ARCH 543: Architecture of Contemporary world

Lecture 1
“Less is more”

“Less is bore”

“Yes is more”
“Less is more” “Less is bore” “Yes is more”

Contemporary
Contemporary

Contemporary
 Modern Architecture
• modern architecture typically points to a type of style built between the early 1900s
and the 1950s. It's a very distinct, defined style and it doesn't change.

• The contemporary design essentially means the style of today. It's not something
that can be pinpointed exactly, because styles and fashions and trends change quite
quickly.

• So, modern refers to a specific time period in American history and contemporary
refers to the ever-changing trends in house design of today.

Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, France The Denver Art Museum in Denver Colorado,
by Daniel Libeskind (2006)
 Modern Architecture

• Modern design came after a long period of highly decorated and fancy home design
that held high favor at the end of the 19th century. At the time, eclecticism, Victorian,
and Edwardian style were the lay of the land and architects felt the need to go
against these traditions.

Eclecticism in architecture Victorian architecture Edwardian architecture

• Modernists created homes that didn't have that ornate flare that homes of that time
were so used to. Instead, the homes had open floor plans, asymmetry, and huge
panels of windows or glass walls.
• They wanted to create a simple home that was also highly functional. They left out
anything unnecessary.
• Modern architecture focuses largely on the functionality of the form, and are basically
identified by “form follows function” (Sullivan 1947).

Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, France Falling water

• Modern architecture defines the beauty of design in a different way. They look for the
beauty of design in its simplicity by removing the unnecessary details, acknowledging
that “less is more” (Van Der rohe 1947).
• They emphasized the notion of truth to materials, by exposing the true nature of
materials without adding any extra layers to them such as painting or polishing.
 Post-Modern Architecture
• The Postmodernist movement is often seen as an American movement, starting in
America around the 1960s–1970s and then spreading to Europe and the rest of the world.

• Postmodernism has its origins in the perceived failure of Modern architecture.

Postmodern architects found this notion of ‘simplicity in design’ truly unattractive.

The Sydney Opera

House by Jørn
Utzon (1957–1973)

• Many felt the buildings failed to meet the human need for comfort both for body and
for the eye, that modernism did not account for the desire for beauty.

• The problem worsened when some already monotonous apartment blocks

degenerated into slums.
• In response, architects wanted to reintroduce ornament, color, decoration and
human scale to buildings.
• Form was no longer to be defined solely by its functional requirements or
minimal appearance
• Postmodernist architecture brought playfulness to a design, replacing modern flat roof
with pitched roof, solid walls instead of glass, as it is evident in the ‘Vanna Venturi
House’ designed by Robert Ventury.
• He believed that “less is bore” (Ventury 1966), meaning that the lack of detail and
visual aesthetics is clearly leading the buildings to become soulless.

Vanna Venturi House by Robert

Venturi (1964)
 Contemporary Architecture?
Contemporary architecture is the architecture of the 21st century. No
single style is dominant

Contemporary architects are working in several different styles, from

postmodernism and high-tech architecture to highly conceptual and expressive forms
and designs, resembling sculpture on an enormous scale.

The different styles and approaches have in common:

• The use of very advanced technology and modern

building materials, such as tube structures which
allow construction of buildings that are taller, lighter
and stronger than those in the 20th century.

• The use of new techniques of computer-aided

design, which allow buildings to be designed and
modelled on computers in three dimensions, and
constructed with more precision and speed.

Evolution Tower in Moscow

 • Contemporary buildings and styles vary greatly. Some feature concrete structures
wrapped in glass or aluminium screens, very asymmetric facades,
and cantilevered sections which hang over the street.

• Skyscrapers twist, or break into crystal-like facets. Facades are designed to

shimmer or change color at different times of day.

The Quadracci Pavilion of the Milwaukee Beijing National Stadium. Architect: Herzog & de
Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Meuron, ArupSport, China Architectural Design &
by Santiago Calatrava (2001) Research Group
 Contemporary architecture:
• While modernism put down roots in nature and simplicity, the contemporary architecture
looks at what is going on right now.

• Architects that build homes towards the contemporary style usually create their homes to
be as innovative and advanced as they can.

• These homes will almost always appear more complex than modern homes do. They try
to incorporate all different kinds of styles and create free-form lines and movements within
the structure.

• Contemporary homes started to appear in the 1970s, but that doesn't mean that the style
stayed the same. Contemporary style sticks with the times and what is popular now.

The Zentrum Paul Klee in Berne, The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario,
Switzerland by Renzo Piano (2005) Canada by Daniel Libeskind (2007)
 Contemporary architecture:
• Today, many contemporary homes give homage to craftsman-style homes while
keeping up with large, open floorplans that modern homes brought into the limelight.
What's interested is that they never rely too heavily on one style, instead always
looking at all of them as equals.

• Whereas the major monuments

of modern architecture in the
20th century were mostly
concentrated in the United
States and western Europe,
contemporary architecture is
global; important new buildings
have been built in China,
Russia, Latin America, and
particularly in Arab states of the
Persian Gulf;

• The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the

tallest building in the world in
2019, and the Shanghai
Tower in China is the second-
tallest.
Burj al khalifa Shanghai Tower
Topics in contemporary architecture

• High-tech Architecture
• Deconstructivism
• Blobitecture
• Complementary or Vernacular Architecture
• Sustainable Architecture
• Neomodern Architecture
High-tech architecture:
High-tech architecture grew from the modernist style, utilizing new
advances in technology and building materials. It emphasizes
transparency in design and construction, seeking to communicate
the underlying structure and function of a building throughout its
interior and exterior.

The Lloyd's building in London, 1960

Deconstructivism:
Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which
appeared in the 1980s. It gives the impression of the fragmentation
of the constructed building, commonly characterised by an
absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry.

Seattle Central Library, 2004

Sustainable architecture:
Sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative
environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and
moderation in the use of materials, energy, development
space and the ecosystem at large.

Hanging gardens of One Central Park, Sydney, 2013

Vernacular architecture:
Vernacular architecture is characterised by the use of local
materials and knowledge, building traditions, and methods
of construction.
New Classical architecture:
New Classicism or the New Classical movement is a
contemporary movement in architecture that continues
the practice of Classical architecture

Dallas Meadows Museum, 2011

Neomodern or neomodernist architecture:

Neomordern is a reaction to the complexity
of postmodern architecture and eclecticism in
architecture, seeking greater simplicity.

The Bay Adelaide Centre in Toronto,2009

Thank you