"..."Topia _ Draft

thesis FALL 2012

... TOPIA Fostering a New Utopian Rhetoric for an contemporary Society

Erin Hicks

Cover Photographs: Courtesy of Archizoom

No Stop City "Non-Stop Thinking | Abitare." Abitare - International Design Magazine. http://www.abitare.it/it/architecture/non-stop-thinking/ (accessed December 11, 2012)

Copyright Erin Hicks, 2012. All content property of Erin Hicks. No reproductions or reuse of this material is authorized without the written consent of Erin Hicks.

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CONTENTS

Marxism

Phalansteries Charles Fourier early 19th Century

Pullman Company Town

Panopticon

George Pullman 1890

Socialism Berlin Development Project

News From Nowhere

Claude-Nicholas Ledoux 1804

Ludwig Hilberseimer 1928

Utopia

Jules Verne William Morris 1890

Port Sunlight

Ebenezer Howard 1898

The Peaceful Path of Real Reform Garden Cities of Tomorrow Ebenezer Howard 1898

Flying Settlement Wenzel Hablik 1907-1914

Bruno Taut 1919

A Contemporary City for 3 Million Le Corbusier 1922

Une Cite Industrielle

Plan Voison Le Corbusier 1925

Broadacre City Frank Lloyd Wright 1932

Highrise City

Reformalism Tony Garnier 1917

The New City

Ludwig Hilberseimer 1924

Antonio Sant’Elia 1914

Constructions for a Modern Metropolis

Modernism

Superstudio 1969

Georgy Krutikov 1928

Anonymous 1905

The Three Magnets

Continuous Monument

Flying Cities

Mario Chiattone 1914

New Babylon Constant Nieuwenhuys 1967

DYStopia

Jules Verne 1825-1902

Exodus, The Voluntary Prisoners Rem Koolhass 1972

The Twelve Ideal Cities Superstudio 1972

Generic City

No Stop City

Rem Koolhaas 1994

Andrea Branzi Archizoom 1969

2000 Ton City Temporal Cochlea-City New York of Brains Spaceship CIty City of Hemispheres Barnum Jar’s Magnificient and Fabulous City Continous Production Conveyor Belt City Conical Terraced City The “Ville-Machine Habitee” City of Order City of the Spendid House City of the Book

Instant City Plug In City

Archigram 1969

Archigram 1964

Walking City Archigram 1964

"...”topia

The Begum’s Fortune

House of the Water Surveyor

Post Modernism

Jeremy Bentham 1787

Progressivism page 16

16

28

Case Study

Case Study

Panopticon

05 06 13 16 18 17 18 31

Archigram

Abstract Discourse Narrative Literature Review Narrative Literature Map Case Study Analyses Project Description Bibliography Appendices

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4 | Thesis

Abstract The association between architecture and the utopian discourse has been viewed through many lenses throughout architectural theory. Though many have written about specific utopian communities, very few have investigated the utopian intent and its correspondence to specific elements of architecture. Utopia; after all derives from the Greek translation “no place”, and while many define it as an ideal and perfect oasis, it seems appropriate to ask, is Utopia in fact attainable, or has this Utopian model disintegrated into dystopia?

The objective of this discourse, is not to only define utopia and/or dystopia but to begin defining what is the new “topia” for contemporary society and how this new rhetoric can be interposed to a particular fragment in the industrial landscape that remains as a scar of modernism.

Peter Wilson, of Archigram once said, “it is not necessary to envision some imaginary plateau, more important is it to really look at and to make some sense of today’s fantastic actual conditions.”1 Could, in fact the relationship between contemporary utopias and those of modernism be a utopian revival that intervenes with historical context? With that said, the site chosen for investigation is a factory town located in Cliffside, North Carolina. At this site, there exists an intersection where utopian and dystopian worlds begin to collide and exposes an instability that has transpired through the Industrial Revolution to its demise in Post Modernism. This research will challenge the site to foster a new solution for the abandonment of the industrial ruins that are scattered throughout the landscape. Rather than creating a utopian intervention based solely on a futuristic vision, this experiment will reinvestigate the historical structure that has become a modernist wasteland. and a residue to the community. Cliffside Mill was once a thriving industrial society, where the industry constructed the surrounding community and since it’s closure the site and surrounding context has suffered and become pillaged of the vitality it once exuded. By using the theories of Archigram, Thomas More, Constantinos Doxiadis and those alike will help discover a new “topia” to be implemented and remediate a new vitality to the community.

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6 | Thesis

Discourse Narrative

T

his dissertation will not pretend to be a comprehensive

this article remains relevant today as it acknowledges that the ills of

history of the Industrial Revolution nor will it be a complete

modern society are attributed to Industrialization. The Industrial

chronicle for Modernism and/or Postmodernism. Instead,

Revolution, though promoting prosperity and economic growth,

it will begin to critically examine the utopian intentions of each

actually showed slow economic growth and extreme poverty, due

movement, to gain a different understanding for the Post-Industrial

to severe living and working conditions. However, much like the

ruins that are left disseminated throughout the urban fabric. This

Industrial Revolution, it too, would fail to bring industrial mass-

research thesis will begin to create a critique of scholarly debates

production into a universal language.

concerning the nature and structure for social reform in modern utopian architecture; primarily during the modernist period; and

Though there are many figures in this discourse that have remained

will reflect on how this research can pertain to contemporary

skeptical of the modernist movement, it would be appropriate to

architecture. This theory will work with a comprehensive definition

examine the intentions which those architects proposed. In Ziyi

of utopianism that does not seek for “perfection” but instead the

Feng and Li Jin Xing’s article, ‘A Contemporary Interpretation of

idea of bettering society. By creating and overlapping information

Marx’s Thoughts on Modernity’, modernism manifested itself in all

about the critical and transformative nature of utopianism, it can

aspects of social life proclaiming that it could solve all problems

then be determined if in fact this notion of Utopianism remains

concerning economy, politics, culture, society and many other

applicable to the needs of contemporary architecture. Much like

factors.2 It was at this time that social activism was becoming a

the work of Paolo Portoghesi and Leon Krier, among many others,

patron-less class and the philanthropist had been long removed.

