Structuralism (architecture)

European Space Centre ESTEC in Noordwijk, restaurant conference-hall library, 1989 (Aldo van Eyck and Hannie van Eyck)

Diagoon housing in Delft, Basic structure for participation, 1971 (Herman Hertzberger)

Participation of the inhabitants

Structuralism as a movement in architecture and urban planning evolved around the middle of the 20th century. It was a reaction to CIAM-Functionalism (Rationalism), which had led to a lifeless expression of urban planning that ignored the identity of the inhabitants and urban forms.

Two different manifestations of Structuralist architecture exist. Sometimes these occur in combination with each other. On the one hand, there is the Aesthetics of Number, formulated by Aldo van Eyck in 1959. This concept can be compared to cellular tissue. The "Aesthetics of Number" can also be described as "Spatial Configurations in Architecture".

On the other hand, there is the Architecture of Lively Variety (Structure and Coincidence), formulated for user participation in housing by John Habraken in 1961. Also, in the 1960s many well-known utopian projects are based on the principle of "Structure and Coincidence". Similar notions of "Architecture of Lively Variety" are: "Architecture of Diversity", "Pluralistic Architecture" or "Two-Components-Approach".

Structuralism in a general sense is a mode of thought of the 20th century, which came about in different places, at different times and in different fields. It can also be found in linguistics, anthropology, philosophy and art.

Origins

Structuralism in architecture and urban planning had its origins in the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) after World War II. Between 1928 and 1959, the CIAM was an important platform for the discussion of architecture and urbanism. Various groups with often conflicting views were active in this organization; for example, members with a scientific approach to architecture without aesthetic premises (Rationalists), members who regarded architecture as an art form (Le Corbusier), members who were proponents of high- or low-rise building (Ernst May), members supporting a course of reform after World War II (Team 10), members of the old guard and so on. Individual members of the small splinter group Team 10 laid the foundations for Structuralism. The influence of this team was later interpreted by second generation protagonist Herman Hertzberger when he said: "I am a product of Team 10." As a group, Team 10 was active from 1953 onwards, and two different movements emerged from it: the New Brutalism of the English members (Alison and Peter Smithson) and the Structuralism of the Dutch members (Aldo van Eyck and Jacob Bakema).

Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, 1972 (Louis Kahn)

Habitat 67, Montreal World Exposition, 1967 (Moshe Safdie)

McMaster University Medical Centre Hamilton Canada, 1972 (Craig Zeidler & Strong)

Outside Team 10, other ideas developed that furthered the Structuralist movement - influenced by the concepts of Louis Kahn in the United States, Kenzo Tange in Japan and John Habraken in the Netherlands (with his theory of user participation in housing). Herman Hertzberger and Lucien Kroll made important architectural contributions in the field of participation. In this context, Hertzberger made the following statement: "In Structuralism, one differentiates between a structure with a long life cycle and infills with shorter life cycles."

In 1960, the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange designed his well-known Tokyo Bay Plan. Reflecting later on the initial phase of that project, he said: "It was, I believe, around 1959 or at the beginning of the sixties that I began to think about what I was later to call Structuralism", (cited in Plan 2/1982, Amsterdam). Tange also wrote the article "Function, Structure and Symbol, 1966", in which he describes the transition from a functional to a structural approach in thinking. Tange considers the period from 1920 to 1960 under the heading of "Functionalism" and the time from 1960 onwards under the heading of "Structuralism".

Le Corbusier created several early projects and built prototypes in a Structuralist mode, some of them dating back to the 1920s. Although he was criticized by the members of Team 10 in the 1950s for certain aspects of his work (urban concept without a "sense of place" and the dark interior streets of the Unité), they nevertheless acknowledged him as a great model and creative personality in architecture and art.

