| tondon He has bean auto
pred in Aros, ape 1067
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Typology and Design Method *
lae%)
‘jar Coluhoun isan architect in practice n_ During the lt fow years a zreat deal ot
the AA Sehoal, —_atlontion hes Been given fothe problem of
‘aon: es wellas teaching et Princeton and dasign methodology, and te process of
errage Universes, Atprzenthe isa sign as abranchl the wider procese
{ating roleasor at Comet. This artele ret Stproblem acing.
Many peopl belove, not without reason th
the inutive methods of dsign tadionaly
Used by architects are inceoeble of dealng
‘nth ho compleny of tne probloms tobe
Solved, and tat without sharper oats of
tna)ysie and clasateton the designer tends
{oval back on proveus examples forthe
luton of nw problems on type solitons,
ne of the designare ang educators who has
‘eon consistently prooecupled by this
oblom ie Tomas Maldonedo. Ata recent
sina at Princeton Unverty, Maldonado
‘mite tet in cesos wher was not
possible to claselly avery cbsorvabl sty
Ir anarchiectuel srogreme, might be
+ mosossary to use a typology of arentectoral
forme in arderto arte att solution. But he
faded tna thee forme wor ike cancer In
the body ofthe solution, ard that as our
techniques af clasaieaton Become more
‘pstomatit should be poste to eliminate
‘om atogeter.
Now ts my bli! hatboroath to apparent
Dbjetity of these idee here les an
festhtic doctrine wil the purposo of
{hepaper to enow thin too he case, and,
furtor tty and show that tis unter
without eonaderable moatleation.
(ne of the most roquont uments used
‘gsinat typological procecures in architecture
fas boon tat hey aro a vestige of an age of
‘raft ie held that the Use model by
frattimon became loss necessary
‘evelopment of seintficechnigues onabled
man to dlacovar the general laws underlying
Thotechnica oluone of he produit
age,
he ve
'ssionee”cortalny Ind
valid dlatineton to 99 dravn Detwoen atects
That ee the result! the application of he
Tans of natural clence and those which are
tha result of meas’ and inullon. Bofors
the ee of modem slonce, Wacivon, habit
fad Imitation were the me-bods by which all
‘Tifects wera mada, wheter ose We
‘meliy utilitarian 9 main rligiows. The
(tord “art” wos sed to casero te sl
Mocessary to produce all tue artifacts With
{he development of madem seianco, the word
rar was progressively rested tothe case
of artacts which ig not depend on he law
n
‘of natural science, but continued tobe based
fn tradiion and ha idea a! the final form of
work aaa xed Iso
‘But thie stnction ignores the extent to
‘ahienarfacta have not oniy 8 "088" value in
the erudest sense, but aso an "oxchange”
valu
“The eraftsman hed an image of he object in
hismine's eye when staring to rake
‘Whethor hia objoct was a cult image (say @
‘cuipture) or aitchon ute, twas an
Sbject of Cultural exchango, and formed
partol a aystom of conmunicatons within
{octey. ie "mossage” value was embodied
precios ne image of te na form whieh
‘rateman held nbs mind’s eye ne he Was
‘making lana to which his aract
‘Corresponded a nes a¢ poesia. In ste
‘ofthe development of the scion method
‘le must ail atrauleaueh socal ertoontc
‘aivos tothe products a eernology, and
Facognise tht they play an eesentat cle n
the ganaraion and development ofthe
our environmen Ws ey
of arifacte which continde
tobe mace according to to tradilonal
mmathods (for example paintings or musical
{Compositions} have a predominant Teonio
purpose, butsuch a purpose snot oo oft
Fecognised inthe creation ofthe anviranment
nol, Ths facts concealed tom va
®t Intentions of he design process
fro "hidden” inthe oven otal of|
Pertormance specteaton
The idalization of “primitive” man, and the
{Undarnntaist studs which his generated
has eacouragea th eeceptance of uch
Toone vsivea Tore hes boon a fondoney
‘ince the eighteenth eantry to look onthe
lage prmiive man sea aor of olden age
Inwhieh men ved close to nature. For many
years, for stance, primtve hut or oneot
Isdatiatives nas boon taxen as the starting
point for atchitetural evolution, and has boon
{he subject oft year design programmes,
tnd t would nt bean exaggeration sy
thatfrequentya alee lin of aescont
presumed to exit from the noble savage,
through the ullitarlan craft to madarm
sclenee ad technology. The whole edifice ot
far ceraily since tho an of to mediagvel
oroa is oton thought to be corrupt ana
Unnatural and based on some sophisticated
"horror vicu” or the need to aggranclze a
ruling els. nso far as tis basog onthe
Idee ofthe noble savage his notion is quite
baseless. Te cosmological systems of
primitive man were ver intllctval and very
Entei, To take only Knahip systems, the
following quotation rom Cauge Lev Strauss
‘wi make tho pont clear: "Geraly” he
naar m ewe eee eS eS ee ee ee= eae eee eee ee ee ee ee
‘say, "the bilogieal familys present and
Dersatsn human soc. Bt wha gives to
kinship hz charactor as a soca faci nt
wat it mst conserve of natu: tho
‘sential step by which i soparatas tat!
from nature eystar of Kinship dows not
oraistot objective blood test exes ony
Inthe consciousness of men isan arsitrary
{system of rpreseniations, not the
spontaneccs developmen of sation of
fet"
‘There seoms tobe z clos parallel botwoon
uch systems and the way mogem man til
spproaches the wold, and what was tv of
primitive man in ll te raiiations of his
Practical and emotional fe nmaly the
‘eed to represent te phenomenal word in
Such away thtitbecames a coherent snd
{ogleal ysiom ~periate in our ow
‘organisations, and more pariculry In our
ittude towards tho man-made objects of cur
‘envronmont.
‘An oxamplo of th way his appli
‘contemporary man sn the creation of what
fro called soclo-apatial chomata. Our sense
{place and relationship in, aay,an urban
‘environment or ina bulding, er not
‘Sependenton sa objctive fact thats
imeasuaa: ty ae poromana The,
purpose ofthe wosthotle organisation of ur
‘avronment so capitalise on is oubletive
‘schematization, endmake eocaly,
valle. The resulting organisation does ot
orrespond n a one-to-one rlationahip wih
tho objective facta but ean arta
onstrut which reprasonts thee fact In a
‘socially recognise way
fotos thatthe presentations ystoms
‘ahich are developed re, in
Independent of the quantiabi acs ofthe
‘environment.
‘Nosystom of representation, no meta
language, Nowover, etal Independent of
tho facta which conettute the objective word.
‘Te modern movement in architoctre was an
tempt to modi the representational
Systems whlen had boon inverted om the
Dresindusva pat. and which no longee
‘Seemad opera within tne content 9 &
Faplaly changing technology. One of the maln
Ssetrinas atthe rot ofthis vanstormation
Was based essary ona atu to nature,