v-0 . *\ ARCHmCmRe ._ —-....-. Thesishr mu,” '9! mg, MICHIGAN STATE- :0. «incen’t Gleason “ ‘ 1* . ‘ 19.51 v u. ‘ l . a s ' a K . 9 . u ' J ‘ .. . . - ‘O-o u ,g .. A: _ . u‘ .. ' _ . . 0 I Q C H . - c .‘ - ._ - _ . r-v» .J ' -} '94.. _. . , - l I v , -c C —-- a .- . . . ' e _- - . ‘ ‘ O - . "- . a .J_- I - - 7 M $ ' 'I Q. . - ‘I _ - - I -l .— -- -1 -0-' ; ---‘. L - a. A: 43;. z . ‘ O- I. » . Q“ -- i 9.. .L.--,.. . ‘ - ‘ ‘I' 3 a- ‘ - ' ‘4 . . o‘ ' - m .ul -'O-.| ‘ A 1 IQ . -~ - I o... .. .1. . ., . 1’ . " 9H ' . 2 .- “‘1 .- ' . - - L - . u ' A n. -.-- ' .' L 1.. - . - . ' l . . -.:l I >. ... ,. ..P.- o I: ’ ‘1} v . .- .. -' - a... I ~ h opflQ.’~o'0 " - ‘11‘ . - "A. . . ‘ _ . — I ‘DO- . '1 — - ‘l. ’ . . n .— ,. - -. Q I C- ‘ . -.. ._.,‘ fl." - —— .o.- -w.. . _ . .‘ . .- T ..- o — —--. .1.- . . . . 7' _ ,. 'v v-o- _ .— . u I . .1, . o o- - . . :7 . in -no ' A - 3. . . J . . . — , _ . . . ' O . . ... I .- - o 1 o ' THESl'fi Ifllllllllllzllfljlflml Lm 1m M111" "ill! ”i all; II This is to certify that the thesis entitled ARCHITECTURE IN CONFLICT presented by Vincent Gleason has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for M c A 0 degree in Art l %W Major proéssor i Date May 24: 1951 0-169 ,_ __,._,_,,_..__-—— Owl-v- uvm--‘4.‘.fl.n flaw-w OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per item RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: Place in book return to remove charge from circulation records ARCHITECTLRE IN CONFLICT By Vincent Gleason W A THESIS Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Art 1951 IHESJS ARCHITECTURE IN CONFLICT By Vincent Gleason March 1951 255915 IT COULD AND IT MIGHT HAPPEN THAT THE) PROFESSION OF ARCHITECTURE: WOULD BECOLE THE SUPRIME FDUCATOP. OF TILT. PLOPLE TOE-LED BETTIE PZFfSICAL LIVE-JG TOWARD BETTER SPIRITUAL LIVII‘IG TOL‘IAPD BHTELR STM-TDAT‘LDS OF TASTE AN TOWARD DIEPIE CULTURAL ALIS Elie]. Saarinen from TEE. 9.13:2. Acknowledgments In the course of academic preparation, most students find, through the work of some one man, that encouragement which leads them to in- dependent endeavor. For this gift from the teacher, the student is indebted to Professor Walter Abell of the Art De- partment at Michigan State College. Acknowledgment is due to Professor Howard Church and Asso- ciate Professor J. J. Garrison, as well as to other members of the Michigan State College Art Department, who have con- sistently helped the student in his preparation for the graduate degree. This preparation embraced a year devoted to travel and study in EurOpe. The year of extended study abroad was made possible by a scholarship grant from the Fulbright Commission of the Department of State. For the privilege of the scholarship, and for recognition of work done abroad from the School of Graduate Studies of hichigan State College, the student expresses lasting appreciation. TABLE 9):: CONTENTS INTRODmTIONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIOOOOO..OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO x1 Part I TWO SCHOOLS Chapter 1. The Technology and Art 2; Building.......... 2 1. Technology and Kit B. Holland - an Example C. Education and the New Architecttme 2. Beaux Arts Eclecticism...................... 16 A. The’ficole des Beaux Arts B. Background for the New Architecture C. Leaders of the Movement 3. The Bauhaus and walter Gropius.............. 33 IA. The Counseling Center B. weimar C. Dessau 4. Taliesin end Frank Lleyd wright............. 52 A. The Ecole Rejected B. The Versatile Architect C. Education and Nature Part II CONFLICT 5. Meeting Ground-USA.......................... 68 ‘A.Emigrants B. Admiration and Apprenhension 0. Opposition of Principles 6. The Forms in Conflict....................... 82 A. The Inorganic and Organic B. The Greek Temple C. The Gothic Cathedral D. Qualified Separation 7. Laterials and Technigpes................... 92 A} Regional Consciousness B. The Plan C. Materials D. Techniques E. Inner and Outer Space 8. Social Theories............................ 176 A. The Industrial.Potential B. Rebuilding Our Communities C. When Democracy Builds 9. EducationOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCCOOOOOOOCOOOOOOO 189 A. An Objectified System B. A Subjectified System 1.00 Realization..oou....o..o.......o...coo-oco 202 A. Beaux Arts Methais B. Opposition C. The Collaborative D. The iaster-builder Part III ESOLUI‘ION 11. Changing Patterns.00000000000000.000000000. 224 A. Source Lines B. Evident Changes C. wright and GrOpius 12. Organic Architecture....................... 246 A. A New Functionalism B. Three Examples C. Organic by Name D. Flowering Forms BIBLIOGRAPHYOCO0.0.....0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0000000000CO 265 l. 2. LIST OF FIGURES Plan of the Bauhaus, Dessa u, Germany. Walter Grapius, Architect. From Bruno Zevi's Towards fig Or anic Architecture (London, Faber and Faber, l949E. 104 Plan of the German Pavilion at the Barcelona Exhibi- tion. Mics Van der Rohe, Architect. From Bruno Zevi's Towards an Organic Architecture (London, Faber and Faber, 1919). 106 Plan of a House for the Museum of modern Art, New Ybrk. Marcel Breuer, Architect. From The Architec- tural Forum, May 1949. 109 Plan of the Herbert Jacobs house, Madison, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect. From The Magazine 23 Buildigg, January 1951. 112 Plan of a Floor Section for the Johnson Wax Company Tower, Racine, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd wright, Archi- tect. From The yagazine 3: Building, January 1951. 114 Plan for The Packaged House System. walter GrOpius and Konrad flachsmann, Architects. From Walter Gropius' Rebuildipg Our Communities (Chicago, Paul Theabold, 19453. 141 Sectional View of Johnson Wax Company Tower, Racine, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Jright, Architect. From The Magazine 3: Building, January 1951. 150 A Drawing of the Johnson Wax Company Buildings, Racine, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect. From Life, April 16, l951. 169 I. II. III. IV. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. LIST g 131.11ng Open Air School, Amsterdam, Holland. Bijvoet and Duider, Architects. Photograph through the courtesy of the Dutch Information Bureau. 10 The Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany. Halter GrOpius, Archi— tect. Photostatic Reprint through the courtesy of The Magazine 2; Building; 42 Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect. Print from the Harverster World, August 1950. 60 House for the Museum of Modern Art, New Ybrk. harcel Breuer, Architect. Photograph by the author. 160 Consolodated Vultee Aircraft Phant, Fort Worth, Texas. Print from The Hggazine 3; Building, March l95l. 165 Algonquin Apartments, Chicago. Miss van.der Rohe, Architect. Print from The Haggzine g£_§gilding, March 1951. 165 Harvard Graduate Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Architects Collaborative, Architects. Photo- static Reprint through the courtesy of The Magazine of Buildigg. 211 Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida. Frank Lloyd Jright, Architect. Photostatic Reprint through the courtesy of The Magazine 2: Building, 219 Shaw Hall, Michigan State College, East Lansing, Michigan. Ralph Calder, Architect. Photograph through the courtesy of T. Tryon. 250 Crystal Chapel Project for the Ehiversity of Okla- homa, Norman, Oklahoma. Bruce Goff, Architect. Photograph through the courtesy of Julius Shulman. 255 Senior Dormitory, Massachusetts institute of Tech- nolOgy, Cambridge. Alvar Aalto, Architect. Photo- graph through the courtesy of m.I.T. Public Relations Department. 257 LIST pg TABLE 3 1. General Forces of Opposition in the Two Planning Approaches 227 INTRODUCTION At mid-point of the twentieth century the cause for a modern architecture has been won. For more than fifty years a new and meaningful way of building in accord with modern technological advancements has been in acceleration. The victory for modern architecture was not easily attained, for the entire course of establishment was one of conflict in which technology, as utilized by the modern.designers, replaced the traditional methods of construction, and the eclectic design, which beforehand were in acceptance. Among the designers associated with the revolutionary movement for the new architecture, two contemporaries stand at the front as leaders: the first, Frank Lloyd wright, work- ing in America; the second, Walter GrOpius, working in Germany until the advent of the Nazi Party, and afterwards in England and America. Early in the century these men recognized the spirit of the age, and began through their practice to inte- grate architectural design with the unique patterns of life made possible by machine production. In their struggle to revitalize their reapective architectural environments these men also recognized the urgency for equally revitalized facili- ties in design education. Thus, in separate parts of the world, the architects organized training centers in which students could be oriented to the concepts of modern archi- tect ural design. INTROD UCT ION A xii This thesis presents a descriptive and analytical account of the schools founded by Wright and GrOpius, and their sub- sequent effect as leading centers of influence on modern architecture. The paper is divided into three main parts. 13331 932 is directed to the backgron and the functioning of the two schools of architecture. Pepi Tye is directed to the examination of the separate types of architecture which the schools promoted and which with time became Opposed in principles. Part Three is directed to the outcome of the apposition betwem the two schools, and to the impact of the educational centers on the flow of contemporary architecture. Although the thesis embraces the entire movement of modern architecture, and frequently refers to it, it has as its specific purpose the isolation am definition of the source lines of the two strong Spiritual groupings present today among architects. As a specific study of the emerging pattern of architecture this thesis is the sumary of observations and conclusions made by the author throughouthis undergraduate and graduate preparation at Michigan State College. With the beginning of the last half of the twentieth cen- tury, at a time in world history when men everywhere are weigh- ing those conditions of culture which separate free men from slave men, it is impossible to overlook the condition of our architectural environment. Because this study is concerned with the architect, and the architectural environment, it is h0ped that the timeliness of the content will provide a useful 6 oc ument . PART I TWO SCHOOLS fits. . v.13. .15....1nku .u _. . Vicentrdr... vi nib-5.3.. i.il>. PART I TWO SCHOOLS Chapter 1 THE TECHNOLOGY AND ART OF BUILDING Building, from prehistoric temple to contemporary sky- scraper, has been man's need, his work, and the flowering of his creative endowment. Historians in examining the forms of building have found in them one of their most informative ind ices to the technical progress and the artistic thinking of civilization. Today our buildings are everywhere around us, and, as in other times, they are an indication of our way of life and a measure of our spirit- ual values. Because of this nearness of building to the daily needs of peOple, the reSponsible architectural designer will plan his structures to function well and at the same time to provide the environment with something of beauty. Out of the constant exchange of things functional with things beautiful, architecture flowers forth in the soil of social needs. Architecture, the technology and the art of building, has long held a position between the field of engineering on the one side and the field of art on the other. Actually, all building must possess some elements from these two fields, so that architecture prOperly described depends on the predominance with which the designer has drawn from the field of engineering or the field of art. The variety in building throughout history TWO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Apt of Building .6 indicates the limitless range of expression which lies between the extremes of an architecture of technology and one of art. Examples of the two extremes of architecture are to be found in the varied works of the world's cultural groups. New Ybrk provides an example of an architecture of technology. There, below a sky-line of towering structures, one finds an architecture desigred for the commercial activi- ties of a modern eosmOpolitan center. Tall office build- ings; huge apartment houses; riverside piers; factories; and a interlocking system of roads, tunnels, subways and bridges; all facilitating the needs of a peOple absorbed in the affairs of a materialistic way of fife. As one might expect, New Ybrk displays very little regard for buildings which are religiously artistic; there, the high- est ideal is one of fuctionalimn, and to this end an archi- tecttre of technology has been established. Primitive re- gions of the world abound with the Spiritual zeal necessary for the Opposite extreme of building. In this, Tibet pro- vides an example of an architecture of art. There the pri— mary building of the small, isolated country is the palace housing the prince whose image, so the peqple believe, is that of a reincarnate god. large monasteries; rich temples; churches; monuments; and giant statues; all dedicated to 'the needs of a people absorbed in the affairs of a religious way of life. The material world is cast aside for service to the deity. In this culture of ancient monastic views, there TWO SCHOOLS; The Technology and Art of Building 4 is little interest in things mechanical or things highly efficient: there the highest ideal is one of spirituality, and to this end an architecture of art has been established. New Ybrk with its throbing business tempo and Tibet with its tranquil isolation disclose the relation of archi- tecture to community life. However, communities like these provide us with exaggerated examples and are not typical of the way people live in the contemporary world. Most of the world's community groups exist in a Sphere of both secular and parochial interests, and offer experiences of the two sorts to individuals. And, most of the world's individuals find their lives based on the moderate-sized community, with its core of common affairs and acquaintances, offering a balance between the extremes of a severe commercial existence or a deeply religious one. Likewise, today's building is following a center line between.the secular and parochial affairs, and so finds somewhere between the extremes of an architecture of technology and one of art, that mean of con- temporary needs. Holland demonstrates a type of building along the mean- line between technology and art. For the Dutch,architecture is a thing of Special importance; they build well, and they take a strong regional pride in What they build. Dutch building is everywhere expressive of a search for a beauti- ful countryside, and this delight in a preportioned archi- tect effectively describes the temperament of the peeple. THO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Art of Building 5 The Dutch are both independent and democratic, and for centuries have had the faculty for making a little go a long way. Indeed out of their temperament of frugality, and with but a minimum of resources, the Dutch have pro- vided themselves with a maximum of life's needs, including some of the umst attractive architectural surroundings to be found in the world. Although Holland is but a small country among nations, she is not to be outdone in her love of land, or in her pride of work; and it is usually surprising for the visitor to this place of quaint folkways to find the abundance and the nature of the modern architecture which the Dutch have constructed. This pride in building is close to the land, much of which the workmen have actually retrieved from the sea. Theirs is an architecture of utility, yet it is one so integrated with.the landscape that it has an indigenous beauty. Today, with the world's architectural environment so emphatically unhealthy, Holland stands out as a supreme example of the potentials which lie between.the extremes of technology and those of art in architecture. As an indica- tion of what can be done with the resources at our disposal, the work of the Dutch may be taken as a symbol of the flower- ing forms of the new architecture, if we choose to pursue the direction of construction instead of destruction. For those Who would discredit each renewed plea for the revitali- {TWO SCHOOLS;_ The Techgology and Art of Building 6 sation of the architectural environment as an idealist's dream of a utopia, there is in Holland adequate proof of the social integration Which architecture provides. In a study of those men Who in recent years have led the cause for the revitalization of the architectural environment, Holland appeared to fine author as both an adequate description of a vital architecture and a suit- able focus point for the study of architecture in conflict against the forces of social chaos. It was in Holland where preparation for this thesis project began. At the time there was for the author that travel which accompanies the study of architecture. The itinerary embraced the centers of post-war reconstruction and some of the country's more celebrated modern buildings. In the course of this investigation.there were indications on every side of the rich variety and color to be found in the flowering forms of the new architecture. Even the season of the year was suggestive of the hOpe that has persisted through the bewilderment of the recent wars. The century was at half-way; it was Spring, and over the land there was a freshness to the new forms of life. Holland in spring overflows with life. The cattle are put to pasture again. The irrigation ditches are readied. Hen begin the seasonal tillage of the soil. The Haarlem “tulip beds begin to color like some giant painter's palette spread over the fields. Industries, scattered over this small region.that is Helland, are in full production. In T‘NO SCHOOLS: The Technologg and Art of Building 7 f the harbors, commerce of the sea is on the move; and the barges carry it, much as the life blood of the people, through the arterial systemof the canals. In village and city, men work hard and, with equal energy, play hard. Merchants are busy. ShOps are full. Bicycles are on the go. The public swimming pools open each morning at five-thirty. The streets are aglow with budding trees. The houses are Opened up to the sun. And, the women give the walks before their homes their daily scrubbing. As the Dutch take care of their soil, ply their trades, work their commerce, and assure themselves of sound health and goocl housing; nature provides them with an ever-changing effect of scenery for their cOOperative way of life. At mid-century, however, the atmOSphere of spring in Holland transcended those warn and inviting effects of nature. For the Dutch the dust of war was still over the land, and in their hearts there was, besides the Spirit of Spring, the hepe for a peace from the chaos of the first half of the century. Out of the dust-clouds of war, there was the exuberance of spring and with it a breath of faith for the half-century ahead. Fortified with an Optimism in the future, the Dutch were hard at work building and rebuilding. War torn cities had to be mended, housing was in high demand and industry was expand- ing. At Arnhem new buildings were rising above the rubble which the enemy had left. At Rotterdam, unmercifully leveled by bombing, a bold new city was in construction where the old one TAO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Art of Building 7 the harbors, commerce of the sea is on the move; and the barges carry it, much as the life blood of the people, through the arterial system of the canals. In village and city, men work hard and, with equal energy, play hard. Merchants are busy. ShOps are full. Bicycles are on.the go. The public swimming pools open each morning at five-thirty. The streets are aglow with budding trees. The houses are Opened up to the sun. And, the women give the walks before their homes their daily scrubbing. As the Dutch take care of their soil, ply their trades, work their commerce, and assure themselves of sound health.and gooo housing; nature provides them with an ever-changing effect of scenery for their cOOperative way of life. At mid—century, however; the atmOSphere of Spring in Holland transcended those warn and inviting effects of nature. For the Dutch the dust of war was still over the land, and in their hearts there was, besides the Spirit of spring, the hOpe for a peace from the chaos of the first half of the century. Out of the dust-clouds of war, there was the exuberance of spring and with it a breath of faith for the half-century ahead. Fortified with an Optimism in the future, the Dutch were hard at work building and rebuilding. War torn cities had to be mended, housing was in high demand and industry was expand- ing. At Arnhem new buildings were rising above the rubble which the enemy had left. At Rotterdam, unmercifully leveled by bombing, a bold new city was in construction where the old one W'..C.1.fl..> e a.» .. L». 3.. Vera. T.» .v . .V-.,..M. a. Defilm rd TWO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Art of Building §_ had stood only a short time before. The peeple of Rotterdam were pledged to this reconstruction project which would stand as their statenent of confidence in the future of EurOpe. In other villages and cities of Holland architects were find- ing it impossible to keep abreast with the volume of projected construction jobs. The construction energies of the Dutch seemed at mid- century in direct Opposition to the destruction energies of the age, but in their work there was much for other men to study. For the Dutch the warm air'of the new season meant building, building for all they could, simply because there was So much of it to be done. In their own small world there wasn't time enough for the jobs to be done; but build they wmtfld, and if their own small world was not as it should be, than they would rebuild it as they had done so often with their dykes. Here in Holland was an eloquent definition of idealism in action, and its place in the affairs of men. The Dutch were building their architectural environment conscious of it as the SXpression of their principles of life. Through 'work and play they were experiencing the simple pleasures of SOphisticated living. Through their concern for a wholesome larchitecture they were finding useful and beautiful surround- :ings commensurate with the maturity of the human race. However, other peOple would react to their environment, the Dutch, as they had in the past, were building for the present, with a TNO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Art of BuildinL 9 love for a sound structure for home and nation, and with an eye for the future. For the Dutch it was Spring, and though all was not well, there was building to be done in the days ahead which promised to be fair. Amsterdam in Spring is a beautiful city, full of life, and a tribute to the Dutch love for a useful and a beautiful architecture. Industry, commerce, and dwelling all find a harmonious integration in Amsterdam. Carefully planned streets, shaded canals, an even tempo of living, and some of the most striking examples of modern architecture to be found in Europe, all are part of the Amsterdam scene. For the tour of modern Amsterdam architecture, the author was accompanied by an apprentice architect, who by day worked as a draftsman and by night attended design school. First on the itinerary was one of Holland's most famous build- ings; the Open Air School, planned by the architects Bijvoet and Duiker in 1930. This building had gained distinction tl'n'oughout the world for its radical break with previous conceptions of school planning. The structure was situated away from the street in the center of a large playground area around which were located buildings of the city block. As the building was approached, a sudden spring shower sent the two of us hurrying to the covered entrance of the alley lead- ing into the play area. While waiting in the shelter of the entrance for the rain to cease, comment was made on the build- ing standing four-square in the court beyond. PLATE I I. -- -- --. ----'V- '— —- —.- —-. O --l" - ‘- 53s; . - h.‘ 1" . may 1 , 1-51 I-.. . -". . lay-w, d“... m— ‘ :1 I m ”""'I':” Im IIIIIIIHI HHI BIJVOET and DUIKER, Open Air School, Amsterdam, 1930. TWO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Art of Building 11 Here was a milestone in the field of modern design, and one of the many experiments in EurOpe which had con- tributed to the revolution to take place in world archi- tecture during the past fifty years. The building, seen from a distance, presented a composition of strong forms in concrete and glass. With but four floors, the school was not large, yet in its prOportions was the feeling of the monumental. The architects had achieved such an im- posing effect through the direct use of modern techniques and materials in solving the functional requirements demanded of a school building. The first consideration in their plan- ning had been the provision of classrooms in the atmOSphere of ample light and air. The crisp, clean structure before us had resulted, and its four cantilevered floors appeared to Open up to the sky over the playground. In the Open Air School function was foremost in design, and it presented an outstanding example of the departure which contemporary architects were taking from traditional methods of building. In Amsterdam, with its legacy of architecture going back into the Middle Ages, this radical change from the older traditions stood out‘in severe contrast. This was the kind of building suited to the needs of present day con- ditions, yet it was blending perfectly with the older forms of the community. Here the Dutch were displaying their alert- ness to the changing conditions of society. For the Dutch, the methods of the past simply would not work for the new conditions of the present. TWO SCHOOLS: The W E. In this case, they had viewed the resources of the new technology with their usual frugality, using all of its possibilities for both a functional and a beautiful building. As the discussion of this new architecture continued, we commented on.the severe loss which Europe had experienced in 1932 when the Nazi Party had closed the Bauhaus, that school in Germany from which such modern architecture had received its strongest development. Likewise, it was necessary to comment that the United States had been most fortunate in the field of architecture in attracting most of those artists and architects who had given the Bauhaus movement impetus; GrOpius, Moholy-Nagy, Breuer, Van der Rohe, Albers, Chermayeff, and others associated with the experiments at Dessau where the school was located. With the Bauhaus architects warking in proximity to those men who had pioneered in the develOpment of a modern American architecture, especially Frank Lloyd Wright and the architects from his school in Wisconsin, America was forwthe new archi- tecture what Florence had been for painting in the fourteenth century. Then, Byzantine masters had met in Florence with the native artists of that city, and from the primate art of the East there was a blending with the sephisticated idioms of the Florentine world. This interchange of art concepts had then produced the Splendid paintings of the Renaissance. Today, the EurOpean tradition of a sophisticated architecture was blending with the native tradition of American architecture; THO SCHOOLS: The Technology and Art of Building 13 only to be producing a totally new language in world archi- tecture, and one fully in harmony with contemporary social conditions. The young Dutch architect agreed that the United States had benefitted from the experiencesand services of the most progressive of the world's architects, "But in America," he questioned, "do the peOple understand or appreciate what those men have been trying to accomplish for the country, and indeed for the world?" The only possible reply to the question was a negative one. For the profession of architects there was recognition and understandhig, but without apprecia- tion. For the field of building there was recognition, but with neither understandingznr appreciation. And for the lay- man there was all too little recognition and almost nothing of the elements of understanding and appreciation. Yet, the cause for a modern building had been won and the potentials of the new architecture were, with accelerated concern, being recognized. ' At once it was apparent that if the new architecture were to reach out and embrace the multitude for whom it was created, it would require the recognition, the understanding and the appreciation of the architect, the builder, and the layman.alike. Both concluded that a better architectural environment could be achieved only through the total partici- pation of peOple everywhere, and this depended to a large degree on centers of education. THO SCHOOLS: The Technology_gni_1;1_p1_331111ngl_ rig It was there that the scOpe of this thesis project was outlined: to survey the aims and means of education of those man Who had pioneered in the deveIOpment of the new architecture, and to evaluate the influence of their prin- ciples on the patterns of contenporary building. Standing there in the freshness of Holland's Spring, looking with admiration on a monument of the new architecture, the thought followed that if the world were to experience a springtime of peace out of the winters of war and human indignity, architecture like that of the Open Air School before us would have to become an acceptable part of any rebuilding process whatsoever. In this new architecture there is the unbroken line of man's greatest heritage -- his building. And, in the seasonal flow of human events, there is today the Opportunity to construct anew. Like Holland's Springtime, the season overflows with the promise of life, and the flowering of man-made forms over the land. Chapter 2 BEA [IX-ARTS ECLECT ICISM Among those institutions which today are devoted to the task of education in architecture, one school is unforget- table for its long and uninterrupted service: The Ecole Rationale Superieure des Beag; Arts of Paris. This French school was innaugerated in the reign of Louis XIV, and from its early origin assumed a position of influence which was to be of world wide consequence in architectural design. Until well into the twentieth century, the Ecole was accepted as the foremost school of architectural education, and this pre-eminence of leadership attracted students of architecture not only from all of EurOpe, but indeed from all the world. Architectural education at the Ecole des Beaux.Arts was based upon the idea that architecture could be graSped only in relation to painting, sculpture, and the crafts. To the end of a unified artistic approach for the designer, the Ecole leaned heavily on the rich heritage of art and architec- ture which was to be found over EurOpe. Thus, in its search for beautiful design, the school drew heavily from the flourish- ing periods of past architectural styles, with the Greek, the Roman, and the Gothic leading as sources of inepiration. Students at this school of design were prOperly disciplined in the arts of drawing, painting, drafting, and construction; but, above all, in the comprehension of applied decoration. Decoration in the Beaux Arts tradition might be on one occaSion TJO SCHUOLS: Beaux—Arts Eclecticism 17 the nrnamental motifs on a medieval cathedral, and on another the orders of a classic temple; but whatever they were the ability of the student was measured by his breadth of under- standing how these motifs had been used in the past. In this study of education and the new architecture, it is significant to Observe the education of the Beaux.Arts, and those methods which accompanied traditional.patterns of architectural design.at the beginning of the Twentieth Cen- tury. The Architectural Forum, in 1958, printed excerpts from an article on the Ecole des Beaux Arts by Mildred E. Lombard, in the French magazine Legion d' Honneur. These excerpts pro- vide us with an insight of the clandistine methodology of the educational system of the Ecole, which were then so highly regarded. The Magazine prints: "In the late Nineteenth Century, so few uOiLeges gave thorough courses in architectural training that the ablest and most ambitious young Americans, if they possessed financial means, turned inevitably for in- struction to the recognized leading architectural school Of EurOpe, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Paris, which for more than two-hundred years since its found- ing by Colbert, minister of Louis XIV, had maintained a consistently inepiring influenza on artistic and architectural study throughout the world. Students in Paris joined an atelier, choosing at the time of entrance the one they preferred, and there worked in groups on assigned problems, the older assisting the younger, their work under the frequent criticism and supervision of a "patron", who was always a working architect of highest distinction. In addi; tion to the stimulous of constant suggestion and criti- cism from the leadirg architects of France, student work was submitted several times a year to general competitive exhibitions on the assigned problems in which all ateliers participated with a sense of rivalry as healthy as it was Spirited. TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 18 From one American privileged to be a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the Eighties, Joseph Mc Guire, we have, in his charming unpublished remi- niscence, "Before the Gay Nineties“, an account of the workings of an atelier as it impressed a young man brought up in the American college tradition: 'M. Daumet graciously agreed to accept me as a pupil, and the next day he took me to the atelier and formally introduced me to my new associates. There were four ateliers in the school buildings and some three or tour which maintained their own quarters on the outside, bum the school standing of all was the same." "M. Daumet was a member of the Academy and of practically all the other societies, and one of the most distinguished men in France, and a more soft Spoken, modest and lovable man it would have been hard to find. His associate, M. Girault, was much younger, a man of brilliant talents, but with less charm than the eld er." "The atelier was then on the rue de Buci and consisted of two large rooms connected by a short wide passage-way. All the windows Opened Upon in- terior courts. The rent and all expenses were assumed by the members, for it was practically a club. The Patrons were paid an honorarium and only visited the atelier once or twice a week for criti- cism and advice." "Discipline was maintained by elective Officers called figssiers and all the cleaning, rough work, pulling the Charrettes (carts) loaded with drawings for exhibition and errands for the Anciens, was per- formed by new members. The only furniture consisted of the drawing boards and stools. There was quite an extensive library of decrepit and stained books. The illumination was intirely furnished by candles stuck in empty beer bottles and two rusty stoves furnished what little heat we got." "Absolute silence prevailed during the visit of the Patron. He proceeded from one board to another and delivered his criticism or advice to the benefit of all. If the Patron passed by a project without comment it was understood that the project was not deemed of sufficient merit to justify further develOpment." TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 19 "The routine of work was oddly at variance with that of American schools and colleges. Every two months you.went 23 loge, that is you entered a cell armed only with paper, pencils, paints and drawing instruments, and were given a problem in architecture to work out. You could have no assistance and guard- ians patrolled the corridors to see that you received none. Ybu generally got down to work about nine o' clock in the morning and were given until five to finish. After taking a tracing of your solution you ttnwed in.the original sketch and departed. Nobody did much work for a week or so afterward, and this was the time you devoted to social duties, sketching trips or amusements. Gradually the atelier would fill up with men develOping their sketches and making their careful rendus. As the time approached for the deliv- ery of the drawings for judgement , and the pace grew faster and faster, towards the end you were working not only all day but many of fine nights and finally all night. The morning of the rendu was a time of wild disander, shoutings, tense tempers and confusion until, about five minutes before the gates of the school were closed, the still well drawings would be loaded into the Charrettes and the wild rush through the streets would begin.“ "The attitude of the members of the atelier toward each other was uniformly kind and helpful, and a Prix de Rome man would cheerfully drOp his own work and devote an hour to embellishing with forlage and entourage the up to that time absolutely uninspired conception of a nouveau. In fact, it was generally understood that you learned more from the strong men in.the atelier than you did from the Patron." "The life of the atelier, however, was far from a constant grind, even when its activities were intense. The French students were capable of the hardest, most sustained effort, but as Mr. McGuire writes, "They played equally as hard, and every so often during the day would drOp all work and relax with some absolutely ridiculous mock trial, duel, or game. The singing was practically unceasing. Among the numerous celebra- tions I recall the occasion when we Spent all the after- noon erecting a pet out of the drafting boards in anti- cipation of a grand chasse aux rats. One student brought over from America his celebrated terrier "Dash" and the rest of us procured tremendous sewer rate. It was very exciting while it lasted and we were for- tunately able to save the dog". TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 20 "Outside of the Atelier, there was fienty of diversion. Nor, in Spite of his constant competi- tion, was there any real antagonism between the students of different ateliers. In the social atmOSphere of Paris, friendship flourished, and Americans from other ateliers joined their com- patriots from the Atelier Daumet-Girault. In later years other ateliers became more pOpular among Americans, particularly the Atelier Laloux. En- thusiasm and community of interest were the only qualifications necessary for the joyous gatherings of the American students." "What a congenial group this was", writes Mr. Mo Guire, "That for better than.two years remained in intimate friendly contact. Occasionally a group of two or three might leave for Greece, Spain, Eng- land, or even for America, but in.two or hires months they would be back again as if drawn by invisible wires. They lived in the same house, worked and played together, dined together, travel- led and argued together and borrowed each others books, tobacco and clothes and danced, dined and visited together on the Right Bank." ”Their ages ranged from twenty-two to twenty- eight. Practically all were college graduates, and although few were wealthy, all had fumis suf- ficient for their modest needs, and all were abso- lutely footloose and could do as they pleased, and somehow were never pleased to do anything unworthy or small......” "After having had a club table at Duval's Les Deux Magots, Blots and various other restau- rants we finally settled down in the entresol of the Cafe d' Orsay on the Quay d' Orsay, a very celebrated old restaurant where we occupied the same room from which Edward VII in his gay youth had been forced to escape by means of the window when the police raided the place. Here we would meet twice a day, sometimes only five or six, but generally a dozen and occasionally as many as twenty." "From those social gatherings at the Cafe d' Orsay came the impetus which led to the American Beaux-Arts. Discussion turned often to the condi- tion of architectural teaching in America, to the crying need for radical change and the immense bene- fit which would result from the introduction of the TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 21 Beaux-Arts methods. Desirous of keeping in touch With each other after their return to America and of organizing some sort of society for that pur- pose, the Americans were even mcre desirous of using that society to give to their/country some- thing of the inepiration which the Ecole des Beaux- Arts had been to them. "Not only did we want", wrote Whitney Warren years after, "to keep the old crowd together with all its joyous memories, we wished also to continue our teachings and our traditions to keep the flame alive and to hand on the torch to those who were to come after us in our own country...... At these meetings in the Cafe d' Orsay we made ardent vows to accomplish our high purpose." The torch of Beaux Arts education was one reserved for those oriented in the understanding of applied ornamentation. As this meant choosing from the doctrines, methais and forms of various historical periods, it has in recent times been prOperly referred to as the torch of eclecticism. Eclecticism, at its best, was little more than a weak- ened attempt to find beauty in building; and at its worst, was a frame of artistic reference appealing to the indoc- rinated seeking a pretentious way of life. All of it was founded on a systematic method of ornamenting the surfaces of buildings, or of relating the various elements of build- ing together in group planning. However strong the appeal of the SOphisticated architecture of eclecticism was, it more often than not failed to express the temperament of the time when it was utilized, and thus usually reached absurd prOportions. From its beginnings in the decoration of the fortress palaces of the merchant princes of Renaissance TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 22 Florence, to its embellishing effects on the capital cities of the world, Eclecticism was an expensive and a pompous affrontery through the forms of architecture. But, the forms of eclectic decoration were not alone confined to the use of the rich and powerful, for gradually they were extended downward through the lesser levels of society until they entered the very parlors of the common man. EurOpe was overwhelmed with these forms of eclecticism; America was likewise resorting to such design; and even in strange and out-of-the-way places like Siam one could. find traces of the eclectic influence of the Beaux Arts tradition. Houses, churches, railroad stations, factories and skyscrapers all became adorned with the eclectic motifs. Today, Rome, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow and Washington are but moot reminders of how impossible it was for this kind of applied design to express the best of the regional conditions, or the vast possibilities of modern building methods. In a period when the forces of industry were in- creasing, eclectic design in architecture acted simply as a delaying action to the integration of building with the new patterns of life. In this reSpect the machine, and the pro- ducts of the machine, foreordained the doom of Eclecticism, and in turn, the Beaux Arts as a center of architectural education. The background for the new architecture of the Twentieth Century was not confined to contemporary conditions alone. TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux—Artsjclecticism 23 All through the Nineteenth Century the tendencies of build- ing, as influenced by conditions of machine production, were in the direction of straight-forward, utilitarian design, rather than the pretentious, decorative methods of Eclecticism in the Beaux Arts tradition. The elements of a direct and functional architecture as Opposed to an archi- tecture based upon historical styles was one which quite logically resulted from the increase of technology in the manufacturing centers of the world. In these places new theory, new materials and new techniques merged to produce new and breath-taking structural form. Three Nineteenth Century structures arrived as outstanding examples of the forces of new theory, materials and techniques in action. They were the Crystal Palace built in London in 1851, the Brooklyn Bridge begun in 1868, and the Eiffeleer of the Paris exhibition of 1889. The Crystal Palace, designed by John Paxton, was construc- ted in Hyde Park for the exhibition of 1851. With eight hundred thousand square feet of floor area, the builders were confronted, with problems which industry alone could solve. For the frame of the. building iron pillars and girders were used, ani over this frame the walls were formed with sheets of plate glass set in prefabricated wooden frames. When com- pleted the Crystal Palace was a building of massive prOper- tions, with large undecorated surfaces, expressive of industrial functionalism. Never before had such a volume of space been TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux—Arts Eclecticism 24 enclosed, never before had it been so readily possible. The problem before the builders of the Brooklyn Bridge was spaning Space rather than enclosing it. To this task John Roebling put into use discoveries of wire-cable sus- pension discovered in France earlier in the century.