Chapter 8 early modern architecture

1. Chapter 8
Early Modern
Architecture

2. There were many points of intersection between cubism and modern
architecture, but there was no direct link between them. Most often
the connections between cubist painting and modern architecture
were made by reference to common formal qualities such as
fragmentation, spatial ambiguity, transparency, and multiplicity.
Cubism in architecture led to simplification of building design, the
use of materials appropriate to industrial production, and the
increased use of glass.
The first attempts to create a classical modernist architecture were
not successful. Cubism in architecture was apparent only on the
facades of buildings. The structure remained the same.

3. Henry Hobson Richardson,
• the son of a cotton merchant,
transformed 19th century
architectural design in the United
States.
• ranks alongside Frank Lloyd Wright
and Louis Sullivan in his contribution
to American Architecture.
• style, based on Romanesque art,
influenced the Romanesque Revival
in America.
• buildings had a significant impact on
the Chicago School of architecture
and skyscraper designs.
“Form Follows Function”: The Chicago
School and the Origins of the Skyscraper
Henry Hobson Richardson .
Marshall Field Wholesale
Store (1885-7) Chicago.
Demolished 1931.

4. William Le Baron Jenney
• was an American civil engineer and architect
whose technical innovations were essential
in the development of the skyscraper.
• Jenney’s Home Insurance Company Building
in Chicago is considered to be the world’s
first tall building supported by an internal
frame, a skeleton, of iron and steel rather
than by load-bearing walls.
• This was also the firstbuilding to incorporate
steel as a structural material.
William Le Baron Jenney. Home
Insurance Company Building,
Chicago (1884–85; enlarged 1891;
demolished 1931).

5. Louis H. Sullivan
• was the most important American architect of
the 19th century. He is considered the “Father
of the Skyscraper.”
• In the 1890s, the steel skeleton skyscraper
was an unique American building type. The
Guaranty Building, which opened in 1896, is
recognized as an outstanding example of his
innovations.
• Early skyscrapers used strong horizontal
lines to downplay their verticality. Sullivan
used a bold architectural style that would
express the confidence and prosperity of the
United States at the end of the 19th century.
Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty
Building. Completed: 1896.
Buffalo, NY.

6. Richard Morris Hunt
• designed many notable buildings by
combining historical architectural
aesthetics with modern technology.
• played a crucial role in the
development of architectural
practice and education in the United
States.
• was a founding member and leader
of the American Institute of
Architects.
• designed the Statue of Liberty's
pedestal commissioned by the
American Committee for the Statue
of Liberty.
World's Columbian Exposition /
Daniel Burnham and Frederick
Law Olmsted

7. The most creative American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, spent his
formative years in Chicago, where he found employment as chief
assistant for Louis Sullivan.
By 1900 Prairie architecture matured, and Frank Lloyd Wright was its
most important player.
The Prairie school became widely recognized for its radical approach to
building modern residential structures.
Utilizing mass-produced materials, the Prairie architects opted for bold,
plain walls, roomy family living areas, comfort, convenience, and
spaciousness achieve economically.
Modernism in Harmony with Nature:
Frank Lloyd Wright

8. • In the Ward Willits House of 1902,
we see the development of Frank
Lloyd Wright’s design system.
• Four wings extend in a cross
shape providing more space than
could be achieved in a square or
rectangular layout.
• This floor plan along with broad
overhanging eaves and a hipped
roof, would become the trademark
of the Prairie house.
• Wright also designed most of the
furniture in the house.
Frank Lloyd Wright. Ward Willits
House. 1902. Highland Park,
Illinois.
Early Houses

9. Dana-Thomas House
• is the best preserved and most complete
of Frank Lloyd Wright's early "Prairie"
houses.
• was designed and built between 1902
and 1904 for Springfield women's activist
Susan Lawrence Dana. Dana was an
independently wealthy, progressive
woman.
• Is a twelve-thousand-square-foot
structure. Its rooms, flow naturally into
one another.
• Dana-Thomas House was Wright’s most
elaborate residential commission.
Frank Lloyd Wright. Dana-
Thomas House. 1902-04.
Springfield, IL.

10. • Wright’s radical approach to
home design provided a new
aesthetic for living spaces, and
it created the opportunity for
more flexible, informal
lifestyles.
• Wright created a residential
design with a horizontal
roofline, and a wide-open living
space at its center.
• The ranch-style homes that
spread across the American
landscape are directly related to
Wright’s architectural
philosophy and style.
Frank Lloyd Wright. Robie House and
plan. Completed 1910. Chicago, IL.

11. The Larkin Building
• Established in 1875, the Larkin
Company was a national mail-order
business that sold soap products.
• The interior and exterior design, and
furnishings reflected the daily
operations of the company.
• The structure included
• an early form of air conditioning,
• a communal dining facility,
classrooms,
• and lounge area with a fireplace
promoted a congenial office
culture.
Frank Lloyd Wright . Larkin
Company Administration
Building.1903.
Buffalo, NY.