Manifesto

One of the most influential manifestos for the Structuralist movement was compiled by Aldo van Eyck in the architectural magazine Forum 7/1959. It was drawn up as the programme for the International Congress of Architects in Otterlo in 1959. The central aspect of this issue of Forum was a frontal attack on the Dutch representatives of CIAM-Rationalism who were responsible for the reconstruction work after World War II, (for tactical reasons, planners like van Tijen, van Eesteren, Merkelbach and others were not mentioned). The magazine contains many examples of and statements in favour of a more human form of urban planning. This congress in 1959 marks the official start of Structuralism, although earlier projects and buildings did exist. Only since 1969 has the term "Structuralism" been used in publications in relation to architecture.

Otterlo Congress, Participants

Some of the presentations and discussions that took place during the Otterlo Congress in 1959 are seen as the beginning of Structuralism in architecture and urbanism. These presentations had an international influence. In the book "CIAM '59 in Otterlo", the names of the 43 participating architects are listed:

L. Miquel, Alger / Aldo van Eyck, Amsterdam / José A. Coderch, Barcelona / Wendell Lovett, Bellevue-Washington / Werner Rausch, Berlin / W. van der Meeren, Bruxelles / Ch. Polonyi, Budapest / M. Siegler, Genf / P. Waltenspuhl, Genf / Hubert Hoffmann, Graz / Chr. Fahrenholz, Hamburg / Alison Smithson, London / Peter Smithson, London / Giancarlo de Carlo, Milan / Ignazio Gardella, Milan / Vico Magistretti, Milan / Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Milan / Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, Montreal / Sandy van Ginkel, Montreal / Callebout, Nieuport / Geir Grung, Oslo / A. Korsmo, Oslo / Georges Candilis, Paris / Alexis Josic, Paris / André Wogenscky, Paris / Shadrach Woods, Paris / Louis Kahn, Philadelphia / Viana de Lima, Porto / F. Tavora, Porto / Jacob B. Bakema, Rotterdam / Herman Haan, Rotterdam / J.M. Stokla, Rotterdam / John Voelcker, Staplehurst / Ralph Erskine, Stockholm / Kenzo Tange, Tokyo / T. Moe, Trondheim / Oskar Hansen, Warszawa / Zofia Hansen, Warszawa / Jerzy Soltan, Warszawa / Fred Freyler, Wien / Eduard F. Sekler, Wien / Radovan Niksic, Zagreb / Alfred Roth, Zurich

Theoretical Origins

Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, 1972 (Kisho Kurokawa)

Yamanashi Culture Chamber in Kofu, 1967 (Kenzo Tange)

• Built structures corresponding in form to social structures, according to Team 10 (Working group for the investigation of interrelationships between social and built structures) .

• The archetypical behaviour of man as the origin of architecture (cf. Anthropology, Claude Lévi-Strauss). Different Rationalist architects had contacts with groups of the Russian Avant-Garde after World War I. They believed in the idea that man and society could be manipulated.

• Coherence, growth and change on all levels of the urban structure. The concept of a Sense of place. Tokens of identification (identifying devices). Articulation of the built volume.

• Polyvalent form and individual interpretations (compare the concept of langue et parole by Ferdinand de Saussure). User participation in housing. Integration of "high" and "low" culture in architecture (fine architecture and everyday forms of building). Pluralistic architecture.

The principle Structure and Coincidence remains relevant until now, both for housing schemes and urban planning. For housing schemes the following images were influential: the perspective drawing of the project "Fort l'Empereur" in Algiers by Le Corbusier (1934) and the isometric drawing of the housing scheme "Diagoon" in Delft by Herman Hertzberger (1971). At city level, important projects were: the Tokyo Bay Plan of Kenzo Tange (1960) and the fascinating images of the model of the Free University of Berlin by Candilis Josic & Woods (1963). Also worth mentioning are the utopias of Archigram and Yona Friedman. In general, instruments for urban structuring are: traffic lines (e.g. gridiron plans), symmetries, squares, remarkable buildings, rivers, seashore, green areas, hills etc. This methods were also used in previous cities.