- With the new system it was possible to suSpend a roadway from supporting cables, and by this means the engineer demon— strated how, through industrial materials and techniques, greet voids could be Spanned. Pure function was not the primary concern of Gustave Eiffel when in 1889 he designed a tower for the exhibition in Paris. His was an interest in height alone, and When the new tower was constructed it soared a thousand feet into the air. Eiffel had previously been a bridge builder, and in his design for the tower there was all of the calculating exactness of an engineer. Eiffel found in the use of iron members the only material which would permit building at such an unprecidented height, and in the use of factory made sections, Eiffel demonstrated the real possibilities for engineering projects to be found in the new era of machine production. James Fitch in his book :AEmrican Building provides an excellent account of the rela- ‘tiomship between.the new forces of technology and these men vflio undertook to utilize them to such advantage. He writes; ”Historically, the three factors - theory, material, technique - have seldom been in exact equilibrium at any given moment; that is, there have been few times when a lag in one did not prevent mo SCHOOLS: Beaux—Arts Eclecticism ' 25 advance in the others. Occasionally, however, under the accumulating pressure of social change, a structure appears in which all three factors have combined at a high level to produce a radi- cally new type. To borrow a term from the anth- rOpologists, there has been.a LEAP forward. Such structures were the Palace, the Bridge and the Tower. These leaps involve not merely blind social and economic pressures, Specific human agencies are also required; live men who, by the very breadth of their understanding, are able to master all the factors involved and forsee the project through to completion. Such men were the designers of these three famous structures: JO- seph Paxton, the English horticulturist; John Roebling, the German American cable inventor; and Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer. The shadows of these men and their structures fell athwart the whole Western World; and nothing which came after them could remain entirely unaffected, fbr Huey had tackled and brilliagtly mastered three eternal problems in structure." After the Nineteenth Century develOpments of huge engineer- ing projects conquoring Space, voids and height, there came with great suddenness near the turn of the century that inevitable Split between the architecture of Eclecticism, and the architecture of the new technology. It was at the time of this Split between the old and the new that individ- uals in increasing number began to be associated with the idea revolution of the modern movement. The history of [nodern architecture indicates that the pioneers of the new building were at work in those places of the world where immiustrial processes had provoked the greatest strain upon the older, inadequate forms of architecture from the pre- machine period. AS it happened, Western EurOpe and the Ameri- earl Mid-West were those areas most aware of the rift that was growing between an old and a new kind of building. TWO SCHOOLS: Bea xix-Arts Eclecticism 26 Geographically these areas of develOpment for the new archi- tecture were widely separated. Culturally, both possessed conditions which were remarkably alike. In the two areas the technical advancements of the industrial revolution were understood and accepted for what they were worth. Through the exchange of pa Ople and institutions from EurOpe to America, there was a relationship in the social order of the two areas. And, finally, by means of the historic flow of western architecture, there was a similar accumulation of eclectic decadence to be found throughout the two areas. In actuality, the formation Of a new architecture brought about separately in EurOpe and in the United States had much in comon, so that when the European and American pioneers of the new building reacted against the decadence of Eclecti- cism, they were reacting together against the same conditions of antique design. With the turn of the century, industrial expansion severed the bonds of'the "styles" so completely that for many designers Eclecticism was a thing of the past. To those men sensitive to the rising growth of modern architecture there was the conviction that the educational facilities of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and comparable schools were no longer suited for the training of young architects. Throughout the first twenty years of the century, the need for new educational means increased until by the end Of the first World War the TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 27 organization of new schools was actually under way. The new schools of architectural training planned from the outset to Oppose the constricting procedure of the academic educa- tion of the Beaux Arts. However, in breaking with traditional education, an entirely new scheme of instruction had to be produced, and this meant long and painful experimentation with the principles on which the new architecture was founded. In this early period of experimentation.in modern methods of architectural education there was, because of the rapidity of communication unique to the Twentieth Century, a continuous exchange of ideas between the advanced workers in Western EurOpe and the united States. Thus, it was that many of the principles of the new education in this period when ideas were being crystalized were, like many examples of architecture in this period, in resemblance to one another. Mr. John Summerson describes in his book Heavenly Mansions something of the forma- tive nature of these centers for the new education of architec- ‘ture. In particular he comments on the relationship between the advanced centers of thought and those greater movements «of style which are often referred to as schools. The author p oints out that: "Architectural change occurs as the result of the irregular and incalculable incidence of men of genius- innovators. These men - involuntarily, very often - create schools, like pebbles drOpped into a pond make rings. Obviously, these schools are likely to form in the immediate neighbourhood of the master - hence ‘we get sedething approximating to 'national' schools of architecture, prOpagated by the pupils and admirers ,TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 28 of one Or two or three men. But the influence of one man can extend much farther than his own country and, here again, the prodigious revolu- tion in 20 century communication is of paramount importance. Neither the Alps nor the Atlantic are, today, boundaries of architectural style and if innovations of an architect, in, say, Turin are sufficiently striking they may be found onsthe drawing-boards of New YOrk in no time at all". The centers for the new education were, in keeping with the comments of Mr. Sunmerson, fostered largely by the pioneer- ing innovators of modern architecture. Likewise, followers began to cluster to these centers so that in western EurOpe as in the United States style movements resulted from the efforts of the masters themselves. At this early point in the study of educational institutions and the modern moveuent, consideration must be confined to the masters, their methods of educating and their immediate followers. Only upon the foundation of a clear treatment of these factors would it be possible to relate the centers of education to the broader movement of national schools. With the rise of a modern architecture Opposed to the decadence of historic styles in building, the personalities of two men overwhelm the field as the masters of the new eduwation. They are walter GrOpius and Frank Lloyd Wright. The schools which these men founded were to affect the entire cnourse of modern architectural education. The school of the European movement was to be the Bauhaus led by GrOpius who had! started his career in 1907 after graduation aS an archi- tect from the University of Munich. The school of the American TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 29 movement was to be Taliesin led by wright, who had in 1889 given up a degree as a structural engineer in order to take part in.the great flourish of skyscraper building which was going on in Chicago at that time. In GrOpius and Wright there was, from the beginning of their work, a rejection of the principles of Beaux Arts edu- cation. As the two men began their reSpective careers as practicing architects, both worked in the direction.of archi- tectural forms expressive of'the new technology. Because German education was already organized for training in the industrial arts, GrOpius had the advantage of being the first of the two men to launch a fully organized campaign for the establishment of a new kind of architectural education. Very early in.his career GrOpius recognized that if EurOpe were to have a modern architecture something would have to be done to Oppose the sterility of that sponsored by the Beaux Arts. The Weimar Republic in 1919 called upon this engineering architect to act as the director for the weimar Academy, and the Arts and Crafts School. Interested in education as he was, Gropius willingly accepted the assignment, and prOposed the unification of the two older schools into a single school of industrial design. wright, as a student of structural engineering, abandoned conventional methods of education at the Lhiversity of Wisconsin with the ambition of replacing those methods with.the practical THO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 30 experience to be gained in an architectural office. To accomplish his purpose he went to the foremost architectural builders of’the period, Adler and Sullivan, When, during the late Eighties, Chicago was the fountain-head of modern building the world over. An appreciatuon for training earned out of realistic problems accompanied the educational work of this architect throughout his entire life. In his early private practice he engaged in the training Of young assistants by means of an.apprenticeship similar to that which he had experienced in the offices of Adler and Sulli- van. By the time the school in Weimar was being organized by Gropius, Wright was well along the way in the establishment of an apprenticeship system of education, although he was not to establish a school in the formal sense until 1952. The industrial design school which GrOpius organized at weimar was to be called the Bauhaus. In America the school for apprenticeship training which wright was to organize in the farming country of southern Wisconsin was to be called Taliesin. Each of these schools was destined to grow, and in growing to gain a strength of following which would wield an enormous influence upon the culture of the Twentieth Century. Each of these schools was likewise destined to pit its efforts against the other. To understand the separate forms of archi- tectural education which each school would develOp and later defend, it is necessary to investigate the inner-workings of the two institutions: The Bauhaus and Taliesin. TWO SCHOOLS: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism 51 Footnotes 1 Architectural Forum, Volume 69, number XI 2 James Fitch,rAmerican Building (Boston, 1948), p. 82-3. '2 ‘ 5 John Summerson, Heavenly Mansions (New York, 1948), p. 210-11. Chapter 5 THE BAUHAUS AND WALTER GROPIUB The Bauhaus, organized by Walter GrOpius, served German industry as a consultation center for modern product design. The educational program of this school was the first exten- sive effort in EurOpe to resist, with modern theory, the flow of eclectic design in the tradition of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Although the school was established in 1919, when GrOpius was called to Weimar in southwestern Germany from his_architectural practice in Berlin, its real beginnings were in the Deutscher Werkbund of an earlier period. The Deutscher Werkbund was begun in Munich in 1907 under the guidance of Peter Behrens, then one of the most progressive of the architectural designers at work in EurOpe. At that time, Behrens was aware of the growing need for the education of artists and craftsmen qualified to meet the new demands Of industrial production. It was the arehitect's belief that in the age of growing industry the artist and craftsman faced the threat of becoming detached from his active participation in cultural affairs which they had once enjoyed. The idea of the program of education which Behrens undertook consisted of a OOOperative between artists, craftsmen and industrial leaders for the purpose of production of high quality work- manship and product. The Werkbund program appealed to many forward thinking manufacturers over the country and gradually the idea of the arts and crafts schools Spread. The Arts and mo SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter ‘GrOpius so Craft School at Weimar which Walter GrOpiuS was to unite with the Weimar Academy into the Bauhaus was one of fine national schools to result from the educational work of Peter Behrens. In 1907, the same year in which the Werkbund was innaugera- ted, Walter Gropius graduated as an architect from the Uni- versity of munich. Soon afterward the young architect accepted a position as head assistant to Behrens in.the elder archi- tect's Berlin Offices. In consequence of this position with the most active promoter of the educational program of the flggkppgd, GrOpius was to become fully acquainted with the activities and innerworkings of fine national organization. In this same period GrOpiuS was also to become acquainted with many of the young artists and designers who were working with the educaticnal movement, and who would later be asso- ciated with the Bauhaus. By 1919 when walter Gropius assumed the directorship of the schools at Weimar, the total social condition of Germany was such that he believed a reconsideration Should be made of the basic tenants upon which art education was being furthered. Entering into his educational work, GrOpiuS believed, as Behrens had before him, there Should be a solid collaboration between the artist and industry. However, it was also his belief that architecture should act as an inte- grating force, not only between artist and industrial design, but also between industry and society itself. As an architect and as an educator, Walter Gropius owed gyp SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter Gropius 34 much to Behrens, but like many students before him, he had taken what he could from his master and had then launched into the unknown, beyond his master's exploration. Through- out that period when Gropius was in the offices of Behrens, the firm was engaged in many large planning projects, so that the young architect in his earliest work was familiar- ized to large scale building Operations. In architectural theory 'GrOpius continued to work in the direction of Behrens for an.architecture in harmony with modern technology, and by 1919 he had several buildings of international repute to his credit. From the social point of view, GrOpius had the conviction that there was in this new architecture of tech- nology a great untoumhed potential for the integration of community life with modern industry. Equipped with both an unusually broad building background and a deep sense of social reaponsibility, GrOpius was in 1919 particularly well quali- fied for leadership in the Bauhaus movement. From'the very outset of the Bauhaus venture, the director of the school believed that any new and meaningful education program aimed at modern industrial design would require a close affiliation with the sources of technical power and the industrialists themselves. Gropius writes in The New Archi- tgcture and the Bauhaus something of the ambitions which he possessed as he entered into his new role as an educator in architecture. The architect comments: TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpius 55 "It was then that the immensity of the mis- sion of my generation first dawned on me. I saw that an architect cannot hOpe to realize his ideas unless he can influence the industry of his country sufficiently for a new school of de- eign to arise as a result; and unless that school succeeds in acquiring authoritative significance." When Gropius accepted the reaponsibility for directing the new school at Weimar he did so with the understanding that he would have a free reign in.the innaugeration of those practices necessary for the fulfillment of his policies. This being agreed upon, the architectgbegan the planning of a program of education which the school could follow. The educational work of the Bauhaus was to serve as a fulcrum between industry and the artist-craftsmen group of the new generation, and GrOpius visualized this affiliation between educators and industry with words of resolute confidence: "Together let us conceive and create the new build- ing of the future, Which will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity. Which will rise one day toward heaven from the hands of a méllion workers like the crystal symbol of a new faith." It was in the hOpe of creating the new building of the future that GrOpius planned his program of education for the Bauhaus. As the collaborative effort began in the early twenties there was also the problem of assembling a staff of artists and craftsmen sympathetic with the planning. And in his search for awn of talent, GrOpius was able to find a large band of artist- educators to aid in the work. A retrOSpective view of the school indicates that the director was ever conscious of the importance of sound organization, for the entire history of the TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpius 56 school is a record of many artists and craftsmen and indus- trialists joined together in a singular cause of the new building. Decadent art and architectural conditions acted as such a challenge to Gropius and the other members of the Bauhaus staff that between 1919 and 1932 the influence of the educa- tional program of the Bauhaus on industrial and architectural designing gave Germany an unrivaled position within the field. Within this period of design leadership, the school passed through two distinct phases of develOpment. The first phase took place in the city of Weimar and embraced the organization of the Bauhaus staff. The second phase took place in the city of Dessau, and saw the refinement of the system of art educa- tion which, through pOpular acceptance in recent years, has come to be a hallmark of the School. Throughout the thirteen years of its existence in Germany, the men who worked at the Bauhaus carried on eXplorations in the field of art education which will not soon be lost to the world. For our times, the Bauhaus was the great experimenta- tion in new methods of training for creative design. Over the thirteen years of its Operation, new man were added to the working organization of the Bauhaus, although the staff had its most significant growth in that phase when the school was located at Weimar. There GrOpius found the revolu- tionary ideas for art education which he was prOposing to be welcomed by many men in the art world. Support came from men TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter Gropius 37 beyond the borders in Germany as many entered into active participation in the training program, and still others served the school in advisory roles. Literature, music, drama and the dance were part Of the curriculum of the Bauhaus. However, it was in the direction of the plastic arts where a concentration of effort was to be found. The staff of educators for this program was composed Of three primary groups; the architects, the artists, and the craftsmen. In the scheme of the new art education, these men were not to be Specialists alone. Each irstructor was to teach his own Specialty through the clarification of that Speciality in relation to the other aSpects Of the school's prOgram. Thus it was hOped that the students would not be isolated away from the broad activities of art practice. Nor would they search out one small niche in which to work, but would find for themselves a general adaptability of creative thought for whatever direction of creative work they would assume. The aim of the educational program for the student was to provide them with such training that they would develOp an attitude of inventiveness, ani that this inventiveness would be utilized through a perSpective of art in its totality. It was in this perSpective of a unified art and architectureihrough . new theory, that the Bauhaus staff believed-mqrvcmmprovide the social life of EurOpe with a cohesive force which was then unknown. Long before the Bauhaus was Opened in Weimar, the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris had proposed with eclectic design TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter Gropius 58 this same kind of relationship between architecture, sculp- ture and painting. The listing of those men connected with the teaching activities of the Bauhaus is to recall many of the most promi- nent figures producing modern art in EurOpe in the twenties. Hannes Meyer of Germany worked with GrOpius in the capacity of architect. marcel Breuer, then a student of architecture, was very early in the project marked as a promising workman and a hOpeful for the staff of the school. In the same period, Mies van der Rohe, Who had worked in Behrens Offices with GrOpius, was an active supporter to the cause of’the school. Among the artist group there were men.who had already establiShed an international reputation, and who were in full sympathy with the aims of the school. Paul Klee, the Swiss painter, was assigned to the direction of the metal workshOp. wassly Kandinsky instructed in painting, as did Lyonel Feininger, who had been born in America. Other artists included the painter Oskar Schlemmer, the sculptors Gerhard Marchs and Alexander Archipenko. The men working in the capacity of the craftsmen were Often the most influential of the teachers at the Bauhaus, and in this regard they were selected for their imagination and inventiveness. The list of these educators included L. Mahcly- Nagy; who worked as master of the metal workshOp and as edi- tor for the Bauhaus publications. Joseph Albers had charge of the wood workshop. Johannes Itten was in charge of visual TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpius 59 education. In this aSpect Oifthe work, two students, Gyorgy Hopes and Herbert Bayer, were, like Breuer, from the beginning destined to become instructors in the Bauhaus enterprise. Sibyl Moholy—Nagy describes in the biography of her husband the enthusiasm with which he as a teacher approached the work in progress at the Bauhaus. She writes from the notes of one of the students of the school, "There never lived anyone more devoted to an objective cause. His high opinion of the importance of the Bauhaus remained unimpaired, and he devoted himself to it with such fervor that we started to discuss his possible collapse."3 Besides the energies of such teachers as Moholy-Nagy, the school had help and en- couragement from the Dutch architects Theo von Doesburg and J. J. P. Oui; the painter, Piet Mondrian; the Swiss historian, Sigfried Giedion; and the scientist, Albert Einstein. Out of the collaboration of the many men associated with the Bauhaus movement for the realization of artistic reform, there arose an enormous fOrce. Such a force of artists and architects in revolt was eventually bound to cut down in its swath the cherished beliefs which schools of eclectic design were fostering. But , in cutting down these cherished beliefs of Eclecticism, the Bauhaus members would meet with Opposition and delays. Uhhappily, the Opposition Which they experienced from.thoee supporting Eclecticism was mixed with political repercussions. When people referred to the products of the TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter Gropius 40 school as "crazy art”, politicians were quick to take issue in the case. Significant as the program was, and irrSSpec- tive of the advanced pace of German industrial design in the period, the Opposition was determined to destroy what it could of the school's influence. By 1925 the pressure in Weimar politics against the Bauhaus brought the collaboration to a close, and the group of men associated with the school were more determined than ever to seek such facilities as would be needed for the continuation of their art education program elsewhere. The interlude of inactivity was brief for the staff mem- bers of the Bauhaus. Within the year, prOSpects were found in the city of Dessau for the continuation of the work which had been terminated at Weimar. From the government of Anholt, in Dessau, GrOpius received an offer of land and money to be used for the re-organization of his Bauhaus project. Agreements made, the architect began to draw plans for the erection of a new school building. By this time it was clear to the archi- tect that his program of design education called for Specific accomodat ions for students and the staff members; and in his planning,provisions were made for studios, workshOps, quarters for students and separated dwellings for the staff members. The rejuvinati on of the Bauhaus program was underway in 1926 with the construction of the new building. Students and instructors alike participated in the erec- tion of the new Bauhaus building at Dessau, and Gropius took a EEO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpius 41 sense of pride in the devotitn which these peOple showed for the cause of the school. Beyond this gesture of unified support for'the educational prograun the new building was in itself a significant contribution to modern architecture. The Bauhaus set Off many of the ideals of functional archi- tectural design which had come about through the work at Weimar. The plan for the new building was most unconventional to the building then known to Germany. In his attempt to provide efficient accomOUations for the educational work of the school, GrOpius divided his building irno three component elements. These three elements, each rectangular in shape, were joined together by passage-ways, arn it was in the exterior treatment of these rectangular shapes that the unique- ness of the building was accented. The buildings were faced with huge curtains of glass, which created the impression of their being nothing so much as towering glass boxes held to- gether by strips of adhesive concrete. Dr. Sigfried Giedion, 'who was a frequent visitor and supporter to the school, in his book Space, Time and Architecture gives an account of the building and some of the activities for Which it was planned: "The chief accents fall on the Bauhaus, the nucleus of the whole school. The Bauhaus combines "laboratories of design" with exhibition Spaces, classrooms and lecture halls. The laboratories of design were devoted to such various activities as cabinet-making, theatrical crafts, dyeing, weaving, printing, wall coverings, and metalworking. On the third floor the lecture halls and the laboratories for metalworking could be thrown together to make PLATE II 9 as. #3‘ 91"} ‘ ---';'-.--::-. \ 'ssx '\ \ 3e)» \ :_\ \ t \_:‘.e‘ \ ‘~ t1 \ \ Show“: «no \ unuussx w ulfi _ m - V‘Wm . . \ést" 2.3.: 1% - 4 \e'~:'~ ’d ‘I ‘ 524, an t I] - ‘7 ‘3- It ‘\ Wflw—‘i‘h """ V" E'fiifi‘fid ' ‘ ““ PI 3 '5. g.“ ' ‘. ‘\“‘-_. ‘ * we" . “.914! WV - . inn—Iv ‘ WALTER GROPIUS, The Bauhaus, Dessau, 1926. TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpius 43 a single room. The Bauhaus is enclosed by the famous glass curtains. The section containing the pupils' studio-dormitory rooms rises six stories. The twenty-eight rooms it contains require the hyphenated title because each is intended not only for the sttnent's residence, but for his private work as well. Each has a small balcony, a concrete slab which juts out into open Space. These slabs, hovering close to the massive well, give the building its singular and exciting aSpect. The students' building connects directly with the School of Design through a one-storied wing. The wing ingeniously combines an assembly hall, the din- ing hall, and the stage of the school. These rooms can be thrown cpen to forula single hall accessible from.the "aula", or main entrance hall of the whole school. A separate wing was reserved for the Dessau trade school. A short two-storied bridge, supported by four pillars and crossing an intervening street connects it with the School of Design. This pas- serelle or connecting bridge was reserved for administration rooms, meeting places for the masters' and students' councils, the architectural iepart- ment, and the private atelier of GrOpius." Essentially, the underlying thought of the Bauhaus edu- cation was the belief that inventiveness in.design work is simply an attitule, and something which can be taught by means of a systematic approach. The system of education, Which had been used to stimulate a creativeness of mind in “the attitudes of the students, was the result of long and (aareful experimentation. In.the atmosphere of the new and lxighly functional Dessau.building, the collaboration of artists and architects continued to experiment and expand on the discoveries which had been made at Weimar. At the new Bauhaus, students were trained along lines of general principles, in order to see their particular work in relation to the total work being conducted at the school. THC SCHJO‘ the at age; Whether in man, Even the begim‘ like Breuq (maimed the 30300 utilize t of enFlOE, These or; knowlefige alertnes: giYes us were Dr e TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhals and walter Grepius 44 This meant that each student would have to be familiar with the social intent of the prograun as well as to have a skill with tolls and a knowledge of materials. All of the students were exposed to the same course of fundamentals whether they were artist, architect, designer, or trades- man. Even though all students were on an equal footing in the beginning, for those who were of exceptional ability, like Breuer, Beyer and Kepes, there was the promise of confirmed Opportunity as instructors in the design work at the school. For those of lesser ability, those who could utilize the methodology of the school, there was the promise of employment in German industries requiring craftsmen. These craftsmen were welcomes in industry because of their knowledge of design, proficiency with tools, and their alertness for the creative utilization of materials. GrOpius gives us a description of the procedure by wiich.all students were prepared by the fundamentals course of training for versatile reSponsibilities: "Sims all these commanding brains will have been through the same industrial mill they will know, not only how to make industry adapt their improvements and inventions, but also how to make the machine the vehi- cle of their ideas." Iflie industrial mill of education which.the Bauhaus was employ- ilug in its program was in keeping wide the rational and methodical ways common to industrial production. In essence the program utilized a system of clearly defined and highly TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpius 45 objectified exercises. Through these exercises it was pos- sible to cultivate the student's powers of design discrimi- nation. The system of objectified exercises used in the Bauhaus training program were prepared to specifically improve the student's sensitivity in the handling of the plastic elements of the design problem. That is, the student would be exposed to such exercises necessary for the develOpment of a con- scious awareness of the prOperties relative to the sense of touch, the sense of color and the sense of space and form. All of these elements were considered in regard to the wide number of materials at the designers diSposal, so that actually the student dabbed with materials for a feeling of sureness in much the manner a beginning artist will experiment with the colors of his palette in order to gain their control. To those unfamiliar with the purpose of the school's exercises for the develOpment of a sensitivity to materials, this phase of the program was usually regarded as a meaningless use of time. Yet to those who had devised the course of study, the results were easily apparent. Under the proper guidance, it was proved that these manipulative exercises with materials would provide the student with an intensified attitude of inventiveness for their use. Throughout the course of fundamentals there was an all-out effort to make the student aware of the words experimentation TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter GrOpiuL 46 and inventiveness. At the beginning of the course, the exercises in which the student participated consisted of cutting out shapes and forms from such simple materials as paper, wood, tin or fiber. The beginning student was encouraged to be as whimsical as he had been in his kinder- garten classes. This meant that the student could employ the materials out of the epontineity of his imagination, and without the inhabition of preconceived notions of design discipline. As the course continued for the stuient, the exercises increased in complexity to include the manipulation of light and color in the formation of the design. Gradually, the student would work with photography, painting and architectonic forms. Sculptures in clay, wood and plastic entered into the training until, at last, the student had cultivated a sensitive regard for the many materials which might be used in designing. It was after this plateau of development had been reached on the part of the student, that the tools of his craft were put in his hands. Then, in the course of subsequent training, when the student was given a problem, he was qualified to approach it with a sense of discrimination and the awareness of the worth of individual creative effort. The methodology of the Bauhaus system owed much to the pioneering work of Johannes Itten. Prior to his teaching at the Bauhaus, Itten had begun, in the city of Vienna, a series of experiments with tactile exercises for art education. At Holder and broad test training w: their age. tor at the Itten and 1 $59. in: advancenen TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and walter GrOpius 47 fleimar and Dessau the exercises had been given their first broad test of usefulness. The success of the new type of training was so promising that others took an interest in their use. Joseph Albers,very early in his role as an instruc- tor at the school, entered in to an active participation with Itten and between.the two of them many modifications were made. Another Bauhaus man, L. Maholy-Nagy, added to the advancement of the system. The contributions of hhholy-Nagy, primarily, were in the matter of exciting the students to the possibilities for personal development which could be found in the pusuance of the course of exercises. At both Weimar and Dessau it was the persuasive energies of Maholy- Nagy that really stimulated the students to accept the new and unique methods which Itten and Albers were perfecting. The relationship between the teachers and students at the Bauhaus had some of the characteristics of the medieval guild system. It was the policy of the school to place each student at the diSposal of an artist and a master craftsman. These men would be personally reaponsible for the advancement of that student. Then, as the student pursued his course of instruction at the Bauhaus, these men supervised his work and encouraged his development in the studios and workshOps. By the time the school had become established at Dessau, its reputation was widely spread, and students from many countries of the world were congregating for instruction. The Ecole des Beaux Arts at Paris had lost its position as TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter Grqgius 48 the foremost school of design in.the world. At Dessau the advanced students and staff members were available to German industry for design assignments for industrial products. Within a few flourishing years of influence, the effect of the Bauhaus was apparent on the manufactured products of German industry, as design changes could be noted in furniture, household appliances, publica- tions and buildings, to name but a few. However, like the earlier work at deimer, the Bauhaus at Dessau was limited to only a few profitable years, for again the forces of Eclecticism would not remain inactive to the risflng power of the artistic reform which the school was encouraging. At the end of the twenties it was evident that the policies of reform which the school was preaching were to become a strong issue among the National Socialists who were at that time making their way into power. As the position of the German Republic diminished, so too did that of the Bauhaus, and by 1928 GrOpius found the conditions surrounding his directorship of the Bauhaus beyond toleration. That same year he returned to his private practice of architecture in Berlin. Again it is necessary to call upon the writing of Dr. Giedion. Having remained close to'mie Bauhaus movement, he gives a clear description of the effect which the school had upon public sentiment, and which the National Socialists made capital of in their move to power. To quote from Space, Time and Architecture: :1 TIC SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and walter GrOpius 49 "As far as public Opinion was concerned, all the Bauhaus leaders were taken, in.spite of their actual differences, as advocates of one artistic doctrine, a doctrine which was as cordially detes- ted by the expressionists as it was by the con- ventional and the academic. Political divisions were likewise forgotten: Gropius and the Bauhaus came under attack by Left and Right wing elements equally. According to Leftist critics, "no art school, however good, could be anything but an anachronism at this time"(l928). Critics of the Right, seeing the Bauhaus program of education as only so many unrelated activities, and judging them from either the academic or the arts and crafts point of giew, could see no sense at all to the venture." By 1932 the situation.at the school was so disrupted that most of the leaders of the movement had left, and the effectiveness of the program had dwindled to a nothingness in comparison to its earlier influence. However, by this time, the accomflishments of the Bauhaus had been clearly defined, put into practice, and proved in worth. The record of the energetic experiment in art was preserved for all to examine and evaluate. From its conception in 1919, the school had recognized the dynamics of change in art, as in living, and it had launched a revolution of reform against the con- ditions of decadent design which then existed. At Weimar the school had been.astablished on the basis of a collaboration between artist and industry, and a move toward needed social reform. There it had devised an objectified method of promoting art education for creativeness. And at Dessau, in the utili- zation of the method, it had proved its value by way of pro- viding Germany with qualified designers and improved design quality in industrial products. ho 3.30 i. In re in this c: so many gr I I venture; s stood. In printed an "1" A Soci a L‘ Clcsing TWO SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Walter Gropius 50 In retrospect the number of men of art who participated in this collaboration for reform is astounding. Seldom have so many great creative minds joined together in a single venture: seldom has that kind of venture been more misunder- stood. In December of 1932, the Studio, a London publication, printed an obituary for the Bauhaus, it read: "The government of Anhalt, where the National Socialists are in the majority, has decided on closing the Bauhaus, which is subordinate to the State, on October 1. The contracts of the artists Who have been active there as masters, and among whom are, for instance, Kandinsky and Feininger, have'been abrogated. The execution of the further decision, namely to pull down the house itself, built six years ago by GrOpius, has for the present been postponed but only for lack of funds. It appears questionable whether it will be possible in Germany today to find the Bauhaus any other place in which to carry on its work." SCHOOLS: The Bauhaus and Jalter Crepius 51 Footnotes 1 Walter GrOpius, The New Architecture and The Bauhaus, (London, 1905?? p. 54—5. 2 Sibyl hoholy-Nagy, Moholy Nagy, (New Ybrk, 1950), p. 54. 3 Ibid., p. 41. 4 Sigfried Giedion, Soace, Time and Architec- ture, (Caumridge, 1949), p. 425-4. 5 walter GrOpius, Op.Cit., p. 58. 6 Sigfried Giedion, pp.cn., p. 42.1.. 7 The Studio, Volume 104, Number XI, (Decem- ber, 19327, p. 295. Chapter 4 TALIESIN AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT .In the history of architecture, 1903 will be recorded as an eventful year. Simultaneously with the closing of the Bauhaus in Germany, there was, some five thousand miles away in Wisconsin, activities of similar importance in progress. It was then that the first buildings of the Taliesin Fellow— ship were erected on the farmlands of Frank Lloyd Wright, America's foremost modern architect. The establishment of the Fellowship at Spring Green, Wisconsin was to modern architecture in America what the Bauhaus had been to the modern movemait of architecture in EurOpe. Taliesin, 3 Helen word meaning shining brow, was a name long used by Wright for the family's farm home in the rolling countryside of southern Wisconsin. At Taliesin the architect maintained his home, the farms and his private architectural practice. Previous to the official organization of the Fellowship, students had individually made their way to the rural drafting offices of this internationally known architect in order to serve an apprenticeship with him before entering their own practices. After the organization of the Fellow- ship,, students began to convene in still larger numbers to Participate in the architect's domestic, agricultural and architectural pursuits, which formed the basis for his educa- tional program. To Wright, the farmlands were ideally suited for his Fellowship project because, in his estimation, any 3V0 SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Lloyd Wright 53 sound architectural environment for the nation depended upon the break-down of the city into decentralized community areas which would be wholly in harmony with the nature of the countryside. Such unorthod oxy as this has persisted throughout the architect's life-long career, and where it has affected his educational activities, conventional methods have suffered. As a matter of record, Wright was among the first of the modern architects to turn his back upon the academic methods of the idcole des Beaux Arts of Paris. The firm of Burnham and Root, like that of Adler and Sullivan, was then engaged in skyscraper work. About the time when Wright was Opening his new offices, the partnership of the firm was broken because of the death of John Root, and Daniel Burnham saw Wright as a promising designer and possible replacement for the deceased partner. Burnham made the gen- erous offer of financing four years at the Boole des Beaux Arts, if the young architect would work for him. In his autobiography, wright discusses the decision that came about as a result of the pr Oposal to go to Paris: "Then the argument commenced which I have never forgotten. Sitting there, handsome, jovial, Splendidly convincing, was "Uncle Dan". To be brief, he would take care of my wife and children if I would go to Paris, four years of the Beaux Arts. Then Rome - two years. Expenses all paid. A job with him when I returned. ' It was more than merely generous. It was Splendid. But I was frightened. I sat, embarrassed, not knowing what to say. Mr. Waller got up, walked to and fro telling me What a great Opportunity it all was for me. I sat 1Shere trying to find the right words to say. TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Lloyd wright 54 "Another year, and it will be too late, Frank," said Uncle Dan. That was my cue. ”Yes, too late, uncle Dan - It's too late now, I'm afraid. I am spoiled already. ”I've been too close to Mr. Sullivan. He has helped Spoil the Beaux Arts for me, or Spoiled me for the Beaux.Arts, I guess I mean. ”He told me things too, and I think he regrets the time he spent there, himself."l By refusing the offer of Daniel Burnham, wright also rejected, once and for all, the eclectic architecture pOpular to the period. With this rejection of Ora Beaux Arts, before 1900 when the school's influence was world-wide, the lone road, which the architect would pursue, was clearly marked. Thus, the way of this pioneer designer was to be largely un- explored, ani whatever architectural or educational planning he would participate in,there too would be the imprint of his own independence. At the half-way mark of the century, the architectural planning of Frank Lloyd wright has exceeded sixty years of ‘practice, and has embraced most of the constrtmtion problems unique to the epoch. Within his portfolio of work there are homes, skyscrapers, factories, churches, apartments, bridges, monuments and projects of city planning. Likewise, it must bezreuwmbered that wright's early work had a tremendous in- fluence on the thinking of the EurOpean architects at the beginning of the century when the moderns were beginning their revolt against the persisting Eclecticism. The American architect, at the time, was well on his way as the most TITO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Llpyd Wright , 55 influential leader of the world revolution in building. How significant this influence was, may be grasped in the effect which the Larkin building of Buffalo had on the men of EurOpe. In 1949 when the building was torn down, the Architect ural Forum remarked: "The first direct architectural eXpression of the machine age, the Larkin building exploded the fakeries that were taken for granted in the. building of the day. American architects thought it monstrous, but its powerful form swept through EurOpe, there it ignited the design revolution, which within the last thirty years has changed the shape of everything from a temple to a tooth— brush." Wright, from the very outset of his career in the his— toric period of the Chicago School of skyscraper building, has been an architect with an engineer's understanding of structure. However, his has never been an architecture of technology alone, for Wright's insight into the-human elements of shelter and his excellence in the interpretation of such elements into form, has made his buildings masterpieces of art. In America, where the nation has been awakened to the social benefits of large scale building projects, it appears contradictory that the foremost architect should be working, not in the technological, but in the artistic direction of modern building. This interest in the art aspect of building has resulted to a large degree from Wright's continued in- terest in domestic architecture. In the field of domestic planning, this architect has made contributions of lasting TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank LEyd Wright 56 significance. In most periods of architecture, the design- ing of domestic structures has been a luxury reserved for the rich, but in the modern period considerable effort has been given to the provision of artistic building for those in the low income brackets. Much of the credit for the contemporary interest in the field of domestic work has been due to this architect who, from the outset of his career in Chicago, showed a preference for house-building. Combined with an'interest in house-building, Wright has had a constant zeal-for the design inepiration to be found in nature. His early houses of the Chicago period were Specifically planned to harmonize with the low level skyline of the midwestern prarie; and, likewise, there was in these houses an Openness of plan which was closely akin to the Spaciousness of the region. It was in this period after 1900 when Wright began to feel the inhibitions of confinement which were then resulting from the eXpansion of Chicago. Out of contempt for confinement, and the ugliness of the city, the architect abandoned it for the less restraining way of life to be found in the countryside of Wisconsin. Returning to the family farm near Spring Green, he cartinued his practice, and began to build the home which he would call Taliesin. At first his activities in education were confined to the draftsmen he needed for his own work, or those students who for their own practice sought an apprenticeship. By 1932 conditions were such that Wright realized the need for a fully T130 SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank ngyd Wright 57 organized program of study for those students requesting his help, and he proceeded to establish the Taliesin Fellow- ship. Educati on at the Taliesin Fellowship, unlike the objec- tified system of the Bauhaus, has been based on subjectified methods. Such subjective means have been of Wright's selection and have always depended on the romantic and persuasive personality of the man himself. It is at Taliesin in Wisconsin, with its 1800 acres of land, and at a desert camp near MaricOpa Mesa in Arizona, where Wright has found himself best able to instruct. Completely at home in the outdoors, it is there where the architect finds students most pliable and where he can express his strong views on the relation of architecture to nature. Using the natural set- tings of Wisconsin and Arizona for his school, the director places as much stress on the fundamental problems of living as he does on those of architecture. Independent in his architectural convictions, independent in his fight against the traditional in building, Wright has been equally independent in his educational methods. The effect of such an edmational program, resting largely on the personality of one man, must be measured by the influence of the school on the architects of the new generation. Despite the fact that the method has never been formulated, nor re- peated with any effectiveness, the architect's influence marches on with uninterrupted Speed as with each year his name becomes more ledgendary in the history of American architecture. TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank ngvd Wright 58 The role of the student at Taliesin is that of an apprentice in the workshop of the master. In any appren- ticeship system, the work of the master is always important. At Taliesin, Frank Lloyd wright is lord of a scholarly domain, and occupies his time over the drafting boards in his private studio, over the‘work of the students at the Fellowship, overseeing the activities of the farm, or in the supervision of construction work which is continuously in progress at Taliesin. ‘ The residence of the master is located against a cliff- side overlooking the Wisconsin River, and commands a vista of long hills and woodlands. The building is a great, Sprawl- ing structure, with long sleping roofs, and irregular wings housing auxiliary activities. Many of the rooms Open onto gardens or terraces, forming a palatial home, the value of which has been computed to be over a million dollars. The forms of the great house rest comfortably against the tOp edge of the hillside and offer a clear example of Wright's belief that building should harmonize with the forms of nature. Here the forms of the architecture appear to grow like some large plant from the earth. Dr. Giedion in m, Time and Architecture discloses through a personal conversa- tion with Mr. Wright, the organic nature of the building: "On a deep blue day in July 1939 we stood on the tOp of the hill on which is built Wright's own home, Taliesin. The dome of the hill was so pre- cise in shape, especially the hill-crown which became a low-walled garden above the surrounding courts, reached by stone steps walled into the SlOpeS, TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank LloLd Wright 59 that I asked if it had been-built up in artificial regularity from below. "No, it is the natural soil," Wright said. "I never build on the tOp of a hill. I build them around it, like an eye- brow.", and I saw that indeed it was the house itself which brought into consciousness the pure curve of the ground, that in a certain sense its many-layered and unobtrusive forms gave meaning and de inition to the contours out of which it rose." The interior of the house further demonstrates Wright's love for the organic nature of mterials. There, the low rooms break into the spaciousness of a high cei linged room. Large windows Open up to gardens or to the hillside scenery. Massive sandstone fireplaces, the lavish use of unfinished woods, large fur robes; all add to the architect's love for the effects of nature. The farm buildings, like the main residence, have been designed by the master for the particular needs of the founda- tion. The barns and farm home have been concentrated along the hillside, and are within sight of the main house. The farm is closely affiliated with the economy of the Taliesin Fellowship, for it is there that the apprentice must Spend a part of each working day. Besides the design training, in the course of each season, the apprentice Spends some time caring for the animals, cultivating the land, or constructing the necessary farm buildings. Through such a program, half agriculture, half architecture, the fellows provide them- selves with nearly half their yearly food needs. More important, according to Mr. Wright's program, the students are put in ‘~\ {7 ’5‘ bv§h&nv - . t.