History of Architecture

Unit-1 (Modern Architecture)

Lecture-01
Ar. Kopal Khandelwal
Assistant Professor
MBS School of Planning and Architecture
  Arising out of the rebellious mood at the beginning of the twentieth
century, modernism was a radical approach that yearned to revitalize the
way modern civilization viewed life, art, politics, and science.
 This rebellious attitude that flourished between 1900 and 1930 had, as its
basis, the rejection of European culture for having become too corrupt,
complacent and lethargic, ailing because it was bound by the artificialities
of a society that was too preoccupied with image and too scared of change.
 This dissatisfaction with the moral bankruptcy of everything European led
modern thinkers and artists to explore other alternatives, especially
Modernism primitive cultures.
 For the Establishment, the result would be cataclysmic; the new emerging
culture would undermine tradition and authority in the hopes of
transforming contemporary society.
 The first characteristic associated with modernism is nihilism, the rejection
of all religious and moral principles as the only means of obtaining social
progress.
  In other words, the modernists repudiated the moral codes of the society in
which they were living in.
 The modernists believed that for an individual to feel whole and a
contributor to the re-vitalization of the social process, he or she needed to
be free of all the encumbering baggage of hundreds of years of hypocrisy.
 The rejection of moral and religious principles was compounded by the
repudiation of all systems of beliefs, whether in the arts, politics, sciences
or philosophy.
Modernism
 As a consequence of the new technological dynamics, the modernists felt a
sense of constant anticipation and did not want to commit to any one
system that would thereby harness creativity, ultimately restricting and
annihilating it.
 And so, in the arts, for instance, at the beginning of the 20th-century,
artists questioned academic art for its lack of freedom and flirted with so
many isms: fauvism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, constructivism,
secessionism and surrealism.
  In Germany, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, and others
politicized their paintings, foreshadowing the coming of World War II,
while in America, modernism is seen in the form of American Scene
painting and the social realism and regionalism movements that
contained both political and social commentary dominated the art
world.
 Modernism is defined in Latin America by painters Joaquín Torres
García from Uruguay and Rufino Tamayo from Mexico, while the
Modernism muralist movement with Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, José
Clemente Orozco, Pedro Nel Gómez, and Santiago Martinez
Delgado, and Symbolist paintings by Frida Kahlo

The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh Weeping Woman by Picasso

  The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century -
changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and
technology.
 It began in the United Kingdom, and then subsequently spread throughout
Europe, North America, and eventually the world.
 It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development
of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade
Modern expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and
railways.
Architecture-  The development of large scale iron production resulted in large amount of
iron making their way into the building in the late 1700’s which resulted in
Introduction more efficient structural elements, wider beam spans, better lateral
stability as well as less fire hazardous structure as metal being non
combustible.
 Knowledge of innovation was spread by several means. Workers were
trained in the techniques, and travelled to gather information and
transferred the same.
  Publications on manufacturing and technology began to appear.
 The fundamental technical prerequisite to large-scale modern architecture
was the development of metal framing.
 Masonry walls were gradually relieved of their structural role, eventually
becoming a cosmetic “skin” over an iron skeleton of columns and arches.
Modern  Iron bridges and iron-and-glass buildings (e.g. greenhouses, train stations,
markets) were also constructed.
Architecture-
Introduction
 A. Early Modern ca. B. Late Modern ca. 1900-60 C. Postmodern ca.
1850-1900 1960-present

Culmination of iron-frame Chicago school: skyscrapers, D.Art Deco ca.

architecture (Crystal functionalism Louis 1920-40
Palace, Eiffel Tower) Sullivan)international style Antonio Gaudi
Rise of metal (Gropius, Corbusier, Mies),
Wright (organic architecture)
Frame Total aesthetic freedom

Architecture E. Art Nouveau

ca. 1890-1910

The Thames Tunnel (opened 1843). Cotton mills in Ancoats about 1820
Portland Cement was used in the world's
first underwater tunnel
  The Industrial Revolution witnessed the triumph of a middle class of
industrialists and businessmen over a landed class of nobility and gentry.
 Ordinary working people found increased opportunities for employment in
the new mills and factories.
 Pre-industrial society was very static and often cruel—child labour, dirty
living conditions, and long working hours were just as prevalent before the
Modern Industrial Revolution.

