As from the beginning of the 20th century, there has been a shift in the scale of architectural production as an outcome of advanced construction technologies, new range of building materials, automation of building services and progressive infrastructural networks. The increased physical capacity -the deeper and taller buildings- not only increased the scale of the architectural practice in relation with urban planning, but also presented architecture the possibility to offer a wider social programmation for the reorganization of the urban territory. The increase in the scale of architectural production, this study would argue, has given rise to a critical tension between the fields of architecture and urbanism. The aim of this study is to understand alternative positions towards the relationship between architecture and urbanism in the production of the city through a cross-reading of the architectural-urban theories of Le Corbusier and Rem Koolhaas. At a very preliminary investigation, the urban thinking of Le Corbusier represents the modernist ideal in architecture that is after the rational and linear architectural production of the city with all its social, cultural and economic components. The theory generated by Rem Koolhaas, on the other hand, represents the end of the modernist ideal on the city, since it refuses the possibility of imposing a rigid, definitive and stable program on the city through the mediation of architecture. What separates these two positions is the turning point in the social and cultural structure that was experienced in 1960&rsquo / s, but what makes possible a continuous reading is the both architect&rsquo / s attempt to radicalize the scale of the architectural production, with diverse approaches towards its programmation. The study is an attempt to make this comparative analysis in order to understand what has changed from one to another in terms of their understanding of form, scale, program and context in architectural production, as well as their position towards social programmation of the urban organization.

Beginning with its historical setting, architectural discourse conceived city as its ultimate object, as the ultimate extension of the composition: the largest building. It relentlessly aimed to link its &ldquo / pure&rdquo / object&mdash / building&mdash / to the city either by locating the two within the general processes of material production or through analogies. Yet, despite such continuity, architecture&rsquo / s relationship with the city was conceived as the projection of an internal economy onto the city and remained unilateral. Architecture operated from the small scale to the large scale, radiating its &lsquo / specificity&rsquo / through the city via building. It became obvious in the late 20th century that it was not the &lsquo / architectural specificity&rsquo / to penetrate into modern metropolis but vice versa. Being a complex agglomeration of cultural systems&mdash / including design itself&mdash / metropolitan multiplicity resists the determination of significance of built environment through the specific codes of any institutionalized practice. Acknowledging such a complex system of relationships, namely &ldquo / metropolitan non-design,&rdquo / this study offers a reassessment of &lsquo / architectural design&rsquo / within the contemporary &lsquo / metropolitan condition.&rsquo / Departing from the disjunction(s) between the significance attributed through design and its appropriation through metropolitan non-design, work at hand aims to elaborate a new mode of &lsquo / architectural intervention&rsquo / compatible with the metropolitan instability. Through a cross-examination of Rem Koolhaas&rsquo / s &lsquo / Delirious New York&rsquo / and OMA&rsquo / s &lsquo / Parc de la Villette,&rsquo / concepts such as &lsquo / program,&rsquo / &ldquo / void,&rdquo / &ldquo / Bigness&rdquo / and &lsquo / architectural scale&rsquo / will be reassessed. Moreover, the goal is to replace the conception of architecture-metropolis relationship that is formulated through a duality with one that is conceived in terms of interacting, contiguous signifying structures.

Ankara has experienced a radical transformation after 1950s, in which the identity of the highly planned capital has been erased, emphasizing homogenization, blankness and similarity. The Apartment Block was the object of this condition and the subject of the transformation in the urban identity, both with its physical existence and with the mind-set it has radiated to the whole levels of the society. It has stripped out the identity of the city with its &quot / endless reproduction.&quot / This transformation has led the Apartment Block to be accused of transforming Turkish cities to deformed agglomerations, deprived of aesthetics. In this sense, architectural discipline has been criticized for its impotence to respond the economical, social and cultural conditions that traverse the urban setting. This criticism has questioned the generative role of architecture in the Early Republican period as a social engineering and discouraged any relation between architecture and the city, which has manifested the reduction of the architecture to a formal discipline. Ankara, with its dazzling transformation within few decades proposed its own urbanism and its own architecture, with the mutation of the Apartment Block first to a resilient frame than to a multi-programmed infrastructure. This study will consider this transformation as &amp / #8216 / another&amp / #8217 / manifestation of a new kind of urbanism that was mainly declared by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, claming that the resilient and neutral objects are the dominant and extensive forms of the contemporary urbanism. Hence, the study presents a cross reading of the urban development of Ankara together with Rem Koolhaas&amp / #8217 / book Delirious New York and his essay The Generic City in SMLXL. The utmost goal is to explore a possible &quot / reciprocal relation&quot / between architecture and the city and to explore the limits of architectural intervention in the particular case of Ankara. Such an objective inevitably requires extending the limits of architectural thinking to the city scale. Thus, Ankara goes beyond a case study in an inquiry that aims to undertand the mechanisms of the building production in the contemporary urbanism.

