Abstract
The acceleration of transport in the modern era has been linked to a continuous process of time-space compression. This article suggests a more diverse view of the social construction of speed, time and space by comparing two significant modernist perceptions of the flying machine. The speed of the aeroplane led the Italian avant-garde movement Futurism to proclaim the annihilation of time and space and the “plasticity” of reality in the 1910s. Two decades later, the Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier reached quite different conclusions. The shifting significations and the temporal/spatial implications of speed are proposed as a central and prolific theme in the history of transport.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Transport History |
| Volume | Vol. 2 |
| Issue number | 6/2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 98-117 |
| ISSN | 0022-5266 |
| Publication status | Published - 2005 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- history
- time-space compression
- technology and culture
- speed
- history of aviation