“New Building Technologies at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs.” TAD: Technology | Architecture + Design 9, no. 2 (2025): 380–95.
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Two cutting-edge building technologies hid behind the varied facades of pavilions at the 1925 Exposition des arts décoratifs in Paris. The first was Solomite: lightweight panels made of straw or reeds compressed together by metal wire. The second was the Maison Isotherme system of lightweight metal, hollow-wall framing. Both building technologies received heaps of attention at the time of the exhibition. Yet, by decades later, neither had managed to gain a permanent footing in the modern construction industry; both faded into historical oblivion. Despite this outcome, their presence at the 1925 exhibition presaged an important shift in the relationship between modern architecture and modern building.