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Japan Modern Architecture 1945-1970. Discourse in the mid-20th-century Europe
Hojda, Ondřej ; Švácha, Rostislav (advisor) ; Mitášová, Monika (referee) ; Speidel, Manfred (referee)
The dissertation deals with ideas about Japanese architecture in the Western, namely European discourse between 1945 and 1970. Architects and critics identified striking similarities between the Modernist architectural principles and the Japanese tradition from the 1920s; after the World War II, these similarities sparked a wide interest among the architectural public, which led to numerous publications on Japan unprecedented in scope and depth when compared with any other non-Western culture. The goal of this work is to map the discourse that occurred this way, identify the main themes connected to Japan, and show their significance. The sources for the study are prevalently printed media: architectural magazines and books. The notion of 'image' of Japan proves useful since we study interpretations of a different culture; history of ideas as well as visual representation in photography. At the same time, work also follows the of general issues of understanding the 'other'. An analysis of these various representations of Japan in the printed architectural media makes up the main part of the research presented here. To examine the origins of these ideas we go back to the 1930 with architects-writers Tetsurō Yoshida and Bruno Taut, and subsequently look into of writings about Japan by architects who...
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Like in a beehive. Agglutination and cellular structures in the 20th century European architecture
Hojda, Ondřej ; Lahoda, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Švácha, Rostislav (referee)
This MA thesis takes its topic from the domain of the 20th century architecture and focuses on one of its less known currents. When designing, certain architects during this period have adopted a form that we define as cellular and agglutinative. This is supposed to mark that this architecture is composed of small, repetitive units. These units were then grouped in a freemannered and variable fashion, neglecting the classical rules of symmetry and, on the contrary, drawing the form from the internal logic of the building and its environment namely the climate and terrain. This principle is very ancient, we find it already in Çatal Höyük, the oldest known city ever, and it displays itself in various examples of the "spontaneous" "vernacular" architecture, or "architecture without architects". Nevertheless, this thesis discusses the principle solely as a concept in modern architecture. The author poses questions about the origin of this concept, how it expressed itself and what was its development. The research method is based on analysing particular buildings, then discussing the deeper theoretical and historical background. Gradually, three sorts of answers emerge. The first one lies in a profound interest for archaic cultures shared by certain architects, and also for what is still alive of these cultures,...
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