Stirling's Coming of Age: The
Development of James Stirling's
Style in Reaction to the Late Work
of Le Corbusier
Caroline Choi
1 Giovanni Anselmo, Particolare, 1986 (photo: http://
www.artnet.com/artwork/424289233/giovanni-anselmoparticolare.html)
2 Giovanni Ansemo, Particolare, 1986 (photo: http://
wwv.:.artnet.com/artwork/424289232/giovanni-anselmopartlcolare.html)
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Le Corbusier's influence on James Stirling is evident in his early
career, particularly in his work of the 1950's. On several occasions Stirling has credited Le Corbusier as an important influence
and source of inspiration. Le Corbusier, once considered by Stirling
to be "Europe's greatest architect," served as a beacon for his
early development as an architect. 1 As a student and young graduate, Stirling's work often lifted elements directly from the work of
Le Corbusier. Beginning with his 1950 thesis at Liverpool University and ending with the Engineering Building at Leicester University (1959-1963), a parallel can be drawn between the English
architect's attitude towards the work of Le Corbusier and its relevance to the context of contemporary architectural discourse,
and to the development of Stirling's own style. However, as the
decade progressed, it became apparent that Le Corbusier's relevance was waning. As a result, the development of Stirling's
individual style during the1950's was the result of his struggle to
come to terms both with his hero's lack of innovation and his own
failure to create solutions to the problems of contemporary architecture.
At an early stage of his architectural education, which
began at Liverpool School of Architecture in September of 1945,
Stirling was already demonstrating a keen interest in the work of
Le Corbusier. A 1946 edition of the Oeuvre Complete: 1929-34
was in Stirling's library, signed "Lieut. J.F. Stirling, 24 Childwall
Priory Road." 2 24 Childwall Priory Road was where Stirling lived
with his parents in Liverpool before and during his days at the
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architecture school. Signing it with his rank has been interpreted
by biographer Mark Girouard as an indication that Stirling acquired
this book earlier rather than later because he still identified himself as a soldier. 3 This information therefore provides evidence of
Stirling's early exposure to Le Corbusier's highly influential early
work (i.e. the work of the 1920s and 1930s) prior to the bulk of
Stirling's formal architectural education.
In learning their craft, architecture students often familiarize themselves with key moments when debate or achievement
in their field develops and peaks. Books on Modern architecture,
especially the volumes of Le Corbusier's Oeuvre Complete, were
an important learning tool to Stirling and his fellow students. 4
Stirling's exposure to these, as well as other books, broadened
his architectural vocabulary early on and provided a necessary
database and lexicon of contemporary influences from which to
draw. In particular, the careful and repeated analysis of the projects
of Le Corbusier proved to be the basis of his early architectural
vocabulary, most notably and most visibly in Stirling's 1950 thesis.
Stirling's library was extensive, with obvious interest in
texts related to architecture. As reported by Girouard, the following books were most influential: Saxl and Wittkower's British Art
and the Mediterranean (1948); Le Corbusier's Towards a New
Architecture; A. E. Richardson's Monumental Classic Architecture
in Britain and Ireland (1914); Alberto Sartoris's [Encyclopedie de
11 Architecture Nouvelle; volumes 1 and 2 of Le Corbusier's Oeuvre
Complete; Gunnar Asplund Arkitekt(1943); and Alfred Roth's The
New Architecture. 5 Towards a New Architecture, the only theoretical book among these titles, was on his reading list at school
and was arguably the most influential architectural text of the period.6 Sartoris's Encyclopedie was an "exhaustive anthology of
Modern Movement buildings," while Richardson's text was a collection of classically inspired architecture in Britain and Ireland,
illustrating the use of the style within Stirling's British contexU
The New Architecture by Roth was originally published in
1939 shortly after the beginning of World War II. The second edition, published in 1946, was likely the edition Stirling had in his
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possession. The book presented twenty examples of Modern architecture that attempted to "summarize in a coherent form the
achievements of modern architecture proper during the thirties ... "
including the work of Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, Richard Neutra,
and Alfred Roth himself in collaboration with Emil Roth and Marcel
Breuer. 8 For each of the twenty examples, the book presented
written details on several aspects of the building including the
program, materials, economic, and technical factors, as well as
site plans, floor plans, elevations, tectonic details, and a series of
interior and exterior photographs of the built product.
Stirling had, as did many architecture students at the time,
relied heavily on Le Corbusier's Oeuvre Complete as a dominant
source. According to Colin Rowe, who at the time was a professor at Liverpool School, the volumes (the first three of which were
published before Stirling's arrival at architecture school) were not
included in the school's library, which implies the extent to which
Le Corbusier was still regarded with suspicion. 9 In spite of this,
the Oeuvre Complete still served as the "standard references for
many of the best students" of the time, each volume displaying
the chronological output of their master. 10 The presentation of each
project by Le Corbusier in the volumes of the Oeuvre Complete
allowed Stirling to isolate particular elements or patterns employed
by Le Corbusier that Stirling could incorporate in his own work.
Together, all of these books exposed Stirling to an architectural
vocabulary inspired by the early Modern architecture of the 1920's,
1930's, and 1940's.
Despite the dominance of Modernism in the architectural
discourse of the first half of the twentieth century, upon Stirling's
arrival in 1945, Liverpool University appeared to be behind in the
debate of its validity and contemporary relevance. As Stirling put
it in an article published in May 1965, "the [Liverpool] School of
Architecture was in tremendous ferment as the revolution of modern architecture had just hit it secondhand and rather late."11 As a
result of the debate, the faculty and student body was divided.
