Docomomo Sydney Talk Series - The Colour of Modernism
Location
State Library of New South Wales, Michael Crouch Room
About
One of the most enduring myths about early modern architecture is that it was white-pure- with white walls both inside and out. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
In this talk Professor Deborah Barnstone author of The Color of Modernism (2021) explodes this myth of whiteness by offering a riot of colour in modern architectural treatises, polemics, and buildings. Focusing on Germany in the early 20th century, one of modernism's most important and influential periods, it examines the different scientific and artistic colour theories that were advanced by members of the German avant-garde, from Bruno Taut to Walter Gropius to Hans Scharoun. German colour theory went on to have a profound influence on the modern movement, and Germany serves as the key case study for an international phenomenon that included modern architects worldwide from le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto to Berthold Lubetkin and Lina Bo Bardi overseas and Sydney Ancher and Norman Seabrook in Austral
In this talk Professor Deborah Barnstone author of The Color of Modernism (2021) explodes this myth of whiteness by offering a riot of colour in modern architectural treatises, polemics, and buildings. Focusing on Germany in the early 20th century, one of modernism's most important and influential periods, it examines the different scientific and artistic colour theories that were advanced by members of the German avant-garde, from Bruno Taut to Walter Gropius to Hans Scharoun. German colour theory went on to have a profound influence on the modern movement, and Germany serves as the key case study for an international phenomenon that included modern architects worldwide from le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto to Berthold Lubetkin and Lina Bo Bardi overseas and Sydney Ancher and Norman Seabrook in Austral