Modern Architecture Summary

Modernism: A period (circa 1890-1970s) and a state of mind.
Origins: Contested among historians (Gothic Revival, French Enlightenment, Italian Renaissance).
End: Debated (1968 student demos, 1972 Pruitt-Igoe demolition); some see it continuing today.
Subdivisions:
- Pre-war/Early Modernism (1890-1914)
- Classic/Heroic Modernism (1918-1939)
- Post-war Modernism (1945-1968)
Scope:
- Early: Dispersed (England, Europe, North America).
- Inter-war: Consolidated in Europe.
- Post-war: Migrates to North America; develops in South America, Asia, India, Australia.

Enlightenment: Freedom to use intellect; ideals of liberty, equality, tolerance.
New Forms of Knowledge:
- Rationalism: Knowledge based on reason.
- Empiricism: Knowledge derived from experience.
- Idealism: Society shaped by ideas.
Aesthetic Categories: Valued picturesque and sublime in addition to the beautiful.
Aesthetic Experience:
- Picturesque: Qualities of roughness, irregularity, and variety, often found in landscapes.
- Sublime: Feelings of awe and terror evoked by immense or powerful experiences.
Theoretical Problems: Meaning and morality in architecture.
Spirit of the Age (Zeitgeist): Shared state of mind.
Progress of History: Predetermined chain of events toward an enlightened future.
Rise of Capitalism, Industrialisation, and Cities
New Technologies: Iron and Ferro-concrete.
New Building Types: Museums, libraries, hospitals, train stations. New functional problems emerge.

Disillusionment with 19th C architecture.
Desire to break with past styles.
Desire to find new forms and ways of living.
Abstraction: Independent treatment of form, structure, and spatial organization.
Appreciation of Form: Removal of ornament leads to valuing form.
Architectural Space: Shift from conceptual necessity to experiential.
Material Technology: Artistic tied to utilitarian progress.
Function: Separating function from status; function generates form.
Utopia & \"The International Style\": Universal application of Enlightenment ideals.

(Constructional) Realism: Otto Wagner. Form determined by construction method.
(Structural) Rationalism: Giuseppe Terragni. Spatial organisation follows structural grid.
Functionalism: Walter Gropius. Spatial organisation follows the building's use.
Constructivism: Building form as an assemblage of constructional systems.
Organic Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright. Spatial organisation integrated with unique structural solution.
Expressionism: Spatial organisation follows expressive structure.

Progress and/or Retreat: Public skepticism increases.
Abstraction, Identity, and Monumentality: Interest in identity and monumentality emerges.
Space vs. \"Place\" and \"Placemaking\": Emphasis on location-specific design.
Advanced Technologies vs. Traditional Materials: Experimentation in both.
Design Flexibility and Social Systems: Focus on adaptability of design.
Critical Regionalism: Synthesis of universal civilization & local culture.

French Primitivism: Le Corbusier. Return to nature, vernacular forms and raw materials.
German Expressionism: Hans Scharoun. Form expresses psychological states.
Dutch Structuralism: Aldo van Eyck. Architecture as a network integrated with the urban fabric.
Italian Craftsmanship: Carlo Scarpa. Layering materials, connecting modernity and tradition.
English New Brutalism: Peter & Alison Smithson. Clear structural diagram.
English Futurism (‘Archigram’): Incorporation of pop culture, new technology, and neo-futurist imagery.
Structural Rationalism & Corporate Modernism: Mies van der Rohe & SOM.
Abstract Expressionism: Louis Kahn. Combines rationalism with spacial types, differentiates between 'served' and 'servant' spaces.
(Structural) Expressionism: Structure expressed and use of shell structures.

Modern architecture helps understand space, form, and surface.
Provides a precedent for understanding the interaction between space, structure, and program.
Framework for making judgments about architecture.
Reminds that architects engage with culture, society, politics, and subjectivity.