Lecture 2 MODERN A R C H I T E C T U R E (Since 20th Century)

THE RISE OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE It was more than sixty years ago that a group of continental architects as Mies, Le Corbusier , Frank Lloyd Wright made a revolt against the old traditional lines and adopted initially almost a new revolutionary style in character that is modern architecture. Architecture in old days was a commodity of the rich and powerful and so it was mainly confined to the construction of religious buildings, palaces, castles, mansions, monuments and final resting places. The construction was based on the principle of social pyramid, with small minority of rich, powerful on top and large majority of common people at its bottom. Now the social pyramids peak has disappeared; at the same time the base has been broadened. The modern architecture since then has developed to suit the masses. The Modern Movement came into being because a new spirit of its age required it. It had no influences of geographical, geological, climatic conditions, social and religious customs. Now nobody desires palaces, castles, mansions etc. but instead we need mass housing, shopping centres, factories, office buildings, bus-terminals, ail-road sheds, airports etc. These types of buildings are now a part of our daily lives. But these did not even exist before 1850. Indeed, the architects had very hard time for finding the right style for these new fangled structures. MODERN MATERIALS AND NEW TECHNIQUES Never in the history of architecture we have noticed so radical changes as in its construction and planning. Due to the population explosion, new developments occurred in almost every field of human endeavour. But these developments were nowhere more wonderful than in the field of architecture. Stone, bricks, timber and tiles are of course materials which, from time immemorial, have been greatly used in the construction of buildings, large or small, single or complex and are still employed structurally in the traditional way. The wonderful modern architecture considerably improved and superceded all the old styles in variety and design with the invention of new techniques.

Steel became the most suitable structural material for framing of huge cellular buildings. It also helped to produce greater uninterrupted spans over openings. In the beginning the steel was used as truss-members but soon the age old method was given up. The new technology helped to use it over great halls in unified frames composed of three dimensions. Steel members rolled in variety of shapes such as plates, angles, I-beams, etc. are joined, riveted and even welded. This resulted into rigid continuous structures thus producing a fundamental change in architectural design. The use of reinforced cement concrete has produced distinctly new breed of buildings such as sky scrapers. Massive stone walls are now replaced by thin R.C.C. curtain walls thus producing large interior spaces. Roofs have taken wide range of shapes from flat to barrel vaults, to shell roof; hemispherical domes to hyperbolic paraboloid domes. Prestressed concrete has helped beyond imagination in the construction of bridges and hangers of Air Ships etc. Glass transparent to ultra violet (for growth) rays but opaque to infra-red (heat) rays are extensively used instead of shades, blinds and curtains. Sheets of one way glass are largely employed in windows. Lamination, consisting of glued layers of wood, has helped to form beams and arches to cover a large span than the natural wood. Plywood and other thin boards enable us to cover large surfaces without extensive frame-work. Plastics are available in wide range of beautiful colours. They are almost all-proof and available in the form of sheets, rod, rolls and pipes.

THE GREAT ARCHITECTS OF MODERN AGE The crucial principles of 20th century architecture were laid down by three masters; Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. But these three did not do it alone. Indeed there were many other exponents of modern architecture but these three appear to be more significant than their contemporaries because they were greater as artists. Among the pioneer architects Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) was unique as a leading exponent of Romantic movement called Art Nouveau, which began in 1880. He was a notable designer of commercial buildings. The Walker House he constructed at Chicago-Illinois in 1888-89 is a standing masterpiece of the pioneer phase of modern architecture; he stretched the arches up to the attic floor to increase its aesthetic appeal. Fig.1. Walker Warehouse

The first sky scraper he built is Wain Wright Building at Missouri in 1890-91 (Fig.2.). It is a tenstoreyed steel framed building which provided a better solution for the elevation of the sky-scraper.

Fig.2. Wain Wright Building at Missouri (1890-91) His other similar 13-storeyed sky-scraper is the Guaranty Building-Buffalo, N.Y., built in 1895 (Fig.3). The Department Store-Chicago, Illinois, built in 1899 was originally 19 storeyed high. Its ground and first floors have metal friezes beautifully decorated. His other noteworthy creation is the National Farmers Bank-Owatonna-Minnesota (1907-08) which is characterised by the bold and powerful decorate details

Fig.3 Guaranty Building-Buffalo, N.Y. (1895)

Fig.4 Pirie and Scott Department Store, Chicago

Fig.5 National Farmers Bank-Owatonna-Minnesota (1907-08)

Washington Roebling built Brooklyn Bridge (Fig.6), the unique suspension bridge, which was the tallest structure in New York in 1883. It was designed by his father John Roebling.

