INTERNATIONAL STYLE
ARCHITECTURE
What is 'International Style'?
The International Style is the name of a
major architectural style that is said to have
emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the
formative decades of modern architecture,
as first defined by Americans Henry-
Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson in
1932, with an emphasis more on
architectural style, form and aesthetics
than the social aspects of the modern
movement as emphasized in Europe. The
term "International Style" first came into
use via a 1932 exhibition curated by
Hitchcock and Johnson, Modern
Architecture - International Exhibition,
which declared and labeled the
architecture of the early 20th century as the
International Style.
Characteristics
Light, taut plane surfaces that have been
completely stripped of applied ornamentation
and decoration
Open interior spaces
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 construction
Rectangular forms, often with round
projections
Flat roof
Ribbon windows
Curtain walls of glass
Smooth wall surfaces
Asymmetrical facade
Avon Lea Oscar Stonorov's personal
residence built in 1938. The stone walls
of an existing stone and frame farmhouse
were used as the core of the structure.
Exterior wood was cypress/ Roofs were
flat/ the studio is connected to the main
house by the bridge
Formation
The International Style grew out of three phenomena that confronted architects in the
late 19th century:
Architects increasing dissatisfaction with the continued use in stylistically eclectic
buildings of a mix of decorative elements from different architectural periods and
styles that bore little or no relation to the buildings functions
The economical creation of large numbers of office buildings and other
commercial, residential, and civic structures that served a rapidly industrializing
society
The development of new building technologies centering on the use of iron and
steel, reinforced concrete, and glass
These three phenomena dictated the search for an honest, economical, and
utilitarian architecture that would both use the new materials and satisfy societys
new building needs while still appealing to aesthetic taste
Factors
Technology was a crucial factor; the new availability of
cheap, mass-produced iron and steel and the
discovery in the 1890s of those materials
effectiveness as primary structural members effectively
rendered the old traditions of masonry (brick and
stone) construction obsolete. The new use of steel-
reinforced concrete as secondary support elements
(floors, etc.) and of glass as sheathing for the exteriors
of buildings completed the technology needed for
modern building, and architects set about
incorporating that technology into an architecture that
openly recognized its new technical foundation.
The International Style was thus formed under the
dictates that modern buildings form and appearance
should naturally grow out of and express the
potentialities of their materials and structural
engineering. A harmony between artistic expression,
function, and technology would thus be established in
an austere and disciplined new architecture.
Forerunners
The International Style grew out of the work of a small group of
brilliant and original architects; including Walter Gropius and
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Germany and the United States,
J.J.P. Oud in the Netherlands, Le Corbusier in France, and
Richard Neutra and Philip Johnson in the United States.
Work
Gropius and Mies were best known for their structures of glass curtain walls spanning
steel girders that form the skeleton of the building. Important examples of Gropius work
are the Fagus Works (Alfeld-an-der-Leine, Ger.; 1911), the Bauhaus (Dessau, Ger.; 1925
26), and the Graduate Center at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.; 194950)all of
which show his concern for uncluttered interior spaces. Mies van der Rohe and his
followers in the United States, who did much to spread the International Style, are most
clearly identified with glass-and-steel skyscrapers such as the Lake Shore Drive
Apartments (Chicago; 194951) and the Seagram Building, done jointly with Philip
Johnson (New York City; 1958). Oud helped to bring more rounded and flowing
geometric shapes to the movement. Le Corbusier, too, was interested in the freer treatment
of reinforced concrete but added the concept of modular proportion in order to maintain a
human scale in his work. Among his well-known works in the International Style is the
Villa Savoye (Poissy, France; 192931).
Fagus Factory
Lake Shore Apartments
By Mies Van der Rohe
Near Lake Michigan, Chicago
They went on to be the prototype for steel and glass skyscrapers
worldwide. embody a Modernistic tone with their verticality, grids
of steel and glass curtain walls, and complete lack of ornamentation.
Since Mies was a master of minimalist composition, his principle
was less is more as it is demonstrated in his self-proclaimed skin
and bones architecture
