20 Century “ism”s

th
 An architectural style
 A style may include such
 elements like form
 method of construction,
 Materials
 Vernacular characteristics
 Existed according to time
 Based on architectural influences like change in
 Religion
 Culture
 Technology
 political
Classicism / Neo-Classicism
• Neoclassical, or "new" classical, architecture describes
buildings that are inspired by the classical architecture of
ancient Greece and Rome.
• Neoclassicism is a trend, or approach to design, that can
describe several very different styles.
 Howard Building – Downing College,
Cambridge - 1987

1984
Quinlan Terry, Richmond Development,
London - 1989
A Neoclassical building is likely to have some (but
not necessarily all) of these features:

• Symmetrical shape
• Tall columns that rise the full height of the building
• Triangular pediment
• Domed roof
 Eclecticism
 Eclecticism is the practice of borrowing a variety of styles
from other geographical regions and eras in one
architectural composition.
 Lack of guidelines on past styles created a general sense
of architectural freedom, which enabled architects to
play with fanciful ideas outside of strict historical
interpretation to create completely unique buildings.
 Often this involved re-interpreting a historical style and
adding a completely new spin.
 As a result, many Eclectic buildings have become
important landmarks.
 Communications Palace – Madrid, Spain

New York Palace, Budapest,

Hungary
 Modernism
• Modernist architecture emphasizes function. It attempts to provide for
specific needs.
• Instead of viewing a building as a heavy mass made of ponderous
materials, the leading innovators of modern architecture considered it
as a volume of space enclosed by light, thin curtain walls and resting on
slender piers.
• The visual aesthetic of modern architecture was largely inspired by the
machine and by abstract painting and sculpture.
Modern architecture is usually
characterized by:
 an adoption of the principle that the materials and
functional requirements determine the result
 an adoption of the machine aesthetic
 an emphasis of horizontal and vertical lines
 a creation of ornament using the structure and theme
of the building, or a rejection of ornamentation.
 a simplification of form and elimination of "unnecessary
detail"
 an adoption of expressed structure
 Form follows function
 Larking Building, Buffalo - 1906

Pan Am Building – New York

1963
Brutalism
• Rugged reinforced concrete construction, lead to an
approach popularly known as Brutalism.
• Common features include:
1. Precast concrete slabs
2. Rough, unfinished surfaces
3. Exposed steel beams
4. Massive, sculptural shapes
 Architects such as Louis Kahn, Paul Rudolph, Marcel
Breuer, I.M. Pei and others would respond to the "light" glass
curtain walls advocated by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, by
creating architecture with an emphasis on more substantial
materials, such as concrete and brick, and creating works with
a "monumental" quality. "Brutalism" is a term derived from
the use of "Béton Brut" ("raw concrete"), unadorned, often
with the mold marks remaining, though as a stylistic tendency,
Brutalism would ultimately be applied more broadly to
include the use of other materials in a similar fashion, such as
brickwork. The term was first used in architecture by Le
Corbusier.
The Paulo Mendes da Rocha
Weldon Library, London
Residence in São Paulo, Brazil
Functionalism
 Followed the saying that form ever follows function.
 Functionalist architects design utilitarian structures in
which the interior program dictates the outward form,
without regard to such traditional devices as axial
symmetry and classical proportions.
 The implication is that if the functional aspects are
satisfied, architectural beauty would naturally and
necessarily follow.
 The common belief among functionalist architects is
that ornament serves no function.
 Van Nelle factory- Roterdam
A series of glass encased walkways linked the
buildings and the circular viewing room at the top
of the factory which housed the canteen

The Tower of Helsinki

Olympic stadium
Internationalism
• 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 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.
•
 Villa Savoye, Poissy, France

Seagram Building, New York

Minimalism
• Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe paved the way
for Minimalism when he said, "Less is more."
• Minimalist architects drew much of their inspiration from the
elegant simplicity of traditional Japanese architecture.
• Valuing simplicity and abstraction, Minimalist architects used
only straight lines and rectangular shapes.
Hallmarks of Minimalism include:
• Buildings are stripped of all but the most essential elements
• Emphasis is placed on the outline, or frame, of the structure
• Interior walls are eliminated
• Floor plans are open
• Lighting is used to dramatize lines and planes
• The negative spaces around the structure are part of the overall
design
 Barcelona Pavilion – by Mies van der
Rohe

