Modern and Contemporary

 Modern and Contemporary

Shifting away from elaborate ornamentation (decoration), Modern and Contemporary architects throughout the 20th century often focused more on the overall form of their structures, using a wide variety of materials. Instead of traditional materials such as stone, brick, or terra cotta, Modern and Contemporary architects used more iron, steel, reinforced concrete (that is, concrete with iron or steel rods embedded to increase tensile strength), glass, and chemically designed materials.

Below are just a small sample of architectural structures from the 20th century. As you look at them, think about how they differ from the structures we have looked at throughout the semester.

Frank Lloyd Wright

We will spend a little more time looking at one of America's most well-known architects.

Click here to see some of Wright's buildings.

Gropius House. Photo by Daderot. CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized.

Gropius House. 1937-38.

Located in Lincoln, Massachusetts, this house was designed by the German architect, Walter Gropius (1883-1969), who was, in 1919, the founder of the influential Bauhaus school of the 1920s and 1930s. The Nazis did not approve of Gropius or the Bauhaus, and many of the school's artists and architects fled for the United States or other countries where they found opportunities to develop and use their skills.

Watch this video to find out more about Gropius House.

Tribune Tower. Art Institute of Chicago.

This was Walter Gropius' design for Tribune Tower in 1922.

Farnsworth House. Photo by marco 2000. CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized.

Farnsworth House. 1945-51.

Located in Plano, Illinois, this house was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969). Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, moving it from Dessau to Berlin in 1932 and then overseeing its closure, after Nazi pressure, in 1933.

Farnsworth House. Photo by Victor Grigas. CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized.

This video gives a variety of views of the outside of this Modern house.

Sydney Opera House. Photo by Solvarsity. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and resized.

Sydney Opera House. 1959-1973.

Located in Sydney, Australia, this building was designed by Jorn Utzon (1918-2008). Utzon won a 1956 competition for the design which had 233 entries.

Tile Pattern on Sydney Opera House. Photo by Hpeterswald. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Resized.

In this video, The B1M examines the history of the opera house.

You can see a brief news update on the recent reopening of the concert hall inside of the Sydney Opera house here.

Biosphere. Photo by Ralf Roletschek. GNU 1.2. Resized.

The Biosphere or The U.S. Pavilion, Expo 67. 1967.

Designed by the American architect R. (Richard) Buckminster Fuller, (1895-1983) this is an example of a geodesic dome. The design which consists of several steel triangles allows for the appearance of a large clear dome. The structure originally had clear but slightly opaque acrylic paneling between the steel framework. In 1976, a fire destroyed all of the acrylic paneling. The dome was closed for about 15 years before being turned into a institution focusing on environmental sustainability.

To find out more about Buckminster Fuller and the Biosphere, you can read this article by Arch Daily.

Harold Washington Library. Photo by Ken Lund. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Harold Washington Library Center. 1991.

This Post-modern library is located on Chicago and references a variety of older architectural styles as well as several older Chicago buildings.

Dancing House. Photo by Bobby-John de Bot. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized.

Dancing House. 1994-96.

Located in Prague, Czech Republic, Dancing House was designed by the American architect Frank Gehry (1929-) who was inspired by the famous dancing couple of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Dancing House. Photo by Dino Quinzani. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Resized.

MAXXI Museum. Photo by Steven Zucker.

MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts. 1998-2009.

Located in Rome, this museum was designed by Zaha Hadid. In this video, Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris talk about the museum.