Architecture's Abstraction: From Mies to Scarpa
Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi examines the role of abstraction in architecture, tracing its roots to early 20th-century art movements. He argues that abstraction, while liberating, risks sterile formalism when pushed to extremes. The article contrasts Mies van der Rohe's minimalist purity with Le Corbusier's later turn toward sensuality, exemplified by Ronchamp. Puglisi suggests Le Corbusier's encounter with Josephine Baker in 1929 may have inspired this shift. In Italy, architects like Carlo Scarpa, Giovanni Michelucci, and Luigi Moretti resisted purist abstraction by embracing material richness and sensory experience. The piece critiques contemporary conceptualism, citing Peter Eisenman as an example of cerebral but sterile work. Puglisi calls for reintroducing the body and phenomenological intensity into architecture.
Key facts
- Abstraction in architecture began in early 20th century, rejecting mimesis.
- Mondrian's tree studies show progressive abstraction from natural form to orthogonal grid.
- Malevich's black square represents the zero degree of representation.
- Kandinsky developed a lexicon of points, lines, and surfaces autonomous from mimesis.
- Einstein's 1905 theory of relativity influenced a view of the world as abstract relations.
- Mies van der Rohe pursued extreme minimalism; Le Corbusier theorized the house as a machine.
- Le Corbusier's Ronchamp chapel marked a break from purist abstraction.
- Puglisi cites Carlo Scarpa, Giovanni Michelucci, and Luigi Moretti as Italian architects who rejected purist abstraction.
- Peter Eisenman is criticized for cerebral but sterile conceptualism.
- The article is by Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi, published on Artribune.
Entities
Artists
- Sandro Botticelli
- Michelangelo
- Caravaggio
- Piet Mondrian
- Kazimir Malevich
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Marcel Duchamp
- Josephine Baker
- Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi
Institutions
- Artribune
Locations
- Italy
- Catania