BERKELEY PRIZE COMPETITION ESSAY
PARTICIPANT Mr Ashley I Paine
COUNTRY Australia
UNIVERISTY Queensland University of Technology
DEPARTMENT School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial De
MAJOR Bachelor of Architecture
YEAR 5

ESSAY
Architecture as a Collaborative Philosophy (or Why Architecture is not a Social Art)

The creation of architecture is a complex endeavour that necessarily encompasses the functional, social, and emotional needs of its users, both individually and collectively. To this challenge, many have posited their agendas to produce an ethically and socially conceived architecture. The Modern Movement, for example, outlined a clear agenda for architecture that sought an architectural panacea for the social ills of the new industrial city. Yet under this social veil, its greatest proponent, Le Corbusier, pursued a personal agenda of aesthetic, social and urban ideas for a Modern architecture. His was a social theory, seeking to remedy the social reality of unhealthy and unsanitary cities. However, his stance highlights the inherent problem with architecture conceived as a social art. Art, by its nature and its practice, is a personalised and an essentially biased act. Often it implies a single agenda, grounded in the creator


SOURCES
1. Bohigas, Oriol. “Aldo van Eyck or a New Amsterdam School”. Oppositions, 9, (Summer 1977), 21-36. 2. Clifford, Derek. Art and Understanding: Towards a Humanist Aesthetic. London: Evelyn, Adams and McKay Ltd., 1968. Clifford discusses the basis of artistic exploration and its perception, language and meaning. The book is intended as an alternative to other books cited here with entirely architectural biases. 3. Harries, Karsten. The Ethical Function of Architecture. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1997. 4. Heuvel, Dirk van den. “The Diagrams of Team 10”. Daidalos, 74, 40-51. 5. Leach, Neil. The Anaesthetics of Architecture. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1999. 6. McDonough, William. “The Hanover Principles” in Nesbitt, Kate. Theorising a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996. pp. 409-10. 7. Nesbitt, Kate. Theorising a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996. pp. 369-410. 8. Rogers, Richard. Cities for a Small Planet. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1997. 9. Smithson, Alison. Team 10 Primer. London: Studio Vista Ltd, 1968. This book is a primary source of Team 10’s discussions and debate, both against the Modernist establishment, and within their own group. The differences reveal a movement in architecture of loosely bound individuals that together reacted against principles of urban design espoused by the 'Elders' of CIAM. 10. Strauven, Franicis. The Dutch Contribution: Bakema and van Eyck”. Rassegna, 14, 52 (4) (December 1993), 48-57.
Main Index
Introduction: Legacy and Action
Stage 1: Enter the Competition
Stage 2: For Semifinalists
Winning Essays
Prize History
Frequently Asked Questions
Berkeley Prize Committee and Jury
Jury Room
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