The Other US Modern: The experiment of Plus magazine, 1938-1939

The adoption of modernism in the architectural scene of USA was a problematic process to say the least, with the burden of this change being left to experimental publications such as Plus magazine. While the building production of skyscrapers and the architectural feats of early 20th c. USA were depended on the advancements of technology, the cultural appreciation of modernism lagged behind being accused of “wild theories”, “extremist,” and “un-American”. Not to mention the social and urbanistic advancements of modernism that one may say were never implemented. In the architectural press, the paradox persisted with massive technical information on new construction techniques and products coexisting with traditional and colonial designs of Beaux-Arts trained architects. Even the most progressive editors, like Howard Myers, or Michael Mikkelsen that introduced pivotal architects like Le Corbusier or Mies to the US audience, were opposed to the production of a mainly-modernist magazine. This paper tells the story of a magazine that appeared briefly between 1938-1939 to do exactly that. Plus: Orientations of Contemporary Architecture and explores the connotations between modernism as “the other” in midcentury USA.