The discipline of concept and the judgment of the eye: Pedigrees of form in architectural practice

Abstract

Contemporary architects often emphasise the conceptual nature of their work as a matter of artistic integrity. Concepts are widely theorized as the driving force that coordinates formal, spatial and material decisions, thus guaranteeing their coherence. Rooted in Renaissance art theory, the deep-seated belief in the authority of concept has survived as a subset of modernism. Through transparent rational causalities, the reasoned form transcends aesthetics norms, subjective symbolism, or personal narrative. At the same time, the rational basis for form has been challenged, throughout its history, by the necessity for adjustment, described by Mannerists as ‘the judgment of the eye’. This countertendency remains visible in recent and contemporary architectural works, in which rational decisions are explicitly or implicitly destabilised by various forms of artistic licence. The lasting appeal and attainability of the fully reasoned form is faced with the exercise of discernment as an integral, if often subliminal, part of the creative process. This paper investigates the complementarity between the rational ordering of idea, programme and site on the one hand, and the necessity of corrections, based on the exercise of discernment, on the other. It argues for the equivalence of rational concept and subjective discernment, each with their own implicit limitations and risks. Both are emancipatory practices within the common framework of architectural authorship.