The Burden of Architecture

The Burden of Architecture 

By:  Arch Ma. Elena  Lamasan

OF ALL  ARTS,  Architecture takes upon itself a unique commitment and responsibility

 to mankind.  In the context of Philippine Society,   Architecture carries that conscience

and expectation.  A structure designed and built by an Architect has to last the longest

 time possible. It must be beautiful , functional and Strong.

To a painting that lasts until the painter dies, it becomes priceless. To a Jeweler to

keep those gems,  it’s a cherished  treasure. But what are they? They are decorations

that makes our lifestyle glitters,  Arts we see and touch to the most.

This makes  Architecture stand as unique  in its own. Human takes Architecture

as his dwelling and becomes a part of his everyday living.   Everytime a structure is built,

it carries in itself the strength to withstand the test of Nature. No matter what excuses

 there are in terms of new materials and methods of construction, still people expect such

structure  to  last.  And  people  expect  an  Architect’s  work  to  be  beautiful  as  it

dictates his lifestyle.  There is no choice for the Architect but make a firm

stand… that this work satisfy what Vitruvius proclaimed as Firmitas, (strength)

Utilistas, (Function) Venustas. (Beauty)

These human expectations as the viewer and user or occupant is in same

force with the Architect’s pride and bursting self-esteem.   Human Expectations that when

failed, will pull down an Architect up to the bitterness of his professional practice.

The self-esteem and pride of every Architect in his work serves both the good and

the evil. Good is true for his drive to create more as his self-esteem is boasted more.

But bad is near when his pride is challenged that may push him to do what is

upright and sometimes illegal just to validate a title or criticism. Architecture is creation

 of human for human. Wherever view it i seen, it is full of responsibility.

There is triumph and victory in the practice of this profession and coined with that,

there is a so called  … "Burden of Architecture"

INTRODUCTION

The Burden of Architecture had been existing in our life eversince the era of the Pharaos in Ancient times. To make a twist and present that positive note, Architects scapes from the word “ burden” . The Free  Dictionary has made its definition of burden as – something that is emotionally difficult to bear. Understandably, the fact that Architecture shelters human being, this cannot be relegated to the background.  As lifestyle and trend in society moves faster, moreover with the Generation Y, the present Architecture now faces many challenges. These challenges forms part of the burdens within the Architects’ inner self, the influence of Culture, the political will power that pastes an Imagery of what would be the Architecture of the time being, the Media that is on a race track with the development of technology and most of all, MAN  ITSELF as the hardest element to convince. This paper evolves on these influences and phenomenon such as:

The Burden of Architecture as affected by the  Imagery to its  people.

The Burden of Architecture due to the influence of culture.

The Morality and Architecture:  the heaviest burden.

The Legal Burden of Architecture .

1.    The Burden of Architecture as affected by the Imagery to its people.

When Author Robert Wilson asked Charles Correa in an Interview published with Uncube, Rob asked Charles if at the beginning of his career, was he hoping to invent a new architecture for post-independence India? Charles retold the fable of Animal Farm by George Orwell. It was said, “ The farmer has this big house that intimidates all the animals – so they decide to revolt and burn his house down. But when he runs away, they are too excited and tired – and a few days later the pigs move into the house and start running the farm exactly as the farmer did. And if a cow or horse protests, the pigs just show them a picture of the farmer’s house to frighten them.”

1.1.   Imagery in the Philippines: Imagery is a visual symbolism that appeals to the human eye to deepen his understanding to what is being conveyed to. In the Philippine setting, the government is not running out of imagery to frighten the people. Imagery had been useful to sway people’s beliefs. It is a way for the government to post a promise and assurance when a Billboard say.. “ On this Site will rise......” For every doubt in the future of economy, there lies plans and promises of good architecture. The on  going development of the Entertainment City in Pasay City boasting for its Manila Eye as equivalent the world’s famous London Eye, the sparkling night life and the latest of the business hub design to be later called as the Las Vegas of Asia is a good example of an imagery. Publicity about this idea form Philippine Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) with the banner bearer, the prominent people behind had shaded the Filipino vision of an outstanding economy. This is imagery, this brainwashes the Filipino mind, well, for good, for everybody to be positive and not to think of the debts of the Philippine Government where until your grandson’s grandson has to pay for life.

