Modern Architecture Exam 2 Review

Sarasota School of Architecture

- A movement of Architecture concerned with adapting modern architecture to the Florida Climate. - Was a regional variation of Modern Architecture that adapted the European architectural experiments of the 1920's. - Exposed structural members - Materials left in their natural state - Lack of applied decoration/ornamentation - "Flat Roofs." - A close relationship between the inside and the outside

Streamline Moderne

- A variation of the Art Deco style that emphasized horizontal lines and rounded corners to give an aerodynamic look. Emphasis on movement and sleekness.

De Stijl

- Also known as "Neo-Plasticism," - This was a movement created by a group of Dutch artists who aimed to create "a style valid for the new consciousness of the age" which would "replace the individual with the universal." - Uses exclusively primary colors and black and white.

The International Style

- Architecture as enclosed space - An attempt at modular regularity - Avoidance of superimposed decoration.

The Bauhaus

- Emerged from the "Applied Arts School" of the Weimar Academy of Fine Arts, - "_______" wishes to contribute to the development - appropriate to the times - of housing, from the simplest appliance to the finished dwelling . . . [by way of] a determined consideration of all modern methods of production and construction and of modern materials, forms of which diverge from existing models and often seem unfamiliar and surprising - Followed a strict curriculum that allowed students to achieve a well-rounded education in art and design that greatly inspired all future art schools. Just like Ringling.

A Machine for Living

- Le Corbusier, "The house is a "____________________", bathrooms, sun, hot/cold water, temperature which can be adjusted, foot storage hygiene, beauty in harmonious proportions." - referring to the functionality of spaces, compartments and things that could be modified

Case Study Houses

- Series of 36 houses sponsored by the Southern California Magazine. - The houses were meant to showcase inexpensive and efficient model homes for the residential housing boom after WW2. - Extensive use of steel, glass, modern style, and simplistic furnishings. - Steel-frame construction. - Floor to ceiling glass. - Flat roofs. - Exposed structure.

"Less is More"

- Sometimes referred to as minimalist architecture and minimalism - In the mood of post-war Europe, modern buildings often appeared too sudden and violent. Priority thereby not lay with apartments, but with strictly economical office design and the creation of company identity.

Art Deco

- The style is characterized by abstract motifs composed of diagonal lines and angular shapes, often inspired by natural sources (lightning, triangles, starbursts, zigzags, etc...) - Thrives on ornamentation and decoration.

Brutalism

- The style of architecture characterized by a deliberate plainess, crudity, or violence of imagery. - -- Usually very large buildings and massive in character. - Typically concrete and massive.

Forms - Yale Art & Architecture Building imposes a low-detail and large-scale fortress appearance. The Lever House features a glass-box skyscraper with an inner courtyard that reaches out to the end of the site. Materials - The Lever House mainly consisted of curtain walls of green insulating glass and slender, stainless-steel girders that embraced a steel skeleton. The Yale Art & Architecture building is known for its bare, bush-hammered concrete that is a prime example of Brutalist Architecture.

Compare & contrast Gordon Bunshaft's "Lever House with Paul Rudolph, "Yale Art & Architecture Building" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

Forms - Notre Dame Du Haut is a brutal structure with small windows and extensive use of concrete in a more organic and expressive form. Bordeaux-Pessac Housing Estate's structures consist of cubic/geometric forms and follows more closely in the international style. Also features an open-floor plan, terrace garden, freestanding facades, and continuous windows. Materials - Notre Dame Du Haut is made mostly of concrete and stone. The Housing Estate's main material is also concrete, with reinforced concrete in the structure from the foundation and contained painted panels of brown, blue, yellow and jade colors

Compare & contrast Le Corbusier's "Bordeaux-Pessac Housing Estate" with his "Notre Dame du Haut" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

Forms - TWA Terminal has a bird like form which accentuates the buildings focus on dynamic structure and lends itself well to more rounded, curvature focused shape language that follows. The Weissenhof Siedlung Building is far more simple in form, with flat roofs and simple geometric shapes constructing the building's design. Materials - Both are concrete structures with their design primarily focusing on their materials - Neither structure hide the concrete

Compare & contrast Le Corbusier's "Weissenhof Siedlung Buildings" with Eero Saarinen's "TWA Terminal" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

Forms - The Cushicle was a conceptual inflatable living cell that is meant for a man to "carry his complete environment on his back". It inflates when needed and is portable. Pavilion L'Esprit Nouveau is a prototype home focusing on an open-plan, modular dwellings, and emphasized functionality. Both architectures more or less thought of ornamentation of less priority. Materials - Cushicle's material is a proposed imaginary, incredibly strong, delicately flexible and completely transparent. Pavillon L'Esprit Nouveau consisted of reinforced concrete and steel for urban living, with built-in furniture to reduce decoration.

