2 - Architectural canon

Question 1

Architectural canon as an example of:

Answer 1

The mechanisms we’ve evolved to stabilise values and achieve cohesion and identity in situations where the group size exceeds Dunbar’s number

Question 2

Dunbar’s number

Answer 2

Interpersonal limitations: you can only keep track of 50-150 meaningful connections

Question 3

Notable forms of power

Answer 3

Physical action, violence
Direction of resources
The capacity to define values

Question 4

Orthodoxy

Answer 4

A set of social values that become institutionalised and unquestioned

There is always a cycle of othodoxy and challenge

Question 5

Canon

Answer 5

A specific piece of terminology or principle becoming applied more broadly

The word (and to a lesser extent, the concept) comes from an explicitly Christian background

Question 6

Legitimacy and professionalism: contemporary origin in ? historical period

Answer 6

Broadly - the Renaissance and into the Industrial Revolution

Question 7

Architectural canon

Answer 7

One answer to questions of value, definition and continuity within the profession

Question 8

Earlier examples of professional classes

Answer 8

Priesthood - a group of people that have the capacity to define values & the access to particular kinds of knowledge
Master/apprentice relationship

The gift of knowledge/skill comes with a set of values - educational institutions have a big role in this process.

Question 9

Key aspects of the architectural canon

Answer 9

• Almost exclusively European and American in orientation
• Focused on the contemporary
• Male-dominated
• Defined lists of ‘approved’ styles + architects
• Sense of aesthetics that borrows heavily from earlier ‘golden ages’, particularly Greece and Rome
• Is almost exclusively focused on the structures of the wealthy and powerful

Question 10

Feature of architectural canon

European and American dominance

Answer 10

Combination of social + economic dominance plus existing racism and cultural superiority = creates an admiration of what you are doing yourself

Question 11

Feature of architectural canon

Contemporary focus

Answer 11

Paradoxical tension between celebration of the new and a reverence and lionisation for older forms of design

Question 12

Feature of architectural canon

Male-dominated

Answer 12

• Women excluded from education systems - architecture as increasingly requiring education to participate in
• Canon places emphasis on major iconic buildings, many of which are closely tied with prestige and power, which traditionally has excluded women

Question 13

Feature of architectural canon

‘Golden age’ sense of aesthetics

Answer 13

• Heavily tied to the concept of legitimacy
• e.g. Romans thought they were the ‘new Greeks’ and considered themselves better at being Greek than the Greeks were - copying architectural styles, particularly for prestige buildings
• Meso-American cultures did this too - the Aztecs
• Cultures borrow from admired civilisations in an attempt to reflect past power and glory in a contemporary setting

Question 14

Ancient examples of orthodoxy

Answer 14

Ancient Egypt - standardised artistic and design values, strictly imposed

• Ruled by Pharoah and Priest class that unified the North and South of Egypt
• Included highly institutionalised norms around art, music and design in particular
• The Pharoah Akhenaten rebelled against this social system - particularly this artistic sensibility
• Encouraged a kind of realism in art that wouldn’t fully emerge for thousands of years
• Most of the evidence of Akhenaten was erased by the priest class after his death