Even if Le Corbusier's Towards a New Architecture was part of
the curriculum at the time, there remained resistance and reluctance within the school to fully accept Le Corbusier. Throughout
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the debate on Modernism, Stirling maintained "a deep conviction
of the moral rightness of the New Architecture." 12 This was no
doubt in part due to Stirling's (and that of most if not all exservicemen's) commitment to Britain's postwar reconstruction and
the idea that Modern architecture was concerned with its own social
implications and rational tendencies. 13
Due to the apparent resistance of Le Corbusier and the
Modern movement, the division of the school was visible and, as
Girouard writes in his biography of Stirling, "students who embarked on Corbusian projects were liable to run into trouble." 14
Stirling's relationship with Colin Rowe, which began in the army
and continued far beyond Stirling's school days, no doubt encouraged his attachment to the work of Le Corbusier at school. As his
thesis advisor, Rowe was a key influence in the development of
Stirling's Corbusian thesis. Rowe's essay "Mathematics of the Ideal
Villa," in which he draws comparisons between Palladian and early
Corbusian villas, was published in Architectural Review in 1947,
prior to Rowe's involvement with Stirling's formal education. Because of this article's success as well as the fact of Stirling's relationship with Rowe even before he began his thesis it can be
inferred that Stirling was well aware of the article and had read it.
In Rowe's writing, Stirling found a kindred spirit with whom he
shared a keen and critical interest in the work of the French-Swiss
architect.
The visual referencing and, in some cases, direct imitation of the work of the "masters" of Modern architecture are highly
conspicuous in much of Stirling's early work of the 1950's, beginning with his fifth-year thesis at Liverpool University. The "Community Centre and Town Centre Plan for Newton Aycliffe" of 1950
(figure 1) was, as the name indicates, a project for a new town
centre and, although Stirling's scheme included several other
buildings in the plan to provide context, the project focused on the
Community Centre building. t consisted of several programmatic
elements including a recreational centre, a library, a youth centre,
an art gallery, citizen's advice bureau and a W.E.A. 15 Added to
this were several smaller components, among them: a canteen,
a multi-purpose hall, a gymnasium, squash courts, showers, a
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writing room, a staff room, a study room, a workshop, a store, a
coffee bar and an apartment for the superintendent. 16 Admittedly,
the organisation of the project was "influenced by the principles
of the 'free plan"' and, Stirling borrowed heavily from the Corbusian
vocabulary. 17 For example, the apartment for the superintendent
was a two-level suite on one of the upper levels of the three-level
building. The design of the flat unmistakably mimics a unit of Le
Corbusier's Unite d'habitation. Another Corbusian detail used in
Stirling's thesis was the pi/otis. These large, concrete columns lift
the mass of the building above the ground floor and, in a detail
which is representative of Le Corbusier's later use of this architectural element, the pi/otis are tapered. Le Corbusier used these
wide, tapered pi/otis most notably in Unite d'habitation in Marseilles
in 1945 (figure 2), a building with which Stirling was presumably
very familiar because of its importance in the postwar housing
debate. As the first realised Unite, the Marseilles Block (as it is
often called) represented a significant contribution to the on-going European housing debate and had been at the centre of the
ninth ClAM of Aix-en-Provence (1953). As Rowe said of Stirling's
use of the pi/otis, "He took the Mies Admin[istration] and Library
building for I.I.T. and raised it up on Corbu style pi/otis. And it was
all, as far as I was concerned, rather impressive for its facility and
distinctly shocking for its highly casual manipulation of derivations."18 In Corbusian vocabulary, the pi/otis lifted the entire building above the ground so that the ground floor was not an inhabitable part of the building's interior. This was desirable for sanitation and hygienic reasons, prevalent issues during the time of the
building's inception. In Stirling's adaptation of this Corbusian element, the building was lifted, but there remained several spaces
for inhabitants on the ground level (figure 1). Therefore, his adoption of the pi/otis was not for functional purposes, but perhaps as
simply a visual trope.
In order to offset the space lost on the ground level by the
use of pi/otis, Le Corbusier gave the roof of his buildings programmatic relevance. Following the rationale behind the pi/otis,
Stirling also included a user-friendly roof atop his thesis project.
In both cases, the mechanical equipment placed on the roof was
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designed as furniture or other elements of the environment. C.
Hodgetts describes Stirling's adaptation of the Corbusian component as follows: " ... [Stirling] rips off the sculptural disguise
adopted by Le Corbusier and fantasizes about the dynamic qualities of the exhaust stack, positioning his by now characteristic
wind vane atop the building and strutting out the whole affair with
guy wires like the equipment it is, rather than treating it as an
abstract sculptural form" 19 (figure 1).
Rowe also makes note of the graphical similarity between
Stirling's thesis and Le Corbusier's. 20 Stirling most likely imitated
this style based on what he saw in the Oeuvre Complete. Also, in
each of the four elevations of the project's display panels, the
people are represented by miniature "Modular'' men, a small, but
noticeable reference to the modular system Le Corbusier devised.
