Rethinking Modernity: Towards Post Rational Architecture

Has the project to usher in Modernity run its full course and is now ready to be replaced by something called Post-Modern? Re-examining the very idea of Modernity in architecture, and drawing from aseveraldiverse sources such as philosophy, social science, art and technology, Prof. Mehta argues that the normal historical progression of architectural thought and production suffered an epistemological break in mid-18th century, caused by the separation between architecture and engineering and resulted in increasing rationalisation of architecture. The critical writings of several post-Renaissance scholars and academics aided this process. Prof. Mehta refers to this as “Academic Architecture”. While pre-Renaissance scholars were content to codify the practice of architecture, the new writings actively sought to construct an identity for architecture that aligned it with modern science and industry. The overwhelming need to validate architecture from a logico-mathematical perspective favoured the cerebral over the existential qualities of architecture. Prof. Mehta asserts that alternatives to the rationalist and positivist narratives have always existed in the West and in several non-Western cultures; however, the very strong “foregrounding” of Rationalism confined them to academia. His insightful analysis suggests that the contours of Post-Rational architecture are already visible in the works of several contemporary architects.