Modern Architecture Defined through Residential Architecture: Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Mies Van der Rohe

How did Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Mies Van der Rohe define modern architecture through their designs for residential Architecture?
This blog post should present key information on the two elements below.
1) outline the approaches each architect took to designing modern houses with specific mention of projects and discussion of how their designs changed over time.
2) identify the key ideas that the architect was working to develop and point out the specific characteristics of notable projects which exemplify the idea.
You are welcome to include multiple images from photographs to diagrams of floorplans to illustrate your post.
In composing your answer select notable 3 notable houses for each architect and draw your answers from the course textbooks.
Blog Post is due Tuesday Nov. 8 at 12 noon.

Analytic Comparison of Modern Architecture: Weissnhof Estates/Villa Mueller

Two influential figures of the modernistic architectural movement in the early 20th century were Adolf Loos and Victor Bourgeois. Both of their styles are similar and follow modern architecture trends of the time, but each has a unique way of approaching their solutions to a design opportunity. Loos and Bourgeois both were selected to design dwellings at the Weissenhof Estate, which was built for Deutscher Werkbund in 1927. Loos was eventually taken off the list, after disagreements with the Werkbund. Mies Van der Rohe was in charge of The Weissenhof Estate project on behalf of the city of Stuttgart, Mies selected seventeen European architects most of them German speaking; Loos from Austria and Bourgeois from Belgium. Bourgeois and Loos were selected because they were already seen as very influential modernistic architects much like the rest of the seventeen architects. Bourgeois is considered the greatest Belgian modernist architect and Loos very influential to modern architecture, the Villa Mueller particularly brought him attention.

The Weissenhof Estates was an exhibition that was advertised as a prototype of future workers' housing and to exhibit use of modern construction. The budget on which these houses were designed and furnished was far out of reach of a common worker during this time. They also were with little relation to the technical challenges of standardized mass construction. The exhibition opened to the public on July 23, 1927, a year late, and drew large crowds. During World War II ten of the original twenty-one houses were destroyed from the Allied bombing of Stuttgart.

Ariel View of Weissenhof Estates
http://barbaralamprecht.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/f-stuttgart-weissenhof-siedlung.jpg

http://barbaralamprecht.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/f-stuttgart-weissenhof-siedlung.jpg

The twenty-one buildings vary slightly in form, consisting of terraced and detached houses and apartment buildings, and display a strong consistency of design. What they have in common are their simplified facades, flat roofs used as terraces, window bands, open plan interiors.

Victor Bourgeois designed House 10 in the Weissenhof Estates. This is a unique house compared to the others that it is a light salmon color, which separates it from the plan white buildings of the rest of the exhibit. In comparison to Loos's Villa, Bourgeois gave more attention to the richness of the interior spaces than the ornamentation of the exterior. The apertures are placed to fit the function of interior spaces and neglecting aesthetics of the exterior. The structure of the building begins to protrude throughout the entire building, especially in the formation of the interior spaces. This is seen in the use of partitions that line up with pilasters between windows, placement of stairs referencing partitions. An interesting diagram of the plan is too draw these lines and the connections between them. This process creates a very rich space. This process of the formation of interior spaces resembles what was going on in art at the time, especially Monderan's work.

Weissenhof Estates Exhibition House 10: Victor Bourgeois
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=victor+bourgeois+architect&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1599&bih=765&tbm=isch&tbnid=q0skeNmQk_fEVM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Bourgeois&docid=L66CBS5xAaiDcM&w=300&h=205&ei=6g6ETqnQIJP1gAfAvMEU&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=181&vpy=159&dur=960&hovh=164&hovw=240&tx=147&ty=103&page=1&tbnh=125&tbnw=164&start=0&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

In the Villa Mueller Loos’s intention with the exterior portion of the building was to make it plane and uninviting to the pedestrian walking by. This enforces the relationship and separation between public and private spaces of the inside and outside. The plane white exterior and cube like form or the driving forces of this ideal. The exterior envelop of the buildings primarily function is take act as an enclosure to the interior spaces, which hold much more weight and were given more attention to by Loos.

Villa Mueller
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/villamueller/mueller3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/villamueller/index.htm&h=323&w=430&sz=67&tbnid=45-9q3XHahRA5M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&prev=/search%3Fq%3DVilla%2BMuller%2BAdolf%2Bloos%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=Villa+Muller+Adolf+loos&docid=MyyqpCkjMJOBOM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EPKDTvWSLISDgAfT9OAi&sqi=2&ved=0CCQQ9QEwAQ&dur=526

Loos was more focused on the natural beauty of material and saw the reduction of ornament to drive this point. On the contrary, the interior spaces are very rich with materials and play off of each other in unique ways, especially their reflective qualities.

