Uses of theory

Uses of theory 

Architectural theory has often been used to distinguish between tendencies, styles and architects, while one would expect a domain theory to unify, without morphological or other prejudice, to uncover common elements and explain underlying factors. Instead, architectural theory is laden with manifestos and polemics, attempts to justify and promote. Comparisons are often made only to damn opponents or subjugate the past to arbitrary conclusions.

One might appreciate architects' passion for their ambitions and preoccupations but when it comes to theory, a dispassionate attitude would be better. If I were cynical, I might claim that there is little that qualifies as theory in architectural writing. Statements, opinions and the like appear to carry too much weight if uttered by the currently famous but who does still remember those who used to be famous a few decades ago, let alone read what they had written?

I've tried to return to such texts and most of them seemed too dated and superficial. Yesterday's news may wrap today's fish but architectural theories of the past don't even merit such a re-use. They just gather dust in some neglected corner of a library. Very few show any interest because such theories fail to establish continuity, to develop lines along which they are propagated to reach us in the present (except of course the stubborn attachment of many teachers, especially to what they'd learned as students).