Architecture of the Early 20th Century

Key Ideas

• Introduction of new building materials allowed architects to break from the traditional mold of building design: structural steel skeleton; ferroconcrete (concrete reinforced with steel)• Reaction to modern art influences

European ModernismAdolf Loos (Austria), Steiner House, 1910.

•Reaction against “ornamental excess of Art Nouveau”•Loos saw ornament as a sign of a degenerate culture•Stripped-down, severely geometric•Exterior walls are merely to protect from the elements

European Modernism/BauhausWalter Gropius and Adolf Meyer(German), Fagus Shoe Factory, 1911-16.

•Window corners•Purely functional building•Good engineering equals good architecture•Curtain wall•Steel frame allows large windows to allow natural light to flood the interior•Vertical bricks shows division of floors•No embellishment beyond engineering necessities

European Modernism/International StyleLe Corbusier (French), Villa Savoye, 1929-30.

•Icon of the International Style•Domino construction system – use of ferroconcrete slab•Simplified form of classical Doric architecture combined with machinery precision •House elevated above ground on pilotis•Curtain walls •Ribbon windows•Flat roofs for terraces

European Modernism/Destijl• Gerrit Rietveld, Schroder House,

the Netherlands, 1925• International Style• Radically asymmetric• Horizontal/vertical accents• Universal beauty• Influenced by Piet Mondrian

(below) rejection of organic style of Art Nouveau

American Modernism

Frank Lloyd Wright, Robie House, Chicago, 1906-9.

• Prairie Style/International Style• Cantilevered spaces• Hearth central to home as psychological and physical

center• Horizontal lines• Harmony in the house and out

Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater, Mill Run PA, 1937.

American Skyscrapers

Cass Gilbert, Woolworth Building, New York, 1911-13. Gothic – worship of business.

Empire State Building, Art Deco style, New York, 1931.

• Steel girders/beams• Elevators• Fire safety

International Style

• Architecture• Architects communicated globally• Three common principles

1. VOLUME rather than MASS2. REGULARITY rather than SYMMETRY (avoidance of

classical symmetry)3. Rejection of arbitrary applied DECORATION