MODERN ARCHITECTURE

• Architecture that developed after 1880’s is termed as Modern

Architecture for study purpose.
• Group of architects like Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, F.L.Wright made
revolt against the old traditional lines and adopted a new revolutionary
style in character that is Modern Architecture.
• Architecture in old days was a commodity of the rich and powerful and it
was mainly confined to the construction of religious buildings, palaces,
castles, mansions, monuments and cemeteries.
• With changing times, there is a majority of common people in the social
pyramid.
• The modern architecture since then has developed to suit the masses.
• Now nobody needs palaces, castles and mansions; instead we need mass
housing, shopping centres, factories, offices, railway stations, airports,
etc.
• Thus, it is not complete diverse from traditions, rather keeps in mind the
fundamental principles of true architecture than conventional one.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Characteristics:
• The notion that "Form follows function", a dictum originally expressed
by Frank Lloyd Wright's early mentor Louis Sullivan, meaning that the
result of design should derive directly from its purpose. The building
must possess functional beauty.
• Simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of "unnecessary detail"
• Visual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural
elements)
• The related concept of "Truth to materials", meaning that the true
nature or natural appearance of a material ought to be seen rather
than concealed or altered to represent something else.
• Use of industrially-produced materials; adoption of the machine
aesthetic.
• Particularly in International Style modernism, a visual emphasis on
horizontal and vertical lines.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE

The Crystal Palace, 1851, was one

of the first buildings to have vast
amounts of glass supported by
structural metal, foreshadowing
trends in Modernist architecture. Prudential Building, also
known as the Guaranty
Building, Buffalo, New York,
The Home Insurance Building in 1894 by Louis Sullivan.
Chicago built in 1885 by William Le
Baron Jenney
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Features:
New Materials:
• New materials were the cause of rapid development of modern
architecture. Factory made components like light metal, steel,
aluminium, glass, ceramics and plastics gradually replaced the old
building materials.
• New materials led to invention of new technologies. Earlier, the
structures were limited to the capacities of the natural materials like
timber, stone, lime and concrete.
• In 1824, stronger, durable, fire resistant cement called Portland
Cement was developed.
• Steel and R.C.C. framed construction made possible in producing
grand and aesthetic wall patterns in both opaque & transparent.
• Coloured cements, synthetic, emulsion and enamel paints to
enhance the beauty of the buildings.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Features:
New Styles:
• Modern architecture
emancipated traditional styles
and ornamentation.
• Commercial, Economic, Mass
production movement created
new opportunities in
construction of factories,
warehouses, commercial
spaces, railway stations, low-
cost housing.
• Combining steel and concrete
in making columns and beams The Seagram Building, New York City, 1958, by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is regarded as one of
made possible to support large the finest examples of the functionalist aesthetic
buildings on thin supports. and a masterpiece of corporate modernism.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
• Sunshades, canopies or verandah roofs can now project to a
long span having supports inside.
• Modern architecture achieved lightness by reducing the
supporting members to an absolute minimum.

The Robie House, 1910, in Chicago, Illinois by F.L.Wright

 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Features:
New Styles:
• Eliminated the need of internal walls, external walls linking
indoors and outdoors visually because of use of glass.
• Mass housing for people after world war were absolute simple
structures, providing shelter to inhabitants.
• “Less is More” i.e. enclosing the required space with more
flexibility and stability by using less materials.
• In 1908, Austrian architect Adolf Loos proclaimed “Ornament and
crime” that architectural ornament is crime.
• “Form follows Function” by Louis Sullivan became the most
debating subject.
• After World War II, architects explored design philosophies to
create new built environment.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Divisions:
Modern architecture can be broadly divided into 3 phases:
- Early Modern: 1880-1900
- Late Modern : 1900- 1960
- Post Modern : 1960- Present
Early Modern :
- Iron & steel frame structures,
eg. Eiffel Tower, Paris
designed by Engineer Gustav
Eiffel.
- Chicago School which brought
world’s first skyscraper.
- Louis Sullivan – “Form follows
Function”.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Late Modern :
- Functionalism & Internationalism.
- German Bauhaus became a primary centre in developing modern
aesthetics.
- Minimalism brought sleek and plain surfaces.
- F.L.Wright who brought Organism within Modernism.
- Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe & Le Corbusier.
- Eg. Bauhaus, Dessau,
1925-32, Walter
Gropius
- Villa Savoye near Paris,
1926-27, Le Corbusier
- Seagram Building, New
York, 1958, Mies van
der Rohe
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Late Modern :
- Art Deco also flourished during this period, which is rival to
Minimalism. Geometric forms boldly imposed on objects making
them complex and heavier.

Chrysler Building, G.E. Building, Empire State Building,

New York, 1928-30 New York, 1933 New York, 1929-31
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Post Modern :
- Rejection of International style, advances in building materials and
structural engineering opened new possibilities.
- Pioneer architect- Philip Johnson
The Sony Building (formerly AT&T
building) in New York City, 1984, by Philip
Johnson, illustrating a "Postmodern" spin
with the inclusion of a classical
broken pediment on the top which
diverged from the boxy functional office
towers common in Modern Architecture.
 MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Post Modern :
- Rejection of International style, advances in building materials and
structural engineering opened new possibilities.
- Pioneer architect- Philip Johnson
The house is mostly hidden from
the street. It is behind a stone
wall at the edge of a crest in
Johnson’s estate overlooking a
pond. Visitors walk over grass
and gravel strips as they
approach the building. The
building is 17 m long, 9.8 m wide
and 3.2 m high. The kitchen,
dining and sleeping areas were
 The exterior sides of the Glass House are charcoal-painted all in one glass-enclosed room,
steel and glass. The brick floor is 10 inches above the which Johnson initially lived in,
ground. The interior is open with the space divided by low together with the brick guest
walnut cabinets; a brick cylinder contains the bathroom house. 
and is the only object to reach floor to ceiling.