Paveena Sidhu - History Digital Booklet

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Bosjes Chapel - Architect: Coetzee Steyn

Modernism

Paveena Kaur Sidhu

1810513

Previous . Conceptual . Progress . Contemporary . Creative . Thinker . Poetry . Architecture . Abstract . Published . Music . Intermedia .

Content...

- What is Modernism?

- St Phillips Cathedral - Bauhaus - Le Corbusier P1 - Le Corbusier P2 -Italian Modernism - Avant Garde = Brexit - Regional Modernism - Brutalism in the UK - Frank Lloyd Wright - Transcultural Space - Bibliography

What is Modernism?

Modernism is a term widely used, but rarely defined. It refers to a global movement in society and culture that from the early decades of the twentieth century bought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life. It is otherwise known as the ‘visual culture’ where everything is immersive into one- from the chairs that we sit on linked to the interior which surrounds us created by the aesthetics and the ideology of modernist design and innovation. Therefore, Modernism is not conceived as a style, but is a loose collection of ideas.

Building on late nineteenth-century precedents, artists around the world used new imagery, materials and techniques to create artworks that they felt better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies; as a result, forming new expression. Modernism fostered a period of experimentation in the arts from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, particularly in the years following the first World War. This was illustrated by the use of the word ‘modernism’ as a title of magazines and books; in addition to fashion, art and architecture. Modernism was commonly illustrated through the use of paintings, which began in the 1860s with the work of Monet and progressed through that of Cezanne to the defining moment of Picasso’s Cubism, and then to Kandinsky and, eventually, post-war abstract art.

Although it maybe difficult to distinguish a clear meaning of modernism; Conversely, there is agreement on what is not modernist: historicism, academicism, that which eschews the new and embraces tradition. Clement Greenberg argued that such work of modernism referred only to itself and that its concerns were entirely aesthetic = the arrangement and invention of spaces, surfaces, shapes, colours, etc. to the exclusions of ’ anything outside of itself ’ . Greenberg believes that modern art lacks traditional aspects when failing to connect societal meanings with an object; therefore, its rejecting its influential surroundings.

St Phillips Cathedral St Phillips Cathedral, in Birmingham, is home to a remarkable set of stained-glass windows designed by Birmingham born pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones and manufactured by the firm of William Morris & Co between 1885 and 1891; Burne-Jones wanted the windows to express his vision of the humanity of Christ.

The William Morris stained glass partnership with Edward Burne-Jones produced works of a very high order, and a very distinctive Pre-Raphaelite style - rich in colour - harking back to the medieval glass common in English cathedrals and churches before much of its destruction in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Edward Coley Burne-Jones was one of the most famous British artists of the 19th century that began training for the ministry but decided instead to devote his life to art. Previously Burne-Jones and Morris had designed and executed stained glass windows for St Martin’s-in-the-Bull-Ring and St Mary the Virgin in Acocks Green. Both are known for their vibrancy, the life-likeness of the figures, their ability to tell a story and their inspiring and dramatic qualities. The windows are an inspiration for both artists and Christians.

William Morris, John Ruskin are all connected to the pre-Raphaelites via Edward BurneJones; for instance, during Burne-Jones studying in oxford he met William Morris, the pioneer of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, and the two became life-long friends.

In addition, he was also strongly influenced by the writings of John Ruskin and believed in the spirituality and moral value of art. The tale of Sleeping Beauty seems to have been particularly important to him, and it may be that he saw an analogy between the prince’s role in transforming the kingdom with a kiss and the need for change in 19th century Britain.

Bauhaus Bauhaus believed that ‘the ultimate goal of all art is the building. Furthermore, architects, painters and sculptors must all learn a new way of both seeing and understanding the composite character of the building, both as a unity and in terms of its parts. Their work will then combine itself with the spirit of architecture, which it lost in salon art.’

The manifesto of Staatliche’s Bauhaus is shown in the German Art school as they combine crafts and the fine arts which is combing the schools mission of architecture, sculpture and painting being lead back to the crafts.

Soskin House

This Israeli property was Built in 1933 and designed by the Architect - Ze’ev Rechter (1898-1960) after returning from his studies in Paris, in late 1932. In 2005 Soskin House ( a Bauhaus property) was renovated into a number of apartments. Architects in Israel are still using Bauhaus forms to act as a guide and inspire their designs.

Nesting Tables by Josef Albers Former artistic director of the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus from 1926 to 1927, Josef Albers designed this set of modern accent tables. Each table was made from solid oak and lacquered acrylic glass. The German-born American decided to applied a distinctive colour of blue, red, yellow and white to the tables; showcasing his acknowledgment of colourful, geometric artworks.

