THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MATERIALS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

BANU DENİZ

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
IN
ARCHITECTURE

SEPTEMBER 2016
 Approval of the thesis:

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MATERIALS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

submitted by BANU DENİZ in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Architecture in Department of Architecture, Middle East
Technical University by,

Prof. Dr. M. Gülbin Dural Ünver

Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences ________________

Prof. Dr. T. Elvan Altan

Head of Department, Architecture Dept., METU ________________

Prof. Dr. Celal Abdi Güzer

Supervisor, Architecture Dept., METU ________________

Examining Committee Members:

Prof. Dr. Mualla Erkılıç Bayar ________________

Architecture Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Celal Abdi Güzer ________________

Architecture Dept., METU

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Tavukçuoğlu ________________

Architecture Dept., METU

Assist. Prof. İpek Gürsel Dino ________________

Architecture Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Zeynep Uludağ ________________

Architecture Dept., Gazi University

Date: 08/09/2016
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare
that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced
all material and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name: Banu Deniz

Signature:

iv
 ABSTRACT

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MATERIALS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Deniz, Banu
M.Arch., Department of Architecture
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Celal Abdi Güzer

September 2016, 147 pages

The assumption of this study is that material usage has the efficacy to influence the
architectural language and building tectonics. The consideration for the transforma-
tive power of “materiality” in architecture has shifted as a result of developments in
technology and science that have been rooted mostly in the Industrial Revolution.
Throughout this research, changing relationships between materials and building
tectonics as well as considerations for materials selection will be examined. As a
result of this examination through literature review and comparisons of the case
studies, this study aims to challenge the current tendencies that regard materials to be
afterthought in the design process. Since the interrelatedness of materials and
architecture as well as the “honest use of materials” have been disregarded to justify
the transformation of the buildings into commodified objects to justify the
transformation of the buildings into commodified objects in behalf of their
appearance of facades for the profit motive, the “ essence of architecture ” that makes

v
buildings resist time, belong a particular context, give references to a specific period
in history, region and culture seems lost. Therefore, it is the claim of this thesis that it
is essential to prevent architecture from losing its compelling status as a discipline
that ensures built environments with architectural identities through a complete
perception of the significance of materials within the context of architectural design.
Otherwise, it seems inevitable for architecture to become a stylistic manifesto of the
employers and designers.

Keywords: materiality, materials selection, building tectonics, commodification of

architecture

vi
 ÖZ

MALZEMELERİN MİMARİ TASARIM KAPSAMINDAKİ ÖNEMİ

Deniz, Banu
Yüksek Lisans, Mimarlık Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Celal Abdi Güzer

Eylül 2016, 147 sayfa

Bu çalışmanın temelindeki varsayım, malzeme kullanımının mimari dil ve yapı

tektoniklerini etkileme kapasitesine sahip olduğu yönündedir. Çoğunlukla Endüstri
Devrimi’ne bağlı olarak ortaya çıkan teknolojik ve bilimsel gelişmelerin sonucu
olarak, maddeselliğin dönüştürücü gücünün değerlendirilmesi değişime
uğramaktadır. Bu araştırma boyunca malzeme ve yapı tektonikleri arasındaki değişen
ilişkiler ile malzeme seçimini etkileyen faktörlerin değişimi incelenecektir. Kaynak
taraması ve karşılaştırmalı örnekler üzerinden yapılacak bu incelemenin sonucunda,
bu çalışma malzemeyi sadece tasarım sürecinin sonunda karar verilen bir eleman
olarak görme eğilimine karşı gelmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Günümüzde, malzemenin
mimarlık ile birlikteliği ve malzeme dürüstlüğü kavramı, yapıları kar elde etme
amacı üzerinden, dış görünüşleri ile metalaşmış objelere dönüştürmek adına göz ardı
edilmektedir. Bu nedenler sonucunda, mimarlığın özü; zamana direnme, bir bağlama
ait olma, belirli bir zamana, bölgeye ve kültüre referans verme gibi özellikleri
kaybolmaktadır. Dolayısıyla; bu tezin savı, mimarlığın kimlik sahibi yapılı çevreler

vii
oluşturma yolu ile edindiği saygı uyandıran bir disiplin olma vasfını kaybetmemesi
için malzemelerin mimarlık kapsamındaki öneminin tamamen kavranması
gerektiğidir. Aksi takdirde bu disiplinin işverenler ve tasarımcılar tarafından daha
fazla para ve ün kazanma isteğiyle biçimsel bir söyleme dönüştürülmesi kaçınılmaz
olacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: maddesellik, malzeme seçimi, yapı tektonikleri, mimarlığın

ticarileştirilmesi

viii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I owe my deepest thanks to my thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Celal Abdi
Güzer for his instructive contributions, guidance and inspiring opinions throughout
this study. I know this research that we have performed together has been a key
aspect for my following works and I hope his in-depth knowledge and suggestions
will assist me.
.
I am also grateful to my jury members Prof. Dr. Mualla Erkılıç Bayar, Assoc. Prof.
Dr. Ayşe Tavukçuoğlu, Assist. Prof. İpek Gürsel Dino, and Prof. Dr. Zeynep Uludağ
for their instructive critics and inspiring comments.

Also, I would like to thank my supportive group of friends, especially to Hamide

Rıhtım and Çağda Türkmen who lend their assistance through contributory criticism
and comments with pleasure and sympathy.

At last but foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my parents,

Hasan and Nagihan Deniz, who have been patient, supportive and encouraging role
models throughout my life. I always will be grateful.

The completion of this research could not have been possible without the assistance
of precious people around me. I know this inspiring journey has not come to an end
and I hope I will be as supported as I have been by now for my future studies.

ix
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT................................................................................................................. v

ÖZ.............................................................................................................................. vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................ ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................. x

LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................. xiv

LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................... xix

CHAPTERS

1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1

1.1. Problem Definition........................................................................ 3

1.2. Aim of the Research...................................................................... 6

1.3. Research Methodology................................................................. 8

1.4. Research Structure and Limitations.............................................. 9

2. EVOLUTION OF THE MATERIAL USAGE IN ARCHITECTURE..... 11

2.1. Pre-Industrial Period................................................................... 13

2.1.1. Material Options for Construction............................... 15

2.1.2. Technological and Technical Limitations Regarding

Material Selection......................................................... 20

2.1.3. Limitations Related to the Architectural Language and

Design..................................................................... 23

x
 2.2. Industrial Period and Material-Related Shifts............................. 25

2.2.1. Scientific and Technical Progress................................ 27

2.2.2. New Materials and Construction Techniques.............. 29

2.2.3. Mass-Production and Standardization......................... 33

2.2.4. Major Influences of the Developments in Industrial

Period on Architectural Language and Design............. 35

2.3 Post-Industrial Period and Material-Related Shifts..................... 38

2.3.1. Contemporary Materials.............................................. 41

2.3.2. The Advent of Computer-Aided Design...................... 45

2.3.3. Mass-Customization.................................................... 47

2.3.4. Major Influences of the Developments in Post-Industrial

Period on Architectural Language and Design............. 50

3. THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MATERIAL USAGE IN RELA-

TION TO THE LIMITS OF TECTONICS IN ARCHITECTURE........ 53

3.1. Direct Influence of Materials on the Building Tectonics............ 58

3.1.1. Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp by Le

Corbusier, 1954............................................................. 61

3.1.2. Cathedral of Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970.......... 63

3.1.3. Indian Institute of Management Building by Louis

Kahn, 1974.................................................................... 65

3.1.4. Thorncrown Chapel by E. Fay Jones, 1980................. 67

3.1.5. Vitra fire station by Zaha Hadid Architects, 1993....... 69

xi
 3.1.6. Church of Light and Sunday school by Tadao Ando,
1999............................................................................... 71

3.1.7. Sancaklar Mosque by Emre Arolat, 2012.................... 73

3.2. Indirect Influence of Materials on the Building Tectonics......... 75

3.2.1. Strawberry Vale School by Patkau Architects, 1995... 76

3.2.2. Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art by Zaha Hadid

Architects, 2003............................................................ 78

3.2.3. Solstice Arts Centre by Grafton Architects, 2006....... 80

3.2.4. Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural Center by Emre Arolat

Architects, 2010............................................................ 82

3.2.5. Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon by Wise Architecture,

2015............................................................................... 84

3.3. Independent Influence of Material on Architectural Language and

the Building Tectonics................................................................ 86

3.3.1. The Portland Building by Michael Graves, 1982........ 88

3.3.2. Clayton County HQ Library by Mack Scogin Merrill

Elam Architects, 1988................................................... 90

3.3.3. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry,

1997............................................................................... 92

3.3.4. Eberswalde Technical School Library by Herzog and de

Meuron, 1999................................................................ 94

3.3.5. Artistic amenity Stadshaard by Cie., 2009................... 95

3.3.6. Library of Birmingham by Mecanoo, 2013................. 97

xii
4. DETERMINATIVE LIMITS OF THE MATERIALS SELECTION IN
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCESS.............................................. 101

4.1. Materials Selection According to Design Inputs...................... 103

4.1.1. Physical Inputs of the Design and Their Relation to the

Materials...................................................................... 104

4.1.2. Importance of Experiencing Materials’ Properties.... 109

4.2. Materials Selection Regarding Economical Considerations..... 114

4.2.1. The Influence of Market Economy on Architectural

Design Decisions and Materials Selection.................. 115

4.2.2. New Materials Selection Methods in the Age of

Consumerism.............................................................. 119

4.3. Materials Selection Regarding Sustainability and Environmental

Sensitivity.................................................................................. 122

5. CONCLUSION: THE DECEPTION OF THE CURRENT MATERIAL

USAGE.................................................................................................... 131

REFERENCES............................................................................................ 137

xiii
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Sketch of the Primitive Hut construction in nature by Charles Eisen...... 14

Figure 2.2 Silbury Hill as the largest man-made earthen mound in Europe.............. 16

Figure 2.3 (left) Westminster Hall timber roof.......................................................... 17

Figure 2.4 (right) Timber within the spire of Salisbury Cathedral............................ 17

Figure 2.5 Exterior view of the Albi Cathedral......................................................... 18

Figure 2.6 Sketch of the construction process in the Pre-Industrial Age................... 21

Figure 2.7 Log cabins in America as an example of the vernacular architecture...... 24

Figure 2.8 Grass huts in South Sea Isles as an example of the vernacular architec-
ture............................................................................................................................ 25

Figure 2.9 Interior of the Crystal Palace.................................................................... 32

Figure 2.10 Perspective drawing of “Maison Citrohan,” by Le Corbusier, 1921...... 35

Figure 2.11 Sketch of built environment in Industrial Period as seen by Pugin........ 37

Figure 2.11 Structural glass (composite material) stairs in the Danmarks

Nationalbank.............................................................................................................. 44

Figure 2.12 (left) Decker Yeadon’s homeostatic facade system (created with smart
materials) which shifts and moves according to outside air’s temperature................. 44

Figure 2.13 (right) Cellulose nanocrystals which are used to produce stronger con-
crete............................................................................................................................ 44

xiv
Figure 2.14 Greg Lynn, digitally produced embryological housing variations......... 49

Figure 3.1 Sculptural view of the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp…...... 62

Figure 3.2 Use of light on the smooth concrete walls of the Notre Dame du Haut
Chapel in Ronchamp.................................................................................................. 62

Figure 3.3 Crown-shaped form of the Cathedral of Brasilia with the four bronze
sculptures next to the building..................................................................................... 64

Figure 3.4 Cathedral of Brasilia’s colored-glass roof that makes interior fully
illuminated................................................................................................................. 64

Figure 3.5 General view of Indian Institute of Management Building...................... 66

Figure 3.6 Brick arch of Indian Institute of Management Building.......................... 66

Figure 3.7 Thorncrown Chapel like a “forest within a forest”................................... 68

Figure 3.8 Interior view of the Thorncrown Chapel.................................................. 68

Figure 3.9 Exit door canopy of the Vitra fire station................................................. 70

Figure 3.10 Concrete walls, which bend, tilt, and break, of Vitra fire station........... 70

Figure 3.11 Light pouring from the cruciform cut in the concrete wall of the Church
of Light and Sunday school....................................................................................... 72

Figure 3.12 Stone roof and minaret of the Sancaklar Mosque.................................. 74

Figure 3.13 Tiered concrete ceiling of the prayer hall in the Sancaklar Mosque...... 74

Figure 3.14 Strawberry Vale School’s wood cladding that makes the building well-
matched with the surrounding forest.......................................................................... 77

Figure 3.15 (left), Figure 3.16 (right) Natural lighting of the Strawberry Vale
School’s interior......................................................................................................... 78

Figure 3.17 Material usage on the facades of Rosenthal Center................................ 79

xv
Figure 3.18 Exterior view of Solstice Art Center...................................................... 81

Figure 3.19 Grey-black marble mosaic slab over the civic space in uniformity with
the surrounding buildings’ roofs................................................................................ 81

Figure 3.20 Semi-transparent, rusty facade of Yalova Cultural Center..................... 83

Figure 3.21 Closer view of the semi-transparent rusty material, which changes color
by oxidation, used on Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural Center’s facade...................... 83

Figure 3.22 Exterior view of Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon.................................... 85

Figure 3.23 Interior view of Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon demonstrating different
material usages........................................................................................................... 85

Figure 3.24 (left) Sketch of the duck, a special building as a symbol....................... 86

Figure 3.25 (right) Sketch of the decorated shed, a conventional shelter that applies
symbols...................................................................................................................... 86

Figure 3.26 Portland Building with decorations on its facade................................... 89

Figure 3.27 Traditional librarian box as the origin of the project.............................. 91

Figure 3.28 (left) ‘Library’ sign in front of the Clayton County HQ Library............ 91

Figure 3.29 (right) Painted in black and white corrugated steel covering on the exte-
rior of the Clayton County HQ Library..................................................................... 91

Figure 3.30 Exterior view of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with non-structural
metal cladding............................................................................................................ 93

Figure 3.31 Exterior view of the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis with non-
structural metal cladding............................................................................................ 93

Figure 3.32 Inconceivableness of the concrete and glass panels on the facade of
Eberswalde Technical School Library....................................................................... 94

Figure 3.33 (left) Exterior view of the Artistic amenity Stadshaard in the district of
Roombeek............................................................ ....................................................... 96

xvi
Figure 3.34 (right) Example of the printed images on the facade............................. 96

Figure 3.35 Exterior view of the Library of Birmingham......................................... 98

Figure 3.36 Intersecting circles on the facade of Armada Shopping Center in

Ankara........................................................................................................................ 98

Figure 4.1 Materials selection in the architectural design process.......................... 102

Figure 4.2 (left) Empire State Building, for which reinforced concrete that enables to
construct high buildings, as an example of vertical line use.................................... 105

Figure 4.3 (right) Heydar Aliyev Center, for which glass fibre reinforced concrete
and glass fibre reinforced polyester were used due to their plasticity that enable to
construct curved forms............................................................................................. 105

Figure 4.4 Kohl Children’s Museum as an example of form creating a space with the
aid of light reflections through cladding material’s surface.................................... 106

Figure 4.5 Central St. Giles Court as an example of color added material usage in
architecture............................................................................................................... 107

Figure 4.6 Therme Vals as an example of light creating the sense of depth through
the surfaces of material used on the walls............................................................... 107

Figure 4.7 (left) Masonry texture dominating the design in the House in Tinos..... 108

Figure 4.8 (right) Different textures of materials during the refurbishment of the
West Tower in Huesca City Hall............................................................................. 108

Figure 4.9 (left) Roca London Gallery by Zaha Hadid Architects, application of the
same operational logic in material process from furniture to the building.............. 109

Figure 4.10 (right) Furniture, which is designed specifically, in the Roca London
Gallery by Zaha Hadid Architects........................................................................... 109

Figure 4.11 Material library, Material ConneXion.................................................. 112

Figure 4.12 Material applications in the Harvard University's Graduate School of

Design...................................................................................................................... 113

xvii
Figure 4.13 High-rise buildings in New York City................................................. 118

Figure 4.14 High-rise buildings in Dubai................................................................ 118

Figure 4.15 Screenshot of three-dimensional model and material browser from Revit
Architecture.............................................................................................................. 120

Figure 4.16 Screenshot of material editor from Maya Maxwell.............................. 121

Figure 4.17 Turkish Contractor’s Association Headquarters.................................. 125

Figure 4.18 External mesh shading of the Turkish Contractor’s Association Head-
quarters..................................................................................................................... 125

Figure 4.19 1315 Peachtree with plants and organic soil nearby............................ 127

Figure 4.20 (left) Steel trellis and motorized shade system to protect the space from
too much sun penetration......................................................................................... 127

Figure 4.21 (right) Use of porous materials for region’s water issues..................... 127

Figure 4.22 (left) ICEhouse by William McDonough............................................. 128

Figure 4.23 (right) Steel structure and exterior cladding of NASA Sustainability
Base.......................................................................................................................... 128

xviii
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLES

Table 2.1 Compared considerations of Pre-Industrial Period, Industrial Period and

Post-Industrial Period................................................................................................. 40

Table 3.1 Comparison of the three usages of materials according to their relatedness
to the building tectonics, regarding architectural design intentions, considerations,
production methods and outcomes in terms of architectural ‘spirit’......................... 99

xix
xx
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Architecture differentiates from the other design disciplines such as graphic design or
product design, by being connected with an exact place, history, culture, and values.
It is defined by the poetic and structural powers of construction and not everything
that encloses a space can be thought as a product of the architecture. To regard
something as an architectural product, the embodiment of immeasurable, which is
considered the “spirit,” should be provided. 1 This spirit or, in other words,
architectural essence, which interrelates with the notion of “tectonic,” is formed by
the subject of materials, and therefore architectural design can be described as the art
of building through organizing materials and forms in a particular way to satisfy a
specific purpose.2 Throughout the history, the way of organizing materials and forms
has altered. This change, under the different labels of “architectural styles,” such as
International Style, Expressionism, Futurism, and as such, has arisen from the
improvements in technology and science. 3 It should be mentioned that, with the
materials’ ability of expression, architects have presented their varying architectural

1
See the definitions of architecture by John Ruskin, Le Corbusier, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, and
Louis Kahn as quoted in Paul- Alan Johnson. The Theory of Architecture: Concepts Themes
& Practices, New York, Chichester, Weinheim, Brisbane, Singapore and Toronto: John
Wiley& Sons, Inc., 1994, pp. 75-76.
2
The term “tectonic” will be explained and discussed further in the third chapter of this
study. See Kenneth Frampton. “Rappel à L'ordre: The Case for the Tectonic,” Labour, Work
and Architecture: Collected Essays on Architecture and Design, London: Phaidon Press,
2002; Material Matters: Architecture and Material Practice, edited by Katie Lloyd Thomas,
translated by Adrian Jackson, London and New York: Routledge, 2007.
3
See Reyner Banham. Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, 2nd edition, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1980.

1
ideas within the various ranges of formal, aesthetical or functional concerns in their
projects.4 Even the ways of materials usage have been changed; the consideration of
the proper use of materials should remain as the “sine qua non” of the architecture.
In other words, an architect should be considered about materials, which shine
amongst the other architectural components, through being an intimate part of the
architecture5, about the history as well as the inherent qualities of materials.

According to John Fernandez, since the beginnings of architectural history, the main
aim to construct buildings has been to provide delight and service. The buildings
which can afford them provide improved daily activities and everlasting built
landscapes as well as the reliable and durable shelters that ensure the safety and
comfort of the occupants.6 As quoted by Fernandez, in “De architectura,” which is
translated into English as “Ten Books on Architecture,” Vitruvius defines
architecture as firmitatis and utilitatis that mean the services provided by buildings
and venustatis as the delight or grace.7 Since Vitruvius’ period, there has been no
essential change over time in the physiological needs of the humankind. However,
economic and cultural factors, as well as the priorities of the society, have affected
the balance between delight and service. People have expected higher comfort levels
and varying pleasures.8 Therefore, delight and service have been evolved through the

4
Ibid.
5
For William Morris, while the use of materials is the most critical and intimate part of the
architecture, there are other things which are considered architectural as well. These other
parts, to which Morris alludes, will be regarded as the elements of architecture that will be
explained in the fourth chapter of this study. See William Morris. “The Influence of Building
Materials upon Architecture,” The Collected Works of William Morris with Introductions by
his Daughter May Morris: Volume 22, Hopes and Fears for Art; Lectures on Art and
Industry, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 391-405.
6
John Fernandez. Material Architecture: Emergent Materials for Innovative Buildings and
Ecological Construction, Italy: Elsevier Ltd., 2006, pg. 1.
7
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. Ten Books on Architecture, translated by Ingrid D. Rowland,
edited by Ingrid D. Rowland and Thomas N. Howe. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2001, pg. 14, as quoted in Fernandez. Ibid.
8
Op. Cit., Fernandez, pp. 1-4.

2
ages due to changing elements of architecture including the materials. To couple
delight and service into a symbiotic unit provides a fully different union of the design
invention and engineering creativity that are created through the materials of the
time. The information about building materials and subsidiary technologies has been
expressed between cultural contexts since the beginning of the construction field.
The knowledge of materials and construction techniques have been passed from
well-informed practitioners to beginners through the written and printed sources,
existing buildings and artifacts, and the methods with technical advancements that
were improved within the last several centuries to ease the transfer.9

1.1. Problem Definition

The advancements in construction have always been and resume being to some
extent due to changing conditions in the economy, technology, and culture. To
investigate the evolution of materials and material knowledge, which have been
improved over the past decades with the aid of industrial, scientific and social
developments, is rewarding for the designers to make progress in the built world. 10
Therefore, the relationship between the regard of materials and the architect or, in
other words, the synthesis of the architect’s design intention and the qualities of the
materials that is termed as “materiality” 11 is essential.

In contemporary architecture, materiality, which has become a well-known

architectural subject matter, is assigned to different meanings. 12 For example, while
some architects regard materials as the medium of “the trivial identification of the

9
Ibid., pg. 2-20.
10
Ibid.
11
See Victoria Ballard Bell and Patrick Rand, Materials for Architectural Design, London:
Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 2006; Materiality and Architecture, edited by Sandra Karina
Löschke. London and New York: Routledge, 2016.
12
Op. Cit., Löschke, pg. 1.

3
aesthetic and beautiful,”13 which can be observed on high-profile public and
commercial buildings, some others appreciate the materials through their inherent
aesthetic values rather than one preternaturally created on material by design.14

Today, “material ethics as aesthetics” is more valid in architectural designs as a

result of current “visual technologies, global media networks, and image-driven
consumerism.”15 As mentioned by Banham, “most modern buildings appear to be
made of whitewash or patent glazing, even when they are made of concrete or
steel,”16 because of ‘the recent considerations of the consumerist society.’17 Derek
Thomas, who terms the current period as the “Age of Consumerism,” 18 says:

“The practice of present day architecture appears in a state of indulgence and in the
business of self-gratification, even narcissism, rather than in the search for
meaningful direction. Often there is a sense of alienation in the rarefied
environments where architects 'strut their stuff' for their peers. Even though
individualistic expression in architecture is almost a right, there is evidence that the
needs of ordinary people are not always considered to be within the architect's terms
of reference. Contemporary buildings and urban landscapes suggest not only a lack
of cultural awareness but that of any environmental ethos, noticeable through the
apparent disregard for the looming depletion of strategic natural resources. Although
apathy towards real environmental issues can be seen as a reflection of the times,
architects and urban designers should not ignore signals of global stress that are of
significant social and ecological consequence. Not only architects and urban

13
Gernot Böhme as cited in Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
The adjectives “visual technologies, global media networks and image-driven
consumerism,” which describe the important directives of the current society and
contemporary architecture, are borrowed from Ibid. pg. 2.
16
Reyner Banham. “The New Brutalism,” The Architectural Review 118, no. 708,
December 1955, pg. 357 as quoted in Ibid.
17
‘The recent considerations of the consumerist society’ mainly refers to the economical and
environmental considerations in materials selection which will be discussed in more details
in the fourth chapter of this study.
18
See Derek Thomas. Architecture and the Urban Environment: A Vision for the New Age,
Oxford: Architectural Press, 2002, pp. 9-18.

