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Kahn's Modernism and its Renewal
Get PDFThe late architect and historian Stanford Anderson once remarked that authenticity is the third rail of architectural debate — a place to venture at one’s peril. Notwithstanding, any architectural intervention demands that we engage and understand what is essential — authentic — in the original to its creator, those for whom it was created and all those all who experience it — to ensure fidelity to the character and integrity of the original work. Louis I. Kahn was one of a handful of truly significant architects of the last 75 years, and arguably the one who (with Le Corbusier) will have the most lasting effect upon architecture over time. As we now assess his legacy and develop interventions for renewal, it is instructive to contemplate how our understanding of Kahn’s aesthetic of authenticity — buildings as “instrument[s] that exaggerate, and so heighten one’s awareness of nature’s infinite variations” — should affect our approach to their conservation, adaptation and renewal
William Whitaker interviewed by Ana Tostões
Get PDFIn February 2018, Ana Tostões interviewed William Whitaker, curator and collections manager of the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where the Louis I. Kahn Collection is hosted, in order to debate the importance of documentation for the preservation of Kahn’s legacy. William Whitaker was curatorial consultant of the exhibition Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture (Vitra Design Museum, 2012) and is the co-author of The Houses of Louis I. Kahn (with George Marcus, 2013), the first comprehensive publication on the architect’s house designs. The management of the Louis I. Kahn Collection has been having a fundamental role, not only in the documentation and interpretation of Kahn’s life and work, but also in the success of the contemporary rehabilitation projects undertaken in his buildings
Towards a fresh reading of MoMo historiography
Get PDFWhile visiting the MAO (Museum of Architecture and Design) in Ljubljana one can appreciate the architectural power of Stanko Kristl’s work. The impressive buildings of this Slovenian architect revealed through the exhibition "Humanity and Space", illuminate the beauty of the museum space with some astonishing works and show why Eastern Europe deserves to be included in the historiography of the Modern Movement, to clearly demonstrate the contribution of Iron Curtain countries to the modern avant-garde. As Matevz Celik recognizes, “through his architecture he worked to provide responses to the needs of the people — for whom it was intended. This basic premise served as a guiding principle in experiments and his search for spatial and social innovation in architecture.
Revisiting interbellum architecture of Hungary
Get PDFThough there are fans of the “Bauhaus style” and the term is largely used by the real estate market (in an incorrect way), modern architecture cannot arouse interest and sympathy in the majority of Hungarian society. Far from being a closed chapter, interwar architecture does not stand in the lime-light of Hungarian historiography either. This paper tries to find causes of this indifference and highlight achievements in historiography and preservation. Its aim is in particular to report on new scholarly publications as well as case studies that are occasionally good examples but more often controversial
Edvard Ravnikar and The Heart of the City. The genesis of cultural centers in Slovenia and in ex-Yugoslavia
Get PDFThis article discussess Cankarjev Dom and Republic Square in Ljubljana, Slovenia, by Edvard Ravnikar with the focus on three stage of the genesis of cultural centers in Slovenia, starting with the pre-war Slovenian cultural centers by Max Fabiani, Danilo Fürst and Gustav Trenz. The second phase is represented by the cultural centers of the architects Oton Gaspari, Marko Župančič and Emil Navinšek from the 1950s built in the Slovenian industrial towns of Trbovlje, Velenje, and Zagorje, and the third phase by Edvard Ravnikar and his students such as Biro71 and Marko Mušič from the late 1970s and early 1980s built in Ljubljana, Skopje (Macedonia) and Kolašin (Montenegro)
The New Synagogue in Žilina, Slovakia: participation as a method of heritage renewal
Get PDFThe Neolog [New] Synagogue in Žilina is an exceptional work, and not only through its having been designed in 1928 by the renowned architect Peter Behrens. The present contribution discusses this work by Peter Behrens – an important landmark constructed well outside the major urban centers for 20th century architecture in a provincial Slovak town. Its most recent restoration, completed in May 2017, lasted a full five years. During this time, many discussions took place among heritage experts, theorists and architects, which eventually formulated the architectonic idea of the reconstruction into its final form. In addition, the realization was greatly assisted not only by the team of architects but many volunteers. The project for the New Synagogue won many awards and is viewed positively as a source of inspiration, perhaps even more so since it overcame several problematic moments regarding its financing, but also in the search for the best restoration methods and met them successfull
What Decides “Heritage”? Lessons from a Comparison of Louis Kahn's Commercial and Institutional Projects
Get PDFIn the quest to save recent-past, mid-century modern buildings, it is important to recognize how symbolic and commercial considerations influence the likelihood that some buildings are preserved while other buildings are demolished. Simply put, why does one building survive and another not? This article compares two of Louis I. Kahn’s projects — one a commercial building and the other institutional. The comparison examines how various dynamics facilitate or hinder the preservation of modern buildings. Further analysis considers steps that preservation-minded individuals and organizations might consider to retain and restore more modern buildings
Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon) – A New Vision of Urban Living
Get PDFSo much of modern architecture’s early history depended on a handful of courageous pioneers. One of the first Modern Movement buildings in England was the achievement of an unlikely trio — a plywood salesman and his psychotherapist wife, and a Canadian part-time journalist turned architect. This article and the accompanying text by Magnus Englund tell the extraordinary story of the Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, London – their origins and heyday, the linked program of furniture design, their declining postwar fortunes and ruination, and then their recent and remarkable rescue and restoration to become a beacon of modern heritage and the epitome of progressive 21st century urban living
New Belgrade: past-present-future, and the future that never came
Get PDFIt was an event that rarely happens in this part of the world: the construction of a brand-new capital city in a country which was not famous for its achievements in city building. Furthermore, it was in a country ravaged by WWII, rural and mostly agricultural, with modest industrial capacities. Today, 70 years after the beginning of its construction, New Belgrade is still one of the most contentious topics of architecture and urban planning in Serbia. It is the most beloved and the most hated, biggest success story and biggest failure, most beautiful and ugliest architecture of the city — all at the same time. It is not just a question of contested beauty: like many other post-war cities based on the Athens Charter, New Belgrade is a vast infrastructurally equipped urban territory, soaked in conflicted interests and interpretations of its past and its future. As we approach the saturation point of its available construction land — at least per original and many consecutive plans — the question of its future development, its reconstruction and/or restoration is looming out of every document and every conversation about New Belgrade
Is there something behind the Iron Curtain? Documentation and conservation of Modernism in former Eastern Europe
No full textAlthough many 20th century phenomena have seen comparisons made across the European continent, divided by the former Iron Curtain for a half of the century, there is still room for confrontation and reconciliation. Firstly, because research continues, new contexts are emerging, the perspective of evaluation and the perception of the heritage of Modernism is changing, but also because, in addition to the artificial political structure of the Iron Curtain, which has disappeared along with the disappearance of the Eastern and Western Blocs, a number of constructs such as the territorial or thematic marginalization of parts of European architectural historiography remain to be overcome. After a long period of focusing on iconic personalities and works of architecture it is time to concentrate on thematic research, which will illustrate connections and differences in the Modern Movement of Europe and worldwide