Greater Refuge Temple, Costas Machlouzarides, 1968, New York, New York, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
世界中叶现代主义建筑设计指南
Guide for the Ultimate Mid-Century Modern Architecture Road Trip
由专筑网李韧,吴静雅编译
下文摘选自Sam Lubell所著的《Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guide: East Coast USA》,文中图片的摄影师为Darren Bradley,这本书介绍了世纪中叶美国东海岸的现代建筑。其中包括至少250个项目,同时也是美国最为重要的建筑运动的记录之一。
很少有《the Great American Road Trip》这样震慑人们的心灵的旅程,这是由亚历克西斯·德·托克维尔(Alexis de Tocqueville)和杰克·凯鲁亚克(Jack Kerouac)的杰出人物记录下来的仪式。而《The Great American Mid-Century Modern Architecture Road Trip》并不出名,但这也是它如此吸引人的众多原因之一。在当前的数字化信息时代,世界的许多神秘角落已经被逐一挖掘,而美国东海岸的探索则是在这种背景下的又一胜利品。
The following excerpt from Sam Lubell's Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guide: East Coast USA—with excellent photos by Darren Bradley—provides an introduction to the revelatory and inspiring charm of the East Coast's Mid-Century Modern masterpieces. The book includes over 250 unique projects and serves as record of one of the USA’s most important architectural movements.
Few experiences are as wedged into our psyches as the Great American Road Trip—a rite of passage chronicled by luminaries from Alexis de Tocqueville to Jack Kerouac. The Great American Mid-Century Modern Architecture Road Trip? Not famous. But that’s one of the many reasons it’s so appealing. Discovery, in this global, digital age, when few corners are mysterious, has become a rare commodity. And discovery on the East Coast of America—in the context of one of the finest collections of Modern design in the world—is that much sweeter.
Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Louis Kahn, 1965, Exeter, New Hampshire, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
这里从古至今一直都是国家的经济、政治、社会和媒体中心,并且在二战之后成为了世界现代设计的发源地,在当时美国的发展极具优势。从私人住宅到市政厅,从乔治亚州到曼哈顿市中心,现代主义通过各种建筑类型而得以呈现。虽然,现代主义运动的根源来源于统一的机器美学,而东部沿岸现代主义的表达方式也依据各个地点的不同而产生变化。
This place, then and now the economic, political, social, and media center of the country (much to the chagrin of those in other regions), became the world’s hub for Modern design after World War II, when the United States was achieving seemingly boundless ascendancy. Up and down this stretch of states Modernism presented itself in every possible building type, from private homes to city halls, and in every possible setting, from the woods of Georgia to Midtown Manhattan. While the roots of the Modern movement were in a unifying, machine-inspired aesthetic, the expression of Modernism along the East Coast varies emphatically as you move from one place to the next, and even from one project to the next.
Mortgage Corporation of America Building, Carson Bennett Wright, 1971, Miami, Florida, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
Sam Lubell和摄影师Darren Bradley在这条公路上进行了多次旅行,不断地挖掘其中的作品。在这一路上,建筑的经典形式和特征让人们惊叹其技术水准,看到了这些结构的美丽和技术实力。并且更清楚地理解了什么是伟大的建筑。建筑的探索会为人们带来前所未有的感受。世纪中叶的现代建筑也让人怀旧,同时也更加期待未来。人们会对眼前所见感到兴奋,并渴望纠正过去的错误。通过政治、科学、医学、工程、建筑来一个没有先前灾祸的更美好的世界,在这里人们会重新思考空间、光线、材料、经验、意义等一切内容。
Photographer Darren Bradley and I hit the road for several trips to make this endeavor possible. Along the way, from the icons of the architectural canon to the superlative surprises, we took in the beauty and technical prowess of these structures, gaining a clearer understanding of what makes great architecture. This architectural adventure proved for us—and will for you—an unambiguously inspiring experience. Mid-Century Modern architecture of course delivers a nostalgic journey into the past. But it also brings us into a time that valued the future above all else. Americans were thrilled by what was ahead of them and eager to right the wrongs of the past. Through politics, science, medicine, engineering, and, yes, architecture, they would build a better world free of its prior scourges. They would rethink space, light, materials, experience, meaning, everything.
Unitarian Meeting House, Victor Lundy, 1962, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
The Glass House Philip Johnson, 1949, New Canaan, Connecticut, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
当然,并非所有的设想都符合预期。现代运动在成功之后也逐渐落寞。在其初始阶段,它代表了对世界发展的远见,而到了后期,许多人认为这种做法过于麻木与统一。但是这种大胆的乐观情绪,以及希望为大众建造适用建筑的想法,在当时那个混乱的年代为人们带来了迫切所需。人们会发现,最优秀的建筑作品,并非源于建筑师所使用的材料和形式,而在于建筑师的大胆构想和设计核心,以及他们对社会现状的呼应与解决策略。在随后,人们便会意识到现在的建筑过于平庸,亦或是开始思考对于现状的改变。
Of course, not all worked out as envisioned. Nothing ever does. The Modern movement failed almost as much as it succeeded. What started as a visionary, socially concerned undertaking became, to many, a symbol of the arrogant, insensitive status quo. But that sense of bold optimism, and the earnest demand to construct well for everyone, delivers something we are sorely lacking in this cynical, timid, divided, distracted time. You begin to spot the best Mid-Century buildings not just because of their materials or forms, but also because of their audacity, energy, and heart, and their ability to stir and transport. You’ll realize just how unambitious and deeply uninspired much of what we build today is, and you’ll start thinking about how to change that.
TWA Flight Center, Eero Saarinen, 1962, Queens, New York, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
对于世纪中叶现代建筑的参观之旅并非单纯地发现新建筑,这更多的是关乎建筑师自身的心灵沉淀,幸运的话,也许这一旅程能够成为职业生涯的重大转折点。
A tour of Mid-Century Modern architecture is about much more than discovering new buildings. Discovery goes beyond chalking up miles and checking items off a list. It’s also about traveling into ourselves and, if we’re lucky, being inspired to change things for the better.
United Church of Rowayton, Joseph P. Salerno, 1967, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
Smithfield Liberty Garage, Altenhof and Bown, (year unknown), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
Decatur High School, Bothwell and Nash, 1965, Decatur, Georgia, USA. Image © Darren Bradley
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