EARLY MODERN ERA

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Presented by -
Ankita
Mandeep
Praveen
Sandeep
EARLY MODERN ERA
HOA -VI

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Summary of Modern Architecture
Early Modern
ca. 1850-1900
Late Modern
ca. 1900-60
culmination of
iron-frame
architecture
(Crystal Palace,
Eiffel Tower),
Chicago school:
skyscrapers
(Jenney),
functionalism
(Sullivan)
international style
(Gropius,
Corbusier, Mies),
Wright (organic
architecture)

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The fundamental technical prerequisite to large-scale modern
architecture was the development of metal framing.
The term industrial age denotes the period of history in which
machine-manufacturing (as opposed to manufacturing by hand) plays a
major role. This age began ca. 1750 (with the onset of the Industrial
Revolution) and continues to this day. The industrial age can be divided
into two parts: the iron and steam phase (ca. 1750-1900) and the
steel and electricity phase (ca. 1900-present).
The "iron and steam phase" could also be dubbed the age of iron-
frame architecture. During this period, cast iron framing was
introduced to masonry buildings; masonry walls were gradually
relieved of their structural role, eventually becoming a cosmetic "skin"
over an iron skeleton of columns and arches. Iron bridges and iron-
and-glass buildings (e.g. greenhouses, train stations, markets) were
also constructed.
Rise of Metal-frame Architecture

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A cast iron frame must use arched construction. The alternative, post-and-beam
construction, is not feasible due to the brittleness of cast iron. (The term "brittle" is
equivalent to "lacking in tensile strength"
Materials
Age of iron and steam
(aka age of iron-frame
architecture)
ca. 1750-1900
Age of steel and electricity
(aka age of steel-frame
architecture)
ca. 1900-present
iron-frame masonry buildings,
iron-and-glass buildings, iron
bridges
steel framing and reinforced
concrete serve as the
primary structural materials of
large-scale architecture

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From the Industrial Revolution (ca. 1750-1850) onward, the world has
been filled with machine-made products, which led many artists to fear the
decline of applied arts (works of art that serve a practical purpose).
The production of furniture, for instance, no longer required a skilled
woodworker; it could simply be churned out of a machine.
Two major positions emerged in response:-
I. One position, known as the Arts and Crafts Movement, urged for a
return to traditional, hand-made applied arts. This movement, which
emerged in late nineteenth-century England, spread across Europe and
the United States.
II. The other position argued that mass-produced goods, skilfully designed,
could indeed be beautiful works of art. Machine production results in
products with simple geometric forms and plain, unornamented
surfaces; instead of rejecting these properties as cold and lifeless, some
artists argued that they should be embraced. This approach fuelled the
gradual rise of the modern aesthetic.
The Applied Arts Crisis

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Iron-frame architecture, which flourished primarily in England, France, and (later) the
United States, occupies the transitional phase between traditional and modern
architecture.
Iron-frame buildings were erected mainly during the "age of iron and steam" (ca. 1750-
1900). As noted earlier, this architecture included iron-frame masonry buildings, iron-
and-glass buildings, and iron bridges.
Utilitarian structures (and utilitarian products in general) were important for
demonstrating the aesthetic potential of plain, mass-produced objects.
For instance, whereas iron supports in grand architecture were often hidden behind
masonry (such that the buildings retained a traditional appearance), they were left
exposed in structures where appearance was deemed unimportant (e.g. mills, factories)
or where masonry was unnecessary (e.g. bridges, railway stations).
Utilitarian buildings also often lacked traditional ornamentation, again due to lack of
concern for appearance.
As the nineteenth century drew on, many architects began to embrace these features
(plain industrial materials and lack of ornamentation) as aesthetically desirable.
Iron bridge , england
(18th century)
Early Modern Architecture

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Two works of iron-frame architecture are especially famous:-
I. Iron-and-glass architecture culminated with London's Crystal Palace (destroyed),
designed by Joseph Paxton (a renowned greenhouse architect) as the main pavilion of
the first World's Fair.
II. Some decades later, the foremost iron-frame structure of all time was constructed: the
Eiffel Tower, designed by famed bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel.
Crystal Palace Eiffel Tower
Early Modern Architecture

