Case Study: The High Rise City, Ludwig Hilberseimer, 1924 - Assignment Help

Overview

This 4-week module is designed to introduce students to the expansive topic of modernism as both a historical

period (ca 1750-1968) and as a mindset that seeks to break from a seemingly regressive past and strive toward increased social progress. Modernism in architecture is typically characterised by technological innovation as an outcome of industrialisation, a dramatic ramping up of production, consumption and global population, an expanding fossil fuel economy manifest in the automobile and the creation of sprawling suburbs, as well the rise of urbanism as a socio-technical science. In a more expansive cultural frame, modernism is associated with

themes such as standardisation, repetition, alienation, racial capitalism, profiteering, democratisation of domestic goods, access to credit, debt, alchemy and the rise of automotive, chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

Our case studies are located in the imperial centres of England, France, Italy and the United States, countries where modernist design was articulated and theorised before being exported across the planet in often violent ways. Given the vastness of the topics and timeframe, this module will limit its focus on the material and visual culture of modernism as it relates to industrial modes of production and the 'return' of wartime technologies from theatres of war to the domestic interior.

Structure

This module will introduce students to diverse scholarly positions on both the promises and dangers associated with modernism. Students will reflect on key readings and use them to analyse select case studies. Students present their findings in group presentations (number of students tbd) and engage the class in relevant discussion and online activities using various formats (e.g. PowerPoint presentation, video excerpts, cahoot quizzes, drawing activities). The duration of each group presentation is 30 mins plus 15 mins class discussion. Weekly individual discussion posts that evidence students’ engagement with the key readings enrich the tutorial sessions and form the basis of the class discussion. Upon completion of this module, students should recognise key features of modernism as expressed in art, architecture and urban design, and be able to articulate a contemporary perspective of its significance by drawing upon a diverse set of scholarly references.

Study Materials and Weightings

Key readings for the discussion posts and sources for the group presentations can be found in CANVAS in your tutor's folder' ordered per week, i.e. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. In total, 5 Individual discussion posts must be submitted at 11am on Monday of weeks 2, 3 and 4 with a word count of 250-300 words for each discussion post. The discussion points are weighted as 20% each (total of 60% marked individually), submitted to Turnitin and fully referenced (see APA referencing guide).Please note: You do NOT submit a discussion post on the topic of your group presentation! Group Presentation of 30 mins +15 mins student led class discussion:

Powerpoint pdf: 40% (total, group assessment). You do not submit your spoken text – only your powerpoint. Each group submits only ONCE to CANVAS (can be submitted by any member of the group). Full names and Student ID numbers must be clearly stated on the cover page of your group presentation. All presentations and submissions must be fully referenced (APA 7th edition).

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Detailed Schedule with Presentation Topics, Tasks for Discussion Posts and Key Readings

Research parameters:

LABOUR / REPETITION / MODERN MATERIALS / UTOPIA / URBANISATION / SCALABILITY

Week 2: Glass and the World Interior

Case study 1: The Crystal Palace (Joseph Paxton) 1851

• Discussion Post:

Discuss how the Crystal Palace produces the visual and spatial effect of an 'endless interior' and how that relates to the ambitions of expanding empires in the 19th century with recourse to the following material:

• Siegfried Gideon, Space, Time and Architecture, The Great Exhibitions, (p243-277)
• Barry Bergdoll, European Architecture; 1750-1890, New Technology and Architectural Form, 1851-90, (206-238)
• Group Presentation:

Use the following materials (textual and audio-visual) to discuss how the Crystal Palace was designed to 'grow' a particular kind of human: the modern, liberal subject. Relate this to this module's research parameters.

• Walter Benjamin, The Arcades of Paris and The Rings of Saturn, 1929. (p873-887)
• BBC Radio 4, In Our Time: History, The Great Exhibition of 1851,

Case study 2: Glass Pavilion (Bruno Taut) 1914

1 Discussion Post:

Discuss how Bruno Taut used the Glass Pavilion and Alpine Architecture to formulate a vision against the deep uncertainties of the interwar period. Reference the following material:

• Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture; A Critical History, Ch12: The Deutsche Werkbund 1898-1927 and Ch13: The Glass Chain: European architectural Expressionism 1910-25, 2007. (p109-122)
• Tyrus Miller, Expressionist Utopia: Bruno Taut, Glass Architecture, and the Dissolution of Cities,

2 Group Presentation:

Analyse the glass pavilion in relation to this module's research parameters using the following materials.

• Kai Gutschow, From Object to Installation in Bruno Taut’s Exhibit Pavilions, 2006.
• The Glass Paradise – Coloured Glass Destroys Hatred! By About Cities and Buildings Podcast, 2017

Week 3: Planning the Universal City

Case Study 1: Dom-ino Frame 1914 + Villa Savoye 1929-31

• Discussion Post:

Describe the promises of modern architecture that Le Corbusier embeds within Villa Savoye. Which aspects did and which aspects didn't live up to these ideals?

Discuss

• Le Corbusier, Architecture or Revolution in Towards a New Architecture, (p294-312)
• Le Corbuser, "Five Points Toward a New Architecture,"

Group Presentation

The dom-ino is a frame for living that affects the city at large. What have been the advantages and disadvantages of deploying such a diagram around the world?

• Kevin Murphy, The Villa Savoye and the Modernist Historic Monument, 2002. https://doi.org/10.2307/991812
• Lewis Mumford, The Case Against "Modern Architecture,"

Case Study 2: The High Rise City, Ludwig Hilberseimer, 1924

1 Discussion Post:

What is the grid and how does it function as a signature of modernism? How does the grid permeate Ludwig Hilberseimer's design for the High Rise City?

• Rosalind Krauss, Grids, 1979.
• Pier Vittorio Aureli, Architecture for Barbarians: Ludwig Hilberseimer and the Rise of the Generic City,

2 Group Presentation

Discuss how the High Rise City acts as a template for a 'generic urban condition.' What aspects of it are familiar to you and where you live, if any? Reference the following materials:

• Ketki Tendolkar, Review of Albert Pope's Ladders,
• Anna Tsing, On Nonscalability: The Living World Is Not Amenable to Precision-Nested Scales,

Week 4: Modernism for Whom?

Case Study 1: Case Study House #8 (Ray and Charles Eames) 1945

• Discussion Post:

How did Charles and Ray Eames take advantage of and advance mass media to expand their design influence?

• Beatriz Colomina, Enclosed by Images: The Eameses' Multimedia Architecture, 6–29. doi:10.1162/152638101750172975
• Max Underwood, Inside the Office of Charles and Ray Eames, 2005.
• Group Presentation

Use the following materials to discuss how the Eames' work synthesised information and the attention economy through their architecture. Relate this to the module's research parameters

• Banham, Reyner, and Thomas Blueprints for Modern Living : History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses. Ed. Elizabeth A.T. Smith. New York: MIT P, 1999.
• The Great Kitchen Debate video

Case Study 2: Miller House (Eero Saarinen) 1957

1 Discussion Post:

Use the following materials about the Miller House to discuss the tension between modernism for the masses and modernism as an elite cultural product. Relate this to the module's research parameters:

• Alice Friedman, Eero Saarinen: Modern Architecture for the American Century, 2010

Give a detailed description of the plan drawing and perspective views within the Miller House: how is the house organised? What materials are used? Describe the furniture. What effects do the details afford? Reference the following material: