Contradiction In Architecture

2.1.1. Group one: reformist supporters

Venturi (1966) in his famous book titled “complexity and contradiction in architecture” remarked on the inevitable multi – functionality of spaces and so necessary polysemy of their corresponding architectural forms. He believes this meaning plurality and multiple functions enhance the rating of spatial positive ambiguity and result in architectural spaces liveliness in this way. On this basis, he criticized the attitude of modern architects in following the modernism common motto (form following of function and so believing to have one meaning) and their resulted works, for example building Sigram which had designed by Mies van der Rohe. In this regard, he stated that Mies’ Sigram has a function and then

For example, “The kitchen wants to be the living room. The bedroom wants to be a little house by itself. The car is the room on wheels. ... A predetermined total form might inhibit what the various spaces want to be (Kahn, 1955, In Latour, 1991: 60). Elsewhere, he expressed that “Talk to a brick and it will tell you it likes an arch (Kahn, 1972, In Latour, 1991: 293). In fact, these Kahn's interpretations point to his understanding and using the concept of potential affordances of objects and their form that was not the center of attention at his time. But with the prevalence of psychology and behavioral science methods in design and architecture, nowadays it is much investigated and discussed. Of course, it should be noted that before his statements, concepts such as the phenomena request and invitation by Kafka (1935) – a German psychologist of Gestalt school – and objects competency by Lewin (1936) – a psychologist of interaction-oriented school – had been presented as important factors inherent to their form and subsequently, the term of affordance by Gibson (1979) was raised with considerable content that in part of environmental psychology literature review will be exposed to discussion. The interesting thing is that Kahn had taken his own distinctive opinions in mind

In other words, architects’ aim of attention to it is the analysis of relations between man and environment to apply in architectural design. This matter was focused on the end of the twentieth-century sixtieth decade. Proshanski, Ittelson and Rivlin (1970) in a book entitled “Environmental psychology: man and his physical setting” notified the advent of this science. However, some researches had been done earlier about interactions of human and environment in which decades 1960 and 1970 published as echo-behavioral sciences or ecological psychology (Mortazavi, 1380). It should be considered that modern architecture movements have had a fundamental role in the formation of environment psychological science. Criticisms on boring and crime-potential spaces in modern residential complex or even cities can be known as the origins of necessary attention to human needs of the desirable environment. Most researchers take into account Brunswik, Levin and Gifford as the founders of this field. Brunswik (1943) used the term environmental psychology for the first time. It should be noted that Hellpach (1902) has been known as the founder of environmental psychology in German sources (Mortazavi, 1380). Also, primary studies of Barker (1968) about behavioral settings in ecological psychology and summer’s study (1950) and Altman’ (1975) on