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Chicago school
The next step in the development of modern architecture was the shift from
iron-frame to steel-frame construction.
Steel-frame architecture emerged in Chicago, among a circle of architects
known as the Chicago school, which flourished ca. 1880-1900.
At this point in history, architects faced
mounting pressure to extend buildings upward,
as cities grew and property values soared.
In response, the Chicago school built the
world's first skyscrapers. (A good definition of
"skyscraper", for discussion of architectural
history, is "a metal-frame building at least one
hundred feet tall".)
The Home Insurance Building (1884;
demolished), by William Le Baron Jenney (a
member of the Chicago school), is usually
considered the very first skyscraper.
Home Insurance Building

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While this building featured a metal frame composed of both iron and steel, pure
steel-frame construction emerged (in works of the Chicago school) within a decade.
It should be emphasized that in metal-frame architecture, the entire weight of the
building is supported by the frame. The building's walls thus serve as mere "curtains"
or "screens", which are hung upon the frame simply to seal the building's interior from
the elements. In other words, the metal frame is the building's skeleton, while the
walls are its skin.
The skyscraper was the great technical achievement of the Chicago school. The
school is also responsible for a great aesthetic achievement: the gradual reduction of
traditional ornamentation in skyscraper design.
Whereas buildings of ordinary height lend themselves well to traditional styles,
skyscrapers were an entirely new building type, for which traditional aesthetics
proved unsatisfactory; consequently, skyscrapers accelerated the development of the
modern aesthetic.

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Louis Sullivan
(September 3, 1856 - April 14, 1924)

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This transition away from traditional ornamentation culminated in the development of
functionalism by Louis Sullivan, the foremost architect of the Chicago school.
Functionalism is a design approach in which a building is simply designed according to
its function, then graced with features that are naturally suggested by its internal
structure.
This approach, which leads to the simple geometry of the modern aesthetic, is aptly
summarized in Sullivan's guiding principle: "form follows function".
Functionalism provided the modern aesthetic with a theoretical foundation;
consequently, Sullivan is often referred to as the "father of modern architecture".
FUNCTIONALISM

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Sullivan's masterpiece is the Wainwright
Building.
The exterior of this building reflects its three-
part internal plan (a two-story base, a middle
section with seven floors of offices, and a
service floor at the top), with a brick pier
indicating each column in the steel frame.
He gave his building a two-story base, above
which the vertical elements are stressed and
the horizontals, being recessed, are minimized.
These vertical rhythms are capped by a deep
decorative frieze and a projecting cornice.
The horizontal dividers are recessed behind
the piers, which emphasizes the building's
verticality: an aesthetic choice that illustrates
the creative freedom within the bounds of
functionalism.
 Most surfaces are plain, although the
horizontal dividers feature stucco decoration.
10-story Wainwright Building,
Chicago
Wainwright Building.

 It was the commission in 1886 to design the Auditorium Building in
Chicago that marked the first period of Sullivan’s design maturity
 The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs
of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler built in 1889.
 Sullivan ultimately chose to design the building in the Richardson
Romanesque style that is characterized by massive rusticated stone
walls, heavy rounded arches and deeply recessed windows.
AUDITORIUM BUILDING
While Sullivan handled the
building’s visual design, Adler was
responsible for its engineering and
acoustical design
When completed, it was the
tallest building in the city and
largest building in the US.

It is a 10-story-high building of granite
and limestone with a 17-story tower.
In the center of the building was a
4,300 seat auditorium, originally
intended primarily for production
of Grand Opera.
 the auditorium was designed so that
all seats would have good views and
acoustics.
Housed in the building around the
central space were an 1890 addition of
136 offices and a 400-room hotel

AUDITORIUM BUILDING
Exterior detail
Auditorium Theatre interior from the
balcony
Interior detail of the Auditorium Theatre
Auditorium Hotel – dining hall from the South

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Late Modern Architecture
In the early twentieth century, the modern aesthetic (simple, unadorned geometric
forms) finally matured, becoming the mainstream aesthetic of architecture and design
across the world.
This was achieved primarily by the Bauhaus, the scope of Bauhaus efforts included
architecture, visual art, interior design, graphic design, and industrial design (product
design).
It should be noted that while Bauhaus designers generally embraced the aesthetic
theory of functionalism, deliberate use of this theory (or even familiarity with it) is not a
prerequisite to designing works that feature the modern aesthetic. Thus, for any given
modern-style building or object, the designer may or may not have had functionalism in
mind.
Mechanically opened
windows
Dormitory
balconies in the
residence

