HOA

History of Architecture
MODULE 2
Classical Architecture and the
Western Succession
 Revivalist
Architecture
Neoclassicism
■ Revival of using Greek and Roman orders as
decorative motifs during the 18 th,19th until
the 21 st century.
■ Simple, strongly geometric composition.
■ Shallow reliefs on facades.
NEOCLASSIC. Paris Opera House, Charles Garnier.
GREEK REVIVAL. Second Bank of the United States, WilliamStrickland.
Romanticism
Turning to styles of the past to draw playful forms
that addressed the emotions. It allowed architects to
tailor historical styles according to the particulars of
building type and location.
Royal Pavilion, Brighton - John Nash (Architect)
po

Old Customs Warehouse, Katajanokka, Helsinki

Gothic Revival
■ Revived the spirit and forms of Gothic
architecture.
■ Remained the accepted style for churches in the
U.S. into the 20th century.
GOTHIC REVIVAL. Strawberry Hill, Horace Walpole.
GOTHIC REVIVAL. (Rebuilt) Houses of Parliament, London. Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
Beaux-Arts
Eclecticism
■ Symmetrical plans and eclectic use of
architectural features.
■ Often gives a massive, elaborate, and
ostentatious effect.
École des Beaux-Arts
School of Fine Arts established in 1819 by the French
government. The school taught a way of organizing a
building into a balanced hierarchy of spatial elements
and planning principles.

It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism,

but also incorporated Gothic and Renaissance
elements, and used modern materials, such as iron
and glass.
City Beautiful Movement
▪ Daniel Burnham, proponent.
▪ An approach to urban planning characterized by
monumentally placed buildings, grand promenades,
spacious plazas, and classical sculpture.
The McMillan Plan, a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park
system of Washington, D.C.
An aerial view of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., showing the Lincoln Memorial at the bottom, the Washington
Monument at center, and the U.S. Capitol at the top.
 Modern
Architecture
Industrial Age
▪ Industrial revolution, vast economic and social
upheavals, stemming from mechanization and mass
production, required new building types for industry,
commerce, and transportation.
▪ Material innovations: cast iron, steel, reinforced
concrete, and cheaper manufacturing of glass.
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, London, England. Joseph Paxton. 1854
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, London, England. Joseph Paxton. 1854
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, London, England. Joseph Paxton. 1854
Crystal Palace after the fire 30 December 1936.
Brooklyn Bridge. John Augustus and Washington Roebling. (World’s largest steel suspension bridge.)
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France. Alexandre Gustav Eiffel.
Skyscrapers
▪ An American invention.
▪ The invention of elevator and more sophisticated
heating, plumbing, and electric lighting systems
made the higher spaces as accessible and
comfortable as the lower ones.
Home Insurance Building, Chicago. William LeBaron Jenney. (Considered as the first skyscraper.)
Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri. Louis Sullivan.
Louis Sullivan
▪ “Form (ever) follows function.”
▪ His greatest contribution to the skyscraper was the
organizing of its identical, stacked floors to express a
strong visual identity. (Three levels: base, shaft, and
top floor)
▪ Used nature-inspired or “organic” decorations to
humanize his imposing structure.
Prudential (Guaranty) Building, Buffalo, New York. Louis Sullivan.
Carson Pirie Scott Department Store (Sullivan Center), Chicago, Illinois. Louis Sullivan.
Frank Lloyd Wright

▪ Believed that buildings should be spread out

horizontally.
▪ Prairie house, homes with overhanging rooflines and
flowing rooms.
▪ Broadacre City, a visionary plan meant to bring urban
life to the country; a low-density settlement with small
establishments and an acre of land for each person.
Robie House, Chicago, Illinois. Frank Lloyd Wright.
Fallingwater (Kauffman House), Pennsylvania. Frank Lloyd Wright.
Broadacre City. Frank LLoyd Wright.
Organic Architecture

