I

No. 108 1 *,
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART For Release:
Thursday, Sept. 29, I960
11 WEST 53 STREET. NEW YORK 19. N. Y.
TILIPHONI: CIICLI S-SfOO Press Previews
Wednesday, Sept. 28, i960

Luflionary Architecture! an exhibition of 20th century projects considered too revolu-

tionary to build, will he on view at the Museum of Modern Art from September 29

through December km More than 30 ideas for cities on and over water and under the

ground, for buildings that Incorporate roads and roads that incorporate buildings,

for factories and for houses designed for this country and abroad are shown in en-

larged photographs and models.

Arthur Drexler, Director of the Museum's Department of Architecture and Design,

vbo selected the show says that the true visionary project usually combines a criti-
cism of society with a strong personal preference for certain forms. "In the past
such projects were unbuildable for one or both of two reasons: they may have been
technically impossible to execute at the time they were designed or society could
find neither the justification nor the money for their construction. Today virtually
nothing an architect can think of is technically impossible to realize. Social usage,
wbicii includes economics, determines what is visionary and what is not.••Visionary
projects, like Plato's ideal forms, cast their shadows over into the real world of ex-
perience, expense and frustration. If we could learn what they have to teach, we
might exchange irrelevant rationalizations for more useful critical standards. Vision
|and reality might then coincide."

Many of the projects reflect a concern for urgent social and economical problems

land offer radical new solutions for transportation and land use. Le Corbusler's plan

for a road which is itself a building; Kiyonori Kikutake's city built over water which

could be cultivated for food; Buclonlnster Puller's dome to shelter Manhattan Island;

and Paolo Soleri's tubular concrete bridge which eliminates ascending and descending

roads. Other projects such as William Katavolos' proposal for chemical architecture

suggests new forms for new material, while Louis Kahn's Philadelphia line center sug-

gests a new solution for street and parking problems.

Frederick Kiesler's Endless House, shown in an 8 foot model and in life-size pho-

to murals of the interior develops the surface of the building as a twisting, continu-

|ou8ly curved ribbon wrapped around itself. Paul Nelson's "suspended house," designed

in 1938,is also shown in a scale model as is Reginald Malcolmson's Metro-Linear city

I project, which organizes a community along the axes of a heed.

Among the forms created by these architects are great cone-shaped structures,

glass pyramids, concrete bowls, mushroom-shaped bouses, spirals and a building shaped

like a flight of steps. They range in date from the 20s to the present. In addition,

an historical Introduction includes work by Leonardo de Vinci, Piranesi and other arch.4

tects of the past some of whose visions have proved prophetic*

The exhibition will be adapted for a traveling show and a major book by Arthur

Drexler will be published by the Museum of Modern Art.

Further information and photographs are available from Elizabeth Shaw, Publicity
Director, Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, N. Y. CI 5-8900.
 No. 108
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART For Release:
11 WEST 53 STREET. NEW YOI^K 19. N. Y. Thursday, Sept. 29, i960
TILIPHONI: CltCLI §4900
Press Preview:
Wednesday, Sept. 28, i960

iHfllonary Architecture, an exhibition of 20th century projects considered too revolu-

tionary to build, will be on view at the Museum of Modern Art from September 29

through December k* More than 30 ideas for eities on and over water and under the

pwi, for lwildings that incorporate roads and roads that incorporate euildingi,

for factories and for houses designed for this country and abroad are shown in en-

larged photographs and models*

Arthur Drexler, Director of the Museum's Department of Architecture and Design,

vho selected the show says that the true visionary project usually combines a criti-
N;
cism of society with a strong personal preference for certain forms. "In the past
such projects were unbuildable for one or both of two reasons: they may have been
technically impossible to execute at the time they were designed or society could
find neither the justification nor the money for their construction• Today virtually
nothing an architect can think of is technically impossible to realize. Social usage,
which includes economics, determines what is visionary and what is not•••Visionary
projects, like Plato's ideal forms, east their shadows over into the real world of ex-
perience, expense and frustration. If we could learn what they have to teach, we
eight exchange irrelevant rationalizations for more useful critical standards. Vision
and reality might then coincide*"
Many of the projects reflect a concern for urgent social and economical problems

and offer radical new solutions for transportation and land use. Le Corbusier'e plan

for a road which is Itself a building; Kiyonori Kikutake's city built over water which

could be cultivated for food; Buckmineter Fuller's dome to shelter Manhattan Island;

end Paolo Soleri's tubular concrftte bridge which eliminates ascending and descending

roads, fther projects such as William Katavolos' proposal for chemical architecture

suggestB new forms for new material, while Louis Kabn's Philadelphia line center sug-

gests a new solution for street and parking problems.

Frederick Kiesler's Endless House, shown in an 8 foot model and in life-size pho-

to murals of the interior develops the surface of the building as a twisting, continu-

ously curved ribbon wrapped around itself. Paul Nelson's "suspended house," designed

in 1958, is also shown in a scale model as is Reginald Malcolmeon's Metro-Linear city

prtject, which organizes a community along the axis of a road.

Among the forms created by these architects are great cone-shaped structures,

glass pyramids, concrete bowls, mushroom-shaped houses, spirals and a building shaped

like a flight of steps. They range in date from the 20s to the present. In addition,

on historical Introduction includes work by Leonardo de Vinci, Piranesi and other archl
v
ects of the past some of whose visions have proved prophetic.

