History of Architecture - Iii: Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE - III
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
© 2020, Nitte School of Architecture, Planning & Design, Bengaluru. All rights reserved to NITTE SAPD.
CONTENT
1. DE STIJL MOVEMENT
2. SCHRODER HOUSE
3. BRUTALISM
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
5. WALTER GROPIUS
6. BAHUAS
7. BAUHAUS SCHOOL DESIGN
8. FAGUS SHOE FACTORY
9. HARVARD CAMPUS
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
1. DESTIJL MOVEMENT
• The De Stijl (Dutch for “the style”) group was one of several art
and design movements that responded to the chaotic trauma of
World War I with a “return to order.”
• Headed by Dutch artists Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg,
De Stijl rejected pre-war decorative tendencies ( Art Nouveau, Art
Deco) and pushed Cubism to new extremes: total abstraction
consisting of only the most basic design components — vertical
and horizontal lines, primary colors.
• De Stijl artists applied their style to a host of media in the fine and
applied arts and beyond.
• Promoting their innovative ideas in their journal of the same
name, the members envisioned nothing less than the ideal fusion
of form and function, thereby making De Stijl in effect the
ultimate style.
• De Stijl's influence was perhaps felt most noticeably in the realm
of architecture, helping give rise to the International Style of the
1920s and 1930s.
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1. DESTIJL MOVEMENT
OBJECTIVES
• To rebuild society after WW1- essential ordering of structure.
• Construct an ideal ‘model’ for a new world.
• Achieving a utopian perception of spiritual harmony.
• Would function as a sign for n ethical view of society.
• To show that art and design have the power to change the future.
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1. DESTIJL MOVEMENT
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Flat roof, asymmetry, geometric forms, white or
gray walls with details highlighted by primary
colors.
• Compositions generally emphasize the separation
of planes, the application of primary colors, and
the spatial relationship of solids to voids.
• Rectangular shapes define the geometric repetition
of windows, doors, and blocks of color.
• Window sizes vary on an individual building from
large to small. They may be arranged in patterns or
one unit on a large wall.
• Flat roofs are typical, and distinctly different from
other structures.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
1. DESTIJL MOVEMENT
FURNITURE
• Furniture and decorative arts are conceived as one
with the architecture and interior design.
• Designers similarly emphasize structure, construction,
proportion, and the balance between solid and void
relationships.
• They carefully place individual parts to develop visual
balance and harmony so that all parts are appreciated
alone as well as in context with the whole furniture
piece.
• Chairs and tables are the most important conveyors of
concepts.
• Furniture complements the architectonic character of
an interior through its emphasis on straight lines,
rectangular planes, and geometric forms.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
2. SCHRODER HOUSE
Designed in 1924.
• A private residence until 1985.
• Architectural highlight of De Stijl and
iconic landmark in Utrecht.
• Still as visionary and eccentric as it was
when it was built in the 1920s
• Designed by Gerrit Rietveld
•The flexibility of the interior spaces and
the obviously planar quality of the house
makes it distinguishable and unique on
every level.
• The Schroder House is the only building
that was designed in complete accordance
with the De Stijl style, Which was marked
by primary colors and pure ideas.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
2. SCHRODER HOUSE
PLAN
• Inside there is no static accumulation of rooms, but a dynamic, changeable open zone.
• The ground floor can still be termed traditional, ranged around a central staircase are kitchen and
three sit/bedrooms.
• The living area upstairs, stated as being an attic to satisfy the fire regulations of the planning
authorities, in fact forms a large open zone except for a separate toilet and a bathroom.
• Rietveld wanted to leave the upper level as it was. Mrs Schröder, however, felt that as living space
it should be usable in either form, open or subdivided.
• This was achieved with a system of sliding and revolving panels. Mrs Schröder used these panels
to open up the space of the second floor to allow more of an open area , leaving the option still of
closing or separating the rooms when desired.
• When entirely partitioned in, the living level comprises three bedrooms, bathroom and living
room. In-between this and the open state is a wide variety of possible permutations, each
providing its own spatial experience.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
2. SCHRODER HOUSE
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2. SCHRODER HOUSE
FACADE
• The facades are a collage of planes and lines whose components are purposely detached from, and
seem to glide past, one another.
• Rietveld's Red and Blue Chair, each component has its own form, position and color.
• Colors were chosen as to strengthen the plasticity of the facades; surfaces in white and shades of
grey, black window and doorframes, and a number of linear elements in primary colors.
• There is little distinction between interior and exterior space.
• The rectilinear lines and planes flow from outside to inside, with the same color palette and
surfaces
• Even the windows are hinged so that they can only open 90 degrees to the wall, preserving strict
design standards about intersecting planes, and further blurring the delineation of inside and out.
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2. SCHRODER HOUSE
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2. SCHRODER HOUSE
CONSTRUCTION
• Initially, Rietveld wanted to construct
the house out of concrete. It turned
out that it would be too expensive to
do that on such a small building.
• The foundations and the balconies
were the only parts of the building
that were made out of concrete.
• The walls were made of brick and
plaster. The window frames and doors
were made from wood as well as the
floors, which were supported by
wooden beams. To support the
building, steel girders with wire mesh
were used
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3. BRUTALISM
• Brutalism is a style with an emphasis on materials, textures and

