‘The Modern Movement is alive ond well and. living in Lime Street, In spite of ambitious promises from Post-Mouerisis, Classicits and others. in spite of the almost total domi- ‘nanee of the Neo-Vernacular in everyday archi tecture, the spirit of the machine’ age keeps ‘coming back to resinspire a profession which hhas clung to its Modernist dreams for 50 years. Inside every monster cottage office block there isa Lloyds Building begging tobe tet out At the heart of every debate about new. and generally historicist directions in arehitecture, lies the isue of technology. To those educated in the principles and uth of the Modern Movement. and this is very neatly the whole profession, the adoption of any architectural forms that deliberately evoke a pre-industrial revolution aesthetic is not true to the Modern age. When the 20th cemury is defined by its ‘motor cars and computers what possible rele ‘vance can columns or decorated gables have to ture which has a duty 10 refleet its ‘0 most of the design professions, this logical view of ‘moves any hope of giving any real credibility to Classicism or Post-Modernism of other hse torielly-biased movements. Alastair Best ‘summed it up in his discussion of the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank in Architectural Review: Norman Foster and Richard Rogers are the only architects of intemational status Who are now practising with their Mod- ‘em Movement ideals more of less intact. Both still cling tenaciously to an archi- tecture which is anti-suburban in form, committed. 19. social integration, and vi ROBERT ADAM Tin Gods Technology and Contemporary Architecture ‘wholly. even ostentatiously, dedicated to technology at its leading edge. These are values worth fighting for, but they are ‘out of fashion. Those who have aban- doned the struggle ~ through feckless- ress oF expediency, oF both — must now ‘watch from the tet-guinea seats while Foster and Rogers carry on the heroic struggle alone. Strong stuff, but the Modern Movement has always been convinced of its absolute right- rness. The most extreme counter to this comes from Quinlan Terry. His belief in the Divine origins of the Orders via Moses and Solomon's ‘Temple runs. parallel with his belief in the rightness of ignoring [9th- and 20th-century {cchnological advance in building techniques. “This view is so extreme that, in my opinion barely contributes co the debate but merely lets Terry setle back into an impregnable position always guarded against argument by Divine approval I would go further and say that both views. the High-Technology argument and the cease for technological reirogression are the reverse sides of the sume very distinctly mod- crm coin. Both relate to a 1th~ and 20M century obsession with technology. This ob- session can express iiself by tusming that tech nology into @ god oF can express iiself by turning that technology into devil ‘Similar attitudes ear be found in other walks ff life. On the one hand we have the quite ‘common view that technological advance has a ‘will of its awn and moves forward like a vast juggernaut incapable of being stopped. On the ‘other hand we have the conservationist of the anticfluoride campaigner. Both sides are ob- sessed with technology, one positively and the bother negatively. This obsession has been cre ated by the rapid changes society has experi enced since the early 19th century. But an obsession with technology and its. visual counterpart. the machine aesthetic, is not an inevitable consequence of significant techno- logical change. There have been other periods when great collective advances in technology have changed society In ISth-century Europe the invention of printing transformed the hitherto. luxury of ‘written communication, The developmes of efficient arilery revolutionised the vital po- litical and physical art of warfare. The in tion of the sea-quadrant and the development fof the modem sailing ship. the Carrack or Aulantc ship. opened up the world to European explorers. Scientific cartography and. major advances in canal locks opened new possibil ies in land transport. And yet the commercial id technological centre was in the Mediterra ean where that revival of Classical Antiquity indesign, the Renaissance, was growing along: side these major new developments, Equally, the late [8th and carly 19th centa- ries saw some of the most important techno- Togical advances before the introduction of clecirical power. Watts steam pumping en- ‘ines came into use in 1776, the first commer ial paddlesteamer was commissioned in New York in 1807, and the Stockton and Darlington railway line, the first in the world, opened in 1828, Add this to the extensive use of factory production, the invention ofthe spinning jennythe structural use of wrought iron, the intro: duction of the rifle and many. many more revolutionary advances and we have an age ‘which was, indeed, dominated by its techno- logical progress. But this precise period saw the dominance of [Neo-Classical architecture throughout Europe. 'Neo-Classical buildings. employing. wrought iron beams and cast iron decoration, were used forthe frst railway stations and, indeed, eame to symbolise the political revolutions of Amer ica and France which paralleled the techno- logical and social revolutions of the same period. 