UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY TRANSVALUATION OF ARCHITECTURE: A PERSPECTIVE ON PERFORMATIVE VALUE IN ARCHITECTURE by KAMARAN ALI NOORI A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN THE FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY 2011 © KAMARAN ALI NOORI 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-79656-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-79656-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciaies ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Abstract Transvaluation of Architecture: A perspective on Performative Value in Architecture Kamaran Ali Noori January 2011 Prepared in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree in the Faculty of Environmental Design, The University of Calgary. Supervisor: Dr. Branko Kolarevic Human values are the foundation upon which life's various decisions and beliefs stand on. Architecture is a discipline that highly depends on design decision makings and evaluation for various alternatives. Consequently, value and evaluation constitutes important roles in architecture discourse. This research builds on the views that acknowledge the significant of value and evaluation in architecture. For this purpose, this research first provides a general overview to the discussion and interpretations of human values in general and specifically across different fields like philosophy, economic, science, and others. This discussion is then followed by a detailed examining of the state of value in architecture. In doing so, this research reveals the connection between values and architecture and identifies different types of design values that drive architecture. The relation between changes in architecture and changes in design values, discussed in this research, highlights the role of design values in shaping architecture. In recognizing the vast influence of values and changes in values on architecture, this research examines a concept from the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, called transvaluation of all values, in architecture. In addition to providing a discussion about the notion of transvaluation concept and Nietzsche's transvaluation toward life-affirming values, this research provides arguments that embrace the importance of transvaluation theme in architecture. The final section of this research examines the projection of transvaluation and transvaluation toward life-affirming values in contemporary architecture. In examining the state of contemporary architecture and its challenges, this research identifies performativity as a life-affirming value that contemporary architecture needs to use as a ground when transvaluating all its new emerging and traditional design values. Keywords Value, Value and Architecture, Design Values, Values of Architecture, Philosophy, Transvaluation, Friedrich Nietzsche, Performativity, Performative Architecture. ii To... Rozhen iii Acknowledgements I owe my deepest gratitude to all the individuals who supported and advised me during my master's degree studying: • Branko Kolarevic, my supervisor. • Dr. Mark Migotti, my external supervisor, for his valuable contributions in my research. • Dr. Richard M. Levy, the Dean's appointed examiner, for being been an excellent example for inspirational and supportive professor. • Mr. Salar Omer, for all his continuous supports and care. • Dr. Bakr Shah, for all his supports during my studying. • Dr. Sherzad Najar, for all his supports and helps. • It is a pleasure to thank everyone else who provided their assistance, advice and encouragement. • My wonderful wife, Rozhen, for her incredible care, love, and patience. Without her support, advice, and loving devotion I couldn't have done it. • And finally, my mother and father for always been a great support and motivation in my studying and for their extraordinary care. iv Dedication "The mind has exactly the same power as the hands; not merely to grasp the world, but to change it. " Colin Wilson This work is dedicated to: • My mother Nazir, and father Ali • The "free spirit" who lives life in the pursuit of knowledge, and my life's partner and soul mate, Rozhen. • My mother and father-in-law Sabria and Kamal • My sister, Banaz and my brothers Kawan and Karwan. • My friends, especially Dler. And finally, Hammy, JyJy, Banoza, MiMi, Winni, ToTo, Nimo, Mimo, and Mr. Jingles. v Table of Contents Approval Page ii Abstract ii Keywords ii Acknowledgements iv Dedication v Table of Contents vi List of Figures and Illustrations vii Epigraph .....x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 The Research 1 1.2 The significance of the research .3 1.3 Objectives 4 1.4 Research Methodology 5 1.5 The Scope of the inquiry 5 1.6 The Document Structure.... 6 CHAPTER TWO: VALUE AND ARCHITECTURE 1 2.1 Human values 2 2.2 Values and architecture 7 2.2.1 Values in architectural design 16 2.2.2 Values of architecture 23 2.3 Change of architecture as a result of change in design values 26 2.4 Summary 34 CHAPTER THREE: TRANSVALUATION AND ARCHITECTURE 35 3.1 What is Transvaluation? 35 3.2 Why transvaluation in architecture: 39 3.3 Transvaluation steps in architecture 41 3.4 Transvaluation scenarios in architecture 43 CHAPTER FOUR: VALUE AND TRANSVALUATION IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE 45 4.1 The state of contemporary architecture 45 4.2 Challenges of contemporary architecture 56 4.3 An introduction to the notion of performativity ..59 4.4 Performativity and architecture 64 4.5 Transvaluating toward performative value 81 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION ...86 REFERENCES 89 vi List of Figures and Illustrations Figure 2.1 Implement Blue painting by Margaret Preston 6 Figure 2.2 Hammurabi's law code stele 9 Figure 2.3 The Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome 11 Figure 2.4 A visionary design of Newton Cenotaph by Boullee in 1784 in an attempt to express possibility of using sphere as a pure geometry on a large scale 12 Figure 2.5 Barriere de la Villette in Paris designed by Ledoux (1784 to 1789). In this tax-collecting gate house Ledoux used simple geometries in the design 13 Figure 2.6 Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton, a horticulturist and a builder of green houses, built in 1851 for the Great Exhibition in London. Paxton's proposal was accepted among proposals by famous English architects of the day because of both the design and speed constructability (Pfammatter, 2008) 14 Figure 2.7 Villa Savoye in Paris by Le Corbusier (1928-1931). This work is a good example for the simplicity of modern facade and wide strip windows. It also exemplifies Le Corbusier's "Machine for Living" idea about architecture 19 Figure 2.8 Einstein Tower in Potsdam-Berlin by Erich Mendelsohn (1919-1922). This is a good example from German Expressionism ideology for architecture: emotion expresses ion, adoption of novel materials, formal innovation, and very unusual massing (sometimes inspired by natural biomorphic forms 20 Figure 2.9 Casa Batllo (pronounced as Casa Batyo) in Eixample-Barcelona by Antoni Gaudi (1905-1907). This building was originally built in the year 1877 and then remodelled by Gaudi. It illustrates Gaudi's excessive use of curves (inspired by nature) and avoiding the use of straight lines 21 Figure 2.10 Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain by Frank Ghery (1987-1997) 24 Figure 2.11 The Sydney Opera House in Austalia by Jorn Utzon, a Danish architect.... 25 Figure 2.12 Eiffel tower was built in 1887 in Paris for the 1889 World's Fair with height of 324 metres. It is one of the most renowned structures around the world and Paris's landmark 32 Figure 4.1 CATIA computer diagrams of Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain by Frank Gehry 48 Figure 4.2 Water Pavilion or "freshH20 eXPO" for the Neeltje Jans Wasserland center in The Netherlands, 1993-1997 49 vii Figure 4.3 Two interior views from