The International Style

The first female architecture student to study under Walter Gropius at the Harvard School of Design in the Post World War II era, Daphne Bugbee Jones was an accomplished architect who brought the principles of the Bauhaus and Modernist architecture to the state of Montana in America's Inland Northwest. Along with her husband, noted environmental philosopher Henry Bugbee, Bugbee Jones merged her commitment to Modernist design, social activism, and the preservation of wilderness in the urban interphase zone around the city of Missoula.

Članak govori o Bijelom gradu, četvrti Tel Aviva s brojnim reprezentativnim primjerima građevina podignutih u stilu internacionalne moderne arhitekture u razdoblju između dva svjetska rata, a u povodu izložbe održane u Architekturzentrumu u Beču u prvoj polovini 2008.

ABSTRACT: Nowadays we face the reality of living in mid-20th century buildings that are already part of architectural heritage. Eighty years ago, Serbian modernists accomplished new Machine Age simplicity in architecture without ornaments, finally absent of all historicisms. Following decade brought the Second World War. Its aftermath – population influx into city areas and the extensive rebuilding of the war-torn communities, was an inevitable milestone in the way we live. In the period 1950–1970 reforming minds of Nikolа Dobrović (1897–1967), Ratomir Bogojević (1912–1963), Milorad Macurа (1914–1989), Milicа Šterić (1914–1997), Aleksej Brkić (1922–1999), Mihajlо Mitrović (1922), Uglješа Bogunović (1922–1994), Ivan Antić (1923–2006), Branislav Jovin (1935), and other architects had been alive to the progressive technological development that became crucible for all state redesign of modern urban landscape. Reinforced concrete, curtain-wall cladding, strip window frame and free plan freed designers from the constraints of solid walls. At the same time, Serbian architecture became a polarizing force. Mid-century city transformation of mass housing structures with prefabricated elements and modular apartments were on one side, and striking architectural showcases on other. Today we all live with the legacy of post war architecture. The great majority of these buildings that are inevitably crumbling represent a catalogue of masterpieces that was neglected and under maintained. Technologies have moved on rapidly, acknowledging how life is changing for the people in 21st century. Buildings from after Second World War period are demanding major repairs and technological upgrading. Presented examples show that we had little sympathy for protection and preservation of this once innovative architecture that needs to be valorized and then preserved as heritage or resort to modernization. Nowadays, the attitude toward Serbian post-war architecture is shifting, and we have to ask how we live with “ageing” architectural design – confronting the possibility of destruction and/or inexpert adaptation for 21st century.

APSTRAKT: Danas živimo u građevinama nastalim sredinom 20. veka, koje već predstavljaju arhitektonsko nasleđe. Pre osamdeset godina, srpski modernisti dostigli su jednostavnost novog mašinskog doba u bezornamentalnoj arhitekturi lišenoj istoricizama. Sledeća decenija je donela Drugi svetski rat. Kao posledica razaranja i uvećanog priliva stanovništva u gradske sredine, sveobuhvatna posleratna obnova građevinskog fonda postala je neizbežna prekretnica u načinu života i funkcionisanja zajednice. U periodu 1950–1970 odlučujuća je bila reformatorska uloga Nikole Dobrovića (1897–1967), Ratomira Bogojevića (1912–1963), Milorada Macure (1914–1989), Milice Šterić (1914–1997), Alekseja Brkića (1922–1999), Mihajla Mitrovića (1922), Uglješe Bogunovića (1922– 1994), Ivana Antića (1923–2006), Branislava Jovina (1935) i drugih arhitekta koji su bili nosioci progresivnog tehnološkog razvoja, važnog aspekta u remodelaciji modernog urbanog pejzaža. Armirani beton, zid-zavesa, horizontalne prozorske trake i slobodan plan osnove oslobodili su graditelje ograničenja čvrste zidne mase. Istovremeno, srpska arhitektura postala je polarizirajuća sila. Transformacija gradova sredinom 20. veka sa jedne strane je dovela do stambenih naselja izgrađenih od prefabrikovanih elemenata i modularnih sistema, a sa druge do upečatljivih arhitektonskih autorskih dela. Danas, svi živimo sa nasleđem posleratne arhitekture. Veliki broj ovih objekata koji neumitno propadaju predstavlja vrhunska arhitektonska dostignuća koja se konstantno zanemaruju i nedovoljno održavaju. Ubrzani tehnološki napredak u 21. veku umnogome je izmenio svakodnevni život i potrebe ljudi. Građevine nastale nakon Drugog svetskog rata sada zahtevaju velike popravke i tehnološke nadogradnje. Prezentovani primeri pokazuju da smo do sada imali malo razumevanja za zaštitu i očuvanje ove, nekada inovativne arhitekture, koja se prvenstveno mora valorizovati, zatim i sačuvati kao graditeljsko nasleđe ili osavremeniti. Odnos prema srpskoj arhitekturi nastaloj nakon Drugog svetskog rata se menja, i došlo je vreme da se zapitamo na koji način želimo da živimo sa „ostarelim“ arhitektonskim delima – suočavajući se pritom sa mogućnošću uništenja i/ili nestručne adaptacije za potrebe 21. veka.

