CARCHITECTURE
1
CARCHITECTURE HOUSES WITH HORSEPOWER
Thijs Demeulemeester Thomas De Bruyne Bert Voet
“If houses were built industrially, mass-produced like chassis, an aesthetic would be formed with surprising precision.� Le Corbusier, architect
CHAPTERS Classical Gas 7 Brutal Power 19 Contemporary Carchitecture 51 European Modernism 111 Space Rage 125 Case Study Cars 145
ESSAYS Art Deco: the search for the perfect machine 16 Why Le Corbusier might better have been called Le Carbusier 46 Why Saab was the architect’s car par excellence 106 The car as the architect’s autopia 136 How the car became Frank Lloyd Wright’s ultimate muse 182
5
“A car is not a horse, and it doesn’t need a barn.” Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
CLASSICAL GAS
7
570
FERRARI 458 ITALIA ARCHITECTURE What’s that Ferrari doing at La Venaria Reale, Turin’s seventeenth-century Versailles? It’s simple, really. Turin is inextricably linked to the automobile industry. It is where Fiat started production in 1899 and where Pininfarina was founded in 1930. In the 1920s, Giovanni Agnelli built the famous Lingotto factory, whose rooftop test track became immortal thanks to the film The Italian Job. The rest is history. CAR When designing the Ferrari 458 Italia, Pininfarina took aerodynamic efficiency as its main criterion, resulting in a down force of 300 pounds at 120 mph. That the mighty V8 engine was on view under a transparent pane wasn’t new, but with this car Ferrari made a huge leap forward compared to its predecessor, the 430. The 458 Italia is a brilliant, razor-sharp, and comfortable driver’s car. The best ever, better than an F40, Jeremy Clarkson said. With 570 HP, an acceleration of zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, and a top speed of 195 mph, this “basic” model beat that super sports car from 30 years earlier in the figures too. The comparison may not be entirely fair. Nevertheless: they are getting more and more powerful, faster and faster, and better and better, and one wonders where it will end.
CLASSICAL GAS
9
FX4 ARCHITECTURE The Castle of Leeuwergem near the Belgian town of Zottegem was designed in 1762 after the classical French model. That is why the collection of London taxis belonging to one of the castle’s inhabitants comes across as rather out of place. The private park was inspired in part by Versailles and in part by English gardens. CAR It doesn’t get more British than this. The so-called FX4 was used as a taxi in London from 1958 to 1997 and is known for its super-short turning radius of 24 feet (7.6 meters). The car underwent many modifications over the years, but its appearance remained almost identical. The design was the result of a collaboration with Austin Motor Company, taxi dealer Mann & Overton, and Carbodies. It was sold by Austin until 1982, when Carbodies, which had previously produced it, took over the rights. In 1984, Carbodies became part of London Taxis International. Diesel and gasoline engines from Austin, Land Rover and Nissan were used. Here we can see a rare specimen from 1976 without a taxi sign. They were built in small numbers as limousines under the type designation FL2. This metallic-blue specimen for British Airways served, according to the current owner, as transportation to Heathrow Airport for passengers who flew with the Concorde. The leather seats are as comfortable as a Rolls-Royce. Instead of the usual luggage area, there is a seat next to the driver for the steward who was picking up the customer. The luggage was transported in another car.
1958 CLASSICAL GAS
11
LOUIS XI Daimler DS 420 ARCHITECTURE Twelve miles south of Angoulême, in the French department of Charente, stands the Château de Puygaty, an impressive fifteenth-century fortified manor. Although the date is not quite certain, it is said to have been built around 1465 under Louis XI. The domain was originally completely walled-in with a round tower on each corner. Only the east tower and a few monumental fireplaces still date from medieval times, because the manor was renovated in the seventeenth century. The most recent owners are a couple from Miami, who sold their villa and threw themselves into this meticulous restoration project in rural France, with due respect for the property’s original “bodywork”, which has been a listed monument since 1987. Isn’t it about time that certain classic cars could receive that title too? CAR The Daimler DS 420 is known as the Queen Mum’s Car. The photographs from 1970 in which she admires her first ordered model with glistening eyes in the Vanden Plas-owned factory Kingsbury Works in London are world famous. After Vanden Plas closed down in 1979, the limousine was finished in Browns Lane, the Jaguar factory in Coventry. Nearby, Park Sheet Metal took care of the basic assembly of chassis and body. The DS 420 was Daimler’s last flagship as a car brand. The car was custom made, and there was absolutely no limit as to what was possible. Billionaire Howard Hughes reportedly ordered one with a toilet under the back seat. Production ran from 1968 to 1992. Three of the last four cars to be produced were destined for Buckingham Palace, including one for the Queen Mum, her fifth. The DS 420 was or still is in use by the Danish and Swedish royal families and by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Some 900 cars were built as hearses. The most famous one became Princess Diana’s last means of transportation at her funeral on September 6, 1997.
