The Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (I.M) is known as one of the greatest architects of the Twentieth Century. His long, brilliant career was highlighted by several internationally famous structures. While many of Pei’s buildings were generally accepted by the public, some of them precipitated fair amounts of controversy. The most notable of these controversial structures is his Glass Pyramid at the entrance of the Louvre in Paris. For these reasons, I.M. Pei seems to be an architect who exhibits interest in the avant-garde through both the creative design and aestheticism of his architecture.
Pei was born in China in 1917 and immigrated to the United States in 1935. He originally attended the University of Pennsylvania but grew unconfident in his drawing skills so he dropped out and pursued engineering at MIT. After Pei decided to return to architecture, he earned degrees from both MIT and Harvard. In 1956, after he had taught at Harvard for three years, he established I.M. Pei & Partners, an architectural firm that has been known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners since 1989. This firm is famous for its successful and rational solutions to a variety of design problems. They are responsible for many of the largest pubic and private construction projects in the second half of this century. Some of these projects include the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
When French President Francois Mitterand “personally selected Mr. Pei in 1983 to design the Grand Louvre to give air, space, and light to one of the world’s most congested museums,” (Markham, 1989) there were many critics. The press “lambasted the idea of shattering the harmony of the Louvre’s courtyard with a glass iceberg” (Markham, 1989). But Pei proceeded as planned, taking a major risk in creating a glass pyramid structure at the entrance. He did not focus on what the critics would say about his plans, but hoped that the world would see, upon completion, that his vision of a contemporary, functional entrance would not clash with the Baroque style of the Louvre itself.
When the pyramid was completed in 1989, Pei’s expression of avant-garde art was not entirely accepted. Many critics praised the aspiration with which the architect designed it, but ridiculed many aspects of its functionality: “The practical problem is that the Pyramid, once you get inside, is noisy, hot, and disorienting” (Campbell, 1989).
Gehry draws his inspiration from famous paintings such as the Madonna and Child which he qualifies as a “strategy for architecture” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 42) and which he used as an inspiration for a project in Mexico . Through his interpretation of the paintings and artwork, Gehry looked for a new kind of architecture. His search for a new type of architecture culminated in 1978 with his own house in Santa Monica. What was once a traditional Californian house would be redesigned to become one of the most important and revolutionary designs of the 20th century, giving Gehry international prestige and fame. Frank Gehry’s “Own House” uses a mixture of corrugated metal, plywood, chain link and asphalt to construct a new envelope for an existing typical Californian house. This house has been inspired by Joseph Cornell, Ed Moses and Bob Rauschenberg. Gehry comments on his house by saying that there was something “magical” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) about it. He admits having “followed the end of his [my] nose” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) when it came to constructing the “new” house, which led Arthur Drexler, former Director...
Frank Lloyd Wright is widely known and is considered to be America’s greatest architect. He is considered, in the eyes of many, to be the most consequential American architect of the 20th century. “Strongly individualistic, flamboyant, and arrogant, Wright designed and built more than four hundred structures that reflect his architectural genius. Directly and indirectly, he heavily influenced twentieth century architecture with his diverse use of geometry in his designs” (Eisenman).
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...
With the Pantheon being built over 1700 years ago, it’s amazing that architects are still using features and techniques from this work of architecture in modern creations. The use of this type of classical architecture will continue to be used in works for public space due to its remarkable exterior appearance and it’s long lasting structural durability. When both Jesse hall and the Pantheon are compared it is possible to see their similarities from the types of domes that top each, their external facades, and their interior plan. While they share many similarities, the differences that Bell and Binder used in their creation make this work of architecture unique to many other public spaces.
