For the critical essay assignment I specifically chose the building called the Rufus Stillman House. The House is located in Litchfield, Connecticut and was built in 1950 by the architect Marcel Breuer. Marcel Breuer became acquainted with this couple, Rufus and Leslie Stillmen, in 1949. They became acquainted when Breuer’s work of his demonstration house that was on display in a courtyard at the Museum of Modern Art, which is located in New York. The couple hired Marcel Breuer to design a modern house for their property in Litchfield. The Stillman House was the resulting structure.
The structure was built in 1950 and is known as Stillman House I. The design of the house brought together the mix of modern style and Colonial Revival, the house is considered to be mid-century modern style while it was built in a town that is primarily used to Colonial Revival style. The house contains an outdoor swimming pool with a mural painted by Breuer’s friend, Alexander Calder. The Stillman sold this house, the original, when they moved into the second home that Breuer built for them, called Stillman II, and then decided to purchase it back and continue to reside there. Breuer built two other houses for them, along with this one, however, Stillman I seemed to be the favorite of all three.
The Stillman house uses a variation of what
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It is considered beautiful to the public and the Stillman couple. The building speaks for its architect by the beauty and creativeness of the house. Since the house was considered successful and to be one of Breuer’s most successful post-war houses; the successfulness of the house being displayed at the museum of Art proves that the house does have true beauty and is respected in the design
The little historic house was hovering higher than the actual street, extremely different from its surroundings, a reversion of time. I never went to the house until this project came out. I immediately though about visiting the Dyckman Farm and Museum. Surprisingly, when I went the museum entrance only cost $1 and it took me about an hour to see the interior and 30 minutes to walk through the garden. The Dyckman Farm House & Museum is small enough that you can self-guide. There are 7 rooms, and one of the most interesting is the main parlor. The house in general is well maintained and the farm house is only open Friday to Sundays from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Throughout American history, people have been categorized based on what gender they are, and what their race is. In order to explore these ideas and come to terms with their importances many musicians, film makers, and authors have described the inner-workings of this societal construct. Indeed, both racial and female identities have been at the epicenter of many works of art throughout American culture as can be seen in: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane, film “Modern Times,” Bessie Smith’s “T’ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” and James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.
Question 1. Choose an architect or practice whose work is covered by or relevant to this course and discuss critically one or more of their design projects or drawings or urban proposals as precedent case-studies. Selectively situate this work in relation to their body of work, and against the practices and concerns of the period. Focus on the architectural qualities of a specific key aspect of the design of the projects. Selectively consider how they might relate to the historical situation, cultural values, theoretical concerns and design practices of the time. This may involve a selective analysis of compositional design practices, material fabrication production and the experiential reception of built outcomes of the projects.
Louis was one of the most worldwide-circulated examples of concentrated poverty and public housing failure. When Charles Jencks announced “Modern architecture died in St Louis, Missouri on July 15, 1972, at 3:32pm”, he was referring to the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe housing development, a 57 acre array of 11-stories public housing blocks, representing the death of modern architecture and its iconic failure in American public housing
The Philadelphia Centennial of 1876 is the origin starting point for a rebirth of the colonial architectural heritage of America and the early English and Dutch houses of the Atlantic seaboard. The increasing popularity of colonial influences on contemporary architecture motivated a highly publicized tour of a group of architects in 1877 who observed and recorded Georgian and Federal houses of New England. The simplicity of colonial designs and honest use of materials with more economical plans than the recently popular picturesque homes also contributed to the growing popularity of the style. Even a century after “modern” architecture was introduced, Colonial Revival motifs continue to be popular in new construction. These homes got their
Mies is widely regarded as a pioneer of modernist architecture. Mies was also very influential to the many of the communities where he designed for but Chicago in particular is a city where he has many great works that influence the city and architecture. Both the Lakeshore Drive Apartments and the IIT College serve as projects that influence the city of Chicago but also play a significant role in defining modernism. In analyzing the influence these two projects had on the city it is important to also know and understand Chicago before and after the buildings were constructed. Before Mies migrated to the United States, Chicago was a city which
Upon first glance, architectural elements in both Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Jane Austen's Persuasion seem categorically unrelated. Fitzgerald uses architecture to directly reflect the disposition of a properties owner, while Austen often uses setting for the reader to grasp better understanding of the protagonist Anne Elliot herself, and her relation to her world around her. However, through the exploration of both novels, similar aspects of the utilization of architecture emerge. Both authors use architecture to demonstrate crucial elements; the personality in their characters and of class rigidity and social mobility in their differing setting; both of which allow the reader to possess a deeper understanding
Leon Krier was criticised for publishing a costly monograph on Albert Speer’s architecture (1985)in which, while acknowledging the crimes of the Nazis and the man, Krier nonetheless claimed the book’s only subject and sole justification was “Classical architecture and the passion of building” (cited by Jaskot, ‘Architecture of Oppression’, 2000). Discuss this claim, the controversy and the issues (historical, philosophical and ethical and possibly others) they raise. Can architecture, Classical, Modern or otherwise, be autonomous from politics and valued independently of the circumstances of politics and history that adhere to it?
