International Style and Modernism

Art Deco
Art Deco Style (1925 - 1940)
• The Art Deco style is one of the easiest to identify since its sharp-edged looks and
stylized geometrical decorative details are so distinctive.
• Art Deco Style has smoothly finished wall surfaces and distinctive ornamentation of
chevrons, zigzags and other geometrical motifs.
• Some architectural historians refer to the Art Deco Style as “Modernistic” leading to
some confusion between Art Deco Style Buildings and Art Modern Style Buildings.
Architectural Features
1. Smooth wall surface

2. Sharp edged, linear appearance

3. Stylized decorative elements using geometrical forms, zigzags, chevrons

4. Stepped or set back front facade

5. Strips of windows with decorative spandrels

Modern Style
Modern Style (1930-1950)
• Sometimes called the Art Modern Style
• Closely related to the Art Deco style which developed just before it, but Modern style
features smooth wall with little surface ornamentation, rounded corners and curved
glass.
Architectural Features
1. Smooth wall surface, usually stucco
2. Flat roof
3. Horizontal emphasis
4. Curved corners or windows
5. Aluminum or stainless steel detailing
International Style
INTERNATIONAL STYLE
A style in architecture developed in the 1920s that uses modern materials (as steel,
glass, and reinforced concrete), expresses structure directly, and eliminates
nonstructural ornament
First Known Use of INTERNATIONAL STYLE
Architectural style that developed in Europe and the U.S. in the 1920s and '30s and
dominated Western architecture in the mid 20th century. The term was first used
in 1932 by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and PHILIP JOHNSON in their essay “The
International Style: Architecture Since 1922.” The style's most common
characteristics are rectilinear forms, open interior spaces, large expanses of
glass, steel, and REINFORCED-CONCRETE construction, and light, taut plane
surfaces devoid of applied ornamentation. WALTER GROPIUS, Ludwig MIES VAN DER
ROHE, and LE CORBUSIER are among the architects most clearly associated with the
style.
Architectural Features
1. Rectangular forms, often with round projections

2. Flat roof

3. Lack of ornamentation or decorative details

4. Ribbon windows

5. Curtain walls of glass

6. Cantilevered projections

7. Smooth wall surfaces

8. Asymmetrical facade
ARCHITECTS
Philip Johnson
(Born July 8, 1906, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.—died January 25, 2005, New Canaan, Conn.)
U.S. architect and critic. He studied philosophy and architecture at Harvard
University. As coauthor of The International Style: Architecture Since 1922(1932) and
director of the architecture department (1932–34, 1946–54) at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York City, he did much to familiarize Americans with modern
European architecture. He gained fame with his own Glass House (1949), which
struck a balance between the influence of LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE (later his
collaborator on the SEAGRAM BUILDING) and Classical allusion. His style took a
striking turn with the AT&T headquarters, New York (1984).
In 1979 Johnson became the first recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Famous Buildings
Glass House
• Located in New Canaan, Connecticut, United States

• At the Glass House is clearly one of the most important architectural principles proposed by Mies
van der Rohe: "Less is more, here are minimal materials used, elements of the economy is very clear
and does virtually any ornament.

• The basic concept of The Glass House was taken from the house Farnsworth by Mies van der Rohe.

• The floor of a cube whose contour is formed only by the thin steel work painstakingly painted black.

• The steel frames of black and red brick cylinder that contains the fireplace and the bathroom, set the
volume of this work and anchor the composition to the floor, causing the building was erected almost
naturally on the ground, which distinguishes it from the designs of Mies van der Rohe, who
generally float-in-space.

• In 1986, Johnson donated the Glass House to the National Trust, but continued to live there until
his death in 2005. The Glass House is now open to the public.
Crystal Cathedral
• Located in Garden Grove, Orange County, California, United States built in 1980.

• The Crystal Cathedral, with a plant in the form of four-pointed star, occupies 126.49 m long, 63m
wide and 39m high. Its size is reinforced by glass cover that surrounds the building. The sanctuary
seats offered in 2,736 people, including 1,761 seats on the main floor, 346 seats in the balconies of
East and West, and 283 in the South Balcony.

