HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

What is architectural ornamentation?

In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decorationused to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurativeelements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents indecorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does notinclude human figures, and if present they are small compared tothe overall scale. Architectural ornament can be carved fromstone, wood or precious metals, formed with plaster or clay, orpainted or impressed onto a surface as applied ornament.1

Architectural historian Sir John Summerson called it "surfacemodulation"2. Decoration and ornament have been evident incivilizations since the beginning of recorded history, rangingfrom Ancient Egyptian architecture to the apparent lack ofornament of 20th century Modernist architecture.

Some examples: 3 Architectural ornament - (architecture) something added to a

building to improve its appearance. Antefix - carved ornament at the eaves of a tile roof

concealing the joints between tiles. Crocket - an architectural ornament of curved foliage used at

the edge of a spire or gable. Dogtooth - a carved pyramidal ornament; used in 13th century

England. Foliage, foliation - (architecture) leaf-like architectural

ornament. Greek fret, Greek key, key pattern, fret - an ornamental

pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines(often in relief); "there was a simple fret at the top of thewalls".

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_(art)2 Summerson, John (1941) printed in Heavenly Mansions 1963, p. 2173 Thesaurus, the free dictionary.

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Frieze - an architectural ornament consisting of a horizontalsculptured band between the architrave and the cornice.

Guilloche - an architectural decoration formed by twointersecting wavy bands.

Trefoil - an architectural ornament in the form of three arcsarranged in a circle.

What is aesthetics?

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature ofart, beauty, and taste, with the creation and appreciation ofbeauty.4 It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensoryor sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments ofsentiment and taste. More broadly, scholars in the field defineaesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature."5

Aesthetics is also defined as ‘The branch of philosophy thatdeals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the finearts’.6

Skulls have adorned the facades ofbuildings for centuries. Some peoplebelieve they ward off evil spirits.

Others believe they add fun architecturalornamentation to otherwise bland andboring buildings. What do you think?

4 Definition 1 of aesthetics from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online.5 Encyclopedia of aesthetics , Edited by Michael Kelly.-New York, OxfordUniversity Press, August 1998.6 Thesaurus, the free dictionary.

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Aesthetics is hard to define as its perception differs fromplace to place and people to people. Aesthetic view of a person ora group of people can be influenced by various factors like:

Religion - According to Islam, human works of art areinherently flawed compared to the work of God; thus, it isbelieved by many that attempting to realistically depict theform of an animal or person is insolence to God. Thistendency effected the narrowing field of artistic possibilityto such forms of art as Arabesque, mosaic, Islamiccalligraphy, and Islamic architecture, as well as any form ofabstraction that can claim the status of non-representationalart.

Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically.

A teaching of a particular person- philosophy - Chineseaesthetics were highly influenced by the teachings ofConfucius. He emphasized the role of the arts and humanities(especially music and poetry) in broadening human nature andhumanity. His opponent Mozi, however, argued that music andfine arts were classist and wasteful, benefiting the richover the poor. Indigenous styles - African art existed in many formsand styles, and with fairly little influence from outsideAfrica. Most of it followed traditional forms and theaesthetic norms were handed down orally as well as written.Sculpture and performance art are prominent, and abstract andpartially abstracted forms are valued, and were valued longbefore influence from the Western tradition began in earnest. Wealth and patronage - Surviving medieval art isprimarily religious in focus and funded largely by the State,powerful individuals, or wealthy secular patrons. Objects offine art from this period were frequently made from rare and

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valuable materials, such as gold and lapis, the cost of whichcommonly exceeded the wages of the artist.

Window ornamentation, Islamic architecture- Detailsof the Alhambra, from drawings taken on the spot in

1834 by Jules Goury.

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Nataraja bronze figure- with roots embedded in religion and belief systems.

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Timbuktu mosque, Africa – an indigenous style ofarchitecture.

Wealth and patronage - Medici tomb in Florence, Italy. Photograph:Nik Wheeler.

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Birth of Modernism.

