The first initiative is a large–scale experiment of an urban intervention sponsored by the city and private investors. It was a highly symbolic operation related to the trends of modern day society that started in the 1970s, when West Berlin was still an island of the Federal Republic of Germany in the heart of the DDR.
Peter Eisenman : Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (1963)
The city council proposed a residential construction plan with the goal of creating new jobs on one side of the city and housing for immigrants on the other. The results were interesting especially for the size and the scale of the spaces, usually well proportioned to the nearest neighborhoods, but also for their experimental nature that effectively combined the new
Alvaro Siza Vieira: Bonjour Tristesse (1980-1984). with the old. The second intervention in Berlin regarded the years following the fall of the wall (1989), when the capital was moved from Bonn to Berlin. This great plan consisted in the construction of different buildings, mostly public, that presently represent the political center of the city. Once again, in this occasion, international architects were invited, but in a very different context compared to the first time. In this case, the focus shifted from daily needs to showing off wealth, power and technology as a display of the nation's pride. Such initiative refers to two main styles related to the previous decades of the 20th century: High- Tech and Deconstructivism.
Laipziger Platz - 2003-2006 New buildings were built from 1989 to 2001
New buildings were built from 2001 to 2010 Daniel Libeskind: Museo Ebraico (1998) Frank DG Bank. (1995-2001) Aldo Rossi: Offices and housing spaces (1996)
Norman Foster: Reichstag (2001) Renzo Piano: Building Workshop Rem Koolhaas: Dutch Embassy ( 2003 ) (1998-1999)
Following the flamboyant early 1970s, with the Centre Pompidou (1971-1977) by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers and the Lloyds office in London by Rogers (1978-1986), the High-Tech style spread throughout the world, dominating the design of multi-corporate offices, rich cultural foundations and many prestigious public offices.
Centre Pompidou (1971-1977) by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers Lloyds office in London by Rogers (1978-1986) This tendency was started by Jean Nouvel in the middle of the 1980s, with the lnstitut du Monde Arabe in Paris (1981-1987 together with Gilbert Lezenes, Pierre Soria and Architecture Studio) and continued by Nouvel himself, in addition, to other works by Renzo Piano, Norman Foster and Dominique Perrault.
Jean Nouvel: lnstitut du Monde Arabe in Paris (1981-1987) The technology is not displayed for itself, but instead it is exposed through expensive materials, simple yet unexpected shapes with rich and refined details. Networks and plants disappear almost completely, leaving room to transparent structures and regular spaces, sometimes interrupted by arbitrary trends.
Renzo Piano, Cultural Center Jean-Marie Tjibaou, New Caledonia (1992-1998). Jean Nouvel: Cultural Center in Lucerne (1992-1999) Renzo Piano designed a cultural center inspired in the traditional village's huts. Constructed of glass, concrete and steel, it faces the Maison Carrée, a perfectly preserved Roman temple
Norman Foster: Carré d'art à Nîmes - Museum of contemporary art and the city's library.
Dominique Perrault : National Library of France - Paris (1989-1995) The Spanish architect Rafael Moneo known for his poetical and simple projects, such as the National Museum of Roman Art in Merida (1980-1986) and the city hall of Murcia (1995-1999) can also be placed in this same category . The train station of Atocha in Madrid (1992) and the enlargement of Prado museum (2000-2007) can be seen as an intermediate stage between the refined high-tech and the poetic style revealing a cultivated but eclectic look.
Jose Rafael Moneo. Auditorium in San Sebastian, Spain (1990-1999)
Jose Rafael Moneo. Train station of Atocha in Madrid , Spain (1990-1999) National Museum of Roman Art in Merida (1980-1986) The Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron became famous in 1995, after winning the contest for the new Tate Modern Museum, which is the contemporary art gallery placed in an old thermoelectrical plant. The project carried out between 1995 and 2000 is characterized by an elegant structure of steel and glass placed in front of an old brick building and by the dramatic use of its massive indoor space.
More recently, in the cultural center Caiza Forum in Madrid, they have revisited the theme of transforming old industrial buildings into more arbitrary and visible aesthetics. Here, they have supported part of the building and its cantilever facades by using an exterior semi-transparent structure of cor-ten steel.
Herzog & De Meuron, Tate Modern, London (1995-2000).
Herzog & De Meuron, Cultural center Caiza Forum in Madrid(2001-2007). Art museum of Milwaukee (1994-2007)
City of Arts and Science in Valencia (1991-2006)
In the most advanced phase of this style, networks are less important while the structure is becoming more influential.
