AbstractsPhilosophy & Theology

This MA dissertation is about the new architectural pragmatism and its coherence with philosophical pragmatism, and the possible future usage of the two as a tool for planning and architecture. The new architectural pragmatism is a counter reaction to the deconstructivist critical architecture of the 1980s and 1990s. It emerged in the midst of the rise of third way politics. One of the leading figures of the counter movement was Rem Koolhaas, whose ideas diffused into Danish architecture around the millennium. One of the protagonists of the Danish pragmatism is Bjarke Ingels. It has been debated whether pragmatism in architecture is of a vulgar or philosophically informed kind. This has to do with the fact that many theorists claim that pragmatic architecture does not contain the “checks and balances” of pragmatist philosophy, which was a movement led by, amongst others, John Dewey and had its heydays around 1900. It was a philosophy that offered the overall idea that goals should be rooted in reality, but it also contained critique of capitalism and inequality. The dissertation is concerned with qualifying a philosophically informed pragmatism within planning and architecture through a critical-philosophical analysis of the new architectural pragmatism. It is thus split up in two analyses. The first analysis seeks to critically analyze whether the new architectural pragmatism is of the vulgar or philosophically informed kind. This is a distinction that is suggested by, amongst others, Gavin Melles. In this analysis it is investigated how pragmatic architecture bears similarities with the philosophical pragmatism of John Dewey. It is found that the principles of philosophical pragmatism are significant within certain themes. For example the way the communication is conducted is of a very democratic nature that can be compared to that of philosophical pragmatism. Also the focus on realizing projects can partly be traced to the philosophical notion that projects should be assessed on their real life consequences instead of architecture that only exists in theory. However some key notions in philosophical pragmatism are not seen in pragmatic architecture. For example is the general acceptance of globalized capitalism and business values, except for a few cases, not coherent with Dewey’s rather critical approach to these themes. In general are the humanistic and progressive ideals of Dewey only momentarily visible in pragmatic architecture. Also the obsession with neutral design through evolutionary terms does not include the philosophical understanding of evolution’s dialectic implications to theory and practice. Furthermore the aforementioned pragmatic notion that a project should be assessed by its consequences in reality does not always apply to pragmatic architecture. Pragmatic architecture’s obsession with quantitative knowledge also partly contradicts Dewey’s notion of public pluralism. The second analysis is concerned with the attempt to propose a pragmatic architecture of an ethical and philosophically…