8.2 The International Style and Brutalism & 8.3 Late 20th and 21st Century Styles

International Style

• Bauhaus style in the United States

• symbolism of capitalism

• “Less is more” - volume over mass, the use of lightweight, mass-produced, industrial materials

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier)

Villa Savoye (int)

• "the Five Points of a New Architecture"

  • raise on slender pilotis

  • free floor plans from load bearing walls

  • free facade

  • full ribbon windows

  • flat roof gardens

Unité d’Habitation (brut)

The church of Notre Dame du Haut (brut)

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

• The German Pavillon

  • volume not mass

  • exquisite execution of proportions, precise details, and opulent materials rather than applied ornament for beauty

Brutalism

• ‘Béton brut’ (raw concrete) from Le Corbusier, who designed the Cite Radieuse in Marseilles

• rough, unfinished surfaces, unusual shapes, heavy-looking materials, straight lines, and small windows.

Louis Khan

• created a monumental and monolithic style; his heavy buildings, for the most part, do not hide their weight, their materials, or the way they are assembled

• Phillips Exeter Academy Library

• Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Leandro Locsin

• National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture

• Filipino architect, artist, and interior designer known for using concrete, floating volume, and simplistic design in his various projects

• The Tanghalang Pambansa of the Cultural Center of the Philippines

• Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1

• Church of the Holy Sacrifice, University of the Philippines, Diliman

Neo-Expressionism

• loosely based on the German Expressionist movement from the early 20th century.

• The architecture is meant to evoke an emotional, not an intellectual response

• sculpture-like and theatrical in appearance. Strict geometric shapes are rejected, and sculpted forms emerge

• Innovations in building materials such as concrete, plastics, and laminates are often incorporated into the design to achieve artistic forms.

• 3 main streams: Lyrical, neoclassical, Futuristic

Lyrical Expressionism

• association with the organic world, emphasizing the lightness and immateriality of structures

• TWA Terminal, JFK International Airport by Eero Saarinen

• Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York by Frank Lloyd Wright

Neo-classical Expressionism

• uses new forms to emphasize the soaring & dynamic structure

• St. Mary’s Cathedral by Kenzo Tange

• Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral by Frederick Gibberd

Futuristic Expressionism

• derives from the tradition and fascination of streamline-aerodynamic forms.

• The Theme Building by James Langenheim

• Space Needle by Victor Steinbrueck

Googie Architecture

• post-World War II futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the space age, and the atomic age

• popular among motels, coffee houses, and gas stations

High Tech Architecture

• structural expressionism

• aimed to achieve a new industrial aesthetic inspired by technological progress and the computerization of industry

• traditional construction methods (like brickwork) are abandoned in favor of new materials and techniques, such as steel, light metal panels, glass, and plastic derivatives.

• Lloyds of London by Richard Rogers

• Centre Georges Pompidou by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers

• Bank of China Tower by I.M. Pei

• HSBC Headquarters and interior, Hong Kong, by Sir Norman Foster

• Burj Al Arab by Tom Wright

Critical Regionalism

• a reaction to a ‘placelessness’ and lack of identity inherent in much modern architecture that has been exacerbated by the globalization of culture, styles, and brands.

• the stylings of critical regionalism seek to provide an architecture rooted in modern tradition and tied to geographical and cultural context

Oscar Niemeyer

• The Palácio da Alvorada

• Cathedral of Brasília

Jørn Utzon

• sydney opera house

Tadao Ando

• Row house in Sumiyoshi

• Church of the Light

Mario Botta

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

• Church of Saint John the Baptist in Mogno

Postmodernism

• a reaction against modernism, its rigid doctrines, uniformity, and perceived lack of local and cultural context

• highly decorative, whimsical, and kitsch aesthetic, above all, refusing to draw inspiration solely from a single source and often focusing on form over function

• structural designs that are based on forms that are non-architectural

• often praised for its eclectic and joyful style, although some find it ugly, superficial, and derivative

Philip Johnson

• 550 Madison Avenue

Robert Venturi

• “less is a bore”

• Vanna Venturi House

Michael Graves

• Team Disney HQ, California

• Denver Public Library

Deconstructivism

• characterized by fragmentation and manipulating a structure’s surface

• often formed of components that have been disassembled and reassembled in a new and unorthodox way

Frank Gehry

• The Dancing House, Prague

• Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Zaha Hadid

• Vitra Fire Station

• Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (National museum of 21st-century arts)

Daniel Libeskind

The Imperial War Museum

Rem Koolhaas

Seattle Central Library

Blobitecture

• style of postmodernist architecture characterized by organic, rounded, bulging shapes

• non-geometric structures heavily depends on using CAD software

• Eden Project by Nicholas Grimshaw

• Museum of Pop Culture by Frank Gehry

• Kunsthaus Graz by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier

Parametricism

• contemporary avant-garde architecture, promoted as a successor to Modern and Postmodern architecture.

• based on the constraints in a parametric equation, hence relying heavily on programs, algorithms, and computers to manipulate equations for design purposes

• works by Zaha Hadid:

  • Dongdaemun Design Plaza

  • Heydar Aliyev Center

  • Guangzhou Opera House

Neo-Futurism

• represents an idealistic belief in a better future

• futuristic rethinking of aesthetics and functionality of design in growing cities

• inspired partly by Futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia

• Nanjing International Youth Center, Beijing Daxing Int’l Airport by Zaha Hadid

Santiago Calatrava

• Milwaukee Art Museum

• L’Hemisferic, City of Arts and Sciences

• The Oculus Transportation Hub

Thomas Heatherwick

The Vessel at Hudson Yards