I
CLASSICAL GAS
13
BMW 502 ARCHITECTURE Like Notting Hill, Hampstead is a posh area of London that lent its name to a feature film in 2017. What’s more, the film Notting Hill was partly shot in Hampstead, because it is home to such an interesting cluster of nineteenth-century buildings in the Georgian style. The area also has a literary history. The poet John Keats lived at Wentworth Place from 1818 to 1820, but strangely enough, Keats’s house wasn’t used as a film location for Bright Star, Jane Campion’s film about his love life. The picturesque streets around the beautiful park Hampstead Heath —where this Georgian house was photographed— are mainly home to wealthy intellectuals looking for some peace and quiet in North London. To be honest, the narrow, cobbled roads are better suited for walks than for a road trip. Nevertheless, it is only when in a beautiful classic car that the area really has a cinematic feel. CAR Introduced in 1952, the 501 was the first post-war BMW. After the board members had seen Peter Schimanowski’s prototype, they decided to team up with Pininfarina. But when their design was too similar to that of the Alfa Romeo 1900, the Germans went back to Schimanowski’s work. The result was an extravagantly designed luxury sedan. Two years later, the quasi-identical 502 with V8 engine, which we and, above all, see here, came on the market. It was more luxurious and above all much faster. But it was also very expensive, which meant that it was very rare. The 501 and 502 were called “Baroque Angels,” and are in essence the ancestors of the 7 series. Baur and Autenrieth also built coupe and convertible versions to order.
1952 CLASSICAL GAS
15
Art Deco: the search for the perfect machine The key period during which architecture and car
pressive accessory. Aesthetics dominated mechanics, as
design influenced each other the most? Undoubtedly
a result of which the car evolved from a functional ev-
it was the Art Deco period. However, the common term
eryday object into a status symbol. Arthur Drexler called
“Art Deco Cars” is rather unfortunate. Strictly speaking,
that category of cars “rolling sculptures”. As the curator
“Art Deco” is a term that originated on the occasion of
of architecture at The Museum of Modern Art in New
the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and
York City, he organized the first exhibition on cars in 1951.
Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925. Typical features includ-
He was widely criticized for his decision, because, critics
ed geometric patterns and luxurious materials, rang-
said, Art Deco Cars didn’t belong among paintings by
ing from chrome to marble, from ivory to exotic wood.
Picasso and Matisse. However, history ultimately proved
This style seeped through to design, everyday objects,
him right: cars have become collector’s items, including
furniture, jewelry, fashion, and graphic design. But that
for museums.
aesthetic is also to be found in cars, trains, motorcycles, airplanes, and ocean liners. And, of course, in architec-
The key period of the Art Deco Cars was the Chicago
ture. The most famous Art Deco building is perhaps the
World’s Fair in 1933–34. Several carmakers presented cars
inimitable Chrysler Building in New York, built in 1930,
in the Streamline Moderne style to the general public. In-
and not coincidentally linked to the automotive industry.
stant classics were the Cadillac V-16 Aero-Dynamic Coupe, the Studebaker Land Cruiser (1934), the Chrysler Airflow
In the 1930s, the opulent Art Deco evolved to a more cor-
(1934), the Pontiac Silver Streak (1935), the De Soto Airflow
porate style without too many frills: Streamline Moderne
(1936), and the Cord 810 Phaeton (1935). In Europe, too,
or Style paquebot. The emphasis was more on stream-
carmakers experimented with cars in the Style paquebot.
lined designs than on geometry. Call it “the search for the
That generated voluptuous designs by, amongst others,
perfect machine”: in both Europe and the United States,
Delahaye, Delage, Talbot-Lago, Voisin, Hispano-Suiza,
carmakers and coachbuilders were under the spell of the
and, of course, Bugatti. As was customary at the time,
“smooth curves” and graceful symmetry that typify the
the bodies were often the work of coachbuilders such
style. Their creations exude the belief in progress charac-
as Chapron, Figoni et Falaschi, Gangloff, Vanvooren,
teristic of the Machine Age. At the same time, they bear
Labourdette, Letourneur et Marchand, and Saoutchik.
