Saturday, April 15, 2017

World War II's Architectural Impact

          Blitz Plane Flying (1940) by Clive Branson and Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring (1943) by Laura Knight shows that much of the work during the World War II is now carried out by women, and is carried out quite successfully. The latter’s setting is a factory setting; it means this war is not only fought in the battlefield but in the factory too. It is a continuation of the First World War, but the scale is different. The first painting is about a disruption in everyday life. The everyday life is found in the woman, carrying grocery bag. The bread that is only large because it is one of the foremost symbols of everyday life. War artists painted this. He places both British symbol and Nazi symbol on the plane, to further highlight that no matter who’s side you are on, if you are one of the ordinary people, you lose. It is meant to highlight that aspect of World War II. The image of post London after being bombed only leaves the tectonics and the structure of the building. There is a merging of the interior to the exterior; this drives the new kind of architecture, where buildings are stripped to their essentials. Stripped to the tectonics and the essentials. Infrastructure becomes super structure, structure is no longer just ground level, but now you see below ground, it is viewed from a vertical scale. Tube spaces are used as shelter during air raids. Tube stations are infrastructure that people do not regard as inhabiting it, but now you regard it is as protection, and inhabiting the machine. Corbusier’s house is a machine for living, now is a sort of reality. Modernism is not as radical as it used to be. Due to war experiences, you have a situation where people have to live side by side in a communal space that is also infrastructural. 
          The Anderson Shelter: these spaces were types of unintended architecture. These were examples of architecture that were properly architecture. Like shelters that were created, designed, and bespoke to shelter from the war. These shelters were delivered to families. It is like Ikea furniture, the families are encouraged to build the shelter. By setting it up, you become part of the architectural process. It comes complete with instructions. The parts in the shelter, it is an architecture that is stripped down to its bases. It is mass-produced, corrugated iron. It changes the way in which the public views situations. The Morrison shelter, was another shelter during the war, it was supposed to be set up in your living room, and doubles as a dining room. Spaces that were small and criticized as being inhumane now become a reality of how to live as a necessity. Shelters were seen as important as weapons. 
          The Utility Scheme (1943-1952) was a scheme that claimed that three to five designers produced all the dining room chairs, and only a handful of people manufactured them. The reason for this is efficiency. And another reason is because you do not have enough materials. You cannot dedicate the usual amount of materials you did back then to dedicate to chairs. There is a smaller work force than before. There was also an interest in structure. This is a characteristically a modernist undertaking. The government makes it quite a big deal; it is presented as a political and social opportunity that speaks of “good design, available to the masses”. The masses are an emphasis on the public that becomes the main actor. There is an idea of good design. Good design is the umbrella concept, as what the architects are aspiring towards. Every bomb that falls is a stimulus to creativity.  



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