SELECTED TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURE | MAKING AND MEANING OF THE “INTERNATIONAL STYLE”

In 1932 the Museum of Modern Art had its first architectural exhibition, organized by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, Modern Architecture: International Exhibition.  After closing in New York, the exhibition toured across America for three years, spreading Hitchcock and Johnson’s conception of modernism throughout the United States.  The ideas presented in the show were both highly influential and controversial, as it excluded many examples of contemporary American architectural practice.  In this lecture Dr. Lord will explore the formal components of the International Style as described by Hitchcock and Johnson, critical responses to the exhibition, and the legacy of the International Style in the United States.