# ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT ARCHITECTS /// Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples by Bernd & Hilla Becher

Extracted from Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples by Bernd & Hilla Becher. Dia Center for the Arts, 1991.

The world photographed by Bernd and Hilla Becher is fascinating as it often introduces fantastic architectures which yet have been built in the absence of concern for an architectural quality. Whether they photograph the Ruhr factories, the various water towers of the world or, in this case, the Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples, their pictures present buildings translating their function as literally as possible. In the case of the coal mine tipples, architecture reflects even more its craftsmanship and the absence of architect. Structures seem (deceivingly) fragile and clumsy, enclosures are approximate and materials seem to have been found in the direct environment of the building. For all these reasons, this architecture without architects is exemplary for architects to achieve a high degree of vernacularity, both for its materials and its construction methods, as well as for its ‘laisser faire’, allowing a high degree of flexibility on site and a lack of differentiation between people who conceive and those who make.

Extracted from Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples by Bernd & Hilla Becher. Dia Center for the Arts, 1991.