Restored Penguin Pool, London Zoo, Berthold Lubetkin and Ove Arup, photo Kiran Kalamdani 1989

Syllabus preview
Brief Note on tools of study and attitude towards subject
Prologue

TAE 111 No 1
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE: TRENDS AND THEORIES
TAE 111 CREDIT POINT BLOCKS 1 & 3
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE: TRENDS AND THEORIES
Course Objective: After successful completion of the course student should be able to
Develop an awareness of contemporary architecture
Update their comprehensive knowledge of architecture
CREDIT POINT BLOCKS AS STATED IN THE SYLLABUS

I. A.Brief Review of state of art of designing (20 th century upto present). 10 Credit Points
CP BLOCK 1
B.Influencing factors in the shaping of contemporary architecture.
II Study of contemporary culture and expression.

III Study and understanding of contemporary architectural theories. 10 Credit Points

IV Understanding Contemporary design thinking and methods CP BLOCK 2

V Comprehensive study of architectural technologies. 10 Credit Points

VI Study of contemporary trends in building material and CP BLOCK 3
construction techniques.

10 Credit Points
VII Assessment of contemporary modernistic architecture CP BLOCK 4
CP BLOCK 1 30-50 pages (80-120 pages)
A. Brief Review of state of art of designing (20 th century upto present).
Influencing factors in the shaping of contemporary architecture.
Review of design trends in Europe and America and USSR in first half of 20th Century (8-12 pages) such as
the
1.1 Art Noveau, Arts and crafts, De-stijl, Jugendstil, Secessionists, Bauhaus, International style, Form-Follows-
Function – Louis Sullivan, Minimalism, Expressionism, Art Deco,
1.2 Scandinavian movements, Russian Constructivism, Rationalism,
Wrightian Usonian and antiurbanism.
1.3 Technological breakthroughs and first use of new techniques such as RCC, ferrocement, air-conditioning,
elevators, escalators etc. Freyssinet, Gustave Eiffel, Auguste Perret, Lambot, Pier Luigi Nervi, Felix Candella etc.
Review of design trends in the Indian Subcontinent (8-12 pages) such as
2.1 the making of New Delhi, Bombay, various schools of architecture in first half of 20th Century. Continuing
practices in religious, monumental and vernacular architecture.
2.2 Colonial influences of the Victorian Period and its expressions in India. Works of practitioners like Edwin
Lutyens, Claude Batley, Fredrick Chisholm, Mant, Walter Scott, A. G. Shoosmith, Walter Burley Griffin, James
Trubshawe.
2.3 Works of thinkers, archivists and theorists like Percy Brown, E. B. Havell, James Fergusson, Ananda Kentish
Coomarswamy, Rabindranath Tagore etc.
Second half of 20th Century and Post World War II trends in Europe and the Indian Subcontinent. (8-12
pages) E.g.
3.1 Corbusian Neo Rationalism at Chandigarh, Brasilia by Lucio Costa, Louis Kahn at Ahmedabad and Dacca.
3.2 Metabolism in Japan, Kenzo Tange and Fumihiko Maki.
3.3 Hassan Fathy in Egypt, Barragan in Mexico, Soleri in Arizona. Correa, Joseph Allen Stein, Doshi and
Kanvinde in India.
3.4 Theorists like Robert Venturi and ‘Complexity and Contradiction’, Post Modernism, De-Constructivism and
Philip Johnson, James Stirling, Michael Graves. Critical Regionalism by Kenneth Frampton, Post Modernism by
Charles Jencks and the genre of critics, like Kenneth Frampton, Reyner Banham, William Curtis, Peter Hall, Peter
Eisenman, Christopher Alexander, Bickminster Fuller.
 (
CP BLOCK 1 CONTINUED )
3.5 Anthropologists like Christopher Alexander, Amos Rapoport, Nold Egenter etc.
3.6 Large international practices such as SOM, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers with their
Centre Georges Pompidou,
3.7Extreme revivalists like Quinlan Terry, maverick and place based architects like Nari Gandhi in Bombay,
Laurie Baker in Kerala, Giancarlo-de-Carlo in Urbino, Gerard-da-Cunha In Goa.
3.8 Trophies and Competitions like the Aga Khan, Pritziker, Premium Imperiale, RIBA, IIA, AIA, UIA gold
medals. Place specific architecture and Urbanism Pei’s Louvre Pyramid, Stirling’s Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart,
Geoffrey Bawa’s work in SriLanka, Rewals work in Delhi.
3.9 Reactionary movements of Urban Design, Oscar Newman’s Defensible Space and Community of
Interest. Earth Summits at Rio and Johannesburg leading to movements on conservation of fossil fuels,
recognition of traditional skills in building and other life support systems.
3.10 Parallel disciplines of architecture such as Landscape, Conservation, Construction and Project
Management, Interior Design, Valuation, Product Design, Visual Communication leading to narrowing
down of the scope of work of the architect and also widening his sphere of influence. Development of allied
sciences such as Anthropology, behavioural sciences, Vastu and Feng shui and such Occult sciences.
