Structural Rationalism and Structural Visionaries
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc , 1814-1879
In architecture, there are two necessary ways of being true. It must be true
according to the programme and true according to the methods of construction.
To be true according to the programme is to fulfill exactly and simply the
conditions imposed by need; to be true according to the methods of
construction, is to employ the materials according to their qualities and
properties…purely artistic questions of symmetry and apparent form are only
secondary condition in the presence of our dominant principles.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Conversations on Architecture, 1863-72
Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc, market place, Entretiens sur l’architecture, 1863-72
Viollet-Le-Duc, study for concert
hall, Entretiens sur l’architecture,
1863-72 (Conversation on
Architecture.)
Viollet-Le-Duc,
Study for a large hall
Entretiens sur l’architecture,
1863-72
(Conversation on Architecture.)
Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc,
Iron details,
Entretiens sur l’architecture,
1863-72
Victor Horta (1861-1947). Shown here ca. 1900
Alphonse Balat, Royal Winter Garden at
Laeken, Belgium, 1874-76
Alphonse Balat, Royal Winter Garden at
Laeken, Belgium, 1874-76
Jan Toorop, The Three Brides, 1893, Belgium,
member of the post impressionist group, Les XX.
Victor Horta, Hotel Tassel, Brussels, Facade, 1892
Victor Horta, Hotel Tassel, Brussels, plans and section, 1892
Victor Horta,
Hotel Tassel,
Brussels, Conservatory,
1892
Victor Horta,
Hotel Tassel,
Brussels, Central Hall,
1892
Victor Horta,
Hotel Tassel,
Brussels, Stair,
1892
Victor Horta,
Hotel Tassel,
Brussels,
Detail of Door handle,
1892
Victor Horta, Maison du Peuple, Brussels, 1897-1900
Victor Horta, Maison du Peuple, Main Meeting Room, Brussels,
1897-1900
“…it was an interesting commission as I saw straight away – building a palace that
wasn’t to be a palace but a ‘house’ whose luxury feature would be the light and air
that had been missing for so long from the working-class slums…” Victor Horta on
the Maison du Peuple.
Hector Guimard (1867-1942), Studio, Castel Béranger, Paris, 1894-98.
Hector Guimard, Ecole du Sacré Coeur, Paris, 1895.
Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc, market place,
Entretiens sur l’architecture, 1863-72
First subway, 1863 Baker Street Station, London
Hector Guimard, Metro Station entry, Paris, France 1899-1904
Hector Guimard,
Metro Station entry,
Paris, France 1899-1904
Hector Guimard,
Metro Station entry,
Paris, France 1899-1904
Hector Guimard,
Metro Station entry, detail,
Paris, France 1899-1904
Hector Guimard,
Metro Station entry, detail,
Paris, France 1899-1904
Hector Guimard, Metro Station entry, detail, Paris, France 1899-1904
Hector Guimard,
Metro Station entry, detail,
Paris, France 1899-1904
Henry Van de Velde (1863-1957)
Shown here c. 1890.
Henry Van de Velde, Garden in Kalmhout, c. 1892, oil on canvas
Henry Van de Velde, Abstract Plant Composition, c. 1893, pastel
Henry Van de Velde, Angel Watch, c. 1893, tapestry
Henry Van de Velde, Bloemenwert,
house for himself,
Uccle (near Brussels), 1895,
Front and rear elevations.
Henry Van de Velde, Bloemenwert, house for himself, Uccle (near Brussels), 1895, sketch
plan.
Henry Van de Velde, Bloemenwert, house for himself, Uccle (near Brussels), 1895
Henry Van de Velde, Bloemenwert, interior, Uccle (near Brussels), 1895
Henry Van de Velde, dresses for his wife, Maria published in Dekorative Kunst, 1901.
“Samuel Bing’s” L’Art Nouveau Store, Paris, 1895 where Van de Velde first exhibited his
furniture.