this thesis research will propose an architecture that returns to

It was assumed “that the classless society was at hand, and that

its roots in practical needs. This architecture will strive to re-

no challenging, utopian inspiring classes would again appear, the

mediate the decomposing urban fabric that has suffered due to

new “matter of factness seemed threatening... the future society

Industrialization and will seek to revive a sense of community and

would be run by an intellectual elite trained in the sociology of

growth by re-investigating the activist principles of utopianism

knowledge, capable of both transforming and controlling history in

into contemporary design.

the interests of freedom, democracy and rationality.”3 It is here that an attempt to promote a patron saint was formed by the creation

The Modern Period

of the CIAM (Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) which was founded in 1928. CIAM was considered to be an avant-

It is evident that modernism became a dominant influence in the

garde association, including architects such as Walter Gropius, Le

early 20th Century and has continued to inspire the generations

Corbusier and many other well now “elitist” architects, which had

that would proceed. This movement, unlike some seen in the past,

intended to serve the interest of society by progressing modernism

wasn’t merely an opposition to aesthetics, but instead was a new

and industrialism of architecture forward. Their role would then

social agenda for a new social reform, and would become a reaction

be defined as s Socialist, which emphasized their dedication to this

the Industrial city. For example, R.M. Hartwell, a historian of the

new radical social reform. The only problem, as mentioned before,

British Industrial Revolution, caused great controversy in his article

these architects were in fact an Elitist group, therefore, they would

‘History and Ideology’. Through his perspective of the Industrial

Review 8, no. No. 4 (1974): pp. 383.

2. Feng, Ziyi, and Lijun Xing. "A Contemporary Interpretation of Marx's Thoughts on Modernity." Frontiers of Philosophy in China 1, no. No.2 (2006): pp. 255. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30209968 (accessed September 9, 2012).Hornstein, Shelley. Losing site: architecture, memory and place. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2011.

3. Shklar, Judith . "The Political Theory of Utopia: From Melancholy to Nostalgia." The MIT Press Vol. 94.No. 2 (1965): pp. 368.

Revolution and the economic growth, he believed that the myth of “immiseration” was the “one supreme myth which more than any other has served to discredit the economic system to which we owe our present day civilization”.1 Though written in 1974, the content of 1. Hartwell, R.M.. "History and Ideology." Modern Age: A Quarterly

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never have to suffer the conditions which the general population

same initial goals as Modernist and as he says, “Postmodernism is

would. Therefore, this disconnect would leave them unable to

defined as a period of slackening, a period where everything is de-

satisfy the social needs for the larger audience.

legitimized”.7 Other theorist such as Jean Francois Lyotard, Leon Krier, and Clement Greenberg all contributed to the dialogue

Charles Jencks said, “modernism failed as mass housing and

of Postmodernism. For Jean Francois Lyotard postmodernism

city building partly because it failed to communicate with its

created a liberation of humanity, striving for progression and an

inhabitants,” therefore, it did not make an effective link with the

increased amount of power. And lastly Leon Krier, who believed

city and/or history." This could provide great insight to thesis

that each movement could influence each other by gaining a more

by deciphering the key components of what the CIAM and the

positive outcome. Kriers critique of current urban planning and

like were trying to achieve. Another architectural theorist and

architecture, are rather nostalgic, however, he begins to shed light

historian that shared similar views as Charles Jencks was Christian

on how the “destroyed fabric of the historic city could be repaired

Norberg Schulz. Though slightly more poetic, Schulz’s theory

and a traditional set of well-scaled spaces could be added to these

would suggest that “modern man becomes “worldless” and thus

cores.”8 In this case, how can the intentions of modernity be

loses his own identity, as well as the sense of community and

salvaged in contemporary architecture that would also constitute

participation” therefore if this existence becomes meaningless,

an Activist Architecture?

4

mankind becomes homeless.” As expressed by these authors, 5

Modernism failed in many ways. It did not create better living

It is here that it is important to understand what may have caused

situations or communities, it didn’t provide economic growth

the rise for this utopian ideology. “Socialism, reformism, feudalism,

and instead it had left many communities that were reliant upon

anarchism, communism, the list of -isms can develop at great

Industrialism abandoned.

lengths, but all are contributing factors to the political radicalism associated with Modernism in the 1920s and 1930s” and continued

Postmodern Critiques

through Post-modernism. 9

The movement which would soon follow Modernism was termed

The Politics of Utopianism

Postmodernism. As Modernism rejected history in search of the new spirit, Postmodernism returned to history in hopes of restoring

The notion of Utopia most certainly predates modernism, however

a historical dimension. As Manfred Tafuri would say, “build the city

it is in the modernist era that Utopia thrives. This is not to suggest

on top of the city” and therefore do not erase the physical history

that “Utopianism” has been nor will ever be achieved. Instead this is

which creates a richness. Some would critique Postmodernism in

to propose a contemporary revival of the modernist utopian ideals

that it failed to separate its ideals from Modernism. This argument

and how to apply those ideals to contemporary society. There are

may very well be true as Postmodernism served to remediate

several ironies which surround the word Utopia. Whether it be

the social failures caused by modern architecture. As For Tom

the fact that Thomas More, who coined the term, was tried for

Wolfe, he saw postmodernism as a failure to break completely

treason and beheaded or the ambivalence of its definition meaning

from Modernism. That as a society, (we) are still seeking the

7. Jencks, Charles. The New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Post-modern Architecture. [7th ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. pp. 51.

8. Jencks, Charles. pp. 31 9. Bowm<http:/an, James. "The New Atlantis » Heroism, Modernism, and the Utopian Impulse." The New Atlantis - A Journal of Technology & Society.Web. 23 September 2012. /www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/heroism-modernism-and-the-utopian-impulse>.

6

4. Jencks, Charles. pp. 37 5. Schulz, Christian. Architecture: meaning and place : selected essays.

New York, N.Y.: Rizzoli International Publications, 1988. pp. 11.

