English translation of the historical analysis by Pierre Francastel. Foreword by Yve-Alain Bois. Translated from the French by Randall Cherry. "As art history itself is being reconfigured amid the technological culture of the twenty-first century, his nuanced meditations from the 1950s on the inricate intersection of technology and art gain heightened value. The concrete objects Francastel examines are for the most part from the architecture and design of the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Through them, he engages his central problem : the abrupt historical collision between traditional symbol activities of human society and the appearance in the nineteenth century of unprecedented technological and industrial capabilities and forms. Francastel's vision of the indeterminate, shifting relation between aesthetic and the technological will be of crucial importance to anyone interested in the history of art, architecture, and design." -- publisher's statement.