Modern Architecture II Midterm - Buildings / Art
Hector Guimard, Metropolitan, subway entrance, Paris, France, c.1900
Guimard designed two types of entrances to metro stations, with and without glass roofs. Built in cast iron, they make heavy reference to the symbolism of plants and are now considered classic examples of French Art Nouveau architecture. 141 entrances were constructed between 1900 and 1912, of which 86 still exist. The simpler type of entrance is framed by a "Métropolitain" sign held between two ornate, sinuously curved lampposts. These are designed strikingly in the form of plant stems, in which the orange lamp is enclosed by a leaf (resembling a brin de muguet, or sprig of lily of the valley)
AEG Turbine Factory, Berlin (Moabit), Peter Behrens (1909)
It is the best known work of architect Peter Behrens.[1] It is an influential and well-known example of industrial architecture. Its revolutionary design features 100m long and 15m tall glass and steel walls on either side. It was a bold move and world first that would have a durable impact on architecture as a whole
Peter Behrens, Mannesmann Office Building, Düsseldorf, Germany (1910-12) (Compared to Schinkel's Schauspielhaus)
The Mannesmann concern, from 1893 in Düsseldorf located, let put up the building the front of the building in the company colors blue and white
Henri Favier and André Ventre, Porte d'Honneur
The architectural plan adopted is the following: many accesses allow the crowd to divide in different directions, while a single exit, of large dimension, offers him the means to spread without hustle on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées . The principal elements of the door are pylons which would have been made of steel, supporting basins which it was wished to melt into crystal and connected by a lace which should have been made of ironwork
Pierre Patout, Pavillon de Collectionneur
pavilion, with a vast oval room, the Grand Salon, as its focal point. Ruhlmann brought together many leading artists and designers to decorate the Salon, including Jean Dunand, Jean Dupas, Antoine Bourdelle and Edgar Brandt The exhibition regulations stressed the need for 'modern' inspiration. There were many novel designs, but designers and manufacturers were reluctant to abandon tradition altogether. Nevertheless, whether the exhibits were 'modernised traditional' or 'modernistic' in character, they helped establish the themes and formal repertoire of Art Deco. The exhibition had an immediate and worldwide impact
Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt, "Wedding Tower" by Joseph Olbrich, 1908.
It forms part of the exhibition halls within the Darmstadt artists' colony. It was commissioned by the Grand Duke of Hesse Ernst Ludwig as an impressive monument to commemorate his second marriage to Princess Eleonore Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, which took place on 2 February 1905. It was inaugurated in 1908. Olbrich wanted the tower to be the crowning work of the urbanisation of the Darmstadt artists' colony. The outcome is an emblematic building on the highest part of the hill. His tower would, therefore, become an element with which the city could be identified. The lower section of the tower has white walls with simple red tile decoration. But the red brick tower itself, crowned by five curved spires covered with tiles, stands out powerfully over the rest of the complex. Its interior is divided into seven levels and it contains major art works, such as two mosaics by Friedrich Wilhelm Kleubens, some frescos by Ph. O. Schäfer and decorative figures from Heinrich Jobst.
Chicago Tribune Competition: Adolf Loos
Loos often said that real architecture could only be seen in the grave or memorial, and here he fused the two with colossal might: a monumental column of offices perched atop a vast tomb of public functions, entirely clad in polished black granite. On losing the competition, Loos was characteristically defiant. "The great Greek-style column, Doric, will be built," he proclaimed. "If not in Chicago, in any other city. If not for the Chicago Tribune, to any other entity. If not by me, by any other architect."
Victor Horta, Maison du Peuple (House of the People), Brussels, Belgium, 1896-1899.
People's Home or People's Hostel, was a public building in Brussels which was one of the most notable design by Belgian architect Victor Horta.[1] It was one of the most influential buildings of the Art Nouveau design in Belgium.[2] It was commissioned by the Belgian Workers' Party[1] and opened on 2 April 1899. Constructed between 1896 and 1899, it was demolished in 1965, and a skyscraper was built on site.[2] Its demolition is regarded as an "architectural crime"[2] and an example of "Brusselization". In spite of a rather restrictive very irregular building place along a circular square and on a slope, Horta succeeded to construct a building with maximum functionality. The building provided rooms for several aims like offices, coffee shops, shops, meeting rooms and a party hall. The building had been mainly constructed in white iron (more than 600,000 kilogrammes). Fifteen craftsmen worked for eighteen months on the iron work. To make this construction possible, Horta drew no less than 8,500 square meters of plans. The building was completed in 1899 and was considered a master work. Because of the experimental combination of brick, glass and steel this building was considered as an example of modern architecture.
William F. Lamb, Empire State Building, New York, 1930-1931.
