20th century expressions V:
Modernist architecture
Van Alen, Chrysler
Building New York,
1928-30
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Commercial buildings;
Private dwellings;
Factories;
Railway stations;
Public housing;
State architecture
What is the difference
between architecture and
building? In terms of our
Conceptual Relationship,
how does architecture
differ from other arts?
Jorn Utzon, Sydney Opera House, 1973
State architecture
Mitchell/ Giurgola,
Parliament House,
Canberra, 1981-88
…that is, buildings created by the Government for public, or
institutional use…e.g. Parliament Houses; hospitals; libraries.
Considering the building as an artwork, how do buildings like this
represent the world?
The 20th century saw huge changes in architectural design, based
upon changing needs…
• Industrialization continued at great pace…needed new
buildings to house new machines;
• Accelerating increase in populations;
• Movement of large amounts of people into urban areas away
from rural ones…this led to different ways of moving and
living.
Sant’Elia Cita Nuova, 1913
Tony Garnier, La Cite Industrielle, 1901
Bauhaus Design School
The Bauhaus (Germany, 1919-1933) was interested in
craftsmanship, and the marrying of design, architecture
and all fine arts. They had an awareness of the need to fit
these ideas into a new, industrialised world. Bauhaus
ideas were influential around the world.
Walter Gropius, German (18831969)
Bauhaus workshop buildings c.
1925
Gropius was the founder of
The Bauhaus school.
There was a severe housing shortage in Europe after
WW1. There was a belief in helping people become
better by means of better housing which met their
needs. There was a desire also to tear down what was
left of cities, which often included slums and unhealthy
places to live, and create something new which took
advantage of the new materials and processes
available.
Gropius, Torten Estate house,
Dessau Germany 1926-8:
New materials…
At the end of 19th century
cast iron and steel
manufacture became
cheaper and more widely
available. Iron and steel
replaced the traditional
materials of wood and
stone. This became much
more widespread with
20th century. At first,
architects wanted to hide
the fact they’d used iron
or steel, as there was a
hierarchy of materials...
Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower, 1889,
The ‘Crystal Palace’ in 1851 used cast
iron framing and vast amounts of plate glass.
This was a recent development.
Joseph Paxton, Great Exhibition Building,
London 1851
Concrete…
Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye,
1928-9
• Used by ancient Romans, then largely forgotten.
• 1890s – reinforced with steel mesh which made it much
stronger and able to be used in long spans.
• Started being used, but disguised as stone. Eventually,
architects began to explore it as a material in its own right. It
began to be used for both interiors and exteriors.
• ‘truth to materials’
Steel skeletons that scraped the sky…
Height has been seen as a desirable
characteristic of important buildings for
millennia. The use of steel to build a
‘skeleton’ which could support tall
buildings became widespread in the
new century. However commercial
buildings were often conservative, and
more traditional decorations were put
OVER the modern structure. This
looking to traditional ornament and
style overlaying the modern is referred
to as historicism.
Hood & Howells, Chicago Tribune Tower 1922 –
A modern steel and glass construction with an overlay
of Gothic features.
Glass…
A steel skeleton meant that
the walls of the building did
not have to help carry the
weight. Therefore, lighter
materials such as glass
became more popularly
used. This use of glass as a
non-load bearing aspect of
design of a building is called
a ‘curtain wall’.
Le Corbusier & others, UN Building,
New York 1952
Functionalism
‘Form follows function’ – a famous quote by
architect Louis Sullivan, one of the first
architects to design skyscrapers (in Chicago
USA.) What he meant by this was that the use to
which the building would be put should dictate
what it looked like; how it should be designed.
This emphasis on function is characteristic of
Modernist architecture, though interpreted in
various ways.
International Style…
1928 – formation of the Congres
Internationaux d’Architecture
Moderne – an international
group of architects. There
was a push for building designs
which could be truly
international. Where
the ideas of the Bauhaus were
concerned with social ideals, the
International Style eventually
came to be associated with
Capitalism and
the wealth of the Western world.
Alvar Aalto, (Finland 1898-1976) Tuberculosis Sanitarium Finland, 1929-33, an example of
International style.
Characteristics of the International Style, which started in
1920s but which only took off after WW2, were:
•Steel skeleton allowing flexibility with both positioning,
and materials used for walls;
•No or minimal ornamentation;
•Flat roof;
•Created with the function of the building in mind;
•Standardised, prefabricated parts.
•No historicism – that is, harking back to classical or
other styles.
•The look is more abstract & simple.
Australia also followed the modernist
style in architecture
Australia’s first office tower was ,
Australia Square Tower, 1961
designed by Harry Seidler (a
student of Gropius after he came
to USA.) It includes
specially commissioned artworks
to decorate the building. It is still
regarded as being International
Style, as it is simple and abstract.
It was regarded as very
innovative in the use of lightweight concrete.
Modernism saw an increase in architectural design for
private dwellings for the affluent, well-educated middle
classes. These private homes were often much more
adventurous or avant-garde in design than public
buildings, which had to consider public values and taste
and tended to be much more historicist (that is, looking
to traditional styles and taste.) Whilst watching this clip, consider the
relationship between the artist and
the world….
1;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M3p9iKITaA&list=PL2D8
85F5ED630353D&index=16&feature=plpp_video
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-JHaP9bdBY
Mies van de Rohe, (German, 1886-1969 )
Farnsworth House Illinois, 1950.
So how do architects go about their art-making practice?
Unlike most other visual artists, they have a relationship with their audience
well before they start building.
Drawings, plans, maquettes (models) of the buildings and nowadays CAD
images are used to discuss the planned building. They have to consider many
aspects in the design. We could say they have to consider all
frames…subjective; structural; postmodern; cultural.
Mies van de Rohe, maquette for
Seagram bulding plaza 1969.
Resources
Louis Sullivan: The Tall Office Building artistically considered:
http://academics.triton.edu/faculty/fheitzman/tallofficebuilding.html
Hollingsworth, Mary: Architecture of the 20th century. Greenwhich, CT: Brompton Books Co,
1988.
Museum of Modern Art:
http://www.moma.org/modernteachers/ref_pages/setting_RMC.html
Peel, Lucy, Powell, Polly & Garrett, Alexander, An introduction to 20th century architecture.
London: 1989, Quintet Publishing.
Parliament House: http://www.architecture.com.au/i-cms?page=222
Australia Square: http://www.architecture.com.au/i-cms?page=224
Modernist Australia: http://www.modernistaustralia.com/
Bauhaus Dessau Project: http://dessaubauhaus.wordpress.com/project-sites/torten-estate/