History and Theory of Architecture

modern architecture
Lecture 7

By: SLSABILA Ali

Introduction

• We can identify the emergence of architecture in the twentieth

century in general by dividing it into the first two periods representing
the first half of the twentieth century.
• It is a period constituting and experimenting with what was
discovered in the nineteenth century and the second half of the
twentieth century after the end of the Second World War.
 Architecture in the first half of the twentieth
century

• This period saw an experimental phase, the second phase, preceded

by the discovery phase, where structural systems evolved, as well as
implementation methods and systems evolved as a direct result of
technological development at the time.
 Factors shaping architecture in the first half of
the twentieth century
• Developing building materials technology and understanding the enormous potential
of building materials such as iron, concrete and other materials of a multiple nature
produced by the architect and placed at the architect's disposal.
• ❑Revisiting the definition of form, composition, function and the role of architecture
in society, which led to the development of analytical studies and logical philosophical
foundations, later served as the basis for the architecture
• ❑Social and industrial volatility, the reality has become in need of many buildings of
different kinds that are more complex in their design requirements. This has led to the
emergence of new types of buildings with previously unrecognized design programs,
resulting in a breakthrough in architectural thought that has secreted the concepts of
modern architecture
• ❑The economic factor increased the importance of the economic factor so that it
became of great importance to the business class and traders and demanded to
reduce the costs of buildings and dispense with everything that has no practical
benefit we know today.
❑ The impact of the First and Second World Wars on the development of
architecture around the world, world conferences to study the many trends
that have been put forward to address the negative effects of war on
different cities and nations, which have led to the development of new
concepts in addressing the design process and the diversity of architecture
and architectural product, have emerged a new concept that preceded
industrialization (Pre-Fabrication), which began at the end of the 19th
century and grew during the two world wars, then spread after the Second
World War as a result of the need for rapid reconstruction of what was
destroyed by the war .
Some architectural schools in the first half of
the twentieth century
• It is one of the earliest architectural trends of the twentieth century and
was formed by previous factors surrounding architecture in the first half of
the twentieth century, technological development in all fields in general,
and in the field of architecture in particular and is considered an extension
of the Bouhaus School 1906 in Germany and was one of the main pioneers
of this trend (Mies Van Der Rohe) He was also director of the Bouhaus
school after Walter Gropius. Modernism has formed the foundations and
principles of architecture in the late 20th century, especially in terms of
technology and advanced thought, which in turn will form the entrance to
the architecture of the 21st century.
The most important features of modernity architecture:
•Expression of the elements of creation
•I took on a more liberal and simplistic character.
•Give up everything that has no practical benefit.
•Give up old foundations like ornaments and others.
 Modernism Architecture

