Oz

Volume 22 Article 2

1-1-2000

From Frame to Framing

Juhani Pallasmaa

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Recommended Citation Pallasmaa, Juhani (2000) "From Frame to Framing," Oz: Vol. 22. https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5853.1346

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Oz by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From Frame to Framing

Juhani Pallasmaa

Aulis Blomstedt: Canon 60

A constructivist1 aesthetic, empha- Consequently, the post-war roman- commissioned by sizing clear articulation of the struc- tic, expressive and regionalist ideals for the Art & Architec- tural frame, became the architectural served as the ground for the rise of the ture magazine in from ideal for young Finnish architects of constructivist classicism of the 1960s. mid-1940s onwards. This momentary my generation in the early 1960s. This The generation of the 60s regarded the connection between California and architecture developed as an intel- structural frame and its precise articu- Finland is an interesting example of lectual opposition to the prevailing lation as the most essential element the intricacies of cultural influences post-war tradition of neo-function- of architectural expression, even more in the realm of the arts. While Finn- alist architecture, which had turned constitutive than the molding of space ish constructivism was inspired by excessively pragmatic and unclear or articulation of light. This architec- traditional Japanese aesthetics, Tadao in its philosophical foundation. The tural ideal was inspired by two distant Ando has confessed having been stimu- aesthetic of rationality was also moti- sources, the structural classicism of lated by the minimalist architecture vated as a deliberate opposition to the Mies van der Rohe and traditional in Finland, to give another example of idiosyncratic architecture of the aging Japanese architecture. Especially the the unexpectedness of cultural inter- Alvar Aalto. An oscillation between imposingly classical pavilions of the change. The elegant and precise steel mental polarities, such as romantic Katsura Detached Palace, raised on frame architecture of Craig Ellwood, and rational, expressive and classical, wood columns, were admired for their , Raphael Soriano, the regional and universal tendencies is noble proportions. More unexpected Killingworth, Brady and Smith team, Aulis Blomstedt: Modular study based on 4 characteristic to cultural development. inspiration came from the elegant Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen was continuous halving unexpectedly transferred to wood con- and proportional modulation. The struction in Finland.2 The expression Finnish constructivists preferred of the structural frame both outside the Pythagorean tradition based on and inside was an essential aspiration even numbers and simple arithmetical for the constructivist aesthetics, and operations instead of Le Corbusier’s wood—being a structural and insu- Modulor and the Golden Section lation material at the same time—is which were regarded occult in their the only material which enables this philosophical foundation and awkward transparency, or absoluteness of struc- in actual design application. The most tural expression in the severe Nordic influential mentor of the emerging climate. Similar architectural develop- constructivist movement was Aulis ment occurred in Denmark although Blomstedt, a devoted Pythagorean the Danes did not go as far in the or- and an architect and educator of peas- thodox expression of the structural ant like simplicity combined with an frame. The Danish ideal of combined exceptionally refined sense of propor- frame and planar structure was closer tion. During the 1950s Blomstedt had to R.M. Schindler’s house of 1922 in carried out extensive studies in the West Hollywood than the pure frame of harmonic principles of architecture, Pierre Koenig, Case Study House 21, Los Angeles, California, 1958 the Case Study Houses and the Finnish comparable with R.M. Schindler’s constructivism. earlier studies begun in the 1920s. The conclusion of Blomstedt’s pas- The Dutch De Stijl and Russian Con- sionate research was a proportional structivism also served as sources of system based on the musical subdivi- inspiration regardless of the more pla- sion of figure/number/digit 60, based nar and non-structural nature of the on Pythagorean harmonics, which he aesthetics of these movements. The called Canon 60. In my personal design former was admired because of the practice since the 1960s Blomstedt’s spatial flow, abstraction and equal- Canon 60 has proven a practical nu- ization of the horizontal and vertical merical and proportional system for directions, the latter because of the the articulation of the architectural passionate structural and volumetric ensemble from the dimensioning of the expression and strong sense of social structural frame down to the measure mission. The planar paintings of Piet of details. I have used Pythagorean pro- Mondrian, Ben Nicholson and Victor portions also in product and graphic Vasarely were also admired. designs, more as a practical attitude and quest for clarity, however, than a Focusing on the structural frame philosophical orthodoxy. emphasizes the tectonic essence of construction as well as the impor- Besides its aesthetic intentions, the tance of dimensional coordination framed architecture of the 60s also Katsura Detached Palace 5 Kirmo Mikkola and Juhani Pallasmaa, Summer House Relander, Muurame, 1965

