Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Emergence of Modernism



            By the early 20th century, there were many architectural movements that sought to be the defining ground for modern architecture. Starting back in 1880 with Arts and Crafts Movement and ending in 1936 with The Bauhaus, these early modern movements varied in main ideas, materials, and ornamentation. These movements however, would only influence the next movement into the emergence of modernism.

Figure 1

            The Arts and Crafts Movement (1880) was the first counter movement to break from industrialization by returning to the true value of handmade craftsmanship. The beauty was in the details, which were influenced by nature and religion, creating romantic decorative elements. The ideals were more traditional, primarily using wood and exposing the material’s true colors. Many of the buildings had steep roofs, fireplaces, and with well-defined rooms. The Arts and Crafts was about appreciating the artist’s work and therefore, the craftsman were valued and took pride and time with their creation.


Figure 2

            Following the Arts and Crafts, the Art Nouveau Movement (1890) was the first systematic attempt to replace the classical architecture and decorative arts. Although it valued craftsmanship and ornamentation, instead of disagreeing with industrialization like Arts and Crafts did, the movement accepted its’ methods in production. This allowed ornamentation to be mass-produced at an exponential rate. The ornamentation was out of iron metal, allowing the forms to be fluid and imitating nature’s true movements. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were open communal spaces and single organic entity of spaces. But their main contribution to modernism will be mass production of ornamentation.


Figure 3

            The De Stjil Movement (1917-1931) believed that the total design environment could be only achieved by means of complete collaboration between artists and architects. This architecture movement was related to cubism and the abstraction in the arts as its’ influence comes from Piet Mondrian’s painting. The painting uses a grid to create harmony within itself and as a whole; and therefore, the plans and elevations were based off a grid. Primary bright colors were strategically placed, but the grid allowed the interior spaces to be simple and flexible. De Stjil however did eliminate natural objects and replaced them with machine made materials. Instead of decorative pieces, the volume and spaces were experienced by walls and planes. The wrapping of individual planes created the overall form and façade of the building. Instead of referring to natural objects, De Stjil focused on the solids and voids for inspiration, which will be their biggest contribution to modern architecture.


Figure 4

           Coincided with De Stijl Movement, the Expressionism Movement (1900) propagated an abstract art with which an entirely new environment could be created. Both De Stjil and Expressionism believed that a work of art had to express essential character of contemporary society as whole and testify to existence of communal art. Also the two movements believed that architects were capable of transcending level of mere construction and rational providence of engineer. The Expressionism Movement is taken by a group of designers from the Amsterdam School and Hendrik Pertus Berlage (1856- 1934). The group was driven by expressionistic individualism and regarded architecture as the superior to the other arts. Just like De Stjil, they sought for “a betterment society through contact with the arts which was considered food in its own right and could bestow goodness of anyone”. The school was built with handmade bricks and believed that machine were useless because it did not allow the artist to express their individuality. As buildings reveal a greater flexibility in their forms, ornamentation, materialism, and color differentiation plays an important role in the design. The plans were organized around the structure and the facades were severe with discrete ornamentation. It integrated steel material with traditional materials, especially brick.


Figure 5

          The Russian Constructivism/ Suprematism Movement (1920-30) was a representation of the superiority of the nation state. It was a revolutionary stance against the concepts of arts and architecture, replacing the individual’s identity with the utopian ideal of socialist commune state. There is no decoration and so, the individual’s identity was loss, rather it was expressed in favor of communal. The monumentality, propaganda, strong vertically, and huge masses would give the building a very dominate form. The materials that were used were glass, metal, and concrete. Because of the heavy political influence, the creativity and expression of architecture is lost.



Figure 6

          The Futurism Movement (1909-16) took off in Italy and embraced the use of machines and technology. The movement stood as an industrial monumentality with its powerful futuristic buildings and strong vertical spaces. The development of new technology played a role in the conception of architecture, abandoning of traditional architecture completely. Art and design was a strong integration of the total design with bold yet unappealing colors. The masses were large and consisted of heavily machined produced steel, glass, reinforced concrete, fibers, and other manufactured materials. The motif was a steamship and main idea behind was that everything had to be revolutionized; including the importance of the façade, which is diminished. Futurism was the new architecture for the new age.


