Abstract
Most architectural histories centre on the rise of modernism in their analysis of interwar Europe. Playing on this, Neal Shasore opens Designs on Democracy with the arrival of German modernist Erich Mendelsohn in London in 1930, and the lively debate that ensued between modernist and traditionalist voices in the local architecture community. Yet, the real story lies elsewhere. Even as this debate unfolded, Shasore argues, London architects with a range of stylistic commitments were busy modernizing their profession and their relationship with the public. More concerned with modernization than modernism, the book joins a growing effort to tell more nuanced stories of twentieth-century architecture, with less emphasis on stylistic questions and more attention to architecture's intersections with economics, politics, and governance.
Interwar London has much untapped potential for this kind of work. Perhaps on account of its stylistic eclecticism, as Shasore notes, the city's architecture of the 1920s and 1930s has gone relatively understudied. Yet London was a locus of profound social change between the wars. Following the First World War, with universal suffrage, soldiers returning home, and the rise of new media, the British capital saw the emergence of a mass democracy. In this context, progressive-minded architects partnered with industry, championed statutory registration requirements, invested in professional organizations, and embraced new ‘public relations’ opportunities with exhibitions, journals, and films. In sum, the discipline made itself more public-facing and publicly accountable in ways that remain central to architects’ professional identity today.
Designs on Democracy tells this story in an introduction and six chapters. Each of the latter is structured around a major theme from London's interwar architecture scene, such as ‘Propaganda’ and ‘Manners’, and each introduces a mix of architects, projects, and institutions around its theme. Evidence, including many engaging illustrations, is drawn from the period's architectural and popular press, exhibition catalogues, and archival materials, including those of professional organizations central to the book's story such as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The richness of the city's architectural culture emerges, chapter by chapter, in layers, and the scale of the artefacts considered ranges from interior installations and buildings to public streets and housing developments.
Shasore is careful to distance himself from the positions adopted by his subjects, writing in the acknowledgements that ‘these are not buildings or personalities with which it has been easy to empathize’ (p. vii). At the same time, one of the pleasures of the book is the depth of consideration given to architects whose work was relatively undramatic or unheroic, but who nevertheless had influence on the discipline's shifting posture. The celebrated modernist Maxwell Fry receives relatively little attention, and Raymond Unwin is considered less for his well-known Garden City advocacy than for his role as president of RIBA, advocating for employment in the building industry amid the global depression of the early 1930s. On the other hand, the lesser-known architect and civil servant Lawrence Weaver receives significant attention. His advocacy for high-quality, architecturally designed displays for consumer goods illustrates the profession's growing engagement with industry and the buying public.
The third chapter, ‘Machine-Craft’, epitomizes the value of Shasore's approach. It follows RIBA's development of its new London headquarters, completed in 1934, from the design competition phase to the Institute's plans for the opening ceremony. This breadth of analysis frames the headquarters as a cultural project undertaken by RIBA, including but larger than the building's stylistic posture, a combination of modern and traditional elements designed by George Grey Wornum. Through the building's representation in the press, Shasore reveals an ambitious professional organization opening up and reaching out in new ways. Examining the building's extensive ornamentation, which might be dismissed in a modernist-oriented reading, the book finds additional insights. It presents the painter Miriam Wornum, George Grey Wornum's wife and overlooked collaborator on the project, to be a significant voice in shaping the building's experience. It also reveals a complex Arts and Crafts sensibility in the steel-framed headquarters, not only in painted decoration and sculpture but also in the craft of integrating electric lighting.
Designs on Democracy invites readers to reflect on contemporary architecture and the discipline's relationship to its public. It argues that the case of interwar London has ‘a real relevance to the ethical conundrums that the modern profession has faced in recent years’, on issues of climate and racial justice for example (p. vii). The book does not draw these connections explicitly, but its methodology suggests a promising avenue for considering the question. One would do well, Shasore implicitly suggests, to study contemporary architecture culture beyond its purest theoretical positions or most conspicuous formal innovations. Instead, the discipline's more popular and public-facing elements, its institutions and policy positions, will say a lot about its priorities. To excavate the workings of a public-facing profession, Designs on Democracy shows, requires engagement with buildings and personalities that may be difficult to empathize with. Yet as architects continue to grapple with questions about who they represent, and who they serve, the stakes are high and there is much to learn.