ISSUE 141 – ATHENS: FORMAL/SPONTANEOUS

Overview

The ‘formal/spontaneous’ pair are not literally opposite poles. Nevertheless, in a search for the synonyms for its two constituents with architecture as a field of reference, the impression of a dipole seems to be reinforced, and shades of meaning emerge which make them jointly appropriate, as a culmination of attributes, to describe and interpret Athens and its architecture, and when theoreticised, to serve as a starting point for new planning. 
‘Formal’ means suitable for a function or occasion with strict requirements (particularly a ceremony), occurring in public, deriving from a public authority, generally acceptable, proper, in accordance with the rules – therefore planned, official, ‘normally’ customary, actual, substantive, strictly rational. Anything formal has to do with the sign and the form, with the public and the whole. 

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