Materialgerechtigkeit

English translation: truth to material

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Materialgerechtigkeit
English translation:truth to material
Entered by: sats

08:53 Jun 12, 2009
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
German term or phrase: Materialgerechtigkeit
Alle Prinzipien des Funktionalismus scheinen außer Kraft gesetzt: die harmonische Übereinstimmung, die "Materialgerechtigkeit" im Einklang mit Form und Funktion......

This is a real "goody" - used rather frequently in German art/design texts yet unavailable in glossaries/dictionaries.... "material appropriateness" simply sounds awful --- Thanks for anybody who might know the established English term (if there is one)
sats
Local time: 21:48
truth to material; (longhand: ) the use of materials for their inherent qualities
Explanation:
truth to material is widespread in art & archit. (albeit literally "Materialtreue" but I think it evoves the same exploiting of sth. for its own characteristics - in archit., cf. Brutalism (at best not brutal but 'brute' as in 'raw', exploits versatility and appearance of concrete etc. As much about appropriate/germane use & treatment of material as it is about the choice of a material appropriate to its purpose in situ (one sense often interlocking with t'other in any case).

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Note added at 41 mins (2009-06-12 09:34:55 GMT)
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( - as in asker's sentence)

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Note added at 46 mins (2009-06-12 09:39:36 GMT)
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/ which I hope explains why I kept my response to Gillian's & Samuel's answers 'neutral'. Further context may well go their way.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-06-12 11:52:44 GMT)
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No-one evoves, of course. Evokes.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-06-12 12:19:05 GMT)
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Exceptionally, a digression please - @Henry, looking at your profile says "P" hoch-zwei not least for the Russian lit. Frankly, I've been too lazy, so far, to bother (with "P", AND mea culpa, with Russ. lit). But for an art scholar (where the shouts of "Formidable", "cogent", etc.?), how about Helen. I'll end there or we'll be accused of being a mutual adulation club!
Selected response from:

Stephen Reader
Local time: 21:48
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2truth to material; (longhand: ) the use of materials for their inherent qualities
Stephen Reader
4appropriateness/suitability of the material(s)
Gillian Scheibelein
4suitability of materials
Samuel Hunt
4aptness of the material(s)
eggsacion (X)
3the choice of material befitting form and function
gangels (X)
2material transeption
Henry Schroeder
Summary of reference entries provided
Truth to materials
Helen Shiner

  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
appropriateness/suitability of the material(s)


Explanation:
would do the trick

Gillian Scheibelein
Germany
Local time: 21:48
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Stephen Reader: Depends on further contx.; yours suggests a material that (e.g.) harmonises visually or as a resource, with the environment ('sustainable' etc.); my 1st impr'n is optimum use of materials for their inherent quals. / to below: Not 'agree' but see my a
27 mins
  -> why neutral for me and an agree with Samuel's identical answer? Appropriate/suitable covers a wide range of possibilities

agree  BrigitteHilgner: "suitability" war auch mein spontaner Gedanke.
1 hr

disagree  Helen Shiner: Sorry, but the term in very widespread use is 'truth to material/s' as Stephen has it.
1 hr
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
suitability of materials


Explanation:
This might seem like a quick fix solution, but it is clearly a widely used term in metallurgy and many other fields.

For your sentence, you could put "the suitability of materials in harmony with form and function...."

www.globalspec.com/reference/6005/Suitability-of-Materials-...

www.evaluationengineering.com/archive/articles/0906/0906ass...

Samuel Hunt
Germany
Local time: 21:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  GT-Translations
22 mins

neutral  Stephen Reader: See mine @ Gillian, but your e.g. persuades.
27 mins

disagree  Helen Shiner: Sorry to disagree, but to guide the Asker, 'truth to material/s' is the correct term in this field.
1 hr
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41 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
aptness of the material(s)


Explanation:
..another possibility

eggsacion (X)
France
Local time: 21:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
material transeption


Explanation:
or "material aptness"

In other words I would make it up. And coming from a literary perspective, I would choose something that sounds good.

"transeption" is derived from transept, which I would use metaphorically with its implied appropriateness/correctness.

"arightness" would be a little more normal, but sounds much better than words like appropriate, etc.

Henry Schroeder
United States
Local time: 16:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 60

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Stephen Reader: Arightness only/Oomph, H. - really dunno. Paradoxically, you may be being 2 language-sensitive/discerning for the contxt (of which there's little)? Depends how literary the source. But aright.'s elegant, has a ring, covers truth both to mtl. & end-use.
34 mins
  -> You're probably right, but tell me something else: why in X's name do you not have a red P by your name. You are the Art Authority here! Proz.com gave it to a dileatant like me without my even requesting it. No offer to you is a grievous mistake!!!!!!

disagree  Helen Shiner: Sorry, but I believe Stephen is on the right track, and has the correct term in this field.
56 mins
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40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
truth to material; (longhand: ) the use of materials for their inherent qualities


Explanation:
truth to material is widespread in art & archit. (albeit literally "Materialtreue" but I think it evoves the same exploiting of sth. for its own characteristics - in archit., cf. Brutalism (at best not brutal but 'brute' as in 'raw', exploits versatility and appearance of concrete etc. As much about appropriate/germane use & treatment of material as it is about the choice of a material appropriate to its purpose in situ (one sense often interlocking with t'other in any case).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 41 mins (2009-06-12 09:34:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