The term modernism encompasses the activities and output ofthose who felt the "traditional" forms of art, architecture,literature, religious faith, social organization and daily lifewere becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and politicalconditions of an emerging fully industrialized world.7

Modernism in Architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized bysimplification of form and creation of ornament from the structureand theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarchingmovement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely.8 In abroader sense, early modern architecture began at the turn of the20th century with efforts to reconcile the principles underlyingarchitectural design with rapid technological advancement and themodernization of society.

Characteristics of modern architecture:

"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.

Simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of "unnecessary detail"

Visual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural elements)

7 Gardner, Helen, Horst De la Croix, Richard G. Tansey, and Diane Kirkpatrick.Gardner's Art Through the Ages (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991). 8 "Growth, Efficiency, and Modernism". U.S. General Services Administration. 2003 (Revised 2006).

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The related concept of "Truth to materials", meaning that thetrue 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

The Salk Institute complex in California, by architectLouis Kahn.

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

Adolf Loos and his arguments on Ornamentation:

Adolf Loos was both an architect and theorist, who becameknown for the radical theoretical statements he made condemningdecoration. This uncompromising stance made Adolf Loos apioneering functionalist.

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In his essays, Loos used provocative catchphrases and hasbecome noted for one particular essay/manifesto entitled Ornamentand Crime, spoken first in 1910. In this essay, he explored theidea that the progress of culture is associated with the deletionof ornament from everyday objects, and that it was therefore acrime to force craftsmen or builders to waste their time onornamentation that served to hasten the time when an object wouldbecome obsolete. Loos' stripped-down buildings influenced theminimal massing of modern architecture, and stirred controversy.9

Works of Adolf Loos:

Villa Müller, Czech Republic, 1930.10

Completed in the same year as Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye in Parisand Mies van der Rohe’s Villa Tugendhat in Brno, the Villa Mülleris Loos’s defining modern house in an era when rich, progressiveindustrialists were the source of modernist commissions. In Loos’scase the client owned a building company pioneering the use ofreinforced concrete, so the house was a particularly relevantshowcase.9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Loos10 http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/villamueller/index.htm

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Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos(1870-1933) was an Austro-Hungarianarchitect. He was influential in EuropeanModern architecture, and in his essayOrnament and Crime he repudiated the floridstyle of the Vienna Secession, with the Austrianversion of Art Nouveau. In this and many otheressays he contributed to the elaboration of abody of theory and criticism of Modernism inarchitecture.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

While Frank Lloyd Wright was perfecting the seamlessness of thetransition from inside to outside, Loos was deliberately keepingthe public outside and the private inside of his houses asseparate as possible. "The building should be dumb outside andonly reveal wealth inside." Outside, the Villa Müller isdistinguished by its cubic shape, with flat roof and terraces, itsirregular windows and its clean, white façade.

Inside, the Villa Müller is at once more traditional and moreoriginal. The materials are warm, rich and comforting, and thefurniture a deliberately eclectic mix of traditional styles.

The Villa Müller is, in Loos's own view, his best application ofhis spatial planning or "Raumplan":11

My architecture is not conceived by drawings, but by spaces. I do notdraw plans, facades or sections... For me, the ground floor, first floordo not exist... There are only interconnected continual spaces, rooms,halls, terraces... Each space needs a different height... These spacesare connected so that ascent and descent are not only unnoticeable,but at the same time functional.

11 Ibid

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Legacy:

Loos attacked contemporary design as well as the imitativestyling of the nineteenth century. He looked on contemporarydecoration as mass-produced, mass-consumed trash. Loos acted as amodel and a seer for architects of the 1920s. His fight forfreedom from the decorative styles of the nineteenth century led acampaign for future architects.12

Futurist Architecture and works of Sant’ Elia:

Futurist architecture is an early-20th century form ofarchitecture born in Italy, characterized by anti-historicism,strong chromaticism,13 long dynamic lines, suggesting speed,motion, urgency and lyricism.14

A cult of the machine age and even a glorification of war andviolence were among the themes of the Futurists. The prominentadvocate of Futurism from amongst the architects was Antonio Sant'Elia, who, though building little, translated the futurist visioninto an urban form.

