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Making it Modern

The History of Modernism in Architecture and Design
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Making it Modern by Aaron Betsky explores the ever-evolving nature of modernism as an artistic and cultural movement. It argues that modernism is inherently retrospective, always attempting to capture and represent a world that is already changing. Through insightful analysis, the book reveals how modernism serves as a monument to the ongoing act of remaking the world, highlighting the interplay between representation and reality in art, architecture, and design.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers engaged with arts, culture, architecture, and design, including students, scholars, and professionals seeking a deeper understanding of modernism's place within the 20th-century creative landscape.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

This book traces the astonishing opening up of a brave new world of open empty space, the arrival of the beauty and terror of the machine into daily life, and the attempts to represent them in the construction of a modernist world.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

At its root, modernism is that fundamental. It is a question of having something to represent that is of the moment. In the most radical interpretation, modernism always comes too late. The modern is that which is always new, which is to say, always changing and already old by the time it has appeared.

Modernism is always a retrospective act, one of documenting or trying to catch what has already appearedβ€”an attempt to fix life as it is being lived. Modernity is just the very fact that we as human beings are continually remaking the world around us through our actions, and are doing so consciously. Modernism is a monument to or memory of that act, which in its own making tries to remake the world it is pretending to represent.

Making it Modern by Aaron Betsky explores these themes, presenting a nuanced view of modernism as both an action and a reflection. Through its examination, Betsky provides insight into the ever-evolving nature of what it means to be modern.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised by Metropolis Magazine for its exploration of modernism's elusive effort to capture contemporary life, and recognised by the Midwest Book Review for its thoughtful, well-organised presentation, Making it Modern is an exceptionally insightful study highly recommended for professionals and academics interested in architectural history and contemporary design.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781940291154

Publisher: Actar Publishers

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 January 2017

Country: United States

Imprint: Actar Publishers

Edition: English

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 160.0mm

Height: 230.0mm

Weight: 805g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Aaron Betsky (born 1958) is a critic, curator, educator, lecturer, and writer on architecture and design, as well as Dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. He was previously the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Betsky was named as the director of the 11th Exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2008. From 1995-2001 Betsky was Curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He worked as a designer for Frank Gehry and Hodgetts & Fung.

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