Session 6: Universalism by Design

Robert Kargon, Johns Hopkins University The Geography of Knowledge: William Pepper, Jr. and the Advancement of Learning in Philadelphia 1870-1900 William Pepper, Jr. MD was the provost of the University of Pennsylvania and brought it and its medical school into the scientific age. Inspired by the successes of South Kensington\u27s Albertopolis and by his role at the 1876 Philadelphia World\u27s Fair, Pepper planned to create a knowledge city in Philadelphia, including advanced research and teaching institutions, laboratories, libraries, and museums. Nader Vossoughian, New York Institute of Technology Internationalism under National Socialism: Architects\u27 Data and the Standardization of Knowledge (1933-1945) The intimate ties between internationalist and pacifist movements in modern European history is fairly well-established. Lesser known, however, is the fact that fascist and imperialist governments have often affiliated themselves with internationalist and globalizing causes as well. Hendrik Christian Andersen appealed to Mussolini in an effort to realize the building of his World Center of Communication. Ernst Neufert appealed to Albert Speer and to Adolf Hitler in order to realize his dream of developing a universal language of design. He joined Speer\u27s architectural office in 1938, he became an advisor to the Organisation Todt in 1942, and he headed DIN\u27s (the German Institute for Standardization\u27s) Construction Standards Committee between 1944 and 1945. Arguably, Neufert is best remembered today for authoring Architects\u27 Data (Bauentwurfslehre). After eighty years, it is still the most influential standards handbook in the world. In this presentation, I document the genesis and evolution of this important publication. I concentrate on the graphic design and conceptual aims of the first edition. (I use it to explore the links between imperialism, modernism, and internationalism.) I historicize its 1943 and 1944 editions. (I show that these help flesh out Neufert\u27s utopian aims and aspirations.) I narrate Neufert\u27s stewardship of DIN\u27s Construction Standards Committee. (This is in order to underline the links between internationalism, imperialism, and standardization.) I discuss the important role that standards continue to play in the organization of knowledge today. (I argue that we still need to historicize what some are calling the Internet of things.

Session 6: Universalism by Design

Robert Kargon, Johns Hopkins University The Geography of Knowledge: William Pepper, Jr. and the Advancement of Learning in Philadelphia 1870-1900 William Pepper, Jr. MD was the provost of the University of Pennsylvania and brought it and its medical school into the scientific age. Inspired by the successes of South Kensington\u27s Albertopolis and by his role at the 1876 Philadelphia World\u27s Fair, Pepper planned to create a knowledge city in Philadelphia, including advanced research and teaching institutions, laboratories, libraries, and museums. Nader Vossoughian, New York Institute of Technology Internationalism under National Socialism: Architects\u27 Data and the Standardization of Knowledge (1933-1945) The intimate ties between internationalist and pacifist movements in modern European history is fairly well-established. Lesser known, however, is the fact that fascist and imperialist governments have often affiliated themselves with internationalist and globalizing causes as well. Hendrik Christian Andersen appealed to Mussolini in an effort to realize the building of his World Center of Communication. Ernst Neufert appealed to Albert Speer and to Adolf Hitler in order to realize his dream of developing a universal language of design. He joined Speer\u27s architectural office in 1938, he became an advisor to the Organisation Todt in 1942, and he headed DIN\u27s (the German Institute for Standardization\u27s) Construction Standards Committee between 1944 and 1945. Arguably, Neufert is best remembered today for authoring Architects\u27 Data (Bauentwurfslehre). After eighty years, it is still the most influential standards handbook in the world. In this presentation, I document the genesis and evolution of this important publication. I concentrate on the graphic design and conceptual aims of the first edition. (I use it to explore the links between imperialism, modernism, and internationalism.) I historicize its 1943 and 1944 editions. (I show that these help flesh out Neufert\u27s utopian aims and aspirations.) I narrate Neufert\u27s stewardship of DIN\u27s Construction Standards Committee. (This is in order to underline the links between internationalism, imperialism, and standardization.) I discuss the important role that standards continue to play in the organization of knowledge today. (I argue that we still need to historicize what some are calling the Internet of things.

From the Guest Editors

From the Special Issue: Eco-Cities in Pan-Asia: International Discourses, Local Practices

World's fairs on the eve of war: science, technology and modernity, 1937-1942

Since the first world’s fair in London in 1851, at the dawn of the era of industrialization, international expositions served as ideal platforms for rival nations to showcase their advancements in design, architecture, science and technology, industry, and politics. Before the outbreak of World War II, countries competing for leadership on the world stage waged a different kind of war--with cultural achievements and propaganda--appealing to their own national strengths and versions of modernity in the struggle for power. Most of the existing literature about world’s fairs tends to focus either on one particular event, or only on fairs in the US. Modernity on Display takes a novel approach by studying five fairs and expositions from across the globe, and before the Second World War--including three that took place (Paris, 1937; Dusseldorf, 1937; and New York, 1939), and two that were in development before the war began (Tokyo, 1940; and Rome, 1942). It is one of the first books to consider representations of science and technology at world’s fairs as influential cultural forces, and at a critical moment in history, when tensions and ideological divisions between political regimes would soon lead to war