The exhibition will be adapted for a traveling show and a major book by Arthur

Oiexler will be published by the Museum of Modern Art.

Further information and photographs are available from Elizabeth Shaw, publicity
Director, Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, N. Y. CI 9-8900.
 Sept. 29 - Dee. k, i960
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
1 Architecture Exhibition
TELEPHONE
ELEPHONT: dUCtl 14lfa *

When an artist wants to paint a picture he obtains the necessary materials

and then promptly sets to work painting it. Whether or not his work will

be appreciated depends on the quality of both the painting and its audience,

but before a painting can be appreciated it must first of all exist,

This is not quite true of music, drama, and architecture* Although actors

are essential to Shakespeare's purpose, Hamlet can be read when not heard;

and although few people can derive pleasure from reading a musical score,

symphonies do have a demi-existence on paper.

Architecture too has an existence prior to its becoming real, and there is
a second history of architecture that parallels the real one. It is the
history of an architecture unhampered by technical details and uncompro-
mised by the whims of patrons, or the exigencies of finance, politics,
and custom*

For the architect, ideal projects afford the sole occasions when he can

rebuild the world as he knows it ought to be. And it is the world that

the architect wishes to build, When ideal projects are inspired by cri-

ticism of the existing structure of society, as well as by the architect's

longing for a private world of his own, they may bring forth ideas that

make history* These projects may be called visionary*

Merely to be left unbuilt does not qualify a project for this distinction*
Some ideal projects please us just because they are superfluous, like the
delightful, endless colonnades drawn by Piranesi, In our own day Frank
Uoyd Wight, who regularly commuted between vision and reality, often
designed pointless but engaging fantasies. The fantasy sketches of Eric
Mendelsoh, like some of Wright's, on at least one occasion slipped into
reality* And sometimes a design that seems visionary announces developments
already under way, as did Mies van der Rohe's 1919 study for a glass sky*
scraper.

The true visionary project usually combines a criticism of society with

a strong personal preference for certain forms. In the past such projects

were unbuidable for one or both of two reasonsi they may have been techni-

cally impossible to execute at the time they were designed; or society

could find neither the justification nor the money for their construction.

Today virtually nothing an architect can think of is technically impossible

more* * *•
 -2-
to realise* Social usage, which includes economics, determines what is

visionary and what is not* The distinction varies from decade to decade

and from country to country* Here is an instructive example from the

recent pasti

When buildings for the United Nations were still in the discussion stage,

the architect Percival Goodman suggested two solutions quite different

from the one finally accepted. He observed that New York City had no

pressing need for another skyscraper but could make use of a park. There-

for, he proposed that all U.N, offices be grouped in a long, low building

bordering the East River and leaving the site free* He also observed that

serious problems would arise in providing housing and hotel accomodations

for people working at the U*N. or attending its meetings, and so he sug-

gested that housing be built across the river and made accessible by a

ferry service,

Goodman's alternate proposal was that offices and assembly halls be accomo-

dated in a building only a few stories high but covering the entire site.

Its roof would be plaited to make a park, and four residential and hotel

tower8 for U,N. personnel would rise above it.

Events seem to have confirmed the precision of Goodman's analysis, but when

the United Nations buildings were designed, his idear evidently seemed im-

practical.

Quite often the architect's ideal is practical enough but does not inspire

enthusiasm in others. Some visions are painful or unhappy* Ludwig Hilber-

seimer's de-populated city, in which furtive automobiles scurry along the

bottom of a chasm while million-eyed buildings stare hopelessly, is a vision

that would have confirmed Fran? Kafka!s worst suspicions. Sometimes such

ideas may be surpassed by reality, as Hilberseimer's vision has been passed

by New York's housing projects.

The frequency with which such disturbing images appear is a clue to the

native of architecture, visionary or otherwise* Architects usually justify

their work by citing practical reasons for it* Economy, climate control,

factionalism, the expression of structure - all manner of rationalizations

(some of them entirely convincing) may be placed by the architect like a

veil between the world and his private vision* But the fact remains that

good architects find it practical to build what they want to see* And

more**«*
 -3-
ince architects share with other people the full complement of emotions, it is

not surprising that visionary architecture corresponds generally to three

^ages everyone understands*

The first of these categories includes all buildings the forms of which

represent an object to be attained, a goal at the end of a journey. Such

buildings usually derive from, or are related to, the image of a mountain.

logical variations are cave-like interiors: the hollow mountain and the

concealed underground city, difficult of access, are commonplace themes.

The second category includes buildings which in some way relate to the image

of the road. Rather than the goal at the end of the journey3 such buildings

celebrate the journey itself. Variations on the form naturally include

bridges and other suspended or floating structures. Quite often dream-like

journeys take place in mid-air, and levitatlon is a familiar theme which

modern technology has made consciously acceptable to us.

The third category comprises those buildings derived neither from the image

of the journey nor its goal, but from forms which seem to confine and

perhaps intensify emotional experience rather than broaden it. Such

forms may be drawn from geometry. Modern technology offers them in

abundance. Buildings in which technological virtuosity seems to be

exploited for its own sake may perhaps constitute a kind of repetitive

play activity, through which the journey may be postponed and the goal

ignored. The other chief source of inspiration within this category is

the variety of form found in nature. Prank Lloyd Wright often compared

his buildings to trees or shells, although their actual structure bore

no resemblance to them whatsoever. Relatively few projects can be

attributed exclusively to either organic or geometric form; when

visionary architecture becomes insistently one or the other, it has

left the realm of play to become a compulsive pattern of unending

activity.

