bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Muralism and Architecture: Art Fusion at Mexico’s University City
Authors: Cruz Lourdes
Published: April 2021

University City is one of the best examples of twentieth-century Mexican architecture. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco for it managed to synthesize tradition and avant-garde to create a place where the articulating landscape design is able to assign emptiness a compositional value; while the harmonious layout of the buildings and their careful construction merge with murals that play an important role in forming their identity. These grand scale murals (1952-1956) were capable of communicating the values and spirit of the Mexican revolutionary movement, such as progress and social reform, while also teaching people about the country’s history and its social struggle. The result is a very realistic, didactic, and even narrative art which appeals to the masses.
Alexander Calder’s Flying Saucers
Authors: Petersen Jørgen
Published: April 2021

One of Alexander Calder’s largest artworks can be found in Venezuela, at the University of Caracas. It is the result of a unique collaboration between an architect, an acoustician and an artist. The university’s great fan shaped auditorium, designed by Carlos Villanueva in 1953, proved to be acoustically problematic and the engineer therefore proposed a solution with interior claddings. This was rejected, however, because it would radically change the shape of the hall. Finally, Alexander Calder was approached. He came up with an innovative installation consisting of 30 reflectors shaped as flying saucers and suspended from the ceiling
Plastic Integration in Mexico: Confluence or Nostalgia
Authors: Noelle Louise
Published: April 2021

From the onset of contemporary architecture, the controversial presence of visual arts manifested itself as one of the approaches in its development. In the mid-twentieth century the use of the term “plastic integration” started to be widespread, exposing the confrontation between diverse stances and positions. Three of the pioneers in the forefront of this field were Carlos Obregón Santacilia, with his building for the Secretaría de Salubridad (1929), Mario Pani, with the Hotel Reforma (1936), and Enrique Yáñez, with the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (1936-1940). The movement, headed by the leading architects of the time in collaboration with important artists, searched for an intersection between the visual arts and architecture.
Eliana Cárdenas
Authors: Segre Roberto
Published: April 2021

It is more common for disciples to write memories of their old masters that it is for a master to bear the hard news of the death of one of his disciples. It is painful and sad to face and deal with the death of Eliana Cardenas, the leading historian of architecture in Cuba.
The Integration of the Arts
Authors: Villanueva Carlos Raúl
Published: April 2021

The arts bear witness to the cultural meaning of each period; we can discover the features that marked a historic individuality thanks to them. The more they demonstrate the union of concept or formal participation between them, the more clearly the social axis around which the man/culture duality revolves unfolds itself. The presence of this axis favours the agglutination of artistic expression. What is more, the unity of human content is fertile and a necessary condition so that the total integration flourishes. Architecture, painting, sculpture and technique combine around a common aim, around a collective purpose. The coming together of objectives facilitates the plastic synthesis.
Transcontinental Modernism. M&G as an Unité d’habitation and a factory complex in Mozambique
Authors: Tostões Ana , Oliveira Maria Manuel
Published: April 2021

With the aim of contributing to the documentation and conservation of the modern architectural heritage, this paper presents Monteiro & Giro Complex (M&G), built during the 50’s in Quelimane, Mozambique, with the goal of stressing the modernity of the social program and the technological approach. If one wants to gain a better understanding of the worldwide Diaspora of architectural modernism, it is essential to document and analyse the important heritage of sub–Saharan Africa. Modern architectural debates have been reproduced, transformed, contested and sometimes even improved in distant lands and overseas territories. These contradictory aspects of Modernist practice are revealed in the programmatic, technological and structural M&G industrial Complex.
Foreign Architecture in Brasilia
Authors: Ficher Sylvia , Santos Paulo Roberto Alves dos
Published: April 2021

Surprisingly, Brasilia has a major assortment of foreign architecture, due to the diplomatic complexes it houses in the so-called South and North Embassy Sectors. From an urban point of view, such sectors were envisioned as a great international fair of buildings by renowned professionals. These buildings display a variety of solutions, in which it is always possible to distinguish typical features of the country of origin. In many of them the intention to reflect the modernity of Brasilia prevails; in others, the main objective was to enhance the country’s traditional architecture; and finally there are those in which both alternatives have been harmonized.
Brasilia, the Palace of Congress and their Urban Changes
Authors: Macedo Danilo Matoso , Silva Elcio Gomes da
Published: April 2021

The Palace of Congress in Brasilia, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1958, played an effective role in defining its urban context. Lúcio Costa`s original competition sketches show one tower, with a domed horizontal building. Niemeyer conciliated the different levels of the frontal Esplanade and of the lower Plaza behind, rotating it, and placing two domes and two towers instead of one, representing the two legislative institutions housed. The building presence amidst a vast green area became the main symbol of Brasilia. In the last 50 years, however, its surroundings gave place to several new institutional buildings designed by Niemeyer himself.
A Myth that Left the Greenhouse
Authors: Segawa Hugo
Published: April 2021