1 would be possible to cite northorn Europe in the late 17th century oF the Classical world inthe first century ac, but I think the point is nade. tis not made 10 say that technological advance musi or even should be accompanied bby historical revivals in architecture and de- sign. It is made to point out that such advance does not of necessity bring about a correspond ing aesthetic based on the products oF proc: cesses associated with that advance So, what underlies the idea that it would be untruthful, oven immoral, to use an histori cally-inspired architecture in an age noted for technical change? It cannot, as we have seen, bee the technical change itself that forces the aesthetic on the designer, so it must be a particular attiude of mind exclusive 1 the 20th century. In order 10 understand this we ‘must examine the origins and history of this attitude of mind ‘The 20th-century love affair with machines has is roots in the middle of the 19th century, when a familiarity with machines and confi dence in science and technology led in some Circles to a mechanistic and aesthetic view of the world. ‘In Germany philosophers like Buchner saw existence itself obeying ‘mechanical laws” and Darwin's theory of natural selection dismissed the concept of any supernatural beniga foree in creation, substituting a chilling scientific con ‘cept of an unceasing struggle for resources ‘Above all it was Karl Marx who drew to gether these strands into a single philosophical system that laid the foundations hath of Com munism and Modernism. He combined. a wholly technological view of society with & belief that history was rolling relentlessly to wards a predestined end, and considered that only a revolutionary destruction of the old order could create a truly modern world unen: ceumbered with its past. The ordained end of this historical process ‘was the rule of the proletariat. The proletariat ‘had to transcend the other classes because they ‘were “the special and essential product’ of ‘modern industry. The Marxist analysis of his tory was overwhelmingly technological. Tech. nology makes sociely, not society technology, So. “the hand-mill gives you the society with the Feudal lord the steam-mill the society with the industrial capitalist ‘This old world had tobe destroyed to achieve this because “the tadition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the iving ... the social revolution of the 19th century eannot draw from the past, but ofly from the future. It eannot begin with itself before it has stripped off all superstition in regard to the past’ ‘The strong resemblance between this view (of progress and technology and the writings of Sant'Elia, Le Corbusier and other Modernist theorists may be coincidental. It is not, how- fever, coincidental that Marx, who. brought together Determinist, Materialist and Revolu- tionary ideas current in the 19th century, should have found similarity with the Modern: ists. His writings were in general ewtrency at the turn of the century and serve to locate the common roots they share with the Modern Movement in a mechanistic 19th-century view of inevitable technology-driven progress to- wards a better society and the revelation re- quired to create it. ‘The new century seemed ro many t0 be the dawn of & new machine age. A few artists sought a new aesthetic which would overturn the “use of materials that are massive, bulky, durable, and expensive all opposed to the complexity of modern culture" (Ugo Nebbie on Sant‘Elia 1914) and “rule out “architecture” in the Classical and traditional sense” (Sant'Elia and Marinetti: Futurist Architecture) ‘The new direction could not, therefore, be drawn from architecture and art itself — ‘would be retrogressive, not a revolution. The ‘Moderists had 10 look elsewhere and it was 10 an analogous relationship with the most up-to- date products of the new century that they turned for the revolutionary new aesthetic ‘Much of this is very familiar, but itis worth reiterating the essential views of the Modem Movement towards technology in order that we can be reminded of how this vision of a technological future lies at the centre of the ‘Modern Movement. It is eloguenily expressed by the comparatively recent development of so called High-Tech architecture which has given ‘new hope to embittered purists like Peter Cook ‘who said in the in 1983 that they had “remained committed throughout to the belief that archi- tecture owed its. honour to the forward move- ment of civilisation’ and can once again feel that “after the great wars, great speeds. great ships, great feats of technology. there can be buildings that are of a similar order” Modern Movement ideas about technology can now be reduced 10 1wo fundamental be Tiefs. The first is that moder history is tech: nology-led and has a momentum that is 0 powerful that it is largely outside the control of, Individuals and even of society, and that ‘momentum has such a dynamic character that will compel society to accommodate itself fo the introduction af new technologies which will if well managed, bring about a better society. The second is that contemporary de~ sign should cast aside the historical aesthetic as irrelevant to a society that is