6. Manfred Tafuri, “Toward a Critique of Architectural Ideology.” in Architecture Theory Since 1968, ed. K. Michael Hays (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998), pp. 7-11.

8 | Thesis

both no place and good place, or the fact that Utopia suggested a

be on a street grid. The center of the city would not be affiliated

social freedom however still created parameters that shaped social

with religion nor a feudal system, as a means of rejecting history,

factors. It would be safe to assume that these experiments with

instead, Corbusier proposed a series of twenty four sixty-story

Utopianism, was in fact a critique or a response to Modernism,

skyscrapers that would provide approximately 500,000 to 800,000

in hopes to address the issues that were initially created due to

workers a place to gather and socially interact around cultural

the social unrest in society. Utopianism has often been related to

amenities. Another failure for this utopian idea was his return to

totalitarianism, which is not the intentions for this thesis. Instead,

an elitist mentality. Corbusier in fact created a social hierarchy

it will be beneficial to begin to understand that the impulses

as he proposed “intellectuals of the bureaucratic and hierarchical

of modern utopianism created a foundation for remediating

new world” would indulge in living in these luxurious high rise

social issues. There is much to learn from these early attempts of

apartments, while those of a smaller fortune would be shipped out

utopianism, as it wasn’t merely the desire for spatial change, but

to satellite towns on the outskirts of the city.11

related to the economic and political conditions involved during this time period.

A key figure to look to would be architects such Frank Lloyd Wright, who believed that “the industrial city was the symbol

Timothy Benson, author of Expressionist Utopias, said ““Utopia

of exploitation of humankind. There, everyone, rich and poor,

functioned within Modernism as a continuous, constructive

was robbed of his true nature which could only be satisfied in a

means of self-critical renewal, an enactment of the central tenet

harmonious relationship with the countryside.”12 Wright was very

of the avant-garde: where creative artistic endeavors can embody

much interest in the well being and health of these occupants.

hope and prepare the way for better conditions for humanity.” The

His beliefs were similar to those of marxism which meant that

key word in that sentence was “hope”. It is not unfathomable why a

he believed man can only achieve self-fulfilment provided that

society would ambitiously seek out for Utopia, when mankind was

he belonged to a corporation a social community where he had a

suffering from nearly a millennium of destruction. In the events

definite social role and social circumstances. He would suggest that

of the Industrial Revolution, World War I, the Great Depression,

each citizen would acquire an acre of land, which they could build

World War II, the Cold War, all created a social unrest and chaos.

their home, reaping the benefits of the industrial progress. In return,

Utopianism was an attempt to create the Ideal City. It may be

these citizens would work in an industry that would stimulate their

important to reiterate that this thesis is not suggesting a return to

minds while learning new traits and becoming a successful steward

the Island of Utopia, by Thomas More, nor to the Contemporary

of society. These places of work and industrialization would be

City for 3 Million Inhabitants by Le Corbusier, instead it is looking

removed from the living community, suggesting that life and work

at the utopian intentions and how these ideas may revive a sense of

should remain separate. Unlike traditional cities, Wright proposed

community in the contemporary industry.

that there would be no urban centre to relinquish an notion of

10

social hierarchy therefore there would be no feudal system, and the An example of a failing Utopian ideal would be the project, A

power would remain equal among its residents. In place of these

Contemporary City for 3 Million Inhabitants, by Le Corbusier.

churches or a palace, which used to be the heart of a traditional

Corbusier proposed that this Utopian city will erect from a flat site

city there would be a community and cultural center where people

without a sense of context and scale, thus if something is on the site

were encouraged to interact with one another, promoting a sense

he wished to acquire, it would be demolished. The city would be

of peace and harmony.

composed of two superhighways where all means of transportation would intersect to the heart of the city, all secondary roads would 10. Bowman, James.

11. Eaton, Ruth. Ideal Cities: Utopianism and the (Un)Built Environment. New York, N.Y.: Thames & Hudson, 2002. p. 201.

12Eaton, Ruth. p. 209.

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question then becomes, what will happen with these structures Though the idea of Utopia seems almost biblical or fantastical, in

that have fallen silent in the backdrop of this contemporary world?

its search for Eden on Earth, there are many critiques that reject

What if these sites could once again prosper, based on the research

the idea of Utopianism. Authors such as Colin Rowe would define

of utopian principles in modern architecture? The concern that now

modern utopianism to be “a naive and tragic aspiration on the part of

rises of course is the questions regarding Utopianism? In order to

modern architecture.” Colin Rowe, not only seemed antagonistic

be true to Utopianism, can existing forms from the Post-Industrial

towards the idea of Utopianism but he also rejected Modernism.

age be remediated to create a new purpose or is this an inverse of

Spoken as a true historian, Rowe made it clear in his readings that

Utopianism as it begins to create a fine line to becoming nostalgic?

he felt modernism failed, and their intentions were destructive on

There are those like Tafuri and Colin Rowe who appreciate history

the historical fabric. Another skeptical visions about utopianism

and feel that building with consideration to the existing conditions

is the article, Political Theory of Utopia by Judith Shklar. Shkar,

allows for history to continue unscathed. Then there are architects

provides a brief review of classical utopia and begins to question,

such as Corbusier, the epitome of modernism, who rejects history.

13

why, in today’s society are there no attempts in creating a Utopia.

Though she remains skeptical, Shkar provides literary works that

Utopianism, modernism and post-modernism has very much in

showed little “activism” or hope for that matter, as to the effects

common, they were sought to be a machine for living. Therefore,

of Utopian Ideals, which becomes evident in projects such as A

these buildings were in fact a machine for production, that

Contemporary City for 3 Million Inhabitants.

production created jobs for those operating the machine, and that job produced a means of living. Again, the goes back to the original

Research Possibilities

question asked moments before, what becomes of these structures?

