diskretni šarm površine

“Pop art bo,” piše Roland Barthes v That Old Thing Art (1980), ”objekt osvobodil simbolov, tako da bo podoba lahko postala gola površina brez pomenov…”

Neposredno doživljanje izkušnje prostora in materialov je v arhitekturi v zadnjem času vedno bolj aktualno. Pomeni – arhitekturne zgodbe se umikajo. To umikanje se ujema s pomanjkanjem povezovalnih vrednostnih in uravnalnih sistemov, ne le v arhitekturi, ampak v družbi kot celoti. Tradicionalna navezava arhitekture na nadrejene sisteme smisla in simbolne sisteme ni več mogoča. To pomanjkanje idejne globine, ki samo po sebi sicer ne izhaja iz arhitekture, neizogibno vodi arhitekte k ukvarjanju s površino.

Tradicionalno je bila fasada integralni sestavni del celostne vizije arhitekture in je imela svojo posebno vlogo v orkestrirani celoti arhitektonske kompozicije. Ta odnos pa se v zadnjem času v precejšnjem delu arhitekture krha. Površina se osamosvaja. Mondenost, pretkanost in omamni, skoraj erotični mik – to so lastnosti, s katerimi se nova arhitektura poskuša umeščati v kontekst post sveta, v mesta in v duše. In to s precejšnjim uspehom. Ljudje so naveličani hermetičnosti in elitizma “visoke arhitekture”, bolje razumejo pakiranje in hedonizem potrošništva ter čare tistih branž, ki ga spremljajo in servisirajo - marketing, PR-ovstvo, modni sistem, pop kultura in podobno.

Razcep med vsebino in obliko je radikaliziran. Postmoderna, ki je vpeljala ta razcep, je nekako promovirala oba, vsebino kot funkcijo in obliko kot reprezentacijo, simbol ali dekoracijo. Spomnimo se na Venturijev “decorated sheed” in na Rossijevo “L’archittetura della citt_”. Zunanjost je rezultat kompozicijskega procesa. Ta novoveški princip je z osamosvojitvijo površine zanikan in nadgrajen, akademsko tipologijo, ki jo je od klasike prevzela tudi moderna (in figurativna postmoderna), zamenjuje kontaminacija površine z zunanjimi motivi - umetnostjo, modo, filmom, mediji, kulturo, skratka s komunikacijo, ki ni arhitekturna, ali pa z odsotnostjo komunikacije – molkom.

Arhitekturna retorika je hkrati odtujeno abstraktna in plakativno konkretna. Center, proporci in merilo kot kanoni arhitekture so opuščeni ali potujeni. Objekt postane enigma v arhitekturnem smislu, hkrati pa odprta dlan v smislu komunikacije s potencialnim ciljnim uporabnikom oz. naslovnikom. Manipulacija?

Minimalizem

Koncentracija arhitekturnega programa v prizmatično obliko je koncept, znan iz modernizma (Mies). Uhaja kakršnemu koli specifičnemu pomenu. Njegova značilnost je nemost primarne forme, ki vse drugo, razen samega materiala, sili k tišini. Suspendirana ni le konvencionalna arhitekturna govorica, temveč tudi kakršno koli upoštevanje programa, funkcije in konteksta.

Površina ima v minimalistični arhitekturi pomembno vlogo - kot zaščitni ovoj jača učinek navznoter obrnjene prostorskosti. V nasprotju s težnjo po kontinuiteti med javnim in privatnim, ki jo je zastopal klasični modernizem, je pri sedanjem revivalu minimalizma vzpostavljena jasna delitev. Objekt je ločen od konteksta, nanaša se sam nase, njegov arhitekturni izraz je radikalno reduciran, površina, material postane fetiš. Površina postane dejanska arhitektura, ki pa poskuša objekt izločiti iz okolice, ne ga vanj vpeti.

Pri nas minimalizem, razen v nekaterih projektih, v zreli obliki še ni realiziran, izjema sta morda poslovna stavba Arcadia ob Tržaški Sadar in Vuga arhitektov in pa beli interier Abitare Primoža Jeze na Bregu.

Fetišizem

Tržni mehanizmi evocirajo kult zunanje podobe, stila, ki se pri okuženih kaže kot prostovoljno suženjstvo. Arhitekturni styling do objekta, stavbe vzpostavlja podoben odnos, kot ga ima kozmetika do telesa. Perfektna površina steklene preobleke ali industrijske kontinuirane fasadne obloge iz jeklene pločevine, korodirana površina ali tekstura ni več zavezana vsebini stavbe, ampak le stylingu. Ko se osvobodi, postane fasadna opna nosilec nečesa novega. Ni več obleka, ki bi grela, varovala in krasila, postane tatoo ali kozmetika. Kozmetika ni le še en dodatek k arhitektonskemu priboru. Rabi telo, s katerim je v parazitskem (ali simbiotičnem) odnosu. Rabi obraz, telo, model, ki jo nosi, ni pa z njim strukturno povezana. S tem vnazaj vzpostavi nosilca kot stroj.

