L’architettura americana cerca una identità : 1932-1948

Abstract

The thesis analyses the debate on the architecture of the European Modern Movement that took place in the United States during the period between the two world wars. With regard to this debate, which not only involved those operating in the architectural sector, but that ended up involving vast sectors of American society and the organization of architectural schools, the extreme characteristic features that lead back to a dialectic of modernity are emphasized gathering around the polarities represented by regionalism and universalism. The aim was to analyse the social, cultural, and artistic context where an idea of architecture was being defined that, at the same time, was "modern" and "American", during the period between the Great Depression, which reached its peak in 1932, and the beginning of the Cold War, with the post-war reconstruction and the Marshall Plan of 1948. The starting and ending dates of the period under study were precisely established in correspondence of two events organized by the MoMA in New York, since these two events were believed to mark two moments of crucial reflection in modern architecture. In the sixteen years between the two events organized by the MoMA, American architecture demonstrated a progressive emancipation, as much from the cultural domination imposed by few isolated "pioneers", almost all European, as from the mythology of an American technological "exceptionalism" symbolized, in architecture, by the skyscraper and, therefore, the outlets of a process that was taking root and spreading were questioned: architecture no longer appeared indifferent to place and time but, on the contrary, it needed to be attentive to a topographical, climatic and cultural context. lt was no longer the legacy of a functional and rigidly sachlich culture of the early twenties, but it was the product of a personal and creative approach towards design. After all, during the period that separates the two dates, social, political and economic events occurred that would have extraordinary repercussions on architecture, as well.

El trabajo de tesis analiza el debate sobre la arquitectura del Movimiento Moderno europeo que se llevó a cabo en los Estados Unidos en el período que transcurre entre las dos guerras mundiales. De este debate, en que parteciparon no sólo los protagonistas de la arquitectura, sino que terminó involucrando a amplios sectores de la sociedad norteamericana y a la organización de las escuelas de arquitectura, se remarcan las características extremas que reconducen a una dialéctica sobre la modernidad que se aglutina alrededor de las polaridades representadas por el regionalismo y por el universalismo. Se ha analizado el contexto social, cultural y artístico en que se estaba definiendo una idea de arquitectura que fuera, al mismo tiempo, "moderna" y "americana", en el período que transcurre entre la Gran Depresión, que alcanzó su cumbre en 1932, y el comienzo de la Guerra Fría con la reconstrucción pos-bélica y el Plan Marshall de 1948. Las fechas inicial y final del periodo objeto del estudio se han fijado precisamente en correspondencia de dos eventos organizados por el MoMA de Nueva York, ya que se ha considerado que estos acontecimientos marcan dos momentos de reflexión cruciales para la arquitectura moderna. En los dieciséis años que transcurren entre los dos eventos organizados por el MoMA, la arquitectura norteamericana había mostrado una emancipación progresiva, tanto del dominio cultural impuesto por un pequeño número de "pioneros" aislados, casi todos europeos, como de la mitología de un "excepcionalismo" tecnológico americano cuyo símbolo, en arquitectura, es el skyscraper, y se interrogaba sobre las salidas de un proceso que se estaba arraigando y difundiendo: la arquitectura ya no parecía indiferente al lugar y al tiempo sino, al contrario, tenía que prestar atención al contexto topográfico, climático y cultural; ya no representaba la herencia de la cultura funcional y rígidamente sachlich del comienzo de la década de los Veinte, sino el producto de una aproximación personal y creativa al proyecto. Por otra parte en el período que separa la dos fechas ocurren eventos sociales, políticos y económicos que tendrán consecuencias extraordinarias incluso para la arquitectura.