Visionary projects, like Plato's ideal forms, cast their shadows over

into the real world of experience, expense, and frustration. If we

could learn what they have to teach, we might exchange irrelevant

rationalizations for more useful critical standards. Vision and

reality might then coincide.

Arthur Drexler
 No. 1 0 8 B
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
11 WEST 53 STREET. NEW YORK 19. N. Y.
TlUFHONi: CIRCLE 5-8900 VISIONARY ARCHITECTURE
— — i — — — i — — » — — m inn ii M.

Sept. 29 - Deo..**, i960

Excerpts from vail labels written by Arthur Drexler, Director of the

Department of Architecture and Design.

Notes This checklist does not Include projects in the Introductory

historical section of the exhibition*

OgUgZ
2 van DOESBURG, Theo - Dutch.

Group of Skyscrapers. 1929•

The corner of each building is marked by a slender tower, housing an eleva-

tor. Beams spanning diagonally between tiers support the floor&, which are
/ set well within the total area. The beams also serve as bridges leading
from the elevators into the building proper. The project curiously antici-
pates some current efforts to articulate more clearly the service elements
necessary to modern buildings.

1 ENTWISTLE, Clive • English.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, i960.

The architect*s intention was to devise a form embodying the upward, aspi-
ring motion traditionally associated with Gothic cathedrals. For this pur-
pose he designed an unevenly tapered cone, rising from a flared base. En-
trance to the building is under these relatively low ceilings; inside, the
roof ascends in a sweeping curve to terminate at a point of light. The
ribs which form this structure would be enclosed by bands of glass and stone.

1 Civic Center and Crystal Palace.

The central feature of this composition was to have been a glass pyramid.
Floor levels are staggered in such a way that daylight is admitted to the
very center of the building. The four faces of the pyramid, pitched back-
ward, would reflect sun and sky to make a dazzling monument approached by
long flights of steps across superimposed terraces.

2 f U M K J l j Herman - German.

Ideal Building. 1920.

- Flnsterlin was one of a group of architects who resisted the postwar reaction
to Art Nouveau and sought to develop the implications of the style by de-
signing spaces almost entirely curvilinear. FlnsterlinVB plan for a build-
ing of unspecified purpose anticipates projects by Frederick Kiesler.

5 FITZGIBBON, James and SIDES, C. D. - American

Bridge City, i960.

As cities expand, buildings absorb the countryside and replace the natural
landscape, but if building components could be designed to bridge over the
land it would be possible to leave various features, including small towns
and villages, relatively undisturbed. It would also be possible to make use
of otherwise inaccessible sites.
This project envisions an elevated bridge complex spanning water or
land areas and carrying tubular roads together with large scale apartment
houses for 100,000 people. The model shows such a city spanning the Hudson
River fron 110th Street in Manhattan to the New Jersey shore at Falrviev.
The map shows ten related city units north and south of Becaucus.

more...
FULLER, Buckmlnster - American,

Partial Enclosure of Manhattan Island, I960*

I I I I — — — — ii « i n i nun | II I i I

The enormous Increase in strength made possible by construction techniques

based on the patterns of molecular structures will eventually make possible
space enclosures on so vast a scale that it would be relatively simple to
put up a dome over a large part of Manhattan Island. Such an enclosure,
with its controlled climate, Implies the gradual disappearance of the self-
contained units which now constitute the basic elements of architecture. In
their place would be landscaped gardens and expandable shelters, protected
by the all embracing dome*

KAHN, Louis - American*

Center City, 1957»

Louis Kahn has interpreted the theory of functlonallem 00 that it applies
to the articulation and expression of service functions as well as structure.
, In planning a civic center for Philadelphia, Kahn f s concept of "working
spaces" is applied first of all to the street. In his own words, "a street
wants to be a building.,, streets are canals that need docks." The plaza
of the City Tower gives a detailed illustration of how the street can be
given architectural character and, through this, function better than it
does now.
The squat round buildings' in the large drawing are described by the
architect as "vehicular harbors or municipal entrance towers*., gateways,
the landmarks,.the first .images that greet the visitor," The street level
of such a building may be a market; its perimeter may be used for a hotel ,-;i
or offices and the inner core for parking and storage,

KAHN, Louis
Anne Tyng, architect associated.. - American,
A City Tower. 1955•
Lateral bracing, rather than vertical and horizontal intersections is the
basis of this design* The tower is a framework of i$re—cast concrete struts
intersecting at every 66 foot level. The intersections are crowned by capi-
tals 11 feet deep, housing storage and mechanical services. Each 66 foot
level is a structural floor; the fljbor-to-ceiling height of the intermediate
levels may be varied to suit particular requirements. The floors are not
directly over each other but shift in a triangular relationship natural to
the geometric growth of the structure. The exterior skin of the building
is not shown in the photographs of the model,

KATAVOLOS, William - American*

Chemical Architecture* I960*

Recent discoveries in chemistry have led to the production of powdered or

liquid materials which, when suitably treated with certain activating agents,
expand to great size and then become rigid. It is assumed that sufficient
knowledge of the molecular structures of these chemicals, together with the
necessary techniques, might lead to the production of materials which have
a specific program of behavior built into them while still in the sub-micro-
scopic stage. Accordingly, it might be possible to take a small quantity of
powder and make it expand into some such predetermined shape as a sphere*
In these drawings the architect has assumed the existence of such
materials, and has indicated the growth forms they might take.

