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ences of individuals; moreover, in attempting to realize his plans, he
must lean on the techniques of other specialists, such as engineers,
sculptors, painters and diverse artisans of the building trades. Although
the "architect" shares his work with so many, he carries by far the
greatest part of the responsibility, for neither he nor the other tech–
nicians are going to live in the house they are building, but some
anonymous citizen who trusts that the home which other hands are
building for him will be a healthy place to live in.
Which of us architects dares to assume
not
the aesthetic but
the full moral responsibility for a building? What architect has en–
joyed the training that will give him sufficient understanding of the
human morphology for which he
is
building? Architecture today
is neither science, craft, nor
art.
Measured by progress in the social
sciences and in technical invention, we draftsmen are still architecto–
sauruses.
Direct and indirect building
Functional architecture
is
animal-architecture, i.e. it produces
structures for physical shelter. But animals build more economically,
since they merely repeat the tradition of the species, that lies in their
blood. Man
is
always dissatisfied, because he wants to lead the life
of a master and is therefore eternally searching for new materials,
implements and machines to serve as his slaves. Instead of relying
on himself, man relies on progress.
A house must be practical. To be practical means to serve. To
be serviceable in every respect. In every direction.
If
any directions are
closed, the house suffers from constipation. But how can a house
be practical if the draftsman always begins with the flat ground plan?
Our vision
is
physically flat- we see with one eye (mono-dimension–
ally) rather than stereoscopically, with two eyes, as a living spatial
vision would require.
The ground plan is only a flat imprint of a volume. The volume
of the principal activity to be expected in the house is not taken into
consideration; instead, squares and rectangles, long ones, short ones,
bent ones, are juxtaposed, or sometimes jumbled- and then superim–
posed in storeys (elevation plan). This box construction is not in