After his graduation from architecture school, Stirling
embarked on the first of three trips to France that he undertook
during the 1950's. In July of 1950, he visited his first Le Corbusier
buildings in and around Paris. It is unclear exactly which Le
Corbusier buildings he saw on which trips and exactly when those
trips were made. In his biography, Girouard clearly states that
during Stirling's initial trip to Paris in 1950 he only saw the Pavilion Suisse and goes on to specifically list which buildings Stirling
saw on each trip. 21 Another source (namely the introduction by
John Jacobus in James Stirling: Buildings & Projects 1950-1974)
contradicts this statement claiming that Stirling saw several buildings by Le Corbusier in the Paris region en route to Marseilles. 22
Also included in James Stirling: Buildings & Projects 1950-1974 is
an abbreviated chronology of visits and lectures stating that in
1955, he visited: "Paris and Le Corbusier houses outside Paris";
and in 1958: "Tour of North Italy, Venice, Vicenza. Paris (with Colin
Rowe), visited Maison de Verre and Chantilly''; with no mention of
a trip in 1954, as Girouard claims there was.
Despite these discrepancies, Stirling's visit to Paris in 1950
included, as both sources agree, a visit to the 1932 Pavilion Suisse
in Paris. According to a postcard Stirling sent while there, he described the building as "disappointing."23 Later, on another visit in
1954, Girouard claims that Stirling elaborated on his earlier opin-
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ion by saying that the Pavilion Suisse was "too easy ... at this stage
Corb had obviously reached an end of a phase, as there is little
real innovation."24 At this early stage in his career, Stirling was
already formulating criticism of Le Corbusier and establishing the
high expectations he appeared to develop of his hero as an innovator of Modern architecture. Though Stirling's negative reaction
was voiced in a private forum, soon afterwards he expressed disdain for the project to the architectural world. 25 In his article
"Garches and Jaoul: Le Corbusier as Domestic Architect in 1927
and 1953," of 1955, Stirling quips, "the one instance among the
Paris buildings where trees are sympathetic is the Pavilion Suisse
where they have grown the full height of the south elevation, significantly one of the most repetitive fa9ades that Le Corbusier has
produced."26
Stirling's work immediately following his return from Paris
in 1950 demonstrates the first manifestations of his critical attitude towards Le Corbusier. In 1951, Stirling executed an exercise
that developed Le Corbusier's Dom-ino structure of 1915.27 Under the heading "Stiff Dom-ino Housing" (1951) it appears that
Stirling attempted to develop a standardised cubic, skeletal housing perhaps inspired (not only in name) by Le Corbusier's tectonic system (figure 3). Even though Stirling's project was left as
merely a scheme, Stirling demonstrated that he was no longer
simply imitating his hero. In fact, this exercise infers Stirling's
acknowledgement that Le Corbusier's work was becoming dated;
Stirling's version was trying to re-work Le Corbusier's system and
make it relevant in the contemporary context.
Despite an obvious similarity to Le Corbusier's earlier
work, the unrealized Poole Technical College national competition entry of 1952 (figure 4) is the point at which Stirling acknowledges his own architectural awakening. Although it may appear
that he was still borrowing from his master, albeit discriminately,
Stirling maintains that he was "beginning to react to [his own]
thesis and schooling in the principles of Towards a New Architecture."28 This reaction manifested itself in Stirling's conscious disposal of the plan fibre in this project in the hopes of re-instating
fundamental organisation, which would in turn re-define the cir-
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culation and dynamic elements of the plan. In retrospect, he found
that the use of the plan fibre made the co-existence of various
disparate types of accommodation difficult to mediate. This was
especially evident in projects with multiple programmatic requirements such as Stirling's thesis. In Stirling's mind, the circulation
inherent in the plan fibre was excessive and "compromised the
room usage."29
In 1955 and 1956, Stirling wrote two articles published in
Architectural Review commenting on the work of Le Corbusier. 30
These two essays were strong indications that Stirling was becoming more vocal and confident of his criticism of Le Corbusier
and his later work's ability to speak to contemporary architectural
discourse. Though he continued to refer to Le Corbusier as
"Europe's greatest architect," Stirling also believed Le Corbusier's
work had begun to lack in significant innovation. 31 In the first of
the two articles, "Garches to Jaoul, Le Corbusier as Domestic
Architect in 1927 and 1953," Stirling pinpoints Le Corbusier's
weakness evident in the comparison of these projects: an inconsistency between the architectural developments, which Stirling
believed was still inventive, and the programmatic theory which
Stirling felt was lacking. 32 The absence of sound programmatic
theory to support the architectural development rendered Le
Corbusier's later work superficial.
In the "Garches to Jaoul" article, Stirling teeters between
praise and condemnation. The comparison between the two
houses illustrates the extent to which Le Corbusier's work had
developed over almost twenty-five years to opposing extremes:
"the former, rational, urbane, programmatic, the latter, personal
and anti-mechanistic." 33 The point is not the teleological development from one project to the other. Instead, for Stirling, the problem lies with the significance of each in their respective theoretical and practical contexts. As emblematic of Le Corbusier's
achievement in Modernist sophistication, Garches of 1927 (figure
4} is glorified as a "masterpiece of Neo-Palladianism in modern
architecture" because of its adherence to two proportions in the
plan, section and elevation, a direct reference to Rowe's article
"The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa," mentioned earlier. 34 In con-
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trast, Stirling saw the Jaoul houses of 1953 in Paris (figure 5},
which were "built by Algerian labourers equipped with ladders,
hammers and nails, and with the exception of glass no synthetic
materials," as making no technological advance on "medieval
building". 35 That said however, Stirling did not believe it to be a
complete failure because of the spatial effects achieved in the
project. In an attempt to salvage some semblance of contextual
relevance, Stirling added that " ... space is not contrived for the
sake of effect only, it invariably has a psychological as well as
functional context." 36 This point is one of the few Stirling mentions
in defence of the work, and is far outweighed by its negative qualities.
