Newness, Tradition and Identity: Existential Content and Meaning in Architecture

At a time when novelty and aesthetic invention have become the established norm for contemporary architecture, the esteemed Finnish author and architect Juhani Pallasmaa speaks out in defence of tradition. He explains how nuance, expressive subtlety and an ambition for an experiential and existential quality in a work require a sense of historical continuum: ‘An embodiment of the essence of tradition’ as a precursor for ‘meaningful creativity’.