Površina postane podoba, na kateri arhitekt deluje kot stilist – šminka površino, na določenih mestih, da vzpostavi komunikacijo. Pri tem gre za zapeljevanje, erotično komunikacijo. Drugače od ornamenta, ki komunicira splošno in reprezentira celoto, pripadnost, moč, bogastvo ali kulturo, kozmetika nagovarja, zapeljuje, individualizira. Opraviti ima s čustvi, ne z razumom. Čeprav kozmetični efekt ni povezan s telesom, ga rabi kot nosilca. Tako kot je za make up umetnika najboljši obraz najmanj izrazen, najbolj klišejski, tako je za arhitekturo najboljša osnova tista, ki nima lastne sposobnosti izraza, komunikacije. Sama oblika ni cool, cool je njena odsotnost, minimaliziranje, na kateri lahko gradi styling.

Spet so v modi prizme z nadihom poetične kože. Lep primer je fasada Union arhitekta Aleša Prinčiča.

Infrastrukturalizem

Je trend, ki potencial površine uporablja v topološkem smislu. Pri projektu Foreign Office za Jokohama International Port Terminal se stavba kot celota uvija v kontinuirano površino.

Kozmetika se ne ustavi na površini, poskuša prodreti v telo – kot plastična operacija ali kot proteza. Arhitektonsko se umika antropomorfnemu, biološkemu, organskemu, interaktivnemu v primeru kompjuteriziranega okolja, medializiranemu. Koža se uvije navznoter, dobimo Moebiusev trak ali votlino – brlog, ali eksterier (landscape) v interieru. Namesto interiorizacije zunanjega prostora, kot ga je predvidela renesančna perspektiva in so ga tematizirale teorije urbanega do Rossija in Krierja - rekli bi tipološke posplošitve avtonomije arhitekturne oblike - je krajina/narava vstopila v interier.

Arhitektonsko spominja na slike, ki jih nosimo s sabo, opominja na našo telesnost in navsezadnje tudi smrtnost. Haptično in čutno dojemanje namesto zgolj vizualnega. Temperatura, otip, okus, zvok, sugestivni taktilni naboj. Mešanica popularnega kiča z obvladano arhitekturo.

Sledi tega postopka opažamo pri nekaterih uspešnih natečajnih in drugih projektih mlajših slovenskih arhitektov, npr. pri natečajnih projektih avtorjev Oman, Videčnik, Žnidaršič, Žlajpah za mariborski stadion, Oman in Videčnik za Mestni muzej v Ljubljani, Sadar in Vuga arhitekti za študentsko športno dvorano na Ježici in drugih. Kot realizacije pa bi lahko navedli Gospodarsko zbornico v Ljubljani Sadar in Vuga arhitektov, Baumax in Mc Donald’s v Mariboru arhitektov Njirićev in zadnja dela arhitekta Korpnika.

S tem ko se vrača kot nosilka kolektivnega imaginarnega, tudi pri nas arhitektura postopno postaja vodilni kulturni medij preloma tisočletja. Vendar mora, da bi to dosegla, zanikati svojo avtonomijo in tudi interno (elitistično) etiko - kar pa je tako ali tako bila njena usoda v vseh obdobjih, ki jih je kasneje zgodovina za nazaj označila kot dekadenčna.

Aleš Prinčič, fasada Union

Fasada je kozmetični poseg - lifting, ki se z utripajočo hermetično prosojnostjo odziva na nasproti ležeči park. Čeprav nem, seva kot ekran. Efekt je dematerializacija volumna, hkrati pa tudi fragmentacija mesta, njegovo zanikanje. Analogija z vsebino - steklenicami piva ni mogoča, kvečjemu s stekleničko za parfum.

Sadar in Vuga arhitekti, trgovska hiša Dom Mueller v Ljubljani.

