ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 addresses the elusive nature of defining modern architecture. While the 1920s witnessed a decisive and energizing response to the question, the current era presents difficulties in achieving a unified understanding. The chapter aims to present, examine, and critique some frameworks and concepts that have been employed since the 1920s. It argues that modernism’s world-making capacity is crucial, as it simultaneously offers a panoramic view while maintaining exclusivity in its assertion of what is modern. To explore the foundational issues within this world-making process, three case studies are presented. The first case study focuses on Otto Neurath’s discourse at CIAM IV in 1933, examining appropriate visual languages for communication among modernists. The second case study delves into the relationship between ornamentation and colonial power through the lens of the Crown Law Offices in Nairobi. The third case study involves Angela Ferreira’s “Maison Tropicale”, a reinterpretation of Jean Prouvé’s prefabricated Maisons Tropicales. These case studies provoke alternative and deeply unsettling reflections.
