Universalism and Its Discontents: Konrad Wachsmann's 20th Century Architecture

In 1941, German architect Konrad Wachsmann (1901–1980) emigrated to the U.S. to escape the Second World War. Erstwhile a trained cabinetmaker, the chief architect of one of the largest prefabricated construction companies in Europe, and a private practitioner, Wachsmann brought a particular line of prefabricated timber construction knowledge to the U.S., which he utilized in the development of military technologies as well as for the development of an ambitious prefabricated kit-of-parts house known as the Packaged House (1941-47), developed in collaboration with Walter Gropius (1883–1969). Later, he transferred to academia and developed an algorithmic teaching system, which he employed in his teaching posts in the U.S. and his state-sponsored workshops around the world. With two novel architectural research institutes, which he supported with military and government commissions that became the subject of design inquiry at these programs, Wachsmann envisioned a transformation of architectural education within the university system and the larger order of society. Through Wachsmann's post-emigration oeuvre, covering his projects, collaborations, and pedagogy, this dissertation delves into the post-war transatlantic exchange of architectural and intellectual capital and the influence of production technologies and cybernetics on architectural imagination and theory.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture and Design Research

Department dc:contributor.department

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Isbilen, Ezgi

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Emmons, Paul F.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Foote, Jonathan D.
• Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C.
• Feuerstein, Marcia F.

• Architecture
• Konrad Wachsmann
• Packaged House
• Architectural Education
• Building Research

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:37695

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115564