\? . § _\ . \ tn, sconsi i J Green, 5 ing Spr' 1: 1 .IT, Taliesi ('7 i. u, I? —-.~—‘ iD TED o-r'v ‘3 ) .‘\ J.‘ l v.11 a A TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Lloyd wright 61 touch with.nature, and have the chance to learn the lessons of the land Which are so close to Wright's architecture. The Fellowship, with its agriculture program, is reminiscent of the ancient monasteries, with monks working the fields for their daily bread. Indeed, the simplicity of life at Taliesin is in harmony With wright's call for a new Spirituality for our times. I The center of student activity is at the Fellowship School located on the Opposite side of the large hill bearing the farms and the master's residence. It is there where the students have their living quarters, recreational facilities, and drafting rooms. The buildings of the Fellowship have the same uniqueness of design to be found in the other buildings on the property. Native stone, heavy timber, large areas of glass, form the structures which the students themselves have built over the years. The students live and work together at the Fellowship, Wholly dedicated to the cause of modern architecture. Coming from every part of the world, the half-hundred who live at Taliesin are selected by the master himself. To join the Fellowship, a student must sign a contract to remain at Taliesin for a period of one year, although most of the students remain for three years before leaving. in the winter months, students pack up their belongings in the long moving vans owned by the foundation and move off to the desert camp where they continue to live an openpair life. In the Spring TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Llpyd Wright 62 the group returns to the Wisconsin farmlands. The year around, the work of the Taliesin Fellowship is as close to the land as it is to ardlitecture; and how important the nature of the land is to the work in architecture can be found in the words of Wright himself, Who says: "Everyone‘s hands are in the mud from which the bricks are made. And they are made from early rising bell until all tumble into bed, not quite worn out. The inexperienced gradually get the sense of design and the feeling of mat- erials into their hands after working on plans and details to be executed in the nature of those materials, aware of the purpose of the building planned. They find new uses to be made of new materials: get correlation of hand and brain where any plan or any necessity for planning is concerned. Meanwhile they are de- velOping mastery over self through hard work and clear thinking along center lines Principle lays down. Those laid down by Tradition (with a capital T) are preserved here only in the spirit in which they were made. Traditions with a small t are lying around here almost entirely out of use..." Wright's confidence in his apprenticeship system, and the methodology Which he employs to train young architects, goes back to his own education. Then, one factor which had let the ambitious architectural student to leave the univer- sity of Wieconsin.was the impersonal and divided attention given to those enrolled in the courses. In the apprenticeship of Adler and Sullivan, wright found, through the personal interest of the elder architects, a quality of preparation for his career which at that time was unavailable at any other sdnool, eSpecially the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Having rejected the academic methods of the eclectic schools in his own time, TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Lloyd wright 63 Wright wanted no continuation of such practices in his own educational program. Thus, as an advocate of the appren- ticeship system, the master of the Taliesin FellowShip has striven to prepare others as he himself had been able to learn design.practice. The success of the Taliesin program of instruction has given much to the consciousness of the nation for modern.architecture, and many men now famous in professional work have gone there as students. Richard Neutra, Alden Dow and Bruce Goff, are among those who have found help at Taliesin. The apprenticeship system fostered at Taliesin has de- pended upon the personal phiIOSOphy of wright, which,in its most simple form, has been one upholding architecture as the supreme unifier of men to community life. In reaffirming the all-important worth of the individual, this educator maintains that any healthy society today must dedicate itself to creative effort rather than to automaton uniformity. The substance of wright's philos0phy is best expressed in his architecture, Which possesses a spiritual quality of individual creative- ness. For such concern for the Spiritual aSpect of architec- ture, Wright owes much to his employer, Louis Sullivan, who believed that architecture shouhi possess that exhilaration at emotion which has been.reserved for religious buildings throughout the centuries. Throughout his life, wright has written.extensively of his phiIOSOphy and of his concepts of building. However, the TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Lloyd wright 64 ideas which the architect eXpresseS in words have never been as clear as the ideas he puts into architectonic form. In his buildings, with an emotional impact coming from the various forms and materials, the effects of light and color, there is clarity of communication from an archi- tect eXpressing his innermost feelings. The Johnson Wax Company's Administration Building pro- vides an example of tma mysterious, almost sublime atmos- phere, that the architect has achieved in his structures. There, in an.interior supported by lily-pad columns, and filled with an exotically diffused light, a corps of secre- taries carry on the administrative affairs of an; organization. The uniqueness of the building has made it a center of in- terest, and tours are almost always in progress. After one such tour, an architect questioned a secretary about her impression of the building. In replying, the young lady remarked that although she knew very little about architecture, she was certain that at the end of the day it was an effort to leave the friendliness of the building for the dreariness of 5 Perhaps the secretary was saying that her city apartment. the architect had modulated the interior Space of his build- ing with that delicacy of beauty found in the interior of medieval cathedrals aglow with colored light flowing through stained glass windows over the tall shadowed columns. Such an element of architectural drama has persisted throughout most of wright's work, and the architect himself refers to TWO SCHOOLS: Taliesin and Frank Lloyd wright 65 architecture in his plea for a new religious concept of living. As Wright calls forth for a new religious view for the architecture of the contemporary world, it is not surprising that he accompanies this call with educational work functioning much like the ancient monastic orders. Spiritually inclined as wright is in his regard for archi- tecture, he never looses sight of the technical elements of building, and his contributions to the technological side of architecture have long been studied by engineers and architects alike. In dismissing contemporary architectural planning as completely without order or beauty, wright has pleaded for individuality and intensified creative effort anmng his fol- lowers. Himself fortified with enormous creative energies, his architecture has always been beautiful, always new, always an exciting addition to the landscape. In the furtherance of such an.architecture of art, Frank Lloyd Wright has dedi- cated his efforts to the training of the apprentices of the Taliesin Fellowship with a subjectified program of living and creative pursuits. THO SCHOOLS: Taliesin.and Frank Lloyd Wright 66 Footnotes 1 Frank Lloyd wright, An Autobio ra h , (New York: Longmans, Green and-00., Igdéi, p. 125. 2 Architectural Forum, Vol. 91, No. 5, (November 19491, p. 12. 3 Sigfried Giedion, S ace,_Time and Architectgre, (Cambridge: Harvard Uhiversi y Press, 1919), p. 349:50. - 4 Harvester world, Vol. 41, No. 8, (August 1950), p. 4. 5 Through the personal statement of architect Bruce Goff, winter 1948. PART II CONFLICT PART II CONFLICT Chapter 5 MEET ING GROUND USA The rising tide of political unrest which innundated Germany in the early thirties, swept away all h0pe which the leaders of the Bauhaus movement had for artistic reform. After the Bauhaus was closed in 1932 to the art educational program for which it had been erected, the building became a center for the training of Fascist Political leaders. Dur- ing that time when the Hitler regime was increasing its mili- tary might, the artists and architects associated with the Bauhaus were striving to reorient themselves, either in ed u- cati onal work or in some form of private art practice. As members of the Bauhaus staff, the artists and archi- tects had been devoted to artistic reform. This reform, they were convinced, would have taken Germany in a direction Oppo- site to that autocratic way of life which was upon them; but despite the Opposition to their cause, most of the men asso- ci ated with the school remained stubbornly dedicated to Germany. Although most of these men realized that there was little hOpe for escape from the inevitable results of Hitlerism, they also disapproved the id as of abandoning the country. Sibyl Hoholy- Nagy describes, in the biographical study of her husband, the reluctance with which he, a foreigner to Germany, struggled CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 69 against abandoning the educational work of the Bauhaus: "many of Moholy's friends in France, Holland and England urged him to leave Germany, but emi- gration was a difficult decision to make. He felt a deep loyalty to the country that had given him creative maturity and artistic recognition. It was one of the great tragedies of his life that the political events after 1933 cleaned so vio- lently with this feeling of gratitude. He defended German inventiveness, craftsmanship and devotion to duty, and he liked to quote Goethe, who once had said in patriotic despair: 'Hhat is it that makes one German such good company and a crowd of them an assembly of asses?’ In addition to this faith in the German potential, there was in Moholy as in all of us a furious defiance against a gang of criminals who pretended to represent a people of seventy million." Following 1932 the political and military conditions of Germany became increasingly unbearable for creative work, and by 1954 Moholy-Nagy was on his way to Holland to find other employment. After a period in Holland in which he found employment doing graphic work, the artiSt went to England where he continued to find occupation with minor art commis- sions. But, the effect of the Bauhaus had been so great on the man, that he was unable to regard himself as anything but a teacher, and one crusading in the direction of the new art education Which the school had supported. From 1955 until 1957 the artist-educator contniued to work in England, but it was tenuous work, for there was ever the search for new footings in art education. In the same period, Grapius was likewise living in England. He had left Germany in 1954 to join.in a partnership of private practice with Maxwell Fry, 'the Landon architect. In dSSpair and uncertainty, others from CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 70 the Bauhaus were finding refuge and employment in the milder political climate of England. Grapius and Moholy-Nagy were then the outstanding spokes- men for the Bauhaus movement. However, the names of Breuer, Chermoeff, Mendelsohn, Kandinsky and Archipenho added pres- tige to the emigrant group in England also. Much to the credit of the early efforts of the group at the Bauhaus, their work was internationally known. In America the Bauhaus move- ment was a subject of much discussion in the museum and educational centers. By the mid-thirties, the political events surrounding the closure of the school has made the cause for artistic reform ever more substantial, and to the good Judgement of a few educational groups in America offers for work began to flow to the Bauhaus masters. In 1956 pro- posals were made to GrOpius to become chairman of the Depart- ment of Architecture at Harvard University. The architect, excited by the thought of resuming the program begun at the Bauhaus, promptly accepted, and in 1937 he began work at the University. In the same move to utilize the educational advancements which the Bauhaus had made in the field of art, [Harvard asked Marcel Breuer to join the faculty. The invi- tation gave the two men the chance to return to an influential ,position in design.aducation, and it also permitted them to enter into the practice of architecture. Late in 19.57 GrOpius and lireuer established an architectural partnerShip for pri- vate building accounts. CONFLICT: Meet ingjround USA 71 For other members of the Bauhaus staff, 19.57 was like- wise a year of migration. That year the Association of Arts and Industries of Chicago, upon the encouragement of walter GrOpius, asked Moholy-Nagy to direct an art school based on the principles set down in the work at Weimar and Dessau. Moholy-Nagy accepted, and in haste began the try- ing task of bringing together a number of men acquainted with the methods of the Bauhaus. The educator found a will- ing reSponse to his pleas for help. Among those to join him in his efforts were Alexander Archipenko, Hin Bredendieck, David Duskin, Carl Eckart, Ralph Gerard, Gyorgy Kepes, Charles Morris, Andi Schiltz and H. H. Smith. In that same year, Mies van der Rohe also left Germany, and within a year he had become director of the division of architecture of the Armour Institute of Chicago. Shortly thereafter, Joseph Albers, who had contributed so much to the educational metho- dology of the Bauhaus, became director of the Department of Art at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. With time, others from the original Bauhaus movement looked to America for refuge, and finding it, turned to the field of art educa- ti on for employment. The artists and architects from the Bauhaus were hardly the first of the EurOpean designers to find their way to the United States for work. Among the America's 16,000 architects, many were EurOpean and many were famous. Albert Kahn, from CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 72 his arrival in the United States, had practiced with consid- erable success in the field of design. Kahn had centered his activities in a Detroit office, and he was known over America for the pure forms and the efficient planning of his factory buildings. Eleil Sarranin of Sweden was also working in the Detroit area. Sarranin was director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, a position which permitted him to engage actively in his own private practice of architecture. Ruhtenburg, of Finland, was engaged in practice. Alvar Aalto, also of the same country, was recognized for his design work. Lescaze had worked, taught and written for the field of architecture since his arrival in 1920. Wagner of Germany had been invited to accept a teaching position on the faculty of Harvard Uhi- versity. Richard Neutra, Who was born in Vienna, had been practicing in California, and his work, primarily in the field of residential design, had uade tremendous inroads on the establishment of a modern tradition of building in the West. Although these men had not been associated with the Bauhaus, all of them were working in the area of modern design. However, as there was but little affinity in their designing, the architecture which they were producing did not represent a school in the sense of a broad style. Hahn's work, with its overtones of modern efficiency, had captured the solution to many an industrial problem, and the approval of many an industrialist as well. His practice was so large that he had established branch offices over the CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 75 nation, and was able to concentrate his efforts in the problems Of housing giant industry. The architecture of Kahn was in the sharp, functional design which had European origins, but by need it possessed modifications in the American tradition. These modifications resulted largely from the influence Of American bigness, and her zeal for efficiency in plant Operation. Sarranin, on the other hand, was working in the refined and monumental style which was Scandinavian in character. Lescaze was working, quite inde- pendently, in a heavy, geometric fashion, related to some of the French moderns. Neutra, on the West Coast, was carry- ing Off quite another kind of architectural work. Upon his arrival in America in 1925, Neutra had Spent a period Of apprenticSShip in the drafting rooms Of Frank Lloyd Wright. Although his manner Of practice was closer to the Bauhaus tradition of building than it was to that Of Taliesin, his work showed modifications away from the severe, overly mechan- istic, forms for which the Bauhaus was then known. The cause Of the Bauhaus movement had been lostto the Continent; and the artists, abandoned by their own peeple, arrived in the United States with high aspirations for the rejuvination Of their early work. The America before them was still the land Of Opportunity which SO many other EurOpeans had known, As the artists and architects were accepted in the various schools of the country, each saw a future of un- limited Opportunity. Hers was a country in which there was, above all else, a free expression and one in.which there would be no need to fear the consequences of designing as they wished. CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA ‘ 74 To the modern architects, of the Bauhaus and Taliesin alike, the resources of America appeared unlimited when compared to those Of the Old world. The country since its founding had experienced continuous growth, and the sinews Of industry and commerce were hard and strong. The peOple, when compared with the provincial groupings on (the Continent, were of an international mixture, and given to broad similari- ties Of living conditions. The Americans had an ease with money and a confidence in their undertakings, which in par- ticular caught the attention of the Europeans. Moholy-Nagy showed astonishment when he was assured that p90,000 could be found for the financing of the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937. It led the artist to write a letter about the condi- tion to his wife, and she includes it in the biography of her husband: "Do you know how much that is? That is 360,000 German Marks or 18,000 English Pounds. They are ab- solutely sure that they can raise this sum with their left hand, so to speak. ‘ihe executive secretary whose job the fund-raising has been for the last twelve years gets ten percent Of all she collects. To make this percentage attractive she certainly has to be sure of herself. Money rarely impresses me, but the ease with which it seems available here is remarkable."2 On the architectural scene, there were many building achievements particular to the country which were admired by those designers working toward an architecture for the new age. Again, many of the EurOpeans expressed an admiration for conditions which Americans had taken for granted. Most impressive was the exceptional prOportions with which the men 75 CONFLICT: MeetinLGromd USA Liany were excited in the United States had learned to built. by the mathematical exactness with which such projects as TVA was undertaken, or the precision and beauty Of the in- dustrial buildings. Nowhere in Europe was architecture handled with the daring for size, the precision, and the understanding of the techniques Of the machine that was to be found in the United States. To the Bauhaus peOple, ac- quainted with the limitatims Of EurOpean industry and many of its Older forms of hand crafts, the American scene Offered Not only could the Americans visu- a great promise for work. alize projects in surprisingly vast dimensions, but they knew how to utilize tools and techniques for their execution. Bruno Zevi, an Italian architect who left his country to study at Harvard, comments in his bOOk Towards gndOrganic Architecture, how the understanding Of building has permeated the more modest areas of house-building: "When the European architect who arrives in America with an assortment Of precise critical terms comes into contact with its Old and its modern archi- tect are he finds he has quitted one century for another: and during his first months there he is constantly oscillating between the impression that the American understands nothing about architecture at all and the impression that they know everything - or at any rate vastly more than we Euro- unlike the average about it peans. The average American, EurOpean, knows how to read a plan or section, and he is familiar with the methods and the materials His attitude that are used in building a house. is that of a man who has an intimate personal know- ledge of the architect's problems; and this is irri- tating t 0 those who think they have a monOpolg Of ' la magique de la construction Spirituelle'." Besides an awareness in architectural undertakings, CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 76 America actually had a long and strong tradition in the dir- ection of a modern architecture. The tradition Of native design had never quite overcome Eclecticism, yet, by the same token, it had been hardy enough to withstand the Opposi- tion Of Eclecticism. Out Of the work and influence that had taken place in the Chicago area, there were those who were still carrying on in the tradition of the great builders of that period. The leader Of America's modern architectmewas, as the last chapter pointed out, Frank Lloyd Wright. It was this same man who had made so many contributions to the modern architecture which EurOpe had develOped. At the time when the European designers were beginning their American work, Wright was standing over modern American architecture like Paul Bunyan, the legendary giant Of the land. Through two generations Of architects, against the forces of tradition and ridicule, he had, with axe in hand, out through the forest Of Opposition to help in the establishment Of a modern American architecture. As the Europeans arrived in America, they might not have agreed with the architecture being produced at Taliesin, but they could not avoid the fact that Wright was doing, almost single-handedly, what they had been doing in EurOpe with the powerful reserves of many men united in architectural collaboration. As the Bauhaus peOple became more familiar with the con- dit ions Of the United States, they must have recognized the tremendous forces of Opposition which Wright had faced in his CONFLICT: Meeting Groumd USA 77 ambitions for a new and thoroughly Americanuarchitecture. Regardless of the resources, the technology, the mechanical ingenuity, and the wealth of America, a deplorable state of affairs persisted so far as architecture was concerned. Promising as the conditions of America were for a healthy architectural environment, the great potential was never realized, because of Eclecticism, imprOper social conditions, and a general lack Of long-range planning. The country's building, from the beginning of the century, had disregarded the forthright methods Of the Chicago school in favor Of a romanticized version Of classic, gothic or cape cod designs. According to historical accounts, it had been the Col- umbian Exposition of Chicago in 1893 that had damaged so many of the accomplishments in functional architecture then in jprogress. The bulk Of the architecture of the fair was Of classical design, in the tradition.of the influential Beaux Arts School. Only the work Of Adler and Sullivan, as dis- played in the TranSportation Building, stood out as the kind of original and honest architectural design which was going on.in the city at the time. The influence of the Beaux Arts continued in artificial elegance after the pecple Of the tuition had seen the great "Whity City" Of his fair. Sullivan, Inore than any other architect, felt the impact Of the event on the future Of design, and decried it as a set-back Of fifty years in American building. The architect was right in his estimation of the Fair's effect, but the Fair was not alone ir‘.'! CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 78 reSponsible for the inadequacies Of American architectural design after the turn Of the century. American architecture before the Fair, and after it, was filled with design absurdities. Through the nineteenth cen- tury the buildings of the United States Military Academy fol- lowed the styling which, in other places and in other cen- turies, had been reserved for castle fortifications. Through- out the same period, the stately lines of Greek temples deco- rated state and domestic buildings from Georgia to Michigan, and from New England tO Mississippi. In the Southwest there had been the imitation Of the adobe building used by the primitive Indians. Romantic conceptions of design have reached unbelievable extremes in American building, and they have always served as a detour to beautiful architectural surroundings. On one Occasion, a wealthy merchant imported, piece by piece, the material from a French chateau to be re-erected in America for his new home. On another, the stones from a Cotswolds shepherd's cottage were purchased only to be replaced in an American community. In 1922, a 233100.000 international com- petion was staged for a new Chicago Tribune Tower. Artists from the United States and EurOpe were quick to reSpond to the contest, but the majority of the designs were in the Beaux Arts tradition. With alarming consistency, the prOposals showed a tower decorated in a mannerism reminiscent Of the Egyptian, the Greek, and the Roman temples. The theme Of a CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 79 gothic cathedral was selected, and today the flying buttres- ses atOp the building appear as a reminder to Americans of the delay with which they have approached the consequential problem of building honestly. The Tribune Tower was the epitome of the Beaux Arts tradition, and in America its greatest enemy had been Frank Lloyd Wright. In EurOpe the same form of classicism had been Opposed by the Bauhaus men. With the two groups. together in America, there was, at last, a force sufficiently powerful enough to deal a fateful blow to the activities of designers working in the Beaux Arts tradition of Eclecticism. In Such conflict against Eclecticism, ' the Bauhaus masters unit ed, at least drawn in purpose with the master of Taliesin. Both groups dismissed Eclecticism as an‘ entirely meaningless affair when considered in the logic of modern theory. However, between the two groups, there was little agreement ontthe' nature of modern theory. To one group it meant a long series of develOpments conditioned by the EurOpean‘ tradition; to the other group it meant similar results from the American tradition. Thus, although both ‘sgreed on the defeat of Eclecticism, there was disagreement about the method by which Eclecticism should be attached. The arrival of the Bauhaus designers in American in the CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 80 late thirties, placed the leaders of the Bauhaus movsnent in close proximity with.the leader of the Taliesin movement. werking together in the same country, neither group saw compromise,as Open competition in the area of architectural planning intensified their differences. Gradually, the I leaders took openly hostile stands on the various aSpects of building, which each supported. Since the late thirties, when the leaders of the Bauhaus \met on common ground with the leader of Taliesin, a great conflict has raged within the profession of architecture. Unlike the conditions which had forced the two groups together, the conflict was waged in an environment of unrestricted ex- pression. Over the American landscape there was nofear of government interference, that a school might any day be closed, or that exile would follow. Whatever the condition of Eclecti- cism in American architecture, above all, there was the free- dom of the artist to perform as he chose. For America, the arrival of the EurOpean designers meant the long delayed establishment of an ardnftecture expressive of the spirit and methods of the twentieth century. For those associated with the educational work of the Bauhaus, and Taliesin, the close competition of ideas meant Architecture [in Conflict. CONFLICT: Meeting Ground USA 81 Footnotes 1 Sibyl Neholy-Nagy, Mohol -‘agz, (New Ybrk: Harper and Brothers, 1950) p. . 2 Ibid., p. 156. 3 Bruno Zevi, Towards an Organic Architecture, (London: Faber and Faber Lmtd., 1949) p. 79-80. ‘—" Chapter 6 THE FORMS IN CONFLICT In the conflict between.the Bauhaus and Taliesin, the definition of architecture as the_tgchnology and art 2; build- ing assumed Special meaning. For the Bauhaus it meant an over all emphasis on the qualities of technology; and for the Taliesin it meant an equally strong emphasis on the qualities of art. A predominance of emphasis in the work of each school has led to extreme form.types which can be readily recognized as expressive of the ideals promoted by the schools. Such tendencies, one in the extremes of technology and the other in art, began in the pioneering work on wiich each school based their separate lines of design reasoning. Thus, by means of contributions to a growing style, the supporters of each school have had in their educational undertakings a strong obligation to utilize the forms of their own making; and with little reference to those of fine Opposite extreme. Today, the two extreme form types are fully established within the field of design; and in actual practice are no longer 'theught of as singularly associated with either the Bauhaus or Taliesin. Both form types are within the scape of modern architecture, Just as both have been referred to as examples of functional planning. Each form type has new and specific possibilities for use in the continuous process of rebuilding, which is before contemporary communities the world around. Within the scepe of modern, functional architecture, with the CONFLICT: The forms in Conflict 85 form type common to Bauhaus education on one extreme side; and the form type common to Taliesin education on the other extreme side, there is a variety of architectonic means never before considered in building. A nomenclature for the forms of design across the broad front of modern architecture has been as varied as the forms themselves, and with but a minimum of agreement in their use. Most common of those tms employed to describe the architec- ture of the two schools are: the International Style, and WEE Architecturg. The International Style, is the name given by Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Jr. to the work of the modern EurOpean designers after T.Vorld War I, and to which the efforts of GrOpius and the Bauhaus were primarily directed. Organic Architecture is the name given by Louis Sullivan to the work of the Chicago School at the end of the nineteenth century, and today it is more Specifically associated with the work of his follower, Frank Lloyd Wright. Along with the innumerable terms applied to the separate methods, two are of particular interest. They are mechanistic and naturalistic. Neither of these words may be applied to the work of the two schools with any validity, but the lucidity of the words, and the fact that they have been repeatedly used in relation to the two schools make thenworthy of comment. dischanistic suggests that such forms possess an.inclinati on to the riged, the precise, the prescribed, the balanced, and the logical. Naturalistic suggests that the forms possess an inclination CONFLICT: The Forms in Conflict 84 to the fluid, irregular, sensed, unbalanced and the illogical. Erroneous as it would be to classify the two schools at once with these terms, they do indicate that on the one hand there is a tendency to the rational; and on the other hand, toward the irrational. "Thro ugho ut history there exists two distinct trends - the one toward the rational and the geo- metrical, the other toward the irrational and the organic: two different ways of dealing with or of mastering the environment. These contrasting approach- es to the problem have been evident in all cultures, both early and late. Since the beginning of civili- zation there have been cities planned according to regular schemes and cities which have grown up or- ganically, like trees." Thus, Dr. Giedion comments in Space, Time and Architecttgg on the rational ard the irrational forms which in contemporary architecture can be found in the work of the Bauhaus and of Taliesin. The same author points out also that the two forms may be found within the same culture by saying: "The ancient Greeks put their mathematically pro- portioned temples on the tap of rocky acrOpolises, outlined against their southern skies; the villages of the Greed islands, white washed on the crests of hills, are easily distinguishable far out at sea because of their céearly carde and periodically rewhitened walls." In the utilization of materials and techniques in the archi- tectural composition, the artist, or the society, has the right of decision for which ever way seems warranted at the time. In view of this selection, Dr. Giedi on sees no dif- ference in the two from the standpoint of logic and Cluality, and states: "The difference between organic and geometrical per- captions is present even today in contemporary painting CONFLICT: The Forms in Conflict 85 and contanporary architecture. They are constantly recurrent ways of approach; one cannot be consid- ered superior to the other. The artist has the right of choice, of saying according to his own pfgiilgwfig view which pleases him and which he will Production of architecture in EurOpe and America after the first World Way showed that the Bauhaus would pursue the geometrical, whereas Taliesin would pursue the organic. Historically, the outstanding example of the geometrical approach to architecture is to be found in the temple struc- tures of the early Greek civilizati on. The temples were planned for a balanced symetry, and the refinement of the orders expressed the precision with which they were executed. The temples were to be experienced largely from the exterior, hence the rigid calculation of me visual effect which they would create on the outside. From the view of construction, the temples were masterpieces of technical perfection, and in plan and form they presented a remarkable unity of design. The uniformity of the Greek temples result ed from the sys- temitized method by which the Greeks advanced the techniques of the build ing trade. As in many other forms of Greek art, the temple buildings meant the mastery of nature through the logic of mind. The architecture which resulted was always restrained, always refined, and found its highest expressive- ness in the emphasis of technology. The outstanding example in history of the organic approach to architecture can be found in the cathedrals of the Middle Ages in Europe. The idea of letting their structures CONFLICT: The Forms in Conflict ‘ 86 grow gradually with changing needs was far more appealing to the medieval builder than to be restricted by pre- scribed concepts, or rigid, geometrical forms. The appear— ance Of the cathedrals can be recognized for a general lack of refinement on the exteriors, and which, as in the case Of the flying buttress, often reaches grotesque prOportions. From the exterior the cathedrals are seen as heavy, ornate and towering hulks, every effect is reserved for the relig- ious drama to be found in the space within. It is there where the soaring peirs, the shadowed vaultings and the flourish of color from stained glass windows, or richly decorated mosaics, provide an atmOSphere suggestive of another world . As the temples Of Greece were designed for the clearly defined exterior effect they made as monuments, so the gothic cathedral was designed to provide a subli I16 interior effect for those who would participate in the ceremonies Of the Church. In the construction Of the cathedrals, there was, to be sure, technical considerations Of the most complicated art. However, technology was utilized in harmony with the emotional effects Of the building , and the eloquence Of technique was usually subordinated to the treatment Of sur— face decoration. Although these techhiques were systeruitized, and repeatedly used, there was at the same time the utmost of variation in the resultant forms. The art Of architecture to the medieval mind was an emotional experience and one to which kind and vessel were entirely devoted. Restraint, CONFLICT: ThLForms in Conflict 87 refinement and inhibition were cast aside; their's was an architecture designed for the greater glory Of God, and coming as it did from the unreasonihg heart, it abo unded With an emphasis on art. The principles on which the Bauhaus would educate were clearly established upon a foundation similar to that laid dom by the early Greek temple builders. The leaders of this movement, in develOping a modern architecture of re- strained, geometrical forms, showed a pronounced preference for the elements Of technOlOgy in building. Educationat Taliesin, in Opposition to these formal considerations of the Bauhaus, would be develOped along lines of another dy- namics. For the leader Of Taliesin and many of the followers, design would cling to the type Of Spontaneous expression and organic growth, found in the tradition Of the medieval cath- edral builders. Unrestrained and with the emotional qualities of intuitive thought uppermost, this type of design would place an emphasis on the elements Of art in architecture. Reference to the Temples and the Cathedrals as historical examples for the form types within modern architecture, has been repeatedly used in literature on the subject. In fact, the analogy is so clear that critics have Often referred to the two forms of contemporary building as either classic or gothic. From the diversity of the terms used this far in the consideration of inorganic and organic forms in architecture, CONFLICT: iThe Forms in Conflict 88 it is apparent that the differences are subtle ones, depend- ing On qualified separation. However, the Bauhaus, and Taliesin, have pursued two separate courses Of theory in their educational work, and these different courses have result ed in Open Opposition in the interaction Of the two schools. No single term has sufficed to describe the forms which these schools have Sponsored in their architectural work, simple because the implications go beyond the forms themselves. Indeed, to describe the architectural farms produced by the two schools, it is also necessary to describe the personalities of the designers. Thus, a clarification Of terms demands those embracing both structural values and psychological attitudes. Architecture, in the course Of this study, has been repeatedly referred to as the technology and art _o_f;_ building . Such a definition has been utilized for the purpose Of ab- stracting the all embracing conditions Of’structu’ral values and psychological attitudes found in modern architecture. It is not intended that this definition should be used to describe the forms, any more than it can, by itself, suggest the personalities involved. However, by using technology and 931 to designate the dominant nature Of activity in the tradition Of the two schools, we arbitrarily fix terms which ,will define both the state Of minds Of the designers and the architectonic forms which they prOpose. In both theory and practice, architects must make use Of both the technological and the artistic elements Of building. CONFLICT; ThefiFor_ms__irn Conflict 89 Separation, as it applies Specifically to the conflict be- tween the two schools, is that Of intensity. For the Bauhaus, the innovators have consistently favored the technical side. For the designers at Taliesin, there has been a preference for the side Of art. Therefore, throughout the balance of this study, technology and art will indicate the extreme side Of building tO which the leaders Of each school have inclined as a result Of their basic values and attitudes. TO the leaders Of the two schools, GrOpius and Wright, the affirmation of modern design has come to mean the uncon- diti onal acceptance Of extremes. In their work, neither Of the leaders would tolerate a compromise toward the blending Of the resultant forms. TO these men, forms overwhelmed with a feelirg for technology, or for art, could not be reconciled, and so long as each continued in the practice Of the profession or engaged in educational work as the Spokesman for their reSpective schools, they were resolved to dominate all Oppo- sition tO their causes. For the purpose of separating the differences found on the two sides, subsequent condideration will be presented in the next four chapters. Chapter seven will discuss materials and techniques as they are related tO the cause. Chapter eight will treat the educational undertakings Of the two gro ups. Chapter nine will cover the different social theories projected by the Spokesman of the schools. Then to conclude the survey, Chapter ten will take into account the methods WNFLICT: The Forms in Conflict 9O of action by which the two groups have sought to realize their anbitions in architecture. CONFLICT: The Forms in Conflict 9l Footnotes 1 Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, (Cambridge, 1949), p. 348. "”"' 2 Ibid., p. 548. 