History of Modern Architecture

1. Modern architecture-
Notes By Kenneth Frampton
Firstly in the introduction the writer gives a nice imaginary
perception about what is progress, giving the description of
an angel of history who is willing to bring back the dead and
make the whole what has got smashed. But the storm which
is blowing from paradise has caught the wings of the angel
which he can no longer close bcoz of the force of it. It is
propelling him to the future leaving the debris of the past
before him.
Later the writer starts to talk about initial attempt in writing
the history of modern architecture-
which is primarily required to have an origin or beginning of
the period but no matter how rigorously one think about it , it
lie further back than it seems.
In the 18th century, history brought the architects to question
the rules/canons of Vitruvius and documented the more
objective basis to work with.
‘Vitruvius is famous for asserting in his book De architectura
that a structure must exhibit the three qualities i.e. strength,
utility and beauty
Deriving his ideas from Greek sources, Vitruvius describes a
proportional canon based on the image of the ideal male
body in the unrealistic representation of a frontal view.
Outline of the prehistory of the modern movement is
mentioned in the first 3 chapters of the book which need to
be read with different light from the rest of the other.
It has mentioned how the cultural , territorial and
technical transformations played the role in emerging
modern architecture which then offered shortly in urban
development and engineering in the field in around
1750 to 1939 .
Here the writer explains the issues found while writing like
what should be the material that need to be included and
how to maintain the consistency in delivering the
interpretation of the facts. Hence he admits that he has not
been that consistent throughout the book as he looked to
the facts in different interpreting corners like socio
economic or ideological circumstances, while in other he
restricted formal analysis to the facts.

2. He wrote the chapters in a mosaic of deal either with the
works of famous architects or the important
developments.
Structure of the content is related to the general tone of
the book and wherever possible the writer has tried to let
the protagonists speak for themselves.
He has also mentioned about the unfinished works since
for him modern architecture is more about understanding
consciousness and the polemical(strong) intent as it is for
the building.
The writer belongs to a generation where like others he is
also influenced by a Marxist interpretation of History
(materialistic approach or interpretation)
The development of the modern architecture after the
enlightenment is divided between utopianism (belief in a
state where everything is perfect) of the avant garde (The
avant-garde are people or works that are experimental, radical, or
unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society. It is frequently
characterized by aesthetic innovation and initial unacceptability.
The avant-garde pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as
the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm.)
Bourgeois culture has oscillated between the extremes of totally
planned and industrialized utopias on the one hand, and, on the
other hand a denial of the actual historical reality of machine
production.