had philosophical, ethical and social of the aestheticized socialist utopia of framed architecture was considered human scale and sensuous detailing motives. Architecture conceived as the Russian Constructivism four de- to possess aesthetic neutrality, an ap- were forgotten, and frame construc- a modulated and articulated frame cades earlier. In the perspective of half propriate reflection of the democratic tion was used merely for purposes of clearly foregrounds the rational, logical a century, the Californian Case Study values of equality. Excessive personal efficiency, flexibility and economy. Dur- and abstract qualities of construction. Houses also appear as an optimistic expression was viewed critically and ing the following decade, it became The aspiration for a true expression of and refreshing utopia in compari- judged regressive. painfully clear that no architectural the structural and tectonic realities son with the regressive architectural approach or system can guarantee also tends to bring forth an ethical ar- conservatism of subsequent decades. Somewhat later, the idea of the ar- architectural quality; aesthetic quality gument. Auguste Perret’s famous ethi- The Eames House in Santa Monica, in chitectural frame was expanded to is a result of deliberate intentions and cal credo became the moral attitude particular, appears more radical and urban context by Yona Friedman in choices. An optimistic air gives rise to of the constructivists: “Construction promising than any of the residential France and the Metabolists in Japan, an architecture of hope whereas cyni- is the mother tongue of the architect. designs of today’s avant-garde, which for instance. Herman Hertzberger cism produces cynical architecture. The architect is a poet who thinks and seem narcissistic in comparison and studied the delicacies of human be- speaks in terms of construction. The devoid of an optimistic perspective havior and developed the idea of the The ideal of the spatial frame made its larger buildings of our time presup- into the future. repetitiously modulated spatial frame new return into the world of art and pose a framework…The framework towards structuralist anthropological architecture thirty years later through is to a building what a skeleton is to An awareness of the social and po- applications. minimalism. In the minimalist sculp- an animal...He who hides any part of litical implications of architecture ture of Sol Lewitt and Donald Judd, for the framework not only deprives ar- arose in Finland during the 60s and The fragility of the utopian contents instance, as well as in the current archi- chitecture of its sole legitimacy but this was reflected in the values of the of this architectural ideology became tecture of Gigon & Guyer and Hertzog also deprives from it its most beautiful architectural profession; instead of evident a few years later when con- & de Meuron, the frame has obtained a ornament. He who hides a column the traditionally impartial role of the struction companies vulgarized and metaphysical­­­­­­­­­­ air. The minimalist frame makes a blunder, he who makes a false architect as a trusted expert, he/she exploited the idea of industrially manu- aspires for a mesmer-ising­­­­­­­ stasis and column commits a crime.”4 was seen as an active participant in the factured frame construction through repetitiousness, a sense of presence allocation of collective resources. In their countless buildings for produc- and being instead of the dynamism The constructivist movement of the addition to its potential as a medium tion and commerce. The spiritualising and movement characteristic to early 6 1960s was a utopian ideal reminiscent of industrialized mass production, aspirations for proportional harmony, modernism. This visual repetitious- ness is parallel to the artistic strategy the human domicile and the internal and projects of Aldo van Eyck. A couple house) is an instrument with which to of contemporary minimalist music. space of the mind. My view changed of years later, I also became interested confront the cosmos.”5 Architectural from regarding architecture as an in- in the psychoanalytic view of the im- structures frame human existential The frustrations of the politicised tellectualized structural and spatial portance of the human unconscious experience in specific ways providing intellectual discussion at the turn of construction into seeing it primarily and the role of archetypes and col- thus horizons of experiencing and the decade 1960–70 made me seek a as a mental framing device. My focus lective memory in human mental life. understanding. In my constructiv- teaching position in Africa in 1972. shifted from technological and aes- My interest in the theoretical ground- ist period I understood architecture Two years of exposure to the reali- thetic considerations to the mythical ing of architecture gradually led to primarily as an exercise in geometry, ties of the Third World and traditional and metaphysical realm, and from the existentialist and phenomenological but the existentialist understanding African cultures alienated me from futurological prospect of architecture philosophies, and I began to compre- implies that architecture takes place rationalist Western values and my con- to its archaic origins. hend the ways in which the art of ar- in lived existential space; architectural fidence in the industrial utopia, which chitecture is fundamentally grounded structures mediate between the exis- had inspired the entire modern age. While my constructivist ideals were in the human existential condition; tential experience of the architect and Instead of seeing architecture as the supported by an interest in visual architecture articulates and mediates the person who happens to confront production of aestheticized artifacts, perception and Gestalt psychology, the human existential experience, the the constructed building. Architecture I became interested in the mental es- my African experiences familiarized encounter of the self and the world. concretizes cultural and metaphysical sence of construction and began to me with structuralist anthropology This view turned architecture into a structures and by framing collective see the essential interaction and cor- and its application to architecture as framing device, a metaphysical instru- acts and institutions it makes them op- relation between the external space of exemplified by the seminal writings ment; in Gaston Bachelard’s words, “(A erative and conceivable. Cultural and societal realities became transformed into spatial and material metaphors and they are fundamental constituents of human identities both on individual and collective levels. We know and remember who we are by means of the cultural messages written in stone.