The Empire State Building, despite its Art Deco styling, is significantly more austere in appearance than the more ostentatious Chrysler Building. Devoid of the sunburst windows and Moderne gargoyles that adorn the older tower, the Empire State Building is strikingly subdued. It is not entirely without ornament, however: a pair of sculpted concrete eagles flank the entrance, and shining aluminum extensions reminiscent of wings taper up toward the pinnacle of the tower.[11] The exuberance of the Chrysler Building's metal crown, when contrasted with the quiet dignity of the Empire State Building, can be seen as the changing attitudes of a country before and after the onset of the Great Depression - and it falls to the observer to decide which, if either, is the more appealing The rapid and unchecked development of Manhattan was a matter of serious concern in the early years of the 20th Century. The construction of the Equitable Life Building in 1915, while by no means the starting point of the debate, provided a clear example of what could happen to New York City should building height and form continue unregulated: the Equitable Life Building, which occupied an entire city block in Lower Manhattan, rose forty stories high without any setback from the sidewalk. Fears of New York streets forever cut off from sunlight by man-made canyons of skyscrapers spurred the passing of the 1916 Zoning Regulation, a landmark document which required setbacks for buildings passing heights specified by their location in the city.[2] These regulations would lead to the characteristic stepped forms for which New York skyscrapers—and Art Deco skyscrapers around the world—would come to be known
Frank Lloyd Wright, Robie House, Chicago, IL (1906-9)
The Robie House is one of the best known examples of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie style of architecture.[28] The term was coined by architectural critics and historians (not by Wright) who noticed how the buildings and their various components owed their design influence to the landscape and plant life of the midwest prairie of the United States.[29] Typical of Wright's Prairie houses, he designed not only the house, but all of the interiors, the windows, lighting, rugs, furniture and textiles. As Wright wrote in 1910, "it is quite impossible to consider the building one thing and its furnishings another. ... They are all mere structural details of its character and completeness." The Robie House was one of the last houses Wright designed in his Oak Park, Illinois home and studio and also one of the last of his Prairie School houses.[36] According to the Historical American Buildings Survey, the city of Chicago's Commission on Chicago Architectural Landmarks stated: "The bold interplay of horizontal planes about the chimney mass, and the structurally expressive piers and windows, established a new form of domestic design."[36] Because the house's components are so well designed and coordinated, it is considered to be a quintessential example of Wright's Prairie School architecture and the "measuring stick" against which all other Prairie School buildings are compared
Peter Behrens, Wiegand House, Berlin (1911-12) (Compared to Friedrich Gilly's and Schinkel's Sketches of trabeated construction)
The Wiegand House in neoclassical style brings together elements of classical antiquity as the peristyle located at the entrance and surrounded by columns, with technological innovations such as glass blocks used in the roof of it The main building is at the end of a central shaft materialized by a band of constant width plan, covering both the garden and the central bay of the house and gone to the other end. The plant is configured from a rectangle partitioned into three bays by the geometric continuity of the longitudinal band moves outwards the peristyle initiating a total displacement of order entry is not done by the shaft, but by a bend 90 °, on one side of the gantry. The building is two stories with a low roof and attic cornice that surrounds the entire perimeter. On the side walls the center window has access to a balcony and come with white shutters carpentry For coffered ceiling inside the entrance atrium architect first used in domestic architecture, glass block ceiling. The facades are covered with rectangular blocks of limestone. On the street facade highlights the many tall windows with white woodwork and shutters in one sector and the other cut on the stone. The exterior roof but has many twists on was covered with red tile
Louis Sullivan, Schlesinger Mayer Store (Carson, Pirie, Scott Store) Chicago, 1899-1906
The building is remarkable for its steel-framed structure, which allowed a dramatic increase in window area created by bay-wide windows, which in turn allowed for the greatest amount of daylight into the building interiors. This provided larger displays of merchandise to outside pedestrian traffic creating the idea of the sidewalk showcase. In between the windows were lavish bands of terra cotta that replaced the earlier plan for white Georgia quarries because it was lightweight and inexpensive. Another reason for the change in what type of marble they would use in construction was that stonecutters were having a strike in 1898 during the time of construction.[8] The lavish Bronze-plated cast-iron ornamental work above the rounded tower was also meant to be functional because it was to be as resilient as a sheet of copper. Both the use of bronze and terra cotta was important to setting the building apart from others because it was essentially fire resistant. It created a sense of monumentality. Sullivan thought the building would be an asset to the city for a long period of time. To ensure this great building would last and be resilient against the threat of fire, there was a 40 ft water tower put on the roof to supply the sprinkler system with enough water
Konstantin Melnikov, Rusakhov Workers' Club, Moscow, Russia, 1927-1928.
