modern architecture

1950 Onwards

TIP: Watch the documentary on ARCHITECTURE IN EARLY 20th CENTURY

By - Ar Kusum Singh
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and an
absence of applied decoration

In a broader sense, early modern architecture began at the turn of the 20th century -
technological advancement and the modernization of society. It would take the form of
numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles.
Reaction Reaction
NEO-MODERNISM POST-MODERNISM MODERNISM

By - Ar Kusum Singh
COMMON THEMES OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE INCLUDE:

• "Form follows function", meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose.
Louis Sullivan – WARCRY FOR MODERN ARCHITECTS

• Rejection of Ornamentation: Simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of "unnecessary detail“

• 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.

Modern architecture met with some criticism, which began in the 1960s on the grounds
that it seemed u n i v e r s a l , e l i t i s t ( h e r e i t m e a n s U N I Q U E ) , a n d
lacked meaning.

Pruitt–Igoe, Architect Minoru Yamasaki: A modern high rise residential complex, was
demolished because it failed to function as a healthy building, became a site for crime,
misuse and poverty.
INTERNATIONAL STYLE/ ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

• Simple geometry often rectangular

• Used of modern materials like steel
and glass
• Smooth surface
• Primary colours
• Linear and horizontal elements
 WA LT E R G R O P I U S
“A r c h i t e c t u r e b e g i n s w h e n e n g i n e e r i n g e n d s ”
1. WHO
2. EARLY LIFE
3. WHAT is he known for
4. INSPIRATION
5. WORKS

By - Ar Kusum Singh
 WHO

GEORGE WALTER ADOLF GROPIUS

GERMAN AMERICAN ARCHITECT AND AN EDUCATOR

AN INFLUTENTIAL PROPONENT OF MODERN DESIGN

HUMAN BRAIN IS LIKE UMBRELLA, IT WORKS WHEN IT IS OPEN

 EARLY LIFE

He Was Taught By His Father Who Also Was An Architect

He was the third child of Walter Adolph Gropius and Manon Auguste Pauline Scharn weber.

Gropius Could Not Draw, And Was Dependent On Collaborators And Partner-interpreters
Throughout His Career. In School He Hired An Assistant To Complete His Homework For
Him.
BERLIN 18 May 1883
Gropius’s Career Was Interrupted By The Outbreak Of World War-1 In 1914
And Served As A Sergeant And Then As A Lieutenant.
1903 He Left School And Went To The Technical University In Munich To Study Architecture. He Received No Degree.

• 1907 he left school without completion and went back to Berlin because of the death of his brother.
• In 1908,gropius Worked Under The Renowned Architect And Industrial Designer Peter Behrens Till 1910.
• In 1919, Gropius Transformed The Grand-ducal Saxon School Of Arts And Craft Into The World Famous Bauhaus.
• In 1934, He Moved And Began To Work In Britain.
• In 1937, He Moved To New York And Taught At The Harvard University.
• In 1946, Gropius Founded The Young Architects Association, The Architects
Collaborative(tac).
 EARLY LIFE

• Gropius married Alma Mahler(1879–1964), widow of Gustav Mahler.

• Walter and Alma has a daughter, named Manon.
• Manon died of polio at age eighteen.
• Gropius and Alma divorced in 1920.
• Alma had by that time established a relationship with Franz Werfel, whom she later married.
• In 1923 Gropius married Ise Frank, and they remained together until his death.
• He adopted Beate Gropius, also known as Ati
 WHAT IS HE KNOWN FOR

 His Design Has Full Command Of The Elements Of Architecture, Which Were To Constitute
The International Modern Style.
 He Believed That All Initial Training For Artist And Craftsman Should Be Same I.e.
Introduction To Form, Colour, Nature Of Material.
• Simple Geometry Often Rectangular.
• Use Of Modern Materials Like Steel, Rcc And Glass
• Smooth Surface
• Primary Colours
• Linear And Horizontal Elements
Grid System
 In Those Times The Use Of Machine Was Encouraged Because Of The Phase Of
Industrialisation.
 He Realized The Interdependence Of Machine And Architecture, Thus Encouraged The Use Of
 INSPIRATION

• His phylosophy was based on MODERN ARCHITECTURE. the modern architecture

includes international style.
• The most common characteristics of International Style buildings are said to be: 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.
• He believed of industrialized building carried with it a belief in team work and an
acceptance of standardization and prefabrication.
 WORKS
FAMOUS BUILDINGS