4
 designers, but societies at large must develop a more focused vision to meet the
changed cultural and environmental paradigms of this, the New Age.”19

The new considerations in the architecture, which have affected the materials’ usage
as well as the architectural design process and therefore have caused the lack of
“cultural responses and a range of spatial experiences” 20 in architecture, of current
society can be regarded to be rooted in the Industrial Revolution. 21

“The Industrial Revolution, the abrupt increase in production brought about during
the eighteenth century by the introduction of the factory system and the machine,
changed the whole appearance of the world, far more so than the social revolution in
France. Its effect upon thought and feeling was so profound that even today we
cannot estimate how deeply it has penetrated into man's very nature, what great
changes it has made there. Certainly, there is no one who has escaped these effects,
for the Industrial Revolution was not a political upheaval, necessarily limited in its
consequences. Rather, it took possession of the whole man and of his whole
world.”22

According to Fernandez, Industrial Revolution was started for social, industrial and
economical interests while the scientific and technological advancements were the
contributors to it. The revolutionary changes were led by improvements such as the
development of machinery design and combustion engines, the progressions in
organic chemistry, and the introduction of electric lighting as well as communication
systems. Also, the nature of production was changed with the use of coal, oil and
other fossil fuels that provide more energy than traditional fuels such as wood. 23
Therefore, the current “capitalist” world, in which materials have been considered to

19
Op. Cit., Thomas, pg. 9.
20
Op. Cit., Banham, 1955, as quoted in Op. Cit., Löschke.
21
See Op. Cit., Banham, 1980; Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth
of a New Tradition, 5th enlarged and revised edition, USA: Harvard University Press, 1967;
Leonardo Benevolo. History of Modern Architecture, Vol. 1: The Tradition of Modern
Architecture, first published in Italy in 1960, translated from the third revised Italian edition
by H. J. Landry. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1996.
22
Op. Cit., Giedion, pg. 165.
23
Op. Cit., Fernandez, pg. 23.

5
be aesthetic by being economic, affordable or industrial24, has been shaped by the
new means of production such as “standardization” interrelated with “mass-
production” which have formed the new balances of the economy. 25

With the changes in material usage, the relationship between the architectural
tectonic, which is described by Kenneth Frampton as “not only the structural
component in se but also the formal amplification of its presence in relation to the
assembly of which it is a part,”26 and materials has changed as well. It can be
proposed that as a result of “material ethics as aesthetics,” the current tendency “to
reduce architecture to scenography” 27 has been observed in the architectural
practices. Scenography, which is defined as “to describe something on stage” by
Pamela Howard28, has allowed designers to apply two-dimensional decoration to the
building’s facades.29 Therefore, this thesis indicates that the possibilities of materials
to create narratives through the tectonic expression of the buildings have been
neglected for the sake of production and consumption cycle in contemporary
architecture.

1.2. Aim of the Research

Even ‘materiality’ has become favored architectural subject in contemporary

architecture; the significance of material usage still seems to be underrated.
According to Victoria Ballard Bell and Patrick Rand, in the academic realm and

24
Op. Cit., Löschke, pg. 2.
25
The new means of production will be discussed further in the second chapter of this study.
26
Op. Cit., Frampton, pg. 93.
27
Ibid.
28
Pamela Howard as quoted in Enn Ots. Decoding Theoryspeak: An Illustrated Guide to
Architectural Theory, USA and Canada: Routledge, 2011, pg. 183.
29
Op. Cit., Frampton.

6
architecture schools, generally, the required materials and methods courses are
separated from the design studios as if these two have little or no relationship
between each other. In professional practice, same and even further misconception
can be observed as well. In the design process, materials are considered as an
afterthought like a color of paint applied to the building after the project has been
developed. The materials are often selected at the end of the design process or even
during the generation of construction documents for a building design. However, the
design should be created by concerning the material and its properties to produce a
successful project 30

For Sverre Fern, “each material has its own behavior, its own voice, and tells its
own story, yet like a repertory theater, continuously engages and responds to the
other members of its material troupe.” 31 It can be said that an architect should
understand the differences between physical qualities of different available
materials, but more importantly, he should comprehend the significance of t he
materiality in the architectural design which would influence the whole
perception of the built environment. According to Lisa Wastiels and Ine
Wouters, a design project is not only produced for function and use but also for
experience. The materials, which shape the environment, will significantly affect
the occupant’s perception of that environment. 32

As comprehended insofar, materials should be regarded not just as the technical

components of the architectural design, but rather as the enunciators of the
architectural expressions and the essence of architecture itself concerning the
tectonics. However, today, in the Age of Consumerism, material usage, of which
significance has been devalued mainly due to the influence of the market economy

30
Op. Cit., Bell and Rand.
31
Sverre Fern as cited in Andrea Simitch and Val Warke. The Language of Architecture: 26
Principles Every Architect Should Know, USA: Rockport Publishers, 2014, pg. 20.
32
Lisa Wastiels and Ine Wouters. “Material Considerations in Architectural Design: A Study
of the Aspects Identified by Architects for Selecting Materials,” author deposited version,
2008, http://shura.shu.ac.uk/511/1/fulltext.pdf, (June 24, 2016).

7
on the architectural design process,33 has become independent from architectural
language and the building tectonics. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
comprehend and to evaluate the altering relationship between material usage and
contemporary architectural design process by tracing the origins and evolution of the
material usage regarding the changing considerations of materials selection
throughout the architectural history since Industrial Revolution.

Through the chapters of this study, it is proposed to answer the following questions:
What is the current situation of materiality about the contemporary architecture?
What have been the changing relations of the material usage to the architectural
tectonics and design process? What have been the reasons and assistants of these
dynamic relations? By answering these questions, this study aims to present and
criticize the current connection of materials with the contemporary architecture.

1.3. Research Methodology

In order to provide a historical as well as a theoretical basis of the changing relations

between materials and architecture the readings from relatively older times, mainly
by Reyner Banham, Kenneth Frampton, Leonardo Benevolo, Jean Baudrillard and
Robert Venturi, as well as the readings of recent vintage mostly, by Dick Parry, John
Fernandez, Gail P. Borden, Leonard Bachman, Thomas Schröpher, Blanko
Kolareviç, James Charles and Frederick Crane will be referred throughout this study.
After literature preview is provided by presenting the altering connection of the
materials to the architectural language and building tectonics in history,
interpretations and critics on the stated problem of this research will be provided.
Also, comparative case studies from 20th and 21st centuries of contemporary
architecture regarding three different ways of material usage which are classified
according to their influence on building tectonics as direct, indirect and independent

33
The influence of the market economy on the architectural design process will be discussed
in more details in the fourth chapter of this study.

8
will be done to criticize the latter one through exemplifying the significance of
materials in architecture over the first and second usages.

1.4. Research Structure and Limitations

After the introduction part, the study continues with historical examination for the
evolution of material usage and materials in architecture. The developments in
science and technology as a result of Industrial Revolution and their effects on
architecture will be discussed through literature review. In the third chapter, the issue
of building tectonics will be explained in relation with the materiality in architecture.
At the ends of each part in the third chapter, case studies selected from 20th and 21st
century since the market economy, which has been the main factor that has affected
the architectural design process and the connection between material usage and
architecture, has been constituted as of the late 1950s34, will be analyzed. Since
‘materiality’ has been a broad topic to discuss, it will be evaluated mainly within the
frames of relationship between the theoretical basis on building tectonics as well as
architectural language and materials. In the fourth chapter, the changing factors of
materials selection, which are considered as physical design inputs, economical
interests and the issues of environmental sensitivity and sustainability, will be
explained with literature reviews and sampler case studies. In the last chapter, while
the necessity to comprehend the significance of materiality and the critics on the
current situation of materiality in architecture will be emphasized, thesis will be
concluded.

In this research, throughout the case studies and discussions, the aim is not to explore
the technical features of the materials and technical process of the materials selection
nor to discuss the architectural style issues that have been current since the late
1950s. Instead, it is intended to provide a general perception about the significance of

34
Daniel Bell as cited in Leonard R. Bachman. Two Spheres: Physical and Strategic Design
in Architecture, London and New York: Routledge, 2012, pg. 4.

9
materials with regard to their communicative features in the current Consumerism
Age that has shaped the new relations between materials and contemporary
architectural design.

10
 CHAPTER 2

EVOLUTION OF THE MATERIAL USAGE IN ARCHITECTURE

History is defined by Dr. Brooke Hindle, who worked as the Director of the National
Museum of History and Technology, as the “collective memory”. For him, people
recollect from the past whatever they need to operate for a given purpose at a
particular time and what they need changes. To comprehend and solve ongoing
problems history as the collective memory recalls the analysis of past events. 35 This
statement is valid for the architectural history as well. As mentioned by Hazel
Conway and Rowan Roenisch, examining the past is a helpful way to understand
how society has arrived today. It provides perception about production and built
environment.36 Therefore, in order to understand the significance of materials in
architecture, searching the evolution of material usage within a historical context is
critical.

According to Gail Peter Borden, the materials and architecture are intertwined.
Therefore, their historical background should also be regarded as interconnected.
About this statement, he says:

“The history of architecture is the history of material application and invention. The
use of new materials and the reinterpretation of existing materials have been at the
root of architectural evolution. The formal and spatial developments in architecture

35
Brooke Hindle. “How Much Is a Piece of the True Gross Worth?,” Material Culture and
the Study of American Life, edited by Ian Quimby. New York: W W Norton & Co Inc.,
1978, pg. 5.
36
Hazel Conway and Rowan Roenisch. Understanding Architecture: An Introduction to
Architecture and Architectural History, 2nd edition, Newyork: Routledge, 2005, pg. 33.

11
 incurred through material exploration have yet to be fully documented. The role of
material precedent, though essential to architectural education, design, and practice,
has been overlooked and talked around.”37

In similar with Borden, Lorraine Farrelly introduces that materials and construction
techniques initialize architecture. Realizing the fact that the nature of materials and
material usage has been changed throughout the time is significant. To create
buildings, an architect should comprehend potentials and nature of the materials with
a historical background. She states that:

“Materials create an ambiance and provide texture or substance to architecture. To

understand how to use materials effectively, a designer needs to have an
understanding of precedent or how materials have been used historically and an
awareness of innovations in material application. Both can provide a useful way to
develop a range of design approaches.”38

To corroborate the statement that suggests architectural and material histories are
intertwined, it is meaningful to look for the development of materials and
construction in the historical context of architecture. Since the Industrial Revolution
and the developments in science, as well as the innovations in technology, have been
the keystones of advanced and new use of materials in architecture, the historical
examination of materials with brief explanations and examples will be carried out in
three parts which are Pre-Industrial Period, Industrial Period and Post-Industrial
Period.39 While historical information about all of these periods will be provided in
the first chapter, the period that is focused throughout the study will be the latter one.

37
Gail Peter Borden. Material Precedent: The Typology of Modern Tectonics, New Jersey:
John Wiley& Sons, Inc., 2010, pp. 7-8.
38
Lorraine Farrelly. Basics Architecture 02: Construction & Materiality, Lausanne: AVA
Publishing SA, 2009, pp. 5-7.
39
Statement based on literature reviews and discussions with Prof. Dr. Celal Abdi Güzer
throughout this study.

12
2.1. Pre-Industrial Period

In order to explain the general requirements of the buildings for all architecture since
from the very beginning of the history, Marc-Antoine Laugier presents the ‘primitive
hut.’ In his “Essai sur l'architecture,” he explains that primary principles of
architecture are based on the rules of nature. A primitive man acts upon his natural
instincts and to protect himself from environmental factors such as sun and rain
without burying himself; he constructs the built form as ‘primitive hut’.40 Michael H.
Mitias refers Laugier’s ‘primitive hut’ and questions how the caveman built the first
house. He states that reason and building materials were his causes for constructing
the hut. As quoted by him, for Laugier, primitive man was able to find trees and
fallen branches, because he lived nearby a forest. By using these materials, he was
able to construct a house for him to be sheltered.41 Similarly, with the ‘primitive hut’,
the existence of materials and proper usage of them have been critical since
Vitruvius. He says:

“In my first book, I have said what I had to say about the functions of architecture
and the scope of the art, as well as about fortified towns and the apportionment of
building sites within the fortifications. Although it would next be in order to explain
the proper proportions and symmetry of temples and public buildings, as well as of
private houses, I thought best to postpone this until after I had treated the practical
merits of the materials out of which, when they are brought together, buildings are
constructed with due regard to the proper kind of material for each part, and until I
had shown of what natural elements those materials are composed.”42

As comprehended, the construction techniques and building materials’ features have

been an essential part of architectural learning beginning with Vitruvius. Vitruvius

40
See, Marc- Antoine Laugier. An Essay on Architecture, translated by Wolfgang Herrmann
and Anni Herrmann. USA: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1977, pp. 11-39.
41
Ibid., as quoted in Michael H. Mitias. “Is Architecture an Art of Representation?,”
Architecture and Civilization, edited by Michael H. Mitias. Netherlands: Rodopi, 1999,
pg.71.
42
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. The Ten Books on Architecture, translated by Morris Hickey
Morgan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914, pg. 36.

13
presented issues covering mathematical order and aesthetical subjects, city planning,
the arrangement of the infrastructure, military fortifications and many topics
regarding buildings. Among the many construction issues in Vitruvius’s notable
books, comprehending the related physical features of the primary construction
materials is emphasized by him. 43 Fernandez spotlights this with a quotation from
Vitruvius:

“Hence I believed it right to treat of the diversity and practical peculiarities of these
things as well as of the qualities which they exhibit in buildings, so that persons who
are intending to build may understand them and so make no mistake, but may gather
materials which are suitable to use in their buildings.”44

Figure 2.1 Sketch of the Primitive Hut construction in nature by Charles Eisen
Source: Marc- Antoine Laugier, Frontispiece to 2nd ed. of Essai sur l'Architecture, 1753.

43
Op. Cit., Fernandez, pg. 20.
44
Op. Cit., Pollio, 1914, pg. 42, as quoted in Fernandez. Ibid.

14
2.1.1. Material Options for Construction

Vitruvius points that selecting a suitable material for the buildings is critical for the
construction of the intended form. However, the options for the materials were
limited in the past. In his second book that he describes the materials and building
methods, he mentions brick, sand, lime, pozzolana, stone, and timber which have
been the local and traditional building materials.45 Throughout the Pre-Industrial
Period, these local materials, which were obtained from natural resources, were used
in the natural form, in a changed form, in a combination or, in a form gathered from
the naturally occurring materials to create works and structures.46

According to Dick Parry, one of the materials that have been used since ancient times
is earth. It has been a tool to build walls, ramparts, road pavements, barrows, ritual
and defensive mounds, embankments, causeways, land reclamation and water
retaining dams. It has been a supportive medium as well to build temporary ramps to
raise large stone blocks. In many European countries, the earth was used as the
primary or in between material of structures to keep, to control and to divert water
such as irrigation, fish ponds, domestic supply and canals. Earth has also been the
material beneath the foundation to consider. 47 For example, about the relation of
foundations and the ground, Vitruvius makes suggestions as:

“The foundations of these works should be dug out of the solid ground, if it can be
found, and carried down into solid ground as far as the magnitude of the work shall
seem to require, and the whole substructure should be as solid as it can possibly be
laid.... If, however, solid ground cannot be found, but the place proves to be nothing
but a heap of loose earth to the very bottom, or a marsh, then it must be dug up and
cleared out and set with piles made of charred alder or olive wood or oak, and these

45
See, Op. Cit., Pollio, 1914, pp. 35-64.
46
Dick Parry. Engineering the Pre-Industrial Age, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2013, e-
book, chap. 2, par. 1, https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=kGmoAwAAQBAJ&printsec=
frontcover&hl=tr&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&output=reader&pg=GBS.PP1, (April 9,
2016).
47
Ibid., chap. 2, sec. Earth and Rock, par. 1-3.

15
 must be driven down by machinery, very closely together like bridge-piles, and the
intervals between them filled in with charcoal, and finally the foundations are to be
laid on them in the most solid form of construction. The foundations having been
brought up to the level, the stylobates are next to be put in place.”48

Timber is the second material, Parry continues, that has been widely used since the
Pre-Industrial Age. It was easy to find in nature, and it provided easiness in work and
superior strength properties in tension, compression and bending in comparison with
other available materials. Therefore, it provided main structural elements for
buildings. He adds that it was also a subsidiary part in construction for scaffolding
that provided temporary or sometimes permanent access. As told by Parry, the
joining of timber members was used in framed structures such as roofs. In medieval
architecture, ridged timber roofs can be seen. Another example of timber use can be
found in wooden piles of wharves and weirs, and foundations of buildings and
bridges from as early as Roman times. Wooden piles have been used since antiquity
in vast amounts and for different purposes. It is also possible to observe the
composite use of timber with other materials in masonry or brick structures in which
wood was used for tie beams which can be mainly seen in Byzantine architecture. 49

Figure 2.2 Silbury Hill as the largest man-made earthen mound in Europe
Source: English Heritage, http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/silbury-hill/, (April
11, 2016)

48
Op. Cit., Pollio, 1914, pp. 86-88.
49
Op. Cit., Parry, sec. Timber, par. 1-11.

16
Figure 2.3 (left) Westminster Hall timber roof
Source: “Gothic Architecture,” http://www.peartree-miniatures.co.uk/topics/gothic.html,
(March 27, 2016).

Figure 2.3 (right) Timber within the spire of Salisbury Cathedral

Source: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4095459, (March 27, 2016).

Another material is brick which is discussed by Parry. 50 For Yglesias, its use has
been seen from at least 10,000 years ago. It was used in ancient Mesopotamia and
Africa for the construction of early ziggurats and sometimes interior chambers. In
Greek and Roman cities, brick was used in a widespread manner as well. 51 For Parry,
brick can be noticed remarkably in Byzantine architecture, and it was used to
construct mosques, palaces and fortresses by Islamic builders as well. With the
Islamic structures such as the Mosque of Córdoba and the Alhambra Palace that
present a splendid visual impact, the return of the bricks to Western Europe can be
observed. This result was provided with a technique, which was learned from the
Persian Sassanians, to create decorative bricks. Mosque at Kairouan in Tunisia and
the Ibn Tulun Mosque are the other notable representatives of early Islamic brick
buildings. Byzantine builders who made many creative applications of burnt brick
had affected the techniques used by Islamic builders either, which can be recognized

50
Op. Cit., Parry, sec. Brick.
51
Caren Yglesias. The Innovative Use of Materials in Architecture and Landscape
Architecture: History, Theory and Performance, North Carolina: McFarland and Company,
Inc., Publishers, 2014, pg. 57.

17
especially in mosaics, and affectional patterns that were created with glazed tile
work, stucco and burnt brick mosaics.

Parry adds that, in the eleventh century, Romanesque buildings mostly constructed
with brick under the influence of Byzantine architecture had started to become
current in northern Italy followed by the Alps, France, the Low Countries and
ultimately Britain in the thirteenth century. In medieval times, brick was used in
many parts of Europe for buildings such as the Marienkirche in Lübeck or the Albi
Cathedral, which is asserted as the world’s largest brick 52, in the southwest of
France. As of the fifteenth century, brick was commonly used for structural elements
and ornamentation in England.53

Figure 2.5 Exterior view of the Albi Cathedral

Source: George Gerald Girling Saunders. 1965, https://www.architecture.com/Explore/Reve
alingthecollections/AlbiCathedral1965.aspx, (July 14, 2016).

52
Ibid., par. 7.
53
Op. Cit., Parry, sec. Brick, par. 1-9.

18
The fourth issue which is discussed by Parry is masonry for which igneous,
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks provides the stone which has been used since
the ancient times for the construction elements such as walls, mass structures,
columns and lintels, masonry arches, vaults, and domes.54 The upright boulders in
Stonehenge which have been dated to around 5000 BCE are the earliest surviving
stone constructions. 55 The stone-built dwellings in the Skara Brae site in Orkney, the
Great Pyramids of Giza, Parthenon in Greece are the other significant structures from
the earlier times.56 Parry mentions that sandstone and limestone have been the two
most usual sedimentary rocks because of their mere existence and feature as to be
effortlessly quarried and shaped. Marble and granite which are members of the
metamorphic rocks were other building materials that were used in the ancient world
as facings and decorative elements, or for columns and lintels. 57

The last building material, Parry continues, in the context of Pre-Industrial Age is
mortar which has been a mixture of several substances such as mud or moistened
earth case by case combined with straw or reeds, pitch, gypsum, a combination of
sand and lime or sand and cement in history. Binding together the bricks or masonry
has been the primary function of mortar.58 In Greek cities, mortar with lime, which
can also be seen in Roman buildings, was used instead of weaker mortars such as
gypsum plaster or bitumen. The Roman builders also added crushed volcanic ash to
lime and this mixture was later called pozzolanic cement.59 According to Nicholas
Winter, crushed brick or tile was used in places such as Britain because of the

54
Ibid., sec. Masonry, par. 1-9.
55
Op. Cit., Yglesias, pp. 102-105.
56
Op. Cit., Farrelly, pp. 15-17.
57
Op. Cit., Parry, sec. Masonry, par. 2-9.
58
Ibid., sec. Mortar, par. 1.
59
Bamber Gascoigne. “Cement,” HistoryWorld, from 2001, ongoing, http://www.history
world.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=1523&HistoryID=ab27&gtrack=pthc,
(April 11, 2016).

19
hardness in finding volcanic ash. Mainly about the lack of cement in mortars which
formed with lime instead, the building skills in Europe could not be developed after
the Romans.60 Parry adds that, up to the nineteenth century, sand and lime mortar
was used by medieval and post-medieval builders. By the invention of Portland
cement in 1824, mortar became harder and stronger, but more brittle material. 61

2.1.2. Technological and Technical Limitations Regarding Material Usage

As discussed in the previous section, designers had limited options in materials

throughout Pre-Industrial Age. The buildings were constructed with known and
available materials. According to Borden, the distance of transportation which made
material selection dependent to a place and region, the limited sources of work labor
in construction and the technology of local craft with the knowledge of materials that
passed down through cultural generations were other limitations. 62 About this
restriction of the material choice, Ken Ward-Harvey says:

“The history of Architecture and Building goes back thousands of years, and the
major changes termed "styles" have been closely associated with the materials
available and technologies learnt by tradesman to construct those outstanding
buildings which have come down to us as great examples of past Architecture. The
materials were mainly timber or derived from plants; stones and ceramics such as
bricks and other forms of baked clay products. Changes were usually slow and easily
passed on by the tradesmen, who were largely limited to the Carpenters,
Stonemasons, and Bricklayers.”63

60
Nicholas B. Winter. “Cement History,” Understanding Cement, 2005, http://www.under
standing-cement.com/history.html, (April 11, 2016).
61
Op. Cit., Parry, sec. Mortar, par. 1.
62
Op. Cit., Borden, 2010, pg.8.
63
Ken Ward-Harvey. “Preface to 2009 Edition,” Fundamental Building Materials, 4th
edition, USA: Universal Publishers, 2009.

20
Figure 2.6 Sketch of the construction process in the Pre-Industrial Age
Source: https://story.dirty.ru/rimskie-krany-607851/, (March 27, 2016).

For Parry, during the Pre-Industrial Age, the main available source of power was
provided by humans and animals using simple mechanical tools such as a lever,
picks, chisels, wedges, wheeled carts or wagons and so on. In operations such as
excavating or shaping stone, cutting down timber, transportation of the building
materials, lifting or positioning, water power and in some particular cases wind
power were used.64 For example, Matthew Slocombe mentions that, for the
construction of Waltham Abbey in Essex, which required a significant amount of
stone in 1218, the transportation of the stone, which was extracted from a quarry near
Reigate in Surrey, was performed with a specially built wharf at Battersea and along
the Thames. This example shows that to transport stone for significant distances from
the quarry site was a considered issue in the Pre-Industrial Age. 10-20 miles from the
quarry site was the furthest distance to carry before the late eighteenth century, and
this transportation process would require considerable effort where the terrain was
hard to overpass.65

As mentioned by John Murdoch and Will Hughes, in Pre-Industrial Period, the

number of the available construction techniques, which include bricklaying,
carpentry, thatching and stonemasonry, was limited. In general, craft skills were used
in building projects while an architect was required to design the building. Therefore,

64
Op. Cit., Parry, chap. 2, sec. Tools and Techniques.
65
Matthew Slocombe. Traditional Building Materials, Shire Publication, 2012, pg. 21.

