History of Architecture 3 - Quiz 5

What was Amsterdam's version of Pruitt-Igoe?

'Bijlmermeer' was a series of 40,000 prefabricated units Largest housing estate in Europe at the time Had a lack of service, poor transportation connections, no maintenance, and racial discrimination Placement of garages were so far that crime happened often in these corridors

What was Mies' progressive design philosophy?

'I have tried to make an architecture for a technological society. I wanted to keep everything reasonable and clear - to have an architecture that anybody can do.'

What is Mies' thought process behind architecture?

'Less is more' 'Our built environment is meant to be lived in. Mies' buildings, beyond merely affecting our lives, endow them with greater significance and beauty. His buildings radiate the confidence, rationality, and elegance of their creator and, free of ornamentation and excess, confess the essential elements of our lives'

What qualities did Stalin's regime promote for the policy of Socialist Realism?

1) Proletarian and accessible to workers 2) shows ordinary life 3) Realistic and representational 4) Supportive of the aims of the Soviet State and the Communist party

What was the effect of the Empire State Plaza?

9,000 poor Jewish and Italian residents were displaced in favor of the project

How did Pruitt-Igoe turn out within a decade and the decade after?

A decrepit warehouse exclusively inhabited by poor, black residents Eventually underwent complete demolition

What was the overall opinion of Pruitt-Igoe?

A failure of architecture, housing policy, and society Seen as 'the moment modern architecture died'

What is the 'Third World?'

A new political category comprising former colonies on the brink of industrialization First prime minister of India coined the term to signify the developing countries that fell outside of the two predominate economic models: Capitalist America and Europe and Communist Soviet Union

What was the Pruit-Igoe apartment complex?

A racially segregated middle-class complex of 33 11-story towers in St. Louis

Who was Charles Correa?

Adapted Modernist tenets to local climates and building styles Noted for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor and use of traditional methods and materials Approach was the emphasize the importance of the site Began his career as an urban planner by creating Navi Mumbai

What was 'white flight?'

After World War II, Americans who had the means believed they were escaping by moving out of the cities to the safety of new suburban communities. The central cities were viewed as too dirty, too crowded, too criminal, and too black

What was socialist realism?

An officially sanctioned theory and method of literary composition prevalent in the Soviet Union Building socialism and a classless society Looks to Romanticism and glorifies heroes and events to mold the consciousness of the masses Sponsored Marxist aesthetic in the visual arts Art used naturalist idealization to portray workers and farmers as purposeful, dauntless, and youthful Remained the aesthetic of the Soviet Union until the late 20th century

What is Navi Mumbai?

An urban area that provided housing and job opportunities Combats overpopulated cities by creating quasi-rural housing environments Avoided high-rise solutions Emphasized human scale Created sense of community

Why was the quality of Pruitt-Igoe awful?

Architect was commissioned to design the project financed under the Housing Act of 1949 but objected to the design's price, making the Public Housing Administration insist on cost-saving uniform tower height of eleven stories Cost was reduced by expensive Korean War and infighting in Congress

What was the first point of the International Style?

Architects' increasing dissatisfaction with the continued use in stylistically eclectic buildings of a mix of decorative elements from different architectural periods and styles that bore little or no relation to the building's functions

What was Mies' back-to-basics approach to education?

Architecture students must first learn to draw, then gain thorough knowledge of the features and use of the builder's materials, and finally master the fundamental principles of design and construction Wanted to 'rationalize' the architecture curriculum

How did Europe influence Latin American Architecture?

Beaux-Arts influence in Buenos Aires, with boulevards lined with tall apartment buildings capped with mansard roofs, like Paris Corbu's lectures on structure and urbanism changed how Brazilians saw their structures

Who founded the first Chicago School of architecture and why?

Burnham and Root, Sullivan and Adler, and William Jenney by transforming to practice by developing an architectural vocabulary that emphasized structure and function over ornamentation The school emerged as a center for progressive architectural thought

What was Britain's New Towns Act?

Created to govern the process of reconstruction Gave the government power to designate areas of land for new town development Development corporations were each responsible for one of the projected towns Intended to accommodate the overspill of London population Over two million people live in towns built under this legislation

How did 'planning' culture change in the United States and why?

Culminated into the urban renewal program Came from the 1949 Housing and Urban Development Act and the 1956 Highway Act

What is Habitat 67?

Designed by Moshe Safdie A prefabricated concrete housing complex comprising three clusters individual apartment units arranged like irregularly stacked blocks along a zigzagged framework Aroused international interest but failed to inaugurate a trend towards mass production of low-cost units

Why did the Three Points of the International Style exist?

Dictated the search for an honest, economical, and utilitarian architecture that would both use the new materials and satisfy society's new building needs while still appealing to aesthetic taste

What is the most famous collection of prototypical homes and who designed it?

Eames House in California Charles and Ray Eames

Who was Oscar Niemeyer?

Early exponent of modern architecture in Latin America who is noted for his work on the new capital of Brazil, whose architecture centered on monumentality and classical order Worked on the Ministry of Education and Health building, considered by many to be Brazil's first masterpiece of modern architecture

What was the Rotterdam Plan?

First city destroyed by aerial bombardments in WW2 and first to respond with a reconstruction plan Plan provided a mix of uses in the center of the city with apartments, shops, offices, and small studios, all while eliminating heavy industries through zoning restrictions Avenues became 6 lanes wide compared to 2 lanes

What is the International Style?