The events of September 11, 2001, seemed to many to presage the end of the skyscraper as an urban form. Some 15 years later, the skyscraper is more prevalent than ever before, owing to its unique advantages over other building forms in an urban, environmental, and sociological context. Skyscrapers are rising ever higher, pushing the limits of architecture and engineering. In 2001 there were 23 buildings over 1,000 feet in height. As of this writing there are 173 buildings over 1,000 feet completed or under construction, with 300 more in various phases of proposal. Despite their enormous initial cost in both capital and energy, the skyscraper maximizes the use of constricted urban space and provides enormous opportunities for technological and sociological innovation which, despite more that 100 years of skyscraper construction, are only just beginning to be realized. This thesis will explore a number of as-yet unrealized possibilities for skyscraper development to prognosticate and articulate future typologies designed to address increasing problems of energy efficiency, population density and disaster preparedness. As the human population grows, and more people move to the cities, larger and larger buildings will be necessary to house them at densities sufficient to ensure energy efficiency and minimize sprawl. The skyscraper is uniquely suited to meet these demands. / Master of Architecture

[pt] No final dos anos 1960, os projetos arquitetônicos em grandes escalas foram desacreditados no Ocidente por estarem associados à presença dos Poderes vigentes. Influenciados pelos ideais de Maio de 1968, os arquitetos ocidentais passaram a procurar modelos alternativos, baseados na linguagem histórica. Eles buscavam com isso alcançar a autonomia da forma arquitetônica, esvaziando-a do suposto conteúdo ideológico, que estaria aderido às formas abstratas modernas. No entanto, o enfoque pós-moderno nos elementos formais do objeto arquitetônico e do espaço urbano implicava no abandono da questão urbanística na escala metropolitana. Esta escala espacial seria marcada pela perda das referências às estruturas formais orgânicas. No Japão, a pesquisa moderna em grandes escalas não foi interrompida, oferecendo um amplo instrumental para a questão urbanística contemporânea. Esta dissertação verifica como os arquitetos Fumihiko Maki e Rem Koolhaas propõem a retomada e a revisão do urbanismo moderno metropolitano. Eles partem do pressuposto de que a Forma arquitetônica seria vazia de significados intrínsecos. A apropriação por parte dos Poderes e, também, por parte das pessoas imprimiria à arquitetura significados, retirando dos arquitetos a responsabilidade sobre a totalidade do projeto e devolvendo-lhes a legitimidade da disciplina. Esta pesquisa percorre os caminhos seguidos por esses arquitetos a partir de suas referências orientais e ocidentais, mostrando como, em diversos momentos, os conceitos arquitetônicos dos dois mundos convergem, apontando a persistência do pensamento moderno. / [en] By the end of the 1960s, large-scale architectural projects were discredited in West because they were associated with the established Power. Influenced by the ideals of May 1968, architects began searching alternative models based on the Historical language. They wanted to reach the autonomy of the architectural form by releasing it from their supposed ideological content, which was adhered to the abstract modern forms. Nevertheless, the post-modern approach, which was based on formal elements of the architectonical object and of the urban space, implied in the relinquishment of the metropolitan-scale. This urban-scale would be characterized by the references loss of organic formal structures. In Japan, modern research on large-scales was not interrupted, offering an important arsenal to the questions of contemporary urbanism. This dissertation verifies how the architects Fumihiko Maki and Rem Koolhaas propose the retaking and revision of modern metropolitan urbanism. They presuppose that architectonical Form is devoid of intrinsic meaning. Its appropriation by Power and also by people gives it meaning, removing architects responsibility on the totality of the project and giving them back the legitimacy of the discipline. This research follows the paths opened by these two architects through their Eastern and Western references, revealing the many instances in which architectonical concepts of both worlds converge, aiming to the persistence of modern thought.

This project is called “Searching for the Grandiose” and consequently dives into this both historical and contemporary field of architecture. With a basis in architectural history, architectural theory and popular culture the project aims to understand and create grandiose architecture.  Both built and imaginary, this area of architecture has always inspired and pushed the boundaries for the possibilities of our profession. Furthermore, in the search for the grandiose also follows a possibility of the limitless – both economically, technically and mentally. In trying to design the grandiose, the architect must loosen the chains of reality and strive for the impossible and awesome. Consequently – a vast architectural fantasy is here created on an imaginary site with no restrictions in regards to size, program or economy.