In architecture, there exists a more direct use of the Oriente station of Lisbon (1993-1999) structure. Such is strongly emphasized in the works of the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. By designing incredibly creative structures, where the structure is in fact the architecture, he can be considered a follower of great engineers such as Victor Contamin, Robert Maillart, Pier Luigi Nervi and Riccardo Morandi. Norman Foster had a different role in structural high-tech. His greatest work is the new location of the German Parliament, the Reichstag in Berlin (1995-1999). This building with its large glass dome evokes the previous one, which was Norman Foster: Reichstag (2001) destroyed during World War II. The structure is apparently very simple, although its notable size and double layer of glass, nevertheless it allows for visitors even when the parliament is in session. The same elegance can SwissRe- 30 St Mary Axe, be found in the glass roof of the British Museum London (1997 – 2004) (1997-2000).
Norman Foster, glass roof of the British Museum, London (1997-2000). Richard Rogers, designer of the Centre Pompidou with Renzo Piano has over the course of time strengthened his interest in rich and complex structures. Among these are the Courts of Justice in Bordeaux (1992-1998) and Barajas Airport in Madrid (1997-2005).
Courthouse in Bordeaux, France (1992-1998).
Barajas Airport in Madrid (1997-2005)
Among the first architects to propose a connection between digital pictures and constructions, since the early 1970s were the American deconstructivists such as Frank Gehry and Peter Eisenman. Frank Gehry was a Californian artist who had a strong interest in experimental manipulation of shapes and started his career building single family houses. He questioned the 3D vision of buildings by creating structures that are almost impossible to draw due to the complexity of their surfaces which express an idea of instability.
The titanium steel shell of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao was based on a model, but due to the complex geometry of its convolutions, the layout of the executive project has been carried out by experts throug the use of particular software.
Guggenheim museum in Bilbao (1991-1997) Auditorium Walt Disney in Los Angeles (1999-2003) Peter Eisenman was a theorist of geometrical decomposition and a follower of the French philosopher , Jacques Derrida who coined the term Deconstruction. He supported the idea that buildings should "create anxiety“. In addition, he questioned the acquired knowledge of the viewer and our relationship with the world and, specifically, with the information society. In Eisenman buildings there is a meticulous and deformed spatial lattice that creates unexpected intersections.
Eisenman Architects, City of Culture of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, 1999 Nunotani Corporation Headquarters Building, Tokio, 1990-92 In an analogous way although with less prominent results, we can find the English-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, who designed buildings with deformed and unexpected geometrical shapes.
Broad Art Museum – Michigan (2007-2012)
Rosenthal contemporary art museum of Cincinnati (2001-2005) Vitra Fire Station - Basel (1989-1993) Another deconstructivist architect is the American Daniel Libeskind, designer of the Jewish Museum in Berlin (1989-1999) and another museum in San Francisco (2008).
In these projects, he tried to use claustrophobic and contorted spaces together with symbolic shapes in order to create a formal expression.
Jewish Museum – Berlin (1999-2001) Jewish Contemporary Museum – San Francisco (1998-2005)
In minimalist architecture the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. The idea of simplicity appears in many cultures like the Japanese traditional culture of Zen Philosophy. This idea of architecture has influenced western designers such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. He adopted the motto "Less is more" to describe his aesthetic approach of arranging the necessary components of a building to create an impression of extreme simplicity.
Among the Japanese architects the most famous is Tadao Ando known for his poetic spaces, such as the Rokko mountain chapel near the city of Osaka .
Rokko mountain chapel (1985) His more recent works such as the Church on the water in Hokkaido (1988), some residential complexes, the Toto Conference Hall in Hyogo (1994-1997) and the Armani theater in Milan (2001) are more articulated and less intimate.
Church on the water in Hokkaido (1988) Residential complexes (Rokko mountain)
Toto conference hall in Hyogo (1994-1997)
Armani theater in Milan (2001) One of the most famous Japanese architects is Arata lsozaki, whose work is balanced between essential shapes (Olympic stadium in Turin, 2000-2006 and the skyscraper built in the old exposition area of Milan, 2003) and the more extravagant forms like his buildings in the Emirates.
