Architecture of the 20th century: architectural modernism

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every era in history is represented by grandiose structures, however, it is the architecture of the 20th century that is characterized by the fact that it has reached completely new heights - from soaring skyscrapers to innovative design structures. It began at the turn of the 20th century with one of the first trends known as modern, which combined functionalism with aesthetic ideals, but rejected the classical precepts. He tried to combine the principles underlying architectural design with the trends of rapid technological progress and the modernization of society as a whole.

In general, the architecture of the 20th century is an all-encompassing movement that has taken the form of numerous design schools, trends and diverse styles. Among the important names of people who became reformers in the art of architecture and paved the way for original designs and cutting-edge innovations are Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, W alter Gropius, Frank LloydWright, Louis Sullivan, Oscar Niemeyer and Alvar A alto.

So, first of all, the architecture of the 20th century is represented by a movement known as architectural modernism and covering the period from the 1900s to the 1970s-1980s (in European countries and Russia). It includes several directions (functionalism and constructivism, brutalism and rationalism, organic architecture, Bauhaus and Art Deco, international style), but they all share common characteristics.

Architectural modernism sought to create house design that went beyond classical ideas and was inspired by the location, the functions of future structures, their environment. "Form follows function" (Louis Sullivan's words, meaning that the design idea should be based directly on the functional purpose of the building object). For example, Frank Lloyd Wright was known for the fact that when designing houses, he, first of all, was guided by the place on which the building was going to be built. He said that it should be "together with the earth", that is, be one.

Architecture of the early 20th century also includes the following unifying characteristics for the above areas - the use of the latest technologically advanced building materials (for example, reinforced concrete) in the construction, the absence of decorative details, in other words, no historical reminiscences in the appearance of houses, which should have simple clear forms.

Architecture of the 20th century in Russia popularized in the formconstructivism, which flourished especially in the 1920s and 1930s. Constructivism combined cutting-edge technology and new aesthetics with communist philosophy and the social goals of the state that was being built. One of the founders of the movement is Konstantin Melnikov, who designed the famous Melnikov House in Moscow, which is a symbol of constructivism and the Soviet avant-garde in general. Although the movement was divided into several competing schools, many remarkable buildings were built during its existence, until it fell out of favor with the leaders of the USSR around 1932. But constructivist effects can also be found in later Soviet architecture.

Since the early 1980s, 20th-century architecture has experienced certain challenges in terms of structural systems (services, energy, technology), becoming a multidiscipline with specializations for each individual design type. In addition, the division in the architectural profession into an architect-designer and a designer, who guarantees that the future construction object meets all the necessary technological standards, has manifested itself. But, of course, the main and dominant issue deeply reflected in contemporary architecture is its environmental sustainability.