The 'Plastic Architecture' of De Stijl, Its Utopian Vision

드 스틸의 조형적 건축, 그 유토피안 비전

As an art group, De Stijl (1917-1931) led a total art movement encompassing painting, sculpture, design, and architecture. Among these, architecture, as a model of the total art pursued by the group, was encapsulated by the term 'plastic architecture.' The term reflects architecture's shared features with plastic art, especially its pictorial characteristics. Firstly, De Stijl architecture shares geometric form with painting. Assembled in simple, clear and rational structures, the geometric forms signified universal forms, and extended the pictorial experimentation that Mondrian exercised through Neo-Plasticism to architecture. Constructed with colour fields made of concrete wall, De Stijl architecture is geometric abstract painting embodied in space. Together with such pictorial characteristics, large plate glass windows, narrow window frames, and cantilever structure minimize the building's visual weight. De Stijl architecture, which appears suspended in the air, is an architectural version of the abstract paintings of the era that revealed unknown spaces beyond perspective. De Stijl architecture is also an 'open' architecture, where the units placed as if radiating from the center form relations with each other flexibly and organically. The observer in such a space is encouraged to experience space within time, as his/her physical and visual mobility and extension are maximized. De Stijl architecture is an example of how the time-space continuum, represented within picture frame through Cubism, Futurism, and abstract art, can be realized in space. By transforming the ideal space of painting into real space in this way, 'plastic architecture' turned out to be an architectural manifestation of the utopianism of the era, aimed at building a society in 'perfect harmony.' However, such rationalism and universalism are not free from the violence of totalization that deletes various differences. This is evident in the history that followed as the geometric form of architecture and urban planning proliferated across the globe, engulfing the diverse natural landscapes and local cultures.