Twenty first century trends such as the rise of fundamentalism and collapse of World Trade Centre.
(8-12 pages)
Green architecture, sustainable development and alternative energy sources. Organizations with
global and local agendas – BASIN, SKAT, GATE, GTZ, LEED.
Gandhian simplicity and Schumacher’s Appropriate Technology, celebration of the Vernacular.
Proliferation of IT, BT and outsourcing, SEZs and such islands of affluence. Explosion of the city (out
of city Malls, entertainment hubs) and other antiurbanist trends. Rise of the intermediate cities
(CIMES) movement.
Works by leading architects like Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Liebeskind, Itsuko Hasegawa, Eva
Jircina, Future Systems, Norman Foster, Ove Arups and Associates and several others.
CP BLOCK 1 (CONTINUED)
I. B. Influencing factors in the shaping of contemporary architecture. CP BLOCK 1
i. Directly related factors: (8-12 pages)
1. New Material
2. New Technologies
3. New tools of design
4. New trends in Education
5. Media
6. Various local national and global associations
7. Development Control Rules
8. Rise of Management Disciplines
9. Reactionary opinions from dissatisfied consumers of architecture, supported by academics, researchers,
practitioners.
ii. Indirectly related factors: (8-12 pages)
Global economic and commercial organizations patronizing large building works
Environmental awareness, theories of global warming, pollution etc.
Limits to the continued exploitation of fossil fuels
Major political changes – e.g. Fall of Socialism, Unification of Germany
New ways of understanding the universe due to new scientific theories (Architecture of the Jumping
Universe by Charles Jencks)
Change in Methods of Production Distribution and Consumption across the world
Newly explored and realized social dimensions of architecture
II. Study of contemporary culture and expression. CP BLOCK 1
Globalization(8-12 pages)
Glocalization – Cultures having a global appeal and outlook but based locally(8-12 pages)
Environmental sustainability(8-12 pages)
Cost effective and appropriate technology based cultures(8-12 pages)
CP BLOCK 2, 30-50 pages (32-48 pages)
III. Study and understanding of contemporary architectural theories.
A detailed inquiry into the circumstances and causes that give rise to theories such as Deconstructivism,
Post Modernism, Critical Regionalism, Vernacular etc. (8-12 pages)
IV. Understanding Contemporary design thinking and methods CP BLOCK 2
i. Green Buildings Movement in the last decade.
ii. Sustainable Development Movement(8-12 pages)
iii. Contemporary Modernism and its offshoots such as High Tech, Slick Tech, New Brutalism,
Functionalism, International style etc. (8-12 pages)
iv. Continuity of Vernacular building practices by university trained, untrained and those trained in other
formal traditions of various cultures.
v. Contextual Design in significant built or natural environments. (8-12 pages)
CP BLOCK 3, 30-50 pages (40-60 pages)
V Comprehensive study of architectural technologies.
a. Technology or material based(8-12 pages)
i. High Rise technologies
ii Membrane technologies – tensile structures, pneumatics
iii Services based technologies – elevators, air-conditioning systems, acoustics based
iv New Materials – aluminium and plastic composites, alloys, titanium, smart material – gel
filled glasses, fabrics, geotextiles.
v. Energy based technologies – solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal.
b. Thought process based and design tools based(8-12 pages)
i Computer based drafting, machining and simulation tools
ii Laboratory based simulation and performance evaluation models, e.g. wind-tunnel analysis
of skyscrapers, acoustic model studies of auditoria, etc.
iii Behavioural analysis based, e.g.
iv Inspired by other arts and social trends
VI Study of contemporary trends in building material and construction techniques. CP BLOCK 3
a. Technology or material based(8-12 pages)
i RCC and Ferro cement based
ii Steel and its various derivatives like Stainless Steel
iii Composites – Stone slab cladding with metal fasteners, timer and steel, bamboo and plastics, aluminium and
plastics, Teflon, gel filled glasses, glass and steel
iv Earth based techniques – adobe, fired clay, ceramics, faience etc.
v Brick based techniques – reinforced brickwork, arcuate construction, Nubian vaults, Rat trap or Joshi Bond
vi Stone based techniques – drilling, quarrying, stone cutting and synthetic stone using cement or other bonding
chemicals
b. Form based Techniques (8-12 pages)
i Plastic forms – organics, blobs, sinuous, curvaceous forms
ii Skeletal forms – trabeate, arcuate like Nervi’s hangars and stadia or Mahendra Raj’s Pragati
Maidan Hall of Nations
iii Planar forms – laminar buildings like Mies van der Rohes’ Seagram building
iv composites combinations of the above - Crumpled Cigarette foil image of the Guggenheim
museum by Frank O Gehry in Bilbao