KIESLER, Frederick - American, born Austria.

City In Space* 1925*

In the 1925 Paris Exposition of Decorative Arts, the architect Frederick
Kiesler exhibited a huge model representing a City in Space, Vertical and
horizontal buildings were treated as thin slabs suspended between groups of
vertical piers, which also carried connecting bridges.

more**•
 -3

KIESLER, Frederick • American, born Austria*

Endless House. I9I+9-6O.

The most recent statement of this idea, shown in the model and in photo*
graphs, develops the surface as a twisting, continuously curved ribbon
wrapped around itself. Such a treatment of the wall surface would produce
a building mere like sculpture than architecture. The model and drawings
for this version of the "Endless House" were prepared under a grant from
the D. S# and R. H. Gotteeman Foundation, with a view toward the eventual
construction of the house in the Museumfs garden.

KIKUTAKE, Kiyonori - Japanese*

Marine City, 1959.

Because the population of the world is rising so rapidly, and because Japan*s
problem in this respect will be among the most serious* this architect pro-
poses to build floating cities«In this projectpontoons carry a concrete deck
like a raft. Piercing the deck and extending a hundred or more feet below
the water are great concrete cylinders, lined with dwellings and other ac-
comodations. Artificial land would form a vertical plane rather than a hori-
zontal plane. Houses would be attached to the wall, not the ground.

KOREA, Vincent - English, born Hungary.

,f
Stage get for the film Things to Come". 1936".

The film version of H. G. Well's novel shows the construction of an under-

ground city in which climate and light are perfectly adjusted. Scalloped
walls are linked to each other by bridges for pedestrians or monorail trans-
portation. An elevator in a glass tube rises over the scene, while a crowd
gathers in a public garden.
Vincent Korda's image of a unified, totally-enclosed space remains the
most compelling vision of the ideal city ever to appear in the films.

KUROKAWA, Noriaki - Japanese.

Agricultural City. 1959•

All roads, water services, electricity and monorail transportation are in-
stalled four meters above the ground in a rectilinear grid. A second grid
structure, just above ground level, incorporates all facilities having to
do with group life. Here the architect has placed a shrine, schools and
administrative institutions. The basic housing unit consists of a concrete
stem incorporating stairs and mechanical facilities and a cant lie vered sky-
lighted roof mass which is the dwelling proper. These mushroom shaped houses
are scattered at ground level.

LB CGRBUSIER - Rrench, born Switzerland.

Combined Road and Building for Rio de Janeiro > 1929*

Perhaps ih stories high and as many miles long, the building would in effect
provide artificial land publically owned and maintained. A highway along
the roof and perhaps at lower levels would be serviced by regularly spaced
parking areas and by interior garages and elevators. The space between each
floor level would be rented by the square foot and families would build in-
dividual houses. The implications of Le Corbusier's project are that tech-
nology and the wealth it generates make possible architecture equivalent to
the natural features of the landscape, rivaling mountains and cliffs in scale.

Combined Road and Building for Algiers. 1930.

This 9 mile long building follows the contour of the coast; inland, just f
behind it, are smaller curved units two or three miles long, grouped around
an elevated highway which terminates on the roof of a 31 story administration
building in the heart of the business center.

more...
 >
.If,

LISSITZKY, El - Russian.

der Wolkenbugel (The Cloudhanger) V&k.

This vertical and horizontal skyscraper straddles a street intersection and

was intended, perhaps humourously, to contain elevators which would carry
automobiles to the upper floors. After driving through the "building they
would descend on the other side of the street. This project is interesting
in that it illustrates the assumption that 20th century techniques of con-
struction make it possible and desirable for buildings to be freed of the
ground to flow mysteriously in the air.

MALCOLMSON, Reginald - American.

Metro-linear City.
The Metro-Linear system is based on the linear character of transportation
routes; they are the vertebrae of the new city. Therefore the metropolitan
center containing cultural and commercial facilities is designed as a ribbon
of buildings along the major transportation routes.
By extension from this center, industrial zones can be formed with hous-
ing zones on each side. In this way the city as a whole can grow logically
by extension, and at the some time, all its parts can be organically linked
together.

MAZET, Jean-Claude - French.

Ideal City. 1957-58 /

This city is contained within a truncated cone divided into three main sec-
tions. At each division broad avenues encircle the cone; the setbacks on
all other levels are of emaller scale* The cone is not symmetrical, since
each level is offset. The park land surrounding the city includes airports,
soliools and a stadium.

NELSON, Paul - American.

Suspended House. 1938•

Metal walls holding diamond shaped panes of glass set at different angles
enclose the total space. Within this the rooms float freely and are in ef-
fect abstract sculptures. Services are on the ground floor; sleeping quar-
ters are suspended from the roof; as are a round library and two oval stud-
ies on an intermediate level. Ramps and spiral stairs connect these units.

POELZIG, HanB - German.

Festival Hall, Salzburg. 1920.

