Mathematics of the Ideal Villa - Colin Rowe

This week our discussion turned to Colin Rowe and his essay Mathematics of the Ideal Villa (1947), a piece of literature that asserted to make direct comparisons between Palladio and Le Corbusier. Rowe is a British born architectural historian and theorist who, looking through the eye of the odd bottle or two, critiqued architecture from a perspective of geometry, logic and structure, steering clear of conceptual thought or meaning. A connoisseur of objects he could be described is an intellect that can switch off very quickly if the conversation becomes unfocused around him and his ‘intelligent’ wit. With regards to the essay I struggle to understand why Rowe is comparing two architects and their works that are essentially in my view uncomparable. Given Rowes appreciation and knowledge for architectural history, with a particular predilection for classical Italian architecture, I can understand the thirst to critique and draw comparisons with one of Palladios finest pieces. This makes sense as much of the architecture produced during the Renaissance was formed around principles of geometrical and structural order. I’m not suggesting that Corbs work has no geometrical or structural order but the architecture of Corb has an underlying sense of virtue and meaning, a set of principles that are inconceivable to Rowe. Although in elevation and section respectively it is apparent the geometries of Villa Malcontenta and Villa at Garches are dimensionally similar, Villa Malcontenta is vertical while Corbs villa is linear. Maybe I’m missing a trick here and just don’t get it. Rowes affiliations with the past would go on to influence many architects including architect and theorist Robert Venturi, who also coined Le Corbusier with his paper ‘Less Is Bore’. The reason I bring Venturi into the equation is I wrote a paper questioning the famous “I can like something less than you”. After studying Venturi’s work and attempting to wrap my nut round Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture I concluded that the heavy talking clever dick was merely playing with irony and personal wit. I just wonder if this trait was also a fragment of Colin Rowe’s architectural personality that managed to continue on to another generation?