v High tech – HSBC building in Hong Kong by Norman Foster, Lloyds of London by Richard
Rogers
vi External services – oil refinery aesthetic Centre Georges Pompidou by Richard Rogers and
Renzo Piano
vii Organic forms like those of Santiago Calatrava’s bridges and towers or NMB Bank Amsterdam.
c. Structural Logic based Forms (8-12 pages)
i Framed structures, like the Eiffel Tower or CN Tower Toronto or the Petronas Towers of Kuala
Lumpur
ii Load-bearing
iii Pneumatic
iv Shell based structure like the Bahai Temple by Fariburz Sabha, CNIT Hall in Paris, Sydney
Opera House by Jorn Utzon.
CP BLOCK 4, 30-50 pages
VII Assessment of contemporary modernistic architecture
Holistic appraisal of production of recent architecture across the world emerging out of the above studies with a view towards
the future trends of the past decade.
 Brief Note on tools of study and attitude towards subject:
Contemporary: The word has come to mean what is currently happening in
architecture as against ‘modern’ that was the opposite of traditional in the context of architectural
jargon. Towards the end of the 20th century several isms such as late modernism, high-tech, de-
constructivism, post modernism, critical regionalism were introduced by critics to describe and classify
the various trends and theories that were rampant. All these as well as the continuing practices of
vernacular, organic and earlier isms like metabolism or could be said to be comprehensively covered
under the term ‘contemporary’. The reference point of the term contemporary for the purpose of this
subject is taken as the architecture and ideas that were produced in the recent past (10-15 years ago) and
are know relevant.
Architecture: While there are several definitions and statements offered by
critics and architects across history, there are some that have lasting value while some apply to a phase.
See Appendix.
In order to be able to produce good architecture it is necessary that the student is aware of the
various trends and theories as well as examples of good architecture. At the same time it is also
necessary to know the various circumstances that produced the architecture. While there is a subjective
element in all production and appreciation of art, where the media and critics play a major role in
deciding the fate of a work of art, it is expected that the student is aware of the various canons of
criticism and is aware of the ongoing debates in the field to be able to address them positively. To know
these it is necessary to use the print as well as other media. As far as possible the student should
experience each work of architecture without the layer of the media, in person with all five or six
senses. It is this appreciation that cannot be duplicated by any media that is the true experience of
architecture. The student is therefore urged to visit and experience as many works of architecture as
possible, prepare notes and sketches, take photographs and read opinions expressed about them.
Considering the distances at which these works are located, it may not be always possible to have a first
hand experience. In that case different opinions, analyses and studies are inevitable.
 The student should develop a genuine personal conviction of what is good
architecture regardless of its time, size, technology and place. It is also necessary to
know that the interpretation of what is good architecture has undergone a rapid change in
the recent past and will continue to do so in the near future. Knowing the reasons for this
change is equally necessary to be able to understand and project what might be in store
for the future. The width and depth of ones experience inevitably conditions expression.
The more comprehensive and in-depth appraisal of each work of architecture, from as
many perspectives as possible without loosing a broader view of the subject holds the
key to the appreciation and hence production of good architecture.
While history of architecture deals with the distant past, this subject deals with the
recent past, as well as the present happenings in architecture. These tend to have a
greater impact on the production on the immediate future. One of the problems is about
the plethora of information available from the media. To be able to classify, analyze and
make sense of this enormous amount of information is a specialized task. It is therefore
not possible to cover all the happenings or examples within the confines of this
publication. The attempt therefore is to provide the reader with suggestive lists, tools and
attitudes towards the subject that will aid in self study and appreciation throughout your
career. Finally any work of art ‘is a thing of beauty – joy forever’; it is this appreciation
of the beauty and the ability to find joy in it that is at the root of this exercise.
 Oh Architecture! What are you?

