll, 'The New Modem bill " Vol
4 1/~~\9X8, pp 8IX, Frallc!' B;JI;'(HI reproduced courtcsy of Ihe MII,I ;Hld
Marlborough Fille An Ltd: David Salle reproduced coune~y of the anb1. MaT)
BOlln~' Gallery, N .. w York ;lIld DACS, l..ondoll/ARS, t'\cw Yort..: l3;JrbarJ
Kfllger rcproo.lurcd clJurtc,y of Ihe ;Jnl,t. Mar)' Boone GalleT)', Nev.' Yort.. and
N1gel Grccl1v.ood G~lkry, London: David .\bell reproduced C(lurtc.,) Oflhc
:rrli,1.
PAUL CROWI"lIER : BEYOND ART AND PHILOSOPHY : DECO~
STRUCTION Al\ D TIlE I'OST-MODEKl\ SUUUME, PI' 911- 10 I.
"Illl ~ .111 ic Ie ori)!II!.llly ;I ppcal'cd 111 II /I .1< 1)( '.\"1(11, 'The Nt"w Modem i~m ' , Vol
4 3/-1.. 19K!!, pp 40-5:2. Paill1 iII!; b) '111erc'e Ou Itl)ll reproduced courte~y of lhe
artlsl alld M~r l bomllglt Fine Art Ltd.
A '-JDREW I3E~J !\ J'vlll\ : PRESI~ N I KE~IEM BRA~C1: : . ANSELM
KIEI' ER 'S ICONOCL4 .\TIC CON"I'ROIII:.RSY', PI" I021U5,
1(011(1( I" lIlt COII//"'" '('!"II' COli nc .. y of thl' art i~1 ;md A nlhon) D' Offay Ga 11<.'T)' ,
London II;Ollcd lilli :'\'II1\<:UIII 3[)yrml1l' - v~n Bcul1l11gen. ROl1erdam): h<l/"ll~
MOl"('h S(llI(/rollrtt"') 1)1 tlte art!'! lind Santclli Collect 1011, l..ondoll .
VALER 10 ADAM I: 'TIlE KUL[S OF MONTAGE' . pp 106-109.
1''
TIi""e ex traet, Irom Val .. nu Ada 1111 " Le,\ Min dll mOl/lag" arc reprod Llccd
COUr1C~y of Edllioll~ Pion, P:ln~ , Tran\!,l1cd from (he Frellch hy VIVI;m
C'onM:tntinoPlllllll\, l'al1l1ing' court.:,)' of the :lr[i,( und DACS, London/
ADAGP, P.m .
ZOE ZE:-lGIILlS: 'TilE ELEGANCE or RAI ,ANCE': Aj\" ART & OF.
SICN INTERVIEW, pp 110-115.
Tit i, ilIIerv iew ongi 11:1 II Yappea rcd in a ,ltgll1l Yd Iffl'renl fonn If1 ,\ r/ & 1)/"\/ gil,
'Thc 'lew \.oloderlll\III. Vol 4 ~/~-19RII. pp .n39, All pamlillg' ,Ire rcpru
duced I;OU rte,) of t It<.' !lrt i~l. III S illt phOlograplb of the mum I lor the holL.-.e III
ElOl1 PllIc<.' U) Rlrhard Bryant: arl'illti'ct .\1Ich;Jel Carapctl;Jll.
ABSENCE' , I'll 1111- 1]1.
Th I'> artir te I~ an l' \ trart from Charl<,~ Jenrt.., ' A rdl/tf"f'Jlln ' '/ru/lll , AcadclII)
Edil iOll', London and Ihrry N. Abrallls, New York, \~.'cond ed ition 19~8. and
"":I' previuu\ly publi:.hed 111 AI"lIiiII'I'/lIrol Drs/gil, 'Dccon'lrul"iIOII ', VoI58 ,
:-.to 3/4-1981! , pp 16-31 , All pholograph~ l'ou rtc"y of the arl'hlleC1\. Painting
of OMA Booml'J<" !-lou'ln!! pri1Jt.'t't by Stefano de Martino. Photogr~ph, on
p 125 by "-orman McGrath (Ar{llIllcctonira, the Atlanti,) and Pa!ricia f'isher
(Arquitcctonil;a, North Dade COurthOlI'C). Photograph all p 127 by Jean-
Manc MOlllhicr, (T\ChUI11l, P~rr de la Villeth;).
