Modernism was first called Avant garde.

This term remained to describe the movements which identify themselves as attempting to overthrow some aspect of tradition as the status quo.

Modern architecture became predominant in the 20th century.

MODERNISM

Most modernist (architects) of this period e.g. Le Corbusier, emphasized on issues such as:

Radically discovering new ways of making art and rejecting the traditional architecture

Anticipating for modern architectural styles and designs, and rendering the old styles obsolete e.g. Le Corbusier who thought buildings should be functioning as machines.

The materials used and geometrical forms.

Simplicity and clarity of form, open plan interior and the absence of clutter

Seagram building

Difference between modernism and postmodernism

Modernism - the encompassing label for a wide variety of cultural movements.

Postmodernism –essentially a centralized movement that named itself, based on socio-political theory.

Difference between modern and contemporary architecture

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

-Public buildings constructed horizontally, private buildings constructed vertically.

-Public buildings constructed vertically, private buildings constructed horizontally e.g. plots

-Used simplified and personified designs, buildings which represented their personalities. Natural materials mostly used. E.g. architects F.L.W . Le Corbusier, Mies etc.

-Use contemporary designs and styles-highly beautiful and articulated e.g. architect Jordi Beher

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

-Stretches from the late 18th century to early 20th century

-Stretches from early 20th century onwards

- Used mostly organic materials e.g. wood, cement, stone, canvas etc F.L.W led his “organic arch.”

-Contemporary architects mostly used inorganic materials

- Copied or borrowed from old architecture mostly

-Modified the existing designs/styles in abnormal and invented ways out of their normal context

The History of Modern Architecture Some historians see the evolution

of modern arch as a social matter, closely tied to the project of modernity and thus the enlightenment.

In their opinion, the modern arch developed as a result of social and political revolutions.

Other historians see modern arch as primarily driven by technological and engineering developments.

Availability of new building materials e.g. iron, steel and glass, drove the invention of new building techniques as part of the industrial revolution

History of modern arch. Cont…. In 1796, Shrewsbug mill owner,

Charles Bage, used his fireproof design, which relied on cast iron and brick with flag stone floors.

Such construction greatly influenced the strength of mill structures, enabling them to accommodate much bigger machines.

Due to poor knowledge of iron properties as a construction material, a number of early mills collapsed

In the early 1830s, Eaton Hodgkinson, introduced the section beam. This lead to the widespread use of iron as a construction material e.g. the crystal palace by Joseph Paxton at the Great Exhibition of 1851, was an early example of iron and glass construction.

History of modern arch. Cont….Steel and iron was also used to erect

the tall steel skyscrapers in Chicago around 1890 by William Le Baron and Louis Sullivan.

Other historians regard modernism as;A matter of taste A reaction against electicismThe lavish stylistic excesses of the Victorian Era and Edwardian Art Nouveau

Around 1900, a number of architects around the world began developing new architectural solutions to intergrate traditional precedent with the new technological possibilities e.g. the Gothic.

History of modern arch. Cont…. These architects include ;

Louis SullivanFrank Lloyd WrightVictor Horta-in BrusselsAntoni Gaudi-BarcelonaOtto Wagner-ViennaCharles Rennie Mackintosh-

GlasgowThese architects/designers struggled

to bring the old to the newModern architecture was given way

by the Renaissance-Baroque period architecture.

 

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE It is generally speaking the

architecture being made at the present time.

The term contemporary architecture is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and space which are optimized for current use.

Contemporary architecture and architects have obvious meanings but like modern architects and architecture, the terminologies are open to interpretation.

Contemporary architecture was given way by modern architecture.

Contemporary Arch. Cont…..

Contemporary architecture currently has less baggage.

It is not affected by fall out from the reign of a certain style.

Contemporary architecture suggests a position that is anti-vernacular, comfortable with new materials and non-local materials and forms.

Contemporary architecture began from the late 20th and 21st century onwards

Contemporary Arch. Cont….. This architecture tries to be:

InspirationalVisionaryRisingUse new materials in an innovative

way Most and almost all contemporary

practicing architects have been influenced by modern movement e.g.

Le Corbusier understanding “form follows function” and “a house is a machine for the living” has influenced many practicing architects

Contemporary Arch. Cont….. Le Corbusier has also influenced

much through his white walls and pilotis etc He was also successful in pushing boundaries in almost every building he worked on.

Examples of famous contemporary architects include:Santiago CalatravaDavid Chipperfield

The contemporary architecture is generally developed after the analytical study of the past and the application of rational constructive principles to the new material, technical geometrical forms and industrial potential.

Contemporary Arch. Cont…..John Ruskin an impassioned

amateur, produced a wide body of architectural commentary and criticism. This in its own way provided an index of the aspirations of the mid 19th century architecture and its public.