This is a selection of some writings by authors that visited, commented and analyzed Brasilia, collected mainly in non-Brazilian literature. Testimonies and judgments, most of them expressing mistrust, disbelief, disapproval and prejudice about the embryonic capital, and the change of the nature of the critique, looking to a complex city with half a century of existence. Quotations are presented in chronological order and in a dialectic array, contrasting points of views at distinctive moments of the city.
Arie Sivan, 1940-2010. In Memoriam
Authors: Israel Docomomo
Published: April 2021

Designer, architect, educator, researcher, critic, polemicist, Arie’s multifaceted and ceaseless activity was, sadly, cut short just a week after his participation and lectures at the docomomo Congress and Icomos in Mexico, last August. His formative years at the Architecture faculties in Montevideo, Uruguay, and the Technion in Haifa during the late sixties, were decisive for his long lasting belief in the Modern Movement instrumental role in the creation of “A new society” and, in his words, “A creative relation between people, their environment and their time”.
The Campus of the University of Brasilia
Authors: Schlee Andrey Rosenthal
Published: April 2021

The Pilot Plan of the new Brazilian Federal Capital, by Lúcio Costa, was selected in a public competition held in 1957. The city was inaugurated barely three years later by President Juscelino Kubitschek, in April 1960, when the official creation of the University of Brasilia became a reality. Preparing to celebrate fifty years of existence, the University campus probably represents the most accomplished set of Brutalist architecture in the country and an excellent sample of the inventive resources of Brazilian architects. A functionalist city inside another. They are distinct from each other, but both dignified and worthy of documentation and preservation actions.
The Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia
Authors: Rossetti Eduardo Pierrotti
Published: April 2021

This article explores the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, the Itamaraty Palace which is one of the most important buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer in Brasilia. Besides the constructive complexity, in this project the architect organizes and ranks several spatial correlations, making the palace terrace - the varanda - its great architectural surprise.
Brasilia. Monumentality Issues
Authors: Comas Carlos Eduardo
Published: April 2021

Lúcio Costa proposes an urbs and a civitas in his winning entry for the Brasilia competition (1957). The new seat of citizenship was to celebrate the March to the West dreamt by Brazilian Independence’s Patriarch José Bonifácio (1823) - who named the new capital - and taken up by president Juscelino Kubitschek (1955) - who promised fifty years of progress in five. Brasilia was to be a machine for remembering past, present and future hopes. Therefore, it had to be a memorable object itself, composed of memorable elements; differentiation from context counted in all levels. Like Costa, Oscar Niemeyer knew that common monumental features included volumetric simplicity, unusual size, scale or shape and extraordinary richness, as shown by his Palácio da Alvorada, the presidential residence (1956).
Belmopan: a New Capital for a New Country
Authors: Ricketts Shannon
Published: April 2021

As the British colony of British Honduras prepared for independence, it adopted two important symbols of its emerging identity; the name of Belize was chosen for the new country and a new capital was planned from which this emerging nation would be governed. That new capital was called Belmopan and was to be established inland from the old coastal capital of Belize City. Designed by the British planning and architectural firm of Norman and Dawbarn, this new city followed in the tradition of British Garden City planning, making discrete references to the Mayan heritage of the region, while using the modernist architectural vocabulary typical of so much of the infrastructural development taking place at this time in various nations emerging from colonial status.
Returning to Center: Two Views of the Centro Internacional of Bogota (1959–1982)
Authors: Mayorga Miguel Y. , Fontana Maria Pia
Published: April 2021

In the present–day city, both the architecture and the quality of its urban spaces are key issues for defining urban strategies that are aimed at improving the livability in the city, in its new metropolitan state. Given the inevitability of the changes that the city itself demonstrates, implicitly and explicitly, a return to the center, to the places with relationships between men and things and with humanized space, offers a possible solution. In this light, the Tequendama–Bavaria complex (1950–1982) within the International Center of Bogota is a center that reveals a series of urban values that may be used as reference points in the challenge of building a polycentric city and in the configuration of livable urban spaces. By analyzing different views since the origins of the city, we can appreciate the consolidation of a project based on the values of territorial and urban “mediation”, which are able to assemble rather than disperse, to integrate rather than segregate, invite rather than repel, and open up rather than close in.
Former American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Designed by Josep Lluís Sert (1957–1959): A Ruin That Nobody Wants
Authors: Azara Pedro
Published: April 2021

