Architecture and Modernity : A Critique

the stage coach to the railways, from cars to airships, from the telegraph
to the radio, or from the old craftsman’s workshops to factories—
a change that goes hand in hand with the transformation of the entire
productive and economic life of former times into that of our own
century. 59
An openness to everything that is mobile and transitory is another feature of the new
form of everyday life:
Because the outside world of today affects us in the most intense and
disparate ways, our way of life is changing more rapidly than in previous
times. It goes without saying that our surroundings will undergo
corresponding changes. This leads us to layouts, spaces, and buildings
of which every part can be altered, which are flexible, and which can be
combined in different fashions. 60
The new culture thus should match the character of the new epoch, which
was seen as a source of new possibilities. The experiences of the First World War—
so it was thought—had convinced everyone of the urgency of bringing technological
and scientific developments under control. The postwar period was seen as an opportunity
for a new start, offering the chance of establishing a culture that would
guide the process of modernization in a positive direction. Furthermore, it was precisely
those facets of modernity that were viewed negatively in conservative circles—”lack
of style” and lack of Gemütlichkeit (coziness), the rapid pace of life and
the increasing bombardment of impressions and experiences, and the break with traditional
values—that were seen as stimuli for the design of this new culture. Everything
new was greeted with enthusiasm—speed and movement (the increasing
impact of trains, cars and airplanes), the beginnings of the democratizing of sport and
leisure activities, the relaxing of social codes coupled with increasing social mobility.
61 All this was seen as the beginning of a process that would lead to a genuinely
humane society of emancipated men and women in which equal rights would go
hand in hand with a high degree of personal freedom.
A certain tendency toward asceticism was unquestionably present in the
“struggle for a bold new design, for honesty in the use of materials, and for truth”
that May announced in the first issue of his magazine. This tendency had to do with
the idea that one could get to the essence of things only by stripping away all excess
and by rejecting everything that was superfluous. A pure and sober architecture of
the utmost simplicity was the correct foundation for a contemporary culture of everyday
life. Truth should be the criterion rather than representation (figure 17). Mart
Stam states this conviction eloquently:
Correct measures are those that conform to our requirements, that fulfill
these needs without any pretensions, that do not claim to be more
2 Constructing the Modern Movement