Van der Laan and Messiaen’s creative freedom from a system

Abstract

Objectives

An increasing number of artistic expressions around the world give the impression that creation has a systematic root based on the definition of elements and their interrelation. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of these systems in both architecture and music and stress that creator’s freedom is not diminished by their use.

Methodology

Two well-known authors –the architect Dom Hans van der Laan and the composer Olivier Messiaen– are analysed through their own work systems and the term “universal necessity” is used to define their work problems solved by mathematical methods.

Results

The results show that creative freedom can be reached from order, and indicates that knowing the rules of the discipline’s system is a way to achieve creative freedom.

Originality

There is a centuries-long unresolved controversy in discussion of creativity and aesthetics focussing on the question: Does a set of rules, such as the rules of counterpoint, stimulate or inhibit the expression of artists? This paper wants to contribute to this debate by adding two examples which are independent but also related. This research is addressed to scholars, art and architecture historians and academics in both disciplines architecture and music.