The future of Josep Lluís Sert’s masterpiece, the former American Embassy in Baghdad built in 1957, is in jeopardy. Not too many people consider that it has to be kept and restored. The state of the premises of the building, situated by the River Tigris and inside the so–called Green Zone (part of the city closed off to the general public), is threatened by a danger that also menaces other instances of Modern architecture in Baghdad, such as the Saddam Hussein stadium, which was built in the 1980s on the basis of a project by Le Corbusier dating from the late 1950s.
Architecture in Sudan: The Post–Independence Era (1956-1970). Focus on the Work of Abdel Moneim Mustafa
Authors: Osman Omer S. , Osman Amira O. S. , Bahreldin Ibrahim Z.
Published: April 2021

This article is part of a study on the Sudanese social and political context during the formation of the Modern Movement and the manifestations in built form and spatial expression during the period 1900-1970. The study has been on–going for several years and includes a literature search, local surveys (of unpublished and undocumented information) as well as photographs taken by the authors, sourced from architects or published material. It is argued that the Sudanese response to the International Style was in fact early experimentation in critical regionalism. The most notable architectural heritage in Sudan are the archaeological remains at Kerma and Napata as well as the remains of ancient Meroe about 180 km north of Khartoum. These cultures demonstrated sophistication in building materials and construction techniques. Due to climate changes, political changes and religious changes over a large stretch of time (642AD with the signing of the Bagt Treaty–1898 at the demise of the Mahdist era) the qualities of the built environment became more transient and rudimentary in character with a greater focus on manifesting tradition through body images, clothing and rituals that were not necessarily tied to a particular physical location rather than through monuments. With foreign interest in the strategic location of the Sudan, and as a part of the scramble for Africa, came specific stylistic and technical manifestations.
The Modern Movement and Sustainability: Yesterday, Today and in the Future
Authors: Prudon Theodore
Published: April 2021

Concern for the environment and a focus on the conservation of our natural resources have in general over the last couple of decades, entered into the dialogue around architecture and preservation. In the last decade this focused more specifically on the more recent architecture. In some instances, the discussion about sustainability has begun to overshadow the preservation issues. Many countries have developed elaborate rating systems for buildings, whether new or old, that take into account a large number of factors to gauge and assess their impact. While these systems are intended to assist in deciding what actions can and should be undertaken, the discussion has remained quite limited and largely focused on the operational aspects of buildings and on new construction.
Modern and Sustainable
Authors: Tostões Ana
Published: April 2021

Modern Movement Architecture is envisioned as a concept that deals with forms, spaces, techniques and social responsibility. In this docomomo Journal, the contributions on this discussion put together modernity and Modern heritage, economy and energy saving, the social mission and the responsibility of architects towards the future. Modern Movement is often mistakenly related to a style, perceived in a skin–deep point of view and superficially adopted as simple form, as a modern shape, when in fact Modern Movement has always shown great concern with such issues, seeking for eficiency and economy, i.e., an accurate use of materials, a design approach that incorporates intelligent saving resources in order to create a better world.
Sustainability and Modernism: Design Research at Cornell NYC
Authors: Judah Ilana , Kaplan Daniel
Published: April 2021

Sustainability is now replacing Modernism as the main discourse for socio–economic, technological, architectural and urban development. However, the architectural legacy of Modernism remains an inherent part of our built environment. While some tenets of Modernism align with principles of sustainable design, many are in conflict, thus creating both a tension and an opportunity for creative reinvention of existing buildings and neighborhoods. Greening Manhattan’s Modernist Legacy was a seminar taught at Cornell University’s school of architecture that investigated these questions. The seminar explored an analytical approach to retrofitting Modernbuildings that prioritized environmental responsibility while critically reinterpreting the Modern aesthetic.
Bridging the Gap
Authors: Hvattum Mari
Published: April 2021

On July 30, 1870, a visitor to the Niagara Falls noted glumly in his diary that “the impression of the waterfall was gripping, but not what I had expected”. Having traveled from Northern Europe to reach this scenic spot, the traveler - a railway engineer - was frankly disappointed. The landscape was flat and dreary, and only seen from very particular angles did the falls live up to their sublime reputation. What consoled the disillusioned tourist, however, were the many beautiful bridges built to accommodate traffic, commerce, and sightseeing around the falls: “The proud Clifton suspension bridge with its 1269’ span, 300’ above the river, was light and beautiful. The picturesque bridges across to Goat Island and “Three sisters” - all in pleasant harmony - give to the place a decidedly attractive character” he enthused. Regardless of its reputation as the most spectacular natural scenery in the world, to our railway engineer, Niagara was saved only by the sublime spectacle of the bridges.
Robert Maillart’s Innovative Use of Concrete
Authors: Zastavni Denis
Published: April 2021

