Jordan University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Architecture and Design / Department of Architecture Arch. 331 Modern Architecture Instructor: Dr. Raed Al Tal Summer 2012

The Triumph of the Iron Masters: the Search for a Style

The Drama of Shapes and Space Baroque and Rococo

Signs of Authority Chateau de Versailles

It took some 30,000 workers and soldiers to complete the structure according to the King’s (Louis XIV) extravagant tastes that symbolized wealth and power, and this ultimately was financially devastating for the kingdom.

An excellent example of picturesque landscape

Two Revolutions that have shaped the Modern architecture were :

French Revolution 1789 ( Social struggle, human rights)Industrial Revolution 1750-1850 ( Technology, urban growth )

Technology + Ideology/ Philosophy Modern Architecture

Revolutionary movements

Communalism versus Industrialism ( Imperial Capitalism)

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.

The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789

Behind The Rose of Versailles Marie Antoinette on the Gullotine, October 16, 1793( wife of Louis XVI)

The French Revolution (1789–1799) had such a huge impact on France and West Europe for a long time that the intellectual , philosophical and political life of France was changed

Led to the birth of modern France. The ideals put forward at the time are those of France today: Liberty, equality and union

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, August 26, 1789

The rise of the Middle Class / Bourgeoisie

- The invention of Fire is one of the main factors in the emergence of architecture.

- cooking - heating …. Gathering and socializing - keeping beasts away from them

Industrial Revolution 1750-1850Began in England in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, 1777and quickly spread across Europe and North America.

New technology and invention transformed an agricultural and commercial way of life into a modern industrial society

- Cast Iron.-Iron and glass industry ( 1840s) , machinery (industrial

technology – mechanized) , and light and fire

Iron Bridge Gorge in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, 1777

by Abraham Darby

It was the first arch bridge in the world to be made out of cast iron, a material which was previously far too expensive to use for large structures. 

-Changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution revolutionized families and lifestyles as the factory system

drew workers away from the rural family economy to urban areas

a dirty and a poor home because they didn't have hygiene. They were many in their home ; we can see five children. We think they were very sad and sorry. It was one room for seven persons.

Children at work

The impact of the Industrial Revolution in Europe was :The growth of urban population- problems of housing ,

transportation, hygienic problems

-The growth of urban population

This situation give the rise to new phenomena such as :

- the revolution of transport - the concentration of workers- the migration of rural people to cities

The upheaval was so rapid that the urban centers could no longer cope with the several problems faced them

ParisNapoleon III and Haussmannian Planning in Paris

Napoleon III and Haussmannian Planning in Paris

With the fall of monarchy , a new conservative authoritarian regime , at its head came to power

- the coronation of Napoleon III- the notion of superiority ; France as the center of

Europe Colonial Expansion / Architecture (e.x Egypt)

Grandeur “ Hated to seek the beautiful in anything other than that which was large,” his architect Pierre- Francoise Fontaine wrote

Natural to the man to admire size, which always related to his mind with the ideas of power and strength

-

power and strength

Versailles (Louis XIV) Occupied and organized a largely inbuilt area

Napoleon demolished the old fabric of cities in order to make room for the public theater of the regime “ Men as great as the monuments they leave behind,” Napoleon declared

Napoleonic period

-The academic method of design thoughts in the French professional schools which were recognized under Napoleon

Ecole des Beaux –Arts (School of Fine Arts) Ecole Polytechnique ( Polytechnique School)

-Special attitude toward urbanism

Town planning became one of the most efficient instruments of power

-Cities such as Paris were re-planed due to the influx of the rural immigrants .

-Napoleon embarked the rebuilding of Paris in 1852-Georges Eugene Hussmann (1809-1891) ,

-the scheme falls into four categories :1 - Communication network

- to connect the railway stations scattered around the periphery of the city

- To cut new, wide roads through the heart of the old city

- straight avenues were strategically important for

troop parades

- the boulevard became more important than the square

2- Gardens and Parks- several small parks were built throughout of the city, and two large parks were created on the west and the east of the city edges, these Hussmann called “the lungs of the city,”

- new aqueducts were built to bring the clean water

-3- Building typology

-4- Modification of the administrative organization - the number of the city district was increased due to the expansion of the city (between 1815 and 1850 , the population of Paris grew from 500,000 to 1 million inhabitants )

the radial roads to the suburbs, the strategic nodal points, and the circular boulevards.

