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Modernism

From Contrast to Continuity: A New Preservation Philosophy

With the emergence of new traditional design patterns among contemporary architects, the standards and rules that have defined historic preservation are becoming obsolete. Steven W. Semes calls on planners and designers to create a new ethic of harmonious intervention into historic settings.
22 October 2009 - 5:00am
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Does Destroying a Building Erase History?

The Nakagin Capsule Tower, designed in Tokyo in 1972 as part of the Japanese Metabolism movement in architecture, is facing destruction. Residents of the building have voted to demolish it and replace it with a modern structure.
8 July 2009 - 6:00am
The New York Times
Tim Halbur

Architecture You Can Dance To

Thu, 06/18/2009 - 15:12
On my way to work this morning, I was listening to an interview with the band Blitzen Trapper on my iPod. They’ve got a beautiful song called ‘Furr’; the sound echoes 1970s folk rock- and roots influences like English folk, country and bluegrass.  Anyway, Eric Early, the main songwriter, got my attention with his answer to this question:

INTERVIEWER: Obviously ‘American music’ means different things to different people. What does it mean to you?
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In Defense of Modernist Architecture

Owen Hatherley presents his case for a revival of modernism, particularly in its original intent as a social reform movement, in his new book, Militant Modernism.
31 May 2009 - 9:00am
Icon Eye
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Caracas, The City that Built Itself

Utopian modernism turned on its head in Caracas, where residents have made fifty-year-old superblock housing projects into the locus of sprawling improvised settlements.
14 May 2009 - 10:00am
Triple Canopy

Hot Trend in Architecture: The Appearance of Instability

Witold Rybczynski takes a look at the new tendency toward buildings that look collapsible, rather than the solid-looking buildings of the past. Is this trend a symptom of our shaky times?
23 April 2009 - 9:00am
Slate

Replanning the City, Post-Modernism

Stockholm is seeking bids for a redesign of its city center, and the five plans in contention all seek to fix the damage wrought by modernist planning.
16 March 2009 - 2:00pm
The New York Times
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Niemeyer's Plan to Refresh Brasilia Meets Opposition

Architect Oscar Niemeyer has released plans to build new iconic buildings near the UNESCO-protected cultural and government center he designed in Brasilia 50 years ago. But locals have voiced opposition.
6 February 2009 - 5:00am
Associated Press
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From Modernist to New Urbanist

A developer in Holmdel, New Jersey sees promise in a building designed by Eero Saarinen to become a pedestrian-friendly town center. 'This place can be a great public realm."
19 December 2008 - 10:00am
Aberdeen

The Legacy of Brasilia

The Atlantic Monthly reviews a new book on architect Oscar Niemeyer and his work that- like the infamous city of Brasilia- "continues to enchant and appall students of architecture and urban planning."
15 June 2008 - 7:00am
The Atlantic Monthly

Introducing Smart Growth To An Edge City

A new master plan for Los Angeles's Century City attempts to undo some of the shortcomings that typically plague Modernist master-planned edge cities. Its goals include walkability, greening, and a more appealing public realm.
21 March 2008 - 11:00am
Planning Magazine

The Urban Nightmare Of Le Corbusier

The machine-city envisioned by Le Corbusier, and made into practice in decades of modernist bureaucracy, has ultimately produced, according to Simon Richards' essay, an antisocial environment, against which urban planning seems to be now reacting.
4 March 2008 - 6:00am
The Urban Reinventors Online Urban Journal
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