construction, producing highly expressive forms.
ORIGINS OF BRUTALISM
• Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier‘s love of concrete translated
into a building that many consider the birth of Brutalism.
• The Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles, France was his first project in
10 years, World War II having interrupted his practice.
• Completed in 1952 and created as housing for the working class,
Le Corbusier's design called for a giant reinforced concrete
framework fit with modular apartments.
• The mammoth complex, which could house up to 1,600 people,
was largely devoid of decorative elements and laid the framework
for future Brutalist projects.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
3. BRUTALISM
FEATURES OF BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE
ROUGH SURFACES MASSIVE FORMS

Use of varied or contrasting textures and materials Creating a sense of mass, weight, and scale.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
3. BRUTALISM
FEATURES OF BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE
UNUSUAL SHAPES EXPRESSION OF STRUCTURE

Parts of the building can be differentiated for Creating a memorable and powerful image.
dramatic effect.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
3. BRUTALISM
BRUTALIST BUILDINGS
NATIONAL THEATRE, LONDON UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
• In the commune of Ronchamp, slightly south of east
of Paris, sits one of Le Corbusier’s most unusual
projects of his career, Notre Dame du Ronchamp, or
more commonly referred to as Ronchamp.
• In 1950, Le Corbusier was commissioned to design a
new Catholic church to replace the previous church
that had been destroyed during World War II.
• Completed in 1954, the Ronchamp chapel was built
for a Catholic church on a pre-existing pilgrimage
site. The previous stone building had been largely
destroyed during the second world war.
• It is considered one of the most important buildings
of the 20th century, and represents a key shift away
from the sparse, functionalist form of Modernism
that Le Corbusier displayed in his earlier projects.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
• In 1950, when Corbusier was commissioned to
design Ronchamp, the church reformists wanted
to clear their name of the decadence and
ornamental past by embracing modern art and
architecture. Spatial purity was one of
Corbusier’s main focuses by not over
complicating the program and removing the
typical modern aesthetic from the design.
• Instead, Corbusier wanted the space to be
meditative and reflective in purpose. The stark
white walls add to this purist mentality that
when the light enters into the chapel there
becomes this washed out, ethereal
atmosphere. The effect of the light evokes
expressive and emotional qualities that create
heightened sensations in tune with the religious
activities.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
• Ronchamp sits among a wooded terrain secluded from the
rest of the commune; the chapel is placed atop a hill on the
site setting itself on a metaphorical pedestal giving
Ronchamp added importance. Unlike most of Corbusier’s
other works consisting of boxy, functional, and sterile
volumes, Ronchamp is more of an irregular sculptural form
where the walls, the roof, and the floor slope. Stylistically
and formally it is fairly complex; however, programmatically
it is relatively simple: two entrances, an altar, and three
chapels.
• The walls of Ronchamp give the building its sculptural
character. The thick (4’-12’ thick), gentle curving walls act as
a practical method of supporting the concrete and masonry
construction, as well as the massive curvilinear
roof. However, the walls do not solely act as structural and
sculptural elements; they also act as acoustic amplifiers,
especially in the case of the eastern exterior wall that
reflects the sound out over the field from the outdoor altar.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
• The most striking part of Ronchamp is the curved roof that
peels up towards the heavens. The curving roof appears to
float above the building as it is supported by embedded
columns in the walls, which creates a 10 cm gap between
the roof and the walls, which allow for a sliver of clerestory
light. The roof is actually the only glimpse of mechanized
influence in the overall design of Ronchamp; the roof’s
curvature mimics the curves of an airplane wing. It’s
aerodynamic in design and in all of its massive and heavy
qualities it still appears weightless.
• One of the most interesting aspects of the design is the
sporadic window placement on the walls. Corbusier
implemented small puncturing apertures on the façade that
amplified the light within the chapel by tapering the window
well in the wall cavity. Each wall becomes illuminated by
these differing window frames, which in conjunction with
the stark white washed walls gives the walls luminous
qualities punctuated by a more intense direct light.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
4. RONCHAMP CHURCH
Plan of the Ronchamp Chapel:

1 – main entrance,
2 – nave,
3 – main altar,
4 – grand chapel,
5 – confessionals,
6 – evening chapel,
7 – morning chapel,
8 – sacristy,
9 – choir,
10 – the back choir external space
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
5. WALTER GROPIUS
• Walter Gropius full name - George Walter Adolf Gropius.

