Modern Architecture, Promise or Menace?

Contrary to what the myth of the irresistible progress of forms and techniques would have us believe, the experience of architectural modernity is not just one of success. “Reinforced concrete, the Radiation of French Thought and creation throughout the world”, illustration in Cent ans de béton armé, 1849-1949, Paris, 1949. Many of the expectations generated by the industrial era – which led to remarkable experiments – were not met, and the early moderns’ attempts were often disfigured once..