• Example: "Villa Tugendhat" Architectural: Mies Van Der Rohe Villa

Tugendhat in the Czech State is one of the outstanding works of the
architect (Mies Van Der Rohe), one of the pioneers of architecture in the
20th century and the owner of the famous saying (less is more). The villa
was implemented in 1930 and is now an archaeological building and has
been converted into a museum. The villa expresses a trend towards a
philosophy of purity that leads to perfection from an architectural point of
view (Mies Van Der Rohe) and has taken care of the precision of detail
despite its extreme simplicity.
Functionalism
• The functional school appeared during the modern architectural movement and
it states that the design of the building should follow its function and show its
construction and express the goodness of its materials and the form should be
free from decoration or symbolism or apparent aesthetic consideration, so the
building should express its scientific purposes and this functional theory spread
against the Baroque and Rococo theorists and called for the recognition of the
industrial movement and modern technology.
• Also among the most important pioneers of this school was: Frank Lloyd Wright,
a student of Salvan, who defended the functional theory and linked it to the
organic trend and believed that form and function are one thing .
• Also the architect: Le Corbusier What demonstrated this theory was the scientist
Louis Salvain, who was the first to call that form must result from utility, that
function is the reason for the existence of a building, and that every part of the
building must express its function.
• And other architects who agreed that form follows function.
ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE.
• □The concept It is architecture concerned with preserving the
environment through designs that are compatible with nature And by
Frank Lloyd Wright Organic architecture develops from the inside out
in harmony with its surrounding conditions That is, architecture that
adapts to nature like a living organism
• □ Architectural design It is considered one of the first theories that
were able to remove architecture from classical trends ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURETHROUGH.
• through :- Reducing the internal division of the building. Air and light
must permeate the entire building ,Use to the maximum extent
natural materials ,Make the furnishings part of the building itself
 The most important pioneers and their works
• [Link] Lloyd Wright Falling water
house It was located in the middle of
a high forest in Pennsylvania,
America, with a stream running
through it, forming a waterfall It is a
private house, but its ownership was
transferred to the American
government in 1963 and it became a
tourist destination .
• Antonio Gadoi. Casamilla Building Deal with users as they are marine
creatures that live and breathe through their movement within
spaces that resemble the bottom of the oceans
• Fariporz Sahba (Iranian architect) The Lotus Temple is located in
Delhi, India It is designed in the shape of a lotus flower and consists
of 27 petals on 9 sides covered in marble It accommodates about
1,300 people
 Architecture in the second half of the twentieth
century
• Modern architecture reached its peak in the 1950s, and by the late 1960s, it lost
much of its ideological power. With the death of one of its pioneers, Le
Corbusier, it also lost much of its emotional strength. The beginning of
architects’ withdrawal from it coincided with the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe
housing complex in St. Louis, USA, in 1972, when the government decided to
blow it up in response to residents’ wishes. Critics of architecture consider this
incident a moment marking the end of modern architecture.
• With technological advancements and numerous discoveries in the construction
field, as well as the emergence of information technology as a significant reality,
the world entered a new phase that witnessed unprecedented forms in overall
architecture. It can be said that the second half of the 20th century represents a
period of maturity and impactful construction that influenced architectural
creativity through the maximum and optimal exploitation of modern
construction technologies.
Factors Shaping Architecture in the Second Half of
the 20th Century
• ❑ The Need for Reconstruction After World War II: The war served as a catalyst
for scientists to explore new innovations for military superiority. However, after
the war, these advancements were redirected toward civil applications,
particularly in architecture. The urgent need for rapid reconstruction became a
primary reason for the emergence of various concepts and trends, such as (
prefabrication),( typification ).
• ❑ Changing Dominant Concepts: This change can be attributed to numerous
transformations that affected all aspects of life, leading to shifts in political,
economic, cultural, and social systems. Consequently, these changes reflected in
architectural outputs, which expressed the prevailing ideas. This resulted in the
emergence of two main directions in architecture :
• • Evolved Modern Architecture: This includes high-tech architecture and
deconstructivism architecture.
• • Postmodern Architecture.
• ❑ Advancements in Construction Technology: Innovations in building
materials, construction systems, and execution methods emerged,
leading to the development of new building materials and various
applications.
• ❑ Impact of Political System Changes: Particularly after World War II and
the fall of colonial powers, significant changes occurred in cultural and
social systems. This also affected economic systems, which had a direct
impact on architectural products.
• ❑ Emergence of Information Technology: Information technology
became one of the influencing factors in the evolution of architectural
products, especially toward the end of the 20th century, which
witnessed the onset of the information revolution and the impact of