Robert Maillart’s innovative views concerning the use of concrete come within the scope of the history of structures, structural materials and concrete as a material of structure. It will even lead us far beyond these issues. At the end, the point of view expressed in this article will be the view of a structural designer. When preparing this reflection, I realise that there is no straightforward answer to the question: “What is in fact Maillart’s real innovation considering all the contributions he made to the art of engineering?”
Putting forward the different aspects mentioned above as an introduction seems to be a more relevant way to find a contemporary answer taking time and context into account. Consequently the first part of this text is a general presentation of Maillart’s works. Following we will make a detour to make what I, and many others, consider to be the most revolutionary aspects of Maillart’s practice fully comprehensible. So starting from the historical development of reinforced concrete as a structural material, we will move to the contemporary context to figure out how the intrinsic structural complexity of concrete is managed today. We will see that some difficulties emerge from the behaviour of concrete in relation to the classic theories of mechanics. If some Modern theories find an answer to the problem, it will become obvious that Maillart had already found a convincing way of dealing with these difficulties. We will then return to Maillart’s works to answer the question through the status he was to give concrete when it came to structural design and the methods he used to achieve his objectives. I hope this will lead us to consider Maillart’s approach as one of the most visionary ever devised.
Bridge of Dreams: The Penguin Pool, London Zoo
Authors: Allan John
Published: April 2021

The Penguin Pool at London Zoo 1934, designed by Berthold Lubetkin & Tecton is one of the iconic landmarks of modern architecture. This article tells the story of its creation, the structural secrets of its audacious spiral ramps and its varying fortunes in the evolution of the zoo as an institution for the display of captive animals. The Penguin Pool, visited and admired by thousands over the 75 years since its completion, also stands as a poignant emblem of the dreams and disappointments of modern architecture.
Eïtai and Kiyosu Bridges over the Sumida: Japanese Bridge Design in the 1920s
Authors: Kitagawa Daijiro
Published: April 2021

After the earthquake of 1923 which devastated Tokyo, Japanese engineers worked on reconstruction to generate a new Modern landscape in the capital, taking into account various arguments ranging from science to culture. The construction process of the Eïtai and Kiyosu bridges over the Sumida River are indicative of this development. This paper will describe this process to better understand Japanese bridge design in 1920s in terms of technology and aesthetics.
Mizen Head Footbridge or ‘Building a Bridge, to Build a Bridge’
Authors: Ruane Kieran
Published: April 2021

Mizen Head Footbridge in County Cork is a reinforced concrete through-arch structure spanning 50 m. The original structure was demolished and rebuilt 2009-2011, 100 years after its completion. This article describes the construction challenges of safely reconstructing a bridge in a difficult site location. The bridge provides access to a lighthouse on the tiny island of Cloghán, at the tip of Mizen Head in Southwest Cork. It is the result of a design competition held in the early 1900’s. The winning entry was by Mr. Noel Ridley of Westminster, London. It had the form of a pair of parabolic arch ribs spanning 50 m supporting a pedestrian deck, suspended by vertical hangers from the ribs in the central section.
An Intriguing Work of Engineering and Architecture: The Collonnade Bridge in Piešt’any
Authors: Moravčíková Henrieta
Published: April 2021

The period around the year 1930 could be termed the culminating point with respect to the Modern architectural avant-garde in Slovakia. It was then that the concepts emerged from the most important works, the first Slovak architectural journals began to be published, the School of Applied Arts opened, as a Slovak variant of the German Bauhaus, and an entire range of other artistic and social initiatives indicated that Slovakia’s cultural environment could not only absorb avant-garde impulses, but develop them in a unique way. It was precisely at this moment that the history of one of the most famed bridges in Slovakia, the Colonnade Bridge in Piešt’any, began to be written.
Bridges and Infrastructure
Authors: Takenouchi Kyo , Wedebrunn Ola
Published: April 2021

At present, it is by no means an exaggeration to say that innumerable bridges and infrastructures are able to bring us to the end of the earth, whether these are monuments, scattered in a remote area, recognized or not. situated where mankind intensively has made its effort to extend daily circles of life till the present day. Humans have always been on the move, in primitive ages they went up the hill and down the dale, over and beyond mountains, across streams and wherever obstacles had to be crossed, bridges and roads skilfully came into their hands. Emerging directly on the ground, as fruit of empirical and intuitive knowledge; as comprehensive static and dynamic engineering, state of the art science and creative use of information.
ODAM and the Construction of a Modern Spirit
Authors: Rosa Edite
Published: April 2021

