Air conditioning was the death of Architecture: the value and virtue of Architecture.
Republished from my time at WAAC- but quite pertinent to the present:
While the blogs of this semester where helpful and insightful, they usually remained a short fusion of thoughts on a topic discussed during our weekly meetings. The blogs were somewhat self-referential, especially my blog on Glenn Murcutt. This writing is different. While somewhat taxing for me, it is a rewarding reflection on Glenn Murcutt’s view of architecture. This piece addresses the context of the quote by Glenn Murcutt: What did Glenn mean when he said “Air conditioning was the death of architecture”? To do this we must take a glimpse of Glenn’s life, and the situation which led Glenn to phrase his quote. But to understand the quote we must also take an applicative view of what Glenn meant by death, and what Glenn meant by Architecture. Upon our arrival at the context of the situation, the quote will be applied- similar to the blogs of the semester- but different due to the depth and application of context.
Air conditioning was the death of architecture. Looking at Glenn’s career, this phrase (hence the lack of quotations) could be taken easily out of context. I choose to revisit this quote within the context of a dinner party honoring Glenn Murcutt at IIT. At this dinner Glenn spoke about architecture. Towards the end of his lecture, Glenn showed a picture of an urban landscape in Australia- a subdivision similar to subdivisions where he gave his dinner lecture. Upon showing the photo Glenn stated: "Look at this Mickey Mouse stuff! Could you live in that and survive? This is poverty of spirit and barrenness of mind. This is the absolute death of architecture when we see this sort of stuff-and it sells." This quote is still referring to A/C, but to point at air conditioning as the singular cause of the death of architecture is a misinterpretation of Glenn. To understand air conditioning as part of the culprit, we need to take a closer look at the influence on Glenn, his practices, his view on Architecture, and his views on the death of architecture.
Glenn is Glenn largely due to his experiences- his way of knowing the context of life. Glenn grew up with a father who would regularly read to him Thoreau and show him sensation and environment. There were no clichés in Glenn’s education. Glenn’s father influenced him by introducing him to the works of Wright, Philip Johnson, Harry Weese, and Mies. One influential quote of Thoreau provides insight into Glenn’s current view of Architecture: “the civilized man has the habits of the house. His house is his prison, in which he finds himself oppressed and confined, not sheltered and protected. He walks as if the walls would fall in and crush him.” Mies’ view of a legible undisguised form and Aalto’s ideas of light, prospect, material, and refuge were key aspects of influence for Murcutt’s career. Glenn travelled and still travels often. His travels provide him with experiences and friendships which influence his work. Friendships with the likes of Juhani Pallasmaa, and Uncle Max have nurtured and encouraged the Architecture that Glenn subscribes to: a subscription of virtue. These all lead to Glenn’s view of architecture.
While Glenn does not specifically mention it, his architecture reflects Vitruvius’ treatise of architecture: “a well-built building has three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight.” Glenn’s paradigms demonstrate these three principals. What is firmness? Firmness according to the OED, is stable, it is firm. The firmest thing on earth is earth. Firmness should imitate earth. When a building becomes part of the earth it is firm. The building partakes through the connection. To build as part of the Earth, a good architect needs to know the earth. That is where Glenn excels. Glenn only builds where he knows- Australia. He also has insights into the geology, rainfall, water flow, wind direction, solar access, and even threats of his site (1). Glenn often uses industrial application for his residential requirements for a site. These components are not meant to be disposable, they are meant to last a great length of time requiring stewardship, not disposability. Materials of reclaimed wood, industrial steel and concrete are a far cry from dimensional lumber. Yet it is not just the materials that lend firmness- it is the relation of the elements to the site- a relationship one with the site that responds to the conditions and outlasts local turmoil and tribulation. Glenn’s buildings would not be firm if they burned down during the occasional brush fire- instead; they last through temperamental changes in the condition of the site by being located above from the reach of the brush fire flames.
