«Superstyles» and problem of periodization in architecture

Abstract

The author's task is to consider S.O. Khan-Magomedov's thesis about two superstyles in the context of rethinking the architectural periodization. Another important parallel is the history of philosophy. Superstyles acquire the importance of architectural projections of two philosophical paradigms: Tradition and Modernity in the context of great ideological shifts from theism to deism and, finally, to atheism. Each of this paradigms has its own principles of morphogenesis. The central point is the question of value orientation: the first superstyle as the language of Tradition is focused on the ideal super-sensual world (Plato's aesthetics, developed by Christianity); the second superstyle as the language of Modernity is entirely focused on the sensual, earthly world which is closely connected with the idea of linear progress. The architectural history appears as gradual and then abrupt change of the first superstyle to the second superstyle in the context of this argumentation. These universal conclusions help to understand the logic of large processes in the history of architecture and explain the causes of widespread conflicts of old and new aesthetics in the historical environment, which lie in their genetic diversity