Chapter 1 | Introductionwas a precondition to the architecture of the new age.^15 He traced the foundations
for the development in the 1900s to the previous century.^16 Georgiadis has criticised
Giedion’s historical interpretations for being selective.^17 Giedion shared Le Corbusier’s
(1887–1965) view that the new century and the Machine Age were an awakening for the
architect.^18 Giedion had emphasised the importance of social responsibility while oper-
ating within the sphere of influence of CIAM, in his publication of 1941, he rephrased
his opinion and merely expected morality from Modernism.^19
In his doctoral dissertation, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, Banham
highlighted the impact of Futurists as the true pioneers of Modernism and emphasised
the symbolic value of the Modernism of the first few decades of the 1900s, and also
conducted a critical study of Le Corbusier’s writings.^20 Banham’s relationship with
Le Corbusier’s literary output is remarkably different from that of Giedion. Vers une
Architecture (Towards a New Architecture) was in Banham’s view a collection of loosely
linked texts, with the author attempting to create some sense of cohesion between
them simply by including them in the same publication. Banham divided the chapters
in Le Corbusier’s book into those with an academic underpinning and those discussing
mechanistic topics. As he pointed out, these themes varied throughout the book. Ban-
ham also paid attention to the fact that Le Corbusier used illustrations to create both
historical and aesthetic oppositions.^21
Banham understood the relationship between early 20th century avant-garde and
technological progress from the perspective of philosophy. He argued that Mies van der
Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion’s (1929) extensive and rich use of modern materials alongside
traditional marble was an example of juxtaposing the artistic and the non-artistic. He
saw that such an approach came from Dadaism, Futurism and the papier collé works
of the Cubists. In the final Chapter of his dissertation, “Architecture and Technology”,
Banham praises the material and immaterial illusionism of Le Corbusier’s Villa Les
Heures Claires (Villa Savoye) and refers to the building as a home of a “fully motor-
ised post-Futurist family”. In Banham’s view, no single criterion would ever suffice to
explain the architecture of these buildings.^22
15 Giedion 1944 [1941], p. 116; Georgiadis 1993, p. 102.
16 Giedion 1949 [1941], Chapter III pp. 97–224, especially pp. 146–152.
17 Giedion ignored, for example, many 19th century phenomena, such as style imitations. Georgiadis 1993, pp. 103–105.
18 Giedion refers to Le Corbusier in L’Esprit Nouveau (Paris 1924), No. 25. Giedion 1944 [1941], p. 152.
19 Giedion 1949 [1941], pp. 645–652; Georgiadis 1993, p. 107.
20 Banham’s Design and Theory in the First Machine Age is divided into five Chapters, the first of which discusses
academic and rationalistic writers from the period 1900–1914. Chapter 2 discusses the Italian Futurist manifestos
and projects, Chapter 3 the Netherlands and de Stijl movement in 1917–1925, Chapter 4 Paris and Chapter 5
Germany and Bauhaus. Banham, p. 1999 [1960].
21 Banham, p. 1999 [1960], pp. 220–246.
22 Banham 1999 [1960], pp. 321–325.