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Collins provides a thorough history of the new nineteenth century material and goes on to examine the theories on its architectural expression, focussing on determining role of the reinforced concrete frame. He argues that Perret provides the first rational and effective expression of classical principles in modern construction. Published in 1959 and out of print since 1975, this new edition of Concrete includes a foreword by Kenneth Frampton, a scholarly introduction by Réjean Legault, and several additional essays on Perret by Peter Collins. From the Foreword by Kenneth Frampton: "Concrete remains a valuable historical text that in many respects has never been given its due. It is an unma...
Reconstructing Italy traces the postwar transformation of the Italian nation through an analysis of the Ina-Casa plan for working class housing, established in 1949 to address the employment and housing crises. Government sponsored housing programs undertaken after WWII have often been criticized as experiments that created more social problems than they solved. The neighborhoods of Ina-Casa stand out in contrast to their contemporaries both in terms of design and outcome. Unlike modernist high-rise housing projects of the period, Ina-Casa neighborhoods are picturesque and human-scaled and incorporate local construction materials and methods resulting in a rich aesthetic diversity. And unlik...
This study reassesses modern architecture and town planning in mid-twentieth-century England, highlighting ideas and debates that were in circulation as modernist ideals gradually took root. The book reveals an architectural culture that was serious, active, and visionary, with impact that extended into the postwar years. Through close studies of specific works and writings, the author acknowledges the importance of the international context of modern architecture as it intersected with the variety of narratives that defined English modernism, such as national identity, the New Empiricism, and the picturesque, taking into account the large community of émigré architects who settled in Engl...
In many different parts of the world modern furniture elements have served as material expressions of power in the post-war era. They were often meant to express an international and in some respects apolitical modern language, but when placed in a sensitive setting or a meaningful architectural context, they were highly capable of negotiating or manipulating ideological messages. The agency of modern furniture was often less overt than that of political slogans or statements, but as the chapters in this book reveal, it had the potential of becoming a persuasive and malleable ally in very diverse politically charged arenas, including embassies, governmental ministries, showrooms, exhibitions...
This book uses original archival material to consider the theatrical and cultural innovations of Joan Littlewood and her company, 'Theatre Workshop'. Littlewood had a huge impact on the way theatre was generated, rehearsed and presented during the twentieth century. Now reissued, Joan Littlewood is the first book to combine: an overview of Littlewood's career in relation to the wider social, political and cultural context an exploration of Littlewood's theatrical influences, approach to actor's training, belief in the creative ensemble, attitude to text, rehearsal methods and use of improvisation a detailed case study of the origins, research, creative process and thinking behind Littlewood's most famous production, Oh What a Lovely War, and an assessment of its impact a series of practical exercises designed to capture and illustrate the key approaches Littlewood used in the rehearsal room. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performace Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today's student.
Franco Albini’s works of architecture and design, produced between 1930 and 1977, have enjoyed a recent revival but to date have received only sporadic scholarly attention from historians and critics of the Modern Movement. A chorus of Italian voices has sung his praises, none more eloquently than his protégé, Renzo Piano. Kay Bea Jones’ illuminating study of selected works by Studio Albini will reintroduce his contributions to one of the most productive periods in Italian design. Albini emerged from the ideology of Rationalism to produce some of Italy’s most coherent and poetic examples of modern design. He collaborated for over 25 years with Franca Helg and at a time when professio...
This innovative, illustrated edited edition brings together a collection of authors to chart the rise, fall and possible futures of the word primitive.
In Skyscraper, Benjamin Flowers explores the role of culture and ideology in shaping the construction of skyscrapers and the way wealth and power have operated to reshape the urban landscape.
***Winner of the American Association for Italian Studies Book Prize 2022*** After World War II, a wave of Italian films emerged that depicted the life and hardships of characters left helpless after the conflict, bringing to the screen the struggles of a time of existential angst and uncertainty. This form of filmmaking was associated with a broader artistic phenomenon known as ‘neorealism’ and is now considered a pivotal point in the history of Italian cinema. But neorealism was not limited to film any more than it was to literature. It spread to other areas of artistic production, including architecture. What was, then, neorealist architecture? This book explores the links between arc...
At its root, modernism is that fundamental. It is a question of having something to represent that is of the moment. In the most radical interpretation, modernism always comes too late. The modern is that which is always new, which is to say, always changing and already old by the time it has appeared. Modernism is always a retrospective act, one of documenting or trying to catch what has already appeared - an attempt to fix life as it is being lived. Modernity is just the very fact that we as human beings are continually remaking the world around us through our actions, and are doing so consciously. Modernism is a monument to or memory of that act, which in its own making tries to remake the world it is pretending to represent.