Arhitekta poskušata s pretiskavanjem vzorca na steklo doseči efekt svile, kot pri Miyakeovih oblačilih. Površina je medializirana z odsevi, z interferenco potiskanega vzorca na steklu, ki naj bi zafunkcioniral (zavibriral, oživel) ob premikanju očesa mimoidočega. Raziskujeta možnosti filmičnosti v arhitekturi. Objekt se umika v drugi plan, je nujno zlo, ki naj ga obvladujejo in rešujejo tehniki - specialisti. Fasada nima povezave z stavbo, na kateri parazitira. Ignoranca gre tako daleč, da se arhitekta ne zmenita za uskladitev transparence fasade in polic za njo. Parazitira pa tudi v mestu, ulici, kot haptična luknja v kontinuirani ulični fasadi.

Sadar in Vuga arhitekti, poslovna stavba Arcadia, Ljubljana, 2000, v gradnji.

Objekt je škatla s kompleksno vsebino in nemo zunanjostjo. Stavba zavestno ne komunicira kot arhitektura, edini nagovor je v distanci do suburbanega okolja in v grafičnem designu - pojavnost stavbe je reducirana na bilboard za logo firme.

Nande Korpnik, Tovarna močnih krmil v Mariboru, v gradnji

Industrijski proces je zapakiran v obleko - karoserijo, ki se prilagaja tehnološkemu procesu. Rezultat je stroj, podoben ladji, vesoljski ladji ali pa gospodinjskemu aparatu. Nima merila in tektonske skladnje, je bolj industrijski design kot arhitektura.

The Descrete Charm of Surface

»Pop Art will free the object of symbols, so that the image could become a bare surface without meanings...« says Roland Barthes in That Old Thing Art (1980).

The direct experience of space and materials has recently become an important issue in architecture, which also means that architectural stories are giving way. This coincides with the lack of synthesising value and balance systems not only in architecture, but in society as a whole. The traditional bonds between architectural and superposed systems of meaning and symbols are no longer possible. This lack of depth of ideas, which, in itself, does not originate in architecture, inevitably leads architects towards dealing with surface.

Traditionally, the façade was the integral part of the complete vision of architecture, and had its special role in the orchestrated whole of architectonic composition. This relationship, however, has recently changed in a considerable part of certain architectural branches. The surface is becoming independent. The new architecture is trying to find its way, through the context of the post-world, into towns, into souls, by means of characteristics such as: mundane, cunning and seductive, almost erotic charm. And with considerable success, one must admit. People are tired of the hermetic approach and elitism of “high architecture”; they find it easier to understand packaging and hedonism of consumerism, and temptations of its accompanying branches: marketing, “PR-ing”, fashion, pop-culture, etc. The break between contents and form is radicalised. Postmodernism which introduced it, in a way promoted both: contents as function, and form as representation, symbol or decoration. Let us recall the Venturi’s “decorated shed” and Rossi’s “L’archittetura della citta”.. The exterior is a result of the composition process. Through the liberation of surface, however, this modern principle is denied and upgraded. Academic typology, that Modernism (and figurative Post-modernism) took over from the Classics, is being replaced by contamination of the surface with exterior motifs – art, fashion, film, media, culture, in short: either with communication other than the architectural one, or with the absent communication – silence. Architectural rhetoric is at the same time alienated and abstract, or explicit as with a poster. The centre, proportions and measure as architectural constants are neglected or alienated. The object is becoming an enigma in the architectural sense, and at the same time an open palm in a sense of communication with potential target-user or client. Manipulation?

Minimalism

The concentration of the architectural programme in a prismatic form is a Modernist (Miesian) concept. It avoids any specific meaning. Its main characteristic is a dumb primary form, forcing everything but the material into silence. Not only the conventional architectural language, but any consideration of programme, function and context are now suspended.

In minimalist architecture, the surface carries a special role – as a protective membrane it enhances the effect of the introverted space. As opposed to the endeavours for continuity between public and private, defended by classical Modernism, today’s revival of Minimalism sets-up a clear division: the object is excluded from the context and refers to nothing but itself. Its architectural expression is radically reduced, the surface, the material become a fetish. The surface becomes the actual architecture, trying to exclude rather than include the object into its surroundings.

In Slovenia, minimalism, apart from some individual projects, is not realised in its mature form, the only exceptions being perhaps the “Arcadia” building on Tržaška Street by Sadar in Vuga Arhitekti, and the white interior of “Abitare” on Breg by Primož Jeza.

Fetishism

Market mechanism evoques the cult of image and style, that manifests with those contaminated as volunteer slavery. Architectural styling creates a similar attitude towards the object (the building) as does cosmetics towards the body. The perfect surface of the glass membrane, or of the continuing industrial façade cladding from steel tin, the corroded surface or texture is no longer bound to the contents of the building, but only to the styling. With its own liberation, the façade membrane becomes the porte-parole of something new. It is no longer considered as clothing that should keep in the warmth, protect and decorate. Instead it becomes a tattoo, cosmetics. Cosmetics is not just another tool in the architectural set. It needs a body to establish a parasithe (or symbiotic) relationship. It needs a face, a body, a model that could wear it, but it is not in a structural connection with it. In this sense it turns the one who wears it into a machine.

