Contrasting

Architects MODERN VS. POST MODERN

ROBERT VENTURI

LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE

 MARIA LUDWIG MICHAEL MIES, A GERMAN-BORN
AMERICAN ARCHITECT BORN IN AACHEN, GERMANY,
ON MARCH 27, 1886, AND PASSED AWAY IN CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS, ON AUGUST 17, 1969.

"ACHIEVING THE SUM TOTAL OF ARCHITECTURAL

DESIGN BY ELIMINATING THE NON-ESSENTIAL."

Less is
More
LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE
 PHILOSOPHY
BAUHAUS MOVEMENT

APPROACH TO DESIGN
"ARCHITECTURE SHOULD BE A REFLECTION OF
THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE
TIME"

LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE

 The Barcelona Pavilion
CREATED FOR THE 1929
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION
IN BARCELONA, SPAIN,

INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW

MODERN MOVEMENT IN
ARCHITECTURE.

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, BARCELONA PAVILION, BARCELONA CHAIR

BARCELONA, RECONSTRUCTED IN 1986. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUDWIG MIES
BY ASHLEY POMEROY. VAN DE ROHE
Vila Tugendhat LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE AND
LILLY REICH CREATED ONE OF THE
FIRST EXAMPLES OF MODERN
ARCHITECTURE IN EUROPE.

FOR FRITZ TUGENDHAT AND HIS WIFE

GRETA,

CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN 1928 AND

1930.

"A SYMBOL OF MODERNISM'

THE BUILDING, WINCLUDED ON THE

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST IN
2001.

BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, VILA TUGENDHAT IN
BRNO. CC BY 3.0
.
 Farnsworth House CONSTRUCTED FOR DR. EDITH
FARNSWORTH AS A WEEKEND
GETAWAY BETWEEN 1945 AND 1951.

THE FULLEST MANIFESTATION OF

HIS MODERNIST IDEALS AND
EMBRACES HIS IDEA OF A CLOSE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURE
AND NATURE.

HERITAGE LIST IN 2001.

PLANO,
ILLINOIS,

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, FARNSWORTH HOUSE

NEAR PLANO, ILLINOIS, 1951. CC BY 4.0.
LESS IS
MORE
LESS IS
MORE

L
ROBERT CHARLES VENTURI JR. WAS AN AMERICAN
ARCHITECT WHO FOUNDED THE FIRM VENTURI,
SCOTT BROWN AND ASSOCIATES. HE AND HIS WIFE
AND PARTNER DENISE SCOTT BROWN HAVE
HELPED TO BROADEN ARCHITECTURE THROUGH
THEIR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, PLANNING,
THEORETICAL WRITINGS, AND TEACHING.

ARCHITECTURE, IN VENTURI'S OPINION, SHOULD

BE "INCLUSIVE, DIVERSE, AND COMPLEX."

Less is a
Bore ROBERT VENTURI
 PHILOSOPHY
POSTMODERNISM

APPROACH TO DESIGN
"A BUILDING'S DESIGN SHOULD REFLECT ITS
ERA'S CULTURAL, HISTORICAL, AND SOCIAL
CONTEXT."
 IT WAS BUILT BETWEEN
Vanna Venturi
1962 AND 1964 AND WAS
CREATED BY ARCHITECT
ROBERT VENTURI FOR HIS
MOTHER, VANNA VENTURI. .

S
IA'
AN
LV
C T.
NSY TRI
N IS
PE D
IA, ILL
LPH H
DE UT
N
ILA ST
PH CH
E

MATT WARGO/COURTESY OF VENTURI, SCOTT BROWN

AND ASSOCIATES, INC
 THE COLUMBUS FIRE
Fire Station Number 4
DEPARTMENT COMMISSIONED
VENTURI IN 1967 TO
CREATE A FIRE STATION
THAT WOULD BE "AN
ORDINARY BUILDING THAT
WAS EASY TO MAINTAIN."
THE BUILDING'S MAIN
ENTRANCE IS A
SEMICIRCULAR TOWER, AND
THE DESIGN HAS A
TRAPEZOIDAL PLAN. THE
TOWER IS NOTABLE FOR
HAVING A LARGE, BRIGHT
YELLOW NUMBER 4 ON TOP.

FIRE STATION NUMBER 4, BY ROBERT VENTURI, AT

COLUMBUS, INDIANA, 1966
 The Lieb House
DESIGNED AND
CONSTRUCTED IN 1964 FOR
CLIENTS NATHANIEL AND
JUDITH LIEB ALONG THE
COAST OF JERSEY AT
BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J.