These charcoal drawings show a hilltop walled and terraced to become a build-
ing; and long arcades leading to this and other structures. The character of
this extraordinary design, however, derives not from Poelzig's genuine solu-
tions of technical problems but from his conviction that the history and at-
mosphere of Salzburg required an architecture that was itself musical, fan-
tastic and perhaps mysterious.

Friendship House, Istanbul. 1916.

The building is shaped like a giant flight of stairs. At each of the major
setbacks there were to be gardens and arcades from which one could view the
Bosporous and the Golden Horn. Within the mass of the building itself were
interior courts, and an Interplay of single and double story rooms in a plan
carefully worked out to accomodate study halls, recreation rooms and living
quarters.
poelzig's imaginative use of setbacks for ample terraces and a clear
orientation toward a view are practical almost prosaic, advantages. The pow-
er of the design rests not so much in this as in the hypnotic Image of ascen-
ding steps used as pleasure gardens of mythical grandeur.

more...
 -5-

5 SOLERI, Paolo - American, born Italy*

Long-span Concrete Bridge* 19^8.

The road and the structural element by which it is carried are combined to
make a continuous "beam* Although only one road bed is visible, the space
below it - inside the tube - is used for trucks and other heavy traffic*
The aesthetic power of this ingenious design derives from the sense it con-
veys of effortless, aliaost dreamlike motion.

o Theological Center of Biotechnic City* 1959•

The Center consistu of a great bowl which contains smaller units for vari-
ous religous order£.. Eajh building is a concrete bowl without openings on
its outer surface. The inner surface is ridged to form deep shelves for
enclosed space* Thase remarkable studies suggest the possibility of a
monumental architecture directly based on natural forms. It is interesting
to imagine a desert landscape deoorated with these giant ornaments.

3 TAUT, Bruno - German*

Alpine Architecture, 1917•

Taut's proposal wen that the Alps be improved. This was to be done primari-
ly by faceting thfi mountains into ranges of crystal-like forms, and second-
ly, by decorating them with monumental domes and arches of colored glass.
But not even Taut could escape being pursued by reality. Architects and
engineers have n.:w begun to think of architecture as beginning with the
alteration of tho earth's surface itself.

2 WEBB, Michael * English*

Office Buildir^. 1959*
Office requirements have been separated and contained in individual, sculp-
turally mode.VIed units. Wherever feasible, they would be pre-cast, lifted
by crane and then inserted in a conventional skeleton frame, like bottles in
a :rack. The. articulation of individual spaces is carried so far as to pro-
duce separate, visible forms for horizontal corridors and ramps and verti-
cal elevatcr and stair shapes. Together with the bulbous shapes of the
lecture hail and office units, they suggest organic forms not usually assoc-
iated with technology.

fc WRIGHT, //rank Lloyd - American.

Mile Hifft Skyscraper (The Illinois). 1956.

Ten suo'i buildings could house the entire office population of Manhattan,
leaving the surrounding area free for parks.
Transportation within the building would be by 56" atomic-powered eleva-
tors. Covered parking for 15*000 cars is provided at the base, on four le-
vels above ground and one below. There are two decks for helicopters.
130,C00 people would be accomodated.

I Civic Center, Pittsburgh. 19**7.

For this triangular site, Wright proposed an enormous spiral ramp. Inside
the circle formed by the ramp Wright proposed to place, on the ground and
ir. the air, dome-shaped spaces for a planetarium, a zoo, a stadium, a museum,
a:i opera house, a concert hall, and theaters. At the very top, visitors *
would find more gardens and a fountain cradled in an enormous glass bowl*
In this project Wright has turned a road into a hollow mountain hiding
a luminous cavern* It is difficult to think of an architectural image more
subtly related to those myths about a hero who makes a long Journey to a
mountain and finds a gratifying treasure inside it*

End
 TIGHT BINDING

No. 1 0 8 B
*MUSGyM OF AAOi»N ART
Jt vVEST 53 STPvEET. NEW YORK 19, N. Y.
jdtfHOMBi CIRCLE 5-0900 VISIONARY ARCHITECTURE

Sapt*-29 - Dao ••*!•, 1950

Excerpts from wall labels written by Arthur Drexler, Director of the

Department of Architecture end Design•

Note: This checklist does not include projects in the introductory

Historical section of the exhibition*

van DOESBURG, Theo - Dutch,

Group of Skyscrapers. 1929*

The corner of each building is marked by a slender tower, housing an eleva-

tor. Beams spanning diagonally between tiers support the floors, which are
set well within the total area. The beams also serve as bridges leading
from the elevators into the building proper. The project curiously antici-
pates some current efforts to articulate more clearly the service elements
necessary to modern buildings. .

ENTWISTLE, Clive - English.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. I960.

The architects intention was to devise a form embodying the upward, aspi-
ring motion traditionally associated with Gothic cathedrals. For this pur-
pose he designed an unevenly tapered cone, rising from a flared base. En-
trance to the building is under these relatively low ceilings; inside, the
roof ascends in a sweeping curve to terminate at a point of light. The
ribs which form this structure would be enclosed by bands of glass and stone.

Civic Center and Crystal Palace.

x w w w u i ' m ' i i ••«««• II i i.i.»' I I > «•• urn i n *

The central feature of this .composition was to have been a glaBS pyramid.
Floor levels are staggered in such a way that daylight is admitted "o the
very center of the building. The four faces of the pyramid, pitched back-
ward, would reflect sun and sky to make a dazzling monument approached by
long flights of steps across superimposed terraces.
. . . • . . . . - . • • • • 9

FINSTERLIN, Herman - German.