Van de Velde’s “Smoking Room” exhibited at “Samuel Bing’s” L’Art Nouveau Store, Paris,
1895. “Yachting Style”
“The same laws which guide the work of an
engineer also guide ornamentation, which I
would like to place on an equal footing with
technology in this work. The new
architecture needs new ornamentation. The
reflection and suppleness characteristic of
the former must also be features of the
latter.”
Van de Velde, ‘Das neue Ornament,’ in Die
Renaissance im modernen Kunstgewerbe,
Berlin, 1901.
Henry Van de Velde, Chair for Bloemenwert House, Uccle (near Brussels), 1895
Henry Van de Velde,
Furniture Atelier,
Brussels, 1897
Henry Van de Velde, Study shown at the Secession exhibition in Munich, 1896
Henry Van de Velde, Tropon Poster, 1898. Only poster designed by Van de Velde
Henry Van de Velde, Havana Cigar Store, Berlin, 1899-1900. Empathy vs. Abstraction
“On the Acropolis the living standing columns teach us that they do not exist, that they do
not carry load, or rather that they are interspaced according to an end very different from
that for which they were apparently erected. Even where they are still joined by an
entablature, they proclaim in evidence that the columns around the Parthenon do not exist,
but that between them gigantic perfect vases are poised, containing life, space and sun, sea
and mountains, night and the stars. The entasis of the columns is transformed until the
resultant space between one and the other has attained a perfect, eternal form.”
Henry Van de Velde, Frampton, p. 98
Henry Van de Velde, Art School and Applied Art School, Weimar, 1902-11, plan
Henry Van de Velde in his studio on the upper floor of his Art School, Weimar, ca. 1907
Henry Van de Velde, Applied Art School, Weimar, 1902
Henry Van de Velde, Applied Art School, Weimar, 1904-11
Henry Van de Velde, Art School, Weimar, 1904-11
Henry Van de Velde, Art School, Weimar, 1904-11
Henry Van de Velde, Art School, Weimar, 1904-1911, staircase
Henry Van de Velde, Model for Werkbund Theater, Cologne, 1913
Henry van de Velde, Werkbund Theater, Cologne, 1914, plan
Henry van de Velde, Werkbund Theater, Cologne, 1914, section
Henry Van de Velde, Werkbund Exhibition Theater, Cologne, 1914
Henry Van de Velde, Werkbund Exhibition Theater, Cologne, 1914
Henry Van de Velde, Werkbund Exhibition Theater, Cologne, 1914
Henry Van de Velde, Werkbund Exhibition Theater, Cologne, 1914
Henry Van de Velde, Werkbund Exhibition Theater, interior, Cologne, 1914
Italian Futurists and the Cult of the Machine
First Airship Flight,
Graf Zeppelin’s LZ 1, June 30, 1900.
Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kittyhawk, 1903.
The new Fiat S76, 1912. First to reach 131 mph.
George Braque
Chateau de La RocheGuyon.
1909
Pablo Picasso
Ma Jolie (Woman with
a Guitar)
1911-12
Umberto Boccioni, Self Portrait, 1908
Umberto Boccioni,
Powers of a Street
1911
Umberto Boccioni,
State of Mind,
1911
Umberto Boccioni,
Bottle Unfolding in Space,
1912
Umberto Boccioni,
Unique Forms of Continuity
In Space, 1913
Umberto Boccioni, Burden of the Swordsmen, 1915
Antonio Sant‘Elia
1888-1916
Filippo Tomaso Marinetti, (center) with Umberto Boccioni on his left. Paris, 1912
Fiat S76, 1912.
“Victory of Samothrace,” Louvre Museum,
Paris, 240-190 B.C.E.
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Casa a Gradinata
For Cittá Nuova
1914
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Torre di Faro (Lighthouse)
For Cittá Nuova
1914
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Projects for
La Cittá Nuova
1913-14
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Project for Cittá Nuova
1914
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Hydroelectric Dam
La Cittá Nuova
1913-14
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Central Railway Station and
Airport
Sketch for Cittá Nuova
1913-14
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Central Railway Station and
Airport
For Cittá Nuova
1913-14
Giacomo Balla
Futurist Clothing from
Manifesto Futurista,
1914
F. T. Marinetti,
Cover of magazine
entitled:
Zang, Tumb, Tuum:
Adrianopolis, October
1912, Words in Freedom,
1914
Tony Garnier and Une Cite Industrielle
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, ideal city of Chaux, 1804
Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City from Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, 1898.
