Renzo Piano in New Caledonia

Renzo Piano  Tjiabao Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia

"A mistaken concept of universality would have led me to apply my mental catgegories of history and progress outside the context in which they developed, a grave error". Paul Oliver references Piano in the introduction to his book, "Dwellings" (p. 9).

 Piano is the architect of many iconic Western buildings, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris and, very recently,  the Shard, in London.  When commissioned for the work in Noumea (1998), he chose to work in a very different "style", which reflected the constructive methods of local buildings.  This homage produces an effective and sculptural result, but is it simply a superficial interpretation of the Noumean culture?  It would be interesting to know more about the process of Piano's design - whether he consulted with local people, for example. It does seem from the photograph that he used some building materials native to the country.

Dwellings by Paul Oliver

Hassan Fathy

Mahatma trogdolyte excavated building and plan, Tunisia

Berber tent, North Africa

French building tradition - tying a bush to rafters to symbolise growth, Dordogne

In his book “Dwellings”, Paul Oliver discusses and describes  the vernacular building, or “architecture without architects” which represents over 90% of the world’s buildings.  In his introduction he writes that during the period of modernism many architects recognised the quality and interest of vernacular building, but according to Oliver it was not until the 1940s and the work of Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy that the social and cultural importance of this building was acknowledged.  Fathy believed that “the result of human-environment interaction constitutes culture and has led to the development of a multitude of cultures by different people in different environments.  Vernacular architecture is one of the most concrete manifestations of this interaction”. (p. 11).         

In 1964 (the same year as Alexander published “Notes on the Synthesis of Form”), Bernard Rudofsky curated an exhibition at Museum of Modern Art, New York entitled “Architecture without Architects”.  Increasingly, vernacular architecture was recognised not as a primitive form of a building but a real expression of culture, often a long way from the Western spirit (“impervious to the spirit of ecology” (Aldo van Eyck, p. 12)) and much more attuned to climatic conditions and available materials.   

“For countless millions of people the bond between themselves and the place where they live transcends the physical frame of their habitation.   It is this double significance of dwelling – dwelling as the activity of living and residing, and dwelling as the place or built form which the focus of residence – which encompasses its manifold cultural and material aspects” (p. 15)

Oliver’s book comprehensively describes different kinds of dwellings, from nomadic tents and temporary structures to cities and permanent structures.  He stresses the cultural importance of vernacular architecture and traditional ways of living and in his epilogue gives the example of the British firm contracted to replace housing to be lost during the Three Gorges dam project.  Here, the proposals for high density terraced housing, although “ecologically and environmentally advanced”, represent a huge shift in living conditions and culture for many of those to be rehoused, especially the farming community.  “A major opportunity to meet the dwelling needs of an agricultural people .. who will have to develop an appropriate and lasting economy, has been missed….  With sympathetic management it could have provided a model for future housing related to rural regeneration in other countries, and shown how the pressure on cities could be alleviated” (p 259).  

The Alexander model of design would have taken a very different approach to the problem from this company by consulting the inhabitants about their traditions and way of life and economy and the practicalities of adapting to the loss of their land and working out an imaginative and realistic solution.                                                                                                                               

Unselfconscious design in textiles

Anatolian kelim 

Alexander uses the example of a textile process to further illustrate his point (pp.51-53).  My illustration is of a beautiful kelim woven rug, but the same principle holds.  Slovakian peasants used yarns dipped in natural dyes to weave their famous shawls.  For centuries the traditional processes and patterns were governed by rules, "making minor changes whenever something seemed to need improvement" (p. 54).  In the nineteenth century the weavers had access to the new chemical dyes. They now had far greater choice but no longer the constraints and processes which had been part of the craft, and the weaving lost its quality.
Its strength had been in the traditions so closely bonded to a lifestyle.  The quality came from that tradition, not from the creative energy of the individual, and from the innate ability of most of us to recognise bad design (and make alterations).

Christopher Alexander and unselfconscious design

Typical suburban mass housing UK

Le Corbusier   Haute Savoie

In chapter 3 of Notes on the Synthesis of Form  CA comments on rigorously-designed  modernist buildings as being only partially good fits for their environment.  This is not to say that clear organisation is undesirable.  At the opposite side of the equation, mass housing is designed to cater for basic living requirements but for the market and in a piecemeal sense “without any sense of the overall organization the form needs in order to contribute as a whole to the working order of the ensemble” p. 29.  We now have so many ways of adapting our environment, from electricity to sound insulation to extractor fans,  that builders do not have to consider relationships between rooms or access to natural light in their plans.

