Britain: Modern Architectures in History (Reaktion Books - Modern Architectures in History)

306 Pages·2007·9.55 MB·English

by  Alan Powers

BRITAIN
Alan Powers
modern architectures in history

Britain
modern architectures in history
This international series examines the forms and consequences of modern
architecture. Modernist visions and revisions are explored in their national
context against a backdrop of aesthetic currents, economic developments,
political trends and social movements. Written by experts in the architectures
of the respective countries, the series provides a fresh, critical reassessment of
Modernism's positive and negative effects, as well as the place of architectural
design in twentieth-century history and culture.
Series editor: Vivian Constantinopoulos
Already published:
Finland
Roger Connah
Forthcoming:
Brazil Turkey
Richard Williams Sibel Bozdogan
France USA
Jean-Louis Cohen Gwendolyn Wright
Germany
Iain Boyd Whyte
Greece
Alexander Tzonis and Alkistis Rodi
Italy
Diane Ghirardo
Japan
Botond Bognar
Netherlands
Nancy Stieber
Spain
David Cohn
Switzerland
Stanislaus von Moos
Britain
modern architectures in history
Alan Powers
REAKTION BOOKS
Published by Reaktion Books Ltd
33Great Sutton Street
London ec1v 0dx,uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
First published 2007
Copyright © Alan Powers 2007
All rights reserved
No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or trans-
mitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording
or otherwise,without the prior permission ofthe publishers.
The publishers gratefully acknowledge support for the publication ofthis book by the
following:
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cromwell Press,Trowbridge,Wiltshire
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Powers,Alan,1955–
Britain.– (Modern architectures in history)
1.Architecture – Great Britain – 20th century
2.Architecture,Modern – 20th century 3.Modern movement (Architecture) –
Great Britain
I.Title
720.9’41’0904
isbn-13:978-1-86189-281-2
isbn-10:1-86189-281-0
Contents
7 Introduction
one
13 Efficiency: From Modernity to Modernism
two
53 Compassion: Modern Architecture Builds the 'Just City'
three
89 Poetics: The Moral Dilemma of Modern Aesthetics
four
125 Production: White Heat and Burnout
five
163 Happiness: The Reintegration of Architecture
six
197 Conscience: The Architecture of Fruitful Anxiety
seven
247 Difference: Local Action and Global Thought
278 References
290 Select Bibliography
296 Acknowledgements
297 Photo Acknowledgements
298 Index

Introduction
What’s your proposal? To build the Just City? I will.
I agree ...
...O show us
History the operator,the
Organiser,Time the refreshing river.
Lines from Spain1937by W.H.Auden,quoted in the brochure for the opening
ceremony at Linton Village College,Cambridgeshire,14October 1937
The way that the history ofarchitecture is conceived changes constantly.A
subject that may appear narrow in its focus can extend almost indefinitely
into the social and intellectual history ofall times and all places.
Fundamentally,it is a history of buildings,but these do not tell the
whole story. Behind them are people, ideas and social pressures that
increasingly have become an essential part ofthe way in which architec-
ture is written about.A catalogue of works is a fundamental basis for
history, but this book is conceived in addition as a history of ideas,
reflecting on architects’own motivation and on the way that modern
architecture was received and understood outside the profession.
Gordon Cullen, The title ofthis series ofbooks defines ‘modern’as its field,but gives
cartoon of the MARS ‘architecture’a plural form,as ifto encourage multiple readings ofboth
Group exhibition of
words.Unlike some ofthose who have written on modern architecture,
modern architecture,
1938. The theme of I have doubts about the value of defining the term too closely and my
the introductory pluralist scepticism (something I believe to be necessary for a historian)
section, suggested by
is probably evident in the way this book tells the story.The received view
Godfrey Samuel, was
a reinterpretation of is that the ‘white hats’ofModernism are lined up against the ‘black hats’
Sir Henry Wotton’s of otherness, under whatever name. Over time, I have looked quite
paraphrase of the
closely at representatives ofboth sides,and tried to fill out the middle of
Vitruvian triad
‘Commoditie, the field, an area often shunned by the advocates of black and white
Firmeness and alike.It is in the nature ofthe brieffor this book to concentrate on the
Delight,’ words that
white hats,but I have deliberately looked along the boundary line where
were spoken with a
commentary by John they can sometimes fade to grey.This is important in my view,because
Summerson on a the lack of widespread popular acceptance of Modernism in Britain
repeating gramophone
since its inception cannot simply be ignored or dismissed as the stupidity
record concealed
behind a screen. ofthe unenlightened.
In Britain, the Modern Movement has been a moral and political
battle for a share in shaping the environment and commanding the
resources necessary to do so, against a background of reluctance and
scepticism.The idea that ‘modern’and ‘good’are the same thing,while
self-evidently right to some,is ultimately a subjective proposition.In a
long-vanished dawn of Modernism, it was assumed that by avoiding
certain errors, such as historic style, archaic construction methods or
ornament,everything would turn out right.It took until the 1960s for
this hope to be destroyed.We are still too close to the following decades
to make a coherent story out of what happened next. For a country
whose popular press has often enjoyed bashing modern architecture,we
seem to have experienced an about-turn,so there are good reasons for
claiming a victory for the white hats after their setback,yet the fields in
which modern architecture is manifested are not unified,and what seems
like success may be limited in its acceptance or long-term effect.Thus,
for example, the things that matter most in architectural schools are
often out of line with what concerns the architectural critics,and both
are out of line with the more successful practitioners. The choice of
finalists for the riba’s annual Stirling Prize has virtually no impact on
the most pressing problem of the time, the design of houses and the
planning ofnew development.The richness and diversity ofthese differ-
ent cultures are commendable,but the gaps between them undermine
most generalizations that one tries to make.
Perhaps ‘modern’, an ambiguous word at best, is at the root of the
problem,since it is no more than a reification ofsomething that by its
nature resists fixed definition.The conjunction of a temporal category
Louis Hellman, cartoon
(modern as in new) and a stylistic category (modern as a specific style
in Architects’ Journal
(20 June 1973). ofthe twentieth century) worked at the beginning,but there was nothing
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