Aspects of Architectural Drawings in the Modern Era

Acknowledgments Fellows of the Program (h Architecture Society 1oiLl13l I /113'1 l~~g \JI ) C,, '"l.,. This exhibition of drawings by European and American archi Darcy Bonner Exhibition tects of the Modern Movement is the fifth in The Art Institute of Laurence Booth The Modern Movement: Selections from the Chicago's Architecture in Context series. The theme of Modern William Drake, Jr. Permanent Collection April 9 - November 20, 1988 ism became a viable exhibition topic as the Department of Archi Lonn Frye Galleries 9 and 10, The Art Institute of Chicago tecture steadily strengthened over the past five years its collection Michael Glass Lectures of drawings dating from the first four decades of this century. In Joseph Gonzales Dennis P. Doordan, Assistant Professor of Architec the case of some architects, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Bruce Gregga tural History, University of Illinois at Chicago, "The Ludwig Hilberseimer, Paul Schweikher, William Deknatel, and Marilyn and Modern Movement in Architectural Drawin gs," James Edwin Quinn, the drawings represented in this exhibition Wilbert Hasbrouck Wednesday, April 27, 1988,at 2:30 p.m. , at The Art are only a small selection culled from the large archives of their Scott Himmel Institute of Chicago. Admission by ticket only. For reservations, telephone 443-3915. drawings that have been donated to the Art Institute. In the case Helmut Jahn of European Modernists whose drawings rarely come on the mar James L. Nagle Steven Mansbach, Acting Associate Dean of the ket, such as Eric Mendelsohn, J. J. P. Oud, and Le Corbusier, the Gordon Lee Pollock Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Na Art Institute has acquired drawings on an individual basis as John Schlossman tional Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., "Reflections works by these renowned architects have become available. The Kenneth Schroeder on a Lost Revolution: An Overview of the Hungarian Avant-Garde of the Early Twentieth Century ," Tues point that these varied drawings underscore is that even though Patrick Shaw day, July 19, 1988, at 6:00 p.m., in Price Auditorium Modernism as an international architectural movement was con Stanley Tigerman at The Art Institute of Chicago. This lecture is spon cerned with structure , function, and utility, the individual archi Robert Weinberg sored by the Architecture Society of the Art Institute tects nonetheless retained great latitude in their design choices. Martin Zimmerman and is open to the public. On behalf of the Department of Architecture , I would like to Related Exhibition thank the following people for their role in realizing the produc Drawings by Le Corbusier tion of this booklet: Dennis P. Doordan, Assistant Professor at the May 2 - August 21, 1988 University of Illinois at Chicago, for his insightful essay; Robert V. Gallery 108A Sharp, Associate Editor, and Peter Junker, Editorial Assistant, in the Art Institute's Publications Department for editing and over In addition to being one of the most influential archi tects of the twentieth century, Le Corbusier had an seeing production; and graphic designer Michael Glass , of Chi abiding interest in the fine arts and produced more cago, for his fine handling of this publication. I would also like to than 300 paintings and 7,000 drawings of still lifes, thank the following individuals who helped to prepare the exhibi landscapes, and other subjects. "Drawings by Le tion: Robert Weinberg, of Graphic Conservation , for conserving Corbusier" will include approximately a dozen wa many of the works on exhibition; Luigi Mumford, for preparing tercolor, graphite, and silverpoint drawings, dating from Corbusier's early school years of1902-08 . All the works for exhibition; the Art Institute's Department of Graphic drawings in the exhibition are from the permanent Services, for designing the graphics and labels; and the Art collection of nearly three dozen Corbusier prints and Installation crew for the handsome installation. Finally, I express drawings held by the Art Institute's Department of my sincere appreciation to the Architecture Society Fellows who Prints and Drawings. provided funding for the Modern Movement exhibition and for this publication . Front cover: Henry Harringer , Perspective rendering Pauline Saliga of the proposed Ziegfield Fashion Theatre for the Assistant Curator of Architecture Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago , 1930 The Art Institute of Chicago (cat. no. 10). Back cover: ).J.P.Oud , Perspective drawing of the Ryerson Library Stock Exchange, Rotterdam, The Netherlands , 1925/26 [cat. no. 5). THE ART INST ITUTE OF CH ICAGO ©1988 The Art Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Designed by Michael Glass Design , Chicago. Printed by Rohner Printing, Chicago. Dennis P. Doordan Aspects of Architectural Drawings in the Modern Era The histor y of the twentieth century is filled with examples of cover) and Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer to the romanticism of