History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

Discuss the cultural and technical transformations that took place during early modern period and how

it helped in the development of modern architecture.

Term Paper for History of Architecture (AP131)

Mansi JainRoll Number-07816901611

Sushant School of Art and Architecture

The early modern period lies variously between 1350 and 1650, and its end between 1559 and 1800 according to the authors of fifteenth century. The three-century difference of opinion over when the period begins equals the length of the period itself, as most of these historians understand it.It starts with the last Europe's religious wars which opened a period of extreme political violence across the continent, and coincided with a variety of other disruptions of Europeans' daily lives.

TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

PRINTING PRESS-century of printing, mainly the period from 1460 to 1480, when printing presses went from rare to common.The knowledge was preserved and conveyed.

Capacity of printing to preserve knowledge and to allow the accumulation of information changed the societyy. Ancient and Medieval scribes had faced tremendous difficulties in preserving the knowledge that they already possessed, which, despite their best efforts, inevitably grew more corrupted and fragmented over time. With the establishment of printing presses, accumulation of knowledge was for the first time possible. Rather than spending most of their energies searching for scattered manuscripts and copying them, scholars could now focus their efforts on revision of these texts and the gathering of new data. According to Eisenstein, the shift to printing reversed the whole orientation of

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

attitudes towards learning. The passage of time no longer inevitably brought with it a lessening of knowledge. Furthermore, at the new print shops, scholars, artisans and translators from various nations and religions found themselves working together, and cooperating in a new, more cosmopolitan environment which encouraged questioning.

By focusing on a fundamental shift in mentality, which came about due to a basic change in communication and collective memory, intellectual transformations of the early modern era.

The Industrial Revolution- 18th to 19th century, the period during which rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. Before the Industrial Revolution (i.e. 1700s), manufacturing was done in homes, using hand tools or basic machines. Industrialization marked a shift to powered machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries, and the development of the steam engine played central roles in the Industrial Revolution. Transportation, communication and banking systems were also improved. Industrialization brought an increased volume and variety of manufactured goods and improved standard of living.It also resulted in better employment and living conditions for the poor and working classes.

CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

World war 1(1914-1918) Worldwar2(1939-1945)

Its Impact on modern period-due to the world war there was large scale destruction. Therefore there was a need to build relentlessly.

The industrial revolution had already led to mass production, aware and rational citizens. A sense of competitiveness also increased. The ideology of modernism had several sources. One of the earliest was the English artist William Morris, whose writings formed the basis for the arts and crafts movement. Morris advocated a return to well-made, handcrafted goods instead of mass-produced, poor quality machine-made items. In his famous statement, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful,” Morris outlined the modern belief that utility was as important as beauty. 

Modern era witnessed the following –Page 2 of 7

History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

machines in production of new materials- iron, steel, and sheet glass drove the invention of new building techniques, pre-fabrication also started.

Elimination of historical ornaments Inventive and fresh surface decoration Expression of structure Expression of building’s commercial purpose: FUNCTION

Thus modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and an absence of applied decoration.

Gaining popularity in North America after the Second World War, architectural modernism was adopted by many influential architects and architectural educators, and continued as a dominant architectural style for institutional, corporate buildings, Railway stations, departmental stores, offices, apartments, towers, factories, dams and airports into the 21st century. As the technology progressed the functions of spaces varied and increased.So it became an additional factor for the need to build.

Industrialization was followed by urbanism which even more increased the building need.

Modern architecture developed as a result of social and technical revolutions, others see Modern architecture as primarily driven by technological and engineering change.

In 1796, Shrewsbury mill owner Charles Bage first used his 'fireproof' design, which relied on cast iron and brick with flag stone floors. Such construction greatly strengthened the structure of mills, which enabled them to accommodate much bigger machines. Due to poor knowledge of iron's properties as a construction material, a number of early mills collapsed. It was not until the early 1830s that Eaton Hodgkinson introduced the section beam, leading to widespread use of iron construction. This kind of austere industrial architecture utterly transformed the landscape of northern Britain, leading to the description of places like Manchester and parts of West Yorkshire as "Dark satanic mills".

Development architects who majorly contributed to the development of the modernist movement include Le Corbusier, Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Richard Weston, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Louis Sullivan

"Form follows function", Louis Sullivan, meaning that the form of the building should be a derivative of its function.Louis Sullivan is known as "father of skyscrapers and modernism". For Sullivan, functionalism meant the elimination of ornament so the building plainly expressed its purpose, and the principle led to the idea of designing buildings from the inside outwards, letting the essential structure dictate the form and therefore its external appearance. Viennese architect Adolf Loos, following

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

Sullivan, insisted that functional objects should not be decorated; to do so was a waste of effort, material, and capital. He wrote a manifesto entitled “Ornament and Crime,” in which he argued that the avoidance of ornament was "a sign of spiritual strength." This essay became one of the foundation texts for the modern movement. 