A frequent method of dealing with the failures of Modernism in

In Kevin Hetherington’s book, The Badlands of Modernity:

the past have been much like the Pruitt-Igoe Housing complex

Heterotopia and Social Ordering, he says “Many people were

in Saint Louis, Missouri, which was imploded after becoming

being forced from the land and from their villages and forced to

nuisance to society. Industries which once thrived are being

become vagrant and migrants, known in the discourse of the

forced to close their doors due to the economy, resembling that

time as ‘masterless men’...Old patterns of rights and duties as well

of the Great Depression. Those who relied on that industry for a

as one’s place in an established social hierarchy were no longer

source of income are being forced out of their homes to leave their

certain.” This quotes speaks loudly to the objective of this thesis

community, and the results are these corpses throughout the urban

as it will strive to remediate a sense of community in towns where

fabric, which become sites of vandalism, danger and abandonment.

modernism and utopianism failed. As Henry-Russell Hitchcock

While engaging on a psychological level, architecture creates a built

said, “our own generation has largely failed to cope critically with the

memory, a piece of history that represents the thoughts, values and

mass of buildings produced in the booming period of our youth”#

beliefs which formed it. By demolishing these buildings, it would

These buildings which Hitchcock speaks of are the buildings that

be a cultural lobotomy.

14

would follow the Industrial Revolution. These buildings seem to be perfunctory, as it is built with little consideration and no reflection

As stated several times throughout this dissertation, it will provide

to what would become of them when the industry moves out. The

a critical examination of the utopian intentions throughout

13 Ockman, Joan . "Form without Utopia: Contextualizing Colin Rowe." Journal of the Society Of Architectural Historians Vol. 57 No. .4 (1998): pp. 449.

14 Hetherington, Kevin. The Badlands of Modernity Heterotopia and Social Ordering. London: Routledge, 1997. pp. 58

Modernism, Post-Modernism and Contemporary architecture.

10 | Thesis

By doing this it will allow a different understanding for the PostIndustrial ruins that remain prominent to the city fabric.

After conducting this research, it will allow for critique of scholarly debates concerning the nature and structure for social reform in modern utopian architecture; during each time period; and will reflect on how this research can pertain to contemporary architecture. By not defining Utopianism as “perfect” but instead the idea of bettering society, allows for information to be overlaid to see if in fact the idea of Utopianism remains applicable to the needs of Contemporary architecture. It would seem that the contemporary utopia does not reject modernism, however it is an attempt to address the issues of modernity that became absent. By reading sources such as Expanding Architecture Design as Activism and Design Like You Give a Damn, it becomes evident that there is still a socialist voice among the architecture community. It may be too hasty to assume that the utopian rhetoric of modern architecture remains valid toward the social needs of our contemporary environment, but it obvious that there are many utopian fragments and principles from modern architecture that corresponds to the contemporary design. This architecture will strive to remediate the decomposing urban fabric that has suffered due to Industrialization and will seek to revive a sense of community and growth by reinvestigating the activist principles of utopianism into contemporary design.

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Architectural Ruins

Modernism Ethics for Architects

rejection of history

Thomas Fischer

history & memory ideology

A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time J.B. Jackson

The Necessity For Ruins

Corporate Wasteland: The Landscape and Memory of Deindustrialization

Phenomenology

How things are interconnected and “reflect” each other

J.B. Jackson

Steven High and David W. Lewis

Identity Place Injustice

Modernism Richard Weston

CIAM Discourse in Urbanism Eric Mumford

Economic and political tool to improve the world through design

De-Industrialization Beyond the Ruins: The Meanings of DeIndustrialization

The De Industrialization of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry

Jefferson Cowie Joseph Heathcott Barry Bluestone

History

The New Urbanism Movement

Barry Bluestone

Ruins of Modernity

Julia Hell & Andres Schonle

Utopianism The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City

Losing Site Architecture, Memory and Place

Alan Ehrenhalt

Ruth Eaton

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Architecture: Meaning and Place

Jane Jacobs

Utopian Adventure Victoria Watson

Christian Norberg-Schulz

Ideal Cities: Utopianism and the (Un)Built Environment Ruth Eaton

Memory The City of Collective Memory M. Christine Boyer

Neo-Utopianism???

Identity Place Justice

Memory and Architecture Eleni Bastea

From a Cause to a Style Nathan Glazer

Design Like You Give A Damn Kate Stohr

Post Critical Age

Rural Studio

Expanding Architecture Design As Architecture

Samuel Mockbee

John Cary

Good Deeds, Good Design: Community Service Through Architecture Bryan Bell

The Power of Pro Bono

Studio at Large: Architecture in Service of Global Communities

John Cary

Sergio Palleroni

Humanitarian Architecture Expanding Architecture Design As Architecture

“reconstructed historical environments often betrays a respect for our past.”

Celebrating the past and seeking to make it part of daily life.

The City of Collective Memory

“human life was intimately related to things and places. In spite of hardship and social injustice, man generally had a sense of belonging and identity.” (11)

In general, the loss of things and places makes up a loss of “world”. Modern man becomes “world-less” and thus loses his own identity, as well as the sense of community and participation. Existence is experienced as meaningless, and man becomes homeless.

“Thus modern Western history was established on an act of repression and separation; repressing archaic spectacles and mythical appearances and separating the time frame of the present from that of the past.” (21)

De-Industrialization

Christian Norberg-Schulz

“In general, man no longer forms part of a meaningful totality, and becomes a stranger to the world and himself.”

Modernism breeds a pessimistic generation - a generation where irony and protest substitute enthusiasm and engagement

Beyond the Ruins: The Meanings of DeIndustrialization Jefferson Cowie

The DeIndustrialization of America Barry Bluestone

Corporate Wasteland:

Steven High and David W. Lewis

Modernity: emerged in the midnineteenth century, a transitional period of social unrest, armed revolutions and rapid industrialization and urbanization, all occurring as logical outcomes of Enlightenment Ideals.

“Design can play a direct role in addressing critical social issues that we face. The process of creating the built environment can allow communities and individuals to improve and celebrate their lives. It can help solve their struggles by reshaping their existence. “(14) Ideal Cities: Utopianism and the (Un)Built Environment Ruth Eaton

“Utopias are presented with varying degrees of explicitness. Their ambition is the greatest collective happiness and harmony achieved through efficient social restructuring and scientific progress. They are mostly urban and suggests humankind rational domination of the chaotic forces of nature.

