Transcript Theory and Philosophy of Modern Architecture

Theory and Philosophy of
Modern Architecture
The Roots of Modern Architecture
The Roots of Modern Architecture
• Defining Modern Architecture
• The Beginning of Modern Architecture
• Transformations of 3 contexts:
– Cultural Transformations: Neo Classical
Architecture (1750-1900)
– Territorial Transformations: Urban
Development (1800-1909)
– Technical Transformations: Structural
Engineering (1775-1939)
Defining Modern Architecture
“modern” architecture
• General meaning– new, non-traditional, current,
contemporary
“Modern Architecture”
• Specific meaning– a particular period, ideology or
styles (formalism, functionalism, international
style, etc.)
“Modern Architecture was the expression of a
variety of new social visions challenging the status
quo and suggesting alternative possibilities for a
way of life”
(Curtis, 1987).
The Beginning of Modern Architecture
“The historical process which led to the creation of
the modern movement in architecture …had no
clear beginning which can be pinpointed with
precision.”
(Curtis, 1987)
• Described differently by different historians
(themes, styles, years, periods)
• Started with the beliefs and ideas long before the
forms and styles
• Started as early as late 17th- century (the challenge
to the Vitruvian proportion and the split between
engineering and architecture) (Frampton, 1987)
The Roots of Modern Architecture
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The Changing [Social] Contexts
Ideology and Philosophy
Technology
Markets
Clients
Cultural Transformations: Neo
Classical Architecture (1750-1900)
• The loss of confidence in Renaissance
tradition and the supporting theories
• Development of history and archeology
disciplines leading to the view of equal
value among epochs, traditions and styles
• The [new] belief: architecture should
express their times
New Ideology
“Suppose that an architect of the twelfth or
thirteenth century were to return among us, and
that he were to be initiated into our modern ideas;
if one put at his disposal the perfections of modern
industry, he would not build an edifice of the time
of Philip Augustus or St. Louis, because this would
be to falsify the first law of art, which is to
conform the needs and customs of the times”.
(Violet-le-Duc, 1863)
The New Paradigm:
Primitive Hut
“All the splendors of
architectural process ever
conceived have been modeled on
the little rustic hut… It is by
approaching the simplicity of this
first model that fundamental
mistakes are avoided and true
perfection is achieved”.
Laugier, 1977
• A shift of taste from the Rococo
• A Return to basic and natural
rationale
The New Ideology:
Newton’s Cenotaph
(Boullee, 1784)
Pure geometry with
emotions (space with light)
Cultural Transformations: Neo
Classical Architecture (1750-1900)
• The increase in man’s capacity to exercise
control over nature
• Fundamental shift in the nature of human
consciousness (reason over belief)
• The search for the “new true form”
• [Some] Revival of the past styles (Greek,
Roman, Gothic)
Cultural Transformations: Neo
Classical Architecture (1750-1900)
• Disrupted the world of craft
• Collapsed vernacular traditions
• Created new economic structures and center
of power
• New clients (the middle class)
• Belief in a just and rational society
• Utopian concept
Utopian Concept: The Architect’s Dream
(Cole, 1840)
Territorial Transformations: Urban
Development (1800-1909)
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Advanced industry
Population increase (longer life expectancy)
Mass production/ higher efficiency
Concentration of production in the city core
High density residential close to production (no
public transportation; need to stay close)
• Slum and the substandard neighborhood (higher
density on the old infrastructure)
Territorial Transformations: Urban
Development (1800-1909)
• Upgraded working-class housing
• New housing scheme (stacking apartments in pairs
around a common staircase)
• Improved infrastructure and living conditions
(legal acts)
• New industrial prototypes
• The open spaces and parks
• English picturesque landscape and neo-classical
country houses
City Living Condition:
Over London by Rail (1872)
Territorial Transformations: Urban
Development (1800-1909)
• Mass transportation (railway, underground,
streetcars)
• Metropolitan region
• New town concept
– Linear city concept (dependent on mass transit)
– English garden city concept (complete
functions and avoid transportation)
Riverside, Chicago (Olmsted, 1869)
Early suburbanization
Riverside, Chicago (Olmsted, 1869)
Natural neighborhood outside the city
New Town Concept: The Garden City
(Howard,1898)
An economically self sufficient community
Technical Transformations:
Structural Engineering (1775-1939)
• Industrial revolution
• Changed production based, modes and locations
• The production of new materials (cast iron,
reinforced concrete, glass)
• Iron construction in railways, bridge and industrial
buildings
• The split of architecture and engineering
• The importance of the role of engineer
• New and unprecedented buildings (exhibition
halls, offices, factories)
Crystal Palace Under Construction,
London (Paxton, 1851)
Brooklyn Bridge Under Construction
(1877)
Tin Mine
Winding Engine
at East Pool
Mine, England
(1887)
Conclusions
• Three major transformations led to new contexts
 new world
• Enlightenment: new view toward history and
styles
• The search for new form
• Rationalism
• Industrial revolution
• Technology: Engineering
• New materials
• New clients
References
Curtis, W. (1987). Modern Architecture Since 1900.
2nd Ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Frampton, K. (1987). Modern Architecture: A
Critical History. London: Thames and Hudson.
Kruft, H. W. (1994). A History of Architectural
Theory: from Vitruvious to the Present. New York:
Princeton Architectural Press.