Josef Frank’s Modernist Vision: "Accidentism"

2018-02-06T18:50:00-05:00

“Away with universal styles,” wrote Josef Frank. “Away with the idea of equating art and industry, away with the whole system that has become popular under the name of functionalism. Modernism," he was fond of saying, "is that which gives us complete freedom."

More than an architect and designer, Josef Frank was an “intellectual, who built ideas.” Christopher Long introduces Frank's 1958 essay, "Accidentism" — a humanist manifesto denouncing the banality of orthodox modernism and calling for a new pluralism in design. As Long explains, "the essay reads as a bracing critique of modern architecture, all the more notable for having been written by a prominent modernist" — the ultimate statement of his long-standing disquiet with the tenets of the mainstream movement.

The article is the latest installment of our Future Archive series, which republishes significant 20th-century writings on design, selected and introduced by leading scholars.

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Josef Frank’s Modernist Vision: "Accidentism"