Section two ITALY: FUTURIST MANIPESTOD AND PROJROTS, 1909-1914 Boocioni, U: Pittra, cultura Futurita, Milan, 1914 (for 2 general acount of the movement's attudes and the {exts ofthe ear manifxts). Marine, F.T: Le Futwiane, Pari, 1912. La Splendear Géometrique et Mécanique (manifest), Miko, 1914. Caramel and Longatti: Antonio Sant Bia (catalogue of the permanent ‘exhibition a Villa mo), Com, 1963 Sertoris, A: L’Architeto Antonio Sant Elie, Milan, x530 (forthe best text ofthe Manifest del! architettra farsa, Ganbillo and Fiori Aree del Futuro, Rome, 1958. Periodicals ‘Rivista Tecnica, 7, 1956. (forthe text ofthe Mestageo cul archieture moderna). 98 ‘uturism: the Foundation Manifesto ‘Tie QUALITIES wutex{ made Futurism a turning-point inthe development of Modern theories of design were primarily ideological, and concerned ‘with atitudes of mind, rather than formal or technical methods though thes attitudes of mind were often influential as vehicles in the transmission ‘of formal and technical methods which were not, in the fist place, of Futurist invention, ‘The new ideological orientation of the Futurists can be seen a8 early as te Foundation Manifesto, published in Le Figaro, 20 February 1909."This ‘Manifesto was entirely the work of Filipo ‘Tomaso Marinet,the founder ‘and continuous animator of the Futurist Movement, Though orginally ‘written in French (Marinett was a graduate of the Sorbonne, in Leters) sand only subsequently translated into Taian, it was apparcatly weitten in Milen, and i, certainly, substantially autobiographical Tt consists of | three parts, not separately tiled bue diferent in structure and wtyle, The | first (or Prologue i narrative, the second sets outa programme of action | and beliefs in tabulated form, and the third isa reflective Epilogue ‘The fit and second sections are of the greatest interest in the present context, the Prologue in identifying Marinet's state of mind and the social setting that enframed i, the second in formulating the Futurist attitude to various aesthetic and cultural problems, The Prologue opens with a piece of fn-de-ele stage-eting ‘We had bee aah all ight my finde and 1, under the mosquelanps whowe | ‘lpr copper bovis ware conselated lite ou very solos weal ample (cut our reese on opulent ure ci ito the ln FRasonng and Ulckening antmerble thc of peer wi out frnte eee fim. } In the middle ofthe next paragraph, the tone of voice begin to change We were alone before the howe sre... alne wth the atokers who aveat “The two best sures on erly Fata ste the contribution of Polo Busi snd Hensdetn Marinette the special tue of Caer dart dyes tela ‘ting Par, go} and Liberec Liben's Antler tn Ch dele ‘Brace (ome, Nach 105. %°Ielos the stm fen of rn ship, lone wit he Hack tanta who {Ghent abot beef cones ty ne onset nes and thea te change of tone ie guthered up into two powerfully contrasted eel ‘Wi all sed the sand o's doled ta nealing pat, be dts muttctcred ita ie wagner as tha i occ som i rs ono hou goes a pi dn oh set terran heen grow deeper tween ey te mere devon oth cart anh ereking teat ober pcs ed a ran ener eae ke eee “These pannges have «preci topographizal location, which adds poin ‘heir superfeil pote meming, The opening Kes re not « panic of 4 decadent novel bt area factual deciption ofthe intrir af she Casa Marine, furnabed with orental Briet-brac aquired by his “uting their stayin Alexandra (where Marintithamaef wea bora The ‘Cara stood inthe vt del Senato Gt ha since been pulled down) an “Packed onto the ancient Nang canal (an alleged ark of Leonard da ‘Vinei-nowabandoaed) hose noise of waters wa tl feature ofthe ds ‘ric although it Had ceised to be used for navigaonal purposes, The old Palaces stood on its further bank The tram would have pased down the ‘i dl Senat tel, and the contrast between an outmoded technology at the back ofthe howe, ad anew and visual stimulating one at the font ‘st have made avery forcible impreson on person like Matint, te ready sense about the backward loking borghe eltre of northern Ttaly and is contrast tothe experimental and adventurous atmoophere of Pati, his ocher home ‘The seme of the overriding of an ok}, trdton-bound technology, unchanged sine the Renaissane, by a newer ene without traiions wat something which pots and phlesopher of ether European countries had ready fl, and it had lets mark on their wring, "The experience had jn some cae een ao gradval that, a in England, it had produced no cultural rss ontide the ‘Ars and Craft? reaction or had been preceded hy other disturbances so radie—ae in the case of France where the "Encylopedia bad built much of the new techology into their work, and the Revolution had dominated other cultural changes radia’ that technology did nt rank, of tell asa major peychologcal impact. But the scale of nineteeth-eentury technological developments had been both lage, and remote, Apart froma the introduction of gv-lghting the appearance ofthe stects of most capital te hardly altered betneea 1800 an 1880, afer which the Increasing use of buses and trams, and thelr subsequent mechanisation began to ater the urban pattern more rapidly. But the ealy growth of industry in the Black Country, for instance, rade Tie difrenee to the dally, hors-drawa, Ramer lie of the English aac ‘Toa nonth-Italan, the impact was neither gradual nor remote however “Though alas begun to be bul in tly son ace go gy ae the centre or the south (Forence, Pulipe) and the lege nee tei Acalation ofthe north did not hopin antl ae the Riwpbentes ey lke Milan and ‘Turin suddenly found theme sang ows proety ducal capital ino ssi ofa revived Rome, but tey ae acd themsches trnsformed into industria centres, The existing sratooeey and iteligentsa of the north found its socal foundations deawiely altered (in cotadstineon to the gradual shift of avtony to oe England) and the appearance of thet towns danadaly aed fee ‘ane tine—new tram placing old canal Furthemore tex change ta pls ot sre rote provi, but eral the dors fhe {Dect pace, 1 this manifest and radi change-over toa technologie sock bic animated the whole of Futur thought, and ie me the ene of sudden change which, in ail probably, enabled than wr eneite ore quicly thin other European intclecusls the new enpesengs which they kad in common with the pots and punters of Fuss cordon New York, Brusls and Betin, For the Prologue to the Magieo continues We deere the snorting eats and si our hands on te bur Sout Tn hing al ie tp Cans ge ar Seite Fam up Ge under te scnngoec pel Me pies and there fllons.a lengthy and highy-coloured description of an early ‘noming impromptu motor-rce through the auter subusbs of Mile, The tone of hs punage very proauomobile and ths oe of ther appreciations of the peanires of motoring toapear in Euopean trating, However, the pags that describe the car-ace have a desea than this Ifthe events described inthe Prologue to the Manifrts tok ‘lace in 1908, then they are evens ofa kind that could hardly have td lace ten years artier—i i extremely doubtful if any group of oung nee thei ewentcs could have commatded in 1848, w unsber of lable automobiles ats am. and driven them themselven ‘The euturaliipors tance ofthis station i tht not only had the new technology invaded he sect (ams cetriclighting,Ishogeaped poten) and the he les {ot fom 39,09 metic ins to nloat resooos mute tnt i Sa era ‘pd other indir experienced comparaie crane Aceon Sir dees Son ieee ii cal prc achizs da cul ld he ‘at mere increase in quantity of extalahed products could aoe hate doceeo ita meine fp eee eee ps bt ae alee eee cree oat Mp epee bah Oe eases photic cinpentieniiniseen ieee eee mee Peecioeiient ceca ny ee potatoe Risser oes ie cause eae eee [No such precise form of words appears in the Foundation Manifesto, but itis implied in a least one place where Marit interrupts the wild ow ‘of automotive rhetoric to eay ‘Our was no ide lve, ost in te soaring clouds, nora enue gen 0 whom ‘we tmust fer out bodes conte lke Byantn jw and this, onthe evidence of his later writings, i tobe interpreted a8. gibe ate’ Annunsio, whose sensibility, the Futurist always claimed, had never ‘been properly overhauled (though he too tumed to automobilism in the next year). Any survival of nieteenth-century sensibility, whether symbo- list or decadent, they regarded as improper tothe changed situation of the ‘new century, even though Marinetti himself was deeply indebted to such charaeteritc ainstocnds-century Sigores ax Whitman and Mallen Tor the growth of hie ova sensibilgy. Vet Whitman, whose work he knew in ‘wanslation; could ofler—as no European past could at that time —a vision ‘of « world of grandiose individuality, « world where machinery was an accepted part of ife. Such a world va sil, for a cultured European, an alien one, that eould