MINIMALISM

Hinal Luvani 17sa119

Krina Chauhan
 MINIMALISM
What is minimalism?
Minimalism was the reaction to abstract expressionism.

What is Expressionism ?
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement
that developed in Europe during the first decades of the
20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and
performing arts that especially developed and dominated
in germany.

Minimalism :
• Started in 1960s in U.S.
• The forms are abstract , clean , simple and are machine
made .
• Described in art , design and music .
Minimalism is a Western art movement that appears after
World War II. Since that time, it has remained an
enduring aesthetic choice that continues to appear in
contemporary art and design.
• While many cultures practice concepts of aesthetic
simplicity, Minimalism draws its greatest influence from
Japanese traditional culture of Zen philosophy.
• Zen concepts of simplicity transmit the ideas of freedom
and essence of living. Simplicity is not only aesthetic
value it has a moral perception that looks into the nature
of truth and reveals the inner qualities and essence of
materials and objects.

Common characteristics of minimalist architecture:

• Pure geometric forms.
• Simple, limited and plain materials.
• Neat and straight components.
• Repetition to give a sense of order and unification.
• Simple, open spaces.
• Clean lines.

• By condensing design to its essential elements and

focusing on form, light, space, and materials, Minimalist
architecture achieves harmony through simplicity. 
• The concept of minimalist architecture is to strip everything down to its essential quality and
achieve simplicity.
• The idea is not completely without ornamentation, but that all parts, details, and joinery are
considered as reduced to a stage where no one can remove anything further to improve the
design.

Philosophies :
• Eliminate emotions feelings
and indications
• Creating of singularity
• Move away from alternate
perception
• Less is more

Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van Der Rohe

• The main concepts and ideas are expressed in the pavilion using the least amount of components
and resources .
• But they emit multiple situations, a fluid organizational sequence and functional spaces ,
highlighted by sets of orthogonal planes and traditional pure elements.
• Marble, onyx, travertine are used.
 De Stijl
De Stijl (The Style) also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917
in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects.

Characteristics:
• Precise geometric forms of flat squares and
rectangles.
• Play on positive and negative emphasis.
• Asymmetry.
• Colors: primary, black, white and gray.
• Horizontal and vertical lines.
• Paintings were never framed as they were believed to
be intimate part of the world.
Rietveld Schroder House by Rietveld
Rietveld designed the Rietveld Schroder House, the only building to
have been created completely according to De Stijl principles.

The flexibility of the interior spaces and the planar quality of the
house makes it distinguishable and unique on every level.

The flexibility of space meant that there was no hierarchical

arrangement of rooms in the floor plan.

Characteristics:
• The fluid transitions between interior and exterior.
• The clean horizontal and vertical lines.
• The use of all primary colors, alongside white, grey and black.