SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953)
This paper addresses the under-recognized implications of SFMA’s early architectural exhibition program. Conceived under founding director Grace Morley, a series of pioneering events first presented Bay Area architects’ work as interdependent with the region’s rich geographical and cultural context,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universitat Politècnica de València
2019-10-01
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| Series: | VLC Arquitectura |
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| Online Access: | https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/VLC/article/view/10939 |
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| author | José Parra-Martínez John Crosse |
| author_facet | José Parra-Martínez John Crosse |
| author_sort | José Parra-Martínez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper addresses the under-recognized implications of SFMA’s early architectural exhibition program. Conceived under founding director Grace Morley, a series of pioneering events first presented Bay Area architects’ work as interdependent with the region’s rich geographical and cultural context, offering new lens through which Eastern critics prompted to re-evaluate California modernism. Among these shows, the 1949 landmark exhibition Domestic Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Region would epitomize the postwar discussions upon the autonomy of American modern architecture. Correspondingly, by exploring SFMA-MoMA exchanges during Elizabeth Mock’s curatorship, this essay aims to examine the conflict of perceptions and intentions between the country’s two Coasts that brought about the 1949 show as part of a well-orchestrated campaign that had begun years before Lewis Mumford’s 1947 New Yorker piece triggered a controversy over the existence of a “Bay Region Style.” Contrary to prevailing assumptions that this exhibition was a delayed reaction to the 1948 MoMA symposium organized by Philip Johnson to refute Mumford’s arguments, it was the consequence of an effective regionalist agenda whose success was, precisely, that many influential actors in the United States were exposed, indoctrinated and/or seduced by the so-called Bay Region School’s emphasis on social, political and ecological concerns. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f8e343c9982f4a558a162fb90c59a3ce |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2341-3050 2341-2747 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Universitat Politècnica de València |
| record_format | Article |
| series | VLC Arquitectura |
| spelling | doaj-art-f8e343c9982f4a558a162fb90c59a3ce2025-01-02T05:52:42ZengUniversitat Politècnica de ValènciaVLC Arquitectura2341-30502341-27472019-10-016212610.4995/vlc.2019.109397771SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953)José Parra-Martínez0John Crosse1University of AlicanteIndependent ScholarThis paper addresses the under-recognized implications of SFMA’s early architectural exhibition program. Conceived under founding director Grace Morley, a series of pioneering events first presented Bay Area architects’ work as interdependent with the region’s rich geographical and cultural context, offering new lens through which Eastern critics prompted to re-evaluate California modernism. Among these shows, the 1949 landmark exhibition Domestic Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Region would epitomize the postwar discussions upon the autonomy of American modern architecture. Correspondingly, by exploring SFMA-MoMA exchanges during Elizabeth Mock’s curatorship, this essay aims to examine the conflict of perceptions and intentions between the country’s two Coasts that brought about the 1949 show as part of a well-orchestrated campaign that had begun years before Lewis Mumford’s 1947 New Yorker piece triggered a controversy over the existence of a “Bay Region Style.” Contrary to prevailing assumptions that this exhibition was a delayed reaction to the 1948 MoMA symposium organized by Philip Johnson to refute Mumford’s arguments, it was the consequence of an effective regionalist agenda whose success was, precisely, that many influential actors in the United States were exposed, indoctrinated and/or seduced by the so-called Bay Region School’s emphasis on social, political and ecological concerns.https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/VLC/article/view/10939bay region architecturesfma & moma exhibitionsmorley-bauer-mock connectionscalifornia and eastern criticismeast coast-west coast cultural conflicts |
| spellingShingle | José Parra-Martínez John Crosse SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953) VLC Arquitectura bay region architecture sfma & moma exhibitions morley-bauer-mock connections california and eastern criticism east coast-west coast cultural conflicts |
| title | SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953) |
| title_full | SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953) |
| title_fullStr | SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953) |
| title_full_unstemmed | SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953) |
| title_short | SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953) |
| title_sort | sfma moma and the codification of bay region architecture 1935 1953 |
| topic | bay region architecture sfma & moma exhibitions morley-bauer-mock connections california and eastern criticism east coast-west coast cultural conflicts |
| url | https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/VLC/article/view/10939 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joseparramartinez sfmamomaandthecodificationofbayregionarchitecture19351953 AT johncrosse sfmamomaandthecodificationofbayregionarchitecture19351953 |