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Clara Porset. A Modern Designer for Mexico
Get PDFThe idea of design came about, following various approaches, at the end of the 1920s in the last century. The design and production of furniture and household appliances, as part of the work of a specialist, is an experience that evolved from the Bauhaus and wanted “to serve in the development of present day housing, from the simplest household appliance to the finished dwelling”, as Walter Gropius explained in 1927 in the Principles of Bauhaus Production. Other architects like Hugo Haring, in 1927, talked about “objects that are on the one hand works of art, and on the other are intended for use”, while 24 architects headed by Le Corbusier founded the CIAM in 1928 and sated “the need for a new conception of architecture that satisfies the spiritual, intellectual and material demands of present day life”. This was the atmosphere laid out by the avant–garde movements in Europe when Clara Porset arrived in Paris to pursue her graduate studies in art and architecture
The Modern Gesamtkunstwerk and its Preservation
Get PDFInterior design had a major relevance for Modern Movement and Modern Living. Actually, for the fully understanding and experiencing of Modern spatiality, interior design is determinant. Furthermore, the study of interiors is now marked by an increasing interest, with recent literature that emphasizes interior spaces globally and summons architecture, design and fine arts in an interdisciplinary approach. Despite all this, interior design is still a subject that requests a more in–depth study and a more extended debate in order to improve appreciation, understanding and preservation. Questions like modernity, privacy, efficiency, economy, comfort, utility, beauty in daily life or consumption need to be discussed when talking about interior space design. Product design, new materials and techniques, equipment and devices also have to be considered
Le Corbusier and GATCPAC: Functionalism and Latin Identity
Get PDFThis study presents a brief history of design in the context of historic avant-gardes. It shows that, in parallel to the more classical historiographical interpretation which followed Pevsner’s ideas to “internationalize” the production of the 20s and 30s, other models with vernacular Latin roots were obviated
Sandoz Headquarters - Office Complex Novartis, Rueil-Malmaison, 1962-1968, by Martin Burckhardt and Bernard-Henri Zehrfuss
Get PDFAgnès Cailliau, Chair of docomomo France alerted docomomo International that the original Headquarters and Laboratories of Sandoz were going to be completely demolished. After writing letters to the Mayor of Rueil-Malmaison and to Novarti’s President, the pharmaceutical company answered that their previous Basel intervention was an example of their care for heritage, that the structure of the building in Rueil-Malmaison had not aged well and did not live up to the company’s standards and that the project of architect Patrick Berger was in line with their heritage policy
Global Design and its Re-Use
Get PDFThanks to Finland, the motto “Survival of Modern” justifies going deeper in the relation that connects form and function, aesthetics and ethics. That’s also why the argument is Global Design. The aim of this collective and interdisciplinary reflexion is to contribute for the discussion that relates Modern heritage and interior space, common daily life and musealization of Modern Interior Spaces, gathered underneath a global strategy to better understand and preserve these delicate monuments. In fact, the interior space with all devices and furniture pieces is frequently neglected as an essential matter in safeguard interventions
Nadir Afonso: the Painter (who graduated) Architect
Get PDFNadir Afonso, one of the most well known (and recognized) Portuguese painters, has dedicated a great deal of his life to practicing the profession from which he graduated as an architect a facet that is still commonly unknown by the great public, as it was just slightly studied by the history of contemporary Portuguese Architecture. Regarding his career, it is to particularly note the periods he spent abroad, working with Le Corbusier and Niemeyer. These influential authors of the Modern Movement gave him the opportunity to participate in various projects that marked the history of architecture. This singular international phase manifestly resulted in Modern influences that are visible in the work he later built in Chaves. Nadir Afonso ended up abandoning the profession, since when he has dedicated himself to Painting on a full-time basis
Artek and Alvar Aalto
Get PDFArtek was founded in November 1935. The name of the company, Art + Technology, reflects its objectives and methods of operation. The intention was to offer to its wide range of customers, practical, economical, hygienic and above all Modern furniture that reflected its own time. The furniture was to represent the values of an urban and efficient lifestyle. In the company’s founding meeting on 26.11.1935, Maire Gullichsen and Alvar Aalto became the main shareholders. Other shareholders were: Nils–Gustaf Hahl, Artek’s first managing director; P.W. Puhakka, the managing director of Huonekalu- ja Rakennustyötehdas, the company that produced the furniture designed by Aalto; Aino Marsio–Aalto; architect Aili–Salli Ahde; professor Carl Hahl; and architect Arne Ervi
Kyoto Kaikan, Kyoto, 1960, by Kunio Mayekawa
Get PDFIn the historic city of Kyoto, located inside Okazaki Park across from the Heian Jingu Shinto shrines, sits a representative Modern architectural heritage, Kyoto Kaikan. However, today, it faces an imminent threat of destructive alteration, thus calling attention for the Heritage Alert at the ICOMOS ISC20C
Learning to Love Brutalism
Get PDFThe following keynote lecture was presented at the 12th International docomomo Conference that took place in Espoo, Finland, this past August 2012. The author began his lecture thanking the Chair of docomomo International, Ana Tostões, and all docomomo members and friends who have done so much to ensure that the now historical heritage of Modernism might be saved for the future. Following the stimulating talks of John Allan and Mark Pasnik, he entered what for many in this field was a territory that was at least ambiguous if not impossible to accept: that the so–called Brutalist buildings of the period 1960 to the late 70s would one day be the urgent object of attention for those interested in preservation and conservation
Global Design. Schools in Portugal
Get PDFSince its very beginning, the design of educational spaces is strongly connected with issues on pedagogy, hygiene, order and discipline, collective identity (hence with history, traditions, modernity and innovation). To materialize the concept of global design, seeking formal coherence and a close functional and ideological articulation between all components, furniture design is fundamental as is the role of fine arts. Addressing the relationship with the context implies considering the links established with all other objects which form the school system in its several degrees (nursery, primary, secondary, superior) and scales (the neighbourhood, the city, the country)