Popular ideas advocated in architectural texts often cause terminological and conceptual confusions for architects and mislead them through their polemical language. In this thesis a current architectural theory concerned with Regionalism that has gained strength from the dissatisfaction with the international nature of contemporary architecture is subjected to a critical examination in order to evaluate its status and validity in the field of architecture. The thesis attempts to analyse a variety of concepts embraced by the broad notion of Regionalism and further explore related items such as <I>Regionality</I> and <I>Universality</I> in works of architecture, not with a view to justify the theory of Regionalism, but rather to demystify and evaluate critically their meanings and significance in architecture at a fundamental level that transcends usual discussions of them. Through an examination of this theory, from both a historical and contemporary perpective, regionalism, in architecture, can be regarded as a <I>specious</I> theory where diverse ideologies and theories, are grouped under a convenient name in an attempt to achieve legitimacy. It consists of imaginary areas of conflicts, resulting from false oppositions between, for example, Regional and Universal and the solutions which are being proposed - to overcome these conflicts - are consequently superficial. It is posited, however, as a critical, dialectical, cultural theory; as such it hinders even when it seems to contribute to the architectural discourse. Despite its sophistry, the problem of Regionalism is epistemological relating to some misunderstandings that obscure fundamental issues in reading and understanding of cultural works, i.e. architecture, where <I>ideas</I> (regional), or the <I>purpose</I> and <I>means</I>, of architecture are confused due to formalist thinking and a restrictive perception of culture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:650036 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Erkilic, Mualla |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19725 |
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