Marketing Modernism with the R.S. Reynolds Memorial Prize

This paper examines the influence on modern architecture of the R.S. Reynolds Memorial Prize, which bestowed $25,000 and an original work of aluminum sculpture to an architect from 1957 to 1993. Established by Reynolds Metals, once the second largest aluminum producer in the United States, the purpose of the prize was stated publicly: “The Award is conferred annually on an architect who, in the judgement of his profession, has designed a significant work of architecture, in the creation of which aluminum has been an important contributing factor.” Investigating the prize in the context of the competitive postwar aluminum cladding industry, however, reveals a commitment only conveyed privately in company communications: The Reynolds award was largely a tool of competition between industry titans such as rival Alcoa, whereby architects and their projects were appropriated as a marketing medium. Furthermore, to compete with Alcoa, Reynolds even celebrated works of architecture employing Alcoa-sourced aluminum in their own publications and advertisements, blurring the line of authorship between the architect on the one hand and competing producers on the other.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.110.60

Volume Editors
Robert Gonzalez, Milton Curry & Monica Ponce de Leon

ISBN
978-1-944214-40-1