Education City in Doha Qatar Qatar National Convention Centre
Skyscraper in the old fair area of Milan (2003) - Rendering Oiimpic stadium in Turin, 2000-2006 Minimalism was present not only in Asia. In the western world, many architects decided to apply essential shapes rich in simplicity and intensity to their works
Raphael Moneo designed the Murcia city hall (1991-1998). Murcia city hall (1991-1998) Alvaro Siza Vieira is, perhaps, the greatest minimalist architect with works such as the Serralves foundation, the Portuguese pavilion during the Lisbon Expo and Aveiro library (1994).
Serralves foundation (1991-1999)
Portuguese pavilion - Lisbon Expo (1996-1998) University Library - Aveiro, Portugal, 1994 The Swiss architect Livio Vacchini is a precursor of Minimalism and a reserved artist, His school in Locarno (1972-1978) is already considered minimalist, as well as many of his residential houses in Switzerland, more recently, the Architecture School of Nancy (1995-1999) and Basel's hospital.
The Goets Gallery by Jacques Herzog and Pierre De Meuron in Munich (1991-1992) is also a good example of minimalism.
Architecture School of Nancy (1995-1999) Casa Aurora (1991-1998)
Basel Hospital (2002-2009) 3 Houses - Beinwil am See (1995-1998) Goets Gallery Aurora (1991-1998)
Jubilee church (1996-2003) Some architects, already important in the past, keep working following their own style, every so often adapting more or less to the trends.
Richard Meier adapts his style in projects such as the Canal Plus office, the Jubilee church and the highly controversial Ara Pacis museum in Rome
Canal Plus office in Paris (1988-1992) Ara Pacis museum in Rome (1995-2006) Another important architect who created great works all over the world is the British Nicholas Grimshaw, designer of the recent Eden Project of St. Austell where he transformed an abandoned cave into an exhibition center for vegetal biodiversity.
Eden Project of St. Austell in Cornwall (1998-2000)) Another architect who preserved his style is the Swiss Mario Botta.
Jean Tinguely museum in Basel (1994-1996)
St. Giovanni Battista church in Magna Ticinese (1986-1998) Office for Ethniki insurance company in Athens (2001-2006)
Santo Volto Parish in Turin (2000-2006) The Italian Massimiliano Fuksas created eclectic buildings as shown below:
New fair area of Milano Rho-Pero (2002-2005)
A contemporary tendency completely opposed to Deconstructivism is one that looks at the past and tries to find traditional ways of architecture in accordance with Nature.
During the 1970s, this idea appealed to many architects who shared similar objectives:
creating inside the old city center, new buildings according to local tradition; erecting new institutional buildings based on a classical architectural scheme; urbanizing suburban areas with new neighborhoods following traditional aesthetics; building "new cities" that resemble the
ancient ones in terms of dimension, urban Houses of Allan Greenberg space, density and appearance.
At the beginning of the 1990s a return to tradition started rising again in architecture, with a new appreciation for formal qualities and comforts related to old buildings. In small towns, they started restorations with tile roofs, bricks walls, wooden frames, shutters and sometimes also arches. After this intervention, these houses seem to be more integrated in their neibourghood , in some cases, they even look as if they have always been there.
Difficulty arises when it is necessary to join a new building to an old one. In this case, the ancient structure consisting of both large and small parts must be preserved and treated with care.
Mario Botta: Restoration of La Scala Theater - Milan (2004)
The concern for the persisting degradation of the natural environmental has influenced the way we build and, consequently, also architecture. The solutions apply to all scales :
Urban scale : more compact cities in order to reduce the waste of agricultural lands and the need for long journeys, along with less infrastructure and more efficient means of transportation; Building scale: searching for technological answers that support natural methods of heating and cooling, in order to reduce energy consumption and pollution; Detail scale: experimenting with renewable materials that have a low environmental impact.
Research is following two main directions:
1. Trying to return to old traditional ways of doing architecture, such as using unburnt bricks in order to control the local temperature inside the building. 2. Looking for less polluting heating systems and alternative ways of producing energy, such as geothermal or wind based ones.
Today it is possibile to control the temperature inside a building with new technologies such as special photosensitive glass and electronic equipment to control thermal flows. These technologies are less complicated, cheaper and more enviromental friendly. The work of the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathi has anticipated this tendency by using both Arabic and Egyptian methods of using unburnt bricks. Sean Godsell - Le container- Victoria (Australia) 2002
Another interesting direction in this research field is the use of industrial leftovers or even garbage to create new materials. The works of the Australian Sean Godsell are shown adjacently.
Carter/Tucker house -Victoria (Australia), 1998-2000