Back from Utopia
The Challenge of the Modern Movement
New publication available in The United States from November, 2002
Edited by Hubert-Jan
Henket and Hilde Heynen, Design by Piet Gerards,
Published by 010
Publishers, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
English
412 pp, 220x240mm, hardcover
ISBN 90 6450 483 0 / available
The Modern Movement in architecture advocated an approach that would keep
pace with technological developments, do justice to the needs of the rising
masses and convey an image of universality, freedom and openness. Pioneers
like Le Corbusier, Gropius and Mies van der Rohe created a sober architecture
free of ornament whose aesthetic appeal relied upon the play of interpenetrating
volumes and effects of transparency. This architecture was bound up with
a utopian impulse, in that its promoters firmly believed that the creation
of a better architecture would automatically lead to a better world. Decades
later we are witnessing both the positive and the negative results of
this endeavour. After the all too rapid condemnation of the Modern Movement
by its post-modernist critics, it is now time for a more balanced reassessment.
This book brings together 42 contributions by leading voices from the
world of architecture and architectural history. Authors critically discuss
the values of the Modern Movement, its multiple manifestations, its connections
with colonialism, the promises it did not keep and the paradoxes it gave
rise to. In a variety of ways, ranging from cartoons, collages and poems
to essays and scholarly texts, they comment upon the significance of the
Modern Movement today.
With contributions by John Allan, Tadao Ando, Geert Bekaert, Jan Birksted, Franziska Bollerey, Jean-Louis Cohen, Maristella Casciato, Catherine Cooke, Bruno De Meulder, Balkrishna V. Doshi, Norman Foster, Kenneth Frampton, Alice Friedman, Miles Glendinning, John Habraken, Louis Hellman, Hubert-Jan Henket, Herman Hertzberger, Hilde Heynen, Wessel de Jonge, Hasan-Uddin Khan, Rem Koolhaas, Kisho Kurokawa, Hannah Lewi, William Lim, Nils-Ole Lund, Mary Mcleod, Marco De Michelis, Otakar Mácel, Oscar Niemeyer, Marie-Françoise Plissart, Moshe Safdie, Jagdish Sagar, Harry Seidler, Dennis Sharp, Julius Shulman, Hiroyuki Suzuki, Kenzo Tange, Marie-Josée Therrien, Susana Torre, Panayotis Tournikiotis, France Vanlaethem, Anthony Vidler and David Wild.