[ES] La tesis doctoral analiza las contaminaciones de la arquitectura que afloran al transformar los grandes contenedores multifuncionales o hasta los edificios complejos más recientes de menor tamaño que son el resultado de una hibridación entre arquitectura, paisaje e infraestructuras. Trámite la perspectiva de la dimensión hibrida, se va perfilando, en realidad, una evolución conceptual y productiva significativa. Con este enfoque de investigación, lo híbrido se concibe como un agente teórico que se desglosa primero como contenedor híbrido (objeto-arquitectónico), luego como hibridación (arquitectura-paisaje), y por último como ámbito híbrido (arquitectura-infraestructura). Así se establece un ámbito teórico con la capacidad de reconectar los elementos en un sistema y lograr renovar constantemente el significado. Es decir que, primero, las obras ponen de relieve un desacoplamiento entre contenido y contenedor, entre forma y función, en donde se detecta una espacialidad interior dilatada, un paisaje indoor definido por la envoltura estática, donde lo híbrido se manifiesta como una presencia intrínseca que representa el concepto de “ciudad en la ciudad”, un espacio centrípeto, que se proyecta por completo hacia el interior del volumen arquitectónico. Sucesivamente dicho desacoplamiento se encamina hacia una difuminación de los límites dentro de los que trabaja la arquitectura, llegan-do luego a definir una hibridación que actúa en el espacio intermedio, como presencia liminar que se concentra en el perímetro y en el borde, como ámbitos de acoplamiento entre arquitectura y paisaje: desde esta óptica el papel más significativo de la superficie conlleva una atenuación del vínculo volumétrico. Las delimitaciones reglamentarias, por consiguiente, se van difuminando, facilitadas por el empuje vital que ofrece el paisaje. En la tesis doctoral se recoge, además, otra brecha conceptual debida a la capacidad de los elementos de organizarse en un sistema que actúa en un ámbito con mayores posibilidades de acoplamiento trámite un rebasamiento que elimina los casos anteriores. El planteamiento arquitectónico se enmarca así en un ámbito de infraestructuras más amplio, un ámbito híbrido extendido que se caracteriza por una presencia extrínseca del híbrido. De esta forma se genera un espacio centrífugo que logra crear conexiones de gran alcance acoplando arquitectura e infraestructuras trámite orientaciones de intensidad e imágenes de la extensión. El rebasamiento representa una fase nueva en la que la arquitectura alcanza una conciencia identitaria nueva mediante una ampliación de sus atribuciones y de los instrumentos teóricos y operativos. La tesis doctoral profundiza en el ámbito de la metrópolis contemporánea que se caracteriza por el paulatino abandono de los modelos urbanos reconocibles, porque se abre y acoge las contradicciones, lo plural y lo heterogéneo. La difuminación de los límites tradicionales implica un replanteamiento de la ciudad concebida ahora como un sistema abierto que se transforma indefinidamente (Sennett, 2018). La incesante urbanización y la elevada densidad implican un cambio de los valores asignados al espacio tradicional de las ciudades que tienden a estructurar-se con formas mutantes, generando fragilidad dentro a la ciudad misma: bienvenida ¡cultura de la congestión! (Koolhaas, 2001). Se analiza el enriquecimiento del ámbito específico de la arquitectura que acoge la esencia de las otras disciplinas para lograr así una difuminación de la idea de producir objetos aislados, al incorporarlos dentro de un espacio más extenso de relaciones. Esta es la idea subyacente a la noción de antiobjeto elaborada por el arquitecto japonés Kengo Kuma (Kuma, 2014), que propugna abandonar definitivamente el edificio como objeto arquitectónico y apunta en cambio a crear una red de interrelaciones e interconexiones con el entorno que lo rodea. La noción final de anti-objeto, a la que se refiere la tesis doctoral, marca el ápice de una estrategia de acciones que analizan la difuminación de la arquitectura identitaria tradicional y destacan el inicio de una relación nueva con el territorio y el paisaje. Por último, otra fase conceptual es la afirmación de la condición de ámbito híbrido (Allen 1999). Lo híbrido a este respecto opera anulando las jerarquías y facilitando los intercambios que se generan por la condición de libertad. Por su capacidad de desplazarse entre las diferentes disciplinas y las diferentes escalas, lo híbrido demuestra su fuerza transversal en términos de interescalaridad. El acoplamiento entre arquitectura, paisaje e infraestructura conlleva un potencial emancipador de los dogmas compositivos, un replanteamiento del enfoque proyectual desde su origen, es decir una revisión radical de sus elementos. Desde esta perspectiva nueva, la arquitectura se considera como un soporte y parrilla que puede ajustarse de modo flexible a los cambios. Una disciplina que no ofrece respuestas inflexibles y que actúa en una zona liminar entre ámbitos diferentes tratando de plasmar una actitud proyectual abierta que logre encarar los eventos