only be entered through a violent paychologicl change, such as Marinetipantomimes at the end ofthe Prologue. Lung dhe at rd int om length, Ike ad dg ring 4 bt in ins ad ee ng oar me ge ly Genin ich oy gan, loge i ane o et wiht whele 1 inaermal ditch, brimming with muddy water——O factory drun! T gulped down your nourahing aud dd yenraeed te Be brew af ry Sele inne, Knd yet, when I emerges ged and dipping rom under the peed rT nh 2s ht on of ices fey ot my Beare ‘i his preface to th entalogue ofthe fet exhibition of Future panting in Pats tora ‘This i clearly tobe taken 2 a mimic baptism in Jordan, an irom the ground up—into the experiences and mental eatorie of the alien world of mechanical sensibility, for mmedistely after it comes. Ando fic covered Ingo factory miat—plarteed in wart and slag, eat fad brad ti pln but amnted ye, me porous oat fas ‘ental wil to al the hve spit ofthe word and then follow the tabulated propostins ofthe second section. ‘There are eleven of these propesitons, declamatoryin style, and nt all of sufcient relevance to the present contest to jstify quotation at length, Ths fit and second pe danger, ener, audaciy_st hr con- ‘zat the Furst pasion for mv att agai ‘Literatre (probably meaning d'Annutzio) which exalt repose cstasy and dreams, ‘The fourth isthe best known of al pices of Futurist writing. 4. We deca that the plendour ofthe me. hasbeen cord: by» ne ~ fenuts “ihe enaty of peed A acing eat with bonne tap ore can ps ike fren serena ng rcng cr ting ao ie Innis uy ore Bona he winged vty of Samra And this exalution of the spectacle of turbulent, noisy motion above the ontemplation of silent Claical repo, followed by an exaltation ofthe dynamic experience of automobile. 4, We will bya the man athe mering wheel, whose ideal xi pases through the Cente of dhe ary wing Tandon oe Succeeding propositions praise speed, anounce the annihilation of space and time, and praise war asthe cleanser of society (eomething for which later critics have never forgiven the Futurists, but which remains under- standable when itis remembered that with Talitn populations around the northern Adriatic stil Iredent, the Riserginento remained a war thst wis will in progres for many Italian patriot) a the cleanser of society fora the adipostes of an unadventurous borghee peace attacked alo in the tenth proposition, wl bse ngsinat mora, foie, and all ie portly du (3 We wil desoy all museums gnd ibrar, and academe ofall sorts we “This wan + propoion on which he later bd toad hough, for we ‘heb toocaemnte ond th pt rrnaed, fin fase Inter bul tothe Furi programme as (a) the epitome of «new Lind ie won, in opportan to Anant‘ here, tod). hich would break pier palmer and tue ane ee ete, iy pen osc Secor eee ‘einer ne Wn andes oily tal sree ‘peed opel farsa eteetian bs Rates spo 103‘opportunism and utilitarianism’) at soon at women had the right to vote. ‘The cloventh proposition concludes this sequence with an apotheosis ofthe ‘urban and mechanised setting of Futurist life. 1, We wil sng ofthe siting of great crowis—workers, peasreseckers ‘icme-and de font so of Slow snd sound ms fevolaon ope Gouah modem metropolis We wil sing the mdeight fevour af acai and ship $5 Si oth daar nan imal igs monn the aking ‘tar smoke; bids Mg aves inthe sn, lant gyrate ‘rer sve adventurous steamers that scent the hoison deepchesed lo ‘motive tat paw the round with their willie salons harnessed wi el tubing: dh ary gh of scopic, Ur pfopliers beating the wind ke ‘Ednser, wih «sound ike the applause o «mighty cow "Though many of these images are derived from nineteenth-century rources (the lncometive, for instance, from Whitman and Huyamans,?) ‘many could be nething but new, particulary the aeroplane, since practic tbl srerft had existed in Burope only since 1906, But, in any este, such concatenation of mechanistic images seems to be without precedent ‘European literature at the time, and the emphasis on motion and disorder — isin song cons 0 he sai nd monumental apc of engnering ‘which seem to ave been admired by German writes of the same period. ‘The third section of the Manifesto, which is inthe nature of a personal spologia has ltl to add tothe position already taken up—except to add ‘rather pathetic note on the youth ofthe Mlarinett circle ‘The oes among si oly thi, and we have therefore a est ten years in ‘his do our rok and to couple with it the first intimation of that sense of transience which was to become a regular moti in Futuris thought. A sense of transience in ‘which the ageing of human beings is linked to the obscescence oftheir technical equipment. Marine envisages a younger generation, more truly Futurist thin his own that would find him, and his frends squnting erly by oar seroplnes and all exasperated by ou daring, wll, BAT ol linen by Sed rane ee tai y the stat ch {-ris is something mor than the routine Romantic contempt for old men, |justas the whole Manifesto x more ha the provincial juvenii which tis “Hluymna's ents for nsomatines became « byorand wa ail 4 see ieee ttre oot Cater nel ete eat ins ported history of acomaties in Urdanione coe chapter #8), Yor stra here ‘tos ot, and could ot bey ay comparable tcison of enum. ‘The fst manarbly succafal Eiopean machine wan the Vain Canard flown by Strtos Dunpat in 1996 neat Pas. Hower, any wiesprend ejesvtneas x Derienceosrrf char Marines must have enjoyed moder awe argc Econspicuualy dierent from G. Welles snaginnve projetons ef sation, myst have ited onthe Wight Brother Burpean tor of 138 "'Sce'the pistons of Mutesus, Gropius and eters quoted i chapter 5. 104 commonly made at tobe. As wil be ee simply by being «you man, by being oth a conmeoltan intl by tsning ara prvinal Batriot hy dipeniion, Marines was she to give a widespread fing of Aingut with the old a craving for te new-1 poiiveerenaen and point of atachment inthe word ff: Marne ordered is eneration tito the sreet wih hia Manifetoes, inorder to evolutions tae culure jst asthe polical Maniestoes from which he took ove the teary form fad ordered men int the sett realtone thet pain. 105‘tue arcrrone anorren by Marinet in the Foundation Manifesto was 2 poets atitude, opted for the benefit of other pots. Their response was rect and before thee years had elapsed a characteristic type of Futurist Tyrie bad appeared, waitten in short-lined vere dre revealing an overall ebe to late nineteenth-century French poetry, and taking ss ite subject- matter Elettricta (Luciano Fulgore) ww Aeiatore (Libero Altomare), MW Cari della Cita di Mannheim (Paolo Buri), etc. "The magazine Pesa, and Marinet’s associated publishing activities, became the main instrue ‘ments of Futurist Iiterary setiviy. As ealy as 1909, however, thee isa poem of Buzzi’ dedicated to Um- Dero Boccion, begining rigs es constructions sien pour vile are ‘Quiiea Ge dane ect ibe des vats ‘which indicates that the Poesia circle were already in contact with practic toners ofthe plastic art, and thats east one of the great Futurist themes of Tomorroy,! wa already in circulation, ‘The memoirs of Signora enedetts Marit stale that in the same month asthe publication of the Foundation Manifesto, Marinet met Umberto Bocioni, Carlo Carr, and Luigi Rusolo, and later in the year Giacomo Balla. These fon, with the ‘addition of Gino Severini, constitute the main body of Futurist painters, and together they signed the Manifeto of the Futwist Painters (1x Fee rary 1910) and the Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting, published in April ofthe same year, on the‘anonical’leventh day (ao fewer than eight ‘of the Manifesto: were published on the eleventh ofthe month). ‘These two Manifestoes concerned with painting, and the ater one on sculpture, are basi points of departure forall Futurist activity in the plastic arts, But they ned tobe taken in complicated context which must include the continuing trary activity of Marinet (ome of which was not pub= lished in permanent form until after the two panting Manfestoes) and must also include developments inthe panting of the Sehool of Pai "ks exemplified by Antonio Sant Eli's projects La Ctl Nuova and Mone soe ele a a However, these is a gap before this second context becomes fully effec tive for in 1910 only Severni had actually been to Pari and seen Fauve and Cubist painting at frst hand. ‘The February Manifesto iy a fact, almost purely literary, not to say politcal. The young artists of Taly are called ypon to rebel against the xenelens and scbish cult of the pas Other nations teat Italy a8 whited Pompeii of sepulches, whereas, in fact Italy has been reborn; the political Risrpimento has been followed by an intellectual one te. ete. This is for the most pat Marinttan, but the ‘Manifesto does contain some new material, some ofa primarily profesional nature, some