L1: Early 20th Century Architecture

Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe

“Architecture is the will of the people translated into space.”

Heinrich Wolfllin

“... architecture expresses the attitude to life of an epoch”

Peter Behrens

Central figure for Jugenstil (youthful style) in Munich, Germany

Jugenstil

Peter Behrens was a Central figure for ______ (youthful style) in Munich, Germany

Peter Behrens

Architect of AEG Turbine Factory

AEG Turbine Factory

• A factory to the “higher realm” of architecture

• Forms and spaces determined by the machines it would house

• Curtain wall windows

• Clarity of form through function

Deutsche Werkbund

Peter Behrens was one of the founders of _______, an organization of architects, artists, designers, craftsmen

Walter Gropius

• he believed that architecture based on machines = clear and organic (systematic)

• Education must include a thorough practical training in workshops (production) + grounding in theory and materials

Adolf Meyer

He set up own practice with Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius

• Architect of the Fagus Shoe Factory

Walter Gropius

Bauhaus

Fagus Shoe Factory

• Designed by Walter Gropius

• Inspired by Behren’s ARG Turbine Factory

• Flat roof

• Curtain wall

• Mechanized Architecture

Bauhaus

• (1919) School of Arts and Crafts at Weimar + Weimar Academy of Fine Arts

• Main ideas: austere design, functionalism and social reform

• “The ______ believes the machine to be our modern medium of design and seeks to come terms with it.” - Walter Gropius (1926)

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

• From working with Behrens, he derived:

• the concept of the artist as “agent of the taste of the age”

• “architecture being an expression of technical power”

• Examples of works: Lakeshore Apartments, Barcelona Pavilion, White House Estate

“agent of the taste of the age”

• From working with Behrens, Mies derived the concept of the artist as __________

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Barcelona Pavilion

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

“architecture being an expression of technical power”

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

“Create form out of the nature of the task, with the means of our time”

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

“Less is more”

Le Corbusier

• Real name: Charles Edouard Jenneret

Charles Edouard Jenneret

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier

• Toured a lot; was captivated by the sharpness of forms under the crisp Mediterranean sunlight

L’Esprit Nouveau (New Spirit)

• Le Corbusier settled in Paris, published _____, a journal containing theories of socially responsive architecture

L’Esprit Nouveau

New Spirit

Vers Un Architecture (Toward a New Architecture)

• book written by Le Corbusier

Vers Un Architecture

Toward a New Architecture

Le Corbusier

“The house is a machine for living in”

1. Pilotis

2. Open Plan

3. Free design of the facade

4. Horizontal ribbon windows

5. Roof Garden

• Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of Architecture

Le Corbusier

“It is the question of building which is at the root of social unrest today: architecture or revolution.”

Pilotis

• Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of Architecture

• grid of slim reinforced concrete pylons that assume the structural weight of a building. This frees the ground floor circulation.

Open Plan

• Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of Architecture

• The absence of load-bearing partition walls affords greater flexibility in design and use of living spaces; the house is unrestrained in its internal use.

Free design of the facade

• Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of Architecture

• separated exterior of the building is free from conventional structural restriction, allowing the façade to be unrestrained, lighter, more open.

Horizontal Ribbon Windows

• Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of Architecture

• these light rooms equally, increasing sense of space and seclusion

Roof Garden

• Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of Architecture

• flat roofs with garden terraces serve both harmonic and domestic utility