imprevisibles y respaldar las transformaciones futuras. / [EN] The dissertation analyses architectural contaminations emerging from the development from large multifunctional containers to most recent smaller complex buildings, resulting from a hybridisation between architecture, landscape and infrastructure. Through the lens of the hybrid dimension, a significant conceptual and productive evolution emerges. In this perspective of study, the hybrid is interpreted as a theoretical operator and is developed as hybrid container (architecture-object) at first, then as Hybridisation (architecture-landscape), and finally as hybrid field (archi-tecture-infrastructure). Therefore, the theoretical scope is characterised by the systemic reconnection of elements and the constant creation of new meanings. In other words, at first the architectural works highlight the disconnection between content and container, shape and function, where internal space is extended, as in an indoor landscape defined by the static nature of the container and the hybrid is presented as an intrinsic presence representing the idea of a “city in a city”, a centripetal space, fully extended within the architectural volume. Subsequently, the afore mentioned disconnection moves towards the thinning of the boundaries in which architecture operates, to then de-fine a hybridisation operating on intermediate space as a liminal presence concentrating on the perimeter and the edge, as the reconnecting area of architecture and landscape. In this perspective, the enhanced role of the surface leads to reduced volume constraints. Disciplinary boundaries move towards their dissolution encouraged by the vital impulse provided by the landscape. The dissertation highlights also a further conceptual shift caused by the capacity of the elements to organise into a system, by acting in a freer field for reconnection through a trespassing which addresses the previous instances. Therefore, the architectural discourse expresses itself within a larger infrastructure scope, a hybrid expanded field characterised by the extrinsic presence of the hybrid. In this way, a centrifugal space, capable of large-scale connections, joining architecture and infrastructure through 13 intensity trajectories and shapes with different extensions, is created. The trespassing represents a new phase when architecture acquires renewed awareness of its identity through the extension of its attributions and its theoretical and operational tools. The focus area of the dissertation is the contemporary metropolis, charac-terised by the progressive abandonment of recognisable urban models, to embrace, contradictions, multiplicity and heterogeneity. The dissolution of traditional constraints leads to the rethinking of the city conceived now as an open system in constant transformation (Sennett, 2018), where constant urbanisation and its high density introduce a change in the values given to the traditional space of the city which tends to configurate in discontinuous forms, causing internal fragility for the city: welcome to the culture of congestion! (Koolhaas, 2001). The Enrichment of the scope of architecture is therefore explored as it welcomes the spirit of other disciplines, and by doing so reaches the dis-solution of the idea of the production of isolated objects, by reconnecting them into a larger space of relationships. This is the idea underlying the notion of anti-object, elaborated by the Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma (Kuma, 2014), who wishes for the permanent abandonment of the build-ing as architectural objects and aims at creating a network of relationships and interconnections with the surroundings. The final notion of anti-ob-ject referred to in the dissertation, marks the apex of a strategy of actions exploring the dissolution of architecture in terms of traditional identity and marks the beginning of a renewed relationship with the territory and the landscape. A further conceptual shift is finally represented by the affirmation of the notion of Hybrid field (Allen 1999). In this case, the hybrid operates by nullifying hierarchies and favouring interchanges produced by a condition of freedom. Due to its ability to move between different disciplines and scales, the hybrid shows its transversal strength in terms of interscalarity. The reconnection between architecture, landscape and infrastructure carries with it a potential freedom from the compositional dogmas, and the rethinking of the projectual approach starting from its origin, that is a radical revision of its elements. In this new perspective, architecture is seen as a support and a palimpsest able to address changes in a flexible manner. A discipline that doesn’t provide fixed answers but operates at the border between different areas and tries to build an open projectual attitude capable of facing up to unpredictable events and supporting future transformations. / [IT] La dissertazione analizza le contaminazioni dell’architettura che emergono nella trasformazione dai grandi contenitori multifunzionali fino ai più recenti edifici complessi