MARK WIGLEY : 'DECONSTRUCTIVIST ARCII!TECTUKE', PI' 132
1.33.
Th i, ;lrt ide b 1111 edi led tnll1'>Cript of a prc\enl ill il)n made Iii Ihe TJccon'l rUCI ion
Sympo:.ium at thc T;ilc G:ll1ery in Marl;h 19~~. Ph()wgrap h hy Gerald
I.uglllnllli. coune'), of lite archllc..:t .. ,
JAMES WIN E$: 'TIlE SLlI'Pl:.R Y FLOOK' , PI' 135 - 1W.
Thb a r1 id..: origi lIa Ily a PPC;ired in Slrol/ maga/inc. June Il)K!!, PI' I 5-23, S lTI~
pho\\)graph~ by SITE PW)c('[\, GordUIl Malt:l-Clark ph01ogr:lph, by Gordnll
M;Jtta-Clark,
PETER EISENMAN: 'Ar-.: AHCIIITl:.CTUHAL LJESIGN INTER VIEW BY
CIIA RLES JENCKS ' pp 140-149.
Thl\ tt:lc phonc Irnenn,~'" "';l~ m,lde In Ih t' \pnllll of I()IIII and nn gmal ly
Jppe,m.'u In An 1111,'< /Um/On'l:lI. 'lXe(}n~tme t lon'. Vol S~ !'<In "'.... 1988. pp
JII_(. I. A11 Il1 tNr.ll lun~ courtt',) tit Iht' arChlll'CI , Pht)IOJ:!r.lphl> b) Did.. Fr.m l .
I-'ETER I:I SEl\ \1 AJ\: 'BLU F U~E TEXT, pp 150- 1;'i1. A;\lD 'E1\
TERROR HR\lA : 11\ TRAI L S OFG 1{QnXIl~S'. pp 152- 1;'i3.
The ..... 11'\1'. IHi OUllm... for Iht' Iht' ,wlhoT', tonhcollll1lg. book . TiJ(' I;d~r of
8,'/" t'fll. lmgm.lll y ,lpjJeJl'l'd III ,\ 1',111/",'/1/1'<11 0/ 1"111. 'Colllellll)o.lr;)r) A rc hi
l<'dun. vol 511 '0 7/M1 91!H. pp t.-() . md '[X'coiNrUC!lon II' . V,.I 54 'n II
2- 1989, pp 411 ...n. rl"\petU\'el} PhCotl' gr<l ph h)' Old. lr.IIl" ,
' WEXNFR CENTER FOR '1111 , VI SUA L A RTS, OH IO'. PI" 145- 1;'i7.
'1111\ pro)ctlllngHl.dly :Lppoe,l r~d It1 11'1/11/1'11111'<1/ ()"li~II, ' l:klnll' IrU ~'li() () ',
V,.);'iX 1\\1 VJ I()IIK. rp 6261 Dr;ming\ b) Bmm Bllrr. Phlltllgr.lph, h~
J,IIII"" l' n e,lIn,1II .lIId Wolfg.lOg Iln)'l. ('()une~) of lilt' .Irdlll ...( I.
' 1I10-CF\lTRI ~ 1 , fRA'K H 'RT', pp 1511-161. 'G LAR[)IOLA 1I0L..SE.
SA\lTA MARIA [)El MAR '. I'P 1f12-1{17. A\l1) 'CA R\lECi II.-MF1.LON
KI'SEARCII I[\;SI I IlJTF', pp 161 m.