Tony Garnier (1869-1948)
Tony Garnier, Cité Industrielle, plan, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Cité Industrielle, plan, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Cité Industrielle, aerial view, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Cité Industrielle, aerial view, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Cité Industrielle, detail of assembly building, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Assembly Rooms portico, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Theater, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Public Bath, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Public Bath, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17, elevation
Tony Garnier, hospital area , Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, hospital , Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Train Station, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Art School, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Art School, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17, interior of main hall
Main Hall, Ecole des Beaux Arts,
Paris, where Garnier studied
architecture
Tony Garnier, housing , Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier,
Home Entry Courtyards,
Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Typical Apartment House, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, port, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Power Plant, Cité Industrielle, 1904-17
Tony Garnier, Abattoir, La Mouche, Lyons, 1917, design
Tony Garnier, Abattoir, La Mouche, Lyons, 1917
Tony Garnier, Abattoir, La Mouche, Lyons, 1917, as built
Auguste Perret,
Portrait by Theo van Rysselberghe
1914
Auguste Perret,
25 bis rue Franklin
Paris, 1903
Auguste Perret,
25 bis rue Franklin
Paris, 1903
Auguste Perret,
25 bis rue Franklin
Paris, 1903
Auguste Perret, 25 bis rue Franklin, ground floor plan, 1903
Auguste Perret, 25 bis rue Franklin, apartment plan, 1903
Auguste Perret,
25 bis rue Franklin
Paris, 1903.
View from 7th Floor terrace
Auguste Perret, 25 bis rue Franklin, Paris, 1903 rooftop view
Auguste Perret, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 1911-13
Auguste Perret, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 1911-13, sectional axonometric
Auguste Perret, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 1911-13, section
Auguste Perret,
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées,
Paris, 1911-13, entry
Auguste Perret,
Notre Dame,
Le Raincy, 1924.
Auguste Perret, Notre Dame, Le Raincy, 1924, plan
Auguste Perret, Notre Dame, Le Raincy, 1924.
Auguste Perret, Notre Dame, Le Raincy, 1924.
Auguste Perret,
Notre Dame,
Le Raincy, 1924,
Stair detail
Auguste Perret,
Théâtre
Exposition des Arts Décoratives
Paris, 1925.
Russian Constructivism
Winter Palace, “The Hermitage,” St. Petersburg, Russia, 1754-1762
Carlo Rossi, Carlo Rossi Street, St. Petersburg, Russia, c. 1830
Alfred Parland, Church on Spilt Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1881
Victor Vasnetsov, Chapel, Abramtesvo, Russia, 1882
Influences from the West
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Portrait of a Woman
1911
George Braque
Chateau de La Roche-Guyon.
1909
Pablo Picasso
Ma Jolie (Woman with
a Guitar)
1911-12
Umberto Boccioni,
Unique Forms of Continuity
In Space, 1913
Antonio Sant‘Elia
Torre di Faro (Lighthouse)
For Cittá Nuova
1914
Kazimir Malevich, Self-Portrait, 1912 “Mystical Idealist”
Kazimir Malevich, “Black Square,” 1915
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich,
Suprematist Compostition:
Airplane Flying,
1915
Kazimir Malevich, “Malevich pictures in ‘0.10’ exhibit, St. Petersburg, December 1915,”
“the appropriate means of representation is always the one which gives fullest possible
expression to feeling as such and which ignores the familiar appearance of objects.”
Malevich Black square = feeling, white=void beyond the feeling. Suprematism.