Fagus Factory (1911-1913)

Bauhaus
Gropius House (1937-38 )
Josephine M. Hagerty House 1938
J.f. Kennedy Federal Building : 1963-1966
Pan Am Building(now Metlife Building) 1960-1963
Waldenmark 1939
 WORKS
BAUHAUS
Designed By Gropius And His Partner Meyer With Certain
Amount of Participation From Students.
Bauhaus, Was An Art School In Germany That Combined
Crafts And The FineArts.
It Operated From 1919 To 1933. At That Time the German
Term about This Sound Bauhaus literally "house Of
Construction"—was Understood As Meaning "school Of
Building".
The Complex Consists Of Five Main Elements Fully
Glazed 3 Storeyed:
 Workshop Block.
 Teaching Block.
 Social Areas.
 A 5-storeyed Study Block.
 An Administrative Wing Spanning the Roadway

“The Bauhaus was not an institution… it was an idea.”- Mies van der Rohe, its last director 1953
 WORKS
BAUHAUS
BAUHAUS SITE PLAN To Produce A Separation Of Each Of These
Functions From Others, At The Same Time
Not Isolating Them But Bringing Them
Together Into Efficient Integration.
Workshops Noticeably More Industrial,
Particularly In Their Window
The Square Pedalled Metal Windows Are Typical Of
Mass Produced Industrial Units.

BLOCK VIEW OF BAUHAUS BUILDING:

1. WORKSHOP
2. DINING HALL
3. STUDIO WORKSHOP
4. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
5. TRADE SCHOOL
 WORKS
BAUHAUS
Aesthetically Bauhaus Was An Advanced Building But
Technologically- Probably Because Of The Limited Funds, It
Was ,someway Behind The Contemporary Works.
Bauhaus Is Enclosed By Glass Curtains

The Curtain Glass Walling Was First Used In Fagus Factory -

1911 And Then Used With Certain Refinement.
The Whole Cube Seems Like To Immense Horizontal Plains
Floating On The Ground.
Giant Light Cube Dazzling White Light From Every Wall.

The High Glass Walls Revealing The Light Steel Structure….

Delineated In All Its Transparency By The Iron Grid Of Its
Exterior Structure.
 WORKS
BAUHAUS
GROUND FLOOR PLAN Plan Show The Linear Nature Of The Individual Structures.
The Complex Is Divided Into Three Main Wings.
The Studio Apartments Are Connected By Auditorium,Canteen,
Kitchens And Gymnasium To The Long Narrow
The Wing On Left Is The School Of Arts And Crafts, Wing On The Right
Accommodate The Workshop.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

 WORKS
Door knob
Bauhaus
door knob

VS
Early decorative
door knob
 WORKS

FAÇADE OF THE STUDENTS

GENERAL VIEW OF THE STUDIO APARTMENTS WITH THEIR
BAUHAUS BUILDING CANTILEVERED BALCONIES AND
LARGE OPENINGS
 WORKS

BAUHAUS, DESSAU. ADMINISTRATION WING BAUHAUS, DESSAU.

OVER THE STREET, CONNECTING THE STUDENT’S STUDIOS IN
SCHOOL DIVISIONS. FOREGROUND

BAUHAUS, DESSAU. BAUHAUS, DESSAU. INTERIOR,

INTERIOR, WORKSHOP. CORRIDOR AND STAIRS
 WORKS

BAUHAUS, DESSAU INTERIOR, BAUHAUS, DESSAU. INTERIOR,

DIRECTORS OFFICE. STUDENTS WORK AND BEDROOM

BAUHAUS, DESSAU. INTERIOR,

AUDITORIUM
 WORKS

SECTION
FA G U S S H O E FA C TO RY :
1910-1911 : working with Adolph Meyer, he designed the Fagus shoe factory.

The client’s wish for an attractive facade was solved by Gropius in a special way: by means
of a projected steel skeleton, which pulled the function of support to the inside, the
idea of the ‘curtain wall’ was at this point first expressed in a consistent manner.
 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY
 The Fagus Factory Is A Shoe Last Factory In
Alfeld On The Leine In Germany And Is An
Important Example Of Early Modern
Architecture.
 Constructed Between 1911-1913, It Was
Walter Gropius' First Independent
Commission

 It Was Called An Artistic And Practical Design

By Gropius
 It Was In Collaboration With Adolf Meyer.
 Most Striking

Confidence Of The Architecture.