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The modern aesthetic reached maturity when excess material (including traditional
ornamentation) had been completely stripped away, leaving only a basic structure of plain
geometric forms. As noted above, this maturation was achieved in the early twentieth
century, with the Bauhaus leading the way (in terms of both innovation and propagation).
Architecture that features the mature modern aesthetic is known as international style
architecture.
Compared to traditional aesthetics, an international style building gives an impression of
weightlessness, due to its minimalist, unornamented surfaces, as well as the absence of
massive structural walls. A sense of balance is sought in the overall plan, whether via perfect
symmetry or balanced asymmetry. The geometry of an international style building is mostly
flat; curved shapes are used sparingly, if at all.
The international style's three most influential pioneers were Gropius, Corbusier, and Mies.
Walter Gropius, founder and first director of the Bauhaus, designed the buildings of the
school's second campus. Plain walls (white and grey) and screens of glass, sometimes several
stories in height, predominate. Gropius' balconies showcase an impressive new structural
possibility of steel-frame construction: cantilevering (platforms fixed only at one end), which
further contributes to a sense of architectural weightlessness.
International Style

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The Swiss architect Le Corbusier, though not a member of the
Bauhaus, absorbed and became a leading figure in the international style.
He preferred smooth expanses of white reinforced concrete pierced with
horizontal strips of windows, as well as a degree of curvilinear geometry
Corbusier mainly designed houses; his masterpiece is the Villa Savoye .
(1928-1931)

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VILLA SAVOYE
Construction
Estimates of the cost in February 1929
were approximately half a million
Francs, although this excluded the cost
of the lodge and the landscaping
elements (almost twice the original
budget).
The project was tendered in February
with contracts awarded in March 1929.
Changes made to the design whilst the
project was being built including an
amendment to the storey height and the
exclusion and then re-introduction of the
chauffeur's accommodation led to the
costs rising to approximately 800,000
Francs.
At the time the project started on site no
design work had been done on the
lodge and the final design was only
presented to the client in June 1929.
The design was for a double lodge but
this was reduced to a single lodge as
the costs were too high.
Although construction of the whole
house was complete within a year it
was not habitable until 1931.

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DESIGN FEATURES
THE REINFORCED CONCRETE GIVES US THE
PILOTIS. THE HOUSE IS UP IN THE AIR, FAR
FROM THE GROUND.
THE COLUMNS SET BACK FROM THE FACADES,
INSIDE THE HOUSE. THE FLOOR CONTINUES
CANTILEVERED.
THE FACADES ARE NO LONGER ANYTHING BUT
LIGHT SKINS OF INSULATING WALLS OR
WINDOWS. THE FACADE IS FREE.
UNTIL NOW LOAD-BEARING WALLS FORMING
THE GROUND FLOOR AND THE UPPER
STORIES, UP TO EAVES.
REINFORCED CONCRETE IN THE HOUSE
PROVIDES A FREE PLAN.
THE WINDOW IS ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL
FEATURES OF THE HOUSE.
REINFORCED CONCRETE PROVIDES A
REVOLUTION IN THE HISTORY OF THE
WINDOW.
WINDOWS CAN RUN FROM ONE END OF THE
FACADE TO THE OTHER.
THE GARDEN IS ALSO OVER THE
HOUSE, ON THE ROOF
THE STAIRCASE AND THE RAMP IN THE
HOUSE

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THE PLAN WAS SET OUT USING THE PRINCIPLE RATIOS OF THE
GOLDEN SECTION: IN THIS CASE A SQUARE DIVIDED INTO SIXTEEN
EQUAL PARTS, EXTENDED ON TWO SIDES TO INCORPORATE THE
PROJECTING FAÇADES AND THEN FURTHER DIVIDED TO GIVE THE
POSITION OF THE RAMP AND THE ENTRANCE.
THE HOUSE, DESIGNED AS A SECOND RESIDENCE AND SITED AS IT
WAS OUTSIDE PARIS WAS DESIGNED WITH THE CAR IN MIND.
THE FOUR COLUMNS IN THE ENTRANCE HALL SEEMINGLY DIRECT
THE VISITOR UP THE RAMP. THIS RAMP, THAT CAN BE SEEN FROM
ALMOST EVERYWHERE IN THE HOUSE CONTINUES UP TO THE FIRST
FLOOR LIVING AREA AND SALON BEFORE CONTINUING EXTERNALLY
FROM THE FIRST FLOOR ROOF TERRACE UP TO THE SECOND FLOOR
SOLARIUM.
CORBUSIER'S PILOTI PERFORM A NUMBER OF FUNCTIONS AROUND
THE HOUSE, BOTH INSIDE AND OUT. ON THE TWO LONGER
ELEVATIONS THEY ARE FLUSH WITH THE FACE OF THE FAÇADE AND
IMPLY HEAVINESS AND SUPPORT, BUT ON THE SHORTER SIDES THEY
ARE SET BACK GIVING A FLOATING EFFECT THAT EMPHASISES THE
HORIZONTAL FEELING OF THE HOUSE.
THE WIDE STRIP WINDOW TO THE FIRST FLOOR TERRACE HAS TWO
BABY PILOTI TO SUPPORT AND STIFFEN THE WALL ABOVE.
THE VILLA SAVOYE USES THE HORIZONTAL RIBBON WINDOWS
FOUND IN HIS EARLIER VILLAS. UNLIKE HIS CONTEMPORARIES,
CORBUSIER OFTEN CHOSE TO USE TIMBER WINDOWS RATHER THAN
METAL ONES.
DESIGN FEATURES

