In ` Vers Une Architecture`, published in the mid 1920s, Le Corbusier wrote about the inspiring qualities of the external design forms of Cunard`s Aquitania. Since then nautical design inspired a great deal of innovative architecture on terra firma. Simultaneously, the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs made a broad range of eclectic modern styles fashionable
- particularly in the commerical world, whereas Modernism with a capital M, already the design aesthetic of the pre-Stalinist Soviet Union, was associated with social reform, internationalism & a Marxist ideology. In passenger ship design, however, the picture was complicated by a variety of factors. According to Orwell, ships were seen to represent utopian visions of future paradises
- & so represented the ideals of Modernism perhaps more effectively than any structure on dry land ever could. On the other hand they were equally powerful statements of imperialism & of commercial pride. This book will examine the development of the Modern Movement in passenger ship architecture in the twentieth century, ranging from small excursion vessels to liners, cruise ships, ferries, &, where necessary, freight vessels.