Ideal Building* 1920.

» - • " " *

Finsterlin was one of a group of architects who resisted the postwar reaction
to Art Nouveau and sought to develop the implications of the style by de-
sigaing spaces almost entirely curvilinear. Finsterlin»s plan for a build-
ing of unspecified purpose anticipates projects by Frederick Kiesler.

FITZGIBBON, James and SIDES, C. D. - American

 Q,y0
von DOESEURG, Theo - Dutch.

Group of Skyscrapers. 1929 •

HI iiii 'I'' ii mm\mm i -n-|—mi . _ a

The corner of each building io marked by a olender tower, housing &a eleva-
tor. Beams spanning diagonally between tiers support the floors, which are
set well within the total area* The beams also serve as bridges leading
from the elevators into the building proper. The project curiously antici-
pates some current efforts to articulate more clearly the service elements
necessary to modern buildings. .

ENTWISTLE, Clive - English.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, i960.

The architects intention was to devise a form embodying the upward, aspi-
ring motion traditionally associated with Gothic cathedrals. For this pur-
pose he designed an unevenly tapered cone, rising from a flared base. En-
trance to the building is under these relatively low ceilings; inside, the
roof ascends in a sweeping curve to terminate at a point of light. The
ribs which form this structure would be enclosed by bands of glass and stone.

Civic Center and Crystal Palace.

ir arm T T I i n mi — r nr -i • a m — — » • — • — n_imiriM'w

The central feature of this composition was to have been a glass pyramid.
Floor levels are staggered in such a way that daylight is admitted "0 the
very center of the building. The four faces of the pyramid, pitched back-
ward, would reflect sun and sky to make a dazzling monument approached by
long flights of steps across superimposed terraces.

FINSTERLIN, Herman - German.

Ideal Building. 1920. .

Finsterlin was one of a group of architects who resisted the postwar reaction
to Art Nouveau and sought to develop the implications of the style by de-
signing spaces almost entirely curvilinear. Finsterlin's plan for a build-
ing of unspecified purpose anticipates projects by Frederick Kiesler.

FTEZGIBBON, James and SIDES, c. D. • American

Bridge City. 1960,

As cities expand, buildings absorb the countryside and replace the natural
landscape, but if building components could be designed to bridge over the
land it would be'possible to leave various features, including email towns
and villeges, relatively undisturbed. It would also be possible to make use
of otherwise inaccessible sites.
This project envisions an elevated bridge complex spanning water or
land areas and carrying tubular roads together with large scale apartment
houses for 100,000 people. The model show3 such a city spanning the Hudson
River fron 110th Street in Manhattan to the New Jersey shore at Fairview*
The map shows ten related city units north and south of Secaucus.

roore.#«
 TIGHT BINDING

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FULLER, Buctaninster - American,

partial Enclosure of Manhattan Island, i960.

m \ HI I • » •""'II I ' I ' • I • »•» • I K II •

Ihe enormous increase in strength made possible by construction techniques

based on the patterns of molecular structures will eventually make possible
epace enclosures on so vast a scale that it would be relatively simple to
put up a dome over a large part of Manhattan Island. Such an enclosure,
with its controlled climate, implies the gradual disappearance of the self-
contained units which now constitute the basic elements of architecture. In
their place would be landscaped gardens and expandable shelters, protected
by the all embracing dome.

[, Louis - American.

Center City. 1957*

Louis Kahn has interpreted the theory of functionalism so that it applies

to the articulation and expression of service functions as well as structure.
. . In planning a civic center for Philadelphia, Kahn's concept of "working
spaces" is applied first of all to the street. In his own words, "a street
vants to be a building... streets are canals that need docks." The plaza
of the City Tower gives a detailed illustration of how the street can be
given architectural character and, through this, function better than it ..
does now.
The squat round buildings* in the large drawing are described by the •
architect as "vehicular harbors or municipal entrance towers... gateways,
the landmarks,.the first .images that greet the visitor." The street level
of such a building may be a market; its perimeter may be used for a hotel /n
or offices and the inner core for parking and storage.

KAHN, Louis "-

Anne Tyng, architect associated...- American.

A City Tower. 1955•

Lateral bracing, rather than vertical and horizontal intersections is the

basis of this design. The tower is a framework of cpre--cast concrete struts
intersecting at every 66 foot level. The intersections are crowned by capi-
tals 11 feet deep, housing storage and mechanical services. Each 66 foot
level is a structural floor; the floor-to-ceiling height of the intermediate
levels may be varied to suit particular requirements. The floors are not
directly over each other but shift in a triangular relationship natural tq
the geometric growth of the structure. The exterior skin of the building^
is not shown in the photographs of the model.

KATAVOLgS^Jttlliam -. American,

Chemical Architecture, 196*0.

Recent discoveries in chemistry have led to the production of powdered or

liquid materials which, when suitably treated with certain activating agents,
expand to great size and then become rigid. It is assumed that sufficient
knowledge of the molecular structures of these chemicals, together with the
necessary techniques, might lead to the production of materials which .have .. .
a specific program of behavior built into them while still in the sub-micro-
scopic stage. Accordingly, it might be possible to take a small quantity of
powder and make it .expand into some such predetermined shape as a sphere.
In these drawings the architect has assumed the existence of such
materials, and has indicated the growth forms they might take.

