Very Visual And Public Architecture example essay topic

The role of the visual in today's society is quite apparent. Beautiful, flashy images are everywhere in the media, and all of them serve the same purpose. The purpose of all of these images is to get you, the consumer to buy the product that is being sold, or at least buy into the idea that a particular product represents. The role of the visual in modern architecture is very much the same. The purpose of the visual in modern architecture is to publicize or privatize a building through any media necessary to create the desired representation, and thereby sell the idea. In the case of Le Corbusier, the goal was to create a very visual and public architecture.

He recognized that not everybody would be able to go and personally see his buildings, thus he decided to bring his buildings to them. Obviously Corbusier believed very strongly in the representational value of his buildings, "I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies". In this quotation Corbusier describes just how important the role of the visual is to him. Experience is not necessary, and neither is discussion, just visualization. In the case of Villa Savoye (Prissy, France 1928-1929) Corbusier created a building based upon his principles of architecture, and the idea of the house as a machine for living.

These programmatic elements yielded a simple building that followed his five points of architecture (pe loti, ribbon windows, a roof garden, free facade, and free plan). The way in which he composes these elements and ultimately how he represents the building are what make this a truly interesting piece of architecture, instead of a place for storing hay (as the building was once used). The physical appearance of the building (what it would look like if we were to visit) was an attempt by Corbusier to create a truly mechanical building, "A house is a machine for living in". The building is built in the middle of a completely flat field, upon which this foreign object is placed, described as. ".. looking as if a spaceship had landed... ".

The building itself contains many of the same elements that one would find in an ocean liner. Elements such as a roof deck, railings and the curvaceous walls of the roof deck which look like the smokestacks of a ship. While these elements help to create Corbusier's desired image the way in which he represents these element, and the building as a whole are what make it truly stand out. The few original pictures that Corbusier took of this building are what actually put Villa Savoye on the map as an architectural achievement.

The images speak of movement, seen in the ramp. They demonstrate the progression one would take from the ground to the roof, and from there to the vast expanse beyond. They also speak of the of the building, as if it just happened to be there when Corbusier was walking by and decided to take this picture. There is also an inherent lack of privacy common to all of the images. It is as if the whole world can look inside of the building and see what the occupants are doing, which is precisely what Corbusier wanted.

Thus he took them and published the images, which were then distributed all around the world. He also mad a movie of the building called "L'Architecture d'au jour " hui" (1929), which demonstrated his voyeuristic approach to how architecture should be seen. "Villa Savoye, for example, is an apparatus (like a cinema) that privileges the eye over the body, movement over stasis, and fragmentation over unity. Every window is a lens, a purely visual opening; circulation is a poetic event of movement, orchestrated by ramps and spiral stairways; the house acts as a dynamic and shifting catalyst to experience, not as a static and finite center of experience".

Publishing these images, and the making of the movie ended up making Villa Savoye possibly the most public building of the time, and one of the most popular buildings today (judging by the number of architecture books that contain images of it). Eileen Gray's beliefs on the role of the visual in architecture are exactly the opposite. Although she uses the same five points of architecture that Corbusier used for his buildings, her belief was that the visual should, in effect hide her building. This is particularly true of her building E-1027 (Roque brune, France 1926-29) "The naming of the house embodies the machine, synthesizing a personal identification of authorship with a mechanical coding via their initials (E = Eileen, 10 = Jean, 2 = Badovici, 7 = Gray). Her name encloses his, forming a framework for him to inhabit. The intimacy of their relationship is ambiguous, coded, hidden from the public even in the act of publicizing their collaboration".

The naming of the house is a directly corresponds with how Eileen Gray believed a house should function. She is much more concerned with how E-1027 will look to the inhabitants then how it will look to the rest of the world. This is why the only good views of E-1027 that an outside viewer can get are from the middle of the lake. Even this vantage point gives a distorted image due to the movement of the water.

If you were actually invited to the building you would be able to get some good views however they are not designed for the public, they are designed for the inhabitants, and their guests. Thus we can only assume that the building and its carefully chosen site were an attempt to privatize architecture. All of the photographs of the building that were taken are of the interior, and the comfortable and private spaces therein. Often the images contain furs, which were intended by Eileen Gray to personalize the experience of looking at a photograph. It was also supposed to, in effect bring the people viewing the photograph into her home.

This would give them a chance to experience the building for themselves. This is shown by the very few pictures that are taken of the building as a whole, it isn't about watching E-1027 is about experiencing. This is in direct contrast to Corbusier's more voyeuristic beliefs about the visual. Although the visual can be used to many different ends in modern architecture, it is used mostly to sell an idea. In the case of these two architects the ideas were very similar and yet opposite. Corbusier chose to publicize his buildings in order to gain a wide audience, which he felt was important, while Eileen Gray on the other hand chose to publicize the privacy of her building.

Both interpretations of the role of the visual in modern architecture are an attempt to sell a particular idea to the public.