During these lectures I had the opportunity to get to know better the history of modern Architecture, but also I had the possibility to see how architects go through complicated design process before getting to the final solution. As an instance, the great relationship between Rietveld and Mrs Schroder made me think how is important to take in consideration the needs of the person who is going to use the space and establish a dialogue and a strong collaboration with the client . I was also quite interested in the way art and design are related and how movements like cubism, futurism, purism influenced forms, shapes and colors in architecture.
Also i think art is often related to what happens in history and it's influenced by political and philosophical movements. Futurism as an instance developed just before the fascist era, in a moment when the ideals of patriotism and nationalism were spreading all over the country and the first world war was devastating europe.The movement of the arts and crafts as well had as the maximum exponent Jhon Ruskin who believed in socialists principles and was really influenced by marxism.
During my research for my project I had a look at different artists and they influenced me and my design process, leading me to solutions that I couldn't have discovered otherwise. I think this defenitly help me to broaden my horizons and look at things from different points of view.
Case study: Mies - Barcelona Pavilion
The Barcelona international Exposition was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII the 19th of May 1929. Barcelona hosted already another exhibition in 1888 and the event brought to the city the desire to organize a new exposition more daring and thematically incisive. For the new exhibition, Mies Van Der Rohe had the responsibility to design a structure to represent Germany and for that occasion he built the Barcellona pavilion which become one of his most iconic buildings(Morales, Cirici, Ramos, p. 6).
One of the reason the pavilion had a great impact was for the modernity of the material used. From the earlier drawing it’s clear that the architect thought about the presence of water , glass and marble(Morales, Cirici, Ramos, p. 13)
The pavilion had no function other than give prestige to the country it represented.
It had free standing walls which created open and closed spaces and a roof slab supported on eight steel columns of cruciform section. The only transverse wall was made of frosted glass to provide illumination inside and outside the pavilion. Also the Barcelona chairs made of steel bars and white leather cushions become iconic design object. The effect was of an essential harmony of proportions and unity of space where all the elements are combined together as pieces of a whole(Blaser, 28).
References:
W. Blaser, Mies Van Der Rohe, The art of structure,Thames and Hudson, 1965, Zurich.
I. Morlaes, C. Cirici, F. Ramos, Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion, 1993, Barcelona
Bauhaus
During 1896 The architect Henry Van de Velde was called to direct one of the most prestigious school of arts in Weimar. Many years later the same building become the headquarters of the Bauhaus’s workshops under Walter Gropius’ direction. He also wrote the manifesto for the new school, which was then spread all over Germany and declared that artists and craftsmen should work together to create the “House of the Future” and have as the main goal, “Bauen” which in German means to build(B. Archiv, M.Drostep. 11, 18, 20)
From a certain point of view, the Bauhaus manifesto does not differ from the programs of other schools of arts; the student receives a complete education covering different subjects, such as science, graphic and craftsmanship, but the innovation is in the idea that all this knowledge and all the school activities were to be directed into the actual construction of the object which was supposed to be the result of a collaboration between artists and craftsmen.
The illustration on the Bauhaus manifesto shows a cathedral which actually symbolize the Middle age and the name Bauhaus come from the word “Bauhutten”, the medieval mason’s lodges in “the golden age of cathedrals”. The two stars on top of the cathedral’s spires symbolize painting and sculpture which find their ultimate glory in the centre of all the art which is Architecture, therefore represented as the star on top of the tallest tower(B. Bergdoll, L. Dickerman, p. 64,66).
In the Bauhaus there were different workshops and students could choose among different activities such as ceramic, textile, furniture, decoration, typography and so on. Great artist like Wassily Kandisky and Paul Klee taught there analysis and synthesis of colors(B. Archiv, M.Droste).
After the elections that happened in 1924 the right - wing party cut the school funding and threatened to close the Bauhaus and dismiss Gropius. The reason was strictly political. Indeed the conservatives thought that the school was a centre of Bolsheviks and therefore a threat for the government. The Bauhaus was forced to close and open in another building in Dessau(B.Archiv , M. Droste p.161).
When Gropius resigned in 1928 the Bauhaus had other two directors before its definitive closure, Hannes Meyer and Ludwing Mies Van der Rohe .With The latter in particular the Bauhaus become formally a School of Architecture and under his guidance students were taught about construction legislation, central heating, ventilation, physics and mathematics.
