Contemporary Architecture

By,
Ar. Dwijomala Hanjabam
Assistant Professor
Mizoram University
Contemporary
happening, existing, living, or coming into being during the same
period of time

Style of Architecture
Is reflected in ones philosophy, use of materials, elements etc.
Contemporary art
• This form of art is of the post 1960 – modernist period. It was this period of
the late 1900s which saw major socio-economic, cultural, political and also
educational changes the world over, which undoubtedly influenced art,
amongst many other productive fields.

• Contemporary artists chose to highlight the idea or impulse behind their

work rather than concentrate on the medium or method used. They unlike
earlier artists were not deterred by the thought of using various media and
techniques in combination.

• Topics like racism, global warming, cloning and biotechnology, international

politics, human rights, spirituality and economics are reflected in the work
of contemporary artists
Post Modern Art
Contemporary Art
Few themes of Modernism/Contemporary
One of the modern definitions of architecture, is that of
“…synthesis discipline that succeeds to accomplish a consensus
between function, structure and form within the constructed
space, in which human life may develop in an organized manner”.

Key themes
• Industrial revolution
• Abstract formalism
• Expressionism
• Utopianism
• Functionalism
Industrial revolution
Industrial revolution
The biggest impact of the Industrial
Revolution on 19th century architecture was the
mass-production of iron and later steel in
quantities where it became an economically
plausible building material (as opposed a limited
material for weapons and tools). This magical
material, steel, was a game changer
in architecture.

• buildings without decoration or ornaments

were erected
• Only the function determined the form of
the buildings
• this new period became known as Modern
or International Modern
Industrial revolution (ctd.)
• Iron has been defined as a linear two-
dimensional fragile-looking material, in
contrast to the solid, three-dimensional
sturdiness of masonry.

• Elegant linearity is iron’s most rational

form.

• These characteristics led away from the

solid, block-like, closed type of building,
towards an open, linear, articulated frame.

Home Insurance Building

Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in London in 1851
Philip Webb’s Red House in Kent in 1859
Louis Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) foreshadowed modernism with his
famous phrase "form follows function."

National Farmers' Bank, designed by Louis Sullivan,

1908, Owatonna, Minn.

Wainwright Building / Adler & Sullivan.

Image Courtesy of Historic American Buildings Survey
Extract from an Essay written in March 1896 by Louis H. Sullivan

“ The architects of this land and generation are now brought face to face with
something new under the sun, — namely, that evolution and integration of social
conditions, that special grouping of them, that results in a demand for the erection
of tall office buildings. It is not my purpose to discuss the social conditions; I accept
them as the fact, and say at once that the design of the tall office building must be
recognized and confronted at the outset as a problem to be solved, — a vital
problem pressing for a true solution.

Let us state the conditions in the plainest manner. Briefly, they are these: offices are
necessary for the transaction of business; the invention and perfection of the high-
speed elevators make vertical travel, that was once tedious and painful, now easy
and comfortable, development of steel manufacture has shown the way to safe,
rigid, economical constructions rising to a great height; continued growth of
population in the great cities, consequent congestion of centers and rise in value of
ground, stimulate an increase in number of stories; these successfully piled one
upon another, react on ground values;-and so on, by action and reaction, interaction
“
and inter-reaction. Thus has come about the form of lofty construction called the
"modern office building." It has come in answer to a call, for in it a new grouping of
social conditions has found a habitation and a name.
Abstract formalism
Formalism
formalism
“the concept that a work’s artistic value is entirely determined by its form.”

Despite the term’s bad reputation in architecture, formalism, at least in its

specific conception, also refers to a “body of thought” in Modernism and
modernist tradition that has also been influential on architecture.

