New World, New Architectures

The architects of the later 19^th century found themselves in a world being reshaped by science, industry, and speed. A new eclecticism arose, such as the architecture based on the École Des beaux-arts, and what is commonly called Victorian architecture in Britain and the United States. The needs of a new society pressed them, while steel, reinforced concrete, and electricity were among the many new technical means at their disposal.

After more than a half-century of assimilation and experimentation, modern architecture, often called the International style, produced an astonishing variety of daring and original buildings, often steel substructures sheathed in glass. The Bauhaus was a strong influence on modern architecture. As the line between architecture and engineering became a shadow, 20^th-century architecture often approached engineering, and modern works of engineering—airplane hangars, for example—often aimed at and achieved an undeniable beauty. More recently, post-modern architecture, which exploits and expands the technical innovations of modernism while often incorporating stylistic elements from other architectural styles or periods, became an international movement.

Modern Architecture

new architectural style that emerged in many Western countries in the decade after World War I. It was based on the "rational" use of modern materials, the principles of functionalist planning, and the rejection of historical precedent and ornament. This style has been generally designated as modern, although the labels International style, Neue Sachlichkeit, and functionalism have also been used.

Development of the Style

Since the mid-19^th century there had been repeated attempts to assimilate modern technology in practice and theory and to formulate a modern style of architecture suitable to its age. A functionalist approach eventually replaced the formerly eclectic approach to design.

Technical progress in the use of iron and glass made possible the construction of Sir Joseph Paxton's celebrated Crystal Palace in London (1851), in which a remarkable delicacy was achieved. In the ensuing years iron, steel, and glass enabled architects and engineers to enclose the vast interior spaces of train sheds, department stores, and market halls, but often the structural forms were clothed with irrelevant ornament.

As late as 1889 the exposed, iron skeleton of the newly erected Eiffel Tower in Paris was met with public outrage. In Chicago, William Le Baron Jenney pioneered the use of a complete steel skeleton for the urban skyscraper in his Home Insurance Building (1883–85). His contemporary, Louis Henry Sullivan, first articulated the theory of functionalism (see functionalism), which he demonstrated in his numerous commercial designs. In addition, experiments in concrete construction were being carried out in France by François Hennebique and Auguste Perret, and in the United States by Ernest Ransome.

As a result of these advances, the formal conception of architecture was also undergoing a profound transformation. Frank Lloyd Wright, a pupil of Sullivan, experimented with the inter penetration of interior and exterior spaces in his residential designs. In Holland, where Wright's work was widely admired, the architects of de Stijl sought to organize building elements into new combinations of overlapping and hovering rectangular planes.

Form and Materials

By 1920 there was an increasingly wide understanding that building forms must be determined by their functions and materials if they were to achieve intrinsic significance or beauty in contemporary terms, without resorting to traditional ornament. Instead of viewing a building as a heavy mass made of ponderous materials, the leading innovators of modern architecture considered it as a volume of space enclosed by light, thin curtain walls and resting on slender piers. The visual aesthetic of modern architecture was largely inspired by the machine and by abstract painting and sculpture.

In giving form and coherence to modern architecture, Le Corbusier's book Vers une architecture (1923, tr. 1927) played an important role, as did the writings of the Dutch architect J. J. P. Oud and the German architect Walter Gropius, who also headed the Bauhaus in Dessau. Other early leaders of the modern movement included Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, and Ernst May in Germany and Raymond Hood, Albert Kahn, Richard J. Neutra, William Lescaze, and George Howe in the United States.

In 1932 the label "International style" was applied to modern architecture by the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, anticipating its growing acceptance around the world. The United States became a stronghold of modern architecture after the emigration of Gropius, Mies, and Breuer from Germany during the 1930s.

By the mid-20^th century modern architecture had become an effective instrument for dealing with the increasingly complex building needs of a global society. Large architectural firms such as Harrison and Abramovitz and Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill did much to popularize modern architecture around the world after World War II.

At the same time new technological developments continued to influence architects' designs, particularly in the realm of prefabricated construction, as seen in the works of R. Buckminster Fuller and Moshe Safdie. The development of sophisticated air conditioning and heating systems also allowed modern architecture to spread from the temperate climates of Europe and North America to countries with extremely varied weather conditions..

