The "anonymous" practice of construction and architectural theory. The tender age of the Form in the American industrial prototypes between 19th and 20th century

The intersections between the anonymous practice of construction and the development of Modernist architectural theories have provided some of the most interesting pieces on architectural history, determining a progress of built environment. In this regard, the relationship between the development of American industrial prototypes at the end of XIXth century and the Modernist architectural theory at the first decades of XXth century seems to be exemplary. Even if the early reinforced concrete construction systems were made in Europe, at the second half of Nineteenth century, the American experimental practice has led to the fulfilment of some industrial prototypes that fostered an important process for reflection in the figurative research by some leading figures of the Modern Movement. In effect, the early concrete grain elevators and great flat-roofed frame structures arose in North America; Walter Gropius embraced the idea that these forms are useful and powerful not only for the single, but also for a big community because of their technical reproducibility (Gropius W., 2007). The proposed paper would analyse the relationship between this practice of construction and the European theory on the phenomenon, at the beginning of XXth century. These analysis lead to put in discussion some contemporary paradigms about the roles of theory and practice in order to obtain progress. The story of these structures explains how the anonymity of the practical experimentations on utilitarian buildings, produced in response to usefulness and economic standards, has different effects to an architectural theory.