The...:- pnlJl'd' ung 111.11!) ,lppeille,1 in An "Ih'./lII'./10,' I/~II . Dccon~lrue l lol1
1['. Vol W ' " 1/2. I I}IN. pr 4J-I). ~6 6:! and 50-5. re,po..'4. livcl). Dr;I .... 1I1g' and
llMlogr"ph, <our,..... ~ 01 Ihe oIrlll1lCl'I. Photograph, b) Die" Fr;li\l
IH' R:-..rA RD r';;CIiL ' \11. 'PARC DE LA VI Lly nE. PAKIS', PIl 1701 11l3.
I'hl' pn)Jl'e! ong 111.111) :I PIX'.lrl'd in \ n hlln 1111'111 0" "' ,\III. 'O<'<'on'l ruel iOI1 ,
\(11 "ill 1\0 .'1-1 ItJt~X. pp .'2 W Dra....lng\ '"BJ photograJlh~ l'OLl nl'~) ul Ihe
.Irehiled. Phul<lp.lph .. b} Jl'.Ul \t.IrI'" 1I.'l ol1llllel"\ PJrb of Ihe leX I .... cre fir-t
puhl i,hed 111 l\(ol ll.l rd T \ l hU1I11 . , ( '/IIt'gr,IIIU11j' f ol,." I'nllcel\l1\ Archlh..'4.'lu ral
I'rl..... 1')!!7. ,lIl1i lhc Y",.. 11', hul'! 1111',,1 }mll'llill
" EW J'A!lOr'\A I IIlEA'1 KI' 01 JAPAN, TOKYO', pp 111-1 -1 117. A '\I I)
'\J'W COllYI' HALL. "iTKASHOLIRG'. I'll 11111-191.
The ..... prllJn ,.. 'Iflg IIlJ II) JPII<: " red 1!1 I I', III/I" IIII'.,IO,II::II. 'I)...'4.UII,lrU(\lllI\
II \'111 54 .... ., 1/2- I tIKI). PI" I :! . I "i ,md 16 I IJ. rt"pi.'4. 11\ cI ~ DrJ'" IIlg' ~ou n ...')
Lli the JI'dIlI...(1
Di\\lIEI 1 I RI '.sK 1'\1 D: STI!.I III'E wrnl KH) I'KEDIC.'TI O'\lS, PI" I<.J:.!.
'TilE ~L Rh\(T \IUST DII, J\ PKOOt , pp I'H At\D 'Til E FOll R
TL XTS .. PP ItI :!.. I t)~.
Int''',ll'''' IIn)!1I1.I 1I ~ .lpP<Jr,d 111 I,., l/If,'. 11I/,lllhll!!". Dt.... ,"n'IIII~1101l 1 1 .
\,,1 "'I [\;t' II:.! I 'I)\'}. rl' 2':::.!"i
BERt [1\ 'CITY r-DGE' CO\lI'FIITION. l'IXT.PI' 1 9(,-2(l~.
111 I, I'niJer l IIflg"I;,
I I~ "ppcarell In 1I Im"4 /III .111 )"1' ~I/ .. De~{!ThtrLl!,t 11111 [['.
\ ul ~IJ \lu II:! !'IlW. I'll '::0 17. \11 1Il,lIl'n,11 ulurlt"} til Ih ..... nhl ....".'I.
Phllltlgr.lph, lor Ihe '('loud I'fllp' modd, 11) Iidell<' BIIl<-1 .wl! lI .... , R.lu.
"ner i, Ihe (\'U!e r ' h) DIIl(J SlrUll.lll. Ih" AIel Will!! hy O m,1 xrn n.11I ,md
L...(! TI.rT!.
/',.\11,\ II ADJI), " I liE P!-':\K ('I l B, HONG KOMj, 1'11';;:' ~'. PIl 20ll :'117,
, "( I{ Fl RS IH\' IJA \ 1\ 1 /fUll RI I t\. 19116. pp 2nK~:! U. 'IB,\ HOL. S I t\(j,
HI O(,K :.!. \\ IST m ' RI 1' . I '11l(, . 1'1' .! IJ 217 ,"0 .WEST 1101 1 y.
WOOD C IVIC C'EKTER', pp 2) 1\-2 11).
