BACK FROM UTOPIA: THE CHALLENGE OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT

Description

The Modern Movement was a call to 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 with a utopian thrust. 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 accordingly brings together 42 contributions by leading voices from the world of architecture and architectural history.

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.

400 pages, color & b&w ills / 22 x 24 / English