KIESLER, Frederick - American, born Austria.

city m space. 198?*

In the 1925 Faris Exposition of Decorative Arts, the architect Frederick

Kiesler exhibited a huge model representing a City in Space.. Vertical and
horizontal buildings were treated as thin slabs suspended between groups of
vertical piers, which also carried connecting bridges.
 -3-
^yv
KI2SLER, Frederick - American, b o m Austria,

gndlees Rouse,. 19^9-^0.

The most recent statement of this idea, shown in the model end in photo-
graphs, develops the surface as a twisting, continuously curved ribbon
trapped around itself. Such a treatment of the wall surface would produce
a building mere like sculpture than architecture. The model and drawings
for this version of the "Endless House" were prepared under a grant from
the D« S. and R. H. Gottecnau Foundation, with a view toward the eventual
construction of the house in the Museum1 s garden.

KXKUTAKE, Kiyonori - Japanese.

Marine City, 1959. ^

Because the population of the world is rising so rapidly, and because Japan's
problem in this respect will be among the most serious, this architect pro-
poses to build floating citiescIn this projectpontoons carry a concrete deck
like a raft. Piercing the deck and extending a hundred or more feet below
the water are great concrete cylinders, lined with dwellings and other ac-
comodations. Artificial land would form a vertical plane rather than a hori-
zontal plane. Houses would be attached to the wall, not the ground.

KORM, Vincent - English, born Hungary.

Stage set for the film "Things to Come". 1926*•

The film version of H. G. Well ! s novel shows the construction of an under-

ground city in which climate and light are perfectly adjusted. Scalloped
walls are linked to each other by bridges for pedestrians or monorail- trans-
portation. An elevator in a glass tube rises over the scene, while a crowd
gathers in a public garden.
Vincent Korda's image of a unified, totally-enclosed space remains the
most compelling vision of the ideal city ever to appear in the films.

KUROKAWA, Noriaki - Japanese. ,

Agricultural City. 1959.

All roads, water services, electricity and monorail transportation are in-
stalled four meters above the ground in a rectilinear grid. A second grid
structure, just above ground level, incorporates all facilities having to
do with group life. Here the architect has placed a shrine, schools and
administrative institutions. The basic housing unit consists of a concrete
stem incorporating stairs and mechanical facilities end a cantilevered sky-
lighted roof mass which is the dwelling proper. These mushroom 6haped houses
are^scattered at ground level.

N
IE CORBUSIER - French, born Switzerland.
. • •
Combined Road and Building for Rio de Janeiro, 1929.
• » 1 — » — — ' ' 1HM li—il — — — | I H — — — » I III II HI I I I II • « IH ' I ' H

ferhaps lk stories high and as many miles long, the building would in effect
provide artificial land publically owned and maintained, A highway along
the roof and perhaps at lower levels would be serviced by regularly spaced
parking areas and by interior garages and elevators. The space between each
floor level would be rented by the square foot and families would build in-
dividual houses. The implications of Le Corbusier's project are that tech-
nology and the wealth it generates make possible architecture equivalent to
the natural features of the landscape, rivaling mountains and cliffs in scale.

Combined Road and Building for Algiers. 1930,

This 9 mile long building follows the contour of the coast; inland, just _ f
behind it, are smaller curved unitB two or three miles long, grouped around
an elevated highway which terminates on the roof of a 31 story administration
building in the heart of the business center.
 -1*

LISSITZKY, El - Russian,
aer Wolkenbugel (The Cloudhanger) \ 9 & *
This vertical and horizontal skyscraper straddles a street intersection and
was intended, perhaps humourously, to contain elevators which would carry
automobiles to the upper floors. After driving through the "building they
vould descend on the other side of the street, This project is interesting
in that it illustrates the assumption that 20th century techniques of con-
struction make it possible and desirable for buildings to be freed of the
ground to flow mysteriously in the air.

MALCOLMSON, Reginald - American*

Metro-linear City, "^^^
The Metro-Linear system is based on the linear character of transportation
routes; they are the vertebrae of the new city. Therefore the metropolitan
center containing cultural and commercial facilities is designed as a ribbon
of buildings along the major transportation routes, -
By extension from this center, industrial zones can be formed with hous-
ing zones on each side. In this way the city as a whole can grow logically
by extension, and at the same time, all its parts can be organically linked
together.

MAZED| Jean-Claude - Brench*

Ideal City, 1957-58."
This city is contained within a truncated cone divided into three main sec-
tions. At each division broad avenues encircle the cone; the setbacks oh
all other levels are of smaller scale* The cone is not symmetrical, since
each level is offset*. The park land surrounding the city includes airports,
schools and a stadium* . "

NELSON, Paul - American.