The principle Aesthetics of Number proved to be less useful for structuring an entire city. However, exemplary articulated configurations did arise, both in architecture and housing schemes. The first influential images for this direction Aldo van Eyck provided with aerial photos of his orphanage in Amsterdam (1961). Later he built another inspiring configuration for the Space Centre Estec in Noordwijk (1989). These two compositions can be counted among the most beautiful "icons" of structuralism.

Housing Estates, Buildings and Projects

Atelier 5: Halen housing estate near Bern, 1961

Van den Broek & Bakema et al.: New Rotterdam districts: Pendrecht project 1949 / Alexanderpolder projects 1953 and 1956

Piet Blom: Kasbah housing estate in Hengelo, 1973 / Urban district Oude Haven in Rotterdam, 1985

Candilis Josic & Woods: Free University of Berlin, 1963–73

Craig Zeidler & Strong: McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton Canada, 1972

Giancarlo De Carlo: Student housing Collegio del Colle Urbino, 1966

Centre Pompidou in Paris, 1977 (Renzo Piano & Richard Rogers)

Zentrum Paul Klee, Museum in Bern, 2005 (Renzo Piano)

Madrid-Barajas Airport, 2006 (Richard Rogers)

Madrid-Barajas Airport, terminal 4

Adriaan Geuze et al.: New urban district Borneo-Sporenburg Scheepstimmermanstraat in Amsterdam, 1997 (participation)

Herman Hertzberger: Centraal Beheer office building in Apeldoorn, 1972 (participation, inside) / Diagoon, eight experimental houses in Delft, 1971 (participation)

Louis Kahn: Jewish Community Center in Trenton, project 1954 / Salk Institute in La Jolla California, 1965 / Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, 1972

Lucien Kroll: Students' Centre St. Lambrechts-Woluwe in Brussels, 1976 (participation)

Kisho Kurokawa: Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, 1972

Le Corbusier: Perspective drawing of new city district Fort l'Empereur in Algiers, project 1934 (participation) / Weekend house near Paris, 1935 / Centre Le Corbusier in Zurich, 1967

Renzo Piano & Richard Rogers: Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris, 1977

Renzo Piano: Zentrum Paul Klee, Museum in Bern, 2005

Richard Rogers: Madrid-Barajas Airport terminal 4, 2006

Moshe Safdie: Habitat '67 housing estate, World Exposition in Montréal, 1967 / The Children's Monument Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, 2005

Alison and Peter Smithson: Golden Lane housing estate in London, project 1952 / Urban-planning scheme 1953: Hierarchy of Association "house-street-district-city"

Kenzo Tange: Tokyo Bay Plan, project 1960 / Yamanashi Culture Chamber in Kofu, 1967

Aldo van Eyck: Orphanage in Amsterdam, 1960 / European Space Research and Technology Centre Estec, restaurant conference-hall library in Noordwijk, 1989

Verhoeven Klunder Witstok & Brinkman: Housing estate in Berkel-Rodenrijs near Rotterdam, 1973

Stefan Wewerka: New city district Ruhwald in Berlin, project 1965

Bibliography

• Tomas Valena (ed.) with Tom Avermaete and Georg Vrachliotis, "Structuralism Reloaded - Rule-Based Design in Architecture and Urbanism", 47 articles by Roland Barthes, Herman Hertzberger, Winy Maas et al., Stuttgart-London 2011. (English)

• Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman (guest-eds.), "The New Structuralism - Design, Engineering and Architectural Technologies", in: Architectural Design July/August 2010, London.

• Mark Garcia (guest-ed.), "Patterns of Architecture", in: Architectural Design November/December 2009, London.

• Sabrina van der Ley and Markus Richter (eds.), "Megastructure Reloaded - Visionary Architecture and Urban Design of the Sixties reflected by Contemporary Artists", 25 articles about Archigram, Yona Friedman, Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz, Constant et al., Ostfildern near Stuttgart 2008. (German+English)

• Michael Hecker, "Structurel-Structural", Structuralist Theory in Architecture and Urbanism 1959-75, thesis Stuttgart University of Technology, Stuttgart 2007.

• Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel (eds.), "Team 10 - In Search of a Utopia of the Present", Rotterdam 2005.

• Francis Strauven, "Aldo van Eyck - The Shape of Relativity", Amsterdam 1998.

• Wim van Heuvel, "Structuralism in Dutch Architecture", Rotterdam 1992.

• Arnulf Lüchinger, "Structuralism in Architecture and Urban Planning", Stuttgart 1980.

• Reyner Banham, "Megastructure - Urban Futures of the Recent Past", London 1976.

• Herman Hertzberger, "Lessons for Students in Architecture", Rotterdam 1991 (No.1), 2000 (No.2), 2008 (No.3).

• Kenzo Tange, "Function, Structure and Symbol, 1966", in: Udo Kultermann, "Kenzo Tange", Zurich 1970.

• N. John Habraken, "Supports - An Alternative to Mass Housing", London 1972. ("De Dragers en de Mensen", Amsterdam 1961. "Die Träger und die Menschen", The Hague 2000; in combination with: "Two-Components-Approach - Structure and Coincidence".)

• Oscar Newman (ed.), "CIAM '59 in Otterlo", 30 articles by Louis Kahn, Kenzo Tange, Georges Candilis, Jacob Bakema, Aldo van Eyck, Alison and Peter Smithson et al., Stuttgart-London-New York 1961. (English+German translation)

• Aldo van Eyck, "Het Verhaal van een Andere Gedachte" (The Story of Another Idea), in: Forum 7/1959, Amsterdam-Hilversum. Editorial team for the magazine Forum 7/1959-3/1963 and July/1967: Aldo van Eyck, Herman Hertzberger, Jacob Bakema et al.

"Urban planning can never be determined by aesthetic considerations but exclusively by functional conclusions." This formulation in the CIAM-declaration of 1928 came from architects of the Rationalist movement. The first "Statement Against Rationalism" was written by Aldo van Eyck, for CIAM VI in 1947, (see "Aldo van Eyck Writings", Amsterdam 2008).

Further Configurations in Architecture and Urbanism

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  Leicester University Engineering Building, 1963 (Stirling-Gowan)

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  Salk Institute in La Jolla California, 1965 (Louis Kahn)

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  Centre Le Corbusier in Zurich, 1963-1967 (Le Corbusier)

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  Office building Centraal Beheer in Apeldoorn, 1972 (Herman Hertzberger)

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  Brunswick Centre Bloomsbury London, 1972 (Patrick Hodgkinson)

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  Klinikum Aachen, 1971–1985

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  Free University of Berlin, 1973 (Candilis-Josic- Woods)

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  Parliament building of North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf, 1979–1988

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  Urban district Oude Haven in Rotterdam, 1985 (Piet Blom)

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  Office building Banca del Gottardo in Lugano, 1987 (Mario Botta)

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  Scheepstimmermanstraat Amsterdam (participation), 1997 (Adr. Geuze, coord.)

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  Gare do Oriente, Station in Lisbon, 1998 (Santiago Calatrava)

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  Swiss pavilion Expo 2000 in Hanover (Peter Zumthor)

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  The Children's Monument Yad Vashem Jerusalem, 2005 (Moshe Safdie)

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  Memorial in Berlin, 2005 (Peter Eisenman)

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  Beijing National Stadium, 2008 (Herzog & de Meuron)

Historic Cities (The art of town planning)

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  Barcelona, Gridiron Plan

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  Manhattan, Gridiron Plan

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  Rome, Symmetries Axes River Hills etc.

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  Karlsruhe, Basic structure: Radial

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  Amsterdam, Basic structure: U-shape

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  Venice, Basic structure: S-shape

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  Washington, D.C., L'Enfant Plan

Interrelationships Between Social and Built Structures (Team 10)

1) "De Drie Hoven" Residential Building for Elderly People in Amsterdam-Slotervaart, 1974 (Herman Hertzberger). - 2) "Kasbah" Housing Estate in Hengelo, 1973 (Piet Blom).

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