3 Ibid., p. 548. Chapter 7 NATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES The rapid decline of the Fools des Beaux Art in archi- tectural education evidences the century's progress toward new design theory. Regarding education, and the broad front Of modern theory, the Bauhaus has come to symbolize the extreme in the technolOgy Of building, Whereas Taliesin the extreme in the.art Of building. The leaders of these two schools have occupied themselves with structural practice, as well as educational work. For these men the dual role Of architect and educator has been both economically and intel- lectually necessary, as professional practice meant a further- ence of both structural and educational ideas. Only by actual practice could each side translate their'concepts Of shelter into building form, and out Of such an engagement in.work the Bauhaus and Taliesin architects were able to find a way Of education by demonstration. The purpose of this chapter is the investigation Of those factors by which ardiitectural ideas are put into fonn. {The chapter follows the step by step approach.of architectural jplanning, and relates these steps to the trends of work exe- outed by the Bauhaus and Taliesin architects. A. Regional Consciousness Consideration has already been given to the historical :relationship between the architecture of EurOpe and that of tile United States. On both sides Of the Ocean at the begin- CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 95 ning of the century there were similar conditions of an architecture detached from reality by prevailing currents Of applied ornamentation. In the acceptance of Eclecticism, the Burcpeans were against a much more artificial, outmoded manner Of building than that found in the Unit ed States. For EurOpe , only a few regions had avoid ed the enervatihg effects of the Beaux Arts tradition. Holland, Switzerland, and Scandinavia, although affected by the Academy, retained something of a wholesome native architecture, but for the most Of EurOpe, the influence of false design was so in practice that even manufactured goods were produced with a flourishing, over decorated treatment. To ward Off conditions Of degeneracy in design, the modern architects Of EurOpe were forced to shear away all suggestions Of the Older styles in their search for a functi Ohal kind of architecture. The United States was enough removed from the centers Of influence in EurOpe so that many aSpects Of American cul- ture remained untouched by the effects of Eclectici em. Un- like the EurOpean architects, those in America found many aspects Of native buildirg which could actually be utilized in the develOpment Of a modern architecture. Among the conditions of American building which were utilized by the pioneers of the new movement, the appeal of functionalism stands out. In Colonial houses the re was to be seen a sim- plicity and warmth of planning, and an interest in forms indiginous to the land. Functionalism Of design was also CONFLICT: latex-isle and Techniques 94 known in the famous clipper ships of the nineteenth century, and such designing has continued on in house building through the "balloon frame" system by which a structure rises over a skeleton of studs and joists much in the manner of the ribbing in a clipper ship. Conditions of mentality made apparent differences in the courses taken by the two groups of architects. EurOpe for centuries had experienced the tradition of the court with its stately mannerisms, and even though the Bauhaus architects sought a sharp break with the clichés of the past in their attempts to provide for the present, it was impos- sible for them to avoid the qualities of sOphistioated elegance found in the prevailing culture. EXpanding America, however, had relatively little to remind the peOple of the courtly pretense of EurOpe, for at the time when the new architecture was first gaining momentum, the Spirit of the pioneer was still in the air. Indeed, Chicago in the day when the first skyscrapers were rising was a bustling center of trade for the frontier of the west. The environment and the immediate needs for function in the expanding economy gave American architects an Opportunity for directness of. eXpression unknown in Europe. For the EurOpeans there was an appeal in pure, restrained forms: for the American, the direction was more toward natural, vigorous forms. Economic ccnd itions were bound to produce differences in the design undertakings in which the architects engaged. War CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 95 in EurOpe, or a state of near war, placed a heavy burden on the economy of the various nations. Under any circumstances ownership was always on a conservative, frugal basis for the EurOpean. The American economy, on the other hand, offer- red more encouraging conditions for architectural growth. Regardless of the restricting impact of warfare on EurOpean building, there was simultaneously in America an incresed need for building. Because the nation was untouched by the shattering affects of war, American build ing advanced com- paratively untrammelled. Availability of materials likewise made outstanding differences of a regional kind in the design work which the two schools have done. The availability of materials in America rested on two prime forces: first, an abundance of resources; second, industrial production. From the begin- ning, America was one great reserve of resources, and this was evidenced in the variety of the materials which her architects used. Wood, steel, glass, brick, and cement were freely at the diaposal of planning groups. In the EurOpean economy, materials were more restricting, and one must travel over the countryside of the Continent to understand the pre- dominance of stone to wood construction. Steel, glass, brick, and cement all have a high premium value in EurOpe, and work- men are put to task in order to save on the cost of these materials. It isthis diaprOportion between the cost of material and the cost of labor in EurOpe which has given the CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 96 designers in that part of the world such a mastery with reinforced concrete construction. Despite its potential for flexible and flowing shapes, a high degree of hand labor is involved in the erection of supporting forms, and the placement of reinforcing rods. For America there has been a preference for the less flexible girder system, simply because it was more efficient in terms of costly man- power. Added to the abundance of natural resources at the diaposal of architects, Americans were accustomed to the processes of machine production. The conditions of mass prod ucti on were not confined to the America of the twentieth century, for, in fact, tendencies throughout all of the nineteenth century indicated that the nation was learning to handle the forces of ind ustrialism. In the same period the hand methods of craftsmen slowed down Europe's progress toward industrialization. From the economic and material point of view, the posi-_ tion of the two groups of architects could be stated in a simple prOpositi on. In Europe, labor was cheap and materials costly. In America, labor was costly and materials cheap. Climatic conditions, and their effects on the design work of the two schools, are not easily classified. The areas in which the Bauhaus and the Taliesin archit ects have worked have been remarkably alike. Central EurOpe, like the United States, has a moderate climate, and in the work of the two gro ups there have been moves to take greater advantage CONFLICT: Materials and Technigpes 97 of sunlight through the eXantation of fenestration. In EurOpe, the Bauhaus architects designed structures for domestic and commercial purposes, just as they designed for urban and rural environments, and thrs variety of com- missions called for an adaptability regarding the elements of climate. When, after the closure of the Bauhaus, the architects of the school continued their practice in the United States, they were to be on a still more even footing with the architects of Taliesin regarding matters of weather. As for wright, ard the Taliesin tradition of building, con- cern for climate was ever present. In America there are to be found in the four corners of the country, conditions of considerable varience. Thus, Wright has designed in keeping with the nature of the environment. For the northwest he has planned graceful apartment buildirgs. For the southeast 3 garden.of architecture has been planted along the warm waters of the Gulf._ And for the southwest he has erected a great desert camp Opened to the warm sun. For both groups there has been continued adaptability to the forces of climate. Lastly, comment mist be made on those regional refer- ences fromnwhich architects find inapiration for their design- ing. The contemporaries associated with the two schools of this study, like architects before them, have found idea sources beyond the immediate sphere of functional needs. The effec- tiveness of regional references depemds largely upon the subtlety with which they are employed in the design to suggest CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 98 some recognizable quality, or to state some accepted princi- ple. Of the two groups of architects, the master of Taliesin has given more attention to the use of this element than his European contemporaries. In wright's early domestic work, there is the accent of the casual, open conditions of the level prairie lands. Later of the Larkin building in Buffalo he would state, "The character and brutal power as well as the Opportunity for beauty of our own age were coming clear to me."1 Wright's work in Japan between 1915 and 1921 shows marked references to Oriental decoration, and the applied ornamentation of his later work often Shows the influence of this experience. From the Indian temples of Central and South America, Wright has taken elements of design and‘of prOportion. Geographic conditions have likewise suggested many elements of design to this American architect as he has planned massive strtntures in a setting of desert and mountain, or tall, delicate towers of glass amidst the ver- tical buildings of a city. Henry-Russell Hitchcock provides an excellent commentary on the architect's skill with regional references in his book Painting Towards Architecture: "Here and there one might catch a fleeting color from the American Indians, a glint of burnished cOpper and polished wood from some Quaker kitchen, a shingled save which evanescently recalled the frontier cabins of Audubon and Daniel Boone. These images were sub- tle - the layman was never quite sure whether they lay in the building or in his own head. They reflec- ted the best aSpects of American experience - its humanity, itg hospitality, its lack of aristorcratic pretension." @KFLICT: materials and Techniques ' 99 For the architects of the Bauhaus there was regional reference to the area of the L‘Iediteranean where the Greek temples provided, in principle, the epitome of classic purity. Like Wright, the Europeans also found a source of inspirati on in the new forms of the machine age. It was for this reason that Wri ght's work found so much acceptance in Europe after 1910 when several publications carried his work to that part of the world. Where Wright was to turn away from a pronounced emphasis of mechanistic elements of design, the EurOpeans carried them on to subsequent conclu- sions of simplicity. It was in the search for elements of technological functi onalism that the Bauhaus architects took an interest in the abstract art work of the Continent. Hitch- cock,in relating painting to architecture, describes how this art work affected the architectural designing at the Bauhaus, he says: "Since it was in France, in Holland, and in Ger- many that the new architecture first crystalized, particularly in the work of four men: LeCorbusier in France, Oud in Holland, and GrOpius and Liies van der Rohe in Germany, the most important linksare with the post-cubist develOpment in France, with the Dutch de Stijl artists, and with the various abstract painters whom GEOpius brought together at the Bauhaus in Germany." The author continms on to discuss the influence of the art and theory of Paul Klee on the personal thinking of GrOpius as the director of the Bauhaus, and indicates that the abstract art activities of the school were closely related to the de- velopment of architectural theory. In developing his rela- CONFLICT: materials and Techniques 100 tionship between painting and the architecture education of the Bauhaus, Hitchcock maintains: "It is too extreme to say that autonomous paint— ing was to Maholy-Nagy or to Albers an art which society no longer needs. But their pictures and prints often appear to be merely examples of con- trollefl research: exercises, almost in pure design. The significance of the work of these artists lies more in the application of the plastic discoveries they were making to the practical arts than in the exercises themselves, considered as independent works of art. Industrial design, photography, ad- vertising, and installation techniques, as well as - indeed more than - architecture have profitied from such experimentation. As has been said, this experimental attitude has had important education consequences. Where modern architectural schools assume any reSponsibility at all for aesthetic as distinguished from strictly technical training, it is along such lines that their instruction has been develOped. In the writings of GrOpi us based on the experiments of the Bauhaus, the theoretical relationship between painting and archi- tecture has been much more clearly stated than in the writings of LeCorbusier. The tradition of the bauhaus, now very influen- tial in this country, tends towards a systematic approach to the study of design in all fields. The attitude of LeCorbusier ani of those who accept his leadership on the other hand, presumes that the study of maiern painting leads in a somewhat intangible way to be formation of a releaant modern taste in all the arts.” Hitchcock also gives his views on the reactions which Wright has had for painting as a source of inepiration for architec- tural design When he writes: "The European abstract painting which was to influence modern architecture so fundamentally dates from the second decade of this century. Wright, however, who actually participated in Sul- livan's innovations of the early 90's began to evolve a new architecture of his own. In the abstract elemmnts of two dimensional Oriental art he found an inepiration that provided the necessary catalyst. Japanese prints had been admired by EurOpean archi- tects as well as by painters since the 1860's. It CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 101 remained for Wright to apprehend in the Japanese print - and not as has sometimes been supposed in Japanese buildings - wholly new abstract pos- sibilities for architecture. He saw that the simple geometric elements, so carefully diSposed in the Oriental woodcuts, created a compositional interest independent of the subject matter of the prints. By thiS‘tixe this was indeed recognized by many EurOpean and American artists and critics. But Wright also realized that this sort of ab- stract or pattern integration was capable of ana- logous eXploitation in architecture. Had he merely imitated or emulated Japanese architecture, his work wouid have been no different essentially from that of various other ardiitects of his gen- eration who were develOping personal manners of design rather than basically new concepts of architectural form by using simplified and stylized elements drawn from this or that EurOpean or non- EurOpean architecture of the past. But in empha- sizing the vertical planes of his walls and the hovering planes of his roofs, and still more clearly suggesting the actual interpenetration of exterior and interior Space, wright found a way to utilize plastically the elements of American.domestic build- ing without reference to any earlier architecture, European ur Oriental. His vigorous ami positive new sense of abstract design.was directly related to very Open planning and associated with a frank ex- pression of local materials and structural methods. He consciously sought to achieve organized composi- tions directly from functional elements. But he also succeeded in making these compositions as co- herent and consistent as the geometrical patterns he admired in Japanese prints, but with the addeg interest of real existence in.three dimensions." B. The Plan The preparation of the floor plan is one of the initial jproblems which all architects must undertake in the planning process. In his preparation the architect must consider the :function to be served, the materials and techniques to be utilized, and those shapes which are desired in the completed twork. Approaching the drafting board, the architect must CONFLICT: Materials and Techni_ques 102 devise in his imagination whatever arrangements are needed for the eventual Operation of the building. Thus, if there is to be any harmony between the many parts and the total arrangement of a building, it will find its initial eXpres- sion in the diagramatic scheme of the floor area. Indeed, it is this plan which outlines the foundations on which a building rests. Because it is this same plan which plays such a determining part in the movement of life throughout a building, it is the reSponsibility of the architect to visualize in advance the order of circulation which will take place in the structure. For the Bauhaus, the work of Walter GrOpius, iiies Van der Rohe, and Marcel Breuer will be considered as character- istic of the principles upheld by that school. For Taliesin, with its education dependent upon the personality of the master, only the work of Frank Lloyd Wright will be con- sidered. A cursory examination of floor plans in the work of the architects connected with the schools will indicate the methods of planning which both gro ups have advanced in their building . Architects on both sides have rejected the enclosed and rigid planning in the ideals of the 1:300 le des Beaux Arts, and in their place have found new conceptions of Open and freer arrangements. Although both groups have sup- ported the _f_r_eg PEEL! in their attitudes toward arrangements, there have been basic differences which can be clarified only by Specific references to the past work ofthe architects. CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 103 Walter GrOpius, throughout his architectural career, has taken part in a wide variety of planning projects, but from his early days in the offices of Behrens in Berlin, he has worked best when confront ed with giant planning problems. Capable of managing large-scale organization, GrOpius works toward simplification and order, and his plans show solutions of calculated efficiency. Above all, regu- larity is a basic factor in the concept ion of the plan favored by the architect. Clear and open areas are distinctive GrOpius solutions, and his interiors often provide for an interaction of different levels. In his domestic buildings in particular, he will permit the interior area to blend into that of the outside. GrOpius also lets his plan accomodate juxtaposed and interlocked cubes, just as he lets various parts of a building work in Opposition to one another. The Bauhaus at Deseeau is an example of a plan with the component areas in Opposition. In the Bauhaus plan, which is reproduced in Figure 1, it is possible to see the clear division which GrOpius has given to the building. The architect has provided a wing for studios, one for 5110138, and another for classrooms. Be- tween the shOps and the classrooms, in a connecting area over the road—way, there are provisions for the administrative offices of the building. Dr. Giedion has mentioned that the building suggests a pin-wheel in actione,’ and GrOpi us himself has stated that he likes to imply "motion, or the illusion of motion" in architect ure7. The Bauhaus presents no compact Classrooms Offices Studios finorts Field Figure 1. Bauhaus School, Dessau, Germany (1925-7fl). P13: Walter Gropius, Architect CONFLICT: Llaterial_s_g and Techniques _ 105 or static plan, and the interaction of the separate units of the building indicates the freedom with which the plan has been conceived. However, it must be noted that the forms are all rectangular in shape, and that the areas are sharply defined, and clearly separatedu In essence, GrOpius has pro- duced a 3339. Elfin; but basically, it is an arrangement of regular areas. Miss Van der Rohe has provided the Bauhaus tradition with its most outstanding expression of classic formality in modern conceptions ofplan arrangement. Of the architects in this group, it is Van der Rohe who has been unswerving in his re— tent ion of regular, repetitional elements of architecture. Working with the id ea of one area merging into another, the architect has frequently used nothing more than a free-standing wall to separate the various parts of his building. This free- standing wall, on occasion nothing more than a suspended panel, has provided the affect of one area penetrating an adjoining area. Bruno Zevi comments on the abstract patterns which appear in a Van der Rohe scheme by saying that his plans often hear an extraordinary resemblance to some of mrondrian's pictures.8 This simplification of the plan to linear elements can be seen in Figure 2, which shows the lay-out for the German Bavilion at the Barcelona Exhibition of 1929. The plan for this build- ing was so Open that its divisional members were much like screens placed in various parts of the building. Had these screens been removed , indeed there would have been nothing I a g D [—fi fi . . ‘ g a ' ' ' _._.l Fifiure 2. German Pavilio: at the Barcelona ixlibioion (1". Ties Van der 5she, fire it ct /////// ///////’ \\\\\\\\.\\\\\ % _ .u I r DO __ __ ' GU F" 33 \e>>o§ssxxx / Fifure 3. Tense for the Inseam/of fodern Art, New York (17h?) Plan Inrcel Breuer, Architect CONFLICT: Materials and Technip ues 107 but the glass walls to deliniate the inside from the outside. In using a minimum of supporting members for the roof, Van der Rohe has tried to make his architecture unobtrusive, almost unseen, and this has produced a light, graceful effect in his building. Different as this building is from the work of Grapi us, it repeats the regularity of forms Which was found in the Bauhaus plan. In the. German Iiavilian and in most of the other projects undertaken by Miss Van der Rohe, there has been an inclination to the Bauhaus ideas of regular and repetitional arrangements of area. Marcel Breuer, since his training at the Bauhaus, has worked against the regimentat ion of the boxed-in plan of the Beaux Arts tradition. By exploring the possibilities of free and interlocking areas, Breuer has looked for solutions which would release life from the rigid patterns of the older archi- tecture. Breuer has been as well known for his furniture designing as he has for his building, and this field has pro- vid ed an Opportunity for greater expressiveness than would be found in commercial planning which has too long been circum— scribed by standardization. All of Breuer's work shows a concern for craftsmanship at its highest level, and out of his zeal for experimentation, the architect has develOped buildings of considerable integrity. Breuer's plans show less abstraction than do those of Van der Rohe, however, it is in the shape of the structure itself where Breuer's abstrac- tion of forms makes its impression. Breuer's interest in QONFLICT: Materials and Technimues 108 acheiving mechanical efficiency in his buildings has given sharp definition to the inner areas. Freedom of planning is expressed in a Breuer house, but in a direction away from the central core of the'building. This architect likes to extend the interior of his building outward by means of large glass sections, and often this release from the feel- ing of compactness is increased by the use of several con- necting levels with the Space of one flowing into that of another. Even though Breuer has been an advocate of the free plan, he has stayed within the limits prescribed by regularity, and in much the same manner as his Bauhaus colleagues. Figure 5 shows the plan for one of Breuer's houses. Here, in a de- sign prepared for the Museum of Modern Art, the architect has utilized the elongated plan, and has provided clearly separated areas by the incisive arrangement of wall sections. Freedom of plan is achieved by the extension of the interior area through the glass sections to the terraces of the ex- terior. Averting the severity of the sharp room arrangement, the occupants are provided with the changing and varied effects of the exterior forms of nature. At the same time, the central core of the living area remains a s;stematic, efficient, and orderly unit. The typical form of the plan used by Breuer, Van der Rohe, and GrOpius, is in some ways economically sound, per- mitting as it does, the maxinum amount of Space for a minimum CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques llO of cost. However, the reason for such a regularity of plan goes beyond economy and into the idea of architecture as either an obtrusive or an unobtrusive matter. On the one side there is the view that the ideal of architecture is one in which a functional environment is sought through the simplist definition possible. In Opposition to this there is the ideal of architecture as a thing exceeding function, with the inclusion of sensuous stimulation from effects in forms and materials. Again this separation is a thing of degree; and one in which the call for an invisible archi- tecture inclines toward the technology of building, whereas the call for an esthetically visible architecture is the substance of the art of building. As the Bauhaus architects have consistently resorted to square or rectangular areas in their planning, there is every reasonto suppose that they favor the premise of an invisible architecture, and one in which functional effects exceed those ofbeauty for it self. .The master of Taliesin has never been encumbered in his design work with the steady repetition of inflexible or regu- lar forms. In preparing the plan for his structures, Wright has remained always unpredictable. From one plan to the next, there is change, and the slightest review of this arcnitect's work will indicate the unparalleled vigor which he has con- ceived for his building. At no point in the architect's long career has there been the retention of reworked plans, and it is highly probable that no architect has ever made more original CONFLICT: Materials and Technigues 111 contributions to the field of planning. ’s‘lright has avoid ed conventional formulae, and with each new plan he defies those architects who practice in terms of rigid formulated methods which he refers to as "cliches". What is Wright's plan? To amwer this question would require the description of the varied forms which his archi- tecture has taken throughout more than sixty years of design practice. Wright's plan is not the rectangular, the Square, or the circular. It is not the triangular, the cruciform, or the polygonal. It is not the "Hemicycle" of the Herbert Jacobs house, the "Helio-form" of the Johnson flax Company's research tower, or even the continuous cork-screw plan of the Guggenheim i-duseum: in reality, Wright's plan is all of these. In Wright's treatment of the plan, the attitude of the architect is of more consequence than the plan itself. For Wright, the central idea in planning has been to determine the activities to be sheltered within a particular Space, and then to devise the forms necessary to shelter them. That is to say that Wright does not consider the plan as the subdivision of a given area. Rather, he takes the Spaces re— quiring shelter, and molds structure around them, so that the architecture fits the activities, rather than fitting the activities to the architecture. Figure 4 shows the plan for the Solar Hernicycle which w’right prepared for the Herbert Jacobs house in the country MEZZ ANt-NE 1? .L-‘C?.I‘ .... “-Iison, Jisconsin 1- Fianna h. Herbert Jacobs Hons , a 7‘050) Plan Irre"ular line indicates ban.ed are: Frank Iloyd Xright, Archit ct CONFLICT: Materials and Technioues 113 near Madison, Wisconsin. The house is located in the cpen farmlands, and has its circular form reaching out for the warmth ofthe sun. To the rear of the house the architect has banked his structure against the chill of the north winds. Of the plan in the hemicycle, The Magazine gf_Buildigg makes the following remarks: "Here wright demolishes the box which the "solar house" has come to mean in contemporary building by curving his basic form as a hemi— cycle. The hemicycle form can also,of course, be said to represent the complete logic of build- ing to trap the sun; by curving the two sides of his building, wright takes full advantage of the elliptical solar path. Note how simply this mature plan handles basic principles apparent in Wright's earliest 'houses: demolition of interior partitions; group- ing of utilitarian features so as to allow Space to be uninterrupted so far as possible (circular stair, plumbing and heating channel). .Here the basic horizontal unit from which the building plan is develOped is a 6° sector. Non-architectural readers may want to study the plan to see how this basic unit or module is used to dimension all parts of the building (two units equal width of window, two units equal diameter of the circular fireplace, four units are allotted to utility core, etc.). It is interesting to reflect that the architect who has wrested the greatest amount of freedom from the basic limitations of structure (from the 'building as a box) should nevertheless hold, with such gentle care, to his self-imposed discipline of Space: the unit system (square, rectangle, honeycomb hexagon, circle) as a basic measure in- suring aha harmonious relation of each part to the whole." Fflgtme 5 presents another example of Wright's spontaneous reSponse to the demands for new solutions, this time in the Research Tower of the Johnson flax Company. Here wright planned a fourteen floor laboratory around a central trunk, or stack. Working Space has been arranged on the floors \ \ \ / / (- \\ MtLZAleINj7 K \ \ ‘ -— " / J T J Tiwure S. Helio Laboratory, Johnson flax Company, Racine, Wisconsin (ICED) Plan, Circle indicates alternate floors Frank Lloyd Iright, Architect CONFLICT: Materials and Techniqpes 115 cantilevered around the supporting stem. In providing a plan of this type, Wright gained elements of efficiency seldom known in such a large undertaking. For those who work within the laboratory, the architect calls it the HeliO-Laboratory, there is sunshine or light on all sides as the result of the uninterrupted exterior sections Of 'glass. Hall Space, always costly in conventional building, has been eliminated, and efficiency has been increased by centralizing both elevator and stairway in the shaft unit. This same urge to centralize utilities has placed heat, elec- tricity, communication, and service rooms around the shaft of the building. Insufficient as this treatment of Wright's variety in planning my be, it does suggest the unending creative energy which he has put in his design work. Reference to nearly any book on modern architecture will disclose the countless original contributions which the de- signer has made to the field of modern building. Such ref- erence will indicate that the contributions which Wright has made in the course of his work, have often been used by others at a much later date. Dr. Giedion maintains that the efforts of Wright to free the plan has amount ed to a monumental ser- vice to modern architecture; he states: "By 1910 Wright had achieved a flexibility of Open planning unapproached hitherto. In other countries at that time the flexible ground plan and the flexible mold ed interior and exterior were almost unknown. Wri ght's realization of a flexible treatment of the inner Space of a building is prob- ably his greatest service to architecture. It bro ught life, movement, freedom into the whale rigid and benumbed body of modern archit ecture." CONFLICT: materials and 'i'echnigues 116 Both groups of architects have worked in the direction of a free plan, however, as this section has pointed out, there have been basic differences in the attitudes of the two groups toward the conception of such a plan. The Bauhaus group in an effort to liberate architecture from eclecticism, hOped to call to arms all of the facilities of machine pro-1 duction. In their attempt to reduce architecture to funda- mentals which could be used, and reused, they were willing to concede to regular patterns of design. In this formula- tion of patterns, the group has reconciled their planning to elements of function by which economy, efficiency, and adaptability were of the utmost importance. Wright's idea of the plan has been based on quite another set of values. To this architect, and to his school, the whole meaning of architecture was to be found in the possibilities it offered for creative endeavor with a flexibility of solution for every individual building problem. To Wright, there was the belief that only through individuality would architecture have any meaning, and in consequence, his buildings have shocked a world absorbed by standardization. C. Materials The architect, having decided upon a suitable plan, must take into account those materials with which he will construct. In this step of the design process, every architect faces the considerations of place and function for which he is designing, and these in relation to the availability of materials. Here, CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques l_l_z the modern architect enjoys a position unique in the history of building, for never before has there been such a wide variety from which to choose. ' Indeed, at no other time has the possibility for a beautiful architectural environment been more stimulating to the imagination. Modern industrial producti on. and fast tranSportation have increased the availability of materials so that contempo- raries virtually have the world at their diSpos a1. Besides such traditional materials as brick, stone, cement, wood, and glass, today's market offers a host of new products for struc- tural use. Common among the materials, not available in the beginning of the cent ury, are plywoods, sheet metals, cement blocks, huge pieces of glass, and eSpecially frames of layered- glass, insulated against the weather. Other innovations in- clude light steel girder systems for domestic work, and pre- mixed concrete which Speeds up industrial building. The list of new products and materials augments the possibilities for design work in every part of a building, and to enumerate the new cements, panelings, ins ulations, woods, metals, offers but a suggestion of the many more available. Nor in there any indication trat the variety is exhausted, for each year new discoveries and processes increase the list, as current ex- amples of plastics, glues, and metals will testify. Although distance of tranSportation remains a limiting factor in the matter of building usterials, the time and cost element have been consid erably reduced within the century. ' The American CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 118 architect, for example, can freely use such varied items as doors from Washington, redwood from California, insulation from Mississippi, marble from Georgia, aluminum from Pennsyl- vania, and glass from Toledo. And if the occasion warrants, he can find such materials from the world market as cork from Portugal, Vaneers from Africa, or textiles from EurOpe. It is with materials that the forms of a building take shape, and it is through the discrimination of the architect in selecting his materials that a building gains its character. In creating effects with materials, architects can only abide by flexible standards of function, economy, simplicity, and beauty in their work with clients. There are no rules here, and every designer is free to use materials as best he can. Although, as our surrounding indicates, tradition and v0gue are great inhibiters in selling the pattern which most will follow. The architect's position in the composition of caterials may readily be compared with that of a conductor over an orchestra. It is the conductor's position to bring together, from the various elements of his group, that sele-tion of rythm, harmony, volume, and tone, which will provide for certain musical effects. Liuch as with music, the designer produces an architectonic rendition through his choice of materials. If he has the skill of a maestro, his rendition will have the distinction of a master's touch, and if he is indifferent in his art, that too will show. Architecture CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 119 like music, has Specific tonal qualities, and suggestions of emotional content. Thus, one building may bring about re; actions of human friendliness, whereas another may intimate impersonal qualities. ' Returning again to the Greek'tenple and the Gothic cathe- dral as examples, we can find different forms of buildings, each of stone, but each expressive of a different emotional nature. The Greek temples, with their sharp, precise lines of of column, frieze, and entablature, made up a composition of highly refined, but extremely severe forms. Out of the intellectual SXperience that was Greece, the temples rose, in.all of their technical perfection, to become things of great Splendor. Here was eloquent restraint, Where every element of the building was mastered with the calculation of the mind, and where every form was chiseled and distinct. Usually at0p an acrOpolis, experienced from the distance more as a monument than as a building , the temple with its rational.cse of materials implied an impersonal quality, which like the ideals it stood for, were outside the humility of the heart. The Gothic cathedral was equal to the Greek‘temple as a feat of technical understanding. Here, however, the tonal» quality of the work was of quite another kind. The cathedral was directed to the honor and glory of God, and as such was erected out of a humility of love. Every part of this tower- ing structure was designed in suplication of the soul, CCLEELICT: I-..aterials and Techniques 120 and the materials wed in building indicate this emotional nature. Inside and out, the irregular surfaces of the build- ing catch effects of light and shadow which le nd to the atmOSphere of mystery. Within the cathedral, the suspense of the drama was intensified by the tall columns penetrating the obscure arches ofthe ceiling. To the vhite, pure stone of the building, other materials such as rich tapistries, mosaics, and the stained glass windows added to the emotional effect. When combined with the cerimony in which candles, vestments, gold and jeweled artifacts played an important part, the materials in the cathedral conveyed a deep mood of heart-felt piety. In its: architectural education, the Ecole des Beaux Arts directed :a. program of instruction toward the utiliza- tion of the design clam-ants discovered by such accomplished builders as those at the temples and the cathedrals. Accord- ing to Beaux Arts methods, building materials were employed, not with the forthright energy of the early works, but with an imitative assimilation of the decorative features alone. The Beaux Arts disregarded, in this manner of decoration, the inherent possibilities to be found in the materials themselves, just as they refuted the idea of innovation. It was in the Opposition to the falsified use of mater- ials, wherein the whole course of the modern movement was rooted. Both in principle and in practice, the modern architects were against the Spectacle of Greek columns as QgNE‘LICT: Materials and. Techniques 121 they might be found in Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, or the flying buttresses of a cathedral high step a skyscraper in a midwestern center of commerce. Not only did such decorative use of materials mean wasted money, it also meant wasted creative effort, and in consequence both the Bauhaus and Taliesin architects promoted their education toward a new awareness of materials. Because the history of modern architecture is in large part based upon the develOpment and tee of new materials, the directors of the two schools gave muchattention to the intensification of the student s' advancement in this matter. Both regarded present day materials as a source of creative expressiveness; new, direct, and unimcumbered by academic tradition. Again, as in the period of the temple and the cathedral, materials were recognized for the inherent qualities which they possessed. For each school the recog- niti on of materials for themselves meant different directions of devel 0pment. For the mm of the Bauhaus, modern architecture meant the pre-eminent importance of the technological side of building. As Hitchcock points out in Painting Toward Archi- tecture, "A sharpened interest in science and technology tends to restrain intuitive solutions",ll so that with materials, as it would be with other aSpe ctS of planning, stress was given to the prolongation of rationalized methods. Out of that search for methods by mich the new materials of CONFLICT: Mat erials and Techniq use 122 the twentieth century might be used, these architects have resolved their works into clearly pronounced technical ele- ments. ThrOughout the architecture on this side of the issue, the predominant mood has been that of function, and the resultant forms have been sharp, and incisive in the manner of the pure, restrained effects of the temples of Greece. So absorbed have these men been with the tee. of materials in the direct and economic service of function, that the strongest criticism against their work would be that ’of containing an impersonal quality from severe, unem- bellished forms. It would be impossible to maintain t'rat the Bauhaus de- signers have regarded modern materials impersonally. In act u- ality, their concern for them has been as great, and in ed u- cation greater, than that found at Talie sin. It the long been established that one of the most accepted aSpectS of the Bauhaus educational program has been its contributions to the inventive use‘of materials, but this as it was related to the functional, or technical extreme of building . From the tactile and structural exercises of the Bauhaus program, students were conditioned to be reSponsive to the creative use of materials, meticulous craftsmanship with materials, and a directness of employment with materials. Any examina- tion of the works of this group will Show materials being subordinated to the greater form and function of the building . Materials so negated have given modern structures a lightness, CQEEIJCT: Materials and Techniques 123 and grace of definition. For those Specific methods by which Bauhaus architects have utilized materials, examples in the work of GrOpius, Van der Rohe, and Breuer will be used. The Bauhaus at Dessau remains, after twenty-five years, one of the supreme works of Walter Gropius, and from this Single building, it is possible to interpret the attitude of the architect in regard to his use of materials. Previous discussion has indicated the variety in the activities of teaching, designing, business, and housing, which the Bauhaus served. These activities were clearly separated in the large rectangular wings. These wings pos- sessed a frame of reinforced concrete, supporting the walls which appear to hang from the inner skeleton. The walls, for most of the structure, were formed with large sheets of cement with generous provision being made for light to enter the building through steel casement windows, and for the work- shop wing, the total wall area was enclosed by glass set in vertical easements running to the height of the roof. livalua- tion of the work now rests upon photographs, and the writing of contemporaries, but it is evident from Plate II that the building embodied the Spirit of technology in its composite of glass, steel and concrete. To an American, long accustomed to observing such forms in factories, though of far less artistic merit, the Bauhaus immediately implies some type of industrial activity. To Gropius, the function of the industrial design school COl-EFLICT‘: Materials and Techniques 124 was of paramount importance, including its relation to the use of materials, but the compositional principles involved considerations beyond those of sheer function. There can be no question but what Gropius borrowed from the abstract painters working in Tampa for his conception of the build-ing. Throughout the building, and especially in exterior treatment, there are relationships to painting whi ch must be noticed. Giedi on describes the extensive use of glass in the Bauhaus as a means which "permits interior and exterior to be seen simultaneously, 3;; £332 and en profile, like Picasso's "L'Arlessienne"."l'ZGiedion's discussion of the relationship of the building to cubism and the time, Space theory of architecture confirms the view that the architect attempt ed to eXpreSS his conceptions of art mechanistically. From the photograph it is also apparent that the composition of materials as seen from the outside, shows a tendency to the linear patterns found in the non-objective painting of Diet Lzondrian, and in this express the inclination toward rectangular, mechan- istic forms. The inter-relationships of the Bauhaus are of a complex nature in which the archit ect consciously strove for the union ofoform, function, and a new feeling for space. In the crea- tion of such a union, Gropius used his materials directly, for whatever beauty they possessed, but always in subordination to the greater conception of form, function and Space. This particular approach has been referred to by Dr. Gied ion as "dematerializing", which he describes by saying that: CONFLICT: Materials and Techniqges 125 "The Bauhaus complex is an arrangement of cubes, one juxtaposed against another - cubes differing in size, material, and location. The aim is not to anchor them to the ground, but to have them float or hover upon the site. This is the reason for the wing-like connecting bridges and the liberal use of glass. The glass was called in for its demater- ializing quality; the previous generation had used it either for practical purposes orlgin private houses) had stained or painted it." The Bauhaus, appearing in 1925 as it did, was the reali- zation in architecture of many of the ideals supported by the school's educational workers. There could be no question but what it would influence the design students who would work in the sun-filled workshops. As an innovator in his own right, GrOpius has expressed the technology of building through a highly complex kind of beauty, the principles of which could be given academic formulation. Though many of the followers could not hepe to feel the Spatial relation- ships which Gropius had experienced in his design problem, none—the-less, there were principles involved vhich could be repeated without loss of effect. To those who favor the technological side of building, ard see its every hepe in typical forms, the Bauhaus was an important milest one in architecture. From the standpoint of materials, it established new standards of beauty for forms founded on machine production. In 1929 Miss Van der Rohe, working close to the Bauhaus tradition, executed the German i’avi lien for the Barcelona Exposition. This Pavilion carried the idea of niting inner and outer Space to a point beyond that found in the Dauhaus, QONFLICT: Materials and Technigues ‘ 126 and materials were eloquently used to fulfill the architects Space conceptions. A small, but delicately balanced build- ing, its forms in c0mposition show that materials were again subordinated to the functional and Spatial organization. Figure 2 Shows the rectangular units which were placed around a long regularly shaped pool. The forms of these buildings were made from low, graceful flat roofs supported either by tubular metal columns, or light concrete partitions. Where glass is used, it does little other than suggest that there is a separation between the inside and the out side. As the building was planned for exhibition purposes, there Was no concern for the intricacies of traffic known in do.1estic work. In this building the architect was able to Simplify his flow of traffic by leaving one end of the main building open, and organizing his areas with glass or marble panels. Here, every attempt has been made to use materials so they would imply a rational control over the design problen. Serene and SOphisticated, the classic elegance of the Pavilion found added effect from the glossy surfaces of cement, marble, glass and polished metals. Breuer's house for the timeum of Liodern Art is an example of the work carried on by a student of the bauha us. As the work was cotnpleted in the United States, it also indicates some of the changes which have occurred through the influence of a new locality. Figure 3 shows the rectangularity of plan which is typical of Breuer's architecture. In appearance the CMELICT: Materials and TechniquS 127 form of the house is accented by the "butterfly" roof, which SlOpes toward the center of the building. Working in a mar- ket where wood was economically priced, the architect showed a preference to the qualities of wood over “those of Cement. Before leaving Europe, Breuer had a long list of commis- sions to his record, and his work there was pr inarily in cement or stucco. On one occasion he combined this material and his enthusiasm for a trimness of craftsmanship, for the execution of a house which was closely akin to the forms of a nodern steamship. In the American house there is the same interest in the meticulous use of materials, however, through woods and the natural effects of stone, the architect breaks away from the severe, mechanistic interpretation found in the European work. Tuere are, despite this awareness of the eno- tional elements to be found in materials, many of the elements found in the earlier work of the architect. For instance, there is the subdivision of areas by means of simple paneled partitions, and the we of Mondrian abstractions in the window arrangements. And on both sides of the house, the flow of the interior to the outside is aided by terrace walls in line with the walls of the rooms themselves. It is important to notice that although breuer was rough stone for his fire- place, or redwood for the ceiling paneling, these earthy ele- ments do not remove the :ork from the academic formula of regularity which underlies the scheme