Fig.6 Brooklyn Bridge, New York The Eiffel Tower (Fig.7), 300m high built for the French exhibition of 1889, became the landmark of modern Paris. Joseph Paxton, a landscape designer, constructed Crystal Palace at London in 1851 (Fig.8). The huge exhibition hall of iron and glass providing indeterminate space became typical of modern architecture.

Fig.7 Eiffel Tower, Paris (1889)

Fig.8. Crystal Palace, London (1851)

Peter Behrens (1868-1938) made substantial change in industrial design by geometrical forms in architecture and function. He designed and constructed A.E.G. Turbine Factory Berlin in 1909 (Fig.9). Here he combined the scaled geometry of romantic classic form with machined materials.

Fig.9. A.E.G. Turbine Factory Berlin in 1909

WALTER GROPIUS: Walter Gropius (1883-1969), a student of Behrens and a refugee from Nazism came to Harvard University in about 1937. His Fagus Factory-Leine (Fig.10), Germany constructed in 1910-14 is a prototype of modern architecture. The free standing glass sheets design is unique in many ways. He also built a Model Factory-Werkbund Exhibition at Cologne in 1914. In 1925, he went to Dessau where he formed the Bauhaus the notable architecture school, consisting of studios, assembly halls, workshops etc. His book The New Architecture and the Bauhaus 1935 made a wide influence on architectural development. Fig.10. Fagus Factory, Alfred-an-der-leine, near Dresdon, Germany, by Walter Gropius, built in 1911. This factory for making shoelaces was modelled after the industrial architecture of Buffalo, New York. It had a steel frame and the walls of the section were glass curtains (not load-bearing).

During this time, R.C.C. was used largely in all the structures, after finding its further potentialities. MaxBerg (1870) constructed a most daring structure The Centennial Hall at Berslan in 1913. The glazed dome over it in R.C.C. is nearly 65m in diameter. It is a marvellous structure in RC.C. with its arches looming above in twisted curve.

Eugene Freyssinet (1879-1962) another engineer used concrete very economically for the construction of the parabolic-vaulted Airship Hangar at Orly near Paris in 1961 (Fig.11). It was destroyed in the Second World War.

Fig.11. Airship Hangar at Orly (1961)

Another Swiss Engineer Robert Maillart (1872-1940) used new innovations for the construction of the Salginatobel Bridge in 1929-30 (Fig.12.) where he employed flat-slab method. Here the curved slab supports a flat one. The bridge has elegance and beauty. It laid the foundation for bridge-architecture. Fig.12. Salginatobel Bridge (1929-30)

MIES VAN DER ROHE: Another notable architect after the First World War was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969). He was a native of German Rhineland but later became a citizen of the U.S. He was also a pupil of Behrens. He became the director of Bauhaus in 1930. He constructed a number of projects during his 30 years practice in Europe. He came to the U.S. in 1930 to escape Nazi oppression. He was then nearly 50 when he started his career in U.S. He went to Chicago where he headed the Illinois School of Technology. There he saw the early Chicago sky-scrapers built in 1880-1890 which made him instantly aware of the technologically advanced prefabricated systems of U.S. But they were modest in height, rarely over 14-storeyed high. He also noticed their crudity, ill-proportioned frames and windows. These early steel-skeleton sky-scrapers inevitably appealed to him who has characterised his architectural ideal as almost nothing-beinahe nichts. The sky-scrapers he built are tall elevator buildings over 30-40 storeyed high, completely supported by the skeletal framing of veined metal sheathed with pristine glass to coax as much light as possible. The interior accommodation is provided by freely displayed light partitions connected with inner pillars of structural frame. His building came to be known as Miesian. It is sure to govern the

