Dreams Of Houses

Emmerson argues powerfully -- from a position of familiarity with all themajor Modernist theorists of the 20th century -- that the minimalaesthetic of Modernism is derived from a particular point of view whichequates simplicity with moral virtue. In this new aesthetic regime,minimalism would stand in for equality, without any troublesome need toengage in an examination of the economic or social forces underlying theredistribution of wealth or to actually promote social change. InEmmerson's words:"What Le Corbusier had clearly demonstrated and codified, in both theoryand practice, was that the benefits of the new thinking, seeminglydemocratic in intent, are not to be equally shared throughout societybut that a language and programme of rigorous aesthetic similarity hadbeen created to camouflage actual, substantial difference."

Thanks to Matthew Hardy