ABSTRACT
The journey of discovery has always been a way for intellectuals to test their ideas. If the grand tour was directed at uncovering the past, two centuries later the journey to the United States was seen as a glimpse into the future. The first, Austrian architect Hans Hollein, discovered unexpected aspects of authentic' life and art in the United States, while the second, French architect Marc Vaye, traveled in search of a counterculture for which he had been well prepared by books and journals. The United States is a laboratory where forms of life have developed which, whether we like it or not, are a reality. Hollein arrived in the United States with a Harkness fellowship in 1958, at the age of 24, and lived in the country for two years. Hilberseimer had become an expert on prefabrication in the United States.