shape of our buildings for many years to come. From United States his style spread throughout the world and it has now become almost international style. In German mies means poor or bad. Hence he added the noble van der Rohe from his mothers maiden name. When his quality of construction was internationally recognised, the same name mies ironically enough became synonymous for precision, refinement and elegance. His almost nothing is a trap for the simple-minded. By this he meant that architecture develops so intimately from its structure as to seem its inevitable consequences, and it became the starting point of architectural aesthetic. He further extended his ideal with his well-known aphorisin less is more. As per his opinion, less became more when one experiences the building as an intensely beautiful thing in itself. The early sky-scrapers had been sheathed in some fireproofing materials like terra-cotta as such their structural skeleton was out of view. Mies made it visual by attaching steel sections outside the fire proofing. In his Lakeshore Apartment (Fig.13), built in 1951 at Chicago Illinois, he exposed the columns on the exterior and welded vertical metal I-beams to the frames, forward of columns and mullions alike. In Seagram Building, the 40 storeyed structure he built in New York (1956-58), the vertical I-beams dominate the exterior. He not only used the I-beams structurally but also visually and in this process he made his buildings symbolic. Structurally the I-beams provided enframement for the windows. Visually they provided the architectural scale by continuing beyond each window unit, and also as sculptural element for otherwise plain elevation. Symbolically they provide basic shape for metal framing, creating similarity to classical pilasters of renaissance building.

Fig.13. Lakeshore Apartment, Chicago Illinois

Fig.14. Seagram Building, NYC (1956-58)

Thus Mies made profound efforts in bringing the frame to the surface by skilfully arranging the prefabricated parts by most advanced technology so that what had been raw became beautiful as well as symbolic. He thus ingeniously converted the skyscraper into sculptural architecture. By the excellence of the plans and execution, his buildings went beyond the merely utilitarian and functionalism. God is in the detail Mies once said, while explaining the philosophy behind his designing. Through super detailing and articulating the structural system, Mies created a language and vocabulary of architecture. He is therefore rightly known as an architects architect. Following are a few of his outstanding buildings: 1. Model of Glass Sky-scraper (20 storeyed)-Berlin, Germany (1920-21) 2. German Pavillion-International Exhibition-Barcelona, Spain (1929) [Now torn down]. 3. Tugendhat House, Brno, Czechoslovakia (1930). 4. Illinois Institute of Technology (1940), Illinois. 5. Fransworth House, Plano-Illinois (1945-1950); Fig.15

Fig.15. Mies van der Rohe, Fransworth House, Plano-Illinois, 1950. It is essentially a single glass box supported in a steel frame clear of ground. The white painted structure is defined against the foliage background which changes with the seasons. It offered new possibility in domestic design. It seems to float like a space ship.

LE CORBUSIER : The other contemporary giant in the field of architecture was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret better known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965). He was a native of Switzerland who later became a native of France. He was a man of many virtues, a master artist, painter, sculptor, architect as well as town planner. His book Vers une Architecture 1923 (English translation by Frederick Etchells - Towards a New Architecture London 1927) has wide international influence. His buildings were more totally active, unifying this action through monumental forms, structurally massive and solids. He believed that the building should be built with the utmost care and the same precision as for manufacturing a machine. He explained that the house should be lifted on pillars (pilotis) so that it

will make the ground used for parking of cars; that the roofs should be flat so as to use it for outdoor living or for roof garden; that the interior accommodation should be provided freely. His principles of design can be exemplified in his three buildings. One Villa Savoye, Poissy (Fig.16), France (1929-32), Second, the Citrohan House Struttagard, (1927) placed on pilotis-pillars to make it stand up and the third one, the Swiss Dormitory Paris (1930-32) placed on only one pilotis or pillar joining two opposites. His skyscraper, the Unite dhabitation at Marseilles (1946-52) [Fig.17] emphasises the importance of community living.

Fig.16. Villa Savoye, Poissy, France (1929-32)

Fig.17. Unite dhabitation at Marseilles (1946-52)

Villa Savoye, Poissy, France; built by Le Corbusier from 1929 to 1932. This house remains a masterpiece of the early modern movement. The pilotis (stilts) that support the main floor free the ground for multiple uses. Such supports continue above, behind the screen wall, and make possible a flexible plan. The outer shell of the house encloses a court open to sky; the rooftop can be used for outdoor living.

