"The claim that architecture, as an activity and knowledge, is deeply rooted in its cultural endeavor," he exclaims. Kej Majkl Hejs (K. Michael Hays, “Critical Architecture: Between Culture and Form”, Perspecta 1984.), “can hardly be disputed. Again, questions concerning the true nature of the reciprocal influences between culture and architectural form introduce competing theories of architecture and their interpretations into a field of sharp controversy”.
Now, what is culture? - we ask ourselves (third-year undergraduate students at the Faculty of Polytechnics, UDG and I - a contractor on a course ambitiously titled by UDG fathers and mothers: Theory and philosophy of architecture).
The answer to that - a very complex question - would be best to seek from Neša, aka Dean - Neša, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, UDG - but only after the stars align properly will Neša Dean pay me my honestly earned fee - a small fee, to be precise (the word is 500 euros - I am ashamed, hand on heart, to raise this question - but we have to stick to some principles, because principles are precisely what make us human - women and men - and what separates us from mice and rats) - for the work I did last semester as a collaborator on the course - the scientific research module, to be precise - Architectural theory - which would have a very positive impact on both my enthusiasm and the quality of my overall engagement at UDG - and especially regarding UDG, as a very specific higher education institution - and a very specific environment.
At this moment, I feel like that unfortunate person in a failed company - who hasn't been paid God knows how much in wages - and this is at the very moment when I am expected to give my best once again.
And since I'm willing to give my best - I've always been and will always be willing to give my best - I'd be happy if Neša would at least send me an email - Sorry, colleague, there will be money on Friday, I promise - so I know he hasn't forgotten...
***
But, let's get back to the topic...
“By culture,” Hayes exclaims equally, “as I shall use the term here, I mean a conceptual unity that encompasses, on the one hand, those theoretical and practical systems that establish, promote, or constrain the production and use of ideas and objects and through which a society or place differentiates itself and maintains its dominance; and, on the other hand, the artifacts (products of human activity - note.) and those environments that persist as viable physical precedents or exemplars of a system of production and become transmitters of culture. It is therefore in the scope of culture that the production of architecture is viewed from above by a dominant value system that permeates everything below, and which is created and confirmed at the root by normative standards and methodologies that can themselves become cultural transmitters”.
Please?
OK, it's not as scary as it (very likely) seems - especially if we take as starting points for interpreting Hayes' noble thoughts some familiar and beloved local cultural paradigms - such as: Hotel "Podgorica", or the Building of Socio-Political Organizations - the so-called Old Government Building - with constant questions: what would it mean if culture were a kind of conceptual unity? - or: how (and why) theoretical and practical systems in certain cases promote or hinder the production and use of ideas and objects - again using examples from local architectural practice - and if it turns out that architectural examples are insufficient or too abstract - we will reach for current examples from the so-called popular culture - with a constant return to Hayes, that is, to architecture.
And there are, fortunately - also the thumbnails - with the first indications that things have become too strenuous or, God forbid, boring...
“Confirmation of our observations (observations - oc.a.) is a masterpiece Misovo early work - the German Pavilion in Barcelona from 1929", Hayes continues equally. "Referring to our previous analyses, this project may seem polemical or self-critical to us. The Pavilion is generally accepted as a flawless and purest transcription (priceless - op.a.) modern spatial concepts: synthesis The Wrights horizontal planes and abstract compositions of the Suprematist-Elementarist; with a respectful bow Be blessed walls (“not to mention that - from floor to ceiling”), Losovim materials and Shinkel's podium and columns; and all of this processed through spatial concepts of style (the Style - op.a.). All this contributes to the exceptionally rare spatial order of the Pavilion, which is presented as beforehand a mental construct, rather than a tangible earthly object.
This paragraph will serve as the basis for a richly illustrated Rollercoaster a ride through exotic representations of pre-modernity, the earliest modernity and of course: through representations of de style - I'm talking about a couple of hundred illustrations - with an accompanying narrative, calibrated just for the students - with the proviso that some fifty illustrations will refer to the Pavilion (capital "P") - and then back - to Hayes - who in the semester ahead will figure as our mother and as our father and as our son - and sometimes as the Holy Ghost...
And so on a few more times - first Hayes, then a digression (strictly programmatic), then Hayes, etc. - so that things would become clearer to us (both the students and me)...
And all this at a bargain price...
Nešo, honey, please...
***
Continuity is important, of course - Neša Dekan removed the subjects in October 2023 Theory of architecture I i Theory of architecture II from the repertoire of the Faculty of Arts UDG - so that in the 2023/2024 academic year, second and third year students did not have the opportunity, unlike a dozen previous generations of students, to enjoy the charms of architectural theory - and our dean Neša did not hesitate - in all his endless ignorance - to assert that architectural theory - and architecture in general - has no place at the Faculty of Arts UDG - only to repent last fall - I do not know how or why - and introduce this so-called scientific-research module Architectural theory...
And now we needed that whole story that we were barely managing to tell (Marija and me) to accommodate in two semesters - accommodate in one semester - and since the later generations of students need to warm up well in order to get started - this is where I appear in the role of a motivational coach - this generation started packing their papers too late - so at one point we had finished papers - but there was no more time to analyze those papers - and at that very moment we (Marija and I) realized that we were missing that one semester - which Neša was not giving us - because, by the very nature of things, only when we receive the papers can we comment on them - to lead pure student souls on the right path.
Bonus video:
