As
history turns through the 19th century three architects start to arise
as some of the most influential in architectural history. Viollet le Duc,
Ruskin, and Semper took the initiative as individuals to explore three
different and new theories of architectural design. As visionaries they were similar
in wanting to develop a new method but all were different in the path that was
taken.
Viollet Le Duc was one to look into
the past for the answers to his questions but one to use the past as a tool to
see how it changes the present. He wanted to explore his experiences in life
and design a method based on his knowledge and not what was used in the past. Le
Duc’s greatest contribution to architecture is not the renovation to Norte Dame
but the theory he displayed in Dictionnaire.
Viollet Le Duc designed a theory that rational architecture is good
architecture. He believed that you show a building for what it is composed of and
not what ornamental designs can be incoporated. This style was born from his
strong belief of having a reason for each design decision. Though out his
career he would use iron as a structural material and instead of covering it
with other materials he would celebrate the use of iron and display its beauty.
Ruskin like Viollet Le Duc also wanted
to establish a new method of design in architecture but unlike Duc he wanted to
express the ornamental and art in design. He believed that it was not only the
architect to conduct the design of a building but also the craftsmanship and
quality of work performed while erecting the structure. Believing that
architecture is inclusive of art and design and everything else is just
buildings. Ruskin was a true believer that architects should be in the field
working with the masons and other craftsman as that is where the true design of
architecture comes from. The publisher of Seven
Lamps of Architecture (Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, obedience, memory) is
where his theory of architecture can be found and studied.
Semper unlike Ruskin was a
minimalist and strong believer in practical aesthetics. He believed the way to
great architecture was through a mathematical formula, symmetry,
proportionality, directionality, and using materials in their natural state. Semper
created a mathematical formula that explains his theory and how to use it, even
though he seems to step away from it at times. Semper was like Viollet Le Duc
in the minimalist approach but different in the mathematical formula he would
incorporate into his design.
These three great theorists will be
remembered not for their built designs but for the contributions made to future
architects and changing the design process forever. For being men not wanting
to follow the beaten path but carving a new path they will be remembered for eternity.
Gentlemen like Viollet Le Duc, Ruskin, and Semper are some of the reasons
architecture is what it is today. As a society we must remember to not always
follow a leader but to create a new path when appropriate. Think of some of the
great works of architecture that would not be here today if it wasn’t for these
three men.
Citation
Hvattum,
M.(2004). Nineteenth-Century Architecture and Theory. Cambridge, England &
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pevsner,
N.(N.D.). Ruskin and Viollet-Le-Duc. London: Thames and Hudson