The prOJcct . K urfllr,lcndamm 70. Berhn. I ()R6' oTl~lIlal l) :lppeJred ml"hi-
IrWII'I11 Dt'slglI. ' Decoll'trtlCl lo n. Vol 511 1\0 3/~-19l!l!. pp4{)...t5.1\11 maler... 1
(OUW"Y of Ihe an..'hut"\:t. Phmograph\ h) Ed .... an] W Il(1(h n~n.
COOPIIIMME[ .BI .Atj, ' ! L '\Il)FKWERK J - A FA('TOKY.I()IIR-ljIJ',pp
220-2:n 'ATlK CO'\lVFRSIOt\' VIENNA l. I()K4-8!r . 'ROl\ACIlER
THh\ T RE. V IE1\ '\I A " 1\1\ J) SK YI 1.... [. 11)85', PI' n4-~21).
Alt liMlefial cOllrte~)' "r the arehlk't'h. I'hol ngr:\ph~ b) GerJld Zugl1lJnn
MORPH OSIS. ('O MPRI~ lIt.1" S lVF ('ANCER CEYfER' Al\O 'KAll~
M /\NT[ L1NI Rt-:STA llRAl\ T, SA '\ITA MOK'ICA', PI' 230-238,
ThC\c pmJt:l't~ (1rigllwlly ,'ppoearcd 111 Ardl'lf:rlllrul DI'I,~It, Decon~lruc1ton
II , Vol W ~o In-19X9, pp 88-96. All material coune~) of IhI! J.rch, lecl\.
I'hmol,!raph<. of the Ctlmp~hen~lvc C,nKer Cenler h) Tl}m Bonner .too (If
K:llt' \1,lIui lim RC\I:IUr.lln hy Tom lJonnl;>r :md Tim Slrt...I -POr1er.
1::1. 1;\ IrNG II ELlS: ' TIl E AESTI IETI('S 0 1' TIl E PRESE\lT ', pp:!~II,A~,
1'1", Mill: Ie Orl l,! mol II y appe:lr('J In AI'I lut.'ul/rm /)t'.Ii):lI. '[)ee()n~lruction V,)I
511 [\; II 'l,f01-1 <}1!K. pp 6667. ;\ II maler ..11 WU fle") of the aUlhor and Office for
~IClrllpt)lll:1n Ar.:h llcl'Iure: f-~t: oj Cn/t.mllllf ('/.'I//el' ('oilecllfm of\rchl/rf
//11, 11 /)('''gll. Pal "IIII~' h) Z.lC Zcngheh<"
BI']l[\;ISCH &. I''\ KI~FR S, HY~0 1.AR !'lSTrtL l'F BUILDING. Ul\1
VERSITY or STUTI'(iA Rr . PI' .!.1ol-:!4().
Th i, I'MJeClnril:! nml!} llPJII;'ul!d 'II 1n hile. /IIml Onl ~/I, ' lk1:nn\lrUCtion II
VIlI "i9 1\0 1/2- 19111}, PP K!1I7. A ll ,,\.lIenal n'urtc,) 01 the un:tllle~'I"
Phm(lgru ph\ b) C hll'1Un Kan;;!/la
IIIR0 \11 IUJI!. 'CS III\1ADQ INTFR'\IATIO:"lA I ARTS FESTI""L
(' I' \lTRI~, I YK~. PJI ::!~O:!5 I.
Th 1\ proJ~1 UTlI:!III;11 Iy ;ljlj1<:;lrc(! In \1'/ hl/l'l I/Im/ J)r\I.~/I, 'Jap.m... '-\' An..lntcr
lUr... '. VII15g '10 ;'ij6- 19I1K I'P 48...1<). Al! l1lalen;11(nunc,) of the "'\'\111,'1.1.
Ph01ugra ph, b) Komel hlrud.II'::.
PFIIR W ILSON. ' iJFRLl ;\l Till, FORL\! 01- SA[\;D', pp 2~225\.
A ll m:,lenal l" Une,) "r Ihe ardlllel'l, Phntograph' oy M t'remy "utll'r und
Pel t'r Wit,on,
ARQl I'IH"TOl\ICA.RECE1\TWORK ppI5J155.