Using the quote by Habermas as a starting point, select up to two buildings designed in the twentieth century and examine what ‘sudden, shocking encounters’ they have encountered, or created. Analyse the building’s meanings as a demonstration of an avant-garde, or potentially arriere-garde, position.
“How do you make a building for contemporary art that stays contemporary in the future without stooping to a neutral language? And how do you attract a big public without compromising the selfish, private, exclusive time we all want to have in a museum?” These questions, put forward by Elizabeth Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, represent the urbanistic motivation supporting the construction of Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). In such a manner Boston’s ICA engages, not only with the urban citizen, but also the urban landscape in which the site is located. The ICA conveys the idea of architecture as art in itself. As a presenter of art to the urban citizen and because of its open design, the inside allows the citizens to not only appreciate the art within the building but also see the art of the building’s natural environment and setting.
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.
First, whether the person's principal legacy fundamentally conflicts with the university’s mission. Second, whether that legacy was contested during the namesake’s lifetime. Third, why the university honored that person. Fourth, whether the building has a significant role in forming community at Yale.
The five principles of architecture that Le Corbusier proposed in 1923 can be noted in, not only Le Corbusier’s work, but also in other modern architecture, because each principle contributes to the overall aesthetic of the building, as well as providing a functional use. However, all five principles don’t have to be incorporated into one design, which is what this essay will explore. It will attempt to show that one principle can prevail over the other four, but all five are needed to create a full representation of Le Corbusier’s envision of architecture. This is shown through Le Corbusier’s villas, specifically the Villa Shodhan and this essay will analyse how the principles contrast against one another. Furthermore, a small scale design project will be created alongside the essay in an attempt to produce a unique villa through the embodiment of Le Corbusier’s five principles of architecture. Through further analysis of the Villa Shodhan I will also argue that not all principles are independent and that some principles can function efficiently without the rest. Nonetheless, Le Corbusier’s most renowned villa, Villa Savoye, utilizes all five principles; therefore, it is the most accurate image of Le Corbusier’s five principles of architecture. However, after this villa had been completed it became clear that the flat roof, which served a domestic purpose as a roof garden had failed
This essay will critically discuss the development of Post Modernism as a reaction to Modernism and the growth of the architectural style as an individual movement.
Centered in the house is a ramp that takes you on a journey from the underbelly of the house on the ground floor to the main body on the first floor and then on to a roof garden. Throughout the house views of the surrounding nature are framed, your mind is free marvel, as the forms evoke a sense of exploration and delight. Villa Savoye is better experienced than viewed through an image, only then can you understand the greater meaning and purpose that informs its beauty. One might argue that this is not beautiful architecture and a poor example, however upon visiting this house you cannot deny that the house is beautiful in its own right, evoking a response from the occupant. Le Corbusier’s masterpiece is moving; therefore achieving what he believed architecture to be about. This experience and the emotion that is felt can only be described in words. Shapes play a big role in the architecture but clearly the meanings behind are more important.