The collapse of the old regime in Russia that took place with the Revolution of 1917 was followed by an artistic period of powerful activity in formal experimentation directed at the establishment of a creative language capable of expressing the new ideals and aspirations of Soviet Society shows an intense fascination with dramatic structure, in this case through bold cantilevered seating constructed of reinforced concrete With the ascent of Stalin in the 1930's, the Soviet authorities began using architecture as a vehicle for the expression of political power. As in all European totalitarian states, experimentation was replaced by an architecture meant to be inspiring, monumental, and triumphant, as illustrated in the Ruskov Workers' Club The ground floor is taken up by the large main auditorium with its orchestra area, over which stand the three smaller auditoriums located in three radial bodes; each of these can be divided off from the main auditorium by a system of movable walls. At the rear of the building are more conventional offices
Frank Lloyd Wright, The Larkin Building, Buffalo (1902-06)
The five story dark red brick building used pink tinted mortar and utilized steel frame construction. It was noted for many innovations, including air conditioning, stained glass windows, built-in desk furniture, and suspended toilet bowls. Though this was an office building, it still caught the essence of Frank Lloyd Wright's type of architecture. Sculptor Richard Bock provided ornamentation for the building
Sullivan, Adler & Wright, James Charnley House ("Charnley-Persky House") (1891- 1892)
The house was completed in 1892 for Charnley, a Chicago lumberman who lived in the house with his family for about a decade.[5] The building was later owned by members of the Waller family, who invested in real estate. The house was purchased by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in 1986 and subsequently restored.[2] Seymour Persky purchased the house in 1995 and donated it to the SAH who renamed the building to the Charnley-Persky House to honor their benefactor.[5] The plain brick facade with simple ornamentation was quite different from other houses on the Gold Coast, but the interior is distinguished by rich ornamentation that is typical of Sullivan's work
Schinkel's Schauspielhaus, Berlin (1818-21)
The moderately large stage offered an opportunity for the desired traditional deep flats, but was also equipped for the shallower stage with backdrop. Both were made possible by the development of the fly tower, with the technical scenery system above, top lighting, machinery underneath, orchestra pit, and the semicircular auditorium with its new scheme of tiers, consisting of boxes and a balcony projecting in front of them optically and acoustically directed towards the stage. Schinkel wanted to reform theatre design, yet here he had to find an architecturally comprehensive solution to the problem under limiting conditions. He succeeded in harmonizing ideal forms with functional and economic requirements
Frank Lloyd Wright, Home and Studio, Oak Park (1889)
The original 1889 structure was quite small. The home was extensively remodeled in 1895, when among other changes the kitchen was enlarged and converted to a dining room, the upstairs nursery was expanded and converted for use as Catherine's dayroom, and the Children's Playroom and a new kitchen were added to the back of the house.[3] A second major addition was made in 1898, when the Studio and Connecting Corridor were built.[3] In the Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright and associated architects like Walter Burley Griffin and sculptor Richard Bock advanced the Prairie School of Architecture and designed many notable structures, including the Robie House, Unity Temple, the Laura Gale home, and the Larkin building.[5] After 1909, the Studio was converted into a residence for his wife and the younger children. Later on, the Home and Studio became an apartment building. In the 1960s it fell into disrepair as the owners began to neglect the property due to financial problems. The longtime roofing company entrusted by Frank Lloyd Wright, Oak Park-based Tuscher Roofing, took control of the property. In 1974, the structure was handed over to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the 13-year restoration began
Walter Gropius, Diagram of Bauhaus Education, 1919.
This conceptual diagram showing the structure of teaching at the Bauhaus was developed by Walter Gropius in 1922. The programme places 'building' [Bau] at the centre of all the activities. But a regular course in architecture was only introduced at the Bauhaus in 1927. Only the most talented students were admitted to the architecture course. At the start of their studies, they received a year of basic training in the so-called preliminary course, in which they were able to experiment with colour, shape and materials with no specific goals. Depending on their individual suitability, this was followed by practical work in the workshops and accompanying disciplines. The students entered the workshops as 'apprentices' and were to sit their 'apprenticeship' exams within a given time period. Educational courses with this type of structure were unprecedented and had to be completely newly developed by Gropius initially. The choice of teachers was all the more decisive for the development of the Bauhaus's viewpoints. Gropius succeeded in gaining the support of renowned avant-garde artists for the purpose. In Weimar, they carried out the teaching as 'form masters', together with the 'work masters' - trained craftsmen. To begin with, almost all of the workshops, like the preliminary course, were formatively influenced by Johannes Itten. Instead of getting the students to copy from models, as was still done in the traditional academies of art, he encouraged them to produce their own creative designs based on their own subjective perceptions. In the preliminary course, he taught the foundations of materials properties, composition, and colour theory. After Itten's departure, the preliminary course was divided between László Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers. Moholy-Nagy shifted the emphasis from artistic issues to technical ones and developed exercises on construction, balance and materials. Albers was responsible for familiarizing the students with craft techniques and appropriate use of the most important materials. Beyond the preliminary course, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, among others, supervised and supplemented the teaching work on form and colour theory, and Oskar Schlemmer taught the analysis and depiction of the human body. In addition, classes were taught in non-artistic disciplines such as mathematics and building materials. Almost all of the masters moved to Dessau along with the college. Former students took over the direction of the workshops, as young masters: Marcel Breuer headed the carpentry workshop, Herbert Bayer the printing and advertising workshop, Hinnerk Scheper the workshop for mural painting, Joost Schmidt the sculpture workshop and Gunta Stölzl the weaving workshop. In addition to the training, the declared goal was now 'to carry out practical experimental work, particularly for house construction and interior decoration, as well as to develop model types for industry and crafts specialists'. Technical and formal experiments were carried out in the workshops on a broad basis in order to develop prototypes for industrial manufacturing and make it possible for broad strata of purchasers to buy qualitatively high-standard but affordable goods. The theoretical teaching was placed on a broader basis and engineering, psychology, business economics and other subjects were included in the teaching programme. The masters were now called professors, and the students received a Bauhaus diploma. Under the third Director, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the Bauhaus ultimately developed into a kind of college of technology for architecture. Mies van der Rohe reduced the structure and importance of work in the workshops. The art and workshop department now mainly served as groundwork and orientation for developing a more up-to-date form of architecture that used contemporary structures and materials.