,\II flutcnJI ~,'une~~ of lhe archllC'el'. PhoHlg'Jph, 01 IIclm,l<:) p"la,'c h)
TIT*'lh~ llur,k-), l\orth Dad ... JU"" ,'C Centl'r b) P;llrLl'IJ F"her mul Itl<'
1\1 1,11111, b~ t\orl1lan \1eGralh.
STA1\ LEY TICiFR\J,\1\ CO .... SIRl'('TIO'\l IDF)('O .... STRI ICTI O~
(RI '. K'O'lS rR trnOi\ '. III' :!5(> :!5().
I'll!" le\1 oTlgm.ll1) ,11'1ll'"re<1111 In 11I/1,/111'U/ /)('.\1.1:'1, ' [)e,,'on'truCHflll 11' ,
Vul W \lo 1/2. II)KI). I"P 7(.-111. Coum'''} of 11ll' ;lrdlllt'L1.
jiM 11.1 0 J\ \mAS!.. ' SA '\I A "'1'0"'10 C'01"s rR V A T ORY', pp 260.
Thl\ pmJt'cl flfI\! in.llI) Jjlllt'a rl'J III An lU1I'llIIm/ /);'\/1111. 'lA-t'on'lrurlltlfl'
VIII 5X t\o .v~-I'}XX. 1'1' o1ll...J7. All "MleTlJI eou ne,~ f Ihe In'hlle(I.
 -
INDEX


AOA~n. \'.\1 HlIO: Tilt' R!lk$(ifMfI"'<.I~". m7-109; Bacl [0 Bomooy. 106: ti.lIl Gill. IIAII8AK ...; Your Fall " SIr.mgcr lhao Ficlion. 97.
Camera dol Leno. 87: Monsieur Mudame, 109: Ri[fJIIO dl Waller BenJamin.
107: SllId} for 11 Drawmg Ufll'T Clw. 66.
A\IBASL. !,;\IU 10: San An[uni(lIlOl3nical COO\CT\Ulory. 260. Ilc;Ivy Indu ~lry COIllllll ....".mal. 63: Iloll'>C of Induw)'.
I l:O'" Inov. IV A... : 60.(1..1;
\ItCJHn(ro~I(',,: ~.~./ ~ J5 Altanl',>. 125. 254: Ilabylon. 255: lI e lm~ky 61: Lenm In,uullc. 60: Monument 10 Columbul!o. 60: W9f"ker's Club. 63.
PaIJce.25t \hr<IClo: Ceilicr. 25-1: "4onll Oade Courlhou<;e. 125.254. 1.1810'" I ... O. 1M" III: I 1J7 ~(l5. SI/II /..IP' M 1111 Rell P rclliniOlI\. 191;7ht Fmc/"
Tl' I/j. 19-J IIJ{j: Thc' .\'mfmd I11." Ih r'. " Pmol 193; Berlin CilY Edge: I. I 18:

Alef WlOg. 204-205: Alph;1 \1odel, 197- 199: Bela Model. 200; Com pUler
IIACON. I ~ ... 'ns: SI: dy fl.ll" PUrlr.UI o f John Edwurd~ . 92. Work ... 196: G:uunta ~1ode1, 201: :-.lever is Ihe Cemer. 6-t. 203: Villa 00
BA"-N, ,\TI.PHiN' f);J/'/lf.\'irlll. 70-lY LUI70Wpl,Ul. 202.
8[1l'ISI[ & I'''IITNH(~: lI y~olar In ~lIIulc. 244241), lt~SII/KY. H': I:>tOU Il, 1213.
nr~ I" \ll .... A'" I'H w: I It-I'm/rl. A ff hill'l/w'/' amI Philm'IJ/lIIY, 8f)~3, f)'.{f'II~si()II. 101)<11" OA VI 0; OI'("l)Ilj/III(II{)II." II R('\'!I' M' of 1/11' "(III" G(/!/l'/".\!i1/II!'f,.Iwm. 88-
707V. Pn!sf"" Refll' mbrall('t': AII.If'I", Ki,1('/" \ kt'noclastic Conrrovcr,y. 9~.
fib 105
KIN.\IN(;JON, (jUlf) /)rl'lllr,lll'II('/i(}1I IIIld "o,I/lIInlil'flrlwl . 8587: f),'ro/l
.11m, '/1 ' 'Il i.1 nOi 1\ hlll .01/ rhmk, Mol; 01 ~'lIssi()", 7671). \l ACIl.lli\Vm: liard ttl S\\(llIow, 97 .