Economic and Social Order

Ruins of Modernity

Julia Hell & Andres Schonle

“The point of departure for any discussion of deindustrialization must be respect for the despair and betrayal felt by workers in their factories, were padlocked, abandoned turned into artsy shopping spaces, or dynamited.

Metaphors of defeat and subjection are more appropriate for the workers who banked on good paying industrial jobs for their livelihood and for the community”

Erin Hicks

12 | Thesis

“Changes in education and practice will follow these changes in demand and expectations. Currently architectural education mostly prepares student to meet the building needs of relatively wealthy individuals even though most of the growth in population and most of the need for architectural services exists among billions of impoverished people across the planet”

Eric Mumford

M. Christine Boyer

Architecture: Meaning and Place

John Cary

CIAM Discourse in Urbanism

“Contemporary American The Necessity for Ruins celebration suggests that the J.B. Jackson past is a remote, ill-defined period or environment “But there has to be that interval of when a kind of golden age prevailed, when society had neglect, there has to be discontinuity; an innocence and a simplicity that we have since lost; a it is religiously and artistically period usually referred to essential.” “there must be rejection as The Old Days, a time or death before there can be renewal without significant events and a landscape without and reform. monuments”

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“Images of ruins may represent the raw realities created by bombs, natural disasters, or factory closings, but the way we see and understand ruins is not raw or unmediated.

Rather, looking at ruins, writing about them, and representing them are acts framed by a long tradition. This unique interdisciplinary collection traces discourses about and representations of ruins from a richly contextualized perspective. “

The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs

From A Cause to a Style Nathan Glazer

The modernist planners used deductive reasoning to find principles by which to plan cities. Among these the most violent was urban renewal; the most prevalent was and is the separation of uses (i.e., residential, industrial, commercial).

These policies, destroy communities and innovative economies by creating isolated, unnatural urban spaces.

Modernism in architecture and urban design has failed the American city. This is the decisive conclusion that renowned public intellectual Nathan Glazer has drawn from two decades of writing and thinking about what this architectural movement will bequeath to future generations. In From a Cause to a Style, he proclaims his disappointment with modernism and its impact on the American city.

not just a radical revolution in style but a social ambition to enhance the conditions under which ordinary people lived, has fallen short on all counts

Modernism Again: Re-mediating the Good Intentions and Promises of Modernism

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October 1, 2012

Literature Review

T

his thesis it will begin to examine the intentions of each movement, to gain understanding for the Post-Industrial ruins that are left disseminated throughout the urban fabric. Much like Paolo Portoghesi and Leon Krier, this thesis is suggesting that architecture returns to its roots in practical needs, therefore striving to remediate the decomposing urban fabric that has suffered from Industrialization and to revive a social sense of community and growth. By observing such writings it would allow for a critique of each movement, giving validity to why or why not the utopian rhetoric would be applicable to contemporary society. This review will begin by examining the history and ideology of the Industrial Revolution to the history and intentions of modernism followed by the movements which seeked to undo the misfortunes of modernism and to create a Utopian society.

In the article ‘History and Ideology’, Ronald Max Hartwell provides an honest and yet disgruntled account of the Industrial Revolution. As a historian of the British Industrial Revolution, he believed that it is “important to expose the ideological content of historical controversy”. (Hartwell, 380) R.M. Hartwell caused great controversy through his perspective of the Industrial Revolution and the economic growth, as he believed that the myth of “immiseration” was the “one supreme myth which more than any other has served to discredit the economic system to which we owe our present day civilization”. (Hartwell, 380) Though written in 1974, the content of this article remains relevant today as it acknowledges that the ills of modern society are attributed to Industrialization. The Industrial Revolution, though promoting prosperity and economic growth, actually showed slow economic growth and extreme poverty, due to severe living and working conditions. As Modernism emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, it too, created “social unrest, rapid industrialization and urbanization”. (Habermas) Hartwell allows a sense of skepticism to both the Industrial Revolution and Modernism and by doing so, seems to suggest another movement that will endeavor a “fix”, for lack of a better word.

In Ziyi Feng and Lijun Xing’s article, ‘A Contemporary Interpretation of Marx’s Thoughts on Modernity’, modernism manifested itself in all aspects of social life proclaiming that it could solve all problems concerning economy, politics, culture, society and many other factors.(Feng, 255) This text alludes to how modernism was to be a revolution. Modernism was seeking to be a new and radical reform to social issues of all matters. Though naive to say, it would seem to suggest that architecture was ameans of creating an Utopia.

That architecture could in fact be a solution to how the make world a slightly better place. However in this time it would seem that social activism was becoming a patron-less class and the philanthropist had been removed, which feels accurate to say, when considering the figure who were leading

this movement. In an attempt to promote a “patron” the CIAM was founded in 1928. Considered to be an avant-garde association; architects such as Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and many other well now “elitist” architects, had intended to serve the interest of society by progressing modernism and industrialism of architecture forward. The only problem, as mentioned before, these architects were in fact an Elitist group, therefore, they would never have to suffer the conditions which the general population would. So one may be skeptical to the great cause they were seeking, however, I do realize that this may seem to be a rather cynical approach to their discourse on urbanism, and with that said, this source will require more attention to dissect the many changes executed during their 48 year term. It would be clear that the idea is there, but the rigor and execution would deem less than mediocre.

As Modernism is often considered the “architecture of good intentions”; these intentions much like those of the Industrial Revolution would be considered a failure. As Charles Jencks said, “modernism failed as mass housing and city building partly because it failed to communicate with its inhabitants,” therefore, it did not make an effective link with the city and/or history. ( Jencks, 37) This source could provide great insight as this thesis progresses, in that it will remain at the forefront of the intentions proposed. Research will show how the community is affected by such environments and what could make them thrive once again. Another architectural theorist and historian that shared similar views as Charles Jencks was Christian Norberg Schulz. Though slightly more poetic, Schulz’s theory would suggest that “modern man becomes “worldless” and thus loses own identity, as well as the sense of community and participation” therefore if this existence becomes meaningless, mankind becomes homeless.( Schulz, 11) As expressed by these authors, Modernism failed in many ways. It did not create better living situations or communities, it didn’t provide economic growth and instead it has left many communities that were reliant upon Industrialism abandoned. Though these sources provide the skepticism of Modernism and its successes, it would important to find a source that would counteract such claims, without being presented as a textbook of facts. Instead it would be helpful to find a source from someone not of the elitist group who felt that modernism was in fact creating a solution for society.

