MODERN WORLD AR
CHITECTURAL DEVE
LOPMENT
1920s: Expressionism and Neo-expressionism
Built in 1920, the Einstein Tower or Einsteinturm in Potsdam, Germany is an
Expressionist work by architect Erich Mendelsohn. Expressionism evolved
from the work of avant garde artists and designers in Germany and other
European countries during the first decades of the 20th century. Many fanciful
works were rendered on paper but never built.
1920s: Constructivism
During the 1920s and early 1930s, a group of avant-garde architects in
Russia launched a movement to design buildings for the new socialist regime.
Calling themselves constructivists, they believed that design began with
construction. Their buildings emphasized abstract geometric shapes and
functional machine parts.
1920s: Bauhaus
Bauhaus is a German expression meaning house for building, or,
literally, Construction House. In 1919, the economy in Germany was
collapsing after a crushing war. Architect Walter Gropius was appointed to
head a new institution that would help rebuild the country and form a new
social order.
1920s: De Stijl
The Rietveld Schröder House in The Netherlands is a prime example of
architecture from the De Stijl movement. Architects like Gerrit Thomas
Rietveld made bold, minimalist geometric statements in 20th century Europe.
In 1924 Rietveld built this house in Utrecht for Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder,
who embraced a flexible home designed with no interior walls.
.1930s: Functionalism
Toward the end of the 20th century, the term Functionalism was used to
describe any utilitarian structure that was quickly constructed for purely
practical purposes without an eye for artistry. For Bauhaus and other early
Functionalists, the concept was a liberating philosophy that freed architecture
from frilly excesses of the past.
1940s: Minimalism
One important trend in Modernist architecture is the movement
toward minimalist or reductivist design. Hallmarks of Minimalism include open
floor plans with few if any interior walls; emphasis on the outline or frame of
the structure; incorporating negative spaces around the structure as part of
the overall design; using lighting to dramatize geometric lines and planes.
1950s: International
International Style is a term often used to describe Bauhaus-like architecture
in the United States. One of the most famous examples of the International
Style is the United Nations Secretariat building, originally designed by an
international team of architects including Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, and
Wallace Harrison.
1950s: Desert or Midcentury Modern
Desert Modernism was a mid-20th century approach to modernism that
capitalized on the sunny skies and warm climate of Southern California and
the American Southwest. With expansive glass and streamlined styling,
Desert Modernism was a regional approach to International Style architecture.
1960s: Structuralism
Structuralism is based on the idea that all things are built from a system of
signs and these signs are made up of opposites: male/female, hot/cold,
old/young, etc. For Structuralists, design is a process of searching for the
relationship between elements. Structuralists are also interested in the social
structures and mental processes that contributed to the design.
1960s: Metabolism
With cell-like apartments, Kisho Kurokawa's 1972 Nakagin Capsule Tower in
Tokyo, Japan is a lasting impression of the 1960s Metabolism
Movement.Metabolism is a type of organic architecture characterized by
recycling and prefabrication; expansion and contraction based on need;
modular, replaceable units (cells or pods) attached to a core infrastructure.
1970s: High-Tech
The 1977 Centre Pompidou in Paris, France is a High-tech building
by Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, and Gianfranco Franchini. It appears to be
turned inside out, revealing its inner workings on the exterior facade. Norman
Foster and I.M. Pei are other well-known architects who have designed this
way.
1970s: Brutalism
Rugged reinforced concrete construction lead to an approach popularly
known as Brutalism. Brutalism grew out of the Bauhaus Movement and
the béton brut buildings by Le Corbusier and his followers. The Bauhaus
architect Le Corbusier used the French phrase béton brut, or crude concrete,
to describe the construction of his own rough, concrete buildings.
1970s: Organic
Designed by Jorn Utzon, the 1973 Sydney Opera House in Australia is an
example of modern Organic architecture. Borrowing shell-like forms, the
architecture seems to soar from the harbor as if it had always been there.
1970s: Postmodernism
Combining new ideas with traditional forms, postmodernist buildings may
startle, surprise, and even amuse. Postmodern architecture evolved from the
modernist movement, yet contradicts many of the modernist ideas. Combining
new ideas with traditional forms, postmodernist buildings may startle, surprise,
and even amuse. Familiar shapes and details are used in unexpected ways.
Buildings may incorporate symbols to make a statement or simply to delight
the viewer.
1980s: Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism, or Deconstruction, is an approach to building design that
attempts to view architecture in bits and pieces. The basic elements of
architecture are dismantled. Deconstructivist buildings may seem to have no
visual logic. Structures may appear to be made up of unrelated,
disharmonious abstract forms, like a cubist work of art — and then the
architect violates the cube.
1990s and 21st Century Parametricism
The Heydar Aliyev Centre, a cultural center built in 2012 in Baku, the capital of
the Republic of Azerbaijan is a design by ZHA — Zaha Hadid and Patrik
Schumacher with Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu. the interior would be column-free to
create a continuously open and fluid space. "Advanced computing allowed for
REFLECTION
Modernism isn't just another architectural style. It is an evolution in design that
first appeared around 1850 — some say it began earlier than that — and
continues to this day. The photos presented here illustrate an array of
architecture — Expressionism, Constructivism, Bauhaus, Functionalism,
International, Desert Midcentury Modernism, Structuralism, Formalism, High-
tech, Brutalism, Deconstructivism, Minimalism, De Stijl, Metabolism, Organic,
Postmodernism, and Parametricism. Dating these eras only approximates
their initial impact on architectural history and society.
The 1963 Beinecke Library at Yale University is a good example of modern
architecture. No windows in a library? Think again. The panels on the outer
walls where the windows might be are, in fact, windows for a modern rare
books library. The facade is built with thin pieces of Vermont marble framed
within granite and concrete clad steel trusses, allowing a filtered natural light
through the stone and into the interior spaces — a remarkable technical
achievement with natural materials by design architect Gordon Bunshaft and
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The rare books library does everything
one would expect of modern architecture. Besides being functional, the
building's aesthetic rejects its Classical and Gothic surroundings. It is new.
As you view the images of these modern approaches to building design,
notice that modern architects often draw on several design philosophies to
create buildings that are startling and unique. Architects, like other artists,
build on the past to create the present.