The compositional basis of proportion in Garches that renders a completely harmonic entity is absent in Jaoul perhaps due
to Jaoul's site restrictions: "This considerable flexibility may create a visually non-apparent geometry, as at Jaoul, but here the
restrictions of the site already mentioned must be remembered
when considering whether this is a valid criticism." 37 Thus Stirling
is somewhat sympathetic in his criticism of Jaoul because of the
narrowness of the site, but overall, this is a weak concession considering the esteem with which Stirling and others regarded Le
Corbusier. Le Corbusier's genius would have been expected to
prevail amid such a fundamental project restriction.
With regards to their surroundings and environments,
Stirling wrote: "If Garches appears urban, sophisticated and essentially in keeping with /'esprit parisien, then the Jaoul houses
seem primitive in character, recalling the Provengal farmhouse
community; they seem out of tune with their Parisian environment."38 His comments indicate that for him, Garches was a success in its own time, representing a peak in Le Corbusier's early
career. In the British architect's opinion, the white-washed walls
and manifestation of the Five Points of Architecture were emblematic of a time when Le Corbusier's work was revered, a product of high modernism. Jaoul, on the other hand, was vaguely
relevant in its 1950's context. The building materials and method
however, signalled a sharp turn in the French architect's oeuvre,
questioning his commitment to the progress of architecture.
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The reference to the context of the two buildings suggests
that this article was a direct reaction to what Stirling saw on his
trips to France. The photographs he took on his trips indicate that
he had visited both Villas Garches and Jaoul. Although the photographs are not dated and the year he took his second trip is unclear, one can assume that he had visited the sites prior to writing
this article for the September 1955 issue of Architectural Review
because of the authority with which he writes. As a monthly periodical, one can also assume it plausible that Stirling had written
the article only a few months prior to its publication, taking into
account the fact that he personally knew people who worked at
Architectural Review, making it easier to get published. Since Jaoul
was not finished until 1953, his photographs and opinions of this
building could not have been taken or formulated during his visit
to France in 1950 because the house was not finished.
The photos from Stirling's personal collection in the CCA's
archives indicate that he visited Ronchamp during what appears
to be summer months, possibly right after its consecration on June
25, 1955. 39 The detail with which he describes Ronchamp suggests that he must have visited the building in its complete form
prior to writing the article for Architectural Review about it. If the
photographs are an indication of the visit Stirling took to Ronchamp
to prepare his piece, then he must have taken his second trip to
France in 1955 as James Stirling: Buildings and Projects 19501974 states since the church was only completed in 1955 and the
article was published in March 1956. It is of note, however, that
the book's claim of a trip in 1958 might have been a more opportune time for Stirling to visit Ronchamp, which would be en route
between Northern Italy and Paris. 40
As Stirling suggested in his article of 1956, Ronchamp
(figure 6) was indeed regressive and was representative of Le
Corbusier's later work. In fact according to Stirling, Le Corbusier's
extensive experience and status as a leader of the Modern Movement was what kept him and his work in the spotlight even though
he was no longer contributing to the development of a contemporary vocabulary. 41 As in the case of the Maison Jaoul, Ronchamp
offered little in terms of technological advancement and its mate-
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rials were again taking a step back rather than forward. The use
of weight-bearing masonry was similar to the overuse of concrete
in Le Corbusier's other projects including those in projects in India.
When the later works of Le Corbusier's were less immediate and perhaps less debated, Stirling was much more direct in
his criticism of this period. In an interview published in A+U in
1971, Stirling said: "Much as I am an admirer of Corbusier, I began to get turned off by his later buildings ... where he made a
massive use of concrete ... That seemed to me ... very much alien
to the spirit of modern architecture. I began to question the whole
idea of using concrete as a modern building method."42 The emphasis on concrete in Le Corbusier's later work does not appear
to take into account contemporary technological advancements.
What was considered innovative twenty years earlier was considered regressive in the context of the 1950s. The materials Le
Corbusier employed were also irrelevant in Stirling's British context. "The white rendering of Villa Garches or Tugendhat [Mies
van der Rohe, Brno, 1930] was never structurally relevant, or even
appropriate, as an external finish in this country," since the vernacular material of England was brick. 43 The reliance on the materials to dictate to a certain degree the design of a Corbusian
building made it difficult for Stirling to find aspects of building that
he could borrow and incorporate into his own work in England.
In the case of Ronchamp, as opposed to Maison Jaoul,
the effect of the materials was the appearance of "folk architecture" interpreted as a type of regionalism. 44 Considered in this
light, "this entirely visual appeal and the lack of intellectual participation demanded from the public may partly account for its easy
acceptance by the local population."45 This does not excuse the
fact that it was not a development of modern architecture, but it
made it easier to accept and interpret the meaning Ronchamp
carried within its local context, as an entity separated from the
international architectural discourse. This was an ambiguous defence of Le Courbusier on Stirling's part, but is a point that was
worth making when considering Stirling's criticism of context. This,
with regard to Ronchamp, Stirling admitted that although Le
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Corbusier was not progressive in the contemporary, Western architectural debate in terms of its immediate geographical and social
context, Ronchamp could be considered a success.