61'1(;. J'-~t: Sell l'ortru il1l1 \1iITor~. 77. \1AII VICII. " AIIMlle Aeroplane PI) mg. 10.
IIO~M)T. AOl'<1 <:'clf Ponrai!. 77. \IArrA--("IAR". GORDON: Office B:lrtxlue. 136. Pumpiduu Museurn. 136.
Split1l1lg.

137 .
MOII.PIIOSts: C()mprdlen\IVe Cant:cr..<.:cnter. 230-233: Kale ManuillJ) Re.~11IU
CII! <tNI KIIOV. I' _,I v: ..J?I-5Y; ArchueclUn II aJlI~y. 8: COlll!olnllllve Joint. lol. mill . 2)4-237. .::
('(1 'lI.f. (" AllII ~ ~: Rlissillll PU( IIr.wn. J / . /9; SWTC'\' oJ COII.I/rII("1/\ 1M
Mm;.3847. fhr 0('\"('101)1/11'111 oj tl/(' CmUtnllll.u/ Anlll/I'CIJ' Desi1:11
~lcIIII.'J. 21-.17. ....OK It I s~ Cilil r~ 1 0F'I1I- 11.: IJi ~1 IllI"lIm. 7(' 79: Imel1';I'M wllh j"cq"r:s Dan(/".
('OO P HI\I"I RloHl :!20:!:!9: Allie Con\er..lon. Vienna. 224-225: Fundcr 7/75. .
Factory 3. 22U 22 i 0pen I louse. 1]2: Ronxher l1!c:llre. 226-227: Skyline.
228-229.
( ,1, 1 HUt. I All: 8(',"(lIIll Art /11/(/ Philu.WJlh,. O('("ooJlmc//01/ am/III(! l'o~I ' orr In rOil M I fll;OI'OI 11 A ~ AIIClt tTl t.TUII:L (0 ~t A): :!391ol J: BoompJ~ I h.1u:--
Mildew SubJiml'. 1,11;. J() I . mg. 119: Checkpoml Ch:lrllt!. 2-11. CilrOi!n-O!vennes. 240: Iri..h PTmW!
~1iOl ~ler'~ Re\ldcnce. 12-1: Koula\ 0) Bay. 240: Pare de Ja Villelle_ 242~24~:
Welfare Pal:lce lIold. 13.
Il/- ,IIII)A. )ACO' I <;: F,!n .lko A,}hrlnfllil for II Flln'I<"Or(/. 67 --(i9: I "'"ni/'M. OUlml\. I HI 11:1 '1 _: Song of l)eee II. 10 I.
7/-75

POnltu. MIC"IIAI1.: Oll/HIIW/I. 7"'71)

l "'\I\\,l'lnlt;155-173: Archul:cllIr31 De,ign IlIIl'rne .... 141-149: Bill<'
I Tnl. 150 HI: Ell "furo/" "-;1"II1l/: III "'/"(liI.~ of G I"lJexle s. 151153: B io-
l nlrom 130. 1--11, 158- 1(, 1: C:mnareglO. 12S. 117: Carnegic-~cllon Re-
~ n:h In!.lIll1lc, 1.51.161:1173:OllardI0Ia ll ou . . e.162-167: I-I ousc~. 128129.
141-14\ 1-16 147: Kcx:h~lra...sc, 140: W... ~ nc r Cenler. 7,:). 146. 154- 157.
SAJ.LL. OA V!D: Shower of CourJl!c. 93.
