THE GLOBAL PETROLEUMSCAPE AND ITS IMPACT ON DESIGN PRACTICE

Authors

  • Carola Hein

Downloads

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52200/docomomo.66.01

Keywords:

petroleum, synthetic materials, industry, architecture, plastics

Abstract

Over the last century the petroleum industry’s rapid growth has been accompanied by a steady flow of aggressively promoted petroleum-based products. The petroleumscape’s spatial expansion and visual representation achieved widespread citizen buy-in. Following World War II the use of plastic materials in the building industry significantly increased through efforts from architects and industry leaders. The House of the Future, built by MIT architects, the Monsanto Chemical Company, and Disneyland exemplified a modern lifestyle: clean, functional, and fun. The architectural and technocratic dream of a mass-produced, fully plastic house that seemed possible in the post-war years did not survive the subsequent commercialisation of the plastics industry in the 1960s and 70s.

How to Cite

Hein, C. (2022). THE GLOBAL PETROLEUMSCAPE AND ITS IMPACT ON DESIGN PRACTICE. Docomomo Journal, (66), 8–15. https://doi.org/10.52200/docomomo.66.01

Published

2022-12-12

Issue

No. 66 (2022): Modern Plastic Heritage

Section

Essays

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Carola Hein

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Plaudit

Author Biography

Carola Hein

Carola Hein (Germany, 1964) is Professor and Head, History of Architecture and Urban Planning Chair at Delft University of Technology. She has published widely in the field of architectural, urban and planning history. Among other major grants, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to pursue research on The Global Architecture of Oil. Her books include: The Routledge Planning History Handbook (2017), Uzō Nishiyama, Reflections on Urban, Regional and National Space (2017), History, Urbanism, Resilience, Proceedings of the 2016 IPHS conference (2016), Port Cities: Dynamic Landscapes and Global Networks (2011), Brussels: Perspectives on a European Capital (2007), European Brussels. Whose capital? Whose city? (2006), The Capital of Europe. Architecture and Urban Planning for the European Union (2004), Rebuilding Urban Japan after 1945 (2003), and Cities, Autonomy and Decentralisation in Japan. (2006), Hauptstadt Berlin 1957-58 (1991).

References

BRITISH RESIN PRODUCTS LTD, The Styron Story: Everymans Guide to Polystyrene Plastics, British Resin Products Ltd., 1960.

BUILDING RESEARCH INSTITUTE, Plastics in Building, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, 1955.

COLOMINA, Beatriz, Annemarie BRENNAN, and Jeannie KIM, eds. Cold War Hothouses: Inventing Postwar Culture, from Cockpit to Playboy, Princeton Architectural Press, 2004.

DIETZ Albert G. H. “Practical Prospects for Plastics in Building Construction.” International Journal of Polymeric Materials 8, no. 1 (1979).

FORBES, R. J. More Studies in Early Petroleum History 1860-1880, E.J.Brill, 1959.

HEIN, Carola. “Oil Spaces: The Global Petroleumscape in the Rotterdam/the Hague Area.” Journal of Urban History 44, no. 5 (2018): 887–929.

INSTITUTE, THE PLASTICS, Plastics in Building Structures: Proceedings of a Conference Held in London, 14-16 June 1965, Pergamon Press, 1966.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin President’s Report. (October 1 1956).

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin President’s Report. 91, no. 3 (November 1955).

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin President’s Report 1949-1950. 86, no. 1 (1950).