Modern Architecture Quiz 2

Fair Store

One of the first complete steel skeleton skyscrapers, decoration on exterior, Chicago skyscraper by William LeBaron Jenney, 1890-91

Chrysler Building

77 story Steel skeleton with reinforced concrete floors and a concrete central core for elevators and stairs, a brick veneer covers the exterior, stainless steel entrances with chrome and stainless steel sunburst in art deco style, New York skyscraper by William van Alen. It was part of New York’s 1916 zoning laws, which led to the setback design, creating a tiered look, 1928-1930

art deco

called the skyscraper style, International/global but most prolific in North America and france. Took some inspiration from the international exposition of modern and decorative and industrial arts, Paris, 1925, most popular circa 1918-1939, seems to turn its back on WW1, prohibition and the Great Depression (emerged during period of poverty but focused on wealth). Influenced by the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris.

• It featured geometric forms, rich materials (chrome, stainless steel, aluminum, Bakelite, exotic woods), and a futuristic look.

• Often associated with speed, mechanization, electricity, luxury, and global influences, which are seen in buildings like the Chrysler Building.

• It also drew from Ancient Egyptian, Pre-Columbian, and Greco-Roman motifs in ornamentation.

Prairie House

A style of domestic architecture developed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900s, characterized by strong horizontal lines, open floor plans, cantilevered eaves, and integration with nature. It was designed for the American Midwest and emphasized organic materials and simplicity. Wright was interested in creating a new style for the American middle class, one that benefitted from new technology, industrial materials, mechanized production, and provided a healthy living space for families.

Robie House

A famous Prairie House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909, located in Hyde Park, Chicago. It is a key example of Wright's architectural philosophy, featuring a low, horizontal profile, open interior spaces, and cantilevered overhangs. The house was built for Frederick Robie, a mechanical engineer, wife Lora and children.

cantilever

A projecting structural element supported on one side. A structural element that extends outward beyond its support, without additional vertical bracing. In Wright’s designs, such as the Robie House, this created dramatic overhangs and open spaces while maintaining structural integrity through hidden steel beams.

Broadacre City

A utopian urban planning concept introduced by Wright in 1932, proposing a decentralized, car-dependent city where each citizen would receive one acre of land. It blended urban and rural elements, emphasizing self-sufficiency, modern technology, and an organic relationship with nature. Kind of like opposite of a city.

City Beautiful movement

A late 19th and early 20th-century urban planning movement aimed at improving cities through beautification, classical architecture, sanitation, and civic institutions. It emphasized wide boulevards, public parks, street lighting, and grand government buildings to create order, uplift citizens, and promote moral and civic virtue.

Raumplan

spaces understood through movement; spaces related in a highly controlled and theatrical way. n architectural concept developed by Austrian architect Adolf Loos in the early 20th century. It refers to a method of designing interior spaces in a three-dimensional, dynamic way rather than adhering to a flat, two-dimensional floor plan. A design concept that organizes a building’s interior space into interconnected spaces, rather than traditional stacked floor levels.

AEG Turbine Factory

Designed by Peter Behrens in Berlin, 1909, this factory is a key example of early modern industrial architecture. It features a monumental steel frame, large glass panels, and minimal ornamentation, emphasizing function and mass production. It reflects the emerging idea that industrial buildings could be aesthetically significant while maintaining efficiency.

volume

as a container of space; space occupied by an object or 3-D geometric shape. differs from mass which is It is different from mass, which conveys solid density and weight (as densely packed matter, suggestive of weight), while volume emphasizes the spatial enclosure and the way space is perceived and used.

utopia

prescription for the values a society should have; it prescribes a system of values for generally all aspects of society and culture, and usually includes the plans for designing the culture that will support these ideal values. Most visions communicated by a manifesto

Futurism

Italy, 1909-1944. Was captured aesthetically by the characteristics of speed, industry and machinery but it was very much about the feeling produced by these elements. not about logic, objectivity and reason, it was about using industry to create an enthralling modernist aesthetic. found its way to fashion, toys, art, interior design and architecture. An artistic and architectural movement (1909-1944) originating in Italy, emphasizing speed, industry, technology, and motion. It rejected tradition in favor of a dynamic, modern aesthetic. Notable figures include Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Antonio Sant’Elia.

Expressionism

Germany, Austria, 1919-1924. allowed for industry, mechanization and new technology, but it all was to be in the service of a society based in community and spirituality. A German and Austrian movement (1919-1924) that sought to integrate modern technology and industry with spirituality and communal ideals. It rejected strict functionality in favor of dramatic, emotive designs, as seen in Bruno Taut’s Alpine Architecture.

De Stijl

Holland, 1917-1932. A Dutch artistic movement (1917-1932) advocating abstraction, geometric forms, and primary colors. It sought balance between the universal and the individual, influencing architecture through designs like Gerrit Rietveld’s Schröder House. Follows ideas of M.H. Schoenmaekers: essential elements (space, form, colour) represents the world rather than the details of naturalism, attunes us to abstract truths.

Glass Pavillion

A 1914 structure designed by Bruno Taut for the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, Germany. It showcased Luxfer glassand was a key example of Expressionist architecture, promoting the idea that architecture could elevate culture and spiritual well-being.

Narkomfin Housing

A 1929 Soviet communal housing project in Moscow, designed by Moisei Ginsburg and Ignatii Milinis. It was an experimental building that reflected socialist ideals by emphasizing collective living, shared spaces, and minimal private areas. It influenced modernist architecture and inspired Le Corbusier’s later works.

Pilotis

columnar supports that are simple cylinders. A modern architectural feature referring to columnar supports that elevate a building above ground level. These simple cylindrical supports were widely used by Le Corbusier to free up space beneath structures, allowing for open floor plans and better circulation. ormally, the pilots are a new kind of column, lacking the traditional forms of the classic column (base, fluted shaft, capital); structurally, they lift the buildings off of the ground to provide for new possibilities for this space (parking, gardens, circulation of air, removing the building from damp conditions…)

Ribbon Windows

windows that are continuous along a wall, like ribbon wrapping a package. A continuous horizontal band of windows that wrap around a building like a ribbon. Popularized by Le Corbusier, ribbon windows maximize natural light and create a sense of openness, commonly seen in modernist architecture.

vernacular

approach to building that stems from regional materials, regional tradition, regional conditions (such as weather, topography), and regional construction methods and other expertise, local economy approach

domino structure

A 1915 structural system designed by Le Corbusier, featuring an open floor plan with reinforced concrete slabs supported by thin columns (pilotis). It allowed for flexible interior spaces and became a foundation for modern architecture.

Villa Savoye

A modernist house designed by Le Corbusier (1929, France), demonstrating his Five Points of Architecture (pilotis, free façade, open floor plan, ribbon windows, and roof garden). It embodied the idea of a house as a “machine for living”.

Ronchamp Chapel

A 1950 chapel designed by Le Corbusier in Ronchamp, France. Unlike his rigid, geometric designs, this structure features organic curves, thick masonry walls, and dramatic light effects, showing a shift in his architectural philosophy.