21
the evolution of the buildings was slow, and the knowledge gained by the experience
from previous works led slight modifications in new projects.66

For Parry, the designer who would be Master Builder later needed to have many
years experience on the job by examining the major works or sometimes being
involved in the construction process. A lot of sons followed their parents into the
building field, and they gained the knowledge of construction when they were at an
early age. Transferring the knowledge acquired from experienced builders or getting
involved in the construction were the main ways to learn different building methods
and one of the reasons of this may be the absence of movable-type printing which
was introduced in Europe around 1452. Before this, making sketches of construction
techniques and various tools and taking notes on parchment were the methods to
store information. Most of the documents of master builders and experienced masons
had perished, while some of them have been preserved such as exceptional sketches
and notes documented by the French master mason Villard de Honnecourt.67

The publications dating back to Ancient Rome was also important to learn
construction techniques as mentioned before. Since Vitruvius, the features of
building materials and construction methods have been an important method in
architectural learning. 68 The writings and sketches of following outstanding figures,
who are regarded as “the creators” by Parry, such as Abbot Suger, Villard de
Honnecourt, H. Yevele, F. Brunelleschi, Battista Alberti, Giorgio Martini, Sangallo
Brothers, Leonardo da Vinci, M. Buonarroti, Sinan, C. Vermuyden, P. Riquet, C.
Wren, Sèbastien Le Vauban, J. Perronet, and J. Smeaton, have played a significant
role in documenting the knowledge as well as the inventions in construction field. 69

66
Will Hughes and John Murdoch. Construction Contracts: Law and Management, 3rd
edition, London: Spon Press, 2000, pg.2.
67
Op. Cit., Parry, chap. 1, sec. The Creators, par. 1-2.
68
Op. Cit., Fernandez, pg. 20.
69
See, Op. Cit., Parry, chap. 1.

22
2.1.3. Limitations Related to the Architectural Language and Design

In this period, the restriction in the material choices, as well as the technological and
technical limitations, affected architectural language as discussed insofar. For
example, according to Angus Macdonald, the masonry vault and the dome were used
to construct the widest spans in this period. Another structural material was timber
for buildings as mentioned in the previous parts and it was hard to provide joints in
timber to construct wooden structures from the small size of individual timbers.
Therefore, large-scale structures were backbreaking to build. Since the lack of
satisfactory joint technology and method to produce efficient fully-triangulated
trusses, the sizes of the buildings were restricted. 70

As mentioned by Mark Gelernter, the number of floors and therefore the heights of
the buildings were limited to maximum four or five. Because higher masonry wall
requires more thickness at the base that means the loss of a remarkable percentage of
the floor area on the ground, tall masonry buildings were not favorable to construct.
Because the windows and doors, in other words, the openings on the outer walls
cause weakness in the load-bearing masonry walls, their sizes were limited as well.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the length of the span that is supported by
stone beams or arches were restricted and even it was possible to build larger
openings, the cost and limited size of glass constituted an impediment to construct
them. The larger openings also caused more heat loss. Therefore smaller openings
were more preferred in this period.71

At this point, within the frame of architectural design and visual uniformity, which
was led by the technical and technological restrictions as well as the material
limitations, of this period, ‘vernacular architecture’ should be mentioned, although it

70
Angus J. Macdonald. Structure and Architecture, 2nd edition, Oxford: Architectural Press,
2001, pg. 86.
71
Mark Gelernter. A History of American Architecture: Buildings in Their Cultural and
Technological Context, United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, 1999, pg. 153.

23
is a broad topic which will not be discussed further in this study. George Walter Born
describes vernacular architecture as “the traditional building of the ordinary people at
a particular time and place,” and mentions that its strictest definition refers to the
modest buildings of the Pre-Industrial Age. He explains that vernacular design aimed
to provide practical and functional concerns instead of regarding aesthetics and the
occupant or a builder with no formal architectural training was the designer. The
architectural plans were not thoroughly detailed and tried patterns were applied in the
designs. The use of indigenous materials provided distinctive regional building
traditions.72

Figure 2.7 Log cabins in America as an example of the vernacular architecture

Source: Eric Hegg. 1897, http://www.skagitriverjournal.com/WestCounty/NW/Colony/
Equality02-RJordan.html, (August 8, 2016).

72
George Walter Born. Preserving Paradise: The Architectural Heritage and History of the
Florida Keys, London: The History Press, 2006, pg. 13.

24
Figure 2.8 Grass huts in South Sea Isles as an example of the vernacular architecture
Source: Imelda Miller. 1904, http://www.qhatlas.com.au/content/sugar-slaves, (August 8,
2016).

Consequently, it can be said that architecture of this period, including vernacular one,
presented the limited choices of texture, mass, scale and solid to void proportion due
to structural and material limitations. Although variation in architecture was
observed as well, which can be exemplified with medieval half-timbered houses in
comparison with the grand Gothic and Baroque cathedrals, the similarities of
construction and materials were more dominant than the differences. This situation
led to a visual uniformity which can be observed in older parts of European cities
such as London, Paris, Rome and Venice, and in the older parts of American cities
like Boston today.73

2.2. Industrial Period and Material-Related Shifts

Lester Wertheimer describes the Industrial Revolution, in brief, as the replacement of

human labor with the machine power. It emerged in England and its process
beginning in the late 18th century with the invention of the steam engine by

73
Op. Cit., Gelernter.

25
Scotsman James Watt had been slowly evolving for many years. It had started to be
used in mines, mills, and factories in which it provided to ease the same amount of
production with less time and cost than required to produce with men power. With
the Industrial Revolution, machines and engines started to rule the world. The use of
iron, coal, and steam as well as the railroads and steamships became widespread.
While improved communications and faster travel options were changing the world
into a smaller one, life was getting easier with the inventive new machinery. The
ingenuity of the people started to be seen unrestricted. 74

The profound effect of machines connected with the Industrial Revolution can be
regarded as the main reason for Reyner Banham to entitle his book on architecture
and design as “Theory and Design in the First Machine Age,” while he refers the
early 20th century by “First Machine Age.” It was a time when electricity and
lighting, electrical devices, automobiles and portable typing machines have started to
be commonly used.75 As Le Corbusier says:

“By slow degrees the building sites will become industrialized, and the incorporation
of machines into the building industry will lead to the introduction of standard
components; house designs will change, a new economy will be established; the
standard components will ensure unity of detail and unity of detail is an
indispensable condition of architectural beauty…Our towns will lose the look of
chaos which disfigures them today. Order will reign and the network of new roads,
from an architectural point of view, will provide us with splendid views. Thanks to
the machine, thanks to standard components, thanks to selectivity, a new style will
assert itself.”76

In similar with Banham, Leonardo Benevolo mentions the effects of Industrial

Revolution on architecture regarding both theory and practice. According to him, the
birth of modern architecture, which implies a new range of forms as well as new way

74
Lester Wertheimer. Architectural History, USA: Kaplan AEC Architecture, 2004, pg. 74.
75
See, Op. Cit., Banham, 1980.

Le Corbusier, as quoted in Gregory L. Demchak. “Towards a Post-Industrial Architecture:

76

Design and Construction of Houses for the Information Age,” unpublished master thesis,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000, pg. 19.

26
of thinking, can be caused by the Industrial Revolution’s effects on building and
town-planning.77 Although the connection between revolutionary social, economic
and technical changes in architecture is not immediately evident, as quoted by
Benevolo, the description of architecture by William Morris explains that it was
unimaginable for architectural design, which is directly related to human life, not to
be affected by Industrial Revolution. 78 Morris says:

“Architecture embraces the consideration of the whole external surroundings of the

life of man; we cannot escape from it if we would so long as we are part of
civilization, for it means a moulding and altering to human needs of the very face of
the earth itself, except in the outermost desert.”79

Even the main center of this study is not to discuss the history and the content of
modern architecture as carried out by Benevolo, the historical context of this period,
which has led the modern design as explained by him, also caused the scientific and
technical progress. These advances provided the invention of new materials,
production and building techniques. Therefore, the material-related changes in
architecture will be discussed mainly by referring Benevolo.

2.2.1. Scientific and Technical Progress

In this period, the centers of production were shifting, and industrial capacities were
increasing while scientists and technologists were contributing to the revolution
incrementally and slowly. The works of individuals and especially the studies on
statics and the strength of materials provided a consensus about the efficient form
and use of materials. 80

77
See Op. Cit., Benevolo.
78
Op. Cit., Benevolo, pg. x.
79
William Morris as quoted in Ibid.
80
Op. Cit., Fernandez, pp. 23- 24.

27
With the improvements in geometry, empirical and theoretical tools, the growing
articulation of physical principles affected the forms of architecture.81 As Benevolo
says, scientific progress provided the utilization of the materials in a more apt way
while it also ensured the calculation of the materials’ strength. The machinery and
better equipment started to be used on building sites and the definite plans for the
construction were provided with the aid of developments in geometry. Specialized
schools, where professionals would be trained, were set up. The new methods of
graphic reproduction and printing contributed to the construction of buildings.82

For Benevolo, the science of building, which can be considered to be born in the
seventeenth century with the Galileo’s dialogues about the stability, is a field of
study that concerns settled practical outcomes of the laws of mechanics. The
experimental researches, studies on statics and strength of materials, the discovery of
general equation to determine neutral axis and as such, were the outcomes of the
spread of the scientific spirit and the architects’ intentions to find the limits of the use
of traditional building materials and techniques.

During the first decades of the nineteenth century, Louis-Marie Navier, who is
regarded as the founder of modern constructional science, organized and perfected
the results of these studies. With the constructional science, theoretical and practical
involvement was separated. The alternative methods and forms were provided in
addition to the inherited ones from antiquity. Building techniques and instruments of
planning were modified with the conception of the descriptive geometry of which
rules were explicated by Gaspard Monge and the introduction of the metric system.
With the unified system concerning measurement, the spread of the knowledge was
eased while the building technique with a typical device of which precision could be
advanced according to the new techniques’ requirements was provided.

81
Ibid.
82
Op. Cit., Benevolo, pg. 3.

28
The Revolution also affected architectural teaching by the foundation of new schools
which caused the establishment of the rivalry between ‘architects’ and ‘engineers’ by
organizing technical teaching which strengthened the engineer’s position. England
was the exception where this organization of technical education was only realized
during the last decade of the nineteenth century. Therefore, the controversy between
architects and engineers was less rigid in there. For Benevolo, this was the main
reason for that it was in England where men were frequently interested in different
activities of various fields. He tells that even in England, the division between
architects and engineers became evident especially after 1830. Technical progress
and advancements required the specialist technicians to complete professional
projects.83 As Fernandez mentions:

“These advances led to the establishment of two conditions that were to change the
nature of the relationship between the architect, construction techniques and the
materials of construction. First, the delineation of the discrete domains of study for
the inventor of construction techniques and materials meant that the nonarchitect
could make strides forward in improving, and profiting, from new technologies for
realizing buildings. This continues today. Many individuals involved in building
sciences are not architects and the proportion of nonarchitects is only likely to grow.
Second, these individuals would begin the process of the founding of two of the
dominant organs for research, development and manufacturing of building materials;
the private corporation and the academic building science research department. This
quickly led to the development of separate and distinct disciplinary languages
focused on rapidly diverging interests.”84

2.2.2. New Materials and Construction Techniques

According to Benevolo, construction techniques and materials started to be advanced

or replaced with new ones in Industrial Age. While stone, brick, and timber were
now utilized with more profit and transported more easily, new materials such as cast
iron, glass and, later, concrete were added in the material options. He adds that, in

83
Ibid., pp. 5-12.
84
Op. Cit., Fernandez, pg. 24.

29
the eighteenth century, to build new and efficient means of transportation such as
roads and canals became critical. Especially, during the first years of the nineteenth
century, the buildings of roads by governments for commercial and strategic
functions, bridges, and canals by individuals to provide ways for transportation of the
raw materials and the goods, became more intense. With the new scientific
knowledge about materials, it was possible to use the limits of their possibilities that
caused the application of traditional materials such as wood in an advanced way as
well as the use of new materials such as iron and cast iron. 85

Iron and glass, which had been worked within buildings since time immemorial, are
the first two materials which are mentioned by Benevolo. With the industrial
progress, their uses were advanced with new concepts and building techniques.
Before these advancements, iron was used as a subsidiary element such as braces,
chains, and to combine the hewn stone in freestone buildings. It was also used for
roofs that did not carry very much weight which is exemplified by Benevolo with the
Theatre Français de Bordeaux which was designed by Victor Louis. However, these
methods could not spread because of the limited operations made in the iron
industry. The improvements made in England increased the iron production. Cast
iron and ductile iron started to be obtained. By smelting steel, a higher-level material
was gained in 1740 and after the middle of the eighteenth century, these findings
were well-known. 86

According to Benevolo, by helping to advance the steam engine and studying

developed systems of using cast iron for industry, John Wilkinson, who also possibly
had the idea of the first iron bridge which was built from 1777 to 1779 on the Severn
at Coalbrookdale, promoted the technical application of iron in the history. After that
other iron bridges were built such as Sunderland Bridge over the Wear in 1796 and a
second bridge over the Severn, at Buildwas in the same year. These bridges were
built with larger spans, less weight, and quicker execution. In the first three decades

85
Op. Cit., Benevolo, pp. 3-12.
86
Ibid., pp. 12- 19.

30
of the nineteenth century, cast iron started to be used more commonly in buildings.
For many industrial buildings, cast-iron columns and girders were used. The use of
cast iron for example in the Royal Pavilion at Brighton in 1818 or the Doric columns
of Carlton House Terrace in 1827 provided remarkable improvements in English iron
industry. During the eighteenth century, the use of iron and cast iron was not
common on the Continent. With the Napoleonic regime of the first years of the
nineteenth century, French iron industry started to be developed which make possible
to build large-scale works in iron such as the Pont des Arts and the dome of Halle au
Blé. The use of iron became common in France after the Restoration. He continues
with explaining that the idea of suspension bridges with chain cables emerged at the
end of the eighteenth century. A pedestrian footbridge over the Tees dated 1741 is
the first known example. Other examples include; the bridge across the Tweed, the
Menai Bridge, the Tournon Bridge over the Rhone, the Bridge over the Saane at
Fribourg, and the Clifton Bridge over the Avon at Bristol. 87

According to Benevolo, iron buildings have reached the limits of their possibilities in
the second half of the nineteenth century. He mentions several buildings including
the Crystal Palace, the Galerie des Machines and the Eiffel Tower, which are the
examples of rapid progress made in iron construction.88

The second material is glass, Benevolo mentions, of which use was advanced in the
second half of the eighteenth century. The Napoleonic wars made difficult to develop
the production of glass in England where the large part of glass production took
place. After the peace treaty, the consumption and production of glass increased in
England and the use of glass became universal for windows and doors while it was
also used with iron at roofs to let in the light. In the Industrial Period, the use of glass
started to be applied in public buildings such as the glass cover of Galérie d’Orleans
of the Palais Royal, which was the prototype of nineteenth-century glass galleries. It
was also used for some large conservatories such as the Paris Jardin des Palmes in

87
Ibid., pp. 19-20.
88
Ibid., pp. 96- 124.

31
1833, the Chatsworth in 1837, the Kew Gardens in 1844. The Champs Elysees in
Paris, which turned into a public gathering place, was another example to these
conservatories. Huge glass roofs were used for first railway stations while architects
designed walls entirely of glass and enormous windows for the new shops.89
According to Benevolo, all the experiments of glass usage were summarized by the
Paxton’s Crystal Palace of 1851 and this building had led the way of great series of
glass exhibition galleries of the Second half of the nineteenth century. 90

Figure 2.9 Interior of the Crystal Palace

Source: Brent Richards. New Glass Architecture, USA: Yale University Press, 2006, pg. 14.

Another material to be discussed is reinforced concrete which Benevolo regards as a

paramount building material especially after the publication of building codes
because of being economical. 91 D. Watt and P. Swallow mention that concrete has

89
Op. Cit., Benevolo, pp. 21-23.
90
Ibid., pg. 23.
91
Op. Cit., Benevolo, pg 118.

32
been used since the ancient times. However, it had not been in use commonly for an
extended period after the fall of the Roman Empire. In the eighteenth century, the use
of concrete re-emerged with the lighthouses and other marine structures that were
constructed on difficult sites with challenging conditions.

With the invention of Portland cement by Joseph Aspdin in 1824, the productive use
of modern concrete began while in the early 1830s reinforcing Portland cement
concrete started.92 In the book entitled “Concrete Construction Manual,” the authors
mention that the earliest practical use of this new material which permitted to apply
new building methods was realized for the industrial and commercial buildings
where larger spans were needed. The Hennebique system and Ransome's structural
system were among these new approaches which were started to be used at the end of
the nineteenth century. For the authors, Auguste Perret became the precursor for the
use of new concrete in architecture in the early twentieth century with his concrete
buildings such as his apartment block at 25 Rue Franklin and the garage on the Rue
Ponthieu in Paris. Many more building methods were developed upon the concrete
and reinforced concrete while some of them are still applicable today. 93

2.2.3. Mass-production and Standardization

Borden explains that the technological improvements and complexity provided more
complicated and articulated architectural systems; such as new framing systems,
cladding separated from the structure and interior finishing. New material mastery
improved construction skills. These improvements by the Industrial Revolution led
the mass-production with standardization. While new ways of production such as the

92
Concrete: Building Pathology, foreword by David Watt and Peter Swallow, edited by
Susan Macdonald. Blackwell Science Ltd., 2003, pg. xiv.
93
Jörg Brandt, Bruno Kauhsen, Friedbert Kind-Barkauskas, Stefan Polonyi. Concrete
Construction Manual, translated by Gerd Söffker and Philip Thrift. Basel, Boston and Berlin:
Birkhäuser, 2002, pg. 18.

33
mass-production of steel by the Bessemer furnace emerged and structural properties
of the buildings were advanced, essential changes in architecture were emanated
regarding form, space, assembly, and production. Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton
for which iterative components were used has been one of the samples of serial
production.94 Also, as discussed in the previous section of this study and told by
Borden, through the mass production of Portland cement and steel, concrete was
rediscovered and advanced by reinforcing. He mentions that one of the first cast-in-
place concrete buildings was Unity Temple, the Oak Park Universalist Church,
which exemplifies the use of serial casting for the repetitive ornament in the columns
of the clerestory lighting, by Frank Lloyd Wright. 95

In the book entitled “Prefabricated Systems: Principles of Construction,” the authors

explains the effects of mass-production in architecture with a direct relationship with
the automobiles. As mentioned, the promise of Henry Ford about to produce a lower-
priced car which would be afforded by an average American was realized with the
assembly line, new techniques, and materials.96 According to the authors, Le
Corbusier was inspired by the mass-production of the automobiles while he regards
the house as a machine to live in. Therefore, he designed the “Maison Citrohan”
which reflected his dream of the mass production of a house type that would include
components produced in factories. Mass production has been considered to have both
positive and adverse effects on architecture while the latter includes the ideas about
the loss of identity, tradition, crafts and the professionalism of the architect due to
standardization led by serial buildings. 97 As Stanford Anderson says:

94
Gail Peter Borden. Process: Material and Representation in Architecture, London and New
York: Routledge, 2014, pp. 18-19.
95
Ibid.
96
Sharon Chung-Klatte, Reinhard Hasselbach, Ulrich Knaack. Prefabricated Systems:
Principles of Construction, Basel: Birkhäuser, 2012, pg. 15.
97
Ibid., pp.15-16.

34
 “Modem industry ruptured ancient relationships among makers, products. and users:
owing to the division of labor, a loss of relation between workers and the objects
produced, a correlative standardization of the products, and an increasing emphasis
on fashion and obsolescence as stimuli to consumption. The Great Exhibition of
1851 in the Crystal Palace in London assembled the machines and products of
modern industry in a prefabricated iron and glass building before a popular
audience—building and audience themselves being representatives of the same
change in productive means. The event occasioned major reassessments of the
condition of culture and society in relation to new productive systems and the
environment they produced.”98

Figure 2.10 Perspective drawing of “Maison Citrohan,” by Le Corbusier, 1921

Source: Adolf Loos, Le Corbusier. Raumplan Versus Plan Libre, edited by Max Risselada.
Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2008, pg. 74.

2.2.4. Major Influences of the Developments in Industrial Period on

Architectural Language and Design

As discussed insofar, with the aid of new materials, scientific, technical and
technological improvements in the construction field and new production methods,
new means of transportation and building types, such as factories, galleries or
railway stations, have been current in architecture since Industrial Revolution.
According to Christopher Gildow, as the response to the new industrial landscape of
that period, architecture has changed. Before the late 19th century, the strength of the

98
Stanford Anderson. Peter Behrens and a New Architecture for the Twentieth Century,
Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The MIT Press, pg. 95.

35
walls supported the weight of a multistory building which means that massively thick
walls on the ground floors had to be used to construct taller buildings and still the
possible building's height was limited. By replacing wood, brick, and stone with
forged iron and milled steel, it became possible to construct larger and taller
buildings. 99

Since the inventions have removed the limitations on buildings' sizes, the general
visual texture of the built environment has changed. Gelernter explains that the
development of gas lighting system, which eliminates the restriction of the buildings’
width by the need for natural light, and rudimentary steam heating, as well as air
cooling systems, have enabled buildings to be constructed in any size. The
development of iron and steel and cheap production of them have allowed buildings
to grow much larger. Because it was easy to produce architectural elements in iron
and later steel by hundreds quickly and cheaply, these new materials have led the
standardization. The strength of them has reduced the thickness of the architectural
forms while it has enabled to construct higher buildings as mentioned before. 100

Although there have been revivals of former architectural styles 101 (which will not be
discussed in this study) in this period, the main impact of Industrial Revolution has
been on the appearance of the Pre-Industrial Period’s vernacular architecture which
has become an industrial and technological one within the frame of “machine
aesthetic”102 and standardization. To describe the outlook of the built environments
in this period, Benevolo quotes the following passage that describes the Coketown in
Birmingham which was an industrial town. It shows how buildings have become
machine-like and standardized units in this period.

99
Christopher Gildow. “Architecture and the Industrial Revolution,” Open Course Library,
2012, https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-architecture-and-the-industrialrevolution,
(May 24, 2016).
100
Op. Cit., Gelernter, pg. 154.
101
See Ibid., pp. 157-166.
102
See Op. Cit., Banham, 1980.

36
 “It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and
ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black,
like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out
of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves forever and ever, and
never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-
smelling dye, and vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling
and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam engine worked
monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy
madness. It contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small
streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who
all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same
pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday
and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next . . . All the
public inscriptions in the town were painted alike, in severe characters of black and
white. The jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail,
the town-hall might have been either, or both, or anything else, for anything that
appeared to the contrary in the graces of their construction; fact, fact, fact
everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the
immaterial. The M'Choackumchild school was all fact, and the school of design was
all fact, and the relations between master and man were all fact, and everything was
fact between the lying-in hospital and the cemetery, and what you couldn't state in
figures, or show to be purchasable in the cheapest market and saleable in the dearest,
was not, and never should be, world without end, Amen.”103

Figure 2.11 Sketch of built environment in Industrial Period as seen by Pugin

Source: Op. Cit., Benevolo, pg. 130.

103
Ibid., pp. 129-130.

37
2.3. Post-Industrial Period and Material-Related Shifts

Jean Nouvel says that “Each new situation requires a new architecture.”104 In the
post-industrial architectural context, Leonard Bachman’s statements in “Two
Spheres: Physical and Strategic Design in Architecture,” can be considered as a
supportive explanation for Nouvel’s quotation. For Bachman, because of the
situation that architecture should reflect the societal, cultural, and technological
changes, Post-Industrial architecture has the significance chance to manifest the
radical shifts in these changing contexts. 105

The story of human civilization was described as ‘a co-evolving history of technical

progress, industrialization, and social good’ by Scottish ecologist Patrick Geddes and
American historian Lewis Mumford. They explained the order of this evolution in
three eras titled as “eotechnic,” “paleotechnic,” and “neotechnic”106 which are refer
as Pre-Industrial, Industrial, and Post-Industrial in this study. These periods includes
alternately, a long time of the main production of raw materials by farming and
mining followed by a shorter interval of commodities by industry, and finally the
current period of innovation and scientific progress. 107 Harvard sociologist Daniel
Bell is another referred figure for Bachman to explain post-industrial architecture.
For Bell, post-industrial society has been constituted since the late 1950s when the
outcomes of World War II started to be observed in terms of economy and
informational subjects.108

104
Jean Nouvel as quoted in Dezeen Magazine, http://www.dezeen.com/2007/04/03/100-
11th-avenue-by-jean-nouvel/, (May 11, 2016).
105
Op. Cit., Bachman, pg. 6.
106
Patrick Geddes and Lewis Mumfors as cited in Ibid., pg. 3.
107
Ibid.
108
Daniel Bell as cited in Ibid., pg. 4.

