At the end of
World War I, a cultural relaxation in Germany led to a radical experimentation
in the arts and architecture. The left
wing in the arts were affected by Russian Constructivism…. “art as a practice
for social purposes.” Walter Gropius founded a school of the arts in
Weimar where all the arts would be brought together as a total. (1)
Zuev Workers' Club, 1928. A. V. Shchusev State Research Museum of
Architecture; Moscow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(art)#/media/File:Zuev.jpg
Unlike the
Russian politicalizing of the arts, Gropius stated that the Bauhaus was totally
apolitical. “The design innovations commonly
associated with Gropius and
the Bauhaus—the radically simplified forms, the rationality and functionality,
and the idea that mass-production was reconcilable with the individual artistic
spirit”….were begun in 1907 to influence mass production. (2) Later the Bauhaus teachings
influenced everything from type fonts to fabrics as well as architecture.
While the Bauhaus
style was becoming, “one of the
most influential currents in modern design, and Modernist and architectural
education,”(1) Hitler was rising to power. The school was closed by its leaders in 1933
after pressure by the Nazis. Most of the
instructors fled overseas and continued to spread the Bauhaus theories of
design world wide.
After World
War II, Bauhaus Modernism evolved into what we call now, the International
Style. This “major architectural style…emerged in the 1920s and
1930s, …defined by Americans Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip
Johnson in 1932.” (3)
The was emphasis more on architectural style, form and aesthetics than
the social aspects of the modern movement in Europe.”(3)
The International
Style was known for its common
characteristics of “i. rectilinear forms; ii. light, taut plane surfaces that
have been completely stripped of applied ornamentation and decoration; iii.
open interior spaces; iv. a visually weightless quality engendered by the use of
cantilever construction. Glass and steel, in combination with usually less
visible reinforced concrete, are the characteristic materials of the
construction. (3)
Brutalism grew
out of the international style. It’s a
heavy adaptation of this earlier movement, and “flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. …The term
originates from the French word for "raw" …used by Le Corbusier to
describe his choice of material béton brut (raw
concrete.” (4) In the 1980’s, institutional
architects eagerly moved to Brutalism, and in many cities today we find these
bulky buildings representing safety and security in the minds of the average
citizen.
Growing out of the International style and Postmodernist
architecture, Deconstructivism… began
in the late 1950s. It is
influenced by the theory of "Deconstruction", which is a form of semioticanalysis. It is characterized by fragmentation, an
interest in manipulating a structure's surface, skin, non-rectilinear shapes
which appear to distort and dislocate elements of
architecture, such as structure and envelope. The finished visual appearance of buildings that
exhibit deconstructivist "styles" is characterized by
unpredictability and controlled chaos. (5)
East face of the Imperial War Museum North by the Salford Quays. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Previous Articles in this Abbreviation on
Western Architecture:
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture
Brutalism (4)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism (5)
I've never cared for the Brutalism style. Chicago has some really interesting architecture as well.
ReplyDeleteChicago was where the skyscraper was born. It was very exciting to see this first buildings when I toured the city five years ago.
DeleteInteresting that the Nazi's cared anything about architectural art/design--that they cared enough to force a closure of the art building.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't like modern art or architecture, and in this case, they closed a school.
DeleteI don't like Brutalism, either. I do like the current minimalism style though, and some aspects of mid-century modern. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the architecture history lesson! Very cool!
Have you read The Paris ARchitect? It is not too much about architecture but about an architect trying to work during the Nazi invasion and having to work for them. What is all that crazy architecture that is in Orlando and Las Vegas called? Carnival?
ReplyDeleteNo, but I will look for it. No too, I don't think it has a name.
Delete