Factory

by Gillian Darley

Despite its long history, the factory has a particular appeal to modern architects, who have often preferred this building type as "authentic" architecture to the grand public buildings and luxury private dwellings of the contemporary city. Many European architects who looked to America for inspiration in the early 20th century were far more excited by the great factories of Detroit than they were by the monuments of New York and Washington, DC.

This book examines the factory in a number of incarnations; as image, as icon, as innovator and as laboratory. It traces the history of the modern factory from the utopian schemes of Robert Owen or Claude Ledoux in the early 19th century, through the great modernist "cathedrals of industry" of Peter Behrens, Albert Kahn and Frank Lloyd Wright, to the post-industrial revival of former factories, such as Renzo Piano’s reconstruction of the Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin, or the landscaped industrial parks created out of former steel mills in the Ruhr area of Germany.


This is the first book in the "Objekt" series, which will examine a wide range of iconic modern objects across many design fields, including architecture, industrial design, graphics and fashion. The books are not intended as exhaustive histories of their subject, but are written as thematic and discursive essays, keeping in mind the broader cultural meanings of objects or buildings as much as their intended functions in the modern period.

Genres: Architecture, History, Technology

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2004

Reviews

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly interesting yet bland read. It focused almost exclusively on the nature, architecture, and work of factories. There were some passages that were somewhat interesting such as the panopticon developed by Jeremy Bentham. However, the social context was almost completely stripped from the book. Little if any politics made it in and when they did the author downplayed as much as possible. It's really a kind of feat to force oneself to be so objective and devoid of any kind of emotion on a topic. Clearly, what interested the author, was the technological changes that occurred in factories and the architecture of the those factories. I wasn't impressed, but then I don't have a lot of knowledge on the topic. The book follows the rise and fall of the factory going from it's modernist style and horrible environmental impact to almost a post-modern aesthetic where factories are completely clean and hidden away from public view or the shells of old factories have become the refurbished playgrounds for contemporary work, play, and wonder. At the end of the day, this almost read as a eulogy for factories.

[Alexander Van Leadam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent, multiaspect overview of factory architecture, primary from a British perspective, only marred by the relative lack of attention to interior spaces and the summary presentation of recent developments. What actually takes place in a factory and how it has been changing over time deserves a more detailed treatment. Otherwise, architecture remains the empty shell glossy publications, devoid of people and their activities.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historically, very informative. Could have used more visual/spatial analysis of the factory as a building type though. The most enduring point I got from this book was that big, dumb boxes are often more enduring and re-adaptable than a building that is master-planned. Which is obvious I guess.

[Johanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, some good photos and some interesting discussion on factories world wide. Mostly concerned with ideal factories rather than the horrors that were more usual