What is Commodity? Commodity is a quality that relates to the needs and desires of men. While Thoreau’s earlier quote about a home sounds eerily similar to Corbusier’s machine for living, Glenn’s idea of a building (i.e. home) is a different idea altogether. After spending 24 hours in one of his own works, Glenn stated his own experience: I was in command. I was able to direct the wind to enter or to exclude it. I wasn’t enslaved by the building. I could hear the frogs and the crickets. I could tell the day was coming by the sounds of the birds waking. The moon came through the skylight. Patches of blue entered the room. I was able to experience 90 percent of the outside environment while being inside. I could open the house and be cool, or close it and stay warm. That’s what a house should do.” Glenn describes his buildings by giving analogies of other objects that relate to and serve the needs of men (and women), such as a ship. Glenn’s buildings help the human safely relate to the environment – indeed a need. Another aspect of usefulness of function relates to the vernacular of Australia. Glenn’s method isn’t based on the aesthetic or style, it is indigenous. Whether they utilize a vernacular woolshed, or ideas based on the aboriginal culture, Glenn’s buildings stem from local authority of usefulness. Glenn states “the field of vernacular architecture opens up and abundance of concepts that can be of use today.”
The final aspect of Vitruvius’ treatise is an often debatable one; hence I will try and remain objective by defining my terms. Delight as defined by the OED is: to bring pleasure or joy. This word also coincides with beauty, which leads to the same conclusion. Alberti also puts it well: “the reasoned harmony of all the parts of a body so that nothing may be added or taken away except for the worse.” A key element to beauty is the phrase “reasoned harmony”. Reasoned harmony describes Glenn’s architecture well. What is harmony? Harmony is the “combination or adaptation of parts, elements, or related things, so as to form a consistent and orderly whole.” Glenn starts in plan with orientation to the azimuths throughout the year as well as seasonal wind. Glenn then works in section to account for the seasonal altitude of the sun. His buildings respond to the local- the site. The building is to the earth as a fine sailing yacht is to the ocean (an analogy Glenn sometimes refers to). As described by Lindsay Johnston (1), Glenn belongs to one of two camps in Australian architecture. His camp is “touch the earth lightly”. This contrasts starkly to the “Radical Avant-garde” architecture which concerns itself with culture, fashion, trends, and clichés.
While complementing firmness, commodity, and delight, Glenn Murcutt defines his own treatise of architecture by way of demonstration. This is Glenn’s architecture, often demonstrated by practice and action rather than words as Glenn himself has stated that he is “not interested in theory but in doing” (1). Architecture’s etymological origin starts with arche and archi which put the architect as master over a dominion- the practice and development of a building. The “tect” of architecture is derived from tecton: to craft and contrive. How better could Glenn pursue this than to be the master of his own office- Glenn works as a sole proprietor. He controls every aspect of the process and while utilizing industrial aspects, he always implements craft as part of the substance of his buildings. The buildings relate to the site often through the architects own ingenuity and innovation. Glenn’s dominion though is not just in numbers, it is also the way he practices architecture by way of tool and craft versus machine. Glenn still develops his work by use of hand-drawn plans, sections, and perspectives using timeless tools of the trade. He is “committed to the use of the hand to draw and to ‘discover’ as a path of exploration, and is deeply suspicious of the use of computers.” (1) Glenn states: “Drawing with a pencil, the hand can discover the solution before the mind can conceive it.” (1) Dominion and realm of the architect in all areas belong to Glenn’s definition of architecture.
