Modern Architecture

Marina City (left) and IBM
tower (right) in Chicago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture

Modern architecture is characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. The first variants were conceived early in the 20th century. Modern architecture was adopted by many influential architects and architectural educators, gained popularity after the Second World War, and continues as a dominant architectural style for institutional and corporate buildings in the 21st century.

Some historians see the evolution of Modern architecture as a social matter, closely tied to the project of Modernity and thus the Enlightenment. The Modern style developed, in their opinion, as a result of social and political revolutions.


Others see Modern architecture as primarily driven by technological and engineering developments, and it is true that the availability of new building materials such as iron, steel, and glass drove the invention of new building techniques as part of the Industrial Revolution.

By the 1920s the most important figures in Modern architecture had established their reputations. The big three are commonly recognized as Le Corbusier in France, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius in Germany.

Modern architecture is usually characterized by:

Bailey House, Case Study # 21

an adoption of the principle that the materials and functional requirements determine the result

an adoption of the machine aesthetic

an emphasis of horizontal and vertical lines

a creation of ornament using the structure and theme of the building, or a rejection of ornamentation.

a simplification of form and elimination of "unnecessary detail"

Melnikov House in Abbat
Street in Moscow, by
Konstantine Melnikov.

an adoption of expressed structure

Form follows function

The Seagram Building, New York
City, 1958. One of the finest examples
of the functionalist aesthetic and
a masterpiece of corporate modernism.