Abstract:

This dissertation explores Austrian-American architect Frederick Kiesler's (1890-1965) vision for an "organic" paradigm of "elastic" construction technology built on the principles of continuity, mobility, flexibility, multiplicity, and interactivity. It studies the intersection of modern art, architecture, and stage design in order to examine concepts of time, space, and motion that inform Kiesler's "Endless" research project. My investigation focuses on the perceptions of time and motion studied in the plastic arts during the early 20th century that directly informed Kiesler's investigations into the contraction and expansion of space. I examine how Kiesler created a biotechnological design process using time-motion studies to adapt his innovative spatial concepts into an influential research practice achieving the Gesamtkunstwerk . The aim of my project is to study art and architecture modulated to the actions of moving bodies and systems and to question the dialectical effects of adaptable "elastic" structures on the construction of modern subjectivity and the habits of everyday life.

Kiesler belonged to a generation of artists and designers interested in the effects of time and motion on spatial perception. As a well-known theater designer who published in G and De Stijl magazines in the 1920s, Kiesler engaged in European avant-garde circles throughout his career. In search of innovation, Kiesler used extensive research from a wide variety of sources in the arts, humanities, and natural sciences to inform his work. My project examines Kiesler's research practice that led to his interest in bio-mimetic forms and Surrealist preoccupations.

Kiesler's organic forms and methodological practices contradicted the normative modern ideology and technology of his time. In his Laboratory of Design Correlation at Columbia University (1937-1941), Kiesler researched mobile and flexible structures alongside illusory environments to challenge the limits of static building structures. Continuous forms, he believed facilitated fluid human actions that ideally contributed to more productive lives. To this end, Kiesler opposed the modern use of panel and frame rectilinear construction to advance technologies that might achieve continuous tension shell structures. Although marginalized as an architect in his time, Kiesler advanced alternative modern dwelling practices that proved to precede 21st century digital design interests.