Philosopher Georg Lukacs described the style of a piece of work as the attempt to reproduce one’s view of the world within it. Looked at in this way, he says, style ceases to be a formalistic category but rather, “it is rooted in content; it is the specific form of a specific content.” After all, style is not technique, but ought to convey an intention. Sociologist Georg Simmel said that style is the aesthetic attempt to provide a “unifying encompassing context”. This series is about the content and context of style. Undoubtedly, it will irritate and enthuse but it is intended to be a fillip for our contemporary era in which style is often equated with fashion – where style can be dismissed in order to avoid dealing with its essence. Therefore these essays are not style over substance, but the very substance of style.
The De Stijl manifesto of 1918 argued that the liberal arts should engage in a dialogue to create a new “wisdom of life”. The robustness of these essays suggests that such an ambition still resonates. Such an exchange can still appear vital and captivating. Each essay which distills the attitudes and goals of an artistic movement considers it in the light of contemporary practice and how its values can inform and enliven contemporary architecture and design.
Critic Tim Abrahams argues for High Tech; Adam Nathaniel Furman for Postmodernism; the architect Amin Taha proposes No Style at all; architect Robert Adam makes the case for Classicism; critic, academic and writer Austin Williams for Modernism; Annie Warburton, former Creative Director at the Crafts Council, argues for Arts and Crafts; architect and social media wit Karl Sharro for Islamic architecture; Parametricism is championed by Patrik Schumacher, Partner at Zaha Hadid Architects, Constructivism by academic Theo Dounas; Chinese Architecture by Sylvia Chan, Research Editor at OMA Rotterdam; in addition, author Jonathan Glancey makes the case for The Gothic; Darren Anderson, author of Imaginary Cities, likewise for Expressionism; Brutalism is supported by Barnabas Calder; the Baroque by critic and curator Owen Hopkins and finally Metabolism by academic and author Penny Lewis.
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