The "expressionist" or "artistic" appearance of Maison
Jaoul and Ronchamp was indicative of the state of European architecture of the time. European architecture in particular had
become static and either reluctant or incapable of developing further. Hence Stirling's comments:
The exaggerated supremacy of "Art" in European Architecture probably denotes a hesitant attitude towards
technology, which itself has possibly been retarded by
our derisive attitude towards the myth of progress, the
recent belief that true progress lies in charity, welfare,
and personal happiness, having replaced the Victorian
idea of progress as the invention and perfection of man's
tools and equipment. 46
This could explain not only Le Corbusier's failures in contemporary architecture, but other European architects as well. Despite
the older school's status and past successes in developing a
modern vocabulary, it was becoming apparent that new ideas were
needed to revitalise the state of European architecture.
Stirling's criticism and questioning of Le Corbusier's relevance was not isolated at the time and perhaps was in part symptomatic of a growing consensus that the Swiss-French architect
was far past his prime. The Modern movement suffered a massive identity crisis as the issue of postwar reconstruction called
into question its relevance in the context of the 1950's. The disparate views between two generations at the last two ClAM meetings (ClAM IX in Aix-en-Provence, 1953 and ClAM X in Dubrovnik,
1956} initiated a shift in power and ideas in architecture. Le
Corbusier, as the representative of the older school, was challenged by, among others, the Smithsons and those who would go
on to form Team X, a spin-off of ClAM consisting of representatives of the younger generation. It had become apparent to the
younger generation that the old Masters were no longer moving
forward in their architectural or theoretical development and were
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lost in the postwar discourse. Particularly vocal were the Smithsons
and their ally Reyner Banham who was at the time an editor of
Architectural Review. As the leaders of this new wave of young
architects, they brought international attention to the already burgeoning London architectural scene. Although Stirling was not as
active a member of this London scene as others were at the time,
he frequently took part in the architectural social circuit and was
certainly aware of its happenings, particularly in the earlier part of
the 1950's immediately following his arrival there from Liverpool.
Not only was he a member - though not particularly active - of
the Independent Group, he was involved with the ICA at least
until June 1952, and also took part in the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of 1956.47 Additionaly Stirling contributed to Team X in the
form of a housing project prepared in 1955 that was presented at
the tenth ClAM , though he did not attend the meeting. 48 He maintained his distance from these groups, particularly when it became apparent that Alison and Peter Smithson had taken over a
leadership role. Whether it was due to a battle of egos and leadership or simply because he did not entirely share their views,
Stirling distanced himself from the self-proclaimed leaders and
remained a relative outsider, allowing him to develop ideas on the
state of architecture more independently. 49 Stirling's involvement,
however limited, did not shield him from the possible influence
these groups may have had on him and his work. Nevertheless, it
is evident that Stirling's efforts to distinguish himself from the crowd
and to develop a parallel to the Smithsons and others, was successful considering that he is rarely mentioned in association with
them in historical texts.
While working as a senior assistant at the office of Lyons,
Israel and Ellis in London from 1953 to 1956, Stirling met his first
business partner, James Gowan, who was an assistant at the
same firm. Gowan was also a proponent of Le Corbusier and the
ideals Le Corbusier represented in the context of the early twentieth century. Stirling and Gowan's shared admiration of Le
Corbusier and their ability to work with one another made their
collaboration and partnership a successful fit. The extent to which
Stirling and Gowan agreed upon the state of Modern architecture
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is demonstrated in a review Gowan wrote for Le Corbusier's Exhibition in London of 1959. 50 Echoing the writings of his partner,
Gowan wrote:
Corbusier. Stirling himself speculates on the influence of Ham
Commons as a combination of Corbusian influence and other
sources:
Ronchamp and Jaoul represent the present and we find
that the values have changed abruptly. The formulation
of universal statements of a new society of high technological attainment has given way to subjective essays in individual problems: intuitive, personal and technically primitive. This has coincided with the reaction to
regionalism which reflects the post-war concern about
the limitations of international style architects, the failure of the new towns in a visual sense and, with this,
the prospect of a scientific Utopia. The influence of Le
Corbusier is now much less apparent and architects and
students are evolving their own personal assessments,
often inspired directly by indigenous or fortuitous example. 51
The flats of Ham Common were probably influenced
by de Stijl and the Jaoul houses, but at the same time
we were fascinated by the quality of vernacular brick
buildings such as the Liverpool warehouses, and in general by the great virtuosity of English nineteenth-century brick technology.s2
This quote summarises the basic theses of Stirling's Architectural Review articles of the mid-1950s. Certainly the close working relationship between Stirling and Gowan encouraged an osmosis of ideas, but this illustrates the extent to which they agreed
on this topic.
Although both, along with the vast majority of their generation, admired the writings and buildings of Le Corbusier, in
their writings Gowan and Stirling explicated the desire to develop
a meaningful contemporary architecture for the changing needs
of the post-war context that their Le Corbusier had failed to do.
The evolution of their collaboration saw the visual and technical
similarities between their work and that of Le Corbusier's lessen.