38
Regarding architecture, post-industrial alteration led the design to become more
human-centered and have long-term value. The post-industrial thought started to be
reflected in architecture with a whole new range of impressions such as ecology,
design programming, systems theory, and the effect of postmodern philosophy. Since
then, architectural practice and design thinking have been reshaped.109 Post-industrial
shifts have transformed the production of goods into information-based production
by knowledge workers.110 To present a visual analogy about the differences between
industrial thought and post-industrial one, Bachman says:

“…mechanistic industrial age efforts are like a tree farm, a machine for making
trees. Postindustrial age pursuits are like a forest, a set of robust natural processes.
Consider that the tree farm is artificial. It will require ever more fertilizer,
insecticide, and maintenance; yet it will produce a continually declining yield of
lumber. If struck by lightning it will burn down and disappear. The forest, on the
other hand, will replenish itself indefinitely as long as its system and cycles of
nutrient flow are left intact. So robust is the forest that should it be struck by
lightning and burn down, it will gradually grow back without human intervention
into a similar kind of forest. The tree farm is a machine. The forest is a system.
Postindustrial society is far less concerned with the machine and the lumber it
produces than at any time before in history. We have learned that most of the long-
term success models in the universe are systems, and we have learned that using
those systemic solutions in our own means of production are the most viable.”111

As discussed by Bachman, there have been many factors regarding economical,

cultural, societal, and technological shifts that affected the progress toward
complexity since Pre-Industrial Period to ongoing Post-Industrial Age. Among these
factors; production, material, and architecture related considerations are shown with
their differences in different periods while the descriptions of these stages with
keywords provided by Daniel Bell are included in Table 2.1.

109
Ibid.
110
Ibid., pg. 6.
111
Ibid., pg. 7.

39
Table 2.1 Compared considerations of Pre-Industrial Period, Industrial Period and
Post-Industrial Period
Source: Rearranged by the author according to the Table 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 in Ibid., pp. 5-10.

Context to Pre-Industrial
Industrial Period Post-Industrial Period
Compare Period

Information as
currency, data as
-Producing goods by
empirical reality,
converting raw
knowledge as
Agriculture and materials and
decision making,
Description mining for raw consuming these
stochastic forecasting,
with materials as the products consistently
codification of
keywords112 basis of -Hegemony of
theoretical
production practical know-how
knowledge, primacy
-Essential productive
of human capital,
labor
growth of intellectual
technology

Craft and design Design as a discipline

Design as a specialty
Design are regarded as and universal
and profession
the same occupation

Profit Yield Extraction Fabrication Analysis

Economic Agriculture and

Manufacture Services
Sector mining

Coal, petroleum,
Transformative Wind, water,
electricity, nuclear Information
Resource animals
energy

Skill Craft Know-how Science and design

Private
Organizations Corporations Global networks
companies

Raw materials Processed material and Mass customized

Materials obtained from mass production with components and
nature standardization materials

112
Since Bell uses the same titles for the periods with the ones in this study, the descriptive
keywords are borrowed from him. Daniel Bell as cited in Op. Cit., Bachman, pg. 5.

40
2.3.1. Contemporary Materials

According to Thomas Schröpher, remarkable improvements in the materials have

been observed that have provided new possibilities to designers over the past few
decades and continuous period. While new materials and advancements, which
contribute to the perception of building materials, their use, and environmental
impacts, have emerged; traditional materials have been modified such as adding
phosphorescent inorganic pigments into concrete to make it aglow at night. The
modifications in materials and new technologies are providing ways to construct
buildings with higher performance, efficiency, and sustainability. For him, new
materials have appeared lately can be categorized under three headings as composite
materials which present more significant efficiency, smart materials which ensure
greater performance and nanomaterials of which most important feature is to provide
greater adaptability. 113

“Composite materials” are described as the modified and innovative versions of

traditional materials by Schröpher. 114 As explained Blanko Kolarevic, composite
materials, of which properties are higher than its components, are created by
combining two or more different constituent material components. They are
produced by two main components which are the matrix generally including a
metallic, ceramic or polymer material; and the reinforcement including fibers
obtained from glass, carbon, polyethylene or some other material. Additives such as
lightweight fillers or chemical additives could be added to these two components.115

For Kolarevic, plastics are one of the composite materials which have been started to
use commonly by architects due to their high formability, relatively low cost and

113
Thomas Schröpher. Material Design: Informing Architecture by Materiality, Basel:
Birkhäuser, 2011, pg. 164.
114
Ibid.
115
Blanko Kolarevic. Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing, revised
edition, New York and London: Spon Press, 2004, pg. 81.

41
high strength-to-weight ratio and minimum maintenance. He explains that in the
1960s and 1970s, they were applied with keen interest because of being able to take
any shape. However, with the shifting aesthetics of the late 1970s and early 1980s in
addition to their poor weathering capabilities, and the omnipresence of plastic
products caused to their second-class status later on.116

“Smart materials” is the second group of materials which are discussed by

Schröpher.117 As cited by him, Sheila Kennedy mentions that smart materials are
produced by combining chemical or mechanical devices with a material to make
them have changeable properties such as shape or color. They can also make changes
in density, opacity, dynamic movement, and state of deterioration. 118 According to
Scröpher, adaptive and changing materials have been used since hundreds of years
ago. Therefore, the changes such as chemical ones in the smart materials are
relatively conventional and non-revolutionary. However, using this chemical change
as a design solution in architecture is new and makes smart materials significant. He
adds that some of the applications of smart materials do not necessarily alter the
performance of a building, such as the surface-related applications with visual effects
like “appearing pattern wallpaper.” On the other hand, some other smart materials
such as dye solar cells which generate an electrical current with only a small amount
of light provide greater efficiency in buildings and higher sensitivity to lifecycles of
products employed in building construction.119

The third group of materials discussed by Schröpher is “nanomaterials.” 120

According to the U.S. National Science and Technology Council, nanotechnology is
“ the research and technology development at the atomic, molecular or

116
Op. Cit., Kolarevic, pg. 82.
117
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pp. 166-168.
118
Sheila Kennedy as cited in Ibid., pp. 166-167.
119
Ibid., pp. 167-168.
120
Ibid., pg. 168.

42
macromolecular levels, in the length scale of approximately 1-100 nanometer range,
to provide a fundamental understanding of phenomena and materials at the nanoscale
and to create and use structures, devices and systems that have novel properties and
functions because of their small and/or intermediate size.” 121

About the effect of nanomaterials in architecture, Schröpher refers Peter Yeadon,

who mentions that nanomaterials have a remarkable impact on the human experience
of architecture even the adaptability or changeability of them, is almost
imperceptible by the average building user.122

In the article entitled “The Promise of Nanomaterials in Architecture,” Hallie Busta

tells that nanotechnology is used to advance many applications such as to provide
durable materials, resilient and self-cleaning finishes for example coatings with
titanium dioxide nanoparticles, wave benders to control elastic waves, more and
better graphene, and stronger concrete.123

New materials and technologies started to have effects on building industry in

response to altering architectural practice and design thinking led by post-industrial
thought. Even there have not been dramatic changes in a material palette of
architecture; recent developments in material studies, which are discussed in
previous paragraphs, can be considered as the first steps of a remarkable material-
related shift in architecture.

121
American Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology Subcommittee of the U.S.
National Science and Technology Council as quoted in Sylvia Leydecker. Nano Materials: in
Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, Basel, Boston and Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2008,
pg. 12.
122
Peter Yeadon as cited in Op. Cit., Schröpher, pp. 167-168.
123
Hallie Busta. “The Promise of Nanomaterials in Architecture,” The Journal of the
American Institute of Architects, 2015, online version, http://www.architectmagazine.com/
technology/the-promise-of-nanomaterials-in-architecture_o, (June 8, 2016).

43
Figure 2.11 Structural glass (composite material) stairs in the Danmarks Nationalbank
Source: http://www.mikkelsengroup.dk/projekt/danmarks-nationalbank-ombygning/, (May
25, 2016).

Figure 2.12 (left) Decker Yeadon’s homeostatic facade system (created with smart
materials) which shifts and moves according to outside air’s temperature
Source: Chirs Lefteri. “How Do Mysterious Memory Materials Work,” ArchDaily, 2014,
http://www.archdaily.com/533679/how-do-mysterious-memory-materials-work, (May 28,
2016).

Figure 2.13 (right) Cellulose nanocrystals which are used to produce stronger concrete
Source: Op. Cit., Busta.

44
2.3.2. The Advent of Computer-Aided Design

The advent of computers into the architectural realm has influenced the practice of
architecture as mentioned by Yehuda Kalay. The design and construction processes
were not separated geographically, and design ideas were studied on papers before
the introduction of the digital world. In the early 1970s, architectural practice has
started to be penetrated by the computer-aided architectural design systems. By the
developments in the computer technology and other types of information works,
using database technology and digital storage devices has become a standard method
in the architectural design process. Therefore, digital, complex, detailed and three-
dimensional models of buildings have been started to be frequently produced. With
these improvements, fabrication and construction machines have been enabled to
drive digital models which are produced with computer-aided design technology.

Kalay continues explaining that in the 1990s, computer-aided collaboration has been
introduced as a result of the globalization of the building industry and the improving
capabilities of computers as telecommunication methods. Also, some systems which
can process various data formats about the typical construction projects have been
presented. As a consequence of these developments, the design process itself has
changed as well. Although architectural design solutions are still crafted manually,
and architecture has been slower than other disciplines to benefit from information
technology124, as mentioned by Kolarevic the use of digital media in architectural
design to both visualize intentions and to derive architectural form has increased in
architecture.125

Aside from representation, materiality has been influenced by digital design methods
as well. For example, to predict the structural performance of buildings through

Yehuda E. Kalay. Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories and Methods of

124

Computer-Aided Design, Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 2004, pp. ix-xvii.
125
Op. Cit., Kolarevic, pg. 17.

45
controlling materials digitally126 as well as to estimate the cost of materials has got
easier.127 Also, it has become possible digitally to produce the geometric model of
the objects with surface details by applying a material on it digitally. The designer
has been enabled to test different materials on his model before deciding on the one
to be implemented in the construction.128 Additionally, computer-aided design has
provided the opportunity of producing scale models which can be made from
materials that stimulate the actual ones to be used in the building. Therefore, it has
become easier to test the design ideas in the real stage.129 About the digital
production Sebastien Delangrange says:

“New materials and digital production methods revolutionize the world of

contemporary architecture. Innovative material applications and production methods
do not only lead to the constructability of a new formal language: they provide
designers the unique opportunity to challenge construction standards and to directly
communicate with production facilities. The resulting production of custom made
building components allows for a realization of structures with unprecedented
complexity that can respond to the current demands and goals in the architecture
discipline.”130

According to Kalay, computer-aided design can only help architectural design

effectively if its successes, as well as the failures of information technology, can be
comprehended. If the designers can achieve this, it is possible for them to take
advantages of it such as “mass-customization.”131

126
Op. Cit., Kalay, pg. 64.
127
Ibid., pg. x.
128
Ibid., pg. 174.
129
Ibid., pg. 125.
130
Sebastien Delangrange as quoted in Kathrin M. Wiertelarz. Processes of Making:
Algorithmic Methods in Architectural Practice, Kassel: Kassel University Press, 2016, pg.
76.
131
See Ibid.

46
2.3.3. Mass-Customization

According to Blanko Kolarevic, because of the difficulties about the constructability

of new formal complexities, the designers had limited choices in architectural forms.
On the other hand, the use of digital information enabled the designer to have more
control and individuality on the designs 132 that would lead the idea of ‘variation’ in
building industry and the notion of ‘mass-customization’ which will be explained
below.

As discussed in the Industrial Period context, industrial manufacturing with

standardization by mass-production has been the dominant factor that has directed
the building production and materials. This situation started to be changed in Post-
Industrial Period. According to Joseph Pine II, there is a ‘new frontier in business
competition’ which is titled as ‘mass-customization’ whose terrain is different from
that of mass-production.133 As cited by Kolarevic, Pine describes mass-customization
as the mass production of customized goods and services according to individual
wants. It provides variation and customization without price-rise. 134 Pine says:

“In this new frontier, a wealth of variety and customization is available to consumers
and businesses through the flexibility and responsiveness of companies practicing
this new system of management. In the past twenty years, the number of different
items on supermarket and pharmacy shelves has exploded, allowing manufacturers
and retailers to reach ever-finer granularities of consumer desires. You used to go to
a fast-food restaurant for a mass-produced cheeseburger, french fries, and a shake;
now the same restaurant provides a half dozen varieties of burgers along with
chicken sandwiches, salads, pizza, fajitas, burritos, submarine sandwiches, spaghetti,
carrot and celery sticks, bottled mineral water—you name it and it is standard fare
today, being test-marketed, or under development.”135

132
Op. Cit., Kolarevic, pg. 88.
133
See, B. Joseph Pine II. Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition,
Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 1993, pp. 3-8.
134
Ibid., pp. 6-7, as quoted in Op. Cit., Kolarevic, pg. 84.
135
Op. Cit., Pine II, pg. 7.

47
Architecturally speaking, Kolarevic explains that while industrial manufacturing
imposed simple geometric forms over complex ones and the repetitive use of low-
cost components by mass-production, digitally-controlled machinery enabled to
fabricate unique parts with complex shapes. Also, these individual components are
allowed to be produced inexpensively. Therefore, variation in building production
and the notion of ‘mass-customization’ were introduced into building design and
production. 136

Kolarevic says that mass-customization has influenced almost every section of the
production which includes clothing, electronic or mechanical devices. On the other
hand, the building industry has not been affected yet as much as other segments of
the economy have been from mass-customization 137 The first reason of this situation
is already mentioned as the constructability. The second cause of this can be
considered as the claim to produce buildings with low-cost. Dan Willis and Todd
Woodward say that using standard products and components in the construction
industry has become commonly approved design mandatory because of economical
reasons. Using customized products causes remarkable increases in cost.138

The context of sustainability can be considered to include other reasons not to favor
mass-customization in architecture. While explaining contributions of mass-
customization to architecture, T. D. Bruno, K. Nielsen, S. B. Taps and K. A.
Jorgensen also mention the drawbacks which can refer these other reasons. They
explain that since to use more material resources for mass-customized production
compared to mass-production could be expected; greater environmental influence
would be observed. Also, energy consumption would be more in mass-customization

136
Op. Cit., Kolarevic, pg. 84.
137
Ibid., pg. 85.
138
Dan Willis and Todd Woodward. “Diminishing Difficulty: Mass Customization and the
Digital Production of Architecture,” Fabricating Architecture: Selected Readings in Digital
Design and Manufacturing, edited by Robert Corser. New York: Princeton Architectural
Press, 2012, pg. 175.

48
since more different manufacturing processes are required. To distribute each
product would necessitate more packaging and probably more energy. 139

Although there are arguments about the disadvantages of mass-customization in

architecture as discussed in the previous paragraph, for Kolarevic, mass-
customization is convenient dealing with the building industry because of that the
buildings are one-off and peculiarly designed products. For him, with the help of
digitally-driven production processes, “customization” methods will be employed
commonly in building industry eventually. He mentions that mass-customization
enables to produce individual components such as specially shaped and sized
structural elements or variable window shapes and sizes, which would provide an
optimal variance for making buildings suitable and efficient for different local
conditions, or even houses (see Figure 2.14).140

Figure 2.14 Greg Lynn, digitally produced embryological housing variations

Source: http://iaac-readings.wikidot.com/words:prototopo, (May 27, 2016).

139
Thomas Ditlev Bruno, Kaj A. Jorgensen, Kjeld Nielsen, Stig Brink Taps. “Sustainability
Evaluation of Mass Customization,” Advances in Production Management Systems:
Sustainable Production and Service Supply Chains, Part I, edited by Dimitris Kiritsis, Vittal
Prabhu, Marco Taisch. London and New York: Springer, 2013, pg. 177.
140
Op. Cit., Kolarevic, pg. 85.

49
2.3.4. Major Influences of the Developments in Post-Industrial Period on
Architectural Language and Design

“Nevertheless, one can discern the beginnings of a shift in architecture that relates to
a deep transformation going on in the sciences and in time, I believe, this will
permeate all other areas of life. The new sciences of complexity – fractals, non-
linear dynamics, the new cosmology, self-organising systems – have brought about a
change in perspective. We have moved from a mechanistic view of the universe to
one that is self-organising at all levels, from the atom to the galaxy. Illuminated by
the computer, this new world view is paralleled by changes now occurring in
architecture.”141

Post-industrial thought and the developments, as mentioned in the quotation above

from Charles Jencks, have influenced architectural language and design in this period
as discussed insofar. Although the built environment of the Post-Industrial Period
still resembles the one of the Industrial Period as a result of mass-production and
standardization, it has also started to become provoking since there have been
building forms which “varies from ungainly blobs to elegant waveforms, from
jagged fractals to impersonal datascapes,” according to Jencks. He explains that
although the incessant repetition of colonnades and curtain walls have been current
since the Industrial Period, the idea that to design building forms which are closer to
the ever-varying patterns of nature through combinations of architectural styles has
emerged as a result of increasing pluralism of global cities. He entitles this new
architectural approach as the “Organi-Tech,” which considers technology and
structural expression in combination with the ecological issues 142 that will be
discussed further in the fourth chapter. However, “Organi-Tech” has not been
applied just so in Post-Industrial architecture hence repetitive prefabricated elements,
which are identical, have been still in use in the buildings. 143

141
Charles Jencks. “The New Paradigm in Architecture,” online version of the article, pg.
155, http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/4756/original/DPC1453.pdf?1384786
587, (August 10, 2016).
142
Ibid., pp. 155-156.
143
Ibid.

50
As mentioned by Christopher Day, because of the marketed industrial components
used in buildings, it has become harder to realize the difference among factories,
hospitals, schools, offices and as such. He says that “the selfless ordinary has become
the place-less, ubiquitous bungalow.” The uniformity of manufactured products has
eroded the individual choices of the architects. 144 The reasons for the limitations in
architectural preferences which are explained by Jencks include the continual decline
of the Christian and Modern belief systems and, especially the rise of consumer
society and a celebrity system. He explains that an architect is obliged to design an
extraordinary landmark as a result of the market economy. While it should be
entirely different from anything seen before, it must not refer to any known religion,
ideology or set of conventions. Therefore, the architectural decisions have been
pushed and pulled in opposite ways. This situation has caused the production of
‘enigmatic’ projects as exemplified by Jencks with the works of Frank Gehry. 145 For
Jencks, to design buildings that amaze and delight but are not specific to any
ideology, architects now strive to find through a process of search and invention with
the aid of the computer new ways to produce landmarks for the sake of market
economy. He says “I believe it is the job of architects to take responsibility for the
public and esoteric meanings of a civic building, whether enigmatic or not, but this is
an especially difficult task in a global culture without a shared value system.”146

Consequently, it can be said that the ongoing developments in this period are still
transforming the built environment through architectural language and building
tectonics. However, the considerations of the consumerist society, which will be
noted further in the fourth chapter, seem as the impediments on the preferences of the
architects. Before discussing these considerations, it is worthwhile to look at how
building tectonics have been influenced by the developments in Post-Industrial
Period including the material-related changes.

144
Christopher Day. Spirit and Place, Oxford: Architectural Press, 2002, pp. 12-13.
145
Op. Cit., Jencks, pg. 158, also see 3.3.3. in this study as an example to Gehry’s projects.
146
Ibid., pg. 160.

51
52
 CHAPTER 3

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWERS OF MATERIAL USAGE IN

RELATION TO THE LIMITS OF TECTONICS IN ARCHITECTURE

As discussed in the previous chapter, material usage has been evolved through the
ages which have led the remarkable improvements in the architectural ‘tectonic' as
well. Thus, it is essential to discuss the meaning of the tectonic while explaining the
relationship between material usage and tectonics in architecture.

In “Rappel à L'ordre: The Case for the Tectonic,” Kenneth Frampton explains that
‘tectonic’ is described as ‘to be related to building or construction commonly,
especially in architecture and the related arts’ in the dictionary. The term tectonic
derives from the tekton, which is Greek, and it refers to the carpenter or builder and
therefore it is related to construction. On the other hand, in Sappho, the term tekton
appears as the role of the poet. For Frampton, the meaning of the term passes to an
aspect of poetry from something particular and physical such as carpentry. Therefore,
he regards the definition given by the dictionary as a little reductive. 147 According to
Frampton, tectonic should be considered as the structural component with its
presence that creates formal amplification.148 He refers to the writings of Karl
Bötticher and Gottfried Semper, who tell that ‘tectonic’ means both structural and
material integrity, and poetics of construction that can be applied in architecture and
related arts.149

147
Op. Cit., Frampton, pp. 93-95.
148
Ibid., pg. 93.
149
Karl Bötticher and Gottfried Semper as cited in Ibid.

53
Frampton adds that tectonics in architecture can be classified in two headings which
are “ontological” tectonic and “representational” tectonic. While the first one means
a constructional part of which static role and cultural status are emphasized, the
second one comprises the representation of the constructional part which is present
but hidden. In either case, constructional elements whether they are hidden or not
should be considered with the “spiritual value residing in the ‘thingness’ of the
constructed object.”150 According to C. Bundgaard:

“We build in accordance with specific contemporary conditions, defined by

production methods, construction and in materials as well as ethics, meaning and
values. Exactly this relationship between the work as such and the conditions behind
its coming into being is a crucial point. The simultaneity of both material aspects and
cultural dimensions is an important condition behind conceiving and constructing
architecture. Architecture is something built and it is built somewhere, and these two
facts give it its architectural and cultural significance. The concept of 'tectonics'
grasps this duality in architecture.”151

In this manner, the evolution of tectonic in architecture should be considered in

related with both the structural improvements and changing meanings of formal
expressions of architecture. According to Jale N. Erzen, tectonic can be described as
the balance between the constructional elements that presents different meanings and
references about the universe such as human body standing against the gravity. She
adds that throughout the history, tectonic has evolved concerning new constructional
methods, new technologies and scientific developments and this evolution can be
observed in the transformation of the structural systems as it is seen in the change
from linear columns and beams of Greek architecture into the arches of Roman
architecture. The Roman arches led the development of dome afterward. As told by
her, with the use of new information about the structural systems and materials, it
became possible to construct higher and transparent structures, which is exemplified
with the Eiffel Tower as one of the pioneering structures representing the evolution

150
Ibid., pp. 94-95.
151
Charlotte Bundgaard. “Tectonics of Montage: Architectural Positions for a Tectonic
Sustainable Building Practice,” Structures and Architecture: Concepts, Applications and
Challenges, edited by Paulo J. S. Cruz. London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2013, pg. 391.

54
of tectonic in architecture. 152 Aside from its new structural system and materials that
made it the tallest structure of its time, Eiffel Tower is also considered as the
“touchstone of the Modernity” as a consequence of Industrial Age by Banham. 153

Although the notion of tectonic has evolved with the consequences of Industrial Age,
modernity has also caused the current tendency “to reduce architecture to
scenography” as explained by Frampton. He says that with the effects of modern
architecture, designers have started to regard scenographic approach as an
advantageous method since it has provided freedom to the design of the surface and
designers have been allowed to create two-dimensional images through a building’s
facade. 154 However, as mentioned by Le Corbusier, architecture should be considered
about volume and plan as well as the surface.155

For Frampton, as cited by Juliet Rufford, “architecture's defining characteristics are

its materiality, its relationship to topography and corporeality, and the charged
relationship that should exist between the formal, structural and symbolic aspects of
the work”.156 While explaining the relationship between tectonics and materials,
Frampton refers again Semper, who classifies tectonics according to material
procedures as the tectonics of the frame and the stereotomic of compressive mass.157
Frampton regards these two as ‘light and dark’, ‘immaterial and material’ and ‘sky
and earth’ while the last one gives a reference to cosmology to describe the transition
between polarities. For him, these kinds of transcultural values and transitions
constitute the essence of architecture, and it shows the significance of tectonics and

152
Jale N. Erzen. Üç Habitus: Yeryüzü, Kent, Yapı, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2015, pp. 204-205.
153
Op. Cit., Banham, 1980, pg. 251.
154
Op. Cit., Frampton, pp. 90- 94.
155
Le Corbusier as cited in Ibid., pg. 93.
156
Kenneth Frampton as cited in Juliet Rufford. Theatre and Architecture, London: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2015, pg. 17.
157
Gottfried Semper as cited in Op. Cit., Frampton, pg. 95.

