The Modernist Movement And The International Style Movement

In this essay I have examined the building in several different aspects into a series of paragraphs. Based on good research these paragraphs will put into context the architecture of the building, and the time in which it was constructed. I will also discuss the decisions and the process it took to construct it. The building I chose is the Villa Paul Poiret in France I will further describe the building

Behind every building, there is an idea. No architect can deny that both Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe developed and introduced a style of architecture that has left a lasting influence on design and concept. Their philosophy of modernism has similarities that can be seen throughout the design of their structures, however, their, contrasting views of modernism is distinguishable in Wright’s Falling Water and Mies’ Farnsworth house. Their choices of the building site, material, and idea behind the structures separate the two architects and their philosophies.

The eighteenth-century city was a place in which actual physical space was subjected to a complex mental layering of conceptual spaces, focusing on the design theory of architects as Boullee and Durand, with his charts. Which legacy was continued later on through the architecture of Paul Philippe Cret, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn, some of the most outstanding modern architects of 18th-19th century. Furthermore, distinctive features of neoclassicism and outlines

Designing and decorating a room is giving it a sense of purpose and personality. In the sixties, this became about capitalising on the influence of the Space Race, which right from its ‘infancy’ was having an observable impact on culture and art. It brought with it a growing appetite for what was considered to be the cutting edge of technological and human advancement. It is agreed that it was in the architectural landscape of the West’s cities that this shift was most noticeable. They were updated with ‘upswept winglike roofs, domes, satellite shapes and starbursts that became the dominant visual language of motels, diners and gasoline stations’. It is for this reason that Colombo’s apartments were as contained as spacecraft and I feel contextualises something of the general climate that lead to the chrome dipped Factory itself being a rather futuristic ‘spillover from the silvery streamlining of the space program’. For Warhol, for whom the now was paramount, working from somewhere that so greatly embraced innovation would have been integral. (Kennedy, 2007)

Architecture often stands on its own edifying right, but how much more affluent we are to seek an understanding of the cultural diversity and design influence one had on architecture when presented in terms of an historical account. This paper seeks to piece together the formal elements of the villa with dignifying examples of diversity from Hadrian’s travels and abhor of the surroundings of Rome itself.

Koolhaas’s statement about the shift in values from Liberty, Equality and Fraternity to Comfort, Security and Sustainability exemplify the attitudes in the discourse about Brutalism past and present. During the Brutalist period of the 1950-1970s an emphasis was placed on the exploration of materials, favouring reinforced concrete to express a world which was fundamentally altered by the devastations of war and which looked positively towards equality and forms of solidarity through social welfare. Current discourse surrounding Brutalism focuses on texture, equality, public institutions, and presence. These characteristics and values, once contextualised in a neoliberal environment exhibit antithetical positions which expose the deficiencies within the socio political condition and the means of architectural production. The antithetical positions when materialised in the discourse and architectural examples evidence a synthesis which moves towards new responses addressing the contemporary concerns with the neoliberal

Postmodernism is a universal movement, present in every art and discipline. In architecture, postmodernism is precise as well as ambiguous thereby in need of an explorative pursuit for a consensus of what is meant by the movement in this perspective - between the works of Charles Jencks, a primary theorist of this architectural turn; Heinrich Klotz, a leading architectural critic; and William Curtis, an architectural historian. The progression of this paper is highly influenced with Jencks’ studies as his works are often times referenced as well by both Klotz and Curtis in their individual interpretations and further accompanied with either supporting statements or contradictions.

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.

This book was written by Juhani Pallasmaa with regard to ‘Polemics’, on issues that were part of the architecture discourse of the time, i.e. 1995. It is also an extending of ideas expressed in an essay entitled “Architecture of the seven senses” published in 1994.

Gropius traces the growth of the New Architecture and the work of the now well-known Bauhaus, with accuracy, calls for a new artist and architect educated to new materials and approaches as well as meeting the requirements of the age. It is also mentioned in The New Architecture and the Bauhaus that the intention of the Bauhaus was not to reproduce any “style”, system or belief, but simply to exert a revitalizing impact on design. Even though the outward forms of the New Architecture differ primarily in an organic sense from the old, it is the inevitable logical product of the intellectual, social and technical conditions of our age. A gap has been made with the past, allowing us to face a new aspect of architecture corresponding to the technical civilization of the age we live in. The analysis of the dead styles has been destroyed. Furthermore, the new building throws open the walls like curtains to allow an abundance of fresh air, daylight and sunshine. Instead of securing the building ponderously into the ground, it poises them lightly, yet firmly at the same

In relation to this the book ’Le Corbusier ‘by Kenneth Frampton (British architect, critic and historian, born: 20/11/1930) also holds a link within some of the opinions, movements and beliefs of Le Corbusier. Focusing from the early stages of Corbusier’s life to his last works, we find ourselves indulging in facts and creations of Corbusier himself such as the Dom-ino. As featured in the previous reading ‘towards a new architecture’ Corbusier talks about the engineers aesthetic ‘two things that march together and follow one from the other one at its full height, the other in an unhappy state of retrogression’. After some research in to this I was lead to the dom-ino design (image above). The dom –ino was an early example of the engineers aesthetic and became the theoretical basis of most of Corbusiers houses up to 1935 and extended on a scale much larger than the two story house. The dom-ino led to a number of prototype buildings such as the United De Habitation. The design allows the concept of the free facade, The pieces were to be pre-fabricated allowing the construction time of the design to be reduced and thereby a product of Corbusier’s application of

If one were to travel back to Paris in its immediate post-WW1 years, one would find a growingly dissatisfied architect made anxious by his surroundings. All around Le Corbusier, engineers were making their presence felt through rapid innovation of technology and industry, whilst architecture seemed to be mired in a state of stagnation. As he watched this chasm grow between his profession and the push for progress, he felt compelled to express his criticisms on the contemporary state of affairs, as well as the bold, comprehensive vision he himself carried for the future. He did so through essays in his magazine L’Esprit nouveau, and several of these were collected and published as a book in 1923 titled Vers une architecture (literally Towards an Architecture though mistranslated as Towards a New Architecture in the English edition of 1927). A manifesto of the architect’s ideas for a reconsideration of the house as well as the way to build it, it proved hugely influential in its time and undoubtedly played in part in shaping the development of architecture.

Abstract-Deconstructivism is a post-modern architectural style or movement which appeared in the 1980s, based on the idea of freedom of form. Architecture earlier was only based on the concept of pure geometry. Jacques Derrida, a philosopher, introduced the idea of deconstruction which challenges the characteristics of harmony and symmetry in architecture and allows for the birth of complexity. This brought about a major change in the way that architecture was usually read. The language changed. Deconstructivist projects can be looked at through multiple lenses. They deal with complexities, contradictions and ambiguity. Following two projects of deconstructivism style, the first being, The Memorial for the Murdered Jews and second, The Jewish

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.