The movement which would follow Modernism was termed Postmodernism.

As Modernism rejected history in search of the new spirit, Postmodernism returned to history in hopes of restoring a historical dimension as well as creating an awareness to those who would be affected, but adding a new twist. (Hutcheon, 185) Though some would say that Postmodernism failed to separate from Modernism; which may very well be true, Postmodernism served to remediate the social failures caused by modern architecture. Theorist such as Jean Francois Lyotard, Leon Krier, Clement Greenberg and Tom Wolfe began defining what postmodernism was and what it should become. For

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Jean Francois Lyotard postmodernism is defined as “a grand narrative such as liberation of humanity, progress, increased power and so forth.” For Tom Wolfe, he saw postmodernism as a failure to break completely from Modernism. That as a society, (we) are still seeking the same initial goals as Modernism and as he says “Postmodernism is defined as a period of slackening, a period where everything is de-legitimized.” ( Jencks, 51) Which begs for more understanding to decipher whether Wolfe believes that Postmodernism is slacking because of lack of creativity and drive, or whether it is because we aren’t striving for new goals in architecture and (we) are recreating another failing system? And lastly Leon Krier, believed that each movement could influence each other by gaining a more positive outcome. Kriers critique of current urban planning and architecture, are rather nostalgic, however, he begins to shed light on how the “destroyed fabric of the historic city could be repaired and how a traditional set of well-scaled spaces could be added to these cores.” ( Jencks, 38) As, Henry-Russell Hitchcock said, “our own generation has largely failed to cope critically with the mass of buildings produced in the booming period of our youth.” (Hitchcock, 31) This quote situates this thesis to accept the failings of modernism as well as to continue being critical of these “mass of buildings” and how to use these structures once more. This quote also seems to suggest that these once prospering places of manufacturing, are now becoming corpses throughout the urban fabric. This thesis is to help better understand how the contemporary society of today can help remediate these industrial ruins that remain mystifying throughout the urban fabric. The question then becomes, what will happen with these structures that have fallen silent in the backdrop of this contemporary world? A frequent method of dealing with the failures of Modernism, one might envision the implosion of Pruitt Igoe, in St. Louis, where such social problems and devastation became a spectacle seen by everyone. These remnants remain a testament of time; a past that once seemed promising, a present that has been crippled, and a future that could create new life.

The last sources that will provide a great amount of information is Ideal Cities: Utopianism and the (Un)Built Environments by Ruth Eaton and the The Architecture of Fantasy: Utopian Building and Planning in Modern Times by Ulrich Conrad and Hans G. Sperlich. In the Ideal Cities, Ruth Eaton provides an extensive narrative of the Western societies attempts to create a Utopia and a perfect city. Her research travels from the founding father of Utopia, Thomas More to key players such as Archizoom and Superstudio, who did not humor the utopian methodology. This source provides a lot of information that is present in an unbiased collection of work much like a textbook of information. The only thing that is missing is an opinionated source. With more observation, it will unravel the opinions of many writers from the 14th Century to current day. In the book by Ulrich Conrad and Hans G. Sperlich, it may easier to criticize the usefulness of this text because it was written in 1962, and it isn’t the “utopia today”, however it does remain relevant, in its knowledge of Utopian environments. This book provides an interesting assortment of projects that allude to the notion of Utopia. Projects that do not necessarily scream UTOPIA has several feature that are reminiscent to the idea at large. The most useful information however will come from the section called documents. In this section there are written statements, letters and critical appraisals of from many different fields all reflecting on their ideas in the “Utopian Circular Letters” . These writing consist of people such as Adolf Behne, Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut, Kasimir Malevich and many more.

This literature review was a chance to tap into the many different components that would lend itself to the idea of Utopia. It would begin by looking at history and memory, and how that spoke to Modernism who in fact tried to dismiss history. Then it allowed the opportunity to understand the components of Modernism which was trying to remediate what history had contributed, such as the Industrial Revolution. Modernism sought to provide a solution for the social issues that arose during Post Industrialism, instead it made a contribution

14 | Thesis

to the social unrest that was spread through the world. Utopia isn’t a new idea, however it was an idea that modernist began to cling to when searching how to alleviate the ills of modern society. It would seem that our society is in quite the same predicament. Industries continue to suffer in our economy, leaving peoples living conditions below par at best, while others are forced from their homes. Community lose faith and hope as they turn from being a prosperous area to resemble that of a slum and the identity is lost forever. By conducting this literature review, it allows substance behind endeavors that seek to make contemporary society a more utopianistic environment.

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Marxism

Phalansteries Charles Fourier early 19th Century

Pullman Company Town

Panopticon Jeremy Bentham 1787

Berlin Development Project

Jules Verne 1825-1902

News From Nowhere

Claude-Nicholas Ledoux 1804

Ludwig Hilberseimer 1928

Utopia

Jules Verne William Morris 1890

Port Sunlight

Ebenezer Howard 1898

The Peaceful Path of Real Reform Garden Cities of Tomorrow Ebenezer Howard 1898

Flying Settlement Wenzel Hablik 1907-1914

A Contemporary City for 3 Million Le Corbusier 1922

Une Cite Industrielle

Plan Voison Le Corbusier 1925

Highrise City

Reformalism Tony Garnier 1917

The New City Antonio Sant’Elia 1914

Constructions for a Modern Metropolis Mario Chiattone 1914

Photo by Justin Schmidt

Bruno Taut 1919

Flying Cit

Georgy Krutiko 1928

Anonymous 1905

The Three Magnets

Modernism 16 | Thesis

Socialism

The Begum’s Fortune

House of the Water Surveyor

I

George Pullman 1890

Ludwig Hilberseimer 1924

Broa

Frank L 1932

Literature Map

m

Continuous Monument Superstudio 1969

Lloyd Wright

New Babylon Constant Nieuwenhuys 1967

Superstudio 1972

No Stop City Andrea Branzi Archizoom 1969

Instant City Plug In City Archigram 1964

Walking City Archigram 1964

Archigram 1969

Generic City Rem Koolhaas 1994 2000 Ton City Temporal Cochlea-City New York of Brains Spaceship CIty City of Hemispheres Barnum Jar’s Magnificient and Fabulous City Continous Production Conveyor Belt City Conical Terraced City The “Ville-Machine Habitee” City of Order City of the Spendid House City of the Book

