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Hysteria in Historical Materialism
A labile disorder (1995-2013) . Image: Plaksin, A Spectrum of Glass (1920) Though one might point to any number of possible precursors, the advent of hysterical materialism proper only occurred with...
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Hysterical materialism
An historical diagnosis . Image: Gustav Klutsis, Composition (1921) “Historical materialism,” Franz Mehring once wrote, popularizing the phrase, “approaches every section of history without any...
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Herr Naphta
. Image: A recent photo of Herr Naphta “Herr Naphta” somehow manages to outdo even Herr Vogt in terms of his sheer buffoonery. Striking the gravest pose of which such a buffoon is capable, Herr Naphta...
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Stalinism’s ghost: Domenico Losurdo on civil society and the State
Symptomatic residues . Image: Cover to the French edition of Domenico Losurdo’s Stalin: History and critics of a black legend One of the points on which I take issue most with Domenico Losurdo’s...
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“Gay errancy”: Hypermoderns (postmoderns)
by Manfredo Tafuri . Image: Manfredo Tafuri . Download the PDF of Manfredo Tafuri’s “‘Gay errancy’: Hypermoderns (postmoderns).” It is well known that in Italy, Portoghesi launched a style that has...
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Reflections on resistance, reform, and revolution
The problematic forms of contemporary anticapitalism . Image: Cover to Rosa Luxemburg’s Sozialreform oder Revolution? (1899) The following are the prepared remarks to a Platypus panel on “The 3 Rs:...
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The practicalities of Oud
The Spangen municipal housing project in Rotterdam, 1920-1923 . Image: Construction site for Oud’s Spangen municipal housing (1920) . J.J.P. Oud, the pioneering Dutch modernist briefly associated with...
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The anti-political party: Tony Cliff and the Socialist Workers Party
by James Heartfield . Image: SWP founder and chief theoretician Tony Cliff (1967) . Reposted from Platypus Review. Book Review: Ian Birchall. Tony Cliff: A Marxist for His Time. London: Bookmarks,...
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Left-wing melancholy
On Erich Kästner’s new book of poems . Image: Karel Teige, Melancholia (1939) . by Walter Benjamin Today Kästner’s poems are already available in three imposing volumes.[1] However, anyone wishing to...
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A rooftop racetrack: The Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin, Italy (1923)
with text by Reyner Banham . Image: Cars zip along the rooftop racetrack of the Fiat Lingotto auto factory in Turin (1924) . From “Fiat, the phantom of order” (1964) One reading of local history would...
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Buried treasure
Owen Hatherley on the splendor of the Moscow Metro system . Image: Entrance to the Moscow Metro designed by Nikolai Ladovskii (1932) . Reposted from The Calvert Journal, a daily briefing on the culture...
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On the so-called “rational kernel of racism”
by Chris Cutrone . Image: Photograph of measurements taken to determine one’s “racial hygiene” (1933) . The following is Chris Cutrone’s attempt to explain what he actually meant by this controversial...
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Platypus’“position” on “imperialism”
by Chris Cutrone . Image: Czechoslovak avant-garde painter Frantisek Foltyn, Imperialismus (1925) . Note: Just to be clear about my own relationship to Platypus as an organization, I must again remind...
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The brothers Golosov
Built and unbuilt works . Image: Il’ia Golosov, competition entry for the Leningrad Pravda office (1924) . Note: Translation forthcoming of the lecture notes below! “New paths in architecture,” by...
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Oskar Schlemmer’s Bauhaus costume parties (1924-1926)
With “Life at the Bauhaus” by Farkas Molnár (1925) . Image: Bauhaus costumes by Oskar Schlemmer (1925) . Translated from the Hungarian by John Bátki. From Between Two Worlds: A Sourcebook of Central...
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Le Corbusier’s Tsentrosoiuz building in Moscow (1928-1936) over the years
Planning and construction . In his 1928 proposal for the Soviet Central Union building, Le Corbusier invoked his much-vaunted principle of pilotis. As a postscript to his 1930 Precisions on the...
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The North Star to the rest of the Left: Disengage from Platypus, engage with...
by Corey Ansel . Image: Goya’s Saturn Devouring his Son (1819-1823) . NOTE: Just to be clear about my own relationship to Platypus as an organization, I must again remind readers that I am not...
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Leninbulb
with an article by Lenin . Image: Leninbulb (1922) . Alternate poster design by Gustav Klutsis, “Electrification of the entire country!” (1921) Vladimir Lenin, “Preface” to I.I. Stepanov’s The...
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Le Corbusier’s project for the Palace of the Soviets (1928-1931)
from The Radiant City: Elements for a doctrine of urbanism for the machine age . The Main Auditorium: an audience of 15,000. Open-air platform: 50,000 people. And perfectly regulated acoustics. Small...
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Der Palast der Sowjets: Entries by German architects to the Palace of the...
Hans Poelzig [Ганс Полциг] Walter Gropius [Вальтер Гропиус] Hannes Meyer [Ганнес Майер] Erich Mendelsohn [Ерих Мендельсон] Hans Schmidt’s “The Soviet Union and Modern Architecture” (1932) Translated...
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