ISS1144 - 07/09

Key terms:

  • “The International Style”: Another word for Modernism

  • The C.I.A.M

  • Architectural synthesis

General Notes:

Modernism

  • Modernism marginalized in 1930s within countries under German occupation

  • Cement used more as building material

I. Modernism and the International style

  • Around 1900s → steel starts being used in Europe

  • Ex: Østbanehalle (1854, 1882)

    • Architects: Heinrich E. Schirmer

  • Late 1800s as “railway age” → symbol of modernism

  • 1900s - removing elements that did not have function

    • Ex: AEG Factory, Berlin (1908)

    • Ex: Fagus Factory

    • Ex: Schorder House, Utrecht

  • Norway as one of the last countries to modernize in Europe

    • 1900s → urban areas with industrial technology, while rural is still living with simpler means

  • The International Style Exhibition (1932)

    • Fueled critique that everything starts to look the same in modernism

II. Key International Figures

  • “Ornament is crime.” - Adolf Loos

  • Cecilie Christine Schøller

  • Le Corbusier (1887-1965)

    • “The various classes of worker in society today no longer have dwellings adapted to their needs; neither artisan….,”

    • Criticizes architects and idealizes engineers’ prioritization of function and simplicity

    • Compares cruise ship housing to normal housing → advocates for mass multi-family housing

    • Villa Savoye, Paris

      • 5 principles of architecture

        • Roof terrae

        • Free pLan

        • Free facade

        • Horizontal windows

        • Pilotis

  • Bauhaus style

    • Ex: Weisenhof Siedlung, Suttgart (1927)

III. Introduction to Scandinavia

  • Ex: Stockholm Library

  • Stockholm Exhibition, Sweden (1930)

  • Alvar Aalto

    • Viborg Library (1927-35)

IV. Early Adoption in Norway

  • Ex: Tysseda Hydropower Station (1906)

    • Hydropower stations become a part of national identity

  • Incorporation of more geometric forms

  • Ex: Hydrogen Factory

  • Cornerstone industries as characteristic of Norway

  • First modernist building in Oslo - Skansen Restaurant, Oslo (1927)

    • Architect: Lars Backer

  • “We shall create an architecture in contact with the time in which we live.” - Lars Backer

    • Not a popular opinion at the time, as most architects were against modernism in 1930s Norway

  • Ex: Ekerberg Restaurant, Oslo (1927-29)

    • Architect: Lars Backer

V. Key Buildings and Architects

  • Oslo City Hall (1950)

    • Architects: Magnus Poulsson & …

  • Arne Korsmo

    • Villa Stemerson, Oslo (1937-39)

  • Ove Bang

    • Villa Ditlev-Simonsen, Oslo (1936-37)

    • Samfunnshuset, Oslo (1936-40)

    • Ingierstrand Bad, Oppegard (1932)

  • Saga and Klingenberg Cinemas, Oslo (1934 & 1938)

    • Architects: Gudolf Blalstad, Hermann Munthe-Kaas

  • Telephone booth Production (1935)

  • Sundt Department Store, Bergen (1938)

  • Horngården, Oslo (1928)

    • Architect: Lars Backer

  • Prof. Dahls Gate 31-33, Oslo (1929-39)

    • Architect: Fridtjof Reppen

VI. Early Adaptions to Norwegian Context

  • Soil, rubber, quicksand, etc…used to level sloping landscapes for building

  • Timber ‘Funkis’ Houses

    • Architect: Ove Bang

    • Uses timber the way people use concrete

    • Building for the people inside the building, not outside of it

  • Wenche Findal

  • “Five points of Norwegian architecture” - Johan Ellefsen (1927)

    • Consideration of climate and terrain

    • Consideration of construction and materials

    • Consideration of practical issues

    • Economic considerations

    • The architect’s personal input

  • Le Cabanon, Cote d’Azur (1952)

    • Architect: Le Corbusier