WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
At the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place

Jean-Louis Cohen will present his book, Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War, published by Editions Hazan.

This fascinating book offers a new perspective on the architectural history of the Second World War, which in previous accounts has most often been viewed as a hiatus between peaceful periods of production. Jean-Louis Cohen contends instead that during the years between the bombings of Guernica in 1937 and of Hiroshima in 1945, specific advances were fundamental to the process of modernization and led to the definitive supremacy of modernism in architecture.

Centering the discussion on ten main themes, the author investigates various aspects of architecture's mobilization in the war years, as well as the trajectories of individual architects. He analyzes architectural developments worldwide and takes into account each of the major participants in the war, including the United States, Japan, Great Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and the Soviet Union. The book not only focuses on plans, buildings, and technological inventions but also examines the many types of visual representation used for war purposes, enhanced by a rich array of more than 300 illustrations.

Jean-Louis Cohen holds the Sheldon H. Solow Chair for the History of Architecture at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. His research activity has focused on the German and Soviet architectural avant-gardes, on colonial situations in North Africa, on Paris planning history, and on Le Corbusier's work. His recent publications include: Architecture in Uniform (Paris, 2011), The Future of Architecture Since 1889 (London, 2012), and Le Corbusier: an Atlas of Modern Landscapes (2013). He has curated numerous exhibitions, including the centennial show “L'aventure Le Corbusier” (1987), at the Centre Georges Pompidou; “Scenes of the World to Come,” and “Architecture in Uniform,” both at the Canadian Center for Architecture (1995 and 2011); “Interférences / Interferenzen – Architecture, Allemagne, France”, at the Musées de Strasbourg (2013); “The Lost Vanguard” and “Le Corbusier: an Atlas of Modern Landscapes,” both at the Museum of Modern Art (2007 and 2013).

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