On Thursday, March 12, we presented our preliminary design inquiry proposals to the Honors Committee, thus I feel the need to reflect on my current inquiry. What contributed to modernism’s regression away from its original socially driven ideals toward luxury-oriented architecture? I proposed to research this inquiry through a series of case studies (all of whom were designing on separate continents during the post-war era): Eileen Gray, Lina Bo Bardi, and Natalie de Blois. Modernism became a continuation of design concepts without the original design reasoning, what caused this shift, and how did it affect each designer differently? I still feel like my area of inquiry is pretty broad, but I think the Honors Committee prompted me in the right direction to continue. They suggested that as I continue to research the political and global context surrounding each of these designers, the question would start to narrow itself down. One member of the Honors Committee suggested I make a matrix of the designers including their location, political context, + economical context. I think this will be a good way to continue research, a matrix where I can easily compare all of the influences in one place will help narrow the scope of what is similar and what is different between each architect. Are there certain influences which are most important, or apply most to the case studies?

Another question prompted by the Honors Committee was how did being female designers impact their designs and the evolution of modernism through them? While this is may be an interesting question to address, I feel as though it is not the main point of my inquiry. It should be acknowledged that they were working within a male dominated field, yet there is no reason to change the direction of my inquiry to analyzing the influence of gender on their design, and not just simply see them as case studies which exemplify a separate question of design.

If anyone else has any ideas as how to better my research or any literature/sources to look into let me know in the comments!