defined by its rapidly advancing technology and that a new aesthetic should be found by an analogous relationship with the most up-to-date and sig- nificant products of that advanced technology, In order to progress the debate, we must go to the very heart of these beliefs and examine the role of technology in society. And first we must try and define what we mean by technol- ay. Teclinies, or technological activites, are that class of activities that humans engage in that involve a skill and ean be called useful, the useful arts. Generally it involves the manipula tion of tools but not of necessity. Basket making is a primitive technology but need not temploy any tools. In common usage, however, technology generally implies something at least faintly connected with manufacture or industry. It is, nonetheless. important to re- member that the practise of some form of technology is one of the most basic of human activities. Now. where daes technology stand in soci- ety? Technology is nota thing, itis an activity and has no physical existence except by way of artefacts oF products ~ technology produces things. When we talk of the level of techno- logical development of a society, we are talk- ing about the sum total of the technological processes involved in the use, operation, oF ‘manufacture of the products generated by that society. So inthe 18th-century list there would be the steam engine, the inland canal and ‘Wedgwood pottery; and in the 20th-century Uist the motor car, the computer and something simple like the brick industry. ‘These technological processes are all joined together 10 form an operating technoiogical stem specific oa society. In other words one product can be part of the technological proc- fess involved in the manufacture of another product. At the same time, each product is brought into existence or is operated by an industry specific to that product. So there is the {electrical tool industry, the motor manufactur= ing industry, the micro-computer industey, the ceramics industry, or the building industry. Although each industry is related to many, if ‘not in some way all, other industries, itis also independent. Its generally financed independ ently, managed independently, and if ite sists of several firms each firm competes with other firms within that industry. ‘In examining the operation of technology in society itis not only practical but realistic 10 examine how technological change affects an industry, and therefore the industrial system in general T have here a simple model of the active forces in the creation of a product. This is a very general model and applies to almost any Industry. It wil requite some explanation ‘The primary factor is the population for ‘whom the product is brought into existence, As this may not represent the whole population. it is referred to in the square box on the right as, the ‘market’, as any product, be ita house oF 8 hhairdrye, is produced fora sector ofthe popt- lation which is commercially, although not architecturally, referred to as & market. This ‘market is never static and it is important forthe survival ofa firm or an industry to understand in what way this market is moving and so the general buying oF commissioning public is referred to as "market change’, The types of change that can take place are noted in the circular box on the right: Social, Political, graphic, Feonomie and Cultural, There may be others. The next thing is the product itself and the principal forces which bring it into being. A Product exists co satisfy a demand and, in the Ix‘commercial as in the architectural world, if does not satisfy that demand, be it of the purchaser, the client, or some secondary end ser, the product will fail and either be de- siroyed, modified, or not repeated. This aspect Of the product is labelled in the square box at the top "Demand Satisfaction’ It is very im- portant to note, for teasons that I will explain later that this demand can be of a very simple nature ~ such as to get around easily. or to do sums more easily and accurately, orto provide shelter. It can be quite complex such a8 war ing a car that will get me to my aunt's house in Scotland in six hours, for a relatively small sum of money, allow me to enjoy the drive and impress her no end when she sees my ear, ‘The types of demand will, therefore, vary a great deal from industry to industry, and from product to product. believe, nonetheless, that they will generally include one or more of the categories noted in the circular box atthe top: Functional, Economic, Performance, and Aes thetic. So, the desire to got about easily is * pestormence ‘The link between "Demand Satisfaction’ and the ‘Production Process’ is pretty obvious. The production process brings into existence the: product intended to satisfy a demand and the Aesire for a satisfaction of that demand is the ‘moving force of the production process ‘The link between the “Production Process" and ‘Market Change’ is not so obvious. A. ‘change in the economy or demography of the ‘market may have a direct effect on production, independent of that production processes’ pri ‘mary function of creating a product. For ex- ample, a change in the economy and a rise in wage demands could ereate a greater need for