tag: modernism
Fait accompli?
posted 10.23 in news.
In late July the University of Melbourne signalled its intention to “retire” many 20th Century modernist buildings at its Parkville campus before 2040, in keeping with its “long term strategic, academic and research ambitions”. Renderings in its new master plan show the Raymond Priestley administration building, the medical building and the John Medley building tagged for demolition, to name just a few.
Pruitt Igoe - the film
posted 02.14 in news.
You know the photos and the footage. In case you don’t here it is, complete with prevailing attitude courtesy of Robert Hughes. According to Hughes, “every sort of Corbusian amenity” did not “improve” the tenants,...
Lost Property
posted 11.11 in resources.
Subtitled “Auckland’s Alternative Modernist Architecture and History: A work in progress”, this great site is a who’s who of mid-century Auckland architects, many of whom have disappeared off the radar.
What House Is That?
posted 09.11 in resources.
“What house is that? is an exploration of the social and architectural history of Victoria’s housing styles. From our earliest Victorian cottages through to the light filled, open plan houses of the Modern era, we look at the houses...
New Zealand Design Review
posted 07.11 in resources.
The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre has transcribed NZ Design Review, from 1948 to 1954. Most worth a look, with essays and article by Ernst Plischke, Maurice Patience, and special editions focused on housing and the like.
Brisbane Modern
posted 06.11 in resources.
“A new independent publication exploring mid 20th Century design, art, architecture and furniture in Brisbane.” Some images from past issues can be viewed on the website.
New Orleans slays the 20th Century
posted 05.11 in news.
“If something isn’t from the 19th Century, it has no necessity for preservation.” “It’s asking a lot for people to preserve something that may be younger than they are.” “It’s almost...
Art Deco & Modernism - Architecture Australia
posted 01.11 in resources.
Or ModernAus for short. An Australia-wide accompaniment to Thomas Ryan’s Tasmanian Art Deco & Modernism photo blog ( here ).
The Lost Vanguard: Soviet Modernist Architecture, 1922-1932
posted 05.10 in resources.
A selection of photos of some startling modernist / constructivist buildings in Moscow, from a book by Richard Pare. Publisher Amazon
Design Onscreen on Vimeo
posted 02.10 in resources.
Design on Screen is a Denver-based film distributor with a leaning towards films highlighting the mid-century period in Colorado and California. Some previews can be seen on their site , But for the whole set go to Vimeo .
KCMODERN (archive)
posted 01.10 in resources.
Lively mid-century blog from Kansas, U.S. with lots of original photos of lucky finds. 2024: Seems to have died in 2012 but available still at the Internet Archive.
Modernist Australia
posted 12.09 in resources.
“It is time for action. We welcome all designers, architects, homeowners and hunters, artists, purveyors of mid-century ephemera, and most importantly anyone who simply appreciates this era and Modernist design and who would like to know...
Art Deco & Modernism - Architecture Tasmania
posted 12.09 in resources.
“My blog highlights the diversity of art deco and modernism styles throughout Tasmania through my photography and the written word.” A blog by Tasmanian photographer Thomas Ryan.
Hillman House
posted 12.09 in news.
The letter writers are noisy in Sydney’s Northern burbs right now, protesting that an interior designer should be able to alter her own home’s interior. Willoughby council doesn’t agree, as the 1947 Hillman House is a relatively...
Perth's Best
posted 10.09 in resources.
Perth’s Best has a growing collection of photos of Perth’s architecture mid Century onwards. Quite a few Iwanoffs and Donaldson and Warns.
Messenger or Salesman?
posted 10.09 in news.
Christopher Hawthorne at the LA Times draws a long bow and suggests Julius Shulman’s love of modern architecture and wide open spaces helped to feed the suburban lifestyle aspirations of late 20th Century Angelenos. He thinks this angle should...
The '60s is now a long time ago
posted 10.09 in news.
CENTURY PLAZA – MINORU YAMASAKI 1966, L.A. – TO BE DEMOLISHED Christopher Hawthorne writes in the LA Times that the Los Angeles Conservancy is now battling to save architecture from the 1960s. They even have a new website devoted to...
Moscow crumbles
posted 07.09 in news.
The Moscow Architectural Preservation Society has released an update to its 2007 report on the sad state of many of the city’s important buildings. In an atmosphere of gung-ho development, more old buildings are at risk than ever. Here are a...