Edgardo Contini, seppure per nulla considerato nelle pagine della storia dell’architettura italiana è stato, invece, un grande protagonista negli Stati Uniti, dove ha saputo far dialogare le esigenze di un popolo multiculturale con la bellezza e l’eleganza dello stile italiano. A lui si deve la capacità di aver contribuito a orientare i cambiamenti dei processi produttivi attraverso un linguaggio per nulla convenzionale, ma fondato sulla creatività e sulla spontaneità progettuale. Le pagine del volume, presentando un tema che senz’altro non intende esaurirsi qui, hanno lo scopo di evidenziare il prestigio di progetti di ricerca in grado di valorizzare la storia dell’architettura e dell’ingegneria italiana oltre i confini nazionali e quindi realizzata dagli italiani all’estero. Il libro è un omaggio alla comunità ebraica e a quanti, come Edgardo Contini, hanno contribuito a costruire nuovi orizzonti attraverso il dialogo e la condivisione di paradigmi culturali differenti e il cui incontro ha determinato la nascita di nuove prospettive. Un omaggio a coloro che hanno lasciato le loro terre di origine per andare incontro a nuove opportunità determinando la trasmissione e lo sviluppo di nuove conoscenze. Un omaggio a coloro che sono emigrati o che emigrano, perché solo guardando oltre è possibile sperare in un mondo migliore e inclusivo.

ENGLISH VERSION.

The everlasting human utopia of reaching the sky with buildings started to be discerned as something possible with the arrival of Modern Architecture, primarily due to the construction of the first large skyscrapers in New York city at the end of 1920s (Chrysler, Empire State...). The supremacy of every architectural landmark upon urban planning turned into a continuous desire to improve, finally put off by the economical recession after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Nevertheless, technological advances were not supported by the “The Big Apple” contemporary architects, whose works seemed to be lacking of an innovative spirit, as anyone can work out just seeing the staggered set-back profile of their new buildings in direct response to the current volumetric urban ordinance since 1916.
After World War II, Mies van der Rohe made contact with New York business environment and deserved the assignment of projecting the building that should be celebrating the centenary of the Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Corporation in 1958. The high level of freedom and confidence received from his client would be thoroughly rewarded by the German architect with one of his masterpieces: the Seagram Building (1954-58). Mies reflected deeply on the urban phenomenon developed in Manhattan, studying in detail the existing urban landscape and the multiple volumetric choices for his building to fit in the site from pure visual criteria. The final project was a critic solution that avoided keeping on growing the myth of the “skyscraper” as an architectural type; this attitude involved his enormous accuracy in formal designing, the public, urban use of void space, the beauty of the structural order, the sensitive use of materials, etc. In the end, it may be seen as a consistent proposal with no strings attached to preceding examples of “manhattanism” in order to provide a symbolic piece to the city; a building that does not show off in a heroic mannerism, and just with the suitable urbanity and precision that will remain as a model for the next-to-come skyscrapers from mid XXth century onwards.

SPANISH VERSION.

advenimiento de la Modernidad, sobre todo tras la construcción de los primeros grandes rascacielos neoyorkinos a finales de los años 20 (Chrysler, Empire State…). La supremacía del hito arquitectónico sobre el orden urbano generó un afán de superación constante, solo retenido parcialmente por la recesión económica tras el crack de 1929. Sin embargo, el avance tecnológico no fue correspondido con audacia por los arquitectos de la “gran manzana”, cuyas obras adolecían de un espíritu innovador, como revela el perfil con retranqueo escalonado de la mayoría de los nuevos edificios en directa respuesta a la ordenanza volumétrica vigente desde 1916.
Tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Mies van der Rohe entró en contacto con el entorno neoyorkino y se hizo acreedor del encargo del edificio que habría de conmemorar el centenario de la Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Corporation en 1958. La libertad y confianza absolutas depositadas en él por el cliente será generosamente recompensada por el maestro alemán con una de sus mejores obras: el Seagram Building (1954-58). En él Mies hizo una profunda reflexión acerca del fenómeno de la construcción urbana de Manhattan, estudiando concienzudamente el paisaje urbano existente y las múltiples posibilidades volumétricas de resolver su rascacielos desde criterios puro-visuales. El resultado final fue una respuesta crítica que, lejos de seguir alimentando la condición mítica del tipo “rascacielos”, abunda en todo tipo de sutilezas nacidas desde el rigor de su planteamiento formal, el uso público del espacio vacío, la belleza implícita en el orden de la estructura, la delicadeza en el empleo de los materiales, etc. En el fondo, toda una apuesta coherente que rompió las ataduras con los modelos del “manhattanismo” para dotar a la ciudad de una pieza simbólica que no presume de heroísmo sino de urbanidad y precisión, modelo al fin del rascacielos del siglo XX para la posteridad.