For example, in the project for Ham Common Flats (figure 7, Richmond, 1955) the emergence of a style and vocabulary independent from that of Le Corbusier's can be seen. One of the few
similarities between the two is the juxtaposition of materials. As
in the Maisons Jaoul, Ham Commons Flats presented exposed
brick on the interior juxtaposed with the standard smooth, plaster
walls. Other than this detail, the plan and elevations of the Ham
Commons Flats bare little if any resemblance to any project by Le
~nntrannn.c::tn
As a result of the varied sources of inspiration, the visual and
tectonic similarities to the work of Le Corbusier are largely muted
in this instance as compared to Stirling's thesis or even Poole
Technical College.
Leicester University Engineering Building of 1959 (figure
8) is a dramatic departure from Stirling's earlier work in that it
represents an exorcism of Le Corbusier's style. The complex tectonic composition was lauded as a highly innovative solution to
the programmatic and site restrictions of the project. The only
remnant of Le Corbusier's influence is the use of a ramp to the
first floor entrance, a universally employed architectural element
that is arguably the result of Le Corbusier's influence.
The more Le Corbusier produced and the more Stirling
saw of the French architect's work, whether it was via a visit he
took to the site or the publication of a new building by the FrenchSwiss architect, the influence of the "master" on Stirling was limited to a very specific part of Le Corbusier's oeuvre. It is apparent
from Stirling's writing and designs that his appropriation of a
Corbusian style was selective, borrowing elements from buildings that were innovative in their historical context. Stirling most
often isolated the early, high Modernist work defined by the whitewashed fayades of Le Corbusier's archetypal villas as having the
greatest influence on his own work; however, as demonstrated
by Stirling's thesis, very specific projects from Le Corbusier's later
career were also highly influential. For instance, his more nuanced
appropriation of elements from the Unite d'habitationthat appeared
in the thesis of 1950 show that he saw potential in this particular
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project. Whether Stirling saw the Unite d'habitation as outdated
was never clearly stated. Thus, Stirling's use of particular aspects
of its construction could be interpreted as an indication that he
was attempting to refurbish some of Le Corbusier's "good" ideas
to fit in a contemporary context rather than merely imitating his
idol out of an absence of his own style.
In any case, Stirling's work of the 1950s shows a selective appropriation of architectural elements from Le Corbusier. In
becoming more vocal of his criticism of Le Corbusier's work and
more concerned with the contemporary significance of architecture, Stirling was able to use the shortcomings of his aging idol as
a point of departure for his own architectural and theoretical investigations. This newfound ambivalence toward Le Corbusier's
work was the catalyst for the development of Sterling's unique
style during the early years of his career.
2
3
4
5
Notes
1
Caroline Choi
James Stirling, "Ronchamp: Le Corbusier's Chapel and the
Crisis of Rationalism" Architectural Review (March 1956):
161.
The source of this information is a biography, often a
problematic format because its goal of creating a
compelling narrative sometimes overrules the need for
objective, historical accuracy. However, it is one of the
few books dedicated to Stirling that contains detailed
biographical information. The book lacks a full
bibliography making its text difficult to verify. I have used
this book in order to build a more detailed and personal,
chronological biography of Stirling during the early years
of his career, but I have refrained from considering the
personal anecdotes re-told by people other than Stirling
himself as possible references because of their bias and
subjectivity. The book has provided some specific
information with un-cited references that has helped to
build a chronology of his personal life. For instance, it
Contraooosto
6
7
8
9
10
11
helps to place him in a certain city at a certain time.
However, at times that information contradicts other
sources which may or may not be considered more
reliable. In this particular instance, the text states that
Stirling started at Liverpool in 1946 while all other sources
have stated that he began his five-year program in 1945 to
finish his thesis in 1950. Mark Girouard, Big Jim: The Life
and Work of James Stirling (London: Chatto & Windus,
1998), 26.
Girouard, (a in n. 2), 26.
" ... to be a better student you had to know more; the
development of one's own ideas could, as with
experience, come later. In the process of knowing more
we pored through the pages of Corb's Oeuvre Complete,
our designs were eclectic, a necessary stage to the
formation of a personal style. The books of Corbusier
were thus utilised as catalogues ... " quoted in: Girouard,
(as inn. 2), 36.
It is unclear when Stirling wrote this as there is a typo in
Girouard's book. Girouard writes, "In 1948 Jim provided a
correspondent with a list of 'books which influenced me
most when I was a student at architecture school."'
Stirling did not complete his formal architectural education
at Liverpool University until 1950, therefore the use of the
past tense in Stirling's quote implies the correspondence
was written after 1950. Ibid., 37.
Ibid., 31.
Ibid., 37.
Alfred Roth, The New Architecture (Erlenbach-Zurich: Les
Editions d'Architecture, 1946), 1.
Colin Rowe, introduction to James Stirling: Buildings and
Projects, by Peter Arnell and Ted Bickford (New York:
Rizzoli International Publications Inc., 1984), 12.
James Gowan, Style and Configuration (London: Academy
Group Ltd., 1994), 16.
This was written by Stirling in an article for RIBA published
in 1965; however Girouard's biography quotes from "notes
written in the 1950's [by Stirling]" that "Back to 1946 - end
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12
13
14
15
16
of the war is always start of something. The cities were
bombed and devastated. From now on, everything could
only be better. We assumed that from here on everything
would be built as Modern Architecture. In the Schools of
this time, the rightness of modern as against past styles
was not even debated; the overpowering logic of modern
architecture was completely accepted, and the pioneering
stage was over." There is no distinction made in this
quote between the students and faculty. Girouard, (as in
n. 2), 27. Girouard does not cite a source for this quote,
therefore the article written by Stirling himself is
considered a superior source. James Stirling, "An
Architect's Approach to Architecture" RIBA Journa/5 (May
1965), 231.
lbid.,231.
