Maki’s article does a great job of posing questions regarding the logistics of building cities for everyone. “These papers are intended to discuss why, what, and how we should design. These are open ended discussions, to be polemical rather than definitive.” “Not a master plan, but a master program” Maki also mentions “master forms” and “collective form”, stating how multiple forms of building should be built for different circumstances, a difference from Le Courbusier. “Technology must not dictate choices to use in our cities, we must learn to select modes of action from among the possibilities technology presents in physical planning.”, while also mentioning that we should make “technology our slave”, meaning we must master the technology in order to utilize it the best way possible for the construction of cities. Maki would find Le Courbusiers thoughts architecture to be too frivolous, Maki was more concerned with integrating the city, the architecture, and the population to form a logistically sound city, and Le Courbusiers luxury homes would not fit into Maki’s thinking here.
Team 10 is a response to the “loss of momentum in the “ideated” extension of the modern movements loss of certain architectural energies.” The International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM) met to plan and hold groupthink regarding the construction and logistic feasibility of these cities, Team 10 grew to question the consensus of the group, and wanted to use contemporary architecture as a basis of construction. After many disputes, Team 10’s spirit still lives on, and it is a good lesson that questioning the status quo and mixing the old techniques with the new ones yield a combination of art, architecture, and logistics in building a city.
Criteria for Mass housing is a good balance of Maki’s thoughts of a well balanced, environmental sound city, and the luxury and excessiveness of Le Courbusiers luxury homes. Smithson maintains that when constructing a building, the thought of who and how many people will live there is important, and the home should be adjusted accordingly, while also focusing on the macro scale of the city, attempting to incorporate both of these seamlessly to accommodate the population of the city comfortably.
Lastly, the charter of Athens explains how politics and economics play a role in construction and city planning, and it explains the codes and regulations to also incorporate these aspects into the city plan seamlessly.
Maki, Fumihiko. Investigations in Collective Form. St. Louis: Washington University, 1964.
Smithson, Allison, and Peter Smithson. Criteria for Mass Housing, 1957.
Congress Internationaux d’Architecture moderne (CIAM), La Charte d’Athenes or The Athens Charter, 1933. Trans J.Tyrwhitt. Paris, France: The Library of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, 1946.