Following the design of ‘Nesting Tables’, many company’s have adopted the feature of multiple tables being functionally stored on top of each other; for example, as displayed in the picture on the left, the company Wayfair has been influenced by the Bauhaus design.

- Swiss-French architect - born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930 - Designer, painter, urban planner and writer

Le Corbusier

Located in Marseille, France, Unite D’habitation sits within a community garden which is also referred to as a large park. The building is surrounded by lots of bus stops so it is in the perfect location for residents that use public transport to get around.

History

After World War II when the need for housing in France was at an unprecedented high due to the number of people who were displayed by the bombings, Le Corbusier was given a brief to design a multi-family residential housing project, making this his first commission from the French State.

Planning began soon as the war ended in 1946. It was originally supposed to be completed in 12 months but ended up taking 5 years due to budget constraints.

The idea behind it was to have a city-like environment inside a tower block.

As well as the flats it also had shops, restaurants, a school and recreational spaces.

Functions of the Building Materials

- Reinforced concrete with a visible coating and glass

- without decoration and without any elegance, indoors as well as out.

- The façade, protected by canopies, was built with elements of the same material Construction

-Construction began in 1951.

- The building is 165 m long, 24 m deep and 56 m high and stands on pillars, leaving space underneath to store vehicles and allow pedestrian circulation.

- The plenum underneath the first floor contains the air-conditioning plant, elevator machineries and diesel generators.

Spatial Layouts Inside the building, the 337 apartments cross one another in the huge, reinforced concrete framework.

Halfway up, there is a two-floor commercial area measuring 135 meters along the building, in which there are function rooms, a restaurant, a hotel, laundry room and other supply services, it even included a cinema. On the seventh and eighth floor within the shopping streets was a hostel, this was intended for the residents guests to stay in and eventually became a hotel.

Each floor contains 58 duplex apartments, accessible from a large internal corridor every three floors. By interlocking two apartments around the central access corridor, Le Corbusier had designed it for maximum use of the space within the building.

Italian Modernism The Italian artist and writer, Giorgio de Chirico was best known for his paintings that he produced between 1909 and 1919. At the start of this period, his themes related to still cityscapes inspired by the bright daylight of Mediterranean cities, as shown in the piece above. Within Chirico’s artwork he decided to focus on capturing the landscape and not just what sits around a particular building or feature; he went beyond what hits the eye; therefore, making his pieces futurist as he rejects traditional painting styles.

At the late stage of this period, Chirico gradually turned his attention to studies of cluttered storerooms, sometimes inhabited by mannequin- like hybrid figures which connects his work to Aldo Rossi. For instance, Rossi’s work includes pieces where architecture has been moulded into difference shapes and styles, taking design away from pre-war architecture but transforming architecture into post-war designs.

In the second half of the 20th century, the architectural search of post-war period strained for reaching an alternative offer of the modernity. Aldo Rossi’s figure emerges as the most suggestive theoretical and coherent voice of the architectural panorama. He adopts a rigid position that it is born in the admiration for Adolf Loos’s rationality and bases in his writings, where he proposes the construction of a rational structure that stimulates to think over every project of a scientific way, poking analogous relations with the place which is evident throughout his work.

Both Giorgio de Chirico and Aldo Rossi’s work portray aspects of futurist manifesto through showing a rejection of traditional definitions of art, beauty and progress; whilst focusing on dense urban centre which appropriated the correct stage for modern life.

E R B

T I X

Youtube link: https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=1pSIPKpOynQ&feature=youtu.be

Regionalism Modernism The modernist approach of regional modernism is where architectural design has been influenced by regional forms and materials, also geographical location and culture that is implemented into the construction. Usually, this modernist approach includes ethnic and traditional influences as a combination of modern styles to create a hybrid of various different styles. In terms of critical regionalism, this is an approach where architecture strives to focus on creating an identity within the international style of modernism in rejection of unrecognised individualism and meretricious postmodern design.

Built in 1968 in Mexico city, Luis Barragan’s Fuente De Los Amantes was the result of love for vernacular architecture deeply influenced by Le Corbusier and his post-World War II architecture.

Barragan’s work is known for taking the art of ’emotional architecture’, therefore creating functional spaces without any particular order, but poetic enough to achieve what the architect has always sought ‘delightful places’.

Barragan has created a space where architecture moves through the water, geometric abstraction and colour planes which fundamentally questions a united love between a men and women. For instance, the elements that represent those symbols: man is the strength of the horse, the woman’s elusive and changing water, landscape horizontal walls that limit the background and contrast with the lawn close-ups, the geometry is perfectly regular plane holds the aqueduct and porch beneath, cutting cleanly space.

