ABC and the development of an international Constructivist architecture. (Volumes I and II).
Item
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Title
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ABC and the development of an international Constructivist architecture. (Volumes I and II).
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Identifier
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AAI9105772
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identifier
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9105772
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Creator
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Ingberman, Sima.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Eugene Santomasso
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Date
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1987
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Architecture
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Abstract
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Constructivism was a multinational architectural movement. Although Constructivism originated in the Soviet Union after the October Revolution of 1917, it developed into an international movement by 1922. ABC was the first organized group effort which promoted a Constructivist style aimed at architects and clients of all nationalities. The ABC group was established in Switzerland in 1924 by Mart Stam of Holland, El Lissitzky of Russia, the Italian born Emil Roth, the Swiss architects, Hans Schmidt, Hannes Meyer, Hans Wittwer, Emil Roth, Paul Artaria, and Werner Moser, a Swiss national who resided in the United States.;ABC Constructivism was unique. The style fused stylistic features of Russian Constructivism with elements which derived from functional Swiss and Dutch traditions. Between 1924 and 1928 the group published the magazine, ABC - Beitrage Zum Bauen in Basel. The periodical detailed the specific Constructivist style the group was promoting. Selected examples of this style were published throughout ABC's issues. The range of the ABC project was, however, far larger than the ABC publication intimated. Throughout the 1922-1929 period the ABC nucleus produced over forty Constructivist prototypes for a constituency which included real and hypothetical clients in Holland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Mexico and the United States. ABC also inspired the formation of a student group at the Bauhaus which drafted designs based on ABC's principles between 1928 and 1929.;This dissertation presents a comprehensive overview of the ABC contribution. It traces the formation of the group and its magazine. It then chronicles the evolution of the ABC style by examining its Soviet, Swiss and Dutch sources. The concluding chapters of this paper present the group's outstanding legacy, the ABC projects.;ABC's oeuvre is critical to a complete understanding of Constructivism. It serves to broaden the perspective on one of the most striking and complex movements in the history of modern architecture. To date, ABC's collective contribution has not yet received its due recognition by architectural historians. It is the intention of this dissertation to attempt to rectify this longstanding oversight.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
