SIGFRIED GIEDION‟S “SPACE, TIME AND ARCHITECTURE”: AN ANALYSIS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIOGRAPHY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ZEYNEP CEYLANLI IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE SEPTEMBER, 2008 i Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer AYATA Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Güven Arif SARGIN Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Belgin TURAN ÖZKAYA Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Belgin TURAN ÖZKAYA (METU, AH) Asst. Prof. Dr. Elvan ALTAN ERGUT (METU, AH) Instructor, Dr. Haluk Zelef (METU, ARCH) ii I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name: Zeynep CEYLANLI Signature: iii ABSTRACT SIGFRIED GIEDION‟S “SPACE, TIME AND ARCHITECTURE”: AN ANALYSIS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIOGRAPHY CEYLANLI, Zeynep M. A., Department of History of Architecture Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Belgin TURAN ÖZKAYA September 2008, 172 pages This thesis investigates the key aspects of modern architecture in the first half of the twentieth century by an extensive reading of Sigfried Giedion‟s book on modern architecture: Space, Time and Architecture – The Growth of A New Tradition. Giedion‟s life, his education, his other writings and his relationships with the pioneers of the era are considered as significant influences on the writing of the book. After giving an informative summary of the book, the key themes of the book are analyzed. While analyzing these themes, the opinions of other architectural historians on these themes are also taken into consideration. The reviews on the book are elucidated in order to grasp the first reactions of architectural history circles, and then they were followed by the later impressions. The claim is that Space, Time and Architecture is an influential resource for the understanding of how modern architecture is written about in the first half of the twentieth century. The proof of this influence is both the written sources on the book and its rule in Manfredo Tafuri‟s formulation of „operative criticism‟. Keywords: Sigfried Giedion, Modern Architecture, Space-Time, Operative Criticism. iv ÖZ SIGFRIED GIEDION‟IN “SPACE, TIME AND ARCHITECTURE” KİTABI: BİR MODERN MİMARLIK TARİHYAZIMI ANALİZİ CEYLANLI, Zeynep Yüksek Lisans, Mimarlık Tarihi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doçent Dr. Belgin TURAN ÖZKAYA Eylül 2008, 172 sayfa Bu tez, yirminci yüzyılın ilk yarısında modern mimarlığın gelişmesini Sigfried Giedion‟ın Mekan, Zaman ve Mimarlık – Yeni Bir Geleneğin Gelişimi başlıklı kitabının kapsamlı okumasıyla incelemektedir. Giedion‟ın hayatı, eğitimi, diğer yazıları ve dönemin önde gelen kişilikleriyle olan ilişkilerinin bu kitabın yazımında önemli etkilere sahip olduğu kabul edilmektedir. Kitabın kapsamlı bir özeti verildikten sonra, kitaptaki anahtar temalar incelenmiştir. Bu temalar incelenirken, diğer mimarlık tarihçilerinin bu temalar hakkındaki görüşleri de değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Kitap üzerine yapılan eleştiriler, kitaba verilen ilk tepkilerin ve daha sonraki tepkilerin kavranması açısından ele alınmıştır. Bu tezde Mekan, Zaman ve Mimarlık başlıklı kitabın yirminci yüzyılın ilk yarısında modern mimarlık tarihi yazımını ilk ağızdan anlamak için etkili bir kaynak olduğu savunulmaktadır. Buna kanıt olarak da kitap üzerine yazılmış yazılar ve Manfredo Tafuri‟nin „etkin eleştiri‟ önermesine uygun bir örnek olarak algılanması gösterilmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Sigfried Giedion, Modern Mimarlık, Zaman-Mekan, „Etkin Eleştiri‟ v To whoever believed in me, vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya, whose guidance and suggestions were precious for me. I am also indebted to Assist. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut for her invaluable patience and for the support she provided me, and Inst. Dr. Haluk Zelef for his suggestions and comments. I am also thankful to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cânâ Bilsel and Assist. Prof. Dr. Lale Özgenel for their contribution. I am grateful to my friend Oya Dinler for her endless support and constant existence in my life, in addition to her illuminating critiques in our philosophical debates and exchanges of knowledge during my graduate program. And I would like to thank my other friends for their continuous moral boost. I am also grateful to Pia Ducrey, who works in the Archive Department of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Without her tremendous sympathy and understanding, I would not be able to reach Giedion‟s early articles. Finally, I express my deepest gratitude to my family who has been supporting me throughout my life. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................ v DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 2. SIGFRIED GIEDION ......................................................................................... 6 2.1. A Short Biography ......................................................................................... 6 2.2. Publications ................................................................................................ 10 3. MODERN MOVEMENT IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE CENTURY THROUGH GIEDION‟S RELATIONS ........................................................... 23 3.1. Giedion & Walter Gropius .......................................................................... 25 3.2. Giedion & Le Corbusier .............................................................................. 29 3.3. Giedion & Walter Benjamin ....................................................................... 34 3.4. Giedion & CIAM ......................................................................................... 37 4. SPACE, TIME AND ARCHITECTURE ............................................................ 43 4.1 Information About The Book ...................................................................... 43 4.2 Historiographical Themes ........................................................................... 72 viii 4.2.1 Constituent Facts ............................................................................ 73 4.2.2 Zeitgeist .......................................................................................... 77 4.2.3 The Nineteenth Century: “Denken und Fühlen” ............................ 80 4.2.4 Morality .......................................................................................... 84 4.2.5 America: A Perfect Medium? ......................................................... 87 4.2.6 Interpretations of Space .................................................................. 90 5. REACTIONS TO THE BOOK ........................................................................... 98 5.1 Reviews ....................................................................................................... 98 5.2 Interactions – Operative Criticism ............................................................ 107 6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 118 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 125 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................... 131 A. Sigfried Giedion, „Russland – Amerika – Frankreich“, 1930 ................ 131 B. Sigfried Giedion, “Le Corbusier in Genf”, 1932 ..................................... 137 C. Sigfried Giedion, “Walter Gropius”, 1933 ............................................. 140 D. Sigfried Giedion, “Leben und Bauen”, 1934 ........................................... 143 E. FIGURES ................................................................................................. 149 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure 1. Sigfried Giedion…………………………………………………..149 Figure 2 Sigfried Giedion. Spätbarocker und romantischer Klassizismus. (Munich, 1922). Titlepage………………………………………...149 Figure 3 Poster of Bauhaus Week by Oskar Schlemmer…………………..150 Figure 4 Promotional Poster of exposition internationale des arts Decoratifs et industriels modernes (Esprit Nouveau Exhibition) in Paris, 1925 by Robert Bonfils……………………….………….150