55
their meanings. 158 In similar with Frampton, Erzen mentions that the balance
between the constructional elements and therefore tectonic constitutes the substantial
essence of the architecture.159 In this regard, it can be said that the autochthonous
mission of materials to create the tectonics is to form its presence. As expressed by
Erwin Viray: “Phenomena exist in the material world. Material makes thoughts
tangible. Materials manifest the world.” 160

At this point, to visualize the necessity of the materials to form the tectonic, the
explanation for the metaphor of the production process of the clay pot by Andrea
Deplazes in his book entitled “Constructing Architecture: Materials, Processes,
Structures; a Handbook” can be beneficial. He describes that the pot is produced by
reshaping the mass of clay into a hollow space by applying force from outside with
one hand and from inside with the other one. These forces supply or at least
influence each other and, similarly, the design process in architecture as such is
based on the same flow of the events. The design process “advances from both
directions: from outside in a standard way from the urbane to the architectural
project, and from inside using the spatial and constructional fabric, the tectonics –
and both lead from the abstract to the concrete.” Architecture is the boundary and
transition zone between the inside and the outside while it unites all architectural,
cultural and atmospheric factors in itself. He considers the architects as
metaphysicists who would not exist without the physicists. Therefore, how things are
done in terms of the structural composition of the substances and building materials
used influences and determines the character of architectural space. 161 Consequently,
it can be said that materials are the components which provide the presence of the
built forms by composing their structures and also bring the architectural ideas into
being substantial physical forms which are the buildings and architectural products.

158
Ibid.
159
Op. Cit., Erzen, pg. 204.
160
Erwin Viray, “Why Material Design,” foreword to Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 8.
161
Constructing Architecture: Materials, Processes, Structures; a Handbook, edited by
Andrea Deplazes. Basel, Boston and Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2005, pg.19.

56
Briefly, it is not possible to produce the pot without the clay as so it is out of the
question to construct the structures and buildings without materials. As Borden says:

“Material is the beginning and the end of architecture. It is the tangible that executes
the intangible. It is the means of implementation and the means of expression.
Materials are the palette from which architecture is made. The use of materials and
the associated technologies of construction determine the form and articulation of
buildings. The available material resources and the craft of their joinery define the
history of architecture.”162

For him, material is the medium between the architect and the built form. A designer
can be able to use materials effectively by obtaining the vocabulary of materials. The
components of architecture as form, structure, sustainability, and geometry, and
therefore the tectonics, are dependent on materials. Through understanding the visual
and emotional features that materials have, it is possible to produce an ‘aura,’ which
means the emotive and experiential association of the materials, and a ‘narrative,’
which represents the story of its history, fabrication, and application. For him, the
materials should be at the root of architectural design. 163

Similarly, Thomas Schröpher mentions that all the features that the architects try to
convey by their expressions in built form and the end product that will be used by the
people are both developed and restricted by the material aspects that the design
employs. The new understandings of the part to whole relationships, organizational
configurations, and phenomenological effects can be enhanced by a detailed
understanding and studies of materials which includes details from the urban context
leading a contemporary knowledge of the built environment with regard to its
constituents and the fabric into which they are inserted.164

162
Op. Cit., Borden, 2010, pg.8.
163
Ibid., pp. 7-8.
164
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 10.

57
3.1. Direct Influence of Materials on the Building Tectonics

“Clearly, space, composition and aesthetics are essential in architecture. Materials

are not only chosen for technically meeting technological demands. Other factors,
like the atmosphere a material creates, play an important role. Some architects let
themselves get inspired by materials, with its specific characteristic properties.”165

As mentioned in the quotation above, aside being an assistant element in the

architectural design, the material can originate the whole architectural project. For
Schröpfer, Louis Kahn with his use of brick is an example of material inspired
designer. He explains that the scale-less examination of materials’ physical and
conceptual qualities results in a sophisticated understanding of materials’ use within
a broader design concept. Instead of the clichéd and traditional use of materials, it is
possible to advance the design with a potential expression and personality of a
material by hands-on experimentation and research into their physical and chemical
features.166 Kahn says:

“When you are designing in brick, you must ask brick what it wants or what it can
do. Brick will say; I like an arch. You say, but arches are difficult to make, they cost
more money. I think you could use concrete across your opening equally well. But
the brick says, I know you're right, but if you ask me what I like, l like an arch.”167

As Schröpher mentions, the most expressive material application can spur a design
concept. In other words, “a material investigation can inspire and enhance an
architectural concept.”168 For him, Kahn’s expression demonstrates his lifelong
investigations about the character and potential expressiveness of brick. His use of

165
Elise van Dooren and Taco van Iersel. “A House of Cardboard,” Cardboard in
Architecture, Vol. 7, edited by Mick Eekhout, Fons Verheijen, Ronald Visser. Netherlands:
IOS Press, 2008, pg. 88.
166
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 25.
167
Louis Kahn. "Space and Inspirations," Louis I. Kahn, Writings, Lectures, Interviews,
edited by Alessandra Latour. Newyork: Rizzoli, 1991, pg. 228, as quoted in Ibid.
168
Ibid., pg. 20.

58
brick is different than the other masters of the material, such as Wright and Aalto.
Even these three architects would work the material physically; they would reflect a
different attitude about the brick’s character and potential. Therefore, brick informed
their design concepts in various ways.169 For Andrew Pressman, Kahn’s famous
quotation above expresses honest or essential use of materials in a building. For him,
observing concrete in compression and steel in tension is sufficient, while using
plastic looking like stone or stucco is not. To select a material and designing
according to its features as well as to apply it in a building and to detail it for a
particular project requires comprehending the spirit of the material involving
limitations and visual possibilities. By understanding material’s specific properties, it
is possible to design a building that features the material. 170 It should be
comprehended that materials can be and have been the basis of building tectonics.

Although to emphasize or subdue the properties of material depend on architectural

intentions as mentioned by Pressman171, Lorraine Farrelly states that ‘true’
architecture necessitates the honest use of materials. For her, a building with a brick
wall supporting a roof is a product of ‘true’ architecture due to honestly used
materials. The idea of ‘truth’ to materials requires using materials in their most
effective ways according to their properties. Although it is not an obligation to reveal
the building’s structure, concealing the structure of the building such as using brick
wall in a steel-framed building is not surely ‘true’ in terms of using materials. 172

The reason for that architects have started to use materials in a dishonest way can be
regarded as the influence of market economy in architecture. Gelernter explains that
in the Industrial Period, architects have started to use new material, which was iron,
as an economical alternative for the traditional materials. He exemplifies this with

169
Ibid.
170
Andrew Pressman. Designing Architecture: The Elements of Process, New York:
Routledge, 2012, pg. 80.
171
Op. Cit., Pressman.
172
Op. Cit., Farrelly, pg. 5.

59
the painted cast iron plates covering, which resemble stone, on the face of a bank in
Pottsville by John Haviland, Thomas Ustick Walter’s Capitol building dome built
with cast iron which mimics wood and stone, and as such. Ironworkers and foundries
offered ways to cast entire facades that look like traditional materials. 173 Therefore,
the inherent values of materials that give the idea about their region, history or
culture have been ignored hence they have been replaced with the imitations. This
situation has caused to consider materials as if they are wall painting that is applied
after the construction of the wall. However, as mentioned by Achim Menges, the
innate behavior, characteristics and capacities of the materials should be accounted
for the very physicality of architecture, in other words, the building tectonics, not just
for the appearance. 174 As Manuel DeLanda says:

“In one philosophy one thinks of form or design as primarily conceptual or cerebral,
something to be generated as a pure thought in isolation from the messy world of
matter and energy. Once conceived, a design can be given a physical form by simply
imposing it on a material substratum, which is taken to be homogeneous, obedient
and receptive to the wishes of the designer.... The opposite stance may be
represented by a philosophy of design in which materials are not inert receptacles for
a cerebral form imposed from the outside, but active participants in the genesis of
form. This implies the existence of heterogeneous materials, with variable properties
and idiosyncrasies which the designer must respect and make an integral part of the
design which, it follows, cannot be routinized.”175

In the following case studies, which are aimed to present the direct relation between
different materials and different building tectonics, from 20 th and 21st centuries, the
importance of materiality as the basis of architectural design will be exemplified to
demonstrate the significance of the association between the materials and tectonics.

173
Op. Cit., Gelernter, pg. 154.
174
Although Menges mentions his ideas about materiality within the frame of computational
design, the statements of him are regarded valid for every kind of architectural design in this
study. Achim Menges. “Material Resourcefulness: Activating Material Information in
Computational Design,” Material Computation: Higher Integration in Morphogenetic
Design, edited by Achim Menges. John Wiley& Sons, 2012, pg. 36.
175
Manuel DeLanda as quoted by Ibid.

60
3.1.1. Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp by Le Corbusier, 1954

As explained by Nicole Bridge, the sculptural qualities of concrete were utilized by

Le Corbusier in this chapel which is different than from his earlier works.176
Regarding this difference, Andrew Kroll clarifies that Ronchamp, which includes two
entrances, an altar, and three chapels, is designed in a more irregular sculptural form
while Corbusier’s other projects were designed in boxy, functional, and sterile
volumes. He notes that the sculptural character of the building is provided by the
walls of Ronchamp, which constitute the structure of the building while supporting
the massive curvilinear roof as well. These structural and sculptural walls are also
used as acoustic amplifiers. For example, the sound is reflected out over the field from
the outdoor altar by the eastern exterior wall. 177

According to Kroll, white painted concrete walls of the Ronchamp and light which
enters into the chapel create an ethereal atmosphere that corresponds with the
religious activities. For him, the curved roof which appears to float above the building
is the most intriguing part of the building. The gap between the walls and the curved
roof, which seems weightless due to its curves of an airplane wing, lets the clerestory
light in. He also regards the sporadic window placement on the walls, which creates a
speckled pattern through the light that enters from openings, as interesting. He
enunciates that, the chapel is defined formally with the curving walls and roof from
outside as a sculpture while the light defines and gives meaning to it conceptually. 178

With its resemblance to a handicraft product of a sculpturer that is unique and created
by touching the material, Notre Dame du Haut Chapel also seems as an inherited part
of the natural environment with the aid of the simplicity of the concrete’s surface and

176
Nicole Bridge. Architecture 101: From Frank Gehry to Ziggurats, an Essential Guide to
Building Styles and Materials, Adams Media, 2015, pg. 211.
177
Andrew Kroll. “AD Classics: Ronchamp/ Le Corbusier,” ArchDaily, 2010,
http://www.archdaily.com/84988/ad-classics-ronchamp-le-corbusier, (July 22, 2016).
178
Ibid.

61
curved formwork. Also, the smooth surface of the concrete with the well-matched use
of light and shadows that create a religious atmosphere shows how Corbusier
appreciated the textural qualities of concrete.

Figure 3.1 Sculptural view of the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.2 Use of light on the smooth concrete walls of the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel
in Ronchamp
Source: Ibid.

62
3.1.2. Cathedral of Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970

Sixteen parabolic columns that reach out skyward constitute the structure of Brazilian
Cathedral which was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, who is one of the concrete
masters as mentioned by Eric Baldwin. They are combined with different shades of
blue, white and brown stained glass windows. 179 While John Malam regards the
building’s form as a crown that represents the crown of thorns worn by Christ 180,
Megan Sveiven regards the columns as two hands which reach up towards the sky. 181

Building’s circular plan, which changes the hierarchies of spatial division of the
traditional church plans, makes the sacred, and the profane joined on the same plane.
Also, while the spaces of traditional churches are dark, this church’s space for divine
worship, which is reached through a thin and dark tunnel, is full of light and
happiness. Megan Sveiven mentions that stained-glass window is used to make the
physical sky seeable without any mediation, and heavens are represented through
these windows. However, the Cathedral's structure remained open for many years till
1970 when the transparent glass was used to enclose the ceiling. The curved
elements were painted white and stained-glass windows were installed in the
1980s.182

In similar with the Ronchamp, the sculptural and structural qualities of concrete give
this cathedral its architectural identity through its parabolic concrete columns which

179
Eric Baldwin. “Material Inspiration: 10 Projects Inspired by Concrete,” ArchDaily, 2013,
http://www.archdaily.com/457418/material-inspiration-10-projects-inspired-by-concrete,
(July 23, 2016).
180
John Malam. Super Structures, USA: Franklin Watts Grolier Publishing Co., Inc., 2000,
pg. 21.
181
Megan Sveiven. “AD Classics: Cathedral of Brasilia / Oscar Niemeyer,” ArchDaily,
2011, http://www.archdaily.com/101516/ad-classics-cathedral-of-brasilia-oscar-niemeyer,
(July 23, 2016).
182
Lauro Cavalcanti. When Brazil was Modern: Guide to Architecture 1928-1960, Princeton
Architectural Press, 2003, pg. 382.

63
also present the religious value of the building. It appears as this building reaches to
the sky by gaining strength from the flat and solid ground which exemplifies the
transitional meanings in building tectonics. Also, the bronze sculptures next to the
building appear as the protectors of the crown-shaped building which offers a
compositional and spiritual story about the building.

Figure 3.3 Crown-shaped form of the Cathedral of Brasilia with the four bronze
sculptures next to the building
Source: Op. Cit., Sveiven.

Figure 3.4 Cathedral of Brasilia’s colored-glass roof that makes interior fully
illuminated
Source: Ibid.

64
3.1.3. Indian Institute of Management Building by Louis Kahn, 1974

For Schröpher, Louis Kahn, who is well-known with his use of brick, wanted to
connect three various scaled programs which are institutional classrooms, faculty
housing, and student dormitories by the existing different sized components by load-
bearing brick walls with concrete floor slabs. By exploring brick structurally, he
created a uniform material language across the campus. India's seismically active
environment was reflected with the reverse arches in brick while Kahn also used
them as a historical reference back to the Roman brick construction techniques.183

Klaus-Peter Gast explains that tradition and modernity, as well as the western and the
eastern mentalities, were combined with Kahn’s established language of archaic,
unfinished brick building mass with perceivable concrete piers in this building. Kahn
celebrates the brick, which is India’s simplest and cheapest building material, by
using it carefully proportioned with the most proper geometry. The rigid and
complex geometry of the building is used to refer transcendent forms of appearance
in Indian thought.184 As mentioned by Andrew Kroll, “it was Kahn’s method of
blending modern architecture and Indian tradition into an architecture that could only
be applied for the Indian Institute of Management.”185

Since brick has been a local building material in India, and a traditional material to
construct arches in architectural history because of its structural features, the way of
Louis Kahn applied brick by using these features while also providing a relation
between the building and the region shows how Kahn appreciated the material’s
potential to inspire a project with the architectural spirit.

183
Robert McCarter. Louis I. Kahn, London and New York: Phaidon, 2005, pp. 250-251, as
quoted in Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 26.
184
Klaus-Peter Gast. Louis I. Kahn, translated by Susanne Schindler. Basel, Berlin and
Boston: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1999, pg. 94.

Andrew Kroll. “AD Classics: Indian Institute of Management / Louis Kahn,” ArchDaily,
185

2010, http://www.archdaily.com/83697/ad-classics-indian-institute-of-manage
ment-louis-kahn, (July 10, 2016).

65
Figure 3.5 General view of Indian Institute of Management Building
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.6 Brick arch of Indian Institute of Management Building

Source: Ibid.

66
3.1.4. Thorncrown Chapel by E. Fay Jones, 1980

Thorncrown Chapel, which is designed by Euine Fay Jones, is located in the forests
amongst the oaks, pines, and maples as noted by Andrew Galloway. The area where
the chapel would be located was bought by Jim Reed to construct a retirement cabin
on it. But, As a result of tourist attraction to the site, Reed decided to have a non-
denominational chapel built. Therefore, a simple and remarkable structure which
Jones describes as a "place to think your best thoughts" that is appreciated by
everyone was constructed. This building has been called the best American building
since 1980.186

In addition to the simplicity of the building, the use of materials which are glass and
wood obtained from local pine trees is remarkable as well. Through repeated columns
and truss structure which are covered with over 425 glass windows, the vertical
chapel appears as a "forest within a forest." While high amount of light spill through a
central skylight to the interior of the chapel at daytime, custom lanterns on the
columns, which appear as if they were lit somewhere off in the forest, are used to
illuminate inside the building at night.187

As a remarkable example of the direct influence of the materials on building tectonics,

this building clearly presents the transition between the tectonics of the frame and the
stereotomic of compressive mass which gives a clear reference to cosmology through
Frampton’s ‘sky and earth’ couple as discussed before. While it is rooted on the bare
earth in the forest, the timber elements of the structure extend upward to the sky as
the branches of the trees. Therefore, the wooden structure establishes a strong bond
between the region and the building while it also creates a spiritual atmosphere that
is convenient for the building program.

186
Andrew Galloway. “AD Classics: Thorncrown Chapel / E. Fay Jones,” ArchDaily, 2014,
http://www.archdaily.com/533664/ad-classics-thorncrown-chapel-e-fay-jones, (July 15,
2016).
187
Ibid.

67
Figure 3.7 Thorncrown Chapel like a “forest within a forest”
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.8 Interior view of the Thorncrown Chapel

Source: Ibid.

68
3.1.5. Vitra fire station by Zaha Hadid Architects, 1993

Zaha Hadid’s first recognized project of her career, the Vitra fire station, which was
completed in 1993, constitutes a linkage between the artificiality of the existing Vitra
design campus, and the surrounding landscape as noted by Kroll. The narrow profile
of the building makes it appeared as the landscape’s extension, or extrusion. The
composition of concrete planes which tilt, break, and bend based on the conceptual
connection of landscape and architecture that constitutes abstract dynamic forces. The
formal aesthetic of the building is created through a state of tension which triggers a
sense of instability. Horizontal planes, which slip over one another while another is
protruded on the garage bay, bolster the sense of instability. A dense and opaque
quality, which limits views into the building, is formed by the concrete planes.188

Kroll adds that the formal and spatial complexity of the fire station’s exterior is
observable at the interior of the building as well. According to the building program,
planes slide past one another. The layered walls define the spaces of the program
between them by bending, tilting, and being broken. Both inside and outside of the
building, sense of indirect instability, as well as some semblance of stability, is
created.189 About the frozen motion of the building, Gevork Hartoonian says:

“The exit door canopy, the most theatrical element of die project, is cut in analogy to
a broken wing that wants to take the building off the ground. The image is held in
place by 12 pipe-columns, a few in vertical positions, the rest inclined. In addition to
these features, which promote the perception of lightness, other detailing strategies
providing lightness concern the metal screen grilles, and the shape of the window
cuts. These, and the cuts implemented in the massing of the Vitra, reveal tectonic
figuration that concerns movement and theatricality.”190

188
Andrew Kroll. “AD Classics: Vitra Fire Station / Zaha Hadid Architects,” ArchDaily,
2011, http://www.archdaily.com/112681/ad-classics-vitra-fire-station-zaha-hadid, (June 27,
2016).
189
Ibid.
190
Gevork Hartoonian in Op. Cit., Löschke ed., pg. 68.

69
The expressive qualities of concrete such as texture and structural features that enable
to construct structural planes are combined with the poetics of the construction in this
building which evokes an idea of fire-related movement. Bending, tilting and
breaking planes in addition to the door canopy that reaches to the sky make this
building appears as if it goes towards the fresh air to avoid fire. In other words, this
fire station tells a contextual story through its structural elements.

Figure 3.9 Exit door canopy of the Vitra fire station

Source: Op. Cit., Kroll. “AD Classics: Vitra Fire Station / Zaha Hadid Architects.”

Figure 3.10 Concrete walls, which bend, tilt, and break, of Vitra fire station
Source: Ibid.

70
3.1.6. Church of Light and Sunday school by Tadao Ando, 1999

The Church of the Light in Japan is a cultural building which is comprised of two
rectangular volumes that contain the Sunday school and worship hall. The concrete
wall of the worship hall is cut in a cruciform shape which extends vertically from
floor to ceiling and horizontally from wall to wall and is aligned with the joints in the
concrete. Farrelly regards this cut as “a simple device, but an adequate definition of
the space” and the cross becomes a symbol on the outside of the church as a
consequence of light which pours from inside to outside at night. 191

The traces of the joints and bolts, which present tactile impressions on the smooth,
gray walls, provide insights about the construction processes of the building while
these flat concrete surfaces allow the use of light as an architectural element through
reflections.192 According to Fred Bernstein, Ando perfected his use of concrete and
his vocabulary of forms which allowed him to design the heaviest wall appears to
levitate that can be observed in his Church of the Light. For him, this building shows
Ando’s virtuosity as a designer in concrete.193

Although the main constitutive of the architectural tectonic of this buildings seems
like the light, Tadao Ando’s the smooth concrete walls which reflect the light into the
interior spaces illustrate how a fully comprehended material can originate a project.
Also, concrete is a proper material to use it with tactile impressions on its surface
that corresponds to the program of the building. How Ando reflects his design ideas
through both the natural texture of the concrete and the traces from the construction
process on the concrete’s surface which is aligned with the cruciform cut makes this
church become another considerable concrete inspired case study.

191
Op. Cit., Farrelly, pg. 55.
192
Ibid.
193
Fred Bernstein. Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future, edited by Nancy
B. Solomon. New York: Visual Reference Publications Inc., 2008, pg. 154.

71
Figure 3.11 Light pouring from the cruciform cut in the concrete wall of the Church of
Light and Sunday school
Source: Op. Cit., Farrelly, pg. 56.

72
3.1.7. Sancaklar Mosque by Emre Arolat Architects, 2012

As quoted from Emre Arolat Architects in an online article, this building “aims to
address the fundamental issues of designing a mosque by distancing itself from the
current architectural discussions based on form and focusing solely on the essence of
religious space.” The building is located in Istanbul, and the project site is parted from
the surrounding communities by a highway and stone walls. To construct the
building, which is located on a plaza made up of terraced steps, the combination of
gray stone and reinforced concrete is used.

According to the design team "building blends in completely with the topography
and the outside world is left behind as one moves through the landscape, down the
hill and in between the walls to enter the mosque.” The sunken building is reached
through earthen steps. At the lower level, the screen areas of the gardens are
surrounded by a combination of concrete partitions, stone walls, and tall box. The
center of the building is formed by a large concrete-lined prayer hall which features a
tiered concrete floor and ceiling. Daylight is provided through the gap between the
ribbed concrete wall which is located at the front of the prayer hall and the ceiling.
According to design team "the interior of the mosque, a simple cave-like space,
becomes an exciting and awe-inspiring place to pray and be alone with God.”194

Structural features of concrete and stone in addition to textural properties of them

constitute the architectural tectonics of this mosque. The integration of the building
with the landscape where a tall minaret reaches to the sky, and the simplicity of the
materials which is in harmony with the program and the surrounding environment of
the building makes it an explanatory case study to understand the direct relation of
materials to the building tectonics.

194
Emre Arolat Architects as quoted in “Terraced Landscaping Surrounds Concrete and
Stone Structure of Emre Arolat’s Sancaklar Mosque,” Dezeen Magazine, 2015,
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/06/sancaklar-mosque-emre-arolat-architects-istanbul-
concrete-stone-terraced-landscaping/, (June 30, 2016).

73
Figure 3.12 Stone roof and minaret of the Sancaklar Mosque
Source: “Sancaklar Mosque/ Emre Arolat Architects,” ArchDaily, 2014,
http://www.archdaily.com/516205/sancaklar-mosque-emre-arolat-architects, (June 30,
2016).

Figure 3.13 Tiered concrete ceiling of the prayer hall in the Sancaklar Mosque
Source: Ibid.

