Architectural canon

Architectural Review, The, Dec, 2004 by Dean Hawkes

PLANS, SECTIONS AND ELEVATIONS: KEY BUILDINGS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

By Richard Weston. London: Laurence King. 2004. [pounds sterling]28

In academic circles, a discipline is partially defined by the establishment of a generally agreed body of knowledge. For example, the teaching of English in universities, in particular at Cambridge, was given a firm, if often controversial, foundation by F. R. Leavis with the publication of his book, The Great Tradition, in which he enumerated the works that he considered constituted the literary canon. The same principle may be said to apply to the study of architecture. The content and substance of courses in history and theory rests, in varying degrees, on the existence of specific works that should be known and studied. It is in this spirit that Richard Weston has collated and presented the 106 buildings, ranging chronologically from Mackintosh to Koolhaas, in the present book.

In his Introduction, Weston refers to the buildings as 'representative'. He defines this relatively straightforwardly, 'The bias has been towards those [buildings] that were innovative--stylistically, technically or programmatically--and especially those that significantly affected the course of architecture. The aim has also been to include a wide range of architects, while doing justice to major "masters".' Only realized buildings are included, the unbuilt, however influential, don't appear. Each building is presented in a double-page spread, with a brief descriptive text, an image or two and, of course, the plans, sections and elevations of the title. These have been drawn specially for the book and also come on a CD-ROM tucked into a pocket inside the back cover. Inevitably the list can be questioned. Why Villa Savoye, but not Garches? Why none of Kahn's Indian work? Scarpa is only represented by Querini Stampalia, and so on. On the other hand, few would argue against most of the buildings on the list, certainly up to the most recent cases, where their inclusion must be provisional until test of time has run its course. A bibliography lists some general histories and relevant monographs on all the architects.

So far so good, this is clearly a useful source book. By analogy with Leavis it might go some way to defining the basis of the Great Tradition of twentieth-century architecture, but Leavis was at pains to set his literary canon within a rich apparatus of critical method. Weston doesn't attempt that here. The book will, I'm certain, be consulted by many, particularly by students. As a sole reference, such reduction to basics could be misleading, maybe even dangerous, but, as a starting point for study, aided by the bibliography and guided by critical tutorial guidance it will be useful. A few other quibbles. The content of the drawings, while generally clear and well-detailed, is variable in quality. For example, those of Ronchamp omit the two north towers, which are also invisible in the photograph of the south wall. This is a curious omission. It is a pleasure to note that all the plans have a north-point an essential co-ordinate for their interpretation. Unfortunately a number of them are incorrect. My beady eye spotted the following instances; Asplund's Stockholm Library, Fehn's Hamar Museum, Lewerentz's Klippan Church and Venturi's Mother's House. These errors compromise the book's usefulness and should be corrected in any future edition.