of the house, and the Bauhaus conception of the use of materials. Alth Jugh with CCM‘LICT: iiaterials and Teghnigues __ 128 less severity than that markirg the EurOpean aSpect of the Ba uhaus movement, Breuer shows in his American work the con- tinued negation of materials to the pre-eminence of form,’ function, and space. Fbr the architects working irithe Taliesin tradition, materials have not been subordimted to form, function, and space, but have been utilized for their maximum emotional qualities. The concept of asserting the nature of materials cemmon in Taliesin work, is nowhere more vivid than in the designing of Wright himself. Through his long practice he has shown a maestro's touch in dealing with‘fiue stuff of architectural construction. In voice and writing, he has also taken every Opportunity to expound on his theories regarding the use of materials, but he has never satisfied his listeners by disclosing how it is accomplished. Only through his work does he clearly express the concepts which underlie his work. Critics, likewise have had difficulty in defining his methods, and Henry-Russell Hitchcock, in present- ing a survey of Wright's work, did so largely with photo- graphs which he entitled lg the Nature 3f Materials. The Architectural Forum the Magazine 2: Building has also chosen to discuss the architect's use of materials by means of illus- tration rather than words. Between 1928 ani 1951, the editors of the journal devoted three concentrated issues to wright and the study of his principles. The principle of Wright's wmrk, whether with materials or any other aSpect of the planning process, is against the formu- CONFLICT: Materials and Technigges 129 lation of any academic limitations. The architect feels that repetitional idioms, like those of the Boole des Beaux Arts, only serve to restrict the freedom of individual creative effort. To the end of unrestrained freedom in the use of materials, Wright has never accepted the systematic process through which the Bauhaus chose to train young architects. For him there was more effectiveness in the circumstances surrounding the dramatic impression of a western canyon wall, or the color of a midwestern woodlot. In consequence, many of wrignt's followers have been unable to master his fundamental principles, and deepite his Oppo- sition toward immitation, his effects have been copied. Only a few architects have understood Wright sufficiently to under- take work, which.the master himself believes deserving of the title of organic architecture. And it is the strain of this fundamental perception Which has led nany of the younger architects to the more easily mastered principles of the Bauhaus camp. Wright, in Opening the portfolio of work shown in his issue of the Magazine of building fbr 1951, pleas with the young man in architecture to beware of all academic restric- tions, by saying: "I hepe to...rekind1e enthusiasm for creative indi- genous Architecture as against any cliche whatsoever. I am convinced, notwithstanding wideSpread imitation of effects only, that these works will eventually prove of lasting value to the younger architects of our modern tines because of their integrity....I hepe the buildings shown...wi11 serve again to illustrate basic principles which give to them all such vitality, CONFLICT: Materials and Technigges 1.50 integrity and magic as they have. I still h0pe to see these basic principles more comprehended, therefore the effects imitated less. No man's work need resemble mine. If he under stands the working of the principles behirfi the effects he sees there, with similar integrity he will have his own way of building. Meantime preserve us from all istics, all ites, and any ism, especially naturalisn. By way of style, preserve us above all, from ngtyle. Democracy deserves a {£66 Architecture - at least Architec- ture free." From such writing it is possible to deduct that individ- uality is the keynote of his work whether it be in. the plan, the use of materials, or in any other phase of the building process. The effects which result from Wright 's use of materials change with each building, and the architect has from the beginning shown an uninhibited desire to ally his materials with nature. In fact, he excites our concern for nature by calling our attention to it through his use of rough and unfinished materials. Yet, as we have discovered through his call for individuality among the young architects, he himself does not want the results referred to as naturalisn. Throughout the broad range of domestic, commercial and indus— trial building which this architect has provided, there is variety which exceeds the efforts of other contemporaries. So rich and inviting has this variation been that those in- clined to the more methodical Bauhaus tradition have referred to his work as romantic, mystic and even priznitiv e. It is true that within his work there are examples of massive architecture which would lead to the description of a romantic. COHEIJCT: Materials and Techniques 13} Other exmnples possess that atmosyhere Which is more religious than secular, and deserve the title of mystic. Still other wurhs meow in their rough, cave-like use of materials, a quality of primitiveness. Yet, to those of the Bauhaus school who wound deride wright's use of materials, there is a reminder. This sane architect has, wiuiin his varied output of building, exahples wnerein the materials have been used with a sense of grace and refinement similar to the work of Bauhaus men. It is in the use of materials that wright snows his great reserve of creative energy. In the thirties, when work was slow for most architects, wright in.a conversation with ' Elliel Sarrinin, told his friend that somehow he never had the good fortune of working with.the costly materials which Sar- rinin was accustomed to in his lavishly endowed conmissions. Where Wright has had the facilities of a lavish budget with which to Intk, such as that of the Johnson Wax Conpany, he has produced effects which will stand beside the most elegant forms of history. Where he has had to work with a limited budget he has eXploited his materials to the limit. In the Brauner house of Okemos, Michigan, the ceaent blocks have been used throughout in order to provide a maximum of Space for a minimum of cost. Here there is no suggestion that the materials have been used in the name of economy, but always with the feeling that the architect has utilized his materials for all of their intrinsic beauty. QQNFIICT: Materials and Techniques 152 Throughout the course of his work wright finds in the assertion of natural finished woods, the warm colors of bricks, the texture of cement, or the roughness of stone, a symbol of those elanents in human nattre which are, indeed, primitive. And which Wright, a sophisticate anong sophis- ticates, believes are desirable in a world made common and unnatural thr ugh industrialization and its mass production. No Specific example will serve to clarify the principles by Which Wright uses materials. However, for the purpose of a comparison between similar problems, a single example will be used; that of the Tower of the Johnson Wax Company. In this fourteen floored structure, eight horizontal bands of cement and brick alternate with seven bands of tubular glass. AlthOtgh there are no visible links between the alternating bands, other than the glass supports, there is never the sense that the forms are unbalanced or without rigidity. In fact, the impression is that all are held together by the central trunk which resembles that of a tree. As in the Bauhaus at Dessau, this structure is dealing with hovering elements of glass and cement, but in.the tower, there is an inner stability, and a quality of organic unity, not found in the work by GrOpius. At the same tine that Wright satisfies his need for substantial forms, he also accomplishes the re- quirements of function, as light is diffused over the working area of the laboratory as a result of the uninterrupted re- lationship between'brick and glass sections. EQNFLICT: haterials and Techniques 153 Few architects have approached wright's skill with the tonal qualities of materials. The architect's record has been far from perfect, and in the unending experimentations which he has conducted, there are many examples in which materials have been misused. One can quickly point to such outstanding examples as unfinished exterior woods made shabby too soon by the elements of weather, or cantilevered sections which, in submitting to nature, have cracked apart. The Bauhaus architects have been eager to criticise the decora- tive treat ent Which he gives to materials, capecially cement blocks. firight has frequently used fanciful roof elements which are costly to maintain, and on more than one occasion refuse to serve the function of Shedding rain. In the massive, primate forms which.are distinctly his own creations, wright has avoided practical measure entirely. so that for all their beauty they must serve only as exotic examples of the archi- tect's versitility with materials. For the most part, however, one is unable to charge wright with misapent materials. With new conceptions of planning, and a remarkable reserve of ego, wright has achieved a Spiritualism of effect through his use of materials that borders upon the sublime. The relation of materials to the over-all work of the two schools is of the utmost importance. It requires but little experience to distinguish the buildings, separately prohoted by the two schools, simply through the characteristic treatment of materials alone. In the conflict which has taken CONFLICT: haterials and Techniques 154 place as each school has supported the different principles involved, a broad rift has occurred, and there is no promise of it finding immediate settlement. On the Bauhaus side there is the resolution of the architectural problem to basic, technical elements of form, function, and space. Out of attempts to strip architecture of unique, irregular forms, this group negated the nature of materials to typical structu- ral solutions, even.at the‘expense of plain and impersonal qualities. Wright, on the other hand, found in.the assertion of materials, those qualities which would provide architecture with a sense of individuality and warmth, which he believed all too lacking in an industrial age. Dedicated to the creative use of materials, wright was to maintain that in his buildings there was a promise of beauty commensurate with the potential to be found in modern industry. D. Techniques The techniques of construction, in actual design prac- tice, cannot be separated from the other phases of the plan- ning process. The plan of the otdlding, the use of materials, the interior and exterior effects, all rely on the basic principles of construction which the architect formulates. Theoretically, the techniques of construction rest on factors of engineering, and all architects must be oriented in their use. Modern techniques have expanded this aSpect of the planning process to a degree where many of the synbols of CDEELICT: materials andrgechniques 135 modern building - the bridges, the dams, the factories, the skyscrapers - are almost totally the work of engineers. However, underlying these engineering works, and those of a more modest domestic kind, there are four fundamental principles of construction: the post and lintel; the vault; the truss; and the cantilever. It is with these principles that the architect allies the construction methods which have been made available. As with materials, modern technology has provided an endless variety of revolutionary devices, the study of which is a field by itself. Power tools, instantaneous communica- tion, centralized heating and ventilation, sewage diSposal, are but a beginning of those considerations wnich the con- temporary architect must make. Any large construction pro- ject will disclose the complexities of this phase of the planning Operation. Today, power shovels remove the earth for the foundation. Girders are tied together by riviting or welding. Cranes, elevators, or even hydrolic tubes carry cement to the working areas of a structure. 30 intricate are the systems that they are all left to the supervision of Specialized groups. Even the building problems of a small house present a remarkable array of technical accom- plishments which have unfolded within the past two generations as a result of mass production. Techniques as they relate to the economy of present—day building mean mechanization in both the construction and the EOEFLICT: materials and Techniques 136 Operation of a structure. By nature of the changes which mechanization has brought about in the field of architecture, contemporary designers have, fer whatever ends they will use them, methods and means unknown to other periods. Here again, as with materials, there was a challenge which was disregarded in the educational practices of the Ecole des Beaux Arts.. The way was Opened through strides of engineer- ing for an entirely new kind Of building. As the new schools took over as leading sources of influence, it was with the realization that mechanization by itself meant nothing, but in the hands Of conscientious and competent designers it meant the promise for improvement in.the architectural en- vironment. Thus, the utilization of new techniques show basic interests beyond that of structure alone. On each side of the issue there have been sociological considerations which have occupied the leaders of the schools, and which will be examined in the description Of their use of techniques. It has already been noted that the whole scape of Bauhaus education was foumied upon a collaborative program with German industry, the implications of which were clearly marked. Through the efforts of artists and craftsmen united with the sources of technical power, it was hoped that im- provements could be exercised over the artistic standards Of Germany. In his book The New Architecture and the Bauhaus Walter GrOpius discusses the attitude with which education was fostered in regard to industrialization. The architect C hFIICT: Materials and Techniques 157 writes: "Believing the machine to be our modern med- ium of design, we sought to come to terms with it." Then, in another section GrOpius comments on the standards by which the school undertook its program: "The Bauhaus...deliberately concentrated pri- marily on what has now become a work of paramount urgency: to avert mankind's enslavement by the machine by giving its products a content of reality and significance, and so saving the home from mechan— istic anarchy....0ur object was to eliminate every drawback of the machine without sacrificing any one of its real advantages. We aimed at realizing stand- ards of excellence, not creating transient novelties." 15 The search for rea1.and vital qualities in industrial products and architecture led to a simplification of methods which could be easily furthered in education or repeated in practice. If there has been an academic approach on the side of the Bauhaus, it was in the cause of practicality. By the reduction of design to fundamentals, it was possible for the teachers to say to students - here - these are social advancements which should be realized, and this is how it can'be done. At no time was there need for uncertainty on the part Of the student. Measured order was the standard by which the directors of the school hOped for the realiza- tion Of the industrial potential in the control Of environment. Standardization was recognized, not as a by-product,but the very substance of the school's sweeping sociological ambitions. An unobtrusive architecture wherein function in its simplist form became the ideal. Quite logically, rec- tangularism resulted as a predominate, easily repeated shape CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques, 158 _. —— for the buildings. Beyond the repetition of forms, eXperi- mentation led to the negation of materials, and minimum lightness. Forms were freed Of embellishment, and typical solutions Of space control were established. Although formal, Often mechanical forms resulted, there was order and grace in the content of this architecture, and it Offered the practi- cal advantage of easy accessibility. To the architects Sup« porting the basic tenants of a typical architecture, there was the conviction that beauty could be achieved simultane- ously With standardization. GrOpius substantiates in writing the policies of practice found in the works Of other Bauhaus architects. For his book Rebuildipg Our Communities, GrOpius writes: "we need not fear that our future residences will be regimented because of standardization. Natural oom- petition will in a free market take care of that. Men did not hesitate to accept widely-repeated, standard forms in the pro-machine periods Of civilization. Such standards resulted from their means of production and from their way of living. here machine repetition Of a design certainly does not create a standard, be- cause standards represent rather a combination of the very best many individuals have contributed to the solu- tion of a problem. The standard forms of towns of the past eXpress a happy blend of technique and imagination, or rather a complete coincidence of both." 6 Such a dictun was not intended against individual freedom, or the supression of creative solutions. Here the call is for a prototype of building which will satisfy both the needs for shelter, and the facilities which have been made available for its production. Within the limits of the pro- totype there could be found a latitude Of expressiveness. QQNELICT: Materials and Techniques lgg The great hOpe for the standardization of architecture was for the fusion of forms over the environment rather than forms Opposing the landscape, as well as each other. It has been with the Objectives of a practical, utili- tarian architecture, that Bauhaus architects have used modern techniques. In the name of social advancement, the school made long and intensive studies into the conditions surrounding build- ing. Investigations into the basic needs of shelter for families and communities produced subsequent prOposals to the German government for the founding of an Institute of Housing Research. Although surveys continues through this bureau for the purpose of relating workers, financiers, and industry to the cause of quality housing, the primary bene- fits of the program showed up in the advancement of modular design principles. GrOpius had from a very early date an interest in the possibilities for interchangeable buiLiLng units based on shOp production. At the Bauhaus he carried on experiments which had been started in the offices Of Peter Behrens in Berlin, and this in turn led to the actual manufacturing of insulated panels of corrugated metal for small houses. The eventual closing of the school did not curtail the archi- tects activities in this area of design. During the time when the architect was in England he continued to work with pre- fabrication, ano many of his units were used in that country CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 140 for temporary housing in the war period. After beginning educational work in America, Gropius joined Konrad wachsmann in the preparation of a packed house system Which consisted Of interchangeable component panels for vertical, horizontal, or lateral placement in building construction. Figure 6 shows the redimental principles involved, as well as the simplication of forms for efficiency of production. All joints were to be locked by standard connectors, and all module measurements were based on standard doors, windows, stairways, and so on. In projects other than prefabrication, GrOpius shows further work in the dematerializing of architecture through the use of modern techniques. It has already been cited how reinforced concrete and large walls of glass were used for this purpose in the Bauhaus at Dessau. Similar elimina- tion of materials is to be found in.the housing develOpment at Siemensstadt which was constructed in 1929. The four- storied apartment group'was laid out on a rectangular plan in which there was a repetition Of typical modular dwelling units. The supporting skeleton was utilized as an integral part of the total design, with steel easements and regular areas of glass adding to the geometrical effect. A survey of the domestic work Of Gropius shows an element of similarity throughout, and the continued reduction of structure to typi- cal forms through simplified techniques. For the Aluminum City Terrace, GrOpius worked in partnership with Marcel Breuer .. \ uI'JI‘. lel A '7. “Wu—1””; 'n‘, u . .. —» h.‘ LLZD $143001? . =4 .. ..,. f .. I .. . . ‘51 I DH “smut-'1'” W .- a.— -—- taint—O. '-.-' i (FE-Iv $154.9" .' - .u. -A— amaar~u. _ ,1: --cr 0 "‘~F~:’T' - . ‘ i . ‘, uéfl— .‘1‘5' l’ uflqql m _D 3003on .__ moaaoso nmpama a a: Ensues Umpcox mpcfiOw weapoeneo mewsonm swag mason hnwcwmeH Amnmav Empmhm omsom Uemwxomm one .0 ohsmwm :, > an 30; m. COhELICT: materials and Techniques 142 to plan a small community for defense housing. A rural site was selected for the project, and fifty units were arranged freely over the irregular hillsides. The architects followed the rectangular plan in their designing, and relied on woods, glass, and cement as the basic materials. Again techniques were utilized for the realization of an overall integration of building, rather than the expression of unique and startling structural elements. The exanination Of the larger body of work executed by the Bauhaus architects accents the ordered discipline with which techniques have been subordinated to practical requirements. An economic system, which in modern times with all of its po- tential, prevented good dwelling, was undesireable in the minds of these men. DeSpite unfavorable economics, they realized that they had to work with such conditions, and that the only solution was one utilizing the machine and the products of the machine wherever possible, thus placing production costs at a minimum. There have been few bursts or originality on this side, as creative effort has been absorbed in the construction aSpect of structural formation. Individualistic innovations of technique have appeared to this side as deterrents to the cause of a healthy architecture. Consequently, techniques have been reduced to the essential requirements of function and economy instead of startling new solutions. On a few occasions, however, Bauhaus architects have de- parted from the path of calculated utility. Even though the CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 143 conditions Of EurOpe called for no skyscraper construction, Gropius participated in the international contest for the Tribune Tower in 1923. The plan which he submitted contained all of the constituent elements of modern vertical engineering. Like other works in Which the architect has engaged, his tmwer was an experiment in dematerializing. The members Of the supporting skeleton stand out as a strong design feature, and full-windowed areas mark Off the cellular structure of the building. It is in the window arrangement of the build- ing that one views the conception of the architect for the multiplication of typical cellular units into architectural composite on a vast scale. The most extreme example of innovation in the portfolio of Bauhaus work is to be found in the project for a glass tower executed in 1921 by hies Van der Rohe. The skyscraper of over thirty floors was a prOposal for a vertical building entirely walled in with glass. The floors and the supporting piers from which they were cantilevered were entirely visible through the tranSparent film over the building. In its thin, elegant lines, there was the ultimate expression Of an invisi- ble architecture, and Dr. GrOpius remarks that the structure was, "A modern excursion into the realm Of fantasy, something Of whose spirit, nevertheless, had been.anticipated in the Reliance Building."17 The Reliance Building had been designed in 1894 by Root and Burn m when Chicago was in.the peak of its skyscraper program. In suggesting that the Spirit of CONFLICT: Iiaterials and Techniwes 144 the glass tower had already been felt in America by the early pioneers, Dr. Giedion points out that so far as techniques were concerned, it was in the Jnited States where the real innovations were to take place. Techniques, as they are related to Taliesin education, go back to the late eighteen-hundreds when Wright was begin— ning his career in Chicago. The new business, administration, and lodging buildings of Chicago uade up the most progressive architectural projects then underway. The architects of this work were among the most skillful of the period because of their pioneering work in the application of modern techniques to the solution of structural problems. Wright, educated as a structural engineer, participated with these men in the eXploration of the new engineering problems of the age. Among the achievements of this group one must list the intro- duction of the steel skeleton as a practical solution for vertical building. Reinforced concrete also became a workable tool in the hands of these men, as did the floating foundation for use in soft earth construction. It was in this same work that large horizontal windows became commonly accepted as a feature of modern building. The boldness in the Spirit of construction of this city, and the premium it paid for originality in the use of techniques, must rave stirred the young architect, for he has persistently approached structural problems with a vitality characteristic of the skyscraper arch it ects . —. _‘ ... -—.——.,. a“ QCNELICT: materi l§_and Techniques 145 wright's passion for individual creative effort has been so strong that its effect is to be seen in.the whole course of his structural design. wright realized, even earlier than his Bauhaus contemporaries, that industrializa- tion was providing for a completely new quality for archi- tectural design. Measured use of rigid, repeated forms were not, however, this architect's conception of the kind of order that the new techniques promised. His conception of industrial building consisted in the formulation of new and imaginative forms which would grow, like plants of great beauty, over the land. Even though this meant a change in the accepted patterns of life, Wright believed that no loss would occur if a new culture would replace the old one. Rather than permitting industry to run rampant over the lives of the peOple and the nation, the architect maintained that tme means were available for a new way of life, if men would but use them. On this subject the architect writes: "Science alone beyond furnishing tools in the toolbox can never lead us to a culture of our own. Without the practice of Architecture as the great art of environment - the basic art of Architecture is still sadly lacking in our midst. Architecture in this sense is still our national blind—Spot. Not until we understand this will we ever arrive at sanity in building not to say the culture of Beauty. It is no exaggeration to say that we have had little or no organic character in our Democracy."l Where the Bauhaus architects regarded standardization of typical units as the means of achieving their ambitions for social reform, Wright regarded such repetition of forms as the anarchy which modern architects had tried to escape. QCNFLICT: Materials and Techniques 146 Wright's whole course of work is in the direction of a free and an organic architecture. Also, all of his associations with social planning point to his confidence that with more creative architecture, there is bound to result a more wholesome society. Wright regards the nation's indifference to the creative side of life as an indication of mediocrity: "Well, we have become famous as the nation of the substitute. A nation wherein individual crea- tion is good but only if it good for a number of substitutes. Already we are more comfortable with mediocrity than any form of true originality. So Egg edugationil systgm ngw chimpiog: medigigity. y me iocr y s s e or 6 me ocre. Here the call is for the acquisition of a noble architectural surrounding through the exertion of the total creative capa- cities of the nation, and it is onawhich abounds with religious fervor. wright would have his fellowmen create for life it- self as they participate in the events of their environment. Anyone exposed to Taliesin education.knows the extent to which the master of the school grounds his students in his convictions regarding a Spiritually eloquent architectural environment. Taliesin Students are trained to use every resource of modern_technology in the service of the art of building. The scOpe of wrignt's own work indicates that the master of Taliesin has had an engineer's sense of structure throughout his architectural career. Stimulated by his associates in Chicago, Wright learned at a very early date in his work that structure depended upon imagination.as well as calculation. CORELICT: Materials and Techniques 147 In 1896 he designed for his aunts at Spring Green, Wisconsin, a windmill which today still stands on the hillside above the Taliesin Foundation as a demonstration of the creative principles on which the architect bases his work. The wooden structure of the windmill bewildered the neighbors, almost all of whom expected it to tumble with each successive high wind. The mill, however, has long resisted storms through its long, flexible form which inside has plant-like reinforce- ment. Hitchcock discusses the relation of the mill to wright's searching mind in the field of structure: "Iright in this windmill and water-tower dis- played his structural ingenuity in.the embrace of lozenge and polygon - hence the name Romeo and Juliet - and in the bracing floors within, like the strenghen- ing membranes within a hollow plant stem. To wright biological analogy was from the first full of archi; tectural suggestion, since he alwayg emulated a prin- ciple rather than imitated a form." 0 By 1904 Wright was occupied with the Larkin Building in Buffalo which was to gain so much prominence in the eyes of those EurOpeane working in the new direction. Not only did this monumental structure exemplify the modern Spirit of in- dustry, but it also utilized many of its products. Reinforced concrete, a sealed interior, and spaciousness of interior were all part of the planning. Besides these features, the architect introduced the use of air conditiOnhmgas well as the addition of built-in metal office ftrniture. By 1916 Wright was working on the now famous Imperial Hotel in Tokio. Designed to withstand the shattering impact COEELICT: Materials and Techniques lgg of earthquakes, the hotel was laid out in the form of a great H—pattern, the foundations of which were rested on a large layer of cheese-mud. As Wright noted on.the plans for the building, "The floor slabs balanced over central supports as a tray rests on a waitersfingers to prevent failure under earthquake strain."KmThe success of wright as a structural engineer would rest on this building alone if he had no other works to support his record. However, emergency alone has never been the motivator for the architect's utilization of modern techniques. The planning for the Johnson Wax Company's Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin further discribes the originality and daring of this architect in the handling of structure. This example of commercial architecture was designed in 1936 with considerations of beauty and warmth of atmosphere which by then had become common in wright's domestic projects. The new lily-pad piers for the building were of primary im— portance in creating an exotic effect in.the interior. The piers were to be used as both load bearing and decorative elements, but their uniqueness made building inepectors skeptical to a point where construction.had to be halted. Before work could continue, the inepectors insisted upon the erection of a trial pier for the purpose of a weight test. A test pier was put up, and loaded by crane to a capacity beyond its required limit. Wright having than satisfied the inepectors about his unique structural forms, was permitted to carry on with the construction work. COHELICT: materials and Techniques 149 Through sixty years of practice, wright has not permit- ted himself to rest long on any single stage of develOpment. Even in old age, there is a vitality to his architecture which exceeds that of his youth. It would indeed be a difficult task to enumerate all of the Specific innovations which this architect has made in regard to modern structural advancements. A survey of his present projects demonstrates that he is still .working in front of his contemporaries in the field of struc- tural engineering. Spiral forms, suSpended constructions, revolutionary house forms, stacked towers, all indicate that Wright is constantly searching for new structural solutions for building. The tower which wright designed for the composite of the Johnson wax Company provides a current example of the archi- tect's love for new forms. A description of the building by the artist himself describes not only the work, but the manner in which he approaches the technical challenge of architec- ture for*the age of mechanization: "The 8.0. Johnson Company's new research-laboratory is a natural extension of the original administration building. In effect, it is a tall ventilating shaft, surrounding which all research activities of the lab- oratory have direct, all-around access. The endless duct ramifications unavoidable in a building Spread over the ground are here avoided, and the segregation of variors departments is effected ver- tically instead of horizontally with the great advan- tage of light on four sides of each department. Com— munication between departdents is also shortened and direct. Heating, ventilating and the appurtenance and systens usually running into diles of complex piping connections are here standardized vertically with dir- ect take-offs from all sypply sgsteps to 14 Operating floors. Figure 7. Helio-Labor o for Johnson Wax Company, Wisconsin (1950) Ver i 1 ef-earthquake construe ' Frank Lloyd Wright, Arch t t COITFLICT: i-Zaterials and Techniques 151 The structure again is a trunk with a taproot, carrying lateral floor-Slabs. This glass envelope, like that of the original administration building, is formed of tunes outside,but with a plate-glass wall inside, movable for cleaning purposes. The exterior of the building is provided with live steam outlets so the glass walls may be easily kept bright and clean. Each story projects over the one below enough to form a drip which helps keep the glass clean and pro- vid as additional Space on the best floors of all, those going up in the air. Every apprOpriate app urtenance known to science has been sought in this building by Herbert F. Johnson, the originator and owner of the project. It may be truly said in every sense in scheme and structure that here é? an organic building. Construc- tion is proceeding." Figure '7 shows a vertical section of the tower with its "taproots" deep in the ground. The tapered effect to be found in the super-structure can also be not ed in the sectional drawing. Complex as the planning preparations were for this new and radically different building, Wright holds that only by similar investigations can architecture unfold as a thing of limitless beauty, and the backbone of a healthy culture. The architect, here takes his stand against the regimentation of architecture through the uniform treatment of form and structtre. To Wright eacn build ing problem is different, and each solution should therefore be unique. Whatever the cost, the architect feels that society must afford the luxury of an architecture founded on prevailing needs and marked With individuality of beauty. His is a beauty close to craftsmanshipm usterials, and structure, aS many of his ener- gies have been directed toward the structural aSp ect of COHELICT: Materials and Techniques 162 construction. Yet, at the same time, he has with Skill and confidence retained a blending of his engineering feats with elements deep in the art of building. Although the architects of the Bauhaus utilized the techniques of mechanization for the develOpment of a new architecture, they have not searched out new structural solutions as has the master of Taliesin. This was the pro- found difference between the two schools: wnere Wright pre- ferred to work with modern techniques in the area of struc- ture, the architects of the Bauhaus chose to work with techniques in the area of large scale production. Both groups believed that a free architecture must re- main alive to change, and the personal needs of individuals, in order to avoid a "machine-made" sterility. To do this, the Bauhaus peOple sought a precision and efficiency in the use of techniques for production purposes. Wright did more: he exploited new structural possibilities to his utmost, and put them to work to keep architecture advanced as an ideal of the future. Out of considered appraisal, it is necessary to state that for the school favoring the technology of building, the Bauhaus architects have produced but a minimum of technical advancements. Whereas Wright as the great exponent of the school favoring art has been a steady innovator of technical advancement. Nowhere in the history of architecture have so many structural developments been presented to the field of building by a single designer. CONFLICT: haterials and Techniques 153 E. Inner and Outer Space Attention was called in Chapter 6 to the content of geometrical and organic elements within the scope of Bauhaus and Taliesin education. The discussion of regional conscious- ness, the formulation of the plan, and the tee of materials and techniques has shown how Specific use has been made of such principles in the planning of each side. Geometrical and organic conditions are nowhere more obvious than in the inter- ior and the exterior appearance of the buildings. Such ref- erence to interior and exterior differences introduces at once the consideration.of the twofold nature of architecture to its environment, that of inner and outer space. The supreme purpose for Which a building iserected is the provision of Space, and of all of the factors which an architect must take into account, Space is perhaps the most difficult to control. The dictionary defines gpggg as that which is characterized by extension in all directions, and however applicable this may be for the universal interpre- tation of the word, it will not suffice for architecture. For architecture, Space is the determination of position through the relationships of structural forms. In essence, space is that which is within and withocm the shell of man's shelter, and it is thus that architecture becomes more than mere structure. A giant dam, a bridge, a massive monument may not preperly be regarded as architecture simply because these do not provide for inner Space. Prior to construction CONFLICT: haterials and Techniques 164 Space is without definition, but with the forms of a building Space becomes an entity, something proportioned by the mem- bers which the architect has prepared. Conditions of spatial treatment separate the architect from.the engineer. Where the engineer's primary area of work is with structural prob- lems, the architect is chiefly occupied with Spatial problems, and the merit of his work rests heavily on his ability to cOpe with its peculiarities of time and place. The preparations of drawings for the exterior and the interior of a building require a constant concern for Spatial conditions. Impossible as it is in practice to Separate the demands for Space from the-other aSpects of planning, separa- tion must be made here for the purpose of clarification. The architect in considering his problem of space must visualize in advance those atmOSpheric effects Which he hOpes to achieve in his completed work. The possibilities for Spatial treat- ments are broad: it can be horizontal, vertical, Open, en- closed, static, moving, to name some of the effects which are commonly eXperienced. Every step of the planning process must therefore be directed toward the articulation of the shapes in Space which in turn will mohi the inner Spatial patterns. It is in this way that a building to the outside takes its place as a part of the architectural environment used by the Society, and to the inside serves as the shelter for its particular activities. Because of its Spatial characteristics, architecture is more than the mechanics of assembling walls, COJELICT: Materials and Techniques 155 roofs, floors and the appurtenances of a building into a unified composite. The reality of Spatia].conditions chang- ing with the society have always provided architecture with requirements exceeding those of simple shelter. History Shows a repeated change of Spatial concepts of Space in:reLation to prevailing social conditions. The Greek temple was built for the edification of the huge statues Sheltered within, but because these were within reach of only a select few, the forum of the temples were to be ex- perienced by the majority from.the exterior. very little imagination is required to visualize the veneration Which the temple, high on the crest of an acrOpolis, evoked over those below. Rich in marble, adorned with statuary and majestic columns, the Splendor of its precise forms were in harmony with the universal concepts known to Greek civiliza- tion. The medieval cathedral was much less an external experi- ence than one to take place within.the great structure. From the outside the cathedral rested in close harmony with the other buildings of the community, and only the tall Spires pointing skyward were apart from its surroundhig environment. Every external feature was relegated to the drama within the building. The buttresses of the outside supported the hovering inner vaults; the windows, plain to»the outside, were colorful to the interior; and the entraces, ornate with sculpture, illustrated the story of Christ's sacrifice which COEFLICT: Katerials and Technigues 156 was retold with each celebration of the Mass within. The interest here was otherworldly, and vertical elements of Spatial treatment emphasised the concern of'Ume society for a heavenly afterlife. Architectural students exposed to the education of the Ecole des Beaux.Arts system left the school fully oriented in the decorative principles used in.the historical psrflads. When the decorative effects of the past were applied to the surfaces of buildings no longer related in Special con- cepts with the past, there was a resultant loss of vitality. The great message which modern educators had for their students was that the decorative effects, no longer meaning- ful, could do little more than provide a picturesque way of building. The application of decoration in search of the picturesque so misconstrued the logic of the original forms that elements from the temple Which.originally had been designed for exterior purposes were being used for interiors. hmat had existed solely for the purpose of providing for interior conditians of the cathedral could he found as the external ornamentation.of skyscrapers or campus buildings. [Mderlying such ornamentation of the inner and outer surface of a building there was a disregard for the new Spacial conceptions of contemporary society. Space as it relates to the Society of the twentieth century is dynamic, eXperienced as a thing of movement, and CONFLICT: materials and Techniques 157 the theory of its nature is deep in the scientific and technical advancement of the period. The concept of space depends in large part on the Speed and movement so charac- teristic of contemporary culture. Science has explored the realm of the universe on an unprecidented scale, and tech- nology has provided methods of rapid tranSportati on, and instantaneous communication heretofore unknown. Because the new feeling for movement has within the century changed the point of view of the architect from the accepted views of the past, it is important that reference be uade to auth- oritive commentary on the subject. Dr. Giedion in his study of the Spatial problems of the modern architect has this to say about the matter: "Space in modern physics in conceived of as rela- tive to a moving point of reference, not as the abso- lute and static entity of the baroque system of Newton. And in modern art, for the first time since the Renais- sance, a new conception of Space leads to a self-con- scious enlargement of our ways of perceiving space. It was in cubism that this was most fully achieved. The cubi sts did not seek to reproduce the appearance of objects from one vantage point; they went around then, tried to lay hold of their internal constitution. They sought to extend the scale of feeling, just as contemporary science extends its descriptions to cover new lemls of material phenomena. Cubism breaks with Renaissance perSpective. It views objects relatively: that is , from several points of view, no one of which has exclusive authority. And in so dissecting objects it Sees them simultaneously from all Sides - from above and below, from inside and out- side. It goes around and into its ob jects. Thus, to the three dimensions of the Renaissance which have held good as constituent facts throughout so many centuries, there is added a fourth one - time. The poet Gillaume Apollinaire was the first to recognize and express this change around 1911. The same year saw the first cubist exhibition in the Salon des Independants. Considering CONFLICT: Materials and Technifles 158 the history of the principles from Which they broke, it can well be understood that the paintings should have been thought a menance to the public peace, and have become the subject of remarks in the Cham- bers of Deputies. The presentation of objects from several points of view introduces a principle which is intimately bound up with modern life - simultaneity. It is a temporal coincidence that Einstein Should have begun his famous work, Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper, in 1905 with a careful definition of simultaneity."22 The speed with which Space is mastered in contemporary society has had its effect on the architectural planning of the period. Because of re-enforced concrete construction, and the service of high Speed elevators, the activities of peOple are no longer confined to the levels of the earth. No longer are cities contained within.the fortifications of a guarded wall, instead they are dynamic patterns of movement. Automobiles, planes, trains all carry out the feeling of Special control between.the city and the surrounding country- side. Indeed, telephones, papers, films and television, have Speeded up the forces of Spatial control Which we know in our daily lives. The new concepts cf Space control have had their influence on the changing patterns of architecture. An awareness to the new conditions of Space have already been not ed in the work of the modern architects. What are some of the changes incurred in modern archi- tecture from the conditions of space and movement? Some common to the practice of the two schools may be generalized. The Beaux Arts idea of separating the interior from the exterior has been disregarded. Rather than raishig a structure CO.