of more general aesthetic consequence, ‘Thus ieoaind upon er souls so we tax ne ufos ees raat ‘Sontemporary hfe indicating a rather subtle approach tothe problem ofthe painters i tion, transferting i to the word of ideas, rather than visual facts. ‘The attack which follows on academic ofeialdom for not recognising the talents of Segantini, Previati and Medardo Rosso is more than the “ade union affair that it mightappezr These men were the representatives ‘ofa Milanese tradition of Modernism of which the Futurists were the cule ‘ination, and Medardo Rosso was partculely important to them as an innovator in both iconography and method, ‘The one reference w architecture (which appears among the denuncia- on) i nd to iDance andre cnet om tor isin direct contradiction to the Inter architectural poicy ofthe “Futurist and probably opposed to Marinett's wn views at thal Une: TE ‘suggests tht Futurist painting did not yt exit in vstble or material fort, and that their theories existed only on paper, for, once they had found the Selves as punters, materials like concrete, cardboard, ete. were scon in favour with them, "The Technical Manifesto of April was written in this same vacuum, but itis leas shetorial (the February Manifesto had been ‘launched at a (quisipolitical Futurist demonstration in Turin) and penetrates far deeper to the basic mental orientations of ts authors. Ie emphasises the dynamic ‘gunst the stitc, the deformation and multiplication of visual images) ‘caused by retinal persistence. It emphasises that artis based upon conven tions and that ‘truths’ are expendable, that space is (isull) merely ong of these conventions, dat Xcrays Rave ined sew analogue of or practical confirmation of the destruction of traditional and static rmedes of vision, the Manifesto instances pire The celebrated meting at dhe Pateaa Chisel 9 February 191 which legend in Futuris crclessne a more vient pases ade ees lent newspaper copy and ths esablaied the movement inte pub ind, 107‘The sates puope round you in seam ae sacceniey one, ten four, te. yh tl maraetay but then they sat gin coming snl gone with the brtyng sed Boutin’ sf te ea’ peated tote of cared 1 passage which draws heavily upon Medardo Rosso, who had not only insisted on the transience of appearances ‘We areal of us merely lighng eat but had, in physical fact, eeated precisely the visual image under discus ion in hie eeape-gronp Dmpretione d’ Onis (1884) where the figures scem to be undergoing precisely the same kind of dissolution in movement and flickering light asthe Futarats had ia mind, Futurist paintings from this period are now extremely rae, having been destroyed or painted over, but a number of Doccionis from before 1911 hhave survived, nd often show an attempt to translate back into painting the atmospheric style of sculpture which Medardo himself had derived from the paintings of the Impressionists, Medardo. was passionately admired by Boccioni and provide a lnk back to a live Milanese Impres- Slonist wadition, siping the generation of Synthetsts and Nabis in Pais, ‘whose work he could only know about shrogs Severin, This lnk with the Impressionist tradition i important because tis part ofthe ant-acadcmic heritage which the Futurists were to pass on to Iter Modern-Moverent ‘theory, even though it was contradicted in so much of their practice. For the Techaical Manifest ll gives no directive as to what a Futurist, painting should lok ike in material fact. Its tabulated propositions forme Inte a frame of mind only TAL ast sects Wat metry itr pre a. Thar dd anes plese nt be rendered a dye senation 3. That in the irgrpretion of nutre tere mae be sncrty tad chsty {E That lit and movin deswoythewly of odie 1, Bans esheets eee 2 Sperdal ere 3 Fille Putas, scesonis ad independents, the new academia every 44 The’ me ia painting, jon at tiresome and depreming ax adultery in ean It is interesting to observe that the positive prepositions are their own (or Medardo's) while the negative ones, except no. 3, are essentially Marinttis, the attack on the nude being an extension of the attack on the Dannunzian preoccupation with adultery (q’Annunzi, toujours penché sur le corps nu d'une femme’). Negative proposition no. 3, however, "The most informative shar tay of Medardo Rosso in Engh i that by’ P.M. Fagen in Word Ress (Landon, une 195) 108 tnther remarkable fr its date, forthe general tendency of European avant- tarde aesthetics a the time was to continue the aeadcmicisng tendencies Of the Nineties, as can he sten from the writings of Roger Fey, or the Cuiist circle in Paris. Even so truculent an ant-Seceasionist an Adolf Loon __Fernined a Classics at heat" and the Futurists seem to have been almost alone in secing that Platonic and Cassicising aesthetics were out of tune with their mechanolatry, or inded, any positive and fruitful accommmodas tion to the new technology” Before the next major Manifesto on the plastic arts appeared, however (that on Sculpture, over Boccion’s unsupported signature, 1 April 1913) the scope of Futurism had been brosdened by further writings and lectures from Marinet, and the painters had visited Paris: The whole ‘pect ofthe movement was altered. The vst to Paris was orgensed, and largely psi for, by Marine, but his own contacts in Pars (eq. Gustave Kahn) were not of much direct value to the painters, Severin however, ‘ould clsim acquaintance with Braque, and through him the Futures met Picaso and the rest of the Cubist circle, ‘The situation of Cubist at this~ ‘moment was extremely intereting, 191 in retrospect, appears toe the ear of culmination, in which the promise of Picasso's ‘Cie with the Mans olin’ (1910) was fly realised in the Portrait of Kahnweler, the year of Braque’s ‘Le Portygas, in both of which formalised fragments of epee: senational painting ae splintered down into a shallow layer of space, whose depth is indicated without reouree to academic penpective, ‘The ‘ontact with such painters and such paintings had a galvanic effet on the Futurists and uncertainty as to the appearance of their painting disap. eared, they took over from the Cubists a repertoire, lonuageio, of formal devices and surfce treatments and turned them to their own ends, ‘That those ends were not those of Cubism needs tobe emphasise at this point. Cubism stood a the end ef a long reformist tradition that runs back ‘through Cezanne towards Courbet; and Bocconi, atlas, recognised this, Its aesthetics when they came to be written were traditionalist and sex. em cause Cubism was a revolution within painting tel Profound reorientation towards « changed. ind not part of world Nevertheless the for- “For thee tendencies in Roger Fry sce his Evay on Aesth’ in Vision ad ‘ise (ain, 192) and forthe Cubies ce the won decid ig chop ‘The Chai teal appears not only i hia tings which ae dceoed 9 shapter 7, but ao in the periten tae he made af ich mes asthe Dose folumn the’ Goldman and Saath store in Vieana gt) hicks Le Dees Behrens Manerana offic block, wee Dri to marke crt ail his esty forthe Chicago Tribune Tower compation employins # Grea Bore eae, ‘gre to itt sae, ive the form of the whe apper part of the Boe, trike winds leitch Bins afl Een ese at of he Pas ition he mer site, mths, polices sectagy tar we soos Fase? 109mal and superficial resemblances in the paintings, coupled with certain literary resemblances between Apolinair’s-waitiags and those of the urist, have led to a belif that Futurism was derived from Cubism. Tn fact, Apollinaine’s book Les Pentres Cubistes didnot appear nti 1913 and had been anticipated by Futurist Manifestoes on panting, seulptuce, literature and music, ab well atin prefices to the catalogues of Futurist exhibition in Pars (1912, 1913) while, 38 wll appear from what has been said above, Futuris interest in the disoltion of bodies antedates their encounter sth Cubism by over a yeat. Their interest inthe dismember- reat of forms was ther owns it wasa method for doing it which they picked up in Paris. "Their interest ia bodies in motion was their own, it a a convention for representing motion which they leamed from the Cubist, "The Cubists from whom they acquired this device were the Groupe de Puteau, a group centring round the Duchamp family, on the finge of the Picsso/Braque circle. The Puteaue group? were to make more than one contribution to the development of moder design, and what they ould offer to the Futurists at this point was an intellectual and di grammatie approach to painting, rather than the intuitive and. quasi- representational approach of Braque or Picasso, In. Marcel Duchamp's ‘Coffe Mil (an occasional work undertaken as wedding preset for his brother) of early 1911 they would be able to see not only a machine ‘dis- smantled? in order to show its functions, but