Rebirth of Form in the Technical Age

Abstract

This lecture on modernist architecture in Germany was given by the German-Jewish philosopher Helmuth Plessner in 1932 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Deutscher Werkbund. While sympathizing with the modernist project, Plessner proposes a critique that focuses on the “open form” of modernist architecture and on its engagement with nature and technology. A critique of modernism from “within,” Plessner’s text offers new insights into the understanding of the period and its architecture, challenging the standard view that associates Bauhaus modernism with the political left and neo-traditionalist architecture with the political right.