A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE MODERN ARCHITECTURAL EPISTEME: ON DISCONTINUITIES AND OPPOSITIONS

Abstract

This paper includes a brief report of the research that questions whether an outline of the structure of the modern architectural knowledge could be drawn and how the concepts 'discontinuity' and 'opposition' could be utilized in attaining an epistemological reading of it. A contextual analysis of the texts and visual material on architecture has provided us with compatible data on how oppositions such as the ones between 'building and topography', 'compositional unit and whole', 'iconic and symbolic values of architectural sign' etc., could construct the basis of late modern architectural episteme. The procedure involved the grouping of text references and architectural images and an interpretive study of the classified material to determine the major oppositions in the architectural discourse. Along with this nonreactive contextual method, a close-ended survey among a sample of architectural students was conducted to evaluate the epistemological value of those oppositions provided. The indicators sought were impartibility, legibility and permeability. Findings of this research showed in part that those oppositions (being a derivative of the notion of discontinuity) were what made the modern architectural knowledge impartible (teachable), legible (readable) and permeable (absorbable, expressible). That being said, the oppositional character of modern architectural episteme were criticized by architects in the course of the time under the themes such as negative space, field condition and index architecture, etc. This research paper was concluded with discussions on iterations, which could be proposed for the recent adjustments in the permeability of the architectural episteme domain.