SITt: C{)\I1l0 World. 11lJ: !-ranl-furt MlI~lIm of Modem An. 139: Per.hi ng
(l jII.IIlR' i'l-Jil'lBdo Intcnutllonal ('on, hSlival Cent re. 250-251. Squm-e.139.
sun IN ..... IKOI ,\1: Supr.:ntall\m. II .
XI t; Tckloml-3.l-nklurn lind K On"lf\lkl~ila . 23.
......... \II
torUR'.I"II ..... " \efO'llaCe \ lu-.cullI. 121: I I~h Rc\murJnt. 120; Loyola l"AII 'N , VI. \01\1 111 : SU\pt:1Kllxl Corner Re lief. 10: Towerand GraUl Ehy aWn..
L .. w
School. , 2U; \\ \~k I l ou~. 121. 27.
GI\llIt'RG. MOh ' I: Flow Dia!!rnm, 34. !Xvelollrncru of Idea~. 28-29: Volu- lltoUI.M ,\ ' ~l AN U , -: C (II! ~tr1t('t/(>ll. (Or )Cmmrml"!II. (NI' iClIIlSfflt('lillll. 2 i6 -
mtlri ... ' )plifll~. 12. ,]59: Ellile I I. 259.
,.ollS_ (,r ORCoII: !'. il."'''''' Slr~1 Scene. 23. rS('IIU~ I I. 81 MN~lIn: 175-/9/~ NcwCounty HJII. Slrasbourg. 188- 191 : Pan:de
GRIfHlIlS. Jl>1l"': at ,-om/mrl/ll/l DC"IIII.lfnl< II'{I. 9397. . In VI IIeIlC. 12, 1ol- 17. 70.80.1 16.127. 174-183: Tokyo Op;:ra. 184-1 87.

1l~1l1I). l"I1"': 2()7 ~ !9: AI Wahda Spun, Centre. 2: IRA j--luu~1Ilg. 2 IJ2 17: 11'1(;1 I ,. \1 \11 K: 1)"((111 ~/I"IIIII\ hI A,., hil/"( 1111"1'. 1J1-I .U
Kurfiir.lcnd3nll'1 12f1. :!OR-213: Office BUilding. Berlin. 3: Peak I long. KUlig. WII so~. PI n It: The Forum 'lfSJnd. 2.5::!-253.
116.206-207: Trafalgar Square Builthngs. l.l: WC~llIoll ywood Civic Ccm.:r. WI\l~. I \~,rs: ./ hI' .\II,I/JIn FIIIO/", I.U1J9.
2111-119.

""N(llill 1\ !! IA: '/ /irAnl/'('II, l offill' Prrscm. 2j9-~4J. -.ee nl\Oon 1('1 rOil
llNC'KS. fllARl.fS: /)/'(1/, . \', IIIllIm The PIt'lIJuf('~ of Ahul1n>. I/Y UI; MI '110/'01 'rlN ARClllrl.C'TI'II;1
Inll'ITW'IIM'I//1 I'nt'/" 6 .\1'111"11111. 141 -lol9. 1.1 NmlU.I~ 101: TlU' I.I('g(lllf,(' "f fJIlIt"" ,C'. ! 11115: Buildinp In Lhe Moon-
light, 114: r hed.poml Chnrlic , I I ]; (',Iy uf Ihe Caplive Olobe. 111 : Egg of
Columbus Cenler. (), 239: lIal!u,: Towll lIall, 11 2: Lullowslra~~c. 2311:
I..II.fFlt. AN~II \,: karu~ - March Santi, 101; lcoll(~la~!i c COmfOVef'o)" 102. Lu l '.Ow~lr:h,e Nig h! , 218; Mural fur :lll()u<;\! in Elon Place. 110; Pare de la
I;.OOU''A~. III \, : See OllIe" 1OK MfTKOI'OI ITAN AII("Il ITL("lllll~_ Villcllc. II': Silent SCIl, 11 5: Tall Red, 11 5: '1 rban Landl!oc3pt".' It
1<.1I ... SII: I'< 'tWV, N1Ii.0I AI: Caleu11I1Ion '. 33: TliIdc ~ {;nion Hcadquanel"'o. 10 .