▪ Promotes harmony between human habitation and the

natural world.
▪ Materials, motifs, and basic ordering principles based
on nature.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan, New York City. Frank Lloyd Wright.
Johnson Wax Company Administration Center, Racine, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright.
Interior of Johnson Wax Company Administration Center, Racine, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright.
Art Deco
▪ Also called Style Moderne.
▪ First appeared in France before the WWI
▪ Based on geometric motifs, streamlined and
curvilinear forms, sharply defined outlines.
▪ Uses bold colors and synthetic materials (plastics).
Chrysler Building, New York. William Van Alen.
The American Radiator Building in New York City by Raymond Hood (1924)
Art Nouveau

▪ “New Art;” based on the return to craftsmanship and

the integration of art, design, and architecture.
▪ an international style of art, architecture and applied
art, especially the decorative arts, that was most
popular between 1890 and 1910.
▪ Characterized by fluid, undulating motifs, often
derived from natural forms.
Art Nouveau
▪ Germany: Jugendstil
▪ Spain: Modernismo
▪ Italy: Stile Liberty
▪ Austria: Sezession
▪ France: Le Modern Style
 Art Nouveau Architects
▪ Victor Horta in Brussels
▪ Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona
▪ Raimondo D’Aronco in Constantinople and Turin
▪ Joseph Hoffman in Vienna
▪ Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow
Hôtel Tassel, Belgium. Victor Horta.
Paris Metro Entrances. Hector Guimard.
Antoni Gaudi
▪ Combined Moorish and Gothic elements with
naturalistic forms, their textured, undulating shapes
recall waves, sea coral, and fish bones.
Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain. Antoni Gaudi.
Casa Batllo, Barcelona, Spain. Antoni Gaudi.
Casa Milà, Barcelona, Spain. Antoni Gaudi.
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain. Antoni Gaudi.
Modern “-isms”
And Other Architectural Styles
Expressionism
A European movement that generated jagged and
dynamic forms in both painting and architecture.
Einstein Tower, Potsdam, Germany. Erich Mendelsohn.
De Stijl
■ “The Style”
■ Use of black and white with the primary colors
rectangular forms, and asymmetry (inspired by a
Mondrian painting).
Rietveld Schröder House, Utrecht, Netherlands. Gerrit Rietveld.
Constructivism
■ Expression of construction was to be the basis
for all building design.
■ was a form of modern architecture that
flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and
early 1930s.
■ Emphasizes on functional machine parts.
Rusakov Workers' Club, Moscow. Konstantin Melnikov.
The Melkinov
House, Russia
Mosselprom
Building
Moscow Russia
Organic Architecture
■ A building should be functional, harmonizes with
its natural environment, and forms an integrated
whole.
■ Shapes are often of irregular contours and
resemble forms found in nature.
Bauhaus
■ Bau (building), haus (house)
■ A school in Germany founded by Walter Gropius
■ Synthesis of technology, craft, and design
aesthetics
■ Emphasis on functional design (“form follows
function”).
The Bauhaus Building, Dessau, Germany. Walter Gropius.
International Style
■ Functional architecture devoid of regional
characteristics.
■ Simple geometric forms, large untextured
surfaces (often white), large areas of glass, and
general use of steel or reinforced concrete
construction.
Le Corbusier
▪ Charles Edouard Jeanneret
▪ “The house is a machine for living in.”
Villa Savoye, Poissy, France. Le Corbusier. (Reflected the architect’s five points of architecture)
Five Points of International Style

• Pilotis, structural system of stilts that liftedthe building

off the ground to allow people and traffic to pass
underneath;
• Free plan, rooms enclosed by non-load-bearing partitions;
• Curtain walls;
• Ribbon windows;and
• Roof gardens.
Unité d'Habitation, Marseille, France. Le Corbusier. (An apartment block with 23 different unit types)
Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France. Le Corbusier. (More complex, sculptural shapes in concrete.)
La Ville Contemporaine. Le Corbusier. (A visionary scheme of highly ordered groupings of skyscrapers)
Mies van der Rohe
▪ “Less is more.”
▪ Best known for developing boxy, steel-and-glass
architecture for nearly every purpose - from houses to
skyscrapers.
Barcelona Pavilion, Spain. Mies van der Rohe. (Barcelona chair)
Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois. Mies van der Rohe.
Seagram Building, New York. Mies van der Rohe.
Postmodernism

