The Modern Architectural Research Group, or MARS Group, was a British

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

founded in 1933 by several prominent architects and architectural critics of the time involved in the British

modernist movement Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. The MARS Group came after several previous but unsuccessful attempts at creating an organization to support modernist architects in Britain such as those that had been formed on continental Europe, like the Union des Artistes Modernes in France. The group first formed when

Sigfried Giedion Sigfried Giedion (sometimes misspelled Siegfried Giedion; 14 April 1888, Prague – 10 April 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemian-born Swiss historian and critic of architecture. His ideas and books, '' Space, Time and Architecture'', and ''Mech ...

of the

Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

asked Morton Shand to assemble a group that would represent Britain at their events. Shand, along with

Wells Coates Wells Wintemute Coates OBE (December 17, 1895 – June 17, 1958) was an architect, designer and writer. He was, for most of his life, an expatriate Canadian who is best known for his work in England, the most notable of which is the Modernist bl ...

, chose Maxwell Fry and

F. R. S. Yorke Francis Reginald Stevens Yorke (3 December 1906 – 10 June 1962), known professionally as F. R. S. Yorke and informally as Kay or K, was an English architect and author. One of the first native British architects to design in a modernist style, h ...

as the founding members. They were also joined by a few members of

Tecton The Tecton Group was a radical architectural group co-founded by Berthold Lubetkin, Francis Skinner, Denys Lasdun, Michael Dugdale, Anthony Chitty, Val Harding, Godfrey Samuel, and Lindsay Drake in 1932 and disbanded in 1939. The group was one ...

, another architectural group, by

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation that offers engineering, design, planning, project management, and ...

and by

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

, a poet and contributor to ''

Architectural Review ''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism ...

''. The group's greatest success came in 1938 with a show at the

New Burlington Galleries The New Burlington Galleries was an art gallery at 5 Burlington Gardens, Mayfair, London. From 11 June to 4 July 1936, they held the ''International Surrealist Exhibition'', the first full exhibition of surrealist art in the UK. From 7 June to 28 ...

, but it also left them in debt. The MARS group proposed a radical plan for the redevelopment of postwar London, the details of which were published the ''Architectural Review'' in 1942.http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/60598, accessed 27 Dec 2008. Charlotte Benton. 2004. 'Korn, Arthur (1891–1978)’ in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. At its height there were about 58 members in the group. The group itself began to lose steam along with the movement and many members left as a result of creative differences. The group finally disbanded in 1957.

The MARS Plan for London

:"The plan for London issued by the Mars Group (the English wing of CIAM) and prepared by their Town Planning Committee was a marked contrast to anything that had gone before and, anything produced subsequently. It was frankly

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

and Socialistic in concept." Dennis Sharp, 1971. The plan was devised by what has been described as a 'small and devoted' group, under the town planning sub committee of MARS, chaired by Arthur Korn, and including Arthur Ling, Maxwell Fry, the latter who worked as secretary, and fellow Jewish emigre, engineer

Felix Samuely Felix James Samuely (3 February 1902 – 22 January 1959) was a Structural engineer. Born in Vienna, he immigrated to Britain in 1933. Worked with Erich Mendelsohn on the De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea (1936), the British Pavilion for the B ...

.Pp 165-6 ''in'' Fry E. M. 1971, ' The MARS Group plan of London ''in'' Arthur Korn, Maxwell Fry,

Dennis Sharp Dennis Sharp (30 November 1933 – 6 May 2010) was a British architect, professor, curator, historian, author and editor. His obituary in ''The Guardian'' stated that he 'was well-known as an architectural historian, teacher and active defender o ...

. 1971. The M.A.R.S. Plan for London. ''Perspecta, Vol. 13 (1971), pp. 163-173'' Arthur Korn is described as having been 'the main spring of the enterprise' and as providing an 'infectious enthusiasm' that drove the project forward.P.88 ''in'' Gold J. R. 2000. 'Towards the functional city? MARS, CIAM and the London plans 1933-42. ''In'' Thomas Deckker, ''The Modern City Revisited''. Oxford: Taylor and Francis. Influenced by the Soviet urbanist Miliutin, the plan essentially conceived the centre of the city remaining much the same but with a series of linear forms or tongues extending from the Thames, described as like a herring bone, composed of social units and based around the rail network.P. 167 ''in'' Sharp S. 1971. 'Concept and Interpretation The aims and principles of the MARS plan for London'. ''In ''Arthur Korn, Maxwell Fry, Dennis Sharp. 1971. The M.A.R.S. Plan for London. ''Perspecta, Vol. 13 (1971), pp. 163-173''p122 ''in'' Moughtin J.C. and Shirley P. 1995. ''Urban Design: Green Dimensions''. Oxford: Architectural Press. Habitation in each social unit was to consist mainly of flats and owed much to

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

's notion of the ''unite d'habitation''. Described as 'unworkable' by

, in his 1971 essay on the plan, he concedes it 'was not a concrete scheme but a concept that would by its very nature produce interpretations'. Marmaras and Sutcliffe argue the plan 'saw London almost entirely in terms of movement ... eingpresented primarily as a centre of exchange and communications'.Pp. 434-40 ''in'' Marmaras E. and Sutcliffe A. 1994. Planning for post-war London: the three independent plans, 1942-3. ''In'' ''Planning Perspectives, 9, (1994) 431-453''. Moughtin and Shirley (1995) note that one of the aims of the plan was to promote public transport, where with railways integral to planning, the 'need for cars will be few'.A. Korn and F.J. Samuely, A master plan for London,'' Architectural Review, 91, January (1942). 143–150.'' Korn's initial chairmanship of the plan was interrupted by his 18-month internment in the

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from 1939, being a German citizen, during which period work on the plan fizzled out. On his release, in 1941, work recommenced, an exhibition of the plan was organised and a 'description and analysis' was published under the joint authorship of Arthur Korn and Felix Samuely in the Architectural Association journal in 1942.

References

External links

Design Museum

Oxford Dictionary of National Bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars Group Architectural history Modernist architecture Architecture groups Think tanks based in the United Kingdom 1933 establishments in the United Kingdom Think tanks established in 1933