Architettura Giapponese Contemporanea. (Contemporary Japanese Architecture) (review)

90 Books Machu-Pichu stands in lamentable contrast to the authoritarian grid system applied almost universally in Spanish America. over the ashes of the destroyed urban cultures. The early nineteenth century brought the end of colonialism. The road to selfdevelopment was open. With the large influx of Europeans, a cultural influence was inevitable. European traditions not only continued in the way of living and in social hierarchies but also in architecture , which relied strictly on French and English precedents. However, at the beginning of this century, interest in the ‘indigenous’ emerged. Le Corbusier’s visit and his collaboration with Costa and Niemeyer has been vital in the attempt to reconcile the new ideas and blend them with the past. The Ministry of Education and Health in Rio de Janiero (193843) placed a building as an isolated volume in urban space but the continuity at ground level and the use of tropical flora on terraces were evidence of a rediscovery of local environment. Niemeyer’s buildings retained this formalism, in as much as he only pierced space with planes or located objects within space but did not modulate it. Concrete became practically the only material. It is extremely well used, contributing to the freedom gained from rational rectangular forms and puritanical orderliness. The forms became sensuous, more exuberant, yet not exhibitionist. Forms to please the eye are evidently a common ideal. Yet this freedom and discovery went only as far as the building as object was concerned. Corbusier’s influence and the magnificent tradition of ‘English park’ settings contributed mostly to their early planning attempts. It was a dismal failure alien to the inhabitants, for it denied the life of the street, so much a part of their urban culture. But the first failures in planning based on the ‘objects in parks’ ideas in Caracas and, especially, in Brasilia have taught their lessons. Lately, the finite, formal ideas under dictatorial control of both design and management are giving way to working with the people instead of working for them. The altitude of the new generation is most promising. They believe in working with people in exploiting exceptions and circumstances, because as Bothagaray said, unless ‘the vagaries of the user, which bring an architectural pattern to life’ are taken into account, no significant environment will ever be created. The visual evidence for these new attitudes is nevertheless lacking in the book as is the mention of the most significant social activity in South America, the barriadas movement. We can only hope that ‘working with people’ will mean that and not what the illustrations of expensive houses and prestige commercial buildings might lead a cynical reader to be1ieve. Colonial rule usurped and exploited the African nations to mid-twentieth century and sadly some vestiges still exist. It has been a confused and violent change. The foundations have not yet been properly laid for the new nations. This is reflected in the state of the art of building, evidenced from Udo Kultermann ’s essay. As in Latin America, the initial attempts to house the functions of the new society are based on European models and more often than not are designed by Europeans. It is needless to elaborate on the fact that formal ideas and baroque compositions have little relevance for the African way of life, social organization and realm of spatial or visual experience. The illustrations of early indigenous African architecture give evidence of closely knit, organic patterns of habitations where building forms were determined by climatic, economic and social conditions. The ancient Benin City in Nigeria has more affinitywith Kano of today than with any of the neatly detailed, international style boxes arranged to substantiate the new governments prestige. Architecture in Africa has always related very strongly to social patterns of life. It was an organic extension of the peoples’ way of life, their religious fears and beliefs, their ability to form enclosures for protection and to use readily available building materials. It is sad that the new governments in their efforts to ‘catch up’ continue the colonial pattern of importing, along with the appropriate functions, the enclosures that were developed for an entirely different set of requirements and conditions. Most tragic...