Nicholas Bullock's discussion of postwar Britain notes that
the architecture students in England championed the
modernists of the 1930s in the postwar era. "But in one
important respect the interests of the students appeared to
differ from those of the immediately preceding generation.
Students continued to be fascinated by the work of the
leading 1930s modernists, especially Le Corbusier."
Nicholas Bullock, Building the Post- War World: Modern
Architecture and Reconstruction in Britain, (New York:
Routledge, 2002), 41.
Ibid., 31.
Stirling does not explain what W.E.A. is or what it stands
for. Based on the that Stirling felt it was common
knowledge and thus does not provide an explanation, and
given the other programmatic elements of his thesis, I
surmise that W.E.A. is an acronym for "Workers Education
Association" a "voluntary provider of adult education" in
England. [website source www.wea.org.uk]
Information gathered from archival materials at the
Canadian Centre of Architecture (CCA, Montreal,
Canada). Stirling's thesis was not accessible during my
visit to the CCA because of its inclusion in the "Out of the
Box" exhibition (October 2003-September 2004), however
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Caroline Choi
I had access to several panels from his thesis that were
not included in the exhibition. It is from the labelled crosssections and plans of the community centre that I am able
to compile this list of programmatic elements.
17 Stirling, (as in n. 11 ), 231.
18 From a letter by Colin Rowe to J. Jacobus. James
Stirling, James Stirling: Exhibition [catalogue] Royal
Institute of British Architects Heinz Gallery 21 Portman
Square London 24 April- 21 June 1974 (London: RIBA
Publications Ltd., 1976), 4.
19 The caption which accompanies the images of Stirling's
thesis in James Stirling: Buildings and Projects was written
by C. Hodgetts and originally published in Design
Quarterly 100. Arnell and Bickford, (as in n. 9), 28-29.
20 James Stirling & Leon Krier, James Stirling: Buildings &
Projects 1950-1974 (New York: Oxford University Press,
1975), 15.
21
"In the summer vacation of 1950 he saw his first Le
Corbusier building. He went with Fred Thomas to France,
and visited the Pavilion Suisse in Paris ... But apart from
this one visit to the Pavilion Suisse, and what he saw in
America, Mim remained mainly reliant on books, slides
and photographs for his knowledge of contemporary
buildings." Girouard, (as in n. 2), 47.
22 "Stirling's first visit to France and Le Corbusier's buildings
followed in 1950. In the Paris region he saw, besides the
town houses, the villas at Garches and Poissy, the Swiss
Pavilion at the Cite Universitaire and the Salvation Army
Building. He also saw, en route to the Unite in Marseilles,
the vernacular buildings of Provence." Stirling and Krier,
(as in n. 20), 15.
23 "He sent Robin Bell postcards, from Paris between 10 and
19 July (the postmark is defaced arid from Avignon on 22
July." Girouard, (as in n. 2), 47.
24 Ibid., 47.
25 Ibid., 47.
26 James Stirling, "Garches and Jaoul: Le Corbusier as
Domestic Architect in 1927 and 1953" Architectural
Review (September 1955), 145.
172
173
Caroline Choi
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
This project appears in James Stirling: Buildings and
Projects, which, although he is not credited as an editor,
Stirling had a hand in publishing. A small image of Le
Corbusier's Dom-ino structure appears just about Stirling's
Stiff dom-ino housing images with a quote: "In the next
twenty years, big industry will have co-ordinated its
standardized materials ... technical achievements will have
carried ... methods of rational construction far behond
anything we are acquainted with." (Le Corbusier, 1914).
Arnell and Bickford, (as in n. 9), 33.
Stirling, (as in n. 11 ), 231.
Ibid, 231.
James Stirling, "Garches and Jaoul: Le Corbusier as
Domestic Architect in 1927 and 1953" Architectural
Review(September 1955), 145-151. Stirling, (as inn. 1),
155-161.
Stirling, (as in n. 2), 161.
Stirling, (as inn. 30), 151.
Ibid., 145.
Ibid., 151.
Ibid., 151.
Ibid., 148.
Ibid., 151.
Ibid., 146.
Archival photographs in the James Stirling Archives at the
CCA had not been properly sorted or archived. There
were undated, black and white photos of several Le
Corbusier buildings including Ronchamp, Unite
d'Habitation, Villa Savoye, Maison Jaoul, Villa Garches
and the Salvation Army Hotel presumed to have all been
taken by Stirling on his trips. Photos taken of Ronchamp
showed trees with leaves on them and appeared to have
been taken during the spring or summer months. For a
complete chronology of Ronchamp's construction cf:
Leonina Roversi, Le Corbusier: La Cappella di Ronchamp
(Florence: Alinea, 1989), 9-10.
Stirling and Leon, (as in n. 20), 13.
"There seems to be no doubt that Le Corbusier's
incredible powers of observation are lessening the
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42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
necessity for invention ... " Stirling, (as in n.1), 161.
