Industry, Craft, Modern Architecture, and Regional Identity at the Paris 1925 and 1937 International Expositions

Abstract

This article examines the role of regionalism in French architecture and design at the 1925 and 1937 International Expositions and the complex interrelationships between industry and handcraft in these fields. Often overlooked, the rise of regionalism and a search for distinctive, geographically-rooted identities worked to dismantle long-established hegemonic trends of cultural centralization that emphasized Paris as the ultimate arbiter for French architecture and design in favor of a more accurate representation of national diversity.