Mechanics of an Architectural Sublime: From Sublime Philosophy to Architecture Parlante and a Translation into Design
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2023-04-05
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Abstract
The sublime encompasses an opposition of amplified attributes of emotion and experience. These attributes are not commonplace, but are deeply entrenched in human thought, in a place designated the sublime. Throughout history, the sublime has experienced redefinition and reinterpretation since its inception by Cassius Longinus in the first century of the Common Era (or the age of Christ, AD). Nicolas Boileau’s translation of the text in 1674 influenced and popularized the little-known theory. The sublime is typically pitted against beauty in the philosophy of aesthetics. The sublime affixes itself to meanings of “elevation”, “loftiness”, or “height.” Beyond meaning, it has culminated relationships to “ecstasy, grandeur, terror, awe, astonishment, wonder, and admiration” (Doran, 2015).
In architecture, the idea of “the sublime” is often applied to the French “visionary architects” of the late 18th century: Étienne Louis-Boullée, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Jean-Jacques Lequeu, Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, et al. Another term applied to the works of these visionaries is “architecture parlante”, or “speaking architecture” (Gargus, 2011). A slate of examples across their works show designs communicating the architecture designation of their respective concept.
Boullée uses vague and ambiguous titles for his projects such as, “Conical Cenotaph”, “Entrance to a Cemetery”, “City Gate”, etc. [Figures 1-3]. While Ledoux uses a similar technique in creating titles for his projects, the works all indicate a site and context for their application. Lequeu, like Boullée, is apt to assign function to his designs, and does not indicate specific site context: “Cow’s Stable on a Cool Meadow”, “The Prince’s Hunting Gate”, “A Small House in the Egyptian Style”, etc. [Figures 4-6] (Lemagny, 1968).
Discussion on the French visionary architects can digress into debate on their stylistic lineage and connection to future styles, or movements in architecture. These designs rely on classical elements and emerge at a time when Neoclassicism is heavily criticized (Perouse de Montclos, 1974). However, the classical elements composing these compositions are manipulated in ways which distance them from a Neoclassical rhetoric in design: deconstruction (Ledoux’s “House of the Director of the City of Chaux”) [Figure 7], scale (Boullée’s “Metropolitan Cathedral”) [Figure 8], or asymmetry (Lequeu’s Meeting Place of Bellevue) [Figure 9]. The simplification of architectural elements, or “purity of form”, can also be interpreted as a kind of proto-Modernist style (Campagnol, 2015). This technique of simplification amplifies the geometric qualities of the composition, an attribute key to the Modern aesthetic. Another interpretation lies in the movement’s name (architecture parlante) and its more absurd examples. By definition, the architecture is communicating itself, its purpose. This stance harkens to a postmodern reading, not unlike Robert Venturi’s “Duck” (Venturi, 1966). Reiterating “communicating itself” as a governing principle to their designs, the French visionary works may liken themselves to even more contemporary ideas in design, such as object-oriented ontology. Instead of asking (as with Louis Kahn’s brick) a building material what it wants to be, object-oriented ontology (and possibly architecture parlante) asks, “What does the building want to be?” (Godel, 2012).
The architecture of the 18th century, French visionaries fascinates in the grandiose, the absurd, and the terrifying. Boullée, in particular, builds massive monuments and fantastic infrastructural projects, imposing mass and grandeur upon their helpless subjects. Ledoux applies a more meticulous and orderly imposition through careful symmetry and manipulation of scale elements within a composition. Lequeu delights in the absurd, while (at times) applying similar techniques of pure form and scale manipulation within a composition. The effectiveness of this juxtaposition of beauty and terror with the compositions of architecture parlante create an inherent comparison to, or encompassing of, the sublime.
Beyond the designs themselves, the French visionaries represented their work in deliberate ways. While some examples of Boullée stand out in the realm of the fantastic, his techniques, and that of the other visionaries are not unique in their own right. However, the techniques in representation applied to their respective designs create compositions of that which can be undoubtedly understood as sublime. Their works echo the aspects of grandeur, terror, and awe. Within their work, a conflict is rendered out. Works termed “architecture parlante” do not reside in a realm of beauty, a realm where an absolute is subjectively applied. Rather, these works reside in the realm of the sublime, where pleasure and terror are amplified and allowed to create fantastic expressions of paradoxical unities.
This work will examine the concept of the sublime, architectural works labeled as “sublime”, and seek to extract the underlying connections from a sublime concept into a sublime architecture. Through this examination of the philosophical sublime and the architectural sublime, techniques in expressing sublimity in architectural design and representation can be discussed. This discussion can add to the discourse of architectural philosophy by exploring the mechanics of the sublime and how those mechanics translate to an architectural sublime.
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sublime, aesthetics, architecture, philosophy, architecture parlante, representation