Obsolescence
An Architectural History
In our architectural pursuits, we often seem to be in search of something newer, grander, or more efficient – and this phenomenon is not novel. In the spring of 1910 hundreds of workers labored day and night to demolish the Gillender Building in New York, once the loftiest office tower in the world, in order to make way for a taller skyscraper".The New York Times" puzzled over those who would sacrifice the thirteen-year-old structure, "as ruthlessly as though it were some ancient shack". In New York alone, the Gillender joined the original Grand Central Terminal, the Plaza Hotel, the Western Union Building, and the Tower Building on the list of just one generation's razed metropolitan monuments. In the innovative and wide-ranging Obsolescence, Daniel M. Abramson investigates this notion of architectural expendability and the logic by which buildings lose their value and utility. The idea that the new necessarily outperforms and makes superfluous the old, Abramson argues, helps people come to terms with modernity and capitalism's fast-paced change".Obsolescence", then, gives an unsettling experience purpose and meaning. Belief in obsolescence, as Abramson shows, also profoundly affects architectural design. In the 1960s, many architects worldwide accepted the inevitability of obsolescence, experimenting with flexible, modular designs, from open-plan schools, offices, labs, and museums to vast megastructural frames and indeterminate building complexes. Some architects went so far as to embrace obsolescence's liberating promise to cast aside convention and habit, envisioning expendable short-life buildings that embodied human choice and freedom. Others, we learn, were horrified by the implications of this ephemerality and waste, and their resistance eventually set the stage for our turn to sustainability – the conservation rather than disposal of resources. Abramson's fascinating tour of our idea of obsolescence culminates in an assessment of recent manifestations of sustainability, from adaptive reuse and historic preservation to postmodernism and green design, which all struggle to comprehend and manage the changes that challenge us on all sides.
About the Author
Daniel M. Abramson is associate professor of art history and director of architectural studies at Tufts University. He is the author of "Building the Bank of England: Money, Architecture, Society, 1694-1942" and "Skyscraper Rivals: The AIG Building and the Architecture of Wall Street".
Reviews
"If obsolescence has been a major topic in consumerism and real estate for over a century, Abramson shows its centrality to the history of modern architecture. His saga moves with grace and precision over an extraordinary terrain, from the surprisingly short life-spans of most early skyscrapers in New York and Chicago to the pseudo-scientific rhetoric about new commercial development in the 1920s, then the transatlantic phenomenon of urban renewal after WWII (in capitalist and socialist countries), on to the global phenomena of megastructures, visionary design, environmentalism, and historic preservation in the 1960s. He concludes by asking how this history can give us new insights about the issues of unpredictability, sustainability, and differences in human perceptions that have become central to contemporary architecture. This brilliantly conceived, inspiring and eloquent book will surely enjoy a long life" – Gwendolyn Wright, author of "Building the Dream and host of PBS's History Detectives"
"It's impossible to resist declaring 'Obsolescence' timely; nevertheless, it's impossible to deny. Abramson's riveting architectural history of obsolescence moves seamlessly from NABOM to Nabokov. Claiming a longstanding tension between 'obsolescence' and 'sustainability', he situates both terms within a richly detailed tableau that includes tax code information, close readings of buildings, cultural and economic theory, and texts that range from the late-nineteenth century to the most current architectural writing. Abramson masterfully composes a delightfully taut history across this breadth. 'Obsolescence' will appeal to anyone who takes the time to pause and think about the built environment" – Sarah Whiting, dean, Rice School of Architecture
"An excellent book. Innovative, penetrating, and compelling. Abramson probes an underlying idea we think we know quite well to weave a much more complicated tale about its ascendance, critique, and adaptations" – Randall F. Mason, author of "The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City"