1.2.       Are Imagery Positively contagious? The writer agree that these developments had commenced, and hopefully will bring economic stability to the country. Yet, there are these hidden agenda and still many things to do for the Filipino named Juan de la Cruz. Architecture is the most fastest image conveyor. It is visual and its palatable to any investor’s eye. Had the Architects realized that without their skills, talents and passion to visualize and present their perspectives, this world will not see an image of a bright future?

1.3.       How does  Imagery becomes a burden of Architecture? The Burden of Architecture of a country like the Philippines is when these promises will be in vain. Many billboards of government proposed projects enhanced and already accepted by the Filipino people due to impressive perspectives and illustrations brought about by high technology in Advertising

Remained  billboards. Some are seen along highways with names of Architect/ Designers and Consultants. Sour grapes shall be yours when government allocations change course and such billboards diminishes with the typhoon. Whatever the cause maybe, still the name of the architect already strikes a light in the viewer’s eye.  May the upcoming imagery the world will throw will be for the good of Architecture.

2.         The Burden of Architecture. Claiming Filipino Identity

During the 1980”s when this   Writer was entering   College of Architecture in one of the    Catholic Universities in the Visayas, Arch Nathaniel Von Einsiedel had that most awaited talk in the City hosted by both the Architects and Engineers. (Thanks that there was no RA 9266 in battle yet with the Civil Engineers). Time was when Arch Francisco Manosa was greatly known for the fruits of the Imeldific Giant Projects especially the Coconut Palace. In his talk, Arch Einsiedel was strongly encouraging Illongo students to Read Books to nourish their minds to design Filipino, pushing Filipino Architecture. The Open

Forum got inquiries like: How can we design Filipino when we don’t have enough reading materials that are Filipino?. There was no George Salvan History of Architecture yet, only the Sir Banister Fletcher book that talks like, about the sketched Renaissance Architecture so finely. True enough, we don’t have enough Books to read that are Filipino those times.

2.1 Break –Free and claim Filipino Architecture Identity

Presently,  the  cyberworld  conquered  us  all  and  the  e-books  flooding  everywhere.  Surprisingly,  the Information Technology brings us foreign designs with matching DYI “Do it Yourself” equipments and Building Materials Installations mostly of synthetic, plastic, metals and glass. According to Ar. Paulo  Alcazaren, “The problem with Philippine architecture is, in fact, its invisibility. Nobody can substantially define it, the public does not know it exists beyond the nipa hut and if it does exist, it is otherwise rendered unrecognizable because it hides behind (and I really must reiterate) monstrous billboards, or underneath a foreign façade; in many instances actually designed by a foreigner.” It is Philippine art invisibility that was tackled in a talk delivered by culture maven Dr. Nina Baker at the Ayala Museum recently. The title of the talk was "Breaking into the Global Arena: What does it take?" Dr. Baker put Philippine art in focus, looking at issues of national identity, the hegemonic burden of colonialism and today’s globalization of art and culture mainly through new art and multi-media forms (and by inference, architecture).

According to Alcazaren, “ Her conclusion: we Filipinos (and our art) have been invisible to the world probably because of our culture’s innate plasticity, our ability to quickly assimilate, absorb, adapt to and adopt forms ( fashion, speech, art, architecture, etc.) So, are we cultural chameleons rendering ourselves mestizo clones from those we chose to valorize? Is our hybrid culture of continuous hybridism with no end in sight except copycatting?”

2.2  Origen of Filipino Architectural Education, how does it affects our Designs.

The Architecture in this country had been living with a burden, inherited from our ancestors, so to say, since even our First Filipino Registered Architect Don Tomas Mapúa, obtained his degree at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in the US. And therefore following there on, more Architects studied and trained abroad brought International Architectural Designs to the country. The Filipino Architecture must break-free and with the strong FILIPINO IDENTITY implemented in our Designs started by the Marcos Regime, slowly the Filipino Architecture is getting its Identity.

3.The Morality and Architecture: the heaviest burden.