wutomation. Equally, the production process self could influence changes in the market. Limitations in available distribution systems for agricultural products, for example, could lead 10 a population shift to agricultural pro- ducing areas ‘Most important, however, is the wo-way link between “Demand Satisfaction’ and *Mar- ket Change’. The fact that a change in the rpo--s DEMAND. most appropriate way to satisfy the demand, So, the demand for the movement of people and produce hus always been with us. The de velopment of light-wheeled animal-drawn ve hicles satisfied that demand for that market oF society. I also had a demographic effect on the population permitting greater distances be ‘ween producing centres. This more dispersed market then created a demand for yet more efficient means of transport for social or politi= cal purposes. Such # see-saw process could take hundreds of years. Early railways present, in more senses han one, a faster example. The demand for the first commercial ra ‘Stockt providing improved transport to Stockton for coal from the Auckland coalfield. Although steam locomotives were used from the start, much of the transport on the line was horse drawn. The venture was a great economic suceess and reduced the price of coal in Stock- ton by one third in one year and one half in 18. ‘months, This success changed the economic web, Syne nertces s purely functional whereas my car for my trip .© Scotland has all four ingredients in roughly ‘equal quantities. A building will, generally ‘nave a demand for a high aesthetic satisfaction bat not inevitably. A military fortification, for ‘example, would have high functional and per formance demands to satisfy. if necessary, at the expense of economy and appearance. To bring a product into being which satisfies the demands of the market it has to be pro- ‘duced, and this is labelled in the square box at the bottom, rather obviously, the “Production Process’. This involves the factors set out in the bottom cireular box: Product Design, Sup- ply of Capital. Supply of Materials, Supply of Labour, Manufacturing or Assembly Proce cesses, and ~ if appropriate ~ Marketing and Distribution, This requires litle further expla Before moving on to the burning question in ‘the square box on the left I would like to discuss the arrowed links between the boxes ‘mentioned $0 far. x market will produce new or varied demands t0 be satisfied almost goes without saying. For example, if the immigrant population of Bradford increases, the demand for food stulTs will change. What is significant i thatthe sat isfuetion of a demand often has an effect on the ‘market itself. This change in the market could then change the nature of the demand on the ‘original product. Once people have tied some- thing new, they may want it to perform better, function beter, look nicer or cost less. ‘This effect is particularly marked when en industry operates in a competitive situation. So, for example. an improved weapon satisty a demand in one countey for mi tary superiority. This will then create a new de- ‘mand in, another country that previously had superiority but had now lost it, This see-saw cffect between demand satisfaction and market ly to the nature oF strength of demand and the ability of competitors within ‘an industry to modify their products in the market for railway consiruction, vastly in- creasing demand from investors and entrepre- reuss anxious to be in on such profitable ventures und raising the performance demands fon steam locomotives. The capital investment in railways rose from the original £100,000 in 1825 to £26 million 20 years later. Equally, from an initial speed of 15 mph on the Stock” ton and Darlington line. by the end of the same period 1 Gooch Iron Duke locomotive on the Great Western Railway had achieved a speed of 78 mph, T have dwelt on this point at some length before introducing. the position of “Techno- logical Change’ on the model because it into: duces an important concept. The satisfaction of aa demand ean alter the society which is making the demand in such a way as 10 alter the demand itself. Or more simply put: people are never satisfied whem they get something new and always want something beter. Now. where does technological change fit into all of this? Technological Change. that istechnological innovation, invention or discov- ery. can originate from within an industry or a firm, oF from somewhere quite independent ~ hence the dotted line indicating. its possible location within an industry. I can, as the Circular box on the left shows, be a change in the materials available, or a change in the process of manufacture or use ~ for example Production-Hine factory organisation or a ‘change in the products available such as @ new ‘computer for distribution analysis, Obviously, as the lower arrowed link shows. all of these fan have an influence on the produetion proc- retion process ean itself stimulate change, indeed create its own demand which craves satisfaction, and hence the two way arrow. So that for example. poor supply or increased cost of a material may stimulate a company 10 innovate and develop the same product but made with different materials, Now, demand satisfaction eam also stimulate technological change. If a demand