• Cubism began to appear in the first part of the 20th century. Cubist art often
displayed its subject using a series of geometric planes, allowing the viewer to
see multiple angles in one piece.
• It has a basic fundamental of resolving things into straight lines and creating
architecture out of pure geometric forms, solids and planes- Cubes, Cuboids,
Spheres and Cones.
• The geometric abstraction present in Cubist paintings became a pivotal
influence on modernism.
• Le Corbusier was the first painter who took pure forms as the subject of his
paintings.
Left: Woman
with a guitar, by
Georges Braque,
1913
Right: Le
Guitarist Pablo
Picasso 1910

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LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE…
He established the recognizable style of the 1940s by providing a working
vernacular for modernist American design. His earlier work in Germany
focused on transforming the skyscraper from a uniform stone block to a
more fluid and technically advanced structure.
He was one of the first architects to use the glass wall or curtain as a thin
"skin" over the "skeleton" of the building's structure. His first executed
buildings in the United States were in Chicago—the Promontory
Apartments (1948-1949) and the pair of apartment towers for 860-880
Lake Shore Drive (1948-1951). Both relied heavily on steel grids framing
long ribbons of glass.

LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS:
 Mies designed a series of four middle-income
high-rise apartment buildings for developer
Herb Greenwald (which was built between
1949 and 1951) Lake Shore Drive towers on
Chicago's Lakefront.
 These towers, with façades of steel and glass,
were radical departures from the typical
residential brick apartment buildings of the
time.
 The towers were simple rectangular boxes with
a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on
stilts above a glass enclosed lobby. The lobby is
set back from the perimeter columns, which
were exposed around the perimeter of the
building above, creating a modern arcade not
unlike those of the Greek temples.
 This configuration created a feeling of light,
openness, and freedom of movement at the
ground level that became the prototype for
countless new towers designed both by Mies's
office and his followers.

Seagram Building (Phillip Johnson & Mies van Der Rohe)
• Completed 1957
• New York, NY (park
avenue)
• Ludwig Mies van Der
Rohe (and Phillip
Johnson)
While Gropius and Le Corbusier made ample use of
reinforced concrete, pure glass-and-steel construction in
the international style was perfected by Mies van der
Rohe (another director of the Bauhaus), who believed so
firmly in eliminating all embellishment that his guiding
principle was simply "less is more".
 Mies brought the international style to the height of its
influence, as descendants of his glass-and-steel
skyscrapers appeared in every corner of the globe.20 The
Seagram Building in New York, essentially a steel frame
sheathed in curtains of glass, is often considered his
masterpiece.
Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external
H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth
beyond what was structurally necessary.
Johnson collaborated with Mies van der Rohe to design
a 39-story skyscraper in 1958. After completion Johnson
moved from his glass and steel tower buildings to
designing spectacular crystalline structures sheathed in
glass.

