Photographs of silos

This article explores the dissemination of the photographs and photo-reproductions of the now-canonical North and South American grain elevators, published and disseminated in the early twentieth century in publications such as the 1913 Werkbund Yearbook where Walter Gropius included them as illustrations to his article, and later by Le Corbusier in Vers une architecture, amongst many others. It emphasises that while within architecture discourse the idea of a canon made up of buildings is widely accepted, this article identifies and stresses the role of ‘photographic canons’ as a means to further challenge these constructions. To do so, the article focuses on the moment where these photo-reproductions were consolidated as canonical and the mechanisms that such a construct implied. It investigates the photo-reproductions’ history as objects of trade and exchange, as well as their mobilisation in relation to photographic media and different dissemination platforms to argue that, on the one hand, that this informed their reading as architectural, and thus singular, objects. And on the other, that the materiality of the photo-reproductions’ different instances testifies to their nature as commodities and objects of trade, and therefore to the consolidation of their canonical status.

THE PROBLEM OF THE EMERGENCE OF SLUMS AND METHODS FOR ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTION

This article raises questions about the need to provide housing for poor citizens or to create opportunities to improve their housing conditions. The causes of illegal development and slum areas are determined as well as architectural methods for their solution in various countries of the world. This problem has long been known and affects many countries and, in particular, the Kingdom of Morocco. There, it is exacerbated by the imperfection, and sometimes absence, of legislative documents, corruption and unwillingness of the authorities to deal with this issue that is vital for the country. Disappointing statistics on the spread of slums and the situation of people living there are given. The statistics of the growth of illegal development in the city of Casablanca are given as an example. The experience of dealing with this problem in other countries (on the example of Chile, Mexico, Germany) is considered. To solve this problem, a social housing complex in Iquique, Quinta Monroy, was erected in Chile. The decision was very successful and a similar social project was repeated in Mexico. The residential complex in Dessau Tertin, designed by Walter Gropius (Bauhaus), was also considered. Concerning this complex, the successful use of local building materials and modern (at that time) technologies was noted, as well as the simplicity of solutions. The findings cited the main causes of the emergence and proliferation of slums in the world and in the Kingdom of Morocco in particular. The main reasons for the spread of illegal construction should be considered: population migration and rapid demographic growth, inaction and corruption of the responsible governing and control bodies for reconstruction and construction, the lack of qualified technical specialists and engineers, complicated legal and administrative stages, the creation of unstructured residential communities, and the limited income of most citizens. It is noted that in Morocco, one of the main reasons for the emergence of illegal development is the population migration of the country’s population in search of work. This is especially true for agricultural workers.

Derivas

Fundada por Walter Gropius en el contexto de la Alemania de posguerra, la Bauhaus fue una escuela de arte, diseño, artesanía y arquitectura que impulsó una renovación en la enseñanza artística y sentó las bases del diseño industrial y gráfico. La Escuela de la Bauhaus ilustra el concepto de Escuela para los psicoanalistas. Permite también pensar en la perspectiva clínica la subjetividad articulada por el fantasma, rechazando lo femenino lacaniano, o bien articulada a un arreglo sinthomático con el goce indecible.

Paul Rudolph y el proyecto de la Finney Guest House

El artículo analiza la relevancia del proyecto de la Finney Guest House en la trayectoria profesional de Paul Rudolph, y su relación con otros dos proyectos realizados en los mismos años, la Revere Quality House y la Healy Guest House. En los tres aparece como cliente o promotora Roberta Healy Finney, lo que lleva a pensar que la Finney House pudiera ser un antecedente de la Healy House. En el texto se comentan algunos de los mejores dibujos realizados por Paul Rudolph en los años cuarenta, entre ellos un ejercicio de proyectos realizado, bajo la dirección de Walter Gropius, para obtener la titulación de Máster en Arquitectura por la Universidad de Harvard.

Weaving Words and Drawing Lines: The Bauhaus Masters Endeavours to Establish a Universal Visual Language within Foundation Education

<p>This study investigates the roots of interdisciplinary architectural and design education and methodology in Europe and the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. In particular this thesis is concerned with the establishment of the principles of a universal visual language within this context. Walter Gropius' (1883‐1969) efforts to propagate a universal understanding of architecture, art and design at the Bauhaus is a central focus of this study along with the use of a universal visual language to facilitate such an ideal. This thesis argues that the instigation of the Bauhaus preliminary course, the Vorkurs, developed by Johannes Itten (1888–1967) and matured by Bauhaüslers Lázsló Moholy‐Nagy (1895‐1946) and Josef Albers (1888‐1976) offered vitality, integrity, creativity and longevity to Bauhaus pedagogy and posits that the beliefs and practices of the Vorkurs contributed significantly to the translation of European modern design education in the United States. Although Bauhaus pedagogical translations were refuted by some and misunderstood by others in the wholly different economic context of the United States, this study proposes that the translations of the Vorkurs methodology, by the émigré Bauhaüslers, Moholy‐Nagy at the New Bauhaus in Chicago, Albers at Black Mountain College and Yale and Gropius at Harvard contributed to the codification of modern twentieth‐century design education, and as such continues to offer relevance in current architectural and design pedagogical environments.</p>

Weaving Words and Drawing Lines: The Bauhaus Masters Endeavours to Establish a Universal Visual Language within Foundation Education

<p>This study investigates the roots of interdisciplinary architectural and design education and methodology in Europe and the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. In particular this thesis is concerned with the establishment of the principles of a universal visual language within this context. Walter Gropius' (1883‐1969) efforts to propagate a universal understanding of architecture, art and design at the Bauhaus is a central focus of this study along with the use of a universal visual language to facilitate such an ideal. This thesis argues that the instigation of the Bauhaus preliminary course, the Vorkurs, developed by Johannes Itten (1888–1967) and matured by Bauhaüslers Lázsló Moholy‐Nagy (1895‐1946) and Josef Albers (1888‐1976) offered vitality, integrity, creativity and longevity to Bauhaus pedagogy and posits that the beliefs and practices of the Vorkurs contributed significantly to the translation of European modern design education in the United States. Although Bauhaus pedagogical translations were refuted by some and misunderstood by others in the wholly different economic context of the United States, this study proposes that the translations of the Vorkurs methodology, by the émigré Bauhaüslers, Moholy‐Nagy at the New Bauhaus in Chicago, Albers at Black Mountain College and Yale and Gropius at Harvard contributed to the codification of modern twentieth‐century design education, and as such continues to offer relevance in current architectural and design pedagogical environments.</p>