 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY
 Fagus Structure Was Actually A Hybrid Construction Of Brick Columns, Steel Beams
And Concrete Floor Slabs And Stairways.
 It Was A Steel Frame Supporting The Floors, Glass Screen External Walls.
 Pillars Are Set Behind The Façade So That Its Curtain Character Is Fully Realized.
 Glass Screen Was Used All Over The Walls To Have Proper View From Inside.
 Walls Are No Longer Supporters Of The Building But Simple Curtain Projecting
Against Increment Weather.
 It Was Domination Of Voids Over Solids.
 Plane Surfaces Predominate In This Factory.
 The Glass And Walls Are Joined Cleanly At The Corners Without The Intervention Of
Piers.
 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY

• Use Of Floor-To-Ceiling Glass Windows On Steel Frames That Go

Around Tthe Corners Of The Buildings Without A Visible (most of
the time without any) Structural Support.
• The Other Unifying Element Is The Use Of Brick.
• All Buildings Have A Base Of About 40cm Of Black Brick And The
Rest Is Built Of Yellow Bricks.
• In Order To Enhance This Feeling Of Lightness, Gropius and Meyer
Used A Series Of optical Refinements Like Greater Horizontal Than
Vertical Elements On The Windows, Longer Windows On The
Corners And Taller Windows On The Last Floor.
• The Fagus Factory Is Still In Use Today And Was Included On
The List Of Unesco World Heritage Sites In 2011.
 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY

The Main Building, Rectangular In Shape, Was

The Office And Is One Of The Most Important
Designed As A Structural Framework Without Pillars In
And Characteristic Of The Complex.
The Corners, With A Front Metal Grid Cut By Glass
Covers, One Of The First Examples Of Curtain Wall.
 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY

ELEVATION
 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY
Façade of three-
storey

Open space

Flat-roofed
structure

Striking, fully glazed

corners
( Glass curtain walls
)

Vaulted entrance
 WORKS
FAGUS SHOES FACTORY

According to Gropius, the

factory should be a kind of
palace for the workers who
The supports of
were offered light, air and
the building are
hygienic atmosphere
hidden

Slender piers

Iron frame
 WORKS
TASKS

• CHARACTERISTICS OF BAUHAUS ARCHITECTURE

• GROPIUS HOUSE
THE BAUHAUS BUILDING

Form follows function: the building was designed entirely for the needs of the different
areas of art and design.
Bridge with administration offices, connecting school and workshop blocks.
 In Walter's designs he
wanted to use a lot of
steel and concrete.
- looks spacious
- light from large
windows, for
workshops and
studios.

The building had sharp clean lines and its façade is made
predominately of glass, giving it a spacious and minimalist feel.
POSTmodern A R C H I T E C T U R E
• Reaction to Modern Architecture – POST MODERN

• Lack of variety particularly in the International style advocated by Ludwig

Mies Van Der Rohe

• Reaction was also cuz of its uniformity, lack of ornamentation & ignoring
the history, culture of the cities where it appeared.

• Architect & Historian “Robert Venturi” led the attack in 1966 in his book
“Complexity & contradiction in Architecture” – he summarized the kind of
Architecture he wanted to replace modernism

Reaction Reaction
NEO-MODERNISM POST-MODERNISM MODERNISM
Architects explored Postmodern architecture which offered a blend of some pre-modern
elements, and deliberately sought to move away from rectilinear designs, towards a mix
of styles.

POST MODERNISM:

The term Postmodernism originated in an international architectural movement that

emerged in the 1960's.
The movement largely has been a reaction to the simplicity and lack of meaning and
human interaction in the architecture of the International Style.

The practitioners of postmodern architecture tended to reemphasize elements of

meaning, symbol and content in their work.

They share an interest in mass, surface colors, and textures and frequently use
unorthodox building materials.
CHARLES JENCKS
 POST MODERN ARCHITECTS:

CHARLES JENCKS:

Charles Jencks is attributed with marking the

death of Modernism with the precise time
of the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing
project in St. Louis in 1972, in his influential
book The Language of Post-Modern
Architecture.

TIP: 13 propositions of Post-Modernism

Jencks discusses the works of
Michal Graves, Charles Moore,
Robert Venturi and Denise Scott
Brown, James Stirling, Aldo Rossi,
and others practicing in the 1980s.