• On the tenth anniversary of the Cathedral, held on September 16, 1990, opened a bell tower 72m
high, one of the tallest structures in Orange County. Philip Johnson designed a carillon with 52 bells
named Arvella Schuller, in honour of the pastor's wife. At the base of the structure was created an
intimate prayer chapel named Mary Hood Chapel.

• More than 10,000 panes of tempered glass, silver is held in place by a lace frames created with white
steel beams. These 16,000 trusses were manufactured specifically for this engineering.
Gropius, Walter (Adolph)
(born May 18, 1883, Berlin, Ger.—died July 5, 1969, Boston, Mass., U.S.) German-
U.S. architect and educator. The son of an architect, he studied in Munich and
Berlin. In 1919 he became director of the Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar. He
designed a new school building and housing for the BAUHAUS when it moved to
Dessau (1925); with its dynamic INTERNATIONAL STYLE composition, asymmetrical
plan, smooth white walls set with horizontal windows, and flat roof, the building
became a monument of the Modernist movement. In 1934 Gropius fled Germany
for Britain, and in 1937 he arrived in the U.S, taking a position at Harvard
University. At the Bauhaus and as chair (1938–52) of Harvard's architecture
department. Among his most important ideas was his belief that all design—
whether of a chair, a building, or a city—should be approached in essentially the
same way: through a systematic study of the particular needs and problems involved,
taking into account modern construction materials and techniques without
reference to previous forms or styles.
Famous Buildings
Bauhaus
• Located in Dessau, Germany

• Each facade responds to the demands of the activity taking place inside: the front of the
classroom block is composed of horizontal windows, whose function is to ensure adequate
lighting, the apartments, however, shows individual openings designed to increase privacy.

• The workshops have a significant glass front, allowing maximum light and view of the interior
from outside.

• An iron and concrete structure forms the skeleton of the building ensuring the unity of the
whole and allows the existence of three different facades, built with fragile materials like glass
and innovative.

• Functional until 1933 until it was closed by its own leadership under pressure from
the Nazi regime
Gropius House
• Located in Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States
• Gropius House has two levels with stone structure in the basement, wood and brick.
• The basement of the house was built in stone, so it uproots a highest level of the ground level. Used
for brick walls and wood, they are charging and are mostly lined or covered with plaster and wood
slats on the front.
• The materials used were wooden tablets on the walls, brick, steel to the forges as stairs, pergolas,
balustrades, columns and ornamental porches lined with sheet metal building, the foundation stone
and flooring, as well as laminated glass for the woodwork and glass block to shed light on some
points.
• We cannot forget the furniture of the Bauhaus Gropius design because when you finish building the
house, gave them a suitable place inside the house.
• Walter Gropius died in 1969 and his wife decided to cede the property to the Society for Historical
Preservation of New England Antiquities in 1974, but remained in the house until his death in 1983.
Two years after his death, was opened as a Historic House Museum.
MIES VAN DER ROHE, LUDWIG
Variants of MIES VAN DER ROHE, LUDWIG
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig orig. Maria Ludwig Michael Mies
(born March 27, 1886, Aachen, Ger.—died Aug. 17, 1969, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) German-
born U.S. architect and designer. Mies learned masonry from his father. His first great
work was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona,
Spain, a travertine platform with chromed steel columns and spaces defined by planes
of extravagant onyx, marble, and frosted glass. The steel-and-leather Barcelona chair
he designed for the space went on to become a 20th-century classic. He was director of
the BAUHAUS in 1930–33, first in Dessau and then, during its final months, in Berlin.
After moving to the U.S. in 1937, he became director of the School of Architecture at
Chicago's Armour Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology), where he
designed the school's new campus (1939–41).
 Famous Buildings
Farnsworth House
• Weekend retreat house located at Plano, Illinois, United States which is owned by Dr. Edith Farnsworth

• Construction took 3 years and completed in 1951.