Many debates on the Morality and Architecture had touched significant issues concerning the past and the present. Some of these can be read in books, blogs and social media pages reaching the young and the olds in the Profession and in Business sector. The art historian David Watkin against any attempt to ground architecture on morality, expressed in his book Morality and Architecture, first published by Oxford University Press in 1977. Watkin maintains that the claim of architecture to morality undermines individual imagination as well as the aesthetic value of the work carried on by artistic tradition. Watkin’s approach is not only very close to Kant’s concept of aesthetic autonomy but, more than that, it rigorously defends the supremacy of the aesthetic factor in architecture. On this ground, Watkin proceeds to a critique of the architectural theory of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century. He classifies architectural theory in three categories:

1. “architecture enters the threshold of the twentieth century suffering an inner contradiction between its aesthetic self claiming total independence and a moral, engaged into a social mission, self”

2. According to Watkin (1977, pp. 3-4), it is the nineteenth art theorist Pugin he who initiates architecture’s claim to morality in the modern era. In his Contrasts (1836), Pugin claims that the same principles that underlie religious truths should underlie the form of a building. Engaged in the legacy of Pugin’s claim to truth, Modern architecture has to defeat religious doctrines with some other kind of truth, Watkin argues.1

Thus, in order to be morally justified, Modern architecture has to become a rational instrument of social policy. Furthermore, it has to express the “true” nature of the materials.

3. Le Corbusier’s words: “A man who practices a religion and does not believe in it is a poor wretch; (…) We are to be pitied for living in unworthy houses, since they ruin our health and our morale”(Le Corbusier 1987, p. 14).

3.1 Reconcile the Past and the Present Trends in Professional Practice as History enlightens the issue of the Burden of Architecture. Renaissance architecture seems to be an excellent example of understanding and interpretation of past values. In the book written by Helen Tatla, Morality and Architecture , the philosophy of Gadamer say that in the Quattro libri dell’ architectura, first published in 1570, Palladio maintains that “the practice of architecture as a manifestation of virtue is a moral obligation for the architect: (Palladio 1965). This is true even in the Philippine scenario as supported by the Architect’s Code of Ethics. Thus, Architects were taught to be modest even not permitted to do advertisements. It became a burden as a moral obligation to stay “not commercially inclined” but to focus on “serving towards the Interest of the Client”.

At present, there is still a debatable issue whether to advertise as part of Business Marketing Strategy does not contradicts the Architects’ Code of Ethics.

3.2  Responsibility in Design.

The third category of architectural theory dealing with the principles underlying Modern architecture, discussed in the book written by Helen Tatla, Morality and Architecture which Watkin despises, is the rational-technological one. It originates in the 18th century French theorists and is related to Classical, Gothic or “modern” architecture. As Viollet-le-Duc (1889, vol. I, p. 448)) puts it, giving a mechanistic interpretation of the Gothic, “we must be true in respect of the programme, and true in respect of the constructive processes.” (Watkin 1977, p.

The programe, concerning the organization of human functional needs in space, as well as the structural needs of the work, constitute - in moral terms – the source of form of modern architecture. Truth and morality are defined on the basis of universality implied by a new collectivist society. Watkin says, “We can gather that individual taste and imagination are immoral and false as far as architectural form is concerned (Watkin 1977, p. 14; Pevsner 2005, pp. 110-11).

 In archinology, documentaries of the first recorded study of ethics that was by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and their contemporaries, used words that in translation had multiple meanings: the term aischron described something 'shameful' as well as 'ugly', and kal's referred to something as being 'honorable' and/or 'beautiful'.

This duality of meaning seems to indicate that there was an early relationship between ethics and aesthetics, which in turn may relate to a link between the character of an architect, the approach to design, and the quality of the work.

Increasingly unachievable is the very basic human characteristic of feeling, or being, ‘in place’. Humans have not evolved in a way that we are no longer in need of or incapable of experiencing and knowing places. However, our use and exploitation of the human environment is indifferent to place. When people depend on place to define meaning, then it is that indifference that is in need of ethical scrutiny. For humanity to live in a more permanent, grounded self, we need to renew the ethical framework to remind us of the virtues of life and help create and preserve place.

3.3  Capture the Positive Effect of realizing this Burden at Present.

The famous Architect Zaha Hadid was questioned about the migrant workers who have died while working on the al-Wakrah stadium in Qatar, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Ms. Hadid likened her concern for their plight to her concern for Iraqi deaths: “I’m more concerned about the deaths in Iraq as well, so what do I do about that? I’m not taking it lightly but I think it’s for the government to look to take care of. It’s not my duty as an architect to look at it.” She further asserted that her responsibility was limited to personal censure: “I can make a statement, a personal statement, about the situation with the workers, but  I cannot do anything about it because I have no power to do anything about it.”   In another publication, Zaha Hadid made a statement when asked about conditions on construction projects for the Qatar World Cup, Hadid responded that it was responsibility of the Qatari government not architects to address issues relating to worker deaths. "It's not my duty as an architect to look at it," said Hadid. "I cannot do anything about it because I have no power to do anything about it. I think it's a problem anywhere in the world. But, as I said, I think there are discrepancies all over the world." "I have nothing to do with the workers," she added. "I think that's an issue the government – if there's a problem – should pick up. Hopefully, these things will be resolved."