He wrote on how post-modern

architecture, was symbolic with
historic references.

Eg: Philip Johnson, AT&T building.

 • Philip Johnson began his career as a pure
modernist

• Studied with walter gropius & was inspired

by Mies Van der rohe

• Worked with Mies on few iconic projects like

seagrams building in NY

• With AT&T/Sony Building, he turned

dramatically towards post modernism

• The buildings most prominent feature is a

pure decorative top

The Sony Building in

New York City, 1984, by Philip Johnson,
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Scotland
The Universe Cascade: A concrete staircase that looks like a waterfall and represents the universe
ROBERT VENTURI
June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018
1. WHO
2. EARLY LIFE
3. WHAT is he known for
4. INSPIRATION
5. WORKS

By - Ar Kusum Singh
AMERICAN ARCHITECT WHO

Considered as one of the fathers of post modernism. Coined

the term ‘less is bore’ contradicting, Mies’ LESS IS MORE.


BORN: June 25, 1925 (age 88)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AWARDS: Pritzker Prize (1991)
Vincent Scully Prize (2002
FOUNDING PRINCIPAL of the
firm Venturi, Scott Brown and
Associates
SCHOOL: Episcopal Academy in
Merion, Pennsylvania
GRADUATION: Princeton
University, won the D'Amato
Prize in Architecture
WORK EXPERIENCE: Eero
Saarinen in Bloomfield Hills,
Michigan, Louis Kahn in
Philadelphia
EARLY LIFE
Venturi was born in Philadelphia to Robert Venturi Sr.
and Vanna (née Luizi) Venturi and was raised as
a Quaker.[4] Venturi attended school at the Episcopal
Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania.[5] He
graduated summa cum laude from Princeton
University in 1947 where he was a member-elect of Phi
Beta Kappa and won the D'Amato Prize in
Architecture.[4] He received his M.F.A. from Princeton in
1950. The educational program at Princeton under
Professor Jean Labatut, who offered provocative design
studios within a Beaux-Arts pedagogical
framework,[6] was a key factor in Venturi's development
of an approach to architectural theory and design that
drew from architectural history and commercial
architecture in analytical, as opposed to stylistic,
terms.[7] In 1951 he briefly worked under Eero
Saarinen in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and later
for Louis Kahn in Philadelphia. He was awarded
the Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in
Rome in 1954, where he studied and toured Europe for
two years.
From 1959 to 1967, Venturi held teaching positions at
the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as
Kahn's teaching assistant, an instructor, and later, as
associate professor. It was there, in 1960, that he met
fellow faculty member, architect and planner Denise
Scott Brown. Venturi taught later at the Yale School of
Architecture and was a visiting lecturer with Scott Brown
in 2003 at Harvard University's Graduate School of
Design.
1. post modern architect of united states WHAT IS HE KNOWN FOR
2. one of the major figures in the architecture of the 20th century

3. He is also known for coining the maxim "Less is a bore" as antidote to

Mies van der Rohe's famous modernist dictum "Less is more“

4. architecture of robert venturi helped redirect american architecture

away from a widely practiced, often banal, modernism in the 1960's
to a more exploratory, and ultimately eclectic, design approach that
openly drew lessons from historic architecture and responded to the
everyday context of the American city.
Robert Venturi is known for incorporating
stylized cultural icons into his buildings.

However, Venturi, Scott Brown and

Associates is recognized for much more than
Postmodernist designs. The firm has
completed more than 400 projects, each
uniquely suited to the special needs of the
clients.
INSPIRATION
 WORKS

vanna venturi house Chapel at the Episcopal National Gallery London

SainsburyWing

Trabant StudentCenter Seattle Art Museum Freedom Plaza

 works of ROBERT
1. VANNA VENTURI HOUSE
VENTURI
TECHNICAL DETAILS
STRUCTURAL SYSTEM LIGHT WOOD FRAME 2
FLOOR COUNT FLOOR PLUS BASEMENT
AREA 1,800 SQ FT (170 M2)

FIGURE 5: VIEW (SOUTH- FROM THE SIDE

EAST)

FIGURE 4: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE

SOURCE: http://www.archdaily.com/62743/ad-classics-vanna- venturi-house-robert-
venturi/
GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE RESIDENCE
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE POSTMODERN
PHILADELPHIA,
TOWN OR CITY
PENNSYLVANIA
COUNTRY UNITED STATES 1959
CONSTRUCTION (DESIGN)
COMPLETED COST 1964
CLIENT $43,000
FIGURE 6: VIEW FROM THE REAR OF THE HOUSE
VANNA VENTURI (SOUTH)
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
• The five room house stands only about 30 feet (9 m) tall at the top the chimney, but has a
monumental front façade.
• A non-structural applique arch and "hole in the wall" windows, other elements, were
challenge to modernist orthodoxy.
• The house is designed around a chimney that is centralised and goes
all the way to the top of the house.
• Externally, they house is built symmetrical.
• Venturi has distorted this idea of symmetry.
• There is also a basement underneath the house that is often not
covered by people.

