“Where the plane makes its nest”: (in)augural aesthetics shifted by the history of aviation (futurisms between Latin America, Marinetti and Le Corbusier)

Abstract

The beginning of modern aviation leads to an aesthetic that, although foreshadowed in the form of classical myths as well as in a series of technological and (proto)humanist experiments during the Middle Ages, the early Modern Age and the subsequent centuries, “takes flight” with technological euphoria at the beginning of the 20th century. Without forgetting that this euphoria also triggered the World Wars, the present essay delves into this fascinating chapter of cultural aircraft history and outlines how the first flying machines of the 20th century and their respective ideologies supported various aesthetic programs that gave birth to the so-called 'flight mode'. In fact, the pilot's perceptive experience became a paradigm with great importance for transcultural futurism –and especially within the Italian, French and Spanish-speaking world. In this light, the essay examines a culture deeply moved by the spirit of aviation (including utopian ways of urbanism and airport architecture) and furthermore examines both poetic and narrative literary topics, such as the idea of the “open sky”.