Adolf Loos Power Point Presentation: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/2011Fal_ARCH329s002_Combined/08%20Adolf%20Loos.pdf

The use of materials in the interior space is of the exact opposite of the exterior use, Loos's intention was to create a warm rich feeling space by the use of material. The progression of the interior spaces, in a vertical sense, progress from lower ceiling heights to higher ceiling heights eventually leading up the staircase to a double height space; this is an interesting perspective to view in section. Due to the difference in volumes of space and difference in heights there are views into other spaces that create a unique experience/journey. Additionally, at the top of the house leads out onto a viewing area where there is a framed view, created by the structure, of the Prague Cathedral.

Plan, Section Villa Mueller

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Villa+Muller+Adolf+loos&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1599&bih=765&tbm=isch&tbnid=P0EwqS0nO9oYFM:&imgrefurl=http://kotonogo.blogspot.com/2011/05/adolf-loos.html&docid=K6dQRZ4Ac92XPM&w=600&h=600&ei=aQ-ETs3jF87SgQf17vUq&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=360&vpy=414&dur=5014&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=121&ty=134&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=132&start=0&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:0

Reflections & Influences of Art Nouveau On Modern Architecture

The Art Nouveau period became a prominent architectural style in the 1890’s to the 1910’s. The movement started in Belgium particularly in Brussels area, which later spread throughout Europe. Although Art Nouveau was replaced by 20th-century modernist styles, it is considered now as an important transition between the historicism of Neoclassicism and modernism. Music, literature, poetry and architecture started to combine symbolism into their fabric during this time period and laid the foundation for modernism. Design detail became a driving force; everything was designed from the ground up to the ceiling, down to the smallest details of window latching and furniture. Influences to the period were the English free style house, the use of iron as an expressive architectural method, and design & theories of Viollet-le-Duc. Three key influential figures of the time period were Henry Van der Velde, Victor Horta, and Hector Guimard. These three designers pushed the field of architecture further, particular what we now know as modern architecture.

Metal Work design by Hector Guimard

Henry Van der Velde is considered one of the main early contributors to Art Nouveau & modern architecture. He was originally trained as a painter and naturally made the transition to architect and designer, mainly focusing on interiors. Velde developed the theory of form and function which is a widely used concept in today’s world of modern architecture. He believed that ornament was not just the “icing on the cake” of a façade or building but it was indistinguishable with structure. Velde believe that ornament completes form and determines form. As seen in his many furniture designs the structure and the ornament are one in the same, the style is the structure; hence the concept of form and function. Many architects of today use this methodology in their designs for example architect Santiago Calatrava.

Integrated chair design by Henry van Velde


Velde’s lectures that he presented at the Les XX in 1894 helped spread and gain notoriety towards the movement of Art Nouveau. Another influential figure of the period that severally pushed Art Nouveau was Victor Horta and his impressive work.

Horta received a Beaux-Arts architectural education, which he used to develop Viollet-le-Duc’s construction rationalism. Horta did the majority of his work for those who had similar beliefs as he did in the way architecture was moving & changing; at this time Art Nouveau was a radical movement. One of these examples is the house he designed for Emile Tassel of Brussels, who was a Free Masson as was Horta. Hotel Tassel's was arguably one of his most popular an influential works of his career and of Art Nouveau. Horta followed & combined Viollet-le-Duc’s principle of exposed metal structures with ornament motifs from French & English decorative arts. Horta spread a veil over the architecture realism dissolving structure into ornament. Horta said, “an imagination world-half mineral, half vegetable- is created, with an air of unreality”. Horta followed the beliefs of Viollet-le-Duc but also believed in the influence of nature as well.

Staircase design by Victor Horta, integrated structure with ornament & the "interior garden" effect with the frescoes on the wall.

Horta Museum originally his home

Another strong influence to the period was that of Hector Guimard. Guimard brought the movement from Belgium and started to develop Art Nouveuo in France, which eventually became the leading area for the movement. Guimard like Horta integrated the new decorative principles into coherent architectural style. Hector Guimard, much like Victor Horta did in some regards believe in the teachings of Viollet-le-Duc but his allegiance to these teachings was much stronger than Horta’s. After seeing Horta’s work Guimard was blown away and immediately revised his plans to be more curvilinear and plastic forms. Examples of Viollet-le-Duc’s influence on Guimard can be seen in the Maison Coilliot in Lille & the School of Sacre Coeur in Paris. Le Duc's influences can be seen in the exposed metal supports on the side of the building and the decorative metal fences.