• Born in berlin on 18 may 1883.
• Was a German American architect and an educator.
• He was an influential proponent of modern design and furthered
his ideas through Bauhaus school Design, through his own
architectural works and his long years of teaching at Harvard.
• He was taught by his father, he also was an architect and learned
the study of proportions with actual Architectural expressions by
his uncle.
• He took 7 months study in Spain and met peter Behrens In 1908
and worked under him.
• In 1934, he moved to U.K. London, where he was the Controller
of design.
• In 1937, he departed London for New York and Harvard
University.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
6. BAUHAUS
• The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 in the city of Weimar by
German architect Walter Gropius (1883–1969). Its core
objective was a radical concept: to reimagine the material world
to reflect the unity of all the arts. Gropius explained this vision
for a union of art and design in the Proclamation of the Bauhaus
(1919), which described a utopian craft guild combining
architecture, sculpture, and painting into a single creative
expression. Gropius developed a craft-based curriculum that
would turn out artisans and designers capable of creating useful
and beautiful objects appropriate to this new system of living.
• The Bauhaus combined elements of both fine arts and design
education. In 1925, the Bauhaus moved from Weimar to
Dessau, where Gropius designed a new building to house the
school. This building contained many features that later became
hallmarks of modernist architecture, including steel-frame
construction, a glass curtain wall, and an asymmetrical,
pinwheel plan, throughout which Gropius distributed studio,
classroom, and administrative space for maximum efficiency
and spatial logic.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
• Gropius founded the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany, in 1919, as a
new kind of art school based around a holistic approach to the
creative disciplines. The objective was to facilitate the creation
of a Gesamtkunstwerk – or total work of art – in which buildings
and everything in them were designed as a whole entity.
• The Bauhaus promoted a unified vision for the arts that made
no distinction between form and function, and therefore
Gropius wanted the school's architecture to reflect these values.
• When the school was forced to relocate to Dessau, Gropius
seized the opportunity to design a suitably bold and progressive
building.
• The architectural project was commissioned and funded by the
city of Dessau, and was designed by Gropius in his own office, as
the Bauhaus did not establish its own architecture department
until 1927.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
• The campus features an asymmetric pinwheel
plan, with dedicated areas for teaching, an
auditorium and offices, and housing for
students and faculty distributed throughout
three wings connected by bridges.
• Among the innovative methods used in its
construction were a framework made from
reinforced concrete and brick, large expanses
of glazing, and flat roofs covered with asphalt
tiles that could be walked on.
• Several of these ideas were originally explored
by Gropius in his design for the Fagus factory in
Alfeld-an-der-Leine, which was completed in
1911, and is considered one of the first
examples of modernist architecture.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
• The Bauhaus Dessau's most striking
features are its glass curtain walls,
which wrap around corners and
provide views of the building's
interiors, and its supporting
structure.
• Workshops are housed in a three-

storey, glass-fronted wing that
ensures plenty of natural light
reaches the interior. Another three-
storey volume contains the studios,
while a five-storey block provides
accommodation for students and
junior masters.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
• It was built at Alfeld – an– der – Leine in 1911.
• It was in collaboration with Adolf Meyer.
• It was his first independent commission.
• Most striking thing: simplicity and confidence of the
architecture.
• In Fagus works, Gropius brought the accomplishment of
the past fifteen years.
• It was designed by Gropius keeping in mind the
surroundings.
• It was called by Gropius an artistic and practical design.
• Fagus building was the first to extract the full aesthetically
revolutionary Impact from the structural development.
• Fagus structure was actually a hybrid construction of brick
columns, steel beams and concrete floor slabs and
stairways.
• It was a steel frame supporting the floors, glass screen
external walls.
• Pillars are set behind the façade so that Its curtain
character is fully realized.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
• Glass screen was used all over the walls to have proper
view from inside.
• Walls are no longer supporters of the building but simple
curtain projecting against increment weather.
• It was domination of voids over solids.
• Plane surfaces predominate in this factory.
• The glass and walls are joined cleanly at the corners
without the intervention of piers.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
9. HARVARD CAMPUS
HARVARD GRADUATE CENTER, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
• It was built at Cambridge( 1945-50)
• It is a group of eight buildings arranged around
small and large courtyards on the Oxbridge
pattern, has a good
• Community feel about it and is humanly scaled.
• Various building housed dormitories, common
rooms, refectory and a lounge convertible into a
meeting hall for 250 people.
• The dormitory blocks are constructed in
reinforced concrete and the community buildings
in steelwork.
• Horizontal emphasis which is balanced by
verticals together with the rectangular windows
moving towards square and large areas of plain
walls always well proportioned to create a feeling
of repose and simplicity.
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V
9. HARVARD CAMPUS
HARVARD GRADUATE CENTER, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

History of Architecture - Iii: Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

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HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE - III

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

• Brutalism is a style with an emphasis on materials, textures and

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

FEATURES OF BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE

ROUGH SURFACES MASSIVE FORMS

UNUSUAL SHAPES EXPRESSION OF STRUCTURE

NATIONAL THEATRE, LONDON UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Plan of the Ronchamp Chapel:

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

• Walter Gropius full name - George Walter Adolf Gropius.

• Workshops are housed in a three-

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

Ar. Sri Lakshmi V

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