DESIGNED WITH THE IDEA

OF GLORIFYING THE
ORDINARY.

 MODERN VS. POST MODERN

THE OPPOSING ARCHITECTURAL PHILOSOPHIES OF

MIES AND VENTURI REPRESENT VARIOUS
ARCHITECTURAL ERAS AND METHODS. WHILE
VENTURI VALUED COMPLEXITY AND DIVERSITY,
MIES WAS RENOWNED FOR HIS MINIMALIST STYLE.

ROBERT VENTURI

LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE

Why do they
contrast?
 CONTRASTING

Design Philosophies

LESS IS LESS IS
MORE A BORE
ROBERT VENTURI

LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE

 CONTRASTING

Use of Ornamentations
LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE ROBERT VENTURI

BUILDINGS SHOULD UTILIZE

STAND ON THEIR OWN ORNAMENTATION TO ADD
WITHOUT THE NEED MEANING, SYMBOLISM,
FOR DECORATION. AND COMPLEXITY TO A

BUILDING

 CONTRASTING

Use of Materials
LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE ROBERT VENTURI

MODERN MATERIALS BELIEVED IN USING A

WERE HONEST AND MIX OF OLD AND NEW
REFLECTED THE MATERIALS TO CREATE
FUNCTIONAL A RICH AND DIVERSE
REQUIREMENTS OF A ENVIRONMENT.
BUILDING

 CONTRASTING

Concept of Space
LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE ROBERT VENTURI

BELIEVED IN THE BELIEVED IN THE USE

CONCEPT OF OF "DECORATED
"UNIVERSAL SPACE" SHEDS"

 PROS AND CONS OF

Modern Architecture
A STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE THAT EMERGED IN THE EARLY
TWENTIETH CENTURY AND IS DISTINGUISHED BY A FOCUS ON
FUNCTION, THE USE OF NEW MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES, AND
A REJECTION OF TRADITIONAL ORNAMENTATION. MODERN
ARCHITECTURE, LIKE ANY OTHER STYLE, HAS ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES.
 PROS AND CONS OF

Modern Architecture
PROS CONS

FUNCTIONALITY COST
SUSTAINABILITY MAINTENANCE
INNOVATION LACK OF CHARACTER
AESTHETHICS ALIENATING
 PROS AND CONS OF

Post Modern Architecture

IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY, POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE
AROSE AS A REACTION TO THE MODERNIST MOVEMENT, WHICH HAD
DOMINATED ARCHITECTURE FOR SEVERAL DECADES. WHILE THERE
IS NO SINGLE DEFINITION OF POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE, IT IS
GENERALLY DISTINGUISHED BY A PLAYFUL, ECLECTIC STYLE THAT
DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM A WIDE RANGE OF HISTORICAL AND
CULTURAL REFERENCES.
 MODERN AND POST MODERN ARCH

Post Modern Architecture

PROS CONS

DIVERSE AND ECLECTIC CAN BE OVERLY ORNATE

EMPHASIS ON SYMBOLISM LACK OF CONSISTENCY
AND MEANING MAY NOT AGE WELL
FOCUS ON CONTEXT
 MODERN AND POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Similarities
1. USE OF NEW MATERIALS AND
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
2. EMPHASIS ON FUNCTIONALITY
3. FOCUS ON SIMPLICITY
Differences
1. HISTORICAL REFERENCES
2. USE OF ORNAMENTATION
3. STYLE MIXING
4. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
 MODERN VS. POST MODERN

WHILE MODERN AND POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE

SHARE SOME SIMILARITIES, THEY ARE DISTINCT
STYLES WITH DIFFERENT DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES
AND APPROACHES TO ORNAMENTATION,
HISTORICAL REFERENCES, AND STYLE MIXING.

ROBERT VENTURI

LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE

 MODERN AND POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

DESPITE HAVING OPPOSING ARCHITECTURAL

PHILOSOPHIES, MIES AND VENTURI WERE BOTH
INFLUENTIAL IN THEIR RESPECTIVE ERAS. MIES'
MINIMALIST DESIGN APPROACH HAD A
SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON MODERN
ARCHITECTURE, INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION
OF ARCHITECTS TO EMBRACE SIMPLICITY AND
INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS. VENTURI'S REJECTION
OF MODERNISM PAVED THE WAY FOR
POSTMODERNISM, WHICH EMBRACED
ARCHITECTURAL DIVERSITY AND COMPLEXITY.

ROBERT VENTURI

LUDWIG MIES VAN DE ROHE

Thank You!
PAO D'ARCHI