FIGURE 7: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – FLOOR PLANS

SOURCE: http://www.archdaily.com/62743/ad-classics-vanna- venturi-house-robert-
venturi/groundfloorplan-3/
 FIGURE 8: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – DETAILED SECTION

FIGURE 9: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – FRONT ELEVATION FIGURE 10: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – REAR ELEVATION

SOURCE: http://www.archdaily.com/62743/ad-classics-vanna-venturi-house-robert-venturi/groundfloorplan-3
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE HOUSE ARE A REACTION AGAINST STANDARD MODERNIST
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS:
- PITCHED ROOF RATHER THAN FLAT ROOF,
- EMPHASIS ON CENTRAL HEARTH & CHIMNEY,
- CLOSED GROUND FLOOR

- ON THE FRONT ELEVATION THE BROKEN PEDIMENT OR GABLE & A PURELY ORNAMENTAL APPLIQUE
ARCH

- HOUSE IS A COMPOSITION OF RECTANGULAR, CURVILINEAR, AND ELEMENTS COMING

TOGETHER (OR SOMETIMES JUXTAPOSING EACH WAY THAT INARGUABLY CREATES COMPLEXITY
AND CONTRADICTION.

- VENTURI EXPERIMENTED WITH SCALE. INSIDE THE HOUSE CERTAIN “TOO BIG,”

- VENTURI ALSO MINIMIZED CIRCULATION SPACE IN THE DESIGN OF THE

FIGURE 11: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – INTERIORS FIGURE 12: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – UPPER FLOORS STAIRACSE LEADING TO

FIGURE 13: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – FRONT GABLED ARCH FIGURE 14: VANNA VENTURI HOUSE – DRAWING ROOM AREA

SOURCE: http://www.archdaily.com/62743/ad-classics-vanna-venturi-house-robert-venturi/
1. one of the first prominent works of the postmodern architecture movement,
2. located in the suburban neighborhood of chestnut hill in philadelphia, pennsylvania
3. constructed between 1962 -1964.
4. the five room house stands only about 30 feet tall at the top of the chimney,
5. monumental front facade
6. an effect achieved by intentionally manipulating the architectural
elements that indicate a building's scale
7. the central chimney and staircase dominate the interior of the house
View from south
View from south east
1. Robert Venturi designed the house initially for his mother.
2. The House is designed around a chimney that is centralised and goes all the way to the top of the
house.
3. Externally, they house is built symmetrical.
4. Venturi has distorted this idea of symmetry - for example, there are 5 windows on the facade
of the building, however he placed them differently.
5. There is also a basement underneath the house that is often not uncovered by people.
6. The chimney creates a clear vertically in the building, the is vi sable internally and externally
The book coined the terms "Duck" and "Decorated Shed“ --
descriptions of the two predominant ways of embodying
iconography in buildings.
THE DUCK:
the building itself is the symbol. The building’s overall form provides the meaning.
Categorization based n the building the big-duck, a shop selling duck and duck eggs,
shaped like a duck.
T H E D E C O R AT E D S H E D :
Any structure, like a shed, where ornamentation or signage is used to convey meaning
about the structure. Categorization based on buildings in Las Vegas with signage
explaining the use of the building.
Wrote the book, ‘Complexities and Contradictions in Architecture’. His design for his
mother’s residence, Vanna Venturi House explains his ideas.

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE:

The building is both simple and complex at the same time. Simple because it
represents the basic form of a house. Complex because of the symbolism and meaning
embedded.
The gable roof resembles a classical pediment split into two, by an exaggerated chimney.
The gable roof resembles a classical pediment split into two, by an exaggerated chimney.
The interior, in contrast is asymmetric, planned around the fire place and the staircase
core. The void of the fire place, contrasting with the solid stairs.