In my haphazard stumble through the world of architects and architecture, I came across Robert Venturi. Whilst not perhaps directly appreciating his work when seen on the page in print (his emergency service building for Disney World in Florida is a Fire Department HQ straight out of a Mickey Mouse cartoon), I do appreciate and agree with his concept of “vernacular” architecture. In simplistic terms it entails taking the building and design trends of a country or locality and using them as an architectural guide.

In his 1972 work “Learning from Las Vegas” he highlighted the common architectural features of neon lights, advertising hoardings and false shop fronts found in LA and advocated them as an alternative to sometimes stilted architectural rationalism.

As can be seen from Mickeys fire-station there is a degree of irony, humour and a powerful sense of appropriateness in his work - all of which appeal to me.

The tying of architecture to the reality of a place, rather than some idealised or fictional notion is what appeals to me. There is a view of how agricultural buildings should be converted to dwellings that is sometimes at odds with my own sensibilities. Rendered walls with stone dressing, gravel drives and varnished window frames present a disneyfied view of the countryside and don’t represent the true beauty and sense of place that I seek. Venturi’s vernacular architecture recognises this and presents an alternative approach.

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A Frank Lloyd Wright quotation:

Organic architecture more or less means organic society. An architecture inspired by this ideal cannot acknowledge the laws imposed by aestheticism or mere taste, just as an organic society should reject any external imposition on life that contrast with nature and the character of the man who has found his work and the place where he can be happy and useful in a form of existence suited to him.

In short, architecture should follow the needs of society and the individuals within that society; that any awkward imposition caused by aestheticism or mere taste should be rejected. This struck me as a powerful quote that pretty much sums up my own personal approach to architecture. Whilst architectural styles and movements can entice with their aesthetic beauty, discipline and rigour, my personal needs for an attractive and yet functional environment drive me down a more pragmatic route.

Form follows function…

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The functions of a house, setting aside all other ‘romantic cobwebs’ are to provide:

”
1. A shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves and the inquisitive.
2. A receptacle for sun and light.
3. A certain number of cells appropriated for cooking, work and personal life.
“

Le Corbusier … keeping it simple.

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I was recently wandering around the web rooting through building and design related sites and came across a reference to John Ruskin’s Seven Lamps of Architecture intrigued by the title, I decided to do some more digging and came across one of the foundations of architecture over the last 150 years.
I’ve not yet read the […]