Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Pandgt;Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States in 1935 is generally considered a failure because it produced no commissions. The experience nevertheless had a profound effect on him, both personally and professionally. Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Corbusier promoted his ideas through a lecture tour, exhibition, and press conferences, as well as in meetings with industrialists, housing reformers, New Deal technocrats, and editors. His lectures were watershed events that advanced the cause of European modernism. Yet he returned to France empty-handed and published a bittersweet account, Quand les cath餲ales éand#180;and#161;ient blanches: voyage au pays des timides (When the Cathedrals Were White: Journey to the Country of Timid People), which faulted America for lacking the courage to adopt his ideas.In this first major study of Le Corbusier's American tour, Mardges Bacon reconstructs his encounter with America in all its fascinating detail. Through extensive archival research and interviews, she presents a critical history of the tour as well as a nuanced and intimate portrait of the architect. Drawing on the methods of microhistory, she also considers how small ordinary events affect larger biographical, architectural, and cultural developments.Bacon notes that Le Corbusier's dialogue with America was drafted within a spirited European discourse on amé²and#169;canisme. She contends that the trip validated his concept of a "second machine age" that would unite standardized industrial methods with a new humanism. Le Corbusier's subsequent work, she suggests, reflected an "Americanization," evidenced by the introduction of tension structures and the textured skyscraper conceived as an integrated system with functions articulated. She also defines Le Corbusier's role in the debate over New York City high-rise public housing.Appearing here in print for the first time are color reproductions of the pastel drawings that illustrated Le Corbusier's American lectures.andlt;/Pandgt;
Review
"[T]he book's breadth of knowledge and attention to detail are faultless." Elain Harwood The Architects' Journal The MIT Press
Review
"...[An] exhaustively researched and engagingly written study of a telling episode in 20th-century architectural transformations." Martin Filler New York Times Book Review The MIT Press
Review
"Mardges Bacon's long-awaited study sheds light on one of the strangest love/hate relationships in Modern architecture: Le Corbusier's infatuation with an idealized America and the bitter delusion that followed. Thanks to previously overlooked archives, the events of Le Corbusier's famous 1935 trip to the United States are framed in a broad discussion of French Americanism. Bacon also reveals the fascinating parallel process through which Le Corbusier recycled themes and methods discovered in America and U. S. city builders absorbed his concepts."--Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Director, Institut français d'architecture, Paris The MIT Press
Review
"A long-neglected, important topic in Le Corbusier scholarship has finally found its overdue treatment. Mardges Bacon has produced an indispensable, substantial chronicle of Le Corbusier's visit to the United States. With exceptional acumen and precision, she presents central aspects of his ambiguous relation to American culture and architecture and provides fascinating sidelights of his life."--Adolf Max Vogt, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich The MIT Press
Review
"This book opens a new chapter in both Le Corbusier scholarship and American studies. While Le Corbusier's interest in America has been increasingly discussed by twentieth-century architectural historians, there has been no comprehensive study of his important voyage to America. Mardges Bacon's book admirably fills that gap."--Mary McLeod, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University The MIT Press
Review
"Mario Carpo's book combines erudition and wit in his path-breaking interpretation of the printed image's impact on architectural design. A renewed intellectual landscape of Renaissance architecture emerges, through an investigation of the way publishing technologies and strategies shape discourse and practical construction. We owe Carpo a well-deserved thanks for his fascinating account of the earliest, and not the least inspiring, encounter between architectural theory and the media."--Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Director, Institut français d'architecture, Paris The MIT Press
Review
"Volker Welter's book offers a fascinating journey into uncharted territory. The seminal figure of Patrick Geddes emerges from the extraordinary quantity of archival documents as a key thinker on the city and its history. Issues hitherto repressed in the history of modern urbanism, such as the impact of spirituality on town designs, are brought back to the center of attention."--Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Director, Institut français d'architecture, Paris The MIT Press
Review
"Simon Sadler chronicles the encounter between fantastic technology and the built imagination orchestrated by Archigram during a unique decade. The rigorous historical knowledge offered by his book does nothing to lessen the excitement their designs still generate."--Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Director, Institut français d'architecture, Paris The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"Mardges Bacon's long-awaited study sheds light on one of the strangest love/hate relationships in Modern architecture: Le Corbusier's infatuation with an idealized America and the bitter delusion that followed. Thanks to previously overlooked archives, the events of Le Corbusier's famous 1935 trip to the United States are framed in a broad discussion of French Americanism. Bacon also reveals the fascinating parallel process through which Le Corbusier recycled themes and methods discovered in America and U. S. city builders absorbed his concepts."--Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Director, Institut français d'architecture, Parisandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"A long-neglected, important topic in Le Corbusier scholarship has finally found its overdue treatment. Mardges Bacon has produced an indispensable, substantial chronicle of Le Corbusier's visit to the United States. With exceptional acumen and precision, she presents central aspects of his ambiguous relation to American culture and architecture and provides fascinating sidelights of his life."--Adolf Max Vogt, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurichandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"This book opens a new chapter in both Le Corbusier scholarship and American studies. While Le Corbusier's interest in America has been increasingly discussed by twentieth-century architectural historians, there has been no comprehensive study of his important voyage to America. Mardges Bacon's book admirably fills that gap."--Mary McLeod, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia Universityandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"...[An]exhaustively researched and engagingly written study of a telling episode in 20th-century architectural transformations." Martin Filler New York Times Book Reviewandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"[T]he book's breadth of knowledge and attention to detail are faultless." Elain Harwood The Architects' Journalandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"Mario Carpo's book combines erudition and wit in his path-breaking interpretation of the printed image's impact on architectural design. A renewed intellectual landscape of Renaissance architecture emerges, through an investigation of the way publishing technologies and strategies shape discourse and practical construction. We owe Carpo a well-deserved thanks for his fascinating account of the earliest, and not the least inspiring, encounter between architectural theory and the media."--Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Director, Institut français d'architecture, Parisandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Synopsis
How Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States shaped his critique of the country and affected both his work and the diffusion of his ideas.
Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States in 1935 is generally considered a failure because it produced no commissions. The experience nevertheless had a profound effect on him, both personally and professionally. Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Corbusier promoted his ideas through a lecture tour, exhibition, and press conferences, as well as in meetings with industrialists, housing reformers, New Deal technocrats, and editors. His lectures were watershed events that advanced the cause of European modernism. Yet he returned to France empty-handed and published a bittersweet account, Quand les Cathedrales etaient blanches: Voyage au Pays des Timid Personnes ( When the Cathedrals Were White: Journey to the Country of Timid People), which faulted America for lacking the courage to adopt his ideas.
In this first major study of Le Corbusier's American tour, Mardges Bacon reconstructs his encounter with America in all its fascinating detail. Through extensive archival research and interviews, she presents a critical history of the tour as well as a nuanced and intimate portrait of the architect. Drawing on the methods of microhistory, she also considers how small ordinary events affect larger biographical, architectural, and cultural developments.
Bacon notes that Le Corbusier's dialogue with America was drafted within a spirited European discourse on Americanisme. She contends that the trip validated his concept of a "second machine age" that would unite standardized industrial methods with a new humanism. Le Corbusier's subsequent work, she suggests, reflected an "Americanization," evidenced by the introduction of tension structures and the textured skyscraper conceived as an integrated system with functions articulated. She also defines Le Corbusier's role in the debate over New York City high-rise public housing.
Appearing here in print for the first time are color reproductions of the pastel drawings that illustrated Le Corbusier's American lectures.
Synopsis
Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States in 1935 is generally considered a failure because it produced no commissions. The experience nevertheless had a profound effect on him, both personally and professionally. Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Corbusier promoted his ideas through a lecture tour, exhibition, and press conferences, as well as in meetings with industrialists, housing reformers, New Deal technocrats, and editors. His lectures were watershed events that advanced the cause of European modernism. Yet he returned to France empty-handed and published a bittersweet account, Quand les cath餲ales 鴡ient blanches: voyage au pays des timides (When the Cathedrals Were White: Journey to the Country of Timid People), which faulted America for lacking the courage to adopt his ideas.In this first major study of Le Corbusier's American tour, Mardges Bacon reconstructs his encounter with America in all its fascinating detail. Through extensive archival research and interviews, she presents a critical history of the tour as well as a nuanced and intimate portrait of the architect. Drawing on the methods of microhistory, she also considers how small ordinary events affect larger biographical, architectural, and cultural developments.Bacon notes that Le Corbusier's dialogue with America was drafted within a spirited European discourse on am鲩canisme. She contends that the trip validated his concept of a "second machine age" that would unite standardized industrial methods with a new humanism. Le Corbusier's subsequent work, she suggests, reflected an "Americanization," evidenced by the introduction of tension structures and the textured skyscraper conceived as an integrated system with functions articulated. She also defines Le Corbusier's role in the debate over New York City high-rise public housing.Appearing here in print for the first time are color reproductions of the pastel drawings that illustrated Le Corbusier's American lectures.
Synopsis
Appearing here in print for the first time are color reproductions of the pastel drawings that illustrated Le Corbusier's American lectures.
Synopsis
Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States in 1935 is generally considered a failure because it produced no commissions. The experience nevertheless had a profound effect on him, both personally and professionally. Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Corbusier promoted his ideas through a lecture tour, exhibition, and press conferences, as well as in meetings with industrialists, housing reformers, New Deal technocrats, and editors. His lectures were watershed events that advanced the cause of European modernism. Yet he returned to France empty-handed and published a bittersweet account,
Synopsis
How Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States shaped his critique of the country and affected both his work and the diffusion of his ideas.
About the Author
D. Micah Hester, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Biomedical Ethicsand Humanities at Mercer University School of Medicine. He haspublished Community as Healing: Pragmatist Ethics in Medical Encounters(Rowman & Littlefield, 2001) along with several journal articles.