74
3.2. Indirect Influence of Materials on the Building Tectonics

“Architecture in a sense is all about materials. Material has to be used to complete

architecture. Nothing is made without material. Things can be designed material-
less, but to actually see if something will be feasible, material constraints will have
to be assigned.”195

The quotation above suggests that a structure or building can be designed without
considering the materials at the first stage. However, the designer should select
proper material, eventually, to bring the architectural design ideas, which include the
tectonics that would be constructed, into being. For Yglesias, the design should not
be considered as constituting forms in abstraction. He regards the design as a
conjunctive exploration of forms and materials used to transform the design from
being abstract object into a physical one. The technical characteristics and varying
qualities of the materials provide thicknesses, vocabularies of edges, corners, and
surface textures. As mentioned by him, being physical makes materials present to
human’s senses as touch, or even smell and taste. 196 For example Neil Denari says:

“I'm really at this point a geometric sensualist and a kind of material expediter in that
the materials we typically work with are selected for their ability to accentuate form.
For me, materials have three basic conditions, of which the first two are most
important: the visual phenomena of the surface, its workability (cutting, bending,
shaping, etc.) and finally, its tactility. When you get into issues of the way in which
the visual works, let's say, in my work, which isn't about tactility but at the same
time it is deeply tactile at the level of process to construct with: tools and people
coming together in various locations and sites in order to assemble something. That
couldn't be more tactile but it doesn't necessarily predict whether or not someone
wants to run their hands over the surface.”197

195
Zachary Ryan Schooley. Reversing the Process: Taking a Detail to a Design, Michigan:
ProQuest, 2009, pg. 11.
196
Op. Cit., Yglesias, pp. 1-2.
197
Neil Denari as quoted in Matter: Material Processes in Architectural Production, edited by
Gail Peter Borden and Michael Meredith. New York: Routledge, 2012, pg. 17.

75
According to Andrew Pressman, it is possible to connect a project to the site and
region through applying local materials such as using gray-stained clapboard siding
and white trim in New England which would provide harmonization of the building
with rural coastal surroundings. Using indigenous materials can also provide cost
advantage because of shorter distances and lower energy to the transportation of
them. For materials selection, local climatic factors, labor pool and availability of
craftspeople who know how to work with the local materials should be considered as
well. Pressman presents material selection process’ main criteria which are
computability with design intentions and concept, life cycle of the material and cost,
availability of the material and its relation to region and context, constructability and
suitability to the function, weathering features and maintenance requirements,
climatic response of the material and its degree of environmental sensitivity. 198

As discussed insofar, selecting proper materials according to the design inputs and
considerations is essential since the intricate properties of materials affect the
appearance and the atmosphere of the building environment. At this point, it can be
illuminating to proceed with talking about some case studies which are selected from
20th and 21st centuries to clarify the indirect influence of materials on tectonics, since
these design inputs and changing priorities among the design considerations will be
explained and discussed in further thought in the fourth chapter.

3.2.1. Strawberry Vale School by Patkau Architects, 1995

Strawberry Vale School is a public school of which design is inspired by the

vernacular language of rural buildings in combination with the surrounding nature.
This environmentally sensitive building optimizes natural lighting by being oriented
toward the south, minimizes site disturbance by the adjustment of the classroom pods
with the land and rock outcroppings of the site and mediates the environmental

198
Op. Cit., Pressman, pp. 82-83.

76
impacts through ecologist applications. For example, while collected rainwater in
concrete trenches under the roof overhangs is discharged into a landscape swale that
is planted with rough grass, the low point of the site are planted and monitored with
plant species that are collected from surrounding marshlands. Furthermore, passive
heat gain for heating, stack effect for ventilation and controlled placement of
skylights, clerestories and windows for lighting are used as the natural systems in
this building. 199

Regarding material usage, which is aimed to reduce the amount of energy that is
embodied within the building, environmental sensitivity is considered again. Wood,
as a local and the most readily accessible and renewable material, is used as the
primary construction material both for structure and cladding of the building.
Recycled steel and reinforced concrete are the secondary building materials for the
additional structural requirements of the building. 200

Figure 3.14 Strawberry Vale School’s wood cladding that makes the building well-
matched with the surrounding forest
Source: “Strawberry Vale School,” archello, 2016, http://www.archello.com/en/project/
strawberry-vale-school (August 10, 2016).

199
Ibid.
200
Ibid.

77
Figures 3.15 (left), 3.16 (right) Natural lighting of the Strawberry Vale School’s interior
Source: Ibid.

Since the form of the building is created to provide minimum site disturbance,
sustainability and environmental sensitivity play a more evident role for the
architectural form of this building than materials do. Material usage seems as the
assistant element to engage with nature and the environment. The wooden structure
and cladding makes the building well-matched with the surrounding forest.

3.2.2. Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art by Zaha Hadid Architects, 2003

The Rosenthal Center, which is located on a busy street corner in the heart
of Cincinnati, is designed by Hadid through a method of “Urban Carpet” that brings
the fabric of the city within the museum’s walls as discussed by Luke Fiederer.
While the lobby at the ground level is fully glazed and open to public and becomes a
vital urban node in an existing network of public spaces and paths, the gallery spaces
are formed according to “Jigsaw Puzzle” which means a complex arrangement of
differently-sized concrete volumes in a three-dimensional puzzle way. The exhibition
volumes are various in length, height, and lighting conditions as well as the material
usage on their facades. The simplified shells represent the building program through

78
three material preferences which are concrete, glass and black metal panel. Through
using distinct facades, Hadid reveals different properties of the interiors. 201

Since different materials are used to emphasize different building programs inside,
this building exemplifies how physical features of the materials such as color and
transparency affect the architectural language and helps to constitute a design
concept.

Figure 3.17 Material usage on the facades of Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
Source: Luke Fiederer. “AD Classics: Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art / Zaha Hadid
Architects,” ArchDaily, 2016, http://www.archdaily.com/786968/ad-classics-rosenthal-
center-for-contemporary-art-zaha-hadid-architects-usa, (July 15, 2016).

201
Ibid.

79
3.2.3. Solstice Arts Center by Grafton Architects, 2006

The architects of this building mention that this arts center is designed to create a
new cultural anchor at the site in Navan, where acts like a void used mostly for car
parking surrounded by two stone churches with their spires and dark purple slate
roofs. A newly raised ground and an elevated walled garden are created while the
theater occupies the space between while “an interior landscape,” is formed by the
floor of the theater that follows the contours of the site. As design team notes, “the
new arrival sets up a dynamic choreography, with the neighbouring public buildings
and sets the scene for the re-instating of the historic market centre.”202

While natural daylighting and connection to the outside world is provided through
the use of glass, limestone plinth is used to form the ground of south facing civic
space. The wall around the theater with varying levels of opacity and transparency
acts like a curtain which enables to see audiences as a shadow play. Also, the
hovering grey-black marble mosaic slab over the civic space which is designed to
invite people provides a connection between the building and the site. As design
team explains “this material will fade over time and was chosen to match the color of
the slated large roofscapes of the adjacent churches.”203

In similar with the previous case study, color and transparency of the materials
provide the distinction of the different activities that take place inside the building.
While the use of glass on the ground level provides visual connection between the
occupants and the outside of the building, grey-black marble acts as a reference to
the history and context of the surrounding buildings through providing uniformity
with the roofs of existing churches.

“Solstice Arts Centre / Grafton Architects,” ArchDaily, 2013, http://www.archdaily.com/

202

352502/solstice-arts-centre-grafton-architects, (August 10, 2016).

203
Ibid.

80
Figure 3.18 Exterior view of Solstice Art Center
Source: Archiseek, http://archiseek.com/2009/2006-solstice-arts-centre-navan-co-meath/,
(August 11, 2016).

Figure 3.19 Grey-black marble mosaic slab over the civic space in uniformity with the
surrounding buildings’ roofs
Source: Ibid.

81
3.2.4. Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural Center by Emre Arolat Architects, 2010

As noted in an online article, Yalova, where hosts Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural
Center, both presents natural and industrial layers. These two sides of the city are
intertwined, and this opposition between them creates the unique soul of the city. In
this case, the building, which is a cultural center, is designed to mediate the opposite
layers of the city. According to Emre Arolat, the exterior of the building differs from
“the shiny and dominant world of the recent cultural centers that want to
monumentalize.” Also, “it holds off from this colorful, carefree yet imperious world”,
because, it is aimed to teach the user with an open-ended design instead of forcing an
order.204

The use of foraminous plates on the facade of the building and the rusty surface of
this material represents the texture which can be observed in production areas in the
region. By using this material, building starts to intertwine with the citizens. Also, this
rusty material which can be recycled and acts as a natural palette changes its color by
oxidation. Therefore, the relationship between city and building becomes more
interactive. The semi-transparency of the material, which also acts as a barrier for the
inner, lets it dissolve at the night time and interior of the building becomes readily
perceivable. It allows air to ventilate the interior of the building. Different functions of
the program are located in the precisely shaped masses with necessary dimensions in
the building. These masses, which are connected by a ramp, are designed with varying
geometries and as disconnected from the building facade and each other. The colorful
and overgrown natural texture of Yalova is represented on the surfaces of the
masses. 205

204
Emre Arolat Architects as quoted in “Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural Center/ Emre Arolat
Architects,” ArchDaily, 2011, http://www.archdaily.com/180305/raif-dinckok-yalova-
cultural-center-emre-arolat-architects, (June 29, 2016).
205
Ibid.

82
Therefore, it can be asserted that this building outstands as a remarkable example of
material usage to connect a project to its region and users. It gains its environmentally
sensitive status with the assistance of an inventive use of covering material while this
material also provides a semi-transparent connection between interior and exterior. It
is almost impossible to imagine same building that would create the same spiritual
atmosphere in anywhere else by means of the connection of the site, history and
culture with the building that is constituted by the rusty material which makes this
center as a natural part of the environment through a natural process, oxidation.

Figure 3.20 Semi-transparent, rusty facade of Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural Center
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.21 Closer view of the cladding material, which changes color by oxidation,
used on Raif Dinçkök Yalova Cultural Center’s facade
Source: Ibid.

83
3.2.5. Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon by Wise Architecture, 2015

This exhibition building, the Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon, is designed to make a
visitor experience everyday life in complete darkness. Since it turns off a sense of
sight, other senses such as touching different materials that are applied inside the
building are used to recall different spaces in the building. As design team says “at
the beginning of the process, we wondered how the visually impaired people
recognize space; we found out that they memorize space by touching over and over
again and reconstruct it in their memory.” 206

Because of the level difference on the site and rock bed under the ground, the
building is placed on the ground. Therefore, it becomes possible to reflect the
building program on the exterior through material usage. The exhibition that expands
sensual experience of the visitors is symbolized on the building facade by means of
the Korean traditional screen which is entitled as ‘Bal.’ This screen, which admits
light while it also acts as a blind that controls visual connection between the outside
and inside, represents the identity of the exhibition.207

This building is a remarkable example of human-centered design, which has become

more important in architecture as a result of post-industrial thought. It exemplifies
how materials influence the concept of the design through color, transparency, and
texture that interact with the human senses. Since semi-transparent cladding material
provides all visual connection, the perception of the darkness and historical
references to the site, it helps to constitute to the tectonics of the building.

206
Paul Keskeys. “Designing for the Blind: WISE Architecture's Dialogue in the Dark
Bukchon,” Architizer, 2015, http://architizer.com/blog/dialogue-in-the-dark/, (August 10,
2016).
207
“Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon / Wise Architecture,” ArchDaily, 2015, http://www.arch
daily.com/638801/dialogue-in-the-dark-bukchon-wise-architecture, (August 10, 2016).

84
Figure 3.22 Exterior view of Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.23 Interior view of Dialogue in the Dark Bukchon demonstrating different
material usages
Source: Ibid.

85
3.3. Independent Influence of Material on Architectural Language and the
Building Tectonics

For Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour, and Robert Venturi, the design idea that
constitutes the present-day modern architecture should be turned from the John
Ruskin’s statement that is “architecture is the decoration of construction” into the
warning of Pugin who mentions that “it is all right to decorate construction, but never
construct decoration.”208 Architecture is attached to the perception and initiation of
the experience and emotional connection. The symbolic and representational value of
architecture may be inconsistent with the structure, form, and program of the same
building. As mentioned by Brown, Izenour, and Venturi, this situation can arise in
two situations which are titled as “duck” and “decorated shed.” While duck is
described as the particular building which is a symbol, decorated shed means an
ordinary shelter that applies symbols. 209

Figure 3.24 (left) Sketch of the duck, a special building as a symbol

Source: Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour, Robert Venturi. Learning from Las Vegas: The
Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form, revised edition, Cambridge and London: The
MIT Press, 1977, pg. 88.

Figure 3.25 (right) Sketch of the decorated shed, a conventional shelter that applies
symbols
Source: Ibid., pg. 89.

208
Op. Cit., Brown, Izenour, Venturi, pg. 163.
209
Ibid., pg. 87.

86
The notion of “architecture of communication through signs over space,” leaves the
back of the building styleless because no one sees the back, while the front is applied
to signs, messages, and advertisements.210 Today, this kind of architecture, which is
referred as “the material usage free from the tectonics” in this study, has started to
penetrate the whole built environment regardless to the tectonics of architecture.
Venturi’s decorated shed and even ducks, or the scenography in architecture as
discussed by Frampton211 can be considered as a proper match with the current
ornamental facades of present-day buildings.

Even current architecture is rejecting the use of explicit symbolism and ornament, the
whole building itself has become the one big ornament itself 212 as mentioned in the
“Learning from Las Vegas,” which was written in the 1970s. Today, this
transformation of architecture into an ornament is more apparent with iconography
and electronic screens on the buildings for the sake of “bigger profits.”213

“Twenty-five years ago Las Vegas consisted of downtown with a Main Street
(Fremont Street) and the Strip in the desert. Today downtown is still pretty much
downtown, but the Strip—oops, the Boulevard—with its urban-scenographic
accessories, has become in some ways the equivalent of the shopping mall that
accommodates the pedestrian in safe and explicitly artificial environments.”214

According to Brown, Izenour, and Venturi, the unique and monumental parts of the
Strip of Las Vegas were the most changeable parts as well because “good advertising
technique requires the differentiation of the product.”215 The same logic of producing
marketed but temporary, standardized building, for which materials have been used

210
Ibid., pp. 8-35.
211
See Op. Cit., Frampton.
212
Op. Cit., Brown, Izenour, Venturi, pg. 103.
213
See Robert Venturi. Iconography and Electronics upon a Generic Architecture: A View
from the Drafting Room, Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 1996.
214
Ibid., pg. 127.
215
Op. Cit., Brown, Izenour, Venturi, pg. 34.

87
just to create advertising images, is even more valid in present day architecture.
Especially applying standardized cladding glass, which can be regarded as the very
image of any symbol on the decorated shed, on the facades of the buildings
regardless of their form, structure or function has become almost a norm of
commercial architecture. For example, Andrew Ballantyne and Chris L. Smith says:

“In established town centres there is often an insistence on more traditional materials
that match the older buildings, but out of town the steel-framed, glass-clad buildings
are everywhere, often housing useful facilities. It is safe to say that they are hardly
ever loved as buildings, but we keep building them because they answer the
imperatives of the non-human system that humans sustain. They are flexible,
adaptable and predictable (which is to say reliable). They cost significantly less
money to build than would buildings of the same size made with traditional
materials, and they can be put up far more quickly, their components coming from
wherever in the world they are currently available at the best price. The appealing
thing about these buildings is not on the plane of human experience, but on the plane
of capital.”216

Consequently, it can be proposed that regardless the motivation behind this

packaging in architecture and the type of marketing skins on the buildings (electronic
screens, printed materials, glass cladding or anything else) the result of the “vast
quantity of similar construction which has been a feeling created in the minds of
people a boring monotony,”217 should be reviewed (See Figure 4.13, Figure 4.14).

3.3.1. The Portland Building by Michael Graves, 1982

The Portland Building of Michael Graves, which exhibits prolific symbolic elements
on its monumental facades, is thought to be Postmodernist architecture’s first major
building as raised by Gili Merin. According to her, many architects, as well as the

216
Architecture in the Space of Flows, edited by Andrew Ballantyne and Chris L. Smith.
London and New York: Routledge, 2012, pg. 33
217
Doreen Yarwood. A Chronology of Western Architecture, New York: Dover
Publications, 2010, pg. 206.

88
Portlanders, have already criticized this building because of its highly-styled
elements, excessive symbolism, and references to the past and unfunctional traditional
elements on the facades. The arcades that the design incorporates provide only two
entries set above street level. Also, two small doors on the park-facing facade are
offered to enter a windowless restaurant and a back lobby. The office spaces are dark
and claustrophobic as unpleasant as the lobby. 218

Figure 3.26 Exterior view of the Portland Building with decorations on its facade
Source: Gili Merin. “AD Classics: The Portland Building / Michael Graves,” ArchDaily,
2013, http://www.archdaily.com/407522/ad-classics-the-portland-building-michael-graves,
(June 28, 2016).

218
Op. Cit., Merin.

89
Therefore, it can be asserted Portland Service Building stands as a reproachable
product of material usage regarding tectonics. It seems that the design idea that has
formed the Portland building, which is still valid in the 2000s, subdues the materiality.
It only aims to display a facade which is fully decorated regardless to the function,
structure or the program of the building. For example, the strip coverings with a cap
on them appear as a two-dimensional drawing of a column with a capital which seems
as a complete figurativeness since they are not the actual structural elements of the
building.

3.3.2. Clayton County HQ Library by Mack S. Merrill Elam Architects, 1988

“Sitting in the small office, on worn-out and mismatched furniture, the architects
noticed the speckled box. It was a small, paper-covered box sitting on the desk. In a
librarian's cramped and cluttered office, the box seemed unique and, somehow,
brilliant. "It was," explained architect Merrill Elam, "a really good-looking paper
that the box was wrapped in. It was a gray-speckled, traditional librarian's box."”219

According to the architects, this library is designed as a filling-station for information

for living life. Therefore, it is inspired by a library box which seems related to the
building program. 220

However, within the frame of material usage, the design idea, which is stated above,
makes possible to think this building as a decorated shed and even a duck of the
1980s. In addition to its remote material application on the facade, this proposition
can also be enhanced by the ‘library’ sign at the front of the stairs that lead to the
building. This building can be criticized because of its corrugated steel cover (that is
painted in black and white patches) which attempts to resemble a library box that can
be found anywhere with the same shape, colors, and texture.

219
Daniel Siliman. Clayton News-Daily, 2008, http://www.news-daily.com/news/library-s-
avant-garde-architecture-stands-test-of-time/article_d8e546c9-ccae-5b17-b84d-3f85b752
3e1e.html, (June 29, 2016).
220
Ibid.

90
Figure 3.27 Traditional librarian box as the origin of the project
Source: Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, http://msmearch.com/type/libraries/clayton-
county-headquarters-libarary, (July 11, 2016).

Figure 3.28 (left) ‘Library’ sign in front of the Clayton County HQ Library
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.29 (right) Painted in black and white corrugated steel covering on the exterior
of the Clayton County HQ Library
Source: Ibid.

91
3.3.3. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry, 1997

“Every struggling post-industrial city has the same idea: hire a star architect (like
Frank Gehry) to design a branch of a famous museum (like the Guggenheim), and
watch your city blossom with culture. After all, it worked for Bilbao ... didn’t it?”221

For Brian Pagnotta, the metallic form of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which is
formed by random curves, resembles a boat to refer the past industrial life of the port
of Bilbao. For him, the building captivates materiality that responds to an industrial
urban context.222 Although Pagnotta’s statement offers that materiality was
considered issue for the design of Guggenheim Museum, it seems contradictory to the
statements of Chris Michael who seems more credible on this issue. According to
Michael, there are clients who want to copy this building. If the materiality of the
museum to represent the history of the Bilbao was legal, Gehry should not have let
anyone copy his design to be constructed in anywhere else. However, Gehry
accepted the deal if the clients were willing to pay a lot.223

As can be seen in Figure 3.30 and Figure 3.31, the facade of the Guggenheim
Museum in Bilbao seems barely different from the facade of Weisman Art Museum
in Minneapolis although an architect should consider the relationship between the
material usage and regional context of the architectural project. At this point, it can
be proposed that for the sake of image, the aesthetical concerns are divorced from the
structural concerns which results in the subdued regard of materiality in this building.
Also, the resemblance between the non-structural metal claddings of Gehry’s
buildings makes possible to see them as ‘hit’ buildings where the material usage on
the facades is irrelevant to the tectonics.

221
Chris Michael. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/30/bilbao-effect-gehry-
guggenheim-history-cities-50-buildings, (July 11, 2016).
222
Brian Pagnotta. “AD Classics: The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao / Frank Gehry,”
ArchDaily, 2013, http://www.archdaily.com/422470/ad-classics-the-guggenheim-museum-
bilbao-frank-gehry, (July 11, 2016).
223
Op. Cit., Michael.

92
Figure 3.30 Exterior view of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with non-structural
metal cladding
Source: Op. Cit., Pagnotta.

Figure 3.31 Exterior view of the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis with non-
structural metal cladding
Source: http://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/weisman-art-museum-6463, (July
11, 2016).

93
3.3.4. Eberswalde Technical School Library by Herzog and de Meuron, 1999

Eberswalde Technical School Library is designed as a simple rectangular building

which includes three similar stories for free access libraries. According to Herzog
and de Meuron, the glazed exterior of the building provides a relationship between
the existing historic building and the library. The glass panels are imprinted with
photographic motifs by using screen-printing and the prefabricated concrete panels
are similar to these glass panels224 which makes hard to realize the difference
between two materials and turns the building into an object of the showcase.

Figure 3.32 Inconceivableness of the concrete and glass panels on the facade of
Eberswalde Technical School Library
Source: Herzog de Meuron, https://www.herzogdemeuron.com/index/projects/complete-
works/101-125/105-eberswalde-technical-school-library.html, (July 17, 2016).

224
Ibid.

94
According to Christian Schittich, Eberswalde Technical School Library is “the most
radical form of a decorated box.” The panels, which are decorated with selected
images by Thomas Ruff in relation to history, art, and science, are repeated 66 times
in horizontal arrangement while they transform the facade into a projection screen. 225
The images on the envelope include a photograph of young women, a father with his
children, a prototype of an aircraft, a photograph of Haus am Horn in Weimar,
students working in a library and as such. 226 Although some of them are related to
the building program to make the facade tell a story, as mentioned by Schittich, “they
communicate very little with regard to the context of the building.” 227

Although it can be asserted that an architect can intentionally prefer to use printed
images on a building, the cladding of the building is criticized in this study as an
example of fraudulent and dishonest use of materials that makes architectural
intentions independent from the tectonics of the building. Concrete and glass seem
indistinct because of the images, which efface both the differences of two materials
in terms of transparency, color and texture.

3.3.5. Artistic amenity Stadshaard by Cie., 2009

The Artistic amenity Stadshaard is a power station which is designed to develop an

environmental sensibility. 228 According to the architects of the building, it is an eye-
stopper and a point of reference building which acts as a gateway to the district of
Roombeek. As mentioned by them, neutral industrial structures are often situated at
the locations where are away from the city centers while the Stadshaard is located at

225
In Detail: Building Skins, edited by Christian Schittich, translated by Peter Green and
Ingrid Taylor. Basel, Boston, and Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2006, pp. 23-24.
226
Op. Cit., Löschke, pp. 19-20.
227
Ibid.
228
Architekten Cie. as quoted in “Artistic amenity Stadshaard / Cie.,” ArchDaily, 2010,
http://www.archdaily.com/67515/artistic-amenity-stadshaard-cie/, (July 17, 2016).

95
a prominent spot in Roombeek. Therefore, the site of the building can be regarded as
the architects’ questionable reason to legitimize turning the facades into a projection
screen. The architects say that the square panels with motifs are reminiscent of the
delftware tiles which often have figurative motifs that are abstractions of the daily-
life activities.229

Although the expressive motifs and symbolic depictions on the facades give a little
idea about the program of the building, it still appears as a product of any
manufacturer. Therefore, in terms of the discussions made insofar, this building
stands as another decorated box with the expressive images on it. Therefore it
becomes meaningful to think that same images can be applied on a paper cup, which
would be a trash after it becomes empty, since even the material used on the facade
resembles paper.

Figure 3.33 (left) Exterior view of the Artistic amenity Stadshaard in the district of
Roombeek
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.34 (right) Example of the printed images on the facade

Source: Ibid.

