Modernists longed to recreate the world through new ideas and contemporary techniques to design structurally and provide unprecedented buildings. Architecture took a turn and progressed from total works of art to industrialization during the 20th century. Advancement with technology due to the machine age brought new materials and new tools. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was one of the many architects of this time to not only envision new structural systems, but was able to apply modern style concepts to numerous designs throughout his career. Through the design of the New National Gallery, Mies van der Rohe achieved an unprecedented modern language of architecture with the focus on light, transparency and organization of space to utilize all structural qualities, as well as the relationship to nature through designing from the inside out.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, later addressed as Mies, was born in the German town of Aix La Chapelle. At a young age he gained fundamental experience in the craftsman’s tradition and skills, later after commissioning his first project as an independent architect, Mies “executed in the then popular traditional style of steep roofs, gables and dormer windows with precision and careful attention to detail.” Next, he had the opportunity to train under Peter Behrens, where Mies learned to appreciate order and fine detail, as well as new ideas on proportion, simplicity, and the use of steel and glass. Mies acquired a romantic language from Behrens that derived from “ his domestic architecture from Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It was characterized by a unique sense of rhythm and proportion, a purity of form, and a nobility that stemmed from the practice of placing structures on wide platforms or pedestals.” T...
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...ong U-turn from the austere Schinkelesque Neo-Classicism of his early years, via avant-garde period influenced by De Stijl and Expressionist ideas of the 1920s, back to the sober values of Classicism after about 1945. Mies van der Rohe evolved his ideas from the basic principles of construction to present a building that expressed lucid and simple structure.
Modernism as a new contemporary style was seen as pure geometric forms having distinct structural systems, and a relationship with the new technological advancements caused by the Industrial Revolution. Throughout Mies van der Rohe’s career he was in pursuit to provide clarity, and evolve his architecture to convert the technical solution into an architectural expression. He exposed the structure to exploit all expressive effects, which lead Mies van der Rohe to become one of four Masters of Modern Architecture
Many of Frank Gehry’s early works reflect a refined manipulation of shapes and structures, whereby many of his buildings present distorted shapes or apparent structures. From the Guggenheim museum to the Walt Disney concert hall, Frank Gehry’s architecture is close to none. He cleverly plays with shapes and geometries. In this essay, I shall start with a brief analysis of Gehry’s house and the influences in the design of the house. I shall then analyze the extent to which Frank Lloyd Wright has inspired and influenced Gehry in the design of his house through a comparison with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jacob’s house.
In 1888, Van Gogh painted his Bedroom in Arles, while he was living in his famous yellow house. The objects depicted in the painting, namely his bed, two chairs and a table, all seem like they are tilted downwards, and the entire perspective seems rather strange. Indeed, after moving to the South of France, the artist’s style changed remarkably as he started drifting away from impressionism. H...
It is the new decade after the end of world war two and modernism is a well-established practice. Its pioneers and spearheads are prevalent figures looming over the new architects and designers who are trying to make their mark in the shadows of such historically influential people. With new technologies and materials emerging from the world wars the next era of modernism had started to evolved, bringing with it philosophies and ideas which seemed far removed from those of the pioneers of modernism “What emerged in the late 1940s and 1950s was an expanding synthesis of questions utterly removed from the confident statements of the pioneers.”(Spade 1971,10) Two significant buildings were designed in the 50's, both of them for educational institutes and to house students of architecture, there were both designed in completely different styles and methods. The first is Ludwig Mies van der Rohes' Crown Hall, finished in 1956 and designed as a part of a campus master plan for the Illinois Institute of technology in Chicago. Mies' design for Crown Hall is one of his most realised expressio...
“Form follows function.” Every great Modern architect thought, designed by and breathed these very words. Or at least, their design principles evolved from them. Modern architects Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pierre Chareau, and Rudolf Schindler to name a few believed that the function determined the space whether the space was solely for a particular purpose or they overlapped to allow for multiple uses. Form didn’t just follow function, function defined the space. By focusing on the relationship between the architecture and the interior elements, Chareau’s Maison de Verre expanded the idea of functionalism to include not only the architecture but also the space it creates and how people function within that space.