also a convention for showing the different successive potions ofthe erank as turned, ‘This work Was probably done under the inflence of the early Futurist Manifestoes, but that docs not alter the fact that the Futurists themselves had not yet arrived at any such set of conventions for either motion or the diseolation of forms. — “ "The influence of te Pars visi was apparent in theie work immediately fon their return 9 Milan, sucetsive-state representation af motion 200m appears in the work of Balla (e. the celebrated "Dog on + Leash of 1912) butt was upon Boccion’ thatthe impact wa greatest. ‘We had put in band, shorly before the departure for Pars, a series of three paintings ented Stata Ani: "The Farewell, "Those who Go', “Those who Stay’. The ealist sketches for these are almost completely abstract fields of waving, hunrying, or loitering forms, All were drastically reworked on his return, and the abstract fields were filed with broken, superimposed, and transparent element of engines and rolling stack, car= tages and faces, hats, macintoshes and buildings. The pictorial conventions employed in ereting these elements are an intelligent and original blend ‘ofthe methods of Duchamp and thos of Braque—systematcally geomett- fal in construction but richly dappled and textured as to the actual pint Qn the subject of the Groupe de Pate ace chapter 15 * Duchamp, humus not baie ter as hate bees any in lene from this plating and moles propone phetngraphic motes eacienass common conte surace."The isto these panting ("he Farewell) io contain lament of yporaphy, wie apart of he parimetre composition ofthe pcre Such a tsage, which fs athe 100 of much typographic refonn ner a the century, and also paved the way for the reintegration of typography int architectural composition, s generally regarded a 4 Cubist vention of 1911 Brag: ‘Le Praga), bt ifs Boeins may have rived a it in the same months, fr one late draving for "The Farewell’ in whch ‘ypographical elements ocur, seen dalable to 191, nt 1912. Though ths ful sil bes berowing rom Braue, fears it should be urher noted that the prion clas to Bacini who as mor interested in typo- {gaphy was Marines who nad aeguted fom his contacts with Malla | {sere in fe, vated and open pae-ompoitin in which words ven Teers-were- ested as laments rm abstract design, Although | Marinus Les Mats Liberté was not published until 191, the word ‘Motlriste was in Futura relation before 1944, and oction! refer 0) orl x etd ety in 912 { Tis in connection wih Bocion'ssulpuralactvtisof pra thatthe roving fsion betwen Patsan practice and Milanese theory it met ary manifested, One of his best-known works in acl, Sapo ana Botha nel Spi’ dues fom hat yen. It is eil-lie ube, fomething which be lad not atemped before Pacis, but drawing con ected with his work shows more radial changes than merely new subs Jette, “The fundamental method ofthis sketch, both in txms of compotion and study ofthe object depends upon a rotation ofthe bottle about in ‘mn axis while observing it fom diferent heights, Tn a remote eese ‘ch a method had been acidendly employed by Cezanne, intlively by Peas, But here ii sptematially employed and fully expoted. The boil ie resoved into seis of sweeping conves-concave forme which interpnctte thse oft glee sanding beside There a pore plats tens of them being bodies of rotaton, whichis quite coneny to the fatenng tendencies of Cuban at tat dite eventhough bth the drawing technique and the method of geretrealstoning probably go back to Bae de Pateaus sores. But even more remarkable the tet rent ofthe tabletop. Wherein Cézanne o Pesan the mihstion of tabletops du tothe changing viewpoint signed ignore here five fll valu as part of the image. Thee main tablesop planes are Aine, almost parallel © one another, and the bosndars cons and ait filo fe on of Pare apa ae Mata Puna n Chit dee Macon oa Nn fat the Gree of Aol, ad ths old have wgpered the Cuber‘verre one another atthe corners. Since these effects are created within 2 more or less conventional perspective we are presented with a spatial texperience analogous to the Praitie House architecture of Wright, or the work of architects under de Stil influence in the early Twenties.” Boccion's Techuical Manifesto of Futurist Sculptere appeared in April 913; it was entirely his own responsiblity, and since the actual turn of DPhrse is not particularly Marinetian, probably entirely his own work ‘The frst section is a routine ehetorcal denunciation of the past and une originality. In the second section however it justifes the word technical far more fully than docs the painting Manifesto, since after Paris he now ‘knew what the result should look lke must begin fom the ental cleus ofan object a strives for realisation, lotr he sy nny at ene oe, ie ity ‘out. The new plstcty wil thus be the vanslaion into pastes, bronze, alas, Soo any ether matt fhe tap panes ot oe sick Spprchensibe. plist and systematic thee protongatans into spece, since Ht Stinote oud anyone one tes aes we eo ne tha Joc not eae and section un with ome arabes of curved or straight ines. "The drawing discussed above is of course, a more or les programmatic demonstration of this Feld theory of aeathetie apace a space which exit tava fld of force or influence radiating from the geometrical centre ofthe objects which give rte ti, and ina remarkable poetic achievement born, presumably, of Bergion and Finatein.! "The tied section compares Roda, Bourdelle, and Meunier unfavourably to Medardo Roto, who is apotheosaed (correctly) asthe father of ‘atmnos- © Most bio, the oeaping planes of the Rabie Hose of 1, Poe ‘and interesta. In the case of Santis, dacunsed inthe nest chapter, the poss ity csane be w eat dried ‘ Poona tne Apelinas snl fon ti ee Chroeer Gray Cust daha ‘Fes once mere) sn the Vocus England Te sina Eas iti dear des tard he crs of ny Were cra xref {Cabin and Apoinaire, n'a miuch-quoted and over-rated passage of his Pits, Gabe ea gute Un 3c of ined si in OF pera as al ei pee snecemin vn Interat f the Pate group wershotrouay athesatial and pitlosophie Secon armen tlre iced ep en of Ba erent then aug form Haven independent sou an wl ce later Became vey tea €Rpaligae' sews be the fours dnentn: Lampang Cabs tod Pai proposition that resemblances between the pintng ofthe pened and Epstein ‘lar are arly" torpor calclenc’ sbould be treated with some feverreject fora bck of Toners. produced of projets tor Seca there preMave Chtone Brojet fra blesk of Aut sgn ene of the Fi ‘lea a ise, though et | pheri’ sculpture, and of ‘unheroie' sulptura subjects. However, Medardo 's criticised for remaining pictorial in inspiration, and for not developing in the direction of lo stile del movimentd. This syle, by systeratsing the vibrations of ight and the interpenetration of planes Wil produc Putra culture wns bai Wahl “ngteucton af mane, bat zo hecae the culpa. ‘thinset dehtetni elements for She muta enirnment ia which ‘This idea is clearly a development from the previous quotation, and it was to ead in San Eli's work to a remarkable redfiniion ofthe man building relationship, bt for Bocconi it was to have only the enudestconseuences. ‘Thos fom he nt of mechani thre coul rtd gearing ‘Though at amore theoretical and metaphysical level this dea clearly antii= pats, agin, developments ofthe Twentics roi te aber and compete abiton of deine inc na tnticipating the breakdowa ofthe barriers between inside and out which is to be seen inthe architecture of 1927-33, and there follows (rom a diseus- tion of the concept linerof-frce) a further, and rather subtle, preision of the aesthetics of the Tent or uy he rag ln il ele and api il lend il w al he (of the metalic aeverty ofthe lines of maderm machinery in which the subrley ie in seeing thatthe straight line would be symbolic 4f, and not inherent in, mechanical design “Two other points from this Manifesto deserve to be noted here, The sdumbraton of kinetic seulpare, hardly surprising in this context source of poner capable of giving a hythmic movetentpropetly ad to fe panes td lines a and a call for the extension of th range of the sclptor's materia which appears among the tabulated propositions at the end of the Manifesto One sees Roccioni herein one of his mos eflucntal role, aa codifie and systematierof ad hoe Cubist practices, and thei inclusion within the body af Futurist theory, even before they had been systematied and included Within Cubist theory 4, Desoy the purely literary and traditional nsbility of bre sd marble Bn that any one mater shouldbe tne exclatey for the nha of self murat: Aion ha een Sty rent mater an Jon ‘au, wood, iron, cement, har, lather, Cat, secre Hh te *. ‘This etn which fil Be observed that Concrete makes its Feurn, is anintelligent extension ofthe principles