The development of fine art in general, and the formation of architectural propaedeutics in particular, suggest that there are fundamentally different compositional systems behind the external features and attributes of each of the major styles. In this sense, we can talk about types of composition, each of which has its own internal logic, its own specific structure. At the same time, the individual compositional principles of each of these systems may be included in the arrangement of a different type. But this does not reduce the importance of the originality and uniqueness of a separate compositional system as an internally integrated type that cannot be completely derived from another. We can compare the formation of such a typology with the formulation of the conceptual «DNA» of various architectural styles – with the remark that the «codes» do not encode, but express their specifics.
Next, we will consider in general and essential terms the main historically established types of compositional systems and outline a passage to a new dialectical type developed by the author on the basis of philosophy and aesthetics of Aleksei Fyodorovich Losev.
• Canonical (all «big» styles up to and including Art Nouveau)
• Functional and constructive (Bauhaus, constructivism in the USSR)
• Rationalistic (N. Ladovsky)
• Variative and combinatorial (N. Rochegova, E. Barchugova)
• Intuitive picturesque (K. Malevich, Z. Hadid)
• Bionic
• Dialectical (based on the philosophy of A. Losev)
The first such large type is the canonical composition of classical styles, starting with the ancient Egyptian and ending with the Art Nouveau style. What do such different works as an Egyptian temple and an Art Nouveau mansion have in common?
This is the facade approach to the overall composition of the building, the subtlety of proportional relations, the filigree elaboration of details, the measure, the predominance of symmetry and clear geometric shapes. Most of the classical styles, such as the Greek and Roman architecture of Antiquity, Renaissance, Classicism and Baroque, are based on the order system of composition, which by its nature is a beautiful «garment» of the building. For many people, it has aesthetic fullness and special warmth of forms.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a functional and constructive type of composition appeared. The general composition of the building, the relative location and the ratio of its parts began to be determined by function and/or structure as priorities. The architecture shed the abundant classical decor as autumn leaves and showed its laconic and strict frame. Regular geometric shapes still prevail, but they are more often connected to each other asymmetrically. The facade is being replaced by working with volume, searching for an asymmetrically balanced expressiveness in the integral structure of the building.
The rationalism of N. Ladovsky stands out against the background of the functional constructivist mainstream of the first half of the twentieth century. This rationalism eventually became the basis of the Russian architectural propaedeutics developed by his students and followers. Ladovsky defined the form guided by two opposite sides: by objective fundamental parameters such as magnitude, mass, tension, etc.; and by the subjective characteristics of the psychophysiological understanding of space by a man. Compositional searches of his students are distinguished by the boldness of their solutions achieving the expressive intensity of forms, but at the same time rationalized by the thought of the comfort of human perception of the city space. Let’s call this compositional type rationalistic, after this doctrine.