The Architecture of Social Reform: Housing, Tradition, and German Modernism

The architecture of social reform explores the intellectual origins of modern architecture's obsession with domesticity, arguing that questions over aesthetics, style, urbanization, and technology were deeply ingrained in a larger concern to reform society through housing.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2022
Publisher: Manchester University Press

The architecture of social reform delves into the intriguing intellectual roots of modern architecture's fascination with domesticity. Through a wealth of illustrations, Rousset's revealing analysis showcases how concerns over aesthetics, style, urbanization, and technology that captivated the modernist imagination were intricately linked to a broader mission to transform society through housing. The growing demand for new housing in Germany's rapidly expanding cities sparked critical dialogues among a diverse range of actors, including architects, urban theorists, planners, and social scientists, who advocated for the liberation of society from class antagonism through the provision of good, modest, traditionally-minded domestic design. This book offers a compelling account of architecture's capacity to engage socially, arguing that architectural theory experienced its most significant epistemological shift in relation to the dynamics of modern class politics long before the emergence of the avant-garde.

The architecture of social reform delves into the intriguing intellectual roots of modern architecture's fascination with domesticity. Through a wealth of illustrations, Rousset's revealing analysis showcases how concerns over aesthetics, style, urbanization, and technology that captivated the modernist imagination were intricately linked to a broader mission to transform society through housing. The growing demand for new housing in Germany's rapidly expanding cities sparked critical dialogues among a diverse range of actors, including architects, urban theorists, planners, and social scientists, who advocated for the liberation of society from class antagonism through the provision of good, modest, traditionally-minded domestic design. This book offers a compelling account of architecture's capacity to engage socially, arguing that architectural theory experienced its most significant epistemological shift in relation to the dynamics of modern class politics long before the emergence of the avant-garde.

Weight: 588g
Dimension: 175 x 253 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526159687