Conceptual architecture is a form of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

that utilizes

conceptualism In metaphysics, conceptualism is a theory that explains universality of particulars as conceptualized frameworks situated within the thinking mind. Intermediate between nominalism and realism, the conceptualist view approaches the metaphysical ...

, characterized by an introduction of ideas or concepts from outside of architecture often as a means of expanding the discipline of architecture. This produces an essentially different kind of building than one produced by the widely held 'architect as a master-builder' model, in which craft and construction are the guiding principles. In conceptual architecture, the finished building as product is less important than the ideas guiding them, ideas represented primarily by texts, diagrams, or art installations. Architects that work in this vein are

Diller + Scofidio Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio which integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, the studio was founded by architects Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio i ...

Bernard Tschumi Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French ...

Peter Eisenman Peter David Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect, writer, and professor. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his high modernist and deconstructive designs, as well as for his authorship of several archi ...

, and

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of ...

. Conceptual architecture was examined in the essay "Notes on Conceptual Architecture: Towards a Definition" by

in 1970, and again by the ''

Harvard Design Magazine ''Harvard Design Magazine'' is a biannual publication of the Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Ma ...

'' in autumn 2003 and winter 2004, by a series of articles under the heading "Architecture as Conceptual Art? Blurring Disciplinary Boundaries". But the understanding of design as a construction of a concept was understood by many

modernist architects Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture wa ...

as well. To quote

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

: :It doesn't work, it doesn't have to work. Wright had the shape conceived long before he knew what was going into it. I claim that is where architecture starts, with the concept.Louis Kahn quote from Frampton, Kenneth. ''Modern Architecture, a critical history.'' page 245.

Bibliography

*Eisenman, Peter (2004). ''Eisenman Inside Out: Selected Writings, 1963-1988''. Yale University Press. *Frampton, Kenneth (1992). ''Modern Architecture, a critical history.'' Thames & Hudson- Third Edition. *"Architecture As Conceptual Art?". ''Harvard Design Magazine.'' Number 19, Fall 2003/Winter 2004.

References

20th-century architectural styles Architectural theory + Conceptual art {{arch-style-stub

See also

Bibliography

References