“Too often when criticism starts, excuses begin, and so defensiveness gets in the way

of good, responsive work”

Architecture and critical imagination

- Wayne Attoe
INTRODUCTION
Criticism has the potential to be a powerful
pedagogical tool in architecture education.

Criticism is a behavior in which individuals express

their own perceptions of a physical place, an object, or
ideas in the hope of communicating their ideas to
others.

However, criticism is sometimes perceived to have a

negative connotation because of its sense of passing a
judgment upon a physical place or object.

Attoe also reiterates the behavior of criticism

includes the three categories of description,
interpretation, and evaluation. He also identifies that
criticism falls under three basic groups: normative
criticism, interpretative criticism, and descriptive
criticism

NORMATIVE CRITICISM
•Based on a standard on
which the critic bases his
criticism.
•The critic will compare the
given design with the
standard.
•It is for the critic to decide
what standard to choose and
it could be objective or
subjective.
TYPES OF CRITICISM
INTERPRETIVE CRITICISM
•Does not make use of any
standard at all.
•It depends entirely on the
interpretation of the critic
and therefore is highly
personal and prejudiced.
•The critic would like to
persuade reader to look at
the design in the same way
the critic is looking it.
DESCRIPTIVE CRITICISM
•As the name suggests, it is
more concerned with
description of factual things
related to the design and the
various people involved with
the design as also the
events which influenced the
design.
NORMATIVE CRITICISM
DOCTRINAL CRITICISM
Doctrinal criticism has as its
basis a doctrine, such as;
form follows function, and
tends towards “the belief
that there is a single
approach for accomplishing
our purposes and a single
standard for measuring our
achievements”.
SYSTEMATIC CRITICISM
is an interwoven assemblage
of principles or factors, a
system for judging.
TYPAL CRITICISM
is based upon structural,
functional, and form types.
MEASURED CRITICISM
measured criticism assigns
numerical standards to
provide the norms against
which something is judged.
For example, criticism of a
public square may take into
consideration the proportion
of the size of the square in
comparison to the height of
the buildings surrounding it.
NTERPRETIVE CRITICISM
ADVOCACY CRITICISM
Advocatory criticism is
employed by a critic who is
an advocate of a building or
place and is, “concerned
primarily with engendering
appreciation, not with
passing judgment”
IMPRESSIONISTIC CRITICISM
“uses the work of art or
building as a foundation on
which the critic then
constructs his own work of
art”
EVOCATIVE CRITICISM
Evocative criticism “uses
whatever means are needed
to arouse similar feelings in
the reader/viewer. The
evocative critique is not right
or wrong, but a surrogate
experience”
DESCRIPTIVE CRITICISM
DEPICTIVE CRITICISM
Depictive criticism does not
judge, but merely depicts
what exists; such as, how
people move through a
space.
BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM CONTEXTUAL CRITICISM
Biographical criticism Contextual criticism provides
provides others with and information about the social,
understanding of the political, and economic
architect in order to allow a context in which something
better understanding of their was designed.
intentions.
 Doctrinal criticism

Systematic criticism
NORMATIVE CRITICISM
Typal criticism

Measured criticism

Advocacy criticism
TYPES OF
CRITICISM INTERPRETIVE CRITICISM Evocative criticism
Impressionistic criticism

Depictive criticism
DESCRIPTIVE CRITICISM
Biographical criticism
Contextual criticism
This was the contribution of Wayne Attoe to the field of
Architectural Theory…