From Europe and the US in the 20's and 30's and dominated in the middle of the 20th century

What is the Chandigarh Capitol Complex?

Government complex designed by LeCorbusier Prime manifestation of Chandigarh's architecture

What were the downsides to postcolonial Africa?

Independent states degenerated into political turmoil through corruption, dictatorships, genocide, and military coups, discouraging patronage for architecture

What are aspects of the Eames House?

Industrial design of materials Bold graphics and monochromatic sensibility Constructed out of steel frame cladding in fixed panels made of plaster, wood, and opaque/translucent/transparent glass Splash of white and bright primary colors among beige, black, and gray panels give it a Mondrian-style feel Industrial nature is highlighted by its modular design Flat roof Box-like open plan Suspended planes glass Exoskeletal systems

What accompanied the optimism for newly independent African countries?

International Style projects for public buildings Aspired to develop technologically while forging new national identities

Why did India want to incorporate modern architecture?

It is able to be connected to historical traditions because of the breadth of the culture's historic patrimony and partly because of the slow pace of development in experienced

How did the Urban Renewal Program change the United States?

It was first intended to stimulate affordable housing alternatives but instead lead to clearing the slums and building downtown highway construction People feared it would lead to communism as the interests of business came first Only a tiny portion on the nearly half-million poor families displaced by urban renewal obtained access to public housing options Entire sections of downtowns were bulldozed at the expense of poor and ethnic neighborhoods Instead of reviving the city it just created cloistered office environments only occupied during business hours

How did architecture return to Africa?

Japanese architect Kenzo Tange produced an International Style project on the continent Architecture appeared as a collection of concrete and glass scaffolds with rounded corners, giving little consciousness to local traditions Unlike Latin America, vernacular and local traditions were lost in the archtiecture

What was The Case Study Houses Program?

John Entenza attempted to improve middle-class taste in housing Each house should be capable of duplication and have no individual performance It is important to use the best materials in the best way Matched sponsors with architects to produce 28 prototype houses

What were Mies' important job positions?

Last director of the Bauhaus due to closure from the Nazis After its closure he was director of the School of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology

Which region nurtured Modernism, and how?

Latin America Produced some of the most inspired architectural compositions of the mid 20th century

What is the 'cosmic race?'

Mexican artists wanted to create a new awareness of Mexican cultural identity Came up with the terms 'mexicanidad' and 'mexican-ness'

Latin American countries measure their cultural independence against which country's achievements?

Mexico Postcolonial culture/resistance, a movement sought to be modern and regenerative of local traditions, begam with Mexico's revolutionary muralists

What is the grandest classical landscape conceived in the British Empire and why?

New Delhi, as the presence of design of many public buildings in India surpassed the scale of those in Britain

How did occupancy change in Pruitt-Igoe over the years?

Occupancy reached a peak of 91% in 1957 but dropped to 35% in 1971 when only 600 persons remained in the entire complex

Who was Luis Barragan?

One of the foremost international modernist architects of the 20th century for evocative houses, gardens, plazas, and fountains Conceived new methods called 'emotional architecture,' which encourages meditation His mature period was consisted of mature siting, simple surfaces, water features, and use of color Most of his work is in Guadalajara and Mexico City

How was the United States after World War II?

Only major industrial power still standing Mostly untouched by war Demolished city centers to make way for urban renewal Minimalist aesthetic from the International style Segregation, Civil Rights movement is about to begin

What aspects of the International Style did Americans take in as their own?

Prefabricated concrete panel Glass and steel box

Who was Philip Johnson?

Promoted the International Style and defined post modernist architecture Designed the Johnson Glass house to pay homage to Mies' Farnswoth House Designed the Seagram Building with Mies Built the AT&T Building (Now Sony Building)

What became the scapegoat for the American program of social housing?

Pruitt-Igoe

What were characteristics of the International Style?

Rectilinear forms Light plane surfaces without decoration Open interior spaces Visually weightless quality

Who was Mies van der Rohe?

Rectilinear forms and elegant simplicity epitomized the International Style of architecture Leading avant-garde architect in Germany Brought a cubic simplicity to the campus

Who was Pedro Ramirez Vazquez?

Responsible for many of Mexico City's iconic Modernist building President of the Olympic organizing committee in Mexico City and designed the world headquarters for the Olympics and the Olympic Museum

What guided the reconstruction effort in Europe and how did it go?

Social democratic planning for the welfare state Lead to the production of new towns, large housing estates, and highway systems

What was the architecture of socialist realism?

Soviet taste went from abstraction to historicism Led to a decorative Neo-Renaissance style Embraced the return to historical motifs, inspired by Andrea Palladio

What became a status symbol of American corporate power and progressiveness and why?

The International Style Provided an aesthetic rationale for the stripped-down, clean surfaced skyscrapers

What was the third point of the International Style?

The development of new building technologies centering on the use of iron and steel, reinforced concrete, and glass

What was the second point of the International Style?

The economical creation of a large numbers of office buildings and other commercial, residential, and civic structures that served a rapidly industrializing society

How were each of the halves of Pruitt-Igoe named?

The white half was named after U.S. Congressman Igoe and the black half was named after WW2 fighter pilot Pruitt

How did new ruling elites behave in Latin America?

They tended to behave like their previous colonial rulers Exploited large population of peasants In Brazil they had African slaves

Why did countries go back to postcolonial, indigenous architecture?

To show their independence

How was Europe after World War II?

Under reconstruction literally and governmentally through health, education, etc.