The Style Evolves

Increasingly, during the 1950s, modern architecture was criticized for its sterility, its "institutional" anonymity, and its disregard for regional building traditions. More varied and individual, as well as regionalist, modes of expression were sought by architects of the next generation, although the basic emphasis on structure and materials continued.

This tendency was evident in the works of Louis Kahn, Edward Durell Stone, and Philip Cortelyou Johnson in the United States, and the architects of the so-called "New Brutalism" movement in England. A dynamic sculptural unity distinguished the buildings of Eero Saarinen and the late works of Le Corbusier.

Other leading architects of this generation include Alvar Aalto of Finland, the Italians Pier Luigi Nervi and Paolo Soleri, and in Central and South America, Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Juan O'Gorman, and Felix Candela.

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Essentially homogeneous architectural style appearing in most Western countries after World War I and continuing to develop through the mid-20^th cent. It possesses no appellation more precise than modern, although other labels, e.g., INTERNATIONAL STYLE and functionalism, have also been applied. A conscious attempt to assimilate modern technology is one characteristic.

Technical progress in the development of materials was evident in the construction of the CRYSTAL PALACE in 1851. In the ensuing years iron, steel, and glass determined the form of many buildings, but irrelevant ornament persisted. As late as 1889 the EIFFEL TOWER found a public not yet ready to accept pure structure as beautiful.

The use of a steel skeleton for a tall building began with the first SKYSCRAPER, by William Jenney, in Chicago (1883). Industrial architecture in Europe was pioneered by Peter BEHRENS, Auguste PERRET, and others. At the end of the 19^th cent. a revolution occurred in the buildings and writings of Louis H. SULLIVAN and Frank Lloyd WRIGHT.

Wright in the U.S. and the exponents of ART NOUVEAU in Europe introduced the concept of rhythmic flow of interior space, eliminating rigid room divisions. Conversely, the architects of de STIJL returned to more disciplined structural form. By 1920 the interrelation of building type with materials and function was widely accepted. The concept of buildings as volumes enclosed by massive materials had given way to a concentration on space supported or enclosed by light, thin materials. The idea of enclosure was de-emphasized, so that structural elements themselves came into focus.

Major exponents of this view were LE CORBUSIER and Walter GROPIUS. Abstract painting and sculpture were looked to for new ideas and did much to condition the public to recognize abstract structural beauty, free from past associations. By mid-century, modern architecture and city planning, influenced by new technology and mass production, were dealing with increasingly complex social needs. Important characteristics of modern architectural works are expanses of glass and the use of reinforced concrete.

Advances in elevator technology, air conditioning, and electric illumination have all had important effects. The use of an unvarying module, or basic dimensional unit, characteristic of the works of Buckminster FULLER and Moshe Safdie, among others, echoes machine-tool precision. Pioneers of the 1920s were MIëS VAN DER ROHE and Gropius. Important contributors to modern design include Marcel BREUER, Richard NEUTRA, and I.M. PEI.

Criticism in the 1950s attacking modern architecture's sterility and institutional anonymity produced a tendency toward individual expression typified by Louis KAHN, E.D. STONE, Philip JOHNSON, and the architects of the new brutalism movement in England and the U.S. A dynamic sculptural unity characterizes the work of Le Corbusier and Eero SAARINEN. Other major modern architects include Alvar AALTO, P.L. NERVI, Paolo SOLERI, and Oscar NIEMEYER. In the 1960s, a more critical reaction to modern architecture, first enunciated in the writings of Robert VENTURI, culminated in many forms of architectural POSTMODERNISM, a movement that remained prominent into the early 1990's.

Wright, Frank Lloyd

1869-1959, American architect; b. Richland Center, Wis. He worked with Louis SULLIVAN. Beginning in 1893 he built a series of homes in and around Chicago with low horizontal lines echoing the landscape-his prairie style, e.g., the Robie House, Chicago (1909). From the beginning he practiced radical innovation in both structures and aesthetics. He did pioneer work in integrating machine methods and materials into a true architectural expression. Many of his innovations, e.g., open planning-eliminating traditional room division to achieve fluid inner space-set standards.