Theories of Architecture(EAPS4202) Lecturer 5 19 th Century Architecture (Part 3)

1. University of Palestine Faculty of Applied Engineering & Urban Planning Dept. of Architecture, Interior Design & Planning Theories of Architecture(EAPS4202) Lecturer 5 19th Century Architecture (Part 3) Modern Movement Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 10.03.2009

2. Early Wave of Modernism1890-1910 • In 1874, in line with Clement Greenberg ‘what can be safely called Modernism’ emerged in the middle of the past, with Baudelair in the literature, with Manetin painting & with Flaubert in prose fiction. • It was called at first ‘avant-garde’ describing a movement which attempts to shed some light on tradition and/or the status quo. • In 1890, moving away from previous norms completely, by merely revising the past knowledge breaking the idea that artist were the interpreter & representative of bourgeois culture. • The modernist wave includes at its initial stage: • The abstract painting expression of WassilyKandisky in 1903; • The founding of blue Rider group in Germany; and • The rise of Cubism: the work of Picasso & George Barque in 1908. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

3. Early Wave of Modernism: Freud’s Concept • Effectively influential, the theories of Freud arguing that mind had a basic & essential structure, and that subjective experience was based on an interplay of the parts of the mind. • A subjective reality was actually born, in line with Freud’s concept, in the play with basic drives & instincts through which the outside world was perceived and interpreted. • Such ideal represented a break through with the past in that external & absolute reality could focus only on an individual: John Locke’s tabula rasa doctrine. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

4. Summary: First Wave • Such wave of Modernism broke relationship with the past at its start trying to re-define various artforms in a very radical manner. Leading lights include: • Composers such as Shoneberg, Stravinsky, and George Antheil represent modernism in Music; • Artists such as; Gustav Climt, Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, and the movements Les Favues, Cubism and Surrealists represent various strains of Modernism in the Visual Art; • While architects such as Le Corbusier, WalterGropius, and Mies Van Der Rohe brought modernist ideas into everyday life; and • Several figures outside of artistic modernism were influenced by artistic ideas; for example, John Keynes who was in contact with Woolf and other writers of the Bloomsbury group. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

5. The Born of Modernism:1910-1930 • New meaning to Modernism appeared allowing disruption, rejection and/or moving beyond simple Realism described or known in the art literature. • Such development tended to believe in a ‘progress’ that viewed every age as unique and unrepeatable and as an advance on the achievements of preceding periods while considering traditional forms & traditional social arrangements as limiting such progress: therefore; the artists at the time were seen as revolutionary, overthrowing rather than enlightening. • Futurism in 1909 put forward ideas that are related to provoke strongly. These were largely influenced by Nietzske as part of a general trend of modernist rationalization of disorder. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

6. Modernism at the World WAR I • The First WW fused a harsh mechanical geometric rationality of technology. • Thus, in 1920s, modernism had been such a minority taste before the War that came to define the age. • Modernism pre-1918 stressed new methods to come up with new results, emphasizing its continuity with the past while repelling against it. • By 1930s, Modernism had entered popular culture. With the increasing urbanization of populations, it was just the beginning to be the source for ideas dealing with the challenges of every day life. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

7. Modernism Second Generation:1930-1945 • Modern ideas in art appeared in commercial and logos, the famous London underground logo, designed by Edward Johnston in 1919, as an early example of the need for clear, easily recognizable and memorable visual symbols. • Another strong influence on Modernism was Marxism. After the generally primitivistic/irrationalist aspect of pre-World War I, Modernism rejected popular solutions to modern problems — the rise of Facsism, the Great Deprecion, and the march to war helped to radicalise a generation. • The Russian Revolution was the catalyst to fuse political radicalism and utopianism, with more political stances. • Such move to the radical left, however, was neither universal, nor definitional, and there was no particular reason to associate Modernism, fundamentally, with 'the left'. Modernists explicitly of 'the right' include Wyndham Lewis and many others. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