( - as in asker's sentence)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 46 mins (2009-06-12 09:39:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

/ which I hope explains why I kept my response to Gillian's & Samuel's answers 'neutral'. Further context may well go their way.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2009-06-12 11:52:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

No-one evoves, of course. Evokes.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2009-06-12 12:19:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Exceptionally, a digression please - @Henry, looking at your profile says "P" hoch-zwei not least for the Russian lit. Frankly, I've been too lazy, so far, to bother (with "P", AND mea culpa, with Russ. lit). But for an art scholar (where the shouts of "Formidable", "cogent", etc.?), how about Helen. I'll end there or we'll be accused of being a mutual adulation club!

Stephen Reader
Local time: 21:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 115
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Stephen and Helen - I agree 100% with both of you in this context. Thanks also to everybody else for their suggestions!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Henry Schroeder: From a language perspective I don't like it, but it's bad to argue with Stephen.
11 mins
  -> Hi, Henry, been ages, all well, as I hope chez toi. More @ your entry

agree  Helen Shiner: Truth to material/s is the correct term, no contest.//see my ref. post.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Helen. But (Henry) please everyone argue!
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the choice of material befitting form and function


Explanation:
I believe they mean to say in a roundabout way 'the right stuff for the given purpose '

gangels (X)
Local time: 14:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 39
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Reference comments


1 hr peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Truth to materials

Reference information:
Truth to materials is a tenet of modern architecture (as opposed to postmodern architecture), which holds that any material should be used where it is most appropriate and its nature should not be hidden. Concrete, therefore, should not be painted and the means of its construction should be celebrated – by, for instance, not sanding away marks left by timber shuttering (béton brut). As another example, porcelain is infrequently used in the exterior facing of buildings, but one modern example is the Dakin Building, Brisbane, California; therefore, the porcelain panels of this building have been left uncovered by any paint or preservative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_to_materials

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-06-12 10:41:30 GMT)
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For a critical discussion of the term's history see :


Günter Bandmann: Der Wandel der Materialbewertung in der Kunsttheorie des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Helmut Koopmann, J. Adolf Schmoll gen. Eisenwerth (Ed.): Beiträge zur Theorie der Künste im 19. Jahrhundert, 2 Vol., Vol. 1, Frankfurt/M. 1971, p. 129-157.


Materialstil, Materialstimmung, Materialgerechtigkeit, in: Dietmar Rübel, Monika Wagner, Vera Wolff (Ed.): Materialästhetik. Quellentexte zu Kunst, Design und Architektur, Berlin 2005 ( ISBN 3-496-01335-4) This principle was also followed by the Chicago school of architecture and Louis Sullivan.

[also from the above link]

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-06-12 10:47:21 GMT)
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http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=o1tZpr06WPsC&pg=PA373&lpg...

Book Description: Ostfildern-Ruit, Hatje Cantz, 2004**, 2004. Bound, grey cardboard wrappers, pictorial dustjacket, photo - frontispice, 210 x 275mm., 223pp., richely illustrated in color and b/w. Egon Eiermann was one of Germany's greatest twentieth-century architects. His works, which enjoy recognition worldwide, are characterized by transparency, truth to materials, high artistic standards, and stringent design quality down to the smallest detail. His pavilions fot the Federal Republic at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair established his international reputation while making him an architectural ambassador of the young German democracy. Using predominantly original photographs, the present publication offers a vivid portrait of Eiermann's architecture, while distinguished authorities on his work explore his philosophy and personality in a series of essays. Book is new. Bookseller Inventory # 16875
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/search/sortby/3/an/Annemarie Jaegg...

Since the mid-19th century, first in architecture, then in sculpture, and finally in painting, artists began to realize the expressive, symbolic and style-shaping characteristics of materials, calling for ‘Truth to Materials’ or ‘Materialgerechtigkeit’ in aesthetics.[17] Initial movements in architecture criticized the painting of buildings as ‘lying’, because layers of paint would hide the natural building materials. At the dawn of ‘artificial’ building materials, like concrete, materials came into the focus of the aesthetic natural-artificial debate in architecture, which was basically a debate between romanticism and futurism. Late 19th-century sculptors started trying out new or rediscovering old materials, beyond the obligatory bronze and marble. Degas’ wax statues of young girls were early modest, though scandalous, examples because the flesh-like colored wax provided the statues with a peculiarly sensual flair.[18] Much more radical, regarding both the variety of materials and the dominance of ‘matter over form’, were the objets trouvées or the arbitrarily assembled pieces of garbage of the Dadaists.
http://zdch.amu.edu.pl:8000/FMPro?-db=kursyv.fp5&-format=iss...

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-06-12 10:52:11 GMT)
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Anytime, sats! Glad to help.

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 275
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks a lot for your effort, Helen :-) A bugger text with just too many terms I need to research and failed with this one. Been very helpful!


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Stephen Reader: Nägel mit Köpfen if ever there were. LG/ Stephen
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Stephen
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