THE ARCHITECTURAL FORUM
PLUS 3 Designed by Herbert Matter: May 1939
George Nelson [Associate Editor]
George Nelson [Associate Editor]: THE ARCHITECTURAL FORUM. Philadelphia: Time, Inc. May 1939 [Volume 70, number 5]. Folio. Wire spiral binding. Thick printed wrappers. 140 pp. Text and advertisements. Gray wrappers lightly soiled. Interior bright, white and tight, thus a nearly fine copy.
8.75 x 11.75 spiral-bound magazine with 140 pages of editorial content showcasing the Architectural and Industrial Design of the American Streamline Moderne Machine Age aesthetic. There are also an excellent assortment of vintage trade advertisements that espouse the depression moderne streamline aesthetic quite nicely. You have been warned.
Bound-in [as issued]: Wallace K. Harrison, William Lescaze, William Muschenheim, Stamo Papadaki, James Johnson Sweeney [Editors], Herbert Matter [Typography and Layout]: PLUS 3: ORIENTATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE. NYC: Architectural Forum/ Time Inc., May 1939. 16 pp. bound-in profusely illustrated with two-color printing throughout.
PLUS 3 Contents
- Upon Beautiful Form by Ozenfant
- Nature And The Engineer - Two engineers; the hen and Mr. Freyssinet, (Hangar of Orly)
- The Engineer and Artist - The work of the potter and of the engineer is often beautiful because neither is free: technical necessities restrict their liberty. Fortunately the abuse of liberty leads to anarchy of "forms," consequently to anarchy in the work itself.
- The Egg-Theme In Art: Example Of A Generative Theme Form- Mural Painting by Ozenfant or "Find The Eggs."
- Sunila; Factory and Community by Alvar & Aino Aalto
- Rebbio: A Stellite Town for Industrial Workers by A. Sartoris & G.Terragni
- Light: A New medium of Expression by L. Moholy-Nagy.
- Full-page Photogram by L. Moholy-Nagy.
The PLUS series was conceived as a modernist adjunct to Time Inc.’s ARCHITECTURAL FORUM. With six editors (!) and a list of collaborators that reads like a Rosetta Stone of the Modern Movement (see below), this slim journal attempted to bring the rapidly-emigrating sensibilities of the European Avant-Garde to mainstream America. Seventy years of hindsight clearly shows that giving Herbert Matter free reign to interpret the editorial content was a brilliant choice by the decision-makers at the Forum.
This edition of PLUS utilized the visual vocabulary of the European Avant-Garde (PhotoMontage, Avant-Garde typography, etc.) to showcase the Modern movement in America. An exceptional document presenting a forceful integration of American Editorial Design with a truly European Avant-Garde sensibility by a true master of the form.
Additional Forum Contents:
- HOUSES - Norman K. Blanchard and Edward J. Maher, Architects; House for George G. Frisbee, Guerneville, CA., House for J. Frank Waddell, Chappaqua, NY. House for Ralph E. Phillips, San Marino, CA., H. Roy Kelley, Architect; House for Glenn Price, Libertyville, Ill., Elmer, Gylleck, Architect; House for Howard Barnhisel, Klamath Falls, Oregon, Howard R. Perrin, Architect.
- SECONDARY SCHOOLS - Gamaliel Bradford Senior High School, Wellesley, Mass., Perry Shaw and Hepburn, Architects; High School, Hamden, Conn., R. W. Foote, Architect; High School for Liberal & Household Arts, Hollywood, CA., Marsh, Smith & Powell, Architects; High School, Idaho Springs, CO., Frewen & Morris, Architects; Mirabeau B.Lamar Senior High School, Houston, Texas, John F. Staus, Kenneth Franzheim, Inc., Lamar Q. Cato, Harry D. Payne, Louis A. Glover, Architects.
- WALBRIDGE RANCH - A ranch group on a 9,000 acre building site: designed for the California landscape, Sonoma County, Eldridge T. Spencer, Architect. Photgraphed by Ansel Adams!
- MEYERCORD COMPANY OFFICES - Efficiently designed office space serves also to display a product, Chicago, Julius Floto, Architect; Interiors by Abel Faidy.