Modernist Cultures 12.3 (2017): 331–344. This essay reconsiders Reyner Banham's classic study of early twentieth-century architecture and design, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, originally published in 1960. Banham surveyed the architecture, design, and visual arts of the 'first machine age', characterized by industrial production and motorized transportation, from a self-consciously thematized perspective within the 'second machine age', populated by expendable consumer technologies and images. This revisionist perspective enabled Banham to challenge long-standing myths propagated by the dominant figures of the modern movement. In his polemical emphasis on the contingency and plurality of that which had empirically transpired in first machine age, Banham rejected the reduction of the messy history of the modern movement to the victory of a putative 'international style'. Banham reasserted the intimate connection of architectural modernism with the avant-garde artistic movements of the 1910s and 20s, emphasizing particularly the most radical ones such as expressionism, futurism, and dadaism.

Utjecaj češke na hrvatsku arhitekturu 20. stoljeća izuzetno je velik, djelom zahvaljujući djelovanju čeških arhitekata u Hrvatskoj (na primjer u izgradnji kompleksa Batine tvornice u Borovu), no još više stoga što je cijeli niz hrvatskih i jugoslavenskih arhitekata završio školovanje na njemačkoj ili češkoj politehnici u Pragu. Među najvažnije od njih spada Marko Vidaković (Golubinci, 18. 7. 1890. – Zagreb, 5. 1. 1976.). Nakon jedne godine studiranja na Visokoj tehničkoj školi u Beču (1909. – 1910.), na Česká vysoká škola technická u Pragu studirao je s prekidima između 1910. i 1919. Vidaković je odigrao ključnu ulogu u pojavi moderne u arhitekturi Hrvatske organiziranjem izložbe Čehoslovačke savremene arhitekture u Zagrebu (17. 3. – 1. 4. 1928.) koju je priredio uz pomoć Zdenĕka Wirtha iz Čehoslovačkog ministarstva za školstvo i narodnu prosvjetu. Nedugo poslije izložbe projektirao je i podigao jednu od prvih građevina internacionalnog stila u Zagrebu, vilu Ljudevita Pfeffermanna (Jurjevska 27a, 1928. – 1929.). I u ovome i u kasnijim njegovim projektima (poput nerealiziranog projekta paviljona za Zagrebački zbor iz 1931.) osjeća se utjecaj radova čeških arhitekata. Iako nakon vile Pfeffermann Vidaković neće imati prilike realizirati važnije građevine, iz projekata koje je izrađivao (tramvajska stajališta, 1930. ; umjetnički dom, 1930. ; klinika za otorinolaringologiju, 1940., sve u Zagrebu) očito je kako se radilo o vrlo talentiranom arhitektu koji je potpuno prihvatio leksik moderne arhitekture. U širenju internacionalnog stila u Hrvatskoj i Jugoslaviji odigrao je važnu ulogu i putem svojih brojnih tekstova publiciranih u časopisu Arhitektura iz Ljubljane, te u zagrebačkim i beogradskim dnevnim novinama. Tijekom Drugog svjetskog rata aktivno je sudjelovao u spašavanju srpske djece u profašističkoj Nezavisnoj Državi Hrvatskoj.

Este artículo ofrece una aproximación estilística, formal e histórica al retablo de san Jorge del Centenar de la Ploma, del Victoria and Albert Museum de Londres. La obra se estudia junto a piezas como el cuaderno de dibujos del Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi con la finalidad es comprender mejor el nacimiento y desarrollo del gótico internacional en la ciudad de Valencia, y a los artistas que disfrutaron de esta diversidad de influencias neerlandesas, sajonas, florentinas, sienesas, pisanas, chipriotas, aragonesas, baleáricas, y catalanas a principios del siglo XV.

