Folds, Bodies & Blobs : Collected Essays (Books-by-architects)

236 Pages·1998·10.78 MB·English

by  Greg Lynn

Books-By-ArchLtects
Series edited by Michele Lachowsky and Joel Benzakin
Design: Greg LynnFORM
Coordination:Saffet Bekiroglu
Copy editing:Stephanie C.Jaeger
Type set inPlateletand GillSans
Allrights reserved. No partofthis book maybe reproduced inanyform
withoutthe permission inwritingfrom the publisherorauthor.
Depot legal:Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique
2etrimestre 1998 - D/1998/5636/2
ISBN2-87317-068-9
8ooks-8y-ArchLtects
Gre~
FoLds~ aodLes & aLoBs
coLLected Essays
La Lettre voLee
Theseessays havepreviouslyappeared as:
MuLtLpLLCLtOUS and In-organLc BodLes
"Multiplicitousand In-Organic Bodies" Assemblage 19(December 1992).
"Multiplicitousand In-Organic Bodies" ArchitecturalDesign I06 (November 1993).
"Multiplizitareund inorganische Korper"Arch+ I19/120 (December 1993).
The Renewed NoveLty of symmetry
"TheRenewed NoveltyofSymmetry"Assemblage26 (April 1995).
"Daserneurte NeuederSymmetrie"Arch+ 128(September 1995).
proBaBLe GeOmetrLes
"ProbableGeometries:TheArchitectureofWritinginBodies" Any0 (May/June 1993).
"Wahrscheinlichkeitsgeometrien"Arch+ I17(june 1993).
DLfferentLaL GravLtLes
"Differential Gravities"Any5(March/April 1994).
"Leichtund Schwer"Arch+ 124/125 (December 1994).
The FoLded the pLLant and the suppLe
J
"ArchitecturalCurvilinearity:The Folded,the Pliantand theSupple"ArchitecturalDesign 102
(MarchiApril 1993).
"DasGefaltete,das Biegsame und das Geschmeidige"Arch+ I3I(April 1996).
Body Matters
"Body Matters"JournalofPhilosophyandtheVisualArts5(1995).
BLoBS
"Blobs"JournalofPhilosophyandtheVisualArts6(1995).
"Buros"Fisuras (1995).
why TectonLCs LS sQuare and TopoLogy LS Groovy
"Blobs:WhyTectonicsisSquareandTopologyisGroovy"Any14(May1996).
a physLQue out of proportLon
"A Physique Outof Proportion"AnyII(1995).
New varLatLons on the Rowe compLex
"NewVariations on the Rowe Complex"Any7/8(1994).
Forms of €XpreSSLon
"FormsofExpression:The Proto-Functional Potential ofDiagrams inArchitectural Design" EJCroquis
72/73(1995).
"Allesgebeurtalsineen fJuidum"deArchitectv.26n.9(September 1995).
"Entsurfsprozesse"Arch+ 128(September 1995).
contents
Amor(f)aL Archltecture ay oLe Bouman 9
encore...BruxeLLes lnstaLLatlon 15
MuLtlpLlc~tous and In-organlc Bodles 33
The Renewed NoveLty of symmetry 63
pro~a~Le Geometrles 78
olfferentlaL Gravltles
95
- The FoLded the pLlant and the suppLe 109
l
Body Matters 135
BLo~s 157
why Tectonlcs ls sQuare and TopoLogy ls Groovy 169
AphyslQue out of proportlon 187
New varlatlons on the Rowe compLex 199
Forms of £xpresslon 223
flgure credlts 235

Amor(f)aL archLtecture
or ArchLtecturaL muLtLpLes
Ln the post-humanLst
a~e
By oLe Bouman
When an architect managesto take time out from a busy career for a spot of
reflection,it usuallybeginswith adiscourseon greatermattersthan architecture.
Only at alater,riper age,are the eternal values ofthe profession discovered.In
derBeschrankungzeigtsich derMeister (Limitation isthe hallmarkofthe master),
saidGoethe,who was himselfthe perfectexample ofthis truth. But what if one
shows signsofsuch masterdom early on in life? In that caseone must be care
ful notto allow limitation to degenerate into megalomania.
Greg Lynn isjustsuchaperson who knows early on in life howto limithimself.
