Visions of modernity: The architectural landscape of the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts, Paris (France)

The 1925 Exposition of Modern Decorative Arts in Paris represents a moment in the history of architecture when the very meaning of “modern architecture” was up for grabs. Two years prior to the Deutscher Werkbund's Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart, Germany, and seven years before Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson coined the term “International Style,” architects in France offered an eclectic assortment of architectural approaches that they considered “modern” on some level. Yet architectural historians like Sigfried Giedion and Hitchcock and Johnson quickly formulated strict definitions of modern architecture that excluded the bulk of architecture that had been created during this period of intense experimentation and creativity.; In this dissertation I examine the architectural landscape of the exposition, comparing the variety of French “modernisms” on offer. The exposition featured what today is called the Art Deco style; I refer to this as modern classicism. This was a stripped-down classicizing style produced largely by Beaux-Arts architects who updated the French classical tradition. The exposition was also a showcase for architectural regionalism, a neo-vernacular style widely used in the rebuilding of France following the First World War. Like modern classicism, it utilized modern building materials and technologies while at the same time maintaining a connection with French traditions. Finally, the exposition included experimental works such as Robert Mallet-Stevens' Pavilion of Tourism and Le Corbusier's Esprit Nouveau pavilion. In contrast to the first two trends, both reflected an awareness of international developments.; Historians have emphasized the differences among these trends, ignoring the concerns shared by architects of all three: the use of reinforced concrete and the development of an aesthetic appropriate to it; the rejection of the pre-war “modern” style of Art Nouveau; the response to the “call to order” prevalent in France after the war; and adherence to Structural Rationalism as the hallmark of the modern. Two of these trends—modern classicism and experimental architecture—shared certain formal concerns such as a geometrical aesthetic and an apparent connection with popular notions of cubism. The 1925 exposition shows us that modern architecture in 1925 was infinitely more complex and varied than it has been remembered.