In the early twentieth century the Modern movement of architecture and industrial design came about. This movement was a reaction to the change within society and the introduction of new technologies. The ever changing world and technology meant artists to evolve alongside the changing world and this kind of ‘industrial revolution’ that was happening. Modernists ideas have seeped into every form of design especially architecture and design. Although most modernists insisted they were not following any style in particular, their work is instantly
The success of the Van Nelle Factory as an icon of modern architecture was due to its functional design concepts fused with the principles of progressivism and idealistic concepts. The flexible interior, the large amounts of penetrating light, the elegance of clean and healthy functionalism, and the weightless mass were the strongest attributes for the complex. With Brinkman’s, Van der Vlugt’s, and Van der Leeuw’s combined education of modern architecture they were able to employ their design ideologies to create one of the most renowned factories in Europe. Paul Bromberg wrote that the Dutch architects soon “… realize[d] that even the most utilitarian buildings can and should be beautiful. Building should always be architecture, even when it is ‘only’ a factory.”
Rowland, Kurt F. A History of the Modern Movement: Art Architecture Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973. 142. Print.
The Glass House is sometimes referred as ‘the diary of an eccentric architect’ by Johnson. Like a diary, it reflects his changes in architectural styles over time, from Modernism to neoclassical to Post-Modernism and beyond. (Cite) Johnson’s own explanation of the Glass House acknowledged his intention to fulfill Mies van der Rohe's goals by creating a building pure in its form and materials, seeing it as a sort of variation on Mies' 1947 design for the Farnsworth House in Piano, Illinois. (Cite)
Many architects have different definitions of what Space architecture is. Schindler declared in 1912 that he had “finally discovered the medium of his art: Space.” (Mattens 105) After this discovery Schindler had many architects and theorist began to study what he had discovered. Herman Sorgel argued that “architecture is not the art of space, volumes, and planes; rather architecture is just are of space alone.” (Mattens 105) Space Architecture in many ways has connections to portraying modernism.
Rubens personified one of the most creative, skilled, and successful western artists, and his almost measureless resourcefulness of design enabled him to become a master of the finest studio establishment in Europe. As one French Romantic Artist describes Peter Paul Rubens as one who “carries one beyond the limit scarcely attained by the most eminent painters; he dominates one, he overpowers one, with all his liberty and boldness.”
The essence of modern architecture lays in a remarkable strives to reconcile the core principles of architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. However, it took “the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification, to establish modernism as a distinctive architectural movement” (Robinson and Foell). Although, the narrower concept of modernism in architecture is broadly characterized by simplification of form and subtraction of ornament from the structure and theme of the building, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose; the visual expression of the structure, particularly the visual importance of the horizontal and vertical lines typical for the International Style modernism, the use of industrially-produced materials and adaptation of the machine aesthetic, as well as the truth to materials concept, meaning that the true nat...
Mies created established characteristics that became essential for modern architecture. “Less is more”. These three words really jump started the modernist movement in architecture and embodies the philosophy of minimalism. Stripping away the ornament and décor to get to the essence of a building. Mies van der Rohe changed architecture through these radical ideas. Many of these concepts we still see today in modern and minimalist styles. The simple and open plan has been replicated
Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.
Mies believed that the functions have a shorter lifetime rather than the buildings constructed by man. Therefore, it makes the sense of exact flexibility and multi-functionality for the design (Mies van der Rohe in Broadbent, 1978). He also declared that we should not let the functions dictate the plan. Instead, it should provide us with the suitable situations to make each function applied (Mies van der Rohe in Heyer, 1993). Regarding Mies’ statements, which is contrary to Venturi’s interpretation, an architectural design should be done for multi-functionality, compatibility, and adaptability regardless of the usage subject or scale to satisfy different changes of human needs over the time. Based on this idea, the viewpoint of flexible design and the existence of multi-purpose spaces in a neutral and fix form in Mies’ architectural works could be obviously proved (Padovan, 2002). Hence, it could be claimed that his outstanding motto “less is more” is presented in order to achieve such
Jencks believes “the glass-and-steel box has become the single most used form in Modern Architecture and it signifies throughout the world ‘office building’” (27). Thus, modern architecture is univalent in terms of form, in other words it is designed around one out of a few basic values using a limited number of materials and right angles. In...