44
PARTISAN REVIEW
the bourgeoisie did away with eclecticism: esthetic perceptions
had their influence also.
The extent to which the bourgeoisie have done away with
eclecticism is shown in Parkchester and the Empire State Building.
Here the simplifications which Louis Sullivan accepted as being
better than the vulgarities of the New Yorkers have been carried
to a conclusion which he feared. Here is what Dankmar Adler
called "an architecture somewhat more scientific and vastly more
practical, but as trite and as devoid of creative impulse as the
architecture founded on the principle, Form follows' historic
precedent."
But how much, in these buildings, is
functionalism
and how
much is
naive materialism?
How does one differ from the other?
Functionalism has limited but important applications. It
rejects the custom of developing first a formal composition-a
thing of domes, axes, balanced wings-and then of twisting f unc·
tions to suit it. For axial symmetry it substitutes a combination of
enclosed space relationships which gives a
sense
of balanced or
integrated functions. It analyzes the varied needs of building
occupants, breaking them down into their component parts. By so
doing, it frequently suggests new combinations or divisions of
functions, new combination or separation of spaces. Functional–
ism, by removing architecture from idealized, formal and regal
conceptions has made man the measure of all things. But its limita·
tions are those of scientific method, which can tell that if you do
so and so, such and such will happen. That is, the decision as. to
whether the end product is any good or not still rests with the
esthetic sense.
Under naive mat&ialiSm,' the definition of functionalism is
strained
to
include ·an -agreement with the requirements of capi·
taii~~-
Parkchester might be called a triumph of modern func–
tionalism under a definition which included the financial ideology
of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Parkchester may
be functional to a degree, but only the harsh environing policy of
th·e Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Com·
pany could produce such hideousness.
But above all, naive materialism flouts the immaterial facts
of consciousness and denies place to emotion in architecture. Yet,
an emotional strength no less than that found in the work of great
