Modern architecture originated in the late 19th century in Europe and the United States and spread worldwide. It is characterized by an emphasis on simplicity, clarity of form, exposed structure, and the use of industrial materials like iron, steel, and concrete. Important early modern architects included Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Mies van der Rohe. Their pioneering designs embraced new technologies and rejected ornamentation in favor of forms following functions. I.M. Pei is a renowned modernist known for his large-scale, geometric glass and steel buildings that result from original design concepts rather than adherence to theory or style.

1. Modern Architecture
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2. Introduction
Modern Architecture:
• the buildings and building practices of the late 19th and the 20th centuries.
• The history of modern architecture encompasses the architects who designed those
buildings, stylistic movements, and the technology and materials that made the new
architecture possible.
• Modern architecture originated in the United States and Europe and spread from
there to the rest of the world.
• Among notable early modern architectural projects are exuberant and richly
decorated buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, by Charles Rennie Mackintosh;
imaginative designs for a city of the future by Italian visionary Antonio Sant’Elia; and
houses with flowing interior spaces and projecting roofs by the American pioneer of
modernism, Frank Lloyd Wright.
• Important modern buildings that came later, include the sleek villas of Swiss-French
architect Le Corbusier; bold new factories in Germany by Peter Behrens and Walter
Gropius; and steel and glass skyscrapers designed by German-born architect Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe
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3. IDEOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE
“As long as we are used to proceeding by reasoning, as long as we have a principle, any
compositional task is possible, if not easy, and follows an orderly, methodical path,
the results of which, though they may not be masterpieces, are at the very lest fine,
acceptable pieces of work that can have style"
~ Wugène Viollet-le-duc
Lectures on Architecture, 1881.
"It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and
metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true
manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its
expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law.“
~ Louis Sullivan (1896). "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered"
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4. CHARACTERISTICS
Common themes of modern architecture include:
• the notion that "Form follows function", a dictum originally expressed by Frank Lloyd
Wright's early mentor Louis Sullivan, meaning that the result of design should derive
directly from its purpose
• simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of "unnecessary detail"
• materials at 90 degrees to each other
• visual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural elements)
• the related concept of "Truth to materials", meaning that the true nature or natural
appearance of a material ought to be seen rather than concealed or altered to
represent something else
• use of industrially-produced materials; adoption of the machine aesthetic
• particularly in International Style modernism, a visual emphasis on horizontal and
vertical lines
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5. NEW MATERIAL AND TECHNOLOGY
• Developments in two materials—iron and concrete—formed the technological basis
for much modern architecture.
• In 1779 English architect Thomas Pritchard designed the first structure built entirely of
cast iron: Ironbridge, a bridge over the River Severn in England.
• At around the same time, another Englishman experimented with a compound of
lime, clay, sand, and iron slag to produce concrete.
• Iron had been used since antiquity to tie building elements together, but after the
erection of Ironbridge it took on a new role as a primary structural material.
• Builders throughout Europe and North America began to erect warehouses with
beams of iron instead of wood and to create storefronts with cast-iron façades.
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6. • One of the most spectacular examples of early iron construction was the Crystal
Palace in London, England, designed by English architect Joseph Paxton to house
the Great Exhibition of 1851. Spreading over 7.3 hectares (18 acres), the building
consisted entirely of panels of glass set within iron frames. Paxton adapted two major
features of the Industrial Revolution to the architecture of the Crystal Palace: mass
production (in the manufactured glass panels and iron frames) and the use of iron
rather than traditional masonry (stones or brick). He managed to erect this vast
building in less than six months, a feat he accomplished by detailed planning and by
prefabrication of the building parts off-site.
• In 1889 French engineer Gustave Eiffel carried forward Paxton's daringideas for iron
construction in his 300-m (984-ft) tall Eiffel Tower in Paris. Steel for construction also
became abundantly available in the 19th century.
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7. INFLUENTIAL ARCHITECTS
Notable architects important to the history and development of the modernist movement
include:
• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
• Le Corbusier
• Walter Gropius
• Erich Mendelsohn
• Frank Lloyd Wright
• Louis Sullivan
• Gerrit Rietveld
• Bruno Taut
• Arne Jacobsen
• Oscar Niemeyer
• Alvar Aalto
• I.M.PEI
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8. I.M.PEI
“I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it
must be built on a foundation of necessity.”
—I.M. Pei
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9. Design PHILOSOPHY
• Due to his reliance on abstract form and materials such as stone, concrete, glass,
and steel, Pei has been considered a disciple of Walter Gropius.
• However, Pei shows little concern with theory. He does not believe that architecture
must find forms to express the times or that it should remain isolated from
commercial forces.
• Pei generally designs sophisticated glass clad buildings loosely related to the
high-tech movement.
• However, many of his designs result from original design concepts. He frequently
works on a large scale and is renowned for his sharp, geometric designs.
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