computers on architecture.
High-tech architecture
• High-tech architecture It is an architectural technique characterized by the integration of
high-tech industrial and technological components into the building structure
• Characteristics and features
• _This trend emerged as a result of high technological progress
• _ The buildings consist of transparent glass facades or steel frames
• _It uses highly technical vocabulary in terms of material and functional work
• _Adapting the use of modern construction materials such as steel, glass and plastic
• Disadvantages
• _Architects abandoned traditional materials such as stone, wood, bronze, and natural
shapes
• _The architect’s separation from the environment in exchange for the industrial
appearance in the composition
• _Using mainly pre-fabricated elements that may harm the environment
• The most important
• pioneers and examples of projects
• _ Norman Foster, birth: June
• 1, 1935
• One of the most famous British architects and
• the designer of a number of the most famous
• bridges and institution buildings in Britain and
• Europe
• Example of a project
• The building is the Sainsbury Center for Visual
• Arts, England
• A building that brings together a number of
• different activities in one place, a reception
• area, the Faculty of Fine Arts, a public room, a
• restaurant and exhibitions, it is designed to be
• intimate and welcoming.
• Richard Rogers, birth: July 23, 1933,
Florence, Italy Death: December 18, 2021,
London, United Kingdom The building was
originally used to celebrate the Millennium
Experience, a huge exhibition celebrating the
beginning of the third millennium. This
building is located on the Greenwich
Peninsula, southeast of London, Britain. The
exhibition was open to the public from
January 1 to December 31, 2000 It is one of
the largest domes of its kind in the world,
consisting of 12 single towers (one tower for
each month of the year or every hour of the
clock face). Made of durable and tear-
resistant fiberglass fabric panels
Postmodern architecture
• It is a pattern or movement that emerged in the sixties of the twentieth century as a
reaction against the rigor, rigidity and lack of diversity of modernist architecture, especially
in the international style advocated by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The
movement was first exhibited by architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown and
architectural theorist Robert Venturi in their book Learning from Las Vegas. The style
flourished from the eighties until the nineties, especially in the works of Scott Brown,
Venturi, Philip Johnson, Charles Moore, and Michael Graves. In the late nineties, it was
divided into many new trends, including high-tech architecture, neo-futurist architecture,
and deconstructive architecture. Architectural features of postmodern architecture :
• This model is a playful compilation of symbols and aesthetic details,
• The following features of postmodern architecture can be distinguished: This style is a
reaction to the international style and the style of modernism, it brought decorative and
decorative themes back to the design of the building, often with cheerful colors and illogical
linkage. It is an eclectic metaphor for historical details from multiple periods predominantly
free geometric shapes with a deliberate contrast to scale. One of the most prevalent
manifestations is the use of irony, ambiguity and contradiction in architectural forms.
Postmodern architecture is a trend that glorifies chaos rather than order as well as loading
the architectural form with architectural styles dating back to disparate and different eras
rather than the unified form. It is a trend whose main characteristic is nostalgia and
adaptation of old traditional frameworks
• To suit current needs and contents. Emphasizing the need for buildings to be
created as part of the medium and the environment, and creating architectural
forms without quotation, but rather drawing inspiration from heritage through
the use of Symbolic connotations and the revival of decorating as an important
basis for the formulation of the figure.
• The art of historical architecture and its structural forms, especially those
associated with the models of rational examples of the second half of the
eighteenth century, which carried with them pure solid forms.
• His architecture was also characterized by its high renewal in the degree of its
association With history as characterized by reduced language that was reflected
in extreme simplicity with pure references in the level of extreme abstraction of
the historical sources adopted by .
• Critics have differed in describing Aldo Rossi's works, with some suggesting that
they approached engineering construction works such as canals and road works,
while others described them as closer to prison buildings and others linked them
to fascist architecture.
Deconstruction
• A path of architecture is parallel to postmodern architecture in that it tends to
complexity and fragmentation in mass as well as manipulation of the external surfaces or
the outer cover of the building in exchange for the simplicity that characterized
modernity. Which turns the surface into a problem difficult to distinguish and gives a
sense that the architectural elements of the blocks out of place familiar most architects
deconstruction use the cover "envelop" which is seen from the outside and does not
affect the internal structure and difficult to predict the orientation of the form or the
beginning and end and the formation in the block is a controlled chao Its most important
features are as follows:
• Free expression.
• Flexibility in formation.
• An expression of the high technology of the times.
• Creation is the decoration unit in design.
• Distance from historical and past architecture.
• The design contains the desired functional solutions.
• Architecture is skin and bone.
• Transparency is the main feature of design