Space House," Architectural. Record ... "fundam clIl',l l c1cnOlllinator" of alllhrce led tu "biolcc h- ...... ria ls: "to create slleh all X-ray paillting of space. lllateriac allli.
1. .. Detail of knot," from "The Space House," Architectural Record. Jan uary 1934
William W. Braham What's Hecuba To Him? On Kiesler and the Knot
Vi. Apea The misery of IIlan lies. , , in hi s in,lbi litv to construct Clll ything th;lt hd' 1I0t beell expe ri cm:r;:d hy his illidgillation. li e is utterly caughl in Ihe nei' of his imagin ation. :--J aime holds him ns a hostage. Ifh e could break lhrollgll this Ilet - he would be free. Rut man tra vels tlt e Apcal\ way. It is his desliny to apc. AI best, to ape himself. To rea li;!;c his own I'isions mec hanicall y.
\Villi nlll '0/. Hra ham is an as.li.l ta nt professo r in the DepartrIH': 1I 1uf Arch ilectllre, Uni vcr.si t>, of Penllsylvania .
Frederick Ki eslerl
/\.~se mhlage
Frederi ck Ki esler was a m erc Ll ri,i\ arc hit eel, who li ke oUlc r ea rl y e migres - Ri c hard NC lItra , Ric ha rd Schindl er, and \Io,/illia l11 Lesca7.e - tra ve led to Alllerica carrying th e messages of the Europea n aV:J IlI-g,lfd e. He traveled as well between groups, and especia ll y behveen disc ipline;, shuttlin g fro m arc hitecture to th e fine arts, and working co ncurrelltly in procill ct, fllrniture, di ;play, 1ll. eontill uo us cons trllction . rillill o f 1)(1(1),-1110tioll witll)1 1 e l l{" oIII P:l S~('(1 Sp.ICl·." II hicl l lie (::llled
:I
"p rop r io-~pa t i:l l
elYI);ll llic. " I~ I,'rolll
thl' de(:or:l ted alld lJ 1I :llity-ladcll ~lIrfa ec to thc i'l tllitio1l of spact' II) the propr i o-~p;l t i al (IYl1;lI l1ic, Ihe sc:m 'h for :1I1 Ihl'lltieily was d i ~plaeed frolll olle fea l ure 10 oilier. morc :Ih~ t r:lcl q lla l i t i(:~. bll t Ihc fixa tioll re ltl:li nl"(1 the sa mc. Sdtll1;lI'.\ o\l 111 1lkr~ I (J(Jd
tl, :11 I ,i~ p ro pos itio1l ~ lI ccl'(;deci preci,cly by " di ~rc
ga rd ing, .. its t'l1 tire 'e.\ ('c n tio n in dur:lblc.: m aterial." T hc l'(lIll'l'p t of ~ 1J
5. "The fishoet may be drawn to cover the window entirely o~ translucent fabric at left can be used to give privacy"
Ki es ler rurth e r develo ped these gra phi c lae lics ill hi ~ "Design CorrcLlt ioll " se rics, the re introd llc ing lite remi te construction e\'cn lu;I[[> comes ap;1T1 ,It its joints. "the Space-House tries 10 build in onc rather than tl\O or 1110re mat erials. It aims to Tepl;iee congloll1e rat ion with IIni foTilli ly. 1\ roof eomi~t il1 g o f o nly o ne maleri.. 1 i ~ thc ultill1ate goal. ";(, In other wonk th e attcn tion to con tinuity lI'ell preceded the th eor i zi n ~ of correalislI1. whic h. des pi tc clai ms that hc origin,l ted the concept ill 1930, was 011 I}' fully arti culated a ft c r 1936. 1The Architectural /{ecoul article of 1939. ··On CorrcalislI1 alld Biotechlliqllc." II~ '~ tile first II idely (Iislribl lted pt lbl ication of eorrea lis111 ;1 ml it re nects th e steady 111atura liol1 or the eomTpl :Iml its explo r:ltion lI"i th Kiesle r's stlldetlts at COllllllhi,1. II is (lcfi nition of the ter111 is Sll eei nct: "the te rm 'Correal i~nl' c"prc s~cs the dyna lll ics of COil ti1111:1 1 iII l1.:r:letion be tween 11);111 ilnd Il is natmal aml 1t'dlllologic:d cllviron me n ts."" Thi s definition drew OIl the CI'oll1tiOlwry vic\\' of tools ami soci ety developed b} the ~ocio l og i s t /p la nnc r Patrick Geddes il iid applied by Lcwis l\ lulll fonl ill Ilis ', echnics (/I,d Ciltifi;:Cltioll of 19H. Aspccts of Kie... ler\ prel'iom work , parli eilla rly the " f\ lorpl lOlog)-C hart of Art"ili tl·ct tlrC" p resented in th e 1101111(/ (HId I-jonl art icle. show a kimh ip wi th the nin('- alld thirty-s ix-s(lllare ··thinking nwcl lillo"
18
Braham
10. "Man ~ Heredity + Environment. M = Man, H = Human Environment, N '" Natu ra l Environment, T '" Techn ologica l Environment," diagram from "On Correat ism and Biote ch nique," Archite ctu ral Record, September 1939
luxur ies of on e generation becUine the needs of th e next and
so drive the progressive adva nce of inn ovation a nd offashion. Thi s well exceeds the sITucru ral argu men t of contin lli ty, pointillg to th e "cndless" eOllstruction of human identity and its mirrori ng in archi tec tural constructi ons.
prepared by G eddcs .") \Vi th hi s t;dent For grapll ic meal/ S, Ihe charts and diagrams in "On Correa l ism" ach ieve 01 paIl"i cular elega l1ce. Ki esler summarized the three relationships of correa lity in a tripartite diagwllI illustTating th e intcrckpenci el1cc of naturc, the I'ec hn ologica l world, and the world of hUJllan habits and cllstoms . J Ie sIIhmlll cd all 1ll;lllncr of lools and mach ines under th e con ce pt· of technological environmcnt, From "shirts to sh clter," and traced the ir Illtltualtr' produced by scientific adVTidge. \ l,'~s,: ' I IItiliu ll " 11947). in S'Urrealisl,' Oil Art, ed. Lucy R. Lippard (l',ng lew,,{)(1 Cl iffs. .J.: Prenti ce-Hall , 1970). lS I- 53 , S~e Dal ibor Vese ly. "Su rrealis m, .1ylh and Vlode rnll )'." Architectural Design I'rofiles I I . SUlTealisl11 alld Architecture ( 1978): 87-95 .
46.
23
Fi gure Credits I . >- '1. Archilecl/lral Hecflrd (j mlliary 1934).
2. Co l'lfri ccl Semp er, /)el' Slit ilt dell techl1;schell IlIld Idl.() lli.,c/,ell Ki-i nsf"el1 {I'" rnll kfllrl"4111l f\/luill : Verlag flir Kunsl " "ci \\.'i 1,ICII>e I",ft. 18CiO}.
10- 12, ;\ rchileci llwl necurd (Scptc l1 lbcr 1')3