Casa de Luis Barragán, - the home and

studio of Mexican architect Luis
Barragán.
This building is a classic example of the
use of texture, bright colors, and diffused
light.
FUTURISM
Futurist architecture early-20th century
form of architecture in Italy
anti-historicism,
strong chromaticism, long dynamic lines,
suggesting speed, motion, urgency and
lyricism:
it was part of the Futurism, an artistic
movement founded by the poet Filippo
Tommaso Marinetti, who produced its first
manifesto, the Manifesto of Futurism in 1909.
A cult of the machine age and even a
glorification of war and violence were
among the themes of the Futurists (several
prominent futurists were killed after
volunteering to fight in World War I). The
latter group included the architect Antonio
Sant'Elia, who, though building little,
translated the futurist vision into an urban
form.[1]
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Constructivist architecture modern
architecture in the Soviet Union in the 1920s
and early 1930s.

Following the 1917 revolutions in Russia, the

societal upheaval and change was coupled with
a desire for a new aesthetic, one more in
keeping with the Communist philosophy and
societal goals of the new state, in contrast to the
ornate Neoclassicism that had prevailed prior.
This resulted in a new style, Constructivism.
Konstantin Melnikov, a Russian Constructivist
architect, designed theMelnikov House (1927-
29) near Arbat Street in Moscow.

It combined advanced technology and

engineering with an avowedly Communist Rusakov club by Konstantin Melnikov
social purpose..
The Monument is generally
considered to be the defining
expression of architectural
constructivism rather than a
buildable project

Tatlin's Constructivist tower was to be

built from industrial materials: iron, glass
and steel. In materials, shape, and function,
it was envisaged as a towering symbol
of modernity. It would have dwarfed
the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The tower's main
form was a twin helix which spiraled up to
400 m in height,[1] around which visitors
would be transported with the aid of
various mechanical devices

Tatlin's Tower
The Narkomtiazhprom (NKTP, Russian: Наркомтяжпром) was
a 1934 architectural contest for the People's Commissariat of Construction of Heavy
Industry, to be constructed in Red Square, Moscow. Notable entrants included Ivan
Leonidov, Konstantin Melnikov, Vesnin brothers and Ivan Fomin.
Expressionism
was an architectural movement that
developed in Northern Europe during the first
decades of the 20th century in parallel with the
expressionist visual and performing arts.
Characteristics:
• early-modernist adoption of novel
materials,
• formal innovation, and very unusual
massing, sometimes inspired by natural
biomorphic forms, sometimes by the new
technical possibilities offered by the mass
production of brick, steel and especially
glass

Rudolf Steiner's Second Goetheanum, built

from 1926 near Basel, Switzerland and the in
Potsdam, Germany.
As the International Style took hold, others
architects reacted to or strayed from its the
purely functionalist forms, while at the
same time retaining highly modernist
characteristics. Eero Saarinen,, Alvar
Aalto and Oscar Niemeyer were three of
the most prolific architects and designers
in this movement, which has influenced
contemporary modernism.

TWA Airport ,John F. Kennedy Airport by Eero

Saarinen ,1962
Caalatrava’s City of Arts andSciences
Calatrava’s Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport Turning Turrso
The Sydney Opera House, the
most iconic structure of sydney
this is a multi venue performing
arts centre adjacent, to the CBD
and the botanic gardens and near
the harbor bridge, the facility
features a modern expressionist
design with a series of large pre
cast concrete, most commonly
known as “shells” it design
process started at 1950’s and
construction was finished and the
structure opened at 1972
Post Modernism
• Post Modernism rose out of general worldwide loss of
confidence in the international Modern Movement and a
realization of its inadequacies such as lack of historical
reference that could provide a feeling of continuity.
• Post Modernism has been described as theatrical and said to
be trying to create instant or neo-history.
Staatsgalerie Extension,
Stuttgart – by James
Stirling
AT & T Headquarters/Sony Bldg., New York
By Philip Johnson
Deconstructivism
 “Pure form has been contaminated transforming
architecture in to an agent of instability, disharmony
and conflict”
 seeks to arrive at new forms of expression by turning
away from structural restraints and functional and
thematic hierarchies, and toward often
nonrectangular, fantastic, and seemingly disjointed
designs.
 Deconstructivism tends to produce a sense of
dislocation both within the forms of projects and
between the forms and their contexts.
 Weisman Art museum, Minneapolis

Dancing House, Prague Seattle Centre

Parc de la Villette, Paris
By Bernard Tschumi