Are you Agony and ecstasy?

Are you real or a fantasy?
Are you the ‘Holy trinity’?
A process or a product
Conscious or Spontaneous, Art or Craft?
Do you embrace form or function?
“Complexity or Contradiction”?
Are you ‘less’, are you ‘more’
But certainly not a ‘bore’?
Of society are you a Mirror or a mould?
Repository of Memories and Miseries untold?
Are you ‘Silence’ or are you ‘Sound’?
Frozen Music, Figure or Ground?
Are you Poetry or Prose,
‘Symbol or Social Purpose’?
Are you Commodity firmness and Delight,
or ‘Magnificent Volumes in Light’?
Are you the churning of climate and culture,
Prima Donna, Partnership or Joint Venture?
Structure or Space,
Economy or extravagance?
Are you Simplicity and honesty,
Or of Time yet another travesty?
Oh Architecture, Mother of All Arts,
Machine for living and ‘Invisible fountain’
from which all rhythms flow beyond time and infinity.
KIRAN KALAMDANI
 Prologue
It is often said that architecture is a silent but prominent mirror of a society. It accurately reflects
the values, aspirations and pitfalls of a civilization. At the beginning of the 20th century architects had taken
the mantle to mould a civilization. On several occasions political leaders had promised to create new nations
and civilizations ‘unfettered by the traditions of the past’ while others agreed the ‘we mould our buildings
and they mould us’. Many of these promises remained unfulfilled, ended as disasters or at best partly
realized.
The various scientific theories and accepted facts about the world around us and the universe have
often conditioned aesthetics and fundamentals of architecture. The realities of the ever-expanding universe,
the theories of bending of time and space, black holes and the big bang, relativity and infinity, fractals and
self-similar forms are a part of our contemporary consciousness. This together with the newfound
consciousness about sustainability, responsible use of resources hold the promise of delivering new forms
that are responsible and responsive to the call of the future.
At the same time the recent targeting of architecture as a symbol of world trade and prosperity of the
haves (9/11) or that of a religion (Akshardham at Gandhi Nagar) has proved its iconic potential. These events
point towards a dangerous trend in recent times that has alarming coincidences with a phase of the distant
past. One of the prominent media recently projected a world view that looked back at the history of humanity
and tried to place the present state of the world in a phase where the middle ages are back. There were many
parallels drawn such as the rise of religious fundamentalism, the inability of language to express human
emotions leading to the invention of icons, images and the complete dependence on the visual media, rise of
prosperity, materialistic and consumerist attitudes intolerance and weapons of mass destruction and an
atmosphere of anarchy. The great cathedrals that were built in the dark ages are now belittled by the shining
cathedrals of commerce.
One of the architecture media claimed that architecture was at the crossroads. As the world gets
increasingly polarized between the haves and the have-nots, the north and the south, democracies and
dictatorships, the role of architects and architecture as mirror or mould of a society is as questionable as ever.
Whether the 21st century spells doom or heralds the beginning of a new era for architecture is not entirely
outside the power of architects.
.
Today the profession of architecture remains largely misunderstood, threatened, and is being
marginalized. Architects are often treated as glorified draftspersons, make-up artists who decorate
buildings, errand-boys who get sanctions, playing second-fiddle to engineers or project managers
by several people inside as well as outside the profession. Depending on the status, skill and
shrewdness of its best or worst practitioners, the profession experiences a wide bandwidth of
opinions from the people inside or outside the profession. On the other hand the best practitioners
today enjoy much larger commissions than ever before. They are able to deploy unprecedented
technologies and approaches to the making of architecture in a rapidly globalizing world. After the
advent of the environmental awareness, green building and sustainable development movements,
scientists and purveyors of doomsday scenarios have taken precedence and control over the
thought processes and activities of architects. The 19th and 20th century witnessed the division
and subdivision of knowledge and information systems and hence professions into narrow
compartments. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century is seeing the
convergence of these disciplines not unlike what happened in the European Renaissance.
Architecture itself being a discipline of convergence is growing richer by the new dimensions of
environment, astronomy or anthropology that nourish it further.
The era of information explosion is a phenomenon that has begun to radically change the way
human society on earth is organized. It holds several promises for architecture as a thought process
as well as products of an exercise. The emphasis of world civilization that shifts its emphasis to
the Pacific Rim and South Asia has great potential for generating an architecture that is fuelled by
not only the new-found prosperity but also the responsibility of effects of global warming,
sustainability and use of renewable resources
Museum Man at Bhopal, Ram Sharma Architect Photograph Kiran Kalamdani April 2006