Question #3

3. How is the Smithsons comparison of house and car different from Corbusier's?

Corbusier always placed luxury sports cars in front of his houses to emphasize modernity and minimalism. He looked at prefabrication of houses the same way as cars. The car was supposed to link the nature of construction of the house to the factory construction of houses. The Smithsons thought of the HOF as a car, because it had a "level of performance" like a car and the construction was similar to that's of a car.The HOF was supposed to be transportable by truck, and this new idea of mobility and freedom to move around the country was a new obsession at the time. The Smithson's linked their house to the car in it's level of mobility because they believed their HOF could move anywhere. The curvy walls of the house linked the house to a machine like airplanes or cars - something aerodynamic. The Smithsons said they wouldn't compare their house to a car like the Citroen like Corbusier did, but a Volkswagen Beetle. The Beetle is a practical, utilitarian car. The house was to function like a machine like the Beetle does because the machines inside fit into their slots like the engine fits into the Beetle. The Beetle represents a compact efficiency that the HOF had. Corbusier's Citroen was a machine, but it was shown next to his houses to show the modern designs and clean lines of his houses.