Challenging Orthodoxy: The Idea of Facade of The Philadelphia School Architects
Spavit Darnthamrongkul (Dissertation In Preparation)
Dissertation Diagram
DISSERTATION
The dissertation addresses the definition and idea of architectural facade: how can facade be explained and what should facade be? The study mainly focuses on the idea of facade and the works of Louis Kahn and Robert Venturi who have been considered as key figures of Philadelphia School. By 1950s, Kahn initially developed his principle of architecture, so did Venturi in the late 1950s. They both intended to find the novel path of architecture in order to escape from modern architecture’s tenet. While Kahn delved into the spatial organization and Venturi went to the world of symbolism, they used facade as one of their departure means. The study also argues that although their directions were different, they shared some ideas of facade.