Lecture 15 and 16
Hugo Häring, Approaches to Form 1925
"If we prefer to search for shapes rather than to propose them, to discover forms rather than to construct them, we ar in harmony with naturea nd act with her rather than against. . . . We no longer take a planned figure on whcih to base the form we create out of the geometrical world but instead from the world of organic forms: as we have seen that in order to create for life we must create as nature does, organically and not geometrically.
Hannes Meyer "Building" 1928
"this functional, biological interpretation of architecture as giving shape to the functions of life, logically leads to pure construction: this world of constructive forms knows no native country. it is the expression of an international attitude in architecture. internationality is a privilege of the period. pure construction is the basis and the characteristic of the new world of forms
Aino and Alvar Aalto, Villa Mairea (1937-39) Finnish
- not white, merging of different materials, creating a symphony - eye moves from element to element - Alto is a classicist at heart - two L shaped spaces - creates hierachy - (look at the plans) - you can see how the material pallet influences the makeup of the plans - you enter up into a building (taken from classical architecture) - the passage through the building int his way shape the space, as you enter at your eye level the fireplace, becomes the heart of the house - Merging of the open plan and the less open plan - so division of spaces in some respects and open plan in other sections of the house
De Stijl
Dutch post-WWI movement that believed that their style revealed the underlying structure of existence; art was simplistic and used primary colors and horizontal and vertical lines (invented by Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg). Three main postulates: each art form must realize its own nature based on its materials and codes--only then can the generative principles governing all the visual arts be revealed; as the spiritual awareness of society increases, so will art fulfill its historical (Hegelian destiny and become reaborved into daily life; art is not opposed to science and technology--both art and science are concerend with the discovery adn demonstration of the underlying laws of nature and not with nautre's superficila nad transient apperance
Sven Markelius, Kollektivhus [Collective House], Stockholm, with Alva Myrdal (1935)
From this time, Markelius, along with Alva Myrdal who was a leader in the movement advocating communal housing as a means of emancipating the working woman from the burdens of housekeeping and child rearing, developed an interest in the idea of collective housing. Markelius believed that married working women needed specialized housing with facilities such as communal kitchens, childcare centers, and housekeeping services. In 1932, Markelius developed a housing scheme for the Alvik area in Stockholm, which applied these collective principles for the first time. In this design, three clusters of long, ten-story slabs including separate communal dining facilities were arranged in an open landscape. Each building group was a thinly disguised version of Russian collective housing experiments of the late 1920's such as the Narkmofin building in Moscow of 1928. In fact, when the project was exhibited at the time it was branded a "Russian" idea. However, undaunted by the negative reaction to Alvik, Markelius and Alva Myrdal continued to investigate collective housing notions and especially the idea that housing should incorporate childcare facilities and communal kitchens.
Charlotte Perriand, 1903-99
Furniture designer that Works with Le Corbusier. Grand comfort armchair and chaise lounge chair that extend the limps almost as a medical device.
Hugo Häring, Garkau Farm, Germany (1923-24)
I don't know why this is important
Alvar Alto, Rationalism and Man
Instead we must extend our rational work to cover a wider range of demands connected with these problems. In addition to technical and general physiological properties, we must rationally study the detailed needs of individual health, to the verge of psychology and even beyond it as far as we can.
Johannes Duiker, Open-air school, Amsterdam (1926-31)
Open air schools or schools of the woods were purpose-built educational institutions for children, that were designed to prevent and combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis that occurred in the period leading up to the Second World War. The schools were built on the concept that fresh air, good ventilation and exposure to the outside contributed to improved health. The schools were mostly built in areas away from city centers, sometimes in rural locations, to provide a space free from pollution and overcrowding. The creation and design of the schools paralleled that of the tuberculosis sanatoriums, in that hygiene and exposure to fresh air were paramount; open air schools however also provided education.