Georges Eugene Hussmann

Paris before Hussmann

Paris after Hussmann

The creation of new industrial cities on open land, including all necessary civil amenities and housing for the workers Examples:

Saltaire, textile industrial city , England, 1852Port Sunlight, 1888, England ( landscaped village, garden village ), community

Pullman, south of Chicago (not most progressively socially) , but will planned

-The need for new structures, new building types , such as railway stations, bridges, exhibitions

Saint Pancras Station train shed , London, 1863-65 the clear span 71.3 meters

-factories, warehouses

Example – warship industry in England 13 years for execution firstly was to be sheltered by wooden berths

– example Portmouth 1814, steel/cast Iron was then introduced

-Increased number of hotels, banks, offices, government buildings.

-In artistic and architectural context the replacement of the craft by mechanized industrial products .

- the replacement of the handicraft ship by the specialized expertise contractors on a large scale

the transformation of building technology came from new:

-man-made building materials-New structural techniques-new technical services

parts and elements were produced on an industrial method (identical elements)

-All together they produced a universal structural system

Construction of new building types such as Exhibition Halls required :

-Time value-Vast Area

-High durability-Low cost

-Easy to assemble and dismantle

(Mercantile Capitalism )

Joseph Paxton the designer of Crystal Palace Hyde Park in London, 1851

He was not an architect but a green house builder

“The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations “

Great Exhibition short time for execution almost 9 monthsGrid principle 24 by 24 foot module

Columns were set 48 foot apart Vast area : 563* 124 meter Rational fabrication, extensive use of prefabricated parts

Easy assembly : was assembled at the building site

Serially manufactured - similar parts had the same color (Joints: blue, roof trusses: red)

The central cross aisle was given a wooden parallel vault in order to accommodate a number of large

objects

Numerous modifications were introduced during the reconstruction in Sydenham 1854, the nave was also

given a parallel vault .

Paris Exhibition , 1889Gustave Eiffel , Engineer, 1887-89,

was signpost of the Exhibition

Viewing Monuments and Machines

Central Market Halls

Central Market Halls in Paris (1854- 1857,

extended in 1860- 1866)Designers: Victor Baltard

and Felix Callet

First scheme was to be a combination of stone and iron, this scheme was abandoned in the med of construction

probably on the instructions of Napoleon III.

Georges-Eugene Haussmann the New Paris Prefect, announced that he wanted Parisian covered markets to be

made of glass and Iron, therefore a new design for the market was subsequently executed .

Voices with and against industrialization

The manifestation of modern life

Arts and Craft Movement by the end of the 19th century, in England

This movement was shaped by the ideas of art critic and writer John Ruskin and William Morris

they shared the distrust of machines and industrial capitalism which they believed alienated workers from their own nature.

a reaction against the historical revivalism and soulless of the machine

They considered themselves as socialists and participated in social movement

They dedicated themselves to producing functional objects with high esthetic value for a

wide public

Their style was on natural, rather than artificial forms and often considered a repeated designs

There was debate in the Movement as to whether the machine should be rejected or not. Those who sought a compromise between the efficiency of the machine and the skill of the craftsman tried to find a way in which the craftsman might master the machine rather than becoming its slave.

Red House , designed for William Morris by architect Philip Webb in 1859.

exemplifies the early Arts and Crafts style, with its :

well-proportioned solid forms, deep porches, steep roof, pointed window arches, brick fireplaces and wooden fittings.

Webb rejected the grand classical style,

found inspiration in British vernacular architecture and attempted to express the texture of ordinary materials, such as stone and tiles,

with an asymmetrical and quaint building composition

-with wall paintings and stained glass He also desired to have

- a "Palace of Art" in which he and his friends could enjoy producing works of art.

importance in the history of garden design

because they were positioned according to the internal arrangement of the rooms and the need for light, rather than for external appearance, and are of a variety of types —

Window detail of The Red House in Bexleyheath, Kent

Art Nouveau (New Art) was an architectural and design movement that developed out of the ideas promoted by the Art and Craft Movement. Based

on Japonisme

What is Japonisme?It is an artistic interest in Japanese art aesthetic, which began in the mid 19th C after Japan opened its borders to international trade after centuries of isolation.  Isometric perspective, linear style, attention to patterns and flattening of the picture plane were stylistic conventions of Japanese art that late Impressionists and Post-Impressionists deliberately used in their own work

It took its name from and art shop in Paris ( Sigfried Bing) ; in Germany and Austria it had

other name Jugedstil

It emerged at the end of the 19th century and adapted the twining plant form to the needs of

architecture.

They wanted to create a domestic world that was suffused with natural imagery, the oragnic

architecture depended on motifs rather than structures

-They employed decorative traditions

-They used curvilinear graphic ornament to suggest growth , even to evoke dream like vision

-To combine uniformity of urban modernity with the inspiration of nature

-They designed house objects , such as glass and furniture , posters and prints

Best architectural examples of this style was first seen in buildings designed by Victor

Horta (1861- 1947)

Examples :Van Eetvelde House in Brussels (1895)

Every detail is function as part of a living wholeVictor Horta

Hotel Tassel in Brussels 1892- 1893Victor Horta

- Smooth masonry- Still symmetrical

- Concluding cornice

- The façade blend smoothly into the neighborhood

- Only in the development of the oriel window is there a delicate hint of Harta’s

exploration of new relationships of ornament and construction

Hotel Tassel in Brussels 1892- 1893

Horta made a break with the past here by using stone and the modern material, metal, in domestic architecture.