The ODAM as divulger of modern architecture in Porto comprehends from the scope of teaching, professional practice, to its internationalization, as attests the participation of its members in CIAM´s congresses from 1951. Its production, written manifestos, projects and builds, reveal its universal character through the deployment of Modern spirit, in the statement of a collective conscience of architectural practice, but also, affirms its local condition as its differentiator value. This retrospective and critical reading of the specific ODAM discourse as part of broader context that characterizes Modern Architecture (re)affirms its character simultaneously universal and singular.
Clara Porset. A Modern Designer for Mexico
Authors: Noelle Louise
Published: April 2021

The 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.
Modern Architecture and Modern Furniture
Authors: Mácêl Otakar
Published: April 2021

Modern architecture and Modern furniture originated almost during the same period of time. Modern architects needed furniture compatible with their architecture and because it was not available on the market, architects had to design it themselves. This does not only apply for the period between 1920 and 1940, as other ambitious architectures had tried before to present their buildings as a unit both on the inside and on the outside. For example one can think of projects by Berlage, Gaudí, Mackintosh or Horta or the architectures of Czech Cubism and the Amsterdam School. This phenomenon originated in the 19th century and the furniture designs were usually developed for the architect’s own building designs and later offered to the broader consumer market, sometimes through specialized companies. This is the reason for which an agreement between the architect and the commissioner was needed, something which was not always taken for granted.
Metsäpaviljonski, Form Follows Wood
Authors: Suau Cristian
Published: April 2021

Nowadays, the emphasis in the design of exposition pavilions is mainly full of pseudo–technical or rhetorical ideas of progress. Nevertheless most of them do not communicate a vision. They show a lack of spatial qualities and continuity with the built environment. In general, there is not a common conservation agenda to adapt or reuse exemplary Modern Pavilions. Some emblematic cases are haunted icons, a consequence of undocumented, incorrect or simply fake reconstruction, whilst others are victims of neglectfulness and degradation. Nevertheless, what can we still rediscover by reviving or reconstructing Modern Movement Exposition pavilions? During the 1930s, pavilions were not only visionary and experimental manifestations of living systems but were also temporary and fast–built showrooms disseminating a cultural or ideological message.
Gaston Eysselinck and his Masterpiece. The Post Office Building in Ostend (1945-1953)
Authors: Dubois Marc
Published: April 2021

The city of Ostend became severely damaged during World War II. Practically all the main public buildings were destroyed: the City Hall, the Casino, the Horse Race–Track, the main Post Office building, etc. The city decided to rebuild a new Post Office on the location of the first construction. In 1945, architect Gaston Eysselinck (1907–1953) from Ghent was assigned to design the new main Post Office (PTT), including the telephone and telegraph offices (RTT) and the technical infrastructure. The project in Ostend was his first big assignment.
Modernism in Finnish Furniture Design and Production
Authors: Korvenmaa Pekka
Published: April 2021

When looking at the development of Modernism in Finnish furniture design from abroad the conventional image is Alvar Aalto´s Paimio chair descending in 1931 into a desert of traditionalism and starting a new, bright era of Modernity. This cliché is partly, but only partly true. In the following I will outline some major trends in design, use of materials and techniques of production in Finnish furniture before World War II.
Designing Modern Life
Authors: Tostões Ana
Published: April 2021

The aim 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 not appreciated as an essential matter in safeguard interventions.
Ranging from restoration process research and know-how, new modern materials and techniques are discussed facing up to new conservation process and innovative rehabilitation solutions, as well. One knows that Modern spatiality must require furniture conceived under a unitary design concept, which implies today to identify every detail with the aim of a reconstruction process, where research on documentation is one of the success keys.
Investigation and Production of Furniture for Villa Tugendhat 2009–2012
Authors: Ambroz Miroslav
Published: April 2021

Villa Tugendhat is an expression of “gesamtkunstwerk”, where every detail is subordinated to the whole. Mies van der Rohe devoted the same amount of attention to the furnishings of the house as to its design. The furniture designed and placed according to his conception is such an important aspect of the house that without it the Villa is only half complete. The system governing the organization of all parts of the building – ratios, proportions, whole areas and details – is visible also in the precise placement of the house contents, which only allowed the owner limited variability in the use of space. The Villa became world famous not long after its completion, but Fritz and Grete Tugendhat were not destined to spend many happy years there. Even before the Munich Pact had been signed, signifying the de facto end of democratic Czechoslovakia, they left Brno forever. At the end of the summer of 1938 two removal vans came to take part of the furnishings to St. Gallen in Switzerland. Today the main body of the original equipment is, except for several pieces, still in the possession of the family. The Villa was, after two years of general reconstruction, reopened to the public in February this year. For the first time since 1938 it was equipped with all the furnishings Mies van der Rohe had designed for it. The most significant event was the return after seventy years of the original curved wall of the dining area to its original location. This famous Makassar wall had been considered lost for many decades.
Factory Kitchen, Samara, 1931, by Ekaterina Maksimova
Authors: Blasi Ivan , Shukhov Vladimir , Bronovitskaya Anna
Published: April 2021

