The FLW article “A Home in a Prairie Town” made me curious to know who the audience of the article was. It seemed like instructions for how to “use” his houses as well as a catalog for selling it. It definitely made me appreciate the amount of thought he put into all aspects of his designs so I enjoyed that. I think I most enjoyed the tone of his first paragraph when he starts out essentially criticizing city livers who move to the country. Additionally, his architecture is a lot more clear to me after reading his words due to me being able to gauge his personality. The mentality he took when approaching a design, I assume, was very similar to his writing. The Prairie Style Principles make much more sense due to my new understanding of his somewhat stubborn “this is how it is” mentality.
I found myself smirking while reading most of Le Corbusiers’ article “A Contemporary City of Three Million Inhabitants.” His organic sarcasm was very relatable to me. He is able to see decades into the future and point out problems that make a lot of sense but are never really thought about. He also very accurately describes what he is trying to do and why, I felt like I trusted his opinion to be fact. “The result is that we have cross-roads every fifty yards, even every twenty or ten yards. And this leads to the ridiculous traffic congestion we all know so well.” (Le Corbusier 169) Things like this and his remarks about “The Station” seem so obvious, yet Le Corbusier reveals it in such a straightforward way. Overall I enjoyed this article very much and his cleverness explains his very logical urban planning designs.
Gropius’ article stuck out to me the most of the four because of not only his views on the world but his way of talking about them. His views of diversity and inclusiveness in both style and people were extremely woke. His humble demeanor was genuine and he was able to get me to agree with him without being in my face about it. I especially liked his ideas on the education of architects and designers. “It would be an absolute horror for me if my appointment would result in the multiplication of a fixed idea of “Gropius architecture.” (Gropius 3) He is humble enough to recognize that his way is not a standard and smart enough to recognize that the new generation of architects will be inevitably better due to their knowledge of their predecessors.
Mies’ transcription on “The End of the Bauhaus” was the most interesting article due to its historical significance. He provides an interesting perspective on the consequences of the current events to architecture, and the world as a whole. Definitely not the most lighthearted thing I’ve ever read but it pinpoints the attitude of people who were aware of what something like the Nazi rule could do to the arts. I loved his detailed description of his interaction with Rosenburg. His forwardness and passionate attitude showed great character and determination to protect the school that he loved. However, I was very confused by the ending and why he put all that effort in and still ended up closing the school.