HUMANITIES new question

Readings - Reading: Architecture The Industrial Revolution

Beginning in the 18th century the Industrial Revolution made fundamental changes in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and housing. Architecture changed in response to the new industrial landscape. Prior to the late 19th century, the weight of a multistory building had to be supported principally by the strength of its walls. The taller the building, the more strain this placed on the lower sections. Since there were clear engineering limits to the weight such load-bearing walls could sustain, large designs meant massively thick walls on the ground floors, and definite limits on the building’s height.

(https://s3-us-west- 2.amazonaws.com/courses-images-archive- read-only/wp- content/uploads/sites/415/2015/06/21035148/ Construction_tour_eiffel4.jpeg)

Eiffel Tower, Start of construction of second stage, May 1888. Image in the public domain

Forged iron and milled steel began to replace wood, brick and stone as primary materials for large buildings. This change is encapsulated in the Eiffel Tower, built in 1889. Standing on four huge arched legs, the iron lattice tower rises narrowly to just over 1000 feet high. The Eiffel Tower not only became an icon for France but for industry itself – heralding a new age in materials, design and construction methods.

In America, the development of cheap, versatile steel in the second half of the 19th century helped change the urban landscape. The country was in the midst of rapid social and economic growth that made for great opportunities in architectural design. A much more urbanized society was forming and the society called out for new, larger buildings. By the middle of the 19th century downtown areas in big cities began to transform themselves with new roads and buildings to



accommodate the growth. The mass production of steel was the main driving force behind the ability to build skyscrapers during the mid 1880s.

Steel framing was set into foundations of reinforced concrete, concrete poured around a grid of steel rods (re-bar) or other matrices to increase tensile strength in foundations, columns and vertical slabs.

Modernist Architecture

The move to modernism was introduced with the opening of the Bauhaus school in Weimar Germany. Founded in 1919 by the German architect Walter Gropius, Bauhaus (literal translation “house of construction”) was a teaching and learning center for modern industrial and architectural design. Though not a movement or style in itself, Bauhaus instructors and staff reflected different artistic perspectives, all of them born from the modern aesthetic. It was partly the product of a post- World War I search for new artistic definitions in Europe. Gropius’s commitment to the principle of bringing all the arts together with a focus on practical, utilitarian applications. This view rejected the notion of “art for art’s sake”, putting a premium on the knowledge of materials and their effective design. This idea shows the influence of Constructivism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(art)) , a similar philosophy developed concurrently in Russia that used the arts for social purposes. Bauhaus existed for fourteen years, relocating three times, and influencing a whole generation of architects, artists, graphic and industrial designers and typographers.

In 1924 Gropius designed the Bauhaus main building in Dessau. Its modern form includes bold lines, an asymmetric balance and curtain walls of glass. It’s painted in neutral tones of white and gray accented by strong primary colors on selected doors.

(https://s3-us-west- 2.amazonaws.com/courses-images-archive- read-only/wp- content/uploads/sites/415/2015/06/21035150/ Bauhaus.jpeg)

Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, 1925-26, Image in public domain

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest architects. Wright designed buildings, churches, homes and schools, but is best known for his design of Falling Water (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater#/media/File:Fallingwater_-_DSC05639.JPG) , a home in the Pennsylvania countryside for Chicago department store owner Edgar Kaufman. His design innovations include unified open floor plans, a balance of traditional and modern materials and the use of cantilevered forms that extends horizontal balance.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City is an example of Wright’s concern with organic forms and utilization of space. The main element in the design is a spiral form rising from the middle of the cantilevered main structure. Paintings are exhibited on its curved walls. Visitors take the elevator to the top floor and view the works as they travel down the gently sloped hallway. This spiral surrounds a large atrium in the middle of the building and a domed skylight at the top.

(https://s3-us-west- 2.amazonaws.com/courses-images-archive- read-only/wp- content/uploads/sites/415/2015/06/21035152/ Solomon-R-Guggenheim-Museum- Levels.jpg)

Atrium, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan, New York, 1959, Image in the public domain

Post Modern & Contemporary Architecture

Postmodern architecture began as an international style whose first examples are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture. Postmodernity in architecture is generally thought to be heralded by the return of “wit, ornament and reference” to architecture in response to the formalism of the International Style.

Michael Graves’s Portland Building (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Building#/media/File:Portland_Building_1982.jpg) from 1982 personifies the idea behind postmodernist thought. A reference to more traditional style is evident in the patterned column-like sections. Overt large-scale decorative elements are built into and

onto the exterior walls, and contrasts between materials, colors and forms give the building a graphic sense of visual wit.

We can see how architecture is actively evolving in the contemporary work of Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid. Gehry’s work is famous for its rolling and bent organic forms. His gestural, erratic sketches are transformed into buildings through a computer aided design process (CAD). They have roots in postmodernism but lean towards a completely new modern style. They have as much to do with sculpture as they do with architecture. Seattle’s Experience Music Project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMP_Museum) is an example of the complexity that goes into his designs. Its curves, ripples and folds roll across space and the multi-colored titanium panels adorning the exterior accentuate the effect.

Green Architecture

In the last decade there has emerged a strong interest in developing “green” architecture – designs that incorporate ecologically and environmentally sustainable practices in site preparation, materials, energy use and waste systems. Some are simple: buildings oriented to the south or west helps with passive solar heating. Others are more complex: Solar voltaic cells on the roof to generate power to the building. Green roofs are made of sod and other organic material and act as a cooling agent and recycle rainwater too. In addition, technological innovations in lighting, heating and cooling systems have made them more efficient.

A branch of the Seattle Public Library uses green design. A glass curtain wall on the north side makes use of natural lighting. Overhanging wooden roof beams shades harsh light. The whole structure is nestled under a green roof of sod and over 18,000 low water use plants. Seven skylights on the roof provide more natural lighting.

Licenses and Attributions CC licensed content, Shared previously

Architecture and the Industrial Revolution. Authored by: Christopher Gildow. Located at: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-architecture-and-the-industrial- revolution?module_item_id=44477 (https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9- architecture-and-the-industrial-revolution?module_item_id=44477) . Project: Open Course Library. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) Modern Architecture: A New Language. Authored by: Christopher Gildow. Located at: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-modern-architecture-a-new-language? module_item_id=44478 (https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-modern-architecture- a-new-language?module_item_id=44478) . Project: Open Course Library. License: CC BY-NC- SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- sa/4.0/) Green Architecture. Authored by: Christopher Gildow. Located at: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-green-architecture? module_item_id=44480 (https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-green-architecture?

module_item_id=44480) . Project: Open Course Library. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) Post-Modern and Contemporary Architecture. Authored by: Christopher Gildow. Located at: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-post-modern-and-contemporary- architecture?module_item_id=44479 (https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-post- modern-and-contemporary-architecture?module_item_id=44479) . Project: Open Course Library. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)