The aforementioned glimpse into Glenn’s career as an Architect is able to give insight into the context of the situation often referred to when speaking of “Air conditioning is the death of architecture”. In 1973, Glenn decided to visit a Miesian home he admired from publications. The home was by Craig Ellwood, a modernist architect. While pure and rational in form, Glenn noticed that the home’s construction ignored its place. There was no insulation and the heat of the sun was trapped inside the place. Glenn asked the architect how he had had dealt with the problem. “He looked at me as if I was really stupid and said ‘Why, we air-condition the buildings.’” (2)
Upon realizing the substance and context of the situation, Architecture did die due to air conditioning. But there is a bigger more daunting picture. The analogy of air conditioning is the replacement of virtue with value. To better understand this, we must define our terms. Virtue has reference to the supernatural and to the divine. It is beyond human. Its reference is the heavens and the created universe. It expresses the idea (now as a paradigm in Swiss architecture) that man does not create, he conceives. How do architects conceive? Architects conceive by discovering. Glenn Murcutt phrases this idea eloquently: “this is my statement: any work of architecture that has been designed, any work of architecture that has the potential to exist, or that exists, was discovered. It wasn’t created. Our role is to be the discoverer, not the creator.” When a material object (a building) is conceived by an architect it is also virtuous and said to have worth- the material expression of virtue. What is value? Value is the amount of a commodity which is an equivalent for something else. Namely, it is a market of one good for another, with no reference to the divine or spiritual. With value, we understand by associating the worth of something in relation to market and money. With virtue, we don’t compare to cultural or human references, instead we compare to an ultimate reference that goes beyond the physical. Referring to Architecture as a realm of virtue not value explains the context and broader meaning of Glenn’s point. At the dinner event in Chicago, Glenn’s made the following statement after speaking of the death of architecture “do we want to produce architecture, or do we which to produce merchandise?” (2) The specific statement of air conditioning can be more broadly applied to Vitruvius’ treatise of architecture, and the remaining discussion focuses on this application.
Glenn’s living treatise and Vitruvius’ written treatise are in strong contrast to the paradigm of modern architecture. While Glenn and Vitruvius subscribe to a reference that is timeless, American architecture phenomena (including Architectural Record) has converted to value. What does this imply? This implies the death of architecture in America. There are many examples. One obvious example deals with sustainability. Sustainability as a virtue lies within firmness, commodity, and delight. Sustainability as a value follows the cultural gospel of environmentalism full of clichés and contradictions. The value of sustainability subscribes to the most recent government mandate. Gleen Murcutt was being kind when he commented on sustainability: “most of it is bloody awful. Much of it isn’t architecture, and some of it isn’t sustainable.” Firmness, Commodity, and Delight are no longer. Firmness is now a Revit based value, it is an engineered family you can drop into your project folder. Commodity, or usefulness, is likewise the cultural fashion of function. Delight relates to the avant-garde trends of style. Whenever the architecture of Glenn Murcutt expresses a virtue, modern architects create a new value.
What is most troubling about Glenn Murcutt’s comment about the death of architecture is the preface to the opportune statement: “Could you live in that and survive? This is poverty of spirit and barrenness of mind.” The contrast between virtue and value highlights that humanity has lowered itself to a more detrimental state of existence. Culture no longer expresses the essence of what it means to be human. People live in buildings deprived of virtue and don’t even realize it- there is simply no awareness, no life. But there is plenty to keep them busy. Technology as embraced by the modern movement, the postmodern movement, and the information era, has been the motivating solution for all of life’s previous problems. But the solution has defined new problems and the technology in service to humankind’s needs has become the other way around. Each solution creates new problems unforeseen and with hidden consequences. Humanity is replaced by numbers and virtue is now measured only as value. Virtue is now virtual.
Where are the architects in this situation? Sadly we are part of it. There have been many responses and a void of leadership. Areas of opportunity have become areas of contradiction. Ignoring the realms that have extended beyond our reign is not the answer. The field has become much more complex, much more saturated. In some ways architecture has become more convenient but less reachable. The answer lies in restoring virtue to the virtual and to our values. Tools of the trade which are now machines- should become tools again. The oversaturation of information needs to be simplified, but not simplistic. Conflicts which have arisen need to be resolved. Consider the paradox of sustainability. Have we really improved and progressed? Claiming progression and advancement, our technology has become more energy dependent and at the same time more disposable. Many of our accepted paradigms are based on ignorance and deprivation of spirit. The solutions are neither popular nor fashionable. Solutions by architects should stem less from globalization and more from localization. There needs to be harmony and virtue restored. Humanity and creation intuitively have the tools and answers to resolve the current paradox of progression. As Glenn Murcutt said: “I am stirred to the point of anger when I see what continues to be done by so-called progress- the destruction of the flora, the displacement of the fauna and all of it with the blessing if not active collusion of our subdivision regulations. What was his answer? Glenn suggests architects make nature a central component of design. I heartily agree- the answer is simple: Virtue over Value.