Abre Etteh

Shadows continue to present a conundrum for theories of visual perception. Like holes and the colour black, shadows are a category of things that are in themselves no thing. That is, they have no ontological status, rather they are absences of some sort. This category of things become visible not by any positive actions on their part, but by means of negation or privation of some feature of our conscious perception. Shadows have been a rich source of information in natural philosophy and since ancient times have been recognised as an absence of light.

This paper will show that in Renaissance Italy, studies into light and shadows would lead to an intersection in optics, art, and architectural theory. This convergence is apparent in the work of Andrea Palladio's pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi and his use and understanding of shadow, both in his written and architectural work. The narratives surrounding Scamozzi's architecture in their day will be discussed as they pertain to the formal aspects of his designs.

In his book, The Autopoiesis of Architecture, Patrik Schumacher argues that the internalised functioning of the profession of architecture is part and parcel of architecture's required development in an increasingly complex society. This essay is a critique of the philosophical grounding of Schumacher's theory. In line with Schumacher's theory, the essay expands on the two main components of the autopoiesis of architecture as offered by Schumacher: self-referential closure and self-regulation. However, it will be argued that these paradoxical notions can be better explained in light of Nietzschean nihilism and the Heideggerian critique of technique. The essay concludes with a sketch of a common ground  on which we might establish an ethos as the basis for genuine dwelling.

Though the relationship between the Church and modernity is often viewed in a Manichean light leading to a specious conflation of modernity with secularisation, the two seem to have a much more complex relationship. This paper discusses the distinction between the two concepts and introduces the work of the modern German church architect Rudolf Schwarz and his response to the growing secularisation and the loss of meaning characteristic of the modern age.

From the time of the Renaissance to the present age, architecture has come to be seen as a profession increasingly removed from the act of building. Practical knowledge gained through making, under experienced tutelage, has gradually been replaced by theory as the arbiter of technique and form.

This sharp distinction between builder and architect has left the role of the architect as something of a conductor of an orchestra. The architect is now charged with the task of creating representations, usually of descriptive geometry, as a means of conducting skilled labourers and craftsmen during construction. As architectural tasks in recent times have become more complex than ever before, the splintering of the design process into discrete specialisms has inevitably resulted in the further narrowing of the architect's role in and knowledge of the construction process.

This essay is an exploration of the work of Madrid based architectural firm Ensamble Studio, whose role as architects spans the gap between initial conception and finished building, between drawing board and building site, between representation and artefact. My aim is to enquire into the architect's approach in using the craft of model-making as an instigator for the construction process. I will also seek to determine the appropriateness of this approach to architecture in interpreting and addressing the society which it embodies.