8. Meaning of Modernism in Architecture discipline • Modernism is a western concept that means: the current, the new, and the transient. All three of these levels of meaning associated with modernism refer in particular to the peculiar importance that is ascribed to the present in the concept of modernity. • Modernity is what gives the present the specific quality that makes it different from the past and points the way toward the future. • Modernity is also described in the literature as something being a break with a tradition, and as typifying everything that rejects the inheritance of the past. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

9. Modernism & Architecture • Modernists, especially those involved in design, had more pragmatic views. • Modernist architects believed that new technology rendered old styles of buildings. • Modernist design should reject the old styles and structures, inherited from Ancient Greece and/or from the Middle Ages. Following such aesthetic, modernist designers typically reject decorative motifs in design (as in Classical Architecture), preferring to emphasize the materials used and pure geometrical forms. • Le Corbusierthought that buildings should have control over surrounding nature influeced by Nietzsche and they should also function as "machines for living in", analogous to cars. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

10. Le Corbusier’s Building Character • Buildings are erected on pilots/ columns to prevent any constraint of spreading the nature. • Limited the GF for car parking & entrance, together with secondary service functions. • The roof was used as Roof Garden as a replacement to ground level garden. • The use of reinforced concrete in building structure having few columns, leaving out constructive walls, together with flat slabs allowing for flexibility in interior design according to users. • Thanks to the style used of reinforced concrete, the design allows for freedom in delivering long lined windows without a structure constraint in addition to corner windows smoothing in natural light and a stylish elevation design. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

11. Le Corbusier’s Work • The use of the sliding wood window was a curious one using steel frames as these were better suited to the creation of simple, seemingly flat, curtains of glass, suggesting that Le Corbusier favored the use of timber at the Villa Savoye, as the two planes of the sliding window make it possible to see the wall as a series of parallel planes. • Le Corbusier envisaged space as a series of parallel surfaces receding into space. • The windows of the early villas were designed to present the bounding surfaces as stretched planes and not gravity bound supporting walls. • Window frames were placed at the outer edge of openings so that the glass would appear to be part of a continuous surface. Villa Savoye Window of solarium Villa Savoye (1930) Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

12. Le Corbusier’s Work Centrosyus (1927): Central Cooperation Unit (Moscow) • Central & secondary axis without having any symmetry • Success in designing interior movement circulations, providing connection among building parts, & using levelling. • The extreme use of large glass windows providing problems in terms of heating & ventilation forcing the Architect to use primitive machines. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

13. Le Corbusier’s Work The Carpenter Centre for Visual Art 1963 (Boston) • Providing protection of sun’s heat using large surface of reinforced concrete. • Sloped connection into the building dividing it into 2 facing the two streets confronting the building. • The use of stained glass in the staircase allowing for natural light. • White large surfaces left without any treatment. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

14. Le Corbusier’s Work La Tourette 1960 • Simplicity in form & easy way of used finished materials allowing only reinforced concrete without any treatment • The first 3 floors are used for service functions (sitting areas, dinning & library) surrounding courtyards with access to outside. • The last 2 floors are for bedrooms with verandas. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

15. Le Corbusier’s Work Chapelle Notre 1954 Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

16. Le Corbusier’s Work Chapelle Notre 1954 Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

17. Mies Van Der Rohe • The skyscraper, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York1956– 1958 became the archetypal modernist building. • Modernist design of houses and furniture also typically emphasized simplicity and clarity of form, open-plan interiors, and the absence of clutter. • Modernism reversed the 19th century relationship of public and private: in the 19th century, public buildings were horizontally expansive for a variety of technical reasons, and private buildings emphasized verticality—to fit more private space on more and more limited land. • Whereas in the 20th century, public buildings became vertically oriented, and private buildings became organized horizontally. • Many aspects of modernist design still persist within the mainstream of contemporary architecture today, though its previous dogmatism has given way to a more playful use of decoration, historical quotation, and spatial drama. Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

18. Mies Van Der Rohe Residential Buildings of Mies Glass facade Free interior of columns Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008

19. Mies Van Der Rohe Prepared by Dr. Hazem Abu-Orf, 17.06.2008