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Argument › No. 17/2025

Futurism and Dynamism in Architecture. Futurist Manifestos as Founding Texts of a new Spatial Aesthetics

https://doi.org/10.54508/Argument.17.05

  • / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, RO

Abstract

Present in all areas of life, in nature, science, art and architecture, dynamism represents progress, and progress has always been associated with predominantly connotations, as it has been and acting as a driving force or the evolution of humanity.

The first movement of the historical avant-garde, Futurism, is characterized characterized more by dynamism than by any aesthetic attribute.. In all its creations there is no text or artistic representation that does not depict movement, force, energy, transformation, no action that does not oppose everything static, immobile, or predictable, which is associated with tradition, style, or the establishment it embodies. Futurism seems to be defined by dynamism to the point of being identified by it, but in order to understand this equivalence as accurately as possible, it is necessary to investigate the role of the first avant-garde movement in promoting dynamism in architecture as well. A visionary movement and particularly mercurial in the expression of its ideals, Futurism released a large body of writings, among which manifestoes stand out as true theoretical compendiums of the movement.

By analysing the representative futurist manifestoes of architecture, this article aims to confirm the interdependence between Futurism and dynamism, a seemingly obvious hypothesis, yet exciting to explore, given the heterogeneous nature of futurist productions and versatility of the various artistic fields.

Exploring the theoretical concepts of Futurism, more than a century after its founding, is not only a tribute to the centenary of its protagonists, but also an opportunity to examine the sources of dynamism in architecture and their integration into the current architectural vocabulary.

Taking as reference the most famous manifesto of futurist architecture, signed by Antonio Sant’Elia, this study will examine the manifestoes of some of the key figures of futurist ideology, such as those of founder Filippo Tommaso Marinetti together with painters, architects and journalists, whose vision of Futurist architecture follows the evolutionary thread of the artistic, scientific and even political trends of the early 20th century.

Keywords

avant-garde, Futurism, dynamism, architecture, manifesto, Antonio Sant’Elia

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