What is Modern Architecture?
Modern Architecture is a style or building concept that prioritizes building form over than decorative ornaments.
In other words, the modern design aesthetic is an upgrade from the decorated buildings of the past, such as Gothic and Victorian designs.
Conversely, modern designs choose an architectural theme built with certain materials, in order to ensure the simplicity and functionality of a building. The era of modern design came at a time when human resources were replaced by industrial machines. With so many workers working at home, the architects have focused more on building designs that prioritize occupant comfort.
The roots of modern architecture can be traced to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which was composed entirely of cutting-edge buildings and cemented the United States’ role as a world leader in art, architecture, and technology. The head architect was Daniel Burnham, who recruited the most prominent American architects, including Louis Sullivan’s firm Adler and Sullivan, to design the temporary buildings for the Fair. Louis Sullivan is most well-known for his aesthetic philosophy “form follows function,” which became the rallying cry for the modern movement. One of the many young architects inspired by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair was Frank Lloyd Wright, the leading force in shaping modern American architecture in the 20th century.
As a living space, the city is defined by architecture. Even the countryside is structured by culturally typical settlements. And Modern architecture is born of a common desire for change, to alter not only the land, but also living conditions for the users
In contrast with industry, the architect is constantly creating prototypes. Where industry, before mass production, engages in extensive testing to find the best possible solution, most buildings — leaving aside here prefabricated houses — are experiments arising from a unique set of circumstances and encounters between owner-builders and planners. Therefore architecture is also always a social process, the result of which cannot be pre-determined. In favourable cases, however, and herein lies the core character of modern architecture, it is born of a common desire for change, to alter not only the land, but also living conditions for the users, whether they are residents or workers.
This was how, in 1913,Walter Gropius saw in a modern factory a “worthy garment”, which will impress passers-by and make workers more productive, not just by giving the worker “light, air and cleanliness” but also an impression of greatness that will help him rise above the stupidity of factory work: “In it he will become more joyful as he plays his part in creating great common values, as his workplace, designed by the artist, appeals to the sense of beauty innate in everyone and has an enlivening effect on the monotony of mechanical work.” And that’s what we can learn from modern architecture.
Less is More, Less is Bore?
The culmination of the failure of modern architecture was marked by the destruction of the Pruitt-Igoe housing flats in St. Petersburg. Louis Missouri USA, designed by architect Yamasaki. The building was demolished by the department of Housing and Urban Development of the United State Government.
Ironically, the building was awarded 16 years earlier as a design award by the American institute of architects. The destruction of the 12-story flat building inhabited by the Negroes became the starting point as well as a milestone in the history of the death of Modern Architecture and the birth of post modern architecture.
This was followed by the appearance of Robert Venturi who was ‘born’ in the postmodern period. It is a breakthrough from the monotony that occurs in modern architecture. “Less is Bore” is a counter-revolution to modernism that offers complexity and contradiction rather than the simplicity and consistency that has occurred during the time of Mies Van der Rohe which is: “Less is More”, a concept popularized by him, a figure of Modern Architecture in the world.
Some of the critical aspects of modern architecture are: by implication, form follows function, architecture is reduced to an image and an economic commodity, then architecture is often seen as an object separated from social meaning because the object is considered to have no history.
Each design produced in modern architecture is explored so it has useful role for the community. Modern architecture is still not fulfilling the needs of the people, so it changes for the better and therefore the inception of post-modern architecture.
Sources: www.architecture.com , www.archisoup.com , Modern Architecture A-Z (Taschen, 2017)
