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- Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:55 pm
#36764
Complete Passage Discussion
In this passage, the author deals with the Modern Movement in architecture, whose aesthetic ideals made
construction prohibitively expensive, helping to lead to the Movement’s decline.
Paragraph 1 Overview
The author begins this passage by introducing the perspective of proponents of the Modern Movement
in architecture: they believed that Modernist architecture better reflected technological advances of the
time, and was better suited to modern building methods, than the older styles of architecture. As is the
case with many LSAT passages, however, the author provides this perspective only to then refute it, with
the observation that Modernist architecture fostered designs that were actually not very well-suited to
building methods of the time.
Paragraph 2 Overview
The author begins this paragraph with the assertion that it was the strict adherence of the Modernist
architects and critics to their ideology that probably led to the decline of the Movement (lines 10-12).
The author then provides a timeline of the growth of the Movement’s popularity, from its counterculture
beginnings in the 1920’s, to its dominance of mainstream architecture in the 1940’s. By the
1950’s, according to the passage, only those architects who advanced the Movement received favorable
architectural critiques. These positive critiques tended to ignore all else to focus exclusively on the
“Modern” features of the works of various architects, including Otto Wagner and Frank Lloyd Wright
(since the author provides these two as examples of architects who received favorable treatment from the
Modernist critics, their names will likely be worth noting).
Paragraph 3 Overview
In the third paragraph the author expands on the Movement’s decline, attributable in part to the
Modernists’ ignorance of building methods, and to their reluctance to admit that their concerns were
chiefly aesthetic. Further, specialization within the construction industry fragmented a process that had
previously involved only a small group of tradesmen. Thus architectural design had to allow for a greater
degree of error from the group effort of various trades. One chief Modernist ideal, to expose structural
materials, required extremely high levels of craftsmanship, making this style prohibitively expensive.
Paragraph 4 Overview
In the final paragraph, the author points out that, as Postmodernist architects recognized, the exposure
of structural elements limited Modernist building design. Since Modernist architects would not abandon
their ideals, this impractical design contributed to the Movement’s decline in popularity.
Passage Summary
The Modern Movement in architecture, in spite of enjoying popularity during the early to mid-twentieth
century, eventually declined, resulting in part from Modernist architects’ unwillingness to abandon
impractical ideals.
In this passage, the author deals with the Modern Movement in architecture, whose aesthetic ideals made
construction prohibitively expensive, helping to lead to the Movement’s decline.
Paragraph 1 Overview
The author begins this passage by introducing the perspective of proponents of the Modern Movement
in architecture: they believed that Modernist architecture better reflected technological advances of the
time, and was better suited to modern building methods, than the older styles of architecture. As is the
case with many LSAT passages, however, the author provides this perspective only to then refute it, with
the observation that Modernist architecture fostered designs that were actually not very well-suited to
building methods of the time.
Paragraph 2 Overview
The author begins this paragraph with the assertion that it was the strict adherence of the Modernist
architects and critics to their ideology that probably led to the decline of the Movement (lines 10-12).
The author then provides a timeline of the growth of the Movement’s popularity, from its counterculture
beginnings in the 1920’s, to its dominance of mainstream architecture in the 1940’s. By the
1950’s, according to the passage, only those architects who advanced the Movement received favorable
architectural critiques. These positive critiques tended to ignore all else to focus exclusively on the
“Modern” features of the works of various architects, including Otto Wagner and Frank Lloyd Wright
(since the author provides these two as examples of architects who received favorable treatment from the
Modernist critics, their names will likely be worth noting).
Paragraph 3 Overview
In the third paragraph the author expands on the Movement’s decline, attributable in part to the
Modernists’ ignorance of building methods, and to their reluctance to admit that their concerns were
chiefly aesthetic. Further, specialization within the construction industry fragmented a process that had
previously involved only a small group of tradesmen. Thus architectural design had to allow for a greater
degree of error from the group effort of various trades. One chief Modernist ideal, to expose structural
materials, required extremely high levels of craftsmanship, making this style prohibitively expensive.
Paragraph 4 Overview
In the final paragraph, the author points out that, as Postmodernist architects recognized, the exposure
of structural elements limited Modernist building design. Since Modernist architects would not abandon
their ideals, this impractical design contributed to the Movement’s decline in popularity.
Passage Summary
The Modern Movement in architecture, in spite of enjoying popularity during the early to mid-twentieth
century, eventually declined, resulting in part from Modernist architects’ unwillingness to abandon
impractical ideals.