The international spread of western culture has been evident throughout non-western countries, bringing along cultural, regional, religious and national aspects within the field of design as a whole. Along with issues such as religion and culture, there has been a broad development within local and global factors of design, which has evidently led to the globalisation of western architecture. The spread of western design, in particular architecture, has implemented significant values in foreign countries to adjust to the local factors. This allows for an accelerating communication throughout the world, however; there remain issues regarding the importance of cultural, regional and national factors. The assessment of modern architecture, along with the impact that religion has on the local community can explore how the influence of western culture has spread globally. This essay will argue that there is communication between regions and countries in order to fulfil the particular country or states values and aesthetic design. To back this statement up, there will be a critical assessment on modernism and how skyscrapers have spread globally into non-western countries; combining religious and cultural beliefs. Along with this, the essay will explore the impact of Islam on Dubai’s architecture and culture.
Since the late 19th Century, Western designs, aesthetics, culture and technology have expanded globally to help communication between regions and nations. During this time, modernism was one of the dominant movements yet, relating to architecture, which is also known as ‘international style’; later granted the title ‘functionalism’ by the Bauhaus. The rise of modern architecture contributed to the exploration and invention of new ...
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...lims; therefore, the airport needs to cater for these needs; thus, making western developments keeping in tact with local and religious culture (Pirani, 1997, p36). It does this not only by providing halal food, but also by providing separate prayer rooms for men and women with hygienic bathrooms for the public to wash themselves before prayer time. Through the exploration of religion in Dubai, it is predominantly evident that regional religious and cultural values still matters in a global western design.
In essence, the persistent influence of western culture in the field of design has profoundly increased globally, forming itself religiously, culturally and nationally to non-western countries. It is due to the accelerating communication between cultures, regions and countries that western design; in particular architecture has spread both locally and globally.
It is the new decade after the end of world war two and modernism is a well-established practice. Its pioneers and spearheads are prevalent figures looming over the new architects and designers who are trying to make their mark in the shadows of such historically influential people. With new technologies and materials emerging from the world wars the next era of modernism had started to evolved, bringing with it philosophies and ideas which seemed far removed from those of the pioneers of modernism “What emerged in the late 1940s and 1950s was an expanding synthesis of questions utterly removed from the confident statements of the pioneers.”(Spade 1971,10) Two significant buildings were designed in the 50's, both of them for educational institutes and to house students of architecture, there were both designed in completely different styles and methods. The first is Ludwig Mies van der Rohes' Crown Hall, finished in 1956 and designed as a part of a campus master plan for the Illinois Institute of technology in Chicago. Mies' design for Crown Hall is one of his most realised expressio...
“Form follows function.” Every great Modern architect thought, designed by and breathed these very words. Or at least, their design principles evolved from them. Modern architects Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pierre Chareau, and Rudolf Schindler to name a few believed that the function determined the space whether the space was solely for a particular purpose or they overlapped to allow for multiple uses. Form didn’t just follow function, function defined the space. By focusing on the relationship between the architecture and the interior elements, Chareau’s Maison de Verre expanded the idea of functionalism to include not only the architecture but also the space it creates and how people function within that space.
In the early twentieth century the Modern movement of architecture and industrial design came about. This movement was a reaction to the change within society and the introduction of new technologies. The ever changing world and technology meant artists to evolve alongside the changing world and this kind of ‘industrial revolution’ that was happening. Modernists ideas have seeped into every form of design especially architecture and design. Although most modernists insisted they were not following any style in particular, their work is instantly
Throughout history, architecture has been employed in the service of politics, as symbols of the state. Architecture is therefore shaped by the national traditions in the pursuit of projects of identity, modernity, power, and prestige. A building is not merely a walled structure, but a metaphor for national ideology as it embodies the civic life of the citizens that it houses, as well as the ideals of the nation within which it resides. This paper will explore three varying architectural periods and examine the interaction between nationalism and the building styles that developed either as a means to express it.
Rowland, Kurt F. A History of the Modern Movement: Art Architecture Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973. 142. Print.
Abstract: New forms in current world have been testimony to the contemporary style of postmodern architecture and are the strength of today’s generation for creating significant architectural standards. Post modernism has blurred the borders between contemporary and traditional construction classical concepts and simply in the field of art and literature. The architectural elements like domes, arches, and classical shapes have lost their identity but the post modernism tries to bridge between these historical forms and contemporary styles. The related architects not only struggled to achieve the image for the buildings but also rejected oversimplified diagrams for living. The post modernism here tries to achieve theoretical base for their designs that creates the excitement in the design program.
