The International Style Major architectural style in Europe & USABegan in the 1920s 19302 (1980s) Term coined by Henry Russell Hitchcock and Phillip Johnson

Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903-1987) Philip Cortelyou Johnson (1906-2005)

The most important figures The big threeLe Corbusier (France)Ludwig Mies van Rohe (Germany) Walter Gropius (Germany)

Nazis rejected the modern architecture forcing an entire generation of architects out of Europe. Mies fled to the USA in 1936 extending his influence and promoting Bauhaus which later became the primary source of architectural modernism.The International Style became the dominant approach for decades.

The International Style was striving towards:

Simplification, Honesty and Clarification

The ideals of the style can be summed up in four slogans:

ornament is a crime truth to materialsform follows functionmachines for living (Le Corbusier)

Identifying features/characteristicsModern structural principles and material (commercial and institutional buildings rather than housing)

Concrete Glass Steel (most common)Occasionally reveals skeleton frame constructionExposing its structure Rejected non-essential decorationRibbon windows Corner windowsBands of glassBalance and regularity Flat roof, without ledgeOften with thin, metal mullions and smooth spandrel panels separating large, single-pane windows

The typical International Style high-rise usually consists of the following:

Square or rectangular footprintSimple cubic "extruded rectangle" formWindows running in broken horizontal rows forming a gridAll facade angles are 90 degrees

The most famous manifestations include: United Nations Headquarters

Completed 1952New York, NYLe Corbusier

Seagram BuildingCompleted 1957New York, NY (park avenue)Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe (and Phillip Johnson)

Access to new building technologies like reinforced concrete , and steel framework for building meant that designers could seek a whole new approach to what is known as the plan or the layout of the interiors of buildings.The enormous strength of these new materials opened new worlds for designers that were unheard of in building before.

Glass Palace (the Netherlands Frits Peutz) 1935

Ludwig Mies Van der RohewigChicago, Illinois 1949

Ludwig Mies Van der RohewigChicago, Illinois 1973

Gropius HouseWalter Gropius

The Farnsworth House Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

International Style glass house Philip Johnson 1949