Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
critic|all V. International Conference on Architecture Design & Criticism DIGITAL PROCEEDINGS, The Hague, Hollanda, 10 - 12 Ekim 2023, ss.276-285
This proposal relates to ongoing doctoral research, which discusses the making of architectural
knowledge by theorizing the concepts of image and form regarding the German term Bildung
(meaning culture, formation, education). Bildung is discussed with an apparent relation to the idea of
“becoming”. The etymology of the term is interpreted as closely related to architectural terms.
Etymologically, Bildung is a derivation of Bild, and Bild is interpreted within its dual meaning as image
and form. It means image, relating to imitation, and form relating to formation. The etymology of the
term also refers to formative processes and static conditions (bilden: to form, to create, Vorbild: model,
Urbild: origin). The concept of Bildung can be considered as existing between culture and
enlightenment, practice and theory, society and individual, ontology and epistemology. Learning from
the various definitions of Bildung, the relationship between Bild and Bildung gains significance in
understanding the architectural knowledge within and between paradigms. The term is historical;
therefore meaning of the term changes and recurs in time, since paradigms reverberate in a certain
level of complexity that can redefine Bild, and thus, Bildung.
The theoretical-historical basis of the research expands from the nineteenth-century German
architectural theory, institutions and production that can be considered as a transition from an
ontological to an epistemological framework, defining architecture as knowledge (Schwarzer, 1995).
Accordingly, the first step is to trace image/form double through the nineteenth-century German
concepts of Vorbilderbewegung, which relates to singular and static images, and Bildungsgesetze,
which are multiple form possibilities on the axis of tectonic theory. The intention is to trace Bild and
Bildung as architectural concepts understood through their German meanings. However, learning from
the productive tension between these two concepts, these words are interpreted beyond their
etymologies to present a re-reading of the making of architectural knowledge. The proposal aims to
expand the curation of objects related to the aforementioned double through architectural drawings. In
so doing, the research aims to present different instances –especially drawings and representation
modes- within architectural history. The image-form double is curated through drawings that can be a
starting step for a speculative re-reading. This initial curation includes representational translations of
image-form double as “pinned” and “iterated”. The research follows the question: Can a framework be
presented apart from the linearity of history, which depends on the concept of Bildung and its “double”
references to Bild (image/form)?
Key words: Bildung, architectural knowledge, image, form, architectural drawing.