RUPTURES IN ARCHITECTURE: TOWARD AN ALTERNATIVE POST-FORDISM by Phu Dinh B. Arch. Sci., Ryerson University, 2013 A thesis project presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in the program of Architecture Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019 © Phu Dinh, 2019 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this thesis by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii RUPTURES IN ARCHITECTURE: TOWARD AN ALTERNATIVE POST-FORDISM Master of Architecture 2019 Phu Dinh Architecture Program | Ryerson University ABSTRACT This thesis is a broad historical exploration of the nature and social function of architectural facades. In particular, the thesis examines the influence of Le Corbusier’s universal structure of Maison Dom-ino on the subsequent development of post-Fordist facades designed to achieve a seamless interface between life in the buildings they adorn and streets given over to the automobile, an index of economic production. The thesis argues that this seamless interface between exterior and interior reduces human experience to the isolating anti-social perspective of the car window. In theorizing a rupture of the post-Fordist illusion of seamless space, the thesis cites the work of Le Corbusier’s contemporaries: Loos, Mies van der Rohe and Hejduk. Their architectural designs support the development of an alternative life-enhancing post-Fordism, allowing people to experience the rich difference between interior and exterior, public and private. The project’s design realizes the thesis’ post-Fordism in a folly. Keywords: post-Fordism, façade, rupture iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you, Arthur Wrigglesworth, for your constant patience and encouragement in pushing my creative boundaries. Thank you, June Komisar, for the endless and supportive guidance since my first year at Ryerson University. Thank you, John Cirka, for the timeless and wonderful philosophical exchanges. iv DEDICATION To my loved ones. v TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR'S DECLARATION .......................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. iv DEDICATION .................................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... viii PROLOGUE ................................................................................................................. 1 1. MODERNITY AS THE DIALECTIC OF FREEDOM AND SECURITY ........................ 4 Mill – The dialectic modified: freedom and the tyranny of the majority ........................... 5 2. PRE-FORDIST, FORDIST AND POST-FORDIST SOCIETY ..................................... 9 Pre-Fordist Society ........................................................................................................ 9 Fordist Society ............................................................................................................ 13 Post-Fordist Society .................................................................................................... 17 Post Fordist Society: Its Post WWI Precursors ............................................................ 18 Since World War II ...................................................................................................... 26 3. ARCHITECTURE AND FAÇADE, A HISTORY ........................................................ 32 Ancient Origins ............................................................................................................ 32 Filippo Brunelleschi ..................................................................................................... 33 Leon Battista Alberti .................................................................................................... 36 The Origins of the Modernist Facade in Fordist Society ............................................... 40 vi The Fear of Glass – Modernism and a post-Fordist revolution in building materials ..... 41 Le Corbusier – Reverse Façade .................................................................................. 43 After Le Corbusier – What of the Architect ................................................................... 46 After Le Corbusier – The subject: from voyeur to victim of voyeurism .......................... 54 4. TOWARDS POST-FORDISM IN ARCHITECTURE ................................................. 59 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the Anti-Façade .......................................................... 61 Adolf Loos: The aurality of the “Raumplan” .................................................................. 69 John Hejduk’s: flatness of the vertical wall................................................................... 73 5. AN ARCHITECTURAL TOUR ON FOOT ................................................................ 80 EPILOGUE ............................................................................................................... 103 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 105 vii LIST OF FIGURES: Fig. 1: Albert Kahn: interior photograph of Assembly Department, Detroit, 1917 ....................... 14 Source: Marullo, Francesco. Typical Plan: The Architecture of Labor and the Space of Production. 2014. TUDelft, PhD dissertation, p. 113 Fig. 2: Albert Kahn: Ford Highland Park Plant, General Layout, Detroit, 1914 ........................... 16 Source: Marullo, Francesco. Typical Plan: The Architecture of Labor and the Space of Production. 2014. TUDelft, PhD dissertation, p. 102 Fig. 3: Albert Kahn: Ford Highland Park Plant, Exterior Photograph, Detroit, 1910.................... 16 Source: Marullo, Francesco. Typical Plan: The Architecture of Labor and the Space of Production. 2014. TUDelft, PhD dissertation, p. 109 Fig. 4: Filippo Brunelleschi: Duomo, Florence, 1420 .................................................................. 35 Source: https://www.metalocus.es/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_news_carousel_item_desktop/ public/file-images/filippo- brunelleschi_the_dome_of_florence_metalocus_03_1280.png?itok=-EmN0MJd Fig. 5: Leon Battista Alberti: Palazzo Rucellai, Florence. c. 1453............................................... 38 Source: http://darquitectura.tumblr.com/post/137861789277/plmosley-leon-battista- alberti-palazzo Fig. 6: Le Corbusier: Drawing of Maison Dom-ino, (1914-1915) ................................................ 43 Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Charles- %C3%89douard_Jeanneret_%28Le_Corbusier%29%2C_1914-15%2C_Maison_Dom- Ino.jpg Fig. 7: Le Corbusier: Villa Savoye (1928/30) .............................................................................. 45 Source: Marullo, Francesco. Typical Plan: The Architecture of Labor and the Space of Production. 2014. TUDelft, PhD dissertation, p. 113. Fig. 8: Pierre Koenig, Stahl House: LA, Photographed by Julius Shulman................................. 50 Source: http://notapaperhouse.com/iconic-mid-century-house-in-los-angeles/ Fig. 9: Architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown: during their famous 1968 ................ 51 Source: Wall Street Journal - https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703837004575013050739164236 viii Fig. 10: Le Corbusier: Villa Savoye, Roof Garden ...................................................................... 53 Source: https://i2.wp.com/misfitsarchitecture.com/wp- content/uploads/2015/08/le_corbusier_vol_1_1910_1929-185.jpeg?ssl=1 Fig. 11: Franz Louis Catel: Schinkel in Napels, 1824 ................................................................. 54 Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1824_Catel_Schinkel_in_Neapel_anagoria.JPG Fig. 12: Le Corbusier: Villa Le Lac horizontal window, 2010 ...................................................... 56 Source: Galinsky - http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/lelac/index.htm Fig. 13: Le Corbusier: Villa Savoye, Poissy, Jardin Suspendu, 1929 ......................................... 57 Source: Colomina, Beatrize. Sexuality and Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992. p. 98 Fig. 14: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: Toronto-Dominion Centre, Toronto, c. 1969 ...................... 61 Source: Canadian Center for Archtiecture - www.cca.qc.ca/en/search/details/collection/object/8234 Fig. 15: Mies van der Rohe: Farnsworth House, Interior ............................................................ 62 Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thebrilliance/1989524911 Fig. 16: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: Toronto-Dominion Centre plan, Toronto, c. 1963 .............. 63 Source: MoMA - https://www.moma.org/collection/works/87482 Fig. 17: TD Towers: intersection along King Street facing Bay Street. ......................................