International Style

Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson's 1932 publication, The International Style, a paradigm-setting work of modernism, has taken its place on the shelves as Arketon Publications' latest book. One of the leading classics of modern architectural literature, The International Style also holds special value as an iconic book. The book, prepared under the editorial direction of Aykut Köksal, was translated by Murat Çınar Büyükakça, and its text editing was done by Melek Kılınç.

In his preface to the book, Alfred H. Barr writes: "Hitchcock and Johnson worked on contemporary architecture with a scholarly care and critical precision of the sort shown for ancient and medieval periods. In my opinion, this book presents their unusual and perhaps groundbreaking conclusions. In fact, they proved beyond any doubt that the modern style exists today as uniquely, consistently, logically, and widely as any style of the past, and they named it the International Style.

The authors state that the International Style has three distinguishing aesthetic principles: emphasis on volume-space enclosed by thin planes or surfaces instead of an impression of mass and solidity; regularity as opposed to symmetry or other forms of obvious balance; and finally, the inherent elegance of materials, technical perfection, and adherence to precise proportions, as opposed to added ornamentation. I believe that the book's section on functionalism will be of particular interest to American architects and critics. Functionalism, as a dominant principle, reached its peak among important modern European architects a few years ago.

An introductory essay should undoubtedly direct the reader's attention to the text. The text in this book was written as a presentation for the selected visuals. Therefore, there is no great need to speak at length about them. The authors spent almost two years compiling the photographic and written documents from which the visuals were selected. Thus, they created a meticulously curated selection of the Style, which developed in Germany, Holland, and France, spreading throughout the world, extending from Finland to Italy, from England to Russia, and further to Japan and the United States."