The Avant-Garde Discourse

It appears that from the very beginning, Frank Lloyd Wright was destined by fate or determination to be one of the most celebrated architects of the twentieth century. Not only did Wright possess genius skills in the spatial cognition, his approach to architecture through geometric manipulation demonstrates one aspect of his creativeness. Forever a great businessman, Wright seemed to know how to please his clients and still produce some of the most innovative and ridiculed buildings of

Modernism rose to prominence in the early years of the twentieth century with the “horrors of World War I” being the “catalyst” to the reformation in beliefs (Rahn, “Modernism”; Lorcher

    Architecture has undergone a rapid and revolutionary transformation in the  modern era.  Through the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, this essay  attempts to chart the transition in architecture from nineteenth century  Romanticism and Neoclassicism to High Modernism. Mies van der Rohe  redefined architectural boundaries and emphasised the beauty of simple forms,  the importance of functionality and the versatility of new materials such as  glass, steel and marble. An analysis of the work of Philip Johnson reveals the  development from High Modernism to Postmodernism, where playful and  ironic decoration and humanist theories were reintroduced into what had

Charles Jencks’ essay declares the exact date and time of the death of modern architecture with the demolition of “Pruitt-Igoe”, the housing board complex in St Louis, Missouri (US). Jencks states that vandalizing, mutilating and defacing by the black inhabitants was the root cause of its failure. Jencks fields questions that concern mass consumerism, kitsch, and meanings associated with the forms of modernism. In the end, Mr. Jencks makes assumptions and predictions about where architecture is headed, how it will get there, and what types of theoretical associations will be appropriate with future architectural movements. Author then defines Post-Modernism as ‘double coding’, a combination of Modern techniques

Throughout my day trip to Chicago, Illinois as part of American Experience, there was one question that behind my experiences that guided my thoughts: “What does modern architecture mean?” It is a simple question to ask, but a much more difficult question to answer. After all, we hardly even recognize the styles behind the buildings we see and use everyday, let alone what those styles represent. However, after careful study of some of best examples of American architectural style, the answer to that question becomes very clear.

The styles seen in by the Chicago school of architects differ from the style seen in eclectic works. In this paper I will elucidate these differences by comparing two works, one from each style. I will compare Adler & Sullivan’s Wainwright Building to Cass Gilbert’s Woolworth Building.

The architectural world in the 20th century regards him as a pseudonym, a man whose systematic expressions of design shaped the physical structures of society in addition to the ideas of those who worked in his field alongside him. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris was the target of global frustration, for his enlightened views on a new age of architecture were not ones that the early 20th century was willing to embrace. However, there were several voices that spanned from the decades of his life to the present day today, who uncovered the man, the artist, the human being underneath the pseudonym of ‘Le Corbuiser’.

During his career, which spanned five decades, Le Corbusier’s passion for urban planning and for providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities, saw him construct renowned buildings throughout America, India and Europe. More than any other architect of the modern movement, Le Corbusier insisted on one particular ideal of design; that architecture was the product of individual creative intelligence, and that the order for which we create with architecture should be ideal, not pragmatic. He was famously noted to have said, “The house is a machine for living in.” However, by saying this, Le Corbusier was implying that the machine was a template for an art form, whose character and structure should be explicitly determined by laws “internal to itself.”

Modernism plays a big role in history and definitely changed the way of life today. In this essay I will discuss what modernism is and how it changed the peoples perspective on design by evaluating the existence of skyscrapers and how these came to be, due to modernism.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), a German-born architect, is world wide acknowledged as one of the 20th century's pioneer architects. He refined the definition of modern architecture to emphasize open space, and uncover the industrial materials utilized in construction.

The book, which was published in 1923, had a lasting impact on the architectural profession. It serves as both as a manifesto for generations of future architects and as a subject of hate of those who are critical of it. The book itself is created of seven essays that Corbusier had previously published in his self-published magazine, L’Esprit Nouveau. The main theme of the essays are to be critical of then-contemporary trends of eclecticism and art deco architecture. Corbusier generally states that architecture should be influential and progressive in the way it changes how humans interact with buildings. In fact, Corbusier states that, “Une maison est une machine-a-habiter,” or rather, a house is a machine for living in. And in fact, architecture is the construction. When ingenuity is brought into play and masterfully implemented, art follows. This resonates with me as I agree that architecture needs to be both form and function, but function

Introduction: Modernism is a word that is generally used to understand "new and distinctive features in the subjects, forms, concepts and styles of literature and the other arts in the early decades of the present century, but especially after World War I." (Abrams 167) More often than not "Modernism" engages in "deliberate and radical break" (Abrams 167) with some of the more traditional foundation of art and culture.

The goal of an architect is to design accordingly to the time with an understanding of the relationship between space and activity. In his essay Space and Events, Bernard Tschumi says, “There is no space without even, no architecture without program.” He then continues with, “Architecture cannot be dissociated from the events that ‘happen’ in it” (Tschumi, 139).

This paper deals with the idea that everyone should have freedom in architecture, the same freedom that everyone has in painting and sculpture: to produce any kind of work and afterwards exhibit it. This freedom can only be achieved if we let everyone build his own dwellings and be the architect-bricklayer-occupant of the building, as this is the only way for the man to regain his critical-creative function, without which he cannot exist as a human being. The author compares people living in buildings built following functional architecture rules, to animals living in cages, all equally foreign to the nature of the “cage”. Straight lines are

Aim of this essay is to differentiate and distinguish between the architectural academic realm and architectural real applications, what roles do avant-garde ideas play in creating this realm . In order to discuss this matter it is inevitable not to discuss 60’s architecture as some of the most avant-garde designs of contemporary times stems from that area and in specific by the people behind magazines which later on went to be just more than a magazine and became and ideology hence it is not a surprise to come across terms such as Archigramism .The pivotal role that Graphic design played in