Modernist Architecture

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Introduction

What's Modernist Architecture?

Modernist architecture was an architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form should follow function (functionalism); an embrace of minimalism; and a rejection of ornament.

Modernist architecture emerged at the end of the 19th century from revolutions in technology, engineering and building materials, and from a desire to break away from historical architectural styles and to invent something that was purely functional and new.

The revolution in materials came first, with the use of cast iron, plate glass, and reinforced concrete, to build structures that were stronger, lighter and taller. The cast plate glass process was invented in 1848, allowing the manufacture of very large windows. The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an early example of iron and plate glass construction, followed in 1864 by the first glass and metal curtain wall.

The iron frame construction of the Eiffel Tower, then the tallest structure in the world, captured the imagination of millions of visitors to the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition.

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Origin

The roots in Europe.

At the end of the 19th century, a few architects began to challenge the traditional Beaux Arts and Neoclassical styles that dominated architecture in Europe and the United States.

The Glasgow School of Art (1896–99) designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, had a facade dominated by large vertical bays of windows. The Art Nouveau style was launched in the 1890s by Victor Horta in Belgium and Hector Guimard in France; it introduced new styles of decoration, based on vegetal and floral forms.

Architects also began to experiment with new materials and techniques, which gave them greater freedom to create new forms. In 1903–1904 in Paris, Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage began to use reinforced concrete, previously only used for industrial structures, to build apartments.

The Viennese architect Adolf Loos also began removing any ornament from his buildings. His Steiner House, in Vienna, was an example of what he called rationalist architecture; it had a simple stucco rectangular facade with square windows and no ornament. The fame of the new movement, which became known as the Vienna Secession spread beyond Austria.

In Germany, a modernist industrial movement, Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation) had been created in Munich in 1907 by Hermann Muthesius, a prominent architectural commentator. Its goal was to bring together designers and industrialists, to turn out well-designed, high quality products, and in the process to invent a new type of architecture. The organization included twelve architects and twelve business firms.

The modern America.

The mid-century modern movement in the U.S. was an American reflection of the International and Bauhaus movements, including the works of Walter Gropius, Florence Knoll, Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Frank Lloyd Wright was a highly original and independent American architect who refused to be categorized in any one architectural movement. Like Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, he had no formal architectural training. In 1887–93 he worked in the Chicago office of Louis Sullivan, who pioneered the first tall steel-frame office buildings in Chicago, and who famously stated "form follows function".

Although the American component was slightly more organic in form and less formal than the International Style, it is more firmly related to it than any other. Brazilian and Scandinavian architects were very influential at this time, with a style characterized by clean simplicity and integration with nature.

Mid-century architecture was employed in residential structures with the goal of bringing modernism into America's post-war suburbs. The style emphasized creating structures with ample windows and open floor plans, with the intention of opening up interior spaces and bringing the outdoors in.

Many Mid-century houses utilized then-groundbreaking post and beam architectural design that eliminated bulky support walls in favor of walls seemingly made of glass. Function was as important as form in Mid-century designs, with an emphasis on targeting the needs of the average American family.

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Preservation

Preserving the legacy.

Several works or collections of modern architecture around the globe have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. It helps to preserve the history of modern architecture.

In addition to the early experiments associated with Art Nouveau, these include a number of the structures: the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht, the Bauhaus structures in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau, the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, the White City of Tel Aviv, the city of Asmara, the city of Brasilia, the Ciudad Universitaria of UNAM in Mexico City and the University City of Caracas in Venezuela, the Sydney Opera House, and the Centennial Hall in Wrocław, along with select works from Le Corbursier and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Private organizations such as Docomomo International, the World Monuments Fund, and the Recent Past Preservation Network are working to safeguard and document imperiled Modern architecture. In 2006, the World Monuments Fund launched Modernism at Risk, an advocacy and conservation program. The organization MAMMA is working to preserve modernist architecture in Morocco.