Suspended House, 1933.
Metal walls holding diamond shaped panes of glass set at different angles
enclose the total space. Within this the rooms float freely and are in ef-
fect abstract sculptures. Services are on the ground floor; sleeping quar-
ters are suspended from the roof; as are a round library and two oval stud-
ies on an intermediate level. Ramps and spiral stairs connect these units*

POELZIG, Hans - German,

Festival Hall, Salzburg, 1920,
These charcoal drawings show a hilltop walled and terraced to become a build-
ing; and long arcades leading to this and other structures. The character of
this extraordinary design, however, derives not from Poelzig^ genuine solu-
tions of technical problems but from his conviction that the history and at-
mosphere of Salzburg required an architecture that was itself musical, fan-
tastic and perhaps mysterious.
Friendship House, Istanbul". 19l6, ft

The building i6 shaped like a giant flight of stairs• At each of the tnajor
setbacks there were to be gardens and arcades from which one could vies/ the
Bosporous and the Golden Horn, Within the mass of the building itself were
interior courts, and an interplay of single and double story rooms in a plan
carefully worked out to accomodate study halls, recreation rooms and living
quarters,
Poelzig's imaginative use of setbacks for ample terraces and a clear
orientation toward a view are practical almost prosaic, advantages. The pow-
er of the design rests not so much in this as in the hypnotic image of ascen-
ding steps used as pleasure gardens of mythical grandeur.
 **

'___ _ " -5-

SOLERIj Paolo - American, "born Italy*

Long-span Concrete Bridge^ 19^8.

The road and the structural element "by which it is carried are combined'to
make a continuous beam, Although only one road "bed is visible, the 6pace
below it - inside the i;ube - is used for trucks and other heavy traffic•
The aesthetic povej.- of tfcio in^cnicuc design derives from the sense it con-
veys of effortless.! almost dreamlike motion*

Theological Center of Biotechndc City* 1959•

The Center consistu of a great bowl which contains scalier units for vari-
ous religous orderr. Each building is a concrete bowl without openings on
its outer surface. The inner surface is ridged to form deep shelves for
enclosed space. These remarkable studies suggest the possibility of a
monumental architecture directly based on natural forms. It is interesting
to imagine a desert landscape decorated with these giant ornaments.

TAUT, Bruno - German.

Alpine Architecture^ 1917•

Taut f s proposal wen that the Alps be improved. This was to be done primari-
ly by faceting thfi mountains into ranges of crystal-like forms, and second-
ly," by decorating them with monumental domes and arches of colored glass.
But not even Taulj could escape being pursued by reality. Architects and
engineers have nzw begun to think of architecture as beginning with the
alteration of tho earth's surface itself.

WEBB, Michael •* English.

Office Building. 1959*

*,' * * " ••"?•

Office requirements have been separated and contained in individual, sculp-

turally mode.Vied units. Wherever feasible, they would be pre-cast, lifted
by crane and then inserted in a conventional skeleton frame, like bottles in
a:rack. The* articulation of individual spaces is carried so far as to pro-
duce separate, visible forms for horizontal corridors and ramps and verti-
cal elevatcc and stair shapes. Together with the bulbous shapes of the
lecture hail and office units, they suggest organic forms not usually assoc*-
iated with technology.

WRIGHT, "/rank Lloyd - American*

Mile Hifft Skyscraper (The Illinois). 1956*.

Ten suo'j buildings could house the entire office population of Manhattan,
leaving, the surrounding area free for parks.
Transportation within the building would be by % atomic-powered eleva-
tors. Covsrfrd parking for 15*000 cars is provided at the base, on four le-
vels above ground and one below. There are two decks for helicopters.
150,COO people would be accomodated. •—

givlc Center, Pittsburgh. 19V?«

For this triangular site, Wright proposed an enormous spiral ramp. Inside
the circle formed by the ramp Wright proposed to place, on the ground an4
ir. the air, dome-shaped spaces for a planetarium, a zoo, a stadium, a museum,
au opera house, a concert hall, and theaters. At the very top, visitors ..*
would find more gardens and a fountain cradled in an enormous glass bowl. • •
In this project Wright has turned a road into a hollow mountain hiding
a luminous cavern. It is difficult to think of an architectural image more
subtly related to those myths about a hero who makes a long journey to a
mountain and finds a gratifying treasure inside it.
 THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
11 WEST 53 STREET. NEW YORK 19, N. Y.
TELEPHONE: CIRCLE 5-8900

Sent to: Poster l i s t and Municipal Art Society Members

Visionary Architecture, the exhibition of 20th century projects considered too

revolutionary to build and 'now on view at the-Museum of Modern Art J 11 West 53
Street had elicited a variety of commentst

The New York Timess " . . . the exhibition is not only entertaining enough to
attract a wide audience but also potentially the most
important one-the Museum has staged since i t s 'Modern
Architecture* of 1932."
"a far out show... the season's shocker."

Herald Tribunes "Too often one feels, studying their projects, that
motivation was l e s s the desire to ameliorate man!s lot
than to push him around, less to face and attempt to
solve such problems as traffic than to capitulate to the
automobile entirely."
"Fortunately there i s nothing Imminent about the designs
and models on view."

Time Magazines "a lively showv'J

Nation? "... most of the ... immense schemes shown at the Mtiseum
oould probably be built today."

Arthur Drexler, Director of the Museum*s Department of Architecture and Design,

who selected the show says:

"Social usage determines what is visionary and what is not. Visionary

projects cast their shadows over into the real world of experience,
expense and frustration. If we could learn what they have to teach,
we might exchange irrelevant rationalizations for more useful criti-
cal standards. Vision and reality might then coincide."

lou are cordially invited to visit the exhibition, which includes more than 30

projects including cities over and under water, under the ground, roads that

incorporate buildings, buildings that incorporate roads. The Museum is open

daily from 11 a.m. until 6 and on Sundays, from 1 to 7 p«nw The exhibition

will remain on view through December lt«