of Cubist papers calls, composed of Yatos diferent mate, vented by rae 19. ts also Posie snd mandatory jn its tone, whereas Apollinaire’s reference to collage in ‘Ler Pintres Cubistes, which did not appear until more than a year later, is merely permissive (if that) 1 hve not one praie with regard to the painter’ materia Inthe same year a thescalpture Manifesto, the general theory of Futurism ‘was caried forward and broadened by Marinetti, who published a book ‘composed of stray pieces, Ieerures, ete which he welded into a roughly ‘continous rhetorical exposition of hie positon under the ttle of Le Faturie, which scems to exit only inthe French version, and was thus Clearly intended for international rather than Ttalian cirulaion. ‘A reat deal of what isin this book contradicts widely-held belie about Futurism, and brings it nearer tothe acepted canons of Puritanism, ‘Humanitarianism, etc. on which mainstream Moder design i supposed to rest. Marinett proclaims tht the Futurists are gainat Anarchism (tis is ‘another aspect of distociation from the immediate Symbolist past) and tgainet Nietzache, whose Supermen are dismissed as an antiquatian Grecian dream. Against eternal permanent values (also ani-Symblist) ‘We who ini ht meri mt be fed with hs gre of iho ‘ibatuninas te pettable te tenlory ont expends 1 theme which was to be passed on to the architectural theories of the ‘Twenties ‘ Equally contrary to what ia commonly supposed to be the Futurist frame ‘of mind isthe curious streak of purtanism which runs through this work. ‘Marinet declares himself opposed o ‘clair de lune’, ‘Femme-Deautd idl ct fatale’, Luxury, adultery, incest, the sense of sin as subjects for Titrature, Though this oscura in pase iy aimed at d’Annun- io ‘rire cadet des grands Sjmbolistes Frangaia' the theme of an anti- romantic attude to woman appears dlewhere inthis book, equality of the sexes is urged, the Suffagettes are encouraged (though forthe reason ted supra), and poets are denounced in almost Platonic terms for keeping alive the enervating myth of romantic love "The alternative i to be the beauty of the machine, and the love of a smachine that may be seen reddening the checks of mechanics ‘You may have noticed in he let great ray sek in France hat the Sabo Comnitees could not pervade singe mechan to put his locematve ou {dhs natural enough. Hlow coulda man kil offal and devoted a friend? "nis books ofthe early Twenties Le Corbusier wat much concerned with tbe problem crappag an the spenmancace (asec and were) of engine Pocraiees Ge Nees ty cad 20 and a note of mechanistic irrationality i allowed to excep in ‘You have doubles head the observations cutrenty made by motorists and factory directo Motors are ly rgmrious, ey say fe br hy fad Ferenc minds soul. You hate humour then and ens ent, ‘Bir achine of cast wea, mae ater the mon piece caiclations nlf ures: evel produce not merly ts desaned output bu tri, sve ies mc ‘but this, infact, paves the way for an observation that mechanics are not fas other men are and seem equipped with alternative sets of sensibilities and value, 5.2 tine oy, with reign ft pv without suka 0 Inethanicl prop, or the ie fr meal ‘They ae workmen who hae ale fay undertone the edaton of te machine, adn bome way aes ‘This is one ofthe first appearances of the idea ofthe engincer asa form of noble savage, which also appears in Loos and reappears inthe writings of Le Corbusier but does not seem to be, in Marinette ming, the same eoneept as ‘homme multiplé par le moteur, who also appears in this book and, seems rather to be a species oF eeucated dilettante who makes ‘maximum use ofthe technological and mechanical extensions of his experi= fence which the twentieth century offers, one of Hoccion’s ‘great mech anised indiridval. Besides this reinforcement ofthe Futurist orentation tovards technology and tchacloginty Le Future seo introduces tice thames of prime importance to the development of modern design: op-/| Postion to handicraft, the us-mosumental architecture of democracy, ( | And the powertation a8 an apotheosi of technology. Whereas Adolf Loos's opposition to handiraft wis an immediate e- stion to the excesses of Sezessonist Art Nouveau in Vienna, Marine objections go back to the theoretical sources ofthe Arts and Crafts Move ‘ment, to Ruskin. ‘The reasons for this are, essentially, of an occasional ature—his lecture to the Lyceum Club in March 1922, for which he needed a figure to symbolise English Passome When, then, wil you dienounber yourselves f the iymphate ideology of ur deplorable Risin, whom Intend emake ety il in Your th hs sek deer of priv patra i; with is nota for hecte and legendary spinning-vedst wis hate ef thet ‘eam and elect, thir anc for ange ample reba nman sho | in kl macy wants to sleepin ecw again tod drink tthe bret fa ure who has now grown olin orcer to reain the caeice vse of ifancy and this is followed by an atack on English supporters of the brick-for~ Brick rebuilding of the eampanile t Venice, and general sbuse for tha) 1n Vrs ne Arehecre Le Corbet wrote an extraordinary eulogy of engioe te te ‘healtay and vine civ and woh anced sad haps a ey eee the wncosruped aborigines of an iar) land reamed up BY a ea nee Weeatincntry Roman ce caper 133English for giving all their attention to Rome, Venice and Florence— ‘which we consider running sores on the face ofthe Peninsuls'—and not 0 Genoa, Turin and Miln, the cities of the ‘new renascent Italy that we (Te arctitctre of mechanised democracy, envisaged by Marne, { ato mates strong contest with Loos views ast far ar the demo: | Stacy concerned for, wheres Loos in Dar Andere eulogcs simple \Jeenonian fone demceacy where top te nd rosk-cowts need ot jeunes fang abou big-ciydemceracy ofthe mob andthe trade union ‘And bei Ip you nt ile of cml we tt of ex Ardara ar cayra aida female cana ee at ae ee etip tara cette ard ened $Fhe contador Tres of the anh adr of faon,cevtueery ‘nike equality before te int the thority of numbers, the Uaurping power stash estnts coed aoe are ere maton esate ee tee eee eee ened SPST STEP ween ee Waheed per, sus eos ay Wed eae, Pateisaky Caen Sita pare ebay Toya ices of repeat neta ante baer: we ope PRLS DETAR Hae gn peg oe Lam" ogee toy ese somaya nd ng er “These tres pararapt contan, nna, the arguments ad conta ofthe tne of te Twenties Clnieal uchiectre coved agua tnginerngprodt, blige sued ith ratrays and bridges sen, Shut sn eipmeaty-and three min biling ype ented, ie of the feld of tanspert and. communications ge, wel-tetined lav festa blocs suburban lated for rew and Wee al see "These were to be the dominating architect theme of Le Corbusier the thet king ference between this page and snr writing afer the Great War, however, the absence of soci conscience Maret ses, this ange of beter equipment rots the tramnendenal soa ight of dlnecrsticman, bute thing tht mut be given ta plitllyconsoas and ective working ca. Here realm Bordering on ei that ‘ould betes Fascia. “he theme of the fowerstaion is ene that was pearly Marine's own, Wiley tributed in Modern Movement retore ater the Wa, Scum to be found in wrtings lon, before 134. Tt cccre in Le Eee ange ive in an Tay ‘ely eve, shalen-and-emed by new sectcal nein "A periodic fumpiet on manners and morale published by Leos the fst ear ofthe ently th enibloghed i oto 4 ‘whose power, derived from the hamessing ofthe sea, willbe controlled by {kind of technocracy of engineers who lvein hgh tension chambers wheres hundced-thowsand ols ike though cathe af ls. They sta coma pancs with meter, sweeten Ect cartons to sgt ant at ‘Ty re ee at rr the enue of ty and tes cry tures with Sra ommamente Hse huity ane senior ite ys ys fhe nde fal the fl and sly a he on ‘The tone of voice is that of science-fiction, and faily clea debts to ules ‘Verne can be seen, but this is sience-fetion ofthe rate type that comes true in detail. Power-stations are uncommonly like this nowadays and the passage has, anyhow, the singing tones of prophecy. Je fxes vision of 3 ‘mart, glittering, business technological ite, anda eoeresporiding archi tecture, which was to haunt the imagination of the next generation, "Two years ate, Marinet returned to this theme in his Manifto of Geometrical and Mechanical Splendour, and the Senility of Numbers (March 1914), but with a diference Nothing is more Beawifl tha a great hunyming power-sttion, holding back the hndtatc pressures of «woke mountain range md the elec power for ‘iote landscape syesied i enacpanls eng with ever and lea eee eee ee reese es inane ee nec oe cee ted pig ae Sg ay iets stan fy Cle dl ig ihroter tat hehe bar atc pate Bee crate apeicsr aetna cy peiies een ar eee ie arasameieer aber slancky ha charictre ura, bg bases wd journal -="cohe ‘These qualities were perceived for the