In Search of Ground Kenneth Frampton “The situation ie hopeless, but it fe not serious." «s»0\ ead as the history ofits transforma inthi rophericin Jkimate signifieance of this jon of the entire The history of architecture over the past century and a half ean be' son under the impact of technology, A.W. Pogis onus of 140558 is regard since subject to the effects of the industrial revolution he already pers d transformation not only in terms of architecture but also with regard tothe mobilsa = fully administered Benthamite soci battle cds this secular process as boundless andl sees tha all will fall grist tos mili : Peano iis the one site upon which the sty of the future. At the same time he identifies architecture come to be fought and this prophecy surel berweon value-free process and the sprit valid today asin the mid-nineteenth century 1 Since Pugin’s time technology has penetrated deeply into the field of building production, nor only in jovations of reinforced concrete and steel frame construction but also in terms ding is expended on terms ofthe fail rca be of mechanical services. Today some two thirds ofthe total budget of any large bul mechanical and electrical provisions of one kind or another from ar conditioning to piped information. yn fairly gra Despite these inroads and the marked tendency to reduce architecture ro nothing mor tuitous aesthetic effect, thats to say soa marketing vel or ‘decorated shed’ drawn over the substance of processes that ar exclusively economic, building remains an activity that still resists full commodi tion by virwe of its‘archaic” character. This intrinsic resistance arses out of a number of closely interre Despite the marked current tendency to reduce architecture to nothing more than a fairly gratuitous aesthetic effect, that is to say to a marketing veil or ‘decorated shed’ drawn over the substance of processes that are exclusively economic, building remains an awkward activity that still resists by its ‘archaic’ nature its full transformation into commodity form. lated factors. First there isthe unavoidably idiosyncratic character ofits connection to the earth, which. has been an important clement in making it inimicable to on-line, automated factory production. One ‘may think of this as a kind of iredueible topographic interface hetween culture and nature. Second there isthe matter of ts size and expense, that evidently makes tint an object that eannot hea rapidly amortised as the vast range of production goods tha ate constantly absorbed by the metabolism of the Consumer society Third the relative permanenceis evidently eseatal to the speculative exploitation of she valu ofthe nd on which the work stands and ls but not east, built production hss far proved the investment required to sustain the full organisation of production and consumption cycles, in respect of distribution intractable to the organisation of large markets sufficient to justi planned obsolescence, et eters sagt arc Thus despite che erosion ofits ‘ground omall sides, rom the destruction ofthe city and the Marjo ror anenpeo inp the aches obeertmmughthenpenpermie ne siconaieaermiec a nat pocess an ie frhr dpa of contel ant ropontbily thiugh spcainaien nen, meberstoe sen evo ture still remains as one of th lst bastions of craft practice, wherein so called high-tech hand-worked forms may still becarefully assembled. ? thresh elements and To stress tetone rather than scenographic vals in the consization of archiectra strategy by which to stiffen the resistance ofthe fed to its further dssohitio Pera despa mn through the instru thevain ea bility of tectonic oS sr hs pot we mde dbcae ie sous veain nology and the life world may be dalectically mediated throu Finds itself in much the same postion maximisation of international capital, As Uhave already suggested, eeneal is tance may be applied reinforce rather than diminish the intractak is resis form. In order to the confrontat igh architecture. In som, as other practices such as agriculture and my ion between tech- respects building edicine, wherein thei Inne Span, Se baker tke & application of maxim Scientific testi que bas I undsirab iSO 8 world wide sil erosion and wa ee Gides and artificial the ove: etillers or the equal he equally deleterious side : ishtech surgery 5 who has resp Heide ruse of anti fects in allopathic medicine turning upon Despite ther ities and h onded more profoy haere Profanly to the sven of "shall mobistin than Marin In amuch of his writing, be 9 as etonic eure is con ery core ofthe modern predicament. As fa el he has atculited a mumbe of fu here in as muchas they eveal th darnenal insighns that idinan ontological ense.? the inreducbly topographic cha cing ; limits ofthe Perhaps his most crucial insight pertains omain as opposed to the space endlessnese ‘opposition in his essay Bul of the bounded the m lopolis. This he frst articulated asa generic ing, Develo, Thinking of 1954: I ee on pmont anélodsog A “epae’ is rmething that has bean made pice et on eee quien rarely within houndar, Gree pra boundary . oe the Grek secopneed tbe boundary Isha ron demote gt) Soca Jor which rom has boon spina es prose onnetning be hen inno ow fom wich oe fe leet, (1, Accor daly made, te me gare oy veo ol episod i tram ‘apace’ coh T™ from tcatlont| re waco in Greek) tis what thtraction oan be made, £0 than oxtansio-ertension. But trom space es ontorsio# rg to nasty oft rarely natytie-algeratc relations. What these relations make room mensions. The 14¢@ ‘mathomatical construction of manitelde with an arbitrary mumbo oft ‘Provided tor i thie mathomaten! manner may be called ‘pace’, the thie san tains no spaces and no plese.” F ‘eloped . main has to be By ‘place’ Heideggercealy inrends a domain wherein its posible ro de revealing sense, particularly as our life process imited by the biosphere and by ove pays? suracter. The consequences ofthis for tectonic frm are surely that the ee eb translation of the Gresk experi inscribed in sucha way at to heable stand aginst the rapacity ote For Heidegger the roolssness ofthe modem world begins with slation of Gre lence into the administrative edits ofthe Roman imperium as though the literal translation of without having ad the same experience, Against this misundersanding, into Latin could be foc Heider sen posh pcsece efector formand white matriiyofshings "That which gives things thelr constancy and pith but I alea at things In thing ite eansiaterey Hos the fast that matter stands to This conc era seems timply by way of 0 pt of thing looking aus rather than vi ity dominating and distancing ct af the perspectval viewpoint Heidegger's aperspesival vision counterbalances our tendency 0 overcmphasie the appearance of things rather than their substance. Al ofthis taras on the paradoxical opacity ofthe retinal as opposed ‘haracer ofthe things in themselves. More etc it also implies an oppost tion othe domination ofthe panoptic viewpoint. 1 To stress tectonic rather than scenographic values in the constitution of architec- tural form is evidently a strategy by which to stiffen the resistance of the field to 's further dissolution through the instrumental maximisation international capital. the extent tha architectures saspended oday between word creation, (Arends “the space af human appearaace’) and the maximising the of technology it mist try to sve isl, by remaining commited to discriminating berwen diferent sates and conditions, tha is between the incts of che thing and the instrumentality of equipment or between the worldiness of the instcution sed enworness of the domar. The tectonic becomes an esentl mode by which o embody, reve aed ceapress hese diferences the various conditions thats under which diferent things pear an sustain themes Under hs bred pars of abungmay be rendered ncoingia ther omelet eit tenting with The Orig ofthe Work of Art aches pity to empress the intrinsic character ofthe materials fom which oh nes brutalsoto reveal he diferent instances and modes by which the world coms inca ed “an fabricating egutoment ‘The material ie ll he better and re suite the tas irs calstanss As Heidegger will pit inal ture not only has the ing. rather eautes {0 come terh forthe very fet tne ase te Ding of eauiomant. "rat becomes rock: metal {ones te sng. the word te speak. aiicrang nt the work ste itvot back into the masalvaness a ‘otour, Into the elang of ton Two further insights {rom The Origin ofthe Work of A ing ofthe scope ofthe tectonic The frst ofthese turns om the uF understand, as further connotations. On the one hand, t mes s : dinner tchne, dct from the ve tka, meaning logically + accord Heidegger this ansboth art and fling disingashbercen the we. Oathe otheicimpls knowlege oth Geek Shera