The surface becomes an image, where the architect works as a sytilst – he puts the make-up on the surface on certain spots, to establish communication. In doing so, he uses seduction, erotic communication. Unlike the ornament, which communicates in general and represents the whole, belonging, power, wealth or culture, the cosmetics addresses directly, seduces, individualises. It deals with emotions, not ratio. Although the cosmetic effect is not connected to the body, it needs the body as its support. Just like a make-up artist is most satisfied with the least expressive, the most cliché-like face, an architect finds the best base is the one that has no proper power of expression or communication. The form in itself is not cool, what is cool is the absence of form, its minimalising, so that it can carry a styling. Prisms with a touch of poetic skin are fashionable again. A good example is the Union Façade by Aleš Prinčič.

Infrastructuralism

This is a trend which uses the potential of the surface in a topological sense. In the Foreign Office Project for the Yokohama International Port Terminal the building as a whole blends with the smooth-running surface.

The cosmetics does not stop on the surface, it tries to penetrate the body – just like a plastic surgery or a prothesis. Architectonic elements give way to antropomorphic ones, biological, organic, interactive in the case of computerised environment, medialised. The skin turns towards the inside, we get Moebius’ belt or cave – a lair, or exterior (landscape) in the interior. Instead of interiorisation of the outer space, as foreseen by the Reneissance perspective and thematised by theories of urban space from Rossi to Krier, one could also say instead of a typological generalisation of the authonomy of architectural form, the landscape/nature entered the interior.

Architectonics reminds us of pictures that we carry along, it reminds us of our physical nature and also of our mortality. Haptic and sensual experience instead of a merely visual one. Temperature, touch, taste, sound, a suggestive tactile charge. A mixture of popular kitsch and tamed architecture.

The traces of this procedure can be found in some successful competitions and other projects by young Slovene architects: the competition projects by Oman, Videčnik, Žnidaršič, Žlajpah for the Maribor Stadium, Oman and Videčnik for the Municipal Museum in Ljubljana, Sadar in Vuga Arhitekti for the student sports hall in Ježica, among others. Among executed projects: Chamber of Economy in Ljubljana by Sadar in Vuga Arhitekti, Baumax and McDonald’s in Maribor by the Njirić, and the last works by Korpnik.

By coming back on stage as a carrier of a collective image, architecture (and Slovene architecture) is again becoming the leading cultural medium at the turn of the millennium. To achieve this, however, it has to deny its autonomy as well as its internal (elitist) ethics – but this was its destiny in all periods that were later recognised by the history as decadent.

Subtitles to the photos:

Union Façade by Aleš Prinčič

The façade is a cosmetic touch – a lifting, that communicates with a pulsing hermetic transparency to the park situated opposite the building. Although silent, it radiates like a screen. The effect is a dematerialisation of the volume, and at the same time a fragmentation of the town, its denial. Analogy with the contents – bottles of beer – is impossible. Perhaps – with bottle of perfume.

Dom Mueller Commercial Centre in Ljubljana by Sadar in Vuga Arhitekti.

By reprinting the pattern onto the glass, the architects are trying to achieve a silk effect, like in Miyake’s clothes. The surface is medialised with reflections, interference of printed pattern on glass that should function (vibrate, become alive) when meeting the visitor’s eye. They research the possibilities of film character in architecture. The object is set-off into the backdrop, it is an indispensable burden that should be dealt with by technical specialists. The façade has no connection with the building on which it parasitises. The ignorance goes so far that the architects do not even bother to match the transparancy of the façade with the shelves behind it. The façade is also a parasite in the town, in the street, where it exists as a haptic hole in the continuity of the street façade.

Arcadia Office Building, Ljubljana, 2000, by Sadar in Vuga Arhitekti, under construction. The object is a box with a complex interior and silent exterior. The building consciously does not communicate as architecture, the only attempt lies in the distance taken towards the suburban environment and in the graphic design – the appearance of the building is reduced to the billboard for the company’s logo.

Fodder Factory in Maribor by Nande Korpnik, under construction.

The industrial process is packed into clothing – a car shell that adapts to the technological process. The result is a machine, similar to a ship, space ship or household tool. It does not have a measure nor a tectonic syntax, it is more industrial design than architecture.