229
Ibid.

96
3.3.6. Library of Birmingham by Mecanoo, 2013

As mentioned by Christopher Henry, the metal cladding, which is asserted to

represent Birmingham’s industrial growth, covers the facades of the building. 230
Since “the goldy-glittery exterior is a bit Vegas,”231 and is designed just to exhibit the
surface, the Library of Birmingham is more of an advertisement than a building. For
Stephen Bayley, "the state of public building is a measure of a nation’s psychic
health," and this building is more a metropolitan trophy rather than space which is
designed for reading and learning. While evaluating this building, Bayley also refers
to the Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim Museum which he regards as a ‘hip’ rather
than an art gallery and adds that “Birmingham's latest public building is a result of the
city chasing the Guggenheim Effect with a demand for popular monuments."232

As discussed throughout this study, the essence of architecture is being related to a

particular place, history, culture, and values. However, the material usage on the
facades of the Library of Birmingham, which is entirely unattached to the structure
of the building and the function of the interior spaces, appears contradictory to that
essence. The intersecting circles produced through mass-production methods seem
applicable to any building irrelevantly to the context. The evidential reasoning for this
statement can be considered as the resemblance between the facades of Library of
Birmingham and Armada Shopping Center in Ankara as can be seen in Figure 3.35
and Figure 3.36.

230
Christopher Henry. “In Progress: Library of Birmingham / Mecanoo architecten,”
ArchDaily, 2011, http://www.archdaily.com/169492/in-progress-library-of-birmingham-
mecanoo-architecten/, (July 29, 2016).
231
Rowan Moore as cited in James Taylor- Foster. “Critics React to Mecanoo's Birmingham
Library,” ArchDaily, 2013, http://www.archdaily.com/426491/critics-react-to-mecanoo-s-
birmingham-library, (July 29, 2016).
232
Stephen Bayley as cited in Ibid.

97
Figure 3.35 Exterior view of the Library of Birmingham
Source: Ibid.

Figure 3.36 Intersecting circles on the facade of Armada Shopping Center in Ankara
Source: Photographed by the author.

98
Table 3.1 Comparison of the three usages of materials according to their relatedness to
the building tectonics, regarding architectural design intentions, considerations,
production methods and outcomes in terms of architectural ‘spirit’
Source: Arranged by the author according to the discussions in the third chapter based on the
literature reviews and case studies

Direct Influence Indirect Influence Independent Influence

Related with the
tectonics,
Related with the tectonics, constitutes Unattached from the tectonics,
constitutes both structure and architectural constitutes only outer
architectural language in language in terms appearance unrelated with the
terms of appearance of appearance in structure
relation to the
structure
Representational
Ontological tectonics Scenography
tectonics
Most appropriate
materials selected
Architectural design inspired after design is Mostly cheapest and available
by the inherent features, formed according within the shortest time
especially structural qualities, to considerations materials, dishonest use of
honest use of the materials and design materials
intentions, honest
use of materials

No specification about the site,

Gives references to a particular place, history, and
history or culture, possible to
culture to constitute an architectural essence
build anywhere else

Money-minded, mostly
Structural, formal and functional considerations
economical considerations

Mostly customized parts, customized architectural Mostly mass-produced parts

design and similar design
Formalist and ‘enigmatic’ to
attract attention, ephemeral
Long-lasting, unique and qualified buildings
commodified ‘object’234 with
designed in a three-dimensional way regarding
two-dimensional branding
volume and plan as well as the surface, even hand-
package on it regarding only
crafted ‘model’233 that is produced as unique
surface, decorated shed of the
current Age of Consumerism

233
See Jean Baudrillard. The System of Objects, translated by James Benedict, London and
New York: Verso, 1996.
234
Ibid.

99
100
 CHAPTER 4

DETERMINATIVE LIMITS OF THE MATERIALS SELECTION IN

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCESS

The increase in the population as well as the industrial production and the raise in the
mechanization of productive systems have necessitated larger architectural products
such as roads, bridges or buildings with more efficient systems. 235 Therefore, the
pattern of material usage has changed throughout the history beginning with the
industrial revolution as discussed with the reviews of Benevolo in the second chapter
of this study. Hence, it is possible to note that economical interest, which will be
discussed in details in the forthcoming parts, became the dominant selection factor
for materials in architecture. J. Charles and F. Crane say:

“The pattern of materials usage is constantly changing and the rate of change is
increasing. Whereas the succession of Stone, Bronze and Steel Ages can be
measured in millennia, the flow of present-day materials development causes
changes in decades; there may also be changes in the criteria that determine whether
or not a particular material can be put into large-scale use. In the past these criteria
have been simply the availability of the basic raw materials and the technological
skills of the chemist, metallurgist and engineer in converting them into useful
artefacts at acceptable ‘cost’, leading to the present situation in which the most
important materials are still steel, concrete and timber but supplemented by a
constantly increasing range of others.”236

The change in the selection factor for materials affected the architectural design
process. Before considering this case, it is useful to discuss the place of materials

235
Op. Cit., Benevolo.
236
James Charles and Frederick A. A. Crane. Selection and Use of Materials, 2nd edition,
Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., 1989, pp. 6-7.

101
selection in the design process. As noted in the previous chapter of this study,
materials either inspire a building project in which whole architectural design is
created according to specific materials and their existential properties or are selected
as assisting elements for the project after designing the building. In both cases,
consideration of materials takes an essential part in the design process. According to
Charles and Crane, all the materials and manufacturing methods, which are available
for use, should be regarded to produce an innovative design. 237

Figure 4.1 Materials selection in the architectural design process

Source: “Architects/ Engineers/ Construction,” 2012, http://www.manningsearchgroup.
org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/design.jpg, (June 5, 2016)

They explain that, mainly, decision-making part, which is described as “the part of
the process in which the designer makes choices concerning such matters as
dimensions and dimensional tolerances, materials and manufacturing methods,”238

237
Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pg. 13.
238
Ibid., pg. 10.

102
involves the materials selection part in the design processes. 239 For them, this section
of the process demands more technical information. Material properties, specific
features of different manufacturing methods and a databank of stress-analysis
formulae should be used in this part. Beside decision-making part, in the synthesis
stage of the design process, which is described as “involving the searching out and
bringing together of sufficient basic ideas for the achievement of function to an
acceptable degree”240, the materials selection should be considered as well. To
appreciate the materials implications of any design innovations entirely at the earliest
stage is critical. 241

Although the cost has become the primary factor to select materials for projects
commonly, there have been other examples, some of which are mentioned in case
studies in the third chapter of this study, with materials selection concerning the
architectural design inputs such as form, function, shape, color and as such. There are
also other factors, such as the total energy cost and recycling issues about the
materials242, which would influence materials selection more evidently in the future.
Therefore, the selection factors will be examined in three parts which will cover
materials selection according to physical design inputs (that refer line, form, space,
color, light, texture, and materials), economical reasons, and environmental
sensitivity in combination with sustainability issues.

4.1. Materials Selection According to Physical Design Inputs

“Because materials are familiar in experience and unavoidable in construction one

might assume this specification is a procedure that can be described simply and

239
Ibid., pg. 13.
240
Ibid., pg. 10.
241
Ibid., pg. 13.
242
Ibid., pg. 7.

103
 clearly; in fact the opposite is true, for it is both a rarely discussed procedure and one
that exposes strikingly obscure and indefinite thinking when questioned. Yet this
obscurity is unavoidable because material selection is inevitable.”243

Emmitt and Yeomans note that designers generally focus on the finished appearance
of the buildings while they pay a little attention to the process of producing the
building and the selection of building products and materials. However, materials
should be an inherent part of the designer's design idea even they can select the
materials on later stages of the design process. For them, correct selection of
materials, components, and products provides a good architectural design and this
selection makes up a building’s assembly.244 In the book entitled “Drafting and
Design for Architecture and Construction,” material, which constitutes and affects
other design components, is regarded as one of the architectural input.245 Therefore,
as discussed insofar, to construct a building with its designed parts, materials
selection is essential. In the following part, architectural design components and their
relation to the materials will be discussed.

4.1.1. Physical Inputs of the Design and Their Relation to the Materials

Design is composed of many elements which include line, form, space, color, light,
texture, and materials. These essential parts are the tools of architectural design. 246 In
this part, these mediums will be briefly described with existing buildings to
understand their relationship with the materials.

243
David Leatherbarrow as quoted in Stephen Emmitt and David Yeomans. Specifying
Buildings: A Design Management Perspective, Oxford: Taylor & Francis Ltd., 2001, pg. 13.
244
Ibid.
245
Dana Hepler, Donald Hepler and Paul Wallach. Drafting and Design for Architecture and
Construction, USA: Cengage Learning, 2012, pg. 22.
246
Op. Cit., Hepler, Hepler and Wallach.

104
According to Dana Hepler, Paul Wallach, and Donald Hepler, the contour or outline
of the architectural forms is defined by ‘lines’ which are straight or curved ones.
According to its type, it can create senses such as height, length or movement. For
example, while vertical lines can produce a sense of height and horizontal lines can
indicate a sense of width, curved lines represent soft and flowing movements.

Figure 4.2 (left) Empire State Building, for which reinforced concrete that enables to
construct high buildings, as an example of vertical line use
Source: Nicolás Valencia. “These Are the World’s 25 Tallest Buildings,” ArchDaily,
translated by Katie Watkins, 2015, http://www.archdaily.com/779178/these-are-the-worlds-
25-tallest-buildings, (June 29, 2016).

Figure 4.3 (right) Heydar Aliyev Center, for which glass fibre reinforced concrete and
glass fibre reinforced polyester were used due to their plasticity that enable to construct
curved forms
Source: “Heydar Aliyev Center/ Zaha Hadid Architects,” ArchDaily, 2013, http://www.arch
daily.com/448774/heydar-aliyev-center-zaha-hadid-architects, (June 29, 2016).

The second element is ‘form’ which is created through shapes that are defined by
joining lines together in a three-dimensional way. For them, the relationship between
these forms and shapes is essential. They add that form is both surrounded and filled
by another design element, ‘space.’ As mentioned, defining space as the actual object

105
and material, and space relationships are critical consideraderations in architectural
design. The fourth design input explained by Hepler, Wallach and Hepler is ‘color,’
which may be an integral part of the material and influences the final appearance of
any design. Color may be added to the manufactured products and materials, which
will be used in the building, to produce desired effects. ‘Light’ is another
architectural element, they mention, which can create a dramatic effect by reflecting
from surfaces and giving a sense of depth to a structure. Therefore, the surface of
materials is necessary to consider for the designer.247

Figure 4.4 Kohl Children’s Museum as an example of form creating a space with the
aid of light reflections through cladding material’s surface
Source: http://www.boothhansen.com.php53-14.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/projects/kohl-
children%E2%80%99s-museum/, (June 29, 2016).

247
Ibid., pp. 22-25.

106
Figure 4.5 Central St. Giles Court as an example of color added material usage in
architecture
Source: “Central St. Giles Court / Renzo Piano + Fletcher Priest Architects,” ArchDaily,
2011, http://www.archdaily.com/104147/central-st-giles-court-renzo-piano-fletcher-priest-
architects, (June 29, 2016).

Figure 4.6 Therme Vals as an example of light creating the sense of depth through the
surfaces of material used on the walls
Source: Thomas Schielke. “Light Matters: Heightening the Perception of Daylight with
Henry Plummer, Part 1,” ArchDaily, 2015, http://www.archdaily.com/626181/light-matters-
heightening-the-perception-of-daylight-with-henry-plummer-part-1, (June 29, 2016).

107
The final architectural design element which is considered by Hepler, Wallach and
Hepler is material as the raw substance of the architectural design. Hence materials
have their properties such as form, dimension, color, degree of hardness and texture;
they are automatically related with the other design elements. For example, texture,
which refers to the surface finish of an object, is a major factor in selecting proper
materials. The surface can be rough, smooth, coarse or fine based on the chosen
material and these different types of surfaces can create different senses; such as
strength and informality which is suggested by rough and dull surfaces, or luxury and
formality which is caused by smooth surfaces.248

Figure 4.7 (left) Masonry texture dominating the design in the House in Tinos
Source: “House in Tinos/ mX Architecture,” ArchDaily, 2010,
http://www.archdaily.com/54044/house-in-tinos-mx-architecture, (June 29, 2016).

Figure 4.8 (right) Different textures of materials during the refurbishment of the West
Tower in Huesca City Hall
Source: “Refurbishment of the West Tower in Huesca City Hall/ ACXT,” ArchDaily, 2012,
http://www.archdaily.com/276131/refurbishment-of-the-west-tower-in-huesca-city-hall-acxt,
(June 29, 2016).

248
Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pp. 25-26.

108
4.1.2. Importance of Experiencing Materials’ Properties

According to Schröpher, a material offers opportunities and limitations through its

properties such as transparency, texture, elasticity, fluidity and fragility while
working with it. By experimentations, it is possible to understand material's ability to
stretch, bend, hold its shape, and withstand external forces. Thus, it becomes
practicable to operate the material with aggregation, weaving, modulation, and any
other action which would be performed according to designer's goal. Just as the
material itself, material process which refers an operational logic is scale-less and
therefore, it is possible to apply this functional logic from the detail to the building
scale and beyond. 249

Figure 4.9 (left) Roca London Gallery by Zaha Hadid Architects, application of the
same operational logic in material process from furniture to the building
Source: “Roca London Gallery/ Zaha Hadid Architects,” ArchDaily, 2011,
http://www.archdaily.com/179092/roca-london-gallery-zaha-hadid-architects, (June 29,
2016).

Figure 4.10 (right) Furniture, which is designed specifically, in the Roca London
Gallery by Zaha Hadid Architects
Source: Ibid.

249
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 30.

109
As comprehended insofar, materials have a wide range of properties and examining
them provides many opportunities. Also, it should be considered that it is not
sufficient for a designer to choose a material by relying on an absolute requirement
for one property above all others. Certain backup features should be considered by
the designer as well. In this case, materials which possess a combination of
properties can be regarded as the useful ones in the design process. Although there
are exceptions, materials can be grouped or generalized according to their individual
combinations of properties. 250

Brief information about the materials, as exemplified in the previous paragraph, can
provide an overall perception to the designer. For a particular function, the designer
should have different materials options at an early stage in the design process to
choose between them. The property required should be well-understood regarding
fundamental science. However, it should also be considered that not all material
properties can be fully understood in this sort. As noted by Charles and Crane as an
example, weldability of metals should be measured to apply them in a project. Yet, it
is not possible to do it with a single parameter because of the existence of many
processes that can reveal different results from each other in terms of the overall
response of the material. Still, to select a proper material in a rational way, the
properties should be examined to see differences. As an outcome, two types of
property parameters which are fundamental parameters and ranking parameters.
While key parameters involve basic properties of materials and can be used directly
in design calculations, ranking parameters may be used to rank materials in terms of
superiority and cannot be used directly in design calculations. 251

Although generalizations and descriptions of materials’ properties, which are

discussed in previous paragraphs, can help a designer to select among many
materials, experiencing the nature of materials with senses can be regarded as more
instructive. For Schröpher, the experimentation by students and practitioners

250
Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pg. 1.
251
See Ibid., pg. 2 for more explanation on fundamental parameters and ranking parameters.

110
contributes the understanding of materials’ properties. Still, 1:1 material
investigations throughout the discipline should be realized for further understanding.
He argues that, these 1:1 kinds of advanced studies should be encouraged by
architectural education systems. As discussed by him, since the days of early
modernism, 1:1 material studies have existed. Schröpher exemplifies these studies
through the statements of Johannes Itten, who was an educator at the Bauhaus and
mindful of materials in an architect's education and gave a course about materials to
demonstrate the nature of materials as well as to make students experience materials’
character.252 About this course Itten says:

“In the Basic Course at the Bauhaus exercises with materials and textures were
found particularly stimulating. As an introduction long lists of the various materials
such as wood, glass, fabrics, bark, furs, metals, and stones were compiled. I then had
the visual and tactile sensations of these materials entered against them in further
columns. But knowledge of the words describing the properties was not enough; it
was necessary to experience and to demonstrate the character of the materials.
Contrasts such as smooth-rough, hard-soft, light-heavy had not only to be seen, but
also felt. I have always laid particular stress on the comprehension by the senses of
the typical properties of all objects. When, some time later, I was in charge of a
course to introduce architects, painters, and teachers to the problems of the Bauhaus
Basic Course, the first exercise I set was a still life. Two yellow lemons lay on a
white plate, to which I added a book with a green cover. The members of the course
felt almost insulted that they should be asked to draw something so simple. The
outlines were laid down with a few quick strokes, and then everybody looked at me
questioningly, without doubt expecting me to give them an introduction to
geometrical problems of form. Without a word I picked up the lemon cut it up and
gave each member of the course a slice to eat, asking him: ‘Have you reproduced the
essence of the lemon in your drawing?’ The answer was a sweet-sour smile and
everyone began afresh to study the still life intensely.”253

Schröpher adds that today, there are various working on more generic studies of
materials in architectural education, such as practices in the constantly updated
library of materials and material applications of Harvard University's Graduate
School of Design. By keeping records of material experimentation and active

252
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pp. 30-32.
253
Johannes Itten as quoted in Ibid.

111
explorations in the library, students are provided with the opportunity of working on
their predecessors’ studies as well as experiencing materials by handling.
Schröpher’s other examples for material libraries include New York-based material
library Material ConneXion, the Paris-based matériO, and the Swiss Material
Archiv. 254 Also, according to Bell and Rand, new materials and new uses for the
existing ones are being continually generated by global corporations like DuPont and
Weyerhauser, as a result of comprehending the importance of material studies. As
told by them, “Once merely a tool for architects and mostly confined to the realm of
engineering, materiality has now become an instrumental methodology for a clear
and bold design statement.” 255

Figure 4.11 Material library, Material ConneXion

Source: https://massartlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/mc.jpg, (June 29, 2016).

After all, studying and experiencing the properties of materials is significant to

contribute the architectural design process actually. The architectural material palette
has been limited by simple classification methods and by a lack of integrated

254
Ibid.
255
Op. Cit., Bell and Rand.

112
disciplinary exploration. Material experimentations and innovation should be
advanced to express 21st-century desires such as more complexity, crafty and
increasingly tailored architectural experiences. 256 As indicated by Schröpher, “Being
an architect means being an intermediary, the connecting link between ideas and
materials.” Therefore penetrating the nature and properties of materials is a
responsibility for him. 257

Figure 4.12 Material applications in the Harvard University's Graduate School of

Design
Source: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/images/content/6/2/v2/629177.jpg, (June 29, 2016).

256
Op. Cit. Schröpher, pg. 33.
257
Ibid., pg. 8.

113
4.2. Materials Selection Regarding Economical Considerations

For a given application, possible materials should be listed according to the required
properties, but consideration of the cost is the dominant criterion for final decisions
in most cases as noted by Charles and Crane. For example, capitalist economy
calculations, which are used in marketing, take the certainty of profit within a
foreseeable period into consideration. Therefore, manufacturers should provide a
substantial improvement in performance in materials which have more cost than
similar ones do. Otherwise, architectural firms would not prefer those costlier
materials due to increased increment of cost for the project as a whole. 258 This
example can also be explained by “cost-effectiveness and value analysis,” which are
clarified by Charles and Crane. While value is defined as “the extent to which the
appropriate performance criteria are satisfied,” cost is defined as “what has to be paid
to achieve a particular level of value.” The consideration of the properties of a given
design and material would be relevant to the extent that they are cost-effective. In
other words, it is preferable for an architectural firm to dispense from a higher level
of “value” to reduce costs.259

In the manner of cost considerations, time management can be regarded as a sub-

consideration. For example, delays in completion can be very costly. In terms of
materials selection, frequently, many materials would not obtainable within the
maximum time permitted for decisions. Therefore, the best available materials would
be preferred even it means a loss in the technical advantage. Also, many designers
frequently select materials in haste without the use of best possible data, or the
benefit of the most up-to-date experience because of time limitations. 260

258
Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pg. 17.
259
Ibid., pg. 18.
260
Ibid., pp. 13-15.

114
4.2.1. The Influence of Market Economy on Architectural Design Decisions and
Materials Selection

“In the past two decades, economic bubbles inflated and architectural spending
around the globe reached a fever pitch. In both well-established centers of capital
accumulation and far-flung locales heretofore seldom uttered in the same breath as
the name of any Pritzker Prize winner, audacious building projects sprang up like
mushrooms after a good rain. At the same time, the skyscraper, heretofore more
commonly associated with the hurly-burly of American capitalism seemed only a
few years ago as if it might pack up and relocate permanently from Chicago and
New York and settle instead in Dubai and Shanghai.”261

As indicated in the quotation above, Benjamin Flowers explains how architecture has
suffered from capitalism which directs the economical fields around the world in the
book entitled “Architecture in an Age of Uncertainty.” He says that as a result of
capital power struggles and Great Recession, the decline in the employment for
architects and the numbers of students preferring to study architecture have been
observed. On the other hand, for the firms which are involved in the ‘starchitect262
universe,’ architecture remains profitable. Plenty of super- luxury projects have been
generated because of the increasing purchasing power of the wealthy, which has been
rooted in recession's paradoxical effect. Economical reasons have come to define
architecture while the thinking about materials related to architecture has changed as
well. 263

Paradigm shifting experiences such as 9/11, ecological disaster on a growing scale,

the explosion of architectural projects over the world, and global recession have
characterized the current era as specified by Flowers. Entirely new urban landscapes
and a lot of building projects have been spread around the world because of financial

261
Benjamin Flowers. Architecture in an Age of Uncertainty, edited by Benjamin Flowers.
London and New York: Routledge, 2016, pg.1.
262
Benjamin Flowers uses the term ‘starchitect’ to criticize the architects who are celebrities
with their iconic buildings and paid well although most of their projects have become
money-minded. See, Ibid., pp. 2-13.
263
Ibid. pp. 1-2.

115
speculation and remarkable sums of capital from East and West. According to
Flowers, most of these projects, of which architecture he regards as ‘a means rather
than an end’ such as in the case of Herzog& de Meuron’s 1111 Lincoln parking
garage which was built to guarantee approval for construction of the retail space at
the ground level, include non-architectural matter. His citation from an architect who
says “It is just a business,” about his projects for wealthy but suspect clients
summarizes his discussion about the situation of architecture and profit. Flowers
adds that “as the wealthy and powerful grow more so, so too is there an increase in
the perceived power of architecture to cloak that wealth and power.”264

According to Karl Marx, as cited by William Mangold, when something can be

regarded as a commodity, to exploit it becomes possible. Capitalists become able to
generate a profit by making labor power turned into sellable commodities while also
payment for the labor has been less than the value of the commodities produced. For
Marx, while “use-value” means the real amount of labor put into an item, “exchange-
value,” means a subjective amount established through social interaction. 265

Mangold mentions that architecture, which has turned into a commodity through
capitalism, has been exploited in current milieu of capitalist production and
consumption. For example, in both scales of materials and buildings, architecture is
commodified through purchase and sale. Therefore, their “use-value” is ignored
because of evaluating them with their quantified “exchange-value.”266

The other case which concerns this study and discussed by Mangold is the current
tendency of focusing on practical matters instead of debating aesthetics. As noted,
the consideration of aesthetic can be regarded as irrelevant, superfluous and a waste

264
“Architecture in an Age of Uncertainty: Tales from the Recent Architectural Past,” in
Ibid., pp. 5-11.
265
Karl Marx as cited in William Mangold. “Architecture and the Vicissitudes of
Capitalism,” in Op. Cit., Flowers ed., pg. 16.
266
Ibid., pg. 17.

