The Engineers Aesthetic and Architecture - Term Paper Example

RUNNING HEAD: THE ENGINEER'S AESTHETIC AND ARCHITECTURE of the of the of the The Engineer'sAesthetic and Architecture Introduction "Th engineer is th hero of our age," stated th German architect and product designer Peter Behrens in th early 1900s. Behrens was one of th forerunners of modernism. Upon being appointed chief architect and designer at th large electrical appliances firm AEG, he promised to work toward th "most intimate union possible between art and industry". Togethr with othr leading German architects of th time, he took part in th Federation of Artistic Workshops--th German version of th English Arts and Crafts--founded in 1907 to "introduce th idea of standardization as a virtue, and of abstract form as th basis of th aesthtics of product design". (Adler, P. S. and Winograd, T. A, 55-67) Behrens seems to have influenced Kahn's design for th Ford Highland Park factory. In France, Auguste Choisy, Auguste Perret, and Tony Garnier revolted against th eclecticism of nineteenth-century architectural practice, proposing instead to apply classical geometry and clarity to th new building materials so as to achieve structural coherence. French architects were th world pioneers in th use of reinforced concrete made with cement--a new compound patented in 1824 and industrially produced after 1845. Othr similar ideas, trends, and suggestions to follow th new spirit of technology and engineering were also emerging elsewhere in Europe at this time. One could argue that it was not surprising that thse radical avant-garde modernists would engage in colorful rhetoric so as to liberate thmselves from th chains of tradition, bolster thir creativity, and attract attention, but thre was much more than creative thirst or rhetorical fluff in modernism. Th avant-garde modernists not only glorified th beauty of industry and th mechanical in thir writings and architectural works but also endorsed and used th new scientific methods of labor management and organization originally developed in th United States at th turn of th century. Th similarities between th techniques used by th scientific managers and by th avant-garde modernists are stunning--and troubling. (Adler, P. S. and Winograd, T. A, 55-67) Explanation European modernism did not arrive at an entirely novel approach to architecture and design until th 1920s, with th Bauhaus in Germany, Constructivism in th Soviet Union, Rationalism in Italy, and Purism in France. It was at this point that European architects made thir revolutionary reinterpretation of scientific management in aesthtic terms. Walter Gropius, th founder of th Bauhaus school of art and architecture in Germany, was a firm believer in scientific management methods and became one of th most influential architects of th twentieth century. He wished to formulate a new thory of architecture and to develop "practical designs for present-day goods" that could be mass-produced. As director, Gropius managed to attract a dream team of artists to th school, including Mies van der Rohe, Kandinsky, and Klee, among othrs. He and his colleagues designed industrial and no industrial buildings, decorated interiors, and collaborated with many German manufacturing firms on product design. (Adler, P. S. and Winograd, T. A, 55-67) As a result of German influence, th Russian arts and crafts movement had been toying with th artistic possibilities of mass production since th turn of th century. While th Bolshevik Revolution spurred a myriad of competing avant-garde artistic movements, Constructivism quickly gained sway over its alternatives, absorbing such important artistic trends as Product ional Art, Projectionist, and Rationalism. Th First Working Group of Constructivists was created in 1921 within th Institute of Artistic Culture. Th institute's role was to study th practical aspects of artistic activity in production. Engineers lectured thre regularly. (Baber, 66-78) Th constructivists proposed th ideals of th "artist-constructor" and th "artist-engineer," arguing for a functional and engineering-oriented approach to design, prefabricated housing, standardization, modular coordination, efficient building methods, new materials, and industrial production. As in Germany, th Soviet modernists created a state-sponsored school of art to realize thir dreams, th Higher State Artistic-Technical Workshops, founded in 1920 to train "highly qualified master artists for industry". In 1909 Italian Futurism was launched as a literary movement by F. T. Marinetti, who entertained a political agenda of nationalism, violence, war, and destruction. In that same year Mario Morasso published his novel, Th World's New Mechanical Aspect, in which th automobile is th protagonist. Futurism later invaded othr artistic areas such as music and, above all, architecture. A new, modernist style came into being with architect Antonio Sant'Elia. His ideas were developed and put into practice by th "rationalist" architects of th 1920s and 1930s, who were interested in low-cost housing and furniture design, urban planning, prefabricated construction, factory architecture, and standardization (Adler, P. S. and Winograd, T. A, 55-67) Th European architects and designers turned th mechanical into a metaphor for beauty and form as well as function. As a volume created by simple lines and plain surfaces, with seamless and unadorned shapes, th machine was raised to th status of symbol and muse. Th Italian architect Antonio Sant'Elia put it concisely in 1914: "Just as th ancients drew thir inspiration in art from th elements of th natural world, so we . . . must find our inspiration in th new mechanical world we have created, of which architecture must be th fairest expression, th fullest synthsis, th most effective artistic integration". After World War I, th German, Russian, Italian, and French architects played a central role in th reception of American engineering ideas on industrial production. Some may find it surprising, even disquieting, that many of th early twentieth century avant-garde architects in Europe--who were artists, after all--took sides with th proponents of such an individualistic, mechanistic, and engineering-based model of organization as scientific management. (Baber, 66-78) Thir enthusiasm for Taylorism and Fordism surfaced at three levels. First, thy exhibited a technocratic ideological approach to problem solving that highlighted neutrality, efficiency, and planning. Second, thy endorsed and used th most important scientific management techniques in thir architectural projects and took part in organizations promoting th diffusion of scientific management. And third, thy reinterpreted scientific management in aesthtic terms. I have organized th evidence on th relationship between scientific management and modernism analytically rathr than chronologically so that th aesthtic inspiration that th modernist architects drew from scientific management will be readily apparent from a comparison of thir ideological and technical inclinations. Table 1 summarizes th key characteristics of scientific management and describes why thy appealed to European modernism. Th affinities between modernism and scientific management begin with thir assessments of th problem of chaos as one requiring system and organization. Le Corbusier first read Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management in 1917. At first, Taylorism struck him as a "horrifying and inevitable path towards th future," but it did not take him long to find in th new engineering approach a possible "return to order," by applying th "scientific principles of analysis, organization, and classification" . Scientific management promised to reduce waste and cut costs and glorified regularity and standardization, aspects that were in line with th concerns of th avant-garde modernists. (Baber, 66-78) Conclusion According to scientific management, chaos, disorder, waste, and soldiering by workers, coupled with management's arbitrariness, greed, and lack of control, seriously constrained production and social welfare a "mental revolution" was proposed to tackle such evils. (Baber, 66-78) Th modernists believed that traditional modes of thought (i.e., "orthodox intellectual activity" and "academic design") limited rationalization and social liberation. Le Corbusier argued that architects were "enslaved to th past" and mounted a blistering attack on "th narrowness of commonplace conceptions" in architecture. One manifesto of th Russian modernists started by reaffirming th goal of th "factual rationalization of artistic labor" and of a utilitarian conception of art and scientific research into art. In general, modernism reasserted th principle of form as an organizing device to avoid disorder. Othr general features are also shared by both groups. Th scientific managers focused on th analysis of tasks and individual performance, and so did th modernists. In addition, both groups believed in hierarchy and shared an admiration for method and calculation. Thy thought that society at large--not just engineering or architecture--could benefit from th nw ideas and methods. (Baber, 66-78) Work cited Adler, P. S. and Winograd, T. A. USABILITY: Turning Technologies into Tools. New York University Press: New York, 1992. Baber. Beyond th Desktop: Designing and Using Interaction Devices. North Light Books: Cincinnati, OH, 1997. Read More