Elie! fundamental changes in every field of endeavor, and architecture Saarinen. Also included are examp les of the Art Deco work of is no exception. Despite dramatic changes in archi tectural styles Paul Cret, Ralph Walker, and Henry Harringer (see front cover), and building technologies, it is possible to identify at least one the unique personal visions of Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van constan t in the history of mod ern architecture, namely , the impor der Rohe, and the competent professionalism of renderers like tan ce of architectural drawings as a fundamental form of dis John Wenrich and George Hossack . course. The exhibition "The Modern Movement: Selections from Rather than attempt to recount the varied history of modern the Permanent Collection" spans the decades of the 1920s, 1930s , architecture, this essay will address three aspects of architectural and 1940s , and it presents a broad spectrum of responses to the drawings as illustrated in this exhi bition . Architectural drawings cha llenge of articulating an architectural expression of modern offer the thoughtful observer aes thetic enjoyment; they serve ity. The work on display ranges from the refined Secessionist architec ts as basic design tools; and they provide critics and sensibility of Josef Hoffmann to the expressionist verve of Eric historians with important insights into the development of archi Mendelsohn, and from the cool rationalism of ].J.P.Oud (see back tectural theory and practice. Fig. 1 Elie! Saarinen , Perspec tive rendering, night view, of a proposed Alexander Hamilton Memor ial, Chicago, 1932 (cat. no. 23). Architectural Drawings as Objects of Aesthetic Contemplation Architectural drawings possess the same potential to appeal to our visual imagination as other types of drawings. They may illuminate moments in the creative process or engage us in dif ferent aspects of the experience of architecture. Eliel Saarinen's 1932 renderings for the Alexander Hamilton Memorial in Chicago , for examp le, clearly present the major elements of his proposed design . Yet these pencil and watercolor studies are more than simple statements of the objective facts of the design. They evoke the sensory experience of encountering the memorial in its park setting. In one sketch (fig. 1), a touch of light low on the horizon suggests a twilight time, when the fading sunlight lingers on the upper portions of the memorial and the cool dampness of early evening begins to settle. Saarinen succeeds in engaging the viewer in a sensual experience of form and light and color. The two renderings are the products of the deliberate and painstaking process of creation, and Saarinen's patient skill as an artist is as evident as his talent as an architect. We are privy to a very different kind of creative exper ience when we focus on a sheet of small sketches by Eric Mendelsohn (fig. 2). The spontaneity of thes e sketches captures for us the genesis of form , that intuitive moment when ideas first assume shape. Early in his career , Mendelsohn began to produce draw ings that had no direct connection with specific commissions or building programs. He wrote to a friend: "My sketches are data, the contour lines of an instantaneous vision," and he apparently continued thi s habit of recording such "data" for the rest of his life .1 Some idea of the intensity with which he drew can be gleaned from a series of letters written to his wife in 1917 . I live among incessant visions. Their transcendence is such that it often carries me away. [June 17, 1917] .. .. After an hour of sleep I suddenly got a bout of drawing fever with a whole mass of sketches , which will perhaps remain spon taneously as they are, or perhaps I will go over them again . [June 24 , 1917] . ... I cannot confine myself to ink . Some times even fluid is too unyielding , The pencil line appeals more to the imagination because it leaves gaps and room for Fig. 2 Eric Mende lsohn, Four sketches, c. 1914-34(?) variation. [June 26, 1917] . ... Early this morning already (cat. no. 1). at my papers . The visions are once more behind every ring of light and every corpuscle in my closed eye ... I lament the fact that the hand and vision are not linked together mechanically. z The sheet of sketches in the collection of the Art Institute is a typical example of Mendelsohn's drawing style, both in the ener getic character of the line and in the absence of any indication of function or building type . Architects develop their own distinctive styles of drawing just as they develop their own architectural styles. In preliminary sketches , Mies van der Rohe, for example, used a rapid back and forth stroke that he manipulated in a variety of ways. Often he Dennis P. Doordan Aspects of Architectural Drawings in the Modern Era The hi story of the twenti eth century is filled with examples of cover) and Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer to the romanticism of Elie! fundamental changes in every field of endeavor, and architecture Saarinen.

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