Louis Sullivan, Transportation Building, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893.
This structure was remarkable in the group of greater buildings through the fact that it was painted with various colors, mainly red while the other enclosures were white. The angels which are seen on the facades were cut in linen, and glued to the exterior, and the decoration generally was in geometrical lines, with something of an Oriental expression and effect. This bizarre appearance was creditably relieved by the commanding beauty of the Golden Door, which is seen at the center, and is further illustrated and described in this volume. The style of the Transportation Building was called Romanesque, and it was erected by Adler & Sullivan, the architects of the Auditorium and the Schiller Theatre in Chicago, where the same peculiarities of beautiful increasing arches and subtending straight lines may be studied. Broad as was the area of the structure, it counted but eighteen acres, annex and all, and was but fourth among the great edifices
William Van Alen, Chrysler Building, New York, 1928-1930.
With the initial intention to be the world's tallest building, it remained so for only eleven months until it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. The Chrysler Building is a classic example of the Art Deco style, from the street to its terraced crown. Interior and exterior alike, it is admired for its distinctive ornamentation based on features that were also found on Chrysler automobiles at the time All the bricks were manually laid by hand, creating non-loadbearing walls. To create this Art Deco masterpiece, tradesmen with specialized skills gathered on the site, coordinating between contractors, builders, engineers and other building services experts The white and dark gray brickwork of the facade emphasizes the horizontality of the rows of windows. The stepping spires are made of stainless steel with a stylized sunburst motif, and sit just above a series of gargoyles that depict American eagles which stare out over the city More noticeable connections between the exterior of the building and the Chrysler car are the sculptures modeled after radiator caps and ornaments of car wheels that decorate the lower setbacks Its triangular form is lavishly decorated with Red Moroccan marble walls, sienna-colored floor, onyx, blue marble and steel. Artist Edward Trumbull was hired to paint murals on the ceiling; these paintings and other parts of the interior were refurbished in 1978 by JCS Design Associates and Joseph Pell Lombardi
Moisei Ginsburg and Ignaty Milinis, Narkomfin building, Moscow, Russia, 1928-1932. (as a "social condenser")
a block of flats at 25, Novinsky Boulevard, in the Central district of Moscow, Russia. It is a renowned example of Constructivist architecture and avant-garde interior planning This apartment block, designed for high rank employees at the Commissariat of Finance (shortened to Narkomfin) was an opportunity for Ginzburg to try out many of the theories advanced by the Constructivist OSA group in the course of the 1920s on architectural form and communal living. The building is made from reinforced concrete and is set in a park. It originally consisted of a long block of apartments raised on pilotis (with a penthouse and roof garden), connected by an enclosed bridge to a smaller, glazed block of collective facilities. As advertised by the architects, the apartments were to form an intervention into the everyday life (or byt) of the inhabitants. By offering Communal facilities such as kitchens, creches and laundry as part of the block, the tenants were encouraged into a more socialist and, by taking women out of their traditional roles, feminist way of life. The structure was thus to act as a 'social condenser' by including within it a library and gymnasium
Umberto Boccioni (Italian, 1882-1916) Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, (Bronze) 1913
a bronze Futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. It is seen as an expression of movement and fluidity.[1] The sculpture is depicted on the obverse of the Italian-issue 20 cent euro coin The Futurist movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism in their art. Boccioni, though trained as a painter, began sculpting in 1912. His goal for the work was to depict a "synthetic continuity" of motion instead of an "analytical discontinuity". depicts a human-like figure apparently in motion. The sculpture has an aerodynamic and fluid form. As a pedestal, two blocks at the feet connect the figure to the ground. The figure is also armless and without a discernibly real face. The form was originally inspired by the sight of a football player moving on to a perfectly weighted pass
Frank Lloyd Wright, Ward Willits House (1901)
a building designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Designed in 1901, the Willits house is considered the first of the great Prairie houses. Built in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, the house presents a symmetrical facade to the street. One of the more interesting points about the house is Wright's ability to seamlessly combine architecture with nature. The plan is a cruciate with four wings extending out from a central fireplace. In addition to stained-glass windows and wooden screens that divide rooms, Wright also designed most of the furniture in the house the first house in true Prairie style and marks the full development of Wright's wood frame and stucco system of construction.[5] Although the Willits House has two stories, it is a more complex shape, consisting of a rectangular central space with a rectangular wing projecting from each side of that space.[6] This is a standard design feature for most prairie-style houses, in addition to low roofs, elements that run parallel to the ground and extend out beyond the frame of the house. Wright used a cruciform plan with the interior space flowing around a central chimney core and extending outward onto covered verandas and open terraces.[4] The plan of the house is a windmill style, as seen with the four wings extending from the fireplace in the central core and the movement from each wing being along a diagonal line. Wing two contains the great living room with high windows and a walled terrace. The dining room, extended by a large porch, comprises the third wing; the fourth, towards the rear of the house, contains the kitchen and servants' quarters.[7] Wright incorporates diagonals into several other places in his design - the dining room has a prow-shaped end bay and another prow-shaped projection, the reception room has a similar prow-shaped bay, the art glass light over the entry stairway is rotated 45 degrees, again emphasizing the diagonal, and the terminating piers of the porte cochere are offset from the end wall by 45 degrees
Adolf Loos, Villa Steiner, Vienna, Austria, 1910
a building in Vienna, Austria. It is considered one of the major works of architect Adolf Loos Loos uses his volumes to create a classical tripartite façade.[1]:63 He does this by creating a recess between the two wings of the house that continues straight to the roof. In general, Loos lets his fenestration be subdivided into squares and rectangles that all obey a modular system, which correspond perfectly with the geometry of the façade. This system sets up order on the interior such as the living room being connected to a terrace that has access to the garden. Even in this early design, Loos uses interior organization that would remain with him throughout his career Loos was only able build one floor above the street level. This led him to create a one quarter round roof that is facing the street. This roof flattens out the apex and makes the two additional floors that look out onto the garden impossible to see from the street. The curved roof was an interesting choice because it was not a straight break from gabled roofs or a brand new innovative idea. Instead it was meant to demonstrate certainty of form and economy of space, proving that traditions can be manipulated or rid of completely, for a functional and non-aesthetic purpose
Vladimir Tatlin, Monument to the Third International, 1919-1920.