"...”topia

adacre City

Rem Koolhass 1972

The Twelve Ideal Cities

Post Modernism

ov

DYStopia

ties

Exodus, The Voluntary Prisoners

Progressivism

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case studies GASOMETER | THE TANKS AT TATE | ARCHIGRAM | SUPERSTUDIO

ERIN HICKS 6.0.1 FALL 2012

GASOMETER Vienna Austria

The Tanks at Tate Herzog de Meuron Instant City Archigram The Continuous Monument Superstudio

18 | Thesis

s Gasworks Simmering

Vienna, Austria

By Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelb[l]ea, Manfred Wehdorn, Wilhelm Holzbauer

P

eter Kropotkin had written in 1912, â&#x20AC;&#x153;But enough! I have before me so many figures, all telling the same tale, that examples could be multiplied at will. It is time to conclude, and, for every unprejudiced mind, the conclusion is self-evident. Industries of all kinds decentralize and are scattered all over the globe; and everywhere a variety, an integrated variety, of trade grows, instead of specialization. (75)

The Gasometers of Vienna are located in Simmering industrial zone. For nearly 90 years the Gasometers of Vienna served as gas storage tanks to supply gas to Vienna.

After converting the cities gas to natural gas between 1970 and 1978, it left the gasometers rendered useless. Therefore the gasometers closed their doors.

testament for the idea of Adaptive Reuse.

Instead of allowing this structure to decay in the heart of Vienna, the city chose to preserve the monument with a new multifunctional program. Therefore opening its doors to the community rather than becoming a monument to corporate abandonment.

The significance of this case study is to prove that though the industry has left the current facility, that facility does not have to become a relic left as a testament for its failure. What happens to the community when the industry leaves?

Does the community become abandoned as displaced workers are forced to leave?

Is there a new program that could be proposed to make that context self sufficient?

The Gasometers of Vienna, stands a

Photo courtesy of http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/42-15405251/ gasworks-simmering-in-vienna-austria?popup=1

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Gasworks Simmering

aerial view Vienna Austria via google earth

In 1892, an international competition was held for a new city gasworks in the city of Vienna. An engineer by the name of Shimming won the competition and four years later Theodor Herrmann, a technical consultant for gas engineering was hired to consult during the production. Construction began October 27, 1896 and was completed July 17, 1899, later opening on October 31, 1899. Standing as a testament to the Industrial Revolution, the Gasometers remained in service until 1986.

aerial view Vienna Austria via google earth

Gasworks, Simmering 2012

Each gasometer has a cylindrical plan and constructed in brick. to read identically. The external diameter is 64.9 meters (approximately 213 feet) and has a foundation base of 1.7 meters (approximately 5.5 feet). The internal diameter that would house the water tank is 62.9 meters (approximately 206 feet). The dome shape roof spans 63.6 meters built using an iron structure with a timber decking clad in zinc sheets. 1

20â&#x20AC;&#x201A;|â&#x20AC;&#x201A;Thesis

Gasworks, Simmering

1. http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/~cecspoon/lwbt/Case_Studies/Gasometer_ City/Gasometer_City.htm

diagram by Erin Hicks

section and plans

In the image on the upper right displays the plan and section for the gasometers. As each tank creates a means of housing, building B, designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au also offeres a shopping mall within the interior. In addition to the original tank, Himmelb(l) au created a structure that served much like a parasite to the existing structure that houses program such as a concert hall, student hostels, and health facilities.

toxic diagram by Erin Hicks

gasometer building a interior rendering Jean Nouvel

Jean Nouvel's design for Gasometer Building A including apartments that lined the parameter of the structure, and opened to an interior courtyard. It was intended to be a reflection of old verses new.

gasometer building c

gasometer building d

Manfred Wehdorn's design for Gasometer Building C includes apartments that lined the parameter of the structure, and opened to an interior courtyard. The apartments inside have access to green terraces that fill the space.

Wilhelm Holzbauer's design for Gasometer Building D occupies the center of the existing building with lift and stairs, The interior is composed of three compact sections that are divided by indoor gardens and penetrates the perimeter of the existing building, creating a connection to the exterior.

Photos courtesy of http://www.wiener-gasometer.at

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The

Tanks

London England Herzog & de Meuron

T

he Tanks at Tate Modern was designed by swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and stood as icon in the London Olympics of 2012.

Located on the south bank of the River Thames this project was a part of the International Design Competition which launced in 1994 and opened in January of 2000. The Tanks at Tate Modern is project that utilizes the redevelopment of three industrial chambers which were rendered "useless" since 1981's decommissioning of the former Bankside Power Station's Oil Tanks. 1 The Bankside Power Station was constructed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed Battersea Power Station and Liverpool Cathedral. Familiar with these massive structures, the building is 660 feet long, constructed with steel frame and brick cladding, which a chimney that stands at 325 feet high. Built in phases, to 1. hhttp://www.designboom.com/architecture/the-tanks-at-tate-modern-by-herzog-demeuron/

22 | Thesis

continue expanding this sector created electricity while the two other phases were constructed until 1952. The final phase consisted of a building divided into three sections: the main turbine hall, the switching room and the boiler room.

