The idea of the “Duck and the Decorated Shade” is used as architectural iconographies to illustrate the central Post-Modernist theory proposed by Robert Venturi that a building embody the “both-and” doctrine - in many cases being both “complex” and “contradictory” at the same time (such notions would be discussed in the latter part of the response). In this regard, “the Duck”, a comparison towards the “Long Island Duckling” Drive-in structure, is used to describe an architectural system of space, structure, and programmed are fused into and therefore shaped by a symbolic and sometimes a performative form. In contrast, “the Decorated Shed” to describe an architectural system whereby the structure directly serves its function, and ornament is independently applied to mark its program or purpose. The two terms can be made more clear through a comparison between two buildings built during similar times: Robert Venturi’s Guild House and Paul Rudolph’s Crawford Manor. The first difference that one will notice is the fact that the Guild House is heavily ornamented while the Manor is not.The stripes of white brick placed high on the building nod towards the style of Renaissance Palazzo and the scale of the central space to the whole building adds to the same effect. Its non-functional arched window and the gold-plated antennae at the top are nothing but symbolic ornaments. Unlike the Guild House, the Manor uses minimal decoration, its design based on its use as a residential. The Manor therefore, can be catagorised as a duck while the Guild House is the “Decorated Shed”.
The “Duck” is described by Robert Venturi as “heroic and original”, as the design is straightforward and so is not a result of an attempt to be something that it is not
Like the “Duck”, the Aalto’s Imatra Church is again, an architectural embodiment of its use as a church with acoustic properties. A structure whose minimalist look does not match its internal complexities which are governed by the way that the church is going to be used. Such property is highly valued by Venturi, as it fits into his concept of “genuine complexity” - an idea that the simplicity should be the result of behind- the-scene complexity, otherwise, the design would be rendered to only be bland. Rather, like Alto’s Church whose curved ceiling spaces allows for a better acoustic property in the building, architecture itself should address its program. Such performative work would be especially true if we were to look at contemporary architecture such as Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67, whose fragmented geometry speaks of a dense accumulation of residential unit that, in this design, are integrated benefits of suburban homes, namely privacy, fresh-air, and multi-level configuration.
Robert Venturi’s idea of post-modernist architecture is not unlike that which embodies INDA’s student project of “Erotic Architecture”, for the work seeks to create a space which, in its own right, performs a particular task- arousing the senses. Like a “Duck”, the intervention is immersive and puts architecture in the limelight. The work is particularly true to Venturi’s conception of simplification and complexity, as the output of the installation only deals with the senses in its purest form (a simplification of sensory experience to its purest level). However, behind it is a plethora of design and set-up planned weeks before, a complexity that are, during the show, hidden away and not seen but are vital to the effectiveness of the installation.
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