Pierre Koenig
posted 07.09 in resources.
Although Pierre died in 2004, his website is still alive at USC.
Future City
posted 07.09 in resources.
Essay by Frederic Jameson (2003). “After the dilapidation of urban modernism, what kinds of city and what forms of architecture await us? The author of The Seeds of Time considers their flowers in the dizzying work of Rem Koolhaas, the...
Modernism in Australia
posted 06.09 in resources.
Google map put together in late 2008 on the occasion of the Powerhouse exhibition, Modern Times. Rory Hyde, Martin Miles, Marcus Trimble, Dan Hill did the legwork. Let’s hope they keep it alive.
Heide Museum of Modern Art
posted 06.09 in resources.
Worth a visit from time to time. Generally well-curated exhibitions in some interesting buildings by McGlashan Everist and, more recently, O’Connor and Houle. Closed Mondays.
Modernism Magazine
posted 09.08 in resources.
I know some people who dead keen on this mag and pay heaps to get it air-freighted – now you can view the current issue after registering for free. What they say: “Modernism is a quarterly magazine about 20th-century modernist design. We...
Form Follows WHAT? History and critique of the form follows function formula
posted 08.08 in resources.
Jan Michl from Norway examines the history of that over-quoted phrase and then analyses it. “Not only did it fail to bring the promised end to formalism; on the contrary, it inaugurated, and legitimized, an era of a surrepetitiously formalist...
Canberra House
posted 08.08 in resources.
Martin Morrell accumulates photos, addresses, and news of Canberra’s mid-century modernist housing.
Docomomo
posted 01.08 in resources.
The local offshoot of the Dutch organisation whose mission is to, “draw attention to the plight of some of the pioneering early modern buildings which were decaying for lack of a current use.” Not a lot of action on this site, though...
Great modern buildings
posted 10.07 in news.
A Guardian special, with an introduction by Jonathan Glancey. An unlikely bunch of famous names write about the buildings – Germaine Greer on Notre Dame du Haut: On the way back to Venice from a holiday in Spain we had made a detour to...
Robert Hughes on Modernism
posted 09.06 in news.
The UK Guardian had a large feature section on Modernism in 2006, on the occasion of a major exhibition opeing at the V&A. It included this article by Robert Hughes.
Robert Hughes on the modernist movement
posted 03.06 in resources.
On the occasion of the V&A’s Modernism exhibition in 2006, Robert Hughes wrote this essay for the Guardian. “Glass was the very opposite to heavy stone and opaque brick. Light streamed through it, the light of heaven itself. This...
'Soft Modernism': The World of the Post-Theoretical Designer
posted 04.04 in news.
Mike Grimshaw locates comfortable ‘wallpaper’ modernism on the ism timeline, with references to whiteness, ornament, Loos, Sullivan and Johnson: “…what is happening is a modernism without theory, without context, that exists...
Modern and Postmodern, the Bickering Twins
posted 04.04 in news.
New York Times – “Now that this is a po-pomo world, how is Modernism to be understood? Artistic progress has proved to be an illusion. Manifestoes have become impossible.”
postmodernism vs. modernism - the bickering twins
posted 03.04 in resources.
New York Times (may require free registration) – “Now that this is a po-pomo world, how is Modernism to be understood? Artistic progress has proved to be an illusion. Manifestoes have become impossible.”
Kaleidoscope House
posted 07.03 in resources.
Mon oncle! For that spoilt young brat who has everything: the PMW architects designed doll’s house with optional accessories by the likes of Ron Arad.
related tags
19th century, 20th century, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, antoni gaudi, art deco, case study, constructivism, deceased, demolition, density, energy ratings, films, frank gehry, frank lloyd wright, frederic jameson, glass, grounds romberg and boyd, housing, julius shulman, jørn utzon, le corbusier, mid-century, miles lewis, minoru yamasaki, modern, moderne, nicholas grimshaw, phillip goad, photography, pierre koenig, postmodernism, ppp, preservation, public housing, public space, rebuilding, rem koolhaas, reuse, richard neutra, robert hughes, robin boyd, schools, shopping centres, stephenson and turner, thomas ryan, toys, universities, urban design, urbanism, zaha hadid
