A Study on the Characteristics of Formalism as an Internal Generation System in Contemporary Architecture

From ancient times to the modern era, aesthetics were an era of representation and identity. The formalist movement, which deviated from the expressionist idea in which “what and how to reproduce” was important, presented a new perspective, claiming “autonomy of art.”. Formalism discovered the limitations of art through the referential context of modernity and history, and redirected the focus of art towards its intrinsic order to resolve these limitations. This study aims to explore the characteristics of formalism that can be applicable to architecture by understanding its definition and nature. To achieve this, various characteristics of formalism observed in different fields will be analyzed, and examples of contemporary architecture based on formalism will be examined. In particular, the case studies of Peter Eisenman, Diniel Libeskind, Ben van Berkel, Rem Koolhaas (OMA), Valerio Olgiati, Sou Fujimoto, Alvaro Siza will be used to investigate the characteristics of formalism as an internal generative system in modern architecture. Furthermore, it is recognized that external factors such as society, culture, and context are excluded by focusing on the internal form, and that there are limitations in the acceptance of external factors. As a result, it is expected that the potential of a new formalism in architecture, which embraces the social, historical, and cultural context inherent in architecture and improves the shortcomings of formalist aesthetics, will be developed.