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.
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
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(N.A). Art Nouveau. [PowerPoint
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