If modernism and postmodernism are arguably two most distinguishing movements that dominated the 20th century Western art, they are certainly most exceptional styles that dominated the global architecture during this period. While modernism sought to capture the images and sensibilities of the age, going beyond simple representation of the present and involving the artist’s critical examination of the principles of art itself, postmodernism developed as a reaction against modernist formalism, seen as elitist. “Far more encompassing and accepting than the more rigid boundaries of modernist practice, postmodernism has offered something for everyone by accommodating wide range of styles, subjects, and formats” (Kleiner 810). 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... ... middle of paper ... ...to Renzo Piano himself, “each architecture tells a story, and the story this new building proposes is one of lightness and transparency. This building is about defying gravity. This is a building that will disappear in the air that will bring the same magic to the skyline that the neo-Gothic brings” (Piano). Works Cited Drutt, Matthew. “Frank Lloyd Wright Building”. In Guggenheim Foundation History. New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. 2010. Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol 2.13th ed. Boston: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning, 2010. Piano, Renzo. The New York Times Building. November 2007. Robinson, Judith H., Stephanie S. Foell. Growth, Efficiency, and Modernism. U.S. General Services Administration. 2003 (Revised 2006). Vandermast, Roberta J. Characteristics of Postmodern Architecture. January 2011.
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. N.p., 2014. Print.
Gardner, Helen, and Richard G. Tansey. Gardner's Art through the Ages. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College, 1996. Print.
Preservation of modern architecture is unique in its own way and adds a whole different dimension of preserving old buildings. The vast difference in the materials of construction from the traditional ones, the complexity involving preservation and renovation adds to the diversification of preservation. It is not just the difficulties in preserving but the indifference towards the modernist buildings which is the major factor for the neglect. “For all the talk of technical difficulties, in reality it is the unpopularity of modernism that is often the greatest challenge for advocates of postwar architectural preservation” (While 2007, 649)
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...
Rowland, Kurt F. A History of the Modern Movement: Art Architecture Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973. 142. Print.
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
Kleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History. 14th
In a world where the Futurists have declared a war on memory and Modernists generally outlawed symbolism in the arts, the post-modern acknowledges the fact that what is already said cannot and will not be avoided no matter how hard we try. The only solution is neither to merely repudiate nor merely imitate either the twentieth-century Modernist parents nor the nineteenth-century premodernist grandparents. They say " We are beautiful like the Acropolis or Pantheon, but we are also based on concrete technology and deceit".
Modernism as a new contemporary style was seen as pure geometric forms having distinct structural systems, and a relationship with the new technological advancements caused by the Industrial Revolution. Throughout Mies van der Rohe’s career he was in pursuit to provide clarity, and evolve his architecture to convert the technical solution into an architectural expression. He exposed the structure to exploit all expressive effects, which lead Mies van der Rohe to become one of four Masters of Modern Architecture
People are made of complexities and contradictions. Venturi recognized that buildings should be complex and complicated, too. He theorized and built buildings inspired by this principle, and succeeded because of his emphasis on individual experience and the interaction between humanity and architectural forms. In pursuit of this goal, his pluralist and revolutionary style of architecture embraced difference and ambiguity and rejected the rigid rules of modernism. While undoubtedly influenced by Venturi’s ideas, later postmodern architects failed to live up to his principles by forming their own inflexible rules and not concentrating on the human experience with buildings.
Jencks briefly explains post-modern aesthetics from their modernist predecessors’ and pinpoints the instant of modernism’s death, writing “Happily, we can date the death of Modern Architecture to a precise moment in time… Modern Architecture died in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 15, 1972 at 3:32 p.m. (or thereabouts)...” (23). Unlike Jencks, literary scholars talk about the first, most original or famous representatives of modernism, but they completely avoid pinpointing an ultimate end to the movement. Due to architecture’s visual character and Jencks’ early, authoritative, and internationally read scholarship, the differences between modern and post-modern aesthetics are often clearer in architecture than in literature. Architecture provides a helpful visual counterpoint for modern and post-modern aesthetics in literature. According to him, architectural post-modernism favours pluralism, complexity, double coding, and historical contextualism.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Boston: Clark Baxter, 2009. Print. The.
Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.
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.
Although we considerably live in a ‘post-modern’ world, many of the technologies and principles involved in designing and engineering them are draw influence from the innovative culture of the modern era. This essay aims to explore the contextual ideas behind the modern movement, how it influenced today’s artists and thinkers, how ‘Modernization, Modernity, Modernism’ shaped the world we live in.