The Folly and the image of Arcadia 

a typological elective

Originating in 18th century England, the landscape garden and its architectural features had a profound impact on subsequent architectural thought. The Folly, the Belvedere, the Grotto: They are pure architectures without utilitarian use. The only purpose of the Folly is to create a sense of place, to define an architectural and spatial specificity within the garden. At the same time, the Folly embodies a longing for an Arcadian landscape long past, for an ideal world that never existed. As such, these structures are manifestations of a cultural debate that questions the very foundations, aims and possibilities of society and cultural development.

In addition, these seemingly non-functional structures actually fulfilled a vital role in the political life of the time and had a profound impact not only on the political discourse of their time, but also on subsequent architectural developments in the western world.

The idea of the folly has been interpreted on the architectural scale a number of times through history, from the first Arches at Stowe Gardens in 1727 to the Parc de la Villette in Paris (Bernard Tschumi, 1983) and countless others.

The concept of the folly is a light-hearted one, even if it is embedded in a serious discourse. In a way, the elective is a counterpoint to this years’ thesis subject which deals with the utilitarian side of architectural thought: The folly refutes this utilitarianism, it seeks only beauty and pleasure, it seeks only to connect us to higher, more abstract (and, perhaps: nobler?) ideas… And while this, itself, is of course a serious (albeit somewhat anachronistic, perhaps) pursuit, I would like for us to explore the lightness and joy, the sheer pleasure of playing with architectural associations and forms that can be found in many of these buildings together.

We will explore the various architectural typologies of these follies through a series of case studies. In these “mini-lectures”, students will research and present these architectures in detail, outlining not only their physical shape, materiality, spaces, urban or rural environment and context, but also their socioeconomic and political context. Building on the knowledge gathered in the elective, students will prepare a graphic result that represents the typology they researched. This will take the form of an image in A3 format that can be either an abstraction or, indeed, a design for a folly. The interpretation is left open and very much up to the individual student.

In addition, we will take fieldtrips to two very well-known examples of follies right in the vicinity of the Bauhaus: The “Dessau-Wörlitz” Gardens and the “Pfaueninsel” in Berlin.