witness to the obsession at the time with speed and aerodynamics. Yet collectors and museums prefer to call the
Specific examples are the Peugeot 402 Darl’mat Coupe
cars from that period “Art Deco Cars” rather than simply
and the Voisin C27 Aerosport Coupe (1934). Unlike the
“Streamline Moderne Cars”.
other French coachbuilders, Gabriel Voisin did not revert to soft, feminine curves. He was mainly inspired
Art Deco cars are also an important turning point in the
by aviation–his original métier–and by architecture,
history of the automobile for another reason. Previous-
which resulted in unique geometric and sharp designs,
ly, the car’s design was subordinate to its function: a car
both on the exterior and in the interior. This one-off is
was a mechanical assembly of parts, which ideally was
in Peter Mullin’s museum in Oxnard, California, the
meant to reach as large a target group as possible. From
most beautiful in the world when it comes to French
1908 onwards, Ford turned the car into a readily available
Art Deco cars. They are set in the movement’s wider ar-
means of transportation that could be produced cheaply
tistic environment, including sculptures and paintings.
and quickly. In the late 1920s, the car evolved into an ex-
“An architect’s dream”, says Mullin about that Voisin.
Europeans travel there specifically to see it for their
Carmakers and coachbuilders also jumped on the Art
own eyes. The museum is also where you’ll find the
Deco bandwagon outside of France. An illustrious
C27 Grand Sport Convertible (1934), originally ordered
example is the jet-black Rolls-Royce Phantom I Jonck-
by the Shah of Persia. The Mullin Automotive Muse-
heere Coupe. Originally built as an ordinary Phantom
um has many high-flyers, such as the Delahaye Type
I, the first owner cancelled the order before it was even
135M (1937) with coachwork by the Paris workshop of
delivered. During the next ten years of its existence, the
Figoni et Falaschi. They also designed what to many
car regularly changed owners, as if it were an unwant-
is the most beautiful car ever: the Talbot-Lago T150-C
ed child. In 1935, it received its breathtaking coachwork
SS (1937). It was inspired by the most aerodynamic of
by Belgian company Jonckheere. The round doors
all forms: that of a drop of water. It was built in a very
made it world-famous. Shortly afterwards, it won the
small edition, for people who had no need to inquire
Prix d’Honneur at the Concours d’élégance in Cannes
about the price. In 2017, one was auctioned by RM So-
in 1936. It may have been built for this purpose as well:
theby’s for $3,500,000 (€3,360,000)—and it had a new
driving it on the road is highly impractical. We don’t
bodywork built in 2000. Anyone who contemplates such
know who ordered the bodywork or who designed
a beauty and is more concerned with art than with cars
it: the related archives were destroyed in a fire at
might wonder whether the engine is still relevant here.
Jonckheere in the late 1930s. The car was then shipped
It certainly is. Such visual expression also deserves sub-
to the US, where it had numerous owners before tem-
cutaneous, mechanical beauty. Finally, the Italian poet
porarily ending up in a junkyard. Later, it was painted
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti had already written in 1909
white, then painted gold, before being used as a fair-
in his “Manifesto of Futurism”: “We declare that the
ground attraction, before once more being neglected
splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beau-
and forgotten. In 2001, a Japanese collector sold it to
ty: the beauty of speed.” In the “Goutte d’Eau”, as this
the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, one
Talbot-Lago is called, an air-cooled four-liter, six-cyl-
of the most important car museums in the US. Having
inder engine produced about 140 HP and a maximum
been fully restored, it is now the museum’s showpiece.
speed of about 80 mph (130 kph).
Among other awards, it won the Lucius Beebe Trophy for best Rolls-Royce at the Pebble Beach competition.