Antonio Sant'Elia: A builder by training, he opened a designoffice in Milan in 1912 and became involved with the Futurist

12 http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Adolf_Loos.html13 Chromaticism is a compositional technique.14 Lyricism- The character or quality of subjectivity and sensuality ofexpression, especially in the arts, the quality or state of being melodious;melodiousness.- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lyricism

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movement. Between 1912 and 1914, influenced by industrial citiesof the United States and the Viennese architects Otto Wagner andAdolf Loos, he began a series of design drawings for a futuristCittà Nuova ("New City") that was conceived as symbolic of a newage.

The manifesto Futurist Architecture was published in August1914, by Sant'Elia. In it the author stated that "the decorativevalue of Futurist architecture depends solely on the use andoriginal arrangement of raw or bare or violently coloredmaterials". His vision was for a highly industrialised andmechanized city of the future, which he saw not as a mass ofindividual buildings but a vast, multi-level, interconnected andintegrated urban conurbation designed around the "life" of thecity. His extremely influential designs featured vast monolithicskyscraper buildings with terraces, bridges and aerial walkwaysthat embodied the sheer excitement of modern architecture andtechnology.

A nationalist as well as an irredentist, Sant'Elia joined theItalian army as Italy entered World War I in 1915. He was killedduring the Battles of the Isonzo, near Monfalcone. Most of hisdesigns were never built, but his futurist vision has influencedmany architects, artists and designers.

Works of Sant’ Elia:

Città Nuova (1914):

On 20 May 1914 Antonio Sant’Elia from Italy and MarioChiattone from Switzerland, two young architects in the Italianavant-garde movement Il Nuovo Tendenze, exhibited drawings thatillustrated fragments of a new urban metropolis. Chiattone’scontribution, entitled “Structures of a Modern Metropolis,”included several fine renditions of high-rise apartment buildingsthat presaged later developments in the 1920s and 1930s, but theywere overshadowed by Sant’Elia’s collection of drawings, entitledLa città nuova (The New City), his vision of Milan in the year2000. These drawings were accompanied in the exhibition catalog by

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a written text, a messaggio (or manifesto) on the problems ofmodern architecture, bearing Sant’Elia’s name only. This polemicalessay reappeared in a reworked form several weeks later, on 11July 1914, as L’a rchitettu ra futu ris ta (FuturistArchitecture), still authored by Sant’Elia, but bearing theunmistakable stamp of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the mouthpiece ofItalian futurism.15

15 http://architectural-world.blogspot.in/2008/05/citt-nuova-1914.html

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Expressionist architecture:

Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement thatdeveloped in Europe during the first decades of the 20th centuryin parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts.

The style was characterised by an early-modernist adoption ofnovel materials, formal innovation, and very unusual massing,sometimes inspired by natural biomorphic forms, sometimes by thenew technical possibilities offered by the mass production ofbrick, steel and especially glass. Many expressionist architectsfought in World War I and their experiences, combined with thepolitical turmoil and social upheaval that followed the GermanRevolution of 1919, resulted in a utopian outlook and a romanticsocialist agenda. Economic conditions severely limited the numberof built commissions between 1914 and the mid 1920s, resulting inmany of the most important expressionist works remaining asprojects on paper. In 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power inGermany, expressionist art was outlawed as Degenerate art.16

Characteristics of expressionist architecture:

Expressionist architecture was individualistic and in many wayseschewed aesthetic dogma, but it is still has many points that canbe found as recurring in works of Expressionist architects.

Distortion of form for an emotional effect. Subordination of realism to symbolic or stylistic expression

of inner experience. An underlying effort at achieving the new, original, and

visionary. Concepts more important than pragmatic finished products. Often hybrid solutions, irreducible to a single concept. Themes of natural romantic phenomena, such as caves,

mountains, lightning, crystal and rock formations. Utilises creative potential of artisan craftsmanship.

16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionist_architecture

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Tendency more towards the gothic than the classical.Expressionist architecture also tends more towards theromanesque and the rococo than the classical.

Though a movement in Europe, expressionism is as eastern aswestern. It draws as much from Moorish, Islamic, Egyptian,and Indian art and architecture as from Roman or Greek.

Conception of architecture as a work of art.

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