Modern Architecture

Modern Architecture By: Henry Russell Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………Page 3 Chapter 1…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...……….Page 4 Chapter 2......................................................................................................Page 10 Chapter 3......................................................................................................Page 15 Chapter 4......................................................................................................Page 18 Conclusion………………………………………………………………....Page 22 Works Cited..................................................................................................Page 23 Images Cited……………………………………………………………….Page 24 2 Introduction My interest in architecture started in about fourth grade. I was always interested in the awesome modern buildings that I saw around my neighborhood and the area I live in. Even when I was little, I had a small interest in architecture. I mainly liked floor plans, but it wasn’t until I grew up that I started to appreciate modern architecture more and more. When I started expert project I had many questions about modern architecture. Some big questions I had were: ‘What is the future of modern architecture?’ ‘What is the evolution of modern architecture?’ and ‘Has modern architecture affected world culture?’ My research has definitely answered those questions. My stance on modern architecture is that modern architecture has challenged cultural norms by focusing on the future instead of the past. Unlike buildings in the past, modern architects believed that a building’s function was more important than its design. New technology, shapes, and materials were used to defy old ideas about architectural design. 3 Chapter 1 The Beginning of Modern Architecture After the Great Fire of Chicago destroyed much of the city in 1871, Chicago would become the center of modern architecture. This movement was centered around the Chicago School, a group of architects inspired to break with the past. This was the first time America made an international impact in architecture. This association of architects was the great beginning of modern architecture. The Chicago School was known for a new type of building that came to be known as the skyscraper. Chicago School skyscrapers had the following elements: all steel, fire-proof framework, internal wind-bracing, and curtain-wall facades. William Le Baron Jenney was the first to use curtain wall structures to fire-proof a building’s iron frame. A curtain wall is an external masonry or metal screen built on a series of shelves to protect an iron building frame. The first metal framed skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in downtown Chicago. It was designed by William Le Baron Jenney and was 10-stories tall. Another major building from the Chicago School was the Monadnock Building, built from 1889 to 1891. The Monadnock Building was sixteen stories tall and made of brick. It had no external ornamentation, and was the last of its kind to have internal iron framing, “with exterior walls of solid, load-bearing masonry.” Chicago School skyscrapers used new technology, materials and building techniques. The Chicago School included a substantial number of architects, however, none of the architects who were part of the Chicago School were from Chicago. William Le Baron Jenney founded the Chicago School. Jenney trained many architects, including Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham. Frank Lloyd Wright was 4 the youngest member of the Chicago School. Six leading architects of the Chicago School tended to work in three teams: Daniel Burnham and John Root, William Holabird and Martin Roche, and Darkmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Many accomplished architects were part of the Chicago School. One of the talented and the youngest of the Chicago School architects was Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright was considered the most futuristic of the Modern Architects. Most of his designs were houses. His homes were severely geometric and had square plate glass windows. He wanted his materials to emphasize natural appearance. Wright believed that, “houses should open toward and conform to the lines of the landscape.” He was one of the first architects to use the open concept. His use of the open concept influenced a large number of European Architects. Wright regularly used concrete in his buildings. His use of concrete helped popularize it as a building material in Modern Architecture. He went on to build some great buildings. Frank Lloyd Wright received an enormous amount of attention for his Prairie Style homes from 1900 to 1910. Prairie Style houses used limited decorations inside and out, were made out of low, horizontal shapes, had open floor plans and cross-shaped design, and most had massive fireplaces. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style houses also had long, low hip roofs that draw the eye to the surrounding landscape. The Ward Willits House is one of the first of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style houses. The Ward Willits House had a cross-shaped 5 footprint and open floor plan. The Robie House is Wright’s best known Prairie Style house. The Robie House used a three-dimensional block design and cantilevered roofs resting on short, narrow piers. The Prairie Style was another tremendous style of Early Modern Architecture. A unique element of Early Modern Architecture was the design style developed by a group that would become known as Art Nouveau architects. Art Nouveau was more influential in its detail than its design. It wanted a break from the past, just like Modern Architecture in the U.S. The style was reminiscent of the natural world. Many believed that Art Nouveau had little impact on architecture and was a purely decorative style. Art Nouveau architects believed that there are no straight lines in nature, which meant that they should not put many straight lines in their building’s, as they wanted their buildings to be based on nature. Art Nouveau was unpopular in most of Europe by the end of the 1900’s, except in Barcelona, Spain, Brussels, Belgium, and Paris, France. Art Nouveau was not an influential style compared to the Chicago School, though it still had a unique and interesting style. Antonio Gaudi was a great Art Nouveau architect. One excellent building designed by Antonio Gaudi was the Cassa Mila in Barcelona, Spain, which was made of wrought iron and stone. The Cassa Mila resembled waves on the sea as well as cliffs and mountains. The balconies of the Cassa Mila look like seaweed. Antonio Gaudi also made the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The 6 Sagrada Familia has not been finished, because when Gaudi died in 1926, the building was not even close to halfway done. The Sagrada Familia has few straight lines and spires that look like they are melting. Gaudi was an excellent architect who believed in having a minimum amount of straight lines. Victor Horta was another excellent architect that worked in the Art Nouveau Style. Victor Horta worked in Brussels, Belgium. Horta mainly used wrought iron in his buildings to express Art Nouveau details and because it could be shaped into long curves. Horta’s most important work is considered the Tassel House. Horta’s Tassel House used curving walls, stairs, and ceilings. In the Tassel House even the wall and floor mosaics are full of curves. When Horta used a material or a design concept, he would use it a lot. Another design style, Expressionism, was influenced by a limited number of elements. Expressionists designed buildings off three motifs. One motif was crystal, another was mountains, and the last motif was animals. Expressionism’s motifs were usually from nature. Like other styles, Expressionism had excellent architects and theorists. One great Expressionist is Hans Poelzig, who designed the Schauspielhaus in 1919. The Schauspielhaus was a theater that looked like a cave and had piers that resemble stalactites. In 1919 an Expressionism theorist called Bruno Taut wrote a book called “Alpine Architecture,” in which he described an earth with glass and precious stones. 7 Bruno Taut said “Architecture consists exclusively of powerful emotions and addresses itself exclusively to the emotions.” Expressionism architects and theorists emphasized nature and emotions in their work. Josef Hoffmann was an example of an extreme Viennese modern architect. He used cube-like materials in his buildings. He used so many quadrilaterals in his buildings he was nicknamed Quadratl-Hoffmann. Hoffmann’s Purkersdorf Sanitarium is an example of his use of cubes in design. Hoffmann also designed the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, Belgium for a rich, private client. The Palais Stoclet used rectangular shapes and minimal decoration. Vienna is home to some of the most extreme modern architects when it comes to shapes. Adolf Loos was the most extreme Viennese Modern Architect. Adolf Loos believed in a pure use of Geometric figures in design. Loos based his design of his Steiner House on Hoffmann’s Sanitarium’s design. The Steiner House had a curved roof but a strictly geometric shape. The Steiner Houses’ windows were functional and not decorative. Loos believed that all building ornamentation should be eliminated. Loos stated, “The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects.” Vienna is also home to the most extreme modern architect when it comes to ornamentation. One of early Modern Architecture’s most extreme schools of thought was futurism. The Futurists radically focused on the future instead of

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