frst time, according to Marinett and their mechanical splendour, in a thoroughly Futurist place—on the bridge ofa dreadnought, but though the source of inspiration was much as it had ever been, the qualities deduced were not those that he would have 5noted in 1909, TF thee qualities can be categorised, they are abstract, intllectual—and French (ordre, divipline, méthode). "The continuous contact with Pais, never broken after rr, and reine forced by the temporary absorption ofthe Florentine Cubist group and their magazine La Voe, alter 1912, ha undoubtedly modified Futurist sensi bilities, Their enthusiastic acceptance of machinery and urban life remained untouched, but their view of the proper artiste consequencss of thet social rientaton had undoubtedly altered. Boccion’'s preference expresed for straight lines (mentioned supra) probably marks the begining ofthe change, and his painting, toward the end of 1914 vas becoming increasingly Parisian, until in 1915 and r916 (the year in which he died he was painting, in all bu colour, imitations of Cézanne. ‘The Cubists had not gone untouched either. The Orphic faction of Delaunay wis largely Futurist in inapration and the qualities atributed to iby Apollinaire were, in fat, slighty altered quotations from Boeson ‘The Futurist magazine Laced circulated in Cubist circles and appears in {wo Picaso stl fe Under presire fi 3 Futurist and wrote a Manifest, [’Antadtion Faturit, which wa Uriel sa bode Pars une :01) Futurism, obese sae the ‘word of machinery and technology, and Cubtim, rege by Apolinaite 34 pure geometrical struct of the mind, were drawin together, and, by the Dinning ofror¢ wartime in alse the mechan: Jn inpcaon of Fvuram interme of the pure-geomeiia Tor fo ‘ards whch Pasian at was tending ‘The aievement wis Sat Eli's, and the product was Futust architeure a waft Fae aid cre te inter a bot ‘hired at he expense of raeroue tegument apd bale with ca bles fea cian ch ncseae maocsring Neverthe, Mats i at enya ened Jon ar te Dagny othe Wes, when any fell a6 10; Sant’Elia and Futurist architecture ‘ue arrticaTion or the term ‘Futurist tothe opinions and designs of Antonio SantElia has been contested wit legalistic enthusiasm by Taian scholars since 193s, but only on biographical grounds, not in term ofthe ideas involved. The biogeaphical facts are not in doubt and may be briefly stated, San’Elia was born in Como in 1888, and was thus litle younger than the masters of the’Twenties. His studics, frst in Milan, and later at the Univers of Bologna, were interrupted by a period of apprenticeship ‘tw the Villoresi Canal Company, and of service in the works department ‘ofthe commune of Milan. On his return fom Bologna to Milan in 1912 he ‘set up as an architect, but most of his time scems to have been taken up in work for ather offices, and no buildings designed under his own name appear to survive with any cerainty. ‘Sartore has stated that SantElia was in touch with che Futurists fom the te of his return, and this has not been questioned in the recent polemics. In 1912, 1913 and 1914 he made a number (possibly several hhundeed) of imaginative drawings of buildings and town-planning ideas and a group of these under the tte ofthe Cid Nuowe were shown at an techibiton ofthe group Nuooe Tendenze in May 1914. [nthe eatalogue of this exhibition there ppeared, over Sant'Ela's name, 2 Mesraggio on the problems of Modem architecre: anda reworked version ofthis Meteagio sppeared on the canonical eleventh day of July 1914, as the Manifesto of Futurist architecture, sill over the name of Sant Ea, and without other signatories. After the outbreak of War, Sant'Eli, like Marinetti and Boo {Soni volunteered for the Army, even before Taly entered the fighting. Eventually he died a hero's death in the battle of Monfleone in October 1916, to months after Boscioni. His name and reputation were nurtured vith unusual care by Marineti, who, for instance, brought his work tothe attention ofthe Dutch de Sif group in 1917, bute is this Marinetian con rection that seems to have provoked the recent attempt to diminish the ee the biographies WArchastis Antone San Bae‘importance, evento deny the existence, of Sat’ Ela's Futura afiiationa "The argument hinges upon the differences between the texts of the _Mevsggio wd the Manifesto, Neither now appears to have been actually ‘written by Sant'Elia himself, even the Menaggia having been worked up, ‘apparently, by Ugo Neha from ies expounded to him by the architect ‘alle quali perfeteamente aderiva!* If Nebbia's word isto be trusted—and ‘even theanti-Marinetians appear to trust it—then a scrutiny of the txt of the Menaggio should aot only give a fair view of the ideas that were indisputably Sant Eli's own, but also make it possible to evaluate the relationship to Tuturiem, without any suapicion of Marines inter- ference, such a exists with the Manifesto. The text! ofthe Mesraggio reads "The pablam of Modem architecture iano a problem of rarangng it ines: seta nig nen alg ew auatn Gas ied or of replacing clusion plasters and sovbels wih carats, horned roo nota ques af letng aga bare bik o fang vith tone oF fier or hae sting odo wh ening oral deren ee ‘ne lin, ceang evry ona of since lech, setting nobly every Sari he is, et a hat i, eng ad Unajmpalctic to us (eatin, shen proportion) seals bee Eee nace hr hee roto te Speer Moder Il, an ts preletion a asthe ue fpr sae, Such an rctiterare cana be auc wo any lw of tse contin. Te tmnt fnew twat of mind em, ae conten of St "The ar of bldg ae een able to evolve through time and pas frm style to ttle wile matunga general chamcer of arciective unchanged, ues in bor there Reve bees commer chen of tre Brwaht ot bf SSRs sie conn oft of ell ropa fo Setsoned by proound changes in our conditions of, changes ht dicand areal ld cece os hawt dineviy of nae, hw Pr etn of ecrial sats, the tna sed eesti wa of tance In mode i, de process Of consequent style daelopran coma 4 Hae Arle che yan, tg aun, vy, on ie "The leader i at-Marnetan polemics hasbeen Giovani Bernasconi in the si fetta Tema, «rangi plain Lagan of which he we eo Frets bee al to dr onthe eyeranes accounts of Mate Chatone, vp {hetime othe tars dea in 1st The argument depende chi on thence ‘L napection of eonenbere Svenates, and the diterents betes Ba text of the Mesapin andthe Mateo Ge bel Ted not fnweve iva fy conrontatn of the ts tat were inigpuay Sant East hose enrent fon the Futurist, Such a confrontation pes detent pte 8 Wil Se Se iter th resent oper hat put fora by hove nh may sual ot ‘immendale plea! wean, tat Senta never vas a Future For the ‘omen appears tat Berman ha ened spat i ly, ad his ett ‘gaged by ornare, Bano Zev and Gln Vronest "Rus even his veon of the wring of Sw Resa in ler to UB (ore, 9 Decener 1090) ‘Phi the eisai by Betasconi—to whim haaks aed, whatever ‘is opinions in sts Teena Lsigano, 156, No.7) and subsequenly aed By ‘Min toa beparte pamphlet 238 rin etree meri eign eee ieee ese art ae tench a ips ent neat aa Pee nal nen eee ne tee heen paia ae ee envy curve ofthe arch, aping the atolidty of marble peu na econ fone aera uit etiettae ee nearer e omen os iy Sl yes aga Se ee eo cp elena i Sacer ot ea ae neni eee pep ts ee Daas ee ie 9 a oe Shut rnatch oie ad ter ae eie eer Sa len ny eee cee epee eae oe ee a ne eS a ae re and eg ee ee ae et anany tbe Yeni aS ee See a ee ie erent ee en Dec er ie ea ae emer tha alan crear trans bee eae Bi anette sacs crear cca inal inp eg dS ere ie ae aa rere eae cee inna; i lien dornat a the ve of he rete Eat purge oe ap fain pr ja ered aa nat tate nc Ra te cr fear rperis cath at rusete tsiee cera sey Hipage Gina fos Sap tories saa ak Vas Sete cates eaten eres Deen ae oe ree ese ft sod fs ce lant oie es te pees at at il es le Sy te Lit geisha See eae ae Pereeratie carbene Dracecyar ances (ince Sree a ee tence aes Secret nes ran ad reducing if Be the evant of our every need and aur every fancy. | [And T conclude in difeour of adh archecare of srey style and nation, {hus solemn architecture, hierar teste, decoive, monument, ret cr pleaing recrvaton, reconstruction, reproduction of ancient menument, ‘Perpeiicale ar hie in, cube and pyramidal forma, ite grave, ogee sd sel forego ot seventeen, ne of materia thas are mae, bul drab and expensive, all oppoeed to the complosiy of Matern culture and Modem cxpesiee ‘ian "Pat the ew arciecture i the archtecie of ca sererinue SF reorder i boldness an sini the artes ‘fet res an al shot rpms far the atinment in mama else and che, 19 ina"That el architect i nt fo leat, a a “That dcenton, he sarshingsapeinpesed es & ached to wc ian absurdly, an th aly tm he oe ad potas of Ped and ‘nen cloned mate on deve the desestie vae of aly Rfodeen Mrehtetre, _ ky 1a tt eas ry \ ice ed cur inpeaion inthe nc mechan {ih rhiemnt