A Study on the Corporlity and Spirit of Surface in the Works of Mies van der RoheLEE, Byung wook Dept. of Architectural Eng.The Graduate School of Han Yang UniversitySupervised by Prof. Park, Yong Hwan, Ph.D.Mies van der Rohe is representative of moer...
A Study on the Corporlity and Spirit of Surface in the Works of Mies van der RoheLEE, Byung wook Dept. of Architectural Eng.The Graduate School of Han Yang UniversitySupervised by Prof. Park, Yong Hwan, Ph.D.Mies van der Rohe is representative of moern architecture. His works are recognized to be the result of reason and objectivity as established throughthe notion of mechanical rationalism. Technology is the terminology that isrevealed when Mies's works are mentioned. The viewpoints limiting thenotion of technology have been extended and justified, and this has convertedeven the field of art to that of technology. Through this process, Mies'sdedication to art became forgotten and silent, and became understood as thesecondary field of technologyThe spatial concept that is revealed as the key notion of modernarchitecture is based upon scientific development and reasoning rationalityThis has resulted in the conversion of space itself to become the object ofnathematics,and thus has brought on the termination of thespiritual realm which had existed since ancient times.The time-space andtranstparency in modern architecture have changed the classification of thehistory of architecture form that of form to a spatial viewpoint. Thus, formnow belongs to space and is deprived of corporality in the topic ofarchitecture. Hovever, the main principle of modern western philosophy isdualistic thought. This dualism, which is represented by spirit and reality,soul and flesh, life and death, and sensibility and non-sensibility resolveshuman thoughts and experiences that is,one is the basis of the oter, andboty have inseparable relationships. Modern architecture which emphasized theremoval of exterior outlines and surface has brought on doubt in relation tothe identity of architecture. Current discourse on the body can be understood as the extension of this circumstance.
This purpose of paper is to idendtify the body as the physical substance and the spirit as art which are ignored in an analysis of Mies's works. To do this, the paper describes the meaning of the buliding exterior, as a physical substance, to be a visible object, a symbol which represents the epochal matter of concern and human will. In addition, by recognizing the role of the exterior of a building ans the medium which influences spatial limits, this paper argues that we should understand architecture as a space making through a corporal making and recognize the importance of corporality in architecture.
This papaer identifies the spiritual value whice is inherent in Mies's architectural thinking. The word, 'Baukunst' that Mies uses in reference to architectural reveals this thought that architecture is achieved through technical problems and creative power. Baukunst is a combination of Bauactual state and Kunstspiritual state, and both meanings are fused into the new notion.
Thus Baukunst is understood to be a limitless spiritual sensation which comes from the recognition of absence through substance.
In light of the machine-theory thinking, time-space, and the abstract notion of transparency in modern architecture as interpreted in the preliminary study from a perspective of instrument, the corporality and spiritual meaning in the works of Mies can be expressed and summarized as follows:
1. Mies arguably recognized the importance of the visible reality of external appearance. Although Mies expansively and actively incorporated glass, a representative material of modern architecture, into his works, the prime value governing his works was their corporalit. Cosidering that all human cognizant activities take place within the boundaries set by the visibilitiy and tactility of things, the visible reality of the external appearances of Mies's architecture,primarily composed of the transposed of the transparency of glass and technical possibility of the reinforced frames, reveals its existence by means of the light reflected off the glass surface, the sculprural effects of the I-section steel, and the visual emphasis and frame provided by the surfaces of the materials used.
That Mies emphasized visual recognition enabled by the light reflected off the glass surfaces as a means of overcoming the transpare nature of glass in an effort to add weight to his architectural works, and emboldened the visible recognition of the glass surfaces by adding the sculptural effects of the I-section steel supports that he was interstedin the matters of visible recognition and expression of architecture.
In terms of realizing an infinite space in particular, which has been an aspiration of modern architecture, Mies reveals the visible reality of the external surfaces by clearly delineating the architectural shapes through emphasizing the surfaces and clearly defining the frames. In the expansion of sapce through the fragmentation of the walls, the walls are recognixed and experienced as visual objects, separate form the pillars as strutures, and then are further emphasized by the virtue of their materials. In the expansion of space using the frame, the pillars that are vertical architectural elements and the roof and the floor that are horizontal elements are recognized as a unified whole, thanks to the solid connection between them. As a whole, these elements constitute minimal visual objects that define the architecutral corproality and the media generating the maximum spatial effects at once.
2. The classic frame structures of Mies's works are refined, abstract products form aesthetically processing technolgy. They convey a certain spiritual sublime. Considering that spiritual sublime is based on the visual clearness of the shapes and the mental ability to imagine something larger than what is presented, the classic frame strutures as seen in Mies's wroks can be understood as the visual media embodying the clearness of the shapes as well as the mental framesorks that allow the viewer to imagine a whole larger space.
The architectural shapes completed by the flow from the base through the pillars to the roof rsetore cleat lines and visible outlines to the overall works and emphasize a meditative symmetry that represents the perfection-pursuing asetectics of classicism. The classic shapes of Mies's works, which symblize the permanence in the loss of time, represent the return to the architectural scent or aura that had been lost in modern architecture. Their monumentality attests to the objentivity of speiritual values of architecture.
The spatial wholeness and classic shapes of Mies's architectural works represent the Hellecnic spirit, a mental cradel of Western civilization, by showing the statley and clearly-defined structures and the capacity of the mind to imagine sonething magnificent. The aesthetic purpose of the classic frames is to lead the viewer to stretch his mental imagination almost infinitely so that he can recognize the overall magnificence, which ultimately evokes a Hellenic, sublime in his mind. The classic elements and frames in Mies's works raise the question of the spiritual values of architecture. It is these spiritual values that reveal the Hellenic roots and sublime as a source of architecture in conjunction with the permanence and homeostasis of architectural works. This is precisely why Mies views architecture as a spiritual and asethetic service to the community.
The space and corporality are inseparable in Mies's architecture. Their inseparability shows Mies's inability to abandon the architectural shapes that have lost relations to the functional raality and now belong to history. Mies's return to the classic shapes conveys sublime, spiritual meaning by allowing the viewer to imagine an ideal spiritual perfection. Considering that sublime experience entails a transcendedntal affirmation through the negation of the emotinal reality, Mies's return to the classic shapes in architecture is ultimately to allow the viewer to experience the wholeness and sublimity of space relative to the diminution fo the physical corporality. Recalling that "subline experience occurs when imagination and reason come together." the spatialit revealed by diminishing the corporality of architecture to its frames is the manifestation of the Baukunst notion advocated by Mies as a means of enriching human emotions through rational forms.As Mies once argued, "a meaningful and charcteristic form is paradoxically formed when the artist does anot pursue any specific form. " In this sense, the wisdom of 'less is more' is testified by Mies's architectural works that embody the richness of the mind enhanced by diminution of the reality.