• The building is organized in two rectangular platforms. The first, accessed through four linear steps, has no walls or a roof and acts as a
terrace, being supported above the ground by four steel pillars. From here, another five identical steps provide access to the second platform,
located 1.5 meters above ground and supported by eight steel pillars. It consists of an initial space, covered but open to the outside on three of
its sides, which is used as a porch.

• It is completely devoid of walls, which have been replaced by displays of ground-to-ceiling glass and curtains, which if closed, impede vision
into the house.

• The house has no internal divisions in play. Only one, toward the middle of the space, a wood box that houses two bathrooms separated by a
linen closet, and next to that the kitchen, the so-called "American". The rest of the interior volume of housing is not compartmentalized, but is
distinguished as a lounge area with a fireplace, a dining room and two bedrooms.

• Sold to British property magnate, art collector, and architectural aficionado Lord Peter Palumbo in 1972.

• Damaged by flood in 1996 which forced Palumbo to sell the house in 2003 because of financial problems

• The house was purchased by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Landmarks Illinois for $6.7 million.

• The home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006, after joining the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The house is
currently owned and operated as a house museum by the historic preservation group, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Seagram Building
• A modern office tower designed by famed German architect Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with
Philip Johnson which was built in New York in 1958.

• To access the plaza area, we must undergo a staircase between two large pillars or pedestals, where
they spread sheets of water in symmetry, which is very characteristic of classical antiquity.

• The building is 157 meters high, spread over 39 floors.

• Due to the fire law in force in 1954, at the time of concrete construction was used as a structural
material, both outside and inside.

• Part of the expressive minimalist Mies van der Rohe in this work reaches its maximum level of
refinement: the "mullions of curtain-wall" which are special I double profiles have been added at
both ends of the outer wing edges outgoing to generate a subtle emphasis of shape.
Le Corbusier
Variants of LE CORBUSIER
Le Corbusier orig. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret
(born Oct. 6, 1887, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switz.—died Aug. 27, 1965, Cap Martin,
France) Swiss-born French architect and city planner. Born in a small town, he left
home as a young man and developed many of his ideas during his travels through
Europe (1907–11). After settling in Paris, Le Corbusier (his assumed name, from the
surname of an ancestor) and the painter Amédée Ozenfant (1886–1966) formulated
the ideas of Purism, an aesthetic based on the pure, simple geometric forms of
everyday objects. Le Corbusier's many works, plans, and writings inspired later
avant-garde architectural experiments throughout the world.
Famous Buildings
Villa Savoye
• A villa in Poissy, Paris, France

• Probably Corbusier's best known building from the 1930s, it had enormous influence on international modernism. It was
designed addressing his emblematic "Five Points", the basic tenets in his new architectural aesthetic:
1. Support of ground-level pilotis, elevating the building from the earth and allowed an extended continuity of the garden
beneath.
2. Functional roof, serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building.
3. Free floor plan, relieved of load-bearing walls, allowing walls to be placed freely and only where aesthetically needed.
4. Long horizontal windows, providing illumination and ventilation.
5. Freely-designed facades, serving only as a skin of the wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing considerations.

• The house was inhabited by its owners for a short period of time. The building was completed in 1929, but after the
German invasion of France in 1940, was abandoned and then bombed and burned during the Second World War.

• In 1963, the Villa Savoye was declared as "architectural heritage" by the French government, which then proceeded to
restore it because it was in a state of neglect and ruin after the attacks in the war.

• It is currently a "museum," dedicated to the life and works of Le Corbusier and maintained by the public company
Monuments of France, and receives thousands of visits per year, mostly architects and students.
Villa Stein
• Located at Garches, Paris, France

• The house was designed for Michael Stein, brother of the writer Gertrude Stein, and his wife Sara,
and later was home to Gabrielle Monzie, divorced from the radical socialist Anatole Monzie and
faithful supporter of Le Corbusier.

• Villa Stein-de Monzie is a building of isolated space and surrounded by gardens, with the servants
quarters located next to the iron access gate. Like the Villa Savoye, it features open spaces formed by
the various terraces and levels.

• The cubical feeling is broken only with oval shapes, inspired by the chimneys of the big transatlantic
luxury ships.
History of Architecture 2