OPPOSITIONS BOOKS Preface by Kenneth Frampton Alan Colquhoun Essays in Architectural Criticism Modern Architecture and. Historical Change Published for The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies inthe Fine Arts, Chicago, Illinois, and The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, New York, New York, by The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, EnglandFirst MIT Press paperback edition, 1988 Copyright © 1981 by ‘The Institute for Architecture and Urban Stulies and The Massachusetts Institute of ‘Technology Al rights reserved. No part ofthis book ‘may be reprodueed in any form or by any ‘means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any Information storage and retrieval system, without permission in weiting from the publisher ‘The passage from E. H. Gombrich's I Seareh of Cultural History is reprinted by permission of the author. Litirary of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Colquhoun, Alan, 1921- Essays in architectural eviticism, “Published for the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago, Minois, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Stulies, New York, New York." Bibliography: p. 208 Includes ives. 1. Architecture, Modern—20Uh century—Adkdresses, essays, lectures. "2. Architecture and history—Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Title, NAGSO.C59° 724.9" T-15674 ISBN 0-262-03076-4 (hb) ISBN 0-262-53063-5 (pb) ‘This book was set in VIP Century Expanded by DEKR Corporation nd printed and bound by Halliday Lithograph Corporation in the United States of America. Cover draweiny: Project for the Lewpte of Nations, Geneve. Le Corbusier, 1927, Redrawn by Bernhard Hoesl Other Lites in the OPPOSITIONS. BOOKS series: ‘The Archi Allo Rossi Introsuction by Peter Bisenman ‘Translation by Diane Ghiratdlo and Joan Ockman ture of the City AScientific Autobiography Aldo Rossi Postseript by Vincent Seully ‘Translation by Lawrence Venuti OPPOSITIONS BOO! ditors Peter Eisenman Kenneth Frampton Managing Editor Lindsay Stamm Shapiro Assistant Managing Editor Christopher Sweet Designer Massimo Vignell Design Coordinator Abigail Moseley Production Larz F. Anderson I ‘Trustees of The Institute for Architecture and Urhan Studies Armand Bartos, Chairman Charles Gwwathmey, President Douglas H. Banker Richanl F. Barter A. Bruce Brackenridge Colin G. Campbell Walter F. Chatham Peter D, Bisenman Ulich Franzen Frank 0. Gehry Gerald D, Hines Eli Jucobs Philip Johnson Edward J. Logue Gorald M. MeCue Robert M, Meltzer Paul Rudolph Carl B, Schorske Freierieke S. Taylor Marietta Tree Massimo Vignell John F. White Peter WolfContents Preface by Kenneth Frampton 1 Introduetion: Modern Architecture and Historicity 11 Chapter 1: Modern Architecture and the Symbolic Dimension 20 ‘The Modern Movement in Architecture 21 Symbolic and Literal Aspects of Technology 26 Formal and Funetional Interactions: A Study of Two Late Buildings by Le Corbusier 31 Chapter 2: The Type and its Transformations 42 ‘Typology and Design Method 43 Displacement of Concepts in Le Corbusier 51 Rules, Realism, and History 67 Alvar Aalto: Type versus Funetion 75 Chapter 3: Architecture and the City 82 The Superblock 83 Centraal Beheer 104 Plateau Beaubourg 110 Frames to Frameworks 120 Chapter 4: History and the Architectural Sign 128 Historicism and the Limits of Semiology 129 Sign and Substance: Reflections on Complexity, Las Vegas, and Oberlin 189 E. H. Gombrich and the Hegelian Tradition 152 ‘The Beaux-Arts Plan 161 From Bricolage to Myth, or How to Put Humpty-Dumpty Together Again 169 Form and Figure 190 Notes 208 Bibliography 208 Figure Credits 211 Index 213 Biographical Note 216