What is rationalism in architecture?
Rationalism is not a style but an attitude: the premise that building problems can be solved by reasoned, rational means, and that form arises from structure, material and function rather than from applied decoration. Two distinct movements sit under that heading and are worth keeping apart.
Structural rationalism in the 19th century
The theoretical groundwork came from Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), with Gottfried Semper as the second pillar. Viollet-le-Duc argued from Gothic architecture that a structure must be honest and logical. He treated the Gothic as a rational building system, one that could be carried forward with modern materials such as iron. The strand is therefore also called Gothic rationalism.
In the Netherlands the line starts with P.J.H. Cuypers and reaches maturity around 1900 with H.P. Berlage, alongside Karel de Bazel, Tjeerd Kuipers and Ane Nauta. Its hallmarks:
- The plan is developed from the function outwards.
- The structure stays visible; the load bearing role of wall and arch is emphasised.
- Regularity and unity, governed by a dimensional system or module. Berlage often worked to a grid of 110 cm derived from the brick format.
- Fair faced brickwork with stone dressings, iron structural members and concrete beams.
- Opposition to the revival styles and to historicism.
Italian razionalismo
Gruppo 7 formed in Milan in 1926: Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Larco, Carlo Enrico Rava, Giuseppe Terragni and Ubaldo Castagnoli, replaced the following year by Adalberto Libera. The group published a series of articles in Rassegna Italiana in 1926 and 1927 and was absorbed into MIAR in 1928.
| Programme | How it was applied |
|---|---|
| Break with eclectic decorativism and neoclassicism | Applied ornament removed |
| Sober, functional architecture on rational logic | Plans reduced to elementary architectural types |
| Without disowning the Italian tradition | Classical forms taken up in abstracted terms |
| Modern materials | Deliberate use of reinforced concrete, steel and glass |
The key work is Terragni’s Casa del Fascio in Como, 1932-1936. Razionalismo is inseparable from the architectural politics of the fascist regime. Related but separate are the Soviet rationalists around ASNOVA in the 1920s and 1930s.
Terms in other languages
German: Rationalismus (Architektur), with the Italian strand as Rationalismus (Italien) or Razionalismo. Dutch: rationalisme.
Related terms
- Functionalism
- New Objectivity
- Historicism
- Gothic Revival
- Amsterdam School
- Modernism
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