a design for a grand monumental building by the Russian artist and architect Vladimir Tatlin, that was never built.[2] It was planned to be erected in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, as the headquarters and monument of the Comintern Tatlin's Constructivist tower was to be built from industrial materials: iron, glass and steel. In materials, shape and function, it was envisaged as a towering symbol of modernity. It would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The tower's main form was a twin helix which spiraled up to 400 m in height,[3] around which visitors would be transported with the aid of various mechanical devices. The main framework would contain four large suspended geometric structures. These structures would rotate at different rates. At the base of the structure was a cube which was designed as a venue for lectures, conferences and legislative meetings, and this would complete a rotation in the span of one year. Above the cube would be a smaller pyramid housing executive activities and completing a rotation once a month. Further up would be a cylinder, which was to house an information centre, issuing news bulletins and manifestos via telegraph, radio and loudspeaker, and would complete a rotation once a day. At the top, there would be a hemisphere for radio equipment. There were also plans to install a gigantic open-air screen on the cylinder, and a further projector which would be able to cast messages across the clouds on any overcast day
Otto Wagner, Austrian Postal Savings Bank, Vienna Austria, 1904-1906.
a famous modernist building in Vienna, designed and built by the architect Otto Wagner. The building is regarded as an important early work of modern architecture, representing Wagner's first move away from Art Nouveau and Neoclassicism. It was constructed between 1904 and 1906 using reinforced concrete. It can be argued that the building is a continuation of traditional architecture with all its elements such as decoration, sculpture, an underlying order, primarily vertical composition, far different from the complete break with tradition that the congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne
Otto Wagner, Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station, Vienna Austria, 1899.
a former station of the Viennese Stadtbahn. The buildings above ground on Karlsplatz are a well-known example of Jugendstil architecture. These buildings were included in The Vienna Secession, as they followed many of the artistic styles of that movement. They were designed by Otto Wagner, adviser to the Transport Commission in Vienna,[1] and Joseph Maria Olbrich and are, unlike the other Stadtbahn stations, made of a steel framework with marble slabs mounted on the exterior.[2] These stations allowed Otto Wagner to achieve his goal of creating two modern axes of architecture in a city that was becoming one of the most modern cities of its time.[1] These buildings went on to become the most modern monument of the modern city.[2] Architectural critic and poet Friedrich Achleitner commented on the Stadtbahn stations as follows "...In these two station buildings Wagner reached a highpoint of his dialectic (in his planning of the Stadtbahn) between function and poetry, construction and decoration, whereby a severe rationalism engages in competition with an almost Secessionist kind of decoration
Antoni Gaudi, Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain, 1882-present.
a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí The style of la Sagrada Família is variously likened to Spanish Late Gothic, Catalan Modernism and to Art Nouveau or Catalan Noucentisme. While the Sagrada Família falls within the Art Nouveau period, Nikolaus Pevsner points out that, along with Charles Rennie Macintosh in Glasgow, Gaudí carried the Art Nouveau style far beyond its usual application as a surface decoration
Josef Hoffmann, Palais Stoclet, Brussels, Belgium, 1905-1911
a mansion in Brussels, Belgium. It was built by architect Josef Hoffmann for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet between 1905 and 1911 and is located in the Sint-Pieters-Woluwe / Woluwe-Saint-Pierre area of Brussels.[1] Considered Hoffman's masterpiece, the Stoclet's house is one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century a founder member of the Vienna Secession, a radical group of designers and artists established in 1897. Hoffman abandoned fashions and styles of the past and produced a building that is an asymmetrical compilation of rectangular blocks, underlined by exaggerated lines and corners The starkness of the exterior is softened by artistic windows, which break through the line of the eaves, the rooftop conservatory and bronze sculptures of four nude males by Franz Metzner, which are mounted on the tower that rises above the stairwell. Regimented upright balustrades line the balconies, touched with Art Nouveau ornamentation
Alexey Shchusev, Lenin's Mausoleum, Moscow, Russia (1925-1930)
a mausoleum that currently serves as the resting place of Vladimir Lenin. His preserved body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924, with rare exceptions in wartime. Aleksey Shchusev's diminutive but monumental granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the Step Pyramid, the Tomb of Cyrus the Great and, to some degree, Temple of the Inscriptions
Antoni Gaudi, Casa Mila, Barcelona, Spain, 1905-1910.
