unofficial blog for course ARCH210

Lehigh University
Art Architecture and Design
113 Research Drive
Building C
Bethlehem, PA 18015

Liz

Week 9

According to Tschumi there is no set way in how a building should be defined by the events associated that are preformed inside it. The building serves to teach us what one could learn from when it came to structure Which is a complete from I would say Rossi’s whose theories basically said quite the opposite; that the function and location of a structure are absolutely instrumental to it. I have previously said that I agree with Rossi’s perspective on structure and design and that still remains true in fact I completely disagree with Tschumi. To say the function holds no relevance towards a structure is just decorating empty space. A temple has a place of worship and it’s culturally significant to it’s people however if that was not reflected in it’s design is it still a temple? Tschumi’s way of thinking is too abstract for something as pragmatic as building. I could see how both a watercolor portrait and a acrylic landscape could convey the same emotions and I could then argue that the media and subject matter are irrelevant to it’s purpose however I don’t feel the same could be said about a building. Buildings are tools, they will always be tools. One could not say that a rake or shovel is not defined by it’s use, you can’t use a shovel to rake a lawn because it’s simply wasn’t designed with that in mind. That being said, I do feel that as a society disregarding purpose of a structure is still important. Things that were used a hundred years ago are still used, if you will, today but rather as monuments. There are schools with a religious aspect in them that are held at/in the vicinity of a church. It is possible to disregard function in some capacity in regards to design however even then I would argue that the original intention of the structure is still showing up with in it’s new function. For example just because school is held in a church doesn’t mean it’s just a school, it’s a school with a religious twist to it. Ultimately I would surmise that Tschumi’s theory does not hold water, the function of a structure will always in some capacity define the space.

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