Tower and Slab: Histories of Global Mass Housing

Description

Front Cover; Tower and Slab; Copyright Page; Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface by Mark Jarzombek; Introduction; Mass housing-between glory and shame; Continuous principles: paternalism and standardization; Seven historical narratives; Chapter 1: Social Reform, State Control, and the Origins of Mass Housing; Housing and the social question; The origins of industrialized construction; The modernist movement in the interwar period: the first mass housing developments in Germany, France, and England; The post-war era: mass housing goes global; Chapter 2: Mass Housing in Chicago.;Few urban forms have roused as much controversy as the modernist tower block. While on the surface the style appears universal, it is in fact as diverse in its significance and connotations as its many different cultural contexts. The comparison of the projects suggests that success does not depend on a single variable but rather on a complex formula that includes not only form, but also social composition, location, maintenance, and a variety of cultural, social, and political factors. Florian Urban looks at case studies from around the world, including: Chicago, Paris, East and West Berlin.