For this exhibition at the Venice Biennale we worked on a controversial architect of the modern movement. Hannes Meyer gives a definition of the building project that is not only based on the relationship between function and aesthetics but on its direct relationship with human existence. For him, the function diagram and the economic program became the determining principles of modern building project, and the task of creating categories became operative to define fundamental aspects of life from which the inhabitants could take part in a constant redefinition of self.
The program Hannes Meyer wrote down for the dwelling consisted of 12 fundamental points. The 12 points are:
- sex life
- sleeping habits
- pets
- gardening
- personal hygiene
- weather protection
- hygiene in the home
- car maintenance
- cooking
- heating
- exposure to the sun
- services
We believe he named these points not to limit the scope of architecture and life, but demarcate fundamental generators of life. Hannes Meyers 12 points does not suggest a deprived and impoverished world, but rather a possibility of giving form to the uprooted life of the modern subject by industrialisation. The program Hannes Meyer wrote down for the dwelling consisted of 12 fundamental points. We believe he named these points not to limit the scope of architecture and life, but demarcate fundamental generators of life. Hannes Meyers 12 points does not suggest a deprived and impoverished world, but rather a possibility of giving form to the uprooted life of the modern subject by industrialisation.