116
of money because the practical concerns of how people live in places are not really
challenged or modified by the design with aesthetical concerns. He adds that
buildings are standardized because of the lack of time for research or to develop
projects thoroughly. He explains these regulated projects with a quoted term which is
“value-engineered”267 that describes “the process capitalists use to extract the most
profit from their projects, confronts architects at every step and aptly summarizes the
ways in which architecture is exploited.”268

Although there have been exceptions some of which are exemplified in the second
chapter of this study, designers have tended to produce the same type of buildings
with standard materials, such as the high-rise buildings with glass claddings which
are shown in Figure 4.13 and Figure 4.14, as a result of concerns about cost and time.
Another example of standardization is given by Margarette Leite who explains that
some of the mass-produced modular structures, which are the products of faster and
cheaper process than customized design process, make its way to the marketplace
which still demands ever-cheaper products with ever-shorter time frames. 269

Leite regards modular structures as an advantageous method to provide buildings in

the circumstances of current economic struggles; yet, she still questions the
possibility of producing a better, greener, more adapted to human needs and more
aesthetically appealing product. For her, to create her ideal architectural product,
which requires more money and more time, has become almost impossible because
of the current model of the economy in the world. 270

267
Cliff Moser. “Using Active Value Engineering for Quality Management,” The American
Institute of Architects, 2009, as cited in Ibid., pg. 20.
268
Ibid.
269
Margarette Leite. “Faster Better Cheaper: Social Process for a Modular Future,” in Op.
Cit., Flowers ed., pp. 25-40.
270
Ibid., pg. 31.

117
Figure 4.13 High-rise buildings in New York City
Source: http://280madison.com/wp-content/themes/280-madison/images/slides/2.jpg, (29
June, 2016).

Figure 4.14 High-rise buildings in Dubai

Source: Michael Aynsley. “The World’s 10 Tallest Buildings of 2015,” ArchDaily, 2014,
http://www.archdaily.com/567003/the-world-s-10-tallest-new-buildings-of-2015, (29 June,
2016).

118
4.2.2. New Materials Selection Methods in the Age of Consumerism

As told by Charles and Crane, mistakes in an architectural design process such as

incorrect calculations about materials’ properties or wrong time management can be
very costly. With the development of computer-aided design in recent times, the
designer has been allowed to use more sophisticated theory in the design process.
Therefore, he has become more confident and ready to work closer to the margin of
failure.271 As mentioned by National Research Council, the most up-to-date
information about materials’ properties, knowledge of factors such as life-cycle
costs, and available materials for a design can be provided by the use of computer-
aided systems which can reduce cost and design rework. These systems can also
provide archiving of materials selection decisions for future reference through their
learning capabilities. Within the cost-performance criteria and particular set of
product characteristics, designers can select from an expanded range of possible
materials and manufacturing methods which can be ensured by these systems. 272

According to Schröpher, with the developments in computer modeling, complex

three-dimensional virtual models have been started to be used by the designers and
contractors to conduct business. For example, in many areas of construction,
Building Information Modeling has become standard to respond the desires to inhabit
buildings in which materials are given back their third dimension. Also, it has
become easier to consider the temporal properties of, for example, smart materials,
which change their properties under changing conditions, through computer
modeling.273 Schröpher adds that new rapid prototyping and fabrication techniques
which have been developed through the advancements in computational design,
allow producing customizable products. Custom components have become easier to

271
Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pg. 13.
272
Computer –Aided Materials Selection During Structural Design, Washington, D. C.:
National Academy Press, 1995, pg. 1.
273
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 24.

119
build with a relatively low cost through digital fabrication tools. As a result of these
new techniques, the designer’s selection of material has been influenced according to
the parameters of computer systems. 274

On the other hand, computer-aided design can also be a limitation in terms of

integration of formation and materialization. According to the architects Achim
Menges and Michael Hensel, the design process should be generated by the material
systems. In the architectural design; form, material, and structure should be in
complex interrelations. Computer modeling is criticized by them because “"the
underlying impoverished notion of form generation, which refers to various digitally
driven processes resulting in shapes that remain detached from material and
construction logics."275

Figure 4.15 Screenshot of three-dimensional model and material browser from Revit
Architecture

274
Ibid., pp. 171-178.
275
Achim Menges and Michael Hensel as cited in Ibid., pg. 171.

120
Figure 4.16 Screenshot of material editor from Maya Maxwell

In addition to computational materials selection methods, to have associations with

active materials group to consult about materials can be regarded as a fresh way to
select proper materials in the design process. According to William Cavanaugh,
Gregory Tocci, and Joseph Wilkes, new architectural design teams include many
specialists such as foundation, structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing
engineers. When the design process and building become more involved, consultants
are needed to get advice.276 For Inglis, as cited by Charles and Crane, every design
office of significant size should be advised by its materials group or external
consultants about materials at the possible earliest stage of conception.277 For
example, it is feasible to overlook the importance of a specific, precise condition
about a particular material because of the complexity of the high-grade applications

276
Architectural Acoustics: Principles and Practice, edited by William Cavanaugh, Gregory
Tocci and Joseph Wilkes. New Jersey: John Wiley& Sons, Inc., 2010, pg. xi.
277
N. P. Inglis as cited in Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pg. 13.

121
with modern materials. In order not to do this, multi-disciplinary design team, of
which members can be a group of specialists and even material consultants, should
be involved in the design process. In that kind of complex projects, to incorporate
with a materials engineer can ensure the remedy at the possible earliest time, for
example before any materials and methods would be selected, for the full
implications of possible service hazards. 278

4.3. Materials Selection Regarding Sustainability and Environmental Sensitivity

As mentioned before, environmental issues regarding materials selection are already

present, but they are not the dominant factors in general. On the other hand, they
appear to become the ruler of the materials selection as well as the architectural
design process as a result of new environmental concepts. According to Charles and
Crane, the total energy cost of a material and the ease to recycle it can be considered
as two possible additional factors which can have more exceptional importance for
materials selection in the future. These two considerations arise out of the concept
“Spaceship Earth,” which means the limited resources of the planet. For example,
while concrete is a low-energy material, yet not recyclable; titanium is high-energy
material that can be recycled uneasily and dearly. Some metals including steels can
be recycled with relative ease, and some plastics are recyclable to a measurable
extent by current methods.279

In similar with Charles and Crane, Scröpher mentions the issues sustainability,
energy efficiency, and material lifecycles in relation to the future’s possible
dominant considerations of materials selection and architecture. He says that ‘green
movement,’ has affected building industry and materials to an unrivaled extent. 280 It

278
Ibid.
279
Op. Cit., Charles and Crane, pg. 7.
280
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 178.

122
is described in the book entitled “Ideas and Actions in the Green Movement,” as that
“radical, political and social changes are necessary to deal with the ecological crisis.
These changes would result in a new kind of society, based on a new relationship
with the natural world, a more radical democracy, and much greater social
equality.”281 In an online dictionary which provides directly related definition
concerning the production of the building industry, the green movement is defined as
“a popular movement urging production and use of environmentally harmless
consumer goods.”282

As a result of increasingly prioritized considerations which are mentioned in the

previous paragraphs, some designers use solutions such as rammed earth, radiant
floor heating, solar cells, wind quills, blinds and lighting systems through remote-
controlled switches, or passive climatization through phase-changing materials which
release heat energy by changing their state to reduce energy requirements. Schröpher
says that chemistry, biology, and thermodynamics have started to have more
remarkable roles than physics has, in order to facilitate comfort levels in the
buildings, as a consequence of the increasing utilization of the new technologies. 283

While some architects and clients have pioneered ‘green design,’ regulatory agencies
and many governments have started to set up standards to encourage sustainable
buildings. Through these standards and certified environmental credentials which
include for example Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
ranking system of the United States, the impact of buildings on the environment have
been rated and ranked. The LEED ratings are based on five classes which are
sustainable site development, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, water
saving and material selection. Other ranking systems include the seal of quality of
the German Society for Sustainable Building (DGNB), BRE Environmental

281
Brian Doherty. Ideas and Actions in the Green Movement, London and New York:
Routledge, 2005, pg. 1.
282
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/green+movement, (02 July, 2016).
283
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pp. 178-179.

123
Assessment Method in the United Kingdom, the HOE in France, and the Green Star
in Australia.284

The use of novel solutions to reduce energy requirements can be cased with the
LEED-certified Turkish Contractor’s Association Headquarters, which is remarkable
because of its environmental design approaches. For example, to utilize diurnal
temperature range of the local climate, an underground cooling labyrinth system,
which uses thermal mass and optimizes building’s environmental performance, is
employed. Therefore, the energy demand is reduced to provide comfort in response
to changing external temperatures. Its outer skin, which is made of two layers, is
considerable as well. While the first layer consists of a frameless glass to glass or
glass to metal facade panel system, the second one is produced with stainless steel
mesh shading. This screening system provides occupants visual relationship with the
outside and gives a response to the solar orientation and exposure to sunlight.
Greywater and rainwater recycling, recycling stations, solar panels, solar cells,
bicycle racks are some of the other applications in the building. 285

This building is also remarkable for its material consciousness. While natural
materials including timber and stone are preferred, the use of local materials to
minimize environmental impact is paid regard. For example, marble from
Kastamonu, which is another Turkish city, is used as an external rain screen cladding
system. The rain water drains the facade out through the joints between the stone
panels. 286

284
Ibid., pg. 180.
285
AVCI Architects as cited in “Turkish Contractor’s Association HQ/ AVCI Architects,”
ArchDaily, 2014, http://www.archdaily.com/503937/turkish-contractor-s-associaton-hq-
avci-architects, (July 04, 2016).
286
Ibid.

124
Figure 4.17 Turkish Contractor’s Association Headquarters
Source: Ibid.

Figure 4.18 External mesh shading of the Turkish Contractor’s Association

Headquarters
Source: Ibid.

125
LEED-Certified 1315 Peachtree, which is an adaptive reuse of an existing office
structure that was deconstructed, by Perkins+Will Architects is another one of the
remarkable examples in the frame of sustainable buildings. The residual materials
obtained from the deconstruction were donated to 20 non-profit organizations for
reuse with local needs. According to Karissa Rosenfield, while medicinal plants were
planted in the civic plaza, remediated and organic soil has been left uncompressed to
provide healthy root system for the trees. Other environmentally sensitive
applications in this building include natural daylighting, cooling systems which use
water rather than air, raised floor systems which provide fresh air ventilation,
occupancy sensors, radiant heating/cooling, rooftop energy-recovery wheel, highly
efficient equipment, a heat recovery unit, two MicroTurbines which produce
electricity. Also, high-performance curtain wall and glazing system which prevent
solar heat gain and glare from the west are applied at the 5th-floor atrium. These
applications contribute to the energy efficiency of the building. The use of the
chlorofluorocarbons, Freon, lithium bromide, or ammonia has been replaced by the
use of water as the refrigerant and silica gel as the desiccant for the adsorption
chiller. Therefore, the potential for damage to upper-level atmospheric ozone,
hazardous material leaks, aggressive corrosion and chemical testing are eliminated.

Regarding material usage, Rosenfield states the use of porous materials which has
replaced hardscaping for providing a solution to the region’s water issues. Through
this system, rainwater is harvested and stored. Then, collected water is used for flush
fixtures and landscape irrigation while overflow water is filtered under the plaza to
be used for recharging aquifers. Another environmentally sensitive use of materials
can be observed from paints and wall graphics to the carpets and the furniture. The
toxic substances in the materials and products which are used in the building are
reduced to help provide a clean, healthy indoor air quality with the aid of under-floor
air distribution.287

287
Karissa Rosenfield. “Exemplar of Sustainable Architecture: 1315 Peachtree/
Perkins+Will,” ArchDaily, 2012, http://www.archdaily.com/215002/exemplar-of-
sustainable-architecture-1315-peachtree-perkinswill, (July 6, 2016).

126
Figure 4.19 1315 Peachtree with plants and organic soil nearby
Source: Ibid.

Figure 4.20 (left) Steel trellis and motorized shade system to protect the space from too
much sun penetration
Source: Ibid.

Figure 4.21 (right) Use of porous materials for region’s water issues
Source: Ibid.

127
According to Schröpher, the management of the materials during the design process
and construction directs the environmental effects of building industry. Therefore,
comprehending the nature and history of building materials as well as the new energy
harnessing technologies is critical while creating sustainable environments. In this
manner, using local and recyclable materials from renewable resources is
essential. 288

As cited by Schröpher, William McDonough and Michael Braungart clarify that

‘cradle-to-cradle’ lifecycles in the production process may be considered as a
solution to the conflict between industrialism and environmentalism. The waste of
industries can be used for goods and services by turning the present open-loop
industrial system of "take, make, and waste" into a closed circuit. 289

Figure 4.22 (left) ICEhouse by William McDonough

Source: Eric Oh. “William McDonough Unveils ICEhouse™, The Next Step in the Circular
Economy,” ArchDaily, 2016, http://www.archdaily.com/780655/william-mcdonough-
unveils-icehouse-the-next-step-in-the-circular-economy, (July 6, 2016).

Figure 4.23 (right) Steel structure and exterior cladding of NASA Sustainability Base
Source: William McDonough and Partners, http://www.mcdonoughpartners.com/projects/
nasa-sustainability-base/, (July 6, 2016).

288
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 180.
289
William McDonough and Michael Braungart as cited in Ibid., pg. 181.

128
The ICEhouse, which is designed by William McDonough, is an example of cradle-
to-cradle design as explained by Eric Oh. This house, which is designed with a
simple, structural system, can be built and rebuilt in just a few days. While it can be
adapted to local materials, it allows endless reuse and relocation. 290 Another example
is NASA Sustainability Base, which is designed by McDonough and AECOM. It
utilizes a braced frame which reduces the amount of steel in terms of weight. Also,
the amount of material required for construction is reduced by using lightweight
insulated metal panel cladding. Technical and biological cycles, as well as the
recyclability and locality of the materials, are also concerned. For example, the
concrete, steel, glass and aluminum in the building have high recycled content and
are regionally available. Also, the steel structure of the building enables to dismantle
or to repair the structure quickly while pre-fabricated unitized components are used
for exterior cladding.291

In the context of sustainability and environmental sensitivity, Schröpher continues,

architects have started to be interested in biology and chemistry. For example, in
Philippe Rahm’s Convective Museum and Housing and Studio for Dominique
Gonzalez-Foerster the spaces are defined by controlling the air through hot and cold
elements, without walls. 292 Rahm explains his design idea as follows:

“Today, confronted with the will to economize energy resources, the demand is to
set up in each building, and even each room, a precisely calculated thermal capacity
in order to expend only the energy that is strictly necessary. Instead of warming all
the space at the good temperature around 20°C, we propose to create in the house
two sources of heat, like two different thermal poles creating a thermodynamic
tension inside the all house: one pole is cold at 15 °C and situated in the upper layers
of air of the house. The opposite pole is warm, at 22°C situated in the lower layers of
the space. A movement of air will be generated by this difference of temperatures
and positions in the space. With the help of thermal model software, we analyze the

290
Op. Cit., Oh.
291
“NASA Sustainability Base / William McDonough + Partners and AECOM,” ArchDaily,
2012, http://www.archdaily.com/231211/nasa-sustainability-base-william-mcdonough-
partners-and-aecom, (July 6, 2016).
292
Op. Cit., Schröpher, pg. 181.

129
 variation of temperature and his distribution in all the space and find then places for
activities, according to specific temperatures. The project process is thus reversed:
an indoor climate is first produced and after, functions are freely chosen anywhere in
the space related to the thermal quality required depending on activities, clothes,
personal desires. An ecologic and economic gain is obtained at the same time by
creating in the whole house a low average of temperature at 18°C instead of the
20°C in a normal heating system.”293

Using natural occurrences, which include wind flows, fluid dynamics, heat flows and
such, is a recent interest of many architects to generate new forms in architecture.
These developments and the move toward sustainable architecture have new
potentials to provide new inspirations and forms in architecture.294 According to
discussions and case studies made insofar, it is also possible to say that, this new
tendency to be environmentally sensitive in building projects would be dominant
requirement for a designer in the future. Therefore, both the architectural design
process and materials selection would be based on these new concerns.

293
Philippe Rahm. http://www.philipperahm.com/data/projects/interiorgulfstream/, (July 6,
2016).
294
Op. Cit., Schröpher.

130
 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION:
THE DECEPTION OF THE CURRENT MATERIAL USAGE

Although the scientific and technological improvements have provided new materials
and construction techniques for the building industry, it seems that the
transformation of the architectural concerns, which are about formal, structural or
functional expressions, in particular by the economical interests has constituted an
impediment on ‘materiality’ in architecture. Also, this alteration in considerations
has led the preference of standardization in design which has started mainly in the
Industrial Period, instead of the customization of the buildings. Customized design,
which is combined with the use of materials’ full potential in the building projects,
would prosper the building environment. However, the current tendency seems as to
design projects without regard to the materials associated with the tectonics, and
turning buildings into a ‘sign’295 or a commodified ‘object.’296

Market economy and commodification of the current period, which have started
twenty plus years ago, have favored relegating the “avant-garde” consideration of
material as a part of a conceptual project to a technical discourse. Based on this
technical discussion, a pedantic history of the building and materials was founded
sufficient instead of comprehending the history of architecture fully. 297 As a result of

295
Heidegger as cited in Op. Cit., Frampton, pg. 93.
296
See Jean Baudrillard. The System of Objects, translated by James Benedict, London and
New York: Verso, 1996.
297
Op. Cit., Borden and Meredith, pg. 2.

131
increasing commodification of the architectural products, the signs and boards in
front of the buildings in Las Vegas as told by Brown, Izenour, and Venturi298, have
become the deceptive ‘show-card’ skins to envelope the building in a two-
dimensional way around the world.

According to Francesco Proto, when Brown, Izenour, and Venturi mentioned about
the facade that is overloaded with commercial signs and detached from the building,
it was not as much apparent as today it is. Although they corroborated the expression
through signs in architecture, converting a building into a sign was criticized by
them. Since then, through the idea of decoration, the architectural organism has been
increasingly oversimplified which means that the ideas of Brown, Izenour, and
Venturi about the decorated shed has been assimilated all over the world. The
enormous and flat facade of the Venturi’s shed turned to be conformed as a prototype
for the show of signs and symbols. Therefore, it seems to be superseded the
significance attributed to any other feature of the building process. 299 According to
Scott Brown, with the use of marketing facades, “spectecularisation of architecture,”
which can be observed through Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, has been
achieved to catch people’s attention to the buildings and bring the people in the cities
of which market needs to boom. 300 However, as mentioned in the fourth chapter with
the case of Guggenheim, creating same buildings in different places coincides with
the money interests rather than the essence of architecture.

In addition to the increasing interest in creating current sheds, it should be mentioned

that the messages on these existing coverings have been selected by the other people
such as clients or contractors, not by the architects in every project. While the
ambition to make money has increased, the voice of the designer has started to be

298
Op. Cit., Brown, Izenour, and Venturi.

Francesco Proto. “The Old Thing Called Flexibility: An Interview with Robert Brown and
299

Denise Scott Brown,” Architectural Design: Theoretical Meltdown, Vol. 79, No. 1, edited by
Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi, January-February 2009, Wiley, pp. 70-71.
300
Denise Scott Brown as cited in Ibid., pg. 72.

132
ignored. Therefore, it has been inevitable to prevent the separation of the spatial
concerns of the city and the architectural projects as a result of the globalized gilded
world. Also, by regarding the current economic slowdown and new concerns of the
current age such as climate change, shortage of water, food, and energy, both
architectural products and architects have become a marketing instrument or
branding package.301 The main reason behind this situation can be considered as the
designers’ interest for easy recognition which makes their projects resemble each
other.302

The use of digital tools for the sake of spending less time to produce a project as well
as to select proper materials with minimized failure within the framework of
marketing appears as another director of creating signs in architecture. The increased
claims for cost-effectiveness and profit that are combined with the higher level of
complexity of the buildings have led architects to rely more on computer-aided
design to produce buildings as ‘profitable images’ in a shorter time.

Producing three-dimensional models and visuals as well as the two-dimensional

engineering and architectural drawings in an accurate, speedy and detailed way have
been enabled by the computer-aided design. Although drawing sketches on papers
manually as a method of problem-solving in the design process has still been valid,
computational programs have been treated as the dominant instrument of design once
the project has evolved. To make revisions quickly with consistency, clarity, and
flexibility and to produce working drawings or to test out the design and enhance it,
the digital systems have been heavily counted.303

Digital information systems seem to facilitate the architectural design process; yet,
the drawbacks of them on the architectural projects and buildings should be

301
Michele Costanzo. “Twenty Years After Deconstructivism: An Interview with Bernard
Tschumi,” in Op. Cit., Puglisi ed., pg. 25.
302
Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi in Ibid., pg.10.
303
Op. Cit., Conway and Roenisch, pg. 109.

133
eliminated to create sufficient designs regarding the ‘spirit’ of the architecture. As
comprehended heretofore, this study is not intended to propose not to use any
computational program while designing a building. However, it should be considered
that, although the images and digital models of the buildings may seem to be three-
dimensional with realistic material applications on them, the designer is only able to
see them on a two-dimensional screen. Therefore, evaluating these models to
comprehend how the proposed built form will look like in relation to its surroundings
and physical materials that would be used according to the project is still a problem.
The interrelation between form, material, and structure in the physical world may be
more complex than it appears in the digital media. However, it seems that in order to
increase the marketability of the buildings, designers have not considered these
interrelations as well as the materiality issues throughout the whole design process
including the part when computer aid is involved.

As discussed insofar, since architectural design process and the considerations of the
designers have been reshaped as a result of new cultural priorities, increasing
expectations of the consumerist society, mass-production and standardization as well
as flexible manufacturing processes including digital production, it seems that the
features of architecture such as to resist time, to belong a specific context, to give
references to a particular period in history, region and culture have been lost.
Buildings have become similar ‘objects’ that are produced through mass-
manufacturing all over the world while they have been presented as custom-designed
‘models’. As mentioned by Jean Baudrillard, ‘objects,’ have irrevocable features and
parts that provide the function of that object such as the engine of a car. Since people
of the current consumerism age demand individualisation of the ‘objects,’ it is only
possible to make alterations in the appearance such as adding accessories to the
coachwork of the automobile. Therefore, the demand for the personalization of the
objects brings extrinsic additions to the object.304 Since same philosophy has been
applied in architecture, the context of architectural identity has been reduced to an
external view of the buildings. Accordingly, the association between materials and

304
Op. Cit., Baudrillard, pp. 137-142.

134
building tectonics has been disregarded while dishonest use of materials has been
preferable among the designers to justify the transformation of the buildings into
commodified objects. However as mentioned by Borden and Meredith:

“…. we are part of the fields of matter, materials are matter, and matter is always
connected to all other matter, the notion of negating materiality is no longer
ontologically possible. Architects and architecture are part of mutually
interdependent material networks composed of neurons, trees, electricity, finance, et
cetera, all together. We operate in the context of simultaneous and dynamic forces to
which all matter is subject and with which all matter participates, amplifying and
mitigating and being amplified or mitigated in turn.”305

Although there has been a shift towards to ‘a more practical model of design’ in
which material performance has been taken into consideration, understanding
materials as protagonists rather than an assistant to form and appearance has not been
still appreciated by most of the architects. This incompetence should be covered to
make the built form the ‘thing’ instead of the ‘sign,’ since built form is “a presence
rather than something standing for an absence.” Through inventing new methods
which would help to constitute “the sense of denaturalized, destabilized, and
contingent matter-as-material, matter-as-social, and matter-as-fabrication-
306
technologies,” the ‘significance’ of materials should not be underrated anymore.

Therefore, this study criticizes the current situation that shows regarding materials
just as the final touch in the design process to decorate the buildings has become a
general norm in architectural thinking. To preclude this norm before it triggers
architecture to lose its significant status as a discipline, this study claims that actually
comprehended notion of ‘materiality’ and to appreciate the significance of materials
through by their nature can be functional instruments to prevent the current
dissolution of architecture as an object in the built landscape.

305
Op. Cit., Borden and Meredith.
306
Ibid.

135
Since current system of building industry generally steers architects to subdue
materiality in projects, architectural education can be asserted as the crucial step for
them to comprehend the significance of materials in architecture. Design courses in
company with the materials studies as well as the researches about the materiality in
architecture would provide foresight about the effects of materials on design issues
both to students and professionals in architecture. Although, it seems that monetary
concerns of present employers force designers to make decisions mainly in the frame
of ‘cost-effectiveness’ and to turn buildings into ‘commodified objects,’ the priority
of the architects should still be creating spaces worth to live in for the occupants, not
just to exhibit to them. As exemplified through case studies in the first two parts of
the third chapter, it is still possible to constitute qualified built forms that would be
long-lasting and consistent with the spirit of the architecture by the progressive and
contemplator interrelatedness of the materials and the components of the
architectural design, especially the building tectonics.

136
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