ABSTRACT
While Chapter 1 examined particular buildings by Pietilä, this chapter approaches the architect from an angle that some might consider the most difficult: through his theoretical writings. Pietilä is difficult to handle though (or just because) as a writer, he was very active in “explaining” his practical activities with the help of theoretical reflections. I am trying to get access to Pietilä’s architectural expressions by concentrating on three notions that I believe to be essential: style, empathy, and abstraction. The question of style also includes what can be called the contrary of style, that is, style in its “negative” form as not just an “anti-style” (see below), but as the negation of any style aiming at the formation of a quality that can be designated as “absolute stylelessness.” The results of this analysis will be used for further interpretations of the Kuwait project.