3.4 Unfortunate Incidents during the Project Implementation as Burden of Architecture

As elaborated by the Author Sheri Wing in the Article: Moral Responsibility: Zaha Hadid and the al-Wakrah Stadium”, Metropolis ask if, when a disaster occurs during an economic or architectural endeavor, is it just a matter of legal responsibility or is there a moral component as well? Does the fame of the architect somehow mitigate the responsibility? Or, as some actors have claimed, does one's fame and bully pulpit make one more responsible to use that influence towards promoting good or charitable causes that will ostensibly benefit fellow human beings?

Sherin Wing tackled the issue on the responsibilities of the Architects when she said; “It might be interesting to look at other examples of what individuals and corporations can do when they are either 1) involved or implicated in tragic incidents or 2) at odds with the unsavory practices of a government that happens to employ them.

3.5 We see no more: The Manila Film Center Tragedy. Had it opened our eyes? Or the Government

Propaganda succeeded in burying the Memory.

In the southwest end of the CCP Complex, (Cultural Center of the Philippines) is Manila Film Center located in Pasay City. It is a national building, The Manila Film Center designed by Architect Froilan Hong where its edifice is supported on more than nine hundred piles which reaches to the bed-rock about 120 feet below. The Manila Film Center served as the main theater for the 1st Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) from the 18th to the 29th of January, 1982. The building has also been the subject of controversies due to an accident that happened during the final stages of its construction in 1981. It has been told that the a Feasibility study was prepared and among the Film Center’s project components were the 360-degree theatre that will show images of the past and present historical and tourism scenes for the future generations to see.

This  writer on those years were on a first year college in the school of Architecture and this attraction were not just Filipinos but people around the world were hopeful for. It was really for generations to see, but we see no more.

An accident occurred around 3:00 a.m. on November 17, 1981 during the construction of the Manila Film Center. Its scaffolding collapsed, and at least 169 workers fell and were buried under quick-drying wet cement. A blanket of security was immediately imposed by the Marcos administration, and neither rescuers nor ambulances were permitted on the site until an official statement had been prepared. The rescuers were eventually permitted to go inside the accident site 9 hours after the collapse.

The Manila Film Center is said to be haunted due to the accident that took place in the construction of the structure. It has been speculated that due to the 9 hours that passed before rescuers were allowed in the site, some of the workers were entombed alive and that the bodies were left in the hardened concrete slabs. In a 2005 documentary produced by GMA Network's i-Witness, all 169 workers were traced and the records show that not more than a dozen died, Furthermore, all the bodies were retrieved and were given a proper burial.

The building was then designed to have two components which were the auditoria and archives. According to Hong, the foundation was set on reclaimed land near the Manila Bay. Since the deadline of the structure was tight, it required 4,000 workers, working in 3 shifts across 24 hours. One thousand workers constructed the lobby in 72 hours, a job which would normally entail six weeks of labor. The Film Center opened in 1982 costing an estimate of $25 million.

Talitha Espiritu on a write up published in an article titled House of Horrors said, “Like a black hole in time and space, the Manila Film Center is now stricken of life, a place where no positive energy can come from. But it is a place where the horrors of Nov. 17, 1981 remain trapped like unreleased energy, the energy of decay and collapse.”

3.5 To Design or not to Design.

On the moral responsibility of Architecture, the United Architects of the Philippines ( UAP) does not have specific rules yet to fully itemize what was written in the poetic-like Architects Code of Ethics. Writer Roman Mars, in his 99% Invisible Radio Show that focuses on Design and Architecture touched on the topic: The Design of prisons which contain execution chambers or house prisoners in solitary confinement. He discusses whether architects have a moral duty to decline these commissions and whether, as a profession, architecture should have a code of ethics which prevents registered architects from participating in such designs.

He compares architecture to the medical profession, where the American Medical Association imposes an ethical code on its members which all but forbids them from taking part in execution by lethal injection, based on medicine’s general aim of preservation, rather than destruction of Life.

The United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) does not have specific provisions on this issue. Probably because there are less current challenges in this these areas, eventually, the Architects as a professional directly involved in accommodating man’s activities and dwelling will be more sensitive on the issue going more towards implementing Laws for Human Rights protection.