di minori dimensioni e che sono il frutto di una ibridazione tra architettura, paesaggio e infrastruttura. Attraverso la lente della dimensione ibrida, infatti, emerge una significativa evoluzione concettuale e produttiva. In questa prospettiva di studio, l’ibrido viene letto come un operatore teorico e si declina prima come contenitore ibrido (oggetto-architettonico), poi come ibridazione (architettura-paesaggio), infine come campo ibrido (architettura-infrastruttura). Si afferma così un ambito teorico caratterizzato dalla capacità di riconnettere a sistema gli elementi e approdare a significati costantemente rinnovati.In altri termini, dapprima le opere evidenziano una disgiunzione tra contenuto e contenitore, tra forma e funzione, in cui si rileva una spazialità interna dilatata, un paesaggio indoor fissato dalla staticità dell’involucro, dove l’ibrido si manifesta come una presenza intrinseca rappresentativa di un’idea di “città nella città”, uno spazio centripeto, tutto proiettato all’interno del volume architettonico. Successivamente detta disgiunzione si orienta verso un assottigliamento dei confini entro i quali opera l’architettura, giungendo poi a definire un’ibridazione che agisce sullo spazio intermedio, come presenza liminare che si concentra sul perimetro e sul bordo, quale ambito di ricongiunzione tra architettura e paesaggio: in questa prospettiva il ruolo più significativo della superficie porta a un affievolimento del vincolo volumetrico. Le perimetrazioni disciplinari si avviano dunque a una dissoluzione, favorita dallo slancio vitale offerto dal paesaggio.La dissertazione coglie infine un ulteriore scarto concettuale, determinato dalla capacità degli elementi di organizzarsi a sistema agendo in un campo più libero di riconnessione tramite uno sconfinamento che riassorbe le istanze precedenti. Il discorso architettonico si esprime così in un ambito di infrastrutturazione più ampio, un campo ibrido espanso caratterizzato da una presenza estrinseca dell’ibrido. In questo modo si genera uno spazio centrifugo in grado di compiere connessioni ad ampio respiro con un congiungimento tra architettura e infrastruttura attraverso direttrici di intensità e figure dell’estensione. Lo sconfinamento rappresenta una nuova fase in cui l’architettura acquisisce una rinnovata consapevolezza identitaria mediante una dilatazione delle sue attribuzioni e degli strumenti teorici ed operativi. Ambito di approfondimento della dissertazione è la metropoli contemporanea, connotata dal progressivo abbandono di modelli urbani riconoscibili, per aprirsi ad accogliere le contraddizioni, il molteplice e l’eterogeneo. La dissoluzione dei limiti tradizionali porta a un ripensamento della città vista ora come sistema aperto e in continua trasformazione (Sennett, 2018), in cui l’incessante inurbamento e l’elevata densità introducono un cambio dei valori attribuiti allo spazio urbano tradizionale che tende a configurarsi in forme discontinue, generando una fragilità interna alla città stessa: benvenuta cultura della congestione! (Koolhaas, 2001). Si esplora dunque un arricchimento del campo stesso dell’architettura che accoglie lo spirito delle altre discipline e così facendo giunge a una dissoluzione dell’idea di una produzione per oggetti isolati, reinserendoli all’interno di uno spazio più ampio di relazioni. Questa è l’idea alla base della nozione di anti-oggetto elaborata dall’architetto giapponese Kengo Kuma (Kuma, 2014), che auspica il definitivo abbandono dell’edificio come oggetto architettonico e mira invece a intrecciare una rete di interrelazioni e interconnessioni con l’intorno circostante. La nozione finale di anti-oggetto, cui la dissertazione fa riferimento, segna l’apice di una strategia di azioni che esplorano la dissoluzione dell’architettura in termini identitari tradizionali e segnano l’avvio di un ritrovato rapporto con il territorio e il paesaggio. Un ulteriore passaggio concettuale è infine rappresentato dall’affermazione della condizione di campo ibrido (Allen 1999). L’ibrido a questo punto opera annullando le gerarchie favorendo interscambi generati da una condizione di libertà. Per questa sua capacità di muoversi tra le diverse discipline e alle diverse scale, l’ibrido mostra la sua forza trasversale in termini di inter-scalarità. La ricongiunzione tra architettura, paesaggio e infrastruttura porta con sé un potenziale liberatorio dai dogmi compositivi, un ripensamento dell’approccio progettuale partendo all’origine, ossia una radicale revisione dei suoi elementi. In questa nuova ottica, l’architettura viene vista quale supporto e palinsesto in grado di rispondere in modo flessibile ai cambiamenti. Una disciplina che non fornisce risposte rigide ma si muove su un terreno liminare tra ambiti differenti e cerca di costruire un atteggiamento progettuale aperto che possa fronteggiare gli eventi imprevedibili e supportare future trasformazioni. / Gironi, R. (2021). Gulliver en busca de Liliput. La dimensión híbrida de la Arquitectura [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/170334 / Premios Extraordinarios de tesis doctorales