a modernist building in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the last civil work designed by architect Antoni Gaudí and was built from 1906 to 1912. The building was commissioned in 1906 by businessman Pere Milà i Camps and his wife Roser Segimon i Artells. At the time, it was controversial because of its undulating stone facade and twisting wrought iron balconies and windows designed by Josep Maria Jujol. Several structural innovations are present, which include a self-supporting stone front and columns and floors free of load-bearing walls as well as the underground garage and sculptural elements on the roof.
Votivkirche (Votiv Church), Maximilianplatz, Vienna, 1856-1879
a neo-Gothic church located on the Ringstraße in Vienna, Austria. Following the attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1853, the Emperor's brother Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian inaugurated a campaign to create a church to thank God for saving the Emperor's life. Funds for construction were solicited from throughout the Empire
John Mead Howells & Raymond Hood, The Chicago Tribune Building, Chicago, IL (c.1922)
a neo-Gothic structure located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States By 1922 the neo-Gothic skyscraper had become an established design tactic, with the first important so-called "American Perpendicular Style" at Cass Gilbert's Woolworth Building of 1913. This was a late example, perhaps the last important example, and criticized for its perceived historicism. Construction on the Tribune Tower was completed in 1925 and reached a height of 462 feet (141 m) above ground. The ornate buttresses surrounding the peak of the tower are especially visible when the tower is lit at night. As was the case with most of Hood's projects, the sculptures and decorations were executed by the American artist Rene Paul Chambellan. The tower features carved images of Robin Hood (Hood) and a howling dog (Howells) near the main entrance to commemorate the architects. The top of the tower is designed after the Tour de beurre (″butter tower″) of the Rouen Cathedral in France,[2] which is characteristic of the Late-Gothic style, that is to say, without a spire but with a crown-shaped top. Rene Paul Chambellan contributed his sculpture talents to the buildings ornamentation, gargoyles and the famous Aesops' Screen over the main entrance doors. Rene Chambellan worked on other projects with Raymond Hood including the American Radiator Building and Rockefeller Center in New York City. Also, among the gargoyles on the Tribune Tower is one of a frog. That piece was created by Rene Chambellan to represent himself jokingly as he is of French ancestry
Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition, 1916 Black Square, 1915
a painting by Kazimir Malevich, a russian painter known as a pioneer of geometric abstraction. The painting represents a constellation of geometry and color in space with remarkable austerity
Bruno Taut, Glass Pavilion, First Deutscher Werkbund Exhibition, 1914.
a prismatic glass dome structure at the Cologne Deutscher Werkbund Exhibition.[1][2] The structure was a brightly colored landmark of the exhibition, and was constructed using concrete and glass.[1][2] The concrete structure had inlaid colored glass plates on the facade that acted as mirrors.[3] Taut described his "little temple of beauty" as "...reflections of light whose colors began at the base with a dark blue and rose up through moss green and golden yellow to culminate at the top in a luminous pale yellow."[3] Taut's Glass Pavilion is his best-known single building achievement.[1][2][3] He built it for the association of the German glass industry specifically for the 1914 exhibition.[1][2][3] They financed the structure that was considered a house of art.[4] The purpose of the building was to demonstrate the potential of different types of glass for architecture.[1] It also indicated how the material might be used to orchestrate human emotions and assist in the construction of a spiritual utopia. The structure was made at the time when expressionism was most fashionable in Germany, and it is sometimes referred to as an expressionist-style building
Antoni Gaudi, Parc Güell, Barcelona, Spain, 1900-1914.
a public park system composed of gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona, Catalonia Park Güell is the reflection of Gaudí's artistic plenitude, which belongs to his naturalist phase (first decade of the 20th century). During this period, the architect perfected his personal style through inspiration from organic shapes. He put into practice a series of new structural solutions rooted in the analysis of geometry. To that, the Catalan artist adds creative liberty and an imaginative, ornamental creation. Starting from a sort of baroquism, his works acquire a structural richness of forms and volumes, free of the rational rigidity or any sort of classic premises. In the design of Park Güell, Gaudí unleashed all his architectonic genius and put to practice much of his innovative structural solutions that would become the symbol of his organic style and that would culminate in the creation of the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family
Hector Guimard, Castel Béranger, Paris, France, 1894.