L’elegante edificio, un tempo stazione di servizio fu progettato dallo studio milanese BBPR, del quale era membro l’architetto triestino Ernesto Nathan Rogers, teorico e fondatore dell’architettura contemporanea italiana. Il committente era la Società Aquila, sorta a Trieste nel 1934, desiderosa di affermarsi sul territorio in qualità di centro petrolchimico (carburanti e lubrificanti ad uso industriale). È nel contesto del miracolo economico italiano che assumono un ruolo rilevante gli architetti noti con l’acronimo di BBPR (ne facevano parte il triestino Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Gian Luigi Banfi, scomparso nel 1945 in un campo di detenzione tedesco, Lodovico Barbariano di Belgiojoso, ed Enrico Peressutti) che a Trieste non si limitarono alla stazione di servizio, progettata nel 1952, ma li vide coinvolti, nel 1958, nell’ampliamento dell’edificio direzionale dell’Aquila sito nella vicina Muggia. La significativa presenza di Rogers a Trieste è attestata, negli stessi anni, anche da un progetto presentato all’Ente porto industriale per il quartiere di Borgo san Sergio.

Czech modern architecture exerted a considerable influence on Croatia owing to the work of Czech architects in Croatia (e.g. on the construction of Bata's factory in Borovo), and more importantly due to numerous Croatian and Yugoslav architects who were educated at the Technical University in Prague. Marko Vidaković (Golubinci, 18 July 1890 – Zagreb, 5 January 1976) was one of the most significant. After attending the Vienna University of Technology for a year (1909-10), Vidaković studied intermittently at the Česká vysoká škola technická in Prague from 1910 to 1919. He played a key role in the emergence of modern architecture in Croatia through his efforts to organize the exhibition Czechoslovakian Contemporary Architecture in Zagreb (17 March – 1 April 1928) with the help of Zdenĕk Wirth from the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Schools and Public Education. Soon after the exhibition, Vidaković designed and built one of the first buildings of the international style in Zagreb, the villa owned by Ljudevit Pfeffermann at 27a Jurjevska Street (1928-29). This and his later architectural designs (such as the unexecuted design for the 1931 pavilion at the Zagreb Fair) show influences of works by Czech architects. Although Pfefferman Villa was his last built project, the unexecuted designs he created for various buildings in Zagreb (tram stop shelters, 1930 ; art pavilion, 1930), clearly attest to a great talent of this architect who adopted the vocabulary of modern architecture. He also played a major role in helping the international style spread in Croatia and Yugoslavia with his numerous texts published in the Ljubljana-based Architecture magazine as well as daily newspapers issued in Zagreb and Belgrade. During the Second World War he actively participated in the campaigns of saving Serbian children in the pro-fascist Independent State of Croatia.

This is the text to the 20-minute video presentation available elsewhere on this site. It is from the 2021 US DoCoMoMo's National Symposium on May 27 (delayed from 2020 in Chicago). It explores the history and cultural situation of what may be the first International Style enclave of houses realized in the United States, designed by Alfred and Jane West Clauss, on edge of Knoxville Tennessee. Begun in 1939, the 5th of the planned ten houses was completed in 1943. The Clausses left the Knoxville area in 1945 to live and practice in the Philadelphia area. Their work, which is both fine and important, is absent from virtually every major overview of Modern Architecture. That said, the complex context of their work and its influence on some of America's most esteemed post-war architects, has yet to be properly situated within the larger and nuanced story of American modern architecture. This presentation is but a start. NB: In the presentation at DoCoMoMo, I misspoke, stating that Max Clauss (Alfred's cousin who held an important propaganda post for the Nazi regime) toured the US after the invasion of Poland; it was 1938. This presentation is also available on the US DoCoMoMo website.

AIM: Tirana is a city that in transition period has been changed and transformed both architecturally and in its urban form.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Unavoidable changes in an urban rush: from unregulated spontaneous development and without infrastructure it has gone through the urban redevelopment planning and architectural projects.
RESULTS: Some of the most famous European studios, from Bolles+Wilson to MVRDV, AtenaStudio, Bjarke Ingels, Archaea Studio, Grimshaw, Daniel Libeskind, are facing Tirana capital that has claimed the international architectural culture’s attention.
CONCLUSION: This article draws a view of contemporary architecture produced by domestic and international architects and planners in a city looking through the new century with a will of renewal throw contemporary planning and design.

En la Ciudad de México existe una conciencia social a favor de la preservación de la arquitectura de ciertos periodos del siglo XX. Por ejemplo, la arquitectura ecléctica, el art-déco o las obras funcionalistas, las cuales tiene un valor agregado y en la actualidad hay un creciente interés por conservarlas. Pero si nos acercamos más a nuestro tiempo, prácticamente a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XX esta aura de protección social se desvanece progresivamente y existe un verdadero peligro de pérdida del patrimonio. Tal es el caso de la obra del ingeniero Boris Albin (1948-1981) perteneciente a la llamada segunda modernidad de estilo internacional.

