Milan Zloković and the Problem of Proportions in Modern Architecture in the 20th Century

Student: Minja MarjanovićSupervisor: Attilio Pracchi

The function and application of “proportional system” in architecture has been recognized as a functional solution of the conceptual assessment. Therefore; this assessment intends to define the theoretical and practical aspects of Serbian architect, Milan Zloković. Due to his profound knowledge on the topic and his multifaceted approach, as a designer, mathematician and historian, Zloković offers a fertile ground for such research. In order to offer a better insight in the significance, originality and value of Zloković’s approach to the problem of proportions, his work has been put in juxtaposition with some other authors and architects of Modern Movement. The Modern Movement was the last period in European history of architecture when many architects considered the problem of proportions as an important topic in architectural composition.

The research is based on the formation of the data and concept analysis of operational tools which had been studied and published between 1946 and 1965 in various journals as well as in papers for national and international conferences which Zloković participated in as the official Yugoslav representative for Modular Coordination in architecture. But actually Zloković began to deal with this issue much earlier (There are hints of this application since 1927, and that he was devoted to mathematical questions still before, starting from 1916).

First, the focus is on the “proportional system” used in the past, methods, discussions and studies that have been directly or indirectly, a source of inspiration and tool for the great masters of architecture.

Then; the second chapter defines the perception of proportion which studies the psychology and physiological aspects and their impact on the perception of proportional system.The third chapter faces the use of framework of a few architects of Modern Movement which concentrate on the proportional concept analysis to build the theoretical statements.

Zlokovic's theoretical statements become the interpretative eye through which entire thesis has been built. The choice of other investigated authors is based on the comparison with his figure: Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Giuseppe Terragni (1904-1943), Cesare Cattaneo 1912-1943), André Lurçat (1894-1970), Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886-1945). Besides, Zloković’s ideas have been juxtaposed with those of aesthetician Milutin Borisavljević and psychologist Rudolf Arnheim, and their studies based on psychology, perspective and physiological mechanisms of human sight, sometimes used to corroborate and sometimes to discredit the significance of proportions in architectural composition.

Two Terragni's projects have been analised in the thesis, both relevant examples of conscious use of proportions: the Casa del Fascio (1932-1936) and the Danteum (1938). Terragni, similarly to Le Corbusier, confirms his personal preference for the application of proportional system by the method of "analogy" and concerns the golden section as an important design element, mistakenly thinking that it was the idea originally from Renaissance architecture.

Italian architect Cesare Cattaneo was attracted by the idea of instinctive recognition of system of the golden section which lives «inside of us», after reading the book Matila Ghyka Nombre D'Or (1931). The approximation of circle squaring (quadratura del cerchio) proposed by Cesare Cattaneo in his article П е Φ, published in 1942, seems an example to support the idea that «the connection between nature, mathematics and art is a matter of faith and intuition rather than reason or empirical knowledge».

The French architect, André Lurçat published the treaty Formes, composition et lois d'harmonie, between 1953 and 1957 , which is considered to be the last example of the French tradition of architectural treatises. Lurçat demonstrates the perceptive approach to the problem of proportions in architecture, considered to be more intuitive, compared to Zloković's rather rational (mathematical) approach.

Even the relationship that is built between Robert Mallet-Stevens and Zloković starts from the study of one proportional diagram: the proportional diagram of the main facade of villa Cavrois published on the cover of the book Une demeure 1934. Because of traceable material shortage (Mallet-Stevens archives have been destroyed immediately after his death), in order to understand the proportional systems applied to the villa's front facade, this thesis offers an explanation based on the theories presented in Zloković's writings.

The thesis deals with the study of some figures of the Modern Movement, but in strongly instrumental way, with the purpose to highlight influences or originality of Zloković's ideas, that are explained more profoundly in the fourth chapter of the thesis.

Zloković focused his most important researches on detailed mathematical analyses of the two proportional systems considered by him as key proportional systems: the harmonic system (the musical harmony) and the application of the golden section, as well as their mutual relations. Milan Zloković demonstrated his personal preference for the application of the proportional system based on the golden section only after carefully analyzing all the other systems and realizing that the chosen one would have granted a bigger range of compositional possibilities.

Zloković’s systematic approach, interpretations of different proportional systems, classification and methodology of application are fundamental for better understanding the problem of proportions in architectural composition, and they are a good starting point for further research leading to overcome the conflict between creativity of composition and the stiffness of a pre-determined model. In the end, the result of the conceptual assessment framework may build a value-judgment study in the proportional system.

Captions:

Fig. 1. Milan Zloković: Diagram of geometrical link between all irrational geometrical proportional systems.

Fig. 2. Proportional analyses of the fenestration of Casa del Fascio based on the tracés régolateurs and original drawings by Giuseppe Terragni.