Each tank is approximately seven metres high with a diameter of 30 metres. This brutalist form was built to hold the fuel that would power turbines that create electricity for the majority of the capital from 1952 until 1981. Constructed with massive thick walls, these labyrinth like structures serves as a fort protecting the community in the likelihood of an explosion. Needless to say the architecture for this form was much like the architecture of any industry, which function rather than form. Each raw like wall was carefully constructed based on the practical applications for the industry.

Jacques Herzog, when commenting about the aesthetics said that it would be easy to make these structures in

photos courtesy of http://www.tate.org.uk

© Tate Archive 2003

The

Tanks

"romantic Piranesian ruins but it would be a trap - it becomes kitsch." 2 Instead each tank remained brutalist, in that the structure remained simple with a single door, in hopes that the scale would overwhelm the occupant. These walls then become almost mute, as they fall to the background while the art and performance spaces demand the attention.

© Tate Archive 2003

Much of this internal structure remained intact and unscathed which only emphasizes its charm. However, though many admire the new addition, I wonder if that competes with nostalgic structure that leeches itself to the more modern structure, or possibly vice versa.

Then again, is the remaining of this building a look back; almost nostalgic, to correct the failures of industry that once stood?

2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jul/01/tanks-tate-modernreview

sung hwan kim the tanks commission, 2012 installation view © sung hwan kim photo credit: tate photography

photos courtesy of http://www.tate.org.uk

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© Tate Archive 2003

diagram by Erin Hicks

The

Tanks

24 | Thesis

photos courtesy of http://www.tate.org.uk

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26 | Thesis

pEter cook

warren chalk

ron herron

dennis crompton

michael webb

david greene

Instant City

By Archigram

B

etween 1961 and 1974 Archigram and its theories were spreading throughout the architecture world like wildfire. Nine issues of Archigram magazine, three television programs, many conferences, lectures, sketches made their theories grow with excitement. In their work they were constantly unveiling the a window into the world of to tomorrow , in hypothetical situations that embraced a futuristic image through collage.

Through their collages they were able to give life and vitality to the surrounding building that otherwise remained unnoticed by the general public.

Their ambitions were to adapt new scenes of what the silent buildings could become through radical changes. Archigrams did not only look at these structures as permenant entities but instead an object that could be customized and manipulated.

Architecture was not about monumentality or to be preserved as musuems but instead adapted to the users needs at that given time.

Archigram's approached can be summed in theire quote " when you are looking for a solution to what you have been told is an architectural problem - remember, the solution may not be a conventional building." A building that is a snapshot to what the world was investigate at that given time which may not be acceptable for the changing period. Thus a building would need to adapt to constantly change in order to stay relevant with the changing world.

"Archigrams output was excitement over what this new world was going to look like." 1

Archigram has similarities to the voices of early modernism as both were trying to create a new spirit for architecture. As modernism sought to reject history to find a new social agenda due to current global situation, ie wars, depression, etc. Archigram strived to find a new voice in an age following such 1. Cook, Peter. "Boys at Heart." In Archigram.

New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999. 2-3

destructions where nothing was being built. Both were searching a for a new vitality to community and ultimately a better life.

"Cities should generate, reflect and activate life, their structure organized to precipitate life and movement." 2 In an age were technology is constantly evolving making the last minutes gadget nearly obsolete, Archigram was at the forefront of technological progression in 1966. Their ideas towards technology were before their time, as the were seeking for technology to readily available to their clients, as well as being able to alter their environment often.

Therefore life would be a real virtuality as opposed to a virtual reality.

2. Cook, Peter. "Editorial from Archigram 3."

Archigram. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999. 16.

Photos courtesy of Archigram Archival Project Research Centre for Experimental Practice at the University of Westminster

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Instant City

I

nstant City can be said to have a relation to Le Corbusiers theory of housing as a machine for living. Essentially the Instant City is a responsive machine in which the environment is conditioned through an assmbly configured by a robot.

It would then suggest that if being implemented to a factory which once used its machine to make a product could in turn be responsive to assemebling the environment in its surrounding context.

Though the images can be quiet alarming at Archigram's intervention, essentially it is a system of intervening with a site that has lost a sense of vitality or identity. After which the Instant City moves in and creates technological hubs, satellite televisions, outdoor theaters filling the sky. After the infiltration the caravans will leave behind a new city embarking on a new system.

The Instant City is very much like Archigram's Plug In City project. That the end result is constantly open ended as the consumer has direct control the the enrvironment they are seeking.

28â&#x20AC;&#x201A;|â&#x20AC;&#x201A;Thesis

Photos courtesy of Archigram Archival Project

diagrams by Erin Hicks

Peter Cook

David Greene

MIke Webb

Ron Herron

Warren chalk

Photos courtesy of Archigram Archival Project Research Centre for Experimental Practice at the University of Westminster

Dennis crompton

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A Walking City

By Archigram

As mentioned before Archigram was known more for their evocative and provocative ideas of how to revitalize a community through their optimistic spirit. As most of their work was being produced during a time social uphevel, such as the Vietnam War, their work was an attempt to remove themselves from the past. Therefore they could implement a new social change to not only architecture but the surrounding context. As technology was becoming more advanced - these new machines of living could foster new possiblities to how contemporary communities networked themselves to sustain.

A Walking City was envisioned in 1968. With NASA on the cusp of a moon landing near in sight it is not difficult to see how technology was in fact a driving force behind their work.

Photos courtesy of Archigram Archival Project

So much of Archigrams work suggests the temporary nature of their structures. Due to technology rapidly advancing Archigrams projects do not possess a permenant site but instead focuses on the objects that are intending to be temporary. For example in Walk City, the strcture serves as a hub on legs that allows one to be much like a nomad.

As Peter Blake says, "the structures are conceived to plug into utilities and information networks at different locations to support the needs and desires of people who work and play, travel and stay put, simultaneously." 1

1University of Westminter. "Archigram Archival Project." Archigram Archival Project. http:// archigram.westminster.ac.uk (accessed December 9, 2012)

Photos courtesy of Archigram Archival Project Research Centre for Experimental Practice at the University of Westminster

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