La historiografía de la arquitectura moderna española ha tratado la década de 1940 a 1950 básicamente desde la tendencia regresiva y nacionalista ―la que se proponía proyectar desde el Régimen franquista― como consolidación de la ruptura con el período anterior. Sin embargo, el proyecto de ‘lo moderno’ sí mantiene una cierta continuidad en la autarquía, y puede ser interpretada como “período-puente” entre la frágil modernidad de los años 30 y la brillante de los 50. Además de la continuación de ciertas estructuras anteriores a la Guerra Civil, lo que realmente facilita esa (difícil) persistencia de ‘lo moderno’ son las posturas de ciertos arquitectos que crecen convencidos del progreso de la arquitectura hacia nuevos horizontes. No fue la primera generación de arquitectos racionalistas ―o lo poco que quedó de ella, tras el conflicto bélico― la que logra hacer avanzar esa modernidad en los 40, pero sí resultaron decisivos como “correa de transmisión” de ‘lo moderno’ para una nueva generación de titulados a los que sirvieron de referencia en la posguerra, y que iniciaba su trayectoria profesional con balbuceos y restricciones en esa década. Sus obras, hoy sí, podemos identificarlas como el germen de su magnífica producción moderna posterior. Lamentablemente, la censura franquista a ‘lo moderno’ en los medios de difusión mantuvo oculta esta producción moderna 'in nuce', pues hasta principios de los años 50 no llegan a publicarse la mayoría de aquellas meritorias obras modernas.

The idea of transparency is first introduced in modern architecture at the dawn of 20th century. From theoretical texts to buildings, the various meanings attached to this ambiguous materiality are in direct connection with the given social background. The paper focuses on the use of glass facades in domestic architecture by examining and juxtaposing the examples of the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe and the Glass House by Philip Johnson in terms of their design features, their historical – social context and their impact.
Sometimes glass appears as the symbol of clarity, of the constructional “honesty”, as in the case of Viollet-le-Duc who admires the Gothic Style and proposes an ideal architecture of steel and glass. Or the case of the Bauhaus and their “Neue Sachlichkeit”, where transparency of the Bauhaus School in Dessau by Gropius is seen as the conception of spacetime by Giedion or the reflection of bodymind by Breuer. Meanwhile, glass becomes a symbol of the surreal and the fairytale in the utopic sketches of Paul Schreebart and the Glass Pavilion of Bruno Taut. What Walter Benjamin calls “maison de verre- maison de rêve” (glass house- dream house). However, the symbol of lightness, clarity and truth becomes an agonising potential facilitator of voyerism or indiscretion.
The Farnsworth House was put in the very center of this discussion and the personal relation of Mies van der Rohe with Edith Farnsworth has inflamed the controversy that did not remain a disatisfaction between architect and client, but took public dimensions with sues, court trials and massive journalistic interest. On the other hand, the Glass House inspired by Mies and designed almost identically, was inhabited by its designer and became emblematic, a symbolic example of contemporary living. However, its very use and its expansion with multiple other supporting buildings around the lot (namely the Brick House) proves that the most obscure sides of domestic life have indeed no place to rise inside the transparent walls, as Farnsworth complained.
Modern architecture was haunted by the ideal of transparency. The interaction between interior and nature, private and social sphere was achieved with absolutely transparent materials, spatial infiltrations and an abiding flow of light, air and motion.

El presente artículo examina el desarrollo de la pintura gótica internacional en el Reino de Valencia entre 1380 y 1420 desde un punto de vista particular. En primer lugar, se considera como se establecieron relaciones dinámicas con otros territorios ibéricos, especialmente con aquellos incluidos en la Corona de Aragón; en segundo lugar, se presta atención al papel que algunos pintores pudieron tener en el proceso, aunque no se hayan conservado en principio obras suyas, estudiando las relaciones de aprendizaje y la circulación de modelos figurativos; por último, la pintura sobre tabla de retablos es vista en un contexto más amplio, que tiene en cuenta el intercambio artístico con otros oficios y con la pintura mural.

Estudiar la obra de Arne Jacobsen exige cierta paciencia. Sus escasas declaraciones públicas o textos escritos exigen remitirse a los hechos en sí, sean éstos consumados en forma de edificio, objeto cotidiano, proyecto arquitectónico, diseño textil, dibujo, acuarela o fotografía.

Una mínima distancia separaba su estudio de arquitectura —ubicado en el semisótano de su casa del residencial 'Søholm I'— y su jardín doméstico, lugar donde solía entretenerse pintando, cultivando plantas y fotografiando escenas vegetales. Esa proximidad es la misma que hay entre las acuarelas o fotografías que allí preparaba y sus proyectos arquitectónicos.

La presente investigación se sitúa en esa posición intermedia donde se cruzan las múltiples formas que desarrolló Jacobsen para aprehender el universo visible y las posibilidades de imaginarlo. A lo largo del libro se muestran las huellas de ese intercambio para así facilitar la aproximación a su obra.