CIAM
The International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM) was founded in June 1928, at the Chateau de la Sarraz in Switzerland, by a group of 28 European architects organized by Le Corbusier, Hélène de Mandrot (owner of the castle), and Sigfried Giedion (the first secretary-general). CIAM was one of many 20th century manifestos meant to advance the cause of "architecture as a social art". The organization was hugely influential. It was not only engaged in formalizing the architectural principles of the Modern Movement, but also saw architecture as an economic and political tool that could be used to improve the world through the design of buildings and through urban planning. The fourth CIAM meeting in 1933 was to have been held in Moscow. The rejection of Le Corbusier's competition entry for the Palace of the Soviets, a watershed moment and an indication that the Soviets had abandoned CIAM's principles, changed those plans. Instead it was held onboard ship, the SS Patris II, which sailed from Marseille to Athens. Here the group discussed concentrated on principles of "The Functional City", which broadened CIAM's scope from architecture into urban planning. Based on an analysis of thirty-three cities, CIAM proposed that the social problems faced by cities could be resolved by strict functional segregation, and the distribution of the population into tall apartment blocks at widely spaced intervals. These proceedings went unpublished from 1933 until 1943, when Le Corbusier, acting alone, published them in heavily edited form as the "Athens Charter."The organization was hugely influential. It was not only engaged in formalizing the architectural principles of the Modern Movement, but also saw architecture as an economic and political tool that could be used to improve the world through the design of buildings and through urban planning. The fourth CIAM meeting in 1933 was to have been held in Moscow. The rejection of Le Corbusier's competition entry for the Palace of the Soviets, a watershed moment and an indication that the Soviets had abandoned CIAM's principles, changed those plans. Instead it was held onboard ship, the SS Patris II, which sailed from Marseille to Athens. Here the group discussed concentrated on principles of "The Functional City", which broadened CIAM's scope from architecture into urban planning. Based on an analysis of thirty-three cities, CIAM proposed that the social problems faced by cities could be resolved by strict functional segregation, and the distribution of the population into tall apartment blocks at widely spaced intervals. These proceedings went unpublished from 1933 until 1943, when Le Corbusier, acting alone, published them in heavily edited form as the "Athens Charter."
Gunnar Asplund, Stockholm Exhibition (1930)
The Stockholm Exhibition (in Swedish, Stockholmsutställningen) was an exhibition held in 1930 in Stockholm, Sweden, that had a great impact on the architectural styles known as Functionalism and International Style. The fair was conducted by the City of Stockholm and the Svenska Slöjdföreningen (which has evolved into the existing organization, Swedish Form) art society. The art historian and leader of the Svenska Slöjdföreningen, Gregor Paulsson, was the intellectual leader of the fair, inspired, after a visit to the 1927 Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart, to organize a similar event for Stockholm. It took place from May through September 1930, on the southern portion of the Djurgården recreation area in eastern-central Stockholm, and entertained about four million visitors. view of the Paradise Restaurant Swedish artists, craftsmen and companies showed their latest products, particularly the glass producer Orrefors Glasbruk. Many of the available images were taken by the pioneering photographer W. Gustaf Cronquist, and were published by Swedish Form. The exhibition's slogan was: Acceptera!, or Accept!, literally a plea for acceptance of functionalism, standardization, and mass production as a cultural change. The effort to persuade Swedish citizens of the benefits of a modernized lifestyle included serving mass-produced food.
the interior (as discussed in the book)
The difference between ground (architecuture) and figure (orniment, furniture, etc.) was erased, reversing the trend initiated by the interiors exhbitied in Germany around 1910 by, for example bruno Paul and reverting Jugendstil practice of treating the interior as an individsle abstract unity--as in Van de Velde and Wright
exhibition in Stuttgart in 1927
The estate was built for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition of 1927, and included twenty-one buildings comprising sixty dwellings, designed by seventeen European architects, most of them German-speaking. The German architect Mies van der Rohe was in charge of the project on behalf of the city, and it was he who selected the architects, budgeted and coordinated their entries, prepared the site, and oversaw construction. Le Corbusier was awarded the two prime sites, facing the city, and by far the largest budget. The twenty-one buildings vary slightly in form, consisting of terraced and detached houses and apartment buildings, and display a strong consistency of design. What they have in common are their simplified facades, flat roofs used as terraces, window bands, open plan interiors, and the high level of prefabrication which permitted their erection in just five months. All but two of the entries were white. Bruno Taut had his entry, the smallest, painted in various colors. Advertised as a prototype of future workers' housing, in fact each of these houses was customized and furnished on a budget far out of a normal worker's reach and with little direct relevance to the technical challenges of standardized mass construction. The exhibition opened to the public on 23 July 1927, a year late, and drew large crowds.
Le Corbusier, Toward an Architecture (1923)
The polemical book contains seven essays, all but one of which were published in the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau beginning in 1921. Each essay dismisses the contemporary trends of eclecticism and art deco, replacing them with architecture that was meant to be more than a stylistic experiment; rather, an architecture that would fundamentally change how humans interacted with buildings. This new mode of living derived from a new spirit defining the industrial age, demanding a rebirth of architecture based on function and a new aesthetic based on pure form.
Alvar Aalto, Paimio Sanatorium, Paimio, Finland, 1928-1933 Back façade, and roof terrasse
smooth white wal surfaces with mediterranean overtones are even more evidence than in other examples of international modernism. But a new feature was teh attention paid to details; Aalto designed all the furniture in this building. It was because of their concern for the intimate and tactile aspects of modern design, as well as their manifest formal qualities,.