▪ A renewed appreciation for the rich traditions of

architecture past.
▪ Architects began enlivening facades with color,
pattern, and ornaments.
Postmodern Architects
Alvar Aalto

▪ “Nature, not the machine, should serve as the model

for architecture.”
▪ Finnish architect; one of the first modernists to fuse
technology with craft.
▪ Humanized modernism with curved walls and roofs
and wood-finished interiors. He was also sensitive to
the contours of the land and to a building’s orientation
to daylight.
MIT Baker House Dormitory, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Alvar Aalto.
Helsinki University of Technology Lecture Hall. Alvar Aalto.
Eero Saarinen

▪ Used advances in structural systems to create

sculpturally expressive buildings.
▪ His buildings followed a unique design direction
according to the particulars of their site and purpose.
TWA Flight Center, New York. Eero Saarinen.
Dulles International Airport, Dulles, Virginia. Eero Saarinen.
Louis Kahn

▪ “Architectural form should reflect a building’s social

purpose.”
▪ His work is often compared to ancient monuments.
▪ Composed of circles, squares, and triangles, his
designs were constructed of rough concrete and brick
to convey a massive primal quality.
▪ Daylight played an important role in his buildings.
Phillips Exeter Academy Library, New Hampshire. Louis Kahn.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. Louis Kahn. (Exemplifies his mastery of natural illumination.)
Richards Medical Research Building, Pennsylvania. Louis Kahn. (Divided clustered towers into “served” and “servant”
spaces, an architectural principle that is still followed today.)
Robert Venturi
▪ “Less is a bore.”
▪ Suggested that architects should embrace ambiguity,
decoration, and “messy vitality” in their buildings.
▪ His vision was an architecture of “both-and” rather
than “either-or.” This led to the development of a more
pluralistic attitude towards architecture that still
prevails today.
Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia. Robert Venturi.
Episcopal Academy Chapel; Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Robert Venturi.
Philip Johnson

▪ Once an advocate of the International Style, became

one of postmodernism’s biggest promoters.
The Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut. Philip Johnson. (International Style)
AT&T Building, New York. Philip Johnson.
James Stirling
▪ Proponent of New Brutalism and high-tech.
▪ He sculpted his buildings to convey solidity.
Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany. James Stirling.
Michael Graves

▪ Incorporated decorative, historical references within

his abstract designs.
▪ His architecture often has a childlike, cartoonish
quality, shown to exaggerated effect.
Team Disney Burbank, California. Michael Graves.
The New York Five
The New York Five
Leading the modern revival group:
▪ Peter Eisenman
▪ Michael Graves
▪ Charles Gwathmey
▪ John Hejduk
▪ Richard Meier
Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Richard Meier. (A cultural acropolis of six building situated high above a Los Angeles
freeway.)
Postmodern Styles
Brutalism

▪ Inspired by the béton brut (raw concrete) used by Le

Corbusier in his later buildings.
▪ Used to describe massive modern architecture built of
reinforced concrete, with the concrete’s rough,
abrasive surfaces left exposed.
Art and Architecture Building, Yale University. Paul Rudolph.
High Tech

▪ Using the technology of building in a highly expressive

way.
▪ Pioneered by Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, and
Renzo Piano.
Centre Pompidou, Paris. Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. (The innards of the building are placed on the exterior.)
Millenium Dome, London. Richard Rogers. (Spans 80,000 sq.m.; largest fabric-covered structure in the world.)
HSBC Building, Hong Kong. Norman Foster. (Mechanical ducts are kept hidden; prefers a slick, clean skin of metal
and glass that is articulated by structure.)
Deconstructivism

▪ Using bent, angled and exploded forms to represent

the uncertainty of our times.
▪ Drew upon the literary theories of Jacques Derrida,
who holds that “there is no fixed truth but only multiple
interpretations.”
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain. Frank Gehry.
Vitra Fire Station; Weil am Rhein, Germany. Zaha Hadid.
One World Trade Center; New York City. Daniel Libeskind. (The tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.)
Green Architecture
▪ Sustainable design, considering land use,
transportation issues, energy efficiency, indoor
ecology and waste reduction when designing
buildings.
▪ Sustainability, to ensure that our actions and decisions
today do not inhibit the opportunities of future
generations.
Nanyang Technological University; Singapore. CPG Consultants Pte Ltd.
Other architects and their
WORKS….
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
More innovations:
▪ Curtain wall
▪ Steel and plate-glass
▪ Folded slab by Eugene Freyssinet
▪ Flat slab by Robert Maillart
▪ Laminated timber
▪ Functionalism in design
 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
CHARLES-EDOUARD
JEANNERET (LE CORBUSIER)