Formalism is now a battered, blunted term, used most often to imply absence of
something else: social responsibility, emotional content, or originality.
―Judith Wolin
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry
Jubilee Church, Rome, Richard Meier
Seattle Public Library, Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus
Expressionism
Expressionist movement
The Expressionist movement started in Germany around 1900’s

The core theme was to produce a piece of work entirely from a subjective point of
view

“It is not the chair which is

to be painted but what
the human being has felt
in relation to it.”
Edvard Munch

Expressionism in Architecture also started

around the same time. Any architecture
showing original and unique design was
classified under it.
The Scream by Edvard Munch
Expressionistic character
• Distortion of the form to invoke emotions
• Striving to be new and original
• The idea of Architecture as a work of art

Deconstructivist Building
Glass Pavilion at the Cologne
Credit: HansPeter Schaefer
Deutscher Werkbund Exhibition
Einstein Tower by Eric Mendelsohn

The shapes are molded in a organic but intriguing way, mimicking -from
my point of view- a building molded from a melting wax candle. Its shape
has a geometry that keeps loose, but confined in a good way.
Utopianism
Utopia: the perfect world
The word "utopia" has evolved to mean any community with a visionary system of
political and societal perfection—cities that function to improve the daily lives of
their citizens.
Key characteristics
• architects believed that their buildings could help
solve the world's problems
• blended abstract geometric elements with a
movement and energy stemming from the
promise of a future society defined by technology
and engineering
• Incorporated new materials like reinforced
concrete, iron, and glass, the futurists envisioned
highly industrialized cities built around an
aesthetic of audacity and calculation Lenin Tribune, El Lissitzky

Believing that "architecture is breaking free from tradition," these forward-

thinking designers aggressively rejected historical reference, doing away with
monuments, classical arcades, frivolous decoration, and funereal and
commemorative architecture, and instead championed a cult of the machine.
The Ego of The Modern Master
Le Corbusier experimented
with a series of highly
utopian urban planning
concepts, stemming from
his visions of an ideal city
that hoped to reunite
citizens with a highly
ordered and open
environment, elevating
culture on a universal basis

"Plan Voisin," Le Corbusier

An idealistic mega-project called for the bulldozing of central Paris and replacing it
with monolithic 60-story towers set within an organized street grid and ample green
space.
Functionalism
"form follows function" Louis Sullivan

Functionalism is a design approach in which

a building is simply designed according to
its function, then graced with features that
are naturally suggested by its internal
structure
• This approach, which leads to the simple
geometry of the modern aesthetic

• Functionalism provided the modern

aesthetic with a theoretical foundation

• The underlying idea behind Functionalism is

efficiency

• Idea of efficiency became central to high

rise architecture

Wainwright Building: Alder and Sullivan

Concluding it!
• Because today’s architecture styles are numerous, it is difficult to come up with a
formal or precise definition of contemporary architecture.

• Contemporary architects create designs that embody all the differences in styles,
making the buildings of modern times masterpieces.

• Contemporary architects take into account the stark, clean lines and utilitarianism
of Modern architecture and seek to design more personal buildings

• Cutting away from the Modern architectural designs of the late twentieth
century, today’s architecture features eco-friendly whimsy and creativity
10 Contemporary Bldgs.
that are making a splash in the
architecture world
www.huffingtonpost.com
1. The Blue Planet by 3XN (Copenhagen, Denmark)
2. Alcácer do Sal Residences by Aires Mateus (Alcacer do Sal,
Portugal)
3. PARKROYAL on Pickering by WOHA (Singapore)
4. House of the Arts by Future Architecture Thinking
(Miranda do Corvo, Portugal)
5. Red Pepper House by Urko Sanchez Architects (Lamu,
Kenya)
6. Two Hulls by Mackay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects
(Canada)
7. Social Housing in Madrid by Iñaqui Carnicero Architecture Oficce
(Madrid, Spain)
8. Hotchkiss Biomass Power Plant by Centerbrook Architects and
Planners (Connecticut, US)
9. Wanangkura Stadium by ARM Architecture (South Hedland,
Australia)
10. Interior Remodeling of St. Moritz Church by John Pawson
(Augsburg, Germany)
Yup, that’s what we call GOOD
architecture!