2026-09-21T14:06:02Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/99216 2023-07-11 col_2142_5131 col_2142_17352 com_2142_5130 com_2142_9081 com_2142_5126

Cupers, Kenny Mortensen, Peter Harris, Dianne O'Brien, David Weissman, Terri Johnson, Tait 2018-03-13T15:25:18Z 2018-03-13T15:25:18Z 2020-03-14T09:15:31Z 2017-12-05 2017-12 In the postwar United States, aluminum became more widely used than any other metal in building construction except for steel. It was first produced in the early nineteenth century, finding architectural uses in the latter part of the century. By the 1960s, it was broadly employed to clad buildings in the form of frames, panels and screens. Because it was a new and extensively useful material, producers believed that its identity must be controlled. Focusing on the marketing mechanisms of Alcoa, Reynolds and Kawneer in the decades surrounding World War II, this dissertation examines the way in which commercial aluminum cladding was marketed as both instrumental in modernization and an image of modernity. Producers claimed that aluminum possessed properties which they believed underpinned the agency of aluminum to enact specific advantages for buyers. Properties that were identified by promoters, such as its relative lightness, ductility and particular visual characteristics were marketed within the context of capitalism as the ability of aluminum to reduce building cost, increase profit and reflect beauty. In turn, these advantages were promoted as enacting prosperity for the buyer and the commercial districts in which aluminum cladding was deployed. The promoted advantages of aluminum cladding and its underlying abilities were carried as messages in visual and textual productions. Furthermore, aluminum-clad buildings themselves were employed by promoters as “silent salesmen,” advertising aluminum to potential buyers, and as “machines for selling,” able to attract customers and make merchants profitable. Reflecting upon the assertions of promoters that aluminum held the ability to modernize the commercial landscape, I argue that for aluminum cladding promoters, modernism – the reactions to modernity in visual, textual and architectural productions – was a marketing project. The reproduction of aluminum-clad buildings in promotional material constituted a modernism to sell for the merchant, the corporation and the aluminum producer. Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2019-12-01 The student, Tait Johnson, accepted the attached license on 2017-12-03 at 17:44. The student, Tait Johnson, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-12-05 at 12:52. This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-12-05 at 14:16. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11797 on 2018-03-13 at 09:56:22 Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-13T15:25:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 JOHNSON-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf: 1078725 bytes, checksum: 320a52388f2ee448836596d5fb76fbd1 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4209 bytes, checksum: 804bfcdbd27ac4ab1689f7c773899b86 (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4555 bytes, checksum: d4d9d5c4eb46605a9b5d8a90444d6cca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-05 Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 105179 Lift date: 2020-03-13T15:25:40Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 105179 Lift date: 2020-03-13T15:28:52Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system U of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 105179 on 2020-03-14T09:15:31Z. application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2142/99216 en Copyright 2017 Tait Johnson Architecture Architectural history Modernism Modern architecture Aluminum Aluminum cladding Architectural materiality Marketing modernism: Aluminum cladding and the American commercial landscape text text Architecture Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation Ph.D.