‘The avant-garde understands itself as invading unknown territory, exposing itself to the dangers of sudden, shocking encounters, conquering an as yet unoccupied future ... The avant-garde must find a direction in a landscape into which no one seems to have yet ventured.’
JURGEN HABERMAS, "Modernity versus Postmodernity," Modernity: Critical Concepts
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.
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...
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...e built-in, inexplicable preferences to a greater or lesser degree. A visionary predilection for certain combinations of form, rhythm, color, light, space and texture...every age exhibits a tendency, a preference for certain forms” (Rudolph 1977, 317)
Works Cited
Blaser, W. 2001. Mies van der Rohe: Crown Hall, Switzerland: Birkhauser.
Drexler, A, 1960. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, London: Mayflower.
Heyer, P. 1966. Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America, New York:Walker.
Hughes, R. 2008. Visions of Space: Mies van der Rohe: Less is More, BBC,viewed November 9th 2011
Rudolph, P. 1977. Enigmas of Architecture, Architecture and Urbanism, vol. 30, pp 317-320
Spade, R. 1971. Paul Rudolph, London:Thames and Hudson.
Venturi, R. 1966. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, New York: Museum of Modern Art.
“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.
Rowland, Kurt F. A History of the Modern Movement: Art Architecture Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973. 142. Print.
Vidler, Anthony. The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the Modern Unhomely. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1992. Print.
In all, both the Glasgow Art Building and the Goldman-Schwartz Art Building have a surprising number of similarities. Although they are located on two different continents, the styles are remarkably similar especially considering their function. Their similar goals to promote creativity by designing an open and free environment are perhaps, the most significant and interesting features of the structures. By comparing these features, it gives an indication of the serious dedication to art that has existed across the world regardless of history.
The reference to Rudolf Wittkower, and his 1952 publication Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism was conspicuous here. By the time of the New Brutalism’s publication Wittkower’s works had already, in his own word, “caused more than a polite stir” in post-war architecture. His analysis of proportion, rationality, and abstraction in Palladian architecture was seen as an endorsement on the “hard” Modernist architecture over the “soft” Scandinavian Modernism. The controversy was further fueled by the works of Colin Rowe, Wittkower’s student, on the Classical language found in Le Corbusier’s works. To claim the relevance of Classical architecture in New Brutalism, for these architects, was to manifest their belief that New Brutalist architecture should be understood as the actual heir to the first generation of Modernist architects. The Smithson couple stated such ambition in the first sentence of their writing: “Our belief that the New Brutalism is the only possible development for this moment from the Modern Movement.” What is noteworthy is that in this one page writing these authors paid tributes to not only one but two émigré historians of the time. The use of the term Modern Movement was a deliberated reference to the works of Nikolaus Pevsner. By evoking Pevsner’s study from William Morris to Walter Gropius, the Smithson and Crosby emphasized the avant-garde spirit in New Brutalism.
According to Charles Jencks, "The modern world, compelled forward by the imperative of continuous growth, is a juggernaut with no reverse gear". To architecture, modernism is like the discovery of the American continent all over again, a territory that is not owned,...
There are many ways to explore and discover the aspects of Ralph Rapson Hall and how these are studied and viewed, not only from the eyes of a student but from the past architects throughout history. Those aspects can be interpreted through the feelings evoked from a space, the cohesiveness of two spaces conjoined, and the differences between additive and divisive plans. Architecture and society has changed in a drastic way since the works of Vitruvius and through these changes many of his ideas no longer apply to modern day architecture. Furthermore, Rapson Hall can still fall under the criteria of many different ideals of the past and the modern.
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
In his newly published book – Narrative Architecture – (which will form the premises for this chapter) Nigel Coats stated “In exploring narrative, I have no predominant theory from which a new architecture can spring”, he also claimed that “Concepts of narrative are built into the post-millennial language of architectural debate, but relatively few of these concepts are organized in prints” (Coats, N. 2012). However, his theory and thoughts summarize an intuitive approach which he started to practice during the 70s and 80s by forming the architecture group (NATO) Narrative architecture today. His theory also offers a new way to interpret buildings, and to create new opportunities to understand, appreciate, and design spaces and buildings… differently.
Architecture is essential to society because it does not only provide a physical environment where people live, but at a deeper level, architecture provides an expression of human civilization at a certain point of time, which endures through the years for future generations to study and appreciate. In fact, architectural design can shape a person's future aspirations, and the direction and tendency by which he is able to fulfill his goals (Yick, 2015). In line with this assertion, this paper will discuss the architectural cultural of London, Paris, and Saint Petersburg in 1800.
The German Pavilion, more commonly known as the Barcelona Pavilion, is one of the most recognizable buildings of the modern period during the early 20th century. It encapsulates every element of modern architecture in one structure. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the fathers of modern architecture, was the architect of this beautiful building. In this essay I will explore how Mies impacted the modern movement in architecture through his groundbreaking ideas using the Barcelona Pavilion as a case study.
In 1940, the Armour Institute became the Illinois Institute of Technology. Then, 16 years later, Ludwig Mies van de Rohe's masterpiece came to life. In 1956, one of his most well-known buildings in the City of Chicago known as S.R. Crown Hall, was completed. This building captured all of the things that Ludwig had inspired his students to capture in their work. He us...
It became the first large building to grow the modern movement’s new conception of form and space. The building is not only famous by the use of modern materials in it but also for its representational quality, as it connects w...
Meijenfeldt, E. V., and Geluk, M. 2003. Below ground level: creating new spaces for contemporary architecture. Birkhauser
The structure I have been given to study is the Pompidou centre, which was built between 1971- 1977, It was first decided by Georges Pompidou, the President of France, decided that Paris needed a Cultural Centre, after his death the Pompidou centre was constructed named after him instead of being named Beaubourg centre. He wanted to construct a cultural centre in Paris that would beneficial to the French economy so that it would attract tourists. Two non famous architects partnered up to create a modern art centre and also a “fun palace for the information age.” These were Richard Rogers a British Architect and Renzo Piano an Italian Architect this building brought them international fame. The site for the Art centre is in the middle of Marias which was the most deprived area in Paris at the time. The concept which these two architects had submitted to the competition was a collage, which portrayed the museum itself as movement. Also in their drawings there was a hand drawn picture of the exposure of the entire structure of the building.