Modern Isms and Architectural Styles
MODERN-ISMS
C.I.A.M.
Definition: C.I.A.M. stands for "Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne." A collective of European designers focused on promoting modern design and the International Style.
Activities: The group engaged in meetings to strategize the propagation of modernism through publications and competitions. They critiqued member projects aimed at innovative design free from historical pastiche.
Impact: Professorships across Europe and America allowed C.I.A.M. members to disseminate modernist ideology after WWII.
The First C.I.A.M. Congress: Held in 1928 at Chateau La Sarraz, France.
Notable Members: Standing (left to right): Mart Stam, Pierre Chareau, Victor Bourgeois, Max Haefeli, Pierre Jeanneret, Gerrit Rietveld, Rudolf Steiger, Ernst May, Alberto Sartoris, Gabriel Guevrekian, Hans Schmidt, Hugo Haring, Florentin, Le Corbusier, Paul Artaria, Helene de Mandrot, Friedrich Gubler, Rochat, Andre Lurcat, Robert von der Muhl, Maggioni, Huib Hoste, Sigfried Giedion, Werner Moser, Josef Frank; Sitting (from left to right): Fernando Garcia Mercadal, Molly Weber, Tradevossian.
International Style
Definition: Characterized by the 'white-wash' of pristine boxes in the 1920s architecture.
Global Influence: As it spread, it was transformed by various designers, incorporating local traditions and functional needs.
Structural Characteristics: Infiltration of glass walls between floors resembling contemporary condominium towers, often referred to as "curtain walls".
Engineering Influence: Works by engineers like Joseph Paxton had a prominent effect, with figures like Pier Luigi Nervi, Felix Candela in the 1950s, and Santiago Calatrava today exemplifying this influence.
Materials: Reinforced concrete and floor-to-ceiling glass walls became standard features of Modernism.
Example: Boot factory designed in 1930 by engineer Owen Williams.
Glass House by Philip Johnson (1949)
Significance: Represents evolution of the International Style with increased expressiveness.
Material Palette: Utilizes minimal materials including steel frames, glass infill, and a brick base.
Design Elements: Open spaces with minimal furnishings arranged asymmetrically, emphasizing a minimalist aesthetic. Bathroom styled as a round drum with custom elements.
Notable Features: Under-counter appliances in the kitchen, allowing for an all-glass house situated on 40 acres.
Interpretations of Space: Functions with a minimalist approach often associated with a higher cost due to site selection and material quality.
Minimalism
Definition: An extreme reduction in design elements to direct focus onto selected spaces/features.
Characteristics: All decorative forms considered unnecessary are eliminated; focuses on clean, crisp lines and forms.
Color Use: White is prevalent for conveying cleanliness and simplicity; other mono-materials such as raw concrete, monolithic masonry, or glass may also be utilized.
Architectural Forms: Right angles are commonly preferred with sporadic curves or angles defined.
Example: Casa del Fascio by Giuseppe Terragni in Como, Italy exemplifies Minimalist design.
Post-Modernism
Definition: A movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 20th century, challenging the purity and didacticism of Modernism. It embraces complexity, contradiction, and historical references.
Characteristics: Often incorporates humor, irony, and pluralism. It rejects the universal solutions and functionalist ideals of Modernism, celebrating diversity and individual expression.
Key Features: Fragmented forms, playful use of symbolism, re-introduction of ornament, and a blend of high and low art. It often refers to historical styles without strict adherence.
Theoretical Foundations: Influenced by semiotics and structuralism, emphasizing the subjective interpretation of meaning and the deconstruction of grand narratives.
Notable Architects: Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Charles Moore, and Philip Johnson (later works). Their approach often critiqued the 'less is more' tenet of Modernism, opting for 'less is a bore'.
Example: Vanna Venturi House (1964) by Robert Venturi, known for its complex and contradictory elements, challenging functionalist dogmas.
SHAPE GRAMMARS
Aalto was the master of designing with Shape Grammars: the repetition, transformation, and geometric rigor of repeating/transformed shapes to compose the entire building. Note how many times Aalto repeats the basic plan shape of the bedrooms on the second floor…. And then mutates that shape to create a unique massing that is not arbitrary. Aalto often employed fan-shapes used in both the floor plan and in the section, singularly or grouped in repetition… to create organic flowing spaces that were different on the inside than what might be apparent on the exterior. The mismatch of interior and exterior walls and roofs allowed Aalto to develop POCHE’ to an extent unsurpassed as light-zones for his unique interiors. Extensive curves, terraces, and amphitheaters merged his buildings with the landscape with sculptural, flowing effects.
LUIS BARRAGAN’S SURREAL DESIGNS CREATED “ARTIFICIAL LANDSCAPES”
Barragan used extensive landscaping that looked natural, and his architecture fused with the land. The building shapes created interesting contours and profiles and roof-scapes, and juxtaposed sculptural elements in the foreground, middle-ground and background, which often overlapped as well for collage like effects. Note the ambiguous scale and materiality, … and the ‘un-natural’ colors: like an artistic, surrealist landscape painting. Landscapes extend the eye outward to either side, convey an expansive amount of space, overlap elements to give the illusion of more depth, and manipulate color hues, values and intensities to create illusory, or sur-real, tightly composed images.
“HIGH-TECH”
Overtly expressive steel constructions that often turn buildings into exoskeletons, employ long spans for dramatic effects, elevate environmental control strategies to expressive potential, portray a mechanical, futuristic image of “Structural Gymnastics” is common with a celebration of Expressive Engineering. Although most modern buildings today could be considered “high-tech” because of advancements in environmental control systems and structural engineering in the age of the computer….. This STYLE focuses on using those aspects of architecture for dramatic expressive potential