From house construction Le Corbusier went on to construct all types of buildings and town-planning schemes. As per his principles of town planning, the core of the city should be decongested controlling the density of population, have facilities for rapid transportation and have provision of plenty of open spaces.

He is the brain behind the planning of Chandigarh (Fig.18), once the Capital of Punjab (1957). It is now a Union Territory under the administration of Union Government. The vast plaza formed by the buildings of Capital complex is set against the backdrop of the Himalayas. With its sector planning scientifically designed 7 types of roads (7Vs); harmonious grouping

of capitol complex consisting of High Court, Assembly House, Secretariat, Raj Bhawan with their monumental character, industrial buildings in the southern sector but segregated from residential sector by a wide green belt commercial and civic buildings in the central sector with recreation open spaces all round; a wide avenue leading to the capital, Chandigarh, makes a history in townplanning.

His other outstanding works include: 1. Ozenfant House, Paris (1922) 2. Villa Les Terraces at Garches near Paris (1962-27) 3. Union of the Cooperatives, Moscow (1928-29) 4. United Habitation, Marceilles (1946-52) 5. The United Nations Headquarters N.Y. USA (1947-50) 6. Notre Dame du haut, Ronchamp, France (1951-55) 7. Monastery of La Tourette, Eveux (1956-60) 8. The Carpenter Centre, Harvard University (1963)

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: Another notable example among the pioneers was Frank Lloyd right (1867-1959). He was a pupil of Sullivan and designed some of Sullivans houses in his office. He was an American from the Welsh ancestry. When the young architects were turning back to the organic architecture of Le Corbusier, which was more intellectual, Wright had his own romantic conception which was, an architecture of structure based on location and function. The creation of 20th century American House was his greatest achievement. These single storeyed, low-lying, informal buildings seems to match the horizontal extension of the prairies in which they were set came to be known as prairie style houses. They have high strips of horizontal glass windows, wide porches ad balconies. Its open floor plan bringing all the rooms of the house together in an unobstructed circulation and privacy became distinct creation of Wright, becoming more popular in U.S. and abroad.

Wrights early houses were constructed at Chicago. Materials such as stained wood, brick, plaster, stucco and glass were used for his early houses such as Robie House (Fig.19), Coonley House (190809); Fig.20. These were followed by concrete block houses such as Millard, Ennis and Barnsdall Houses at Los Angeles, California (1920). But for all the houses, the general layout was unified in design and immensely liveable and was very suitable for easy living. It had a continuous flow of

space-the open plan with plasticity. But in this development Wright overlooked the necessity of privacy.

Fig.19. Robie House

Fig, 20. Coonley House (1908-09

His Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (Fig.21) and the Midway Gardens (Fig.22), an open air restaurant built in Chicago in 1914 show the eye-catching decorative work and spatial magnificence that a talented architect could design.

Fig.21. His Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

Fig.22. Midway Gardens, Chicago

The building as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Arts on New Yorks Fifth Avenue (1959) shows vivid forms such as circular, curved, elliptical, oval and even spiral (Fig.23).

Fig.23.

His Falling Water (Fig.24) built for the Pittsburge millionaire Edgar J. Kaufmann in Bear Run, near Connellsville, Pennsylvania (1936-37) is world famous building which is dramatically cantilevered on a natural waterfall and superbly integrated with the artfully manipulated natural setting. This at last, was the organic architecture he had sought. Its great cantilevered balconies seem to float above the head of the water fall.

Fig.24. Falling Water near Connellsville, Pennsylvania (1936-37)

His other notable buildings are: 1. Ward Willitts House, High Land Park-Illinois (1900-02) 2. Larkin Building and D.D. Mortin House Buffalo, N.Y. (1904) 3. City National Bank, Mason City, Iowa (1909) 4. Taliesin Wax, Phonix Arizona (1938-39) 5. Johnson Wax Building, Racine, Wisconsin (1936-39) 6. Morris Gift Shop, San Francisco, California (1948) 7. Johnson Research Tower, Wisconsin Frank Lloyd Wright died in1959 just short of his 90th birthday. During his lifetime he designed as many as 700 buildings of outstanding merit and his fame had spread worldwide. He was considered as second Michelangelo of Modern Architecture.

________________________________________________________________________________