The Maslennikov factory canteen, also known as the Fabrika Kukhnya or Factory Kitchen, was a canteen producing meals on industrial scale, a vital typology for the early Soviet urbanism.
Factory Kitchen in Samara belonged to the Maslennikov Factory. The building is absolutely unique in its plan in the shape of a hummer-and cycle, symbol of the union of the working people. The "hummer" held the kitchen and storage, and the "cycle" was occupied by dinner-halls.
Why Preserve Modern Now?
Authors: Coutinho Bárbara
Published: April 2021

Coming to design in a natural development from architectural practice, Le Corbusier considered design not as a sum or addition to architecture. Its existence decisively constructed and modulated interior space, as light and shadows, materials or planes. From that belief, he quests the perfect and ideal form that asserts itself as a model of universal validity, arriving at three different furniture types: type–needs, type–furniture and human limb objects. Consequently, together with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret, in 1928 he drew the prototype of the Grand Confort armchair, presented the following year at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.
The Ofir House – Casa Dr. Fernando Ribeiro da Silva Ofir, Esposende, 1956-1958, by Fernando Távora
Authors: Blasi Ivan
Published: April 2021

The Ofir holiday house was the first work by Fernando Távora (1923–2005) published in the Arquitectura magazine (nº 59, July 1957). It was presented as a work that searched a personal language which reconciled the values of traditional Portuguese architecture and new technologic and material achievements.
Werner Max Moser’s New Altstetten Church 1936-1941
Authors: Rüegg Arthur , Schmed Silvio
Published: April 2021

For George Everard Kidder Smith, the Protestant Church at Altstetten (a former Zurich suburb, integrated in 1934) was “unquestionably the finest Modern church in Switzerland, and possibly anywhere else”. In his famous anthology of Swiss architecture from 1950, he points out that it embodies on the one hand “almost all the church building philosophy which both the protestants and catholics have sought: one room of simplicity and dignity, binding the pulpit and the altar to the congregation in respectful unity”. On the other hand, he was interested in the fact that the church, built on the edge of a low hill, seeks a subtle relationship with an old village church that the congregation had outgrown. Instead of destroying it, Moser “carefully preserved and related it to the new by the angle and space relation between them and by the repetition of a mutual eave height.” With a few words, Kidder Smith succeeded in capturing the double interest that Moser’s building represents even today. As a matter of fact, the church center’s interiors are, as well as the exteriors, wonderfully calibrated, fragile compositions that fascinate us for their typically undogmatic combination of modern and conventional materials and (decorative) forms, but also for Moser’s informal but precise dealings with the architectural heritage. It is immediately understandable that renovating and extending this building complex was quite a challenge.
Architecture and the Gesamtkunstwerk: Alberto Pessoa’s Furniture Design
Authors: Constantino Susana
Published: April 2021

In the post-war disciplinary discourse, the theme of architecture as a synthesis emerges evoking the idea of gesamtkunstwerk, this time associated with society’s collective spaces. This debate sought the integration of functionalism with a more humanist approach as an attempt to bring together architecture and society. Using as support two projects designed by Portuguese architect Alberto Pessoa (1919-1985), this text will explore the architect’s design of furniture as a fundamental token in the search for a Modern global design, to discuss one instance of how the idea of modern architecture as a synthesis of several disciplines was pursued.
Contemporary Activity. The GATEPAC Magazine (1931-1937)
Authors: Pizza Antonio
Published: April 2021

In May 1931, the first issue of the long–awaited Spanish modernity platform appeared: A.C. Actividad Contemporánea. Although the publication of the magazine had become an indispensable requirement for the existence of the GATEPAC, its manufacturing process turned out to be very long and fraught with difficulties.
The Modern Gesamtkunstwerk and its Preservation
Authors: Coutinho Bárbara
Published: April 2021

Interior 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.
Clorindo Testa, 1923-2013
Authors: Argentina Docomomo
Published: April 2021

It is with regret and sadness that docomomo Argentina informs the international docomomo community that architect Clorindo Testa passed away on April 11 2013. Testa was an architect and urban planner but also a painter whose artistic sensitivity has been always present in the way he conceived architecture.
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, 1919-2013. Requiem for Pedro
Authors: Salazar Armando V. Flores
Published: April 2021