Contemporary with the "Bauhaus age" was the career of the greatest American architect,
Frank Lloyd Wright, who (like Corbusier) focused primarily on residential designs.
Wright sought to make his buildings organic; that is, to adjust their layouts and features until
they merge with their surroundings, rather than imposing a rectangular box of a house on any
given locale. Wright felt that a house should not be located "on" a site, but rather be a natural
extension of the site
The exterior walls of a Wright house are articulated in a relatively complex, asymmetrical
manner (so as to avoid a stiff, "boxy" appearance), and the house is often visually united with
the earth via broad, flat surfaces parallel with the ground (e.g. eaves, cantilevered balconies).
Interiors are open and flowing (rather than mechanically subdivided into small rooms), and
ample windows (including windows that bend around corners) throughout the house merge the
interior with the world outside.
A mixture of building materials (e.g. brick, wood, stone, concrete) further contributes to the
sense of the house as an organic feature of the landscape.
Organic Development

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Despite the contrast between functionalism and Wright's "organicism", both
are clearly modern (i.e. not based on anything traditional), and consequently
similar in appearance to a significant degree. Wright shared the functionalist
appreciation for rectilinear geometry and plain, undecorated surfaces. One
could categorize Wright's architecture as a branch of the international style.
Wright's first great works were his Prairie Houses, built in the Midwest; best-
known among them is Robie House in Chicago. His most famous building is
Fallingwater, Pennsylvania, while his foremost urban work is the Guggenheim
Museum in New York
Robie House Fallingwater Guggenheim Museum

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
 THOUGH HE BEGAN IN THE STARK STYLE OF MIES VAN DER ROHE’S WORK,
BY THE 1960S HE HAD TURNED TO A MORE INDIVIDUAL STYLE THAT
INCORPORATED HISTORICAL ELEMENTS.
 HIS GREATEST INFLUENCE AS AN ARCHITECT WAS HIS USE OF GLASS.
 JOHNSON WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO EXPERIMENT WITH ALL-GLASS
FACADES, AND BY THE 1980S SUCH BUILDINGS HAD BECOME COMMONPLACE
THE WORLD OVER.
 HE EVENTUALLY REJECTED MUCH OF THE METALLIC APPEARANCE OF
EARLIER INTERNATIONAL STYLE BUILDINGS, AND BEGAN DESIGNING
SPECTACULAR, CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURES UNIFORMLY SHEATHED IN GLASS.
 HE BELIEVES IN "ARCHITECTURE IS BASICALLY THE DESIGN OF INTERIORS,
THE ART OF ORGANIZING INTERIOR SPACE."
 WITH THE LATER WORK OF THE 1970S AND 1980S, JOHNSON BEGAN TO
MANIPULATE BOTH TEXTURE AND COLOR ON THE EXTERIOR OF HIS LARGER
BUILDINGS.

WORKS
GLASS HOUSE ,NEW CANAAN(1949)
 ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL YET LEAST FUNCTIONAL HOUSES
 TRANSPARENT OPEN-PLAN FRAME STRUCTURE WHICH WAS HIS OWN RESIDENCE.
 IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY MIES' FARNSWORTH HOUSE
 BATH IN BRICK CYLINDER.
 INCLUDES OUTDOOR SCULPTURE AND A SEPARATE BLANK-WALLED BRICK GUEST
HOUSE
 SPATIAL DIVISIONS IN THE GLASS BUILDING ARE ACHIEVED BY A BRICK CYLINDER
CONTAINING A BATHROOM, AND BY LOW WALNUT CABINETS—ONE OF THEM
CONTAINING KITCHEN EQUIPMENT.
 IT WAS A BUILDING REALLY EXPRESSING MANY CONCERNS OF CLASSIC DESIGN, FROM
THE ELEVATED PLACEMENT OF AN OBJECT IN A SPACE, TO ITS SERENE PROPORTION,
GENERAL OVERALL SYMMETRY, AND COMBINING OF A BALANCE OF ELEMENTS

 Built in 1949 as Johnson’s primary residence.
Set in the landscape with views as its real “walls”
 The building’s sides are made of glass and charcoal painted steel; floor is brink, not
flush with ground but sits 10 inches above
 Interior is open separated by low walnut cabinets
 A brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object that goes from floor
to ceiling.
 Johnson continued to add new architectural essays to his Glass House Estate
The Glass House:
His Masterpiece

Each building in his Glass House complex in New Canaan was an exploration of a new
interest, and he was able to leave them as a historic collage of his interests.. He
referred to the Glass House site as his “fifty-year diary.”
The Brick House The Pond Pavilion Painting Gallery
Sculpture Gallery The Ghost House Da Monsta

Simple rectangular plan 56’-0” x 32’-0”

Glass walls
Steel frame structure
Wooden block flooring
Chairs designed by
Mies van der rohe

EARLY MODERN ERA

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