Architecture-
Social Context

England ("Cottonopolis"), pictured in 1840, showing the John Lombe's water-powered silk mill at Derby.
mass of factory chimneys
  The roots of Modernism may be found in the work of Berthold Luberkin
(1901-1990), a Russian architect who settled in London and founded a
group called Tecton.

Modern  The Tecton architects believed in applying scientific, analytical methods to

design.
Architecture-  Their stark buildings ran counter to expectations and often seemed to defy
Origin gravity.
 Modernist architecture emphasizes on function.
 It attempts to provide for specific needs rather than imitate nature.

Modern Age of iron and steam

(age of iron-frame architecture)
Age of steel and electricity
(age of steel-frame architecture)
Architecture- ca. 1750-1900 ca. 1900-present

Material iron-frame masonry buildings, steel framing and reinforced concrete

iron-and-glass buildings, iron bridges serve as the primary structural materials
of large-scale architecture
Post and Beam
Construction  The familiar post-and-beam metal frames of today’s architecture only
Vs Arched became possible with the mass-production of steel , which has immense
tensile strength.
Construction  During the “steel and electricity phase” of the industrial age, which could
also be called the age of steel-frame architecture, steel and reinforced
concrete became the predominant structural materials of large-scale
architecture.
 Reinforced concrete combined the tensile strength of steel with the
compressive strength of concrete.
  Form Follows Function- dictum expressed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s early
mentor Louis Sullivan, meaning that the result of design should derive
directly from its purpose.
 Little or no ornamentation- Simplicity and Clarity of forms and
elimination of unnecessary details.
 Factory-made parts – Adoption of the machine aesthetic
 Industrially materials such as metal and concrete
Features  The related concept of “Truth of materials”, meaning that the true nature
or natural appearance of material ought to be seen rather than concealed
or altered to represent something else.
 Rebellion against traditional styles – A visual Emphasis on Horizontal and
Vertical Lines, Visual expression of structure.
  Rem Koolhaas
 I.M Pei
Architects of  Le Corbusier
Modern  Philip Johnson
 Mies Van Der Rohe
Architecture
  Francois Hennebique devised the pioneering technique of construction with
reinforced concrete.
 He worked first as a stonemason, with a particular interest in restoring
Engineers of gothic cathedrals, and later became an engineer and self-educated builder.
 He patented his revolutionary reinforced-concrete construction system in
Modern 1892.
Architecture-  He started with reinforced-concrete floor slabs, concrete slabs with steel
bars in the bottom, and advanced to a total building system using structural
Francois beams of concrete reinforced with stirrups and longitudinal bars designed to
withstand the tensile forces against which ordinary concrete was weak.
Hennebique
 He first developed his reinforced concrete system on a house project in
(1842-1921) Belgium in 1879 where he used concrete as a fireproof protection for
wrought iron beams.
 In 1894, Hennebique built the first reinforced concrete bridge in Wiggen,
Switzerland.
  He developed many innovative bridge forms in reinforced cement concrete.
 He designed three-hinged arches in which the deck and the arch ribs were
combined, to produce closely integrated structures that evolved into
Engineers of stiffened arches of very thin reinforced concrete and concrete slabs.
Modern  The Salginatobel Bridge (1930) and Schwandbach Bridge (1933) are classic
examples of Maillart’s three-hinged arch bridges and deck-stiffened arch
Architecture- bridges, respectively.
Robert Maillart
(1872-1940)