Unfortunately the rise of Nazism in Germany marked the end of the school which was closed and then reopened for a short time in Berlin, and then permanently closed in 1933.(B. archive, M. Droste, p. 202 – 232)
References:
B. Archiv, M. Droste, Bauhaus, taschen, 6th ed., 2006
B. Bergdoll, L. Dickerman, Bauhaus workshops for modernity, museum of modern art, 2009, China
Case study: Le Corbusier - Villa Savoie
Ville Savoye a Poissy was design by Le Corbusier and built during the year 1926 – 27.
The house represented the five point of a new architecture that he previously announced in the homonymous essay. The house is indeed erected on “pilotis” which free the ground for circulation, and has a roof garden at the top. Also he used the free plan and the free façade and the ribbon window which gives more light to the space (Jencks, p.165).
Between the columns on the ground floor are the vehicular circulation, domestic services and the garage. The entrance in between the columns and a very slightly inclined ramp leads to the upper level(Boesiger, Girsberger, p.59).
As in the villa at Garches built in 1929 -31 One of the characteristics of that he puts into his design is the composition of abstract spaces with ramps, spiral staircases, curved bathroom or curved solarium. One might actually compare all these elements to the purist objects that he was using in his paintings and the form that he extracted from them. Therefore Le Corbusier used his paintings and his art as a mean to find new spatial solutions and Ville Savoye is probably one on the most important example of his work.
References:
C.Jencks, Le Corbusier and the continual revolution in Architecture, Monacelli press, 2000, Italy
W. Boesiger, H. Girsberger, Le Corbusier 1910 – 1965, Birkhauser,1999, 2nd ed., Italy
Modernist Theories and dogmas
FUTURISM
Futurism was an artistic movement conceived by the Italian Filippo Marinetti. It was announced in 1909 to the world with a manifesto published on the front page of the newspaper le Figaro; but it was not the only one.Indeed between then and the beginning of the First World War, many other manifestos were published. However the first one was the most important and it announced the main principles of the futurism: the glorification of action and violence, courage , audacity and revolt(Nash, p.29, 30).
“We will glorify war – the world’s only hygiene – militarism, patriotism, the destructive gestures of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas that kill, contempt for woman”(One of the principles of futurism written by Marinetti, cited on Nash)
Painters like Boccioni, Carrà and russolo were the first to become futurists; in their painting they depict movements and dynamic sensations, a world in continuous transformation, a society that never stops and but constantly changes(Nash, p. 35).
The most celebrated futurist architect was Antonio Sant’ Elia who is best known for his “Città Nuova exhibition”. He proposed with his drawing designs for apartment blocks, power stations and hydroelectric plants all characterized by no ornamentation, external elevator, multiple levels and verticality.
LE CORBUSIER
With the Domino house Le Corbusier wanted to find a system of construction that faced the problem of reconstruction after the war. He conceived a framework that carried the floor and staircases, but that at the same time is completely independent from the floorplans of the house.The foundations are just simply concrete blocks, the floor and the ceiling are made of concrete slabs. The free plan arrangement gives total freedom to divide the spaces in many possible ways. The structure was very practical, but a commercial failure(Boesiger, Girsberger, p.24.
Le Corbusier essay “Vers une Architecture” established the five points of architecture(Moffet, Fazio, Wodehouse,p. 511):
The pilotis to elevate the floor from the ground
The roof garden to be use for domestic purposes such as gardening and relaxation
Free plan
Horizontal windows which assure even illumination
The façade can be freely designed
References:
M.Moffet, M.Fazio, L.Wodehouse, A world History of Architecture, , Laurence king publishing, 2003, London
J. Nash, Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism, Themes and Hudson, 1974, London
Case study: Rietveld - Schroder house
Rietveld is an architect and a furniture designer associated with the magazine De Stijl and highly influenced by Piet Mondrain paintings. He is best known for the Schroder house in Utrecht designed in 1924 and the Red Blue chair made in 1918(Overy, p.7, 12).
When Mrs Schroder’ husband died, she wanted to go to live in a house where she could be emotionally closer to her three children. Her and Rietveld looked for a piece of land to build an entire new house and based the design on a close dialogue between each other, creating an extraordinary client – architect relationship.