Taken from an interview by Arata lsozaki with Stirling in
Tokyo, originally published in A+U, August 1971. James
Stirling, "James Stirling in Tokyo Interviewed by Arata
lsozaki" James Stirling: Writings on Architecture, Ed.
Robert Maxwell (Milan: Skira, 1998), 195.
Stirling, (as inn. 11), 231.
Stirling, (as in n. 1), 161.
Ibid., 161.
Ibid., 161.
The ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) was founded in
1946 in London in the hopes of becoming the English
equivalent of New York's MoMA (Museum of Modern Art).
It was a forum for exhibitions, discussions and lectures.
The Independent Group grew out of the JCA in 1952,
functioning within the ICA, but following its own
programme. Its members were the younger generation of
ICA members who revolted against the older generation.
The This is Tomorrow exhibition was mounted in 1956 by
the members of the Independent Group. Held at the
Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, it included
Independent Group members and outsiders, the exhibition
was an exploration of technology, mass culture and design
by British artists and architects. Girouard, (as in n. 2), 5556 and 85.
Ibid., 64-91.
In later years, Stirling revealed strong opinions about his
reaction against the Smithsons and their presence at the
ClAM meetings: "I heard from people at the meetings,
people from abroad, that is, that we were being
represented as people and work from the school of the
Smithsons. This was completely untrue. We were all a
bunch of friends at that time, and it was somehow this
misrepresentation that first began to make one sort of
suspicious of the Smithsons and tread warily. Since then
it has developed into a sort of definite break. They can't
tolderate anyone unless they're in a sort of guru situation,
with people sitting at their feet...l think it's been the
Smithsons' attempt to dominate Team 10, architects from
174
Caroline Choi
50
51
52
all over, that has led to the demise of that group, too."
Taken from an interview by Arata lsozaki with Stirling in
Tokyo, originally published in A+U, August 1971. James
Stirling, "James Stirling in Tokyo Interviewed by Arata
lsozaki" (as inn. 42), 196-197.
Le Corbusier: Architecture, Painting and Sculpture,
Tapestries. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 10 Dec 1958 17 Jan 1959, and Building Centre, london, 3 Feb- 6 Mar
1959.
Gowan, (as inn. 10), 16-18.
Taken from an article written by Stirling that was originally
published in Perspecta, No. 6, 1959. James Stirling, "The
Functional Tradition and Expression" James Stirling: Writings
on Architecture Ed. Robert Maxwell (Milan: Skira, 1998), 80.
1 James Stirling, Community Centre (cross section}, Thesis Liverpool University School
of Architecture, 1950, (photo: James Stirling, James Stirling: Writings on Architecture,
editor Robert Maxwell, (Milan: Skira, 1998), 54)
2 Le Corbusier, Unite d'Habitation, pi/otis, Marseilles, 1945, (photo: Steen Eiler
Rasmussen. Experiencing Architecture, (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1959), 172)
3 James Stirling, Poole Technical College, 1952, (photo: Peter Arnell and Ted Bickford.
James Stirling: Buildings and Projects, (New York: Rizzoli International Publications
Inc., 1984), 34)
175
f"":nntr::~nnn.c::tn
4 Le Corbusier Villa Stein de Monzie a.k.a. Villa Garches, Garches, 1927. (photo:
Colin Rowe. The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays, (Cambridge: The
MIT Press, 1988))
5 Le Corbusier, Maisons Jaoul, Neuilly Paris, 1953. (photo: Colin Rowe. The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays, (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1988))
176
6 Le Corbusier, Notre Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, 1955. (photo: James Stirling.
"Ronchamp: Le Corbusier's Chapel and the Crisis of Rationalism" Architectural Review
119 (March 1956), 155-161)
7 James Stirling, Ham Common Flats (section through apartment), Richmond, 1955,
(photo: Peter Arnell and Ted Bickford. James Stirling: Buildings and Projects, (New
York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc., 1984), 52)
177
Cultural Re-Invention and the
Accumulation of Diversity: The
'Christian' Muqarnas
Lance Kaprielian
"... change in meaning and change in form are two separate
phenomena that depend on each other but do not necessarily
coincide ... Change consists not only in modifications to the visually
perceptible features of form and subject matter but also to an
interplay between these features and... the mind of the beholder.
In other words it is likely, or at least possible, that the fact that a
Muslim looked at or used a form gave a different sense to that
form, and that this difference of visual understanding or of practical
use is largely what affected the making of further forms.·~
8 James Stirling, Leicester University Engineerin¥ ~uilding, L~icester, 1959, (photo:
James Stirling and Leon Krier. James Stirling: Bwldmgs & Projects 1950-1974, (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1975),.70)
178
It is a well-established view that the muqarnas is an Islamic invention, though there are considerable differences of scholarly
conclusions about its ultimate origins and the mechanics and pattern of its diffusion. There are also differences of opinion about
what in fact constitutes a muqarnas, with tiered squinches sometimes considered to be early muqarnas and sometimes not, as
well as more subtle distinctions between the muqarnas and
muqarbas. 2 Nevertheless, the extensive proliferation of the
muqarnas throughout the Muslim world during the medieval period and later is beyond debate. The form would ultimately appear
on numerous different building types from mausolea and mosques
to palaces, hospitals, even city gates. It also appears in very different architectural applications including niche hoods, transitional
cornices and most impressively, in domes. Though it was largely
restricted to the Muslim world, there are several notable and engaging exceptions from the early period. Norman Sicily, begin-
179