Theory and Design in the First Machine Age Book

A couple of months ago, I finished reading Simon Sadler's book on Archigram; an architectural "pop" movement that became very influential during the sixties. Quite often throughout the book, Sadler mentions historian Reyner Banham's close connections with the Archigram group and his almost advocacy and interest in the relationship between architecture and technology- the Archigram way. This piece of information, along with snippets of Banham's writing quoted in Sadler's book, has been a good enough incentive for me to decide to read the cool critic's "Design and Theory in the First Machine Age". Reading Banham's treatise on Modern Architecture with something of an understanding of his later passionate involvement with technology-oriented architecture, has also been interesting especially when getting to his final thoughts on whether Modern Architecture really made the best use of technology as it boasted.

Written in the late fifties, Banham's book excels at giving a detailed answer to the very complicated question of how Modern Architecture came to existence. The book's approach to history is part of what makes it important; it doesn't create a chronological history of the Modern movement, but rather builds up the story of the architectural discourse that led up to the point in history when Modernism was iconized. And by "discourse" I mean the inner dynamics of the architectural profession in Europe at the end of the 19th century and up until the late twenties: literature written by various architects, influential architectural magazines and exhibitions, and the relationship between profession and academia. This focus on discourse, on cities and architectural circles that ran through them and eventually changed their cultural and visual atmosphere is also what makes this an enjoyable, well-structured book.

In the final chapters, an interesting analysis is made of why Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye and Mies's Barcelona Pavilion are among the most celebrated works of Modern Architecture. The analysis attempts to go beyond the physicality of both structures and to explain the intertwined, modern, international set of ideas they represent while contrasting this apparent celebration of a technological Zeitgeist architecture with Buckminster Fuller's more advanced version of a technology based architecture. The critique there is evident though not harsh, as is Banham's critique -also at the end of the book- of Siegfried Gideon's attempts at writing the history of Modern Architecture, which makes for an interesting debate.

The only thing I thought missing in this book is a detailed chapter on Wright. In fact, America is rather marginal in Banham's accounts, despite the recurring mentions of Wright and his influence on European architects especially Berlage, who in turn inspired the Dutch De Stijl. The author might have had his reasons for not including the USA in his research, but I believe a reference to the book's geographical scope could have been helpful. This put aside, I would say that this is among my favorite reads of the year.