Style and Meaning in Architecture (Gaudi, Gehry, Libeskind)
Anna Małecka
Abstract
The paper discusses the problem o f meaning in architecture and its relation to style. First, Roman Ingarden’s aesthetic theory is referred to. It is concluded that the architectonic object can be considered a valuable realisation in the sphere o f art only if it combines artistic values with so-called “metaphysical qualities”, i.e. symbolic reference to the ultimate reality. This artistic and metaphysical mission o f architecture is fulfilled primarily by the medieval cathedral regarded as “imitation o f the cathedral that is in heaven”. The beauty o f church based on harmonic proportion symbolises God’s perfection. The main part o f the paper is devoted to discussion o f three original architects: Antonio Gaudi, the representative o f modernism, and postmodern deconstructivists: Frank O. Gehry and Daniel Libeskind. The work o f the “divine architect” Antonio Gaudi is considered as a revival o f gothic tradition, embodied in eclectic and highly decorative style, with its characteristic organicist elements. For Gaudi, architecture consists in the following o f natural principles, thus pointing to God as the creator o f nature. Frank O. Gehry, on the other hand, dismantles and reconstructs architectural forms in a new and shocking way, introducing contrast with the environment. His works may be regarded a purely formal game, thus indicating the decline of meaningful culture. They are considered as Baudrillard’s simulacra, pointing only at themselves. The other o f analysed deconstructivists, Daniel Libeskind, reintroduces the idea o f architecture as a domain o f deeper meanings. His best known masterpiece, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, provides the visitors with an opportunity o f symbolic participation in suffering o f Jews, which is the purpose achieved by architectural means. His works are characterized by a lack o f one univocal meaning; and are open to ever new involvement o f the subject, who is to constitute the meaning within their own aesthetic experience, in the discourse between history and the present.
Keywords:
meaning of architecture, symbolism in architecture, postmodernism in architecture, deconstructivism in architecture, Gaudi, Gehry, LibeskindReferences
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