One of the building done by him is the Wainwright Building (1890), ten-storied, steel-skeleton structure that emphasizes verticality with, for the first time, an aesthetically effective shell. A major landmark in American architectural history, the Wainwright building was hailed by Frank Lloyd Wright, as the first structure with “height triumphant.”

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=wainwright+building

Le Corbusier played an important role in development of modern architecture because of his theory about buildings.

Corbusier’s five points on new architecture-

1. Pilotis-The building plot is left to the garden.2. Roof garden-For domestic purposes and vegetation.3. Free fascade-the fascade is free from the structure and can be projected

out or in the floor slab.4. Free plan-interior wall can be designed as per our requirement free from

the structure and each floor is independent.5. Ribbon windows-to avoid mullions and maintain a continuity of the view.

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

It is observed that the principles defined by Corbusier for his spaces are highly influenced by the early modern era that is the reason most of his buildings resemble to each other just like factory made products as he believed all human needs are the same.

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=villa+savoye+is+inspired+from+ship&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&img “If houses were produced, mass produced like chassis, we would soon see forms emerge that, while unexpected, were sounds, tenable, and an aesthetic would be formulated with surprising precision”Le Corbusier creates standards. He believes that creating standards help produce perfection. “The standard is a necessity for order brought to bear on human labour “(Corbusier,pg. 181,towards a new architecture)He tried making architecture universal .Corbusier focuses on a search for the new spirit creating a new architecture because the technical changes in the early modern period gave him the freedom.“The house is a product necessary to man” (Corbusier,pg. 182, towards a new architecture). According to him all men have same needsCorbusier believes that all men have same needs, which is one of the reasons he stresses on making standard places.Corbusier’s designs are machine driven as it was the period of industrial revolution. He believed in mass production of house . Corbusier said “house is a machine”, Villa Savoye is a clear example of his inclinations towards machines. Its form resembles to that of a ship.Mies Van Der Rohe-Visual expression of structure (as opposed previously to the hiding of structural elements) , a visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines.Designed skyscrapers of steel and glass which were new materials of the era.Used glass relentlessly to bring outside in.

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

https://www.google.co.in/search?

q=mies+van+der+rohe&source

The Glass house is a prototype, a pure idea. Making analogy with automobile industry, it is possible to compare the Glass house with a concept car.

THE WIENER WERKSTÄTTE (German for the "Vienna Workshop") also offered important contributions to the development of modernism. Its founders, architect Joseph Hoffman and painter Koloman Moser, formed this movement in 1903. It was dedicated to developing high quality art and design to be brought into people's daily life, a philosophy which reflected the influence of William Morris. Reacting against historicism, the Wiener Werkstätte employed simplified shapes, geometric patterns, and minimal decoration. A great deal of attention was put on fine craftsmanship. This followed the group's motto: “Better to work ten days at one piece than to manufacture ten pieces in one day.” But by the 1920s, modern designers began to embrace new technologies and the possibility of mass production; the aesthetic of the machine then became a central theme in modernism. Two figures in particular promoted the language of industry: Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. 

Gropius was the leader of the Bauhaus, the school of art and architecture in Germany. The Bauhaus revolutionized art training by combining the teaching of the pure arts with the study of crafts. Gropius aimed to unite art with technology,

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

and he educated a new generation of designers and architects to reject historical precedents and adopt the ideology of modern industry. For the Bauhaus, Gropius wrote the curriculum, designed the building, and he assembled its faculty.

Le Corbusier, probably the most influential modern architect, introduced a fascination with the designs of engineers, such as grain silos, cruise ships, and automobiles.In the 1930s, many of the leading European modernists immigrated to the United States; thus the theory and practice of Modernism became widespread. The 'tradition of the new', as Richard Weston called it, became the dominant mode of progressive artists. What had begun as a cluster of loosely related artistic movements scattered across Europe emerged as the dominant style of the 20th century. 

Bibliography-

Le Corbusier(1923), book by name of “Towards a new architecture” ISBN 0-89236-822-5

Alex Benchemel book by name of“intellectual poloitics and cultural conflict in the romantic period-”

Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early-Modern Europe

Donald Hoffmann book by the name of “Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and the Skyscraper

”

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