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From Autos to Architecture: Fordism and Architectural Aesthetics in the Twentieth Century 2010th Edition
Author(s): David Gartman (Author)
- Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
- Publication Date: December 11, 2009
- Edition: 2010th
- Language: English
- Print length: 400 pages
- ISBN-10: 1568988133
- ISBN-13: 9781568988139
Book Description
One of the most interesting questions in architectural history is why modern architecture emerged from the war-ravaged regions of central Europe and not the United States, whose techniques of mass production and mechanical products so inspired the first generation of modern architects like Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Walter Gropius. In From Autos to Architecture, sociologist David Gartman offers a critical social history that shows how Fordist mass production and industrial architecture in America influenced European designers to an extent previously not understood. Drawing on Marxist economics, the Frankfurt School, and French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, From Autos to Architecture deftly illustrates the different class structures and struggles of America and Europe. Examining architecture in the context of social conflicts, From Autos to Architecture offers a critical alternative to standard architectural histories focused on aesthetics alone.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Some auto titles may appeal to more than motorheads. Two books in particular discuss old Henry Ford’s influence on architecture and society.
From Autos to Architecture, by David Gartman, argues that Ford’s mass production techniques helped inspire the clean lines of modernist architects.” –Metro Times“Gartman, an automobile enthusiast and a sociology professor at the University of South Alabama, marries those two disparate interests in
From Autos to Architecture. The book asks why the International Style developed where it did, in a post-war Europe whose manufacturing technology lagged far behind that of America and whose emphasis on traditional craft contrasted sharply with an American reverence of mass production. Not surprisingly, the key object in this history–and the product that most aptly symbolizes modernism and American culture in the middle of the last century–is the car. Gartman uses the aesthetics of `Fordism’ and the evolving cultural reaction to that movement to explain why architects first embraced, and eventually rejected, automobile production as a philosophical and aesthetic exemplar.” –Metropolis Magazine“From Autos to Architecture: Fordism and Architectural Aesthetics in the 20th Century comes from a sociologist who provides a social history linking Fordist mass production and industrial architecture in America to European designer developments. It crosses disciplines from art and architecture to economics and world history to provide a scholarly survey of architecture and social conflicts, and is a pick for any college-level arts or social history.” –The Midwest Book Review
“Throughout his book, over subject matter as vast and varied as Levittown, Disneyland, the Seagram Building, the General Motors Technical Center, la Defense, Parc de la Villette, Phenomenology, Post-modernism and Deconstructionaism, Gartman repeatedly cross-examines the premises and conclusions of 20th-century architecture, citing familiar critics and sources. True to his purpose, in almost every case he attempts to illuminate the social class implications of these phenomena. It is a gargantuan task and the results not always entirely persuasive. Hardly surprising in an undertaking so boldly ambitious, but as with any fruitful academic work, Gartman’s dangling questions pose challenges for further research.” –Docomomo
“A tour de force, a massive, fascinating, and successful attempt to put 20th-century architecture in the context of changing class relations… Bold and thought provoking.” — American Journal of Sociology, March 2011
