These studies (of Gropius) in prefabrication demonstrate a theme, a clearly defined pattern. The emerging theme embraces a trilogy. It is the simultaneous satisfaction of the technical function: “to accept the challenge of the machine in all fields of production”; the aesthetic function: “the prefabrication of houses on a unified artistic basis”; and the human function: “the satisfaction of the public desire for a home with an individual appearance.” The theme is the unification of technology, art and life, the fundamental unity upon which the entire structure of Gropius’ concepts and works is based.
Gilbert Herbert, The Synthetic Vision of Walter Gropius, 1959
Wachsmann’s grasp of the industrialized process as one of transformation of our social and economic resources has always extended quite specifically to the transformation of our available energy media through new machine and management techniques. To harness the expanding potential of our machines and our industrialized technology, Wachsmann has long argued for a greater awareness of all aspects of the process. Unless we know the tools, we cannot possibly control them nor begin to sense the limits and possibilities out of which solutions can emerge.
These studies (of Gropius) in prefabrication demonstrate a theme, a clearly defined pattern. The emerging theme embraces a trilogy. It is the simultaneous satisfaction of the technical function: “to accept the challenge of the machine in all fields of production”; the aesthetic function: “the prefabrication of houses on a unified artistic basis”; and the human function: “the satisfaction of the public desire for a home with an individual appearance.” The theme is the unification of technology, art and life, the fundamental unity upon which the entire structure of Gropius’ concepts and works is based.
Gilbert Herbert, The Synthetic Vision of Walter Gropius, 1959
Wachsmann’s grasp of the industrialized process as one of transformation of our social and economic resources has always extended quite specifically to the transformation of our available energy media through new machine and management techniques. To harness the expanding potential of our machines and our industrialized technology, Wachsmann has long argued for a greater awareness of all aspects of the process. Unless we know the tools, we cannot possibly control them nor begin to sense the limits and possibilities out of which solutions can emerge.
Part III - Dream and Reality: America in War and Peace
The turning point in building, reached long ago, does not mark a Renaissance or an ideological or spiritual reinterpretation of life; it is rather the culmination of the pressure, exerted by certain time-dependent, predetermined causes, of which it is meaningless to ask whether they should be accepted or denied. These are the new possibilities which society cannot afford to ignore; it is now our task to distinguish and comprehend them in all their potency and thoroughly master them, as the supreme instrument of creative activity. We have a long road ahead. . . . Industrialization is not a toy or a passing fashion . . . it is a building tool which must be mastered before any significant statement can be made.
Konrad Wachsmann, The Turning Point of Building, 1961
For whatever profession, your inner devotion to the tasks you have set yourself must be so deep that you can never be deflected from your aim. However often the thread may be torn out of your hands, you must develop enough patience to wind it up again and again. Act as if you were going to live forever, and cast your plans way ahead. By this I mean that you must feel responsible without time limitation, and the consideration whether you may or may not be around to see the results should never enter your thoughts. If your contribution has been vital, there will always be somebody to pick up where you left off, and that will be your claim to immortality.
Walter Gropius, letter to a group of students, 1964