In his mid-thirties,he already displaysa mature interest in the question of how
things should be done in his profession and,more important still, what kind of
assumptions underlie that'how'. He seemsto view commissions asopportuni
ties to testfundamental scientific research in practice ratherthan the otherway
round. The research continues unabated. The work belies a passion for the
meaning ofarchitecture asan ancient discipline with abody ofknowledge built
up overthousands ofyears. This attitude isvery rare, certainlyfor suchayoung
architect. There isonly asmallgroup oflike-minded architects:Benvan Berkel,
Raoul Bunschoten, Martine de Maeseneer, Alejandro Zaera Polo, Christian
Moller,WielArets,Neil Denari... All in one way or another seek legitimation for
their work, on the one hand by placing their labours in a historical theoretical
tradition,on the other hand byjustifyingthemselves vis-a-vis the relevantforces
oftheir own age.This in itselfisenough to make their work very valuable.
FoLds~ BodLeS & BLoBS
Inalmost everytext in this anthology,Greg Lynn refers somewhere to architec
ture asa'discipline'. This consistency implies more than clarity ofexpression. It
also indicates an unusualview ofarchitecture asabody ofknowledge requiring
acertain disciplinaryapproach. Architecture ismore than aliberal art,or aser
vice provider,orasocial orbit;it hasits own intellectual mandate which mustbe
respected by all those wishing to help it move forward. As such,each essayin
this book isaconscientious confirmation ofthis mandate. Only by recognizing
the disciplinaryautonomy ofarchitecture canLynncontribute to its moderniza
tion. And that isprecisely what he hasin mind. Once havingacknowledged the
theoretical achievements of architecture, he is then able to introduce his own
work asabreak with these achievements. Bydemonstrating hiscontinuingfaith
inthe developmentofanfundamental architectural theory,heisabletogivethis
theory aparadigmatic twist ofhis own. And there you havethe first interesting
feature of Lynn's remarkable oeuvre. It seldom happensthat ayoung architect
is not content with an interesting portfolio of commissions but is also bent on
getting to the very heartofthe theoretical meaning ofhisprofession.
What are those theoretical achievements, and what isthe nature ofbreak with
them that Lynn envisages - that, of course, is the question. In addressing this
question,Iam careful notto usethe samewords and terminology asLynn him
self. Respect for the historical autonomy of the discipline of architecture may
constrain Lynn to usea certain jargon intrinsic to that discipline, but that does
notapplyto anyone seekingto introduce acollection ofhiswritings. Rather,my
task isto act asmediator,to tryto givethe prospective reader ageneral ideaof
the research embodied in this book. Given the complexity of Lynn'sthoughts,
this isno sinecure. As befits pure scientific research,there is no irony in Lynn's
writing,no populism,few metaphors and scarcely anycriticism. For anyone tak
ing up these essays,there looms atreatise worthy ofthe best architectural tra
dition. Stepbystep,essaybyessay,Lynnpursues hisattemptstofurnish hiscurvi
linear architecture with a convincing argument. His line of reasoning is one of
anti-subjectivism. His architecture is no formalistic whim,but alogical step in a
Amor(f)aL archLtecture
post-humanistarchitectural theory. Which isto say,this step can be generalized.
Anyone who is unprepared to accept this, is not only no follower of Greg Lynn
but also, so his argument implies, like as not a theoretical laggard. Hardly sur
prising,since anyone prepared to accepta particularceuvre as the nextstep ina
two-and-a-half millennia-old architectural history,will be inclined to see margin
alia as irrelevant details. There are marginalia and hence irrelevant details in
abundance. Byno means everyone accepts this work on the historical plane to
which it laysclaim. Lynnhimselfispublic-spirited enough to take these reserva
tions very seriously. Ishall return to this anon.
Respectfor a discipline does not,of course, begin and end with the deployment
of a legitimizing idiom. The importantthing isto contribute to the grand tropes
of architecture. The classic themes,the ostensibly eternal motives for erecting a
building. Inthis Lynnisrelated both diachronicallyand synchronicallytothegreat
figures of his profession. As a mathematician, Lynntakes up a position in a line
that runs from Pythagoras,viaVitruvius and Alberti,to Rudolph Wittkower and
Colin Rowe. Howeverdifferentthesethinkers mayhavebeen,theysharedacom
mon interest in geometrical an.dcompositional ground rules. They were always
lookingfor the underlyingstructuresofexternalforms and relationshipstowhich
they subsequently attached metaphysical meanings. Conversely, they sought to
externalize their metaphysics by regarding certain proportional systems as
absoluteand God-given. Throughgeometry,architecture can layclaimto aseem
inglyuniversal language that spans different eras and cultures. The philosophical
idealism on which this approach rests also implies an organicism. When a design
embodies the divine proportions, every addition and every omission detracts
from thewhole. The buildingiswhole,represents wholeness. Acomposition and
a grid according to the agreed rules of measurement are a necessary condition
thereto. Anyone who tampers with the rules, also tampers with thatwholeness.
