Second-Century Modernism [Hardcover]

It could be said that Walter Gropius laid the cornerstone of modern architecture in 1919 by founding the Bauhaus. As a result, modern architecture is now over 100 years old.

This first century of modernism has come to a close with a mixed review. Enthusiasm for its achievements goes hand in hand with a discontent about a sizeable portion of its outcome, as well as its effect on the natural and built environments. The most vocal supporters of these modernist ideals crafted epic claims that modernism was bound to deliver progressive and humane environments. Alas, the follow through of those promises was uneven at best.

Can we update this ideological framework, establishing a new outlook that is both open-ended and operational? If the first century of modernism can be considered an architecture of abstraction and ideas, then what might we design if we turn our attention, in this second century of modernism, to an architecture of emotional abundance? Second-Century Modernism creates an architecture of richness and community by placing a higher priority on emotional meaning, through a shift in the design process that balances the rational with the intuitive, and a “Less + More” approach to expanding the range of cultural values we can inclusively balance in our environments. It welcomes you to embrace the paradoxical qualities of human existence.CN Second-Century Modernism is filled with aspirations while being grounded in the practical.It is a plea to adopt the emotional richness of past and future architecture without thoughtlessly borrowing its forms. Second-Century Modernism puts into question the exclusionary approach to forms and styles. Fortified with the awareness of what was apprehended in the crisis of late modernism, this new time engenders a theater for resonant design that will be based on finding a dynamic balance point within complex systems to create an optimal outcome that is rich, vibrant, and engaging. In the West we teló-