Cinémas Choisis

Abstract
his essay analyzes the cinemas that were featured in L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui from 1930 until 1939. This being one of the most influential magazines for the spread of Modern Movement ideas, its editorial line focused on the adaptation of building to function and on the distinction between European and American cinemas. Theoretical texts separated classic live theatre from cinema design since programme and features were completely different. Far from American euphoria and classic theatre sobriety, how was architecture for cinema envisaged?

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Modern cinemas.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 52-55
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.43E7MT76

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Werner Max Moser’s New Altstetten Church 1936-1941

Abstract
For George Everard Kidder Smith, the Protestant Church at Altstetten (a former Zurich suburb, integrated in 1934) was “unquestionably the finest Modern church in Switzerland, and possibly anywhere else”. In his famous anthology of Swiss architecture from 1950, he points out that it embodies on the one hand “almost all the church building philosophy which both the protestants and catholics have sought: one room of simplicity and dignity, binding the pulpit and the altar to the congregation in respectful unity”. On the other hand, he was interested in the fact that the church, built on the edge of a low hill, seeks a subtle relationship with an old village church that the congregation had outgrown. Instead of destroying it, Moser “carefully preserved and related it to the new by the angle and space relation between them and by the repetition of a mutual eave height.” With a few words, Kidder Smith succeeded in capturing the double interest that Moser’s building represents even today. As a matter of fact, the church center’s interiors are, as well as the exteriors, wonderfully calibrated, fragile compositions that fascinate us for their typically undogmatic combination of modern and conventional materials and (decorative) forms, but also for Moser’s informal but precise dealings with the architectural heritage. It is immediately understandable that renovating and extending this building complex was quite a challenge.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Werner Max Moser, New Altstetten Church, Modern churches, Swiss modern architecture.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 46-51
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.6UL46N48

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Global Design. Schools in Portugal

Abstract
Since its very beginning, the design of educational spaces is strongly connected with issues on pedagogy, hygiene, order and discipline, collective identity (hence with history, traditions, modernity and innovation). To materialize the concept of global design, seeking formal coherence and a close functional and ideological articulation between all components, furniture design is fundamental as is the role of fine arts. Addressing the relationship with the context implies considering the links established with all other objects which form the school system in its several degrees (nursery, primary, secondary, superior) and scales (the neighbourhood, the city, the country).

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Modern schools, Portuguese modern architecture.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 42-45
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.PW2JKMKG

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Duikers’ Open Air School: Re-Use or Contin-Use?

Abstract
Even more than eighty years after its inauguration in 1930, Jan Duiker’s ‘First Open Air School for the Healthy Child’ in Amsterdam remains in use as an elementary school for the education of children between 6 and 12 years old. The building has recently undergone substantial restoration works, including some changes that were necessary to keep up with current regulations. Some 1950s interventions have been retained which posed particular challenges regarding the colors and finishes. The clear cut appearance of the building seems to ignore the complexity of the design decisions that had to be made to grant this building a second lease of life. Restoration architect Sander Nelissen (Wessel de Jonge architects, Rotterdam) and architectural paint researcher Mariël Polman (Cultural Heritage Agency) worked closely together on the restoration of the building and its interior.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Jan Duiker, Open Air School, Modern schools, Amsterdam modern architecture, Conservation of modern architecture.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 34-41
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.4LYGANH7

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Architecture and the Gesamtkunstwerk: Alberto Pessoa’s Furniture Design

Abstract
In the post-war disciplinary discourse, the theme of architecture as a synthesis emerges evoking the idea of gesamtkunstwerk, this time associated with society’s collective spaces. This debate sought the integration of functionalism with a more humanist approach as an attempt to bring together architecture and society. Using as support two projects designed by Portuguese architect Alberto Pessoa (1919-1985), this text will explore the architect’s design of furniture as a fundamental token in the search for a Modern global design, to discuss one instance of how the idea of modern architecture as a synthesis of several disciplines was pursued.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Total work of art, Alberto Pessoa, Portuguese modern architecture.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 28-33
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.G35DJ6X3

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The “Bauhaus Experiment” 1998-2006: Paint Research and Conservation Strategies Critically Revisited

Abstract
Nearly fifteen years after the beginning of the first systematic documentation works in the so-called “Masterhouses” in Dessau and actually with a distance of six years time since the inauguration of the restored “Bauhaus” school-building it seems to be useful to draw a critical résumé for further leading discussions. This is especially desirable because the guidelines, the methods and the strategies developed and finally realized during the conservation works were at the time without doubt at an experimental state.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Bauhaus, Conservation of modern architecture.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 20-27
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.T5I34TMT

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Bauhaus and Ulm School of Design Pedagogy towards the Creation of a Global Design

Abstract
The relevance of the Bauhaus and the Ulm School of Design to the development of a global design is widely acknowledged. With the inclusion of the Bauhaus on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, this received worldwide recognition, and thereby acknowledged not only the architecture, but also the pedagogical concept. Since a comprehensive analysis of the pertinent issues far exceeds the parameters of this contribution, I would like to focus on two aspects: a brief exposition of the Bauhaus building and the Ulm School of Design as built manifestoes of their pedagogical concepts and the dissemination of these concepts by the institutions’ students and educators.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Bauhaus, Ulm School of Design, Architectural education.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 12-19
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.FOKO3WUN

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The Modern Gesamtkunstwerk and its Preservation

Abstract
Interior design had a major relevance for Modern Movement and Modern Living. Actually, for the fully understanding and experiencing of Modern spatiality, interior design is determinant. Furthermore, the study of interiors is now marked by an increasing interest, with recent literature that emphasizes interior spaces globally and summons architecture, design and fine arts in an interdisciplinary approach. Despite all this, interior design is still a subject that requests a more in–depth study and a more extended debate in order to improve appreciation, understanding and preservation. Questions like modernity, privacy, efficiency, economy, comfort, utility, beauty in daily life or consumption need to be discussed when talking about interior space design. Product design, new materials and techniques, equipment and devices also have to be considered.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design, Modern living, Total work of art.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 10-11
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.M5ZPGG2V

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Learning to Love Brutalism

Abstract
The following keynote lecture was presented at the 12th International docomomo Conference that took place in Espoo, Finland, this past August 2012. The author began his lecture thanking the Chair of docomomo International, Ana Tostões, and all docomomo members and friends who have done so much to ensure that the now historical heritage of Modernism might be saved for the future. Following the stimulating talks of John Allan and Mark Pasnik, he entered what for many in this field was a territory that was at least ambiguous if not impossible to accept: that the so–called Brutalist buildings of the period 1960 to the late 70s would one day be the urgent object of attention for those interested in preservation and conservation.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Brutalism, Conservation of modern architecture.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 4-9
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.Q0J80HCU

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Global Design and its Re-Use

Abstract
Thanks to Finland, the motto “Survival of Modern” justifies going deeper in the relation that connects form and function, aesthetics and ethics. That’s also why the argument is Global Design. The aim of this collective and interdisciplinary reflexion is to contribute for the discussion that relates Modern heritage and interior space, common daily life and musealization of Modern Interior Spaces, gathered underneath a global strategy to better understand and preserve these delicate monuments. In fact, the interior space with all devices and furniture pieces is frequently neglected as an essential matter in safeguard interventions.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern interior design, Furniture modern design, Modern global design.

Issue 47
Year 2012
Pages 2-3
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/47.A.6YEJNKWQ

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