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Design and Modernism
Le Corbusier
ContextualisedAndrea Peach
A Great epoch has begun.
There exists a new
spirit.
Towards a New Architecture
Le Corbusier 1927
Modernism
Dominant ideology throughout
western industrialised world
in art, design and
architecture for most of the
twentieth century
19th century: Ornament & Decoration …
If we challenge the past we shall
learn that ‘styles’ no longer exist
for us, that a style belonging to our
own period has come about; and there
has been a Revolution.
Towards a New Architecture
Le Corbusier 1927
Die Wohnung Stuttgart 1927
Adolf Loos 1928
Essay on Ornament and Crime:
Evolution is synonymous with
the removal of ornament from
objects of everyday use
Adolf Loos 1928
Steiner House - Vienna, Austria
Le Corbusier
Cook House, Paris, 1926
A house has to fulfill two
purposes. First it is a
machine for living in, that
is, a machine to provide us
with efficient help for speed
and accuracy in our work, a
diligent and helpful machine
which should satisfy all our
physical needs: comfort. But
it should also be a place
conducive to meditation, and
lastly, a beautiful place,
bringing much needed
tranquility to the mind.
1923
Machine Art exhibition at Museum of Modern Art in New York 1934
The beauty of machine
art is in part the
abstract beauty of
straight lines and
circles made into
actual tangible
surfaces and solids by
means of lathes, rulers
and squares
Industry, overwhelming
us like a flood which
rolls on towards its
destined ends, has
furnished us with new
tools adapted to this
new epoch, animated by
the new spirit.
Le Corbusier - Towards a
New Architecture
Russian Constructivist printed textile c 1920
Le Corbusier 1929
Metal plays the same part in furniture as cement has done in architecture. It is a revolution.
The machinery of Society, profoundly out of gear, oscillates between an amelioration, of historical importance, and a catastrophe.Le Corbusier - Towards a New Architecture
Le Corbusier Villa Savoye 1928-31
If we eliminate from our hearts and minds all dead concepts in regard to the house, and look at the question from a critical and objective point of view, we shall arrive at the
‘House Machine’
We must create the mass-production spirit.
The spirit of constructing mass-production houses.
The spirit of living in mass-production houses.
The spirit of conceiving mass-production houses.
Le Corbusier Unité d’Habitation, Marseilles1947-52
It is a question of building which is at the root of the social unrest of to-day:
architecture or revolution
Le Corbusier Unité d’Habitation, Marseilles1947-52
Weissenhof Seidlung, Stuttgart 1927
Mies van der Rohe
Walter Gropius / Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer 1931
This metal furniture is intended to be nothing but a necessary apparatus for contemporary life
Modernist Design
Objects should be:
• Simple, honest and direct
• Well adapted to their purpose
• No ornament
Modernist Design
• Standardised
• Machine-made
• Reasonably priced
• Expressive of their structure
and materials
Marcel Breuer 1926
Nickel-plated steel and lacquered wood
Nesting TablesGermany
Mies van der Rohe 1927
Chrome-plated tubular steel, oil cloth
Cantilever ChairGermany
Howell ‘Chromasteel’ USA
1946
“Here is gay, sparkling furniture that brings new beauty and charm into your kitchen … it’s the kind that seems to stay new looking indefinitely”
Greta von Nessen 1952
Aluminum and enameled metal
‘Anywhere lamp’Germany
Ocean - Bianco Table / Gamma Chairs - chromed tubular steel frame
2008 …
Modernism
A term used to refer to the
principle that nothing is
included in a design that does
not enhance the object’s
purpose
Marianne Brandt 1924
Tea infuserGermany, Bauhaus
Metal is cold and brutally hard... It gives no comfort to the eye
John Gloag 1929
“Modern carpet
designs may provide
endless
entertainment for
your friends”
Heath Robinson 1936
“De
Staalstoelophoon”
1934
The end of modernism…?
The Titanic - PhotomontageStanley Tigerman, 1978, USA
Alessandro Mendini 1978
“Redesign of Modern Movement Chairs” Wassily by Breuer, Italy
1925
The end of modernism ... ?
Le Corbusier Books: Marcus, G. Functionalist Design – An Ongoing History, Prestel, 1995
Weston, C. Modernism, Phaidon, London, 2001
Wilk, C (ed). Modernism – Designing a New World - 1914-1939, V&A Publications, London, 2006
Websites: From Here to Modernity – Open University Website detailing story of modern movement and architecture: www.open2.net/modernity/
The Le Corbusier Foundation: http:// www. fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr/ fondationlc_us. htm