6.53
THEORY OF
ARCHITECTURE I
ARCH 4591
Instructor: Lewi
Tsegaye
ADDIS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING

COURSE CONTENT
2
Modern architecture
 Introduction to Modernism
 Chicago School & Prairie School
 Expressionism & Rationalism
 Futurism & Art Deco
 Bauhaus & International style
Late modern architecture
 Googie
 Brutalism
 Structuralism
 Metabolism
Post-modern architecture
 Neo-Futurism
 Deconstructivism
 Sustainable (Green) architecture
 Current trends in architecture
 The future of architecture

INTRODUCTION TO MODERN ARCHITECTURE
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What is Modern Architecture?
 Term given to several building styles with similar characteristics.
 Early 1900s and ended around the 1960s.
 It was associated with an analytical approach to the function of
buildings, a strictly rational use of (often new) materials,
structural innovation and the elimination of ornament.
 Emerged from revolutions in technology, engineering, and
building materials, and from a desire to break away from
historical architectural styles and to invent something that was
purely functional and new.
 Modern architecture is a style of building that emphasizes
function and a streamlined form over ornamentation.
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 The debut of new materials and techniques inspired
architects to break away from the neoclassical and
eclectic styles.
 In support of this break away movement, architectural
theorist and historian Eugène Viollet-le-Duc urged in
his book “Entretiens sur L'Architecture” (1872), “Use
the means and knowledge given to us by our times,
without the intervening traditions which are no longer
viable today, and in that way, we can inaugurate a new
architecture.”
 The birth of modernism came with the thought of
Louis Henri Sullivan that “form should follow
function”.
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The origin of Modern Architecture
Louis Henri Sullivan
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

 Social and political revolutions such as industrialization and
urbanization.
 Technological and Engineering advancements such as structural
steel, reinforced concrete, sheet glass, and curtainwall.
 Reaction against eclecticism and the lavish stylistic excesses of
Victorian Era, Art Nouveau, Baroque, and so on.
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The origin … cont.

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 After the first World War, a prolonged struggle began between
architects who favored the more traditional styles of neo-
classicism and the Beaux-Arts architecture style, and the
modernists, led by Le Corbusier and Robert Mallet-Stevens
in France, Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in
Germany, and Konstantin Melnikov in the new Soviet Union,
who wanted only pure forms and the elimination of any
decoration.
The origin … cont.

Early examples of Modern Architecture in Europe
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Crystal Palace (London), Joseph Paxton, completed in 1851

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In Germany Deutscher Werkbund
 German association of artists, architects, designers and
industrialists
 Organization founded in 1907 in Munich
 Important event in the development of modern architecture.
 To improve the competence of German companies in global
markets.
 Instigation of Hermann Muthesius (writer)
 Not really an artistic movement
 To integrate traditional crafts and industrial mass production
techniques
 To compete with England and United States
Early examples … cont.

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AEG Turbine Factory, Berlin - 1909
Peter Behrens
Werkbund Theatre, Cologne1914
Henry van de Velde
Early examples … cont.

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Fagus Shoe Factory, Germany - 1911
Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer
Early examples … cont.

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The first house built of reinforced concrete, designed by
François Coignet (1853) in Saint-Denis near Paris
Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel,
constructed from 1887 to 1889
French industrialist François Coignet was the first
to use iron-reinforced concrete, that is, concrete
strengthened with iron bars, as a technique for
constructing buildings.
Early examples … cont.

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Le Corbusier's Functionalist Plan for a Utopian "Radiant City"
Early examples … cont.

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Early examples … cont. in the US
 At the end of the 19th century, the first
skyscrapers began to appear in the United
States.
 They were a response to the shortage of
land and high cost of real estate in the
center of the fast-growing American cities,
and the availability of new technologies,
including fireproof steel frames and
improvements in the safety elevator
invented by Elisha Otis in 1852.
Wainwright Building (St. Louis, Missouri),
Louis Sullivan, 1891

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Home Insurance Building (Chicago),
William Le Baron Jenney, started in
1884 and Completed in1885
 The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 has forced
the city to abandon timber as a structural
element and adopted the use of structural
steel frames.
 Home Insurance Building became the fist
tall bldg. to be supported entirely by
structural steel frame.
Early examples … cont.

Characteristics of Modern Architecture
 Absence of ornament
 Simplified form
 Usually involves sharp, clean lines
 Prioritizes function over form
Guggenheim museum, Frank Lloyd Wright
Villa Savoye - Le Corbusier
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Characteristics … cont.
 Low and horizontal planes
 Broad roof overhangs
 Steel frame
 Use of modern materials
 Use of traditional materials in new ways
 Plenty of glass that allows for lots of
natural light
 Building structures were stronger,
lighter, and taller
 Express the spirit of a new age.
 Aesthetics of modern architects differed
radically.
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Barcelona Pavilion, Mies van der
Rohe

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