Figure 7
           
           The Bauhaus School(1920-36) took a utopian stance on the building’s formation with high public exposure and social encounters through design. Influenced by Industrial America, the school expressed a new society through design by integrating art forms with architecture as its’ main goal. With very clean and simple forms, the organization and circulation of the plan was very functional. As holism for its concept, views to the sky were created. Transparency was also present across the interior and exterior with the use of curtain walls. The materials that were used were glass and concrete. Restraining from the use of colors, only primary hues were used to distinguish the program of functional spaces. The structure was designed and separated from the skin, and therefore given a visual importance. In this one building, the Bauhaus challenged the other movements and therefore, is perhaps the most influential style.



Sources:
Figure 1. 
https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweba
pps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Figure 2. 
https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweba
pps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D           

Figure 3. 
http://image.lang-8.com/w0_h0/6e2978c55e41da1281c320d33895d28ebbdd0799.jpg

Figure 4. 
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/4562684308_ce00bab814.jpg

Figure 5. 
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n85/jarmo_k/bigbiggerbiggest.jpg

Figure 6. 
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Santelia01.jpg/220px-Santelia01.jpg

Figure 7. 
http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group1/building2572/media/media_60759.jpg

Middleton, D. (N.A). Amsterdam School Destjil. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Arts & Crafts William Morris. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Art Nouveau. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University
Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Summary on Movements 329. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball
State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Fcontent%2Ffile%3Fcmd%3Dview%26content_id%3D_2415469_1%26course_id%3D_106280_1%26framesetWrapped%3Dtrue

           
           
           

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Art Nouveau: Victor Horta



           Victor Horta, (1861-1947) was a Belgian architect and designer who belonged in the Art Nouveau movement. He is described as the “key to European Art Nouveau architect”, and sometimes credited as the first to introduce the style of architecture from the decorative arts.
            The Art Nouveau movement began in Belgium in 1892 and spread throughout Europe. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau was the first systematic attempt to replace the classical system of architecture and the decorative arts. Key influences were the English ‘free-style’ house, the use of iron, and Viollet le Duc’s theories: main ideas, spatial organization according to function, importance of materials, concept of organic form, and study of vernacular domestic architecture.
            After receiving a Beaux-Arts architectural training, Horta spent over ten years working with a neoclassical style, which was slightly modified by Viollet le Duc’s constructional rationalism. In 1893, he designed an original private house for Emile Tassel, professor of descriptive geometry. The Hotel Tassel was the first in a series of houses that he built for elite Belgian professionals, in which he combined Viollet le Duc’s principle of exposed metal structure with ornamental motifs derived from the French and English decorative arts.
            The Hotels Tassel, Solvay, and Van Eetvelde, which were designed between 1892 and 1895, present a clever range of solutions to typical narrow Brussels sites. All three plans were divided into three sections with a central section that contained a top-lit staircase. The staircase was a vital element to the buildings because it was the visual and social hub of the hotel. In the principle floor of each hotel, there was a suite of reception rooms and conservatories with spatial fluidity, accentuated by the glass and mirrors. In his memoirs, Horta described the Hotel Solvay as a “dwelling like any other… but with interior characterized by an exposed metal structure and series of glass screens fiving an extended perspective… for evening receptions”.



Hotel Tassel, 1892-3 | Plans


Hotel Tassel, 1892-3 | Staircase

            Horta’s most important public building was the Maison du Peuple in Brussels of 1896-9. Similar to the hotels, the Beaux- Arts symmetry of the plan vanishes between the asymmetrical programmatic elements. The façade, although it appears to be a smooth undulating skin, is in fact a classical composition arranged around a shallow exhedra (semicircular niche). Because of its continuous glazing and expansive brick surfaces, it had a shocking effect when it was first built.


Maison du Peuple,1896-9 | Plan


Maison du Peuple, 1896-9 | Façade

            Horta challenged the relationship of architecture, art, and nature. As a result, he developed a manner that “integrated geometrically derived ornamental forms based on nature with compositional traditions based on Italian Renaissance architecture”. Combing  new decorative principles into a clear architectural style, he created an analogy between metal structure and plant form. Initially, his designs were flamboyant in detail, but then gradually simplified over time. The style Horta produced was abstract and exotic, a combination of ideas.


Colquhoun, A. (2002). Art Nouveau. Modern Architecture. (pp. 20-22, 24). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Middleton, D. (N.A). Art Nouveau. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D