‘-~I.TI..ICT: Iafatcrials and. Techniques 159 only to apply decoration Sepa rately to the two Sides, the moderns have considered the integral relationship between the two Si des. This has meant a re-evaluation of struc- ture and of :mterials in which the two have come to meet new requirements of use. rThe belief that a building must be desigmd with a front Side and a back side has also been disqualified for present day needs. For both groups there has been an in- terest in a new design totality out of which buildings are planned to be experienced from many Sides. So interesting has the problem of design totality been to these moderns that even the roof is no long er considered as an adjunct to the rest of the building. In the work of both groups there are examples in which roof sections have been utilized for areas of recreation, or as an integral part of the design composition. By means of the free plan, both Sides have experimented with the cpen division of interiors. The same method has been used to achieve more Spacious areas for the Special reguirements of contemporary living. for some types of buildings, pa rticularly commercial, this has result ed in com- pletely enclosed conditions of spatial control. For domestic work in general, the free plan has broken down the separation oetween the interior and the exterior. Not only do the areas of the inside flow together, they also merge with that of the outside. Today the large sections of wall glass in popular HATE IV L'L‘iCPI. B".’:IUFR, House for the louseum of Modern Art New York, l9h9 COI-IFLICT: Matforials and Techniques 161 use provide a feeling of Space movement for the modern home. Plate IV shows such sections of glass relating the interior rooms with the exterior area. Here, in the house which L‘Iarcel Breuer designed for the Museum of Led ern Art, the rooms are joined with the outside, so that the sculpture and the plant forms of the garden are in reality those of the interior. The movement of the sun also enters into contemporary planning, and the photograph of Breuer's home points out ‘the use-which modern architects have made of the southern ‘eXposure. Large overhangs have been so developed that con— trol is provided for the seasonal position of the sun. The overhang acts as a sunshade for the interior when, in the summer months, the sun is high and warm. In the winter months when the sun is low, the overhang permits the sun to diffuse its cheerful effects of light over the interior of the house. Rooms in which‘Space continues uninterruptedly through glass walls has produced a new interest in the orientation of principle rooms to the scenery. A river, a highway, the reaches of nature or a city are considered for the vista they hold. Panoramas of this type changing from day to day, and from season to season, actually provide walls that move wdtn the events of life. Mod ern architecture has therefore been reuoved from the rigid conditions of previous buildings, and as a result its CONFLICT: liaterials and Techniques 162 forms are to be seen and understood from many sides. Many- sidedness in building thus provides for conditions of Simul- taneity which, like cubistic painting, imply movene nt instead of static interpretation. On both Sides of the issue the architect-educators have participated in experiments with continuous Space. Earlier documentation has disclosed that for the Bauhaus this has resulted in forms of a geometric kind based on reg- ularity of plan. To further their ideas of Spa cial treat- ment, this side has concentrated on a dematerializing of architecture through the techniques of modern construction. On the opposite side there has been a resolution of principles to organic forms, and the pursuit of irregularity in plan. Assertion of materials, and the techniques of structure are also important in the architecture of the Taliesin education. With these findings in view, Space mist be discussed, not in terms of Specific examples, but in terms of the basic theories for shelter which each school has developed. Spatial control of the total environment through the achievements of modern architecture is a growing concern among the architects of the two schools. The fact that iS is a growing problem points to the position of the moi: ern movement itself. Where the efforts of the arcn it ects were earlier devoted to the crystalization and develOpment of formulative ideas, there is now an increased interest in CONFLICT: materials and riechniques f 165 utilizing the findings which the earlier periods have pro- duced. Gerhard Xal lmann in an article entitled Towards a n‘fi .- New Environment points out how this condition has provoked the question of what he calls cont inuo_u_s shelter. fir. Kallmann introduces the idea of continuous Shelter by des- cribing it in relation to the motion experiem ed in the trban areas of America, he states: "The American City is a dramatic demonstration of motion existence articulating Space. At the cen- ter of congress, motion compressed surges upwards to a height of 50 floors or more in towers that pinpoint the Skies. Radiating horizontally outwards from the centers it articulates highway ribbons charged with continuity of energy missiles; omnidirectionally it radiates outwards by aeroplanes arriving and depart- ing from the fountain-heads of cities revealing the virtual volume of the extended occupancy of Space. A new type of everyday environment is being Shaped to the demands of the all motion existence. Drive- in banks, drive-in restaurants, drive-in cinemas, drive-in Shops (at Macy's Department Store in a New York suburb, the car is driven on to the roof and access takes place downwards from there), multi-laned landscaped drives, and for vertical motion batteries of elevators with 10%31 and eXpreSS cars are new en- vironment element s." "Under the impact of a more active Spatial existence the architecture of definable building entitles, as we have known it , is gradually dissolving. Rigid b3 und- aries between buildings are beginning to break down and are giving way to a fluid type of enclosure which, like a continuous umbrella, stretches over every phase of life. In face of this the formal images of a modern archit ectural style, whether metropolitan or regional, have come to mean very little. Static conceptions how- ever visually seductive, are making way for an environ- ment of dissolving cogZourS with new demands for archi- tect ural projection." In the conclusion of this chapter on the use of materials and techniques in architectural theory,consideration must be given CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 164 to the particular stand which each side has demonstrated in regard to enclosures stretching over large areas with but a minimum of structural support, or as the above ref- erence indicates, like a continuous unbrella. Continuous shelter is fundamentally the result of con- temporary concepts of continuous space merged with new tech- nical needs and advancements. Through the facilities of this kind of shelter, large areas are provided with Spatial controls over light, climate and movement. Rockefeller Center, Willow Run, the Pentagon are given as examples of this type of shelter now in use, and Plate V shows an aerial view of the consolidated Vultee Aircraft Plant of Fort Worth, Texas with its 1,294,000 square feet of roof area. The social implications of such forms of Space control are close to the Bauhaus ideals as the following quotation will clearly indicate: "The demands of a mass society and the stratagem of standardization as a condition of us as production cannot but lead in the direction of a typical and anony— mous architecture. Whether it be the diSpersed mass produced unit or the multiple organization of large horizontal or vertical enclosure it is built of typical elements, in repeat rhythms. Design expression has retreated to important and unique articulations in focal areas. Here a juxtaposition of cpen and enclosed Space of repetitive background and Specific architectural object, of plantform, sculpture, floor patterns, may serve to dramatize the community occasion rather than the private monument. Even this shrinking range of design expressiveness is becoming dubégus and may soon be re- garded as an atavistic relic." At this point there is no need for the reiteration of those conditions in Bauhaus architecture which fit into this .omma .owaoaeo saucepan: financed. .mmoe mam 5e made 538a. .583 fioa £53 tassel $35 efimeoaomcoo .o‘rsuTr»hi .., 411).? xivy. :::::: CONFL CT: haterials and Techniques 166 pattern of thinking. AS Plate V'will verify, this is a clear statement of the regular plan, the dematerialization in structure,and the technology of construction which the Bauhaus educators have supported. This Scene shows the Algonquin Apartments of Chicago whiCh were begun in 1950. The Six buildings, housing 414 apartments, were designed by Miss Van der Rohe in conjunction with the Pace Associates of Chicago. The apartments Show the use of typical repeated units for a minimum cost project. One last statement from the author of this study of continuous shelter is enough to show the relationship of the movement to the educational ideals establiShed by the Bauhaus men in their work in the united States. Here the concern is for the life values involved in such prOposals for archi- tectural reform: "walter GrOpius had been able in terms commen- surate with the American enthusiasm for technics to justify the pride in industrialism as a significant collective act for the common good. The influx of a number of American minded, i.e. socio-technologically interested EurOpean teachers (Van der Rohe, hoholy- Nagy, Chermayeff, Albers, Breuer,.etc.) which replaced the French Beaux Arts influence with its own dynamic, established a climate in which new steps could be taken forward towards an even more close fusion be- tween the present day social requirements, the techg6 nological potential and the design of environment." This then, was the technology of building in its highest order of idealism; providing first for the Social needs of Shelter, not by standards of art but by standards of technolo- gical advancement. Geometrical forms, silhouetted in bold CONFLICT: Idaterials am Technicfles 167 outline against the Sky, to the functional requirements of community life. For the Bauhaus architecture in the age of the uachine meant buildings which could stand by themselves and with little reference to materials, structtral techniques, or the elements of the landscape. And though the issue was far from settled, to this Side contemporary needs meant the unavoidable articulation of as ea through typical methods of continuous shelter. One reason why the issue of regular Space and continuous shelter remains unsettled is because technically it has only recently been made possible. Another reason is because the work of Frank Lloyd Wright has opposed it in principle and in practice. In both educational and architectural work he has sought a kind of Space articulation which would harmonize with his conception tint building is closer to art than to technology. In this he has won many followers to his cause for an organic architecture. Bruno Zevi is one of the younger architects who has accepted Wright's leadership in the organic movement. Also gifted as a writer, the Italian designer has made a critical survey of Wright's work in the handling of space, and it is with Space that the author feels that '.'."right has made his great est contribution to the field of planning. Zevi describes what he believes to be the essence of wright's special treatment by saying: "In Wright's houses...the Spatial organization is organic: both in plan and in elevation they cor- reSpond to the activities of life and to the pleasure of the eye. In fact, Wright does what every archi- CONFLICT: Materials and Techniqu 168 tect ought to do and what very few of then really do - instead of thinking in terms of plan and eleva- tion, he thinks in terms of interior space. This gives to his rooms a freedom of Shape and an inde- pendence of the square and the rectangle which are not found to the same degree in the works of other architects. What is much more important is the fact that this awareness of internal Space leads to a Spatial continuity which embraces egg], rooms. This is the principle of the free plan." The organic Spatial organization which the critic sees in Wright's houses is also to be found in the architect's non-domestic work. Here, Spatial control is described as a treatment quite different from the quality of Space resulting from typical rectangular forms. How does such organic Space conception relate to continuous shelter? The critic pro- vid as a statement which Opens the road for investigation. Zevi describes the organic work of Wright by saying, "first, that his buildings are entities like living organisms, and secondly, that they are functional in relation to mankind"? In effect this reasonably exp lans why the master of Taliesin has opposed the doctrinaire logic of Bauhaus conceptions of metric Space, and those of continuous shelter. The regard for a building as an entity is to be found throughout all of Wright's architecture. To him each struc- ture must rise on its own to serve those particular requirements Which make its erection worthwhile. Place, plan, materials, and structure are all considered in the special planning which the architect devotes to each commission. AS a result of his exploratory feeling for Space through structure, each buildirg rises as a separately and individual solution. This is poopfloé Semis. Rod uses Managua beca—60 Nag conga. we 9.3.5.5 m enema CONFLICT: Material; and Techniques 1'70 precisely why Wright's work has possessed such unparelled vitality over the years. By constantly stri ving for exec;- tion, or alteration, of previous Spatial solutions, his architecture has a recurrent freshness which it would not contain if it were regulated by stereotyped cubical patterns. Wright '8 work can seldom be graSped from a single point of view. To be understood the buildings mist be experienced in the round. Every vantage point offers a new and unified composition. For modern Spatial concepts based on movement, and the changing point of view, here is an example of con- temporary ideals expressed in architecture. The Guggenheim Museum project provides a case in point for the discussion of the variety which is to be experienced in Wright's work. For the museum project the architect planned a building which would mold a continuous Spiral of Space from the earth to a point Several levels above the street. From every Side the building conveys the feeling of moving Spatial qualities. The prOpertieS of this building are now observable only from a Scale model which has been built, but from this it is apparent that the dynamics are those of a Spring affixed to its Site. Something of the same Spatial quality can be found in the now completed Johnson Wax Company Tower, which is illustrated in Fig we 8. The tower, giant plant structure that it is, presents the illusion of a form growing ever higher into Space. Dynamic forms like these are unquestionably individual monuments in architecture, but as they are concerned CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 171 with the manifestation of Space, theyzare in harmony the movement in Space and the love for changing ideas which _ are eXpressive of the age. Stating that Wright's buildings are functional in relation to mankind, implies that they are works cf art which transcend technical functionalism alone. The large technical accomplishments of the twentieth century have in themselves elements at awesome beauty. The massive forms of the great dams provide an imposing artistic composition of farce and weight. The long, graceful lines of a suspension bridge also stimulates our senses as a thing of beauty. However, these engineering forms lave an austerity which separate them.from architecture and its demands for elements of personal warmth. In this matter, an architecture of technology borders close to the severe forms of engineering, because of the regularity of cubical and repeated forms. Function to wright means giving due reSpect to the spiritual needs of the individuals or the community, as well as to utilitarian ccnsiderations. Whether it is a church, a house, an office, or a factory, he rises above the limita- tions of mere Shelter to provide an emotional atbOSphere which technical units have been relieved of their plainness by the addition of landscaping to the outside, and to the inside, murals, sculpture and plant growths. After-thought modifications to relieve plain surfaces or severe lines is contrary to the attitude which Wright has toward architecture as an art. CONFLICT: Materials and Technigues 172 If humans require qualities of an emotional nature in architecture, Wright believes that they Should emanate from every structural member of the building rather than from external surface treatment. His atmospheric impressions are therefore created by the inner character of woods, warm colors, course textures, and a close association with the forms of nature. The buildings are by themselves replete with a quality of art which the designer refers to as organic. It is in this concern for the Spirituality of building wherein Wright substantiates the individuality of his work, maintaining that it has that validity which suits it to the flourishing growth of an indiginous culture. Wright has not hing in his long list of work Which has contributed to the idea of continuous shelter. With the convictions expressed above for buildings as separate enti- ties, and the Opportunity for independent eXpressiveness, it is evident that he has worked against such a coception of building. Indeed, the findings of this study have Shown the architect's disregard for those conditions on which continu- ous shelter depends. Wright's experimentation with the flexible plan, the materializing of forms, and the techni- ques of structure may accurately be interpreted as the denun- ciation of a sterile, yypical architecture. For the side of art, wright has recognized Space as a reality, and through the individuality of his work he has given it dramatic treatment. He has not hesitated to cpen CONFLICT: Materials and Techniques 173 Space to the exterior, or when the occasion warranted the reverse, to close it off completely. Above all , he has evaluated Sp ace as the sacred heritage before man, and whether it be within a small house, around the community, or over the nation, a thing to be given artistic integration. WideSpread integration as it encompasses the work of these two schools will be given further study in the social theories contained within the next chapter. CONFIJCT: Materials and Technigues 174 Footnotes 1 Architectural Forum, Volume 91, Number II, (August, 1949), p. 12. 2 Henry-Russell Hitchcock; Painting Towards Archi- tecture, (New Ybrk, 1948), p. 362. 5 Ibid., p. 24. 4 Ibid., p. 40. 5 Ibid., p. 18. 6 Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, (Cambridge, 1949), p. 428. 7 Architectural Forum, Volume 93, Number VI, (Dec- ember, 1950), p. 63. 8 Bruno Zevi, Towards g3 Organic Architecture., (London, 1949), p. 5 . 9 The Magazine g: Building, Volume 94, Number I, (January, 1951), p. 91. 10 Sigfried Giedion, Op, Cit., p. 569. 11 Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Qp. Cit., p. 561. 12 Sigfried Giedion, Op. Cit., p. 425. 15 Ibid., p. 428. 14 Frank Lloyd ”right, The Ma azine of Building, (Volume 94, Number I, (January, 19511), p.74. 15 Falter GrOpius The New Architecture and the Bauhaus, (Imndon, 1935), p. 38. 16 walter Gropius, Rebuilding_0ur Communities, (Chicago, 1945), p. 44. . l7 Sigfried Giedion, Op; Cit., p. $21. 18 Frank Lloyd Nright, The Magazine 23 Buildigg, OR. Cit., p. 81. 19 Ibid., p. 81. CONFLICT: materials arfl Techniques 175 20 Henry-Russell Hitchcock, lg_The Nature 23 Nateria S, (New York, 1942), p. 149. 21 Frank Lloyd wright, The Architectural Forum, (Volume 88, Number 1, (January, 1948), p. 114. 22 Sigfried Giedion, Op. Cit., p. 569. 25 Gerhard Kallmann, The Architectural geview, Volume CViii, Number 648, (December, 1950). p. 407-8. 24 Ibid;, p. 408. 25 Ibid;, p. 410. 26 Ibid;, p. 408. 27 Bruno Zevi,,gp;_gi£;J p. 105-6. 28 Bruno Zevi, Magazine 3; Art, Volume 15, Number 5, (May, 1950), p. 45. "" Chapter 8 SOCIAL THEORIES Architecture has long served historians as a reliable indication of man's determination to civilize himself. As the shelter for his various activities within the social structure, it is architecture which unquestionably discloses whether a peOple live by competitive codes or c00perative codes. Almost as one, modern architects have viewed the rising chaos of architecture inaan industrial era as an indi- cation of frustration. They have reasoned twat men, not the machines, have been the servants. Together, these architects have cried out for cooperation as a means of bringing about, through our great industrial resources, those changes Which- would provide for an ordered architectural environment. There can be no doubt, at mid-point in the twentieth century, but what disorder has resulted from misuse of the industrial potential. Only in a few isolated areas of the world has there been a reasonable balance between production and consumption. Holland, Switzerland, Scandinavia are among those few areas where a harmony has been.established between the individual and his society. In many garts of the world conditions of want and backwardness are the direct product of too little industrialization. In the remaining areas im- personal and confused conditions have resulted from too much industrialization and too little planning. The causes of such social condit one are deep in nationalistic situations, CONFLICT: Social Theories 177 but they are conditions Which are close to the architect and his position as a planner. The role of the social planner is not new to the profes- sion of architecture. In fact, it has in one form or another always been his responsibility. modern architects have simply realized their position with greater clarity than their immediate predecessors. In our investigation of the architects from a EurOpean school and an American school, we find that both groups have been preoccupied with the possibili- ties for total community planning. Both groups have been aware of the individual and his communal needs. For each the shaping of the human community meant cOOperative activi- ties, and a beautiful and organic architectural environment. Each side has been particularly active ami outSpoken in the projection and defense of their views. Yet, each has offered entirely separate ideas, each.based on different conditions of religion, politics and economics. These separate social views have in turn.produced one more force of opposition between the two schools. The attitude supported by the Bauhaus group has been one given to the belief that the highest order of social orientation is that found in centralization: the city. The attitude of the Taliesin group has been based on decentrali- zation: the country. The separate stands taken by the two groups have been adequately printed in several books, and the substance of CONFLICT: Social Theories 178 their beliefs may be accepted from.the leaders themselves. Gropius clearly states his position in Rebuilding Our Communities: Wright in When Democracy Builds. The two books were published in 1945, and both are concerned with problems which are specifically American in their make-up. Bebuilding Our Communities proposes the reshaping of the centralized community for a vital and humanized social planning.1 It was develOped out of the view which Gropius upholds that social order of any kind relies upon modern technology realized in the concentrated community. The author states in his study that, "The future of architecture and building stands upon the sound reorientation of the entire community set-up, planning for the future in.the broadest sense." From this attitude we can trust tnat GrOpius' pro- posals will be, as is his architecture, direct and calculated, and energized with a practical and methodical approach. The proposals which GrOpius makes for Rebuilding Our Communities were presented in a lecture in Chicago in 1945 Sponsored by the Institute of Design, the Chicago Association of Commerce, and the Chicago Plan Commission. To those who attended the lecture, or to those Who read the book, Gropius presents the challenge of building that is before America: "Let the human element become the dominant factor". To GrOpius the lack of planning on every level has impli- cations of social decay, which must be met first by the architect and the planners if there are to be followers who CONFLICT: Social Theories 179 will support reform movements. The chaos which the archi- tect acclaims to be endangering the country stems from the breakdown of the community. According to the architect the lack of properly planned communities is bound to have its effect in the form of socially irreSponsible citizens. With the promise of increased industrialization, it is the view of the architect that America will become even more disorgan- ized as the scale of human valms diminishes. This situation is so close to individual rights that it has evidence of moving away from the concept of democracy. As an example of the democratic principle of community planning, GrOpius cites the case of the New England village. There the turn meeting was an SXpression of a healthy partici- pation of peOple in the affairs of their immediate neighbor- hoods. The author believes that the community should serve the needs of the individual, rather tnan.the reverse condi- tion in Which the individual serves the community. The solu- tion on every level of planning, from the smallest village to the largest city, should begin with the organic community: the self-contained neighborhood. To establish his point, the author describes the organic compositon of groups in nature. Such organic planning of community life is already in pro- gress in isolated areas. He must study these examples, and at the same time make scientific investigations into the needs of cities over the country. Centralization, GrOpius maintains, is the only solution CONFLICT: Social Theories 180 to the expanding centers of industry and commerce. In the formless city pattern he sees men.wasting away their lives in hectic and wasteful motion. This he comments on by say- ing,"When we read that many Chicagoans Spend nine years of their life on the way to and from their work, we ask is that a triumph of the technical age?" The organic community Should thus approach a regubated balance between.commerce, industry, housing, educational facilities, recreational provisions and communication arteries. The deans of which are adequately within our reach, if we apply the machinery of technology to the job. Reform of the community would call for a re-evaluation of the economy of architecture. To GrOpius this means some severe departures from the present form of economy. To begin, he would let it be known that when a peOple disregard archi- tecture they disregard their own social health. And in an economy Where the production of automobiles is given more significance than housing, Gropius believes there is every reason for alarm. Also, he upholds the belief that the needs of the community should have precedence over the needs of pri- vate enterprises. That is, the neighborhood would be a common stockholder with the reSponsibility for the maintenance of the city-beautiful. Such community ownership would promise more active participation in any rehabilitation process what- soever o CONFLICT: Social Theories 181 For a departure toward the replanned community, Gropius pro- poses four points for consideration. These points are the result of long consideration and they are not idealistic notions. Point one calls for legislation which will place community rights above thoSe of private enterprise. Point two calls for a reform in house financing which would involve subsidation by government. Point three calls for changes in the organization of those groups which handle the techniques of building. And, point four calls for an intelligent approach to prefabrication. Throughout the book there is the suggestion that the great force of Opposition to these prOposals will naturally be found in the retarding effects of tradition. A tradition, no less, which has in every reSpect produced and continues to produce an unhealthy architectural environment for the people. In these proposals for an organic community, GrOpius believes that it is up to the small community to begin the change, and in this he suggests that present examples of organic groupings be studied, and the findings applied to other places. Starting with the desire for revitalized neighborhood centers it would be possible for each city to create a model for other sections to emulate. If each city would create within its boundaries one ideal community area based on a system of flexible, long-range planning, this would serve as an initial stimulous for surround- CONFLICT: Seeial Theories 182 ing communities. These examples, so Gropius thinks, would then excite other areas to even greater accomplishments, until an over-all social consciousness in terms of architec- ture would be develOped. To the end of a more integrated social order, architec- ture must take an imposing part. GrOpius sees architecture as an integrating force, and a source of great social pride if the facilities of machine techniques are properly utilized. To GrOpius the promise of the future lies in community participation. Without active community participation, the architect predicts that the present signs of social disin- tegration will become dangerously enlarged. When Democracy Builds prOposes the Shaping of the de- centralized community for a vital and humanized social order.2 It has develOped out of wright's contempt for industrial squalor, and it is the architect's conception of an American utOpia, or usonia as he is inclined to term his concept for better living for our people. The author tells us that his work was not written to please anyone; that it was written with the same urge that impells him to build. From this atti- tude it can be trusted that wright's prOposalS will be, as is his architecture, individualistic in scope. The USonia in America that is described throughout the course of the book is wright's "New Frontier", and as much of a challenge to contemporary citizens as any new frontier of the past. This frontier is the area of a decentralized : I CONFTICT: Social Theories 1§§ social structure which the author would like to see replace the confusion which he now sees in due urban life of America. There is the same romantic and venturesome flavor to this study of culture that one finds in Wright's personality. The architect has long found the city a depressing eXperience. He believes that the city saps those life—giving qualities of citizenship that are essential in a democracy. Further, he believes that if our country is to enjoy a freedom of personal existence that is related to democracy, the future must be planned in such a way that the individual will be elevated rather than lost in the anonymity of the city. As wright presents his plan for the revitalization of America, he diagnoses the condition of this country in much the same way a doctor would examine a patient. The result of his diagnoses is as clear, and he states that the city is "like a cross section.of a fibrous tumor". As his charge continues, wright defies every phase of city life from its economy, through his architecture, to its religion. AS a result of the poisonous city, the nation suffers and the individual is made helpless. To wright the tragedy is that individuals absorb the effects without the least amount of effurt to remove the cause. wright firmly believes that the ills of modern.society can be treated with a new concept of individuality; individ- uality SXpressed in the architecture arm therefore the Spirit CONFLICTL Social Theories 184 of society. "Individuality", he says, "is organic Spirit- uality. It is the essence of true manhood....the soul. Democracy is its very Gospel." The new form of architecture that will produce this individualistic man is the decentral- ized city. In this Wright prOposes that those very same forces that permitted the city to outgrow itself will enable it to return to decentralization. Those forces are steam and electricity. PrOper utilization of steam and electricity throughout the nation would make possible an exodus to a new civiliation in America. That new civilization would be made possible with a new architecture and the organization of a new form of city. Wright calls his new city an "organic city". In this organic city of the future, every citizen would be close to the land. Each citizen would have some preperty of his own. Everyone would be in the center of economic and cultural Opportunity. Lien everywhere would have the "freedom and freshness of life from within", which, in the words of Wright, no civilization every has attained or could ever attain until now because of modern technological improvements. With no more than an acre of land for each family, the use 'of the soil, the architecture upon it, and the family way of life could be moulded into a harmonious whole that would be far more attractive than What now exists. This institution, or organic environment, over the nation would be called the Usonian Cit y. CONFLICT: Social Theories 185 The USonian City, in plan, is a Spacious dream for a land free of slums, and a system of economy based jointly on industry and agriculture. Added to this plan would be the develOpment of cultural centers within.reach of every community. In concept the reader can gain some comprehension of Wright's thinking through the elaborate models his appren- tices have prepared in order to demonstrate the general pattern of the [monian City. In looking at the models one sees beautifully landscaped highways, comfortable homes, and a com- munity life prOportionate to individuals rather than on an overwhelming scale. writing with the full conviction of his energies, wright maintains that each citizen will be proud to take a part in the government of the new USonian City simply because every- one will be so much a part of the government. In short, the city will constitute the nation, and every man will be an important member taking an active part in.its Operation. Wri ght is certain that there will be opposi tion to this dream for a better America, and with.determination.and bravado he shouts defiance to one and all by saying that "a great modern city over the nation must now be built in terms of public need instead of financial gain". To accomplish this we must find some way of Sid e-tracking the civilization of the "great railway builders", or exploiters of America, into a civilization actually concerned with the welfare of the people at large. HONFLICT: Social Theories 186 Where and how will this change take place? First, he thinks we must renounce the period architecture for organic architecture. Next, he believes we must renounce the pre- sent economic system for an economy more advantageous to the individual. Finally, he believes that our peOp le should take more and more to the soil, and that our government should provide more Opportunity for the mall farmer earning his way on the land. In those communities where there are many small farmers, there should be cOOperative arrangements for the distribution of tools and the sharing of work. Even- tually the organs of finance and commerce would ta0per off to. the needs of the decentralized community, and politics would not result into a radical form of one Lem or another. The community center in this new social structure would be an important part of every develOpmental country site, and everywhere there would be a luxury of living fitting enough for a country as resourceful as America is today. In concluding his book, Wright informs his readers that pioneer days are not over - they are only beginning for an America that will be better in every way. At this point he asks this provocative question, "In what lies the true Sig- nificance to life here in this country of ours where the machine power has grown to be the brutalizing, sordid, dis- tructive factor at home that it is?" To Wright the dream for a Usonian nation would answer such a question with a new, free and decentralized way of life. CONFLICT: Social Theories 187 From the reviews of these two books, each concerned in its own way with a type of architectural rehabilitation.for the country, it is evident that a chasm of indifference exiSts in American society for the architecture it uses. Further, it is Obvious that both GrOpius and Wright have caught the crux of the situation with their proposals. Both.have recog- nized that the environment is at a total loss for planning. The message of the books reviewed shows that a solution of reform will come only through long-range and total planning. In such total planning the architect, qualified by training in matters of discrimination, must be called upon to take part in.the program. These architects have generously devoted their time to the study of social planning, and each group has contended that any architecture of merit must have human scale and prOportion. The fiauhaus plan for social improvement has accepted the city as a desirable area fa? cultural develOpment, whereas the Taliesin plan has Opposed the city in favor of rural develOpment with self-sufficient agricultural units. Out of such research, conductedseparately by these two groups, there has been reference to organic planning, but in the divergent directions of centralization, or decentraliza- tion. 188 CONFLICT: Social Theories 1 (Chicago, 2 (Chicago, Footnotes halter GrOpius, Rebuilding Our Communities, 1945L Passim. Frank Lloyd Fright, When Democragy Builds, 19451 Passim. ’f’ Chapter 9 EDUCATION By the end of WOrld war I the two concepts within modern architecture, one doumnated by technology and the other by art, had been crystalized by the leaders of the movements. subsequent years meant increasing participation in the found- ing of educational institutions, and the formulation of theory which could be passed on to the younger generation of archi- tects. In the years immediately after the war, the Bauhaus was the umst important departure from the position of leader- ship held by theFeole des Beaux.Arts in Paris, and the prestige which the educators at the Bauhaus earned in their venture accompanied theulin their period of immigration. The Bauhaus teachers were quickly accepted into the American educational system, and from key positions they were abLa to continue with the policies for design reform which had motivated them in Germany. By 1940, within a short period of residence, the Burcpean group had a strength of educational influenza Which surpassed that commanded by wright at Taliesin. As the two groups participated in what was by then hostile Op- position” museums, publishers, and builders began to support one Side or the other in the conflict. Although both were best able to defend their cause by means of their architecture prOper, it was in.sducational activities where they could extend the principles of their architecture for greater estab- lishment and acceptance. CONFLICT: Education 190 The experiments with training methods had given the Bauhaus educators a positive approach suited to contemporary art education needs, and which, in.the early thirties, was gaining wideSpread recognition as superior to the methods used by'the Beaux Arts. The solid foundation of the Bauhaus oethods has been.described by Gropius in its relation to the overall social prOgram of the school: "Instead of receiving arbitrary subjective ideas Of design they had Objective tuition in.the basic laws of form and color, and the primary condition of the elements of each, which enabled theulto acquire the necessary mental equipment to give tangible shape to their own creative instincts. Only those who have been taught how to graSp the comprehensive coherence of a larger design, and incorporate original work of their own.as an integral part Of it, are ripe for active OOOperation in building." Recognition of these objectified methods as applicable on a universal scale was responsible for the many invitations for work which.the Bauhaus educators received from institutions in the United States. The educators put their methods to immediate use with their newly established positions, and as they were utilized in.the various schools, they were broadened to meet the requirements of the new environment. The purpose of the Bauhaus methods was always clarity, -conciseness, and precision. American students were quick to reSpond to the tactile and visual exercises, and gradually these immigrant educators were turning out designers with much the same qualifications as those who had SXperienced Bauhaus education in Germany. With growing independence, CONFLICT: Education 191 American students departed on design assignments of their own. The effect Of the educational program furthered by the Bauhaus men on the young designers was immediate, and a survey of the work produced by these peOple will Show a strong likeness to the work of the masters. The educational program.of the Dauhaus was successfully tranSplanted in the United States because of two factors. First, the codified program was mechanically efficient for easy continuation; and secondly, the new arrivals had the zeal of missionaries as they entered into their new teaching assignments. In each there was a dedication to the signifi- cance of their work in modern art. All of them had left their native lands in its cause, and all of them were in hOpe of realizing their ambitions within the framework of the United States. Of these men, none showed more enthusiasm or more resolution to the cause than Moholy-Nagy, who was to undertake the lead in the establishment of the Institute of Design in Chicago. In 1957 when Moholy-Nagy was invited to Chicago to organ- ize a School based on.the Bauhaus educational methods, he had ambitions for an industrial arts program which would surpass the achievements in.Germany. The Association Of Arts and Industries had stressed the need for such a program of indus- trial arts training in its city, and had promised support for the new school. Subsequent support proved to be only a por- tion of that needed, so that by the end of 1958 the New Bauhaus, CONFLICT: Education 192 as the institution was names, was forced to close because of inadequate financial backing. In 1959 Moholy-Nagy began the long and tedious process of organizing his own industrial.design.school. Backed with very little money, but an abundance of Optimism for the ven- ture, he gathered together teachers and students in a program known.as the School of Design. The odds were always against the school. At first he worked with imprOper equipment and the most limited of building facilities. The War arrived, cutting enrollment down to a handfull of students. By 1945 the school was forced to move, and in a revamping process the name was changed to the Institute of Design. Almost Single-handedly, Moholy-Nagy was director, advertiser, indus- trial advisor, and teacher. Through his efforts the Institute was awarded grants from the Carnegie Corporation and the Rockefeller Foundation. The tools and most of the supplies used were actually solicited from private industry. At the same time that he was Operating the Institute of Design, moholy-Nagy found ties for the preparation of Vision in Notion, a book describing the educational.uethods of the Bauhaus tradition. The following excerpt from that book indicates the course of study offered at the Institute of Design. The schedule of courses shows the breadth of training wnich a student would undergo, and which was aimed at versat— ility: CONFIJCTA, Education 13% "The Basic Course consists of three great chapters of information and experimental work in constant correlation: 1. Technology Basic elements of workshOp training a. The use of hand tools and machines. b. Materials. An understanding of the physical prOperties of structural ma- terials, such as wood, clay, plastics, metal, paper and glass. 0. Study of shapes, surfaces, and textures. d. Study of volume, Space, and motion. A training in the fundamental elements of design. 