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Lecture 9 - Modernism Post-Modernism

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23 views19 pages

Lecture 9 - Modernism Post-Modernism

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forhsc21
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Hum-201

Philosophy
Modernism
Modernist architecture, or modernism, is a style
that emerged in the early-20th century in Hoover Dam, Navada, USA
Material: Concrete
response to large-scale changes in both Architects: Henry J. Kaiser, Gordon Kaufmann
technology and society. It is associated with the Completed: 1936
function of buildings, approached from an
analytical viewpoint, a rational use of materials,
the elimination of ornament and decoration, and
openness to structural innovation.
Los Angeles City Hall, LA, USA
Material: Concrete
Architects: John Parkinson, John C.
Austin, and Albert C. Martin, Sr.
Completed: 1928

Empire State Building, NY, USA


Material: Steel, Glass, Concrete
Architects: Yasuo Matsui, William F. Lamb, Arthur Loomis
Harmon, Gregory Johnson
Completed: 1931
Modernism developed across all artistic fields, not just
architecture, as a means of accommodating and responding
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
Material: Steel to the new technologies of machines, automation and
Architects: Stephen Sauvestre, urban design. The industrial revolution played a major role
Maurice Koechlin, Émile Nouguier
Completed: 1889 in the development of architecture that was driven by
functional priority. Materials such as concrete, glass and
steel were industrially manufactured prevailed in this era.

Architects adopted ideologies bringing out the truth of the


structure rather than covering them up with ornamented
façades.

Golden Gate Bridge


Modernism encompasses many different variations,
Material: Steel including Futurism, Constructivism, brutalism, De Stijl, and
Architects: Stephen Sauvestre,
Maurice Koechlin, Émile Nouguier
Bauhaus.
Completed: 1889
Modernist Ideology sources
There are many early sources for modernism’s ideology. The English artist and writer
William Morris, helped inspire the Arts and Crafts movement, by advocating that
utility was as important as aesthetics, and that well-made handcrafted products were
preferable to production line, machine-made ones.

Another early source was the American architect Louis Sullivan, most famous for the
phrase ‘Form follows function’. In principle, this meant that buildings should be
designed so that the essential structure dictated the form, i.e. from the inside
outwards.

The Viennese architect Adolf Loos believed that the decoration of functional objects
was inefficient and wasteful. His manifesto, ‘Ornament and Crime’ became a key
modernist text, in which he argued that avoiding ornament was ‘a sign of spiritual
strength’.
Two European architects emerged who, above all others, would be most widely
associated with the new modernist style. One of these was Walter Gropius, the leader
of the Bauhaus in Germany. Gropius taught architects to reject historical orthodoxies
and adopt the innovative new ideologies of modern industry.

The other was Le Corbusier, who took inspiration for his buildings and urban designs
from modern engineering developments such as passenger jets, cruise liners,
automobiles, grain silos, and so on. In his most famous book, ‘Towards a New
Architecture’, he argued that ‘a house is a machine for living in’.

The United States attracted many progressive modernists away from Europe during the
1930s, and Modernism became synonymous with the rise of America as the world’s
new super-power, with highways, skyscrapers and vast urban landscapes.

Modernist architecture continued in various guises around the world, eventually being
replaced as the dominant style by Postmodernism in the 1970s and 80s.
Principles & Characteristics
• One of the overarching principles of modernism was that ‘form follows function’, meaning that
design should derive directly from purpose. Another was that building form should have a
simplicity and clarity, with the elimination of unnecessary detail.
• ‘Truth to materials’- which held that rather than concealing or altering the natural appearance of
a material, it ought to be visible and celebrated.
• Components positioned at 90-degrees to each other and an emphasis on horizontal and vertical
lines.
• The use of reinforced concrete and steel.
• Visual expression of the structure rather than hiding structural elements.
• Following the ‘machine aesthetic’ in the use of materials produced by industrial processes.
• Rectangular, cylindrical and cubic shapes
• Asymmetrical compositions.
• A lack of ornament or moldings.
• Large windows set in horizontal bands.
• Open plan floors.
• White facades.
Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier- A pioneer of modern architecture

Ideas which influenced him:


• Purism
• Arts and Crafts Movement
• Chicago School
Ideas of Le Corbusier
Dom-Ino System:
• Structural system developed by Le
Corbusier in 1914 with the help of
Engineer Max du Bois.
• Structure made of standard elements
that could be combined freely,
allowing diversity in housing design
• System would be perfected as
housing could be built in series like
machinery
Model of Citrohan Mansion, Le Corbusier

Citrohan Mansion, Le Corbusier


Five Points in Architecture:

Pilotis : The supports are precisely calculated, spaced regularly and used to elevate the
first floor off the damp ground
Free Plan : The interior walls, independent of the support system, can be arranged in a
free plan.
Free Façade: The façade, also independent of the structural support can be freely
designed.
Horizontal/Ribbon windows : the horizontal windows, made possible by the support
system, assure even illumination from wall to wall and admit eight times as much light
as vertically placed window of equal area

Roof garden : the roof garden is used for domestic purposes, such as gardening, play
and relaxation, thereby covering all the build upon ground for outdoor activities.
Villa Savoye
Class lecture:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jRkgv6Nc9Xa722ECjJ4zWiSSFhrtDeCj/view?usp=sharing
Thank you.

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