John Ruskin’s doctrines, more than anything else, reflected the basic dissatisfaction with the characteristic appearance and condition of contemporary architecture. This was especially the new phenomena such as the railroad station or of such radical, unheralded structures as the Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition of 1851. He despised this building (The Crystal Palace).

Crystal palace

Crystal palace

Contemporary Arch. Cont….. For many modern architects,

architectural theory was impressive and purely had the notion of functionalism. Ruskin’s endeavors were primarily concerned with the outward appearance of architectural construction and not with the method of its inner structure

During the period of modernism, there was a universal style which dominated the period. Universal style generally means a related group of abstract visual characteristics which remain constant, irrespective of the decorative vocabulary and historical pedigree employed in the individual building

Characteristics of the modern architecture Modern architecture is usually

characterized by:An adoption of the principle that

materials and functional requirements determine results.

An adoption of the machine aesthetic.An emphasis on horizontal and vertical

lines e.g. public buildings emphasized on horizontality and private buildings empha

A creation of ornament using the structure and theme of the building, or rejection of ornamentation sized on verticality

Characteristics Cont….

An adoption of expressed structure

Form follows function

Modernism as a Dominant Style By the 1920s, the most important

figures in modern architecture had established their reputations

By then, there were the big three architects:

Le Corbusier-France Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-Germany Walter Gropius-Germany

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius were both directors of the Bauhaus, one of a no. of European Schools and Associates. It was concerned with reconciling craft tradition and industrial technology.

Modernism Cont….

Frank Lloyd Wright’s career parallels and influences the work of European modernists

F.L.W. built more than Mies, Gropius and Le Corbusier combined.

He refused to be categorized with them claiming that they copied his ideas.

He was a major influence on both Gropius and Mies with his organic architecture,

He had established this organic architecture principles from the Japanese architecture inspiration. He used organic materials such as wood, cement, stone, canvas etc.

Modernism Cont…. Some of the influential and

inspirational Wright buildings apart from the Falling Waters are:

The Larkin building (1904)-in Buffalo

Unity Temple (1905)-Oak ParkThe Robie House (1910)-Chicago

With World War II, the important figures of the Bauhaus fled to the United States, to Chicago, to the Harvard Graduate School of design and to Black Mountain College.

Modernism became the pre-eminent design from about 1932 to about 1984

Modernism Cont…. During this period, the most

commonly used building materials are:Glass for the façadeSteel for exterior supportConcrete for the floors and interior

supportNB: Floor plans were functional

and logical The modern style became most

evident in the design of skyscrapers It was highly applied by architects

e.g. Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemyer & Sir

Howard Robertson- the United States Headquarters

Modernism Cont….

Skidmore, Owings & Nerrill-Lever House

Richard Neutra-the Loveu House in Los Angeles

Le Corbusier once described buildings as “machines for living”

Detractors of the international style claim that its stark, uncompromisingly rectangular geometry is dehumanizing e.g. the Villa Savoye (rectangular box)

They claimed that people are not machines and was suggested that they don’t live in machines

Modernism Cont…. Most architects, especially Philip

Johnson, admitted that they were bored with the boxSince the early 1980s, many architects have deliberately sought to move away from the rectilinear designs towards more ecclectic styles.

In the middle of the century, some architects started experimenting on organic forms that were more human and accessible

The mid century modernism (organic modernism) was very popular due to its democratic and playful nature

Alvar Aalto & Eero Saatinen were the two most prolific and pioneering architects and desigmers in this movement

Modernism Cont…. Their works influenced much on the

contemporary modernism There is a debate as to when and

why the modern movement decline occurred

Criticisms of modern architecture began in the 1960s

It was universal, sterile, elitist and lacked meaning according to these critics

The dominant movement in the 20th century architecture has since developed various regional trends such as brutalism

This 20th century architecture grew out of the technological innovations of the 19th industrial architecture.

Modernism Cont…. This 19th industrial architecture was

crystallized by the international style of the 1920s and the 1930s

Different from the modernists, contemporary architecture is much concerned with:

ProportionHuman scale andAttention to detail

The modern movement gained momentum after World War II This is when its theories were influential in the planning and rebuilding of European arts

Modernism Cont…. The master works of Le Corbusier is

perhaps the most representative of the underlying principles of the movement

Some contributing factors to modern architectural movement:

The industrial revolution-This contributed to modern movement in that there was the invention of new materials e.g. steel and iron used to construct the mills/ for storing large machines.

The intellectual ferment of the late 18th century- its new attachment to nature, its political idealism, its skepticism on

Modernism Cont….

the face of tradition and admiration of simple and more direct forms of expression This was a major contributing factor in the evolution of modern movement and architecture