Key Concepts in Modern Architecture and Art

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to modern architecture and art movements.

A house is a machine for living in

a phrase coined by Le Corbusier, indicating his belief about the essence of modern architecture – that a house should be modern, technological and efficient

Abstraction

Works of art reduced to basic forms with little or no pictorial representation.

Cantilever

A projecting beam that is attached to a building at one end and suspends outward beyond the edge of the building.

Documentary photography

Photography that chronicles significant historical events or scenes from everyday life, typically related to photojournalism.

Ferroconcrete

Reinforced concrete.

Fin de siècle

French term meaning 'end of an era,' referring to the period from the end of the 19th century to 1914 in Europe characterized by growing wealth and political tensions.

Found objects

Images, materials, or objects found in the everyday environment that are incorporated into works of art.

Gouache

Opaque watercolor, as opposed to transparent watercolor.

Harlem Renaissance

A rich period of cultural production for African Americans, celebrating their heritage, culture, and redefining artistic forms of expression.

Mural

Large scale frescoes in Mexico depicting non-European heroes and socially relevant messages.

Pilotis

Slender columns with no ornamentation.

Primitivism

Artistic inspiration from 'primitive,' 'unadvanced,' or 'simple' non-western cultures.

Photogravure

A technique to copy a negative used to capture middle tones on the value scale.

Photomontage

A process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging, and overlapping two or more photographs.

Ready-mades

Commonplace objects selected and exhibited as works of art.

Ribbon windows

Slender, long, streamlined window panes.