2. Art Basic elements of plastic representation a. Life drawing. b. Color work. 0. Photography d. Mechanical drawing e. Lettering. f. Modeling g. Literature (group poetry) 5. Science TO provide the necessary basis for the Insti- tute's courses enough mathematics, physics, and social sciences, as well as liberal arts, are taught. Through these integrated studies the student is given assistance in develOping latent aptitudes, so that his eventual decision and choice of specialization is based upon his own vocational goal. Since the industrial de- signer must be versatile, he must be trained in the most diverse fields. This, however, without the castery of - at least - one field, easily could encourage dilettantism."2 CONFLICT: Education 194 As a student at the Institute of Design, the writer recalls the enthusiasm with which veterans entered into the courses of industrial design training at the Institute of Design. The school occupied the second floor of a commercial building on State Street, Where a minimum of facilities were pressed to a maximum of service. In the months before lioholy- Nagy had been ill, but he was on hand for the Opening of the Spring session. His reception address challenged the new students with the idea of America's industrial potential. -"Invent, exert your mind, create for the need", he encouraged the students, ”when you are assigned a problem, reach into your energies for the solution: do not be satisfied with second-hand solutions. If you must design a teakettle - do not search the library files to learn the methods of others - invent for yourself. It took 150 years after due introduc- tion of plumbing before a kettle was made to be filled directly from.the tap inatead of from a removeable lid."5 With studio and workshOp courses the school approached the reformation of the student's attitude. Every effort of the school was directed toward the ideal of creativeness, and exhibets of student work to be found in the building offered ample proof that the program was having its effect in the mid-west. Before 1946 was over, the school was forced to undergo another move, the director's health was waning, and although the efforts of the school were to go on” it would be without the enthusiasm of moholy-Nagy who overtaxed himself to death. CONFLICT: Education 195 The objectified methods of the Bauhaus which were used in the program of education at the Institute of Design in Chicago were distinctly different from those practiced at the Taliesin Foundation at Spring Green, Wisconsin. There, an apprenticeship system more medieval than modern, was being practiced in the cause of the modern architecture. The beginning apprentice arrives at Taliesin with his own tools ready to pay for his share of the year's expenses, and prepared to participate in the manual labor of farm and camp life. At Taliesin this consists as much in the farm chores and construction work as it does in drafting-board exercises. The master believes that. the student's mind begins to encompass his ideas of an organic architecture only through a new kind of communal living . At Taliesin one and all take an active part in what appears at first as affairs entirely separated from architecture. Throughout the seven summer months, the group pursues its work at the disconsin farm: throughout the five winter months, the activities are conducted at the Arizona camp. Thus over the entire year the program is in the Open and close to the land . The students live a cloistered life, free from the pressures of the economy. Fright continuously stresses the point that their work is to have nothing to do with earning a living, but instead. enbraces a higher order of ethics in architectural practice. Wright is not hesitant in realizing the close resemblance between his methods and those found in CONFLICT: Education 196 the apprentice system of the Middle Ages. This he comments on in the announcement folders which the Foundation distri- butes,by saying: "Apprenticeship at Taliesin is much where it was in feudal-tines with this important difference: an apprentice then was his master's slave; at Taliesin he is his master's comrade to an extent he qualifies him- self to become one."4 It is the intention of the master of the Foundation to provide each student with those lessons in living which Will permit him to be, not a Specialist in structure, but a special- ist in the prOblems of living. Yuri ght has his own personal methods for exploiting the effects of nature, music, literature, and the dramatic arts in his attempt to round out the lives of those who seek his guidance. Taliesin is hardly separated from the arts as each year numerous celebritiSS and enter- tainers make their way to the Foundation, and the Saturday evening theater programs are justly famous. The Foundation has continued to grow from its beginning in 19.52. Wright, who personally passes upon the acceptance of each new apprentice, must now turn away applicants weekly because of the limitations of his school. Those who are ac- cepted hail from varied countries, and the scnool as a result has the atmosphere of some international assembly, but one in which harmony reigns. How effective are the subjective :.uethods which Wright has devised, and which depend so heavily on the strength and in- sight of his dominating personality? The effects are both CONFLICT: Ed mation 197 good and bad. Wright's methods have helped to develOp some of America's most progressive architects of whom Neutra, Dow and Harris are at the forefront. At the same time, his methods have been such that students have immitated the effects rather than the principles supported by Wright. rThe uniqueness of the archit ect's experiment in education is worth closer study. This may be had from Gerald Loeb, a stockbroker, who for reasons of curiosity, rather than archi- tectural practice, took part in the activities of the Fell ow- ship. Mr. Loeb writ as this to the editors of The Architectural Forum: "To have better architecture needs education of the ultimate consumer - the pOpulation at large. I am a stockbroker, but have been privileged to visit the Taliesin Fellowship of Frank Lloyd Wright at Spring Green, Wisconsin and their winter camp on Marixopa Mesa, N.M. Here, by apprenticeship to the master, is the ideal way' to learn architecture. What can one learn from Frank Lloyd Wright? Well, I have seen students trying to learn how to copy Mr. Wright. I don't think that's very smart. They never can really do it and what they do prod me is second-hand. Confronted with this fact, one of the apprentices said to me, "It's better to do poor imitation Frank Lloyd Wright than the best John Doe." There is something in that, but not enough. I have no basic training in draftsmanship or engineering or design. Hence, what I learned from Frank Lloyd Wright is from a layman's point of view. Yet, it I trained to pass the examinations for a license to practice architec- ture and then hung out my shingle and started t 0 work, here are some of the things I would do. First, I would do my own best work. Nothing anyone ever did before or nothing any client suggest ed could consciously change me from that. I would strive for a simply rhythmic plan. The universe is founded on rhythms. I believe dimen- sions that are related one to the other do something to you in the finished building. I would try hard to forget the buildings I live and work in and see every day. It is important to try and think what CONFLICT: Ec ucati on 198 might evolve if the design is unfettered. A design should stand on its own feet as would a painting, or a purely decorative piece of jewelery. I would try to re-enact life as it is to be lived in my building and fit my building to it . I know it would be hard and that is why I repeat a previous thought, but I would accept nothing as it is and blindly perpetuate it just because everybody has been automatically standardizing it that way. I would quest ion every division and partition to be sure I needed it. I would picture myself in my new build- ing looking up and down as well as sideways. Most plans are just in the one dimension of sideways movement. I would think of light and dark and large and small and high and low and their effect on human emotion. A bright space looks brighter if you enter it from a dark ppace. A high space looks higher coming into it from one that is low. A large space looks larger if you are first in cramped Space. I would look at how nature constructs and ornaments and confine my capying to thought born of that. I would think of materials used honestly. They would be chosen by the economics of the times md the location of the structure. But stone should be used as nature uses stone and wood to bring out its possibilities. These are a few of the highspots I think Frank Lloyd Wright taught me. I have purposely not Opaled his books or lectures, because I wanted to remember only wmt was deep in menaand not just to copy what has been said before. When I was last out at the Desert Camp, we all went on a picnic just before sunset. Mr. Wright led the caravan of students accoss the desert for miles and then up into the hills to a peak that command ed a view in every direc- tion. Big fires were begun and made ready for roasting steaks and baking potatoes. Gradually, the light faded, the sun started to set, and the sky changed color. The shape of the rocks and the shadows altered as dusk crept up on us. Mr. Wright stood with his flowing cape and cane and wonderful head of white hair and his own kind of bat out- lined against the skyline. The camp fires, their light at first dwarfed by the sky, slowly became the cent er of light, and moving shadows soon were to be seen on the rocks. "This',’ said the master, "is how I teach architecture - not over a drawing board." I didn't know what it meant to the appren- tices. Probably something different to each. But to me, it meant that we should learn from nature and build to try and catch just a bit of the influence of shape and color and light and dark and cold and heat, sweet and sour, har and soft and quiet and music of nature in our buildings." The codification of an educational system for the new architecture, as this section has indicated was a wide departure CONFLICT: Education 199 from the methods which had been held in esteem by the Ecole des Beaux Arts. When in the course of building history the Bauhaus and Taliesin architects entered into educational work, both groups realized that the new methods would have to touch closer to life itself than had been found in the Academy. Thus on each side the leaders hOped for an enrichment of the student's personality through Specific attitudes regarding society. It was quite logical that the means of attaining such orientation would follow in harmony with the architecttre prOpounded. For the Bauhaus this meant an educational program close to the industrial activities oifthe twentieth century, whereas for Taliesin, it meant a close association with nature in a rural environment. DeSpite the difference of approach, it is remarkable to Observe the similarity of language with Which each side has called upon their students for a new Spirit of btnlding. In a lecture at Harvard University, noholy-Nagy would acclaim: "Design is not a profession; it is an attitude - the attitude of the planner. Every high school in.this country has better equipment than we have or narvard has. It is simply prodigious. And wmat do they do with it? Nothing. It is the spirit that determines the wnole thing. we have to develOp, step by step, and educational procedure in which the creative abilities and capacities of young people are used. That would mean general educa- tion. When any human being works with his hands, what- ever he does will be translated into the brain as know- ledge. This knowledge, in.tcmn, will react on his emo- tional self. That is how a higher level of personality is achieved." And at Taliesin, Wright would put into writing the words that: " "Over the entrance to the new drafting room we are building at Taliesin we too have the following words carved QONFLICT: Education 200 in the oak wood over the doorway: "What a man does, That he has", and I believe that statement is - not the starting point perhaps, but at least a prOper confessionof direction for what we call this new 7 adventure into Reality, an organic architecture..." Searching for the realization of attitudes oriented to the needs of modern society, each school develOped a unique program involving creative experiences for their students. The Bauhaus principle resolved it self to an ob jectified, systematic methodology. Through the cooperative efforts of many men dedicated to a single objective the shops and the drafting rooms of the school served as a center of interaction between designers and industry. At Taliesin another path of education was devised. There, under the direction of the mast er—builder, the work of the drafting room was linked to the land where students could come he nd-to-hand with the ways of nature and life. The basic principle for this school was subjectifi ed through the emotional approach of the master himself. These separate conditions of education have their parallel in the channels through which architecture is realized. It will be the purpose of the next chapter to discuss the bearing of objective and subjective educational nethods on the recon- mandations which each side has made for long range accomplish- ments of reconstruction. CONFLICT: Education 301 Footnotes 1 Walter Gropius, The New Architecture and $53 Bauhaus, (London, 1955), p. 52{* 2 L. Moholy-Nagy, Vision ig Nothon, (Chicago, 1947), p. 64-5. 3 Through the personal statement of L. Lioholy- Nagy, March, 1946. 4 Frank Lloyd Fright, Announccnent folders for Taliesin. 5 Gerald Loeb, The Architecturgl_Forum, Volume 91, Number II, (August 1950), p.24, p.28. 6 Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Mohniy-yagy, (New Ybrk, 1950), p. 243. 7 Frank Lloyd Wright, 23 Architecture (New York, 1941), Passim. Chapter 10 REALIZAT ION The revolution which began to break down traditional methods of building at the beginning of the century, simultan- eously began to destroy the prevailing doctrines of archi- tectural education. The Fcole des Beaux Arts, then widely accepted as the symbol of Eclecticisn, couLi not avoid defeat. Other educational centers attracted students away from the school as the new dectrines became more wid ely recognized. The reputation of the Beaux Arts diminished in.the years after 1925 until preparation tnere, actually began to detract from a student's qualifications. The officials of the famed school realized, in due time, the futility of continuing in the pattern of the earlier program, and subsequently altered their course of training . By 1950, even the Ecole des Beaux Arts had accept ed the forms of modern architecture, and a visitor to the school in the summer of that year would have found a photographic exhibit of modern works by the Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. However, many who saw the display of contemporary work, felt the incongruity of the display. The classical paintings and the decorative flour- ismas of the great hall had too long blocked the path of realization for the new architecture for Spontaneous appre- ciation. Through the long period of Beaux Arts strength, the school furthered the realization of educational aims by means III I II. III ‘I Jllll Ill lllll IIIII IIIIII’ ’JIIII'. IIIHI'IHIIIIIII. :«lJ-Mi CONFLICT: Realization 20d of a close fraternal union among its diciples. Then, Beaux Arts graduates were respected as the elite of the design profession. When beginning architects would leave the Paris ateliers, they were assured a prOSperouS livelihood as a result of their preparation. Social taste had put their services in high demand, and these men were amply rewarded for the professional services which they could render because of their indoctrination at the Ecole. The architects them- selves also felt that they belonged to a select group, so to keep the Spirit of the institution alive wherever they went, they formed acadeunes, or societies. The prestige of the Beaux Arts was thus maintained from one generation to the next as the code of practice was surreptitiously handed on by the influential architects of the day. The educators of the Bauhaus and Taliesin, as active participants in the revolt of the modern movement, offered a more realistic program of realization than the clandistine activities pursued by the Beaux Arts. The turn to an honest and direct manner of building in terms of the spirit of the times has been successful, and the educators, in supporting the change to the new; have been resolute in their moral obligations to society. On each side, the architects recog- nized the unlimited potential of architecture as an integrating force, and each took positive action to return building to a place of community usefulness. CONFLICT: Realization 204 Successful as the turn to a new architecture has been, the way of realization was a burdensome task wherever the two schools were involved. The Bauhaus educators were exposed to continuous Opposition from groups which neither understood, nor tolerated, their efforts for social planning. Accused of disloyalty, Oppressed by political reactionaries, these men were forced to decide between abandoning their work or leaving the country. Naturally, they were given to cosmOpolitan at- titudes, because of their own varied origins and the constant association with students from many lands. It was also to be expected that increased lawlessness in the land would give added significance to their pioneering work in education. When Germany forced a decision between national and international loyalty upon the group, the educators severed all connections with that country for beginnings elsewhere. There was likewise strong forces of Opposition in America against the educator-architects who were prOposing social re- form. The political processes were of a more liberal order than those of Germany, so that Opposition never assumed prOportionS of violent interference. However, professional and personal ridicule was experienced by the architects as they prOposed new buildings, and new approaches to social planning. Even in America, the land of innovation, there was a reluctance to the acceptance of forms which appeared to be of a radical nature. In fact, it was in America, more than in Europe, where the real I / struggle took place between the principles of the Ecole des CONFLICT: Realization 205 Beaux Arts and modern architecture. The issues of moral judgement were brought to light earlier in America simply because of the technical accomplishments of the Chicago archi- tects. Both wright and Sullivan'were subjected to ridicule not far removed from that suffered by the Bauhaus educators. Fright has frequently commented on the Opposition which the pioneers received from a hostile public, as well as the pro— fession itself, by saying, "They killed Sullivan.and they nearly killed me".1 For both Sides the architects made the most of every new commission as a means of pursuading a reticent public in the logic of their architectural principles. Out of such private commissions, each side formulated their own beliefs on how architects Shouhd execute their planning. Resultant programs for the realization of improved surroundings have been effec- tively carried to other educational institutions, as well as to industry, publishers, and museums. The policies maintained by the Schools have been in close harmony with their separated ideals of education. The Bauhaus, in conjunction with an ob- jectified system, inclined toward the architectural gollaborative. Wright, through a subjectified approach, sought the perfection of the master-builder for the greater work of architectural realization. With the Opening of the Bauhaus at Neimar in 1919, Halter GrOpius became a Spokesman.for a new era of collaboration in architectural planning. Proclamations distributed throughout VII? 1 . CONFLICT: Realization 206 EurOpe announced the beginning of work with a challenge: "Architects, sculptors, painters, we must all turn to the crafts. Art is not a "profession". There is no essen- tial difference between the:artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalted craftsman. In rare moments of inspiration, moments beyond the control of his will, the grace of heaven may cause his work to blos- som into art. '33; proficiency in his craft is essen- ~m*— tial 39 every artisg. Therein lies a source of crea- tive imagaination.” GrOpius, since that tion, has aimed at integrated environmental conditions through COOperative, rather than individualistic activities. Previous disclosures have touched upon those as- pects of planning wherein the architect has been influential. At the Bauhaus, architecture itself was regulated by typical forms, social theories were modified by realistic conditions, and education was systematized in an.atteupt to delimit the range of all iSSLes. Delimitation and codification were projected as the only useable method for realizing the potential of modern architec- tual theory. It was believed that within the range of Specified and consistent principles ample latitude existed for creative expression. Groupius also believed that on a basis of codifi- cation workers could see their craft in relation to the long- range objectives Sponsored by the educational program. The objectives which GrOpi us held for modern archit ecture consequently altered the position of the artisan at the Bauhaus. There, the needs of society at large were given precedence to the Spontaneous expression of individual artisans. Such a stand was in no way a negation of the artisan. Indeed, it was CONFLICT: Realization 291 intended to reaffirm the position of the individual through his knowing reSponsibility in the total social scheme. The participants in Bauhaus education were accordingly oriented to the craft of their own selection, and proficiency was en- couraged in relation to the broad implications of the school's outline for architecture and social reform. Artisans, in this way disciplined to predetermined principles, were pre- pared to contribute their utmost to the realization of a uni- fied architecture. In the New Architecture and the Bauhaus, GrOpius describes his hOpes of the collaborative producing a new environment by saying: "The sort of collaboration we aimed at was not simply a matter of pooling knowledge and talents. A building designed by one man and carried out for him by a number of purely executant associates cannot hOpe to achieve more than superficial unity. Our ideal was that what each collaborator contributed to the common task ShouLi be something he had devised as well as wrought himself. In cooperation ofthis kind, formal unity must be maintained, and this can only be done by a recurrent reiteration of’the prOportions of the X motif dominating the whole in each of its component parts. Every collaborator therefore needs to have a clear realization of the comprehensive master design, and the reasons for its adeption."3 At no other point in mmiern art history has a group of artists entered into the reorganization of taste standards equal to that undertaken at Feimar in 1919. One part of that collaborative effort stands out for appraisal; that is the intricate relationships of society which any contemporary architectural planning involves. The breadth of accomplishments resulting from the thirteen years of mutual activity exceeded CONFLICT: Realization 208 anything which individual efiort would have produced. Only with many minds devoted to a common cause could the achieve- ments have been so significant. The American phase of the collective program was simply a diversified continuation of work begun in Europe. With the dispersion of the key leaders to various institutions in the United States, the educators were close to the advanced sources of technology. The ideals remained the same, and the goals of the leaders were in no way diminished. Shock had destroyed the hOpe for a steady growth from the EurOpean design center, but by it, their work was given world-wide extension. GrOpius, as a chairman at Harvard University, has remained the figurehead of collaborative action in architecture, and there he has been able to direct the organization of a progres- sive program of design education. Plus this, he has further set an example for practical collaborative action within his private practice. GrOpius entered into a partnership in 1940 with Norman and Jean Fletcher, John and Sarah narkness, Robert he millan, Louis no millan, and Benjamin Thompson. Known as The Architects Collaborative, this group of designers had no affiliation with industry such as that known in the German movement. The designers of this collective program act in a supervisory capacity over the division of activities to be found within their construction work. The varied Specialties of design with such procedure are assigned to experts under the direction of one team captain. In the case of the Architects CONFLICT: Realization 209 Collaborative, it is Gropius who acts as the leader for the organization, and who maintains that, ”The age of the architec- tural prima donna is over...for there is too much building, too much reconstruction, too much creative design demanded for the lifetime of one man or any number of individuals pur- 4 Among the commissions executed suing their individual ways." by the Collaborative, the harvard Graduate Center has been the most important undertaking. The Commission for the center Specified that ample facili- ties be provideifor housing sone five-hundred graduate students. The requirements were high, specifing comfort, convenience, and beauty, but the available funds for the project were limited. Three student teams in the school of architecture began making plans for estimates. The plan decided upon consisted of a number of interlocking quadrangles to be surrounded with hori- zontal buildings. When it was decided that funds were suffi- cient for the continuation of the project, the Collaborative began the problem of detailed planning for the buildings. Eventually, contracts were let, and construction of the dormi- tory units begun. The new buildings which make up the graduate yard were Opened in the autumn of 1950, and provide a composition of considerable contrast to the traditional architecture of the Harvard campus. Around the five nuadrangles, or outdoor living areas, eight horihontal buildings are located, none of CJNELICT: Realization 210 which is more than four stories in height. The dormitories house 575 students, and provide adequately spaced single or double rooms. Facilities of every kind for dormitory life are to be found within the area. A commons house provides dining service, as well as lounges, meeting rooms, and study areas for'the students. Another building serves as a recrea- tion center for the yard. The dormitories preper have been so planned that students are separated irno small.groups, and the buildings opened to the quadrangles have nothing of a crowded effect. The buildings of the Graduate Yard have been develOped in keeping with Bauhaus principles discussed in Chapter 7. The free plan is the theme for the work, but it is one wholely determined by the placement of rectangular elem nts in the overall composition. Materials are never stressed, but are subordinated to the major compositional elements of forms and Space. Glass is used to give a light appearance to the build- ings, and brick and cement appear as cohesive forces rather than weighty substances tieing the buildings to the earth. Indeed, the large livirg areas of the outdoors add to the total dematerializing of the materials. Structure remains con- fined to typical units and the needs of economy, as only a three-way cantilevered ramp marks a departure from conventional methods. Space and the Center is likewise the reiteration of earlier findings. Conditions of continuous shelter are pro- vided by the covered walks which join the various units. The .33 .mmESaeo £3ch Sagas eaimm as. .mfiaéomfimoo Romania Ln 1). mafia CONFLICT: Realization 212 outside living areas are virtually carried to the inside by means of these walks wnich move into the overhangs of the buildings. The touch of GrOpius is to be seen on many sides of the Graduate project. In the dormitory units there are the repeated lines, and the balcony forms to be found in the apartnents designed for Siemensstadt in 1929. AS with the Bauhaus, Gropius strives for “motion or the illusion of motion .5 This time there is the implied action of a large Spring in tension as the buildings are viewed from the air. One distinct difference however can be found between this project and the work of the European phase. GrOpius and the Collaboratives have here resorted to color, nature, and works of art to modulate the severe lines of the buildings with variation and warmth. The art work of the project is of particular interest for it has already been acclaimed for its unusual quality. Made possible by grants in addition to those of the original stipulation, it was for Gropius to decide upon the commissionirg of the various artists, and The Maga- zine gfwfigilding tells ofthis decision: "For some of the mural work he selected ex- Bauhaus men: Herbert Bayer to design a large mural pattern of square tiles, a tranSparent screen and to paint a mural in Shades of green on one of the dining room walls; Josef Albers to design an abstract pattern using the brick module in the back of the commons fireplace; and yeah Arp to cut out a series of free shapes of plywood, place then on two Opposite sides of another dining room. In addition, the Spanish painter Joan Mire is preparing a large and gay mural for still another dining room, and the young American sculptor Richard Iippold is hard at work on a stainless steel pylon CONFLICT: Realizati on 21g for the large quadrangle. Finally, Professor Gyorgy Kepes of M.I.T. has designed a series of world maps for the walls in some of the lounges."5 The Graduate Center, by every standard, involved complex problems of engineering technology, and art theory, and in support of the collaborative approach, specialized tasks were assigned to expert hands for execution. It may be questioned if so many talented artisans have worked together on a single building since the erection of the Bauhaus at Dessau. Working cooperatively, the artists and architects of the Graduate Center pooled their talents for the unification of art and building. The product of their energies was not only a monu- ment of architecture, it was also one of teamwor‘. The number of architects and artists joined in their large scale planning project established, once and for all, the direction which Bauhaus followers would take in the realization of a modern architecture. The Graduate Center comes as an eloquent statement of faith in the Collaborative, and in effect provides a challenge to the individualistic methods of the Taliesin master. Serge Chermayeff who, upon.the death of Hoholy-Nagy, became the director of the InStitute of Design, had this to say in a lecture at narvard while the Center was being planned: “I believe that anybody who at this moment provides the simple thing called 'shelter' and who makes this a monument to himself is actually betraying the profes- sion, because he is creating individual monuments at the expense of urban society as a whole."7 Any charge aginst individuality in.architecture in this century, must, by the impact of his work, involve Frank Lloyd CONFLICT: Realization 214 Wright, who has constantly maintained the belief that the emotional qualities of art must be at the core of all build- ing. The unfolding of his work over more than half a century presents a steady flow of individual monuments. Whrking by himself, seldom turning to look at the product of others, this giant has provided the profession with a strong voice of support for the master-builder. The charge that wright's individuality represents a betrayal of the profession of architecttre is something, however, Which needs clarification. wright has always been impassioned, to a point of religious fervor, in the creative aSpect of his work. More than any other architect, he has stimulated the younger designers to a consciousness of their reSponsibilities in the sfiritual affairs of the times. His loyalty to the profession can hardly be questioned. Few men have felt the Significance of building with deeper insight and emotion, and few men have made more whole-hearted contributions to its advancement. The contributions of wright to the profession are uni- versally recognized.Through threescore years of practice, this man has over six-hundred buildings to his credit. He has, besides his own fourteen books, countless others devoted to the evaluation of his design work. The Taliesin Foundation has done much to sever the constricting hold of Beaux Arts methods over professional training in America, and the number of capable architects which he has personally prepared can be listed in the thousands. In fact, present day interests in CONFLICT: Realization 215 v——-— architectural education.are not disregarding the subjectified system which Wright has employed at the ~fl‘oundation. Those who would discredit the master of Taliesin contend that he has been a romanticist at a time which demanded unparalleled realism. wright in return.would reply that others have been unduely realistic when the Spirit of the imagination would have suited the needs more apprOpriately. Wright has fre- quently referred to the chronological order of modern archi- tecture to support his views. With disarming repetition, his works have stablished the precedent Which others would follow. Bruno Zevi, in his review of wright's work, makes some observations which Oppose the indictment made by Chermayeff of wright‘s individuality. The critic gives a sweeping claim to the contributions which the master of Taliesin has given to the profession of his following: ”If one were suddenly asked to say in a word what Wright has really done for modern.architecture, the bestanamnv would be: Everything. Subject only to a few exceptions, the principles of Le Corbusier, GrOpius, Miss Van der Rohe and J.J.P. Oud even if they were not derived from his work were put into practice by Wright ten years earlier..."8 John Lloyd wright, the architect's son, tells of a con- versation which his father once had wdth a contemporary, Elbert Hubbard. At the time the elder wright voiced the ambition with which he would follow his career when he said, "Not only do I intend to be the greatest architect who has yet lived, but the greatest who will ever live. Yes, I intend CONFLICT: Reali zati on 216 to be the greatest architect of all time."9 To talk in superlatives of the biggest and the greatest is, indeed, an American custom, however, it expresses the zeal with which the man approached his professional responsibilities. The architect has probably fulfilled his egotistical ambitions to his own satisfaction, for he has never associated himself with other men, or groups within the profession. Never a member of the American Institutes of Architects, Wri ght only recently was awarded the organization's gold medal. At that time, the president of the Institute said in his citation address: "Frank Lloyd .‘Jright has moved men's mind s...has kindled men's hearts. An eager generation of archi- tects stands today as his living monument. By pre- cept and example he has imparted to them the courage to live an architectural idea. It is for that courage, that flame, that high-hearted hepe, that contribution to the advancement of architecture thought that the highest award of the American Institute of Architects is presented...."3LC here, even from a long conservative society, was recogni- tion within the field of Wright's good faith and devotion to the profession. wright's insiSence for independence is a determined plea for the art of architecture rather than the technological production processes involved. His hOpe for a unified whole as a thing of beauty, rests on architecture as a creative enterprise; and such is less a betrayal of the profession than a warning to all who would accept a docmnaire codification of practice. Wright has taught his contemporaries CONFLICT: Realization 217 to be suSpicious of restrictions in their work. By practic- ing freely within his own work, he helped.prove the case for modern architecture, and he personally sees no reason for reestablishing themes in the modern strain which later will appear equally as worn as those of the Beaux Arts from which the moderns revolted. Wright, since the historically important Larkin Building of l9o4, has proved his metier as a master-builder. In that project he acted as engineer, artist, industrial designer, and constrwmtion superintendent. Many imaginative creations for housing and urban develOpments, in which he ass umed the role of the [raster planner, did not get beyond the drafting board state. The Hoheny Ranch project of 1921, the National Life skyscraper of 1924, and San Marcos-inpthe-“esert of 1927, all Show the versatility of wright for large scale work. More recent undertakings of the architect in the capacity of the masterzbuilder can be found in the planning for Florida Southern College at Lakeland, Florida. The architect comments on the planning by saying that when the college presidazt commissioned him to undertake the probleulof designing the entire campus, it was done for hrs philOSOphy as well as his architecture. "I assured him.they were inseparable", the architect says in writing about the project.u' The planning for Florida Southern College embraces a campus—wide composition of buildings: chapel, library, theater, administration.center, manual training, seminars, museum, and CONFLICT: Realizati on 218 a number of auxiliary structures. The Se .Jright layed out in an interlocking pattern. The buildings of the camp us are set amidst a garden of trees and flowers, and are fre- quently tied together by long, low esplanades. In the ratural beauty of its setting, buildings combine with ocean, verdure, and fountains to make a great tapistry of the richest texture. The soft colored architecture of the campus blends with the scenery of the sunny countryside, and Plate VII will show how the varied forms embrace those of nature for the impres- sion of close harmony. From any point on the campus the interaction of buildings with nature gives a oneness to the planning. Art in these buildings is that of a garden itself, ever growing and changing with the effects of time and light. A creation of this type could not have been achieved through the multitudinous efforts of a collaboration. Uniqueness of this kind is possible alone through the perceptive energy and interpretation of single personality: a master-builder. From its inception, through the planning process, and into the state of execution, Florida Southern College was a search for an environment steeped in art. In plan, materials, techniques, and the articulation of Space there is that free- dom from rigidity so characteristic of wright's work. In this composition there is no need for the ap plication of paintings, murals, and sculpture to the total for such would detract from the artist's use, of the elements of building for that purpose. .23 653g 63:8 gymnasium menses amass Bod ”Eda HH> H.343 CONFLICT: Realization 229 Recently, with the completion of the new research tower for the Johnson .‘Jax Company, Wright expressed his conception of an integrated architecture made possible through the art of building: "Here is the "flower" now to show what concen- trated and coordinated effcrt (if subordinated to Archi- tecture as a great Art) can mean even in a civilization such as ours. The sagacity of Herbert F. Johnson has given to the world this instace of an architect's crea- tion in a field hitherto not invaded by (let us not hesitate to use the word) the great Art of Architecture. "12 Wright has never let up in his condemnation of luxlty in the existing attitudes toward architecture. Deepite his public acclaim, and his admitted victories for a modern architecture, he continues to dismiss American building for its complete lack of individuality. A typical renark in whi ch the archi- tect lashes out on the indifference of the American peOple toward their environment contend s that: "The trend of U. S. architecture will continue downward until it hits bottom.... we live ina country committed to individuality, but I don't believe we have enough people Who have develOped enough individuality to make a democracy... The American people have the architecture they deserve... I know of no country that is so far behind as the U. 3.... Thus, it becomes obvious that however obsessed the leaders of the two schools have been for the revitalization of today's culture through architecture, their principles for its realiza- tion have been in direct Opposition. These educator-architects are now firmly established in both fie lds, and with a growing following. Yet each year witnesses diminishing accord in basic principles. As this cleavage between the technology of building CONFLICT: Realization 221 and the art of building grows, it simultaneously provides an ever larger breadth of theory from which to select. And therein lies the promise of life, and the flowering of man-made forms over the land. CONFLICT: Realization 222 Footnotes 1 Frank Lloyd Wright, _O_r_1 Architecture, (New York, 1941), Passim. 2 H. Bayer, W. Grcpius, I. Gropius, Bauhaus (New York, 1958), p. 18. 3 Walter GrOpi us, The New Arch it ecttre and the Bauhaus, (London, 19.55), p. 53-4. 4 Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Volume 53, Number II, (October, 19507, p. 71. 5 The Magazine 23 Building, Volume 95, Number VI, (December, 1950), p. 6.5. 6 Ibid., p. 68. '7 Gerhard Kallmann, The Architectural Review, Volume CViii, Number 648, (December , 19507, p. 410. 8 Bruno Zevi, Towards 25; Organic Architecture, (London, 1949), p. 104T""“ 9 John Lloyd Wright, lily Father Who _i_§_ p_r_1_ Earth, (New York, 1946), p. 66. 10 Architectural For um, Volume 90, Number IV, (April, 1949), p. 17. 11 The Magazine of Building, Volume 94, Number I, (January, 1951?, p. 103. 12 Ibid., p. 77. 15 Time, Volume b'l,Number 6, (February 5, 1951), p. 46. PART III RESOLUTIQN Chapter 11 CHANGING PATTERNS Since 1937 America has been.able to observe the maneu- vers of conflict between Bauhaus and Taliesin education. Part II, in dealing with historically recorded events, has provided a documented account of the contrast of basic principles sup- ported by the two schools. Likewise, substantial evidence has been given to support the view that these two schools have been the prime forces of Opposition to the antiquated educa- tional methods of the Noble des Beaux Arts. It has been be- cause of such revolutionary contributions that these schools have been the important source lines for the two strong group- ings present today among architects. Those who favor the technology of building still look to the Bauhaus men for leadership, whereas those favoring art regard wright as the spokesman for their side. It would be impossible for forces as strong as these two schools to remain.long in Opposition without some kind of settlement taking place, eSpecially since their work has been confined to a single country. Already there are signs that the results of this conflict are being resolved. Today, there are those Who are passing judgement on the outcome of architecture, and architectural education, as a result of the apposition which this paper has discussed as its main purpose. However, it is not a simple procedure to evaluate architecture or education in the process of formation. RESOLIIP ION: Changing Patterns 225 Associated as these are with the total life of a peOple, evaluation of that which has passed into history is much less subject to error, than that which is part of passing events. The problem of weighing the outcome of this con- flict is a complex one, and one which extends beyond the scOpe of this thesis: but the theory and the Spiritual values of the schools are so close to present design education, it would seem that the purpose of this project would be lost if some attention were not given to the resolution which is occurring. Resolution of the conflict between the, schools is the great unwritten chapter of modern architecture. Generally, it deals with the work of living archit act: through fifty years of practice, and extends to many parts of the world. Specifically, it is concerned with the activities which are taking place over that front of building between an archit ec- ture of technology and one of art. Even the most thorough inveStigation would provide no more than a view of general trends, so that at most, this section will simply report on some isolated conditions which are to be found between the extreme which have been discussed in Part II. This chapter will therefore give att ention to settlement as it is found in the major aspects of work in which the two schools have engaged. The purpose of this evaluation is to suggest that the schools are st ill so influential in the field of architectural education that only compromise can result ESOIJTION: Changing Patterns 226 where they are mutually active. To state that compromise is occurring between.the two extremes calls for verification, so this will necessarily retrace the various phases which were investigated in Part II. The forces of opposition in the separate planning approaches of the schools may be presented by a balance table based upon the conclusions of Chapter 7. The long range aims which the leaders have used as the basis for their architectural pursuits may be seen in Table I, and this provides a suitable point of departure for an estimate of the possible compromise in the period ahead. The Opening for compromise began with the migration of the Bauhaus educators to America. At that time, regional references for the two schools became the same and as a result, strong alterations began to occur in.the Bauhaus ,architecture of that period. Two prevailing conditions of the new environment had their tempering influence on the Bauhaus style: one, the technological proficiency of the Uhited States; and, second, the casual provisions for living enjoyed by the Americans. GENERAL FORCES OF OPPOSITION IN THE_TWO PLANNING APPROACHES The Bauhaus Regional Consciousness Mediterranean The Plan Free plan based upon regular shapes Materials Structural directness with negation toward a dematerialized architecture Techniques Calculated utilization of the construction potential Space Space movement toward contin- uous shelter Table I Taliesin American Free plan based upon irregular shapes Structural directness with assertion toward a material architecture Imaginative exploita- tion of the structural potential Space movement toward interrupted shelter RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 228 As wright has built he has had to make no concessions at all to the demands of a new environment. He has always worked close to the main forces of technology, and he has appreciated, as few of his ccmteaporaries have, the nature of comfortable living in this new environment. The continuity in Wright's work carries on uninterruptedly from the flourish- ing period of the Chicago School, and with each year the archi- tect has managed to surpass himself. Never has he compromised in his design as he has moved his work forward disarmingly to more convincing heights of eloquence. The Bauhaus architects have been forced to accomodate their architectural planning to the building methods utilized in the United States, and this has incurred changes of materials and techniques in every phase of the planning process. The planning which Miss Van der Rohe did for the Algenquin Apart- ments project for Chicago is an example of this new adaptability . There one finds a type of structure that is much more American than EurOpean in its make-up. In fact, this is the kind of vertical planning which was to highlight the Chicago School of the late nineteenth century, and it was from this kind of work that wright was to begin to develOp his style. The domesfic work of the Bauhaus group shows a similar reorientation to American conditions. The defense housing project for New Kensington, Pennsyl- vania by GrOpius and Breuer reflects the American tendency to RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 229 warm woods, a blending of building with its natural setting, and a liking for privacy. In work which Gropius executed alone, there is the Abele house of Framingham, Massachusetts to show the increased use of woods and stone for warm effects, as well as a freeing of the forms themselves. Considerable attention has already been given to the enrichening effects which Breuer has achieved in his domestic work as a result of employing materials long known to the American builder. Likewise, comment has been made on the application of art to the buildings of the Graduate Cent er at Harvard University. No longer are these architects satisfied with the stark effects whicn were so common in the experimentation of the Burcpean phase. Even without the diSpa ragement which Wright has aimed at their bleak treatment of materials, these archi- tects realized by themselves that there was an over-emphasis on mechanics, and not enough on the emotional qualities of architecture. Compromise in architectural planning does not lie in the work which the architects themselves have done, despite the minor alterations which have been promoted by the American environment. Actually, the basic principles have been separated by the interaction of the schools in American education, and this has ef:ected compromise among the followers. Each year, as more ani more demands are made for modern building, the growing number supporters of modern architect ure examine the extreme types which have been develOped by the leaders of the RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns Zég schools. Most designers because of their own limitations are not innovators, and find it necessary to select from the advanced work of others for inspiration. Original as the contributions of these educator—architects have been, it is not surprising that their work should be appreciated as well as imitated. These followers, in selecting from the range of ideas Which lie between the two extremes, tend to make compromises which the original architects themselves have refused. Thus, the original ideas are repeated, but with variations of adaptation. The principles of Bauhaus architecture have been much more suited to this kind of repitition than that furthered by Taliesin education. As an indication of this, GrOpius will show appreciation for the work of many of his followers, whereas Wright will Openly contend that no more than one or two of his followers are practicing in the direction of an organic architecture. The typical forms of Bauhaus architec- ture, in essence, have been develOped for maiern needs in terms of the architect wnose limitations will not place him with the innovators. For this reason it would seem at this time that there is the stronger influence and power of the Bauhaus technological principles guiding the followers on the lower echelons of practice, but with the stabilizing modifi- cations from Wright's examples of an architecture of art. Social theories, like architectural planning, indicate RESOLUTION: Changipg Patterns 231 compromises on the part of followers rather than.the educa- tional leaders. The preponderance Of existing centralization by itself works against the principles upheld by wright. Wright's thinking, however, cannot lightly be disregarded. Paging through the leaves of flhgglgemocracy Builds, leads one to many thoughts of a practical nature. One is the awareness that Jright's dream for a new environment is something which has been shared by other Americans who have felt the country's disregard for their man-made heritage. Gropius also comments on.the condition by saying that the American cities are places for lonely people, and the sources of great social unrest. Certainly, the expanding suburbs of recent