The news of his death was instantly dispersed, displacing all other issues of national or international interest. When I read the message that Louise Noelle sent to all docomomo Mexico members, I accepted it as a plain and sad confirmation of what had happened: “Dear colleagues, this tragic note is to inform about the death of architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez today, April 16. He was one of the most prominent architects of the Modern Movement and his work has been part of our writings”.
A Resisting Modern Monument: Huambo Veterinary Academic Hospital
Authors: Quintã Margarida
Published: April 2021

The Huambo (former Nova Lisboa) Veterinary Academic Hospital, designed by Vasco Vieira da Costa in 1970, was never completed. With the independence of Angola in 1975, a civil war started and lasted 27 years, with its main battlefield in the country’s central region, where the opposition party was settled. The building has served as a military headquarters since the 80’s, becoming extremely damaged in the last three decades. Peace was restored in 2002 but 30 soldiers are still nowadays living in the ruins to defend the building from vandalism. The University is planning the renovation of the Veterinary Academic Hospital, although unawareness about the building’s heritage significance may result in the irreversible loss of an Angolan Modern monument.
Aiton Court: Relocating Conservation between Poverty and Modern Idealism
Authors: Roux Hannah Le , Hart Brendan , Mayat Yasmin
Published: April 2021

Aiton Court, in Johannesburg, is a case study in how heritage and economics clash in economically constrained cities. This iconic and formally innovative Modern apartment block from 1937 is located in an area where the income levels of tenants are now very low. Although the building is protected by legislation, the viability of its restoration is being further tested by a rent boycott. The article covers the building’s history, and questions how to approach its conservation differently, given the strong demand for housing at a cost level that would be excluded by purely market–led gentrification. We propose that locating conservation strategies in relation to the building’s history and to other subsidies aimed at the public good may provide other routes to preserving Aiton Court.
Other Modernisms: Recording Diversity and Communicating History in Urban West Africa
Authors: Uduku Ola
Published: April 2021

Seminal publications on West African Architecture such as Kulterman’s New Architecture in Africa and the Architectural Review’s New Commonwealth Architecture came to define the African Modern Movement as it was understood internationally. This paper explores the specific context within which this new architecture developed and the actors that helped to shape it. Vaughan–Richards’ Ola–Oluwakitan House and Cubitt’s Elder Dempster Offices are analyzed in terms of their engagement with the socio-cultural context in which they were conceived, the site-specific Modernity of the former contrasting the corporate International Style response of the latter.
From Sentiment to Science — docomomo comes of Age
Authors: Allan John
Published: April 2021

The following keynote lecture was presented at the 12th International docomomo Conference that took place in Espoo, Finland, in August 2012. The author, an active member of docomomo since its creation, used this opportunity to do what is traditional when someone ‘comes of age’, that is, use it as a milestone to look back at where docomomo came from, and forward to what it might become.
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Transition
Authors: Jonge Wessel de
Published: April 2021

Many 20th century sports facilities are in need of upgrading according to present standards and the 1938 (1952) Olympic Stadium of Helsinki is no exception to the rule. The international sports federations increase their requirements and security issues become more prominent by the year. Finland’s largest stadium is mainly used in summer for soccer matches, athletics, rock concerts and other events, and additional usage throughout the year would be welcome in order to strengthen the venue’s financial position and to pay for the extensive maintenance and renovations. At the same time the stadium is a popular historic site that plays an important role in the collective memory of the Finns and needs to retain its character as cultural heritage. Many delegates have visited this outstanding example of Modern Movement Heritage during the last docomomo International Conference that took place in Helsinki last August. Now, the building needs to be improved.
Roberto Segre, 1934-2013. A Life of Adventure that Ends with a Banal Tragedy
Authors: Guerra Abilio
Published: April 2021

Born in 1934 in Milan, Roberto Segre migrated to Argentina with his family in 1939, fleeing the anti–Semitism of Benito Mussolini’s fascist government. He graduated as an architect at the University of Buenos Aires in 1960 and soon after, in 1963, settled in La Havana, Cuba, where he taught history of architecture for three decades. In 1994, he began his career as a Brazilian researcher and professor on graduate courses in urban planning at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), where he served until March 2013. During these decades of professional activity, he came to be respected as a critic and historian, publishing many books and articles of the utmost importance on Latin American architecture.
Local and Global Modern Thinking. Designing with Climate in Mozambique: School Buildings Production
Authors: Ferreira Zara
Published: April 2021