eh veexpreni, h ‘By any standard of historical judgement ths would be arems ‘ment to have been produced eary in 1914, because it puts together the predisposing causes and the newly emergent ideas ofthe pre-War epoch in A manner which did not become general until the War was over, and— ‘mare important it takes up aitudes to thote predisposing causes accord fing to thove new ideas, Thus, the second paragraph reject the architecture fof the past, the third takes a iow of the past that Choiny could bave approved (and probably inspired), the fourth explains why the pat must be rejected, and the fith explains that rejection further in terms of concepts that derive mostly from nineteenth-century Rationalst sourees, or from. the moralsing tadtion of England. ‘This kind of revaluation of older bodies of ideas, accepting much of what they had to say attr, but r= casting them in new frames of reference that often completly altered theit ‘meaning, was to become the commen ground of mainstream ideas in the ‘Twenties—for instance, the reworking of Guade’e dea of elementary com- Position in terms of asymmetrical planning, or the-use of Chojsy’s own Insistence on the importance of technique to make nonsease of his gra- Postion thatthe technical sds available to modern architects were those_| “BE the Gothie-oF even the prehistoric world, Dist Santa does more than this. He anticipates, inthe scond of h affirmations, the anti-Functionalst mood of Le Corbusier and Gropius in the Tweatic, and in taking up Berlage's view on the impropriety of adding decoration to structure, he moves forward to a postion abreast of that adopted by Adolf Loos in Omament und Verbedke. ‘That he knew Loos’ work is entirely possible, but the possibilty at ence raises the problem of the connection with Futurism. There isa distinct streak of Viennese late Art Nouveau about some of Sant Eli's earliest surviving design, such 25 the project forthe cemetery at Monza" of 1912, executed in collaboration with Italo Paternostro, But well before the compilation ofthe Mestagio thie quality had disappeared, replaced by a bold glypticstarkness, mare ex- treme than that of any of his contemporaries, even Poclrig, an far beyond anything being done in Vienna by anyone except possibly Loos himself. But there re no stylistic rexemblanees to Laos a all and the indications 1A very il repsntng of SanEli' drawings and project was undertaken ‘Tent end Mata i Lt cheara lane, 19550 Nova tod 9g6 Nos Sy 130 ate that by the time Sant Elia evolved thio undecorated style of his own, he wae out of direct touch with Viensa—if he had ever been in touch ata. ‘On the other hand, Marinett and the Futurists provided a dret line of ith Paris, where Georges Besson’s translation of Ornament und Verbrchen had appeared in 1913, and with Der Sturm which had reprinted the eesay in 1912, If itis maintained that SantElia was not a Futurist at the time the Mesageo was composed, these two links with Loos are, pre= ‘umably imposible. However, in spite ofthe fact that the words Futurist And Futuro do net sppear i the Mesagea, ti difficult to constr it fs anything but a work Futurist in spit, form and inspiration, The Futurist spirit is manifest in its rejection of the past, of Monumentalicy And Classicism, its insistence on the revolutionary changes in cultural life wrought by scence and technique. Te is Futurist to im the vehemence ‘fits opinions, and in its form, complete with positive and negative proposi- tions at its end, Above alt contains numerous ides, echoes and partial ‘quotations from exiting Futurist publications “Thus, the ‘ew ideal of easty’ connect i with the Foundation Mani- festo of Futurism, the ‘maser’ it fascinated connect i wit those ‘men of the people! to whom Marinettiatibuted the gift of mechanieal prophecy in Le Faturime, ‘The proposed new materials to replace wood, stone and brick are directly comparable tothe new materials (in some cases they a ‘dential proposed by Boceion to replace marble and bronze in the Mani- festo on sculpture, the insistence on dynamism is endemic in Futu ‘witng, while in the final afrmation the contrast between the inspiration tf the ancients and the inspiration proper to-@ Modernist is simply a re- ‘working of Boccion’s pronouncements on the same subjects, though with the curious and significant modification of ‘world of religion thar weighed ‘upon ther souls’ to ‘clement ofthe natural world'—where Boccioni saw the church as the inspiration of the great art of the past, SantElin pr sumably aw tree-tranka a theinpiration of Dorie, branches as the inspia- tion of Gothic, and foliage a the inepration of most ofthe omamentknowa, to ancient architectre ‘Even 20, the sentiment remains Futurist, and the dacument asa whole stands too close to Futuriam in every respect tobe capable of eonsideration under any other heading, Furthermore the most elaborate of Santi sketches of 1913 and 1914 underline the Futurist quality of his inspiration at the time, In order of increasing complexity, rather than chronology, ‘thete sketches begin with simple and almost abstract exercises in architec: tonie form, tll structures tiled Dinamiamo crcitettnico and oceasionlly tiven the functional justification of lighthouses. Thei shapes are bare and fmooth, rectangular or semicircular in plan, often battered back in sec tion to give « tapering silhouette, their verial emphasis uninterrupted by string-courses or cornices, but reinforced by boldly masked vertical sities, Though nothing designed by him inthis idiom was eer bil, the Be‘monument to the War-dead (and to San'Eli hil) in Como was ‘worked up from dravinge ofthis type by Enrio Prampolini and Giuseppe ‘Terragn,* ané—allowing forthe fact that Saat'Elia himself could never, presumably, have designed monument-—gives a fair iden ofthe plastic ‘qualities he intended in these sketches ‘The next order of complexity in his designs is represented by single buildings for relatively uncomplicated functions. These include all the types of buildings that Marine had indicated in Le Futurinne: villas open to the breeze and the horion (and one of them visibly influenced by ‘Wright) large partment houses (though the best-known designs for blocks of flats from Sant'Eh's circle were by the Swiss, Mario Chiattone), great ‘meeting ball (sometimes labelled theatres) and ethers, such as aitship hangars, bridges, fetries, and power-sation. In most ofthese projets, all of them presented in perspectives and very few indeed in pla the ‘emphasis ison the same elements as appear in the simpler sketches — battered walls, canted butreses, square podia or basements, and strong _semicirevlar projections, either as apes, or in ranks slong the side of the building, the buttres to being used repetitively inthis way. The most string ofall these designs are those for power-stations, which embrace the most grandiose verteal thetorc in some, an unasaursing simplicity in ‘others and in one, the geometrical rigour of the forms and their mode of grouping is eoch that only the date 1913 under SantEli’s signature and a slight Art Nouveau border would give one to suppose tat it had not been done in the late ‘Twenties or even the Thirties, ‘The most complex ofall his sketches are the feagments of town-planaing schemes which were put into fairly precise draughtsmanship, a against his usta free-hand styl, fo exhibition in May 1914. The original inspira- tion of these projects would appear to have been the proposal to rebuild ‘Milan Central Station, fist mooted in 1996, which involved moving it back to its present ste, thus creating () the broad avenue of the present Viale Vitor Pisani and (2) the need fora trafic underpats beneath the twacks, such at now exists, The earliest of his Central Station projects cahibit both ofthese featores, with the manifestly Futuris addiion that the Viale is shown decked over to provide landing strip for aircraft be- tween its two ranks of skytcrapers—a suicidal project which reappears, slong with «good deal more of Sant Eli, in Le Corbusier” ‘Tecragoi mich under Marnetian iovence athe ime, was eared the rst ce ntl oreton ga, bt heron war tcp te save 2 Pata sour ey Care ea he wins ol of Mars |e ie before 14, had drawn aention to the ea of te communand doco $855 'Mat, sh pops ec vais nly th aay shove nd tet the hve on ena inayat caer ca eof both San Es and atti paricula design cocsve in oly modelled curved mass, unlit he Pros fre ote projeanef nt grad egal wale the neal deed sheared forme of he Cel Staion speed tedcva in agig Tose cry rendered presentation dewing, ae United both in ele of devoghaatship, and the we ofthe Dung the represent wth herent fthe Cita Nave seis ht were exited ih them Sa lt en of inf th ya 5 hag Fagoerar, i Deld together by abasic uy of ye, adi—even more