years testify to the price that will be paid for the privilege of a rural environment. Few, however, are willing to pay the price Of'abandoning the city as wright would prOpose. There is something practical and something desirable about the city, regardless of how formless it may become in its conglomerate conditions of the present. Wright knows even more than his readers, or his Opponents, that his conception of decentralized planning is a fantasy of sorts. He Openly states that it is such a dream, but adds realistically that already the different buildings, and power cievelOpments, are readied for such planning. wright sees architecture as the great ideal by which men should live, and 111 formulating its objectives he says, "an ideal once clearly :fiixed in the mind will gradually come; will come naturally enoughfld- RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 232 To a student of Michigan State College, acquainted with the scepe of Wright's work in the Lansing vicinity, there is still more reason to recognize the practical value of such social proposals. It was for this section in 19:57 that Wright was to plan and later build one of his first Usonian houses. That is, a house of the type envisioned for his Usonian Nation. The Usonian design prevailed in the styling of seven houses to be built in a rural setting for staff members of Michigan State College. Each house was to have the privacy of a large plot of ground, yet over the entire plan there was to be community co Operative control. Financing was refused because of the timidity Of government finance agents who feared its unconventionality. Nevertheless, one structure was built by two of the staff members, Miss Goetsch and Miss Ninkler. Since that time, the Goetsch-Winkler house has become one of the more celebrated small houses of the country. In viewing the organic relationship between the forms of this one house and the land on which it is situated, there is the reaction that perhaps there is too little idealism in our approach to planning. In this house there is an evident harmony between the house and the surrounding site, however, the community in which it is located is a wilderness of dis- cordant and uncongenial forms. Here it must be recognized that we are living in an economic, industrial society that has its hold whether we are BSOLUTION: Changipg Patterns 235 the victims or the beneficiaries of its power. It would be both impossible and disasterous to stOp the umvement of its gears, and Wright too knows this. Herein lies the great mis- giving, and the great value, of such prOposals as he makes for social reform. The architect has sensed the danger of going too far to the extreme of practical.matters at the expense of the idealistic. His prOposals have therefore been formulated to act as a counterbalance to irresponsibility. There is misgiving in their content when they are accepted as Wholly practicable, but there is value in their content when they are seenzas the governing force which they are intended to be. wright, in spite of his scoldings, is thoroughly American, and his great fear is the destruction of the possibilities which the nation has for architectural expressiveness. In criticising those conditions which run contrary to good archi- tecture, and good living, he puts the designer on his guard. He has attacked the umst intolerable Of those conditions with prOposals of reform, and in the case of architecture, with prOposals which have already gained a foothold in the realm of actual design. wright is a romantic, his mannerisms, his language, his writings, all have a daring that at first shocks, but with second thought prove to take into account the hOpes of the human Spirit. It is with generosity and the hand Of discipline that Wright proposes social reform for a better architecture, better community life, and the constant defense RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 254 against the undermining forces of irreSponsibility. Im— practical as his utOpian planning may be, there is a stimulation Of ideals Which even wright's enemies cannot disregard. The compromise of social theories appears to be in the direction Of the Bauhaus principles, and largely because of the realistic planning Which Gropius has done. The success that this group has found in the application of its social theories extends beyond the ideas found in Rebuilding Our Communities, and into actual achievenents of the group in both EurOpe and America. The achievements consist Of three main works: the program at Neinar and Desseau; the prOgradxat Chicago; and the progradlat Harvard. In the program at Weimar and Desseau, the Bauhaus leaders made every attempt to revitalize design in manufactured pro- ducts and architecture through association with German industry. The Bauhaus was so successful as a design counseling center for German industry that within the period of its cooperative activities few nations could match the quality of design going on in that country. This program of interaction between the leaders of design and those of industry'was the first of its kind ever undertaken, and clearly indicates the reasoning, and organizational leadership which the Bauhaus has provided for realistic social reform. Noholy-Nagy, in his various schools in Chicago, sought the continuation of the Bauhaus plan in relatimn to American industry. The conditions of American industry differed RESOLUTION: Changing Pattersn 265 radically from.those of Europe, yet he pursued and found a considerable amount of industrial patronage. Foremost of those firms to offer help were the Eastman Kodak Company and the Container Corporation of America. The scheme was so revolutionary that many industrialists hardly realized its significance, but without argument for its social pur- pose, contributed to the cause. At Harvard there has been the organization Of nieciesign curriculum under the related schools ofzarchitecture, land- scape architecture ani city planning. The reputation Of the design school, sepecially as it relates to city planning, has been accepted over the nation to be among the most advanced for student preparation. Not only are the students prepared to meet the technical requirements for planning commissions, but they are also given a sound training in the social respon- sibilities of the architect in professional practice. The Harvard Alumni Bulletin provides a testimony from one of the students thus prepared by training at the Graduate School of Design. The statement was written by Chester Nagel in appre- ciation of the leadership with which GrOpius has earned on hi 8 work: "SO, looking back over the last twelve years, we, who have been Gropius' students, can say gratefully that he has Shown us a place in society; that he has taught us that mechanization and individual freedom are not incompatible; that he has explained to us the possibilities and value of communal action; and that, in his universal and all embracing philOSOphy, he has succeeded in integrating all the work and thinking of technicians and the creative work of artist in a new type of technician-artist, designer. we who hOpe to be RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 256 this new type of designei, have been equipped in- finitely better than we could ever have hOped to be, to deal with problems that we see all around us. I recognize the philosophy in leading us to tint level of understanding; but beyond this, I shall always doubt that a lesser human being could have given us that new faith in our world." Students when entering the field of practical planning seldom have the enthusiasm Which {fright or GrOpius have for their own prOposals. Consequently, their students are in a position to see the prOposals from a more liberal perspective. Dr. Giedi on takes note of the dual factors now present in social planning by saying: "There is no doubt that self-sufficient units have a prOper place in economic life, but there is also no doubt that this primitive form of society can neither replace nor complete that differenciated organization which, whatever the political system, is basic to our culture. It would change the country into a forlorn hybred, something neither rural nor yet urban, but with the limitations of both. In any case, a prOposal to parcel the inhabitants out in small communities, with agric ulttre and staple indus— try, is completely Out of sea? with the problems which today demand solution." Yet, the need for rural planning and the conservation of resources in America has in recent years increased to the point where government projects have undertaken the rehabili- tation of the land on a large scale. Arcnitecture has taken an active part in all Of this rehabilitation work. In this reSpect it must be brought out clearly that the rural housing projects Of the Farm Security Administration in Yuba City, California, and that at Green Belt, Maryland have more than a tint of Wright's planning devices. Even the Aluminum City Terrace project by Gropius and Breuer indicates something of Wright's plans for the countryside of the future. RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 25'? In the previous compromise there was discussion of those who follow'design trends rather than innitiate them. It must also be mentioned here that as each year makes new demands for college trained planners, the problem may be resolved to a middle-ground position. It is already clear that among the young designers some are entering into rural rehabilitation projects, whereas others are concentrating on the conditions of city develOpment. Compromise of Bauhaus and Taliesin principles are par- !.—“ .-.4.a—-.-u-h-"¢-"om_. ‘- 01.}0 c ticularly evident in the case of education. Because Of the continuation of the educational work by Bauhaus men in America, students still have the choice Of going to the innovators on either side of the issue for training. These two schools could not be expected to prepare any more than a small portion of architects for the broadening field of modern design. Although it would be questionable if other schools entering into programs of modern design confld possibly go forward without some recognition of the principles which these two schools have laid before their own students. This subsequent diffusion of ideals and methods has produced an admixture unknown in.the separate programs. The School of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma has most nearly approximated Wright's school without the immitation of it. There, under the guidance of Bruce Goff, students are encouraged to capture the artistic aspect of building, ard from this stand they are encouraged to a free RESOLUTION: Charggi ng Patterns 258 and spontaneous expressi on of materials and techniques. Goff believes in the worth of an indigenous regional archi- tecture and his own designs show a blend of fantasy and the Open declaration of new structural principles. Wright also has the added support of other architects and schools now loyal, in Spirit, to his educational princi- ples. However aware these groups and schools are to the importance of .‘Jright's educatimal contributions, there are limitations brought about by the unsystematic approach. Exhibits and publications have provided those mediums by which Wright's work has been most effectively and influentially prOpagated. NO single architect has, in his liftime, been given so much critical attention or recognition. Wright has never shied away from the publicity, and this has given his efforts invaluable impetus. The architect has gained legen- dary fame in his own time, and his archit ecttre is studied wherever modern designers are at work. But the impact Of influence of any one man is limited, even though the pOpularity of Wright probably equals the combined pOpularity of his Bauhaus Opponents. Whereas Wright's immediate influence in education is dependent on his personality, the influence of the Bauhaus group has been many sided and aid ed by their codi- fied methods. The effectiveness of the Bauhaus system for pr Opagation has result ed largely from the efforts of the ed ucator-arohi- tects, although there ha ve been other means. RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 239 The teacher-training programs conducted by the Insti- tute of Design must be mentioned, as well as the many pub- licati one on the Bauhaus system which have pictorially enlarged upon the basic methods Of the school. By such means the system has been so widely accepted for use that, almost without exception, wherever there is modern design training, there too will be found some Of the methods devel- Oped by the Bauhaus eXperiments. Utilized as Bauhaus methods are in design training, there is at the same time the count er-balance of Wright's educational philOSOphy. Again the dual consciousness is clearing the way for compromise. Such compromise may result in education for the same reason effecting the use of materials and techniques. Most teachers and educators, because of their own limitations, are not among the innovators, or even the Spokesmen for a cause of such pr Oportions. As expanding needs for teachers in design education makes its demanis, these people between the innovators and the unindoctrinated are inclined to formulate their own methods from those Of theinnovators. In drawing from the extreces of the Bauhaus, or of Taliesin, teachers can extend the compromise which the original architects themselves would not think Of making . Michigan State College provides an example of how such compromise can take place. The Art Department Of the College, under the direction of the School of Science and Arts, has been predominantly in sympathy with the work of wright, and RESOLLT ION: Chapging Patterns 240 this was brought about by close association of the faculty members with Wright himself. At the same time , the Depart- ment of Landscape Architecture, under the School of Agricul- ture, has pursued another line of policy. Several members Of the faculty of the Department of Landscape Architect we received their training or engaged in work at Harvard Uni- versity, where they came in contact with Bauhaus principles. Thus, within a single school, there are pronounced influences from both sid es. The logistics by which the architects have worked toward the realization of their architectural theories provide another area in whi ch there are prOSpe cts for compromise. Again the organizational excellence found on the side of the Bauhaus architects appear to be more than equalizing the individual stand taken by the master of Taliesin. Wright as the originator, the spokesman, and the master- builder of Taliesin has given the program of the school mean- ing because of his exceptional talent, but where is the master-builder who will replace him? How will the aims of the fellowship continue upon the event of his death? As yet no others lave appeared on the side of art to equal his posi- tion, or to carry on the w rk of the Taliesin Foundation. when Wright dies, so too does the strength of his school. The master of Taliesin would have his pupils build in the same Spirit with which he has built, but he is the first to admit that few are ever qualified to become the master— RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 241 builder he proposes. Wright's work will live on beyond the age in which he works because of its enormous strength, and like other supreme artists it will establish trends which lesser artists will follow. However, this position leaves minor craftsmen and artists with very little Specific help, and the strength of the Bauhaus side rests on.the prOposition that lesser men will be prepared to enter into the cause. Gropius, with a sense of history; has given his lifetime to promoting the advantages of teamwork in architectural realization, and his career has been devoted to the prepara- tion of other man to carry on the ideals of his program. Fortunately, the caliber of his associates have been excep- tionally high, so that the strength Of the teamfs Spirit has Shown on more than one occasion. Regardless Of the political Opposition.which would have broken apart less sturdy teams, the movement carried on. In America where economy made reori- entation difficult, the group was none-the-less able to es- taolish itself. The Bauhaus forces have been organized so successfully for the raalizati on of their architecture that the movement no longer depends upon any single person nor is it thought of in terms of any individual. In the event that a leader is lost there are qualified replacements. The Institute of .Design in Chicago Offers an example of this preparedness. {Throughout the illness of the school's director, hoholy-Nagy, there were men equipped to carry the work on. with his death, RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 242 Serge Chermayeff took over the leadership and continued the policies of the school. It is through wideSpread efforts based on such collaboration that Bauhaus princifies have been Sponsored, and Gropius believes that it should go further to provide builders everywhere with the basic tenants of mod arn architecture. There is much to support the attitude which Gropius has in his stand for team-work. America has many giant projects which have come about largely through design teams. The Ten- nessee Valley Authority, and other Reconstruction projects of the thirties were realized by anonymous teams of engineer- ing designers. The complexities of a Rockefeller Cent er could not easily have been undertaken by a Single master-builder, yet they were adequately solved by the collaborative efforts of many designers. Likewise, the U.N.O. buildings now in construction stand out in support Of the collaboration for the realization of giant planning problems. With technology taking an augmented place in American architecture, there has been a pronounced need for large groups of artists and architects Operating together in collab- orative effort. Compromise will likely take place in actual practice simply because there is , and there must be, a blend- ing between the two. Even the Bauhaus men are , in their own right, the caster-builders Which Wright would insist upon in his plea for independence among architects. host of them have been innovators as they have broken with tradition, and RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 245 most of them are celebrated in their individual practice, and to maintain their position of integrity these men have shown constant determination to fight for their rights of free eonrassi on. There is much to support the belief that a society can have both freedom of individualistic expression, and that of anonymous expression for the betterment Of art production. Giedion takes note of the combined forces within society by remarking that: "When a period succeeds in develOping its natural culture, and when this culture is supported bya long tradition, works of the highest quality can be produced by anonymous artists as wall as by distinguished ones." Contemporary building conditions call to the individual in- novator, and at the same time make demands for the organiza- tion of design groups. With the growing ranks of architects working with modern theory, there is every reason to view such compromise as walco med. As the new architecture is welcomed into broader use, it will be impossible to overlook the contributions which have been made by the educators Who now stand on the extreme Sides of modern theory. we will not , and possibly cannot build as Wright would have us build. To him architecture is a sacred thing overshadowing all that is considered practical in society today, and few other architects have been able to share his religious fervor for the pro fession. Because architecture has been more in the realm of utility to GrOpius and his associates, RESOLUTION: ChanLing Patterns 244 it would be entirely possible to build as he would propose. The following now behind the Bauhaus group calls attention to its realistic concern for practical matters of society. It would be impossible to challenge bright as a builder for he has been a great architect, but GrOpius in coming to grips with the actual problems of realization has been the great organizer of modern architecture. wright has Shown the Spiritual heights to which architecture could rise, if social restraints were released for an honest participation in the beauty of life itself. GrOpius has taught that it is necessary to be in constant touch with the institutions of society, ever making the most of them for SOphisticated living. Future trends of the new archit ecture, and its educational alliances, depend on the charging patterns of the present. Whatever these may bring, present trends where the two schools are influential strengthen the conclusion that much of the idealism has come from the heart d Wri ght, but left for the intellect of 'UI‘OpiuS to realize. RESOLUTION: Changing Patterns 245 Footnotes 1 - Frank Lloyd Wright, when Democracy Builds, (Chicago, 1945), Passim. 2 Harvard Alumni Bulletin) Volume 53, Number II, (October, 19507, p. 74. 5 Sigfried Gied ion, Space, Time and Architect Ire, (Cambridge, 1949), p. 610. 4 Ibid., p. 91. Chapter 12. ORGANIC ARCH ITECT IRE As early as 1944, Alfred Barr, Jr. , Director of the Museum of Modern Art, contended that the question of modern architecture had been decided, and among the many tasks be- fore the Museum, one of the most important was "the develOp- ment of a modern American architecture from the mingling of traditional American techniques ard materials with the forms of Wright and the Emt'Opeans."l Among American museums, no other has been as close to the cause of the modern movement as this institution, and it may be that its director has voiced the great task now confronting design education. Besides state- ments such as that of Mr. Barr, there are already other indi- cations that a conscious compromise is culminating the conflict which has separated the founders of the school. GrOpius and Wright mut ually continue to maintain their leadership in the field of design education. Today, however, there are two main forces which point to the conscious formation of a stream of education between the extremes which these men have maintained. The first is the ever widening horizon of modern building . The second is the increased tendency of institutions and students to select from the extremes princi- ples of technology, or art. The force toward a broader horizon of modern design became accelerated with the pro-war building of 1940, when the sudden RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 247 demand for efficiency in construction made the nation aware of the directness of functional architecture. Economic changes which began at the same time made the decorative features of the Beaux Arts tradition prohibitive, and served the fateful blow to the older school. Technical advances, and the search for design innovations have simultaneously enlarged the range of modern architecture, asking it more adaptable and inviting for use. Educational institutions, as the last chapter reaffirmed, began much earlier to switch from the methods of the Beaux Arts to those in line with the new architecture. Pub lically and privately endowed schools, however, are seldom in sympathy with radical approaches, and no revolutionary programs have as yet replaced those devised at the Bauhaus or Taliesin. It is also safe to assert that most students participating in such educational programs are conformists, rather than inno- vators, and no more than a brief survey of schools is required to substantiate this view. SO dependant are most students on the guidance of their teachers that as the school goes, so goes the student. This (condition warrants the attention of all associated with design edmation, because it can mean exploration which, in its own way, is equal to that which was once before the leaders of the Bauhaus and Taliesin movements. 0f its implica- tions, the greatest is that of utilization. In the broadening front of modern architecture there is an enormous range for RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 248 creative expression, for work can be pursued on either extreme, or in the vast area between the two. The inclination of schools and stuients to borrow intellegently from the methods of the innovators would thus prove the real flexibility latent in modern archit ecture. Action such as this selectivity can be imagined as an enforced compromise between the schools for a new functionalism. The strength of this functionalism would be in the continuation of the extremes without necessitating a loss of vitality for either side. Indeed, many observers believe that such a compromise must come if any measure of established theory is to be put into practice. There is not enough evidence, however, in the passing scene of building , to verify that the conflict will institably resolve itself by the methods outlined above. At most, it is possible to state that selection between the extremes is taking place, for whatever it may produce in the future, and almost any book or-journal on contemporary planning will disclose how this is occurring. Three models will be herewith examined to describe such tendencies of selectivity. Ralph Calder’s planning for Shaw Hall, on the campus of Michig an State College, offers an example of selectivity from the side of technology. This dormitory project is of particu- lar interest here, because it can be seen in relation to the design work‘ of the architect over the past fifteen years, and pronounces the trend which many other long-tine practicioners are following. A survey of the various campus buildings by RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 249 the architecture shows a gradual change from work bordering close to the Beaux Arts manner to something within the area of modern design. Project Specifications called for a permanent unit to replace the temporary accomodations of a village of quonset huts housing 1400 students. Calder's dormitory provided housing for an equal number of stuients, and is now reputed to be the largest building of its kind in use. Reference to the photograph of Plate VIII shows that this dormitory can be easily classified on the side of an architecture of technology. The plan formulated by the architect accomodates several rectangular building elements, and the areal view amply des- cribes the massiveness of these elements. Arranged in an H-plan they are wholly geometric in form, rather than organic. 1.1a- terials are used throughout the structure in a mechanical fashion, so that exterior effects are those at commercial building common to the American landscape. Only the long cur- tains of‘glass on the north side of the dormitory provide an imaginative break from an otherwise indifferent handling of the exterior. Within the building there is even less 'to imply that an artistic regard has been given to the manipulation of materials, as the veneer, stone, and plaster fills the atmos- phere with a metallic aura. Techniques have been limit ed to those of construction whereby modern power tools were brought into play in the erection of the building , but with little resort to structural .83 .3253 ass 69.28 Sea Sansone .Eofifioa .mmfié mg .s... o‘..' ...A.\.. .92.cr.r:... 2. s... .o.ln&|NJ‘. HHH> mafia ESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 251 inventiveness. Only two cantilevered balconies on the pro- jecting wings to the river side point to any real use of new structural techniques. Structurely, Shaw Hall presents no sharp break from the earlier work of the architect, because its skeleton framework, based on common engineering principles is characteristic of his earlier planning. The Space treatment, however, does show a break from the other works of the archi- tect. Moving Space is brought into the building by several notable methods. The glass curtains found throughout the building show a delight with this newly dis covered device for Spatial control, and the condition is amplified in the case of the first-floor lounge, and the student dining room, where large folding curtains Open these rooms to twice their normal length. The vast roof area of Shaw Hall, as the photograph will indicate, is a bold attempt to provide continuous shelter by means of tying the massive elements together. Calder, in this project, decidedly conforms to design principles furthered by Bauhaus education, and with not unusual engineering proficiency, and a staff of qualified draftsmen, has carried his plans to a successful conclusion. This sort of building is generally sound because of its craftsmanship, its utility and its straight design, and more of its type are needed for environmental improvement . but the re will be few to challenge the Opinion that it is neither imaginative, nor beautiful in the artistic sense of building. The real com- plexity of the building lies in the scale of its corszruction work, and if beauty there is, it is in that simple beauty of RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 252 efficiency. Despite Calder's hesitant switch to modern design, an apparent quality has resulted through the mechanical use of principles. It was this kind of utilization which the Bauhaus designers hOped for, when they disciplined themselves to practice within the Specific limitations of repeated principles. Selectivity from the side of art can be fo uni in Bruce Goff's Crystal Chapel project for the campus of the University of Oklahoma. As chairman of the School of Architecture for the University, the architect has long been a staunch advocate of Wright's work, and like Wright, has encouraged students to emulate basic principles which would avoid typical effects, or the personal idioms of others. His own chapel project is thus a unique piece of architecture, but close to Wright's side in underlying principles. The project was prepared as a center for the religious activities of the campus, and when built, will include a chapel and a student building connected by a covered walk-way. The chapel is to be a pyramidal shaped structure in which angular shaped roof areas simultaneously serve as walls. rI'hese angu- lar‘ roof-wall surfaces are to be made of diamond-faceted sec- tions of translucent glass set in aluminum frames. The student building is to be a rectangular structure of less dramatic prOporti one but with horizontal wall sections similar to the roof areas of the chapel. Plate IX illustrates the fantasy of forms which will result from this imaginative interplay of glass. .omfl Jeannie .585 .3235 no shaming m5 .8.“ pBfiom H320 anemia .9? Sign RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 254 For his project, Architect Goff was a free plan in which he resorts to both regular and irregular shapes in its realization. Irregularity is evident in the Y—shaped floor plan of the chapel, as well as in the exterior tower and pool elements. The student building has been arranged on a regular shape, but it has been given interesting variety by means of an entrame area and the covered walk-way. The planning for materials and techniques in this pro- posed building are aptly described in a statanent by the Architectural for um 'whi ch says that "worshipers will have the sensation of being miraculously suSpended in a prism of warm light whose structural frame will be little more noticeable "2 Here than that of the leads of a stained glass wind ow. excessive glass is used for the crystalline beauty, rather than invisible effects, and the converging of the roof-wall planes at an apex '75 feet above the floor, describes the experimental attitude which Goff has for structure. The Spatial conception of the chapel is imaginative beyond anything possible with the rigid forms of a rectangular archi- tecture. Goff's giant jewel of glass was designed to provide a source of visual delight from the inside, from the immediate outside, and from the distame as well, or to put it differently, this architecture was created as a form of interrupt ed and artistic shelter. Adaptability of this kind on the side of art requires both artistic and engineering ability in the archit ect, and it RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 25E must be expected that there will be fewer good examples here, than on the side of technology. The uniqueness of this monu- ment to art, or to individuality as the case may be, is in no way a denial of its particular virtues. The architectural environment would surely be barren if it were not for the enrichment which such art can provide. The planning of Alvar Aalto, the Finnish architect , industrialdesigner, and teacher, males it possible to use still another collegiate building for a specimen of selec- tivity from the center-line area. This time, the Senior Dormitory recently constructed on the campus of the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology. The architect, since beginning practice in Finnland in 1927, has established a reputation which makes him as well known in America as in EurOpe, and one reason for the pOpularity is his interest in education, for with each year he divides his time between private practice in Scandinavia and a visiting professorship at the Institute of Technology. The determination of the architect to make use of planning principles from both technology and art has drawn comment from many ob servers, and Dr. Giedi on maintains that , "Aalto is the strongest exponent of the combination of standardization with irrationality, so that standardization becomes no longer master but servant.“5 Thus, the Senior Dormitory may be compared with the campus projects of Calder and Goff, which have been explicit statements of work near the extremes. RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 256 The planning before the architect at N.I.T. was to pre- pare a building capable of housing 550 students. The site for the project was to be at the edge of an cpen campus along the Charles River, and in preparatory work, Aalto was intrigued by the possibilities this offered for relating his building to the panorama of river scenery. Plate Xdepicts the imagi- native solution which resulted. A long serpintine plan was employed to give plasticity to the structural forms, arfi from a first impression there is a feeling of motion not found in the regular shapes of the surrounding buildings. Aalto's work rises seven stories high, and when seen from across the river, appears as a the undulating well set amidst the rigid classic buildings so prominent in the backgound. For its exterior the dormitory has neither hovering expan- ses of glass, nor heavy areas of brick, but displays a subtle harmony between the two inplying a natural and reassured poise. The main entrance ior the build ing is on the campus side, and is situated below an overhanging canOpy which leads to stair- cases going to the various floor levels. With the stairs, one finds a unique design treatment occurring in the use of structural techniques. From the central location of the en- trance, prominent overhangs shelter the stairs ard move upward to a form a triangular design pattern against the north side of the building, thus enlivening that which would otherwise be 8 plain surface. The entrance prOper leads past these inner Stairs and into a quiet interior, and the welcome of a low Cdlinged lounge. .22 deafness .hoaofisse so Ssfismfi ussomssssmssa .Eofissoa .05: 5.5a RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 258 Beyond the main lounge there is a mezzanine around the cpen well to the student restaurant on the floor below. The restaurant has its own terrace and provides an excellent view of the river. In the designs for this part of the building, Aalto displays his love for individualistic detailing. The stairway, the columns, the circular lighting recesses of the ceiling interplay to produce a gaiety of atmosphere. All of these structural members blend successfully with the light- ing effects of the building because of the craftsmanship and imagination which were used in their creation. The living quarters are unique in dormitory design. Instead of an indifferent placement, and the overcrowding of rooms, Aalto has let space prevail by placing the student rooms to the south facing the river view. These rooms, designed as combined working ~sleeping areas, have been prepared for one, two, or three students, depending on their location. Besides having a view overlooking the river, each student has the pleasure of an individually designed living space. Here, furnishings convey a feeling of comfort as a result of wood panelings, rich floor coverings, and warm brickwork. Tree-form furniture, some of WLJi ch was imported from Sweden, adds to the beauty of the accomodations. Differences in planning can herewith be described between the typical forms of Calder's Shaw Hall , and the unique forms of Goff's Crystal Chapel project. Aalto has used a serpentine shape which is neither geometric, or on the other hand completely RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 259 organic. It may also be said that he has separated himself from the rigidity of typical units, but at the same time, he has restrained himself from complete Spontaneity of eXpression. In the matter of materials and techniques, the building has none of the severity of standardization, nor the freeness of exotic forms. As for the spatial treatment, the shape of the plane and the placement of the rooms makes the most of the contemporary urge for movement, but in a manner that is decidedly between that of continuous and interrupted shelter. The distinction of the Senior Dormitory is that it has been gracefully balanced between the principles of technology and those of art, and with this work Aalto demonstrates the riches to be found for utilization in that area between the extremens. From the side of technology the unlimited industrial potential for great er utility, and from that of art, an equally promising potential for creative expression. Aalto, recognizing the range for design fulfillment has chosen to w rk in the middle-ground. As the new architecture moves into the last half of the century, there are signs of growing accord between the forces of technology and art, and this is evidenced by the growing reference to the whole as Organic Architecture. Deepite the tenuousness of the word organic, its increased use discloses two fundamental conditions. The first is the prevailing in- fluence of Frank Lloyd Eiright, and the second is the appeal everywhere for new prOportions of functi onalism in our man-made environment, such as those signally advocated by the Bauhaus RESOLLTION: Organic Architecture 260 educators. Although no architect has used the word organic with the same fervor, or meaning, as Wright, it is also to be found in the vocabulary of GrOpius and other architects working in the Bauhaus tradition. Bruno Zevi in his book Towards 32 Organic Architecture devot as an entire chapter to the history and meaning of the term in reference to architec- ture. The author explains in his writing the long search for a word suitably descriptive of the inherent nature of contem— porary work, and concludes that the term implies an attitude rather than a stylistic treatment to building forms. The social idea underlying the new architecture, says :evi, is that which qualifies it to be called Organic: "Architect ure is organic when the Spatial arrange- ment of room, house and city is planned for human hap- piness, material, psychological and spiritual. The organic is based therefore on a social idea and not on a figurative idea. We can only call architecture ciganic when it aims at being human before it is humanist." The single idea of this thesis has been that Ba uhaus and Taliesin architects have maintained separate and Opposing con- cepts of these material, psychological and spiritual ideals, yet in reality, no realization of the idealism can occur without the advantages of both. If the building potential _i_s_ used advantageously, the new architecture will be idealism in growth, flowering every- where to delight the eye. The achievements of the present have not come easily in the evolution of culture, but out of RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 261 5COO years of building, here was the proudest of man's accomplishments. Planted in the soil of reality, warmed by the sunshine ofidealism, if cultivated, this organic architecture could flourish colorfully before all society like the tulips of Holland's Springtime. The century was at mid—point, it was Spring, and men themselves were deciding if there wound be the freshness of new forms over the land. RESOLUTION: Organic Architecture 2§2 ‘—_ Footnotes 1 Elizabeth hock, Built 12 USA, (New York, 1944), p. 8. 2 Architectural Forum, Volume 93, Number I, (July, 1950), p. 87. 5 Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, (Cambridge, 1949), p. 455. 4 Bruno Zevi, Towards pp.0rganic Architecture, (London, 1949), p. 76. BIBLIOGRAPHY’ A. Books Bayer, H., GrOpius, H., GrOpius, I., The Bauhaus, Museum of Mbdern Art, 1938. Bahrendt, Walter Curt, modern Building, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1957. Blake, Peter, Marcel Breuer - Architect and Designer, Architectural Record, New Ybrk, 1949. Borth, Christy, tasters of Mass Production, Bobbs Merrill Company, New York, 1945. Cahill, Holger, Art in America, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942. Chris-Janer, Albert, Eliel Saarinen, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1948. Creighton, Thomas, Building for Modern Man, Princeton Uni- versity Press, Princeton, 1949. Fitch, James, American Building, Houghton Nifflin Company, Boston, 1948. Fletcher, Bannister, History of Architecture, B.T. Botsford Limited, London, 1941. Fromm, Eric, Escapg from Freedom, Rinehart and Company, New York, 1941. Goodman and Goodman, Communitas, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 19477 GrOpius, Falter, The New Architecture and the Bauhaus, Faber and Faber, London, T9255. Gropius, Walter, Rebuildnmg Our Communities, Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1945. Hamlin, Talbut, Architecture - an Art for all Hen, Columbia University'Press,Newfibrk,1947. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, In the Nature of Nmterials, Duell, Sloan.and Pearce, ”New Ybrk, I942. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, Painting Towards Architecture, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1948. BIBLIOGRAPHY 264 Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, Johnson, Philip, The international Style, NJ. Norton and Company, New York, 1932. Giedion, Sigfried, Space, Time and Architecture, Harvard university Press, Canbridge, I949. Hudnut, Joseph, Architecture and the Spirit 3; dan, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1949. Johnson, Philip, flies van der Rphe, The Museum of Modern Art, New York ,T949 . LeCorbusier, Four Routes, Librairie Plon, Paris, 1949. LeCorbusier, Home 3; Man, Librairie Plon, Paris, 1948. LeCorbusier, When the Cathedrals were White, Reynal and Hitch- cock, Newfiibrk, I947. Mock, Elizabeth, Built.£n USA, Museum of modern Art, New York, 1944. Hoholy—Nagy, Lazlo, The New Vision, Brewer, Warren and Putnam, New York, 1932. Moholy-Nagy, Lazlo, Vision in Motion) Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1949. Noholy—Nagy, Sibyl, NohoLnyagy, Experiment in Totality, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1950. Mumford, Lewis, Culture of Cities, Harcourt Brace and Company New Ybrk, 1958. Papadaki, Stamo, Oscar Niemeyer, Reinhold Publishing Corpora- tion, New York, 1950. Pevsner, Nikolaus, Pioneers of Modern DesignI Museum of Modern Art, New YoF'E, 1'95’0. Robb, J., Garrison, J. J., Art in.the Nestern Vorld Harper and Brothers, New Yorc, 1942’. Saarinen, Eliel, The Cit y, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New Yerk, 1946. Sullivan, Louis Henry, Autobiography of an Idea, Press of the American Institute of Architects, New Ybrk, 1924. BIBLIOGaKPHY' 265 I Sullivan, Louis Henry, Kindergarten Chats, Wittenbonn Schultz, New York, 194T. Summerson, John, Heavenly Mansions, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1943 . Whittick, Arnold, Eric Mendelsohn, Faber and Faber, London, 1940. Wright, Frank Lloyd, 53 Autobiograohz, Longmans, Green and Company, New York , I952. wright, Frank Lloyd, Genius and the Mobocracy, Duell, Sloan ~and Pearce, New York, 1949. wright, Frank Lloyd, Qg Architecture, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York , 1951. wright, Frank Lloyd, When genocragy Builds, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1945. Wright, John Lloyd, Ex Father who i§_gn_Earth, G. P. Putnams' Sons, 1946. Zevi, Bruno, Towards an Organic Architecture, Faber and Faber, London, 1949. Churc Condi C 0nd Cree '42 H! (D Cir: ?‘ 1 IL QC t-d u BIBLIOGRAPHY‘ egg B. Periodical Articles: Signed Churchill, H.S., "Notes on Frank Lloyd wright”, Magazine 23 Art, Vol. 41, February 1948, p. 62-5. Cnndit, C“Yo,"I-Jodern Architecture and New Technical Aesthetic", Aesthetics, Vol. 6, deptember 1947, p. 45-54. Condit, C.W., "Chicago, School.and the Modern Movement in Architecture", Art in Anerica, vol. 56, oanuary 1948, p. 19-36. Creese, Falter, "Architecture and Learning", Magazine g£_Art, Vol. 45, April 1950, p. 1B6-41. “‘ Fisher, Kay, "The Moral of Functionalisn”, magazine g: Art, Vol. 45, February 1950, p. 62-7. GrOpius, Walter, "Tradition and the Center", Hanard Alumni Bulletin, Vol. 55, October 1950, p.*58-70. Hudnut, Joseph, "Conteiporary American Architecture", Art £2 America, Vol. 35, p. 55, October 1947, p. 534-8. Kadow, G., "Paul Klee and Dessau in 1929", College Art, Vol. 1 1949. p. 54-6. Kallmann, Gerhard, "The Way Through Technology", The Archi- tectural Review, Vol. 108, December 1950, 9. 407-14. Kiesler, Frederick, "The Endless House", The Magazine 2: Building, Vol. 95, Novenber 1950, p. 124-6. Lanoreaux, Jeanne, "Taliesin - Rural werkshop for Master Builders", Harvester World, Vol. 41, August 1950, p.2—8. Loeb, Gerald, "Letters to the Editor", The Architectural Forum, Vol. 91, August 1950, p. 24,28. ”'_ Lombard, Mildred, "The Ecole des Beaux Arts", Architectural ForumI Vol. 69, July 1958,913-14. .Lbndelsohn, Eric, "Architecture in a Changing World", Arts and Architecture, Vol. 65, April 1948, p. 56-7. idumford, Lewis, "Monumentalism, Symbolism and Style", Archi- tectural Review, Vol. 105, April 1949, p. 175-80. “firight, Frank Lloyd, "Individual Issue", ArChitectural Forum, Vol. 88, January 1948, p. 65—152. BIBLIOGRt’E-‘HY 267 Wright, Frank Lloyd, "Portfolio of work", The Kagazine of Building, Vol. 94, January 1951, p. 75-104. Zevi, Bruno, "Frank Lloyd wright and the Conquest of Space", Magazine of Art, Vol. 15, Lay 1950, p. 45-8. "11.1., “Ar “1. N H BIBLIOGRAPHY 268 C. Periodical Articles: Unsigned "A.I.A. meets in Houstan", Architectural Forum, VdL 90, April 1949, p. 16-19. "Architecture - Opaque and TranSparent", Archibectural Forum, Vol. 91, November 1949, p. 74-9. 'F "Closing of the Bauhaus", The Studio, Vol. 104, Decenber 1952, p. 295. Crystal Chapel", Architectural Forum, Vol. 95, July 1950, p. 86-9. "Exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright", Time, Vol. 57, February 5, 1951, p. 45. "GrOpius in America", Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Vol. 55, October 1950, p. 71-4. Harvard Builds a Graduate Yard", The Na azine of Building, Vol. 95, December 1950, p. 62-71. "' "House for the Growing Family", Architectural For um, Vol. 90, May 1949, p. 97-101. "In Search of a New Monumentality", Architectural Review, Vol. 104, September 1948, p. 117-128. "Institute of Design", Interiors, Vol. 108, Novehber 1948, p. 118-250 "M.I.T. Senior Dormitory", Architectural Forum, Vol. 91, August 1949, p. 65-93 "The New Technology Has Freed Architecture Fnom Dishonest Symbolism", Architectural Forum, Vol. 89, NoveMber 1948 , p. 142-7. "United Nations Secretariat", The Magazine 2; Building, Vol. 95, November 1950, p. 95-112. 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