She lived in the house for until her death in 1985 and Rietveld used one of the ground floor rooms as an atelier until he opened his office in Utrecht(Overy, p.14,15).
From the exterior the house is a composition of various vertical and horizontal planes and intersecting with inear steel sections; the interior is characterized by simple elements and primary colors(Moffett, fazio, Wodehouse, p.502)
I think that the influence of Mondrian’s painting is absolutely evident and this make me think as well about the composition that le Corbusier used to do in his purist paintings and how they influenced his architectural forms. This is quite interesting because I think that is really useful to look at artist’s works to get inspiration and find new ways of creating spaces. I think art design and architecture are closely related to each other and it’s good to keep our eyes opened to new movement and be informed about what happen in the world of art.
References:
M.Moffet, M.Fazio, L.Wodehouse, A world History of Architecture, , Laurence king publishing, 2003, London
P. Overy, Rietveld Furniture and the Schroder House, South bank centre, 1990, England
Modernist Factions - 4 movements
De Stijl is the name of a Journal which was founded in 1917 in Holland by Theo Van Doesburg which brought together painters , artists and writers who created a forum to exchange principles and ideas about different subjects. Visually the groups believed in absolute abstraction, the elimination of any reference to existing objects an used as a mean of expression only lines, primary colors(red yellow and blue) with the addition of black , white and gray, the right angle, the horizontal and the vertical.
The content of De Stijl work is harmony and the main goal was to renew the link between life and art and create a new style of living. Indeed the movement was founded during World War 1 where chaos reigned and the necessity for harmony and balance was really important for the artists, but also for the entire population.
The movement fell apart after the death of its primary spokesman Van Doesburg in 1931.
In paintings Mondrian was one of the most important exponent of this movement, while in architecture Rietveld designed an house in collaboration with Mrs truus Schtoder – Scrader in Utrecht which become the most significant monument of De Stijl Architecture(Jaffé, p. 11,12,13,14,15).
In France Le Corbusier and the cubist painter Ozenfant started a short – lived artistic movement based on Cubism which was know with the name “Purism”. Le Corbusier during this period painted most of the time common objects such as glasses and bottles and tried to achieve plastic solution and pure forms. Then he changed the subject of his paintings with roots, pebbles, butcher’s bones, a finally the human figure which is an infinite source of inspiration for deconstruction and composition of new forms. This paintings were for him a mean to achieve new forms and an inspiration to develop new architectural structures(Boesiger, Girsberger, p.295).
In the meantime in Germany the new school of Art and Design called “Bauhaus”, was dictating with his manifesto, a new way of thinking about the artistic process of manufacturing an object. Indeed The construction of the object itself becomes the main goal and the collaboration between the craftsman and the artist necessary to create a complete work of art. Also the pedagogic program taught at the Bauhaus between 1923 and 1928 by Moholy Nagy, Kandisky and Lisstzy codified the principles of russian constructivism which believed in the creation of new spatial relationship, new inventions of forms and new visual laws(Nash, p.57).
References:
H.Jaffé,M. Bock, K. Broos, M. Filler, K. Framton, M. friedman, G. Hermsen, J. Joosten, R. Oxenaar, S. polano, N. Troy, R. Welsh, De Stijl: 1917 – 1931 Visions of Utopia, Friedman editor, 1982, Oxford.
W. Boesiger, H. Girsberger, Le Corbusier 1910 – 1965, Birkhauser,1999, 2nd ed., Italy
J. Nash, Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism, Themes and Hudson, 1974, London
From industrialization to the industrialization of war
DEUTSCHER WERBUND
In 1907 Muthesius together with other designers and manufacturers formed the Deutscher Werkbund which had as a main goal to introduce fine design in the industrially manufactured goods.
The reason why they wanted to do this was primarly economic as they thought that german products were not going to be competitive in international markets unless they could meet the standards of the other countries such as England.
Peter Beherens was a member of the Werkbund; he worked for the General Electric Company and he was responsible for all the aspects of design for the firm. he was trained as a painter and was also influenced by the arts and crafts movement.Behren's
buildings represented the first architectural attempts to deal with industrial facilities. One of the most famous is the Turbine Factory in Berlin(Moffet, Fazio, Wodehouse,p.511).