Kazimir Malevich, “Suprematist Composition: White on White,” 1918
El Lissitzky, Self-Portrait: The Constructor, 1924
Agit-Prop Train, 1919
El Lissitzky, “The Factory Workbenches Await You.” Propaganda Board in Vitebsk, 1919-20
El Lissitzky
“A Supremist Tale about Two
Squares: 6. ‘They Fly on to the
Earth from far away and…’
1920
El Lissitzky
Design for The Lenin Tribune,
1920
El Lissitzky, “Proun. [Project For the Affirmation of the New] N 1-A,” 1921
El Lissitzky,
Proun 19D,
1922
El Lissitzky, Proun Room, 1923
El Lissitzky, Cloud Hangar Project, 1925
El Lissitzky, Skyscraper near Nikitskii Gates, 1925
Eliel Saarinen, Chicago Tribune Competition entry, Chicago, 1922
Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953) wearing coat he designed and in front of a stove he designed in
1919.
Vladimir Tatlin, Corner Relief, Suspended Type, 1915 “Productivist”
Vladimir Tatlin
Monument to 3rd International,
St. Petersburg, 1920, elevation
Vladimir Tatlin
Monument to 3rd International,
St. Petersburg,
1920, model
Alexandr Rodchenko, 1920.
Alexandr Rodchenko, “Non-Objective Painting: Black on Black,” (MOMA) 1918.
Alexandr Rodchenko, Spatial Constructions on view at the Second Spring Exhibition of the
Society of Young Artists, 1921.
Alexandr Rodchenko, Design for the insignia for the state airline Dobrolet, 1923.
Alexandr Rodchenko, Workers’ Club, Paris, 1925
Aleksandr and Victor Vesnin, Moscow, Palace of Labor competition, 1922-23
Alexandr and Victor Vesnin,
Leningrad Pravda Building Competition,
Leningrad,
1924
Elevation
Konstantin Melnikov, (1890-1974)
Konstantin Melnikov, Sucharev Market, Moscow, 1924-25 (ASNOVA Assoc. of New Arch.)
Konstantin Melnikov,
USSR Pavilion,
Exposition des Arts Decoratifs,
Paris, 1925, elevation
Konstantin Melnikov,
USSR Pavilion,
Exposition des Arts Decoratifs,
Paris, 1925, plans
Konstantin Melnikov,
USSR Pavilion,
Exposition des Arts Decoratifs,
Paris,
1925
Des Galeries Lafayette (Department Store) pavilion, Exposition des Arts Decoratifs, Paris,
1925
Le Corbusier, L’Esprit Nouveau, Pavilion, Exposition des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 1925
Konstantin Melnikov, Rusakov [Tram] Workers’ Club, Moscow, 1927-28, plan and section
Konstantin Melnikov, Rusakov [Tram] Workers’ Club, Moscow, 1927-28
Konstantin Melnikov, Rusakov [Tram] Workers’ Club, Moscow, 1927-28
Konstantin Melnikov,
Melnikov House,
Moscow,
1927-28
Moisei Ginsberg and Ignati Milinis,
Narkomfin Apartment Building,
Moscow, 1928-30.
Moisei Ginsberg and Ignati Milinis, Narkomfin Apartment Building, Moscow, 1928-30.
Moisei Ginsberg and Ignati Milinis, Narkomfin Apartment Building, Moscow, 1928-30.
Ol, Ivanov and Lavinsky, interlocking duplex apartments with central corridor, OSA
(Organization of Comtemporary Architecture) competition, 1927 [left]; Design for a compact
kitchen module with concealing screens, by the Building Committee of the Economic
Council of the USSR.
El Lissitzky, Model for Type “F” residential unit, Narkomfin, Moscow, 1929.
Ivan Leonidov, c. 1920
Ivan Leonidov, Design for Lenin Institute of Librarianship, 1927
Ivan Leonidov, Design for Lenin Institute of Librarianship, 1927, model
Ivan Leonidov,
Design for Lenin Institute of
Librarianship,
1927, model
Ivan Leonidov, Project for a Palace of Culture, from the cover of SA, 1930, showing (left to
right) the ‘physical culture sector,’ ‘field for demonstrations’ and ‘popular activities sector’
Frampton, p. 175
Ivan Leonidov, project for Magniogorsk, 1930. A 20-mile road links an industrial plant for
mining iron to an agricultural commune in the interior. Frampton, 177.