Less Is More

In A Home Is Not a House, Reyner Banham starts by arguing that the main function of the typic American house is to cover its mechanical structure. In fact, he states that the use of mechanical services in architectural practice varies constantly because mechanical services are considered to be new in the profession, as well as, a cultural threat to the architect’s position in the world. To show his argument, Banham states that American houses are basically large single spaces divided by partitions inside that give a relative importance to the use of internal mechanical services, causing a threat to the need of architectural design. Similarly, American cultural characteristics, like cleanliness and hygiene, also foster the use and need of mechanical

Two examples that I find especially thought provoking are the Danziger studio and the Goldwyn Library. Built to blend into the local surroundings, the luxury residence was given a humble, rough exterior. Davis' explains that the rough exterior of the architecture reflects the underlying social phenomenon of "repression, surveillance and exclusion"(Davis, 224) that collectively forms the "fragmented, paranoid spatiality"(Davis, 229 ) that LA embodies. Moreover, The house's "camouflage"(Davis, 229 ) exterior creates a stark contrast to its luxurious interior, which places further emphasis on the exclusion and barrier between the "opulent"(Davis, 256) interior and the "rough"(Davis, 224 ) environment. I find Davis' assessment of the Daziger studio particularly agreeable and accurate as I truly believe that an architecture, its purpose and characteristic, sheds light to not only its physical environment but also its social environment, something that might not necessarily be as apparent. On the other hand, I find Davis' assessment of the Goldwyn library rather exaggerated. Judging from photos taken, the fifteen foot security wall is not as grotesque and 'fear-imposing' as Davis puts it. Davis described the library as "baroquely fortified...menacing...bizarre"(Davis, 246) and "paranoid"(Davis, 251). Although security and 'vandal-proof'' maybe, as Davis suggested, the initial goal of the design, I do not believe that it is as exaggerated as Davis

In Gehry’s house, he used big openings, unique wall surfaces and light conditions in a large room or visible framework, they all showing the postmodern style and making relationships between architecture and its origin. Gehry tried to “make a very tough sculptural

A sophisticated house or dumpy gas station catches the eye for a moment then becomes lost amongst other thoughts. However, like the art in our homes, a building's purpose is not to be stared at like a museum painting. They influence the mood of those who occupy the space. Even for people who live far away, it creates a happy thoughtfulness that these places still exist in our throwaway

Sydney Ancher was a Sydney based architect whose work is known for its simplicity. The development Ancher had throughout his practice, as noted by Robin Boyd, was an “unaffected, uncomplicated and undeviating search for simplicity2.” Ancher encountered the work of Mies van der Rohe at an international building exhibition in Berlin, in 1931, during his five years of travel and work abroad and has been influenced by it since then3. The work was a single storey building with extensive use of glass walls and a modular plan that linked indoor and outdoor space,

Unlike the Seagram building the Lover House occupied the space in front by making it for public use but at the same time showing that it belongs to them. The space in the Seagram building is open nothing around but the Lever House covers the space and incorporates landscape within, making you feel that you are in part of the building but at the same time in a public

Ultimately materialism never fulfills you, many teenagers are driven to the point where they need real happiness. The feelings they receive from possessions tend to become more temporary. As stated by Joshua Becker, author of The More of Less, “All possessions are temporary by nature, as soon as a package is open, they began to perish, spoil or fade”. The limited connection that is being expose from this changes a person’s outlook towards the real affection and feelings that is being sense. On the other hand, everything will be outdated and destroyed at one point. Everything is constantly changing and evolving. From new technology, new appliances, new clothes to new trends, everything will be eventually outmoded.

Modern day architecture has been immensely influenced by the use of public structures, theaters, and columns once developed by the Greeks. The influence of Greek architecture has made the impossible possible, throughout our world today. As the man awakes from his daydream his is amazed by the impressive architectural elements. The elements in his dream are scattered throughout society today. The majestic columns, mighty aqueducts, and roaring theaters in within blocks of his home. The influence of the Greek architecture has shaped the world he lives

On his book on Modern Architecture, Curtis writes that modern architecture was faulted for it’s “supposed lack of ‘recognizable imagery’” towards the end of the 1970s. This statement supports the idea of Jencks’ double coding where architects must now make

Mies van der Rohe is one of the most prominent figures in modernist architectural history, the man who popularised some of the most influential phrases of the era, e.g. “less is more”, and strove to push his ideas and philosophies, not just on what he thought a building should be, but of what he thought architecture itself was. He changed the cityscape of America, showing the world a style that was simple and elegant, with such a controlled palette of expressions that shone through in its geometric beauty.

As suggested by the title, this piece of literature attempts to highlight the importance of sensory experience in architecture. It is indeed a response to what the author terms as ‘ocularcentrism’ of Modern Architecture. Ocularcentrism is the act of prioritizing visual stimuli to all other sensory stimuli available to a human perception. He quotes famous German poet, Goethe, in his defense, “the hands want to see, the

There is often some confusion when people start talking about the post-modernism and modernism in architecture in terms of  their philosophical terminology differences. Modern architecture is known for its minimalism (Linder, 2004); buildings were functional and economical rather than comfortable and beautifully decorated. The post-modernism architecture, however, is called a “neo-eclectic, significantly assuming the role of a regeneration of period styles for designing houses, and a never-ending variety of forms and characteristics, asymmetrical designs for commercial buildings” (Fullerton Heritage, 2008). An example of these two polar opposites, “Less is more” made by Mies van der Rohe in 1928 (Blake, 1976) and "Less is a bore" made by

Different architects have different styles because they are trying to get at different things. Architecture is not just about making something beautiful anymore, it is about trying to get across a set of ideas about how we inhabit space. Two of the most famous architects of the twentieth century, one from each side, the early part and the later part up until today each designed a museum with money donated by the Guggenheim foundation. One of these is in New York City, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The other is in bilbao, Spain, and it was designed by Frank Geary. My purpose of this paper is to interrogate each of these buildings, glorious for different reasons, to show how each architect was expressing their own style.

Everyday we live and move through spaces without realizing the influence they can have on our daily lives. Built environments are designed to directly affect behaviour and attitudes in a specific and intended way; this can be referred to as architectural determinism (Marmot 2002). Almost all architectural patterns use the physical arrangement of elements, and materials to influence behavior. This can range from placing design elements in specific places to encourage or discourage people’s interaction with them, placing them to prevent access to a specific area, or placing them to direct or

“ Architecture organizes and structures space for us, and its interiors and the objects enclosing and inhabiting its rooms can facilitate or inhibit our activities by the way they use this language”(Lawson pg.6).