Al descubrir esas claves paisajísticas que dan sentido a las ideas arquitectónicas de sus proyectos se pretende poner en valor al paisaje como un material muy fértil en manos del arquitecto moderno. Acaso es su vigencia la que hoy, agotados ya de tantos excesos visuales de rápido consumo en los medios especializados, podamos reivindicar para el ejercicio profesional contemporáneo.

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Editorial: DISEÑO
Lugar edición: Buenos Aires (Argentina)
ISBN: 9789874000743
Fecha Edición: 01/10/2016
Páginas: 298
Formato: 21x21 cms.

Aрхитектонско-урбанистичка анализа првих стамбених блокова 21, 22 и 23 Централне зоне Новог Београда, представља сложен
процес истраживања и сагледавања историјских, политичких и градитељских услова за формирање новог града на простору без наслеђених урбанистичких слојева. Реч је о макроамбијенту грађеном током друге половине XX века према Регулационом плану НовогБеограда из 1962. године. Данас су новобеоградски блокови симболи политике социјалног старања у време СФРЈ, масовне индустријализације у грађевинарству иза које је стајала држава – економски, политички и логистички, као и конкурсне политике која је била заснована на постепеној изградњи процедуралног, институционалног и научно-технолошког оквира у циљу позитивне репрезентације државе. Архитектура Централне зоне, иако базирана на интернационалним узорима и совјетском соцреализму у почецима настајања, репрезентује сопстевни градитељски и ликовни идентитет због чега у оквиру непокретног културног наслеђа ужива стaтус целине под претходном заштитом.


The architectural and urbanistic analysis of the first residential blocks – 21, 22 and 23 – of the Central zone of New Belgrade represents
a highly complex process of researching and analyzing the historical, political and architectural conditions for developing a new city,
across an area free of any inherited urbanistic layers. The area stands as a macro environment constructed over the second half of the
20th century, based on the 1962 Regulation plan of New Belgrade. Nowadays, the New Belgrade blocks symbolize the social care policy
of the SFRY period, the mass industrialization of the construction sector supported by the state in economic, political and logistical
aspects, as well as an overall competition policy enabling gradual development of procedural, institutional and scientific-technological
framework, positively representing the state image. Though modeled by the international examples and the early-stage Soviet socialist
realism, the Central zone architecture displays an authentic architectural and artistic identity, thus being designated as part of the immovable
cultural heritage and an area under prior protection.

This article deals with the study of a Flemish triptych dated around 1400 from the monastery of San Juan Bautista de Quejana, today preserved in a private collection. The history of the work is analyzed, as well as its specific artistic affiliation and the possible circumstances of its arrival, since it was painted in the Southern Netherlands. In this sense, it is likely that it was donated by a member of the Ayala family, the founders and protectors of Quejana. In view of its chronology, it is one of the first examples of pre-Eyckian painting of which its exportation is known, in this case, to Hispanic lands, together with a set of small triptychs from the monastery of the Holy Cross in Rostock, now kept in the Staatliches Museum in Schwerin (Germany). In addition, all these works have the interest of having been made by the same painter or workshop. The importance of the latter has led us to propose a name for this painter, that of “Master of the Quejana Triptych”, since it is his most relevant work.

La familia de los Ayala promovió la construcción del conjunto monástico palacial de Quejana. Allí depositaron el Tríptico de la Pasión recientemente expuesto en Bilbao. A partir de él, el autor ha podido reconstruir la personalidad de un artista que trabajó en Flandes hacia 1400, antes de la irrupción de los hermanos Van Eyck.

Architectural atlas of Zagreb contains overview of the history of Zagreb architecture and 900 entries on buildings from all parts of the city.
The buildings are grouped according to Zagreb’s neighborhoods: Upper Town, Kaptol, Lower Town - Centre, Lower Town - West, Lower Town - East, Savska street, Vukovarska street and Slavonska avenue, New Zagreb, etc. Each of these neighborhoods has been split into streets, and the buildings are organized according to their official street number. Along with each city area, a map showing the locations of all the marked buildings mentioned in the atlas is also attached.
The buildings in this atlas have been selected primarily according to their importance to the history of Zagreb’s architecture, while also bearing in mind their interest to the average visitor to Zagreb. The city center (Lower Town, Upper Town, and Kaptol) has been covered in most detail.

Early on the morning of November 30, 1960, William Lescaze wrote a note to himself that says much about his place in the history of 20th century architecture in the United States.

"It is strange when you look back and you see how much you have been ignored, how much silence has been built around you,...One wonders? When did it begin?  I can't really say.  It is difficult to put a finger on it and say: this is it -- it's so silent, like a fog.  And it's been going on now for years and years -- yet I still hope that sweet history will show that I created more than they acknowledge and that I did influence the current of modern architecture more than they are admitting today." 