The experimental Bugatti Type 57 Aerolithe (1935) led
And yet, the car is controversial among classic Rolls-
to the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic (1936), four of which
Royce followers, who don't always see sufficient ele-
were built —one of which has not been traceable for
gance in it. It may be streamlined, but it also measures
more than 80 years. In addition to Ralph Lauren, the
nearly twenty feet (six meters) and is downright mas-
Mullin Automotive Museum also owns one, albeit to-
sive. Rolls-Royce also paid homage to the Art Deco pe-
gether with former Walmart chairman Rob Walton. It is
riod in 2012, although the homage was limited to a sub-
said that he bought the car for $40 million in 2010, mak-
dued game of colors and details on and in the existing
ing it the most expensive car in the world at the time. In
Ghost and Phantom. The voluptuous coachwork forms
2011 the “Mona Lisa for car collectors” won the Penin-
have not returned as yet. Now that we are entering a
sula Classics Best of the Best Award in Paris, where the
new ’20s, perhaps a real revival awaits us.
winners of the world’s eight most prestigious concours d’élégance are pitted against each other.
17
“It is not understood that housing is constructed in two years and the automobile in two hours.” Jean Prouvé, architect
BRUTAL POWER
19
Porsche 924 ARCHITECTURE Raw horsepower emanates from Juliaan Lampens’ Villa Van Wassenhove in Sint-Martens-Latem. Dating from 1970–74, the private house was designed for a teacher who was a bachelor. Rough-cast concrete, wood, and glass: that’s all that the Belgian architect needed to make quite a statement. Call it a radical residential sculpture, a Brutalist cave, in which all the spaces merge smoothly. You sleep in an open, three-foot-high wooden cylinder—privacy is so passé—and you eat at a floating concrete table with basic wooden stools. Lampens may have been indebted to Le Corbusier, but he constructed his own idiosyncratic masterpiece. CAR The Porsche 924 was commissioned by Volkswagen, which initially meant to include it in its range of models, but reneged on its decision because of the oil crisis. Porsche believed in the 924 as a cheaper alternative to the 911. However, production was entrusted to Volkswagen. But the four-seater sports car with a front-mounted, water-cooled, four-cylinder engine by Audi went down poorly with both press and Porsche purists. It did bring in many new customers, however. Between 1975 and 1988, about 150,000 units were produced, delivering a boost to turnover that Porsche desperately needed at the time. Like the earlier 914, the 924 was vilified for a long time, but it is now gradually being appreciated, especially the Turbo, the Carrera GT, and the later 924S with Porsche engine. With its almost ideal weight distribution of 48/52, it is in itself a great drive.
4
48/52
BRUTAL POWER
21
1978
Saab 900 ARCHITECTURE The Saab 900 was launched in 1978, and the foundation stone of the Ismaili Centre in London was laid in 1979. Neither the car nor the building were exactly widely acclaimed when they were revealed to the world. Designed by the architects’ collective Casson Conder Partnership for the Ismaili Muslims, the center had to blend in with the nearby Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and other classical English façades in the South Kensington residential area. An almost impossible demand, which in 1982 earned the building the very first Sir Hugh Casson Award: the prize for the worst new building of the year, awarded by the satirical magazine Private Eye. CAR In its 65 years of existence as a car builder, the idiosyncratic Saab didn’t make all that many models, but the ones they did have left quite a lasting impression. The Saab 900 Classic was produced from 1978 to 1993–and the convertible a year longer. Production was expensive and barely profitable, but the car grew into an icon of style, smart design, and durability. About 900,000 cars were built. The 900 Turbo was a handy five-seat sedan with the performance of a sports car and a wonderful turbo boost. A car for individualists. Very Swedish and very distinct.
BRUTAL POWER
23
W123 Mercedes E-Class
ARCHITECTURE Organic like the hilly surroundings, rough like the weather: in Alacar, Portugal, Vitor Vilhena designed a contemporary house that is perfectly suited to its environment. The house resembles a boomerang embracing the landscape. On the outside, rough concrete predominates, while inside, the spaces are bathed in a sea of white. Vilhena interpreted the holiday home as a primeval hut, under which man and car seek shelter. CAR Mercedes-Benz is even more impressive than Saab when it comes to astronomical mileage. And certainly the indestructible W123. Almost 2.7 million units of the grandfather of the E-Class were built between 1976 and 1985 as a sedan, estate car, coupÊ, and limousine. At the time, it was the smallest Mercedes. A workhorse from the higher classes, and a trusted taxi. When it was launched, it was so popular that there were waiting times of more than two years and some paid a premium on top of the purchase price. The diesels were exasperatingly slow, but so good that some people who bought new ones at the time are still driving them. A car that will last a lifetime? It’s possible with a W123, provided it receives the necessary care. And maybe it can even last another generation after that, because as a vintage car, the model also has a great appeal for young people.
BRUTAL POWER
25