Statements published says, the Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility would like to see an added clause in the (AIA) American Institute of Architect’s Ethical Code, which prohibits architects from accepting any commission designed for “ execution or for torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, including prolonged solitary confinement.

David H. Watkins in the published interview in BD+C which asked: In your book, you state that “the architect has a moral responsibility to use research data in the design process.” Why a “moral responsibility”? says: “Our responsibility for protecting the well-being of building occupants should involve more than protecting them against fire and structural collapse. Today, there is an ever-increasing body of research on the relationship between buildings and human behavior. As design-related knowledge expands and becomes more definitive, it carries with it an inherent moral obligation to apply it.”

4.Legal Burden of Architecture.

Legal Responsibility of the Architect dictates that failures during Construction Implementation if the Architect’s role is limited on the Design or Authorship of the Plan cannot be thrown back to the him. Yet, in case of Tragedy which pronounces a National or even a worldwide issue cannot be ignored. The Architects mission is to design for beauty, function and strength to the built environment and it must be safe so as to protect the lives and property.

REFERENCES:

1.         Charles Correa – Interview with Rob Wilson http://www.uncubemagazine.com/sixcms/detail.php?id=9567961&articleid=art-1370856698109-4d61f277-3d27-40c5-afc7-2a79534aa937#!/page17

2.         Manuel D. Noche, History of Philippine Architecture: National Commission for Culture and the Arts, September 04, 2014 http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=110

3.         The Cultural Burden of Architecture http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40480507?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=211045 87946167

4.         Winand Klassen. Cebu City: University of San Carlos, 1986. Xiv, 435 pages: Architecture In the Philippines: Filipino Buildings in a Cross Cultural Context

5.         Paulo Alcazaren, CITY SENSE By CITY SENSE: Where are the Filipino Architects? :Philstar Lifestyle, September 4, 2014 http://www.philstar.com/modern-living/375298/where-are-filipino-architects

6.         Philip Nobel, “Anti-Starchitecture Chic”, Metropolis Magazine, June 2007 http://www.metropolismag.com/June-2007/Anti-Starchitecture-Chic/

7.         Helen Tatla, “Morality and Architecture”, Technological Education Institution, TEI of Athens https://www.um.es/vmca/proceedings/docs/32.Helen-Tatla.pdf

8.         Sherin Wing, “Moral Responsibility, Zaha Hadid and the al-Wakrah Stadium”, Metropolis, March 4, 2014 http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/March-2014/Moral-Responsibility-Zaha-Hadid-and-the-al-Wakrah-Stadium/

9.         Rory Stott, “Should Architects Follow a Code of Ethics?”,  Architecture News Editor’s Choice,

Arch Daily, June 10, 2013 http://www.archdaily.com/383402/should-architects-follow-a-code-of-ethics/

10.        C.C Sullivan, “When Architects Design Death Chambers” , StarPlanet, Issue 21 http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/the-take/when-architects-design-death-chambers/

11.        Stephen Walker, “ Gordon Matta-Clark: Art, Architecture and the Attack on Modernism

10  http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=_ncAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=The+mor

al+obligation+of+architecture&source=bl&ots=iuYqQ5n5i2&sig=nGTeu-

lpqquwcfkuUG_zdj4fJnw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jNgIVKXvJpft8AXYzYGoDA&ved=0CEAQ6AEw

BDgK#v=onepage&q=The%20moral%20obligation%20of%20architecture&f=false

12.        David Greusel,Kansas; Eric Jacobsen, Pasadena;Michael Metzger,Annapolis: “ Architecture as Moral Art: Surveying the Moral Dimension of Architecture”, Heaven and Earth, Vol 12

No.1,August 2017 http://www.cloud cuckoo.net/openarchive/wolke/eng/Subjects/071/Greusel/greusel_et-al.htm

13.        D. Kris Hamilton, FAIA, FASCHA, EDAC, ‘The Moral Responsibility of Leadership for Design

Outcomes”. HERD, May 15, 2012 https://www.herdjournal.com/article/moral-responsibility-leadership-design-outcomes

14.        “Doing the Right Thing...”archinology http://www.archinology.com/ethics/

15.        Architect David Watkins : “A Moral Responsibility to Use Research Design”, Building Design and Construction http://www.bdcnetwork.com/qa/architect-david%C2%A0watkins-moral-responsibility-use-research-design

16.        The Manila Film Center, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Film_Center