Modernism: in reading

This week for our reading assignment we were asked to read From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe.  I didn't really know what to expect... but i'm not gonna lie... i didn't expect what I got! not in a bad way though! I just didn't think that the whole book would be on the history of modernism in architecture.  And once i figured that out... im not gonna lie... i didn't expect to enjoy it!  But much to my surprise I found it very interesting and entertaining to read! haha Wolfe did a great job of telling the history of the modernist movement in a way that even those not interested in architecture could understand.  As I was reading, I found I was learning a lot and laughing a lot due to his witty and sarcastic humor.  

My favorite part of the book was the chapter labeled the Silver Prince, wherein it talks about the man Le Corbusier who was thin, with owl eye glasses, and rode around on a white bicycle wearing a black bowler hat.  But the part that fascinated me most about him was his reason for the way he dressed "he said he dressed this fashion so as to look as neat and precise and anonymous as possible to be the perfect mass-producible wire figure for the machine age."  I can't believe that he actually wanted to purposefully not stand out... it seems like what we want to do most these days is to stand out... and he didnt! and the funny thing to me is that he seems to trully stand out among the crowds with his style and looks... so in that way he ended up achieving the complete opposite of what he was aiming for! 

This is a picture of him that I found that kind of makes me smile!

I don't know why this picture makes me laugh! I think that maybe its because it reminds me of those multicolored pictures of Marilyn Monroe...  

Marilyn Monroe was a star!  She was a public icon, people loved her and people still love her! Maybe the fact that Le Cocorbusier has a picture like this indicates that he was an icon for Modernists!!! haha

Anyways! the thing that scares me about Le Corbusier is that he wanted the world to be like him... mass produced.  Everyone looking the same no one standing out.  The worker housing that was built during this time is similar in that.  The architects who built it wanted every apartment to look the same... 4 white walls, uncomfortable furniture, they wanted everything Modern and "working class" and nothing Bourgeois.  They wanted everyone to be equal, more so than in just possessions and wealth... they wanted everyone to be equal in looks and that is scary!!  In this equality they saw beauty... this might be a harsh comparison but what I see in this is Hitler, and Stalin.  These communist tyrants also strived for equality, they believed that if everyone were equal no one would want.  Everyone would be happy because there were no poor (of course there would be not rich either, except for Hitler and his cronies) And these men went to extreme lengths in their quest for equality and Utopia, as can be seen in any history book or WWII museum.  So this part of the book fascinated me because I saw so much of communism in it... even though there are many beautiful modernist buildings and paintings... I guess that the idea behind modernism in a sense makes it hard for me to purely just enjoy it for its aesthetic parts.  

Just to close, when I was looking for a picture of Le Corbusier I found this funny thing on his owleyed glasses!  haha how to be an instant architect!  I think we should all wear these in class one day!