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architecture and how to evaluate postmodern architecture. By criticizing the
universalism and functionalism of modern architecture, the arguments moved
toward a critique of 'postmodernism' in general.
Philosophical arguments such as those posed by French philosopher
Jean-Fran¸ois Lyotard (1924-1998), focused on how the status of knowledge
has changed in postmodern society: “The old principle that the acquisition of
knowledge is indissociable from the training (Bildung) of minds, or even of
individuals, is becoming obsolete and will become ever more so” (Lyotar 1979 ) .
Knowledge is and will be produced in order to be sold. And “the relationships of the
suppliers and users of knowledge to the knowledge they supply and use is now
tending, and will increasingly tend, to assume the form already taken by the
relationship of commodity producers and consumers to the commodities they
produce and consume—that is, the form of value” (Lyotar 1979 , p. 14). Legitima-
tion of knowledge produced during the Enlightenment was tied to “meta-narra-
tives,” or grand narratives that make ethical and political prescriptions for society,
and generally regulate decision-making. Therefore, in one sense, postmodernism
can be seen as incredulity toward meta-narratives.
Discussions around modern or postmodern architecture went far beyond design
itself and tapped into theories about postmodern society.
How architecture design can be explored within philosophical discourse?
How can we discuss design philosophically?
3.2 Design and the History of Ideas
The word design derives from the Latin word 'desiganre'. 'Signare' means
'signum', sign or mark, so 'designare' means to mark out, or to make a signum
(sign) or a mark. What and how do we make a sign or a mark? And to what? Here
we can say design (design activity) is primarily intended to make a sign.
'Designare' gave birth to the Italian word 'disegno', which became one of the
major concepts used by Renaissance artists. Fine arts, such as painting, sculpture
and architect—there was no word corresponding to the meaning in those days—
were said to be based on disegno.
Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) defines the 'art of disegno' as painting, sculpture,
and architect. Before Renaissance period painters, architectures and sculptors had
belonged to the 'Guild', which was an association of artisans or merchants who
controlled the practice of their craft in a particular town. However, Guild members
became conscious of the difference between mechanical arts and visual or fine arts.
Giorgio Vasari's Le Vite de' piu eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori da
Cimabue insino a' tempi nostri [The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters,
Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times] (1550) was one of the first
treatises that made this distinction (i.e., that the artiste is different from the artisan).
Under his influence, the L'Accademia delle Arti del Disegno [Academy of the Arts
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