a residential building with twenty-six apartments located at 14 rue de la Fontaine in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed by the architect Hector Guimard, and built between 1895 and 1898. It was the first residence in Paris built in the style known as Art Nouveau. There were many elements of the new building that were neo-Gothic, though Guimard's interpretation was very far from the pure Thirteenth century style advocated by Viollet-le-Duc. It was suggested by the name Castel, rather than Hotel, and by its modern version of ''echauguettes" the overhanging turrets that were a feature on the corners of medieval castles. [4] Guimard put into the building a multiplicity of different forms, materials and colors, some of them inspired by the colors of the villas of seaside towns. The ornament was abundant, but carefully designed and not overwhelming; it moved away from gothic into a more personal and original style. The interior decoration was also diverse and personal
Hans Poelzig, Grosses Schauspielhaus, Berlin, Germany, 1919
a theatre in Berlin, Germany, often described as an example of expressionist architecture, designed by Hans Poelzig for theatre impresario Max Reinhardt. The structure was originally a market built by architect Friedrich Hitzig, and it retained its external, gabled form. It then became the Zirkus Schumann, a circus arena. It was renovated by Poelzig and reopened in 1919, contained seating for 3500 people. Max Reinhardt wanted to attract a working class audience to the theater. The large size allowed for people who could pay top prices for the best seats to support the low-cost seats in the back of the theater. It was painted red. It was a cavernous, domed space and had no balconies, which contributed to its vastness. The dome and pillars were decorated with maquernas, a honeycombed pendentive ornament, which resembled stalactites. When illuminated, the ceiling's lightbulbs formed patterns of celestial constellations, and the vaulted ceiling took on another concept, the night sky. In the lobby and elsewhere, Poelzig made use of colored lightbulbs to create striking visual backdrops. Separate entrances were provided for the expensive and the cheap seats.
Victor Horta, Hôtel Tassel, Brussels, 1892-3.
a town house built by Victor Horta in Brussels for the Belgian scientist and professor Emile Tassel in 1893-1894. It is generally considered as the first true Art Nouveau building, because of its highly innovative plan and its groundbreaking use of materials and decoration
Victor Horta, Hôtel van Eetvelde, Brussels, Belgium, 1895.
a town house designed in 1895 by Victor Horta for Edmond van Eetvelde, administrator of Congo Free State The visible application of "industrial" materials such as steel and glass was a novel for prestigious private dwellings at the time. In the Hôtel van Eetvelde Horta also used a hanging steel construction for the façade. The interior receives additional lighting through a central reception room covered by a stained-glass cupola. An extension to the house was designed by Horta in 1898. This building has a more conventional, beautifully detailed sandstone façade. It was designed to house a garage, an office for van Eetvelde as well as supporting apartments and therefore had a separate entrance
Albert Speer, Die Volkshalle [Die Große Halle des Volkes (People's Hall)], Berlin (Germania), Germany 1938 (Unbuilt).
an architectural project by Adolf Hitler and the general building inspector Albert Speer , in which they developed gigantomanic architectural concepts for the conversion of Berlin to the Roman model of the " world capital city of Germania ". The interior of the hall was conceived as a "cult room" and congress hall, and should accommodate between 150,000 [1] and 180,000 visitors. There should be various events taking place. In addition, the hall should make the power of the Great German Empire visible to all other nations and demonstrate the power of the Nazi state towards its own population
Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, Guaranty Building, Buffalo, 1894-95
an early skyscraper in Buffalo, New York Sullivan's design for the building was based on his belief that "form follows function". He and Adler divided the building into four zones. The basement was the mechanical and utility area. Since this level was below ground, it did not show on the face of the building. The next zone was the ground-floor zone which was the public areas for street-facing shops, public entrances and lobbies. The third zone was the office floors with identical office cells clustered around the central elevator shafts. The final zone was the terminating zone, consisting of elevator equipment, utilities and a few offices.[3] The supporting steel structure of the building was embellished with terra cotta blocks. Different styles of block delineated the three visible zones of the building. Writing in his Kindergarten Chats, Sullivan said that a tall building "must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exultation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line
Joseph Maria Olbrich, Secession Exhibition Building, Vienna, Austria, 1897-1898
an exhibition hall built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich as an architectural manifesto for the Vienna Secession, located in Vienna, Austria.[1] Secession refers to the seceding of a group of rebel artists from the long-established fine art institution The building features the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt,[2] one of the most widely recognized artworks of Secession style (a branch of Art Nouveau, also known as Jugendstil). The building was financed by Karl Wittgenstein,[3] the father of Ludwig Wittgenstein. The motto of the Secessionist movement is written above the entrance of the pavilion: "To every age its art, to every art its freedom"
Walter Gropius & Adolf Meyer, Fagus Factory, Alfeld, Germany, 1911.
