On the criterion of beauty in architecture

A statement by Alvar Aalto quoted by Kenneth Frampton:
"The structures which were means to create a new architecture have been wrested from us and turned into commercialized decorative ends in themselves with no inner value. There was a time when a miscontrued, lifeless traditionalism was the chief enemy of good architecture. Today its worst enemy is the superficial decorative misuse of the means acquired during the breakthrough...The contrast between deep social responsibility and decorative "surface effects" is perhaps the oldest and certainly the most topical issue in the debate on architecture. Please do not think that I wish to disparage beauty in rejecting decorativeness. Architecture must have charm; it is a factor of beauty in society. But real beauty is not a conception of form which can be taught, it is the result of harmony between several intrinsic factors, not least the social."

Cited from, 'Questions of Value: An Interview with Kenneth Frampton', by W.S. Saunders and N. Levinson (2007).

Luxe, calme, et volupte

image: Dezeen

This interpretation of the traditional Japanese teahouse says it all: "luxe, calme, et volupte".