is inade- produced. ‘Technological change can only take itself felt through the production process. So. in the ease of nylon it may appear thar the technological change or innovation directly satisfied a demand. This is not the case. The nylon itself has to be manufactured by a chemi- cal process and it is the process that employs the technology. not the product. The product is the end result of a technological process ~ the ‘manufacture of nylon ~ and the manoracture oF nylon is undertaken by the chemical industry. thas taken afong time to explain this model but its significante is that it locates the role of technology. or technological change, in soci- ety. It demonstrates that society is not led by new developments in technology. Society ‘makes demands on its products and technologi eal changes may or may not contribute 10 the satisfaction of those demands, If they do they Will do so through the medium of an industry Technology is demand led or, in the normal parlance of the commercial world, marke led If this model is correct, it must stand up 10 for small, economical cars. Equally, the we: mendous’ research and development pro ramme which was devoted to the bodywork design of the Ford Sierra was centred around the creation of a fuel saving aerodynamic car. Ford had decided in 1975 that fuel saving was 1o be a major public issue and would represent 4 significant marker foree. As they had only recently developed a new engine and as light Weight body materials were 100 expensive they were forced to undertake research in bodywork design as this was the only eco- nomic means of satisfying their perception of the marker demand. The micronclectronies industry is much younger and is, Jue to the rapid pace of technological change, generally considered to he technology led. In other words products or Processes are originated and a market is ere ated by their manutacture. Ido not believe this is actually the case. In fact, I believe, that even an examination of one of the legendary micto electronics technology-led markets “demon- —| ame SATISFACTION \ TECHNOLOGICA\ CHANGE CLIENT/ Li tb DESIGN & | CONSTRUCTION \THE BUILDING quately satisfied due 10 limitations in the pro= duction process. such as unsuitable design deficiencies in marketing. then technologi ‘change can be deliberately simulated to allow the demand to be satisied. So Du Pont, recog- nising a demand for low cost, sheer, stretch resistant ladies” stockings deliberately set out todevelop a suitable synthetic yarn by employ. ing WH Carothers to undertake research, ‘But, can technological change directly affect, the satisfaction of a demand? AL frst sight the answer must be, yes (and it has the added advantage of making the model diagram neater). We must, however, go back 10 our definition of technology. Iti not a thing, it is an activity. This activity may produce things but, at heart, technology is a skill, manipula on. use of tools, or process of manufacture which amounts to the activity of producing oF ‘modifying something. Such artefacts or prod ucts, be they buildings or buttons. satisfy a {demand for an object or service or facilitate an activity. In order to do so they must be examination in relation to the functioning of individual industries. | will use two technol ‘ey-dominated indusiries to test it out For all the Vorsprug durch Technic adver tisements, the modern motor-car industry con ccetraes ¥ great deal of effort in originating new cars and. components in a carefully re- searched assessment of future market demand ‘The decision to introduce such cars as the in 1956 and the Ford Sierra in 1975 were both taken as a direct consequence of an anticipated demand for economy oF low fuel consumption vehicles following the Suez crisis and the oil crisis respectively. Technological innovations were introduced solely in order to achieve perceived market ends. The Mini for the first time in the mass market located the gearshafts in the crank case and also forthe frst time in mass production developed a rubber-sprung. suspension system. All this was [0 enable ‘Austin to produce a 10-foot ear with 80 percent usable yolume which was their perception, correctly as it wmned out, of a market demand strates that the concept of a technology-led market is in fact incorrect. The key to under- Standing this is to put forward the ight level of fequired market satisfaction, The rapid growth of pocket calculator sales with the introduction of the Sinclair calculator is generally put for. ward as an example of a market being created for a pocket calculator solely by its introduc- tion. This is fo misinterpret the initial demand. “The demand was not for a micro-electronic pocket calculator but for a simple portable to everyday arithmetic. Up until that time eve fyday arithmetic was undertaken generally and precariously in the head or awkwardly on scraps of paper. A demand for aids to calcula- tion had existed for hundreds, ifnot thousands, ‘of years. The abacus, medieval counter ac counting, the slide rule, and the mechanical calculator all demonstrate the demand for aith= metic assistance. Sinclair recognised that re cent technological changes would allow this 10 be provided more conveniently and at an af fordable price. Once the market had absorbed x