Modernism from Europe and the International Style

Art Deco 1925-1945

Art Moderne 1930-1945

International Style 1920-1945

Art Deco, 1925-40

Named for the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs and Industrials Moderne, 1925

Eliel Saarinen

“Break with the past; look to the future”

– A mixture of science and art

Art Deco characteristics

Linear and angular compositions

Use of set backs and vertical emphasis

Common decorative motifs– Chevrons, zigzags– Colored tiles

Use of exotic themes and décor

Background: Art Deco takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs and industriels Mondernes, held in Paris in 1925. However, the first building designed in this style was a submission for a new Chicago Tribune Building in 1922, by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. The exposition emphasized the future, not the past [hence the break with Beaux Arts]

McGraw-Hill BuildingNew York, 1929-30

Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio1929-33, Fellheimer & Wagner

Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio1929-33, Fellheimer & Wagner

Paramount Theater, Oakland, Calif.1931

Lynchburg News & Daily Advance Building

Chrysler Building, Wm Van Alen,New York, 1926-30

Chrysler Building, New York, 1926-30

Chrysler Building, New York, 1926-30

Empire State BuildingNYC, 1931

World’s tallest building when built at 1,239 feet

Niagara Mohawk Electric Building, Syracuse, NY

Miami, Florida Art Deco District

Kimo Theater, Albuquerque, NM

Art Moderne, 1930-45

Streamlined

Emphasis on the horizontal

Smooth finishes and curves

Curved windows of modern glass

Flat roofs

Modern materials

W.P. Story Building Gate, Los Angeles, CA, 1934

Coca Cola Bottling CompanyLos Angeles, Calif., 1937

Greyhound Bus TerminalWashington, DC, 1938

Johnson Wax Research TowerRacine, WI, 1936

Frank Lloyd Wright

Reception area

Greyhound Bus TerminalColumbia, SC, 1938

Salem Oak Diner, Salem, NJ,1954

Thomas Jefferson High SchoolLos Angeles, Calif., 1936

Butler House, Des Moines, Iowa, 1937

Rockafeller Center, New York CityReinhard & Hofmeister, 1927-1935

The construction of this complex was a preview of the rejection of decoration as criteria of design

International Style, 1920-45

Massing most important, undecorated, uniform treatments

Concrete, metal, glass

Flat roofs, smooth walls

Large expanses of glass

Emphasis on the horizontal

Cantilevered balconies

European Context

• Bauhaus School: Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe– Intentionally futuristic– Modern technology and democracy

• The architectural machine• Form follows function

– Functional simplicity– “Less is More”

• Architecture’s social and political context– Honesty vs. decorative trappings

Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, Philadelphia, Penn., 1929-32

12th & Market Sts., Philadelphia, PA, 1932. George Howe and William Lescaze

The term "International Style" began at the Metropolitan Art Museum in 1932 in which fifteen current architects' works were grouped as an international style. The Catalog of that exhibit was also termed, The International Style since 1922. While most work in the United States embraced revival styles, Europeans were the principal practitioners of this work without precedent.

Art Deco and especially Art Moderne embraced transportation metaphors for decoration,

International Style viewed buildings as factories for living and sought to emulate the extreme functionality and modularity of those spaces.

Rejection of "unessential" decoration is the one characteristic that separates International style from Deco, or Art Moderne.

International Style, 1920-45

International in impact

Developed by European architects

Walter Gropius, Ludwig Meis van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, and LeCorbusier, among others used this style in their early careers. The Bauhaus School was particularly influential.

Purposeful critique of and break from the past

Modular, uniform architecture for the masses

Architecture for industry, business, and institutions

European Context

Bauhaus School: Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

– Intentionally futuristic– Modern technology and democracy

The architectural machine Form follows function

– Functional simplicity– “Less is More”

Architecture’s social and political context– Honesty vs. decorative trappings

Tension between formal and functional elements

Assertion of FunctionWindows should show pattern of use. (Functional)

Assertion of FormWindows should emphasize rightness of relationships. (Formalist)

International Style characteristics

Simple, undecorated, uniform

Concrete, metal, glass

Flat roofs, smooth walls

Large expanses of glass

Emphasis on the horizontal

Cantilevered balconies

Gropius House Lincoln, Mass., 1937

Gropius House Lincoln, Mass., 1937

Fagus Shoe Factory, Alfeld-an-der-Leine, 1911-13

Dessau, Germany, 1925-26, Walter Gropius

Poissy-sur-Seine, France, 1928-29, Le Corbusier.

Seagram BuildingNew York, NY, 1956-58, L. Mies van der Rohe & P. Johnson

Lake Shore ApartmentsChicago, 1948-51, Meis Van Der Rohe.

Illinois Institute of Technology, 1946, Mies van der Rohe

Lovell HouseLos Angeles, Calif., 1926

Lovell House, Newport Beach, CA. 1926. R. M. Schindler.

Entrance Platform

FallingwaterBear Run, Pa., 1936 (Wright)

FallingwaterBear Run, Pa., 1936 (Wright)

FallingwaterBear Run, Pa., 1936 (Wright)

Farnsworth HousePlano, Ill., 1949-51

Meis Van Der Rohe, Plano, IL, 1949-51.

Pope-Leighey House. Falls Church 1940. Frank Lloyd Wright (Usonian house). Moved in 1965

Broad Margin, Greenville, SC Frank Lloyd Wright (usonian) 1954