Idea above style. Sustainable architecture

Barbara Widera

Abstract

The development of modern architecture is a complex process, the roots of which lie in the attitude towards tradition and cultural heritage, current state of knowledge in the field of constructing and technologies associated with the building industry, the author’s philosophical and aesthetic viewpoints, the character of location, climatic requirements, functional circumstances, end-user needs, investor’s expectations and law regulations. On this complicated background, however, certain values become predominant over the others, creating designing attitudes and, consequently, shaping architectural trends. Due to the constantly increasing pace of life in the 20th century, architectural currents were changing faster and faster to finally reach a blurry state at the beginning of the new millennium. In the 1990s solutions for these multiple correlations were sought within three main designing methods. The first one, continuing the idea of the so called white modernism, proposed forms based on simple and clear geometry. By the end of the century, their abstract and sublime character was emphasized. Modernist thought was often combined with Zen philosophy, with an expectation that the architecture would calm down emotions and create a favourable background for spiritual and intellectual development. Puristic solutions, based on overriding principles and harmonizing contradictions of the surrounding world were preferred.

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