Modern architecture died in the electric chair
August 6th, 1890 – the day the first person was executed by electric chair.Some actions, society believes, cannot be forgiven, and a person must die. Executions
used to be more personal, with the executioner standing next to the condemned. The invention of the electric chair, with its three executors and three arms, distanced us from the responsibility of taking a life. The
killing became quick and easy.
Le Corbusier, the father of modern architecture, said that we must adapt the way we build to the way we produce. Thus, architecture became a machine. Every centimeter was designed to fit the unified needs of the modern person: hygienic, progressive, and free from toxic traditions and cultural associations.
People started to learn about the right way to live from magazines and guidebooks on interiors. Everyone wanted to live the modern life. At the same time, the need for efficient, affordable housing grew. Thus, the architecture-machine, which promised a decent life, began the process of dehumanizing living spaces in favor of hyper-
functional, cost-effective housing. Modern architecture gave us what we needed at the time. However, the radical drive for functional living spaces transformed their inhabitants from people into machines.
The electric chair didn’t solve the problem of the death penalty; it just made us feel better about killing.
Modern architecture didn’t bring the perfect living space, it just helped us believe we that had found the answer.