Abstract

Ongoing appraisals of generality in architecture have largely referenced theories in natural philosophy as well as generic and normative structures, criticised as formalistic and dull. Expounding on generality’s role beyond its received ideas, this paper describes the creative methodological value of this concept. Drawing on sources in post-war modernism, analytic philosophy, and the prevailing academic quest for new research methods, the paper assesses the methodological role of generality as a creative tool in the search for innovative architectural knowledge and modes of practice. It ties conceptual design’s exploration during the post-war period to cross-disciplinary academic methodological concerns about generality. Scrutinising Mies van der Rohe’s mid-century statements, it illuminates a rigorous, disciplined body of work anchored in the epistemology of the era’s philosophy of science. The terrain highlighted has relevance to current architectural dialectics, which rethink research methods in the quest for new design practices.

摘要

对建筑普遍性的持续评估主要参考了自然哲学中的理论以及一般性和规范性结构，被批评为形式主义和乏味。本文阐述了普遍性在其既定观念之外的作用，描述了这一概念的创造性方法论价值。本文利用战后现代主义、分析哲学和对新研究方法的普遍学术追求的资源，评估了普遍性作为寻找创新建筑知识和实践模式的创造性工具的方法论作用。它将战后时期概念设计的探索与跨学科学术方法论对普遍性的关注联系起来。仔细审视密斯凡德罗在世纪中叶的陈述，它阐明了一种严谨、扎根于时代科学哲学认识论的有纪律的工作主体。突出的地形与当前的建筑辩证法有关，它重新思考了寻求新设计实践的研究方法。