CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL THEORY

MID TERM PART B ASSESSMENT

ANSWER TO THE QUESTION NUMBER 1:

MODERN DESIGNS WALKED IN TO THE MARKET, OR YOU CAN SAY WERE INTRODUCED, AFTER A LONG
PERIOD OF HIGHLY DECORATED AND FANCY HOME DESIGNS WHICH WERE USED MORE THAN OFTEN IN
THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY. MODERN ARCHITECTS DESIGNED AND CONTRACTORS CONSTRUCTED
HOMES WITH OPEN FLOOR PLANS, ASYMMETRY, AND HUGE PANELS OF WINDOWS OR GLASS WALLS.
THIS WAS COMPLETELY AGAINST THE TRADITION OF BUILDING HOUSES WITH ORNATE FLARE, BUILT
USUALLY DURING THOSE YEARS. MODERN ARCHITECTURE MADE AN EFFORT TO CREATE A SIMPLE
HOME THAT WAS HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL. THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN ARCHITECTURE WAS FROM
THE FIRST OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

GRADUALLY, PEOPLE WERE BECOMING BORED OF THE SAME COLOUR PALETTES AND SIMPLE CLEAR
LINE GEOMETRIC FORMS AND DEMANDED CHANGE. COMPLEXITY, FRAGMENTATION OF SPACES COULD
BE SEEN IN THE DESIGNS. THAT’S WHEN ARCHITECTURE SHIFTED TO POST MODERNISM. IT WAS
BASICALLY A REACTION TO MODERNISM.

DURING THE 1970S, SOME ARCHITECTS SHOWED INTEREST IN HIGHTECH ARCHITECTURE,

EXPRESSIONISM. THEY DEMANDED MACHINE LIKE BUILDINGS THAT ARE HIGHLY CONCEPTUAL AND ARE
OF EXPRESSIVE FORMS AND DESIGNS- RESEMBLING SCULPTURE ON A ENORMOUS SCALE. THE
BUILDINGS ARE LESS FUNCTIONAL AND PAPER LIKE STRUCTURES. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE STILL
PREVAILS IN THE MODERN TIME IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

THUS, IN THIS WAY THE JOURNEY FROM MODERNISM TO CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE EVOLVED IN
DIFFERENT WAYS.
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION NUMBER 2:

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND LE CORBUSIER ARE ARCHITECTS WITH TWO DIFFERENT STYLES. THEIR
STYLES DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER AS WELL AS THEIR WAY OF THINKING. SOME OF THE FACTS
THROUGH WHICH WE CAN UNDERSTAND HOW THEY ARE DIFFERENT, ARE STATED BELOW:

 FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ALWAYS BELIEVED IN ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE.
IT WAS BASICALLY HIS STYLE OF WORKING. HE NEVER WANTED TO CHANGE ANY SINGLE
ELEMENT IN THE SITE, SPECIFICALLY GIVEN TO HIM FOR DESIGNING ANYTHING. LITERAL
MEANING OF ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE IS, ‘HARMONY BETWEEN HUMAN HABITATION AND THE
NATURAL WORLD’. HE USED TO BLEND THE NATURE WITH THE HOUSE. HE BELIEVED, THERE IS A
VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND HUMAN HABITATION. THAT’S WHY, HE
NEVER AGREED TO CHANGING COMPONENTS OF THE SITE. INSTEAD, HE KEPT THE SITE AS IT IS,
AND TOOK FURTHUR PROCESSING FOR DESIGNING OF THE BUILDING. THE FALLING WATER IS A
GREAT EXAMPLE OF SUCH IDEOLOGY, WHICH WAS DESIGNED BY HIM.

 LE CORBUSIER: LE CORBUSIER BELIEVED IN DOMINATING THE SITE. HE BELIEVED, IN ORDER TO

BUILD A BUILDING, THE SITE SHOULD BE PREPARED ACCORDING TO THE BUILDING’S NEED/ HE
DOMINATED NATURE AND THE SITE IN VARIOUS WAYS. HE GAVE MORE PRIORITY TO THE
BUILDING ITSELF. HE CREATED THE SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING, WHAT HE FELT THE
BUILDING NEEDED. NOTHING NATURAL EXISTED IN THE SITE. VILLA SAVOYE IS A PERFECT
EXAMPLE FOR SUCH IDEOLOGY.

WHILE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S BASIS OF DESIGN WAS NATURE AND THE SITE, LE CORBUSIER FOCUSED
ON THE BUILDING, DOMINATING THE SITE. THIS WAS THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE OF OPINION IN CASE OF
ARCHITECTURE, IN BETWEEN THE TWO MENTIONED ARCHITECTS.
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION NUMBER 3:

FOLLOWING THE FAMOUS SLOGAN OF MIES VAN DER ROHE, “LESS IS MORE”, IF I AM GIVEN TO DESIGN
AN EXHIBITION PAVILION IN SUHRAWARDY UDYAN, I WILL DESIGN A PAVILION THAT HAS EXTENDED
ROOF, WHICH WILL PROVIDE PUBLIC SPACE IN FRONT OF THE PAVILION AND A RECTANGULAR BOX
WHERE THE EXHIBITION WILL TAKE PLACE.

COLOUR PALETTE: I WILL GO FOR NEUTRAL COLOURS

MATERIALS: WOOD/ TIMBER, NO PLASTERED WALLS, STONES AND GRAVELS IF NEEDED.

SPACE QUALITY: OPEN FLOOR PLAN WITH ADEQUATE SPACE FOR EXHIBITION

PUBLIC SPACE ARRANGEMENT: INFRONT OF THE PAVILION

ACCOMODATION: DEPENDS ON THE AREA GIVEN FOR DESIGNING

SPECIAL FEATURES:

 PROVIDING A SMALL WATER BODY AROUND IT

 THE SMALL WATER BODY MAY HAVE A SCULPTURE IN THE MIDDLE
 PUBLIC SPACE FOR COMMON PEOPLE
 TEMPORARY STRUCTURE (OPEN FOR MODIFICATIONS)
 ELEVATED PLATFORM
 OPEN FLOOR PLAN
 OVERHANG ROOF
 PROTECTED FROM SUNLIGHT
 ACCESS TO NATURAL LIGHT AND VENTILATION