an important example of early modern architecture. Commissioned by owner Carl Benscheidt who wanted a radical structure to express the company's break from the past, the factory was designed by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer. It was constructed between 1911 and 1913, with additions and interiors completed in 1925. The building that had the greater influence on the design of Fagus was AEG's Turbine factory designed by Peter Behrens. Gropius and Meyer had both worked on the project and with Fagus they presented their interpretation and criticism of their teacher's work. The Fagus main building can be seen as an inversion of the Turbine factory. Both have corners free of supports, and glass surfaces between piers that cover the whole height of the building. However, in the Turbine factory the corners are covered by heavy elements that slant inside. The glass surfaces also slant inside and are recessed in relation to the piers. The load-bearing elements are attenuated and the building has an image of stability and monumentality. In Fagus exactly the opposite happens; the corners are left open and the piers are recessed leaving the glass surface to the front
Peter Behrens, The German Embassy in St. Petersburg, Russia (1911-13) (Compared to Schinkel's Altes Museum)
considered the earliest and most influential example of Stripped Classicism. It was built to house the diplomatic mission of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire. After the relocation by the Bolsheviks of the Soviet capital from Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then known) to Moscow, it served as a consulate of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany
Cass Gilbert, Woolworth Building, NYC (1910-12)
designed in the neo-Gothic style by the architect Cass Gilbert, whom Frank Woolworth commissioned in 1910 to design a 20-story office building [8] as the F. W. Woolworth Company's new corporate headquarters Given its resemblance to European Gothic cathedrals, the structure was called "The Cathedral of Commerce" by the Reverend S. Parkes Cadman in a booklet of the same title published in 1916.[9][10][11] It remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, also in New York City, in 1930; an observation deck on the 57th floor attracted visitors until 1941. The building's tower, flush with the main frontage on Broadway, joins an office block base with a narrow interior court for light. The exterior decoration was cast in limestone-colored, glazed architectural terra-cotta panels.[9] Strongly articulated piers, carried—without interrupting cornices—right to the pyramidal cap, give the building its upward thrust. The Gothic detailing concentrated at the highly visible crown is over scaled, able to be read from the street level several hundred feet below.[citation needed] Engineers Gunvald Aus and Kort Berle designed the steel frame, supported on massive caissons that penetrate to the bedrock. The high-speed elevators were innovative, and the building's high office-to-elevator ratio made the structure profitable The ornate, cruciform lobby, is "one of the most spectacular of the early 20th century in New York City".[8] It is covered in Skyros veined marble,[10] has a vaulted ceiling, mosaics, a stained-glass ceiling light and bronze fittings. Over the balconies of the mezzanine are the murals Labor and Commerce
Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, Auditorium Building, Chicago, 1887-9
one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Congress Street (now Congress Parkway). The building, which when constructed was the largest in the United States and the tallest in Chicago, was designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater and a hotel. As a young apprentice, Frank Lloyd Wright worked on some of the interior design. The Auditorium Theatre is part of the Auditorium Building and is located at 50 East Congress Parkway. The theater was the first home of the Chicago Civic Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sullivan and Adler designed a tall structure with load-bearing outer walls, and based the exterior appearance partly on the design of H.H. Richardson's Marshall Field Warehouse, another Chicago landmark.[7] The Auditorium is a heavy, impressive structure externally, and was more striking in its day when buildings of its scale were less common. When completed, it was the tallest building in the city and largest building in the United States.[8] One of the most innovative features of the building was its massive raft foundation, designed by Adler in conjunction with engineer Paul Mueller. The soil beneath the Auditorium consists of soft blue clay to a depth of over 100 feet, which made conventional foundations impossible. Adler and Mueller designed a floating mat of crisscrossed railroad ties, topped with a double layer of steel rails embedded in concrete, the whole assemblage coated with pitch
Vienna State Opera House, 1869
the first major building on the Vienna Ringstraße commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.
Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, Sommerfield House, Berlin, Germany, 1920-1921.
the first major joint project of the Bauhaus and a beautiful example of the attempt to create a "unified work of art." Its development involved all areas of work that formed the school, Joost Schmidt in the sizes of the stairs, the door or the cover-radiators, Marcel Breuer chairs design, contrast of rhythm, form and direction out of classes by Johannes Itten, Josef Albers made colorful glass window to the stairwell. The angular lines and the reasons for refraction of light wood engraving by Martin Jahn are the expressionist and visionary of the house. The homeowner Adolf Sommerfeld, also owned a sawmill in Berlin and building contractor, would continue to support Gropius in the following years, especially in 1923, the exhibition of the Bauhaus. This unique work was destroyed in World War II, leaving only the garage building that still bears witness to this pioneering project of the Bauhaus. The exterior and interior decoration is inextricably linked to the building, showing the recovery of post-war German expressionist forms, which became the foundation of the Bauhaus Gropius for Wimar. The house built on a stone base, was built with wooden blocks to represent thereby the customer's business. Both the materials and the provision across the width of the constructed mass and its elements, emphasizing the horizontality, reminded the American models of Frank Lloyd Wright, in this particular case his Prairie Houses, which is most noticeable detail on the facade of access.
Schinkel's Altes Museum (1823-30) (Front and rear of building)
the neoclassical style to house the Prussian royal family's art collection. The historic, protected building counts among the most distinguished in neoclassicism and is a high point of Schinkel's career In the early nineteenth century, Germany's bourgeoisie had become increasingly self-aware and self-confident. This growing class began to embrace new ideas regarding the relationship between itself and art, and the concepts that art should be open to the public and that citizens should be able to have access to a comprehensive cultural education began to pervade society. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia was a strong proponent of this humboldtian ideal for education and charged Karl Friedrich Schinkel with planning a public museum for the royal art collection
