operative criticism

the great manfredo tafuri defined a form of precedent analysis like this:

[operative criticism] is an analysis of architecture (or of the arts in general) that, instead of an abstract survey, has as its objective the planning of a precise poetical tendency, anticipated by its structures and derived from historical analyses programmatically distorted and finalized.  ...

[o]perative criticism plans past history by projecting it towards the future. ...

[t]his type of criticism, by anticipating the ways of action, forces history: forces past history because, by investing it with a strong ideological charge, it rejects the failures and dispersions throughout history; and forces the future because it is not satisfied with the simple registering of what is happening, but hankers after solutions and problems not yet shown (at least, not explicitly so).  its attitude is contenting towards past history, and prophetic towards the future.

- manfredo tafuri, theories and history of architecture

some thoughts on precedent analysis

its always helpful to think of these possibilities:

• program precedent (ie. find a project that has a similar program to yours and see how it is organized, break it down, study the % relationships bet. spaces, amount of sq.ft. allowed for circulation, expected occupancy-to-program ratio, etc.)

• idea precedent (ie. some project/art piece/etc. that tries to materialize an idea like yours... and, then, diagram it... to see how it works, how its author tried to give it shape, etc.)

• negative precedent (ie. a project like yours that doesn't work... and why?  this can be done as a variant of the program precedent)

• site precedent (ie. if you have a peculiar, different, problematic, etc. site, find a precedent with a similar condition and see how the author solved for it). [this also works for structure/tectonics, materiality, etc.]
  

at the core, of course, is ANALYSIS... after all, it is through the act of investigation, unfolding, breaking down into component pieces, drawing, redrawing, mapping, investigating again, etc. where one tries to make sense of the precedent and "translate" it for ones own use... after all, what good is a precedent if you can't really use it to help you think though your own project?

new york city... diagrammed

site analysis going from the macro...

to the...

new york city... diagrammed 2

middle...

new york city... diagrammed 3

micro...

some examples of program [diagrams]

from a previous life...

[place of rest on broadway: higgins]

[meet factory: pioli]

[religious center for times square: dennett]

and, the ever-so-problematic:

urban cemetery: ralph

program [see use]

i found this definition of program by federico soriano interesting:

program

to compose today means to create programs.  we invent or propose them; we mix them, give them support, denaturalize them.  program is not the same thing as function.  it is more than function because program is not direct and has more than one voice.  program is less [than function] because it defines by actions and activities (verbs) and not by conventions (substantives).  programs are also mutable, transformable in time.  we must define programs which can forget or can be transformed later.

it may not look pretty...

but here are the powerpoints - in the order of presentation - converted and saved (all in the comfort of your own comfort):

• kyle's re-defining the fading city
  
• aviel's architecture interfacing people and nature
  
• lauren's re-cycled urbanism
  
• rachel's action architecture
  
• christian's community activism
  
• mark's environmental education
  
• seth's closer
• meghan e.'s reconstructing community
• meghan m.'s re-birth of housing
• tommy's assistance
• eva's architecture is about the journey

[ps. what is not pretty is how powerpoint saves as html... otherwise, everything is beautiful]

[pss. please add more/comment upon/continue thinking and feel free to take the pages as images from these or link to your link in your blog]

some thoughts about programs

i was thinking of programs last nite (after our discussion re. possibilities).  here is a short list of programs i wished i considered when i was doing my thesis [program: a city for the dead (aka. cemetery) in downtown los angeles]:

• study and research center for gaudi's sagrada familia (or mies' barcelona pavilion) (or, le corbusier's maison curutchet)...
• museum for alexander calder (or jean tingueley) (or paul klee) (rothko) (turner) (xul solar)... etc.
  
• bathhouse (based on roman precedents)
• library for the blind
• housing for exiled communities (ie. children from darfur) 
• conservatory and learning center for laban movement analysis dance (like this one) (or martha graham) or...
• a store for fnac in the u.s. 
• a "church" for modern satanists [and not the heavy metal, pentagram drawing, sacrificing calves in the middle of some new hampshire forest kind]
• the "doubling" of any existing program - as long as the new program has to deal with the existing one as its double... [ie. doubling the library of the national university in mexico city]
  
• community center + gas station (a la wright broadacre city)
• origami inspired motel
• laundromat for the next millenium

interest + intention

when thinking about your problem and project statements, remember:

problem statement = interest [ie. rationale for investigation]

why are you interested in this?

– personal? (ie. are you personally affected by this?)
– community?
– school?
– intellectual? (ie theoretical/conceptual problem or puzzle?)

what are the problems of the past? [ie. historically]

– have they been insufficiently addressed?
– are there failures/discrepancies (in the previous solutions)?
–is there a need to develop methods for solving the problems? 

project statement = intention [ie. goals + objectives]

intention of project

– to solve/address problem
– to rethink issues
– to make people aware of the problem

if you look carefully, your "manifesto" probably covers your interest and intention (because manifestos are usually highly personal reactions to "problems.")  the "thesis idea" is, then, an "abstracted" and "idealized" summary of the problem.

1 - 3 - 9

for this "assignment," remember that:

• the 1 line is like an (extended) title [or, thesis statement].

• the 3 lines are to serve as a brief description (that might be a summary of the main idea of a book; something akin to a annotation in an annotated bibliography).  

• the 9+ lines is the expanded explication of the idea/thesis [like what might be found in the inside dust jacket of a book].
  

also remember not to restate any part of the previous sentence/sentences in the longer ones and that all sentences should, in essence, say the same thing... (only longer or shorter)

manifestos manifest

"a specter is haunting europe...": the beginning line of the first (and most famous) manifesto.  written in 1848, marx's communist manifesto set the tone for manifestos to follow...

here are some links to other manifestos (besides the ones in the conrads book) that might be interesting...

• look closely at the tone, the direction, the aims, the attacks, etc.  
• notice that these people are waging an attack on something that they see as being terribly wrong... 
• note the passion with which they write.
  
• look at the metaphors that they use to describe the current conditions and solutions

shouldn't you feel this strong about something?

• the "original"
  
• marinetti's futurist manifesto
• futurist architecture manifesto
• a more contemporary softer yet polemic one 

and this one is an interesting one... if you really want write a manifesto

now... its your turn...  and post them on your blogs for the world to see your thoughts!  make your manifestos manifest!

workers of the world unite!

read this...

it will come in handy as you start to think about next semester. 

the best thing as you start to get ready for thesis prep is to think of a problem or an idea (rather than a project or program).  the good ideas or good problems should be solveable with any project or program. 

so, for example, instead of simply choosing a "school," think of what it is about it that you want the project to emphasize.  if your interest lies in education (ie. how to maximize education through architecture), then, that could be the idea or problem that you explore.  that is: "how to use architecture to improve learning."  as a result... any program you choose could do it [ie. a museum, office building, gas station, etc... even a school...]

so, the less specific it is the more possibilities it has... 

but, the linked article (design: a primer) says it better... it makes great suggestions as to how to think about this...

[plus, it is required reading for next semester and discuss... so, you can get started]

start here...

this will be one of the central ways of communicating between us...

it will be public (so, everything you think about can be also thought about by someone else)...

it will be interactive (so, you can get feedback not only from me but also from others)...

it will be "real-time" (so, that we can see what you are thinking... constantly)...

it will be our means of keeping tabs on each other...

so... now you.  make your own blog for thesis prep.  send me the link so that i can post it.

[yes, i will use it for grading, in case you are wondering]