12. Mid-Career Crisis
• Wright’s mid-life crisis arose as he
approached forty.
• he was feeling trapped, and began to
question his life, his marriage and his work.
This led to tragic events that changed the
trajectory of his career and of his
philosophy.
• His work was profoundly changed from this
time onward. Influenced by ancient art and
cultures.
The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo featured Wright's
light fixtures and Prairie Style furniture, and
overlooked the lush landscape of Hibiya Park
and the Palace grounds.
Frank Lloyd Wright. The
Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.
1912-23

13. Pennsylvania Station
• a railroad station in New York City, named for the
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its original tenant.
• occupied 8 acres, was designed by McKim, Mead,
and White and completed in 1910.
• By 1950s it started to decline and railroad
company sold it.
• 1963, the above-ground structures were
demolished, prompting the modern historic
preservation movement.
• below-ground areas were renovated, becoming
the modern Pennsylvania Station. Madison
Square Garden and Pennsylvania Plaza were built
above.
Pennsylvania Station.
View from the northeast
in the 1910s.
Temples for the Modern City:
American Classicism 1900-15

14. • After the devastation of the 1906
earthquake and fire, San Francisco
started to rebuild.
• In 1910, business and civic leaders
started to discuss organizing a
grand exposition in San Francisco,
that would honor the completion of
the Panama Canal.
• Built on 635 acres on the San
Francisco Bay, the exposition
featured 11 great exhibit palaces.
• More than 1,500 sculptures were
commissioned from artists all over
the world.
Bernard Maybeck. Palace of Fine
Arts.
1915. San Francisco.

15. New Simplicity Versus Art Nouveau:
Visions before World War I
Otto Wagner, Postal Savings
Bank. 1905. Vienna.
Otto Wagner
• wrote in his 1896
manifesto Modern
Architecture, about
architecture designed for
efficiency.
• used fashion as an
example in support of his
theory.
• envisioned a stylish sleek,
and practical architecture
for a wide range of uses.

16. Adolf Loos. The Steiner House.
1910. Viena, Austria.
Adolf Loos
• designed and constructed the Steiner house in Vienna, Austria, in
1910.
• The zoning allowed construction of one-story house at the street level.
• Loos designed an arched a metal mansard roof down to the ceiling of
the ground floor. The top of the roof was flat and made of wood-and-
cement. The back of the house is more conventional.

17. Tradition and Innovation: The German
Contribution to Modern Architecture
The Wedding Tower
• consists of a base with entrance, off-
center bands of windows carrying
around the corners and copper clad
crown.
• inspired the skyscraper architecture in
United States.
• was built in honor of the marriage of
the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig and
Princess Eleonore of Solms-
Hohensolms-Lich in 1905.
Joseph Maria Olbrich. The Wedding
Tower. 1907 -08.

18. Behrens and Industrial Design
The AEG Turbine Factory, in Berlin,
• was Behrens’ first factory design.
• The structure was to house the
main assembly hall.
• It had to accommodate two large
cranes, for lifting 100 tons turbine
parts over the machines on the
assembly floor.
• As an artist, Behrens was able to
give meaning to the form of the
factory building; that that eluded
engineers.
Peter Behrens, Turbine Factory,
1909-10.

19. Henry Clemens Van de Velde.
Werkbund-Theater. 1913-14.
Cologne. Demolished 1920.
Expressionism in Architecture
Henry Clemens van de Velde
• was a painter, architecture and
interior designer.
• believed that architecture could
help in reforming society - based
on the model of the curriculum of
the Grand Ducal School of Arts
and Crafts in Weimar, Germany.
• In 1919 the school merged with
the Weimer Academy of Fine Art
under the direction of Walter
Gropius and became the
Bauhaus.

20. The Einstein Tower
• is an astrophysical observatory in the
Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam,
Germany.
• was designed by Erich Mendelsohn.
• built at a time of inflation and widespread
economic hardship;
• the Bauhaus focused on cost-effective,
functional and modern design for housing.
• In 1925, the Bauhaus in Weimar was shut
down.
• That same year, Gropius built the famous
Bauhaus Dessau.
The Einsteinturm or
Einstein Tower in Potsdam,
Germany

21. Berlage and Van de Velde
• The first stock exchange in the
Netherlands was set up by the Dutch
East India Company (VOC) in 1602.
• At the end of the 19th century, trade was
flourishing.
• In 1896, the Amsterdam administration
approved the construction of the new
stock exchange.
• Van de Velde was another contributor to
the development of the International
Style.
Toward the International Style:
The Netherlands and Belgium
Hendrik Petrus Berlage. Stock
Exchange. 1898-1903.
Amsterdam.

22. Rue Franklin Apartments
• established Perret’s reputation.
• structure regarded as one of the very
important works of 20th-century
architecture.
• Perret used a reinforced concrete frame
(the Hennebique system).
• Its internal organization anticipated Le
Corbusier's development of the free
plan.
• Perret deliberately made the apartment
partition walls nonstructural.
New Materials, New Visions:
France in the Early Twentieth Century
Rue Franklin Apartments,
Auguste Perret. 1902-03
Paris.

23. Auguste Perret
• elevated concrete an aesthetically
acceptable material which
• contributed to the building's
international recognition.
• didn’t cover the concrete with more
expensive materials..
• Used simplicity of design which
made this structure a transitional
element in twentieth century
architecture.
Auguste Perret. Notre-Dame
du Raincy Church. 1922-23.