Walter Gropius worked for peter Beherens from 1907 to 1910 and the set up his own office with Adolf Meyer. Their first project was the Fagus Shoe - Last factory is considered an iconic building in the history of architecture beacause used elements that later characterized the international style such as glass, curtain walls, simple rectangular massing with a flat roof(Moffet, Fazio, Wodehouse, p.511)
References:
M.Moffet, M.Fazio, L.Wodehouse, A world History of Architecture, , Laurence king publishing, 2003, London
Ornament and Crime
From the ornaments and the nature - based organic, linear decorations developed during the Art Nouveau we go to Adolf Loos rejection of any form of decoration and the absolute purity and austerity of architecture.
“Ornament and Crime “ is an essay included in the collection Trotzdem which appeared in 1931.
“ I have discovered the following truth and present it to the world: cultural evolution is equivalent to the removal of ornament from articles in daily use.”( Loos cited in Tournikiotis).
With this sentence Loos limits the suppression of the ornaments to the daily objects; he is against the ornamentation of the Viennese Secession, which he consider superfluous , but he exalts the grammar of the classical ornaments, which he actually use in his buildings, especially in the interiors(Tournikiotis,p. 23).
Towards the end of his career Loos formulated the theory of the “Raumplan” and the “Rufer House” has been the first building that portrays in its totality the architect’s concept of the spatial organization of a building. Just a couple of years before his death, one of his protégés, Ludwig Munz, wrote a definition of Loos Raumplan. The word “Raum” in german means room or space(Jara,p. 185); the Raumplan therefore is mainly the design of different rooms which are placed in different levels and vary in height and width according to their function. The windows are not rigidly ordered in sequences, but they are freely placed on the façade to illuminate there where it is needed. The exterior of the building then becomes a reflection of the interiors. Loos tacitly accepted this theory when Munz’ published his monograph and this gave further credence to his explanation of the Raumplan(Moffett, Fazio, Wodehouse, p.478) .
Reference:
Cynthia Jara Adolf Loos's "Raumplan" Theory Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), Vol. 48, No. 3 (Feb., 1995), pp. 185
M.Moffet, M.Fazio, L.Wodehouse, A world History of Architecture, , Laurence king publishing, 2003, London
Art Nouveau / Jugendstil
From 1880 to 1905 a new decorative style characterized by sinuous lines and free – flowing compositions based on plant and animal forms, developed in different European countries taking different names like “Art Nouveau” in England, “Stile liberty” in Italy and “Jugendstil” in Germany.
In Architecture the Belgian designer Victor Horta can be considered the earliest art nouveau architect; he used industrial materials like iron and casting and incorporated swirling and tendril designs to his buildings to express the malleable nature of metal and the vitality of plant growth.
The style was indeed initially characterized by arabesque and naturalistic decoration, that we can find in Gaudi’s exuberant ornamentation, and then become gradually more geometric as we can see for example in Mackintosh’ s works.
One of the thing that caught my attention is that art nouveau used ornamentation not just to make buildings and houses interiors more pleasant to see, but it was also moved by a philanthropic aim to give the workers airy, light - filled and beautiful spaces to live and create an alternative to the slums. Besides, art nouveau was influenced by the arts and crafts movement which flourished in England from about 1850 to 1900 and the major exponents of that movement, John Ruskin and William Morris were both socialists and Morris in particular believed that well designed products can raise working-class people above disinterested employment. It is quite interesting though to see how different movements influence each other and also how art and architecture are extremely link to their history and society.
I think that architects and designers should always relate to the needs of their society and aim to give people better places to live. Unfortunately most of the time only people who can afford it can have well – designed houses, while the poor part of the population often lives in ugly buildings. But the cost of the production of handmade well – crafted objects is always going to be high. Or maybe in the future we as designer can help our society to find materials and way to produce beautiful objects and houses that will be accessible to all.
References:
M.Moffet, M.Fazio, L.Wodehouse, A world History of Architecture, , Laurence king publishing, 2003, London
Article “Introduction to Art Nouveau”written by Francoise Aubry, curator of the Horta Museum in Bruxelles, http://www.artnouveau-net.eu/get_page.asp?stran=2
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