When Lescaze wrote those observations he was already very near the end of his career.  His most significant commissions were behind him and the future, a place the Swiss born architect had often speculated upon in his work, looked forbidding and unclear. 

While Lescaze enjoyed many "firsts" during his career, history has given him credit for very few "bests" (the PSFS building notwithstanding).  Today, William Lescaze's career and legacy stand as somewhat of an enigma.

Doctoral dissertation examining the transfer and adoption of hybrid visual idiom from the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean: Specifically focussing on the evidence from 18th Dynasty Egypt, with emphasis on the Amarna Period and hybrid Idiom artefacts from KV 62, the tomb of Tutankhamen. 

https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeum/catalog/book/986?lang=en&fbclid=IwAR0hvebmCBbwh9m_DyG0-VCBRlCrzFj9qiiiqJVIUh2DqdrwBuRMjq3k8fA

My approach to the book was synthetic and therefore examined the archaelogical, material, textual and iconographic evidence for a so-called international hybrid artistic style in New Kingdom Egypt.  Submitted to the University of Leipzig in Sept. 2017, successfully defended Feb. 2018, magna cum lauda, published with ÄSL in April 2022.

Resumen español:

En 1958, el artista colombiano Eduardo Ramírez-Villamizar (1922-2004) fue contratado para realizar la obra de arte público más ambiciosa de Colombia hasta el momento: El Dorado, un moderno mural monumental que se instalaría en el igualmente moderno rascacielos del Banco de Bogotá (hoy del Consejo de la Judicatura). El presente ensayo estudia en detalle este mural y, con ello, se constituye en el primer esfuerzo por contextualizar y analizar el primer relieve monumental de Ramírez-Villamizar. Este artículo discute a profundidad la manera como el artista integra motivos precolombinos en el lenguaje internacional de la abstracción geométrica y las implicaciones de esta yuxtaposición en su programa estético. Así mismo, examina las fuentes y el contexto en que la obra fue producida, argumentando que El Dorado marca la institucionalización de la abstracción geométrica como símbolo de modernidad y progreso en el arte colombiano, al mismo tiempo que revive tradiciones artísticas locales.

Palabras clave: Ramírez-Villamizar, El Dorado, mural, relieve, abstracción geométrica, arte precolombino, modernidad, modernización, arquitectura moderna, Estilo internacional.

Abstract inglés:

In 1958, Colombian artist Eduardo Ramírez-Villamizar was hired to execute the most ambitious public artwork to date in modern Colombia: El Dorado, an entirely golden monumental mural for the new International Style headquarters of the Banco de Bogotá (today the Consejo de la Judicatura). This paper studies in detail Ramírez-Villamizar’s mural and, with this, it constitutes the first effort to contextualize and analyze the artist’s first monumental relief. I discuss the strategies used in the mural to integrate pre-Columbian motifs within international geometric art and I address the implications of this juxtaposition within the artist’s aesthetic program. At the same time, I examine the sources and context in which the work was produced, arguing that El Dorado marked the institutionalization of geometric abstraction as a symbol of modernization and progress in Colombian art, while at the same time reviving local artistic traditions.

Key words: Ramírez-Villamizar, El Dorado, mural, relief, geometric abstraction, pre-Columbian art, modernity, modernization, modern architecture, International Style.

"Dream of Clarity : Corporate Identities, Design Agencies and Modernism in the Netherlands : 1960-1975

In the 1960s, companies such as Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), energy group SHV, supermarket chain Albert Heijn, the Dutch National Railways (NS) and chemical giant DSM were the first to introduce visual identities in the Netherlands. These identities were the visual manifestation of the modern and industrial nation that the Netherlands had become after World War II. As such, they had a major influence on the appearance of society. Surprisingly, the development and proliferation of visual identities has not been studied before.

The development of visual identity in the Netherlands was researched by analyzing a number of case studies of the period between 1960 and 1975. The focus was on the argumentation used by design agencies and companies in the development and presentation of corporate identities. Because of the general lack of literature on this subject, mainly primary sources were used such as archive material and interviews.

The best-known identities were designed by Dutch design agencies like Tel Design (1962) and Total Design (1963). These agencies had a positive attitude towards the industry, which they believed responsible for the great technological progress and prosperity after the war. Using a modernistic design approach, designers hoped to achieve an efficient visual communication that could benefit society as a whole. They believed that corporate identity could express the existing order in society and enhance efficiency.