Mousgoum village

Fixing the Mousgoum house

Social design of Mousgoum 

He contrasts both approaches to vernacular building,  and gives as an example the Mousgoum hut from Cameroon.  The hemispherical shape protects from intense heat and is supported by vertical ribs which act as guides for rainwater and give ready access to the building when repair is needed.  “The scaffolding is part of the structure” (p. 31).  The huts are built in dips and hollows to protect against wear and erosion, and the grouping reflects the social structure of the inhabitants. “This example shows how the pattern of the building operation, the pattern of the building’s maintenance, the constraints of the surrounding conditions, and also the pattern of daily life, are fused in the form. “ (p. 31)

In the “unselfconscious” process of design, although  the rules and building methods are learned informally, this does not mean that they are not extremely complex.   They are often associated with myth and legend as well as ritual and taboo.  There is no There is no incentive to change unless there “are powerful (and obvious) irritations in the existing forms which demand correction”. (p.48)  and “there is a special closeness of contact between man and form which leads to constant rearrangement of unsatisfactory detail…” (p. 49)

 "The failure or inadequacy of the form leads directly to the action” without intervention of rules and theory.  All the agent needs to do is recognise a “poor fit” (source of discomfort or inconvenience, or simply bad workmanship) and make amends.  No formal “artistic skill” is required

Some writers such as Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown ("Learning from Las Vegas (1972)" and "Signs of Life, Symbols in the American City" (1976))  would claim that "ordinary" and unpretentious building is a a vernacular in its own right, reflecting the tastes and values of its inhabitants just as the Mousgoum huts do.  I think Alexander would argue that the layout of this type of housing is nevertheless not integrated to basic human needs for light and comfort.  Even though we have come to accept and cherish it through long association. 

The whole village

Here are the four diagrams in conjunction! I think this makes for an interesting visual
image, but more importantly the ~"constructive diagrams" are is based on real use and meaning as well a systematic approach, and can also be a way towards a new way of thinking through familiar ideas. I am going to try this approach out on a local situation very soon, and arrive at my own diagrams.

The private living area in the village

The washing area in an Indian village

Christopher Alexander   Diagram D

Each family/social group has its own compound where the family cattle also live.  In each walled compound 5-10 families live with privacy, especially important for women.  The wall has a water carrying system which feeds tanks for groups of houses.  There is scope for cottage industries, to be located near the entrance of the compound with easy access to the industrial and communal area.  At this end of the compound is a shaded area with water, used for washing and socialising and as a quiet and relaxing space.  The cattle sheds (see A) are at the other end of the compound and open out into the communal cattle and dairy area.

The village centre - Diagram C

Village centre in India

C Alexander  Diagram C

Alexander is aware of the need for a communal centre to the village, both as a natural gathering point and a transit point for travel and movement of goods and stock.  This is to be placed away from the village, on the road with access to a bus stop.  This area will be the commercial centre, with lanes leading off at right angles from the road.  These lanes allow access to transport for the small industries and markets. 

Linked to the centre is a “linear centre” which zig zags around the compound area and acts as a community centre with different aspects.  The rather random pattern is intended to prevent  the concentration of power within particular factions.  On the constructive diagram only the beginning of this centre is shown, as a kind of branch sticking out of the road section.

Cattle in the Indian village

Draught cattle in India

Category A deals with the very important issue of cattle in a society where they are regarded as sacred, and are also vital for agriculture and production of dairy products.  The health of the cattle is crucial, as is their control.  Alexander suggests that each family compound has its own stalls, constructed to maximise collection of urine and dung.  The shared exit to the group of compounds should have a foot bath to disinfect the cattle.  External grazing should be protected from wandering invading cattle.  This diagram A1(below)  illustrates the shared exit (arrows on the left) and the communal milking parlour (just outside the gate on the right).

Christopher Alexander    Diagram A

This diagram is the complete one for A, with some of the compounds and their cattle exists shown on the left.