In comparison to Barragan’s work, Mies Van Der Roche’s Barcelona Pavilion shared similar design aspects whilst it remains completely individual in terms of critical regionalism. Built in 1923, Barcelona Pavilion was seen to be advanced for its time due to the use of materials such as glass and steel playing an integral part in Roches design; whereas, for Barragan, more traditional materials such as stone and wood were prominent with the use of colour to vary its aesthetic. Barragan usually chose local sources to provide the building materials; in contrast, Roches preferred to explore different and more recent developing materials in construction.

Both buildings showcase water features, linking both to regionalization and creating ‘movement’ influenced by natural qualities.

Barcelona Pavilion was designed to to be a temporary exhibition pavilion, therefore, it was demolished in 1930; however, between 1983 and 1986 Catalan architects reconstructed the pavilion as a permanent structure.

The original structure was more of a hybrid style, some of the planes also acted as a support as the entire building rested on a plinth of travertine, creating a concept carried out with the realization of the ’free plan’ and the ‘floating roof ’.

Brutalism in the UK Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England between 1974 and 2013. The building was demolished in 2013, relocated and replaced by the library of Birmingham. The Birmingham Central Library was designed by the architect John Madin in the brutalist style, it was part of an ambitious development project by Birmingham City Council to create a civic centre on its new Inner Ring Road system; however, for economic reasons significant parts of the master plan were not completed, and quality was reduced on materials as an economic measure.

Despite the original vision not being fully implemented, the library gained architectural praise as an icon of British brutalism with its stark use of concrete, bold geometry, inverted ziggurat sculptural form and monumental scale. Its style was seen at the time as a symbol of social progressivism.

In comparison to the Park Hill Housing Estate in Sheffield, it was questioned whether the building should be listed and therefore, it could not be demolished but only repaired or changed. However, listing of the property was not granted and therefore, this allowed the building to being demolished in 2013.

In 1999, Birmingham city council decided to sell the ‘paradise forum’ to a property developer, making privatisation an impact on the library's future. As a result, the public saw this as a manifesting ideology which lead to poor management and lack of maintenance meaning that the façade needed improving.

As mentioned previously, English Heritage applied twice for the building to be grade II listed in 2002 and 2007, both times were denied. The library was described as having boldly confident exterior which defines an era of the history of Birmingham. In addition, they commented that the building had ‘historical significance’ and should be preserved’.

In conclusion, the Birmingham Central Libary was demolished due to econmical factors and despite multiple attempts to get the building listed as it was seen to be a historical site.

Frank Lloyd Wright Writings, drawings, and built work all testify to Frank Lloyd Wright’s lifelong passion for nature and landscape.

Wright began using the term organic architecture as early as 1908 to describe his architectural philosophy. It’s based on the harmony between human habitats and the natural world, with the design crafted to integrate the manmade architecture to the landscape.

Unsurprisingly, much of this philosophy is influenced by Japanese architecture, which Wright would increasingly look to for inspiration throughout his career. The influence of Japanese architecture is evident within Wright’s designs as his choice to incorporate low pitched roofs, as seen in the designs of Robie House.

In addition, Frank was known for his Prairie style of architecture when adding overhanging eaves, a central chimney, and open floor plans which, he believed was the antidote to the confined, closed- in architecture of the Victorian era.

Furthermore, Japanese architecture also incorporates surrounding landscape; such as plants, and water – nature. Taking inspiration from surrounding landscape, Wright designed Fallingwater in Mill Run, another organic architectural building. The idea is for the architecture to blend so completely into the landscape that they become one and the same. “A building should appear to grow easily from its site and be shaped to harmonize with its surroundings if Nature is manifest there.”

This is also achieved through repeating patterns based on nature throughout the building, as well as the use of natural materials. With Fallingwater, Wright choice to place the home directly over the waterfall and creek helps create the close relationship with nature he desired. “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.”

Transcultural Space

Hyde Park - Winter Woderland

Established in 1637, Hyde park is grade I-listed major park in Central London. It is the largest of four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance of Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park past the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. Every year the park homes a large annual Christmas event, Winter Wonderland, typically from mid-November to early January.

Entry to this event is free, however, once inside you are definitely paying London prices; for instance, on average most rides are 9 tokens and its ÂŁ1 per token, making it an expensive experience but its absolutely worth it!

Inside there many rides to enjoy, but if you’re looking to relax than you can enjoy yourself in the various bars and have a little dance indulging yourself with Christmassy food and drinks.

An overview of Hyde Park on a normal day.

An overview of Winter Wonderland showing London City in the background.

Showing the German markets

Screenshot of google maps showing the location of Hyde Park.

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