Contemporary architecture is the architecture of the 21st century. It aims to break away from standard processes and thinking and is innovative. No single style is dominant, as contemporary architects work in postmodern, high-tech, and expressive styles. It features curved lines, composite volumes, new materials like glass and plants, large windows, and environmental considerations. Famous examples include Walt Disney Concert Hall with billowing stainless steel, Galaxy Soho with connected spherical structures, and Congregation Beth Sholom with an imposing pyramidal roof.

1. CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

2. • Contemporary architecture is the architecture of the 21st
century.
• No single style is dominant; contemporary architects are
working in several different styles, from postmodernism
and high-tech architecture to highly conceptual and
expressive forms and designs.
• It is the movement where modern styles blend, sharing
various features.
• Contemporary architecture aims to break away from the
processes and ways of thinking that have become standard.
It is innovative.
INTRODUCTION

3. • These buildings feature concrete structures
wrapped in glass or aluminum screens, very
asymmetric facades, and cantilevered sections
which hang over the street. Skyscrapers twist, or
break into crystal-like facets. Facades are designed
to shimmer or change color at different times of
day.
• Most elements of contemporary architecture are borrowed
from the modern architecture movement of the early and
mid-twentieth century.
• This includes clean lines and neatness.
INTRODUCTION

4. What Contemporary
Architecture Is Not ?
• Contemporary architecture isn’t an
architectural movement.
• Architectural movements, like the
Baroque, Futurism, or Modernism, are
always associated with a precise
historical period and Contemporary
architecture is not one of them.
• It is not a school of thought. This
means that contemporary architecture
can offer a multitude of architectural
choices, provided that they stand out
from what is normally done.
• However, the high level of variety
doesn’t stop some common traits from
being observable within contemporary
architecture.

5. FORM
• Contemporary architecture
tends to distance itself from
straight lines by opting more for
curved lines, instead.
• In some cases, a building is
entirely designed around curved
lines.
COMPOSITION OF VOLUMES
• When contemporary
architecture does make use of
straight lines, meaning that the
unit of volume is a cube.
• It attempts to assemble these
cubes in surprising ways so as to
create a distinctive composition
of volumes.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

6. NEW MATERIALS
• It aims at the use of new
materials for both the
interior and the exterior.
• Traditional materials like
glass, wood, brick, and
metals are preferred.
• Plants also have their place
within contemporary
architecture, particularly on
roofs and walls.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

7. WINDOWS
• Larger and more plentiful
windows are also a
characteristic of contemporary
architecture.
• Multiple openings and their
uncommon positioning,
panoramic windows, window
walls, and skylights have all
entered the playing field.
• It makes full use of the sunlight:
first of all as natural lighting,
and secondly, to take advantage
of passive solar heating.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

8. ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSIDERATIONS
• In contemporary architecture,
sustainable elements are required.
• The use of photovoltaic cells,
geothermal heating, heat pumps,
heat exchangers, and thermal
collectors is considered.
• The purpose is not only to protect the
surroundings from disturbance, but
to turn them into one of the
architectural elements that gives the
home its own, special character.
• Contemporary architecture allows
you to build a home that far exceeds
current environmental standards.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

9. ANIMATED
ARCHITECTURE
• Sophisticated exterior building
lighting, projections on facades
that are often capable of
interacting with passers-by
and water, which has
reappeared in the form of
fountains of every type,
waterfalls, and jets of water
that may even be coloured.
• The idea is to make the building
feel more alive and to make its
outer portions more animated.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

10. REINFORCED CONCRETE
ADVANCES
• Reinforced concrete has a wide
use in contemporary architecture.
• It can be moulded reinforced
concrete into almost any shape
imaginable.
• With it, you can create visually-
appealing buildings while being
budget-friendly.
• Once you reinforce it with
materials like steel, it can be
erected in ways hard to find in
other buildings.
• It is easier to achieve curved lines
in reinforced concrete.
FEATURES OF CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE

11. • WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, LOS
ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
FAMOUS CONTEMPORAY BUILDINGS
•Designed by Frank Gehry
in 2003.
• The structure’s exterior
features expanses of
stainless steel that billow
above Grand Avenue.
• While inside, similarly
shaped panels of Douglas
fir line the auditorium.

12. • GALAXY SOHO, CHINA
FAMOUS CONTEMPORAY BUILDINGS
•Designed by Zaha Hadid
in 2009.
•Galaxy Soho, a retail,
office, and entertainment
complex in Beijing.
• It comprises four
spherical structures clad in
aluminum and stone that
are bound together by
pedestrian bridges.

13. • CONGREGATION BETH
SHOLOM
FAMOUS CONTEMPORAY BUILDINGS
•Designed by Frank Llyod Wright
in 1954.
•An imposing temple rising in a
Philadelphia suburb, is a singular
piece of modernist religious
architecture.
•The grand pyramidal roof, with
inclined walls of translucent
fiberglass and plastic, built on
three steel beams, allows light in
and takes on a golden glow
during the sunset.
• The shadows of birds flying
above are visible during a sunny
day.