Compare & contrast Le Corbusier, "Pavilion L'Esprit Nouveau" with Michael Webb's "Cushicle" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

Design of the individual parts of the kitchen - The Frankfurt kitchen was one of the earliest examples of design being considered in a kitchen - applications are modern using electric burners instead of a fire, storage for dishes for the first time, shelves in walls that have labels for what each ingredient placed inside is. - Utilized a smaller space more efficiently. Efficiency of using the kitchen - 19th century kitchens usually were sectioned out with each function being its own station of sorts. The Frankfurt kitchen was more compact and intuitive in design, making cooking more efficient for the user.

Compare & contrast Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky's "The Frankfurt Kitchen" and a typical 19th century kitchen in terms of: - Design of the individual parts of the kitchen - Efficiency of using the kitchen

Forms - Similar to the Farnsworth house, the Crown Hall is incredibly cubic in shape, going for a very minimal geometric design when compared to the Baker House House, which is predominantly focused around the wave-like pattern that forms around the entire building. - Wave-like form that allows sunlight to pass through all windows - Crown hall instead uses glass in nearly all walls to let light through Materials - Crown Hall used large glass windows held up by steel beams for the walls of the building. - Baker House does use glass in its construction but far more emphasis is placed on the brick pattern that covers the majority of the exterior. Alto went so far as to use defective bricks on the walls as a means of decorating them.

Compare & contrast Mies van der Rohe's "Crown Hall at ITT" with Alvar Aalto's "Baker House Dormitory at MIT" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

Forms - Bavinger wasn't interested in the standard form of architecture and as a result the Bavinger house had an organic curvature to it's construction, utilizing a Spiral wall and glass window. This is in stark contrast with the more rigid, geometric, design of the Farnsworth house that is more in line with typical modern architecture. Materials - The farnsworth house had a concrete floor, steel frame, glass walls. The Bavinger house used brick and glass primarily.

Compare & contrast Mies van der Rohe's "Farnsworth House" with Bruce Goff's "Bavinger House" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

Russian Constructivism

Rejected the idea of "art for art's sake" in favor of art as a practice directed towards social purposes.

Forms - Bernard's Dome House resembles the shape of a bubble and focuses on the design principles of envelope, utility core, and interior spaces . Case Study House No.21 is meant to be more open, cubic, and exterior. Both buildings are energy efficient: the Dome utilizes a photo-electric shade that moves along with the sun while the Case Study No.21 uses water that is micro-pumped onto the roof. Materials - Both are inexpensive and efficient in terms of building materials. The Bailey House (Case Study No.21) consists of steel frames, walls of glass, reflecting pools, and sliding doors. The Dome House is covered with transparent Mylar and uses a geodesic technique which allows the triangular elements to distribute structural stress throughout the entire building.

Compare & contrast Pierre Koenig's "Case Study House No. 21" with Bernard Judge's "Dome House" in terms of: - Forms - Materials

They typically took photos with automobiles to signify what the "Modern" aesthetic was for architecture during that time by comparing it to the most latest and high end automobiles.

Explain why Modernist architects frequently take photographs with automobiles in front of their buildings

- To bring modern, open, and green places for people to live after World War 1. - To provide affordable and compact housing for people; housing was designed for efficiency and modernism.

Identify and explain 2 different reason for the typical forms of 1920s / 1930s European Mass Housing

- Utilized Steel "L's" inside crossed-shaped columns (Tugendhat House) - Utilized Exposed Steel I-Beams as decoration but didn't provide structural function (Lake Shore Drive Apartments)

Identify and explain 2 different usages of steel in the buildings of Mies van Der Rohe.

The Supports (known as "pilotis"), Roof Garden, The Free Plan, Horizontal Window, and the Free Facade

In an exterior photo and plan drawing of Le Corbusier's "Villa Savoye", identify his "Five Points towards a New Architecture" (1926)

- Architecture as enclosed space - At attempt at modular regularity - Avoidance of superimposed decoration

In an exterior photo and plan drawing of Mies van der Rohe's "Barcelona Pavilion," identify MoMA's three points defining "The International Style".