In my constructivist period I under- stood architecture primarily as an exer- cise in geometry, but the existentialist understanding implies that architec- ture takes place in lived existential space; architectural structures mediate between the existential experience of the architect and the person who happens to confront the constructed building. Architecture concretizes cultural and metaphysical structures and by framing collective acts and institutions it makes them operative and conceivable. Cultural and societal realities became transformed into con- stituents of human identities both on individual and collective levels. We know and remember who we are by means of the cultural messages writ- ten in stone.

The understanding of buildings as means of existential framing turns them from objects to confrontations. Genuine architectural experiences do Kristian Gullichsen and Juhani Pallasmaa, Moduli 225 industrial vacation house system, 1968–72. Structural and dimensional modula- not arise from visual images but physi- tion of the frame cal and mental encounters. Instead of 7 regarding architectural experiences and outside of the realm of construc- A building speaks to us through its time and its depth conceivable.6 Es- as passive nouns they can be viewed tion. Architecture evokes microcos- intentional layers and the very act of sentially, the architectural framing in the active role of verbs. The act of mic images of the world and modes of its making. of human existence gives it its very passing through a door is an authentic idealized life. Significant architecture meaning and its comforting sense of architectural experience, not the door makes us confront our very human Architecture does not only articulate cultural continuity. In accordance with itself. Looking through the window condition, and finally ourselves, at a spatial situations, scale and interaction the words of the French poet Noël Ar- is an authentic architectural experi- heightened intensity. of nature and the man-made world, it naud: “I am the space where I am.”7 ence, not the window itself as a visual also frames our experience of time. The unit. The anticipated warmth of the The existential and phenomenological time conceived through architecture hearth creates the center of the home, view of architecture gives the struc- is a moderated and transformed time; not the visual design of this artefact. tural and tectonic reality of a building a it is a humanized time. Architectural Consequently, architecture points to distinct significance. Buildings address structures and cities slow down and something beyond its material essence us as embodied acts of constructing. halt time. They make the passage of

Juhani Pallasmaa, The Finnish Institute, , 1991, (in collabora- Junhani Pallasmaa, Siida, The Sámi Lapp Museum and Northern Finland Visitors Center, Inari, 1998 (photo 8 tion with Roland Schweitzer and Sami Tabet, Paris) Gerald Dufresne) Notes

1. The movement emphasizing the structural frame developed among a group of students and young graduates of the Helsinki Univer- sity of Technology from 1960 onwards. The two important mentors of the group were professors Aulis Blomstedt and Aarno Ruu- suvuori. The group was closely associated with the Museum of Finnish Architecture founded in 1956, and was widely seen as the counterpole of Alvar Aalto’s overpowering influence. This architectural ideology has been retrospectively named Constructivism by later critics and historians. Opponents of the group called it “Miesianism,” which was misleading considering the multiple sources of the movement. The members of the group used the notion “rationalism” more often than constructivism. 2. In the early 60s the costructivists designed a number of wooden summer houses based on the concept of a modulated structural frame. These experiments led to the de- velopment of framed industrial housing systems a few years later. Aulis Blomst- edt’s entries in the competition for summer houses (1943), and its further development entitled “Kenno” (honeycomb) (1947–48), and in the international competition for the Canadian One Family House (1954) pioneered the concept of a variable housing system based on a repetitious frame. 3. For Blomstedt’s studies in harmony and Canon 60, see Juhani Pallasmaa, Thought and Form: Studies in Harmony, Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki, 1980, and Juhani Pallasmaa, “Man, Measure and Proportion: Aulis Blomstedt and the tradi- tion of Pythagorean harmonics,” Acanthus 1992, The Museum of Finnish Architecture, 1992, pp. 6–31. 4. Auguste Perret, “Contribution à une théo- rie de l’architecture.” First published in Das Werk 34-35 (February 1947). As quoted in Kenneth Frampton, Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Construction in Nine- teenth and Twentieth Century Architecture. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. and London, 1995, pp. 153–154. 5. Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press, Boston, 1964, p. 46. 6. For a discussion of time as an ingredient of architectural images and experiences see, Juhani Pallasmaa, “The Space of Time,” Oz, Volume 20, Kansas State University, Manhat- tan, Kansas, 1998, pp. 54–57. 7. Noël Arnaud, L’état d’ébauche, as quoted Sol Lewitt, Open Modular Cube, 1996. Painted aluminum, 60 x 60 x 60 inches in The Poetics of Space, p. 137. 9