The novelty of modern architecture in the former Portuguese African colonies derives from the fact that the ideology of the Modern Movement was interpreted locally. This built heritage is represented in terms of its responsiveness to the physical environment in which it operates, by means of Design with Climate–A Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism (Olgyay, 1963). Combining tradition and innovation, this approach sought to address the specific socio–cultural context within which modern architecture was conceived (Kultermann, 1969). With the purpose of contributing to the documentation and conservation of modern heritage in Africa, interpreted in the light of these assumptions (Quintã, 2007), this paper addresses a particular architectural program – school buildings – widely developed and built in Mozambique, between 1955 and 1975, the year of independence for the former Portuguese colonies. Initially led by architect Fernando Mesquita, as part of the Public Works Services of the Province of Mozambique, it was reconfigured and evolved through various levels of education, ranging from primary to high schools. Extensively built in urban and rural territory, and even gathering later contributions from other authors, the built output of this program remains a prominent feature in the Mozambican territory.
Introducing Modern Gallery Housing in Maputo: Design Experimentations, 1950-1968
Authors: Gomes Susana
Published: April 2021

Modern architecture has recently been the subject of a more systematic analysis in the formerly Portuguese African territory. These studies aim at understanding the specific circumstances from which Modern Portuguese architecture first arose. Following the international debate on housing during the 20th century, Mozambique has been the arena of a new and experimental approach to collective housing in accordance with the guidelines set out by Le Corbusier. A singular social, economic and cultural territory, it adopted a tropical variant of the gallery typology, briefly introduced in this paper by means of select case studies built in Maputo between 1950 and 1968.
Ten Years After, the Continent of Hope and Modern Heritage
Authors: Tostões Ana
Published: April 2021

Since the 1990s architectural historians discovered Modern architecture in Africa as part of a cultural production related to colonialism. With the introduction of postcolonial theory in the historiography of architecture, an exclusively ideological critical sense has been developed preventing disciplinary autonomy or practice of architecture and finally condemning any objective look. Recently, the development of concepts such as hybrid or the otherness has been promoting a nuanced historical analysis about architecture and politics in the 20th century in Africa. The recognition that a widespread awareness of Modern Movement architecture has always been serving colonization involves rethinking the basic principle of Modern welfare society and practiced architecture as a mission: how Modern principles have been exchanged, resulting from a Eurocentric culture with the cultures from the East and Africa. In addition, it must be said that the case of Sub–Saharan Lusophone Africa is now beginning to be studied in depth putting together peripheral universes.
For an Architect’s Training towards Responsibility
Authors: Tostões Ana
Published: April 2021

The variety of discussions on architects’ mission, on architectural discipline and the recall on some key figures explain the argument of this Journal entitled For an Architect’s Training. The title quotes Walter Gropius’ “Blueprint for an architect’s training” spread through the French magazine L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui in February 1950 (number 28), dedicated to “Walter Gropius, the spread of an idea” and realized by Paul Rudolph under the direction of Gropius himself who developed his ideas on design education between art and technique, creation, research and applied science.
Notes on Education and Research around Architecture
Authors: Cunningham Allen
Published: April 2021

docomomo is the answer - what is the question?
Herman Hertzberger: an Interview on Education
Authors: Moniz Gonçalo Canto
Published: April 2021

Herman Hertzberger is one of the main actors of the debate that relates Architecture with Education. He is not only the architect of many school buildings, but he is also the author of the book Space and Learning where he reflects about education and more specifically about how architecture contributes to the education issue and vice–versa.
Phenomenon of the Russian Avant-garde. Moscow Architectural School of the 1920s
Authors: Ovsyannikova Elena , Shukhov Vladimir
Published: April 2021

he phenomenon of the Russian Avant–garde architecture formed under the influence of the Moscow Higher School of Architecture and Art is today widely known by the name of VKHUTEMAS. This school is mentioned in the context of professional activity of the artists and architects who also worked in other institutes, but who had creative links. In the limelight is Nikolai Ladovsky, creator of the introductory course on architectural composition, lecturing along with many authoritative Moscow utilitarian architects, such as Alexander Kuznetsov, Vesnin brothers and others.
Critical Eclecticism. The Way(s) of the Porto School
Authors: Fernandes Eduardo
Published: April 2021

The term “Porto School” designates an identity that relates the pedagogy of a teaching institution with the ideas and the architectural practice of its professors and/or former students, resulting of the transmission (and update) of a way of thinking connected to a way of doing: a concern with social responsibility (perceived through the notions of collaboration and relationship with the context), a timeless concept of modernity, an intentional appropriation and miscegenation of models (in a process that we can call critical eclecticism), the belief that architecture should be considered figurative art (perceived in the pace of a promenade thoroughly controlled in time and space), a Vitruvian understanding of the education of the architects, the practice of manual drawing as a primary method of conception and the requirement of accuracy in the processes of work and communication.