And this ispreciselywhatGreg Lynnisabout. Ontheassumption thatthis meta
physics is bankrupt, Lynn attempts to change the structure of the aforemen-
10 FoLds~ BodLeS & BLoBS
tioned ground rules. As a child of his time, he is no longer prepared to accept
architectural rules imposed from above. Besides, has he not exposed them as
mere psychological props? Just as chaos theory drew attention to natural phe
nomena that were until recently excluded from the physics repertory,so archi
tecture muststart payingattention to forces thatare bydefinition suppressed in
a classical proportional system. For according to Lynn,"geometric exactitude
tends to transform particularities into inexactitudes through mathematical
reduction. Reducing architectureto afixed and universal language of proportion
inthis way means simply that architecture reproduces itself. Organic types that
arewholetothefullest extentarefulltothe pointofexclusion." Inspired bythe
baroque thinking of Leibniz,Bergson and Deleuze, Lynn is trying to discover a
differentgeometry;onethatisno longertied toatranscendentvalue system,but
isan adequate expression of contemporary secular reality.
Greg Lynn'scriticism of the classic value system isnothing new of course. Many
architects have preceded him in their efforts to be absolument moderne.
Consequently,Greg Lynnisalso busy clarifyinghis position vis-a-vis hiscontem
poraries. Architects who stilldisplaya penchantfor a lost paradise ofwholeness
and moral authority merit scarcely a mention. Those whose architecture is
intended to compensate a historical loss get no creditfrom Lynn. Kindred spir
its, however, receive far more attention. Among those named in this book are
RobertVenturi, Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, Daniel Libeskind and Mark
Wigley,allof whom have contributed,overthe last thirtyyears,to a subtle anti
classical discourse on contradiction,complexityand multiplicity. Lynnreproach
es them with atoo directmetaphorical translation of differential thinking intheir
architectural vocabulary:"I can only suggest that the now dominant practice of
eliding cultural difference with formal conflict as a method for writing in archi
tecture isbecomingsuspect". For Lynn's'taste it isalltoo literal,too metaphor
ical,even too critical. Theirarchitecturetriesto representthe newcultural con
dition through symbols and language. Lynnprefers an experimental architecture
in which concepts are developed and expressed through what Deleuze would
Amor(f)aL archLtecture
11
,~.~II abstract machines. These are techniques that reveal the strengths of agiven
programme without immediately instrumentalizing them in a concrete design.
Lynn:"neitherthe reactionary callfor unity northe avant-garde dismantling of it
through the identification of internal contradictions seems adequate as a model
for contemporaryarchitecture and urbanism". Lynnhimself has settledfor 'post
contradictory work',an architecture that has passed beyond the stage-manage
ment oftensions and,amoral and amorfal,incorporates the forces of reality. He
callsthis architecture'smooth'. "Smooth mixtures are made up of disparate ele
ments which maintain their integrity while being blended within a continuous
field of otherfree elements."
For Lynnthis analysismeans above allanewform. Theworkoriginates inthecon
viction that the supposed link between mathematics of form and transcendent
architecturalvalues isobsolete. This does notmean thatthe relation itselfisobso
lete. Ifclassicalform isobsolete,another form is needed,a form appropriate to
non-transcendentvalues.Whatmustremain,accordingto Lynn,istheunityofcon
tentand form. "Whatisnecessaryfor a rigorous theorization of diversity and dif
ference within the discipline of architecture (sic!)isprecisely an alternative math
ematicsofform;aformalism thatisnotreducibleto idealvillasorotherfixedtypes
but isinitsessencefreely differentiated. (...) Iwould maintain thatthe dominant
question today isinfact the question of the status of forms of order and organi
zation in architecture." Lynnhas applied himself to providing an answer to this
question. "To disentangle the pact between organic bodies and exact geometric
languagethatunderliesarchitecture'sstaticspatialtypes isamonumentaltask. (...)
anyattemptto loosenthis alliancemustsimultaneously'deterritorialize'theauton
omy ofwhole organisms and replace the exactitude of rigidgeometry with more
pliant systems of description:' Here then you have a few quotations from this
bookthatseem to me to go to the heartof Lynn'sambitions.
WhatLynnmeans by'more pliantsystemsofdescription' becomes clearwhen we
take a closer look at his own architecture. One glance reveals that this work is