- HOUSES - Additional case histories in the small house series, Interior-exterior photography ... floor plans ... critical comment ... cost data ... construction outlines.
- PRODUCTS & PRACTICE - Design for Safety; Drop in auto accidents spotlights the home as the prime cause of accidental fatalities ... principal causes and prevention.
- THE ARCHITECT'S WORLD - A digest of thought and descussion on architecture and other arts.
- THE DIARY - Comment, news, personalities from a peripatetic observer.
- SECONDARY SCHOOLS - Fundamental changes in curricula bring equally fundamental changes in design ... a review of recent work.
- BUILDING MONEY - The arithmetic of land development: The Forum explores the ways and means to economic subdividing for the seven out of ten subdividers who have not learned their lessons ... FHA's original chief architect designs an FHA - insured rental housing project for Columbus, Ohio ... "The Quintec House": one low cost dwelling per week from General Housing Corp.'s Seattle factory ... The lowly concrete block gets its first taste of standardization.
- MONTH IN BUILDING
- FORUM OF EVENTS - Totalitarian architecture ... Productive Home Competition ... Awards ... Educational ... Deaths ... Personals.
- BOOKS
- LETTERS
Herbert Matter (1907-1983) was born in Engelberg, a Swiss mountain village, where exposure to the treasure of one of the two finest medieval graphic art collections in Europe was unavoidable. In 1925, he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Genf, but after two years, the allure of modernism beckoned him to Paris. There, the artist attended the Academie Moderne under the tutelage of Fernand Leger and Amédée Ozenfant. While the former became a close lifelong friend, both encouraged Matter to expand his artistic horizons.
In Europe during the late Twenties and early Thirties, the creative scope of graphic design was boundless. Journalistic, imaginative and manipulative photography were revolutionary influences, and Matter, long-enamored with the camera, began to experiment with the Rollei as both a design tool and an expressive form — a relationship that never ended. Inspired by the work of El Lissitzky and Man Ray, Matter was intrigued by photograms, as well as the magic of collage and montage —both were favored modes. In 1929, his entry into graphic design was completed when he was hired as a designer and photographer for the legendary Deberny and Piegnot concern. There he learned the nuances of fine typography, while he assisted A.M. Cassandre and Le Corbusier. In 1932, abruptly expelled from France for not having the proper papers, he returned from Switzerland to follow his own destiny.
"Herbert's background is fascinating and enviable," said Paul Rand. "He was surrounded by good graphics and learned from the best." Therefore, it is no wonder that the famed posters designed for the Swiss Tourist Office soon after his return had the beauty and intensity of Cassandre and the geometric perfection of Corbu, wed to a very distinctive personal vision.
In 1936, Matter was offered roundtrip passage to the United States as payment for his work with a Swiss ballet troupe. He spoke no English, yet traveled across the United States. When the tour was over, he decided to remain in New York. At the urging of a friend who worked at the Museum of Modern Art, Matter went to see Alexey Brodovitch, who had been collecting the Swiss travel posters (two of which were hanging on Brodovitch's studio wall). Matter soon began taking photographs for Harper's Bazaar and Saks Fifth Avenue. Later, he affiliated himself with a photographic studio, "Studio Associates," located near the Condé Nast offices, where he produced covers and inside spreads for Vogue.
During World War II, Matter made striking posters for Container Corporation of America. In 1944, he became the design consultant at Knoll, molding its graphic identity for over 12 years. As Alvin Eisenman, head of the Design Department at Yale and long-time friend, points out: "Herbert had a strong feeling for minute details, and this was exemplified by the distinguished typography he did for the Knoll catalogues."
In 1952, he was asked by Eisenman to join the Yale faculty as professor of photography and graphic design. "He was a marvelous teacher," says Eisenman. "His roster of students included some of the most important names in the field today." At Yale, he tried his hand at architecture, designing studio space in buildings designed by Louis Kahn and Paul Rudolf. "He was good at everything he tried to do," continues Eisenman. In 1954, he was commissioned to create the corporate identity for the New Haven Railroad. The ubiquitous "NH" logo, with its elongated serifs, was one of the most identifiable symbols in America.