Editors: Ana Tostões, Ivan Blasi
Guest editors: Theodore Prudon
Keywords: Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Sustainable architecture, Responsible architecture, Global design.
Modern Movement Architecture is envisioned as a concept that deals with forms, spaces, techniques and social responsibility. In this docomomo Journal, the contributions on this discussion put together modernity and Modern heritage, economy and energy saving, the social mission and the responsibility of architects towards the future. Modern Movement is often mistakenly related to a style, perceived in a skin–deep point of view and superficially adopted as simple form, as a modern shape, when in fact Modern Movement has always shown great concern with such issues, seeking for eficiency and economy, i.e., an accurate use of materials, a design approach that incorporates intelligent saving resources in order to create a better world.
Published:
2011-08-01
Documentation Issues
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The future of Josep Lluís Sert’s masterpiece, the former American Embassy in Baghdad built in 1957, is in jeopardy. Not too many people consider that it has to be kept and restored. The state of the premises of the building, situated by the River Tigris and inside the so–called Green Zone (part of the city closed off to the general public), is threatened by a danger that also menaces other instances of Modern architecture in Baghdad, such as the Saddam Hussein stadium, which was built in the 1980s on the basis of a project by Le Corbusier dating from the late 1950s.
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In the present–day city, both the architecture and the quality of its urban spaces are key issues for defining urban strategies that are aimed at improving the livability in the city, in its new metropolitan state. Given the inevitability of the changes that the city itself demonstrates, implicitly and explicitly, a return to the center, to the places with relationships between men and things and with humanized space, offers a possible solution. In this light, the Tequendama–Bavaria complex (1950–1982) within the International Center of Bogota is a center that reveals a series of urban...
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This article is part of a study on the Sudanese social and political context during the formation of the Modern Movement and the manifestations in built form and spatial expression during the period 1900-1970. The study has been on–going for several years and includes a literature search, local surveys (of unpublished and undocumented information) as well as photographs taken by the authors, sourced from architects or published material. It is argued that the Sudanese response to the International Style was in fact early experimentation in critical regionalism. The most notable...
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This essay analyses Buster Keaton’s masterpieces: One Week (1920); The Haunted House (1921) and The Electric House (1922). His filmic work reveals the montage of mass housing prefabrication in the Modern Age in the United States: repetition and mechanisation of the building production; generic layouts; and modular like–catalogue constructions. Rather than following a sequential building process, these cases are executed as mere accidents or flaws. Buster Keaton’s films however show ironically a non–standardized architecture. This study analyses and compares Keaton’s film production with...
Editorial
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Modern Movement Architecture is envisioned as a concept that deals with forms, spaces, techniques and social responsibility. In this docomomo Journal, the contributions on this discussion put together modernity and Modern heritage, economy and energy saving, the social mission and the responsibility of architects towards the future. Modern Movement is often mistakenly related to a style, perceived in a skin–deep point of view and superficially adopted as simple form, as a modern shape, when in fact Modern Movement has always shown great concern with such issues, seeking for eficiency and...
Essays
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Concern for the environment and a focus on the conservation of our natural resources have in general over the last couple of decades, entered into the dialogue around architecture and preservation. In the last decade this focused more specifically on the more recent architecture. In some instances, the discussion about sustainability has begun to overshadow the preservation issues. Many countries have developed elaborate rating systems for buildings, whether new or old, that take into account a large number of factors to gauge and assess their impact. While these systems are intended to...
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The Modern Movement is predicated on attitudes that lead directly to the efficient use of resources for building construction and operation, attitudes that are fundamental to sustainability. Also intrinsic to Modern architecture is a systematic methodology that provides the armature for a design process that focuses on a sustainable future. Understanding these issues provides valuable guidelines and tools for contemporary planning and architecture. Additionally, a wider recognition of this aspect of Modernism will reduce general hostility toward Modernism, thereby facilitating the...
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In the twenty–five years after World War II, Angola and Mozambique were fertile territories for the inception of new urban and architectural projects, in keeping with the principles of the Modern Movement. In the earliest works designed by the architects who moved there in the late 1940s, one can already witness a serious concern with the adjustment to the particularities of the hot and humid climate of the tropics. The Modern architectural idiom was particularly well suited to the local climate building requirements such as solar control and provision of adequate ventilation. Moreover,...
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The science of Building Physics was developed in Germany from 1880–1940 but its performance in Modern Movement architecture is considered immature and in aspects problematic. Still, some international pioneers found theoretical and practical ways to catch the theme.
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Built between 1963 and 1971, the Lignon satellite precinct in Geneva (Georges Addor, Dominique Julliard, Louis Payot, Jacques Bolliger) is regarded as the most spectacular housing development in post–war Switzerland. For some, it is an energy–guzzling black hole; for others, an historical monument. Either way, the Lignon has been in the spotlight. Faced with new imperatives to reduce energy consumption, a pilot project in the area of “conservation and thermal improvement” of the Lignon façades has been carried out by the Laboratory for Techniques and Preservation of Modern Architecture...
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Sustainability is now replacing Modernism as the main discourse for socio–economic, technological, architectural and urban development. However, the architectural legacy of Modernism remains an inherent part of our built environment. While some tenets of Modernism align with principles of sustainable design, many are in conflict, thus creating both a tension and an opportunity for creative reinvention of existing buildings and neighborhoods. Greening Manhattan’s Modernist Legacy was a seminar taught at Cornell University’s school of architecture that investigated these questions. The...
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The architecture of the Modern Movement is today often seen as synonymous with technical innovation and experimental techniques. This view is supported by the Dessau Bauhaus itself and its programmatic “break” with tradition. Technical inadequacies and shortcomings, particularly from the perspective of today’s energy standards, serve as an argument to formulate criteria specific for preserving the architecture of the Modern Movement, different from “normal” and more generally accepted preservation principles. Are the materials and techniques of modern architecture really as innovative as...
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Sustainability is a concept that has been accepted as a foundation for professional practice, and toxicity of materials is gaining concern. While the topic of material toxicity is generally addressed with regard to new materials, the built environment represents a history of embedded toxins. However, this aspect of ‘inherited toxicity’ is scarcely addressed. Considering the toxic potential associated with 20th century building materials, this will grow more critical for the preservation field to address in coming years. In response to the increasing regulation of copper in both Europe...
News
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docomomo Suomi/Finland will host the 12th docomomo International Conference in Espoo, in 2012. Espoo is part of the greater metropolitan Helsinki area and parts of the conference program are held over the capital region. The Conference is hosted by the City of Espoo and Espoo City Museum and realized in collaboration with public and private organizations, the principal ones being the Alvar Aalto Foundation, the City of Helsinki, Museum of Finnish Architecture, The National Board of Antiquities, the Architectural Department of Aalto University, the Ministry of Culture and Education and...
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The 9th docomomo Brazil Conference had as chief subject Interdisciplinarity and experi- ences in documentation and preservation of recent heritage and was opened with a tribute to Brazilian architect José Galbinski, author of several Brasilia’s modern masterpieces. As key lecturers, it was honored with the presence of docomomo International Chair Ana Tostões (IST, Universidade Técnica, Lisboa), docomomo US President Theodore Prudon (Columbia University, New York), Mário Mendonça (Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador), Luis Mauro Freire (Escola Da Cidade, São Paulo), Cyro Correa Lyra...