At the same time, the management of Dutch firms gradually became aware that a good ‘corporate image’ was necessary for a favourable position on the market. A major influence on this realization was the rise and acceptance of new American management and marketing methods. In parallel with this development, lower-level employees were confronted with practical problems regarding a uniform use of company logos. Together with design agencies, they convinced company directors that a modern-looking visual identity could solve their problem and, more importantly, that it would have a positive effect on the ‚‘corporate image’.

Dutch agencies, however, were hostile towards the view that a corporate identity was essentially a marketing tool. It seemed to collide with their idea of what constituted ‘good design’. Despite this, the agencies found common ground with their clients by also presenting visual identities as a form of (visual) efficiency. The agencies thus complied with the long-existing interest in ‘standardization’ many companies had.

Remarkably, the industrial firms, which seemed the most interested in ‘standardization’, were also the first to come under the influence of marketing. These companies, like Shell, Akzo and Philips, chose the more marketing-driven English agencies, notably Allied International Designers (1959) led by James Pilditch. At the end of the sixties–when the development of corporate identities was in full motion–this agency became a major competitor for Tel Design and Total Design.

In the beginning of the seventies, however, a change set in. An economic recession resulted in a decline of visual identity assignments. At the same time, Dutch society was stirred by large social changes. Youngsters rebelled against the authoritative way the government behaved, and public opinion developed a hostile attitude towards companies. Within the design profession, an increasing criticism towards modernism arose, as it seemed to corroborate the existing social order.

Total Design, led by graphic designer Wim Crouwel, in particular came under attack. By then, Tel Design–under the artistic guidance of the designer Gert Dumbar–had already switched towards a more post-modern view of graphic design. At the end of the 1970s, Dutch design agencies increasingly turned their attention to the government and public sector, which were more open to their idea of what constituted design for the public good. Visual identity had become a normal phenomenon in society."""

This is the text to the 20-minute video presentation available elsewhere on this site. It is from the 2021 US DoCoMoMo's National Symposium on May 27 (delayed from 2020 in Chicago). It explores the history and cultural situation of what may be the first International Style enclave of houses realized in the United States, designed by Alfred and Jane West Clauss, on edge of Knoxville Tennessee. Begun in 1939, the 5th of the planned ten houses was completed in 1943. The Clausses left the Knoxville area in 1945 to live and practice in the Philadelphia area. Their work, which is both fine and important, is absent from virtually every major overview of Modern Architecture. That said, the complex context of their work and its influence on some of America's most esteemed post-war architects, has yet to be properly situated within the larger and nuanced story of American modern architecture. This presentation is but a start. NB: In the presentation at DoCoMoMo, I misspoke, stating that Max Clauss (Alfred's cousin who held an important propaganda post for the Nazi regime) toured the US after the invasion of Poland; it was 1938. This presentation is also available on the US DoCoMoMo website.

En la ciudad de Mexico  existe  una conciencia social a favor de la preservacion de la arquitectura de ciertos periodos del siglo XX. Por ejemplo, la arquitectura eclectica, el Deco o las obras funcionalistas, las cuales tiene un  valor agregado y en la actualidad hay un creciente interes por conservarlas. Pero si nos acercamos mas a nuestro tiempo, practicamente a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XX esta aura de proteccion social se desvanece progresivamente y existe un verdadero peligro de perdida del patrimonio. Tal es el caso de la obra del ingeniero Boris Albin (1948-1981) perteneciente a la llamada segunda  modernidad de estilo internacional.

Tekst rada problematizuje poruku koju šalje komunistička partija Jugoslavije u Kragujevcu formiranjem novog središta grada, izgradnjom aministrativnih i kulturnih objekata i spomenika koji su bili namenjeni službi ove vlasti.
Cilj rada je da ukaže na jednu od mnogobrojnih funkcija arhitekture kao prenosioca poruke i sredstva komunikacije vladajućeg režima sa stanovnišvom. Ovo ''novo'' središte grada formirano oko Palate oblasnog narodnog odbora, biće sagledano kroz prizmu perioda u kojem je nastalo i ideologije koju je ovaj režim plasirao. Kroz sistematičnu analizu biće moguće doneti zaključak kakav je bio jezik novog ''centra uticaja'' i koju poruku je tadašnji režim slao koristeći arhitekturu kao jedan od elemenata komunikacije sa stanovništvom. Kroz rad su analizirani i sistematski obrađeni tekstualni dokumenti, studije, monografije, izveštaji I tekstovi koji se odnose na projekat ,,Prodor’’ kao i druga dokumentacija pribavljena u Šumadijskom istorijskom arhivu i JP Direkciji za urbanizam Kragujevac.

This essay is the first in a three-part series about ideology and space on AMC's lauded television show "Mad Men." See the attached link to "Flow"'s website, where the article was published, for embedded videos intended to be viewed alongside reading the essay.