Schwandbach Bridge Salginatoble Bridge

  Maillart is known also for his revolutionary column design in a number of
buildings. He constructed his first mushroom ceiling for a warehouse in
Engineers of Zurich, together with treating the concrete floor as a slab, rather than
reinforcing it with beams.
Modern  He used concrete because it could support a large mound of earthen
Architecture- material for insulation against freezing. Since concrete is very good in
compression situations, it was the perfect material to support a large,
Robert Maillart unmoving mass of earth.
(1872-1940)
  Iron-frame architecture, which flourished primarily in England, France,
and (eventually) the United States, occupies the transitional zone between
traditional and modern architecture.
 Iron-frame buildings were erected mainly during the “age of iron and
steam” (ca. 1750-1900). bridges.
 Utilitarian structures (and utilitarian products in general) were important
for demonstrating the aesthetic potential of plain, mass-produced
Early Modern materials.
 Utilitarian buildings also often lacked traditional ornamentation, again due
Architecture to lack of concern for appearance.
 As the nineteenth century drew on, many architects began to embrace
these features (plain industrial materials and lack of ornamentation) as
aesthetically desirable.
  Then, near the end of the nineteenth century, the foremost iron-frame
structure of all time was constructed: the Eiffel Tower, designed by the
bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel.
 The fierce controversy provoked by the tower’s modern aesthetic
illustrates the era’s lack of mainstream acceptance for plain, unornamented
construction
 The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in
Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed
Eiffel Tower and built the tower.
  The open-lattice iron structure consisted of four massive arched legs, set
on masonry piers, that curve inward until they meet in a single, tapered
tower.
 Each leg rests on four concrete slabs (each 6 m thick), which required
foundations of up to 22 m (72 feet) in depth.
 The iron base of the tower was connected to the stonework by bolts which
Eiffel Tower- were 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter and 7.5 meters (25 ft) in length.
 In total 18,000 pieces were used to build the tower, joined by two and a half
Construction million thermally assembled rivets.
Technique  One of the key features of the Eiffel Tower was its system of elevators. The
glass-cage machines selected by Eiffel were made by Otis Elevator
Company in the United States.
  Iron-and-glass architecture culminated in the mid-nineteenth century, with
London’s Crystal Palace (destroyed), designed by Joseph Paxton (a
renowned architect of greenhouses) as the main pavilion of the first World’s
Fair.
 The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass building originally erected
in Hyde Park, London, England to house the Great Exhibition of 1851.
 More than 14000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace’s
The Crystal 9,90,000 sq.ft. (92000m sq.) of exhibition space to display examples of the
latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution.
Palace The Great Exhibition building was
1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an
interior height of 128 feet
(39 m).Because of the recent
invention of the cast plate glass
method in 1848, which allowed for
large sheets of cheap but strong
glass, it was at the time the largest
amount of glass ever seen in a
building and astonished visitors
with its clear walls and ceilings that
did not require interior lights, thus
a "Crystal Palace".
  The geometry of Crystal Palace was a classical example of the concept of
form following manufacturer’s limitation- the shape and size of the whole
building was directly based around the size of the panes of glass.
 The original Hyde Park building was essentially a vast, flat roofed
The Crystal rectangular hall.

Palace-  A huge open gallery ran along the main axis, with wings extending down
either side.
construction  Main exhibition hall was two story high, with the upper floor stepped in
Techniques. from the boundary.
 Most of the building has a flat roof except for the central transept which
was covered by a 72ft wide barrel vaulted roof that stood 168 ft high at the
top of the arch.
  Joseph Paxton, during those time extensively experimented with glass
house construction.
 Using combinations of prefabricated cast iron, laminated wood, and
standard sized glass sheets, he created “Ridge and Furrow” roof design.
 In 1836, this system was used for the first time- The largest glass building at
The Crystal that time.
 Paxton design was based on a 10inch x 49inch module. This was the largest
Palace- sized sheet available.
construction  The modular system consisted of right angled triangles, mirrored and
multiplied, supported by a grid of cast iron beams and pillars.
Techniques.  These basic units were extremely light weight and strong and were
extended to an incredible length of 564meters.
 The design was also influenced by Paxton’s passion for biomimicry, he
drew inspiration from the giant leaves of the Victoria Amazonica
Waterlily.