‘Lost in translation’ happens more frequently during the rate of globalization. The misreading of design languages is not just an issue among layperson, designers also been affected during the international cooperation. Naturally, there are gaps existing between different cultures (Jones, 2011). For example, the masterpieces of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa considered as the portraits of ideological conflicts and exhibits individual’s sacrifices for feudalism. But on their Western re-making versions, the heroism and anarchism were been emphasized instead. Just like the differences between Samurai and cowboy, design languages and signals are preforming in different way from east to west.
In conclusion, the debate between aesthetics and functionalism has been around for a long time. It becomes clear however, through research, that the first thing architects consider is function, and then aesthetics. It is because of this approach that aesthetics becomes somewhat of a by-product of the whole design process. By looking at examples of various buildings, it is apparent that aesthetics is important to structure and in many instances has been successfully coupled with function. But in no circumstance should aesthetics take precedence over the function and practicality of a building. It seems more likely that a happy medium between function and aesthetics can be reached, on a project by project basis, and then applied to the design process of creating the building.
Art is all around us. The architectural design of buildings to the ornamentation of jewelry and art is in almost everything. To those who have little prior knowledge of certain architecture styles and or influences, a building can appear, as just a building and a piece of jewelry can appear as just that. With the idea that art is everywhere there are two art styles that have heavily influenced the architecture seen in todays communities, those being Art Deco and Bauhaus. These styles represent so much more than architecture, they represent a time period and a cultural and political reform. The purpose of this paper is that one will be able to understand
Sometimes the best revolutions are those that are forgotten. At least in the short run. And so it is with Robert Venturi, a revolutionary and remarkable architect. While he may not be as celebrated as Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, or Louis Kahn, Venturi leaves behind a forceful intellectual legacy that is perhaps more durable than any building. By condemning the functionalism, simplicity, and orthodoxy of modernism in Contradiction and Complexity in Architecture (1966), he instigated an enduring architectural rebellion. This rebellion continues to run its course today. Notably, Venturi’s ideas sparked and profoundly influenced postmodernism, an international style whose buildings span from the beautiful to the gaudy and vulgar. Ultimately, Venturi’s alternative to modernism succeeded because he prized human experience and the interaction of individuals with architectural forms over a rigid, doctrinaire ideology.
The essence of modern architecture lays in a remarkable strives to reconcile the core principles of architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. However, it took “the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification, to establish modernism as a distinctive architectural movement” (Robinson and Foell). Although, the narrower concept of modernism in architecture is broadly characterized by simplification of form and subtraction of ornament from the structure and theme of the building, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose; the visual expression of the structure, particularly the visual importance of the horizontal and vertical lines typical for the International Style modernism, the use of industrially-produced materials and adaptation of the machine aesthetic, as well as the truth to materials concept, meaning that the true nat...
In the process of development of human society, architecture and culture are inseparable. Cuthbert (1985) indicates that architecture, with its unique art form, expresses the level of human culture in different historical stages, as well as the yearning towards the future. According to his article, it can be said that architecture has become one of the physical means for human to change the world and to conquer the nature. Consequently, architecture has been an important component of human civilization. Since 1980s when China started the opening and reforming policy, a variety of architectural ideas, schools and styles have sprung up. Accompanying with a momentum of...
When walking around a city, you may notice that the architecture and art look similar to other works. Many of these designs have changed along the course of history and time whilst others have not. The designs that many people still see in society and day to day living is from two of the many cultures of the old civilizations, Roman and Islamic. The art and architecture forms from the Islamic and Roman cultures have many comparisons and contrasts between them. They, the Islamic and Roman nations, have both adopted from other cultures and have made their own discoveries in the art and architecture worlds. The Roman and Islamic architecture and art vary drastically from each other and yet have varying comparisons between the two.
Charles Jencks in his book “The Language of Post-Modern Architecture “shows various similarities architecture shares with language, reflecting about the semiotic rules of architecture and wanting to communicate architecture to a broader public. The book differentiates post-modern architecture from architectural modernism in terms of cultural and architectural history by transferring the term post-modernism from the study of literature to architecture.
From my opinion off what I have gathered, I came to an understanding that Critical regionalism can be seen as an approach to architecture that tries to stand up for places culture and identifies the identity of a place where Modern Architecture has failed to, by using the building's geographical context and reference of vernacular architecture. The term critical regionalism was first used by Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre and, with a somewhat different meaning, by Kenneth Frampton. Critical regionalism could be considered as a particular kind of post-modern response. This response developed as a result of the failure of Post-modernism, together with the influence of Globalization and the spread of Western culture. Critical Regionalism could also be seen as the best solution to cultural issues and the problems of architectural identity. Frampton’s argument is that critical regionalism should not only answer to context, but it should also value the progress of universal modern architecture.