The modernity of Horta's town house is also signaled by the extensive use of glass, where the window sizes may indicate the function of the interior.

Architecture that both contemporary and human, both practical and ornamental

The narrow, symmetrical front facade

The facade includes classical elements like moldings and columns but here some of the columns are iron, not stone, and the entablature is metal, complete with exposed rivets.

Sculpting a Building

Art Nouveau achieved its most personal expression in the work of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi

(1852- 1926), before becoming an architect,

Gaudi had trained as an ironworker.

Was inspired by Moorish-Spanish architecture

He developed a personal aesthetic.

He conceived a building as a whole and modeled it almost as a sculptor might shape a figure from clay

Example:Casa Mila, Barcelona 1907, apartment building Known as the House of the Bones

A wondrously free form mass wrapped around a street corner

The rough surface of the stone walls suggest naturally worn rock

The entrance portals look like eroded sea caves Guadi sees Casa Mila a true expressionist of early 20th century painting and sculpture

The exterior seems like waves

Casa Mila, Barcelona 1907

The exterior has no right angles

The entrance portals look like eroded sea caves

Sagrada Familia Barcelona, 1884

Strange twisted shape of columns

What was about architecture in the United States in the 19th century?

In 1785 American Congress decided the division of the United States into uniform grid squares for urban planning

- more efficiency ( simplicity of its layout, the subdivision of equal plots,

- economy ( ease of construction, convenience for vehicle traffic

What about the problems of the grid urban planning? In 1811 New York laid out its streets in a stereotypical grid form

Chicago in 1811 was uninhabited In 1900 the population of were 1.7 million

people

Population: 15,0001820

Population: 55,0001854

Population: 1,698,575 1898

1891 - FARWELL - CHICAGO CITY PLAN ...

Mid 19th Century New York

Early plan of New York, showing the city’s rapid development in the first half of the 19th century. The map, first published in 1833, was frequently updated during its lifetime.

Building proceeding: simple and quicklyImported materials : cast iron and steel from Britain and reinforced concrete from France

1855 cast iron façade parts were delivered from New York to Chicago but majority of houses were still made of wood

Great fire of 1871

1874 another destructive fireFire proof building

Balloon-frame method of construction (1832); wooden frames

City Skyline

New York: single tower like buildings to create the a typical urban skyline

Chicago: houses grew uniformly and in blocks 9 floor buildings were consider as skyscrapers

The passenger elevator by Elisha Otis 1st appeared in New York in 1857

- More higher buildings- Cheaper upper floors now became the more

valuable

Chicago School: there was a kind of architectural revolution 1880s- 1890s

Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886); he developed a personal heavy style

Example:

Marshal Field Warehouse in Chicago, 1885

This building became a model for the new generation of Chicago architects

Marshal Field Warehouse in Chicago, 1885

The building was commissioned in 1885 by legendary merchant Marshall Field. H.H.

Richardson, known for his New York State Asylum in Buffalo, designed the exterior masonry piers and

arches with interior framing of wood and iron. Intended for the wholesale business of Field's

eponymous named department store, it opened in 1887

Marshal Field Warehouse in Chicago, 1885

“ Form Follows Function,”• Louis Henry Suilvan 1856- 1924, has been

considered the first truly modern architect.

1.He arrived at a synthesis of industrial structures and ornamentation

2.He employed ornament to serve as connector between commerce and culture

3.Artistic form for commercial buildings projects4.He summarized his ideas on office building design as :” The tall office building artistically

considered”

Examples:

Schlesinger & Mayer Department Store

Location: Chicago, Illinois (1899-1904)

Rich, artfully- crafted ornament on the ground floor

Well illuminated, open display area

Schlesinger & Mayer Department Store

Guaranty Building

Location; Buffalo, New York (1894-1896)

The structure is steel, sheathed with terra cotta

The imposing scale of the building and the regularity of the window placements served as an expression of the large scale refined and orderly office work that took place within it.

Light decorations and ornamentation observed the severity of the structure

Guaranty BuildingLocation; Buffalo, New York (1894-1896)

Guaranty (Prudential) Building: decoration over entrance (1895-1896, Louis H. Sullivan)

Lobby ceiling light detail. Guaranty Building.

Louis Tiffany, Lotus Table Lamp, 1905