The “superstar” museum gained this status by considering every important detail during its establishment and initial phases of conversion from royal palace to museum (Gombault, 2002). As the purpose of the building changed, each room addressed new functions with new requirements. Although the function of the Louvre is different from the building’s original intention, the building is still appears dignified and important enough to display priceless artifacts and painting (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). This consideration was applied in designing the Met. The Met looked towards the South Kensington Museum (Victoria and Albert) and the “ideal role model” due to its extensive collections and international reputation (Heckscher, 1995). The Met found itself in a similar situation to the South Kensington, because it did not have a building or a collection to start with (Heckscher, 1995). When designing museums, architects strived to create monuments that “prepare and educate the mind of the visitor (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998).” Education is an essential function of a museum. Acquiring, preserving, and properly displaying materials, permits a museum to fulfill this duty (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). For instance, lighting is a factor that affects the manner in which artwork is viewed and can be properly appreciated. When determining the proper lighting for the Louvre, Comte d’Angiviller, strongly believed that natural, overhead lighting was the most effective solution (McClellan, 1994, p. 72). The same determination impacted the decision to add skylights at the Met. During the initial phase, architects Vaux and Mould, added skylights to the upper floor, and windows to the lower floor that provided a natural light solution (Heckscher, 1995). Additionally, glass-roofed courtyards provided “unimpeded light” for displaying
Gehry’s additional design of the exterior has created an unconventional model form of house. The asymmetrical form characterizes the entire external side of the house. According to Goldstein, Gehry tried to slant the house roofline, create a false perspective and cause an absurd viewer’ perception or expectation (1979, 9). The complexity of the form might also produce a relationship with the house’s elements such as door, wall, and roof. For example, those elements, which linearly constructed, were hardly noticed since the distraction of geometric form around the exterior part of the house. It’s even barely hard to find the entrance of the house as a result of the salient angles of exterior.
Through the mentioned examples, from Étienne Boullée to Bernard Tschumi, and more specifically through Mies van der Rohe’s Core House, it was demonstrated that theoretical projects can be very relevant to architecture. These projects can be as important as any built work for their intrinsic qualities and capacity to express their epoch. Yet, their relevance is increased when they fulfil their greater potential to become agents of change, stimulating progress and giving birth to evolution.
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...
Norman Foster is a British architect who was born in Manchester in 1935. He graduated from University School of Architecture (Manchester) in 1961 and won a scholarship to study Master’s Degree in Architecture at Yale University. Later in 1967 he teamed up with 4 other peers and established a practice called Foster + Partners which was founded in London and is now one of the most well-known international design practices.
The Eiffel Tower has become associated with Paris; a symbol. It is an icon for France, travel and romance, among others. What made this Tower vastly popular is the cause of copious reasons. The most prominent reason is that it was a major point of controversy between Gustave Eiffel and the artists of Paris. Parisians opposed the construction of this atrocity. In a manifesto signed in 1887, two years before the Tower was built, artists of Paris claimed that the beauty of Paris will be debased by the repulsiveness of the edifice. They stated that artists from around the world would have the right to openly mock Paris. They opposed it remarkably so, that, quoting from the signed proposal, they insisted for twenty years “we will see stretching out over the entire city, still quivering with genius from so many centuries, we will see stretching out like a growing ink spot, the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted iron”. Gustave Eiffel responds eloquently with the promise that the building is stable and that there is a certain attraction to structures as immense as the Eiffel Tower. He compares his design to the pyramids in Egypt. His comparison is that if the pyra...
What has surprised me the most, was just how influential Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs were and that some of the buildings that I adored were actually designed Wright himself. During my research, I found out that not only did Wright design stateside, but had just as many international projects as well. Out of all the international projects I looked up, my personal favorite has to be the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. I never would have imagined someone coming up with a design to give a modern look to fit in with an ancient Asian architecture but Wright has once again blown my mind with this stunning and majestic design. It may just be a hotel but it looks like it is capable of becoming the Emperor’s own personal palace. The way how Frank Lloyd Wright is able to come up with these architectural designs just amazes me.
Workshops designed by Gropius in 1925. The incredible, intricate design of the opera house is a wonderful illustration of everything that the modernist wanted to stray away from; the gold statues and carefully carved stone existed as nothing more than beauty for the sake of being beautiful. However, working in an era still feeling the staggering tolls of the Great War, Gropius designed his workshops to be very straightforward. Not only was there no need for these superfluous adornments, there was also a scarcity of resources, which lead Gropius to use cost-effective materials such as glass and concrete for the majority of his buildings. However, there was still beauty in such a simplified work. From the shine of the glass to the sharp and precise geometry, there was still art to be found for everyone wh...
The construction of the Great Pyramid is still a mystery and marvel to this day, there are seven major feats that archeologists still don’t understand.
Philip Johnson’s ideas and charisma allowed him to bring magnificent and influential buildings to life. Both causing controversy and awe, but he managed to put his visions to reality and changed views of art in architecture, making them. The three buildings describe early were only some of his contributions that have impacted skylines within Southern California, but they held a special meaning to Johnson and his message will be spread to all through his fantastic works.
What makes modern architecture? Before answering this, one would need to understand what the term “modern” exactly describes. In architecture, modernism is the movement or transition from one period to another, and it is caused by cultural, territorial, and technological changes happening in the world. In Kenneth Frampton’s Modern Architecture: A Critical History, he details these three major societal changes that impact and create modern architecture.