Hie tn a of ll Sen car ett tompler network of anspor service n sme Gaingy at mich aseren fevel deep much ashe hed proposed in fn obsrations on set the Mangesta, Out eth thee dmeniona rid of communications se he Dulding vous «grant, tat iy wh the oor stepped back one behind tote ovate tp. The foo ef xa or even nreng Au fom buck to rent, however, the veranga athe back ar taken Ap by the hing curve of prnolc sch whine other half apport the ik ofthe bullings win which asked up agin, ing anne fortrmaport and services beoren then The isha sre onthe fad, thd, ang veal stand wel cle of the upper oor, to which Bey tre connate by bldg of eveincressing length a one goes wp. Tht dice, which ful abn a proposition inthe Monae, ws probly sugeed toi bythe lity onthe alors of Lake Como ring fom landing sagen and connected tuck to pont on the mountinade by oe ha sed hi fk f build THe appears to have envisaged his ty x cosining of knot of building ot hs pe connate by the network of mull ccalaon at th feet ‘The semblance to Boccion’s eld” concep of spas, wth boda Connected by genta fel offre very sing, the reappear thee of purdy superical Decenians ike th illuinated advertising it appeas en the rot of rome of thee peje Yet inthis minor device tf deguing the averting spat of the Budge wes» poneee of ine dovcapmenty ss mucho he wasn il thee deol view of tows pling probleme. On bth coun, the compare wih Tony Garner ents. Gasee hs syne averning ve he pina foc of hs Cité Indie eos Uke an aertughtataced 0 Tronily Cal design, eventhough he was probably the fist architect to recone that such averting bad ts lace. Similars, inspite ofthe fic that he wat an te fist architect to recogni thatthe panning of industrial towns bad is specal problems, hisconclsins, hough published Some fh ding rss Mie 2, Fr gpa sae ot I ac ake nt aaa or nis as Sr Reso Fata char Ait eet ade ST a asp Seo Bea pc sting Sea tom thar staked cnt tsk wos wl co et SEE pos ed enc ot tee ed. 33later than Santis’, are less radical, less well integrated, and were to Eieha ansideeanteare ieee eae ‘After 1918 t was tobe the SantElian concept of the multi-level tower city that held sway in men’s imaginations, and the wide distribution of hi ideas onthe subject sems to have been almost entirely duet the energetic’ | promotion of Santa's memory by Marineti I fair to say that his | reputation i largely of Marineti’ making, outside Ialy at lest, not oaly because Marinets circulated his work to groups like de Sti snd Der Sturm, but als because some of the most widely admired opinions associated with his name are only to be found in the disputed Manifesto, act in the ‘Mesaggi, which hardly anyone outside Tly ever sav. It is generally agreed tht the Manifesto is largely Manet responsi- bility, but ther is stil some coafusion about how much he actualy wrote, ‘The diferences between the tw textoareoftwo kinds. Firstly alterations, ‘hich consist mettly of inserting the words Futurist or Futurism on the slightest pretert, and leaving the Mesiaggo otherwise almost untouched, and secondly, the addition of new paragraphs atthe head ofthe text and among the propositions at the end. The authorship of the four new parse atthe head is obscure; they do not read like Marine, and Sant” Elia’ reported objections tothe text ofthe Manifesto were to the additions at the end, not those atthe beginning. They do no, in fie, add much to the argument, and their favour ean be adequately typified bythe fst. Since the ihn etry here a en architecture at al A ewig SES Wel aed Morn mts Ther ey fe and Incrarttons jstiedneihet by antiquity of the constructional metho wot bye on tae ring helt utes fm ancene Eeyp Indeed and wo forth, mostly a rhetorical expansion ofthe sentiments ofthe body of the Messaggi, with even stronger echoes of Loos However, the additions atthe ed are more wo the point, the frst of them now reading after ‘T combat and despise’ ‘ pantrndeproudo-arhtestre from Austin, Hungry, Germany and ‘which is simply Marinettian polities and makes his hand very clea in this lust part. The next three negative propositions ae virtually unchanged, the fifth has been dropped. The frst two pesitive propositions are unchanged part from the insertion of Futur instead of ne: the third proposition has ‘been dismissed to fourth to make way for a new one reading ‘Pat, ie and lip line are dyna by thee very sata, have an fd there can be no dynamically integrated architeceare witout thems The moat rela ext of the Maint i Serer’ book mensoned above 134 Iti dificalt to see how SantBlia could have disagreed with this since it is a logial extension of hi own disapproval of eubi forms, ete, He had ro need to disapprove of the next two since they were his own unaltered, except for the tual insertion of the word Puturit for new, but he might conceivably have abjected to the lat three, all added, though his status fe pioneer and prophet of the Twentis would be aightly diminished thereby, since these, apart from the potent ‘advertisement’ in the last paragraph, contain the most forward-looking ideas to which his name has fever been atached, viz. “That architectre az the at of daposing the forms of« building acording to ‘nthe. ee Siang eraere eae ‘Sertng to shroua mot on fer lado, mc wiht ee eee pate GS eee ee ee aaa ae erence eee Ree ee eens ten ce ae fies ia cin Wer nope ae tari oa RE ie er ere percent at anata int a es Serres ind Sei ee tsi Bione eliptaieoete seme nee ie Bere een ie aera Seat gaunt ted tet or Ses Pac Shut utter nae oo cePoreehiats Syetiis =Gealy noe es eee ee eee eee eee eerie aise nana ce aes Teck te ny lof dre of mera Both ae iutated in is bok Archtetnva Furia (Foligno, 1923) 135a whole. Robbed of its most active and substantial members by deaths and resignations, robbed of relevance by a world that had licen rendered forcibly Futurist by the War, robbed of independence of manoeuvre by too close an involvement with the Fascist revolution, it had become an object, of ridicule. Only Marinetti and Balla survived ofthe old brigade, the ten years they had given themselves to achieve thei aims having expized in 4919, Yet they had, in fact, achieved most oftheir aims. The bulk of theit irredentist claims hd been satisfied, barring Trieste; pariamentary govern- ‘ment had been ridiculed and overthrown; the comic-opera poles and backestage Darbarities of the Fascist régime were, ao to speak, part of the ‘original specification fora virile and bellicse Italy. Though the official cyt ofthat Tialy were fied teo often on the Roman past, rather than the Milanese future, the Futurist amall place in the hierarchy did help to ‘make progressive architecture possible, and even produce some patronage for it, in the Twenties and ‘Thirdee —Terragn’s work in and around Como being to some extent a conscious asumption ofthe mantle of Sant Flin, but couched in the established idiom ofthe International Style thet, Ina been created in other countries, ‘Yer it was in those other countries thatthe Futurists had mos flly achieved their aims. As Marinetti sank deeper into politcal buffoonery, the ideas that he and his circle had propagated before 1914 became to and more pat of the inalienable common ground of mainsiream develop= ‘ments in Modern architecture as subsequent chapters will show. ‘The {growing pressure of mechanistton made the world seem more and mote uur and at men incoming retry found Frist ‘at hand to-channel ther ideas and give shape to their expression. ‘The ‘geal availability of such ideas should occasion no'surpise i view oT the ‘work that Marnetti had put into ther distribution across Europe from Madrid to Moscow, from Rome t Berlin. His own travel, and those of Boccioni (though less extensive) were supported and extended by Fututat ‘manifestations in Pars (1912, 1913, 1914), London (1913-13), Rotterdam and Berlin (both in 1913) while all or part of eh exhibition held in Paris in 1g12 seems to have been seen in Brussels, Berlin, Hamburg, ‘The Hague, Leipzig, Munich, Vienna, Breslau, Wiesbaden, Zurich and Dresden, snd in every case was accompanied by Manifestoes, someof which wereavaiable in German, Spanish and Russian by 194, a8 well the original’ French sand Italian, Independent local Manifestoes were aso issued by Futurist ‘groups in Madrid and London, In most of these places, a in London, where the group soon fll par, Jeresin Futuriam as movement was short-lived, but the ifueace ved "The group in London sets te have eed chitin the mints of Maint, ‘evinwon andy bre, Wyodiom Lows. Amoag thos whe hastened to doce merberthip war Frederick Ethals, who later tansated two of Ee Curboiers ook ito Bagh un designed te Bw Modern oc Bock n Landay Crews ford ia Tigh Haltom 136 Discs cries fem regrets aciahare all-over Espen moat ces thin an ie ona at sme eave fe a7 vee