In the well-known entrances to the Paris Metro, Guimard carred the analogy between metal structure & plant form further than anything found in Horta’s work.

Paris Metro Entry

the School of Sacre Coeur in Paris

All three of these men influenced modern architecture by developing the means of thought process, creative thinking, innovative thinking, symbolism, and artistic means in architecture. The Art Nouveuo was a transitional time period between modernistic and Neo-Classical periods. Architecture made tremendous strides in this short time period, which effected the field for many years to come.

Comparisons and Contrasts of John Ruskin & Eugene Viollet-le-Duc

Two Men at Odds

Eugene Viollet-le-Duc and John Ruskin were two men in a transitional period of architecture. The way architecture was being thought about and perceived in the world at that time was transitioning from an older way of thinking to the modern age of thinking. Viollet and Ruskin have few similarities and many contrasts, in many cases complete opposites of each other or in some ways the exact interpretation of each other. Ruskin and Viollet-le-Duc worshipped High Gothic Architecture, which most of their work and writings were based off of or in comparison to. Both were enthusiasts of stone and furthermore of Geology. Ruskin’s fourth volume of Modern Painters mainly involves geology and Viollet’s book of the tallest mountain in the Alps of Mount Blanc. In fact, both have written about the Alps Ruskin’s in The Seven Lamps. Ruskin and Viollet also shared a common belief that Gothic architecture was created by all people and not just for wealthy and privileged. Besides these few points there are not many similarities between the two men.

The differences in views and beliefs between these two men were many. Ruskin was an evangelical Christian, while Viollet was an agnostic and could less weather there was a God or wasn’t. This could have possibly help lead them to some of their architectural beliefs and views. Ruskin seems to respect Viollet-le-Duc by mentioning/referencing him in his writings; Viollet on the other hand seems to never notice Ruskin or never chose to recognize him. Viollet’s supervisor intended to write an article on Ruskin, after traveling to England Viollet never included anything particularly on Ruskin. Ruskin was a dreamer, writer, speaker, and was more concerned about the feeling or emotion of architecture; which can be considered by some not architecture in some manners. This is why Viollet did not agree with Ruskin or choose to acknowledge him because he was the complete opposite. Viollet-le-Duc was a doer, he believed in the designers understanding of the logic of rational construction. He had an open mind to many things and was futuristic in his thinking. Viollet was a true architecture preservationist. He had many commissions throughout his career, this is how he became famous, as opposed to Ruskin who became popular through his writing with few commissions.

Ruskin focused much more on the craftsmen or artist of the work than the designer. He believed that architects should work in the craftsmen yard because this is where most of the emotion and feeling of work came from. Ruskin’s feelings about architectural style, was that it should not change but stay the same as before, to reuse and copy works of old. That the best had already come and there was no point to inventing new ones. Ruskin’s interpretations are all based on feelings and little on reasoning which is what Gothic architecture is primarily based upon, science and reasoning. In comparison, Viollet was one of the key figures to push this stance at the time and expound upon the concept. Viollet’s stance is how we now view modern architecture, and is why Viollet is so important and revered today.

Viollet-le-Duc was an agnostic, seemed to be very open and excepting of new things. This is evident in his willingness to expose materials such as steel and to architecturally express glass. This was not a popular notion at the time and Ruskin was one of the many advocates against it, he condemned the Crystal Palace and said that it was an oversized green house, he would go on to say that the structure wasn’t architecture. Ruskin writes about steel and the machine in his book “The Seven Lamps” saying “The dishonesty of the machine would cease, as soon as it became universally practices of which universality there seems every likelihood in these days”. Ruskin must recognize that the use of steel and glass is evidently the way that architecture is shifting. Viollet tried to recognize and sell these advantages of steel to readers. In the end Viollet focused mainly on the designer and the logical understanding and approach towards architecture. Ruskin believed that craftsmen were the true artists and not the designers; they created the beauty which held the powerful feelings and emotions of a structure.

Ruskin also believed in the total renovation of the structure as it once was and to not deviate from the original. Viollet wanted to renovate the structure but to interpret the structure in another way that the designers intended to, this belief plays directly into the importance he gives the designer and how Ruskin would try to interpret what was going on in their thought process. An example of this thought process by Viollet can be seen in his renovation of Carcassonne in France, by using slate roofs. These two different beliefs helped form our current view of historical preservation and renovation, which is to let the original stand out and be distinguished from the new addition.

Viollets use of slate roofs in Carcassonne in France.

Ruskin’s more artistically rich drawings which can possibly be
interpreted as something more than they were intended to.

Viollet’s architect-tonic draws meaning exactly what he was trying to interpret.