Notre Dame du
Haut, France
 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
CHARLES-EDOUARD
JEANNERET (LE CORBUSIER)

Villa Savoye,
France
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
CHARLES-EDOUARD JEANNERET (LE CORBUSIER)
▪ Five Points of New Architecture
▪ 1. Framework structurally independent of walls
▪ 2. Free-standing façade - the free facade,the
corollary of the free plan in the vertical plane
▪ 3. Roof garden - restoring, the area of ground covered
by the house
▪ 4. Open planning - the free plan, achieved through the
separation of the load-bearing columns from the walls
subdividing the space
▪ 5. Cube form elevated on stilts or columns - pilotises
elevating the mass off the ground
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
MARCEL BREUER
▪ Architect and designer
▪ Best known for the
design of tubular steel
Wassily Chair
▪ Studied at theBauhaus -
become director of the
school's furniture
department in 1924
 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
MARCEL BREUER

UNESCO Secretariat
Building, Paris Whitney Museum of Art
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
EERO SAARINEN
TWA Terminal, JFK
Airport
▪ Undulating shape was meant
to evoke the excitement of
high speed flight
▪ Even interior details:
lounges, chairs, signs, and
telephone booths
harmonized with the curving
“gull winged” shell
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
EERO SAARINEN

Dulles Gateway Arch, Missouri

Airport
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
OSCAR NIEMEYER
▪ Worked with city planner Lucio Costa to
conceive and build Brasilia, Brazil's capital in a
record time of just four years
▪ Functionality and the use of pre-stressed
concrete dominate his designs
 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
OSCAR NIEMEYER

Parliament Building, Cathedral,Brasilia

Brasilia
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
ERICH MENDELSOHN

Einstein Tower,Potsdam
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
FRANK LLOYDWRIGHT
▪ organic architecture

Falling Water,Pennsylvania
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
FRANK LLOYDWRIGHT
▪ organic architecture

Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum,
New York City
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
FRANK LLOYDWRIGHT
▪ organic architecture

Johnson Wax Building

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
BUCKMINSTER
FULLER
▪ Created the
Dymaxion House,
the first “machine
for living” - a
portable home
inside from metal
alloys and plastics
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
BUCKMINSTER FULLER

Geodesic Dome
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
WALTER GROPIUS
▪ Created prototype of modern architecture:
free-standing glass sheath suspended on a
structural framework - aka curtain wall
▪ First used this on Hallidie Building, San
Francisco in 1918
▪ Established Bauhaus, a school or training
intended to relate art and architecture to
technology and the practical needs of
modern life
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
WALTER GROPIUS

Bauhaus School, Germany

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
FREI OTTO
▪ The seminal figure in the development of
tensile architecture
▪ Veered away from the simple geometric
solutions and built organic free forms that
could respond to complex planning and
structural requirements
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
FREI OTTO
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
IEOH MING PEI

Entrance to Louvre Museum,

Paris
 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
IEOH MING PEI

Bank of China, Hongkong

 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
IEOH MING PEI

Rock & Roll Hall of

Fame & Museum,
Ohio
 20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
LOUIS ISADORE KAHN

Salk Institute for Biological Studies, California

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
LOUIS ISADORE KAHN

Kimbell Art Museum,Texas

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
LOUIS ISADORE KAHN

National Parliament House,

Bangladesh
20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
MICHAEL GRAVES

Portland Building, Oregon

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
MICHAEL GRAVES

Disney World Dolphin Resort

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
MOSHE SAFDIE

Habitat 67, Montreal

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
NORMAN FOSTER

HSBC Building, Hongkong

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
NORMAN FOSTER

London City Hall

20TH CENTURY - MODERN ARCHITECTURE
NORMAN FOSTER

30 St. Mary Axe,London

End of Module 2
Part 3